European Experience: Part 1

So I have decided to finally flesh out the details of my European escapades and enter it on my blog. The reason this has taken so long is because I wasn’t sure there would be any interest in it. As my mom always says, rightfully so, there is nothing worse than looking at another persons travel photos and I figured reading about them would be just as boring. However I have decided to do this for me, to have something more permanent to look back on and if I was going to the effort of typing up my experience then I may as well post it to my blog, seeing as nothing else gets put up there.

Although this was not my first time overseas, visiting dad in Saudi Arabia, or to Europe, visiting brother in England, it was my first time travelling alone, so I was a little bit nervous. I had chosen to travel with Contiki (http://za.contiki.com/) and was going on the European Experience tour. This means that I was going to travel across Europe for 20 days with a group of people I had never met. Now I don’t think I’m completely socially inept but I do find it a little bit more difficult to connect with people than others and so this was a little nerve wracking.

The other worrisome part was the flying, I’m not scared of flying, I actually really love it, more of trying to catch connecting flights, possibly loosing important travel documents or even luggage. Somehow I managed to be the only person I know who manages to start the first leg of her solo trip with her dad, who just so happened to be on the same flight to JHB. I must admit this did calm me down a little bit knowing that I wouldn’t get completely lost in the airport. As luck would have it my flight to London was on SAA’s brand new airbus, so movies galore, and the flight was practically empty so I had an entire row to myself, ensuring a few hours sleep.

Arriving in London has this great sense of homecoming for me, even if I’ve only been there once. Seriously though the only city I’ve ever loved more is Cape Town, go figure everyone loves Cape Town once they’ve been here. Thankfully I arrived unharmed with all my luggage in one piece, can you imagine the tragedy if I didn’t have my perfectly chosen European wardrobe with me, at least I would’ve got to go shopping though. Not letting that stop me I checked in at my hotel for the night and went straight to Chiltern Street. No I am not mistaken this was truly my first shopping stop in London as this is the street that I assume was originally the shopping spot for trannies. You see they have recognised that not all women are shorter than 5’8” and wear no bigger than a size 7 shoe. For someone like me 5’11” with size 9 feet this street is perfect with shops like “Long Tall Sally” and many other shoe shops that cater for the larger sizes. I’d promised myself that this trip was only for window shopping and that I was not to buy anything, how I stuck to that I don’t know, especially after visiting some other favourites on Oxford Street. Feeling happy after looking at beautiful clothes and showing some signs of self control I decided to have lunch in Hyde Park. Really felt at home after getting asked for directions, and actually being able to give them, and then I got harassed by a Big Issue seller.



As much as I loved my day in London I was really looking forward to the start of my trip. That night was the meeting with all the Tour groups and leaders of all the tours leaving the next morning. I had joked with my mom before leaving that with Cape Town being so small if there was anyone else on tour from here I would know them. This turned out to be true within a few minutes of me arriving in London and this continued to be a trend through out my trip. I met one of my former tutlings but he was on a different tour, we did cross paths in a couple of cities. Once divided into our tour groups I saw some familiar faces and realised that I would be on tour with two of my fellow future accountants, who I sit with in lectures everyday, really I kid you not Cape Town is tiny. It was lovely to get to meet some of the people that I would be travelling with as well as our tour leader, Sanjay, and bus driver, Muffin, both Aussies. As most of us had been travelling all day it was decided that we would attempt to get a good nights sleep before our early start the next morning, this would be the last time we would get to do so for the next three weeks.

The next morning started bright and early on the bus making our way to Dover. The Bus was full meaning we had a tour group of 51 people and it appeared to be mainly girls. I sat with some of the girls I’d met the night before and sat next to Renee, a Canadian, who was to become my tour bestie, never thought I’d be lucky enough to meet someone I got along with so well on the tour, never mind on the first day. Bonding was made over a shared love of music and TV shows, Glee was discussed for a large portion of time, and this eventually lead to the swapping of favourite local bands. This trend continues throughout the trip and I found some new favourite bands e.g. Metric, Angus & Julia Stone. From Dover we boarded the ferry to Calais and had our first use of Euros instead of Pounds, the things I find exciting. The ferry was huge and it was unfortunately only near the end of the ride over that we managed to find the outdoor viewing deck and so didn’t get any good parting shots of the cliffs of Dover.

The next part of our bus drive was from Calais to Paris and we were getting our first taste of the long bus rides that we were to become so accustomed to. We were also played of a national anthem as we entered a new country, I happily hummed along to this but I fear my grade 8 French teacher would not be impressed that I could no longer remember the words. Arriving in Paris was such a realisation that the tour was starting. The driver drove us right through the city to go around the Arc du Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, leading to our first experience of how difficult it is to take photos out of a moving bus’ window. We also learnt that our tour leader and bus driver had other certain songs for special moments as driving down the Champs Elysees we were listening to “Art vs. Science – Parlez Vous Francais?” This trip was nothing if not a learning curve and a lot of what we were to expect on our trip was learnt on our first day. The biggest adjusted to most of us girls was the quick change. Arriving at our Hotel, I was sharing a room with Renee, we were informed we were to have an hour to get ready, this was one of the longest changing times we had all trip.

That night was Renee’s birthday so we decided to dress up no matter what it is we were doing. Dinner was held in the hotel restaurant and then we were going on a city by night bus trip and to try snails and champagne. The last stop and the city tour was the Eiffel Tower and a group of us decided to get up and go up the Tower then. As it turned out the top was full and we could only get to the second level. Luckily I have been up the Eiffel Tower before having spent three days in Paris last year so this did not affect me too badly and frankly the second level is pretty damn high up too, you still get an amazing view.



Once we had realised that we were not going to make it to the top we wanted to go out and party in Paris. Sanjay had told us of a good metro station to get off at where we might find some places to go out. I remembered where the closest metro to the tower was and so a group of us went there. As we were walking away the lights on the tower began to flicker and it really is such a beautiful sight and we were all so obviously tourists grabbing at our cameras and hoping to get a good shot. Once at the metro station we had to figure out what tickets we wanted to get and how to get them. This took us a bit of time but it would’ve taken even longer if Renee hadn’t been able to speak a bit of French. Walking around a city you don’t know can be quite daunting and I’m so thankful I was with such an awesome group of people as we almost got lost so many times and this was just the first night. After walking around for a while, passing a few cop cars on the way, we eventually found a tiny, cheap, Spanish Bar. Going out was the major realisation of not converting back to Rands. Shots were €3 (R30) and a beer €5 (R50). Wherever we went beer was usually the cheapest drink so I drank a lot of it, what a good Saffa girl I am. There was a group of about 14 of us and the almost the only people in the bar but it was so tiny hat it felt full. One of the best parts of Contiki is that no matter where you go you’ve got a ready made party with your group. We were taking shots, the boys were trying their luck with the pretty girl behind the bar. She gave us sparklers when she found out we were celebrating a birthday. Eventually the bar closed at I think 3 in the morning and we all caught cabs back to the hotel. This was my first night out on Contiki and it was definitely a reflection of what was still to come.

I’m not going to put my entire trip into one post as I think that will be too long so that’s it for Europe: Part 1. The next post will start with my first full day in Paris.

Casting news get me excited!

So I feel like this past week, possibly even month, has just been filled with all the best casting news available and I really don't know if I can take anymore. What makes it more nerdy is that two of the movies I'm so excited about are superhero movies.

The first and possibly most exciting is about Batman, "The Dark Night Rises", the title is slowly growing on me. The initial rumours were that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was going to be cast as The Riddler, which were very exciting. Then Christopher Nolan announced that The Riddler was not going to appear and Tom Hardy had been cast. I must say that as much as I love Tom Hardy I was a little bit disappointed by the likely hood that JGL would not appear. Now Tom is said to take the role of Bane, which we have previously seen as a minor character in "Batman and Robin". I still remember when I was younger this was one of my favourite Batman purely because I really wanted to be Poison Ivy. Having watched this movie countless times I am very interested to see what Nolan does with this character. The other Batman character I always wanted to be was Catwomen, the Michelle Pfeiffer one, not Halle Berry. Given how horribly this character was portrayed then I am excited to have it revisited and very excited as to how Anne Hathaway can turn it around.
Now given how many exciteds were previously typed I didn't think this project could get any better but it has, JGL has been now supposedly been cast. As The Riddler is not an available character the next jump is to Dick Greyson - Robin. Nolan has also stated that he wil not make a move with Robin in it and Christian Bale has agreed that he will not stick around if he is cast. Given this I do get the feeling that JGL will play a good guy but I would be equally happy, if not more, to see him in an evil role. Either way "The Dark Knight Rises" is definitely my most anticipated movie of 2012 so far and I have full faith in Nolan.

Nolan's other project, although only in the producer's chair, is in Zack Snyder's reboot of Superman. Given the very poor showing of the last movie I initially had very poor expectations. It may be bias on my side but I felt one of the biggest downfalls of he last movie was the casting of Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. As this post is all about castings I feel it only necessary to point out how one bad casting can bring a movie down. There have all sorts of names put into the mix, none which really impress me. Initially I thought of Anne Hathaway but I doubt she would take on both projects, even if the shooting schedules don't clash, it's not likely she'll take on two superhero movies back to back. There is now all sorts of rumours of going the same route as the new Spiderman movie and not even including the traditional love interest but maybe one earlier on so the story can be built up. Now I must admit that I am not to in the know on all things Superman so I can't make any calls on how this could play out.
The main role of course has been cast with Henry Cavil as the man in the red underpants. I think he will be amazing in this role and I am glad he is finally getting rid of his unluckiest man in Hollywood tag. Now for the shocker, although Cavil is my absolute favourite bar none, he was not my first choice for this role. I initially my vote went with Matt Bomer, from White Collar fame. Now this was not because I thought he would be better in the role, just that I didn't want Cavil to get it. I will admit this is partially due to pure selfishness that I don't want the entire world to start drooling over him and keep him to myself, but I do want him to be successful so that's not the primary reason. In his bad luck days he was turned down for a role for being to young and I really thought he would be perfect for it. This role could come around again when he is older and I fear, am pretty sure actually, that by taking Superman he wouldn't even be considered. You see, that role is of James Bond.

This brings us to other exciting news. Bond 23 has finally been given the go ahead and I can finally breathe some form of a sigh of relief. Another movie I have to wait till 2012 to watch but so far it is looking like a wait well worth it. Daniel Craig will be reprising is role as the Blonde Bond which truly makes me very happy as I think he has done great justice to the role. Before the money issues hit there were all sorts of rumours about villains, settings and most importantly bond girls. I fear the only thing that's stuck since being put back into production is Sam Mendes in the director's chair. The Casting news so far is that Javier Bardem will be playing a bad man and Ralph Fiennes may join him. I'm very excited about this but if I can put my contribution on the other two unknowns, I'd be very interested in seeing Bond in New York with Olivia Wilde as a bond girl.

My final piece of news involves one of my favourite pairs and an ex bond girl. Johnny Depp and Tim Burton are teaming up again. This time on a remake of an old TV show "Dark Shadows". Now I have never seen this show so I have very little knowledge or expectations. All I know is that it follows the travels of a vampire, played by Depp, and all the mystical creatures he meets. I've always loved vampires and while I do hope the craze dies down so I can enjoy them privately I cannot wait to see Burton's idea of what a vampire could be. It may be just what some of the sparkling vampires need to give them a swift kick in the behind. Now for the really exciting part. Eva Green has been attached to the project as a witch who falls for the vampire, don't feel bad if your head explodes mine just did too.

Unfortunately there are two sides to every story and so with good casting news must come bad. One story I always hoped would remain untouched, even though I knew it was only a matter of time until it got done again was Snow White. It is now being done again, twice. One I'm not too mad about but the other is being done by Tarsem Singh, director of the upcoming Immortals. The other one is my big problem, with Charlize as the evil witch and Kristen Stewart as Snow White. Never again will I be happy to have the nickname Snow White.

None of these have yet started shooting and everything could change and in some cases hopefully it will but only time, 2012, will tell if the right characters have been chosen to bring across all of these truly epic tales.

My Holiday Through Updates

So this has taken me a while to type up but I knew I would eventually get around to it. The initial idea of trying to write a blog about my holiday repulsed me because frankly nobody really cares and it would take to much effort. However once my trip had started and I found myself unable to constantly update my facebook and twitter pages with quirky silly comments I needed to find a new outlet for myself. So whenever I had these thoughts which I would usually put in a status update I jotted them down in my notebook, yes I am one of those people who walk around with moleskin notebook writing down random thoughts and lists, lots of lists. This list of thoughts was called "My Holiday Through Updates" and that is what you are reading here. It is no effort for me, well a little, but not the thinking kind, and you can skim read and only laugh at what you take in, so all problems solved :)

Little Kids on planes are a killer, especially the bratty, ill disciplined ones.
Never let parents navigate, ever! They don't know their right from left.
Always get the map before you go, do not leave it to technology.
Over 24 hours without handheld internet access, I keep picking up my phone until I realise it's useless.
My hands smell like a brewery, I want a shower, to wash my hair and brush my teeth.
Sleep, what I would do for some, the rings under my eyes make me look like a druggie.
I'm so excited I can't cope.
Finally understand what they are always going on about on TopGear. A lot of roadworks, not so many workers.
My brother is the sweetest, breakfast in bed.
I'm finally living the dreams I had from all the books I read about English boarding schools.
I should have brought the hairdryer.
Took a "stroll" up a "hill" and got shocked half to death by an unmarked electric fence and scared half to death by a gaggle of attacking geese.
Watched football in the local pub of a tiny coastal village in Dorset. Feel like I'm in a British comedy about the quirky inhabitants who all know each other and hang out at the pub all day. They even have a midget.
Biggest difference between Uk and SA, there is no such thing as "1ply" toilet paper here, not even in the scruffiest McDonalds bathroom.
Sometimes I think we rely on the technology too much, my parents keep saying that having this GPS has been a lifesaver but all we needed was some common sense and the ability to read maps and road signs. All the GPS has brought us is claustrophobia inducing roads and almost running out of petrol.
You know you've taken a wrong turn when all the GPS can tell you is to make a Uturn.
I'm so glad I'm in the UK when Glasto is on and I can watch it on the TV. It's not the same as live but Muse still blows my mind.
So the Underground isn't always underground.
Yay, no longer scared of public transport, may have to revise this statement in SA.
Seriously, I can't even escape crying, sick babies on a Train.
Clare & Paris & summer & open topped bus = burnt.
How is it possible to get a foot tan but my legs are still pasty white.
It's over 30 degrees in Paris but feels hotter than any +40 I've felt in CT.
Feet=Pain, Back=Agony, Body=Tired, Legs=Aching, Mind=Blown.
Why is Karl Lagerfeld promoting coke?
The Gods of Travel don't want me to have kids, I am plagued by annoying, crying, ill disciplined children.
London is unbelievable but CT will always be my home.
No matter how many times I come to Dubai I always forget how hot it is. +30 degrees at 3 in the morning.
Being one of "those" people sleeping in the airport inbetween flights is definately and experiance.

Enjoy!

Why I fail at blogs

So I think of things to write a blog on all the time, in fact I come up with a fully formed blog entry to go with them. The problem is that my computer is a retard and takes forever to turn on so my process is a bit stunted. I will demonstrate.

Clare sits down and pushes the start button. As the startup screen shows and the slow hum gets annoyingly louder an idea forms for an amazing blog which will blow peoples minds, such as my awesome trip to Europe, I promise I will write this eventually. As a rough draft starts to formulate the log in screen as frozen and a few expletives are uttered. Eventually things start running and by now the blog is in perfect form in Clare's mind waiting to be typed. For this to be done a comfortable typing position must be attained, this movement then tricks the the computer into thinking it is no longer plugged in and so the worn out battery fails and the once great blog idea is lost to all the thoughts of all the horrible ways said computer can be destroyed.

Although this might not be so bad and you may say, "well if you already have the idea why not just turn it back on again and then type up the blog." This would work if it weren't for another problem. ADD. By the time this process has taken place I have lost all interest in the previous topic and now can barely get out a short entry at while I fail at blogs.

Cry Baby

So I'm not what I'd call a person who cries easily, I'm not the ice queen but when it comes to real life I'm not going to cry when I break a nail. I do admit I broke down when I left my lights on and ran my car battery flat for the I don't know how many-ith time, yes that is a word. I blame it on stress and my extreme aversion to being late, which I was.

Now the reason I bring this up is because although I don't cry at the drop of a hat in real life, put me in some fictional world and I blubber like a baby and find myself struggling for breath. When I was a kid this was reserved for whenever anything happened to animals. In Airbud, when the kid threw the ball to get the dog to run away, I was crying so badly I had to be escorted from the cinema. I cry in books too, even when I've read them before I still cry in them.

This is even worse with movies. I was watching A Walk To Remember the other day again and after about half an hour I started crying because I knew how sad it was going to get. I now do this every week with Grey's Anatomy. In South Africa we only get the episodes about two months later then in America, but I have my ways of watching it then. Of course I then watch it again when it comes on our screens here but I honestly don't know if I can put myself through it with that finale.

I cried the whole way through, real gut-wrenching sobs, in fact i still have a few tears in my eyes now. The problem is that it was the finale and now I have to wait another 4 months to start watching again. To make matters worse all the shows are finishing within the next week. Last week I went through the heartbreak that was Vampire Diaries and Supernatural. I thought those were bad, until I spent today wading through the sad-fest that was Gossip Girl, House, 90210 and Grey's Anatomy. I don't know how I am not dehydrated by now. Why is it that they are all so sad. I remember last years Gossip Girl ended with Blair and Chuck getting together and that was so happy and exciting and I couldn't wait for the new season to start so that I could see them be happy again, but now... Well I still can't wait for the next season, but for more depressing reasons.

All I have left is Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Chuck for next week and then a couple more weeks of Glee after that. Then what I am I going to do. Oh right, I have True Blood, three months of a hot, sexy, Swedish, semi-naked vampire... oh and three weeks in the UK, wheee!!

BTW, if this has left you with the impression that I'm a mild TV addict, don't be fooled... I am completely obsessed!

Clash of the Titans

I take it all back, sort of. If they make more mythology movies as enjoyable as Clash of the Titans, then maybe I will see them all. Who am I kidding, I'd see them all even if they were made by monkeys. But really CotT was cool. It wasn't amazing on any film making standard but it gave you what you expected.

The action scenes were fun, jumping, kicking, fighting, all the fast movement you expect from an old fashioned "war" movie. At times it did get a bit fast and you weren't quite sure what you were looking at but I find that to be quite a common trap in movies such as this. Another problem is at times it can feel like everything is happening all at once, they just fight monster after monster. It could easily have gone on a bit longer, with maybe a longer fight scenes or a big final showdown between Hades and Zeus.There could also be a few fillers but that may have detracted from the actual story. They tried this a bit with a few bits of humour, sometimes this worked but the majority of the time it just fell flat.

The major high point of this film was the casting of Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Mads Mikkelson. These three actors always bring something special to their roles and this was no exception. I really can't picture a better Hades. Sam Worthington is still growing as an actor, but I very much enjoyed the sarcastic and dry wit he had in the role. I won't say I didn't like Gemma Arterton, I just really didn't like her character. I get the whole ageless/eternal beauty thing but why does that mean you can't get dirty, you're fighting giant scorpions in a dessert, seriously!

The relationship between her and Perseus was interesting up until a point. I was enjoying the unknown, which left you guessing, because ultimately this is not a romance movie. Obviously the powers that be decided that they needed to give something to the girlfriends that were dragged along so the boat and final scene were added, but it just made it seem very cheesy.

The one thing this movie taught me is that I don't know nearly as much mythology as I'd like to think. Now is the time to dig out those books because if Immortals is going to be anywhere near as awesome as this I want to be prepared!!

Trends

So throughout the history of the entertainment business there have always been trends. In music for example we had boy bands and then pop princesses, although all types are around so music does tend to be one of the most diverse forms of media.

T.V. is terrible with trends because the minute you get the one type of show everyone tries the same thing. When I grew up everyone was trying the Will&Grace and Frasier thing. Then there were a lot of law shows and crime shows, a lot of which are still going. I always find it amusing when one show does really well, so another show tries to copy the formula and then fails eg. Sex and the City - Lipstick Jungle/ Cashmere Mafia, How I Met Your Mother - Roommates. There are a few trends which do stick, the medicine thing for example is doing very well. Then there's also the whole teenagers who have too much money and act way more advance then they are. Now I'm not knocking these, I pretty much watch all of them, I just wish there was something a bit more original, I will acknowledge Lost and Supernatural here.

Of course the biggest trend, which expands to movie, is vampires. Now I'm not complaining about this, I LOVE vampires, but that's the problem. I've loved Vampires since I started watching proper TV, but I hate the fact that when someone finds this out, they immediately assume I'm some annoying, screaming, Twihard(I don't scream). It used to be this special private obsession and now it's been commercialised, kind of like when you have a favourite song which you keep telling people about but they look at you weirdly. Then all of a sudden it's on the radio and everyone loves it. It feels like they're steeling it from you. Now I've come to terms with this Vampire thing, I can't go back and change things, and frankly I quite like getting my weekly dose of hot evil Vampires.

I am however worried about the new movie trend on the horizon, Ancient Greeks. If possible I have been more obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology than vampires and it looks as though it shall soon be stolen from me too. Recently a movie came out called Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I have not yet seen it, although I do plan to despite the dismal reviews. This was a teenage movie which means the fangirl age has already been targeted, first worry. Due for release soon is Clash of the Titans. While this is a remake, so it's not a new mythology addition, it has had an extensive ad campaign. It also has quite a full cast and relatively high profile too. Now I'm super excited for this and wasn't quite worried yet. A new discovery however has led me to fear for my little private obsession. There is another movie due out near the end of the year. It is called Dawn of War/ War of the Gods. Usually I would already have tried to book my ticket, it has Henry Cavill(The Tudors), *drool*. Then I looked at the rest of the cast and a tear formed in my eye. The other main character, and first credit, is Kellan Lutz *cue screaming twihards*. My only hope is that both these films fail dismally, as has already been suggested may happen, and my private obsessions will be left to me. It really does kill me to say this but if this is stolen from me, what will go next... Paulo Coelho, oh wait that's already started too *cries softly to self*!