Copied from my old blog: http://dancinginviolentfields.com/steps-of-faith/
Back in 2015... I took a taxi to get back to Birmingham (unfortunately it was the only suitable base to catch another coach from) and then the 10pm bus to the Holyhead port before the bus boarded the 2am ferry across to Dublin. THE FERRY HAD WIFI. I was completely amazed and impressed. This was a big step up from the Kythira > Athens ferry. I arrived to the Dublin coach station at 6:30am, dazed, tired and lacking food. Mum’s friend had thoughtfully packed me a few sandwiches and some chocolates so they went down well for some sort of breakfast as I sat in the freezer box of a coach station. I must have fallen into deep sleep when I got to the hostel foyer as I was awoken by Krystal & Kai who has finally arrived at around 1:30pm. We checked into Generator hostel in Dublin and had quick showers before walking around the city for what felt like forever trying to find an ATM machine. Eventually we found one and then went off to find a pub; oh wait, there’s a thousand here to choose from. There may be a lack in ATM’s but there most certainly isn’t in pubs. 3 servings of your 10 euro Guinness & Irish stew deal please! My babies had turned into hardcore beer drinkers since being at Oktoberfest the previous days. Although how could we NOT have a guinness to celebrate our first night in Ireland together. We made sure that when sayings ‘Cheers!’ to look at each other in the eye as for in German tradition if one failed to do so they would have 7 years bad sex. Not that I entirely care all too much on this matter, I did it for tradition’s sake. We had an early night which was much needed! When Krystal woke me up in the morning though I tried to talk and my throat hurt so much! And it only got worst as the day passed. The next day was spent fully in bed, I could not move. I didn’t eat all day. I was suffering with a high temperature and extremely swollen tonsils. This was not unfamiliar trekking ground for me; though when I usually get this sick I am in my own house. Being overseas in a mixed dorm room of 8 people was a completely different thing! So to cut a long story short I had developed to the first stage of tonsillitis. 75 euro’s later (60 to see a doctor for 5 minutes & 15 on anti-biotics) and I was well drugged for our journey to Galway.
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Copied from my old blog: http://dancinginviolentfields.com/steps-of-faith/ Back in 2015.... I travelled through beautiful parts of the English countryside and entered the Warwickshire district; Stratford-Upon-Avon. Furthermore known as the place where Shakespeare was born. It took about 3 hours to reach this place via bus, but unfortunately I had to head to Birmingham before returning back to Stratford in the morning. My last blog post mentions of my awful experience in Birmingham, and therefore I was completely dishearten to return back there for the bus/ferry to Dublin, Ireland. However that is a different story so I will proceed first to explain how much I fell in love not only with Stratford-upon-avon; but also with Henley in Arden. As I arrived to Stratford for the first time I recognised just how gorgeous it is. The trees formed golden silhouettes from the sun as they dripped autumn leaves from their branches. Radiating innocence. The houses looked like what you would imagine the gingerbread man to live in. Plants hugging the outside of the cottages, as though they have been firmly established for a while. Just a bit of dreamy imagery going on for you there! I knew we had officially entered the town when the welcoming sign appeared, Welcome To Stratford, Beautiful Britain in Bloom! To me, that felt like the most appropriate way to welcome you into a writers paradise. Instantly I knew there was no wonder that Shakespeare was inspired here. This “Writers Paradise” was clarified even more clearly to me when I later walked along the canal towards the church where Shakespeare is actually buried. Legit? YES! It was crazy insane to see this place. I went out on a limb and booked the YHA Youth Hostel about 10 minutes by bus out of Stratford. Bus tickets each way are so expensive for a gal on a budget so this was reasonably frustrating. However everything worked out, as it always does. I had booked myself a ticket to see a new rendition of the theatre performance Hecuba in the official Royal Shakespeare Theatre. I was looking forward to this as theatre performances are always very special to me. I noticed that the last bus of the day returns back to the hostel at 7:20pm. My play wasn’t until 7:30pm so how on earth was I to return home? I wouldn’t even attempt hitchhiking in the day, let alone in the nighttime. Taxi’s would be more expensive than buses and I couldn’t barely afford those. Things weren’t looking good for my little theatre night out, but I told myself not to worry and trust it would be all work out. Just after I decided this, two American girls walked into my room which was now half theirs and we got talking. They had hired a car for the week and were also interested on seeing a theatre performance at the same time as mine so therefore I had a lift there and back. Splendid!! Too easy, I thought. Everything fell into place from then on out, the next day I got in contact with one of my Mum’s friends whom lives nearby Stratford in a town called Henley in Arden. I had never met her before but from her tone online I could instantly tell that I was going to enjoy my time with her! She was due to the meet me at the bus stop in Henley as I was still at the YHA hostel. I made it in Stratford but was low on money and the ATM would not let me withdraw anything. My bus to Henley arrived right on time at 11:21am and I stared in despair as I could not afford to hop on it. That still quiet voice told me just to enquire about a possibility to pay them when I got to Henley; the bus was empty so I felt okay in doing this. I asked the two guys if it was possible and they replied “No you don’t need to pay at all its okay hop on we will take you to Henley”. I had been blessed AGAIN! Mum’s friend met me at the bus stop and shouted me to English cream tea (Tea & Scones). We instantly connected, she was super lovely. We walked a few metres down the street to where she rents a place with an older man. Upon meeting me the older man turned to Mum’s friend and said “Oh she’s quite a beauty isn’t she” which made me feel instantly at home. I was even more blessed when the pub nearby which my mum’s friend works at offered a free night accommodation + breakfast in order to welcome me to the town. I thought it was such a beautiful gesture to a stranger whom they didn’t know. In the times that are hard I must remember just how blessed I have been so far. What felt like a THOUSAND tea cups later, multiple catchups near the t.v and fireplace and the best hospitality I could ask for it was time for me to leave Henley in Arden. As sad as I was leaving, I was also excited for the next adventure where I would be heading to Dublin, Ireland to meet with Kai & Krystal. Click here to read about my Ireland adventures: Copied over from old blog: http://dancinginviolentfields.com/monopoly-from-blue-to-black/
Back in 2015.... I arrived to Heathrow airport and spent so long contemplating whether I would have to leave the airport. About 2 hours later, and many messages passed back and forwards to my Mum (She has been my rock throughout this whole overseas experience) I knew it was now or never. Collecting a city map I made my way to the tube which I would catch all the way to London Bridge station. The train station was extremely overwhelming. Never in my life have I seen so many waves of people entering through every which way of the station; like a tsunami as it breaks the banks of a beach town. I started to notice a familiar pattern between the people abiding in London. They moved swiftly and don’t wait for anyone. To survive the cruelness you should never stop in the middle of the footpath to check your phone, or even to think. You don’t have time to think in London; you just move. Being amongst a crowd of such intensely focussed and ambitious people made me constantly compare that to the relaxed atmosphere of Greece. Yeah, the tension was high in Greece as they looked like they were always fighting- but it was probably about something as small as the cost of a fish. Who knows with them though. That’s what I grew to love! I also grew to love their stares of judgement which they would later gossip about with their small circle of friends. Whom have all probably never left the island once in their lives (Oh maybe they made a few trips here and there to the big smoke of Athens). I was on Kythira for a while and therefore begun to understand island culture. Coming into London was foreign again for me. Nobody stares at you. I was used to this level of staring in Australia, little to none. But because I had become accustomed to it in Greece, I began to think that there was something wrong with them not staring. Anyways this whole heap of useless jumble which occupied my brain passed the time on the tube quite effectively. I was such a classic tourist with my overly stuffed luggage wearing the warmest items I could find from my summer gear. This consisting of black jeans, sneakers, a crop top and a white button up t-shirt as a lousy excuse for a jumper. I wandered around hopeless as I could not wrap my head around the fact that the street names are on the side of the buildings, not on metal posts like in Australia. Because the maps app only works via internet, you’ll mostly find me standing outside a hotel, cafe or mainly McDonald’s, trying to savage any WIFI connection available. The amount of spam emails I actually receive now from signing up to that many hotel companies as a guest is overwhelming! Oh well, I suppose it’s just an instant connection for when those hotels accommodate me in the future… look at me go, always thinking of the positives in such a negative situation! I am a member on the online travel networking site called couch surfing. It’s actually quite brilliant (see here for my profile and say something nice if you so wish to do so: https://www.couchsurfing.com/dashboard). Before I had arrived in London I expressed via this website of my arrival/departure date to the city and if anyone would like to meet up/host me for a night or two). I got a response from a lovely Canadian girl and we ended up hanging out for the entire day. We bonded over coffee, expensive pizza, our inability to understand how the tube works because we were talking too much about irrelevant topics. We even managed to have an inspirational lesson with a man from Kenya on the steps outside the bus station. Random times are my favourite, remember. Turns out the man from Kenya was just trying to lure us into his next personal growth project. Referring as us the ‘seeds’ to something incredible. I remember distinctly hearing what sounded like his echoing voice rise from below my hostel room the next night as I lay in bed with a smile confirming he has just captured his next victim of self positivity! My accommodation for the first two nights was right near the London bridge which made it so convienent for bulk exploring! Which is what I intended to achieve on my second day in London. Oh and also to buy a cheap scarf (which I managed to find at the local charity shop, yay me!) I found a small amount of warmth I’d been craving in that scarf and walked proudly around London with views of the London eye, Big Ben (dreaming of it as a kid) and Westminster Abbey. Of course I ended up getting lost as I usually do but I found myself at Starbucks for some free WIFI (cue mild panics with Mum about where I would stay for the next couple of nights) I had nothing booked.. would I be in a house, hotel or end up on Old Kent Road?? Another exploration date with myself after I left my state of panic. More episodes of me getting unnecessarily lost before I came across the Tate Britain Museum on my way to Trafalgar square. Free admission to see the 500 years of British artwork exhibition which was incredible to witness. Since most of the museums were free; I would later go on during the week to visit the Tate Modern Museum, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery (Where I got to see the Audrey Hepburn exhibition). I definitely covered some ground during my time in London. I was all over that huge city like white on rice. After the Tate Britain museum I thought it was an appropriate time to finally meet my pen pal which I had been writing letters and talking online to for about 2 years. We shared so many interests yet had never met before due to the distance between us. We decided to meet at the South Kensington Trains station at 3:30pm. Of course I was faced with another challenge as it is hard enough trying to find a friend whom you know what they look like in the crowd. So obviously trying to find her was difficult! But I managed. We got along like long lost old friends and chatted about life over a coffee. Looking like a social butterfly I then said farewell to her to meet another friend at another train station to do something I hadn’t done since Greece…. have a beer. So refreshing haha. I got back to my hostel and chatted to a guy from Barcelona whilst planning my next journey up North and further onto Ireland. He also managed to teach me a few Spanish words. My accommodation for the next few days was with my friend Dani from Australia. I couldn’t wait to see a familiar face and remembered having a coffee date with her before she left for London. All I could do was praise God that I wouldn’t be on Old Kent Road. For I had trusted and he had provided. He was the dice in my monopoly game taking me all the way to Mayfair street. ...Hey Lovelies, Happy New Year! I know I'm 28 days too late for this post- but better late than never, right? You might have noticed my inconsistently to posting on this page. This is due to my computer crashing (three times) and than a new found love for filming and editing video's for my YouTube account (see latest video below). Of course, I still enjoy writing but I feel that my writing style has changed a little bit. I've been working on a poetry book which I hope to have published within the next few years - given that I keep having cool experiences and writing about them. I hope I never stop that. UPDATE ON MY LIFE: - I surprised my family by returning from my overseas trip earlier than expected in November and I've been jobless since.., - I have relaunched my YouTube account and I would really appreciate if you went over and checked it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzRdzlG_AO4tH7TZ_xHQRAw?view_as=subscriber - I spent a month on K'Gari (Fraser Island) volunteering with DropBear Adventures and I have returned back to the mainland feeling more refreshed and ready to smash out some amazing things in 2018. I even made it in the Courier Mail whilst visiting Lake McKenzie (check image below). - Which brings me to my next point: Where do I see myself in 2018? Well, I would like to start studying online to keep my brain active and alert, I plan to read / write A LOT, and also I have a few trips up my sleeve. HERE ARE THE OPTIONS: 1. A massive Asia trip 2. Ski season in Canada 3. Roadtrip through Scotland and work in Ireland 4. Stay in one spot for a year... 5. Work in New Zealand 6. Do what I've done every other year, work 6 months and then leave to Greece! 7. All of the above, minus number 4 of course because we all know how hard it is for me to stay in one place. What do you think I should do? Let's see what happens! But for the meantime, can 2018 please be nice to me. Much LOVE xx I'm at peace again. On Fraser Island, the world seems to take a pause and with it being the first day of 2018 it just makes sense. The crew picked me up hungover and tired....hitting the liquor hard last night (unlike me!). There are six of us here now in the DropBear Hut, three girls and two boys. We just arrived and were straight to work as the storm last night was brutal . in destroying some of the camp site we run 3-day tours about 2km up the beach. It's going to be an interesting trip, my third on K'Gari 'Gar-ri' (Fraser Island). I want to work hard, play even harder and write more. I now sit on the deck watching the next storm roll in, hearing the crashing of waves from my bedroom and thinking to myself: Wow: what a good way to bring in 2018. Here's a short video below of what I got up to on K'Gari. |
Hola, I'm Elly-Grace.I believe that cheese toasties and orange juice can cure pretty much anything. Follow on Bloglovin' |