Cold snaps

Those shark attacks made it into the news here. I'm telling you, sharks and crocs, they're the only kinds of stories that the British media are interested in about Aus!

It is seriously cold here now. We went to the football yesterday (finally broke the curse - Arsenal actually won! They still didn't play that well but at least their fans got some relief) and despite wearing socks and thick stockings under jeans my feet were going numb. I think the max yesterday was 2 or 3C, dropping to -3C overnight. I still haven't seen snow though. So ripped off.

We saw a really weird film on Sat - Far North. With Sean Bean and Michelle Yeoh. One of the strangest films I've ever seen. It was all shot in Finland or somewhere - the landscape is all ice and snow - it looks incredible. But the story? So Michelle has an adopted daughter and they live in a tent/igloo thing in the middle of nowhere and she rescues Sean Bean who is alone in the snow. A love triangle forms. So far, so good (although a bit slow). But then... 

TURN AWAY IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE FILM. Spoiler ahead. I personally do not recommend it.

Michelle Yeoh's daughter tells her she and Sean are running off together. So Michelle turns into a scary witch and strangles her daughter with her own hair before cutting her face off and sewing it onto her own! Then she has sex with Sean Bean who realises something weird is happening and runs out into the tundra naked.

So bizarre. On the plus side, I never saw it coming!!

We saw the film at the Barbican after I'd been working at a concern which is my idea of hell - a selection of the cheesiest numbers from various musicals. Oh God it was awful. I Don't Know How to Love Him, a Sound of Music medley, There's No Business Like Show Business, I Feel Pretty, a medley from Mamma Mia... on and on it went. My ears were bleeding. And the singers were trying way too hard. Ugh.

Gotta take the good with the (oh so) bad I guess.

Another one down

Who needs parents? We had a great Christmas yesterday, for all 3 of us (Ben, sis, me) our first away from home. Our menu: roast potatoes (with garlic, rosemary), sweet potato, baked field mushrooms with goat cheese, yorkshire puddings (Fliss and I ate 17 each!! They were smaller than usual, but that's still a good effort!), beans and mini zucchini with pesto and gravy. Yeah. Total awesomeness. Plus a few glasses of wine and some Baileys. Oh, and mixed berries with clotted cream for dessert. No-one was missing the turkey.

Basically we watched DVDs all day. TV (Extras, Gavin & Stacey) and classic movies (Errol Flynn's Robin Hood and Casablanca). A perfect Xmas. Sis went to bed at 10pm because she was so full. Then today (Boxing Day) she has gone to visit a friend in Norwich. I can't take Norwich seriously as a place, thanks to Alan Partridge. There are a few locations in Britain that suffer from that problem in my mind, they've been mentioned in some famous sketch or comedy show and now that's all I associate them with!

Working NYE, so no exciting plans there. But I should be finished in time to go and see the fireworks on the Thames.

Hope you all had a great (hot) Xmas and are enjoying your holidays.

xxx

Merry Xmas to you and to you...

I can't believe this year's almost over. It's been quite a big one! And next year looks like it will be almost as hectic (not quite as intense, because I have no plans to get married again or move country!) If The Bacon has her way (my new boss, for those who don't know) then I'll be making 4 films in the first half of next year - two docos, a corporate for the theatre company and a viral campaign about illegal immigrants.

It's just a pity I won't see Ben for most of the year! That's going to be weird. It's been pretty nice having him here. At the moment both my flatmates are away (back home for Xmas) so we have the house to ourselves. Almost like being a real married couple.

I've got some meetings with journalists first this in the new year. Just some meet and greets, to introduce them to the organisation and to me. The media here is crazy. And I have to say that it's a poor reflection on the British people how crap their media is, because there is so much competition here that if the Brits want high-quality journalism they can get it... instead the highest selling papers are the awful tabloids (I think the Sun is the biggest seller, Murdoch's contribution to the UK scene). People even read the News of the World - which is that paper that often reports on aliens landing and huge imaginary sex scandals. I thought it was a joke! But you see people reading it on the tube!

Here is a nice little summary of the British press to leave you with, from comedian Russell Howard. The quality of the video isn't great, but I'm sure you'll appreciate the content. The sad thing is that it's true.

Merry Christmas!

xxx

Christmas craziness

This week has (thankfully) been a bit more relaxed than last week, probably because last week I tried to shoot a film in amongst working 2 jobs! It was a bit stressful, but the film was for a competition and is now up on Youtube. Check it out (it's very silly, but I think it's funny!)

The film had to somehow be inspired by this short story, which is quite absurdist and our interpretation is loose to say the least! Basically we started thinking about what furniture gets up to when people aren't in the room.

My theory over here is I'm just going to enter everything and anything. Put myself out there. However I can. Hopefully next week though I'll have some time to relax over Xmas and coming into the new year!

xxxx

It's been a while...

My apologies. It's been some time since I wrote.

I'm STILL living in the 18th Century. The boiler has been broken for 2 weeks, and we had told the real estate agent there was a problem more than a week prior to that. What a nightmare. It's been freezing cold (I got sick - gee what a surprise!) and we've had to go to friends' and neighbours' houses to have a shower! Thanks to all those friends and neighbours that kindly invited us in.

Plumbers are supposed to have the boiler fixed today. But I'll believe it when I see it.

All the tradesmen who have come to work on the heating and water systems have been very nice, most helpful, but the real estate agents are so difficult. They have this attitude that they are doing us a favour anytime they do anything - when all they are doing is the absolute minimum they should be doing for their job! And not even doing it very well. They keep telling us how much it is costing the landlord - like it's our fault and we should be grateful! Just get the fucking boiler fixed for Christ's sake! Total arseholes.

In other news, started my work at the Barbican, which is quite fun on the whole. Lots of nice people work there, most people do something artistic. And we get some free tickets. Got paid to watch a movie the other day! It wasn't a great movie (Changeling - Clint Eastwood's film with Angelina Jolie. Story is interesting but Angelina is rather OTT and the film is too long, it keeps going for about another 30 mins after the main mystery has been solved) but I liked it that bit better because I earned £17 while sitting on my backside.

Ben is over, which is so nice. We're like a real live couple again! Watching DVDs in bed (can't leave my bedroom coz it's too cold in the rest of the house!!) I'm working a lot this week, sadly, but we've booked a holiday in January. Going to Sicily for a few nights! Will try to avoid being shot by the mafia.

Think that's it for now. Will try to get back into doing more blogging this week.

Living in the 19th Century

I just did the washing up by boiling water in the kettle.

Yes, our boiler is broken. No heating or hot water for a few days now. A guy was supposed to come yesterday but didn't. He is supposed to come today but it's nearly 330pm and I haven't heard when he's expected to arrive. I have to leave at 5pm. I guess if he hasn't arrived in the next 1/2 hour I'll go and splash cold water under my armpits so that I don't smell at work!

Oh the joy. Why are real estate agents all such shitheads/nobjockeys/cunt weasels (that is  term SD invented - credit where credit is due)? He keeps telling us he's sorry about the delay and the landlord is going to pay for extra electricity costs due to using portable heaters, but he won't say when someone is coming to fix it! We don't want compensation, just a working boiler! And this guy has stood us up for meetings twice! Booked us in to come to his office then failed to be there.

So here I am, waiting, and I'd rather go into the office because it's so cold here but I don't want to leave in case I need to let someone in to fix it!

In better news, I quite like my haircut. Photos included.

Change is as good as a holiday

Today I am volunteering to be a hair model, in a crazy hair-brained (ha!) scheme to get a free haircut. However, it means they can do whatever they like to my hair. I'll post photos of the (potentially-disastrous) results soon...!

Love the stereotypes!

Another funny moment with my French housemate.

She was complaining to me about some shit at work and she said that, because she was unhappy, she had a go at her manager about it. "But all the Engleesh are like 'how could you do that?' But I am French you know? We don't put up with that sheet!" And I said that her people had fought a revolution not to have to deal with hierarchy and she said "Exactly!" Hilarious.

Still no luck with getting an agent yet, but possibilities are still open. My new plan is to enter any and every competition/opportunity that comes along. Yesterday I wrote a script for a pitch to direct a music video, and SD and I will make our short film for the Guardian soon as well. There are lots of good websites, on the BBC and Channel 4 for example, which list new opportunities for writers and directors (and DOPs, designers, etc). I still think it was a good idea to move over here.

Off to brunch with my housemate soon, possibly on Brick Lane, and then we have to sign another contract with the real estate agent (don't ask. Yes they are the same everywhere!)

Bisous xxx

Winter wonderland?

There's snow forecast for first thing tomorrow. I hope I get to see it, I missed the snow last time (it snowed everywhere except where I was staying that night!)

Une nouvelle expérience...

Living with my new multi-lingual housemates has been really fun so far. My French housemate, AB, made the most typically French dish the other night (no, not snails). It was something her grandma had taught her and seemed to involve balls of batter (boiled) with grilled halloumi and chunks of ham. So pastry, cheese and meat, not a vegetable in sight! The German, SJ, seems to eat more generic food (not just sausages, par example) but she gets unnaturally excited when I offer her a beer! I think she used to share a beer with housemates back home but AB doesn't seem to drink beer, so perhaps she misses the experience. I've never had such a positive reaction to such a simple offer before!

Very busy week at work, which was good, and I have training for my new job at the Barbican on Mon/Tues so this week could be busy too. Luckily I don't have something on every night, like I did last week.

And Ben arrives in 2 weeks!

The next dilemma, now that the house and the job are sorted, is what to get Ben and Fliss for Xmas...! Christmas carols have been haunting me in supermarkets and cafes since the start of the week. And it will only get worse from here. Ugh.

Wot's up guvna?

Went to my first game of English football and surprisingly loved it! I guess a 60,000-seat stadium just can't help but create a great atmosphere, even when your team (Arsenal) loses... against a team that haven't beaten them since 1993! It were a dark day. My sister blames me. I blame the fact that Arsenal never went anywhere near their goal. Hard to score from the middle of the pitch. And I don't even know nuffing!

I'm in my new flat today, in Bethnal Green, which is East London (that's why I'm talking with a Cockney accent, I'm an East Ender now). So glad to unpack my suitcase, what a relief, despite the fact that PM and TL were the best hosts anyone could hope for, so generous and accommodating. I hope I didn't get in their way too much, but even if I was the best guest in the world I bet they'll enjoy having the house to themselves again after 3 weeks!

I was able to properly meet one of my housemates for the first time today, SJ. I met her briefly a few weeks ago but she was clearly stressed, coming in late after a hard day at work and her computer had broken. So she was kind of quiet and distracted. But today we have been chatting away and she is so sweet, she gave me a moving in present of some German chocolates! She's German. My other housemate, AB, is French and is also lovely, but I already knew that.

So 10 weeks after first seeing the room I was able to move in! Man. What a crazy time. I'll take some photos of my new flat soon and post them.

Missing you all in Aus.

xxxx

Rendition Monologues

If you're in Sydney or Melbourne, do go and see this show. Only one chance to do so!

Actors for Human Rights, the outreach network of London-based iceandfire theatre, is giving a voice to people who have suffered under the CIA’s ‘extraordinary rendition’ counter-terror method, the kidnapping and illegal transport of terrorism suspects for interrogation in countries with a reputation for torture. Rendition Monologues brings first-hand testimonies of victims of this practice to Australian audiences.

Former Guantánamo prisoner Bisher al-Rawi saw one of the first performances of Rendition Monologues. He said: “I am almost lost for words. The show was really very moving, scarily so. I was almost living through their experiences and mine as well."

Sydney

Starring: Marcus Graham, Wayne Blair, Kate Atkinson and Damian Walshe-Howling

1 December, 8pm

Belvoir St Downstairs Theatre, 25 Belvoir St Surry Hills

Bookings: www.belvoir.com.au, 02 9699 3444

Tickets $20

Melbourne

Starring: Tom Long, Alice Garner, Neil Pigot, Syd Brisbane and Kate Atkinson

10 December, 8pm

Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com, 03 9662 9966

Tickets $20

More information about Actors for Human Rights www.iceandfire.co.uk/afhr

W - new film by Oliver Stone

In a word: shithouse (or I should say shite, now that I'm a Brit).

It's a biopic about George W. Bush, which Stone rushed to get out before the American election. And it shows. The script seems poorly thought out and interesting themes that could have been explored (such as being the no-hoper son of a president) get skimmed over and instead the audience sits through long scenes in the situation room of the Bush administration plotting the Iraq war. But we all know about that stuff! There was no humanity in it, just some actors impersonating famous politicians.

Josh Brolin who plays Bush is good though. His performance is more than an impersonation. But we learn nothing about Bush. There are probably 3 good scenes in the whole film... and it's a long film!

I understand it hasn't come out in Aus yet. I hope it doesn't, for your sakes.

In other news: still hunting for an agent, am entering a short film competition for The Guardian with SD (you can see the comp here), work with AFHR is going well, got my interview at the Barbican next week, move into new flat on Sunday.

Over and out.

Standing up for tradition

Guy Fawkes day was on Wednesday and it's been like living in a warzone the past 2 weeks. Constant fireworks.

Last night (Sat) there was a big bonfire/fireworks event near where my sister lives, in Alexandra Palace Gardens. The bus to her house was packed and I eventually sat next to this really cockney geezer who was asking about where I'm from and started telling me about Guy Fawkes.

He told me Guy Fawkes was French (which I didn't know) and when I said that it wasn't a very French name he countered with "Does it sound like a very English name?" Touché.

Then he started to tell me about how he hates the French because the English have been fighting them for 500 years and the Frogs betrayed the Brits in WW2 by making a deal with the Nazis to preserve Paris. He assured me that no true Englishman could like the French.

It's good to see some racist traditions continuing. And I doubt the French are all that worried about the English hating them. It was a pretty funny conversation. I did make him admit that he liked their cheese.

O BA MA! O BA MA! O BA MA!

It happened. Thank God. Like the good, cynical liberal that I am I didn't want to believe he could pull it off for fear of being disappointed. But a well-deserved victory was his. President Elect Barack Hussein Obama.

It has been genuinely moving to see the responses of Americans, especially African Americans. I can't think of an election in my lifetime that has elicited so much passion and emotion from voters. Certainly not an election in any Western country anyway. As happy as I was that the ALP kicked Howard's Liberal arse last year, my joy came mostly from relief that Howard's reign was over, not out of excitement about a Rudd Labor Government. The Americans who voted Democrat, however, seemed to experience both kinds of joy. And it was overwhelming for some.

In news that hasn't made international headlines, a "top 5" agent wants to see my showreel (whoopee!) and my friend SD has had her online TV series idea optioned by a production company who want to pitch it to TV networks in the next couple of weeks! The lack of naval gazing over here in the film/TV industry is gratifying. Australia is so frustratingly slow. I was talking to a composer a few weeks ago and said that it is expected in Australia that a script should take 5 years to write and then financing takes another 5 years. Projects spend a lot of time hanging around in bottom drawers. He said what do people do with these films, ferment them??

First couple of days at work have been great. Think I'm going to really enjoy the job and CB and I will work well together. It's sometimes hard to know how you'll work with friends, and I had put a lot of pressure on myself in regards to not letting CB down, but now I know I'll be capable.

À bientôt...

Wow Wow

The music clip I directed at the start of the year (in February... yes, quite a long time ago!) has been finished and uploaded to YouTube.

You can see it here: 

Fingers crossed for the election on Tuesday! I'll be staying up with SD to watch the coverage. Might be a bit bleary eyes at work the next day.

xx

Looking up?

It's funny how things can start to turn around and make everything feel OK.

Over the weekend I decided I was going to change my attitude (which had been rather negative) and put myself out there more and enjoy as much of the London experience as I could. I therefore went along to an AFHR performance, saw a gig on Sun and went to the theatre (by myself!) on Wed night. Good things have already started to happen. The Secret was right all along...

Of course, first there was the news about the funding. Now I have a purpose, at least 2 1/2 days a week!

Then last night I went to a doco screening with a new friend (another CB! I have so many friends with those initials! And I'm married to BC...) and a TV/film producer insisted that I should contact her for a meeting and send her my showreel - I'd only been speaking to her for about 4 mins! After the cold calling and the (so far) unsuccessful approaches to agents having someone initiate a meeting with me was amazing. CB was impressed as well - we both know that hardly ever happens. CB and I went on to have a lovely dinner, all in all a good night.

I suppose it shows the difference between face-to-face meetings and trying to introduce yourself over the phone. I'll have to make myself go to more events (which, given my usual lazy, verging-on-anti-social nature will require some effort! Resisting the pull of the doona and DVD...)

5 weeks til Ben comes over.

2 weeks til I move to my new place.

3 days til I start earning £

Looking up?

It's funny how things can start to turn around and make everything feel OK.

Over the weekend I decided I was going to change my attitude (which had been rather negative) and put myself out there more and enjoy as much of the London experience as I could. I therefore went along to an AFHR performance, saw a gig on Sun and went to the theatre (by myself!) on Wed night. Good things have already started to happen. The Secret was right all along...

Of course, first there was the news about the funding. Now I have a purpose, at least 2 1/2 days a week!

Then last night I went to a doco screening with a new friend (another CB! I have so many friends with those initials! And I'm married to BC...) and a TV/film producer insisted that I should contact her for a meeting and send her my showreel - I'd only been speaking to her for about 4 mins! After the cold calling and the (so far) unsuccessful approaches to agents having someone initiate a meeting with me was amazing. CB was impressed as well - we both know that hardly ever happens. CB and I went on to have a lovely dinner, all in all a good night.

I suppose it shows the difference between face-to-face meetings and trying to introduce yourself over the phone. I'll have to make myself go to more events (which, given my usual lazy, verging-on-anti-social nature will require some effort! Resisting the pull of the doona and DVD...)

5 weeks til Ben comes over.

2 weeks til I move to my new place.

3 days til I start earning £

The good news

Finally, my job has been confirmed! CB called this morning saying she got the funding. What's more we've been given funding for 2 years not just 1! Very exciting.

This will help me to feel more settled and have something to do every day. I'll probably officially start next week I think.

And I can start earning some goddam pounds! The $AU is not my friend over here.

Hoorah!

A Vampire Weekend weekend

So I'd never heard of Vampire Weekend (because I'm embarrassingly uncool) but when SD asked if I'd like to go with her to a gig on Sun night I figured why not? Hell, I'm trying to make friends and see things in this crazy new town so there's no excuse to be anti-social (back home I had the excuse of Ben!) SD is an Aussie girl I've met through friends here who is in a similar situation to me - trying to make it in London. She's a TV writer and trying to do the same shite cold calling producers etc.

Anyway, the gig was great. They're a really fun band, playing up-beat, happy pop music. But there was a group in the centre-front of the crowd who were acting like hooligans at a football/soccer match - yelling out chants, pushing people over, throwing bottles onto the stage. It was really distracting, not to mention intimidating for the band no doubt. Security couldn't even throw them out because there were about 15 or 20 of them and they were right in the middle of the scrum. One of the bottles whizzed passed the keyboardists' head and almost smashed into a guitar that was propped up the back. Arseholes. And the weirdest thing is - the music is so happy! How could anyone be aggressive when listening to that??

It's amazing how embarrassed one can feel as an audience member if other audience members are acting like wankers. It feels like when your primary school teacher used to say the whole class would be punished for someone's bad behaviour.

I've been staying with P&T, who are my saviours. Had 3 options fall over today for places to stay until I move into Bethnal Green on the 15th. I'm going to a hotel tomorrow, because P&T have another friend coming over, then I might have to come back here. They say they don't mind and I hope that's true - I don't want to push it too much! I'm trying to be the best housemate ever (doing more than my share of washing up, for example!)

Return to Sender

I will never trust the postal service in this country again. A box that Ben sent me in September has been returned to sender after a complicated and frustrating process.

Customer service in London is not the greatest in the world, I must say. I have called the parcel company four times in the past 3 weeks and twice the person on the other end was really rude to me (on one occasion he even made me cry!) What's more, I had played by their rules and done everything right, despite the fact that they don't tell you what any of the rules are! For example, they only keep a package for 20 days (including weekends) but that isn't mentioned on their delivery slip, so how the hell are you supposed to know that? Regardless, I happened to contact them (via the web) on the 19th day to get the package redelivered but it never arrived at the post office. The guy who made me cry said the parcel was too heavy, but there was nothing about weight limits online and no-one called me to tell me it would be a problem. Mo fos.

Hopefully Ben has the receipt so we can make an official complaint.

Grrrr.

FG and I also got some grumpy service at a bakery the other day. These two Polish women glared as soon as we walked in and didn't crack a smile for the next 5 minutes. I suppose it's fair enough that they're grumpy, the Polish are pretty vilified over here at the moment! And, to be fair to the Motherland, later that day we got some excellent, smiley service at a vege restaurant in Muswell Hill (which included a free smoothie!) so we're going back there tonight!

In other news... had a job interview at a large chain of stationary shops. Shit money and they wanted people to work basically full-time over Xmas. When they called me the next day I didn't answer my phone! Sent them an email politely declining the job. Just think it would be too depressing. Got a job interview in a few weeks for a theatre/cinema complex, which would be much better, and CB should find out about funding for my job in the next fortnight.

So things will get better. I know that. In the meantime I need to give myself reasons to get out of bed in the mornings. Especially when it's someone else's bed!

xxx

How to drown one's sorrows

London (reflective of the UK in general I think) has much more of a pub culture than a cafe culture. Australians may consider themselves to be big drinkers, but caffeine is probably the drug of choice for many, whereas in London it's not uncommon to start drinking at lunchtime (even on a weekday).

The odd thing is though that, although most of the pubs look the same from the outside (like Olde Englishe establishments) some are very cool and some are not, but you can't tell what a pub is going to be like until you get inside. The bad pubs are identifiable as soon as you walk in the door - filled entirely with old men nursing a pint at the bar or on their own in the corner. These are very sad places. There are plenty of watering holes that don't fit this description, you just have to know where to find them!

Ups and downs

The good news is...

• got a meeting with an agent next week
• have moved in with P&T, staying on a mezzanine/loft level in their lovely Kentish Town flat
• seeing (and hearing!) JD sing tonight at St Martin in the Fields church
• Ben might come and visit earlier than we had thought, probably before Xmas

Bad news is...

• sick of the transient lifestyle
• I miss Ben
• still don't know about my job

The art of rejection

The 2 rejection emails I got today (yes, another one since my last post) demonstrate, in my mind, how to write a rejection and how not to.

This is the nice rejection letter:

Dear Charlotte,

I have spoken with J and unfortunately I am afraid that we are not really in a position to offer you representation at the moment. Please do understand that we are a small agency with just 3 full time agents. We are very busy with the clients that we already look after and rarely can take on anyone new.

I’m terribly sorry to disappoint you but do encourage you to write to other agents who may be able to help you. If you do not know of it already, I would recommend ‘The Writer’s Handbook’ for advice and contact details.

Good luck and best wishes,

T

She offers some advice, lets me down gently but also offers some encouragement. Here is a shite rejection letter:

Dear Charlotte

Many thanks for your email. MA no longer works at ***. Unfortunately the Film and TV Agent’s here JC and GH are already considering a list of prospective clients and at present due to existing commitments and current heavy workload are unable to offer to meet with you.

I am sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news on this occasion. You can find full details about ***, our agents, who we represent and our submissions policy at www.***.co.uk

With kind regards
H

Not only is this clearly a form letter, but it sounds to me that they doth protest too much! They offer 3 excuses not to meet with me instead of just one! And then she has the cheek to send me to their website.

Note: I have removed the names of agents and the agencies. You probably figured that out for yourself if you're not a complete berk.

One down, one thousand to go...

I've just had my first official rejection from an agent.

At least they got back to me! And as far as rejections go it was very nice.

I think this is going to be the start of a long and frustrating process.

I can't move to Bethnal Green for a while so I've been house-hopping. Today I leave the bourgeoise comforts of Kensington for the exciting adventures of Kentish Town! People have been very nice offering me a place to stay.

And seeing as Actors for Human Rights has not received the funding for my position yet, it's a good thing really that I don't have to pay any rent! I'm working on a sort of barter system, offering my cooking skills (and witty repartee) in exchange for shelter! I have a job interview for a Christmas retail position on Tues, which would hopefully work alongside the AFHR job but I can work more hours in the retail job if AFHR's funding isn't confirmed by next month. Rates of pay for casual jobs are crap here though. Worse than in Australia, although the full-time and part-time jobs seem to pay better. So fingers crossed for AFHR!

Moving to a new country is pretty annoying. I need proof of address to get a NIN (like a TFN), I need a NIN to get a job, I need a job to get a place to live...! Getting dizzy anyone?

I'm sure once I get a few things going and settle into my own place things will start to look up.

Here's hoping something comes along soon!

xx

Gay Paris

1st October

• Our French breakfast friends had gone so we had petit dejeuner with a German/Indonesian couple. Everyone in Europe speaks multiple language, the Indonesian woman was a German citizen and spoke German, Indonesian, English and French! Unbelievable.
• We drove the car back to Dijon, which was much closer than going back to Lyon. I performed a set of musical hits along the way, the most popular of which was definitely I Will Survive. The audience (ie: Ben) was most impressed.
• Our GPS, which had been such a good friend to us throughout our French travels, failed us at this final hurdle. Coming into the Dijon train station we wanted to fill up the tank. Our GPS told us 5 petrol stations... 4 of which didn't exist!! Finally found one but it wasn't staffed with human beings, just credit card machines, and it refused to take my credit card (and, as regular readers will no doubt recall, Ben's credit card was eaten by a machine in Rome!). We finally gave up and went back to the train station, which was being renovated, so we couldn't go into the normal carpark. We eventually found the Avis shop, but we arrived at 1:05pm and they had gone to lunch until half past! We couldn't even get into their carpark, we could only sit in the taxi zone and get yelled at by French cab drivers. Stressful. We got into the carpark when the Avis woman came back and handed over the keys with pleasure. When they charged us for the petrol we ended up paying $400/day (for 3 days).
• Bought train tickets to Paris. Train was leaving in 15 mins. Thought it was Platform 1, but there was no Platform 1. Turns out it was Platform I.
• Arrived Paris. At a hotel in a great spot, in the St Germain district, but there was a demolition job going on outside our window! I kid you not. From 9am til 6pm. Jackhammers on concrete. And the heating in the room wouldn't turn off.
• We had some crepes (naturally) and went to meet my friend EH and her boy R, who had just moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Speaking of annoying people who speak numerous languages, EH speaks 5 (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Mandarin) and R speaks at least 3 (maybe more, we didn't ask!). Hung out in a cool Parisian jazz bar. Felt uber urbane.

2nd October

"How many nutella crepes can a man eat in a day?" This quest underpinned our final day in Paris and the last day of our European Honeymoon. Ben did find out the answer.

• The cafe we went to for breakfast charged €5.50 for a coffee!! That's $8! And it wasn't spectacular coffee either. Ben's order of a crepe was actually 2 crepes. So 2 so far.
• Went to Gard du Nord to buy Eurostar tickets. Eurostar in chaos. After a fire a fortnight earlier and a train stopping in the tunnel a week later all their services were disrupted. Huge queues. When we finally got to buy our tickets we couldn't get the time we wanted and it cost twice as much as we had expected. Crap. Another early morning tomorrow then.
• We were tired but couldn't nap at the hotel because of the construction!
• Ben had another crepe after lunch. 3.
• We walked around the island in the Seine. I sat down and read the paper while Ben went to Notre Dame, I was a little over old churches! I just wanted to relax.
• Ben had another nutella crepe. 4.
• We hoped the demolition work would have stopped by 5pm. It hadn't. By 5:40 we gave up trying to relax at the hotel and went to get a beer.
• After dinner (with a very grumpy Italian waitress) Ben had another crepe. 5. He felt ill, but the answer to the day's question is 5.

A taste of regional France

28th September

• We got up early to catch the train to Dijon
• Train to Dijon was fully booked. Not another one til late evening. Crap.
• Caught train to Lyon instead.
• Arrived mid-arvo and went to hire a car. The first 2 places had nothing available. Avis had a small automatic (driving on the other side of the road we didn't want to have to worry about gear changes) for only $300/day!! Ripped off. But necessary.
• While Ben tried to figure out how to drive the car (searching everywhere for the handbrake, which, it turns out, is automatic!) I tried to figure out how to use the GPS.
• Got stuck in traffic, with the GPS insisting we turn down roads we couldn't turn down, because there was an inline skating race on! Half the streets were blocked off for it! Who knew rollerblading was so popular in France.
• We arrived a bit late in Vezelay, a tiny medieval village south of Paris. Our B&B hosts were waiting for us because they had to go out. Great B&B, called Le Porc Epic, but they don't speak any English. The ground floor of their house (which is on a hilltop overlooking a picturesque French valley) is an art gallery. There was this cool wooden sculpture, about 2.5m tall, of a spiral staircase made of books.
• Went to dinner at a creperie. Had goats cheese crepes. We both felt sick but Ben pushed ahead and ate a chocolate crepe for dessert as well. He regretted it later.

29th September

• Woken by the town hall clock outside our bedroom at 7am.
• Had our petit dejeuner. Another couple were staying in the B&B, Olivier and Amelia, two Frenchies. We spoke a bit in French but then it was clear their English was far superior to our French (it's embarrassing but it's always the way!)
• Walked around the tres petite village. There's a beautiful cathedral on the top of the hill. Most tourists to the town are actually pilgrims to the cathedral.
• We had a great idea to walk to the nearest town. It was downhill on the way there, so no problems, but getting back...
• We sat by a pretty little stream, enjoying the countryside cliches.
• Got lost as we detoured to see yet another old church. We had to walk through a field in the mud, past some horses, to find our way back to the main road.
• That evening we did more walking, going around the back of the village, beyond the ol town wall. We found a cute little 12th Century chapel and accidentally interrupted some Monks chanting! We didn't realise it was still "in use"! They weren't impressed.
• The creperie was closed (some kind of public holiday, Vacance du Soleil?) So we tried to find somewhere else with vegetarian food. Not easy. Eventually we had to contend ourselves with a restaurant that had one vege entree! So we ate tiny pieces of eggplant wrapped around a slice of goats cheese (about 3 cm in length). We asked for a main course size and were given 4 of them! We had to eat dessert just to try to fill up.

30th September

• We had petit dejeuner again with our French friends. They called Avis for us to change our car drop-off point. I gave them my email.
• Went to the Salles Fontayne, the Gallo-Roman baths.
• Drove through some gorgeous little villages. Only went on the wrong side of the road twice! (oops!)
• Went to the site of Julius Caesar's greatest victory, when he defeated the Gauls at Alysse St Treine (now the town of Alysia). It was really very cold on that hilltop. So, you could say cool in every sense of the word.
• Abbaye Fontanaye. Old Abbey and grounds. Ben got more and more excited with every historic site. It was very cute, like a child in a toy shop. Then, also like a child, he got a bit grumpy when we couldn't go to the Templar Church! There was a sign pointing off the road, but then it said "par rendez-vous" (by appointment). We tried to just go up and have a look anyway but we got forced off the narrow road by a tractor who yelled at us and we almost bogged the car trying to turn around and go back. When we got home, we tried to call to arrange and appointment but couldn't get through.
• Creperie wasn't open again (for this same holiday I think. 2 days!) so we decided to drive to Avallon, the nearest "big" town. It was clear Vezelay didn't have any culinary options for us. Half the restaurants in Avallon were closed too. Eventually found a nice looking restaurant... where we ate the WORST MEAL EVER! It was like a buffet from a Tabaret venue in Geelong (we should have known... Avallon!) We had cold potato salad and boiled eggs. No joke.

Nice

25th September

And so began the worse day of our holiday.

• In the morning we had planned to go into the Blue Mosque but decided that we couldn't be bothered. Looking back on that decision it would appear that we angered Allah.
• We hadn't heard whether Alitalia were still flying. Thursday (today) was to be the day when it could all go to shite. We decided we should get to the airport early to find out.
• Alitalia was flying but our flight was delayed by an hour. Then 1 hour 20 mins. In the end it took off 2 hours late.
• When we eventually got to Rome, the ATM at the airport would give me money but not Ben. I bought us train tickets to the Termini. We had a train leaving for Nice at midnight. We missed the train, saw it pulling away from the platform. Had to wait 30 mins for another one.
• We needed to use the internet so when we arrived at the Termini we went to the internet cafe nearby, but it was no longer an internet cafe! We'd used it a week earlier!
• Found some food (our other desperate requirement). When the bill arrived at the end, there were some illegible squiggles that were apparently worth €4 and €6 but which didn't correspond with anything we'd ordered. We decided not to tip the waiter (he seemed to have tipped himself)
• Ben tried to get money from an ATM. It wouldn't cough up.
• We had 1 1/2 hours before our train left so we decided to go to see the Trevi Fountain.
• Ben tried another ATM. Third time lucky?... It ate his card! His combined credit and debit card. It was 10:30pm so we couldn't go into the bank. We also couldn't go in tomorrow because we were leaving for France! Ben was unable to access cash for the rest of the trip. I became the sugar daddy (or that's how it appeared. In reality, Ben transferred some money via the internet to my account!)
• We threw a coin in the Trevi and stomped back to the Termini, annoyed.
• Ben took another look around for some internet facilities. The Termini train station is huge and has a mall attached.... but there was nothing. It was getting cold. There was also no news of our train until 10 mins before it arrived. We got on with relief.

26th September

• I wouldn't recommend overnight train travel. Especially if the journey is only 6 hours! Perhaps if you had longer to get used to the movement you could get more sleep. As it was we had to change trains at 6am at Genova having not managed a wink. Then another change on the Italy-France border.
• Finally. Nice. And it lived up to its name (ha!)
• Found the hotel, very cute and right on the main strip, one block back from the beach.
• We went for a walk, ate crepes and Ben went for a swim, even as a storm began to blow in. I was too wussy and sat on the beach under my umbrella instead!
• We had dinner at this strange little restaurant attached to a cabaret venue. Their specialty were "les panisses". I asked what these were, had no idea what the waitress said in response but she nodded when I asked if they were vegetarian so we ordered them. Turns out they were chips with dipping sauce! I'm not sure what we were expecting but it wasn't that! Thick-cut fries with, for me, a pesto and tomato dipping sauce. So odd. Tasty but not the most filling dinner.
• That night I fell asleep with my book still in my hand.

27th September

• We had a continental breakfast on our hotel balcony. Very civilised.
• Went to an old castle on top of a hill (yes, we saw many castles on hills on this trip!). Most of the old parts had been knocked down by various kings, but the view was excellent.
• Had lunch at a trendy salad bar place (which served actual vegetables, something we desperately needed). I got annoyed because the waitress laughed at me when I said "une sandwiche chevre" and I don't know why. Perhaps I mispronounced chevre? But we ordered chevre all the time and no-one else thought it was a joke. Quelle vache.
• We both went swimming. Ben got his shoes wet by jumping into the water with them on. Then he seemed disappointed that they were wet. Wasn't really sure what to say to him.
• We found out what time the train left the next day (too early). Foolishly, we didn't pre-book our seats.
• Ben had a nap. I went shopping and bought a funky new coat to help me deal with London winter (it will appear in photos on this page in no time!)
• Had a beautiful dinner on a market square. I had creme brulee for the first time. I always knew that I'd like creme brulee... and I was right!

Next... up north. To the Medieval town of Vezelay.

Istanbul Highlights & Lowlights

Istanbul is one of the most exotic places I've ever been. You are constantly reminded that you're "not in Kansas anymore" by the regular calls to prayer broadcast by the Mosques across the city 5 times a day (starting at 5:00am!)

21st September

• In Rome, the day after the wedding, we decided to share a cab with sis to the airport. When we got in the cab, however, we realised that we were going to different airports! I had to leave her on the side of the road, taxi-less, so we could catch our flight.
• Weren’t sure if Alitalia were flying anymore. They were. Still weren’t sure if we could get back in 5 days time however.
• I was exhausted when we arrived in Istanbul. Ben went for a walk around the neighbourhood (we were down the street from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, as well as the Hippodrome) and also saw the Mosaic Museum, an archaeological excavation site and a local bazaar.
• That night we went out for dinner. The whole month of September is Ramadan and this involves huge celebrations in the evening, because people can’t eat during the day. The Hippodrome square was turned into a carnival, with games and rides and stalls selling lots of sugar (especially popular were toffee apples, fairy floss and soft lolly pops that the store owner makes in front of you).
• When we eventually found somewhere to eat (with vegetarian kebabs) the waiter wanted to be friends with us. He sat down with us afterwards and we had a very awkward conversation in broken English. The only Turkish word we could say was teshekur (thank you. That’s not how you spell it though I’m sure!)

22nd September

• I was unwell. Being sick before the wedding then all the organising of the wedding and the adreneline of the day itself eventually took its toll. I spent almost this entire day in bed. Lucky we were staying at a nice hotel (thanks to Ben’s parents!)
• So in the morning, Ben went to the St Xavier in Cora church and the Theodosian walls. He was like an excited 4 year old about the walls, the old city walls of Constantinople (I think. Better to ask him about this stuff!)
• In the afternoon, we attempted to see the Hagia Sophia but it’s closed on Mondays! Instead we went to the Byzantine Cistern, the ancient underground water supply. It was very dark and spooky, although the atmosphere was ruined somewhat by the synthesised pipe-organ music playing covers of bad pop songs! I swear that one of the tracks was a version of “You say it best when you say nothing at all” (can anyone remember who sang that high quality ballad? Was is Ronan Keating?)
• We also went to the Topkapi Palace (the Sultan’s Palace). It was pretty cool, but it cost extra to see the harem so we didn’t bother! Tourist sites in Istanbul are expensive, be warned.
• I went back to bed. Ben went for a walk and took another 100 photos. He was also offered drugs but (claims he) didn’t accept!
• Had dinner overlooking the Blue Mosque, which was lit up differently every night for Ramadan. I got a lollypop made.

23rd September

• Feeling much better today, we went on a ferry cruise up the Bosphorous to a small town on the edge of the Black Sea.
  
• There was a castle atop a hill overlooking the black sea, an old fort, so we climbed up there and ALMOST DIED BECAUSE WE'RE SO UNFIT! It was quite hot and the hill just went on forever. I'd been so respectful of the culture up until that moment, always keeping my shoulders covered, but the mid-length sleeves had to come off and I climbed the last few metres in my singlet top.
• In the actual town it was very touristy. About 20 or more restaurants that all try to spruik for your business as soon as you get off the ferry. We chose a restaurant and sat by the water's edge. Not long after finishing our lunch, the waiter politely approached us and said "excuse me, there is wave coming". We looked out at the perfectly calm sea and could indeed spy a small wave rolling our way. We got out from our chairs and took a few steps back, just before the wave crashed over the restaurant, washing away two umbrellas and everything that was sitting on the first row of tables! Plates, glasses and more got washed into the ocean. We got drenched from the knees down. A pretty memorable meal, despite the fact that they overcharged us.
• We got back from the cruise in the late afternoon and walked (more walking) up to the Kalata tower (more uphill walking) overlooking the whole city. It would have been great if the narrow viewing platform hadn't been swamped with two tour groups, one large Japanese group and another German group.
• I was exhausted and drank a Turkish coffee to revive me. Tasted like mud but did the trick!
• That night we ate baked potatoes, a meal described by our hotel as a traditional Turkish dish introduced in the 1980s!
• There was a huge storm when we got back to our hotel. Ben got excited and went onto the rooftop to photograph it (!) but was washed away.

24th September

• The Hagia Sophia was open today so we went in. An incredible building, absolutely huge, and one that has passed through so many regimes and been worshipped in by Christians and Muslims.
• There are dozens of multilingual tour guides who hang out near the ticket office. It's amazing to think that these people speak 3 or more languages and yet they work as a tour guide! Perhaps the pay is really great. Or they just love the Hagia Sophia (that's easy to believe).
• We went briefly to the Grand Bazaar. Neither of us being shoppers we only lasted 10 minutes! It's really intense.
• Bought turkish delight from the shop that invented it in 1770.
• Also walked through the Spice Bazaar (which is much more interesting than the Grand Bazaar, if you ever go to Istanbul. The smells are incredible).
• In the afternoon, we each had a Turkish bath and massage. Coming from a country with no water this felt particularly indulgent! You are surrounded by steam and splashed with running water constantly. Completely naked, you are washed and massaged by an attendant. Evidently the men's and women's experiences are different, however. Mine was very gentle but Ben got pummelled by his masseur! I was slightly jealous. He came out of his bath walking like he was high on something.
• Thought we'd look at buying a carpet and went to the shop recommended in Lonely Planet for having reasonable prices, good quality carpets and an owner who isn't too pushy. I wanted 2 small carpets, one for me and one for a present for my sister. In the shop, Ben also took a fancy to a small Turkish carpet. We asked how much and were told $600 each! I was expecting $150-200! Needless to say, our faces dropped. No point in bargaining really, we exited the shop with our tails between our legs.
• To top off our indulgent day we went to a rooftop bar after dinner and smoked nargileh (a Turkish water pipe) with lemon tobacco. We both coughed a fair bit but it was very relaxing.

Will we make it back to Rome flying Alitalia so that we can catch our train to Nice?? Find out in the next installment...!

The Wedding...!

The wedding day went so fast. For a more comprehensive understanding of the ceremony, I'll be sure to add the YouTube link to my Dad's video! He got some excellent coverage (including morning establishing shots of Rome and the Baths, as well as a tracking shot around us as we said our pieces!) Haven't seen it yet but I'm sure it'll be the video event of the year.

What I can remember...

• Beautiful day. The pouring rain from the day before was nowhere to be seen.
• We had breakfast with Ben's Dad (the rest of the family went to view the Sistine Chapel)
• Sister and I went to get our hair styled. The hairdresser, Enrico, didn't speak any English so we had brought photos of what we wanted. It took an hour each because he was very precise! Would work on one curl for about 10 minutes. He was very sweet though and our hair looked great. 
• We had to race back to the apartment afterwards, grabbing some pizza on the way for lunch!
• Mum did my makeup at the apartment, which I kept trying to wipe off because I never wear makeup and it felt like she'd caked it on! It was actually fine.
• We arranged that everyone should go into the Baths in staggered groups, in case we got into trouble for holding a wedding in a tourist place! Cost everyone €6! No problems though, ticket sellers didn't even blink an eye.
• We waited for Mum and Dad. They were late because Dad had made them walk, refusing to hire a taxi! They were a bit hot and bothered when they arrived, but Dad quickly got out the video camera.
• There were some pesky tourists hanging around "our" spot (the place Ben and I had chosen for the ceremony). After being glared at by 16 sets of eyes they eventually moved on.
• We did the ceremony. I remembered my lines (phew!) My ring got a bit stuck but otherwise it went swimmingly.
• Photos were taken. LOTS OF PHOTOS. I felt like Amy Winehouse (not actually, because I wasn't drugged up to the eyeballs, but it felt like being stalked by paparazzi!)
• The guests wandered around the ancient site. I sat down with some relief for 20 mins!
• We caught the underground to the Spanish steps! Not many weddings can say that!
• I almost got run over by a crazy Roman driver as I was crossing the road. I had a green light on the pedestrian crossing, and this woman threw her arms up at me for inconveniencing her by trying to cross the road! Imagine the headlines if she'd run me over...
• Had a drink at a bar while we waited for our restaurant booking. The waiter was very funny. Sis was asking for the wine list so pointed at the menu and said "vino, vino?" He replies with "Vino vino? Prego prego. Grazie grazie." And he gave us free strawberries because it was a wedding party.
• Restaurant was great (another funny waiter) but there was a misunderstanding about the food. We thought the waiter was going to bring out big plates, with 2 vegetarian dishes (pasta/risotto) and 2 fish (pasta/risotto). Actually they brought out serves for everyone, with 2 courses made up of 2 dishes! So everyone was given a plate with prawn risotto and clam spaghetti, followed by pesto risotto and tomato spaghetti! With a few vegetarians at the table we had to make some adjustments, and everyone got VERY full (SO many carbs!)
• There were drunken speeches given by my Dad, Mum, Ben's Dad, Ben's aunty, LK, Ben's brother and my sister! At a wedding with only 14 guests, that was impressive. All the speeches were lovely though.
• When we were asked to speak, I had a major coughing fit! So Ben had to talk on our behalf (which is unusual, I'm usually the talker!)
• Ben's Mum fell asleep at the table.
• After dinner, we caught a cab to Ben's parents' apartment then walked back to our apartment. However, we got lost and wandered through a street market. If I hadn't been so cold and tired I would have considered it romantic, but as it was, it had been a long day and I wanted to go home! We also had to get up early the next day to catch a flight (Alitalia of course) to Istanbul.

The next installment... Istanbul!

Rome Highlights and Lowlights

15th September

• Very bumpy landing into Rome. We were flying Alitalia, so it was possible the bumpy landing was just the pissed off pilot letting off some steam. We had three flights with them throughout our trip so we were ensured a sense of "living on the edge" at all times because the news told us they could go belly-up at any moment (I believe they're still flying, but I would never fly them again!)
• Arrived and called the landlord for our apartment, as per instructions. No answer. Figured we should catch a cab to the area anyway. 
• Cab driver drove 140km/hour in a 90 zone, in the pissing rain, talking on his mobile. No seatbelts were available to passengers. 
• Arrived at apartment, no-one there. Then we noticed a small note had been stuck to the door, addressed to me. There was something very cool about having a note left for me in Rome! Found the key, let ourselves in.
• Next door to a spaghetti restaurant. This is what Rome is about!

16th September

• Walked ALL DAY. From about 10am til 5pm. 
• Looking for the perfect spot for our wedding. I should at this point mention that legally we were already married! We got married about a week before I left in Melbourne because the Italian bureaucracy fucked us around for ages. No-one who was coming to Rome knew this, it was all a secret (thanks to Petrea and Miles for managing to keep such a big secret!) The point is, we could get married wherever the hell we wanted to in Rome because the ceremony was totally up to us, there was no red tape to deal with.
• Found the perfect location, the Terme di Caracalla (Baths of Caracalla). An Ancient Roman site that is just south of the Forum but is not listed on any of the free tourist maps so no-one knows about it! Beautiful gardens and the huge stone Roman Baths.
• Chose the most photogenic spot (obviously!)
• Walking just outside the baths site we had a very weird experience. We were scammed by a man who had an Italian accent but claimed to be a Parisian fashion designer! He drove past in his car and showed us a map and asked where he was. We showed him. He said he wanted to give us a present in return for our help. He was in Rome for a fashion conference and they'd been given these leather jackets for free, worth €900 (about $1500) and he wanted us to have it. We said we didn't really want it, but he was most insistent. Then, when we had accepted his gift, he asked for some money for petrol! So weird. We gave him €10 and he asked if we had more. We said no. Afterwards, we opened the plastic that the leather jacked was in and the jacket STANK! Like rotten eggs or something, really foul. The label said 60% polyester! Lucky we only gave him €10. A strange scam.
• LK arrived at 2am that night and slept on our couch. The next morning we confessed that we were already married and asked her to be our celebrant. Needless to say she was ecstatic.

17th September

• The other element we had to organise for the wedding was dinner at a nice restaurant. We'd had a place recommended to us, which was on the top of the Spanish steps overlooking the city, and our friend Nina had been trying to email them in Italian to book it for the Sat night. They had been rather difficult and elusive, eventually asking for a €650 deposit to book a room that we didn't even want! Ben and I decided to find the restaurant and sort it out (they also didn't have their menu online).
• However, we couldn't find the restaurant's address on our map. After a lot of walking from the Termini (main train station) we managed to stumble upon it but were not greeted with a warm reception. As soon as we walked in they yelled at us that they were closed and shooed us out the door. The menu was difficult to understand on a number of levels: as well as being in Italian it was extremely pretentious! We couldn't tell if the meals were made from root vegetables or some kind of animal tongue. Rather ostentatious.
• Down the street, we came across a smaller restaurant that also had a view of the city and a glass terrace. There were vegetarian dishes on their menu, as well as a caprese salad (Ben's favourite!) We booked a table for 16, no problems, with a €200 deposit. It suited our wedding much more, down-to-earth and simple!
• Went back to Trastevere (the district in Rome where we were staying). Most of our guests were arriving that day, so we went to a bar, sent messages to tell them where we were, and sat back with a drink while people drifted over. Very pleasant.
• All decided to have dinner on a piazza near Mum and Dad's apartment. Dad somehow got lost with a few others and ended up sitting at a different restaurant (don't ask!) but our restaurant was excellent. I had eggplant parmigiana, which was good, but mine is better!

18th September

• A frustrating morning with lots of plan changes. In the end, I went home while Ben went to the Colusseum and a "freaking cool church" (you'll have to ask him which one!)
• My loverly sister arrived so we booked a hairdresser to get our hair done on the wedding day, ate gelati on the main st then drank beer in the piazza in the warm afternoon sun.
• That night, all the guests went to Ben's parents' apartment for dinner. When everyone was gathered around, and Ben's dad had given a speech and asked everyone to think of a song to describe our relationship (!), we announced that we were technically already married, although we will consider Rome to be our true wedding because we didn't do the full ceremony in Melbourne. Ben was really nervous about this announcement, he thought people would feel ripped off or disappointed. Turns out, most people were relieved, because they'd been worried about the red tape in Rome failing us!
• My Dad and Ben's Dad made lots of bad Dad jokes. It was like they'd planned a double act.

19th September

• Day before the wedding. Pissing with rain. All day, non-stop.
• Ben and I went to see the Pantheon (a bit disappointing, to be honest!) and were then due to meet about 8 people at the Forum. All chickened out because of the weather, except LK.
• Despite the rain, the Forum was great. In fact, the overcast sky seemed to add to the atmosphere a bit. There's something eery about it, a ruined city.
• A bus drove through a puddle and soaked me from the knees down. I still had a nagging cough, so I figured maybe it was time to go home and get dry!
• LK came home with us and we had a rehearsal (minus the pieces Ben and I had written for each other, which was to be a surprise on the day).
• Had a smaller number of guests for dinner at Mum and Dad's apartment. CB arrived and joined us for dinner with her "man friend"!

Feel like, in 5 days, I didn't really get to see as much of Rome as I would like. I think I'll definitely have to go back one day when I don't have any organising to do! Even for a small wedding like ours it was all a bit much; all these people had come a long way for this one event and so it was hard to relax and just enjoy it. Next entry... the wedding!

Snot funny

Uggh. Mucus.

Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about this but I promised myself I'd be honest in this blog about what's on my mind and currently snot is it!

Also our shoot on Thursday.

I wanted to spend yesterday relaxing so that I could get rid of this cold quickly. Unfortunately it didn't turn out that way. We booked a studio OK, but the camera equipment turned into a nightmare. I was booking through an online hire company who, after they had taken my credit card details, said that I had to provide a 1,500 pound deposit (my credit card has  $AU 3000 limit so that wasn't going to work). Then, after I'd found them the deposit, they said we needed to sign and fax back their terms and conditions, plus send photo ID! Who assumes these days that people have access to a fax machine and/or scanner? Also a photocopier presumably, to copy the photo ID. They wouldn't let us just show the delivery driver when the equipment was delivered. It would have been easier to go into a shop.

Anyway, I THINK it's all been organised.

Sis and I looked at 2 more apartments last night. Both quite decent, but I think I'm going to call the small-but-nice apartment people in Bethnal Green today to confirm that I can move in there.

Fun times.

If only I could breathe.

Birthday blues...

It was my birthday today. A strange non-event considering the other things going on in my life. And the only present I got was a cold (I asked for a pony, I got a sore throat. What's up wiv dat?)

Spent the day running around trying to book a studio space for our video shoot on Thurs. It's amazing how such a small and seemingly simple task takes all day because people take forever to call you back! Or never do. Got 2/3 cast confirmed. No big names unfortunately, mostly due to the aforementioned problem of people never calling back! Still, the actors will be really good so the video should still be pretty powerful.

Been offered the small apartment with the nice people, which makes me happy. Might have somewhere to live, quite a relief!

That's all for now. Look forward to hearing the goss from home.

xx

The good, the bad and the ugly

Jetlag is a total motherfucker. There's no 2 ways about it.

Usually I find coming to Europe the jetlag isn't all that bad, it's much worse going back to Aus, but this time I've been hit with the worst of both jetlag worlds. Not only can I not get to sleep at night but then I wake up AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING! Last night I managed 3 hours sleep then got up, pottered around, rang Ben (who I think would have preferred not to speak me in such an emotional and confused state) then eventually fell back asleep at 9am for an hour. 

So that's "the bad" (jetlag) and "the ugly" (me with 4 hours sleep)!

But there are two "goods", so it evens out.

Last night I was given my second surprise party in as many weeks! When I was a kid I longed for a surprise party. I threw surprise parties for 4 of my friends but never got one in return (I should add here that usually I organised my own party well in advance, so I guess a surprise one was never really an option!)

2 weeks ago CB and PC surprised me with a cocktail party (we called it a "chicks night" because "hens night" has unpleasant connotations!) Then last night, my sister and my other CB gave me another surprise party in London! It was quite funny, I'm clearly the most gullible person in the world. I had been out with my sister and she suggested we go back to her house for a while before having dinner with CB and she then proceeded to try to hold me there (without my knowledge) because the guests weren't arriving at CB's house for a while. She showed me all the dresses she'd been buying and a new jacket, she got changed, put on makeup, rearranged the contents of her handbag... and I didn't realise she was doing it on purpose. I politely (but unenthusiastically) looked at her clothes, patiently waited while she organised her bag, but then I whisked her away to the bus and we ended up being 20 mins early!

Sorry sis. But you did really well!

Had a lovely evening, but I did start to fade around 10pm, when CB started an argument about correct grammar vs slang. I think most people took that as their cue to leave!

I also looked at 2 places yesterday where I might move to. The first one was quite small, but I really liked the people, the second was huge but I didn't like the people as much (it wasn't that they were unpleasant, but I just didn't connect with them the way I did with the first group). Hopefully I'll hear back in the next couple of days and then I might know where I'm going to live! Keep your finger's crossed for the first one.

It's going to start warming up in London this week, it's been pretty much the same weather as Melbourne ever since I got here (18 and showers).

Will write soon. I promise I'll get into the every second day thing!

xxx Charlotte

Off tomorrow

I fly out tomorrow at midnight. Today has been a mixed day emotionally. Became very stressed when I thought I'd lost the earrings P&A gave me (I hadn't. I'd just put them in a special place. So special that it was camouflaged!) For some reason David Bowie is getting me through. Been playing Best of Bowie and the Labyrinth while I pack and find him most comforting.

Making dinner tonight for P, A & Ph. Sounds crazy, making dinner for people when I move overseas the next day, but it should be a good way to distract myself from packing. And from writing my thesis, which I still have to work on before I fly out tomorrow! These will be sad goodbyes; although I know it's not forever I don't know when I'll be seeing them again. And they are three of my greatest friends. At least I get a honeymoon with Ben before we part company!

Vegetarian pad thai. I'm getting hungry.

L's scales don't seem to be working. So I can't weigh my suitcase. I suspect it's over the 20kg limit. Think I might just have to cop it on the chin and pay for excess luggage.

How weird is John McCain's campaign turning out?? They're making some odd decisions and seem unprepared for the (rather predictable) consequences.

Anyway. I'm off to soak the rice noodles. Maybe I'll post some recipes on my blog in future? Got some good ones. And since I won't be in Melbourne to cook them I suppose there's no harm in passing on my culinary secrets...

xx

I refuse to join Facebook!

This is what you get instead.

I'll try to write every couple of days and update the photos.

Except when I'm on my honeymoon, because I won't have a computer! So you have to be more forgiving then.

Feel free to leave comments or send me emails.

xx Charlotte