Happy little vegemite

I spent the majority of my Australia Day doing what Aussie’s do best – chilling out! I was very thankful that Australia Day fell on the weekend.

Later in the day I joined some Aussie friends in introducing a few local Brit’s to an authentic Aussie BBQ. Other Aussie delicacies on offer included vegemite sandwiches, iced vovos, Allens snakes, Fosters beer & of course… Tim Tams! Most of the Brits had no idea why we celebrate Australia Day…

they were intrigued when we explained that it was a celebration of them invading the land down under.

Scottish Culture

Over the weekend, I flew back up north to spend time with Em & Nick before they travel back to Oz. Our weekend of tourist activity included exploring Edinburgh Castle, navigating our way to and crossing the grand Forth Road Bridge and tasting the local cuisine...

Highlights of a Scot's grub include:

• Haggis - a traditional dish typically cooked like a sausage, but served without the intestine wrapping. The ingredients may include lung, heart & liver, with plenty of spices and oats thrown in for good measure. It certainly is not a meal that I could eat everyday, especially with the starchy companions, but I could warrant it on a special occasion.


• Irn Bru – a bright orange soft drink, similar to creaming soda but with a citris twist.
  
• And… Scotland is home to the deep fried mars bar (otherwise known as the “heart-attack on a plate”). I had a bite & not surprisingly, it was quite tasty!

[Photos: View of the New town from Edinburgh Castle; Edinburgh Castle with Ben, Em & Nick; Em with her deep fried mars bar; and the Scot's meal of Haggis & tatties.

Edinburgh Hogmanay 2008

I kicked off 2008 in Scotland as part of the Hogmanay festivities. Basically, the Hogmanay is a huge street party where partygoers dance, drink & watch the midnight fireworks explode over Edinburgh Castle. I travelled to Scotland with ‘Topdeck’ and spent my new year celebrations with friends Sarah & Fee. Amongst the more contemporary music options, we listened & danced to some traditional folk music on top of the covered ice rink and later enjoyed the brilliance of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers - a great rock band led by 3 rocking pipers!!

While most revellers spent a drizzly new year’s day catching up on a few winks, I headed on a three hour walk along the Firth of Forth foreshore, including a walk out to Cramond Island. As a tidal island, Cramond can only be accessed by the causeway during low tide.

White Christmas

It was not only my first time to Russia, but it was also my first my first opportunity to enjoy a White Christmas... and our trip did not disappoint!!









When I flew into Moscow it was snowing and it was again snowing on the morning I departed St Petersburg to fly home. It snowed various times throughout our trip as well. Everytime I stepped outside I had at least four or five layers of clothing on, gloves, beanie & scarf! Most days the temperature hovered around minus two to zero degrees, but one day it bottomed at minus eight!! I managed to stay warm with the help of thermals & my new boots! Also, a special mention has to go the special Christmas beanie I am wearing in the above photo, sent all the way from Thailand... I still haven't worked out why they sell beanie's with penguins in Thailand!?!
On Christmas Eve, prior to our big Christmas party celebrations, we participated in the Russian banya. The traditional Russian experience involves a three part process:

1. Sit in the sauna until you sufficiently saturated;
2. Lie down on the bench in the sauna and be slapped/whipped by birch branches for a few minutes; and then
3. Run down to the frozen lake (which has had a hole cut through the ice) & jump in!

The process is continued for as many rounds as you can handle... most of the people on my tour handled it for two or three times.

And finally, here is the picture I was most looking forward to taking this trip - me with a snowman. A little special message to all the readers of this blog - I hope you all had a great Christmas & were able to celebrate that He is the reason for the season!!

On the go in Russia... kremlins & tsars

For the Christmas period, I headed 5 hours east (via Copenhagen) to Russia with a few friends. The 'on the go' tour took us to Moscow and St Petersburg with a day in Pskov (very close to the Estonian border) for Christmas. Russia is an interesting place to visit with the Soviet legacy evident in each town.

Highlights of the touring aspect of our trip included:

• St Isaac's Cathedral (one of the world's largest Cathedrals);
• Izmailovsky markets (complete with hundred of stores selling the Metroyoshka dolls & fur hats;
• Moscow's Red Square, the Kremlin and St Basil's (Intercession) Cathedral; and
• The Hermitage (housing one of the biggest collections of art on the earth including Monet & DeVinci).

In the evenings, we weren't short of entertainment... in true Russian style we attended a circus (which certainly left me questioning my stance on animal cruelty), watched some traditional dancing and singing, and spent an evening at the ballet watching 'The Nutcracker'.