The rain in Spain falls mainly on my head...

I have such lousy friends. I can't believe you people let me think that joining a tour group for 9 days was a good idea. Why did nobody point out that this would drive me bonkers? Actually you all stayed silent for your own amusement, didn't you? You all suck.

I have in essence become one of those people I normally poke fun at. You know the ones. They travel in packs (we have over 50 on our bus. 50!!!!). They wear name badges (I kid you not). They have mandatory wake up calls at an hour that stats with the number 6. It is crazy. We can't even pick our own seats on the bus. You have to find your name each morning (it moves four rows forward or back depending on the side of the bus you were the day before). I have also lowered the mean age of the tour group by about 30 years. People are not making comparisons between me and their children. Nooooooo, they are making comparisons between me and their grandchildren!

I was horrified when I discovered tonight that the loud wannabe middle aged actor/singer in our group was Australian (why can't my people behave?). Meals are quite tiring as you are interrogated as to where you are from and what you do (you can all imagine how well I dealt with that at breakfast at 7am this morning). The next person who asks me when I am finishing university might just wear a drink (I don't look THAT young). You also seem to have to be able to engage on a range of topics at dinner. Tonight I discussed the Stanley Cup finals, the re-emergence of communism in Hong Kong, employment terms and conditions for American academics and New Zealand politics.

All right, enough ranting. Am in Madrid, which has been tiring. I got horribly lost in the airport (it apparently should be intuitive that you arrive, go up a level for immigration, then down three to catch a train to a station where you go up another two levels and get you luggage). I also had a moment of panic at immigration where I blanked on how to say hello in Spanish. Two days in and thankfully those Spanish lessons from 12 years ago seem to be coming back to me.

We've eaten lots of yummy food, and drunk some yummy wine and sangria. Actually "food" might be too broad. We seem to be subsisting on a ham only diet. And just to be clear, that is not a complaint!

Today we went to Toledo (the "religious capital" of Spain).

Toledo is famous for marzipan candy. It is made by the nuns...

They also make unique jewelry and silver work (best in the world apparently. How would you demonstrate you were the best? Point out that you made the swords for the Lord of The Rings movies apparently. Kiwis in the group loved that). Some of the silver was cool...

Some of those swords were so heavy I could not even lift them. No idea how one swashbuckles with one...

We spent the afternoon touring around Madrid and avoiding the Real Madrid fans.

Below is the main square in the old town. It is where they pronounced kings, and married off royalty.

In the evening, we headed to the Madrid opera house for a fairly spectacular dinner, and listen to some amazing singing. They told us that at the opera house they put screens outside so that people that can't get a ticket can also watch from the square outside.

We also took a stroll past the royal palace...

On the way back to the hotel the key was to avoid that massive party Real Madrid fans were having in the middle of town to celebrate the big win today over Seville. Tomorrow we are heading to the home of Carmen and Don Quixote (and the losing football team), Seville. I'm told there will be flamenco dancing. Hopefully they have sunshine as well, because that £15 umbrella I bought last week at Top Shop isn't holding up...

A trip to Harrods

I had a plan for today. I was going to walk through Hyde Park, go see Kensington Palace, maybe a quick stop at the Harrods food hall, then off to do other things in the afternoon. All started well, I made it through Hyde Park

However as I was nearing the Kensington High Street the weather took a nasty turn. Being the strategic thinker that I am, I figured I would just move Harrods up the program and hang there for a half hour or so til the shower passed. It was almost 4 hours later when I finally emerged back on the street.

Harrods is, in short, awesome. Well, once you get past the fact that some of the Egyptian decor is reminiscent of a Vegas casino. They sell gold bullion. They have a writing room where there are pens that retail for £4,000. They have an art gallery. They have a "luxury gift and object room". They have a pet spa. They have a room that sells nothing but old maps. They have a food hall. I'm not sure if it is a result of six years of Melanesian exile or not, but I'm in love with the food hall.

So, what would you like to eat? A chocolate pizza?

No? Maybe some foie gras?

Or sushi?

I know, you want a terrine...

Everyone knows I like cheese...

What my good friends know is that I really love goat cheese.

Cheese goes well with bread...

Do we need some veg? There have round zucchinis!

They also have beets. Real ones. Not in a tin. Thought it might be handy to remind Jo and Sid what those look like (hehe).

Is it time for dessert yet? Cupcake?

What would you like to wash it down with? I had a quick look in the wine and cigar room and spotted this lovely 70 year old vintage whiskey. It is a bargain at £19,995 a bottle.

I was tempted by the caviar and vodka bar for lunch. But instead decided to go to the dim sum bar. I mean really, how often do you get to say that your steamed BBQ pork buns were made by a "Hong Kong dim sum master"?

I needed dessert too. Turns out they have a Laduree on site...

I had to get one of each...

Two other cool things to note (from the rooms where pictures are allowed). Sam, if you ever feel the need to replace that giant bear that met an untimely fate on the roundabout, they are only £1,700

And I think this might be the best board game table ever. The sides you can't see in the picture are Cludo and Monopoly (it is a full sized table).

Tonight I am going here

To be followed by "West End does Eurovision". Not bad for a Thursday...

Rain, Hail or Shine

I think I am going to need to go back on my promise of not using this as a forum to complain about the weather. It's London, so I didn't exactly have high expectations for the weather, but why did the hail have to hammer down just as I was wandering along the Thames, right where there was zero in the way of shelter?

I woke up this morning and decided that I was going to go sightseeing, rain, hail or shine. I didn't realise I would see all three! Despite the weather (and with the help of some directionally challenged behavior on my part) I managed to cover off most of the Monopoly board. To give you an idea of the kind of day it was, this pic of the London Eye was taken about 6.2 seconds before the first hail of the day decided to hammer down.

I powered on in the rain...

And then I got to St James's Park. By this stage I was a little on the lost side (it is hard to juggle an umbrella and a soggy map at the same time). I stood there having a bit of a ponder as to why all these people were standing at the gate of the building I was now in front of... Turns out I had found Buckingham Palace by accident...

When the pirate stripper boots decided to finally succumb to the puddles in Trafalgar Square I decided it was time to give up. So, it was back to the hotel, where I changed into dry clothes and decided to partake in high tea. There was all sorts of yummy things, including a foie gras sandwich, salmon mousse, caviar, macaroons, and even a choc chip scone!

Quite fittingly, tonight, I am off to see this...

Hoping for some sunshine tomorrow!

Three flights later...

You are all harassing me on the basis that there is nothing new on here. Well, you will all have to then endure a post revolving around a 24 hour flight and two days in what I have been assured counts as the UK "countryside". The flight over, despite being as bumpy as the drive to my house in Honiara, was happily uneventful. I did have to endure snoring passengers, and the torture of REALLY wanting a donut in Singapore airport as a midnight snack, but lacking a suitable currency to purchase it with. There was also the joy of airsick strangers throwing up in the departure lounge as we were bording the flight, and the stress of a fogged in Canberra airport. Memo to QANTAS though - you may want to update some of the in-flight entertainment. One of the radio programs I listened to included an ad to vote for QANTAS for best in-flight entertainment at the 2007 airline awards... Eventually though, I made it to English "countryside" (aka Ipswich). I attempted to stay awake long enough to starve off jetlag, but instead fell asleep on the couch long before any of the children, and am assured by Tom and El that I do robot-esque dance moves in my sleep (eventually they took pity on me and woke me up and sent me to bed). Cultural experiences to date have included watching "The Only Way is Essex" (so that I can learn the local lingo) and a trip to Sainsburrys. I am somewhat ashamed to say that I came dead last at ten pin bowling this morning (even 3 year old Alex beat me), however I made a triumphant comeback this afternoon when I crushed the children in a Wii based re-match (ok, it was on the second re-match, they beat me at the Wii version the first time round as well...). I will keep this post short - otherwise, frankly, it will just become a list of ways I have disgraced myself in the Oppenheim household! There will be pictures next time. Promise.

Bel takes a holiday....

So, for some crazy reason you all want to hear about my holiday in more than just the usual random Facebook update. So, by popular demand, this will be the place that you will hear my random musings about my holiday.

Just to recap for those playing along at home, the itinerary for the next four and a half months will be as follows:

Stop 1 - UK (featuring both London, and the ever stylish Ipswich)
Stop 2 - Spain
Stop 3 - Italy (well, a Tuscan cooking school at any rate)
Stop 4 - Niamh's Irish extravaganza
Stop 5 - Azerbaijan - yes boys and girls, it will be time for the Eurovision Song Contest!!!!!
Stop 6 - Turkey
Stop 7 - Greece
Stop 8 - We are headed back to Italy
Stop 9 - Ecuador (the blowfish will be making a comeback)
Stop 10 - USA (Ricky Martin. Evita. Broadway - nothing more to say)
Stop 11 - Canada
Stop 12 - Japan (can I convince the others to come to Tokyo Disney???)
Stop 13 - New Zealand

So there you have it. It all starts Friday!