ashthomas.net

Hello! I know, i know i have been hopeless with the entries. And i am sorry! But now i have so much stuff to write about its not funny!

ok so lets go…
After departing Rab we head off to Split in search of more sun, a brief stop off there and then onto another ferry to the island of Hvar. This is known for its night life and good times. And good times were had! We buddy upped with some aussie boys, Fatty and Eagle and a Kiwi chick, Jen. We found ourselves a lovely four bed apartment with balcony, kitchen and washing machine! Very excitied as we were staying for a few nights. We settled in and checked out the town. it was a bit late so we had celebratory drinks at home.
The next few days consisted of the following:
Sleep ins
Sun baking
Eating
Drinking
Swimming in the most amazing water i have ever seen
Going out
Day trips to islands
Banana rides
and general lazing about.
Cant complain at all!
The boys moved on and we adopted Jen and head of for Vis, another quieter island of the Dalmatian coast.
Stayed in a tiny room in the old city and again lazed about and soaked up the sun.
The islands are all rather simialr but all amazing. The biuldings are sun bleached but still have an orange tinge to them. The people are delightful and friendly and the towns are really something out of this world. Tomato plots right next to the sea, people sun baking on benches in the middle of no where…all very strange but lovely none the less.

We head back up to split and then took the bus ride from HELL to Dubrovnik. The roads weave around the coast of croatia and up the sheerest mountains i think i have ever laid eyes on. The roads are two lanes wide and narrow to say the least…it was hell. the bus driver was a learner and after we hit the side baracade lets just say there was a lot of nervous tension on the bus. Sarah is terrified of heights as it was so this was just not fun at all. After about 6 near deaths we arrived at the pit stop (Bosnia of all places) and celebrated our lives. Hoping that the other driver would take over, we trapsed back on only to find our suicidal driver back in his seat…another 3 hours and we did make it safely. just.
We decided we would take a bit of a side track to somewhere a little less known about, and i am here as i type. But that will come in a bit. So we got to Dubrovnik, sat around thinking what to do and the decided to go to one of the local islands, Lopod and sleep on the beach. it was meant to be a full moon and the local islands are really lovely and safe. So off we went. arrived just as dusk set in, trecked to the other side of the island and found our plot of sand for the night. We sat up drinking red from the bottle, watching the most gigantic moon rise out of the horizon streaking the sky with purples, pinks and blues. Simply amazing!! And surprising one of the best sleeps i have ever had!
We had an early start but were woken by the faint sounds of thunder, and flashes of lightening. In record time we were packed and under shelter when the MOTHER of all storms hit. We were in the Eye of the Storm and it was unbelievable. Thunder and lightening made for an excellent show and the walk across the island was managed in record time and just before the biggest rain shower ever. Keep in mind this is at 5 am and with one hell of a hangover.
We finally got on the ferry back to Dubrovnik and bought our tickets to…..Bosnia.
Yes thats right, the last few days we have been in Bosnia.
Now before my mum and dad lose the plot about my safety, let me assure you we did intensive research and checked it all out and it is a really popular tourist destination now. And i can say it has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

We arrived in Mostar on the day of the anniversary of their city bridge being rebuilt after it was blown up in the war. What a night to arrive. Men diving of the bridge into the azure coloured waters, fire works and a fantstic buzz filling the air.
We took a walk around the war torn city and looked on in sheer amazing sites. This place still has buildings up that are riddled with gun shots, buildings just bombed wrecks and trees growing out off the ruins. Just unbelieveable to think it has all been so recent aswell.
we took a bus ride to Sarajevo and had a bit of an incident witha coffee overdose. For real. Sarah had a large black coffee in the station before we got on the bus and then within 20 mins was needing to throw up, luckily we had pulled over for traffic problems. While the rest of us stared in amazment at the mountains that went straigh into the blue water and the magnificent scenery, Sarah went quietly mad. She had hallucinations, sweats, nausea – THE LOT.
and when we arrived in sarajevo it dodnt stop, she was well out of it and still is a bit now. We googled it and it is a real thing and the symptoms were all the same. Crazy!! So watch out on that coffee guys!

So am in Sarajevo now. And blimey does it give you some perspective on how lucky we are. We have just had a tour with a guy who was 20 when the siege between Sarajevo and Serbia was on in 1992-1995. His story was amazing. He took us through a bit of the tunnel that was built under the airport here in order to get supplies to the city, it really shook us up and we have been a little bit lost in our thoughts today. The city is beatuful if a bit filthy, there are loads of mosques everywhere and the little men do there cries at different times of the day, something i am very unfamiliar with.

Tomorrow we are off to Dubrovnik again, bit of sight seeing then fly out to Budapest and then we are heading home earlier than expected and will be coming home on Thursday!
So its been an unforgettable experience and the photos are plentyful and i will try and get them up asap.

Mum- have no credit on phone so am sorry about abrupt call, but it was 2am!!!
will try and call Commonwealth but the systems over here are all very different. Will see what i can do or will have to wait til i am back in London on Thursday
Em – sorry babe, i know i have been slack…
Carla- workshopping indeed….book me in for the whole of next week cause we need some talking girl.
Sherbs and Kingy – sorry i havent text back but its because i have no money which makes it hard whilst travelling! but thanks for your texts.x
ok better get off here as am melting.
hope you are all well and happy.
xx

Hello Readers,
I am sorry it has been so long but there just hasnt been easy internet access around the places i have been. But let me start from where i left off!
Our last night in Berlin was celebrated by a serious pub crawl that was a very big night and needless to say we were all feeling a little shakey in the morning at 6 when we had to head off for the airport!!
We then saw Jayno off and Kara, Nicole and Sarah and myself jet off to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Now people, listen to me when i say this is the place fairy tales come from…
Ljubljana is simply magical!
The city itself is just too gorgeous for words, a cross between paris romance and venician mazes. Little nooks and crannies everywhere, cobble stone streets, weeping willows and so cheap!! It really is such an amazing place. We hired bikes and cycled around the city and then got ourselves a feast at a 5 star restaurant and had a VERY civilized night indeed!
Then it was off on a train to Rijeka, Croatia.
The 3 hours on the train were spent wondering how long we should sit on an island for and what cocktails should accompany this sitting on the beach…very hard work!
We arrived in Rijeka a little disappointed. The city is an industrial zone and it was too late to move onto another island so we found accomodation with a little old women and her daughter and then head off first thing in the morning to Rab, an island off the coast of croatia which, according to lonely planet, had a magicalness to it aswell. Pine tree forests and gorgeous beaches.. we got there and were rather haste in our decision against the place, but found accom. and checked it out. It had a real charm that seems to be the trend amounst these towns. They are really old and untouched but are making the move to a more improved city. The buildings are all half finished, the town folk are ancient and while they are war torn and damaged there is just something that i really like about the place!
Moving on from Rab we head off for Split, the port for all the islands in the south of Croatia and the start of the Dalmatian Coast. It took a mere 8 hours and then we arrived, got on a ferry and finally, FINALLY made it to Hvar. We made friends with some aussies boys and a kiwi chick and got ourselves a very sweet apartment for the next few nights. It is like an instant youth hostel!! Very good.
Today we sat on the pebbled beaches and soaked in some very needed UV rays and think i may have overdosed just a little – but its a base coat so i am sure it will be fine!!

Hope all is going well on the flip side and in London.
xxx

Well hello and weclcome to the first of the detailed adventures of our Summer of Fun!!

To start the journey we had a few minor stress attacked what with wondering how we were going to be getting to the airport for 5am after the business in London, Sarah and Nicole were in Scotland so we needed serious logistic planning. It didnt happen… but we finally worked out how when and where. Rising at 3am and heading to the airport was all ok, then the flight which we slpet through and then customs. Now, for those of you who have seen my passport photo you will agree that it isn’t fabulous or really all that represtational of what i look like, but it is me. Apparently the police at customs couldn#t see the resembleance and i was questioned, asked for my drivers license and told to stand in the corner of the waiting area while everyone around me just stared and wondered what i had done wrong. Another cop came up and took out a magnifing glass and studied the photo…i started to sweat a little…ok A LOT…in the end he said it was fine except there was a shadow on the photos which was Nicht Gut….oops!
So after that minor mishap we set off in search of the hostel.Which we did without problems. Berlin is a bit of a starnge city, wide spread and not much organisation as far as a city centre goes.But we checked in and sorted our stuff and head off into town. We were on the tube talking amongst ourselves when a reasonably drunk german man got on the tube, he stared at Jayno and watched us all ratehr intently until his stop where he got up, looked at me and the stuck his middle finger up right into my face!!! No explanation, no nothing!! rude bunch of people if you ask me!!
Unfortunatly our underground adventures did not stop there, it seemed that Berlin just did not want me here!1 I took the girls onto a tube thinking it was going in the right direction however, after one stop, i looked around and reaslised there was no one else on the tube. the train had terminated!!! We were a little calm at first, then panic started to writhe beneath our veins and we banged on the doors until a guard came and said something reassuring in german and the train started up again…
goodness me! what a day!!

we decided it would not be wise to go out seeing as we had about 4 hours sleep. So we got some wines and nibbles and went to the hostel commom room and drank the afternoon away. We started talking to a melbourne guy, who worked for a major insurance company in London, who Insurance Times often writes about, i felt to clued in! Anyway he and his mates were off to a dance party with Paul Van Dyck, not one to want to miss out on this kind of thing, i decided to go. I managed to convince Kara while the others declined. We went and it was MANIC. The people over here like their heavy hard core trance music alot…put it this way, the strobe light was so string we were dancing with our eyes shut and hoping to god we wouldnt get epilepsy….crazy.
Got home 24 hours after i woke up, shattered.

Saturday was tourism day. we got a guided tour bus and went around the city. Again, the place is a little unplanned to say the least but there is something about it i just like. The Jewish Museum was so unbelievable, if you ever are in Berlin, go and see it. Its really is mind blowing and of course the major hot spots, Berlin wall, Brandenberg gate and also the Where is the love street party, also know as SummerLove. So after some serious site seeing we found ourselves on the main street bopping away to some serious beats, went back to hostel for quick nap and then out again tofind some beer gartens! which was rather unsuccessful but we all managed to have a good night.
Today is glorious weather, the last being a bit grey. So we have been to the fela markets which were excellent,vintage everything!!
Then to a beir garten for lunch, litres of beer and schnitzel on the menu, I was in my element!!

That brings us to now! Have a full belly and a bit of a tan, all in all, pretty happy!
Berlin is a really interesting city and while i have been here before it has really developed in the last four years. And i think because its history is still so real, it was only a a few years ago the wall was taken down and things like that….pretty cool really.
So off to Slovakia tomorrow and then the BEACH!!! can’ t wait to swim!!

Hope everyone else is fine.
Love you!

Aufweidersen!

Just a super quick one to say that we got out of London a OK and have arrived in Berlin. Funny stories already but will write one up later.
Thanks to everyone for yours texts, emails, and calls. It means so much to me, and it was a bit of a scare but it should be all ok now.
xx

Not sure if you guys have the news yet but there has just been a bomb explosion in London…all the tubes stations have been closed and a double decker bus exploded out the front of Liverpool St Station. It’s all a bit scary, but everyone i know is ok.
x
* just been confirmed it was terrorists – 10 to 9 this morning.

LONDON!!!!
Breaking News Just In – London won the bid for the 2012 Olympics…wonder if i’ll still be here for them….