MY EARLY ADVENTURES>>>
Feb 2nd 2006
It's freezing today! Minus 1. It snowed just outa London! Agh!

Wana hear what I got up to last night!? Well here goes anyway!!
I wanted to see a show but it was all abit of a drama before I even got there!!! ... Minus 1 degrees outside... had to walk to drop off flat key to friend... got a bit lost... ran for bus but card had no money left! Ran bak to a station... waited for bus... by now the hour before the show time was up... finally caught bus and managed to get the courage up to talk to a very nice chick sitting next to me, made first potential friend by myself, exchanged ph numbers in hope of catchin a show sometime together - yay...
Bak to the bus - it didnt go to where I thought it would but instead stopped a whole block short... gutted Im wearing high-heeled boots, it is now 7.40 and 'Blood Brothers' is suppose to start at 7.45pm at the Phoenix... will I get there?
Doubt it - and if so, will there be CHEAP tickets?!?! So I try to half walk, halk run, probably a very funny site... but then again everyone's always in a rush in London... so find Phoenix, doors shut, no lights on &.50 - gutted - well let's try another theatre - I know they are all around here somewhere - something must start at 8! No time for a MAP, JUST RUN!.... HEHEHEHEHE...... Oh big billboard for Mary Poppins how cool - gutted, box office shut, man said 'closed sorry'.
Dear God, i would really really like to see a show... keep running... no idea where I am going... turn here, then there - oops shop names all in Chinese, must be in Chinatown - oh, another billboard- Chicago - closed to... another turn - HUGE SIGN AHEAD- its LES MIS!!!!
\nGod, you rock!!!!!!!! Im was quickly ushered to my seat (it had started at 7.30 but roughly knew the story and could pick up where we were. What an answer to my prayers! And better yet, it was free!\nThe singing was intense and so good. Their range was incredible!!!!! The children were so gorgeous and talented! Can I have them in my class please!!!!!!!! And the set- wow- revolving, changing, huge barracks, amazing sewers, then simple use of lighting with revoling stage for journeys... I could go on and on! Ha, I am ... hehehe ... but it was sooooooooooo uplifting. And just the prayers, the song made me want to cry...
Oh and I got to thank the man, actually it was a whole group who had 1 spare ticket and tried to sell it, right up until the show started, and they were so kind and glad that it was put to good use. I really felt like God was saying, 'Your first one's on me, kiddo.' Yay. I'm still buzzing! Can you tell?! Hehehehe.

Actually, everyday at the moment is a bit of an adventure!
I had my first day supply teaching today and guess what I taught... MATHS! I could even do some of it! Ha. I also got to teach R.E which was on missionaires, so that was cool. A nice school although I was 1 1/4 away!!!!Basingstoke still want me but I have said no for now. My day to day with be closer tomorrow. I kinda like suppy though - no planning or markin!!!! Just wld miss not getting my subjects or to build relationships. Will see how things go! I must say though, it is a mission finding your way around a big city, by yourself and trying to get to a foreign school on time! I acn do it though! I'm superwoman! Nah, I just have a good A-Z of London, a traveller's best friend!

Hope my adventure gave you a bit of a laugh.

Mid-term Break - My First European Holiday

PART II of my Mid-term Break and first European Holiday - Roma, Italy

Today we went to see the Vatican City... the line to get inside stretched around St Peter's Square, but it must be a lot worse in the summer... The inside is huge and so beautiful. Incredible mosaics, ornate ceilings, statues galore! The pros of standing next to a tour guide means that although you didn't pay as such, you get to know which Pope's body is replicated (I hope it wasn't the real thing), which famous artist designed or made which piece of work and that the candles in the centre are over what is known to be St Peter's tomb!

The climb up to the dome is over 360 steps, alongside of the lift and in tunnels which are so lopsided and narrow that I would not recommend for claustrophobics! But the view... it is beautiful... the whole of St Peter's square and the rest of Rome lies before you! We missed the Sistine >Chapel as it shuts at 12.25 but I will be back on Monday.

Dodgy, Letisha and I indulged in pizza, Italiano style and more gelato! The hot chocolate is so thick and looks like hot fudge... I'll be getting myself another one of those!

After saying goodbye to the girls, I am now on my own. Whilst wondering around, in the general direction of the colosium I was asked for the time, then proceeded to be befriended by an art tutor. He suggest visiting San Clemente, one of the oldest churches around, part of it, the lowest level (20 m down), is probably 2nd century BC!

Afterwards, I visited the colossium , with the late afternoon sun painting it in such warmth that you could forget it was winter. Futher on, there was a huge protest with police officers galore. The site of shields and batons took my interest, but being the smart girl that I am, I stayed way back. Still have no idea what it was about but I’m sure that one said something about Iraq?

Later in the week…
I am sure I have walked 5,000 miles today! (I can feel a song coming on... hehehe) Anyway... I walked from one side of Rome to the other and back again and half way there and back again!! But it was worth it! I went to see the Sistine Chapel - words can't do it justice! Michelangelo's ceiling has incredible stories - the Creation, Adam and Eve, and so much more... the end wall is covered with The Last Judgement - it was huge and so detailed. Raphael's rooms were so beautiful too! His 'School of Athens' was cool, esp since it includes Michelangelo sulking on the steps = ) However, with all this history and so much art - I'm coming to realise just how much history we lack in NZ and just how much I don't know!!!!!

Oh, yesterday I got to Palatine Hill- the idea that the actual Julius Caesar was there, lived, ruled and was murdered there was incredible - I thought of my kids that inacted that for Shakespeare last year!!! It was just a story then.... but it's real... the HISTORY ...aaaaggghhh! It is so amazing!!!!!!

However, enough history .... tomorrow - I think it's time for a bit of shopping (maybe some Italian shoes.... boots - aye yes!!!!! ... and more gelato! (Im walking enough so it's ok! Hehehehe.) – And I did! I bought some beautiful Italian leather boots! These boots are made for walking… and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do!

My final day in Rome… Time to head home…
I have loved Rome! Whether it was sitting at Fontana Trevi with the brilliant sunshine dancing on the spurting water, or sitting in a cafe drinking a rich caramel cappichino drizzled in ciocolato with the rain streaming down outside - it's all the same - a dream come true... picturesque and so rich is culture. I threw the coin over my shoulder into Trevi Fountain and so one day (hopefully not in the too distant future) I will be back... because as everyone knows, all roads lead to Rome.

Mid-Term Holiday

Heya
Well, Mid-term break came came quickly (a week and a half after I started supply teaching to be exact!) and so I headed off to Rome, Italy and Luzern in Switzerland with Dodgey and Letisha.
In Switzerland it was all go! I went tobogganing on Mt Pilatus and it rocked!!! Except for one run where I flipped, broke the tobogan and got stabbed! Not too much blood though and I was only a little sore on my next run! All good! I had snowball fights, made snow angels and danced as the snowflakes fell, landing on my nose and eyelashes... these are a few of my favourite things... hehehe. (I know Sound of Music is set in Austria but hey, close enough... hehehehe... don't let any Swiss hear me say that!)
Another day I went to a Picasso Museum (among other things) and saw a mixture of his works and photographs of the artist himself - I love it!
My emails home said, 'Life is still very surreal, I keep expecting to wake up from this dream! But for now, let the adventures keep coming! Just no more aerobatics, I forgot to take out sporting insurance! Oops!' and although normality is setting in, everything is still wonderful, just like the dream. And I hope it just keeps on coming!