STILL HERE!!

Wow, I am so behind. Sorry everyone!

So we survived Ios (just), lots of swimming, sunbathing and fun. After Ios though it was 36 hours of straight travel from Athens on the train to the coast of Greece, on a ferry to the Italian coast and then another train up to the top of Italy to the Cinque Terra coastline. Not very fun at all.

Reminded me so much of Wilsonś Prom for those of you who went in year 9 on the camp. Just rugged coastline and bush except a few differences. The mountains were sort of graded like steps to hold grapevines and orchards and all that and on the coast are 5 small towns all within hiking distance of each other. One day we did a lot of hiking, walking between the town we stayed and the next one. Just such cute little seaside village kind of things. Met some great people there. One of whom was a girl from Brisbane who just loves Thailand and filled me in on everything I should do while Im there, so now im even more excited to get there than I already was!

Then we trained it to Nice in France. Beautiful glamorous seaside town! By now though, after 4 months of travel, im not feeling so glamorous, a lot of my clothes and shoes have worn out and we definitly look like seasoned travellers. In Nice we stayed in a small apartment above a restaurant run by a lovely old French lady. She knew no English but was so adorable and accommodating.

Above: Two beautiful girls we met in Nice, this was up about a billion steps on top of a hill.

Travelled north to Dijon (home of Dijon mustard) but on the way in the train and pretty much for two days straight Ash was very sick and vomity. Didn't get up to much in Dijon.

North again to St Malo, on the North West coast, very close to the UK. A really chilled out holiday spot. Lots of tourists but good still. Has a cute old town centre and forts out on little islands in the water. We did a day trip to Mt St Michel, a huge church out on an island about an hour from St Malo. It was so cold though, windy and rainy and ikky. Had to wait a long time for the bus. Next time i take a car!

South again down to a small town called Blois (B-Wah). This was such a grey haired, oldies paradise...no offence Nan. A small compact town filled with cafes and wine shops and the like. We planned to travel out to the country a little to visit a famous Chateau but instead opted for the one in town as it was too cold to be waiting for busses again. The Chateau of Blois was gorgeous, huge and grand and so old. I could so live there.

Above: a totally great sandcastle/map I made in st malo of my favourite country. I miss my creative moments, away from my sewing/craft room! I have to compensate anyway possible.

And then the fun began. South again to the border of France and Spain. We met Ashlea's old exchange student Elsa and stayed with her for nights. In those three days and nights we fitted so much in. So much food, meeting people, partying and I went to see a live Salsa band!! It was awesome. Even though i know the basics of salsa i felt like a fish out of water because everyone was so good! Had lotsa people try to teach me but fail, still great though!

And now we are in Barcelona. Tonight we meet Elise at the airport!! So excited about that. Went shopping and bought some musts for England - Spain is cheap! Got some shoes and some jumpers for the cold and rainy weather.

Hope everything is well in Ballarat. Glad to see a Victorian team take the premiership even though i hate Geelong. Keep your emails coming!!

Love Em