Hey there

Well I thought I have been a bit lazy as wooda is updating this but I haven't written anything yet. So this will be a whirlwind update of the last few weeks of my travels. Unfortunately I can't upload any photos which is a bit of a shame.

From London I left Wooda and caught a bus to Leeds. I stayed with my brother in his dorm room at the university. Didn't do all that much, but it was good to catch up with him and met some of the other exchange students, went for a BBQ in the park, spent a day in Manchester and saw some of the sites including an old ruined abbey.

From leeds I caught a bus (6 hours) to Glasgow, Scotland. Spent three nights there, staying in a little hostel. As a city it isnt really very interesting and is quite dirty, but it has a great night life and I met so many fun people there. The first night was tequila night at the hostel which made it super easy to meet people and I had a bunch of new friends in no time. Went out that night and discovered that the clubs stay open till 3 even on a Monday night! Did the usual kinda touristy stuff - saw the cathedral, the university, the museum but the best part was meeting all the people including a girl from Belgium who I spent most of my time hanging out with, as well as a random guy from poland called magic, a few americans and a lithuanian. Also met a german guy who was so stuck up and a snoring chinese guy who told us the meaning of life was suffering. hmmmm

After Glasgow went to Edinburgh for 5 nights. Spent the first afternoon with 2 guys i met in glasgow - a brazilian who was living in london and doing a UK skating tour and an indian canadian - random! Again met some great people at the hostel to hang out with, played a lot of cards, did a night time graveyard ghost tour, ate the local specialty haggis and drank lots of whiskey and scottish beer. Went up to lochness for one day, with a scenic trip past ben nevis, and a quick stop to meet Hamish (isn't he cute!) saw some museums, got shown the pub scene by a local and listened to some traditional scottish music. Walked up this massive rock called arthur seat to get great views of the city, saw the castle, holyrood palace and the cathedral. Did a walking tour of the city with an english guide who told really bad jokes. Edinburgh has been my favourite city so far with all the old beautiful buildings and the people are really friendly (and they have a cool accent!)

From edinburgh caught a plane to amsterdam where Dirk picked me up. Spent 5 nights there seeing holland from a local point of view, staying in a small village where everyone knows everyone and they all ride bikes everywhere, saw one of his neighbours handmaking cheese, visited his uncle who lives in a windmill, hung out at the youth club and met all of Dirk's friends, some of them tried to teach me this crayz dutch dance craze called jump style - it is pretty funny to see at the clubs, (check it out on you tube). Even did a bit of Karaoke at the youth club where I was on a team with Dirk's little sister Emma. We had a Dutch Food day and I discovered my new favourite food - syrup waffles - they are so tasty!

On Saturday spent the day in Amsterdam, saw a few sites and does, well, what one does in Amsterdam. Spent a couple of hours in an Aussie pub to watch Aus V SA, unfortunately we lost though. On Saturday night Dirk took me to a traditional Dutch farm party where they set up a tent in the middle of a field and thousands of people go and dance and drink beer - which is free and then you leave a tip when you go.

Caught a bus to Cologne on Sunday where I am now. Staying with Jana, another friend from high school. On my first night here they had an 'aussie BBQ' for me which was so nice and then we went to a mini village festival for fried potato cakes and german beer. Yesterday went to a school thing with Jana at a beach club and met all her friends before heading into the city with a couple of them in the evening.

That's about it, I think I am all updated now, hopefully I will be less lazy in the future.

Toodeloo!