My new home in Totnes, England

Totnes, South Devon, England

The last two weeks, Mats and I have made ourselves comfortable in our new home in Totnes. Our stay here is a very short yet most comforting with our hosts, lovely wise Olivia and remarkably witty and cool Chris as well as their children, Sole, Rafi and Rowan.

We had our own little summer house to live in which we share with our awesome and hillarious Spanish mate who is our brother now, Manuel. The summer house faces an incredible view of south Devon.

From left to right: On our day off, Mats and I went for a walk along the river and steam train track where we went for our cold little dip. We found a couple of beautiful ducks; Dew on the plants in front of our room; Me, posing on a log; Our cute little summer house with a huge rose plants that is ready to bloom in May, shame we won't be here to see it; Our view from our room, the typical Brittish weather with mist all day long; The walk along the river; Me, climbing up a tree on our walk; The beautiful river

On the weekend, Olivia and Chris took us to town to check out the markets where we had really good curry and where we discovered the uniqueness of Totnes. I love Totnes, it's a very cute alternative little town.

It was a nice sunny day on Sunday, so Chris took us and Sole to the beaches in South of Devon. It was a really nice day where we managed to get a bit of tan after all the rain we've been getting lately.

From left to right: One of the beaches Chris took us to in South Devon; Same beach; This is one of the rural beaches close to Dartmouth with incredible views; Mats, posing on the beach; Me, after dipping in the water preparing to sun bathe; Manuel found a hammock where he had his little siesta after lunch, not too bad at all; Sole, Chris, Manuel, Mats and me having a picnic on the top of the hill facing the beach; Our view while munching our delicious soup and sandwiches; Mats and Chris chatting away; The boys walking along the beach.

It's our last day of stay in Totnes and it was Manuel's birthday today where I cooked him a mix of my recipe and Olivia's recipe. I also baked him a nice big guiness cake. It was really touching how much he appreciated my gift to him. It was a very emotional birthday. I'm sad that we will have to depart tomorrow, but that's travelling for ya. I'm definitely coming back one day.

St Paddy's to the fullest in Ireland

(Ireland) Kilkenny - Bray, Dublin - Cork - (England) Birmingham - Bristol - Torquay - Totnes

After 10 days of house cleaning and baby sitting, I went off to Bray, Dublin and visited my lovely Lithuanian mate Ed who was living with Dan, who's local and amazing and Kumiko, who's from Japan and such a sweetheart. We spent the whole night watching Mighty Boosh and talking, then decided to get up really early the next day to go to Ireland's tallest waterfall which is located in Powerscourt.

We were running late to catch our bus to Powerscourt, so we had to run all the way to the bus station. I was running behind the boys with a peanut butter toast in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. The girl's gotta have her breakfast!

We got to the bus a bit early and met some interesting characters on the bus, including a drunk man (this is 9am in the morning by the way) and Bray's Elvis who was singing all the way.

We got to Powerscourt and had to walk 6 kms to the waterfall. So as we walked, we stuck our thumbs out and got a ride. Yes! My first hitch hike in Ireland. We got to the waterfall, and it's a beautiful place. We also took the time to be children again and played on the playground until a bus of school kids came and took over the place. 

That night, we went to Harbour Bar where I met local Bray people who are awesomely fantastic people. The band was amazing, they were songs they were singing were humorous Christian songs. They were hillarious and I love how the main vocalist was wearing a night gown and a lamp on his head with a bushy red beard. Really felt the St Paddy's vibe.

The next day, we went to Dublin and cruised around the city where we met beautiful Tayo, Dan's friend. We all then went back to Bray and went to Harbour Bar again that night. Different people came and it was a different band, but still singing hillarious Christian songs. I absolutely love Bray.

After another late night, the next day the 3 of us went to the beach and jumped in to the ocean. Ireland's the coldest place I've been to so far, but I had to jump in to the sea in Bray because I felt like it was my home. After being all fresh, Ed and I hitch hiked down to Cork. We had 3 rides altogether and waited beside the road no longer than 1 hour. 

From left to right: Foggy day in Kilkenny; The band playing at Harbour Bar, Bray; Foggy Bray; Bray pebbly beach; Dan and Ed being little boys playing in the playground; Me beside the river of the waterfall; The three of us walking to the waterfall before hitching a ride; Ed, me and Dan posing away; Me and Ed in front of the waterfall; Ed and Dan; Dan in his cubby hole; Dublin with its green buildings

When we got to Cork, met up with super lovely Simona and her housemates, Fladdy who's such a sweetheart and the charming, extremely intellegent and hillarious Daryn. Ed and I stayed at Simona's place. The three of them were such great hosts. We were extremely spoilt with food and drinks.

The first night in Cork, we went out to a pub. The live music that was happening there was a jam session, so it was nice a spontaneous. Then we ended up dancing our heads off at another pub with DJ playing some tunes. When we got back to Simona's place, Daryn and I jammed all night long, which was really nice.

The next day, St Paddy's day!! The day that I was suppose to get absolutely pissed since the afternoon. So I planned to start early. To complete the maximum St Paddy's experience, lovely Daryn cooked us an Irish breakfast in the morning. Then after that it was just liquid diet. I dressed up in a very non St Paddy's costume, which is a Japanese Manga style dominated by the colour pink but needed a little token of green, or something to do with St Patrick's day, but didn't have much luck when going in to shops on the way to the pub. But as I walked out of the first pub, a girl who was fixing her bike on to a pole, saw me and gave me a tiara that says 'Irish Princess'. Perfect! It completed my St Paddy's costume.

It was 15 of us that  night and we were pub crawling. I had my guiness, beamish and murphys. I must say that Irish guiness does taste different from you have it somewhere else and it's so much better. I actually really like it. 

Having drunk so much, I managed to get myself sick all over the city of Cork. I was feeling really terrible for doing that at that time, but it was really comforting when as I was feeling sick, people around me were talking about their st paddy's and throwing up all over the city experiences. 

The next day, it was another day for everyone. People went back to their day to day activities. Accompanied by Daryn, I walked to the bus station to go to the airport. 

Goodbye for now Ireland. I definitely shall return one day.

From left to right: Simona with her Beamish and Fladdy; The beautiful church in Cork (something about this church); Me in my St Paddy's outfit; Having Irish breakfast with Simona, Ed and Daryn; My Irish Princess tiara; Me and Ed hitching down to Cork; Me and Daryn on the way to the bus stop; Birmingham; Another picture of the church in Cork; One of Banksy's graffitti in Cork; Birmingham.

After not meeting for 2 weeks, I finally met Mats in Birmingham where we spent a couple of nights there. Then we head to Bristol and spent the night with Heather and Libby.

The next day, spontaneously, we decided to head to Torquay before starting to help out at a place in Totnes. We spent a couple of nights in Torquay and saw amazing things such as Sandy Man's art work on the beach, a couple of swans on the beach who came really close to us and of course the amazing views of Torquay, the English Riviera.

On Sunday, we headed to Totnes and met Richard and Sandra to have a nice picnic with them. We had our picnic in Dartington estate, where the trees were starting to flower. It was a beautiful place.

From left to right; Beautiful beach of Torquay; The magnificent swans; Torquay beach; Sandy Man's art work on the beach; Geoff, the Sandy Man; Mats blessing the water in Torquay for the World's Water day; Torquay; St Matthias Church in Torquay; View on the way to Totnes; The flowering trees in Dartington; Richard, Sandra, me and Mats; Richard and Sandra

After an amazing week of catching up with friends, we finally got to our home for the next 2.5 weeks in Totnes. 

Farewell Ilfracombe, England. Lookout Ireland, here I come!

Lee Bay (England) - Ilfracombe (England) - Totnes (England) - Bristol (England) - Dublin (Ireland) - Gowran (Ireland) - Kilkenny (Ireland)

Leaving the Grampus Inn at Lee Bay was one of the sadest thing I've done so far in my trip, especially separating from Lucy the dog. But life goes on and it's a risk I have to take as a nomad.

The last week I spent at the Grampus had been a spectacular week. While working for the day or night shift, I have managed to fit in some time to say goodbye to the coast, Ilfracombe and some of the locals I have grown to love.

The walk along the coast was amazing. The weather varied from a nice warm sunny day, grey cloud, windy, rain then rainbow, and not just a normal rainbow, but a double rainbow. To top that off, Lucy managed to roll around on fox shit that she successfully able to cover her whole body with.

The next day, I had another surprise visit from Phil Prophet aka Papa Bear. Phil was the member of the big family from Shangrilagos, Lagos Portugal. It was a really nice surprise, unfortunately it turned out to be a very short one. Phil only hung out with us in the afternoon til night, but it was really good to see him.

The following day, accompanied by Mats, I walked along the coast to Ilfracombe. It was a really nice walk where we passed some friendly sheep who were very keen on our snacks. In Ilfracombe, we visited Sara, as well as Mat and Arthur to say hello and goodbye in case I don't see them at the Grampus Inn on Friday night.

From left to right: The first 5 pictures are the view of the coastal walk from Lee Bay to Ilfracombe; Sara's awesome retro record player, absolutely love it!; Sara and adorable Dudley; Mats making friends with one of the sheep; Lucy in front of the double rainbow, a bit hard to see the second one; The next 3 photos are the coastal view from our walk along the coast from Lee Bay to Mortepoint; Me and Lucy at the edge of the cliff posing away; Mats gets daring with the waves.

The last Friday night at the Grampus was not too busy but it was nice. I was really happy to see the lovely, beautiful and bubbly Sara, the naturally funny Danny, gorgeous Holy (Sara's daughter) and the lovable Arthur, with the most beautiful eyes anyone can have, come in to Grampus. It was a sad night saying goodbye to them, as well as wonderful lovely Sandy, and Neil, the hillarious and cheeky chef who loves to pull your leg constantly.

For the first time at Grampus, I managed to get Sara, who is an amazing pianist to play the piano. It was the best farewell gift I could ever ask for. Thank you Sara, you really touched my heart deeply.

From left to right: Danny and Sara chatting away with Phil aka Papa Bear; Last Friday night at the Grampus with the highly talented boys jamming away together, Cristobal on his sax, Danny on his Base and Arthur on his guitar (you guys are amazing!); Me between Holy and Sara; Sara dressed up playing on the piano (such modesty of a great talent which I really admire Sara for, you're truly amazing, Sara, love you heaps); Me and Bill, the man who made it all happen; Me and Mats on our last shift working in the kitchen with Neil (I can't believe I didn't take a picture of Neil); Beautiful Sandy and her masterpiece coffee; Me and Ronan, who's an awesome chef and such a sweetheart; The unforgettable Lucy who will always be my soulmate; Me and fantasticly highly talented musician Cristobal; Me and Laurin who instantly became my bestfriend from day 1, love ya girl!

Saturday morning, I had my bag all packed and ready. I woke up with Lucy snuggling on my feet and cuddled her for as long as I can before leaving her. I went downstairs and joined the others for our last morning porridge. It was 10am and time to go. I said my farewell to Cristobal, Ronan and Laurin. Walked to Bill's car with Lucy following me whereever I went. I finally got her to catch a ball so that I can close the gate behind her, I hopped on the car and there she was, behind the gate wondering where I was going. I couldn't help the tears running on my cheek seeing her as the car drove away from the Grampus. Goodbye Grampus, my England home. I will be back one day.

Totnes was the next destination where Richard and Sandra is house sitting at the moment. When I got to Totnes, we met infront of the Seven Star pub. It was really good to see them after our meeting in Edinburgh. We then headed to their place which had an amazing view and luxurious rooms. It was a B&B and I was absolutely spoilt with the room I was staying in for a couple of nights. Their friends, Chris and Lisa were staying there as well for the night. It was really nice to spend time with them as well. Richard and Sandra made sure that we were well fed and comfortable. Thanks so much guys, you are the best. I'm so happy we keep meeting on our travels. I love you guys so much! You're truly amazing.

From left to right: Crossing the river on the way from Totnes to the house; View from the house; Another view from the house; Richard chillaxing on the balcony; Vending machine for umbrellas, only in England!; Harry the dog Richard and Sandra are taking care of with his funny sleeping position; Our last day together, At the pub; Our first night together

After spending two nights in Totnes, the journey continues on to Bristol where I spent the night at Heather and Libby's place before flying off to Dublin the next day. Thanks for always letting me stop over, Heather. You're the best!

The next day I flew to Dublin and caught the next bus to Gowran where my host that I will be staying for a couple of weeks is. So far, Ireland has been the coldest I've been with very moist air. The landscape around me reminds me alot like England.

The second day, I went to Kilkenny where most of the buildings are grey because of the local material in the area which is lime stone. As my main purpose of visiting Ireland besides experience the local culture is for St Patrick's, I was walking down the road of Patrick Street and met a man who then walked with me around town passing Patrick's Graveyard and introduced himself as Patrick. How bizzarre!

From left to right: A river I took a photo of on my walk in the area; The barn of my host's farm; View from the house; The house I'm staying at; Along side the river in Kilkenny; Church in Kilkenny; Patrick's Graveyard where I met Patrick; Hmm.. Something's not right with the map; Church on top of the hill in Kilkenny; Me around the castle; The entrance of the castle; The castle in Kilkenny; Kilkenny; Kilkenny.

My next blog will be about St Patrick's Day. Yaaaaaaaaay!

Last month in Lee, Ilfracombe, England

Lee, Ilfracombe, England

The first week of my last 3 weeks staying in the Grampus was highlighted by new volunteers from Spain and the US. Meeting Laurin from the US felt like I have known her forever. Immediately when I met her, she reminded me of one of my bestfriend, Nuni. Having Laurin around has been a big tease with the fact that she's a really good baker and have been volunteering to make the most delicious devilish carrot cakes that are hard to resist.

As for Cristobal, who is an absolute sweetheart from Spain. Friday accoustic night opened up his tremendous skills on playing the saxophone, spanish guitar, flute and singing, not to mention his cooking skills in making Spanish food.

As for Mats, from Sweden, who has been volunteering here for almost 3 weeks now. Our conversations about life and the universe increasingly becomes more and more interesting each day as he is a great and deep thinker.

My time spent in the Grampus has been occupied by the company of these extraordinary travellers, not to mention Bill and of course Lucy, who has been my loyal companion as far as I have been living here.

From left to right: Daily morning porridge with Bill, Mats and Laurin; A muddy and adventurous walk to Ilfracombe with Laurin where she walked in to deep mud; Our beautiful view of the coast walk to Ilfracombe where we were chased by instant weather change of gail and hail storm; Beautiful view of our Ilfracombe walk; Another beautiful view of the coast walk; Laurin; Farm we passed by on our Ilfracombe walk; Laurin again admiring the view; Another beautiful view of the coast walk; Ilfracombe; Stopping by at Mark's place, who is one of the local musicians in Ilfracombe where Laurin was trying out his didgeridoo; Cute little Lucy during my daily walk with her; Cristobal and his Tortillas de patatas; Me, Mats and Cristobal at the dinner table dining on Cristobal's delicious spanish food; Bill and Laurin munching up Cristobal's cooking.

The second week of my last 3 weeks in Lee was highlighted with another dance that I performed on Friday night (sorry, the video was too heavy so I can't upload it in the internet). The next day, Heather and Azure came to visit me at the Grampus. We went for a coast walk with Lucy, continuing with delicious dinner at the Grampus, spiritual talk with Mats and ending with a nice jam that I did with Danny. It was a nice day.

From left to right: Had a day visit to Ilfracombe with Mats and Cristobal, this is Mats with the beautiful landscape of Ilfracombe; Beautiful Ilfracombe coast; Me and Mats on the harbour; View from the church on top of the hill; Cristobal below the church on top of the hill; Beach in Ilfracombe; Power plant in Ilfracombe that's been converted in to a theatre; Ilfracombe coast view; Mats posing infront of the church on top of the hill; Me, posing on the harbour; Rock wall in Ilfracombe that has been destroyed by the recent storm; Lovely Heather taking a picture on our coastal walk; Heather and Azure on the beach in Lee.

Lovin livin in Lee & Brendo surprise visit

Lee, Ilfracombe and Lynton

As I was having a ciggarette with one of my workmate, Mats outside the kitchen just behind the pub entrance in my mouse onesie, a bloke walked towards us. I thought he was lost and confused where the bar entrance was, so I pointed out to him where the bar entrance is "The bar entrance is just there" I said. He didn't stop to turn around though, instead he called out my name "NIA!". I thought it was one of the locals from Ilfracombe that I've met, so I tried to look closer to figure out who it was. 

It looked like Brendo, but I tried to look again because I thought there's no way it's Brendo. He came closer and it was Brendo!! I shouted "NO WAY!!!!!" and without thinking twice, I ran and jumped on him and basically latched on him like a leech. I was in tears and couldn't believe that he was there!!!

It was one of the best surprise I've had in my life. Brendo, you are a bloody legend!!! Brendo discovered where I was from my blog and drove from Cardiff to spend the night in Lee. The next day we had a walk up the coast and he had to leave to catch a plane back to home down under. 

Thanks Brendo, that was an awesome surprise!!

From left to right : Been having crazy weather lately in England, this photo was taken when the tide was going up to 10 metres high; More photos of the high tide; Walking through the forest with Mats and Lucy; Me in my husky hat hiding behind a tree; Lucy posing under a fallen tree; BRENDO!! Bloody legend!; Me and Brendo infront of a Vanilla Ice cloud that I couldn't manage to catch with my selfy; There it is, the vanilla ice cloud; Me and Brendo on our coast walk in the morning; Brendo with Lee background; Me and Brendo in Lee village

The excitement of the week was followed by another crazily fun Friday night at the Grampus where the accoustic open mic night happens. The night continued on at Danny and Sara's place, one of the awesome locals from Ilfracombe. It got a bit messy, but everyone survived.

The next day Danny and Sara took me to Lynton for a nice walk with Dudley, their cute dog in their super awesome gypsie van. 

From left to right: My crazy mates who comes regularly to Grampus on Friday nights, Lou, Max, Arthur, Danny and Sara; Friday night at Grampus; Bill in his joker hat; Open mic; Night continues on at Danny and Sara's place where neightbours are starting to complain about then noise.. Oops..; Me, dressed up and jingling away; As the night ends, Danny and Arthur passes out; Also as the night ends; Getting a lift with Sara back to the Grampus with her awesome 1965 Morris, absolutely love this car; Our walk at Lynton; Sara in her Morris; Sara and Danny in their van; Danny and Dudley in the van, poor Dudley, he gets scared in cars; Our walk along the coast; Sara posing on thhe bridge; The famous vertical railway track powered by water; Random photo of Ilfracombe; Danny having a sip of his pint of Guiness after saying that he won't drink anymore..haha

Another 3 weeks of stay in Lee. I hope more amazing things will happen here. :)

Livin the life in Lee, Ilfracombe

Lee, Ilfracombe

As you might have noticed from the map that I have not been travelling much lately. It appeared that I have glued myself to this place I currently call home. Grampus Inn, a pub located in Lee, Ilfracombe on the north coast of Devon is another place that I am volunteering at until end of February. 

Bill, the owner, who is also an incredibly talented fiddler has made me feel comfortable to live in the pub for 2 months. Other guys who are part of the Grampus Inn 'gang' are Alice from Australia, Owen from New Zealand, Kara and Jacob from Canada, Giulia from Italy, Mishale from Germany, Phil and Sandy who are locals. 

Most thing I love about this place is the music culture and the musicians I meet here. Bill provides musical instruments scattered at the corner of the bar for people to play freely. Every Friday the pub hosts an accoustic open mic, it also hosts jam sessions every third Sunday of each month and hosts other occasions such as Burns night that we had last Saturday night.

This is a dance I did during the acoustic open Mic night
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hrat2dkq53zsyfm/VID-20140124-00033.3GP

O dear, I forgot to mention Lucy, the three legged dog, who loves to think she's vicious when the first few people walk in to the bar. She's best at hipnotising people to either give her a tummy rub, food or jump on your bed. It definitely worked on me (shamefully to say)..

From left to right: Burns night (Scottish tradition where they comemerate the birth of Burns, the famous Scottish poet; Me in a kilt; Giulia and Lucy enjoying the fire; Me and Sandy at the bar; Mishale and Phil; Owen and Alice; Me and Lucy; Me and the awesomely hillarious Mat; M'Larkey playing at the pub (Bill's playing on his fiddle); Jacob and Kara; Lucy keeping me company on my bed.

One blue sky day (which happens so rarely in Lee), I took the chance to have a walk along the north coast from Lee to Ballpoint. Along the way, I passed people and most of them were wearing rain coats. I was wondering to myself, it's such a clear day, why do you need your rain coat? As it turns out, just after passing Ball point and walking up the hill towards Morthoe, a dramatic thick grey cloud was rushing towards Lee. There you go, one lesson I learnt living in England, Don't trust what you see!

My walk along the coast 

Loony Mouse Hogmanaying Scotland

Edinburgh - Aberdeen - Glasgow - Highlands - Bristol - Ilfracombe

When the plane landed in Edinburgh, I was welcomed by a cold, windy and wet morning.  I settled in to my hostel and at night met Heather for the Torch Procession. Seven thousand people including us walked through town with our burning torches from the city centre up to Calton Hill where the procession ended with beautiful fireworks.  After the ceremony, we went to the pub to meet the rest of the gang, Vince (my cheeky monkey lovely Parisian mate), Vlasta (my beautiful beloved Czech mate) and Vlasta's friend, Honza.  It was a nice get together after not seeing each other for a while.

On New Years Eve, Heather, Vince and I dressed up in our onesies.  Vince was a monkey (of course, being the cheeky monkey that he is),  Heather was a parrot with a kilt (annoyingly to be occasionally mistaken as a cockatoo) and me as a super Scottish mouse with a kilt and a cape.  We filled our plastic bottles with as much alcohol as possible and went off going nuts and danced around in the city and at the street party.  We managed to get everyone all ages to either start dancing or take pictures of us (felt like celebrities that night).

After going crazy at the street party, we went in to the Ceilidh concert and learnt traditional Scottish dances.  It was so much fun, as well as frisky and full of spinning around.  Luckily none of us felt too sick to throw up, but a couple of hours was definitely enough.  We went back to the street party just before midnight and met up with Vlasta and Honza.  We all celebrated the welcoming of 2014 together.  As 2014 entered, the moment became absolutely magical and unforgettable, especially when the fireworks took off where I was feeling like I was in another world enjoying every second to the great beginning of 2014.  I knew at that time being with the people I really love and having the most magical experience that it will be a grand year.

From left to right:  Me and my sword; Me and Heather getting ready to light up our torches; The opening ceremony of the torch procession; Me and Heather with our lit torches; The nice view of people behind us with their torches; Fireworks at the end of the procession; More fireworks; Beautiful Edinburgh; Vince in his monkey onesie going bananas (Thanks for celebrating new years with me Vince.  You really made it unforgettable); Vince, me, Honza and Vlasta taking pictures of Edinburgh before new years eve; Me and Vlasta having lunch; New Years Eve in Edinburgh; Ceilidh Concert; Church in Edinburgh; Me and Heather in our onesies; Me, Heather and Vince in our onesies rockin the city; Edinburgh on new years eve; Vince, Emilie and me at the Ceilidh concert; Me, Heather and Vince resting on a bench at 7am after partying hard all night. (Most of the photos were taken by Heather.  Thanks lovely!)

We continued partying up through til morning and ended up sleeping for an hour, having to wake up for our (me and Heather) Loony Dook plunge in Queensferry.  I was late and not being very prepared, I wore my bikini, mouse onesie and reef shoes to loony dook and did not take spare clothes nor shoes.  It was a cold morning but Heather and I were so ready to do it!  There were about 1,000 of us.  Everyone was dressed up and we all paraded together towards the water followed by drums to make us dance all the way.  Heather and I then got in our bikinis, prepared my camera, ran to the river then dived in.  It was SUPER BLOODY FRESH!  The video camera only lasted for 10 seconds which was such a bummer.  We then headed back to Edinburgh and being not well prepared for after the event, it was definitely the coldest journey back to the hostel.

We changed to warmer clothes then headed in to town to meet Richard and Sandra (my beloved Aussie mates) who were staying in Glasgow at that time.  We walked around town and caught up for a couple of hours until they had to head back to Glasgow.  Meeting Richard and Sandra made my new years celebration even better, it was perfect!

After spending the last day with Vlasta, Vince, Honza, Aron and Emilie, we said our goodbyes hoping to meet again in the near future.  It was a sad farewell.
Heather and I chose to walk up to Arthur Seat for our last day in Edinburgh.  We chose the worst day to do it but it was crazily fun to walk up  the hill.  The ground was slippery at times, the wind tried to blow us away, and hail aiming to our faces, but it was an adventure and we really experienced the real Scotland walk (well, apparently that's what the locals said).  It was an absolutely wet and cold adventure, as our rain coats were soaked and water got in to our clothes.  We then headed back to the hostel where it was warm, we were given towels to dry up and changed to dry clothes and we were given cakes and tea in front of the heater.  They were really sweet and lovely.

From left to right: Preparing mentally for Loony Dook (worried!!! Do I look worried?); Heather looking worried and cold as well; The nice looking bridge in Queensferry where loony dook takes place; The Loony Dook parade; Time for everyone to dive in!!!!; I did it!!!! Yaaaaaaaaay!!!; We did it!!!; Heather did it!!!; Freezing cold at the bus stop on the way back to Edinburgh; View of Edinburgh from the castle; Live music after new years eve in Edinburgh with Richard, Sandra and Heather; Me and my beautiful Sandra; Me and gorgeous Heather and lovely Richard (thanks for making my new years experience even more magical guys, you're the best!); A cute purply building on our last night in Edinburgh; The Castle; Calton Hill; Me and Heather playing dress ups in the museum; Me and Vlasta on our last day (thanks for being there Vlasta, you really created a magical new years experience for me); Me and Heather fooling around at the museum again; Heather walking towards Arthur's seat; Me and Heather walking towards Arthur's Seat in the windy hail storm (Without you I won't have had a crazy awesome new years celebration Heather). Again, most of the pictures were taken by Heather.

Heather and I then parted. I wanted to experience more of Scotland then spontaneously headed up to Aberdeen hosted by my mate Andrew.  It's a very grey city because most of the buildings were built from granite plus Scotland sky at that time was really grey.  It was nice, but one night was definitely enough there.

The next day, I followed my heart to Glasgow.  It was raining alot and the hostel I was staying in was really quiet.  So I went for a walk in the centre and came across a Scottish band called Clanadonia playing so I stuck around.  At the end of their play, I hung out with the band and chat for a bit.  One of the drummers, Gavin, who I hung out most of the time kindly hosted me in Glasgow.  Maggie and Gavin made me feel so comfortable in their home and treated me like I was part of the family.  Gavin taught me how kilt works, which starts of a 4 metre fabric then folded nice and exact to act as a sleeping mat then becomes a blanket.  It then wraps around to become a kilt also trousers, coat and it works best when it's wet because it makes you warmer.  Wow!  I was impressed!  The Scots sure know what they're doing.

From left to right: The only picture I took in Aberdeen; Glasgow, the city of creativity; Glasgow city centre; George Square in Glasgow; Cathedral in Glasgow; Clanadonia in action; Clanadonia shirt; Me playing the didgeridoo taught by a Glasgowegien, hmmm; My lovely hosts, Gavin, Maggie and Buster; Gavin folding the kilt precisely by couting the squares; Me in the kilt.

Gavin also took me on a road trip to the highlands.  To make it more interesting, I wore my mouse onesie throughout the whole trip.  The landscape  was absolutely mind blowing.  Snow was covering the top of the mountains, Waterfall every where, hee-land coos (highland cows) and I managed to do a take two loony dook video where it was even colder as it is further north than Edinburgh.  It was, again, or more so, SUPER BLOODY FRESH!  I haven't managed to upload the video online, having some technical problem.  But just to give you a bit of a vision, I was screeching like a mouse.  It was soooooo much colder than Edinburgh!!

After a few days in Scotland, I headed back to England heading riding a very comfortable 10 hour night bus to Bristol where the seats were converted to beds, then continuing another bus ride in the afternoon to Ilfracombe.

From left to right: The road trip begins! YEAH!!; Loch Lommond; The highlandsl; Waterfall; On the road through the highlands; The beautiful highlands; Lunch time, peanut butter sandwich without cutleries; Waterfalls again; More of the highlands; On the road again through the highlands; Highland views; More highlands view; Oldest pub in Scotland; Have you ever  seen a mouse attack a bear before? Well, here you go!; More waterfall in the highlands; More highland views; And more views; More breathtaking views; A mouse in the highlands; And towards the end, more highland views.  It's definitely a must go place.  Absolutely breathtaking!