Mona Lisa, not sure about the smile

The Louvre, the most famous of museums. The big, glass pyramid attracts millions of tourists each year, and honestly I could have done without it.
Don't get me wrong, it is amazing. There are literally thousand of pieces of artwork, I was even looking at sculptures created in the 1600's.
But therein lies the problem - there's too much, it's too big.
By the time you have qued up for half an hour to get through security, made your way through the tourists to buy your ticket and started looking at the sculptures, you're exhausted.

I mean I can't really complain, I was in Paris, and I got to see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Ramesses up close.
But after a couple of hours in there, I just wanted to get away from the tourists.

So I braved the heat and strolled back to the apartment.

An afternoon of reading, drinking cold water, letting my hair dry on the balcony and treating myself to a pastry from the Patisserie downstairs was just the kind of recovery I needed.

The next day was cooler, so I hopped on the metro to see the Arc De Triomphe, the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower.
The first time I went to Paris, Ali and I agreed that it was over-rated. I still agree, but only for the touristy areas. I didn't come to Paris to be surrounded by loud, rude Americans. I much preferred walking around the streets near our apartment and having the biggest salad of my life at a restaurant where they couldn't speak english.

But, that's over now. I am in Kent, at a house that feels like home. I think I'll spend a couple of weeks here just chilling out and enjoying the company of my family, I'm in no hurry to leave.

I would add a photo of the day, but blogger isn't letting me upload them, damn him.

Paris is burning

...not quite, but it is rather warm.

So my last day in amsterdam was pretty chilled. It involved a flea market with elephant necklaces and hash lollipops, Katherine almost dying, more pancakes, and consequently severe stomach aches.
At 5pm, I jumped on a train to Brussels, and after a semi (extremeley) stressful trip to find my hostel I just unpacked and crashed.
I only really had one day in Brussels, but as a small city that was all I needed. I took in the sites and ate so so so much.
Breakfast: Croissant and praline macaroon
Lunch: Waffles with chocolate sauce
Dinner: Steak, salad and frites.

I also took a stroll to the Brussels Midi train station, thinking I would buy a ticket to London to make my way to Kent, but came back with a ticket to Paris.
Which is where I am now, in an apartment walking distance from the Lourve. I'm crashing with mum's good friends, the Hendons - an absolutely hilarious family.

Again, I don't have a lot of time, so I might just head over to the Lourve today and do some other touristy things, but I will keep you all informed.

Soz for the lack of photos I'm not on my laptop, so I will update as soon as I'm in Kent.

Toodles!

This is simple Dutch bakery man..

okay, so the last few days have been hectic, and touristy, and tiring and fantastic.
I spent a day in London re-visiting the sites by myself, which was awesome because I go to be completely selfish :)
I went to the Tate Modern, walked along the Thames, had lunch in Covent Garden and went back to heaven, aka Oxford Street TopShop. Frick, it's amazing. What other store do you know that has it's own hairdresser, eyebrow and eyelash station and cafe?!
I strolled around Westminster and then up to Trafalgar Square, felt like a total tourist, but it was so good.

Yesterday I had to get up at bloody 5am - such a mission.
But, after a quick train ride and flight I landed in AMSTERDAM!
Oh man, it's so pretty here, I've been having little surreal "I can't believe I'm here" moments since I stepped out of the plane.
I met up with our friend, Emma (Egg), as I was walking to the hostel and we stashed my suitcase in a locker (a top locker, god knows how we managed to put it in there - ahhhh that's what she said! anyway..)
First destination in Amsterdam - the Heineken Museum, which was a lot better than I thought, considering I'm not a fan of beer unless its 40 degrees or I'm already drunk.
For the rest of the arvo/night we just waked around and hung out in my hostel, waiting for Katherine to get in from Paris.

Today was go, go, go despite the rain in the morning. To stay indoors we went to the sex museum :| ahhh I think I'm a little to sheltered for a lot of things in there - let's just say it was rather graphic, but pretty funny.
From there we jumped on a canal cruise to head up to the Anne Frank house, but when we saw how long the line was we decided to bail and book tickets online for tomorrow.
Okay, our lunch was the greatest thing ever. The pancake factory. Over 100 pancakes to chose from. We settled on chorizo and cheese, banana and nutella and pecan, maple syrup and ice-cream. Oh what pancakey goodness.
Now, I can't even tell you where we walked Emma and I were kind of blindly following Katherine - but we made it to the Grand Palace stopping along the way to see the bar that featured in Ocean's 11.
A canal ride later and we are back the hostel. I'm getting ready to go out and Katherine is zumba-ing in our dorm. Gah, she has way too much energy.

Tonight we are heading off on a pub crawl, if I don't blog again well you know why.

Speak soon kidlets, possibly from Brussels - where I am heading tomorrow.

You sound like you're from LONDON

ahhhh I had to, don't hate me.

Okay, so I'm incredibly tired writing this, so Luce please don't judge my spelling.
I'm currently hanging out in my first backpackers, trying to talk myself into going outside to get some food, even though I'm not hungry - but I have to beat this damn jet lag!

Oh yeah, so my flights!
The first (Perth to Singapore) was good, lovely big american guy sitting next to me wasn't annoying and chatty and let me out first once we landed.
That flight was delayed so the stopover in Singpore wasn't that long at all.
The next flight was death. I was next to a blind, french man (could it get more diificult?), so I was trapped in my seat for 12 FREAKING HOURS. And the movies were bad or french, and I felt sick already so I didn't take any cold and flu tablets, which meant I slept terribly.
However, that was a walk in the park compared to the stopover in Paris.
I can't decide if it was ironic or just bad karma, that thanks to my british passport I got to skip the entire huuuuuge line at customs, but then had to wait 2 hours for my luggage. Either way, wasn't much fun.
Neither was waiting 45 minutes for the shuttle, that then took an hour to get to Orly Aiport.
All for a measly hour flight into London.

That was amazing though, if you ever get the chance to fly into London City Airport, do it!
On one side I had the city, I actually saw Buckingham Palace so close that I could see Kate and Wills' kissy balcony. On the other side was the Thames, ahh it was just magic.

In the spirit of Lucy and Brooke here is my photo of the day, my dinner for tonight.
I ran out just then (literally ran, it's bloody raining here!) to grab this, and I couldn't be happier.

There She Goes..

Welcome to Hanbel Abroad: The fascinating rambles of my trip through europe.
Day Numero Uno:
I'm finally packed and am getting ready to head off to the airport.
Guy came round for a massive breakfast cooked by my darling mother and step-father, which has gotten me equally excited and nervous for this first part of my trip.
Bri, Brooke, Lucy, Amo and Anh (you little darlings!) turned up at my door for a suprise farewell.
Goddam I'm going to miss you munchkins - thankyou for the presents and hugs and tears.

I am now sitting on my bedroom floor, putting off packing the last little bits.
Although, I'm meant to be at the airport in an hour so I really should get moving.

So here's my farewell: I love you all, I'll miss you all, but I'm so excited for this little adventure.
Keep checking this for updates, I'll try and post as often as possible.
Speak to you soon, wish me luck! (I think I'll need it, especially when Guy gets into London)