I was pretty excited about my interview – Bela Fleck is arguably one of the best banjo players in the world, and had recently done a tour around various parts of Africa, studying the banjos origins and playing with local orchestras and village kids as he traveled. I saw Bela Fleck live back in Maryland when I was about 15, so I was really excited about the prospect of getting to meet him in person. I know he isn’t the most high profile musician of the week – but any interview was great for me, and this was a blast back to my high school days, plus I couldn’t wait to talk about his travels in Africa.

I was duly escorted backstage and shown to a table to wait patiently for the man to arrive. Delay after delay after delay later, it started to become pretty clear that it wasn’t happening. Mr. Fleck was running late and ran out of time before he had to get on stage. It was disappointing to have been missing so much good music in the meantime, but the silver lining was Poor Man’s Whiskey did a little improv jam session backstage after one of their interviews. So at least I got to see a little music, and hey, can’t complain about a more or less private backstage show, right?

After that, I finally made my way back into the festivals and located my friends again. I had time to briefly check out a bit of Bela’s set before we headed to the Mojo Stage to stake out our spots for the night. First one was the Buena Vista Social Club – a great latin orchestra that makes you wish you knew how to salsa. The problem I had with them was, that while they are GREAT musicians, and their music is top quality, it isn’t the type of music I particularly enjoy listening to for a full hour. They sing in Spanish, eliminating any chance of singing along, and maybe it’s my ignorance, but I simply cannot enjoy that chilled Latin beat for more than a few songs before I want something a little different.

Obviously this is a personal taste – and there were plenty of people in the crowd that would have vehemently disagreed with me. Unfortunately for us, everyone in front of us was there for the same reasons we were – to get as close as possible to the stage before the headliner. Jack Johnson. Yes, I know, I know, I’ve already seen him play once this week, but how can you say no to seeing him twice?? He was just as great the second time around too.

Yesterday was the first day of the festival so I spent the afternoon/evening trudging around in the muddy fields flitting from tent to tent to check out some of the amazing music that is taking place here this week.

The selection is amazingly varied; I’m actually curious to find out what the criteria for performing here is, since there are plenty of bands that certainly do not fall under the category of ‘blues.’

From solo guitarists to folk bands, traditional pan pipers to Cuban 10 piece bands there’s something for just about everyone here.

Keep checking back for more details of how I spend my days. But for now, I’ve got a bus to catch for Day 2!

I’m actually very eager to begin telling you about my current situation – living and working in Yulara: a ‘town’ (I don’t know what else to call it…a settlement? A village? A random group of buildings set in one of the most unlikely and uninhabitable places on Earth?) in Australia’s Northern Territory that exists for only one reason: Ayers Rock.

But first: a catchup. There’s a lot to fit in. I’ll try to keep it short.

The last time I wrote, I described the hard life on the coast of Australia. After that grueling weekend, I spent about two weeks in Canberra. Thanks to my lovely network of £10 Poms, I was able to sleep on a surprisingly comfortable Australian swag in my friend Toby’s living room.

My first full day in Canberra also happened to be Australia Day.* After a good day of celebrations, I spent my time learning a bit more about Australian history and listening to some groovy tunes.

I was actually the third £10 Pom to grace Toby’s floor, and a few days after my arrival, another one, Tom, arrived for a one-night visit from Sydney.

After Tom, the Brits kept coming. Chris, Kerri and Kat (who spent just a bit more than £10 to fly Down Under) arrived in their camper van after exploring Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. I count Chris among my STA connections thanks to Cam and the lovely people at STA Travelbuzz.

During Tom’s visit, and again during the camper van crew’s stay, I visited Canberra’s War Memorial Museum and went to the top of Mount Ainslie. There was also a brief drive-by sighting of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The ‘tent’ part of that should be a clue –this embassy is actually a tent city of activists who have been living outside Canberra’s old Parliament building more or less constantly since the early seventies. Not a recognised embassy at all, it is a group campaigning for the rights of Australia’s indigenous population. While they are not, of course, fighting the same issues, it reminded me of the campers that live outside London’s Parliament. I suppose hanging out directly on the path of every politician’s morning commute is a pretty effective reminder.

I was really impressed with the War Museum, which is surprisingly enormous. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I was more or less oblivious to Australia’s involvement in any wars past or present, despite their participation in just about every major war I’ve learnt about in school, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries. Their perspective is very interesting; especially when it comes to the First World War. From what I saw at the museum, it seems the central most important event during WWI, to Australians, is the battle at Gallipoli. This was Australia’s first ever serious conflict. Were it not for my dad sending me the film ‘Gallipoli’ starring a very young Mel Gibson a few months ago, I would have walked into that room completely clueless. The battle brings up a few sore points in Australian history and at times I actually felt rather uncomfortable as a British person in the room. Luckily I left my Union Jack at home…

Next was Mount Ainslie for a birds eye view of Canberra. The city was built after Melbourne and Sydney couldn’t agree on which of them should be the nation’s capital, so somebody had the bright idea of building another city in the middle of nowhere. From the mount you can clearly see the perfect triangle that makes up the Parliamentary Triangle, leading down from the Parliament building across the manmade lake to the CBD, past the War Museum, to the Defence precinct and back across the lake to Parliament again.**

After all this guidebook following, I managed to spend one evening enjoying some jerk chicken and cold beer listening to my new Canberra friends DJ at a local café/art space/bar where I also acquired some funky retro heels. Who said backpacking was all about practicality?. Then on my last night in Canberra, Toby, his housemates and I found our way to a conference room at the Rex Hotel to see the launch of a band named Cousin Alice, after Alice – the person whose home I relaxed in during the tough weekend I’ve mentioned before. Alice described the band as ‘kind of a funky jazz and soul band’ so I’ll go with that. All I know is that they performed a very smooth version of Rihanna’s ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ that actually made the lyrics sound good during an evening of the kind of music everyone loves to sway to. Not a bad way to end my time in the ACT.

Phew. There we go. Next stop: the Northern Territory.

*To see my article about Australia Day, head to Go Girl Magazine and check out my post published on February 1.

**Check out Chris’ blog about our day in Canberra for some more good writing.

After Amsterdam, I went on the Munich tour BOTH times I visited the city plus the Pub Crawl tours which have never been a disappointment. So of course I tracked them down in Berlin.

Our first day in Berlin was pretty uneventful. We arrived, having only slept on the plane and were told we couldn’t get into our room. Hmm.. I’m still wearing my clothes from Thai Square, I haven’t showered, I haven’t slept. I don’t look or feel good at this point. But there’s nothing to do but go out into Berlin to grab some lunch, unpleasant body odour or not. And so we did. A wander around Museum Island and a club sandwich later, we returned to the hostel and collapsed in the reception for awhile. We were woken from our nap and told we could finally get into our room. Where we slept. Again.

The evening didn’t go to waste though! We dragged ourselves up, showered and put on clothes that didn’t smell like a London club and headed out to dinner and a little music. Tom decided to be as authentic as possible and get a jellied leg of pork. I went with the salmon… Then we went in search of somewhere for a few quiet drinks and found the B Flat club. It’s the perfect place if you’re looking to grab a few cocktails in a slightly hidden bar with fogged up windows and a grand piano. It also helps if you like jazz music. We listened to the sounds of the Diego Pinera Group for a couple of hours before finally calling it a night and collapsing for a very good nights sleep. I should mention that our hostel, City Stay, was great by the way. Perfectly located in the centre of Berlin just by a train station, with a good bar and really nice rooms. I would recommend checking it out.

The next morning, after a false start, we found the Sandeman’s New Berlin Free Tour and walked around the city for almost five hours with Nikolai, our Bulgarian born, American raised, German resident guide. The tour was great if not exhausting, but these tours are always the perfect way to see the city and actually put all the buildings and sites into context. That night it was off to the New Berlin Pub Crawl which started in Zapata. Zapata was exactly how I imagined Berlin bars to be. Dark, graffiti-ed, not unlike an abandoned warehouse with a table tennis table in the middle. Naturally. We moved on to a few other bars with our friends from the Free Tour before we parted ways as they went off to the clubs and we headed home since we were determined to get up the next morning and make good use of our final day.

True to our plans, we were up and off to the Jewish Museum bright(ish) and early(ish). We spent far too much time in the new exhibit which was really interesting, and so unfortunately had to rush a little through the permanent exhibit which was a shame. It’s a very good museum. Then it was off to our Red Berlin tour (also provided by the lovely people at Sandemans) where Paulo took us around some of the lesser known parts of Berlin, as well as some famous sights like the East Side Gallery. We saw a part of what is now called the ‘Death Strip‘ (the space in between the Berlin Wall that stopped anyone from having a hope of jumping across). Paulo had a pretty interesting perspective on everything which was nice. Wasn’t the average talk about how the wall was nothing but terrible and that the opening of the wall is the greatest thing to have happened to Berlin. There’s a lot of different opinions out there and a lot of sides to the story, so it was nice to have a tour guide who appreciated that and maybe opened my eyes a little to what life is really like these days in Berlin.

That night after a way too filling dinner, finding out our train was canceled, and grabbing a taxi just in time, we made it to the airport to make our way back home to London. We arrived at midnight and went straight to packing up the rest of my things to prepare to leave for Sydney the next day….

Day One: A trip to The Photographers’ Gallery in London with Tom before heading to the Apple Store. I love the Apple Store – so many pretty things. So many things I can’t afford. But I still got seen by a lovely Genius who fixed all the little bugs on my Mac and bought a World Traveller Kit which is AWESOME. Okay, a tiny overreaction, but it lets me charge my iPod (and my laptop if I switch the plug) anywhere in the WORLD! So basically it’s a box that comes with all the little plug ins to switch in the white block thing. But I was excited. After dealing with plugging in adapters on top of adapters to find the right combination, it’s pretty thrilling. Then we headed to Bizarros for a really nice Italian dinner near home. We were going to the new Moroccan place for it’s opening, but overcrowded buffet and eating while standing up wasn’t our idea of a good meal. Day One: check.

Day Two: Sunday lunch with Johanna and Tamsin at Pearl Liang. My very late discovery and probably one of my favourite restaurants these days. Yummy Dim Sum and super cheap. Perfect.

Three: My last English Fish ‘n Chips!! Ok, it ended up not being QUITE my last, but certainly my last one from a greasy take away soaked in vinegar and tartare sauce. Sooo good. I can’t resist a good English chippie!

Day Four, November 17th – Dinner at Las Iguanas and rather expensive cocktails with the lovely Nims. I’ll miss that girl. Can always be trusted to come out for a good drink and a chinwag.

Wednesday, the 18th – Off to La Porte Des Indes with my godparents who are nowadays in possession of all my worldly belongings that didn’t fit in my backpack.

Day Six – My last day at Black Tomato! Although they’ll be using my talents while I’m Down Under. Good company, good internship, and good people. Then I headed into East London to another late find and another favourite restaurant – Lahore. REALLY good food (try the pork chops: simply mouthwatering).

Day Seven – The Big One. Leaving drinks. I randomly chose Thai Square in Trafalgar Square as the meeting point. It ended up being pretty successful although we were just about the only non-Asian’s in the place, but that was no reason to not enjoy ourselves and we certainly did. Lots of people made it out including my lovely ex-housemate Hannah, my original London friends (two of whom have headed off to Thailand, so you can read about their trip here plus if you’re looking to get some good, cheap Thai shirts and accessories imported, or want some bespoke artwork and furniture designed by two great people, Sophie and Claudia are the girls to talk to!) along with Tom and Miguel (the suave one).

Day Seven/Eight – My leaving drinks and the following day all kind of blend into one since my head never hit a pillow in between. After (thankfully) grabbing a night bus home from Thai Square, Tom and I were home for….ten minutes? Then it was off to Liverpool Street Station where we accidentally bought First Class tickets on the Stansted Express. Oops. We traveled in style to the airport and grabbed the VERY early flight to Berlin!

Four days until I leave. To be continued.

It’s hard to really get my head around it all. The fact that I haven’t started packing at all probably helps with that.

Last weekend I managed to head up to Glasgow to see my lovely family one more time before I leave the hemisphere. I realised that having spent the last 12 years of my life in a different continent, whether it was North America, Asia or Australasia, my family have gotten older (and wiser?) and I haven’t been as close and in touch with them as I would like. My ‘baby’ cousin Lucy is 12 years old which seems impossible, my older cousin Martin is married (I was lucky enough to make it to the wedding), and Raymond is in his last year of uni and getting ready to go around the world with his girlfriend.

As excited as I am to head Down Under, it’s definitely going to be hard being so far away yet again. On top of that, I’ll be leaving an amazing home, with the best neighbours I could have asked for, and a job that is the closest to perfect I’ve come so far (I basically get to do this – travel writing – all day, what could be better?).

So here it goes. A week of manic running around and seeing all the faces I’ll miss before I walk through the gate at Heathrow.

That’s my sentimental post of the week. The next one will be more upbeat as I’ll be recounting what is sure to be a fantastic week of celebration and farewell. First stop – a nice little dinner with the one and only Nims at Las Iguanas. As long as I figure out how to get there in the next two hours…

Last week I managed to hit two note-worthy performances: one old and one new.

A couple of years ago, I saw a movie that I loved, written specifically for the fantastic actress, Jane Horrocks, who played the title role. So as you may have guessed, I hit up the new stage version of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. Starring Diana Vickers, an ex X Factor finalist who was, I have to say, brilliant. I’ll admit, I don’t know her music although have since clicked on a few old X Factor clips and have yet to think any less of her. It takes a pretty good singer to sound believable while impersonating several other iconic belters (I’m talking the likes of Marilyn Monroe, and Edith Piaf) and creating your own original voice at the same time.

The movie is great and the stage play was no less, although the focus on characters was a little different, but since when did any book/movie/play exactly follow the original story line, right?

I’m not usually one for plays, I’m a musical girl. If that sounds like you too, then Little Voice is still for you. Yes, it’s a play, there’s lots of talking and no synchronized dancing, but the great story and cast are more than enjoyable to watch, and Diana’s vocal performance fills that little musical-loving hole in my heart.

Next, I couldn’t help but get my music fix at what has become a modern-classic. Avenue Q. It took me four years to get around to it, but I finally go to see the adult version of Sesame Street. I learnt the alphabet from Sesame Street, and if I was still four years old I would have learnt all about the birds and the bees from Avenue Q. So to speak. More like… how everyone is a little bit racist, sex is on everyone’s mind (all the time) and we all watch porn on the internet. Even if you don’t admit it. You know you’ve been a little bit curious at least once before. Don’t lie. I know you did it.

There’s something that just makes me warm inside about watching puppets and humans interact like it’s no big deal and then breaking out into intricate dance routines as they sing about how much life sucks. Perfect.

I love the West End.

Last Wednesday, I planned to meet up with four friends: two of my London pals and two girls who came into my life during my travels in Asia: Laura, was only involved for a single night on Koh Pha Ngan, but is one of the few who I’ve managed to stay in touch with, the other is Claudia, who, if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog will be a familiar name to you. But I couldn’t resist when what could have been a small, quiet night began rolling downhill and picking up more and more people as it went. It started with Sophie (one of the London pals) messaging our ‘usual’ Wednesday night drinks group on Facebook:

Sophie 12 October at 18:17 Reply

Hello this wednesday we are headed to cha cha moon just off carnaby street for some gorgeous food! We will meet outside at 6.30pm, then head to the john snow pub for 7.30pm!

Lots of love xx

Then I confirmed plans with my two traveling friends, Laura and Claudia; which grew to be Laura, Claudia, Claire, and eventually Emily.

After five long days at work, it was straight to the local pub by my office with some of my equally ‘ready-for-the-weekend’ colleagues. After offloading all our typical work frustrations and a few pints I think we all felt a lot better.

After that, it was onto the tube and back to Paddington. Or was that Sheperd’s Bush? Apparently I was a little more exhausted than I thought… After waking up at Shepherd’s Bush, I quickly hopped off, grabbed the next eastbound train and retraced my steps to Paddington. I made sure to stay awake this time. Of course, my night couldn’t end there, so it was straight to The Cleveland Arms, my very own local, to meet up with the neighbours. After catching up with John, the landlord, and a few of the other regulars we headed back home. An ideal night of classic English locals. Not bad.

Next on the list? An English village! So when I eventually did get up, I hopped on a train to Leatherhead, where my good friend Nims hangs her hat. I met her and the lovely Marie-Anne (she goes by Mars, it makes the fact that we have the same name easier) at Mr. Nims’ (or Rich) tattoo shop where the man himself was giving Mars a nice little tattoo on her wrist. Then it was back to Nims’ to cook fish soup, roasted butternut squash with feta and vegetables, and homemade white chocolate rasberry cheesecake. Yum. Finished off by an episode of X Factor. Perfect.

Just to top off the weekend, how about a run in the park? Or how about I just go and support while others run in the park? What can I say, it was early, and well I’m not the one who signed up for a half-marathon anyway. But my neighbour Andy did (he was coerced really), and I am good enough to get up early to be the support team. So it was off to Hyde Park bright and early, where I curled up with a book for a couple of hours while Andy made his way through 13.1 miles of royal parks. Well done Andy. Top off the night with the second X Factor episode and my weekend was complete.

Monday and it’s back to work, but at least I got to enjoy another typical English activity that evening: an Indian. After joining my godparents at La Porte des Indes and eating WAY too much food, I dutifully collapsed into a food coma. Unfortunately, despite the good food, I could have done without the stomach pains.

My neighbour, the suave Portuguese Miguel, turned the big 2-4 on Friday which called for an all-you-can-eat buffet in Chinatown a drink or two in Leicester Square and a little shaking at On Anon in Piccadilly Circus. I love Chinatown in London, but I have to say, an all-you-can-eat buffet is not the way to get the best quality food. But certainly the most for your money. Despite the lack of decent cuisine, I managed to fill my plate twice. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a deal.

After that, we bumped into Tom who was enjoying a karaoke farewell night with his ex coworkers before joining us at the Wetherspoons in Leicester Square. Again – I love Leicester Square, but Wetherspoons is not the way to enjoy that place. Overpopulated with tourists who seem to think they are actually hanging out in a cool London bar, and not the overpriced poorly located place that The Moon Under Water is.

We shortly left and entered On Anon to dance to some cheesy pop music for a few hours before heading home on the night bus.

Saturday morning, I woke up to meet the Sellars family, then joined Andy and his father plus a few others for my first EVER British football game. Blackpool @ Crystal Palace. Andy’s family are Blackpool supporters so we were on the visiting (and unfortunately losing) side. Sadly I was beginning to feel a little under the weather, but despite that, I really enjoyed watching grown men resort to baring their teeth and holding their hands up at the opposing fans as if to say ‘come and say that over here.’

Back at home there wasn’t much time before I was getting changed and ready to head to Shunt. Shunt is must-go in London. But you have got to get there before November 14th when they will probably be closing down and (hopefully) moving location. But their current location at London Bridge is to die for. Think enormous underground brick arches, vast open spaces and any number of new corners to look around. There was an eccentric art exhibition in the eerily quiet halls as we first walked in, past the lone girl standing outside a room with a tray of popcorn bags for the film screening that was about to happen. Through the large iron gates at the end and I found myself walking past wooden benches set up stadium seat style, past a small door that led to a space with a billiard table, then through a room where a live band was about to begin, and into a cavernous back room with a DJ and a cornered off section with benches and tables separated by beams. The £10 cover is well worth it; if you’re in London reading this blog, get there now before it’s too late.

Tip of the day: get there EARLY. Doors close to new customers at midnight, and by 10pm the line goes all the way through the London Bridge tube station.

As I knew would happen, Sunday was spent shivering in my bed as my body rejected all the late nights and cold days I had exposed it to over the previous 48 hours. But on the plus side, I got to watch both episodes of X Factor. And yes, just like everyone else who isn’t Irish, I want to throw those twins out of a window every time I see them. I’m sorry. But I do.

I’ve had a birthday, which means one year older and plenty to write about but I’ll try to keep it short. Plus this write up is more about my amazing night with STA Travel Buzz (follow them here, or read their blog here).

To start things off, how about a reunion with some other all-star travelers from my days in SE Asia? Yes please. Calvin, our Canadian companion, flew all the way to the UK so what better excuse for a meet up with the rest of the English constituency? It all started on Thursday, September 10 when Calvin, Claudia and myself hit Embargo’s in London for some good old partying on New Kings Road. Then it was onto the train the following day, heading to Bristol to meet up with Patrick, Matt, Andy and Zoe. It was an EPIC evening that started out with what I can comfortably say was the best Thai meal I’ve had since, well, Thailand. We’re talking Pad Thai, Panang Curry, Green Curry, Pad Grapow, everything I love. After eating it in record time we realised that it had cost us about 7,000 Baht, and estimated that back in Bangkok the same meal would be less than 1,000. Depressing? Slightly. Still delicious? Obviously. After that we headed to Matt’s friend’s back garden where an enormous bonfire, a huge marquee and several dozen gallons of local (as in, literally from across the road) cider were ready and waiting. Amazing. Needless to say, the night went well, catching up, reliving the good times abroad and listening to Pat’s sweet sweet voice as he strummed his guitar the way only he can. Then it was a night sleeping in the marquee under blankets before a traditional English pub lunch and the train back to London town for more birthday celebrations with my neighbours.

That Monday I went to a fantastic gig at The Scala to see two of my old high school friends who now go by the name Wye Oak. I left it a bit last minute but luckily Andy and Jen (the rockers) got me and a couple of good friends on the guest list to enjoy their seriously good opening act before they were followed by Okkervil River. High school reunion, good music and a birthday all in one night? Not bad.

So, traveller reunion, good music…what could be next? How about going around the world without leaving London? Oh yes. Tuesday, September 15 I met Camilla, Sam and Michelle from STA Travel Buzz (who have been kind enough to plug my blog along with a few other travelers for an STA 30th anniversary celebration. It all started in ‘India’ on Brick Lane in one of the many many Indian restaurants that line that road. Once the whole gang was assembled, we headed to…the kitchen. I’m not sure how the other paying guests felt about some random kids walking into the back to play with food but hey, on Brick Lane, give a restaurant owner enough money and you can do anything it would seem. So learn how to cook onion bhajis we did, before jumping on to the private Route master bus hired for the evening to head to ‘America’ while enjoying our deep fried Indian cuisine. America turned out to be All Star Bowling Lanes, where a game of retro bowling and classic American cocktails were the order of the night. I tried to ignore the fact that our waitress was Irish. As the only member of the posse to have actually lived in the US, there was a lot of pressure on me, and while the girls did lose, I feel I scored well enough to walk out with my head held high.
Next? Off to ‘England’! Okay, so this one wasn’t so hard, but I wasn’t complaining when the piping hot fish ‘n chips turned up on the bus. After a few glasses of champagne on the Route master and it was out again in front of the London Irish Centre where a lovely Irishman named Aiden O’Neill taught us the fine art of Irish dancing. Okay, so we weren’t so fine, or graceful, or good… But I think Aiden appreciated the effort, and we all appreciated an excuse to skip about holding hands without getting weird looks from anyone else. After an embarrassing attempt at our own Riverdance, we headed to the Irish pub for a pint of Guinness. What else?

It was a great end to a great night before crawling home only to wake up a few hours later, back to the grind of a Wednesday morning. But at least I had a good story to tell this time.

For photos of Bristol, my neighbours and Wye Oak check out this link, for STA Around the World, go here.

For now, this post doesn’t actually include an article so it’s probably cheating calling it the Travel Article of the Week, but it IS about somewhere I’ve never been. I personally spent this week writing about Mexico, so here is some information from what I learned in the last few days.

The only thing I’ve ever associated with Mexico is immigrants coming into the US, tequila, MTV Spring Break…and not much else. Not the case.

One hotel that I wrote about last week- Las Ventanas – has a Department of Romance to create your own personal holiday for two, ideals for honeymooners or just an escape with your love. One of the suggestions that the DoR had was to hire your own personal Mexican Caballero to ride up on his white horse to your private picnic dinner on the beach where he would present your partner with an engagement ring, or whatever else. Or you could take a horse-drawn carriage ride with a picnic meal through the Mexican deserts. The list goes on, literally – if you can imagine it, this place makes it happen. And I won’t even go on about the hotel itself which is the height of luxury. I know this sounds like a cheap plug but trust me I have nothing to do with Las Ventanas hotel, I was just completely blown away by the degree of luxury provided at this place. You could have a private lift to your room where you also had a private chef and butler on call just for you whenever you need it. What?!

My other favourite, for a totally different reason, was Hotel Basico. This place is really quirky and cutting-edge. Definitely caters to a younger crowd, closer to my age, and I would definitely go here could I afford it (although I think it was on the lower end of the price range compared to the other places I was writing about). The rooms kind of look like they’re in an observation tank from the outside although you can put blinds over the windows. Each room comes with a Polaroid camera and it’s own random decorations like massive tires and vintage Coco-Cola paraphernalia. The roof top pools by the bar are actually old petroleum tanks that were cut and filled with water. I’m not sure I would be cool enough to stay, even the website has an exclusive feel to it, like if you’re not good enough to figure out the site then don’t bother coming here.

As it happens, one of my evenings was centred around the Hispanic-Latino vibe as well when I attended salsa dance lessons last Thursday. Although I think salsa has its roots in Cuba possibly, but I’m not sure.
But last Thursday I went to Salsa! on Charing Cross Road with my friends Robin and Olly who go every week. I had wanted to go, although the exterior did not make me feel confident about my decision. The outside looks a little gaudy with poorly coloured neon lights and a rather cheesy sign. But once inside down in the basement, this place is actually not bad. With a bar, some tables and a somewhat small dance floor, the place has just the right atmosphere for an underground dance club. As a beginner I learnt my steps in the centre of the dance floor with the teacher on a mic up on stage where a live band would perform later. I had a surprisingly good time and would definitely think about going again. £8 for two hours of lessons is pretty reasonable in my opinion and I’d say it was worth the money spent! Later on, after the two hours of lessons is over, it becomes a salsa dance club with live music, drinking and dancing, and I believe that if you show up later then you have to pay a cover. So until I go again I’ll be practicing my 1, 2, 3, 4′s in the privacy of my room.

UPDATE 14/09/2009: Hotel article is up, check it out!

London can be a seriously expensive city, but there are a lot of ways to save money, like the two I have just mentioned. Especially when it comes to eating, I only find out about deals by walking past restaurants and seeing their signs in the windows advertising happy hours and specials. For instance, there’s a pizza/pasta restaurant about 15 minutes walk up the hill from me on Archway Road that I’ve never been to before, but yesterday I noticed the huge signs in the windows telling me that from 9 – 11 p.m I can get pizza or pasta for £3! I’ll let you know how it is, no doubt I’ll go there in the next few days.

I also subscribe to what is sometimes an annoying amount of mailing lists, but they do occasionally help me find things to do for little or no money. Like the Transport for London e-mail that I get weekly about what’s happening this weekend. This Sunday is Opera Holland Park Open Day apparently, which is free. The 1234 Festival in Shoreditch looks like a great deal as well, with ticket prices including access to several after parties too. I may be attending this one myself.

I just found these two websites that may help too: http://www. londonisfree.com, http://www.londonforfree.net

Anyone else know of any good deals on food or evenings out, or any cheap/free events going on in the city?

Before leaving the States, I spent a day entertaining my friend Naomi in Annapolis and trying to do as many things as possible. When she first arrived, I took her to have a late breakfast at the City Dock Cafe, a great little coffee shop owned by a friend’s mother, located in downtown Annapolis in the Marketplace.

I know that around that same week, the Market House that has been closed and plagued with several problems over the years, re-opened for another try at a successful business model. I did not go to visit the Market House so I don’t know what is inside it, but with such an amazing location I can’t believe it will fail, although I have been wrong about that before of course. There are actually quite a few closed down businesses downtown these days. All around the water and up Main Street there are empty windows, including Riordan’s, an Irish pub/restaurant that yours truly was once a hostess in before the place closed down a few years ago. It is yet to reopen as a new business despite its fantastic location. I am inclined to blame the recession, but Riordan’s and some other businesses closed down long before that word became so commonplace, so what could it be? High rent? Lack of foot traffic? I have a hard time believing that last one because despite a huge new shopping/restaurant complex opening up near West Street, nothing beats the colonial quaintness of downtown Annapolis.

After City Dock we went on a short tour of the Maryland State Capitol House, once the capitol building for the whole country back in 1784 (which is a LONG time ago in American history even if it is a drop in the ocean for other nations). It is apparently the oldest state capitol still in regular use, and the only state house that was once the nation’s capital! Check that link out for more.

To complete her Annapolis day, I took Naomi on a boat tour of the Severn River with Kelly before digging in to a crab feast at Cantler’s where Kelly, my local Annapolitan, taught Naomi the tricks of cracking in to those hard shells. (Here’s a video of another local Marylander with his own instructions. For the record I DON’T eat the guts and crab juice. Just a personal preference).

After saying goodbye to Naomi at the Metro station and having dinner with my parents, Kelly and I headed to McGarvey’s again where Tikki Tuesdays was happening. Once a month during the summer, McGarvey’s run Tikki Tuesday, with decorations, raffle games, cheap drinks and beach themed dress requirements. I couldn’t have asked for anything more typically American to end my holiday here.

The problems started the next day when, after seeing the new Harry Potter movie with my parents (and helping to ensure its fate as the highest grossing film franchise) I arrived at the airport to find that I wasn’t in the Virgin Atlantic system… interesting… After several minutes and various people and computers, the check-in staff finally figured out that my flight was scheduled for July 14. It was July 15. A full 24 hours late for my flight and it cost me $100 and a small part of my pride to grab a seat on the plane that was leaving for London that evening. Not once did I think to double check my booking, not once did I think ‘if I’m supposed to arrive in London on the 15th, surely I can’t be leaving the same day for an overnight flight…’ Not my proudest moment, but I will certainly never leave for the airport without triple checking my confirmation E-mails first and I suggest you do the same.

The fireworks were great. Met a few of Amy’s friends including a guy who made his own shirt out of his flannel pillowcase. So genius.

The next day I went with mum and dad to downtown Annapolis to watch the parade, get some dinner and watch the Naval Academy fireworks. Apparently half the town is running for mayor right now, pretty sure at least ten candidates drove by. BIG tip if you’re running – popularity goes WAY up if you walk, don’t drive, down the parade route, if you have a candy and/or other goodies. McConKey – walked, had sweets AND frisbees with his name on them. Also a really hard name to forget anyway. Not that I’m endorsing anyone by the way, I know nothing abut McConkey’s policies; haven’t looked them up as I can’t vote in the campaign anyway. Not an Annapolis resident.

Ate at Cafe Normandie, but I could barely finish my cream of crab soup or my steak. Possibly because I ate an amazing red velvet cupcake at Nostalgia Cupcakes on Main Street. Whatever, it was a good cupcake and I took the steak to go.

Fireworks were good, although we almost missed them.

Since I ate crabs for dinner on Friday, and crab soup for dinner on Saturday…..I had crabs for lunch AND dinner on Monday. What can I say, I can’t help myself. Went to Magothy Seafood for lunch with my friend Morena from DC, then while I was sitting there breaking shells open I got invited to a little crab feast in Baltimore to see my friend Katlin for dinner. How could I say no?? Saw two old friends and ate crabs with both of them in one day! True Maryland style reunions.

I promise to eat something else today. So far I’ve had tuna salad for lunch, and I think it’s salmon for dinner. Sticking to the seafood, but why not when it’s so good!