The french boy and I decided to head to Spain for a weekend in Valencia to visit my friend from back in school and her spanish amigo. I love the lifestyle in Spain. Sleep when you are tired (siesta), eat when you are hungry. We went for tapas at about 11pm at night and that was quite acceptable.

We also sampled the local paella (traditional rice dish in Spain) - the chef was actually an award winning paella maker. I thought the chicken was delicious until we finished the meal and was told we had just eaten rabbit. Paella is yummy.

Thanks for a lovely weekend away, strolling the streets of Valencia with great company.

After checking out a whole lot of shows throughout the festival, this was by far the best and I recommend it to anyone.

La Clique. Almost impossible to describe… Burlesque, magic, A 100% satisfying rush of pure, adult carnival magic, an unforgettable night of entertainment. It leaves you feeling satisfied and with such a magical feeling.

Their website says they travel the globe with their show, so you might just catch it.

Check it out here:

If you ever get the chance to spend time in Edinburgh during August and the festival madness, DO IT. The ‘Burgh has come alive and I’m so glad to be living here now for this. Street performers, artists, actresses, people in costumes all over the streets. Flyers planted everywhere.

I promised myself that I would make the most of living here for the festival so have been booking tickets all over the place for various shows throughout the month.

I went to the following shows and really loved them.

• The Lady Boys of Bangkok, a cabaret show featuring men as women - we could not believe how gorgeous some of them were. I was one of the few pulled up on stage with the Ladyboys and danced YMCA with them.
• Office Party, one crazy show where we part of the office party and it felt just as awkward as one. We weren’t sure who were actors and who were part of the audience. We were part of the marketing team and our Manager ended up a stripper and poledanced.
• One of the funnest nights, the Silent Disco, where everyone gets a set of headphones and you can switch between the music if you don’t like it, and if you take them off, it is silent apart from the bad singing. What a phenomenon.
• We checked out Jason Byrne, an Irish comedian from Dublin with a filthy mind and amazing improvisation comedy. We absolutely rated it.
• La Clique, a cabaret show full of talents from all over the globe in the famous Spiegel tent.
• And many more free shows, and random shows we spontaneously stumbled across…

I have had friends stay most weekends of the festival (one of the benefits of me living here), some came up from London. I took them to a ceilidh and hung out with my friends. It really has been one of the best months of my life. Alot of people don’t realise that there is a free festival as well as the Fringe festival where you have to pay for shows. I have been to so many free shows throughout the month. The free shows can be hit or miss, either really great or really mediocre. But with a free show, there is nothing to lose.

Here’s a few piccies I have taken over festival time:

At low tide this weekend, a mix of couchsurfers/friends from different countries walked over to an island in the Firth of Forth for a weekend of fun on a deserted island. There is absolutely nothing on the island apart from remains of the barracks from WW2, so it was really back to basics. Bring out the guitar, the campfire, and drinkies.

we had our own entertainment - graham on bagpipes

making sweet music in the bunker

We had such a great time on the island. It’s amazing how much fun you can have with a guitar, good times and good company. It has dawned on me that I am leaving some of these wonderful people in a month or so to move to London. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Rock on Edinburgh.

Next stop Venice, northern Italy. A magical floating city. Romantic Venezia.

The best thing you can do in Venice is get yourself lost. And it is incredibly easy to do so - the street signs are hard to find and there is a multitude of tiny streets so it is almost like some kind of maze. But if you are not worried about getting lost, you will find somewhere special.

heart floating down the river

The most touristy places are St Marks Square, and the “Piazza san Marco” which you’ve got to see, but can then move on quite quickly to the better parts of Venice. It was going to be 80 euros for a touristy gondola ride but as fate would have it, we ended up meeting some lovely local Italians called Angelo, Stefano, Valerie and Giamba who happened to have their very own speedboat. They took us cruising through the grand canal of Venice by night. How lucky are we.

In one of our moments of getting lost in Venice, we came across one spot in an alleyway where we stopped and sat for an hour in the most serene setting I’ve ever been in. I have never felt so peaceful in my life. On reflection, this was one of my favourite days of our whole journey. But, as you’ll see from the things we have seen or done on this trip, there was some stiff competition. But this place, absolute peace.

There was noone in sight, we sat on the edge of the water watching the reflections of the buildings on the water. I cant really explain it but a picture tells a thousand words, so here goes…

A few of the little things I loved about europe… train rides (amazing way to travel and see the countryside), sunshine, the food, being in countries where everyone was speaking another language and meeting locals. Travel really is addictive - as we call it English, I have a case of the ‘travel bug’.

I’ve been inspired to learn another language and am determined to learn French… note to self.

Well… I am now sitting back in my seat at work, with the weekend of craziness all over.

3 days of dance/electro music in Banbury, camping with no showers, trooping through the mud in wellingtons (gumboots) and dancing up a storm in the different music tents!

The first day’s weather was great but the second was a downpour. Lots of people reluctantly packed up their flooded flattened tents and left for home. This was our first proper UK festival and we were going to experience the festival in the wet and rainy weather, a stark contrast to festivals at home in blaring sunshine.

One thing I don’t understand about these types of festivals is why everyone needs to get so wasted out of their heads on drugs to enjoy themselves at a music event. Is the music that shit, that you can only listen to it whilst so whacked you can’t even remember your name? We’re indulgent beings I know. But one guy (who we later found out had two children) died in the same music tent as us this weekend. Anyone can take a dodgy pill and drop dead.

So now the drugs are in the media. The BBC are having a field day. So tragic for the family.

The French boy got invited into the tent next to us and went in to chat with them. There was every drug imaginable in their tent. One of the guys got them shipped in from Morocco and did the full on “lock stock and two smoking barrels” business. I heard a chick at 6am in the morning (in the same tent) speaking desperately and slowly… ”oh come on, just one more pill. no coke. nothing else i promise. just one more pill…”

me and alley grooving to music

these girls knew what they were doing

us grooving at the party bus

I won’t forget seeing Alley laughing/crying because she spilt wine in her eye. Funny moment.

Wow. The Ceilidh (said like “kay-lee”) was one of the best nights I have had since being overseas. It was a non stop night of traditional Scottish dancing with the caller teaching us the dances to wicked (modernised) Scottish music.

The band Teannaich was rocking and you can’t help getting up and grooving to the funky/jazzy/folky/rocky music.

I didn’t realise how exhausting it would be, it was a complete work out. I paid for it the next day with bruised arms and aching muscles. There was a big group of us there made up of internationals from France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany and of course, Scotland (lots of men in kilts). And we had so much fun.

dancing up a storm

In one of the dances, the guys spin you around in a circle by your arms and your legs fly off the floor. My favourite dances were Strip the Willow and Gay Gordons. Soooo much fun.

On Saturday night a big group of us (about 30 or so people) did a Pub Scavenger Hunt for three of our birthdays (me and californian Stef and italian Luca). This included such tasks as finding an old lady to pull the bird, getting a stranger’s phone number, picture of a belly button, or having a dance off with someone in a pub. It was a good laugh.

My birthday was certainly one to remember this year, for more reasons than one.

I have been instructed by my mother to update my blog more often. So the reason I haven’t updated the blog is because I have been a busy bee! We have made quite a few friends here now so my nights consist of comedy nights, pub meets, drinks or coffees with friends from all different countries.

I learnt an important lesson last weekend (which I will probably forget by next weekend) - not to drink on Sundays. Monday was an absolute killer at work. But in our drunken state, me and my friend thought it was a good idea to come home after the pub and keep drinking wine and watch Trainspotting. And Cam took me to a club where his crew of gay/trannies were DJ’ing so went there then we all went for drinks afterwards. Sadie had an amazing big fluffy coat (resembling something off Almost Famous below) - love their outlandish fashion, anything goes.

They really are a lot of fun. It’s so funny the looks you get when you are out with a group of gay/trannies. I couldnt care less that I’m the only real female in the group. Some do look beautiful and deceivingly feminine. I can see how some guys with beer goggles on can get themselves into some tricky situations

love fluffy coats