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Holly vs the world

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hollyabroad

An Aussie traveling the world and getting her tourist on. A few home truths but mostly fun!!!

A whole new world (Jordan day 3 & 4ish)

Tuesday 26th November – Wednesday 27th November 2019

Get up, get up, get up!! It’s 7am and time to go, yeah that’s completely opposite to my level of enthusiasm! Not that I wasn’t keen to see more of Jordan, but my snot level had hit a new high and I was feeling especially crapola. But enough whining, today we were heading to Aqaba to pick up the rest of the tour who were finishing up a leg in Egypt. Now when Donnie said the previous day we were heading to Aqaba, not sure if it was his accent or the snot in my head but I thought he said Agrabah, Aladdin’shome!! Hadn’t quite figured out that I was in the wrong country for that but whatevs. But to get to Aqaba there was 5 hours on the bus first, with some pretty countryside that my snot infused face didn’t quite take full advantage of looking at. There was the big bus as promised though so 5 hours of napping was a dream!!

It was when we were pulling into Aqaba that I realised Aladdin did not live here! But that momentary disappointment was replaced by palms trees and green and my favourite, the ocean!!

With Abdul giving us a tight BOTB time and not being sure where Donnie lay with it, we legged it to the beach and were greeted by blue waters, palm trees and the most rubbish filled sand I’ve ever seen in my life! Yeah, ocean pretty, beach not so much. We did manage to find a dock wall thingy with direct access to the ocean so shoes off and dangled our feet in the water, hello ocean, I’ve missed you!

So an amazing thing about the port city of Aqaba on the Red Sea is that from this one place, you can see four countries! Yep, really cool!! So standing on the beach if I look to the right, there’s the shore of Egypt and to the far right are the hills of Israel.

Then when I look to the left, there’s Saudi Arabia (taken from a video cos snot face forgot to take a picture) and of course at my feet Jordan!!

So if you see a country but don’t actually step foot in it, does it count as having been there?? No, not when I put it like that. Anyhoo, after too many selfies cos it takes a year to get one good shot with this snot head of mine, we legged it back to the bus, with a quick stop for wine for our nights desert safari. Only running 5 minutes late the four of us girls were kinda shocked to find the bus gone. Hmmm. I’ve seen tour guides leave people behind before but not for being 5 minutes late!! Luckily I did listen when Donnie handed out his mobile number so using the last of my phone credit called him only to find out he’d left early to pick up the Egypt group, apparently he texted everyone, funny how none of us four got the text!! Anyhoo, taking a moment to grab a cold drink while waiting for the bus, we were joined by a few others cos apparently they didn’t get the text either. Abdul never left us, Abdul 6, Donnie -1.

Anyhoo, it was desert time and now with a jam packed bus we were off to Wadi Rum. Unfortunately for us that started the day in Amman, Wadi Rum is only 3 hours from there so we’d done a major detour, instead of it taking us 3 hours to get to Wadi Rum, it took 10. Yeah Aqaba was nice but would have rathered more desert time. Anyhoo, lots of those on this trip so far, pulling into Wadi Rum put me back in a good mood, felt like we’d just rocked up on a distant planet from Star Wars! Now I’m just name dropping, some of the new Rise of Skywalker movie was filmed there, so was The Martian starring Matt Damon. Red sand, enormous oddly beautiful shaped rocks and of course, camels!

Arriving at camp there was a quick toilet stop then straight into our Jeep safari, unlike in Morocco where you sit inside the car, these ones are utes with seats in the tray, soooo much more fun!!! The views across the desert are amazing, the rock formations are like nothing I’ve ever seen. I mean I’ve seen a few big rocks, but not all together like this and on this scale. I know, they probs look like this in the Aussie outback, really should explore my home country!!!

After hooning around for a while we stopped at a special rock with drawings on the stone that have been around for thousands of years, the drawings are directions to Petra, so Indiana Jones!! I was confused how they could last so long but the people who drew them were smarty pants and put them in a spot where the elements wouldn’t smash them and erode. Very smart!! Also some time for posed desert snaps, could only hold my arms up for a few seconds before the snot started running down my face!!!

BITJ and more hooning before arriving at an obvious tourist spot cos there was a hell of a line up of cars. More drawings in stone but these ones were of people, Lawrence of Arabia and some other King. Did anyone else just think Lawrence of Arabia was just a movie?? Didn’t realize the dude was real, must watch that movie. This spot was super fun and pretty, and even though I had zero energy I followed Liz, climbing some rocks for a gorgeous view, Wadi Rum is spectacular. A different kind of desert to the Sahara but they each hold their own!

After some coercing it was BITJ and to a spot to watch a spectacular sunset. Sunsets in the desert, nothing quite like it!!

Unfortunately we then had to go back to camp, really would have loved more time to explore the desert, the Jeep tour felt like a teaser! Anyhoo, back at camp we got our alloted rooms, got to choose to bunk with Liz, these camp rooms/tents had little en-suites, nice to not have to leg it across the desert in the middle of the night for the loo! And now, time to chillax. Out came the wine, down went more cold and flu tablets and I made a real effort to talk to people. I’d been feeling so shite I hadn’t made the time to really talk to everyone and find out their stories, also because when you’re sick, people kinda avoid you which is fair, when you’re traveling you do not want to be ill, you miss out as per Budapest! Would have avoided me too!! But I tried, chatting over a wine while standing in the desert camp and waiting for our dinner to be dug up. Yeah, this finally was traditional Jordanian style, like a hangi in New Zealand, they bury a basket of meat and veg in hot coals in the sand where it cooks into awesome yumminess. And by gosh it was good!!! And like Morocco, the kitty cats joined us for dinner!

After dinner, it was dancing time!! I love me a traditional dance and no snot head was gonna stop me. So I danced, we all danced however they only played about 3 songs, not sure if we sucked so bad they didn’t want to do more or if that’s all our money paid for! Either way, I was pretty tired so after listening to, I wanna say a sitar?? some kind of Jordanian version of a guitar while sitting around a camp fire, I retired to bed, I did have to be up at 5 for a camel ride after all!

Up quite literally before the sun, we ventured just outside of camp to find our camels just patiently waiting. Camels are kinda always patient huh? Just kinda sit there chewing and spitting occasionally. Anyhoo, only a handful of us chose to get up a stupid o’clock for the ride, knowing how epic the one in Morocco was, I didn’t want to miss out. Ever so awkwardly up again, there’s no graceful way to do it on a camel, we headed I really don’t know where, forward outside the camp. About 15 minutes later, not far from camp, we disembarked to watch the sunrise and by gosh it was pretty. Sunrises in the desert are just something else.

So something kinda weird happened while we were riding, ok, little weird, lots annoying!! These two Japanese ladies walked the whole time in front of us taking pictures, kinda hard to enjoy the serenity when you can hear the snaps of an SLR and chit chat the whole time. At first it was funny, then got real annoying. Kinda like camel paparazzi. And then when we stopped to watch the sunrise, they stood in front of us taking more pictures, was lucky to get some shots without them in it. One of the dudes tried to give them his email to at least get copies of the trillion of the pics they took but no can do apparently. Anyhoo, for the next half hour we just stood around while the camel guide dudes sat and smoked and chatted. Then we finally got back on and went back to camp, now it was daylight I was mostly looking at all the rubbish in the sand. Us humans are AH’s polluting like we do. Overall the camel ride was meh, I mean the sunrise was nice but would have liked to ride the camels for more than half the time at least, and go somewhere at least more than a stones throw from camp. It’s hard, Morocco was so brilliant, I’m comparing and while Jordan is bloody amazing, the service of the tour company isn’t measuring up. Anyhoo….

Back at camp we tried to shower but the dribble of cold water out the taps meant we were still camel stinky. Shout out to the person in the next door tent who showered for half hour and used all the water, gotta love tours!! At brekkie, which was a massive smorgasbords of bready cake things and kitty cats, everyone was complaining about getting eaten alive my mozzies, I hadn’t properly looked in the mirror but upon inspecting my hands, yep, red spots all over, I must have been tasty!! A pit stop in the bath room before BOTB and my face looked like a 13 year old teenager with acne. Great, I’m gonna look gorgeous for Petra…

Petra was a good 5 hours away, to break up the trip a little we stopped at this old train, just right there in the middle of the desert. Donnie, who I’ve just remembered is called Osama, but will continue to call Donnie cos I’m an arse, told us that there used to be a railway from Istanbul to Mecca, but the Arabic people sabotaged it when trying to drive out the Ottomans. Still no idea who the ottomans were, must google!

Being Petra bound I was excited AF, this is why I came to Jordan!! And when we stopped to see the canyon of the crescent moon from afar, I felt like a little kid at Christmas!!! It’s Petra, right there!!!!!

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The right stuff (Jordan day 1 & 2)

Sunday 24th November – Monday 25th November 2019)

Growing up, Jordan was just my favorite member of New Kids on the Block, THE boy band of the 90’s. It wasn’t until I was older and was allowed to watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that a different Jordan came onto my radar, all thanks to Petra. You know those last scenes when they find the canyon of the crescent moon? The hidden tomb carved into the rock where they find the holy grail? Yeah that’s Petra and since seeing it on the movie and finding out it’s a real place it’s been on my bucket list.

So back to the story. The universe sent me some love and gave me a whole row of seats on the plane so managed a snooze and pretty much breezed through passport control and customs. Had already bought the visa online so stamp, smile and I was done. Finally stepping out in Amman, the capital of Jordan and looking to be welcomed by the big arse Travel Talk sign as per Morocco, it was more of a search and rescue mission, when I saw a random group of tourists, figured it was them, kinda learning stuff huh? While it wasn’t quite the horrendous heat that welcomed us in Marrakech, it was pretty damn warm and I didn’t put up much of a protest when somehow I ended up with the front seat of the car, sitting head on into the air con for the ride to our accommodation. First impressions of Amman, uhhhhh??? Kinda what I expected Morocco to look like, except in that case it exceeded expectations, this was right on. Not to say it wasn’t interesting, very very different to any city I’d ever been and damn damn busy!!

Checking in at the hotel, I was still having an affair with the universe and got my own room for the night even though I’d only paid to share. Noice. The briefing that night by the tour guide I have to say was pretty average, the tour guide dude which to be honest, can’t even remember his name was no Abdul from our Morocco tour, mind you, Abdul set pretty high expectations!! All briefed I was still snoting everywhere so instead of being a normal Holly and trying to make friends, I just went to bed. No beer, no gin, just the other strong stuff.

Monday morning in Amman and it was the first of many BOTB. Except this bus was kinda small, like an 80s Volkswagen van, small and probs the same age. Our tour guide, let’s name him Donnie (my second favourite NKOTB) asssured us it was only for today and we’d have a bigger bus when the rest of the group joined us… rest of the group?? Huh?? Am I missing something? Was probs searching for tissues when Donnie mentioned that last night. Anyhoo, we were off to Jerash, a world heritage UNESCO site with ancient Roman ruins and the second reason behind Petra I wanted to visit Jordan. On the way Donnie got his guide on and introduced us to Jordan, a country shaped like half a t-shirt, ruled by a king, a democracy and apparently really really safe. Don’t mind the fact it borders with Syria and Iraq, minor detail. The population is just shy of 10 million, not bad for a country 87 times SMALLER than Australia, there are also millions of refugees as you’d except given the unrest all around it. Also has Israel to the left, to the left. Yes Beyoncé. The river that runs through Jordan is creatively called the Jordan River, maybe it sounds familiar?? Yeah, that’s where Jesus was baptised, the place also has biblical ties to the angel Jacob although Donnie didn’t elaborate on that one. Alexander the Great also marched through here when conquering the entire planet. Feel some google coming on, Donnie isn’t entirely forthcoming with the endless amount of facts this nerd needs!!

Arriving at Jerash, you’re kinda underwhelmed cos it seems like google has lied about its grandeur. But then you see this…

An ancient arch built by the Roman emperor Hadrian, yep, that dude again. Built to welcome himself to the city, thats one hell of an ego! Only he was allowed through the centre arch, the soldiers had to go through the sides. A yella from Donnie and we’re through the arch and looking down on an underground cemetery, which we weren’t allowed to go in, it sat beneath these cool tiled things that had a name but once again was searching for tissues and didn’t quite hear what Donnie said it was!

A wander down the road, through a smaller arch and we’re into the Hippodrome, I’d compare it to the Thunderdome, it’s where they used to do chariot races, up and back and around seven times, 244m each time or all up?? Can’t remember, too much pseudoephedrine! Either way, looked pretty cool and by the sounds of it, damn dangerous, the cemetery makes sense now!

Through one more arch with watch towers that unfortunately was most destroyed by an earthquake and oh right, yeah I see it now. Google told no lies, this place is huge and bloody amazing!! But first the arch…

And now the site that is Jerash, the place dates back to 7500 BC, has been taken over by every man and his dog passing through and is considered the Pompeii of the East, yeah I got my google on for that one!! The curved pillars, which really take your breathe away when you see them, are called the forum and is 90m long. You can just imagine how intimidating and impressive this city would have been back in the day, the Romans sure knew how to show their might!

Our next stop was the theatre where they had plays and entertained those part of the ‘in’ crowd, don’t think the locals were allowed in.

The steps up the theatre were pretty steep and uneven, I knew I could make it to the top but getting down was gonna hurt my netball knees, but when in Rome…and the views were worth it!!

My pictures really don’t capture how massive and impressive the site is, even with a super duper wide screen camera lens I really don’t think you could capture it. There are ruins as far as the eye can see, but smack bang in the middle of a city so there’s quite the contrast between the old and the not so old. Ruins upon ruins upon ruins and I loved it!!

Now I did kinda listen to Donnie again but trying not to be a complete arse, or maybe I just will be, he really wasn’t overly engaging when he spoke, kinda like listening to my grade 9 physics teacher. I missed Abdul’s enthusiasm! What I do recall, the site was dug up for some reason, there’s still plenty underneath they haven’t quite gotten too, costs money and apparently the government have other priorities, like helping all the fleeing refugees, fair enough. What I love about the site are the columns, they are so imposing and stunning, perfectly lined up and so damn high, how the hell they got them up I have no idea, maybe it was the same aliens that did the pyramids?? Or just probs thousands of slaves, another reason for the cemetery…

So the next place was a temple with ten pillars for Artemis and maybe dedicated to Diana, the god of love?? Or was it dedicated to Artemis, I really must listen. Either way, it was built on the highest point to be closer to god. In fact, all the churches on the site face Jerusalem, how they worked it out back then who knows, certainly wasn’t using an app on their iPhone! Considering the country is now 90% Muslim, pretty impressive they got away with having churches at all. But from what I’ve learnt about this dude Hadrian, what he says goes.

I kinda wish that this place had one of those self guided tours, stick in some headphones and wander while listening to the history of the place, and blowing your nose. Can’t recall what this next place was, either I wasn’t listening or Donnie didn’t mention, probs another arch for the egotistical Hadrian to wander through…

Our last little stop on our Jerash site tour was at a water foundation dedicated to Nym… yeah a god. Maybe it was Nymphadora, or is that from Harry Potter? Didn’t quite catch the actual name but what is amazing is that the whole little city had running water, all plumbed in. Again, how the hell????

Heading out of the site, down the cardio maximus (thanks Google!), there was time for a few more selfies and snaps of the curvy column thing, really is a marvel how they got them so perfectly aligned. Wonder if you can see this place from space??

Finishing up at Jerash it was BOTB and up to Ajloun Castle, everyone knows I love me a castle!! This castle was built in 1145AD to stop the crusaders, didn’t catch if the dude Hadrian had anything to do with it… Gooogle, what say you?? Ok, so it was built on the grounds of an old monastery and was made into a fort to keep watch over peeps traveling between Damascus and Eqgypt. Coolies, apparently it’s the style of the ottomans but others have added to it to make it bigger and better, as men back then always felt a need to do. As far as castles go, it was ok. I know, I sound like a douche saying that but the castle count on this trip must be up in the twenties by now so lots to compare to and it’s pretty hard to beat the stunning castles of Scotland!!

I’ll give the castle some cred though, the views were absolutely gorgeous! Looking out over the Jordanian countryside it was a sea of green, red and white – green trees, red sand and white buildings, wait, their flag is green, red and white, might be onto something there!! Probs not but the most impressive bit was that you could see over to Jerusalem, if only I could remember which picture it was…

After enough castle time it was back into Amman, past this cool mural which included a picture of Jordan, see the half t-shirt shape???

To cap off the day there was a promise from Donnie to take us to somewhere local for dinner. Looking forward to trying some Jordanian food, you can imagine all our disappointment and blahing when the local turned out to be a shawarma joint, pretty much imagine what you’d eat at 3am after a night out and that was dinner. I mean, it always tastes good at 3am but didn’t really feel like I was trying something new. On the walk back home I did manage to actually eat something local, some kind of gooey, cheesey, honey, pistachio, I had no idea what I was eating thing. Looked like a camel but tasted pretty good, can imagine how yummy it would be if my taste buds were at full strength! At days end, hate to say it but Abdul 5, Donnie 0 but Jordan was winning in the awesome stakes!! Geez, judgey cow aren’t I!!!!!!

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Are you a Buda or a Pest?

Thursday 21st November – Saturday 23rd November 2019

Are you a Buda or a Pest? The question my mum asks me every time I go to Budapest, ok, that’s an exaggeration, I’ve been there once before but pretty sure that was the first message I got from her! To answer the question, after 3 months of traveling and not much exercise I was most certainly borderlining on Buda, and the epic cold I had sure was a pest, so let’s just say I’m somewhere in the middle.

Usually arriving in a new place I’d have the public transport routes sorted to save money but getting to Budapest sick AF I pretty much googled which taxi company wouldn’t rob me and went with them from the airport to my accommodation. With Air BNB accommodation being ridiculous cheap in Hungary (yep, that’s where Budapest is!), I spent the usual cheap skate budget but got pretty impressive digs. Condo with a balcony right on the Danube river. Winning!! So this is an average view cos it’s night and I was giving zero (insert swear word), but you get the idea, pretty cool place!

Getting there at 8ish, a healthy Holly would have dropped the bags and went to explore, sick Holly walked across the road to a dodgy supermarket, found a day old lukewarm schnitzel to eat, ate and went to bed. There was no normal Holly the next day either, having a small stash of Sudafed left from the UK (why I didn’t stock up no idea!) I stayed in bed and tried to convince myself being healthy was more important than exploring Budapest. If I didn’t have a tour of Jordan starting on the Sunday I would have forced my sick and gross arse out of bed but Budapest really was after all a stop off on the way to Jordan. So can’t remember if I mentioned it before but to get to Jordan from London and back it was about $600, that’s flying London to Amman in one hit via Budapest. Or I could get a cheap arse flight for £30 to Budapest, stay a few days on the cheap then get a cheap flight to Amman before the tour starts. Want that one. Just didn’t plan on being sick and spending said short trip in bed, or on the couch, I did switch between the two at some stage during the day. Also took a chance on their version of Uber Eats called Wolt, there were these dumpling noodle things, didn’t realise you also had to order a sauce but did get some goulash, kinda worked together. No photos cos sick remember, apparently I’m in capable of clicking a button when sick.

So the next day, Saturday if you’re still with me, I was determined to see some of Budapest, even if I had to snot my way through it. Was also determined to find medication that could lessen the flow of snot down my face… sometimes you’re just not fast enough. Popping into a chemist, I thought it could be hard to get what I needed due to the language barrier and having to have ID in Australia for the strong shit but based on the look and sound of me the pharmacist knew exactly what I needed. And unlike the cold n flu tablets in Morocco which contained arse, these were jam packed full of pseudoephedrine, hallelujah! But as my mum taught me, if you’re taking strong drugs then you gotta eat so found this weird kinda hot dog at the supermarket, interesting taste but pretty sure my taste buds were MIA and that was the reason it didn’t taste as good as it looked!

Having already mapped out an itinerary in Goggle, I headed to my first stop, and the biggest must do in Budapest, parliament. Yeah, didn’t sound right to me either but apparently Google reckoned this was one of the top tourists attractions in Budapest. For once, Google didn’t lie. The Hungarian Parliament was that word beyond beautiful, no idea what that is but it’s that. Said wow out loud numerous times which when you have a cold sounds more like OW so people may have thought I was in pain…

And where is the parliament? Smack bang on the river so of course it’s surrounded by a million other gorgeous buildings and monuments, kicking myself for wasting a day and for reals saying OW…

Wandering along the Danube as you do on a glorious day, it was pretty after pretty and kick after kick…

Wandering over the bridge I wished I could turn back time because Budapest is so damn pretty and I just spent a day in bed ignoring her… sorry sweet!

Next stop was Fisherman’s Bastion and St Matthias Church. Now if you know me, you know that I’m not a big fan of seafood, mainly the smell, so why go to some Fisherman’s what ya call it?? Well… this place has nothing at all to do with fish, not even on the river’s edge, I’m sure there’s some reason it’s called the Fisherman’s Bastion will google that after you wowser at these gorgeous pics!!!

Yeah so Google tells me it’s called Fishmans Bastion maybe you commemorate the fishman who lived down by the Danube and maybe protected it in times of conflict, but not even google is sure on this one! What makes this place so damn amazing though is the views over the Danube and Budapest, can you get more picture perfect than this??

And what makes this ‘bastion’ super duper special is St Matthias Church standing in the background, or foreground, guess it depends which way you come up. This church is something special, in a completely vein and superficial way, cos it’s so so so pretty! Coloured roof tiles, white limestone, gothic towers and windows, just gorgeous. And I’m being vein because I was feeling so sick and snotty that I didn’t go in cos I felt bad spreading germs in a church, so no idea if this pretty one had an substance.

Having done a fair wander around the streets, cos getting lost is one of my favourite things, my tummy rumbled as it permanently does so I headed to the Christmas markets, thinking I’d be able to find something to eat, boy did I find something!!! Soooo much food. Stuff that I had no idea what it was but by gosh it looked good. One of everything please, except the Rooster Testicles, I’ll pass on those!! Ended up with this plate of deliciousness, some kind of meat and potatoes and ???, spinach I’d say but that green stuff did not taste good, and ended up costing me about $30 too, tourist rates me thinks!!

As far as Christmas markets go, these were pretty damn impressive. I guess Christmas was just over a month away so time to get into the spirit!

Well and truly pooped from just walking and wiping, I was homeward bound and somehow between sitting down to stuff my face and finishing, it had gotten dark and a bit chilly. Perfect for a sickie like me!?!? Although I had planned on being back before dark, kinda glad my plans went astray cos Budapest at night is something else, the whole place lights up and feels like magic! Almost looks like a golden city, and the Fishemans Bastion and church at night, wow!! If I had an ounce of energy left I would have legged it back over the bridge to see the view over Budapest at night from the Bastion, but I didn’t. So here one side of the river lit up like a Christmas tree, a golden one…

Wandering back down the Danube by night, my last stop was something that will be etched in my mind for eternity, the Hungarian Parliament all lit up so spectacularly it takes your breathe away. My crapola iPhone only captured about one hundredth of its brilliance!

Legging it back to the apartment along the river, I have to admit that I did start wandering if maybe I should have known better than to walk along a river at night by myself!! Did another quick stop for full strength cold n flu meds to get me through Jordan and it was back to bed. Really really really wish I’d spent more time exploring Budapest, glad last visit with Kylie we went to the thermal baths, no way they’d let me in in my state, my whole head was a thermal bath of snot!! Anyhoo, taxi booked for 4am the next day and it was good night to me and fingers crossed for a less snotty time in Jordan!!

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Toon Town

Saturday 16th November – Thursday 21st November 2019

Having delayed my flights to stay in Maryland a little longer, my flight home was with two airlines I’d somehow never flown with, one I’d never heard of. The flight worth Spirit Airlines, a Tiger Airlines equivalent was fine, easy check in, window seat without having to fork out a small fortune and gorgeous views of clouds and a hell of an awesome view as we touched down in Florida.

Yes I know, you’re wandering why I’d go south from Baltimore only to fly north and East to London. All comes down to cashola, cheapest route! Anyhoo, the long haul leg with Norwegian was something of an experience. I didn’t fork out for an allocated seat so unfortunately got stuck middle row in between two rather large gentlemen who both claimed the arm rest before I could take a breathe, my bad. What I didn’t know was that for my 8 hour flight there would be no in flight meal, water came at a cost, as did a blanket and headphones for their entertainment system. I half expected them to charge for the air I was breathing. The service befitted the no frills. Needless to say I learnt my lesson, say NO to Norwegian… unless you’re broke but go prepared!!!

Enough whining, once in London with no sleep it was adrenaline that kept me going, into my storage locker to drop off my suitcase, exchange it for backpack only travel and get a very stinky me to Kings Cross to meet Kylie for lunch.

I wish I had a picture of Kylies beaming smile, something you really need in your life when you’re 30 hours with no sleep. Over a long lunch chatting away, the one glass of wine went to my head and before I knew it, I was running late for my train. And yes, I proved why it is called running late, well, cos you run… I did make it with seconds to spare, luckily Kylie checked the time otherwise I would have been sitting there blah blahing away and never have made it. Anyhoo, with a four hour train ride to Newcastle up my sleeve I tried to cross stitch… didn’t end well…

Arriving in the toon I was now well and truly sick as a dog, jet lagged AF, the poor Geordie who was on pick up duty got me to my hotel, I think. Must have cos I woke up there the next day, hello Newcastle!!

So for the next three days my Geordie friend who you’ve met before showed me the sights of the toon, had only really seen the pubs on my previous visits. I wish I could say I had some awesome stories and great info about Newcastle but being sick AF the entire time, I wrote nothing down and only have pictures to rely on, and there seems to be a day missing. Could it be that snap happy Holly was too sick to take a single photo for an entire 24 hours???

Anyhoo, what I do know is that there was definitively a visit to Laurel Park, the birthplace of the Laurel half of comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. I do remember the Geordie, being a wee bit older than me, explaining who the dude was… just needed my foggy memory regigging that’s all!!

Later that day as time stamps on my pictures tell me, we wandered along the river Tyne, way too many bridges for such a liddle town if you ask me. I thought the Geordie had planned the scenic route but just happened to be the way to the castle.

And no, it’s not a “New” castle as you’d expect from the name, a rather old castle in Newcastle, it wasn’t just all the Sudafed that confused me on that one! But I love me a castle, even if it wasn’t the one I meant I wanted to see when requesting my tour from the Geordie. Oops, still damn awesome castle, still not sure why it was me that ended up in the shackles…

Usually my favourite part of a castle is, well, the castle but this time the castle was outdone by the views from its roof out over the toon, ok, so maybe this place ain’t so liddle!!

So from the castle we made our way right into toon. Must have walked, no pics of how we got there. But we did find Christmas markets and a ski bar, an alpine village if you will. Pictures tell me it was pretty, and I do love a mulled wine so presume I liked that too. And there was a reason the Geordie wasn’t drinking but I really don’t recall.

We also ate dinner somewhere obvs but can’t for the life of me remember where or what. Let’s just get onto the next day which was part of the reason I made a visit to the toon, it was the Geordie’s birthday. He was 21 + 11 – 5 + 18 – 2 years old. Instead of getting schlacked on his birthday, the Geordie had actually planned something more spiritual. Funny how the Geordies don’t have another word for spiritual but a hundred and one for getting drunk… (all Geordie words that mean drunk). So the plan for the day was to head to Durham, a town an hourish away and see a lady who did, I want to say Kinetic, I keep calling it that, it’s not that, I’m on a plane and can’t google it, really really bugging me! Anyway, the lady did have a name, Shelley, the only way I remember is that I have her email address written in my phone. Oh yeah, before Durham, we had brekkie by the beach, by the castle I actually wanted to go to!! Must have been damn sick to not take photos of the beach and a castle!! As if I didn’t, maybe I deleted them accidentally?? Makes no sense. Back to Shelley and Durham. The town is a gorgeous little place, as evidence but this one crappy picture I took.

I’m convinced I deleted the pics, no matter how sick I am, I’d take photos. With the high Sudafed gives me, pretty sure I’d go nuts and take a million pictures of a single rock, but anyway. Durham was pretty, google it for pictures. We both met up with Shelley first for a general chat then I went for coffee while the Geordie had his Kinetic session… oh shit, just remembered the word, it’s reiki.. even laughing to myself, sounds nothing like kinetic!!! Massive anyhooooo, in my Sudafed stupor I did take a photo of my coffee. WTF?? Beautiful little town and I take a photo of the coffee?? Super annoyed with myself. I don’t have many pictures to add to this post so you’re gonna get a picture of my coffee. Costa coffee, great name, crappy taste, maybe I should do their marketing???

So my reiki session isn’t something I needed to write notes about. Even all drugged up on Sudafed I remember it like it was yesterday. I’ll try my best to explain but know it won’t do it justice! So you lay down on like a massage table, but clothes on and on your back. You’re covered with warm towels so you feel pretty damn cosy and calm, maybe I should sleep on a massage bed, I remember how comfortable I was. Shelley doesn’t say much, just some general calming words about relaxing and letting go. What I remember feeling was a surge of positivity, voices in my head (my own, I’m not crazy, much…), telling me that I got this, everything is going to be ok, I can be the best version of myself, it was time for a new start. It was the most positive my own voice has ever been, out loud and in my head. During this Shelley just had her hands cupping my head, they stayed there for a while then moved to rest firmly on my stomach. And that’s it. I know you’re probably like huh?? That’s it?? But if I could explain the energy going through me, well, I would. I tried but there aren’t words, or at least none that I can find. Off the table and sitting on the couch with Shelley, she explained what she felt in me. She felt an intense sadness. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Of course I sooked cos when someone points out something about you that you have to work hard every day to overcome, you feel like they see you. It’s not that I’m sad all the time or that sadness overrides happiness, I think anyone who has had someone they love intensely die, and in tragic circumstances, there’s a sadness that always sits inside you, alongside all the happiness and joy you feel the majority of the time. As I read somewhere, you don’t get over losing someone you love, you just learn to live with it. That was my sadness that Shelley felt. But the thing about reiki and Shelley is that it’s all about love and healing. I may not have written down my adventures in the toon but I did write down suggestions from Shelley on how I can work on healing. And yes, being a student of psychology and a recipient, this is the spiritual healing side of things. I do believe you need both, and funnily enough, or not, there are a lot of similarities in their suggestions on how to heal. Her suggestion was that I write a letter to younger Holly telling her what she needs to help her heal, and make a little shrine to myself, practice some self love. With reiki it’s all about love and I’m onboard with that!! But most importantly, I am to visualise my future and put it out there into the universe what I want it to be. There were some other things we discussed but kinda way personal so I’ll just leave it there and get onto the angel cards reading!! No idea what the hell they are about?? Not the same as tarot, tarot aren’t nice, these are a deck of cards with specific angels and meanings to help guide you. Mine looked like this:

I’m not embarrassed to say this was not my first time with angel cards. When Brett died I saw a medium, she knew things I can never explain, I believe in the after life, that there’s more. She also read my cards. The messages from my cards this time were about finding a way to love and forgive myself. Won’t go into it but this is my biggest challenge. And I need to heal as well as accept. Second biggest challenge. Lots more she said but a belief I know I need to work on is that that things don’t happen to me, they happen for me. That’ll take some time but I have hope I’ll get there!

So after our reading and wiping the mascara off my face, we bought some local charcoal cheese that came highly recommended from Shelley and headed back to the toon. With a pit stop at some store, a big one, we gathered our cheese board for dinner and dug in. And no, I didn’t get a picture of the charcoal cheese! But this did pop up in my Instagram feed, maybe the universe is trying to tell me something??

The next day was up early and off on a train to Gatwick, more specially to Peterborough then onto Gatwick. The morning wasn’t anything to write home about, just lots and lots of snot!!!!

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Loving in the USA

Tuesday 12th – Saturday 16th November 2019

Being a tourist in the Big Apple is hard work, as is being a Mum, but somehow as I slept off an epic weekend, Katie was up and at it getting the kids off to school. With Jules off early on a work trip, I felt like a bad lazy friend for not helping! When I eventually emerged it was to lay on the couch and watch Fleabag while Katie went on one of her massive 18km runs. No idea how she does it. Especially since the weather in Maryland was bordering on snow, quite literally.

To not be a complete waste of space for a day, I joined Katie on an excursion to the local crafts place and Target for groceries (Target is soooo much more in the US). Every day I’ve marveled at their gorgeous neighbourhood, this time I actually remembered to take some footage to prove my point!!

Once back at Katie’s for coffee (the best since leaving AUS), it was time to commence my new hobby of cross stitching! The hobby choice had nothing to do with the extra gray’s I’ve been finding in my hair, not ready to be a grandma yet but like colouring in has been the new zen, as is cross stitch. Having watched Katie work away at a gorgeous unicorn and rainbow cross stitch for the last few weeks, I was keen to join in on the fun. The only thing that could pause our determination, SNOW!!!! Yep, white flakes of pretty were falling from the sky for the first time in Maryland, while the Costa’s were there at least.

So it’s a rule in Maryland that if snow is forecast for the day, kids don’t have to go to school. Unfortunately this snow made a surprise appearance so the kids were to experience their first snow while at school. Unfortunately the snow didn’t stick and was well and truly over before the school bell. While I did more of nothing, Katie picked up Drew and to keep him entertained, it was cooking time. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it a million times more, this kid is hilarious. A funny little personality that can be oh so serious for when it’s time to cracks eggs into the bowl, little dude can cook too, definitely showed up this old lady!!

After getting my arse kicked AGAIN at monopoly, it was an early dinner and bed for this grandma!

More ready and kicking than my previous days effort, we were off on a day trip to Alexandria, not Alexandretta like in Indiana Jones and as I kept thinking in my head. Heading in the general direction of Washington D.C., the closer to the capital, the more epic the highways and bridges, and weird planes in the sky. I wasn’t quick enough to get a pic, just have a solid memory of a helicopter/plane/hovercraft/stealth jet in my head, didn’t the Avengers relocate their headquarters to DC????

Anyhoo, loved getting a glimpse of the monument, the capital building and picture perfect city of Washington D.C., having been there once before, it’s pretty high up on the list of cities I love. But once we hit the town of Alexandria, it was proving to be as equally picture perfect, tree lined streets of beautiful old 3 story houses all dressed in their autumn best, with each house it’s own character. Think more like London townhouses or brownstones in Brooklyn, would have loved to knock on a few doors and look inside but apparently that’s not done here.

After Google took us on a scenic tour trying to find the car park, we finally hit the streets of Alexandria, the cold nearly floored us both! Was definitely in the minus but when the sun is shining and the sky is blue, you almost believe the cold is a figment if your imagination, surely it can’t be this gorgeous and this farkin cold???

After wandering around the harbour and streets until our toes were icicles, we settled in for a Thai lunch with a view. God I love Thai food and did not expect it to be this good in a little town in the US! Fed to the brink we braved the cold again and went in search of the littlest house in the US, or was it the skinniest, either way, given Katie’s arm span was nearly as wide as the house, dare I say it was both!!

Have to say, Alexandria is as cute as a button, if a town can be. All these terraced houses, coloured doors with their autum wreaths, red and orange trees and hot as hell muscle cars. Reminded me of Georgetown in D.C. and I wanted to live there too!!

With gorgeous shops to explore and also to get a reprieve from the cold that was definitely no longer my imagination, we explored the shop Anthropologie which gets a mention cos the clothes are gorgeous, the home wares unique and I could have spent a plane ticket home in there but tried to show some constraint, there is such a thing as excess baggage! All walked out, shopped out and freezing, we did what any normal person would do, had icecream!! Now this isn’t just your run of the mill scoop of gelato or soft serve, this was Nicecream. Take fresh cream, chocolate and of course sugar, pour it into a churner (not sure what the hell its called), mix the yummy up then pour over liquid nitrogen, looks a little something like this:

And tastes like the yummiest of yums you’ll ever taste. Best icecream I’ve ever had and you know that’s a big call, love me an icecream more than I love me a castle, ok, maybe not. With time NOT on our side on account of focusing on icecream rather than the time, it was scoff, leg it to the car and head for Drew’s pick up. This time I was ready to snap pics of D.C. Look there it is:

Ok, shit pic I’ll agree with that. The spin home was once again a beauty, and this time I saw the deer Katie had been telling me about. Ok it was dead on the side of the road but proof they exist!! Didn’t get the deer in this pic but here’s the general look of cruising the highway in Maryland…

Once home I finally remembered to capture the daily school bus drop off, still feels like I was watching a typical American movie about the perfect suburban neighbourhood…

Aware that I was quickly running out of time in Maryland, I savored the games of monopoly and goodnight hugs. It was the next day that I like to call “get shit done day”. Having decided to head back to AUS at the end of Jan, I was no longer on the prowl for a job or place to live in London, rather it was head down to work out how to fill the short time I had left OS with my bucket list of adventures. Right near the top, Jordan, or more specifically, Petra. Never heard of it?? If you’ve seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, that epic place in the crescent moon canyon with the buildings carved into rocks, yeah, that’s Petra. If that doesn’t work for you, google it. Using the day to plan my next adventures and also get off my lazy arse and join Katie for a run, ok, lag behind but try my best, it was Katie’s home made schnitzels that made pounding the pavement worth it. I’ll add her cooking to all the things I’ll miss about being in Maryland. And the thing I’ll miss the second most (after Katie!), are these three. They are all such different personalities but all so smart, loving and a lot of fun to be around. And another hobby I might take up once home, building train sets!!

Friday was another day to get our arses into gear and enjoy the Maryland sunshine. What was supposed to be a leisurely stroll with the neighbour Casey ended up being a 10km walk around the burbs and main stretch. No complaining here, exercise yay! Chatting with friends yay! Sunshine yay!! Laughing your arse off cos Casey is hilarious, yay!! With Jules having been away since Tuesday, it was at the Friday night pub dinner with all the expats community that he returned home to a family that really missed him, many many hugs. Defs made the right choice to go back to AUS, I want little kiddlywinks to have my own little family, that hopefully love me enough to miss me. Was also awesome spending my last night colouring with the kids, chatting to Katie’s new friends and seeing the local town of, crap, can’t remember the name, where all the fancy people live apparently. Unfortunately being the last night meant I had to get packing, 2 weeks of an ever expanding pile of my mess in the basement was not gonna be easy to get back into one case.

With cuddles, goodbyes and hopes to see them all soon, it was at the airport giving little Drew bear a cuddle in the back seat the tears in the eyes welled up then hugging Katie goodbye was what nearly broke me. Being part of her family for the past few weeks really was one of my greatest experiences. And yes, the tears toppled for a few minutes when checking in but I guess it was off on my next adventure, in more ways than one now that the decision was made to return home. You realise that in life you can see amazing things, be in beautiful places but what you remember most is how experiences made you feel, and my two weeks with the Costa’s was what real love and friendship is all about. Tears welling again…and an unusual amount of snot, have a feeling that Moroccan flu was just in hibernation….

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Trumped in New York (Part 2)

Sunday 10th – Monday 11th November 2019

The previous day we’d scoped out a chain of patisseries with delectable looking carbs, so brekkie was a quick stop for a quinoa scone and massive coffee. And that scone was worth writing home about!! But we weren’t in the financial district to just eat pastry, or even hunt for the wolves of Wall Street, we were there to visit the 911 Memorial and pay our respects. I don’t know about you but I remember seeing it all unfold on TV in the early hours of that day, watching in shock horror, a memory so clear it feels like it was yesterday. Walking onto the site of the twin towers, seeing their footprint now outlined in the names of those fallen with water flowing from the fountains seemingly into nowhere, the whole site leaves you speechless, and for most, including myself, in tears. My eyes are welling up just writing about it. I didn’t know anyone directly affected by the tragedy but live in a world that will forever be impacted by what unfolded that day. Seeing the names of all the people that lost their lives, those unknowingly going about their day and those that ran into the fire to help others makes something seen from afar a reality. Last time I visited NY, the site was still a rubble in the process of being rebuilt. This time it stood for all that was lost. Being there really puts your own life into perspective and for myself, grew into feelings of anger, that anyone would conspire to and carry out such a catastrophic event, mad that they thought this would achieve anything. But amongst all of the anger, hope for mankind, the names of people who jumped into action to help and put their own lives on the line gives hope that the human spirit is more kind and loving than evil. You can hope. That’s my take on it anyway.

The memorial site is equally beautiful as it is heartbreaking, the new One World Tower stands tall and proud and somehow it feels like there’s a cone of silence over the whole area, one that even the never ending honking of horns can’t seem to penetrate. Having taken in the site, we headed for a happy place, Tiffany’s!! Entering through a weird back entrance, we opted not to have a second breakfast at Tiffany’s, it was just two ladies ooing and ahhhing at some pretty pieces, but mostly oooing at the price tags!! To be honest, yes there are some stunning diamonds at Tiffany’s but there are also some real gaudy pieces too, worth enough to feed a small country. I could never justify spending that amount of money on jewelry, something no one actually needs. Too many starving and homeless people in the world to make it ok to walk around with a $50,000 ring on your finger. Once again, just my take on it!! Unlike most other Tiffany stores, the store in the heart of New York is about more than jewelry, there’s luggage, crockery, home wares and all kinds of knickknacks, all in Tiffany blue and with the Tiffany price tag!! Even a key ring sets you back 50 bucks, US bucks that is. I had gone there to see if I could pick up a birthday present for my sisters 40th but unfortunately my budget does not include Tiffany. And probs will never ever include this gorgeous Harley either, definitely my favourite thing in the entire store!!

Prior to our visit to the Big Apple, Katie and I had wanted to book in at the Blue Box Cafe at Tiffany’s for afternoon tea however it was booked out, months and months in advance. Which was kind of a blessing cos once there it didn’t look all that and the whopping $70 cost for afternoon tea could have been better spent on 10 quinoa scones that’d feed me for a week, ok, 2 days. Exiting Tiffany’s with our life savings still intact, we walked out into 5th Avenue to this…

What the hell is that you ask??? This is what a presidential visit to New York looks like, and Tiffany’s main entrance happens to be right next door to Trump Towers. The pictures don’t really show the scale of the blockade, look closely and you can see tip trucks lining the street, making sure nothing makes it through, didn’t think I should push my luck and get pics of all the cops in the area. The thing that perplexed me the most was the people, in that there were none, well not none, but not the crowds I expected to line the street to catch a glimpse of the President. People didn’t really to seem to give a shit, for a patriotic nation, this surprised me. But given the current president, maybe I shouldn’t have been. Can’t say I was inclined to wait and see him, lunch was more important!! Getting away from the blockages we found a place that promised pizza and pasta and wine. And by gosh, came good on that promise, the truffle cauliflower gnocchi was out of this world, as was the size of my growing stomach, but whatevs, it’s not everyday you’re in New York, well I guess it is if you live here… but on that, with both of us having a keen interest in real estate, we often perused the listings outside real estate agencies as we wandered the streets. It became very obvious that the only way you could ever afford to live in Manhattan would be if you’re filthy rich. Not even well off would make the cut. And there is no way in hell a struggling writer, a la Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & the City could have ever afforded the apartment she lived in, maybe if she shared it with 10 other people, and lived off a diet of dust and water. Unlike London where you can live in a decent suburb on an average income, there is no way that would cut it in Manhattan. And unlike after the first time I visited, I had no desire to live in the Big Apple, I really have turned into one of those people that prefer little apples still growing on the farm. And apparently this frame of mind was evident with every second person offering us a carriage ride or tour as we got closer and closer to Central Park, even Katie’s statement of “No, we live here!” wasn’t enough to convince the locals, we had tourist written all over our foreheads!

My feel is that without Central Park, New York wouldn’t be quite the amaze balls place it is. To have all the sky scrapers surround a green park of its magnitude really does blow your mind. But living in New York amongst all the crazy hectic people and road traffic, without this safe haven of green you may literally want to blow your mind, so kudos to whoever thought this was a good idea. They probs at the time didn’t realise what each square meter of green would be worth one day, the real estate of the whole park is worth a cool $35 billion says google but you can’t put a price tag on mental health and the environment… Enough ranting, even I’m getting sick of it. Instead here’s some cool pics and video of the Central Park skating rink, lookin all Christmas and joyful…

With time up our sleeves to lose ourselves in the park, we wandered. A pit stop at the gift shop, past street performers and their oversized bubbles, browsing market stalls, checking out the baseball fields and wandering in the general direction of the Bethesda Fountain. Don’t know what that is? Bet you’ve seen it a million times in movies and on TV shows…

Unfortunately being winter, there wasn’t water in the fountain which meant you could swing your legs over the side, or hunt for dimes as this gentleman did.

He seemed to be picking up quite a few so more fool us for just watching. Of course, the boyfriends of Instagram were out in full force, couldn’t help but giggle at a couple, after posing for 10 minutes, the chick checked out the pictures, then made her BF go again, apparently she didn’t like her pose in the first 100. Sorry love, but that’s how you look! If you don’t look any better after the first three then you’re stuck with that face, my rule anyway! Wandering around the park, the hype of New York just makes sense, there’s no other city like it, and I feel like I can say that having been to a few.

Feeling nearly pooped, we were stoked to find the infamous Serendipity dessert place was just a stones throw away. Famous for not only the rom com, but also for its over the top desserts, who says you can’t have dessert for dinner?? Unfortunately there was a 45 minute wait for a table but we were in luck, across the road there was a nail parlor, you really are living the life when you can get a pedicure while waiting for your dinner reservation!! Yes it was in a cheaper style nail salon where the ladies didn’t speak a word of English and we managed to get sucked into thinking the neck massages were part of our package, not the extra $10 we got charged at the end, but anyway. An hourish later with pretty toes now hidden in grubby shoes, we headed across to Serendipity ready for our sugar intake. Now I’m not a massive cake fan, but cheesecake, that’s another story!! Love me some cheesecake any day, any time. Almost love cheesecake as much as I love castles. So obviously I ordered the New York cheesecake and Katie ordered apple pie, what better for a cold night in New York. Unfortunately for us, the apple pie was served cold and by the fact there were remnants left on the plate, wasn’t very tasty. Same same but different, my cheesecake was underwhelming but there was nothing left, sacrilege not to finish cheesecake!! Well at least we can say we’ve been there, home of the worlds most expensive milkshake ($100) and most expensive foot long haute dog ($69), I don’t recall seeing either on the menu!

While finishing and not finishing off dessert for dinner, we pondered what to do with our night and found the movie Harriet playing in 10 minutes about 15 minutes away. After a hustle to get there, we settled back to watch a movie I’d heard nothing about but so massively loved. See it. An inspiring story of a courageous young African American women who when life gave her lemons, smuggled out hundreds of slaves to freedom across the border in Pennsylvania. Absolutely brilliant and a true story. Also helped that the cinema was all recliners, not so much that the dude next to Katie fell asleep and snored rather loudly.

Opting for the Metro back to Williamsburg we unfortunately hoped off too early in Green Park. After bagels and donuts for second dinner we walked the 2.5km to Williamsburg, was actually quite a scenic walk looking at houses that normal people could actually afford.

Waking to our last day in New York, we did what normal people do, run across the Williamsburg Bridge!! Well mine was more of a walk/shuffle with lots of photo stops, running on the correct side this time, knowing better than to try play chicken with crazy New York cyclists.

Katie got in a decent 5km run, me not so much, I probs didn’t deserve the grilled cheese sandwich I had for brekkie at this too cool for school place called The West in Williamsburg. Katie’s defs deserved her French toast!!

Anyhoo, unfortunately being our last day in NY we had to check out of our Air BNB, which these days means leave the key on the bench on the way out, then head to Penn Station for our 2pm train. Having previously experienced some pretty significant life events in New York, I was keen to return to one particular place not generally on the tourist road map, the Irish pub where Brett proposed. So the story goes that we arrived in New York a few days before my 30th birthday. Unbeknown to me, before we left he had asked my Dad for my hand in marriage, my Mum didn’t find out until we were on the plane and away, we all know she can’t keep a secret (sorry Mum!). For my 30th, Brett planned a whole day of amazing, a limousine to take us on a tour of New York then drop us off at the Boathouse restaurant in Central Park then a final spin of the Big Apple before finishing at a bar for birthday cocktails. A perfect 30th birthday that would be made even more special with his proposal at lunch. But once in New York, he couldn’t wait, two nights before my 30th, we were at an Irish pub, having a few wee drinks, dancing to INXS ’Never Tear Us Apart’ (ironic!) on the jukebox when he felt the need to propose. With our apartment just around the corner, he ran back to get the ring then proposed on a bar stool in the pub. I know the Boathouse proposal sounds more romantic but if you know me at all, you know I’d prefer the spontaneous, private proposal as it happened to unfold. So back in New York with Katie, I was determined to find the Irish pub. I knew the general vicinity it was in, not the name, but vaguely how it looked inside and strangely the weird double door entry. Having thought I’d found the one on the map, as we approached, the butterflies in my stomach told me this was it. We entered and there it was, the jukebox, the green back lit bar and wall of booze, just as I remembered. This place was it. I thought I’d lose my shit being back there and while my eyes welled up with tears when we entered, for the rest of the time I sat there with a dorky grin on my face, grateful that someone had loved me enough, and I them, to want to spend the rest of our lives together. The Molly Wee pub in New York, my own little happy place! P.S. Never Tear Us Apart was our wedding song, and now the rallying anthem of my football team Port Adelaide, pulls at the heart strings every game…

Unfortunately with a train to catch, we couldn’t sit there all day while I replayed that night in my head so off we were to Penn Station, a station in a building that looked way too pretty to be a station…

With enough time to gather snacks and sushi for the 4 hour train ride home, we were then herded onto the train. And I mean herded. You know how on Western movies you see all the cattle in a pen being pushed through one exit gate while they all shove and push? Yep… a room full of people being herded down one escalator to the train platform, where two trains waited. Lucky for us we got on the right one, not so much for the dude opposite who had to get off at the next stop and go back. After a busy but brilliant few days in New York, the train ride back to Baltimore was time to unwind, think back on the weekend adventures and think fondly of what the city of New York means to me. For Katie it may have been the calm before the storm returning home to three kids but she looked happy, I’d miss those little ones if they were mine too, in fact, I did miss them and they aren’t even mine!!! Back in Baltimore, Katie had the tough job of driving us an hour and a half back to California. No idea how she did it, I was wrecked and could hardly muster a sentence the whole ride let alone concentrate on the road, the other side of the road. But she’s Wonder Woman so got us home safely and to a yummo pulled beef dinner cooked by Jules. Being pretty late we crashed quickly, New York really does take it out of you but then also puts it back in with a weekend of great memories of the current life and of one past.

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Gonna be a part of it, New York, New York!! (Part 1)

Friday 8th – Saturday 9th November 2019

Start spreading the news, we’re leaving today, but first, we went to Hugo’s school for a concert, all the grade 5’s pleading allegiance to the flag and singing songs about how great America is. Don’t get me wrong, it was sweet to watch Hugo up there singing, just makes you realise that from an early age, American children are taught to be ridiculously patriotic, but that’s a good thing. Think we need more of that in Australia! After the bright start to the day, we were off to Baltimore airport to be a part of it!!

So a little back story on New York. The place holds a special place in my heart, my first visit to the Big Apple was with my boyfriend Brett, who on that trip would become my fiancé and would help me celebrate turning the big 3-0. Needless to say there was a fair amount of trepidation returning, the place held so many happy memories of a person that had since passed away and a time in my life when I was probably at my happiest. But if I was ever going to go back, it needed to be with someone who understood the importance of the place. Katie was literally one of the shoulders I cried on when that all went down so I was very grateful it was her that I would make the adventure back to New York with.

Now back to the good stuff! Katie and her Wonder Woman powers had organised parking at the airport and the train to NY. Thinking we’d get lunch while waiting for the train, it was mighty disappointing to find only a small news stand with a few packets of chips… but no one wants to travel with a hangry Holly so chips for lunch it was. Or do they call them crisps in the US? Or is that the UK? Getting my lingo all mixed up. Anyhoo, these salami stuffed deep fried heart attacks in a bag were surprisingly delicious!

Waiting for our delayed train out on the platform, we got a taste of what was to come, a farkin freezing wind that chills you to the bones… thank F for the jacket I picked up at Marshalls. Maybe I’ll call my first son Marshall?? Luckily for us, well me, Katie is friendly and got chatting to other people waiting, which helped when a train pulled up that the signboard said was ours, but wasn’t! They made sure we didn’t get on and also gave us a tip to head to the first carriage, apparently the most empty seats. Winning on both accounts.

On board and into our seats, we had a peaceful 4 hour journey to New York. Well, usually having with 3 kids, guessing it was peaceful for Katie. Also got a glimpse of Phildelphia, the city, not the cream cheese!

Once in NY, walking out of Penn Station is like stepping out into a crazy smack you in the face world of lights and people, so so many people.

With no time to get our bags to Williamsburg and back before our theatre date, we navigated the herds of people and freezing cold with bags in tow. Having had a mediocre lunch, there was a quick stop at a noodle joint for dinner, kinda expensive but when the box of noodles came out, there was more than enough in each box to feed two adults but of course we ate a box each, cos we can.

Stuffed full of oodles of noodles we legged it to the theatre. At some stage in Maryland, we had a browse of shows on in NY and found one we were both super excited to see, Jagged Little Pill. If you’re a child of the 90’s, you’ll know and love Alanis Morrisette. If you’re a parent of a 90’s child, maybe not so much!

After snaps in front of the theatre which made us even more excited, we wandered down the line, down and down and down and down… was one hell of a line, kinda surprising considering the show was due to start in 15 minutes. Around the block and then some, we joined the queue and only then started to wander if the theatre had a cloak room… hmmm. As if the universe heard us, a dude from the theatre wandered down the line and offered to take us directly to the cloak room, uh, yeah! No guilts at all heading upstream past the queue of people and into the theatre, realised after why he was doing us a favour. The dude behind the overflowing bar had to tag our bags and by the time he did that, it was minutes until showtime. Having booked pretty last minute, our seats were in the back row but damn, they were good. Nice little intimate theatre. Too bad the chick next to Katie didn’t share the feeling of intimacy and glared at her when the show started and Katie sang along. Oh, so it’s not a like a concert where you can join in???

Hands down, one of the best shows I’ve seen. Maybe a close second to Hamilton. As Katie said, it was like the music was made for the play. It was a story about a family in the US, each member with their own challenges, my description makes it sound average but by god it was good. The chick that sang You Oughta Know got a standing ovation. Just amazing, would defs go see it again, you can’t help but smile the whole way through. Also downloaded the album as soon as I had WiFi. After such a high, you’d think we’d hit up a bar or something but now you know my real age, you get that we were ready to find our AirBNB and chill, ok, go to bed. We did get one last touristy act in for the day, a wander through Times Square. Not really planned, turned a corner and there it was, hard to miss the crazy bright lights and billboards bigger than King Kong!

So here’s where I feel vindicated. Katie is one of the smartest people I know, so when Google maps even confused her, I didn’t feel like it was just me. Unfortunately it meant we walked about half hour in the wrong direction in -1 degrees but had to work off the heart attack in a bag somehow. We did give in after a while and catch an Uber, finally getting to the AirBNB around 1.30am, and you thought we couldn’t party!

Waking up Saturday morning, pretty sure it was the first sleep in Katie had since moving to the US. I’m a glutton for sleep ins, although pretty sure we were up and ready by about 9.30am. So what to do with a weekend in New York?? Well every weekend should start with an awesome brekkie so we wandered over to the alt joint Mountain Province, when I saw smashed avo on the menu I think I drooled. And happy to say, was not disappointed! Usually too hungry to take pics of food but this was such a beautiful site I had to!

So when I say this place was an alt joint, I mean alternative Mum! Williamsburg itself is supposed to be a hip alternative part of NY, trendy and still affordable, for another year or so. And alternative as demoed by the dude with pink hair and ripped white jeans that said EAT SHIT on the back pockets. Each to their own. After a taste of home (referring to the avo, not the shit!), we decided to make the most of the winter sunshine and wander across the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan. Just a casual 2.5km walk across the bridge, on the wrong side as we learnt half way across as cyclists pelted at us head on. But we tourists, we don’t care!! The sights from the bridge were worth endangering our lives, a gorgeous view of the Manhattan skyline and Hudson River, as well as some inspirational words, Empathize don’t criticize… not sure about the spelling but got the point!!

Having decided our first stop in the Big Apple would be the Highline, we made our way down the infamous Bleeker Street to get there. These streets are the reason NY is so damn awesome, kick ass street art, cute little shops and an underground boxing gym Katie and I both wanted to check out but our attire said No.

The Highline was something I hadn’t done on the last visit, and didn’t really know what to expect. An old train line raised above street level, now a walk for tourists?? That was what I thought, what I got was something else so very cool, so very New York! The entrance was kinda inconspicuous unless Google maps pinpointed it (correctly this time), and once up there it was a massive walkway that meandered through high rises with eclectic art, market stalls and views over New York, I swear I saw Stark tower…

Having already hit over our 10K steps we exited in Chelsea to hit a local coffee joint for a dirty chai, apparently that sounds different with an Aussie accent, cos we got one instead of two and not sure they were even dirty?!? But quick shout out to parking garages in NY, this is how they do it…

Being a current student of psychology, I know that we pay attention to and notice things we are already thinking about. For example, thinking of buying a certain model of car? Guarantee you’ll start seeing them everywhere on the road. Likewise, with thoughts of Brett always in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but see signs of him everywhere. The hotdog stands with umbrellas are all named SA Brett, we walked down an Allen Street and a Smiths Party Supplies truck went past. And of course certain little spots I had memories with him, all of which made me smile. I guess you really do get to that point where memories can make you smile instead of cry.

Soooo, wandering up 5th Avenue, as you do, we were in desperate need of food. Luckily Katie had been to NY more recently and had found an epic rooftop (but enclosed, still cold remember!) bar that did food as well as being dressed to the nines in winter decorations. Unfortunately everyone else in NY (or just the tourists) thought it would also be a good spot for an afternoon rest cos it was packed, people in every nook and cranny, couldn’t even secure a sneaky standing spot at the bar!! BTW, it’s called Serra bar if you’re ever in NY!

Usually missing out on a lunch spot would make a hangry Holly next level, what’s that?? HANGRIED?? anyway, usually it would not help the situation but when there’s a food market downstairs called Eat Italy, it’s water off a camels back, the smells from the place were heaven, when do you reckon iPhones will capture smell??? Anyhoo, after wandering around and wanting a piece of all the things we settled on a pizza slice, some kind of mushroom magic (not the psychedelic kind!) and let out all kinds of mmmm’s as we stood and ate, stood cos the place was just as busy as the rooftop! Yep, too hungry to take a picture of that one!!!

Feeling like we deserved a treat for all our hard work being tourists, we wandered into the dessert section of Eat Italy. Imagine getting all the yummiest desserts in one place and then having to choose only one! Ok, could have had more than one but we’re not that piggy, today. While there was build your own cannoli, gelato and all kids of cakes and tarts, I settled on this little gem of yumminess… hazelnut moosey chocolate cake, tastes even better than it looked if possible!

Having lucked out at the last rooftop bar, we tried another local on 5th Avenue, which unfortunately was more like a seedy nightclub on the inside, but once on the deck, fantastic views of the Empire State Building!!

Having well and truly walked our butts off, it was on our stroll to the Rockefeller ice rink that we managed to catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, another NY icon!!

Wandering up 5th Avenue (need to keep writing that cos it’s super cool!), there were some stunning buildings, this white church that stuck out like a sore thumb, in a good way, was breathtaking…

As was the site of the ice rink wrapped in Christmas lights and a million and one American flags, cos patriotism! It really was a beautiful site and it was definitely starting to feel a lot like Christmas!!

With some browsing in a little Tiffany’s and other fancy pants stores while adventuring on 5th Avenue, the ice rink was the icing on the cake, we were absolutely exhausted and ready to wind down. Katie the Wonder Woman had found a local place in Williamsburg with good reviews we had decided to take a chance on and book for dinner. After a costume change at the Air BNB, we walked, possibly trudged cos my feet were so sore, through town to our dinner location, I want to say the name had something to do with a Mary but really can’t recall! What I do know is that the place was super funky, the food was amazing and the company even better! Once again don’t expect photos of the food, it was way too good to wait! It may not sound delicious but think Brussels sprouts sautéed with bacon, tempura broccoli, sweet potato mash and brisket that just falls apart, if I could remember the name of the place I’d definitely go back!!

So cheers to 32,000 steps in a day, friendship and an amazing first few days in New York. Side note, our ears were ringing when we got back to our Air BNB, like we’d been to a rock concert but realised that was just the side affect of a day of horns honking, crazy traffic and the sound of thousands of people pounding the pavement, welcome to New York!!

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Living in the USA

Monday 4th – Thursday 7th November 2019

God I love a Monday morning when the rest of the world gets up for work and I get to sleep in!! May have mentioned that already! But this was a special Monday, Jules’ 40th birthday. Katie and the kids got up early, or normal time, and did the presents and birthday yay… while I slept, as I do. One of things Katie loves to do is run, she’s competed in a half marathon and casually runs around 15km a couple of times per week, you know, as well as taking care of 3 kids, and a household!?! She’s kinda Wonder Woman is you didn’t realise already. Anyhoo, she’s part of a running group Couch 2 5k, where mainly women train to run 5km. While Katie can easily smash this she’s met like minded runners and new friends through the group, and today was their final day of training, where everyone was running 5km, myself included apparently. You may have noticed that in the last 3 months of travels there have been zero mentions of exercise. I was pretty fit before leaving AUS but 3 months is enough to see you go from fit to flab. Yes I can easily walk 25,000 steps in a day, probs around 12km but run??? Body says NO but today’s activities said get off your arse and give it a go!!! Once there the lovely ladies, some with prams to also push were off on their final 5km run. I started with a brisk walk then felt the personal guilts, all these women have had babies and are making an effort, I better get moving! I’ll be honest, it hurt and I felt unfit but also felt pretty damn good running again and doing some real exercise. The cheer squad along the road presumed I was a mum and cheered on my half arsed attempt to run with “Go mamma, you can do it!”, I was too out of breathe, and possibly shamelessly so unfit without a birth for a reason to admit I wasn’t a mum, just an unfit nomad. Crossing the finish line, quite literally with a ribbon across for each runner, it felt good to move my arse but kinda embarrassing too, no one had a clue who I was or why they were cheering for me, I’ll take the cheers anyway!!!! Even if there were pictures, they would not be posted on this blog, some things don’t need permanent evidence! Anyhoo, back at Katie’s and online to buy me some real running shoes, the £30 ones I picked up in London looked good but were in no way running shoes.

After a fun afternoon of school pickup and games with the kids it was time for the 40th celebration. For someone who loves food, still have no idea how I’ve gone my whole life and not been to a Japanese teppanyaki joint! Overdressed in my pink getup Penelope picked out we amassed around the hot plate for a one of a kind experience. We were joined by Katie’s neighbours Casey, husband Steve and kids Ryan and Zac, who we’d also hung with for pumpkin carving and Halloween trick-or-treating, an awesome fun family, Casey is hilarious, could instantly see why her and Katie had hit it off so quickly. Our chef was bloody funny, had us chanting “yum yum sauce”, the kids were cracking eggs onto the hot plate and we all had a turn to catch the yumminess in our mouths. The chef took a special liking to Pen who is too cute for words and the night was a blast, lots of laughs and delicious food, as every birthday should be!

After stuffing ourselves silly it was back to Katie’s for a delicious Oreo birthday cake and one of my favourite, and Jules’ too, cannoli! Being an Italian dessert, it’s fair to say I’ve eaten a fair few in my life, if you don’t know what a cannoli is, google it, I wouldn’t know how to describe it except to say pastry custard yum. And these ones were right up there with the yum!!

I think it was the Tuesday morning that the jet lag really hit but having jumped back on the exercise band wagon I thought I could sweat it out joining Katie in a workout proudly presented on Amazon Prime by some ladies in too much makeup and unsuitable exercise. Should not have judged before I started, karma bit me in the butt cos the workout was brutal, we felt it for days. But another reason for the workout, burn the calories before consuming them… we were off to Kylie’s to attempt to make our own key lime pie. Kylie lived about 30 minutes from Katie on a gorgeous lake, in a gorgeous house with a gorgeous deck and gorgeous kitchen overlooking the gorgeous lake. It was all a bit gorgeous. Apparently there are sharks in the lake and the undercurrent can kill you but no ones perfect. Was trying not to be a tourist in someone’s home so here’s just one pic from the kitchen…

After a lunch of veggie soup and fresh bread that Katie somehow found time to make from scratch, one of her Wonder Woman powers, it was onto pie making. Of us three, I was the least proficient in the kitchen by a long way so after grating lime rind (too coarsy as later discovered), I mostly watched while Katie and Kylie got their pie making on. Once baked and still warm we delved in and by gosh I get what all the fuss is about!!! I love lemon meringue so finding another equal is a pretty big deal in my books. Yum yum, so much yum!! Besides the eating, also loved the chatting and being around smart like minded woman, must be something with the name Kylie, haven’t met one I haven’t liked.

Picking Mr Drew up on the way home, we played games while waiting for the big yellow bus to deliver the other kids home. Drew is a property mogul in the making, kid beats me every time at Monopoly. Yes it’s the kids version, but somehow I end up in jail 5 times and broke while he’s swimming in cash. And he doesn’t even cheat. No idea how he does it but I think it’s me, once Penelope was home she kicked my arse at Cluedo. I guess with two parents with degrees in Maths and Science, it makes sense. Just didn’t expect them to be smarter than me already!!! I buried my sorrow in Katie’s delicious cooking, homemade burgers and more key lime pie for dessert. Not sure how I’ll survive back as a tourist having been so spoilt with Katie’s home cooking.

Wednesday morning was another attempt to stay on the exercise band wagon, I usually fall off pretty quickly! I downloaded the Couch 2 10K app and kicked off my mission, run 10km by the end of Jan 2020. The app started with walks and sprints which suits me fine but lured me into a false sense of accomplishment. Having thought I hadn’t worked too hard, I also did a boxing workout from Amazon Prime. Too hard too fast, by the time Katie was back from her massive run I was exhausted. Lucky for me it was a cruisey day, our first stop was a little Japanese lunch spot that made a bento box that was all kinds of delicious, way beyond what I expected when we walked in.

The next stop was Walmart. It may not sound like much but I was pretty damn excited. Having had a fair few laughs at pictures aptly titled “The People of Walmart”, I was keen to see what type of people would be kicking around. Unfortunately, only normal people were at Walmart that day, no care free people like these…

There may not have been people watching to keep me entertained but something else caught my attention, the guns. To us Aussies, having an everyday store selling guns and ammo is like trying to buy a vacuum at McDonalds, it just doesn’t happen where we come from. I actually would have no idea where to buy a gun in AUS, I guess there’s gun shops somewhere?? Anyway, being in the land of the free and home of the brave where every person has a right to bear arms, it’s nothing special, pick up a gun with your milk and eggs. Of course I had to get sneaky video…

After Walmart was Marshall’s, another place that was kinda legendary for its dirt cheap active wear. Starting to feel the chill of winter, I was keen to pick up a proper winter coat. Of course I walked out with a coat, snow shoes, adidas tracksuit and a luggage weigher thingy. And I happened to pick the same jacket as Katie’s but in black, can’t help good taste! School pick ups and back home, there were errands to run in the form of dropping off thank you gifts to neighbours for their recent baby sitting efforts. With kids on scooters, we trekked around the neighborhood, really did feel like another scene from an American movie with kids playing basketball in their driveway, a lady trimming her hedges, kids and parents at the playground, if I were bringing up kids in any neighbourhood, I’d want it to be this one!

Before dinner there was Pictionary, needless to say I got my arse whooped yet again, knew I couldn’t draw but liked my chances anyway!! Once it was bed time, I once again got to partake in one of my favourite parts of every day, good night hugs and kisses with the kids. Have a really big soft spot for these three. It was chatting over a cup of tea that Jules asked about when I thought I’d head home. That’s when gut instinct kicked in. I’d been toying with the idea that maybe I’d be ready to head home at the end of January 2020, having spent 6 months traveling. When I left I said it’d be that or spend 18 months traveling and working in London. Sometimes all it takes is someone to ask you the question to find your answer. And I knew that what I wanted was this, a family. I had absolutely loved every second of the travels I’d done and knew there were more adventures to come in the next few months but that would be enough and I’d be ready to head home to begin the next chapter of my life, starting my own family. I’ve scooted around the topic of age but I’ll be honest, I’m in my late 30’s and the clock is ticking. I’ll be real honest, I’m 38, have eggs on ice and have wanted kids always, I don’t remember a time I didn’t. I don’t regret the decision to pack up and leave Adelaide, I needed to do that to work out what I really wanted and remove myself from a situation that was affecting my mental health. I was free to work in London, I could get back from travels in January, work and live in London for a year and travel some more but I don’t feel like that’ll add the value and joy to my life that heading home, finishing my psychology thesis then finishing 2020 trying for my own fam. The idea of that excites me more than anything. So there it is, the decision that after Christmas in Canada with the family and a wedding in Mexico, I’d head back to RADelaide. Even writing this a fair while after e decision was made, it still feels right. I don’t doubt a thing. Might be a different story when I’m drowning in a thesis or have a baby and I’m all on my lonesome but what will be will be!

I’m not one to dwell on decisions, once made I jump into action. So with the decision made to return home in Jan, the next morning the only thing left to do was book a flight. And with funds already dwindling, it’s was a Qantas rewards flights booked for 29th January, homeward bound, in a few months!! Of course once the decision was made to leave, I immediately felt extreme FOMO, where were all the places I had to go and all the things I had to do before leaving?!?!? And the list started… but before I went on a booking spree, we were off for a leisurely nature walk at the Calvert Cliffs nature park. After my run and over enthusiastic boxing workout, just walking up and down the stairs to my bed in the basement was ouch ouch ouch so a walk and connecting with nature sounded perfect. The drive there was once again gorgeous, eagles gliding in the sky, woods along the road, love this being chauffeured around!! And someone taking me to exercise otherwise I’d be on the couch eating Halloween candy! Arriving at Calvert Cliffs it was pretty, then down and around and wowsers, it was absolutely stunning! Autumn has to be one of the prettiest seasons and being smack bang in the middle of a forest meant sunburnt leaves amongst the green on the trees and a carpet of fallen red. The woods reminded me of the arena in the Hunger Games, but not sure anyone else is geeky enough to make the comparison…

The pretty just got prettier as we wandered down a board walk and over a marsh where one wrong step and it would have been head over into the water, one more rain fall and I’m not sure there would have been a board walk left!

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more breathtaking, the trees cleared opening to my favourite place, the beach. Woods and the beach?? Can I just pick up this place and take it back with me to OZ? Pretty please??

Katie had been to this particular beach once before with the fam and had managed to find shark teeth amongst the shells. We joined the other scavengers, and I mean tourists, looking for the teeth, unfortunately we weren’t as lucky. Dang, would have been awesome chrissie presents for Marcus and Annabelle, and damn cheap!!!

So it turns out shark teeth don’t actually look like shark teeth when they wash up on the beach, they look nothing like the ones you sea attached to a leather necklace worn by random surfers in B grade American movies, they are actually more grey and weird shaped, looked more like this (obvs not my hand!):

Hmmm, maybe if I’d been looking for weird black things too we would have had more luck! Heading back through the woods was just as beautiful, and after a pit stop for lunch, it was back over the big arse bridge with gorgeous views for miles, and strangely not enough railing…

And then once again, we stopped at an American institution, Harris Teeter. Ok, it’s just a grocery store, but grocery store on a whole other level to what you’d ever find in AUS! The ice cream aisle for one, never have I seen so many flavours to choose from, and Mac ‘n’ Cheese, who knew this many types existed?!? And the Oreo’s, don’t get me started…

After a Drew bear pick up it was home for more Cluedo, Pictionary and Monopoly, where once again I got my arse kicked, and I really really tried!! After a FaceTime home to see the gorgeous faces of my fam it was pack and bed cos tomorrow it was all about the new, New York that is!!

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Happy Halloweeeeen!!

Wednesday 30th October – Sunday 3rd November 2019

After a week or so checking out the sights of London but mostly recovering from the Moroccan flu, I was off to the U S of A to visit my bestie Katie and her family in Maryland. Katie I’ve known since, well, let’s just say over half my life! They moved to the US for one hell of an adventure, and for her husband Jules’ work.

I’d love to say the trip was off to a brilliant start but besides the pain in the arse checkin cos I’m a rampant over packer AND the 7 hour layover at JFK AND the three gate changes for my flight, there was some confusion (my fault) about my arrival date. Katie being the brilliant friend she is drove an hour and a half to pick me up from Baltimore, only to hear I wasn’t arriving until the next day. Major travel fail!!

Besides all that, seeing the smiling face of a friend you’ve known forever is one of the best feelings in the world! Once my head wrapped around being on the other side of the road, I could take in the lay of the land. Maryland to me looked a bit like Forks from Twilight, yes I’m way too old for those movies but whatevs. Woods bordering the highway, trucks in every lane and good ol’ American style diners along the road. Our stop off for real Mexican food, real because the chefs actually looked Mexican, was a welcome change from my diet of donuts and airport coffee, the only thing open between midnight and 7am at JFK. There was gin on the plane though, did I mention that??

Poor Katie had to sit next to my stench all the way back to their place in California, a suburb of Maryland which is quite confusing when googling the place. There weren’t any objections to me showering before picking up her youngest Drew from preschool. Little Drew is the cutest and funniest little dude you’ll ever meet, only after not seeing him for 6 months, he ain’t so little any more! It was on the way back from his pick up that I really opened my eyes and checked out the neighbourhood. Massive three story houses, all decked out in Halloween decorations. No tall fences blocking out the neighbours, literally an open white picket fence suburb. I absolutely loved it. And when the big yellow school bus stopped out front for all the kids to hop off, it was like a scene from an American family movie.

It didn’t take me long to love the neighbourhood. But that aside, seeing Hugo and Penelope, Katie’s older two and being part of their lives again was the best thing for my jet lagged arse. Alas, arriving on Halloween eve, it was pumpkin carving time!! My lack of skills was more than evident, carving BEFORE getting all the seeds and gunk out, rookie mistake. Should have just copied the kids, they seemed to know what they were doing! Have to say, was pretty impressed with all our handiwork and add the tea light candles to the pumpkins and god damn they looked spooky!!

My crash course in American culture started with an intro to their most favourite sport (I think?!?), baseball. The local team the Nationals (Nats for short), were in the final game of 7, winner takes all for the uh, I want to say premiership?? No wait, it was the World Series. Which is mighty confusing considering only American teams were playing… Anyway, wish I could say I watched history in the making but my jet lag kicked in and after pumpkin carving those eyelids just wouldn’t stay open, I think I nodded off even before the first home run. But no need to worry, the Nats won so there were lots of replays over the coming days!! And have to say, I may have actually understood the game by the time I left!

After a much needed 12 hour sleep, I awoke to the kids all off to school and a patient Katie waiting for my jet lagged arse to get out of bed to head off on the start of our key lime pie hunt. If you’re wandering what the hell key lime pie is, don’t worry, I was too!! Since arriving in the US, Katie and her friend Kylie (snap!) had been hunting down the best key lime pie in Maryland, which gets me to what the hell is key lime pie?? Think lemon meringue pie but more limey, with the meringue bit optional. Heading to a place that claimed to have the best in the state, you can imagine the severe disappointment to find they had none left… grump. The hunt quickly turned into a coffee gathering of every female Aussie in Maryland when one after another the Aussie’s walked in, greeted with “fancy meeting you here!?!”, our party of three quickly turned into about 10ish. Loved meeting all these wonderful ladies from all over AUS, with a couple of Americans thrown in for good measure. Quickly learnt that I was saying Maryland all wrong, it’s not Mary-Land, more like Merry-Lnd, and life in the US is busy as hell, kids doing 10 sports each, vacation planning, social and craft groups… or maybe not that different to life in AUS but as someone who had been off traveling solo for a while, it was nice to just listen to normal life conversations, and it was mostly listening, I was so jet lagged I could hardly string a comprehensible sentence together. Lucky for me, the day was about to get to extreme excitement levels, nothing like Halloween to wake you up!! First of the hallowed eve festivities was Trunk-a-Treat, a smart take on Trick-or-Treat where parents and friends of Drew’s preschool open up their trunks, a boot of a car in Aussie lingo, decorate them spooky and hand out candy. The cuteness levels of preschool kids dressed up in Halloween costumes is extreme, of course with Drew being the absolute cutest ever little minja (as he pronounces it!)

To get into the Halloween spirit, Katie took Drew bear and I through a tour of the local neighbourhoods, stopping off at all the houses who had gone above and beyond to get into the Halloween spirit. Love me a massive Maryland house, add the Halloween fancy and I might just move into one of them…

Back at Katie’s, (or home as I’ll now call it, wherever I lay my head at night is home being the homeless nomad I am), with all kids home and accounted for, it was time to get into the Halloween spirit. I did find 5 minutes in London Town to put together a lame arse version of a vampire costume. Ok, well, the costume wasn’t lame, my attempt to put on white face makeup which turned into clumps on my plane dried skin, losing the glue for my fangs and having jet lagged size bags under my eyes meant my attempt to look like a scary vampire resulted in me looking more like a tired old lady in a bad wig.

Luckily the rest of the household looked bloody brilliant in their costumes, the house was lookin’ spooky and the candy was ready, only half devoured by Katie and I earlier in the day… or was that the day after???

I’ll give it to the yanks, they know how to do Halloween! Although being unseasonably warm, the neighbourhood was out in force, the candy was plenty, houses turning on the scary and the streets over run with kids trying to look scary but mostly looking happy, who wouldn’t be when you’ve got a bucket of candy bigger than your head??

Not sure there was much tricking, just lots of treating! And as expected, the costumes were epic!! A family dressed up as The Incredibles was one of my faves, as were the inflatable dinosaurs but the best dressed award goes to this little vampire who well and truly showed me how it’s done!!

Not that I’ve done many Halloween’s but that night will go down as my all time favourite forever I think, loved the spirit of the neighbourhood, all the souls dressed up and goulish looking houses, my favorite though was these kids who just made it beyond fun!!

Needless to say, the next day I was wrecked! After a Fleabag and Halloween candy binge in the morning we headed to St Mary’s, an old style American village for the yummiest Bahn Mi I’d had for a while, strangely from an Italian style bakery called Enzo’s, as well as a sneaky doughnut that tasted like Oreo heaven. No photos of the food, eaten too quickly but here’s us, enjoying some sunshine!!

After getting our tourist on, we returned to normal life of Drew’s pre-school pickup around 2.30pm and kids jumping off the big yellow school bus around 4 each day. I say this all with a massive smile on my face, having been traveling for months solo and with friends, which is an amazing life I’m so grateful for, but there is so much joy also being part of a family, being settled in a home, surrounded by people you love and having some routine each day, not to mention home cooked meals!! All this while also getting to experience another culture. While I’d always thought the American culture wasn’t all that different to ours, I’m happy to say I’m mostly wrong, as firstly evidenced with sport. Being a Friday, it was baseball game night for Hugo, and after a Panda Express run it was off to watch the game. Not only is baseball a sport you probs wouldn’t see much of in AUS but the passion of the friends and family who turn out to watch in nearly minus degrees is next level!! Loved every minute and had a few giggles along the way, all while watching Huggie who in a few short months went from having never played before to being one of the stars of the team!!

As it seems to be part of the American culture, and correct me if I’m wrong, but as a parent your weekend pretty much revolves around kids sport. And I’m not complaining one bit, I got to enjoy being part of it all and making the most of Katie’s hard work getting her kids into teams, which is mostly definitely easier said than done in the US. Our Saturday started with porridge (oh my yum!) and we were off to Drew’s T-ball game. I know you shouldn’t laugh at kids playing sport but little 5 year olds in big helmets trying to hit a ball off a stand is just so cute you can’t help but giggle. Add Drew in full catcher gear and the cuteness levels were maxed out!!!

After a cuteness overload it was off to watch Hugo kick arse at baseball again, this time with all the bells and whistles!! Each kid stepping up to the plate with a theme song and announcement, first time I’d actually heard the baby shark song. Yes I’d heard of it but had deliberately gone out of my way to make sure I never heard it. Pretty sure I’d only just gotten The Wiggles out of my head from when Marcus and Annabelle were kids. Two games down and it was time for a pit stop at a quintessential American diner, not sure if it was set up for tourists or for was just like that for reals, either way we all loved the diner experience, the meat ball sub and chocolate milkshake get a special mention!!!

And here’s where you realise I am a bit of an arsehole cos besides the yummy food and cool setup, my attention was drawn to a Dad with his two kids which is lovely but the dad was quite obese and the kids who both looked younger than 10 were not looking very healthy either, all smashing hamburgers, massive sodas and flushing it all down with ice cream. And when I say smashing, I mean it. Probably an American stereotype I was taking notice of but it irked me. Parents have a responsibility to give their kids the best opportunities in life AND keep them healthy. I could say more but I’m not a parent and I know single people ranting about what parents should do is not appreciated so rant over, but still…

Fully fed and satisfied, we were off again to Hugo’s soccer. And yes, it’s called soccer in the US, no being silly and calling it football. Hugo was once again the star of his team and one cool dude pulling off a head band to control his blonde locks. My soccer watching was however distracted by taking on Drew in a friendly match on a nearby pitch. Yeah, don’t try play soccer against an energetic 5 year old, you’ll get your arse kicked!!

All sported out for the day, kudos to Katie and Jules for being awesome parents and running all over town to keep their kids active, it was home and getting ready for more sport, but the viewing on a TV kind. Katie and Jules friends were into rugby and being the World Cup final between England and South Africa we were off to their house to watch. Having been recently schooled in rugby by the Geordie and being a newly minted British citizen, I was ready to go my hardest barracking for the English Lions, Scotland were out so the Lions were my second favorite. Unfortunately the streaming of the game didn’t work but we only cared for about 5 minutes as we all knew that England had their arses handed to them by the South Africans. The rest of the night was spent chatting by a fire pit, eating yummy food and cuddling my new bestie Delta, can’t remember what kind of dog he was but god I loved him. It’s bad to steal someone’s dog yeah????

Being the super Mum she is, Sunday morning Katie whipped up pancakes for us all, I could get used to this!! After a bit of a chill morning we headed off to the Harry Potter corn maze. No you didn’t read that wrong! If you don’t already know, I’m a huge Harry Potter geek and was luckily enough to be joined by a family of Potterheads, well the kids anyway!! After a pit stop for pizza and pasta, the ravioli of which deserves its own picture, as does the sign…

It was then off to the corn maze! Dang, forgot my Gryffindor jumper in Oz! On account of me being a Potterhead, Katie had been nice enough to wait for me to arrive before day tripping to the maze, it did mean the maze had been well and truly worked through by other visitors but the whole setup itself was a whole lotta fun, I think the kids enjoyed it too!! There was a sorting hat (Hufflepuff apparently), a slingshot quidditch, a Nimbus 2000 broomstick swing, platform 9 and 3/4, butter beer and cheesecake on a stick – ok maybe the last one isn’t so Potter but who doesn’t love cheesecake and on a stick??? Was too full to try one but something to dream about…

After living out our Potter dreams we were BITC and homeward bound… with a stop at Coldstone, unlike cheesecake, icecream just melts into the gaps… What an epic start to living in the USA!!!

P.S. Already loving the “trucks” here, check out this beast!

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