Malaga, Spain!

 

The French Memorial in Malaga

Hi! So I have spent Thursday to Monday in Malaga! It's so lovely here, always sunny and about 30 degrees! It has been really relaxing as all we do is walk around the city, swim and read at the beach then eat out or cook dinner and have some Tinto de Verano (the regions version of sangria). 

We are staying in the Oasis Hostal in the middle of the town and its pretty good. In a mixed dorm of 8 people and we have met so many as most haven't stayed as long as us. We did a free walking tour one day and it was great. Went to the markets and a local wine tasting place, as well as the usual churches and fountains etc. We also did a pub crawl but only stayed a few hours and wen to bed reasonably earlier as Kim only flew down that day and was exhausted - but that was more than ok with me.

Most mornings I wake up an hour or so earlier than the girls so I get up and walk around the city and grab a coffee. It's a more comfortable 20 something degrees at that hour so I enjoy it. Also I often stroll and find local food to try as we cook dinner most nights and I want to enjoy local produce and specialties. 

We went to the Picasso and Dennis Hooper museum and it was amazing! I really loved Hooper's photography and Picasso did some strange but cool paintings.  We walked up a hill for about 20mins to see the castle but it was closed haha - but at least we got a great view! The town is quite touristy but not a lot of shops, just heaps of cafes, bars, restaurants. It's all really cheap which is great! Going to Marbella for 2 nights tomorrow and then onto Gibraltar! 

The girls are lovely and everything is good :)

Osnabruck and the Brinkmann Family

This is the Brinkmann Family home in Osnabruck, where i will stay 3 nights. I have generously been given Ria's old bedroom and already it looks like my bedroom at home with clothes everywhere and you can not see the floor. Old habits die hard hey! We have been very lethargic while in Osnabruck. On Monday 15th i landed at 730am and then we slept in the sun on their beautiful lawn, and after 2 hours i was pretty sun-burnt and already have a shorts tan haha. But hopefully that will become a whole body tan after being in Spain for 3 weeks! We walked around the town yesterday, and ate lunch in a cafe. I met another young Australian who was the bar tender, he was very surprised to see me in Osnabruck and was very friendly, so hopefully all the Aussies are like this, it will make solo traveling much easier! We had a BBQ last night the Brinkmann Family and 3 of Ria's friends (including Sandy who will be joining us in Spain). Sometimes it is a little hard when they all speak German to each other, but i can at least judge the tone of the conversation and who they are talking about based on their expressions and tone of voice. Tonight will be my last night here September, when i will return for another visit and to grab my bag for London! xoxo

Farewell Australia! 14th July 2013

On Sunday 14th July i left for Europe, more specifically for Dusseldorf in Germany. The flight was long but ok. On the way to Abu Dhabi I sat next to another young girl who will be traveling with a friend so that was nice and then after a short 3 hour stop over i had a seat to myself from Abu Dhabi to Dusseldorf. There I was met by Ria who drove the 1.5 hours to Osnabruck, after maybe 20 mins of wrong terms and the GPS yelling at her (she does not go to Dusseldorf very often).

I had a very nice/sad/exciting/emotional farewell at the airport by Mum, Dad, Tegan and Mick. As usual i was a bit of a battler and my bags were overweight despite Tegs and I weighing them half a dozen times before i left Orange. So at the check in desk i was trying to dispose of clothes with a huge line behind me. I think the Check-In girl felt a little sorry for me as she let me take extra weight in my luggage and in my carry on haha.

Hopefully it will be the beginning of a very exciting 'trip of a lifetime'! xoxo