cocktails

Scotland lovin’

Tuesday 17th – Friday 20th September 2019

After 5 days of early wake ups for the bus, ok well 7am isn’t that early but early for me, I finally had a lay in and enjoyed every bloody second. I was exhuasted from the 5 days of eat, drink, selfie, BOTB, repeat… Today was going to be a chill day with my awesome friend Suz who was from Adelaide now, but Scottish and had lived in Edinburgh so getting an insiders view.

Casually strolling to brunch, an Adelaide institution I’ve sorely missed, I finally found a peaky to fit my head. I have an abnormally big head if you hadn’t noticed! And I’m sure a peaky has a proper name but now that Peaky Blinders is a smash hit, the hat they all wear is called a peaky by the Netflix addicted generation. Still not sure what I mean, check this one out:

Seeing the beautiful smiling face of Suz made my day! With all my adventures I’ve hardly been still long enough to miss Adelaide but seeing a friend that I’ve known forever gave me a rush of longing for my Adelaide life. I squashed the longing with a bloody mary and more haggis goodness with some avo thrown in for good measure. With full bellies we decided to take a leisurely stroll up to Arthur’s Seat, the highest peak in Edinburgh, didn’t look that high and the walking trail info said it was a relatively easy walk. Whoever wrote that lied… Sure neither of us were dressed for hiking and we were full up of bloody mary’s and avo but still, waaaay harder than Google let on but definitely worth it for the views over my most favourite city in the world. Being the thinkers we are, or possibility the drinkers we are, we came up with a brilliant business idea, a Prosecco and coffee cart at the top of Arthur’s Seat. Yes there was a little something of a logistics problem but after that hike I probs would have paid $30 for a Prosecco, oh wait, that’s what I’m paying on a normal day, damn exchange rates…

Well and truly having earnt a cocktail or three, Suz took me to “the” spot in Edinburgh for cocktails, the balcony of Harvey Nichols, the department store the next step up from David Jones. Sure the cocktails were £20 each, roughly equates to $40 Aussie but you only live once…

Having been a local for so many years, Suz’s cocktail tour of the best spots in Edinburgh was in full swing, we stopped off at a gorgeous building with a dome, not even Google can help me with the name, then onto a speak easy called Panda and Sons, that was beyond cool, hidden in a barber shop down some stairs and behind a bookcase, Edinburgh has it all!!

The bar staff in Panda and Sons were super friendly and gave us some dinner recommendations, we ended up at a Mexican tapas bar for tacos and margaritas. Now I’m pretty sure the food was amazing and it wasn’t the cocktails talking but I can’t be sure… with time for one more round (ok maybe two) we found a back alley bar that felt like a Peel St in Adelaide local and enjoyed our last hurrah before Suz was onto the bus and back to her digs an hour or so away. It was one of those days that just makes you smile when you think about it and just made me fall in love with Edinburgh even more.

It was enthusiastic motivated Holly that booked the 6.30am train to Inverness the next morning, not the hungover realistic version. But after the 4 hour trek with WiFi I’d hunted down the best coffee and bacon in all of Inverness and made it my first stop. Called Coyote coffee for no idea why, pretty sure there aren’t coyotes in all of Scotland but who cares when there’s bacon. It lived up to the hype and served a brekkie photoworthy and most importantly yummo!! And true to form (well, that’s what the review said) the gentleman running the coffee shop was up for a chat and gave me some good recommendations for an old school bookshop down the road next to a church with a cemetery that had graves from those that fought in Culloden, top bloke!

After a quick bag drop at the Air BNB I was free to stroll around Inverness at my own pace, with no BOTB or time limits, did miss my peeps Peta and Robert though! While not the Inverness from Outlander, the disappointment of that revelation was long gone as I strolled through a gorgeous city of quaint houses, stunning churches, a beautiful war memorial and of course my fave, a castle!!

It was however the quote on the gravestone at the war memorial that stuck a chord with me:

“For your tomorrow we gave our today”

Really did bring a tear to my eye and take me back to Culloden, maybe if I believed in the cause that much I would have stood side by side with the highlanders, maybe if I’d been born in Scotland…

Wandering around Inverness, it’s one beautiful building after another, then there was this:

Pretty in its own way but just kinda stood out like a sore thumb to me. Especially when you compare it to the stunning Cathedral just up the road…

What did make me smile was all the chimneys, the obsession continues…

Finally making my way to the bookshop recommended by the Coyote dude, I walked through the doors and stepped back in time… even more if possible, Inverness already felt like a different age. Leaky’s bookshop was adorable? Not sure that’s the word, cute?? Actually reminded me of the bookshop on Never Ending Story, or was that the school library???

As promised, next door was another stunning church, and I don’t say another to be blasé , I say another in amazement. The cemetery and church were… I feel like I’m running out of words, I’ve already said gorgeous and stunning a million times, but they really were. Headstones dating back hundreds of years, the church had a beautiful heeby jeeby feeling, like it’d seen a hell of a lot in its time.

With the 5 something wake up call catching up with me, I headed back to the Air BNB for check in and once again stepped back in time… my room was from the 60’s, wall paper even on the ceiling, not complaining, I found it sweet, pretty sure I’d find a jail cell in Scotland sweet… but let’s not test that theory… I did manage to be useful and do a load of laundry at the local laundromat which was an experience in itself, but besides that I was completely useless the rest of the night. Maybe I needed it, especially given the gravitas of the next day…

The Thursday was all about Culloden. On my last visit I knew I’d be returning so saved the immersive visitor center experience for when I had all the time in the world to read and probs cry a little. Maybe there is something to that saying about the early bird and the worm because getting there earlyish meant not too many pesky tourists I refuse to be one of. The setup of the visitor center is smart, the British timeline of events down the left in red, the Scottish down the right in blue, this time you really did get both sides of the story, unlike my skewed version of Culloden. Dan the bus driver Man had told us a pretty damn good tale about Culloden, covering off all the important stuff. But I’m a nerd and love getting all the information I can about something, although I think I’m running out of space in my head… One thing that didn’t change in all my reading was my opinion of Bonnie Prince Charlie, still not a fan especially given that after everyone’s efforts to hide him from the British after the battle, with the infamous Flora MacDonald smuggling him out of Scotland by dressing him as a woman and passing him off as her handmaiden, people took risks for him and he rewarded them by returning to Rome and spending the rest of his life being a drunk and sooking about his defeat. Compare him to someone like William Wallace and he comes up very short in the balls department!

The main attraction of the visitor center is the immersive experience. I’d heard from Kyles how intense it was so thought I was prepared, not so much. You stand in a room with each wall a massive screen and before you know it, you’re right in the middle of the Culloden battlefield, with the British firing on the left and the highlanders charging on the right, brave men falling in the slaughter right in front of you. There’s a reason kids aren’t allowed in, so bloody realistic, intense is an understatement. Pretty sure I held my breathe the whole time.

Reading about what happened to the Scottish after Culloden was heart breaking. People even suspected of being a Jacobite were slaughtered, no questions asked. The Scottish folk were forbidden to wear tartan, speak Gaelic or play the bag pipes. Pretty much stripped of their culture, people even changed their names, removing the Mac part so as to not be suspected of being a Jacobite. I hate to say it but the British were ruthless, barbaric even. Historically they have slaughtered so many people and stripped them of their culture, all across the world. All in the name of religion, for the King, for ego. I get it’s the way of the world and many others did the same, the Romans, the Spanish, it was how things were done. In today’s world of media and constant scrutiny, people are being held accountable, which is a good thing but there are still certain politicians and leaders in the world being complete knobs.

Emerging from the visitor center overwhelmed it was good to take some time on the roof walk to find some stillness and let my brain catch up. The views over the battlefield showed why amongst all the rugged mountains and valleys of Scotland, this flat plain was the place the battle had to take place. The purple heather that covered the fields gave it a breath taking beauty that didn’t seem to be akin with the blood shed that had taken place. After a wander around I found solace in one of my favourite things in the world, hairy coos. Although they kept running away from me, my favourite things leaving, story of my life!

Having spent the morning with battles on the brain I kept the theme going and trekked out to Fort George, finally a place with fort in the name that actually has a fort!!! The walk from the bus to the fort along the shore of a loch, or maybe the ocean, was a welcome breathe of fresh air. And when you’re trekking towards an awesome fort on the horizon, there’s an extra bounce in the step. Now this is a bloody fort!!!!!

After being all forted out I made the trek back to Inverness, did a final wander around the city then called it a night cos annoying Holly last week booked another 6.30am train back to Edinburgh.

Ok so I wasn’t a fan of the early start but it did mean I had another half day in Edinburgh so went through my must do list for the gorgeous city. Still so much to see and do but the one I wanted the most was the botanic gardens. While I can hardly keep a cactus alive, I do appreciate a beautiful garden. After stowing my bag I legged it to the botanic garden. And by legged it I mean walked 40 minutes in over 30 degree heat up hills and around in circles cos we all know how good I am with a map. Did find a few places I thought could be my future home though…

After putting down a rather large coffee I literally got lost in the botanic Gardens, but what better place to get lost in aye?

Although wandering around a garden is delightful, anyone that knows me knows I’m a hot person, and not in the good looking way! I overheat ridiculously quick so after the mornings legging it to the garden and back into the main part of Edinburgh I was ready to just chill, quite literally, I went into Sainsbury’s and stood in front of the fridge! And since I was there, picked up a gin or two then went and sat on the grass in the square and did one of my favourite hobbies, people watching!

May have watched a little too intently because before I knew it I was running late for the train and had to run between the baggage stow and train, picking up gin, whiskey and shortbread on the way as presents for the people who were taking care of me. Felt so so sorry for the person sitting next to me on the train, I did not smell good. Was also feeling sorry for the Geordie waiting for me in Newcastle, he may wanna rethink the hello hug…

October 10, 2019 0

Corfuuu, not Corfew…

Thursday 22nd August – Monday 26th August 2019

Corfu baby!! And it’s pronounced Cor-fu, not Cor-few like us Aussie bogans like to call it. Have to admit, I did nothing to help book or plan this trip, the fate of my first Greek adventure is in the hands of Kyles and the Geordie…

Thursday morning was spent living the jobless life which is pretty darn good so far… coffee, shower, coffee, apply for jobs, coffee, apply for house sits, coffee, pack, coffee…

With the Geordie driving us to Gatwick and Kyles somehow doing work on her laptop in the back, it was up to me to try convince him that Gang of Youths is THE best band in the world right now. Followed closely by Ocean Alley. For a dude who’s musical preferences are Elvis and Sinatra, I had a battle on my hands!!

Finally at Gatwick waaay early cos the peeps I’m with are super organised, I continued to be a sheep and just follow. Is it then my fault that we ended up in a tapas bar drinking wine and eating hommus while our flight was delayed?? Possibly. After putting up with some ignorant loud twats in the bar, it was Corfuuuuu here we come. Unfortunately it was an easyJet flight who are the Tiger Airlines of Australia. Flights ALWAYS late, charge you just to breathe the air on the plane… but who needs air when there’s wine?!?! How do a Geordie, blonde and funny Sheila entertain themselves on a flight???

A touchdown, customs in the worlds smallest airport and a taxi ride later and woo hoo, we’re in Corfu!! Already “happy” from an eventful flight it was a case of drop the bags, get pretty and head out to hunt down a DJ Kyles had heard about. Didn’t find the DJ but did find an epic waterside bar with a dance floor. Kyles being the friendly one of the bunch, she made friends with the locals. Unfortunately they couldn’t understand a word coming out of the Geordie’s mouth!!

We may have lost track of time and returned to the hotel around 2am (give or take a few hours, ok give…) to find it locked and wine consumption hindering our ability to work out how the hell to get in. After some bickering and tense words, the doorman on duty let us in. The rest of what happened that night is definitely a case of what happens on tour stays on tour. Ask no questions I tell no lies…

How to describe Friday… sunshine, beautiful city, delicious food, great company… or I could be honest… hangover, 36 degree heat, sweat, grumpy Holly and three people hardly talking because we overslept and missed the ferry to Albania. I should have been more empathetic to Kyles, going to Albania was the main reason we made the trip to Corfu, she was beyond disappointed. Unfortunately I was a shit friend that instead stuffed my face full of pancakes and bacon and could hardly string a sentence together on account of the banging in my head. NEVER DRINKING WINE AGAIN!!! There was a reason I switched to gin. The bacon kinda helped, as it always does. So did eating half of Kylie’s…

Putting on a brave face and trying not to waste a beautiful day in Corfu before heading to Sidari, we wandered the old town, took in the bloody beautiful sites and I avoided any photo evidence of my hangover… note the lack of my ever present selfies…

With Kyles disappointed, the Geordie thirsty and me, well, being a grumpy pain in the arse if I’m honest, we decided the best bet was to jump on the bus to Sidari, drop our stuff in the room then wash off the hangover in the sparkling ocean. For a day where nothing went to plan, of course Google maps doesn’t like Corfu and the ten minute walk to the bus station turned into an hour trek through Corfu’s cobbled hilly streets in 36 degree heat dragging a suitcase. I tried to put on a brave face, as soon as we hit the bus station I shoved ice cream and cold coke into my dehydrated hungover body then face planted on the table for a nap, leaving Kyles to ponder for the next two hours whether she still wanted to be my friend. The Geordie found a different bus stop, the one with a pub of course!! So apparently the bus ride to Sidari is gorgeous, wouldn’t know, said face planting on the bus station table transitioned to face planting on the bus window. I’d stay stop rolling your eyes Mum but have a feeling there is plenty more of that to come…

Arriving in Sidari, it looked like old school Greece. Pink houses, olive trees, hills and concrete gardens. Wogs love their concrete. Being a sheep and following my Shepard’s to the accommodation, I have to admit I was dubious, as much as a thumping headache would allow anyway. The slightly unkept road was sparse, with a few massive double story Greek houses with pools. Apparently that’s how they roll in Sidari. Rocking up at Maria’s, the Geordie’s name was written on a piece of paper and stuck to an open apartment door, guess that one’s ours??? I think there was some sort of check in process, wouldn’t know, I found a bed and an air conditioner and was out for the count. I woke at 8pm to the snores of a Geordie, Kyles on the other hand hadn’t wasted the day, she’d found the beaches, town centre and watched the sunset, found the beach bars and indulged in a cocktail or two. Grumpy Holly turned into disappointed Holly for wasting the short time we had in Greece. But we got our shit together and Kyles took us to an epic beach bar over looking the ocean, suave tunes and a Greek waiter that was confused about it currently being winter in Australia. A gin cocktail and Gyros later and happy Holly had returned, tail between her legs for being a grumpy hangover arse. On our journey back to Maria’s, the sound of the Zorba drew us into a local where a Greek god was dancing, needless to say we convinced the Geordie to stay and watch… yeah, dude from 50 Shades of Grey but hotter and with a Greek accent… no words…

Starting the next day with a clear head and a need to redeem the grump from the previous day, I joined Kyles by the pool for the first of many cocktail and chill sessions. The Geordie earnt brownie points by getting me ice cream for breakfast. Ok, we’ll keep him. Wish I could say the rest of the day was filled with culture, adventure and embracing Greek tradition. The most culture I got was a second serving of gyros and Mythos beer… but when you have this setting, what else is there to do except cocktail and chill?? BTW, it’s pronounced yee-ros, kinda like we say it in RADelaide, not guy-rows like a certain Aussie bogan ordered it!!

Cocktail and chill is all good unless you’re Kylie who has ants in her pants and within 5 minutes of me tucking into my meaty goodness had booked us in for an afternoon of parasailing… sure, why the hell not!!! Parasailing has to be one of my all time favourite things in the world to do. Being launched into the sky to breeze over beautiful scenery with a dip in the ocean. Could have stayed up there forever had it not been for the harness causing an epic wedgie! Kyles who was strapped on behind me had one worse, and had to guide us into landing as well, of course she did it like a pro!! Wish I could have taken pics of the sights up there, can’t stop smiling just thinking of it. The Geordie stayed grounded and was designated photographer, scared of heights maybe??? May have found a weakness…

On a high from well, literally being high, we sunbaked for 0.5 seconds and then were off again, cocktails in hand and onto this masterpiece of fun!!! A paddle boat WITH a slippery dip, I never knew such magnificence existed!!! The dude wasn’t bad either…

A little worried Kylie might want to try paddle to Albania, I took the wheel (it was a stick) and steered us around the coast, past the buoy for Crazy Shark and out into the beautiful Adriatic Sea (may have had to google that!). Somehow warm water negates my fear of sharks cos we hurled down the slippery dip and into way too deep to touch water for hours without a care in the world. Or maybe it was the cocktails?? Either way it was so much bloody fun, think maybe I should start a business adventure and bring paddle slides to RADelaide!!

We may have been a little overambitious with our paddling out and around the coast, forgetting we had to paddle back. Needless to say we did make it to shore cos I’m here to tell the tale!! With Saturday already being 200% better than the hangover the day before, we indulged the Geordie and headed to the local watering hole where all the Brits in Sidari had assembled to watch England take on Ireland in the football, or soccer, or maybe it was rugby??? The dudes had squished faces so must have been rugby… in any case, the Geordie proceeded to make friends with the poms in the pub and before we knew it, Paul and Gail from Wales were coming on our sunset walk, wait a minute, they’re Welsh, I’m confused… long story short, England annihilated Ireland (apparently), was kinda nice to be barracking for the same team as the Geordie for a change cos heaven knows he has bad taste in soccer and cricket. So two aussies, two Welshmen and a Geordie set off on a walk… sounds like the start of a joke… the joke is that the secret sunset viewing location that Kyles led us to was quite literally on the deck of our Welsh friends hotel, yeah, they were kinda loaded… while they headed to the bar, we took in one of the most beautiful sites I’ve had the chance to behold, sunset over the cliffs in Corfu… no words…

After staring into the sunset and getting a little emo in our thoughts, we joined our new friends on the deck of their hotel, about 10 steps away. This Geordie knows how to pick his friends, our two new friends were on all inclusive packages at their hotel and proceeded to bring us all beer after beer after beer after beer… all free. I decided to like beer.

After chatting away with our new mates and over staying our welcome we wandered back to Maria’s which paled in comparison to the sunset deck hotel but who cares, it’s about the company right?? Not five star resorts right??? On our trek back Kyles desire for squid side tracked us, not that we argued, eating, drinking and sun baking seems to be what Sidari is all about! I tried to be traditional and ordered moussaka, I would have taken a pic but as normal my hunger got the better of me, annihilated it in record time… slippery dips and paddling works up a hell of an appetite… I’ll just keep telling myself that… Back at the apartment there was somehow space for chocolate and one more drink, as there always is… sitting on our balcony overlooking the pool, we were the ignorant loud twats, taking it in turns to play our favorite tunes. Kyles played techno dance music from Tomorrowland, Nora player Elvis, AC/DC, Sinatra and I was on it with Aussie rock gods, Amy Shark, Gang of Youths and Silverchair, could you get more different musical tastes???? How are we even friends??

With Sunday funday being our last whole day in Sidari, Kyles and I left the Geordie asleep and made our best efforts to do something cultured, drinking and sun baking didn’t quite feel like the authentic Greece experience. Still being earlyish, we stopped by the tour center to see if there was anything we could do that day. No tours available. We considered getting a taxi to the monastery but it was 70 euro, that’s $140 Aussie one way, fark. Went to the car and scooter hire place, can’t hire a car or a scooter without an international drivers license, FFS!! There was literally NOTHING to do besides eat, drink and sunbake… when life gives you lemons, make a gin and tonic… and that’s what we did!!! Gyros, cocktails and sun baking.

Needless to say Kylie was bored after two minutes so went shopping and returned with a unicorn, flamingo and donut, of the floaty variety!!! Yeah, floating in the ocean on a donut with a cocktail, doesn’t get much more perfect. Kyles obvs has the unicorn and why the Geordie ended up with the flamingo made us question more than his aversion to heights. To his credit, or possibly his drunkedness, we managed to convince him to join us for more paddle slide action, this time with our unicorn, flamingo and donut in tow. Somehow I managed the luxury of dangling my feet in the water while the other two paddled their arses off to get us out to sea, and possibly halfway to Albania?!? More slippery dip action, Nora for some reason wouldn’t partake, no idea why. Geez that was fun, there really is nothing like swimming in the ocean. With a slippery dip. And a cocktail. And a donut. And music. And besties!!

With the Geordie desperate to watch his team lose at the soccer, (he keeps calling it football, doesn’t he know what real football is????) we headed back to shore. Somewhere in the afternoon, I had a nap on the deck chair, Kyles hired a kayak and the Geordie went to watch the soccer. All fun but I was napping so can’t comment on whether they had fun?!?! This really is a bit of a one sided story… after more floating and more cocktails and more food, we wrapped ourselves in our floaties and walked back to the hotel to ready ourselves for dinner, cos we needed more food and drinks right?? With the Geordie still preoccupied with soccer, Kyles and I found a candlelit beach side restaurant for our romantic dinner. Half way into our dinner of ribs, chicken and seafood, the Geordie made an appearance. Not sure whether it was him being clumsy or payback for my grumpy behaviour Friday but I ended up wearing a frozen cocktail in my lap and down my front. Knowing the Geordie, just clumsy!!! In all honesty though, I was beat. With sticky clothes and feet I headed back to the room to sleep and the other two headed off to meet our Welsh friends for karaoke. Anyone that has heard me sing knows I made the right choice. They had an awesome night, as did I, sometimes sleep is the best medicine, or I’m just getting old… feel free not to comment on that one!!

Somehow even with 5 times the amount of sleep than the other two, I woke Sunday feel like crapola, maybe just knowing our holiday in Sidari was over, no wait… I’m permanently on holiday, no reason for feeling like crap, go back to that old age excuse?? Anyways, we got our shit together and onto the 7am bus back to Corfu, this time I kept my eyes open as the bus wound through too tiny streets and across an absolutely beautiful countryside that seemed to epitomise Greek countryside once again, pink houses, tractors, trees, rolling hills, and men sitting in their shorts drinking coffee outside cafes. Can’t believe I was a mattress head and missed it the first time!

Jumping off the bus in Corfu, we knew better than to try rely on Google maps to get us to the airport so instead gave it an easy job, find us food!! Pretty sure it was Kylie not Google that found us a little cafe run by the most charming gentleman, he seemed to take a liking to me, took me inside the cafe to show me the eggs his chickens laid and somehow I managed to order us breakfast. No menu, he was just bringing us breakfast!! Eggs, sausage, cheese, ham, smooshed beans, crusty bread, tomato, cucumber and dead horse, Kyles had to explain that one to the Geordie!! The traditional Greek coffee was strong as hell with what seemed like mud, yummy mud, at the bottom. Pretty sure that coffee got me through the next 3 days!! Heading off, awesome Greek cafe dude pointed us in the direction of the taxi rank, and offered to drive us if we couldn’t find one. He also gave me a massive hug which was sweet. Maybe they don’t get many blondes in Corfu??

We did manage to jump in a cab and finally get back to the worst airport in the world – ok, probs not the worst but certainly tiny and full of lines. A line to get into the airport (like through the front door), 45 minute line for bag drop, line through security, line through passport control, line for the loo, line for boarding, line to get onto the bus to the plane, line to get onto the plane… doesn’t help I have a talent to pick the slowest line. Finally on the plane, all seated separately cos it’s easyJet, the family between Nora and I were nice enough to swap seats so we could sit together. Lucky me, got to fulfill my life long ambition of being a pillow…but an asleep Geordie is the best kind!!

Back to Brixton at last and we were well and truly pooped, the Geordie had a 5 hour drive back to Newcastle, Kyles had to get ready for work the next day and me, I had a day of adulting planned!!

September 4, 2019 0

Straight to Hel

New Year’s in Hel? Why the Hel not.

Nothing like a 4.30am wake up call to get the party started but if you were never asleep, is it really a wake up or a get the Hel up call?

So we legged it to Gatwick in the early hours, with enough time to shove our faces with the only thing that cures the morning grumps, bacon…

So now we’re on a 3 hour flight to Helsinki – hence the Hel references if you’re still a little behind – just licked spilt Gin off my iPhone screen so I think that’s a prelude of the night to come… stay tuned…

Quite literally, landing in Helsinki and still in a bit of a jet lag haze, looking out the window on decent and wondering if the white walker army is close, I swear we just flew over The Wall.. wake up!!!

The first introduction to Finnish people… the dude at Immigration, right out of my Fireman calendar and spoke my language.. “How are you mate?”, his response, “Eh…”, right back at ya.

Getting a little (a lot) lost legging it from the airport to the train to the tram and finally to the Airbnb, host looks like a damn model, where the hell are well? Not my kind of hell…

But yeah nah (they don’t get “yeah nah” in Europe), we got our New Years kits on, apparently us Aussie girls think wearing fancy dresses and heeled boots out in snow and ice for New Years is a fab idea… not so smart, but pretty… through beer goggles maybe…

So I love my white walker contacts and wear them at every loser chance I get. Out in Helsinki, people aren’t fazed, it’s normal to look like an apocalyptic zombie, I like this place…

Without any definite plans, winging it as only us Aussies say, headed to the Nepalese restaurant downstairs for sustenance to meet our gin intake then onto a secret bar that’s so secret it’s a secret you’re standing up outside for a damn hour before they let you in… anyhooo… the gin was good, the secret passage way in was kinda cool and the price of the gin, well, it was gold plated gin after all… (no pics cos it’s a rule that they are just too cool for pics)…

Heading outside to catch New Years in all its glory, we quite literally stumbled into a blizzard…

…its was freakin amazing, I’m mesmerized by snow and probs only known by my nearest and dearest, I LOVE fairy lights… Helsinki is the capital of fairy lights. Snow + fairy lights = happy holly. Proof is in the picture fail that turned into a video, was actually smiling with teeth, I never show teeth unless I’m 200, no wait, 500% happy… can’t recall last time that happened. Check my pics on FB, when was the last time I showed teeth?? (Please don’t check, that’d be kinda weird…)

So anyway, the point of the long winded tail is that when the clock struck 12 and 2019 kicked off, I was in a bar, drinking gin with my bestie, looking out through a massive window at snow, fairy light and fireworks… and I’ll never be able to wipe that smile off my face!! And would never want to.

BTW, the bar forgot the tail bit of the menu but the window and snow and gin… that was really the point of this pic… liar…