Wednesday 31 July 2013

When in Rome...

It's normal to see a procession of ancient Roman people. We were walking along somewhere to dinner in Rome and had just paused for a moment when we were treated to this procession of Ancient Roman soldiers, officials and funny hats. They stopped nearby, formed a line and began this little thing. Unfortunately they may as well have been speaking to Latin to us so we didn't really have any idea what was happening. But it must of been something. And then they moved on, forming up their procession and walking off down the street. And we were still bewildered.

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

One place that we had to make a trip to whilst in London, was the Harry Potter studios. Now I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fanatic but how can you not go to a place that has the clothes Daniel Radcliffe once wore (sigh). And even if you don't care for the costumes there's plenty of stuff to be interested in. Such as; the Great Hall, the invisibility cloak, butterbeer, chess pieces, Hogwarts entrance gates, Privet Drive, Dobby and creepy looking models of all the people. These are just a few particular things that I liked, but there is plenty more. On the topic of plenty more, I have photos of pretty much everything there was and I'm happy to put up any more (though I'm sure you could Google what you want to see anyway), but if there's any photos of anything you want to see, tell me. Like always, there was one thing that particularly amazed me. I had heard about it, and I had expected something pretty small, but then I walked in saw this; This is what was used for all the long shots and stuff of Hogwarts. It's 15 metres long, which is 50 feet and it is big. It makes you wish someone could give you a shrinking potion and you could go and live in it. And to finish it all off, there was the gift shop, which always makes you wish you had a money making spell. All in all, what more can I say than it was a truly magical day.

Facebook page

I haven't yet mentioned that I have a Facebook page, which has as many interested people as, uh... this. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Archia/482562555156462 Anyway, doesn't hurt to try right?

A little bronze faun and a face

Italy, Pompeii, the ancient city covered by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It was because of me that we made the side trip here and the only reason I wanted to go was because I knew something about it and it sounded cool. So off we went armed with 4 litres of waters and umbrellas to keep out the sun. If you’re going anywhere in Italy in Summer, you want water, and lots of it. There were several things I wanted to see but there was one thing in particular, this; The House of the Faun, named after the bronze faun that was found in it. The one that resides in it now is only a replica, I think the real one might be in Turkey. But something about it’s delicate way enchanted me. There was such a delicacy to it, it’s by no means a big statue, and it just seems to hold itself, like it’s doing it for a reason and in any minute it will come to life and continue its task. The House of the Faun also holds the Alexander mosaic, though again a replica. There’s a considerable chunk missing from it and it only makes you wonder what beautiful pieces were meant to be in that place. But what you can see is Alexander the Great’s face, his face that seems to hold little fear as he bravely faces King Darius of Persia. Such a charming house, it makes you wonder what it was really like.

Monday 29 July 2013

And What Did I Do?

Now like every good dedicated reader of this blog (I mock myself here), I'm sure you're asking what I actually did on my nice holiday. And even if you're not, everyone likes to blab on about their holidays. They always to give you advice on where to go and they talk on and on and you just want to shout at them to actually leave something for you to see. That is why, instead of talking my whole holiday off, I shall write it and you can choose what you read. Now to begin, Austria is a good place to start, even though it was the third country I went to. But what is going to Austria without a big pretzel, a giant beer and a Sound of Music bike tour. The hills are alive with the sound of... veering bicycles, out of tune singing, shameless middle aged women, and frantically moving feet trying to work off all those pretzels. But I'm sure everyone had fun, even I did. There was the option of doing a bus tour or a bicycle one and my piece of advice (because every traveller has their fair share of advice), go for the bikes. Whereas on the bus tour you just drive past places, on the bikes you can stop, and take photos, and sing a few more do a deers. But you gotta be keen to do either I'd say, you gotta be prepared to either hide your face in your basket, or sing your lungs out. And you can't pretend you don't know the words, they give you them. Considering that was the only reason we passed through Austria, I have little more to say. I'm not about to give you my whole itinerary, I don't it's much cared for. And that was my trip to Austria, the condensed version, for reading in a snap.

Sunday 28 July 2013

To Fly and Return

After hours of worrying, countless webpages and half a dozen 'the final door is now closed', I really don't know what I was worrying about at all. At all. Everything was fine, there and back. The only problem would of been only getting 30 minutes of sleep on the whole trip back, but seven movies later and at least I feel more educated. So since the plane trip was a success, the trip had to be one to, and well, it was. London and Paris and Rome oh my. Now, I believe, a bed is calling.

Monday 1 July 2013

To Fly or not to Fly? (cause I'm corny like that)

Half an hour researching how to stay sane on planes and I ain't got much. There's some number out there, that dictates the amount of people who shake every time they get on that small space of a plane. I've never been one of those people, until tomorrow at least. Tomorrow I get on a 14 hour flight, followed by a 9 hour one very soon after, and I'm shaking at the mere thought of it. Now, I've never been one to be scared of flying. I've been on too many short flights to count and a few 9 hour ones. I love flying, everything about it, I think is great. And I've never had more than that quick thought that questions the air in the cabin which is dismissed quickly. But when I think about it now, my mind swells in a hopeless blobbering mess and I just wait for the panic attack. Which have been happening lately. I don't like small spaces where I know I can't get out of. I'm one of those people that'll take the stairs. Not because I don't like being in the small space of the elevator for a minute, but because what if the elevator breaks down and I'm stuck in there for an hour. Constraint is my problem, not the small space itself. Still, I've been reading all these ways to counter a panic attack but I doubt them. Let me list them. - Reading: I can't read more than three paragraphs of anything without stressing out (I have an issue reading things these days, I have to repeat sentences, go back, really concentrate, and in the end it stresses me out and I get close to a mini panic attack). -Listening to music: I've never really been into music in my life, so listening doesn't distract me. -Watching movies/tv: I have to watch kids movies because other ones are too long and complicated and I get bored. But kids movies are easy to watch and so my mind wanders. -Breathing: If I start inhaling deeply, I'll just start thinking about all the air I'm wasting. -Talking with others: I'm not flying alone, except no one knows I have this issue, and no one is going to know. So I can't talk about it with them. Also talking in general, I'm going to be sitting next to my sister, and if she's enjoying her movie, she's not going to want to talk to me. -Drugs: yeah no, I'm not taking that option. -Aisle seats: I'm shy, I don't like empty space like that next to me. -Window seat: I'll look out and wish I was enjoying the air out there. -Understanding the plane: I know where they keep the lemonade on the drinks trolley, I know the plane. -Thinking happy thoughts: I think this whole problem is in my mind, I can't distract myself with my own mind, right now it's practically impossible. I don't know when the last time was I just let my mind drift. Perhaps this is more than claustrophobia or fear of flying. I'm not expecting the plane to crash though, however I do get scared whenever there's turbulence. I'm also worried about having such a horrible, stressful time there, that I'm not going to be able to get on the plane coming back (I wouldn't mind living there, but I doubt immigration would agree). In the end, I think the best thing to distract me is going to be the meal (I actually think plane food is the most exciting food ever, I absolutely love it, even if it tastes like cardboard). Well, I have now had my little, oh gosh I'm going to run away screaming what do I do, moment. I think this fear I feel is really just something within a greater mess of my mind. It is all just in my mind really, and I know that, but it's hard to conquer you're mind, when all you have is itself to conquer it with. Once this flight is over, I'll be back on here, sharing how I went. My hope is that I'll get on that plane and feel comfortable with it because I've flown so much. All I need to do is not think about it. Wish me luck!