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Sunday, May 22, 2005

Eurovision + Austria update

Eurovision It's our last day in Europe today. Our time in Austria just flew by, didn't even have time to update the weblog.

Basically have been very busy meeting up with friends and family. Went to the Vienna zoo with a good friend and her daughter, met up with a good friend in a cafe chatting over some traditional Viennese coffee. Met up with my good friend Nicole at the Australian restaurant Crossfield's and went to my friend Andrea's wedding on Friday. Wow, that was a long event and we had loads of fun. Didn't get home until after 3 am and definitely had way too much wine that day.

Then yesterday we met up with some friends I haven't seen in about 5 years or so. And in the evening went to Lower Austria to stay with my parents at their summer house. Watched the Eurovision Song Contest together. For all of you who don't know, it's a song competition of countries in Europe. It's extremely cheesy and the voting is very predicable, usually all the Eastern countries vote for each other, same with the Scandinavian nations. But the whole fun really lies in embracing the cheesiness and craziness. :) You might have to be European to fully understand.

Better get going know as we are going out to dinner to an Italian restaurant now. I am almost done with packing so that's good. We are leaving tomorrow at 2 pm. See you all when I get back to the US. :)

Posted by Hanna at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Cute Kitty

Cat5 Having so much fun here in England. But the best part is ... my best friend Joanne just got a kitten today. How cute is that ? His name is Monty and he is a black and white cutie pie. Just the sweetest little kitten, I can't even describe him. :)

Besides that we went to London on Friday. Went to see the British Museum and the Tower of London. Then yesterday (Saturday) we went to see my friend/pen pal Kirsty in Derby. Had lunch at a really yummy Italian place and then went to visit the Bass Museum.

Today we went to Brighton which is a really nice seaside town. I loved being near the ocean, walking around. Then on the way back went to Arundel Castle which was really nice as well. Arundel is also a very nice town with a bunch of antique shops. Sat in a pub to write some post cards which was fun.

Tomorrow we are going to see Hampton Court Palace. And Tuesday it's off to Vienna already. How time flies. :)

Posted by Hanna at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Welcome to the UK

Map So we made it. :) The flight was ok and I have to say that to my surprise the food on British Airways was actually not that bad. We had ok food and the flight went pretty quickly.

Made it to my friend's house by midnight and finally got to bed around 1 am or so after some catching up. Now it's around noon and we are probably heading out some time soon. It doesn't quite feel like noon though, still getting over the five hour time difference I suppose. But that will work itself out sooner or later.

Going to the "New Forest" today which basically seems to be a big forest with lots of cute pretty little towns in it. Promise I will take lots of pictures. :)

Going to London tomorrow probably and Saturday we are going to see my pen pal/friend Kirsty in Derby a little bit north.

Posted by Hanna at 06:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Ready yet ?

So I am all packed but as usual I can't seem to shake this feeling that I am forgetting something. I can never enjoy the night before a trip, just too restless. I am worried that I forgot something essential, I am worried that I won't have enough room to bring "stuff" back, ... worried about who knows what else. :) In German we have a word called "travel-fever" which basically describes my condition. It means being nervous/anxious about traveling. You would think with all the traveling I have done I wouldn't be nervous anymore.

Well, on a brighter note .. I am not worried that I will be just fine tomorrow. I will be at my friend Joanne's house in England which is just incredibly cool. Can't wait to see her again. AND I don't have to go to work for almost two weeks ... so hey, I'll take some "travel fever" any day for that. :)

Posted by Hanna at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Monday, May 09, 2005

Let's get organized

Ollieclothes My Sunday was spent trying to re-organize all my clothes. You know the feeling of having a lot of clothes but not being able to find a darn thing. Well, that's how I was feeling. So I decided that it was time for a big overhaul - yet again. I am a pat rack, I will be the first to admit it, so I need to go through my clothes at least once a year to clean out and get rid of some stuff. I actually managed to get rid of 4 big garbage bags full of clothes. Yes, and I still have an overflowing closet and dresser. :) But at least I have a little bit of room to breathe now and everything is sort of organized - for now anyway. (you can see my cat Ollie enjoying himself sleeping on all the laid out clothes)

Work was very busy today, I really hate Mondays, they just never go well. At least I only have one more day before we leave for our trip. It's nice but also a bit stressful since I can't seem to shake the feeling that I am forgetting something. Still have a few things to do tomorrow night and of course PACK. We are leaving early Wednesday morning so I have to get everything ready tomorrow night.

Will try and do a quick post tomorrow. :) If I don't get around to it I will try and post while we are in Europe. Should have internet access both in England and Austria.
PS: Leslie, I haven't forgotten about the rest of the questions. I promise to answer them as soon as we get back. :)

Posted by Hanna at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Lazy Day

Had a very nice day off from work today. Can't believe almost a whole week has gone by since my last post. It's May already and time is just flying. Anyway, work's been busy as hell and I finally got a day off today which was HEAVEN. :)

Didn't really do much. Finished reading my book "Second Time Around" by Marcia Willett, dreaming about living at the little cottage in the cove in England, drinking tea and watching the ocean. Cuddled with my cat Ollie and managed to answer all my emails. Still have some letters to write but at least the emails are done.

Also spent some time on the phone with my friend Joanne, procrastinating, trying to avoid some of the tasks I was supposed to do. She is getting a kitten while we are there so I am very excited. :) Can't believe it's only a week until we are leaving. I feel totally unprepared. I guess I have organized most of what I need to do but still have a lot of stuff left to do.

I have decided to finally tackle the questions that my blog pal Leslie sent me all the way back in March. Sorry for taking so long. :) I decided to try and answer one question at a time, so let's start with no. 1 for today.

1.  What's your idea of a perfect day?
Mmm .. let's see. :) I would have to say something like "The perfect day would be spent sitting on the wraparound porch of my dream house, with a kitten on my lap, drinking some iced tea and watching the ocean across from the house, possibly having a good book laying next to me." That sounds very ideal to me. Of course in that fantasy my best friend Joanne would be there with me on that porch and Mike would be on his way home. Mmm .. I really like that day-dream. :)

Now it's back to the real world. :) Probably gonna play some Scrabble in a little bit with Mike and tomorrow it's back to work. I always enjoy my days off - so much nicer to be able to lounge around the house, do whatever and cuddle with the cats and have endless cups of tea.

Posted by Hanna at 07:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack