tahnee in london

i got back from amsterdam yesterday. and as i sit here in my short shorts and a singlet, enjoying what seems to be 'london summer', i cant believe only two days ago i was considering buying a scarf and some gloves. thats not to say its going to stay warm here in london. apparently some people are expecting it to snow over the long weekend. the temperature is supposed to drop over 10 degrees, which means we are in for a chilly easter! and then troy and i leave for our new job on easter monday, all rugged up i assume.

anyway, so amsterdam. it was really strange. the sunday before we left, we had run out of becks kegs, kronenberg kegs and candles for the tables were also in short supply. julien left work about 6, just before the staff dinner had been prepared, and all of a sudden we lost all of our electricity. a few lights remained on (on a different circuit), namely the kitchen, bathrooms and the lights just in front of the french doors... which was pretty useless because the sun was still providing enough light in that spot.

so i set up candles in the restaurant for our table of ten so that they could eat their desserts with some sort of light, and shaun (our new manager) rang julien to ask what we should do.

long story short, we ended up closing the pub early (at about 9pm, so we stood there doing nothing for most of the time since julien didnt want us to go upstairs while we were supposed to still be being paid..... ) and i went upstairs and made cocktails for everyone because it was jonathans last shift and we were all partying to celebrate. i made pina coladas and sex on the beach, with fruit slices and a ladel in a massive wine cooler. when troy arrived at the lion with some of the carpenters staff, we had to pack for amsterdam with the help of a torch because all the lights were out in the bedrooms, and when midnight rolled around, everyone was ready to go to barcadia. troy and i went to bed for an hour instead, because we had a long trip to london gatwick airport at 3am.

once the lion crew got home, troy and i got up, and took care of one of the really drunk people... cleaned up a bit of vomit, tucked him into bed, and we grabbed all our supplies and walked to the bus stop. we caught two buses and a train to get to the airport, arriving at about 4.45am. our plane took off at 6 and we were on our way to amsterdam.

we had a flight with easyjet, who do not have designated seating, but we were lucky enough to find two seats together. i was in a filthy mood surviving off an hour of sleep after a hectic shift at work and a minor hangover creeping up. im very lucky troy was tolerant of my mood and of his own tiredness.

when we got to amsterdam it cost us fifty euro to catch a taxi to our hostel... but not before we stopped for maccas. which has officially been my first meal in both countries i have visited over here... unfortunately due to the exchange rate and how expensive europe is, a large big mac meal and a happy meal cost us $AU21.

ridiculous huh.

anyway, we had no idea what the address of the hostel was because when the electricity went out at the lion, we couldnt get a valid internet connection anywhere, which meant we couldnt find the address. we found one taxi driver who looked it up on his iphone and took us there, thank god.

we were at the hostel by 11am but check in wasnt until 2pm so we put our luggage in the lockers and wondered down the main street, having a look in the tourist shops, having some kfc and exchanging some of our pounds for euro before we went back to our hostel and checked into the room. we had room 207 which was a fantastic double room with ensuite, a little desk and a little lcd television. absolutely perfect for twenty pound each per night.

after a small nap, we looked further around amsterdam, and ventured out of the red light district to the main square where we saw a street performer who rolled a ball of fire across his naked chest and down his pants. it was incredible.

of course, that night we ate and then crashed pretty early, but the next day we had big plans.

first stop was the sex museum. this was more or less just walls and walls of porn through the ages and through different fetishes. there was also some 'interesting' artwork scattered around the building but it was definitely an interesting experience. next stop was the anne frank huis. which is where anne frank and her family hid during WWII.. unfortunately there was a group of school kids going in so we were told there was going to be a fifteen minute wait. rather than wait, we walked back to the hostel and had a quick nap, and then went out and did our own pub crawl across the red light district. we started at a couple of bars, watched a sex show (which is insane) and then went to two nightclubs. we got home about 330am, and fell asleep instantly.

our third day was more action packed. troy woke up an hour before me and went for a walk. i woke up slightly confused but decided to stay in the hostel room.. when troy got back he had bought me a bouquet of souvenir tulips which are made of wood. that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day, painting a huge smile across my face. we went to breakfast at a creperie/bar where i had a huge pancake with icecream for breakfast, and then we wondered out of the redlight district/central amsterdam to the museumplein for the van gogh museum. we got heaps lost and i started panicking, and we ended up getting in a taxi who took us literally around a corner and to the museum. we only spent about an hour and a half in there because neither of us are particularly artistic and we didnt really know what we were looking for.. mainly to say we had been to the museum.

we then walked to a square and had baguettes for lunch before heading to the heineken museum. it was amazing. you watched how the beer was made, test tasted it at different stages, went on a ride where we were 'brewed' (kind of like the 4D movies at sea world, where you get sprayed with water, etc), and at the end we were given three half pints of heineken. apparently in europe the beer HAS to have a couple of centimetres of froth or its no good.

after heineken we walked to the anne frank museum and saw her house. it was incredible with quotes written on the walls from her diary and actual pages on display. there were pictures and whatnot still on the walls in her bedroom but the furniture was all removed and model houses were in play to show what the furniture set up originally looked like.

on exitting i bought a copy of her diary so i could know the exact details of what happened and what i was looking at..

troy and i then had a quick siesta for about half an hour... and went on a cocktail cruise through the canals, where we learnt a little bit about the history of amsterdam - for example there was a tax on the land, so the more land people took up the more they had to pay. so instead they would only buy a very small amount of land and they would make the houses maybe five or six storeys high, with stairs so steep they felt like ladders (which i can vouch for after walking up the stairs in the anne frank house!!)

when we got back to land, we went to a little italian restaurant for dinner and then home for bed where we watched the lion king haha.

our last morning was hectic. we got up early for our complimentary breakfast downstairs in the hostel. we went for a quick walk and got some souvenirs and packed our belongings to leave. at 9.45am we called a taxi to go to the airport, who was driving at over 120km to get us to the airport for our 10.55am flight... which we incidentally missed.

we had to change our flight to a 1210pm to london luton airport which cost us a LOT more money, in airfares, trainfares and busfares, and coincidentally taught us a valuable lesson..

thats not to say i would have done anything different. missing the flight was a small inconvenience in an otherwise perfect holiday. i cannot wait to see more of europe.

and drive more on the wrong side of the road!!

i love and miss all of my family and friends so much and i was definitely not influenced to write this in any way.

i actually wrote a huge recount of the past couple of days and then went to post it and the internet went down and i lost my entire entry. basically, two days ago i felt the happiest i have felt in a very long time.. and all i did was sleep in, go to maccas and eat cookies, i also watched a movie and went to ascot and it was all perfect because my boy was right there with me, making me feel incredibly special and content.

hes gone to ascot for a month, which is about a two hour public transport travel away from here, but hes still in the country and we are still making any attempts to contact each other.

so im here in teddington eating millies cookies (oh my god they are so good, like subway cookies but double the deliciousness), galaxy chocolate (mum, you remember my obsession with dove chocolate five years ago? england has it !!!) and huge pizzas. im surprised i havent doubled in weight haha.

and the funny thing, cadbury and coke and other products are all stamped with the olympic logo on the packaging to advertise their support. i find it strange because im in the country thats going to be hosting the olympics. on that note i should really look into buying tickets.. most likely to the swimming.

i dont start work until three today, so i watched a movie, im going to do some washing (clothes and dishes) and then have a nice casual shift because julien isnt here tonight and selena is back so we can be a bit more relaxed.

havent planned any more trips just yet because amsterdam is fast approaching and i am trying to save a bit of money, but i think the next one will either be scotland or portugal for a couple of days, and hopefully troy and i will not be working here anymore because we have applied at heaps of different places and there are a few that we are eagerly waiting on responses to that are the same distance from, or closer to london.

anyway, ill be getting an international sim within the next couple of days so ill be sure to call you soon
much love xx

i am beginning to miss a few select things back home (apart from the people of course)

i miss my car... and driving
i miss cheese and dressing
i miss my dogs
i miss my bed
i miss the beach (and sunday northies sessions)
i miss knowing what time i am going to finish work
i miss watching friends and quoting it nonstop with my sister

and therefore i miss my sister coming into my bedroom for random talks at the weirdest hours
i miss mums amazing cleaning of my clothes
i miss a normal sized fridge
i miss fast internet
and i miss australian money.

but i love england...
i love how five minutes ago one of the chefs came upstairs with a mousse for me to eat for dessert
i love walking to kingston
i love snuggling up after a long shift at work and talking to people from work until about 2 in the morning, and then falling asleep
i love that they still have lucky pennies
i love sightseeing
i love the underground trains
i love planning cheap holidays
i love how cheap everything is (four pounds for a movie, twelve pounds for a bottle of rum)
i love picking up bits and pieces of french
and i love not working till 6am in the morning.

yesterday was pancake day in london, so everybody was coming in and ordering crepes for dessert, and julien ordered a crepe dish from the kitchen and shared with the bar staff. when someone came in and ordered a glass of champagne, their cheers was 'happy pancake day'.

after work the chefs made about 50 pancakes and troy bought some nutella and maple syrup and we all went to town on the crepes, melting the nutella and drinking strawberry/lime cider. it was amazing. the kitchen is our only communal area so when we are all together its usually there and there is usually snacks involved.

today troy and i are going to the national history museum, and the science museum, and probably buckingham palace. its likely that we will squeeze in a picnic at hyde park because my lonely planet london book says that is a must.

i forgot to take any heels away apart from my wedge boots, so im probably going to try and buy a pair today, because tomorrow is GIRLS NIGHT and all the ladies from work are going to have cocktails and to dance. im very exciteddd!!!!

anyway, i have to go send my application off for my national insurance number (NIN) which is the same as the tax file number in australia.
x

so apparently we have a town drunk. his name is ted (from teddington) and he came in today and ordered a london pride, at which point julien came over and basically threw him out of the pub. he comes in all the time, and doesnt seem to understand that he isnt welcome here...

work today was great. i started at 10 and finished at 6 and now i have the night off. just ordered an extra large pizza (free delivery from up the road) 15 inch for about 14pound. cant wait till it gets here.

now im sitting in the pub talking to my workmates and using the internet and heating... because clearly i dont see enough of them upstairs.. im also pretty sure the manager is impressed with the way im working because he its getting a bit more lenient with me and jokes around with me every now and then.

im also growing a little bit tired of the dinner shift because it starts at 6 but you have no idea what time it is going to finish. it could be 11, it could be 130.. really unpredictable.

i have wednesday off this week so i am either going to bournemouth to visit emma or doing some shopping somewhere (especially if i can get her to come to london city, we will hit camden town hard.)