Ive been on the road about a month and in week one I decided I was already over my pack! Sucked it up however and enjoyed a fun filled month of visiting friends around Europe.

First up was Bristol to visit Charlie and Rach. I was so jetlag'd (first experience of this phenomenon that nows leaves me feeling sorry for not being more sympathetic when others have described it) that it was great to be at a home away from home. We spent our evening gossiping over wine and days shopping.. Perfect start to the holiday! After a rather large and epic Friday night with Rach and Charlie's their mates and Em's from Bath ( a certain cocktail for disaster ) I jumped on an earlier train (ouch!) heading south to Swanage for Livs hens do. I arrived just in time to team up with the rest of the girls for some sailor dressed team kayaking that included bouts of crew members swapping kayaks mid water, stand up paddling and speed turning all completed in the hopes of capsizing the bride to be and of course ended up with all of getting wet as well... Great fun! The rest of the weekend was spent at a lodge out of town where we had a beautiful English afternoon tea with Pimms, games, an amazing sit down dinner with pate brought in from France (I do say!) and did what hens do best...eat, get merry and dance.

Next stop on the itinerary was Vasteras, Sweden to visit the lil Mackenzie family and the rest of the Hagenfalk's. Catching up with Ryan, Ulrika and lil Zack was a definite highlight of my Europe leg. We spent our almost two weeks hanging out, eating, talking, walking through forests and visiting the inlaws. It as fantastic to see how my lil nephew has grown into a proper toddler with this cute (and cheeky) personality. During the weekend we had a visit from my Glasgwegian mates Lorna, Donnie and their little girl Ara (who as the same age as Zack) again our weekend was filled with much the same of catching up over delicious food and lazy walks while watching the two kids play happily together (Too cute). We had the added bonus of celebrating Ulrika birthday on the Saturday night... Swedish flags and all. Leaving Sweden was hard knowing how much I would miss both Ryan and Ulrika and as for Zack... It took all my strength not to bundle him up at the airport and sneak him into my carry on!

I arrived back in the UK to head south to Cornwall for Rikoh and Livs wedding. The weekend was a mini university reunion with sixty of the 120 guest coming from New Zealand. The big day itself was spectacular with the ceremony set in a quaint English church and the reception in a marque on a beautiful country farm. The reception raged on through the night in true Rikoh and Liv style with an amazing band and a dance floor worthy of most 21st (crowd surfing included). The rest of the weekend was spent eating Cornish pastys, enjoying the sites of the cornwall countryside and playing backyard cricket or rugby! Epic is one word to explain it all and sad to say goodbye!

The last leg of my trip was wrapped up between my now almost annual visits to Glasgow and Denmark. Glasgow was spent catching up with old mates and reminding myself of why I love this place so much... How can you not love the weegies! And Denmark with family. Lone and Louise travelled to Christina and Emil's house in Copenhagen where we had a fantastic family get together and spent the weekend much like in Sweden (I love Scandinavia) eating, talking and taking leisurely walks. We did also see the largest container ship in the world docked in Copenhagen port which made for an impressive sight! My Uk trip finally ended back where I begun in Bristol with Charlie and Rach. Charlie put up with endless hours of shopping leaving me visiting the post office not once but twice to post goods back.. Yay to new (UK) clothes! And we spent my last night in the UK drinking cider in an english pub. Leaving was hard needless to say.

Phew! My UK leg was hectic but I loved every moment of catching up with friends and family! Thank you to everyone who had me up and helped make it such a memorable trip!!!! Can't believe that next time I post it will be from South America (4 years in the making)!!! Wooohooo

Lxx