A trip to Durban

Hello All.

So first of all I am not entirely sure how I can explain my year long absence from blogging. Blogging is actually quite hard and requires a lot of dedication. Starting out I thought that it would be easy and simple, yet the longer the blog goes on for, the more difficult it is to carry on posting.

Anyways, this last holiday my family and I went off to Durban. This was an amazing time to take a break from Cape Town's wet winter, and go visit Durban's warm winter weather.
On the descent from an hour and half's flight I couldn't help but notice the incredible green fields that spanned from kilometers from the coast.

Here are a few pictures.

A Look into Paris

Hello audience, and welcome to a new post! As you read in the last post, I had to opportunity to go to Lake District and Paris with my family.
So lets take a little look at what Paris has to offer, and how amazing it is.

I want to start off by saying that I don't think I have ever felt so much of a tourist before. I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, sunglasses and this huge backpack on my back. Then had to travel about 2 hours trying to find our apartment. I think we got quite a lot of stares.
Arriving in Paris was great, and as we flew in I got to take a look from above. It looked very dry and barren and there was quite a bit of pollution hanging in the air.

Our appartment was located in a very central part of Paris, and was very easy to get around to the different places. It was quite interesting to see the transition into the centre of Paris, as the outskirts were very run down and not very appealing at all.
I have never seen so many people in my life. You can be walking around and there is just this constant stream of people that walk past you. Each person is different, and its quite something to think that each person plays a part in the economy, and has a specific job to do in order for the country to be run.

We booked a bus tour which followed a tourist route around the city. There were 50 stops and all of them where by top places for tourists and with a slogan of " Hop on, hop off" nothing sounded better.
We managed to see : The Eiffel tower, Versailles, Notre Dame, Louve, Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Coeur, Champs-Elysées, Place de la Concorde, Opéra de Paris Garnier, Pont Neuf, Moulin Rouge. And well I could go on forever. It was a wonderful experience, and I got to see quite a lot.

One thing I dont think that I'll ever forget is walking around with bags of sandwiches, and just stopping and eating them on the side of the road, it was quite a well how do I put it - New Experience - definitely learnt how to travel and safe money.

Another amazing experience was the fact that we got to see the Eiffel Tower at night. At 8 o clock on the hour the whole tower starts flashing for about 5 minutes, and you just stand there in awe marvelling at the fact that people had built that in previous centuries with technologies far limited then what we have today.

Versailles was huge, the biggest thing I have ever seen. To get into it, we had to stand in a line that took about an hour and a half, and curved up and down, up and down.
It was sweltering hot and just a pain in the butt. But we eventually got through, and I was pretty impressed that I got to see a part of History that I learnt in school.
Everything in the palace was so decorative and big. The corridors were wide, the steps huge, the walls tall, and the ceilings very elaborate with fancy artwork painted all over.

Until next time!:)

A Catch up - Lake District, Paris and more

Hello everyone.
Firstly I want to apologize for the lack of posts. I see that my last one is on the 24th of February, and have decided that so little posts cannot do. So let me share with you what has been happening up in the land of the UK in the past couple of weeks.
I might have to do it in separate posts spanned over a few days - simply because there is so much to tell, and if I suddenly rambled on at once in one huge post that will take like 5 hours to read it might become quite boring for you.

So it has been the Easter holidays, and I have been looking forward to these holidays for quite a while. My family came up from South Africa to spend 2 weeks with me.
On the first few days we went around exploring Stamford, and I got to show them where I have been and will be spending my life for the next year.
They were pretty amazed at the town and to see what I had been raving about.
We went to Burghley house among others. And this house is massive. It was built to honour Queen Elizabeth 1. And was built by William Cecil the treasurer. It is much more interesting to read about it here.

After 2 days in Stamford we headed up to the Lake District.
It was about a 6 hour drive. But as luck has it, it took us pretty much the whole day. The traffic going up was appalling, and we happened to drive through a massive accident that had the roads congested. We then had to be redirected and found out that that path was also congested with like minded people.
It was such a mission, and after leaving at about 9 in the morning we finally arrived at about 6 pm.

The Lake District is amazing! I don't really know other words to describe it. Driving up we passed through countless fields, sheep and quaint little villages.
It is peaceful, relaxing, quiet, and a brilliant getaway.
We had a 'home base' which was like a resort surrounded by nothing. From there we went out to all the different towns.
Each day we went and explored new towns and got to see new things. I was blown away at how old the towns were and how quiet everything was. So unlike city life.
We went for walks and here is a picture of the type of views that we saw.

 The types of towns we went to were all snuggled and nestled away behind the mountains. And we often had to drive over steep passes to get to our destination.

That town is called Ambleside, and reminded me a lot like a Swiss town. Perfect it there was a light snow fall over the houses.

It was a great time to catch up with the family and just have a chilled out time.

I can't tell you how many sheep there were. Everywhere you looked there were sheep. And it was lambing season so we got see see some baby lambs.
Ah you just want to make them your little pets. But the saying is true, all babies lose their cuteness when they grow up:)

My next post will be a bit more detailed about Paris.
Hope you all had a blessed Easter

Human Cloning?

So it has been a while since I have updated my blog, and I thought that I should update you. Because it is amazing to be updated, and in the loop. So since coming back to school the week has flown by relatively fast. I mean each monday i think " Oh , wait i did this same thing last Monday, it felt like yesterday "
So I am taking that as a good sign, as the saying goes "Time flies as you are having fun" Which is true.
This past week nothing that interested has happened.
I have been working, and have begun to get involved in the children's lives. It is amazing at how friendly they are to me, I feel like that cool teacher I always used to look up to. Being calleg Mr Bright certainly takes a while to get used to, and I am stil not entirely there yet.
--- EXCITED VOICE ---
So I have booked a Europe tour! How exciting right!
9 countries, 22 days, 30 people. An opportunity never to be missed.

France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Netherlands.

On to the topic I have wanted to talk about.

If you have ever watched How I met your mother, then you know that they keep seeing doubles of themselves called "Doppelgängers" I am here to say that it is true! It exists. Where ever I go, i keep on seeing doubles of people or the grown up version of what the person is going to look like. It is scary, as the resemblance is so similar. I wonder if i have a Doppelganger...

Have a great weekend

Ireland in a blast.

Wow, so where do I start. I have no idea where to begin, but maybe the beginning sounds like the better option. So half term started this last Monday and the kids were kicked out of school to go and frolic else where, and the teachers took their long awaited break. My plans were to then fly off to Ireland, meeting up with a fellow gap student who I know from South Africa. Everything went by smoothly, and by 6 pm on Friday the 10th I was in Belfast CIty Airport.
Leprechauns are one of the main attractions in Ireland, and I was amazed at how many I saw : Short little men, wearing green, a scarf, and a top hat. They even talk funny, and I counted numerous times when Irish people's sentences go higher when they say their last phrase.
On the Saturday morning we went out to Port Rush and Port Steward in Northern Ireland and got to see Giants Causeway. There is this whole myth about how these two giants. To read an accurate account of the Legend click here.
Giants Causeway has lots of natural features, and different rock formations. I finally felt some of my Geography paying off, as I knew how they had formed and what they were called.
We managed to get some amazing photo's which you can scroll down and check out below.

Over the next few days we went to Parliaments where we got to see where all the debates happen for the running of the country. It was great to walk into such an old building with huge tall rooves that seem limitless.
Later on we got to see Belfast City, The Crown ( which is the oldest bar in Northern Ireland ) and we even went on a Titanic tour.
The Titanic tour was amazing and definitely worth the 12 pounds. The tour guide took as down the road where the actual Titanic was built. He told us all the stories behind the making of the Titanic, stories of peoples lives and what went on during the day. We were then brought into the original HQ of the Titanic where the plans were made and where the big boss sat. It was amazing to see a hundred year old building from the inside with nothing at all changed.

The top picture is of the road how it used to be when over 3000 men used it 100 years ago. Not much as changed building wise, and it was amazing to stand where men used to actually build the titanic..

Here is the link to my photo album entitled " An Irish Walkabooout " And you will be able to see the rest of the photos.

Click here

So I think pictures tell you a hundred words, so I wish you a happy looking through photos, and until next time. For now it is back to school and back to reality.

Warren

A trek to Ireland

So one of the reasons why I came over to the UK was to travel and see as much of Europe as humanly possible, before collapsing onto the floor out of exhaustion.
I am now off to Ireland, in literally 2 days. I must say that it was a brand new experience buying tickets for myself and organising how I am going to get there.
I get this sort of excited feeling in my stomach, and I don't even know where to begin looking for stuff.
I will be leaving Stamford to go to Stansted airport, and then arriving at Belfast International at about 17:10. I will be trying to explore as much as possible, and will definitely be taking photos, so make sure you stay tuned

This past week it has been snowing, and after many years of waiting to see snow I finally got my chance. It was spectacular to look outside the window and see little flakes fall from the heavens. Snow is so soft and fluffy and somehow reminds me of candyfloss. I built an igloo, snowman, went sledging, did snow angels and had a snow fight. The not so great part about snow is when it melts and turns to mush.
I managed to get some great photos of Stamford in the snow, so enjoy.

So with the enjoyable fact that I am only allowed to take hand luggage across to Ireland, I start packing.

Song of the day - Joe Brooks

So I have decided to do something a bit different here on blogger. Everyone likes music and songs, and sometimes I think it is pretty much what makes the world go around. Many people have musicians as heroes and inspirations to be musicians. Being over here I have had a lot of time to listen to music and find new artists that I like.
I have decided to do a " Song of the day " post. Each time I find a new song I will share it with you for you to enjoy.

Today's song is by Joe Brooks called Rules of Attraction

Happy Listening

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