A little bit of something...

So I've decided that I really like cruising.

Why? Because I'm inherently lazy and enjoy 5 star service. I enjoy lazing about, reading, eating, going to shows, karaoke and 24 hour servitude from those around me. I can get all of this on a cruise. And I'm thinking I'd like to go on another one soon. Maybe in 2010 or something.

Is anyone else interested? I'm looking at fly-cruises, but also looking at cruised that either start or end in Fremantle. I told you I was lazy!

Meanwhile, housemate hunting is not going great. People LIE! Obvious lies!

Long time no post. Hmmm...where did I last leave off? I can't remember. I apologise in advance if spelling and punctuation is all over the place. I'm on an international keyboard so I have 254 code numbers for symbols and punctuation marks. Very annoying.

At any rate, I've posted some pictures on my facebook of Interlaken and Paris. Italy was a little weird with nothing actually working. I spent one of my free days in Rome at the Vatican museum which was massive. I still haven't seen St Peter's Basilica or the Colloseum. Will do so another time. Had a great time at Pompei and saw some ancient Pompei porn.

Florence was absolutely lovely and so was Venice. It was a little stinky, but I had a great time there. On our way to Munich, we stopped at Neuschwansien (sp?) Castle and discovered that King Ludwig was a 13 year old fanboy to the nth degree. He had 3 castles built dedicated to Wagner and his operas. Between the dining room and the sitting room, he installed a bat cave. I loved it. So tacky!

Am now in Budapest, but can't talk. I suddenly have a line of people waiting to use the free internet. Grrr! But, before I go, a conversation at the Hopfbrauhaus in Munich.

Nerida: He's a faggot. I don't think we have any of those on our tour.
Sassy: Um...
Nerida: (realises she's made a twat of herself) Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends are faggots.

Annecy, Geneva and Nice - very quiet and a little boring as there were not many things to do. So, I watched old, leathery naked people sunbathing on rocky beaches. I thought it would be uncomfortable, but then remembered that people pay a lot for hot stone massages so decided to join in the fun. 

Not the naked bit! Just laid on the stones for a while, which was actually quite nice because it was warm on my back.

The rest of the day was spent shopping in the Old Town and eating. A billion different flavours of ice-cream on offer, but no tasters. That makes me sad. I decided on jasmin, violet and guava. I now regret eating dinner. I should have gone for the 15 scoops of ice-cream. Not that dinner was bad, it was pretty awesom, though not as good as AH's. His gnocchi was fabulous. I highly recommend ice-cream from the French Riviera. They makes them goodly.

The night before, we went to the Monaco Cathederal where Prince Ranier and Grace Kelly were married (and buried) and then went to the Grande Casino, which wasn't grand in size, but was very grand in it's elegance and the $$$$$ crazy rich people were throwing away. At one point, a E5,000 bet was made and LOST! and I almost had a heart attack. But he shrugged and continued playing. I couldn't watch any more and spent the evening playing the pokies. I came out breaking even, which was good because I had a good hour and a half at the casino.

Yesterday, we went to Pisa and I had my obligatory "oops, I accidentally tipped over the tower" photo. So, all in all, a good, albeit quite few days.

Today, however, is going to be a mad rush. But, I've decided to take it easy because AH and I are heading back to Florence after our cruise.

Miss you all. Hugs, kisses.

Boo.

Dad is as happy as a pig in mud.

Mum has been wanting a mobile phone for a while ever since her last few emergencies. Dad has been promising her a cheapo phone for just as long but nothing came of it. Last night she complained again and I decided to give her my new Nokia phone (the free one I was given when I signed up with Virgin).

Dad saw the phone and it was instant lust. He generously gave mum his old clunker claiming it was easier to use. She didn't care because she doesn't really need it except for emergencies. Dad was delirious with all the new functionalities of the Nokia.

D: Oh look, a camera *snap snap snap*
Me: *reaches for phone* Yeah, it's pretty good and you can zoom in and out like...
D: *slap hand away* My phone!
D: Oooohhh, GPS! It's broken. It doesn't work.
Me: It's not broken. We're inside the house and not moving.
D: Field Trip!

And off we went on a little trip to KFC Subiaco.

Only this morning did he notice his contacts list was missing. Minor details. Luckily they were all in his directory and could be copied over.

Oi!

On other news, special_trille and I had an amazing time in Canberra with haunted_attics and our fabulous hostess isilya. Our accommodation was five stars (except the pillows - only 4.5 stars) and the food, oh, the fabulous food! The company, as always brilliant. Attic's housemates who were wonderful and Isilya's neighbours who were a riot. Thank you both for making our stay so amazing.

We went to see The Audreys play at the ANU Bar. Fantastic performance, crap venue and people (at the back - front people were brilliant). We also went to see the Turner to Monet exhibition at the National Art Gallery. I fell in love with the Luce and the Van Gogh's "Tree Trunks in the Grass". For reals, I’ve seen the painting before as a print and didn’t care for it, but to see it in real life, the colours are so rich you can’t take your eyes off it.

The rest of our stay was spent eating. On Sunday we started with muffins for breakfast and a pot of tea. We went to the markets  and had more food (tastings - we stayed for hours sampling the food) and then went back to Attics place to drink ginger wine, eat flavoured macadamia nuts and then gorged ourselves with  the most amazing spicy pork ribs and a lemon delicious for dessert. The next day we had breakfast which became an antipasto lunch of bagels, trout spread, spicy salsa dip, cummin flavoured cheese and olives. We played with the Wii for a bit and then it was dinner with pesto and parmesan chicken breasts and lemon baked potatoes and salad. We played a wicked game of UNO and then had supper of cracker thins and pate and more of the salsa dip.

I'm not going to bore you with other foods we ate because we ate. A LOT. OMG! And everything was so delicious.  So again, thank you ladies for the company and the food.

Got to the Citiclub Hotel at 12.30 am and was up again at 5.45 am to get to my pick up point for my day tour to Mount Buller.

I am now back and showered and warm and oh God, sore everywhere! Skiing is traumatic. Skiing hurts so much.

My tour included a 2 hour beginner's group skiing lesson. You would have though that if you've never skied before and were taking lessons, the ski school would would then be at the very bottom, or at the top of the baby slope, right where the ski lift drops you off. But no. The ski school is smack in the middle so you have to walk either 400 metres up or down carrying your stupid skiis. Turns out walking in snow wasn't so bad. I think it took me about 7 minutes with my gear and trying not to get in the way of the other skiiers and snowboarders.

The skiing lesson was traumatic and painful. My calves, knees, thighs, back and bottom hurt so much. But, I finally got over the ordeal. And then:-

I: Now we'll all go on the lift up and try skiing down the slope.
Me: Nooo!
I: You can do it Jasmin.
Me: Fine, but I'm not happy!

Half an hour later, in the middle of the ski field:

I: You can't continue to lie in the snow. Come on, get up.
Me: No, it's OK. I saw a video. I'll dig a hole and I'm sorted for the winter.

Another half an hour:

Me: Yes! At last! Freedom from this hell!
I: You did good. The you only fell 12 times the last 400 metres.
Me: Die now.

What was fun, however, was tabogganing. Sure, I had to drag my piece of plastic up the taboggan slope, but it was so much lighter than the skiis. And because I didn't stop and fall every two seconds, it was fun if a little scarey. I liked it a lot. The snow in the taboggan area wasn't as white though. OK, it was pretty dirty.

And it rained heaps on the snow field. I thought that was weird. All in all, it was good fun despite the cold and wet. Anyway, tomorrow, the girls will be arriving so yay!