Acushla is missing her extended family in Valencia. They are such lovely people and we have had such a great time together. Yesterday we went to Lucia´s parents' farm in the countryside up in the mountains. It was so lovely! Beautiful countryside and a lovely little town. The town has soo much history, the Muslims were there and before them the Romans. We went out to a Roman aqueduct and walked along it!
g2g will write more some other time!
Love Acushla.
p.s. it was so lovely to be part of a Spainish family for a weekend. Especially in the countryside. Their grandfather has a farm and the day before we came he had just gathered all the almonds so when we were at home we were sitting around talking and shelling almonds, it was nice. The food is so lovely here, and there is so much of it. Their grandma was so happy to be cooking for a guest and kept giving me food. They were both so lovely!
So goodbye Valencia! I will see you again!!
Monday, 8 September 2008
Saturday, 6 September 2008
Valencia
I am now in Valencia and staying with my ¨cousin¨ Laura and her mother Lucia. They are so lovely , and it is great to see Laura again. Valencia is so laid back and quiet a lovely place to chillout.
Take today for instance... we got up late had breakfast and then went to the beach for a few hours. Pablo, Angel´s son is with us for the weekend and is an energetic nine year old. We had lots of fun at the beach. We had lots of swimming races (half of which I lost!) and played beach tennis in the water.
We then came back at 2pm for lunch (they eat at different times here - lunch 2 to 3 pm and dinner anywhere between 8:30 and 10:30 pm) then lazed around-or to use the correct term had a siesta, for a few hours.
We then took a drive out into the foothills of the mountains to a Monastery. Unfortunately it wasn't open to the public today, but we did look through the fence. It is a very old monastery where the monks never leave the grounds in their whole lives.
We also went and had a look at the ground of a day spa and nearly gate crashed a wedding!! It was so funny.
I love the way people spend lots of time outside it is so great. Most meals are eaten outside as long as the weather is good and in the late afternoon when it is cooler everyone is out at the park or in an outside cafe.
I hope every father out there has a fantastic Father's Day!!!!
lots of love to you all
Acushla
Take today for instance... we got up late had breakfast and then went to the beach for a few hours. Pablo, Angel´s son is with us for the weekend and is an energetic nine year old. We had lots of fun at the beach. We had lots of swimming races (half of which I lost!) and played beach tennis in the water.
We then came back at 2pm for lunch (they eat at different times here - lunch 2 to 3 pm and dinner anywhere between 8:30 and 10:30 pm) then lazed around-or to use the correct term had a siesta, for a few hours.
We then took a drive out into the foothills of the mountains to a Monastery. Unfortunately it wasn't open to the public today, but we did look through the fence. It is a very old monastery where the monks never leave the grounds in their whole lives.
We also went and had a look at the ground of a day spa and nearly gate crashed a wedding!! It was so funny.
I love the way people spend lots of time outside it is so great. Most meals are eaten outside as long as the weather is good and in the late afternoon when it is cooler everyone is out at the park or in an outside cafe.
I hope every father out there has a fantastic Father's Day!!!!
lots of love to you all
Acushla
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Bathalona
I took a train out of Barcelona today and went to the Dali museum - it was so great!!!!!!!!!! We spent 5 hours, that's right FIVE hours wandering around the museum - it was fantastic. Really weird though and a little disturbing.
Yesterday we just wandered around and found this fantastic market full of wonderful fruit (Sasha they had watermelon everywhere and so many fruit smoothies!!) yummmmm!
I am so paranoid about my bag getting stolen as EVERY ONE who knows I'm in Barcelona seems to want to tell me how dangerous it is and how everyone gets things nicked. Its ok nothing has been stolen and I'm very careful..... but I really don't need more people trying to freak me out...... thank you for your concern.....
I just realised that it's Spring for you at home in Australia so I hope that you are all enjoying your warm Spring day!!! I can't wait to see you all.... it is very exciting.
Ok I have to go and sleep now,
all the best, cush.
Yesterday we just wandered around and found this fantastic market full of wonderful fruit (Sasha they had watermelon everywhere and so many fruit smoothies!!) yummmmm!
I am so paranoid about my bag getting stolen as EVERY ONE who knows I'm in Barcelona seems to want to tell me how dangerous it is and how everyone gets things nicked. Its ok nothing has been stolen and I'm very careful..... but I really don't need more people trying to freak me out...... thank you for your concern.....
I just realised that it's Spring for you at home in Australia so I hope that you are all enjoying your warm Spring day!!! I can't wait to see you all.... it is very exciting.
Ok I have to go and sleep now,
all the best, cush.
Friday, 29 August 2008
Hola from Barcelona
Hi all I am well and presently in Spain!! I spent the last two days in lovely Avignon in France which was great...... just hanging out, exploring castles and dancing on bridges......"Sur le pont d'Avignon".......
I miss and love you all.
love Acushla
love Acushla
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Monaco, Monte Carlo and Antibes
Today I went to Antibes by bus. I got off in a completely different town by accident but just waited for the next bus and got on that. The buses here are so good. We went to Monaco the other day and it only cost us 1 Euro by bus. We got off at what we thought was Monaco but was in fact Monte Carlo and we couldn't remember where Monte Carlo was. I thought that it was part of Monaco but we weren't sure. (Just to let you know, if you were wondering, it is part of Monaco so we were in the right country after all!!). We walked around town then went to the Casino but couldn't get in. We took a look at the really expensive cars and then took a walk along the marina to check out all the really expensive boats. From there we hiked up to the castle on top of the hill and ate brie and crackers whilst looking at the Mediterranean Sea. It was all very nice. We managed to walk around all of Monaco in an afternoon and climbed soooooooo many stairs.
Back in Nice we walked around the old town and found a really cool spot where all the locals were meeting. We sat down and joined them for a cheap dinner (the least amount of money I have actually spent eating out in Europe - only 5 euros for two different dishes). Rob had an ice cream and I found some sweets and then we went off and sat on the beach for ages.
So back to Antibes. I wandered into the old town trying to steer myself towards the Picasso Museum and by chance stumbled across a fantastic market. I picked up some food, doing a bit of food testing whilst I was there, and then continued on my way. The old town of Antibes was gorgeous - lovely old buildings with small curving alleyways opening into beautiful courtyards. I found the Picasso Museum and spent an hour or so wandering and wondering through. It was great. Picasso did an enormous amount of work and had so many different phases in his life with the result that the work is totally unlike each other. It was really interesting. Richard would have loved it.
I then walked by the sea down to the beach, actual sand!!!!! Brilliant! So I went swimming and sat for most of the afternoon on the beach reading a book. At 4 o-clock it was time to jump back on the bus to meet up with Robert in Nice, make some dinner and end off a brilliant day.
I hope that you are all having brilliant days like I am.
All the best, I love you lots, Acushla.
Back in Nice we walked around the old town and found a really cool spot where all the locals were meeting. We sat down and joined them for a cheap dinner (the least amount of money I have actually spent eating out in Europe - only 5 euros for two different dishes). Rob had an ice cream and I found some sweets and then we went off and sat on the beach for ages.
So back to Antibes. I wandered into the old town trying to steer myself towards the Picasso Museum and by chance stumbled across a fantastic market. I picked up some food, doing a bit of food testing whilst I was there, and then continued on my way. The old town of Antibes was gorgeous - lovely old buildings with small curving alleyways opening into beautiful courtyards. I found the Picasso Museum and spent an hour or so wandering and wondering through. It was great. Picasso did an enormous amount of work and had so many different phases in his life with the result that the work is totally unlike each other. It was really interesting. Richard would have loved it.
I then walked by the sea down to the beach, actual sand!!!!! Brilliant! So I went swimming and sat for most of the afternoon on the beach reading a book. At 4 o-clock it was time to jump back on the bus to meet up with Robert in Nice, make some dinner and end off a brilliant day.
I hope that you are all having brilliant days like I am.
All the best, I love you lots, Acushla.
Saturday, 23 August 2008
NIce
Hi all,
I'm now in Nice, it is sooo warm here and the beaches are rocky not sandy.... it is weird.
I met up with Robert after a terrible overnight train ride to Lauterbrunen in Switzerland. Actually the train ride was ok it was just the lack of sleep caused by changing trains four times and you know how I get when I'm over-tired.
The next day I went hiking in the Swiss Alps while Rob was in anuther town. It was the best view and scenery I have seen during all of my trip - snow covered Alps, lush green fields..... amazing!!! Check out the Flickr account - I have put some photos up.
But hiking I got sooo burnt and now can't go out in the sun. Ok it's not that bad but it wasn't fun.
Hiking in the Alps was soooooo amazing! So so beautiful. I can't wait to go back. As you walk along you can hear cow bells and then when you turn a corner you find a couple of cows just hanging out munching on grass and making music with their cow bells. By the end of the day of walking I was very tired . I had managed to walk from 10am until 6pm mostly non stop. Because Rob was in another town that was up on the ridge and I was in the valley I walked to meet him and then we had to walk all the way down the valley with his big pack. It is such a strange place for people to live and how on earth did they get up there before they had cable cars??? Well I guess the same way we walked down... but what on earth would make you want to build your house all the way up on the side of a cliff??
Now I'm back in France. It is nice in Nice but the weather means that we have to take everything easy have long lunches in the shade and really not do a whole lot because it is so hot. Nice is ok but we hope to head out of the city tomorrow and maybe go to Antibes or Cannes for a day. We also want to go to Monaco for an afternoon just for a laugh. It is actually quite ridiculous how the wealthy live - in order to apply for a building grant in Monaco they have to pay a couple of grand and that's just a processing fee. They each have two boats because their big ones can't fit into the harbor so they have to be moored out in the sea while another 'smaller' boat brings them to shore. How silly.
The water here is so blue and clear. It was such fun to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!! The water is warm and lovely.
Well I had better go and make some really late dinner.
I love you all.
Love Acushla
I'm now in Nice, it is sooo warm here and the beaches are rocky not sandy.... it is weird.
I met up with Robert after a terrible overnight train ride to Lauterbrunen in Switzerland. Actually the train ride was ok it was just the lack of sleep caused by changing trains four times and you know how I get when I'm over-tired.
The next day I went hiking in the Swiss Alps while Rob was in anuther town. It was the best view and scenery I have seen during all of my trip - snow covered Alps, lush green fields..... amazing!!! Check out the Flickr account - I have put some photos up.
But hiking I got sooo burnt and now can't go out in the sun. Ok it's not that bad but it wasn't fun.
Hiking in the Alps was soooooo amazing! So so beautiful. I can't wait to go back. As you walk along you can hear cow bells and then when you turn a corner you find a couple of cows just hanging out munching on grass and making music with their cow bells. By the end of the day of walking I was very tired . I had managed to walk from 10am until 6pm mostly non stop. Because Rob was in another town that was up on the ridge and I was in the valley I walked to meet him and then we had to walk all the way down the valley with his big pack. It is such a strange place for people to live and how on earth did they get up there before they had cable cars??? Well I guess the same way we walked down... but what on earth would make you want to build your house all the way up on the side of a cliff??
Now I'm back in France. It is nice in Nice but the weather means that we have to take everything easy have long lunches in the shade and really not do a whole lot because it is so hot. Nice is ok but we hope to head out of the city tomorrow and maybe go to Antibes or Cannes for a day. We also want to go to Monaco for an afternoon just for a laugh. It is actually quite ridiculous how the wealthy live - in order to apply for a building grant in Monaco they have to pay a couple of grand and that's just a processing fee. They each have two boats because their big ones can't fit into the harbor so they have to be moored out in the sea while another 'smaller' boat brings them to shore. How silly.
The water here is so blue and clear. It was such fun to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!! The water is warm and lovely.
Well I had better go and make some really late dinner.
I love you all.
Love Acushla
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Munchen
Well I'm back in Germany, this time in Munich. The weather is great so all you do in the afternoon is hang out in the beer gardens and drink beer by the litre until sunset.
I went to Dachau on Sunday.......words can't describe such an evil place.
But Munich is so full of history. The rise of the Nazi party, Hitler's treason, the bombing of World War II. I think it is amazing that so much of Munich was destroyed and yet they decided to rebuild it exactly the same as it was before the Second World War.
I have met lots of lovely people here and in Salzburg. Two American guys traveling with their mother and these three guys from England , Canada and Northern Ireland..... sounds like the beginning of a joke..... We are now going to spend the day lounging around in the sun and maybe go swimming!
Ok I love you all lots.
Acushla
I went to Dachau on Sunday.......words can't describe such an evil place.
But Munich is so full of history. The rise of the Nazi party, Hitler's treason, the bombing of World War II. I think it is amazing that so much of Munich was destroyed and yet they decided to rebuild it exactly the same as it was before the Second World War.
I have met lots of lovely people here and in Salzburg. Two American guys traveling with their mother and these three guys from England , Canada and Northern Ireland..... sounds like the beginning of a joke..... We are now going to spend the day lounging around in the sun and maybe go swimming!
Ok I love you all lots.
Acushla
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