Panda-monium

Anyone who remotely knows me will know that I have a love of pandas. What they may not know is why.

This love affair all began in 1993, on the day I was born, where I was gifted with a cuddly toy panda. Naturally as a young kid my love for this cuddly toy panda grew into more of a big deal whereby pandas were now my favourite animal. Ever since, anything panda related has been associated with myself, to the point 22 years down the line where I now have a substantial panda collection.

The original panda

Let me introduce my original panda. The cuddly toy I fell in love with, looked after, washed (in the washing machine), put plasters on when holes appeared until mum or grandma sewed them up, took everywhere with me, still sleeps in my bed at the age off 22 (I have no shame) and to this day is my most treasured possession, which if my house was on fire and I could only save one thing (after my parents, sis and dog), I would without question save this panda.

For this blog post I decided to try and find some old photos of myself and 'original panda' for a trip down memory lane. This is what I uncovered...

Panda chilling with myself, my older sister and dad in the caravan in 1994, when I was 1 years old.

I took Panda to the dinner table so he could eat the same food as myself...

...later that same day, a much need nap was taken.

At this stage, I should probably introduce you to Brian. Brian is my sisters teddy and Pandas brother.

Me, my sister, Panda and Brian

For my 3rd birthday I received this panda cake :) made by my aunt!

Nap time cuddles

Being the cheeky person I am, I clearly thought it would be funny to throw Panda when having a photo.

Picnic time!

As well as looking through the photo archives I also thought it would be a nice idea to gather all my panda possessions into one place. Now, I knew I had a lot, but after seeing the visual representation, I find it quite funny how much I actually have.

My current panda collection.

In this photo there are 72 items! Consisting of...1 lunch box, 1 plate, 1 money box, 1 book, 1 tile, 1 bag, 1 memory box, 1 PJ top, 1 purse, 1 pair of slippers, 1 panda charm, 1 set of stickers, 1 set of panda thankyou cards, 1 set of panda Russian dolls (brought on the great wall of China itself), 1 salt and pepper shake, 2 pillows, 2 hats, 2 jumpers, 2 fridge magnets, 3 figurines, 3 brooches, 4 underwear, 6 keyrings, 9 pictures, 12 different pairs of socks and 12 cuddly toys.

The funny thing is, these are mostly gifts I have received over the years. I think I have brought no more than 5 of these 72 items personally. Although this is all I could find, It wouldn't surprise me if there is more panda items hiding somewhere in the house.

Have you had an obsession growing up? If so comment below what it was!

Amester x

P.S; if you'd like to find my sisters blog it can be found at http://fairyelephantblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Thankyou 2015, 2016 I am ready :)

The end of a year/beginning of a new year always somehow turns everyone much more reflective. I know for one I reflect on the previous year, what I accomplished, what I didn't achieve, the memories made and the pondering of what the next year may pan out like. So now it is 2016 and this blog post will reflect on my 2015 and how I see my 2016 going.

How the hell is it 2016 already?! It feels like 2015 went past in the blink of an eye. Despite it flying by I feel 2015 was a good year for myself, one I will look back on happily for years to come.

2015 marked my first entire calender year out of education since I started the long haul of academia at the age of 4 (I'm 22 now, so work out how many years I had to endure education). The end of this era bought with it my first entire calender year in an employed position. I'm fully aware that the next 45+ years will all be dedicated to work but getting the first one out of the way feels like an achievement in itself. 

In January 2015 I finally had my graduation ceremony, despite being freezing all day and wind swept photos for memories I look to that day with pride of celebrating the achieving of my degree. It was made all the more special that I shared it with 3 of my closest friends who supported each other through the hard times and laughed at the good times throughout the 3 years at university. Also having my family witness me graduating meant a whole lot to me :) It was a fitting way to end my time at university. It didn't stop me feeling sad on the drive home when reality struck that graduation was my last cling-on to claiming I was still a student, that I had to accept I was a fully accepting adult in societies eyes and I could no long use the 'but I'm a student' excuse when I didn't wake up till 2pm, was low on money, was hungover, etc.

2015 also saw me escape rainy, cold England for a couple of months to travel rainy, cold Europe (the sun appeared towards to end of the trip). 6.5 weeks of just my sister for company, living out a backpack, paying in foreign currency, using different transport systems, trying to establish what foreign signs said, trying to converse with people speaking in different languages to get by, sightseeing, etc. It was a challenge but an enjoyable one where I gained many memories that I'm sure will be spoken about for years to come.

2015 was also much more than these big events; it allowed me to realise friends can live at distance and not speak/see each other all the time, it just makes the time spent together mean much more. 2015 let me appreciate family time a lot more than ever, I have always been family orientated and close but with working it now means less free time, so it was down to me to make sure I filled some of this free time with family time. 2015 allowed me to go out for food and coffee with my mum and sis (hot chocolate in my case) more often, and being able to offer to pay because I had a stable income for the first time in my life. 2015 allowed me to buy more people Christmas gifts; again because I had a stable income and had saved up to ensure I could do this. 2015 turned me into a saver whereas before I was a spender, by saving I can plan towards the future with the knowledge that I will have sufficient funds saved when I may need them.

Despite all the memories and achievements 2015 bought, inevitably it had its drawbacks. I feel that for the months after my return from travelling, my life became engulfed by work. Working 5 days a week, a change of ownership and more hours on offer I found myself working more and more. I also struggled to switch off from work on my days off. I noticed that this was effecting my happiness and mood, I felt my personality was fading because I was constantly in my work role where you have to be more professional. As a result I decided to put myself first, work my 5 days, leave when my shift ended, switch off from the workplace and try to make the most of my 2 days off a week.

So what will 2016 bring?! I want to continue making the most of my days off, I want to put myself first, be my old self and do what I want to do! I'd like to continue to make people laugh, I want to lose weight and get my body to a stage where I am comfy in the clothes I own. I'd like to develop a hobby. I want to put more effort and attention into this blog; I know I failed last year so during 2016 I will aim to post once a month at the least, if its more than that's a bonus :) 2016 will also see my childhood dream become a reality! If all goes to plan, towards to tail end of the year I will be travelling to the other side of the world and living in Australia for up to a year on a working holiday visa.

2016 will be my year! I am looking forward to it :) What are you most looking forward to this year?!

Amester x

Raindrops keep falling on my head

A friend suggested to me the other day that people following my travel blogs may think i'm still in Italy seeing as I haven't posted an updated blog in over 3.5 months. Belated apologies for this but to fill you in on my long absence from my blog, since my return my days have consisted of; work, sleep, seeing friends and family and more work. My life can be described as back to the boring mundane pre travelling era. To be honest, this travelling malarkey feels like a whole distant dream that I once lived. But for those still interested here are the much anticipated (don't kid yourself Ames) Italian blog posts, there will be 4 in total :)

Leaving Salzburg drew to an end stage one of mine and Jens European adventure, while at the same time starting leg 2; Italy. Somewhere we had both wanted to visit for a long time, somewhere we had penciled in 2 weeks of our travels for to explore this country. On our train journey somewhere between Salzburg and Padova, we traveled through a snow storm! Snapping away with my camera, trying out different settings to try and capture some of the nicest snow covered scenery I have witnessed kept me entertained. When our train became stationary at a random station I was itching to get out and play in it! We opted not too because well knowing our luck the train would have left without us. In hindsight we wish we did as we were stationed at this station for a good 30-40 minutes.

Snow pretty

Upon arrival into Padova, our base for the next 5 nights, we found our b&b. Welcomed by the host, shown our room and given a detailed history of the area, we were tired but excited. By now we were hungry so ventured out for pizza then called it a night. The following day still lethargic from the long day of travel the day previous we decided to take it easy. This meant a day exploring the city of Padova. Map in hand we just set out in search of all the places of interest that our host had circled for us. Well that was until I lost our map, meaning we were wandering around without a clue where we actually were haha. Heavy rain and sore blisters made this adventure all the more interesting. We made it back safely to our b&b though so alls good :)

Day 28 of our travels took us to Venice, a half hour train ride from Padova. Despite constant rain all day I really enjoyed Venice. For once I enjoyed being lost, not knowing which street or canal we were following. We walked our way through this maze city for hours, still happy despite raining. We found a lovely little restaurant called Ginos to eat in. A menu stating which dishes were vegetarian pleased Jen while free wifi pleased me. Infact we ate here for both dinner and lunch :) No gondulas were experienced by us due to the expense; however with the downpour of rain we wouldn't have enjoyed it anyways. Instead we enjoyed wandering inside souvenir shops, found some gifts for friends and just enjoyed the vibe of this unique city. Jen was also on a mission to find some new shoes seeing as hers had fallen apart. This was a success and the new pair lasted the whole remainder of the trip :)

Venice was lovely even in the rain

Still raining, we were still determined to explore. Day 29 saw us board another train, this time to Verona. Verona was also a very nice day trip. lots to experience including a lovely waterfall situated next to a small amphitheatre; marble covered streets which although looked impressive, weren't practical in the rain causing slipping; Castelvecchio Castle and its bridge over the river and Julietts balcony to name a few.

Verona

Finally on our fourth day in Italy the sun decided to make an appearance :) Italy was where I planned on topping my tan up so out came the shorts :) We spent much of the day sunbathing in Italy's largest square Prato delle Valle. This area was buzzing with different sports; tennis for the youngsters, zumba, an organised pink run (presumably like our race for life); music, dogs, couples, street sellers, etc. The vibe was just lovely :) We also ate at a restaurant where the served food was most likely an expensive microwave meal on our behalf. Before leaving we decided it would be a good idea to use their free loo. Jen went first and on her return informed me it was literally a hole in the ground. I decided to pass on experiencing this and waited until return to the b&b haha.

The tractor reminded of me home!

The first stage of my trip to Italy was wet (stupid rain), busy but enjoyable and from what I have seen of Italy soo far, I like it :)

Amester x

These are a few of my favourite things

After Prague it was time to head for Salzburg, this required two different trains and with it you get two different stories - aren't you spoilt!

During our travels me and Jen have made no attempt to socialise with outsiders and have been content with each other for company. We enjoy our own space so it suits us fine not really socialising! Sometimes we can't even be bothered to socialise with each other hahaa

Train one from Prague to Linz, Austria. Here we found our seats for the journey in a little cabin (like on the Hogwarts train). Eventually we were joined by an American guy who plucked up the courage to try and engage us in conversation. Having not socialised with outsiders for around 3 weeks this was scary! Anyhow we found out he was living in Linz working as an English teaching assistant, had only seen Heathrow in England and enjoyed a cheep kebab in Prague. He also told us about getting a 'Salzburg card' to get discounts into different museums which was nice to know even if we didn't follow his advice because we weren't interested in visiting the museums. Still was nice to talk to someone other than my sister for 5 minutes.

Now onto story 2 which is more interesting - again sat in our seats we were joined by a group of 2 elderly couples. Old people talk to everyone so we were forced into conversation again - by now my social threshold was being stretched :p Anyway the typical icebreaker question of 'where do you come from?' was voiced. They were obviously English as they were talking about ordering a cuppa within seconds of sitting down so I said Gloucester. Laughs erupted. Turns out one of the ladies lives in Gloucester also - 926 miles (thanks google) from home suddenly made the world feel a whole lot smaller!

A long way from home

Other than traveling the most productive thing we did on that day was wash our clothes in the sink. Something before these travels I probably had never done seeing as home has a washing machine.

Believe it or not the actual process of travelling from A to B is actually quite tiring and not as much as a rest like we'd hoped would be the case. As a result we decided to make our first full day in Salzburg a rest day. By rest day I mean a lazy morning followed by a McDonald's followed by a trek up a big steep mountain! I soo wanted to give in half way up but decided I may as well plod on. The views at the top were fantastic so it made the walk worth while :) the plan for the evening was to try and watch the sound of music on my tablet but the internet was too slow so we settled on doing some of our travel journals. Oh yea my trousers also ripped today - wouldn't have been an issue but they were the only pair I had on me during my travels -_-

Salzburg through the trees

The following day I was on a mission to find some new trousers. I eventually found some within my price range in good old h&m, happy days :) we headed into the city for a walk around but didn't come across anything interesting so we settled for sitting along the river enjoying the hot weather.

Percy enjoyed catching the sun along the riverside

The next day we had booked to go on a sound of music tour! It was really fun seeing all the filming location and inside knowledge about how the film was constructed. During the trip we stopped for an hour in the town of Mondsee, home to the church used during the wedding scene in the sound of music. It was a cute little town and did very nice cake! During the coach trip the sound of music soundtrack was played which was enjoyable.

Sound of music locations

I did enjoy my time in Salzburg but it has been my least favourite place so far. I think this is mainly due to the area not having an awful lot to do.

Amester x

Czeched into Prague

Being the 'comedian' I am, first thing I did on arrival into Prague was to 'czech-in' to Prague on Facebook!

We hopped off the train in Prague and headed for the hotel. It was only a short walk but mainly up hill and we were carrying our bags with the sun shining down on us, so it turned into a hot sweaty out of breath walk - lush! We czeched into the hotel, czeched out our room then headed out. For 'market research' purposes we czeched out the price and taste of an ice cream sundae! After a little stroll we found a place called 'pizza colleseum' to eat at. I had a very yummy risotto :) We then decided to Czech out the cocktails on offer in Prague. We found a nice little bar where they were showing ice hockey on the TV which i watched while enjoying cocktails. My cocktail cost the equivalent of £2.70 - happy days!! :)

The next day we decided to stroll around the city, czeching out the sights! In Wenceslas Square there were boards with the squares history on which i enjoyed reading. On one of the bridges across the river we came across a band playing music from films and the charts. They were really good and you could tell they were really passionate and enjoying every minute :) When on our strolls we were minding our own business when out the corner of our eye we saw many painted bricks. This captured our attention and on further inspection we realised it was for a Czech charity that helps to give those with a mental handicap get into employment and live a fulfilling life. Mental illness is something close to our hearts so we decided to contribute. We paid a small donation and in return we got to paint our own brick. Me and Jen decided to paint ours with the Czech flag, the English flag and our names. We enjoyed doing this and I felt proud that my small donation will help a worthy cause.

Our finished brick and posing with our brick on the wall

We decided that due to the cheapness of Prague we were going to take advantage to eat well during our time here. So far we've had many meals of croissants and brioches and to be honest we are bored of that! So 2 meals a day it was!! I definitely put a few pounds on during my Prague stay.

Our second full day in Prague we went in search of Prague castle. It was at the top of a steep hill where we had to climb 200+ (yes I counted) steps! At least the view from the top was impressive. By now it was lunch time so we found a Czech pub. I ordered sausage and chips - one of my favourite meals. Turns out the sausage was rank, so I left it thinking nothing of it. There I was in my own little world waiting for Jen to finish when a voice goes 'what do you not like about the sausage?', taken by surprise I stated that it was the marinade, however she claimed there was no marinade despite there obviously being a red marinate on it as my plate turned red from it. She insisted on getting me another sausage to try but I said not to worry. Once Jen was done eating I asked for the bill, however I was told to wait as they were cooking me some more sausages. Sausages arrived in front of me, they were the standard hotdog sausages which unconveniently I don't like! I forced myself to try a mouthful which made me heave before awkwardly notifying the staff I didn't like this option neither. The waiters reply was 'reallllyyyy', yes really!, I couldn't pay and escape quick enough! I was then in a bit of a weird mood for an hour or so as I didn't enjoy the confrontation and it took me a while to snap out of the mood. A walk through the castle grounds and gardens in the sun soon cheered me up though :)

Looking down onto Prague from the castle

In the evening we decided to act our age and hit the town - to a jazz club, where I think I may have been the youngest in the building. I bought a baileys and sat happily listening to a piano, drum and cello produce some lovely jazz music. I found it very relaxing and it was a good evening :)
The following day it was time to book a flight home for at the end of this European adventure. Up until this point we didn't know when we would return (we knew what week but not what date). We also didn't have a definitive end point. In the end we decided to book a flight home from Catania in Sicily. It was weird to think we suddely had an end - everything on this trip up to this point was last minute and spontaneous only booking up our next port of call a day or 2 before arrival. It was sad to think we suddenly had an end to count down to. We also went souvenir shopping then found some music in a large square to listen to. There was also a really cute dog running around finding anyone willing to give it attention so I enjoyed watching that.

I enjoyed my time czeching out Prague! It was a very nice city to wander around.

Amester x

Being blonde in Berlin

I was sad to be leaving Interlaken as I think I fell in love with the place but with travelling the norm is to spend a short amount of time at a location and then move on again! Leaving Interlaken to travel onto Berlin in Germany, our 5th country! To get here required boarding a 9.5 hour train! Truth is a bag full of snacks, an iPod and a tablet makes time go fast :) although 10 minutes into this journey I ate a chocolate croissant, turns out it had nuts in - an antihistamine tablet sorted me out :)

Percy and a European bear

We found our hotel straight away this time - walk out the station exit, look right and it's staring you in the face! Our room was on the 7th floor and we used the stairs the whole time except for the 2 times we had our heavy bags and one time when my knee was hurting! That was my daily exercise, walking them stairs up to 8 times a day! On top of the daily miles of walking!

Nice sunset from hotel room

By now we were craving hot food seeing as we hadn't had any for a few days, so yes, you guessed it - we headed to McDonald's, where we had our compulsory 'ice cream sundae', which we now have decided is for market research purposes to see how price and taste differ in each place :p

Our first full day in Berlin was just one of them days where nothing seemed to go right! I turned over in my sleep, wacked my elbow on the spiky wall which grated some of my skin off! Once awake we headed out into Berlin for the day. Everywhere was surrounded by hundreds of police! We assumed something was going on but we weren't sure what. Around 3pm we headed back towards the hotel, stopping at some shops to grab some lunch to cook for ourselves in the guest hotel kitchen. By now we were starving and I think it showed as both me and jen tried to go up a 'down' escalator. My brain didnt even registar what was happening straight away. We bought pasta and vegetables to cook and were really looking forward to it! Leaving the shop we tried to get to the hotel, the whole surrounding area was cornered off with police tape due to a protest. Eventually a policeman understood we was trying to get to our hotel and gave us a police escort walk back to our hotel. Still starving, we headed straight for the kitchen - it was closed :@ hotel reception told us it was being used as a second storage room so we couldn't use it till later that evening. This angered us as we paid over double our budget to stay here and still couldn't use all paid for services! We needed cheering up so we braved the police cordens again and had another ice cream sundae (for market research purposes obviously) then bought a baguette each because we were starving! We then dissapeared to our room to sulk, before eventually managing to cook our much looked forward to pasta and veg about half 8 in the evening :) what a flop of a day!

Percy made friends with lots of green crossing men!

We woke up the next day optimistic that it would be more successful than the day previous. We grabbed some breakfast - fresh orange juice and a chocolate muffin :) Time to explore Berlin - the Berlin wall memorial was interesting, trying to visualise that a line which can now be crossed without a second thought was once covered by a wall that divided the 2 sides, with lives lost trying to escape each side! The realisation that this happened not to long ago in history was thought provoking. The information on display at 'checkpoint Charlie' was interesting to read. We walked through the hollocaust memorial then ended up having A nice sit in Tiergarten :)

Hollocaust memorial

We decided to catch a train to Potsdam on the Monday :) it was lovely here! We spend several hours wandering through Sanssourci Park which houses several palaces and other buildings along with water fountains and lots of trees. We found some yummy pizza in Potsdam too :) I really enjoyed this day trip and the hot weather was an added bonus :)

Me in Sanssouci Park

I made a crquacking friend

So although my Berlin experience started of wobbly, it ended on a positive :)

Amester x

Jen, there's a bear!!

You know them unplanned, unthought about moments which turn out to be the best, unplanned spontaneous pranks also are the best :) I was just casually looking out of our bedroom window in Switzerland to the Alps and forest when I spontaneously told Jen there was a bear outside. Well obviously there wasn't but I must've said it pretty convincingly because Jen instantly jumped up excitidly to come have a look. I wish I didn't laugh and played along for longer!

Anyway Switzerland is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited! The train journey in was incredible; snowy Alps one side of the train, pure blue lakes the other side! Interlaken was where we were heading. A cute little town surrounded by the Alps and massive lakes! 360° scenic views :)

On arrival we were booked to stay 2 nights. Well that 2 nights quickly turned into 4! Our hotel was very quiet and we had the whole floor to ourselves for 3 nights. After the hussle and bussle of the big city's we had visited previous, a quiet relaxation in Interlaken was perfect. We caught up on sleep, let my knees recover, went on little walks and sat along the river for hours taking in the beautiful scenery and watching the paragliders fly over the mountains. This is something me and Jen decided we would like to do, we then realised our travel insurance didn't cover us, so that's still unticked on my bucket list :(

Switzerland's McDonald's is also very expensive and tastes not very nice :(

Anyways enough talking, my time in Switzerland can only be appreciated by some of my photography, although it can't truly be appreciated unless you visit in person :)

Views from the train

We also went on a day trip to Thun castle.

I think I spent these entire 4 days in awe! It felt so surreal :)

Amester x