November 2003 - Australia Girl sets New Personal Best Ice-cream Eating Record

Yes kids, that would be me.

My sweet tooth has come through loud and clear in the last week. Thankfully, I can just about still squeeze into an economy class seat.

Ok, so last update was from Spain. Spain is the coolest.

Barcelona was cool, highlight was Gaudis amazing architecture, and Barcelona Football Club Camp Nou stadium.....Yep, poor Mumsy was dragged off to see the stadium and the museum. Her only words were, we're not staying here all day.... So we get there and a few of the players are training out front. And as I've been quite delinquent on the footballing front I couldn't recognise any. But there were a few cameras and I couldn't see any tusks, I mean teeth, so my guess is that Ronaldihno was resting up after his injury...

So then we head in to do the tour. Way cooooool. Walking down the tunnel, the smelly away players change rooms (as the players were in there. Boo), then out to the pitch. What a stadium. Even Mum was well impressed! Got to sit on the bench, and then it was up to sit in the presidents seats - regular attendees of football matches will be pleased to know that he has to sit on a seat that folds up to. Only this section is done in padded leather....Nice. Museum was cool, loads and loads of stuff...

Anyhoo, so we did the crazy Sagrada Familia, respect to Gaudi. The Guell Park almost made me feel inspired enough to go and finish my mosaic.....well fleetingly anyhoo. Um, we did lots of eating. mmm baby octopuses...garlic chicken...kebabs....(hey we're on a budget. even they were good....) and ice cream....(insert Homer Simpson-esque drool sound).

So then it was over to Paris....lovely Paris...It was cold. But....hey its Paris. Those bakeries were calling me....Day one, we were on a mission, esp as the weather was stunning....Montmatre is way cool, the church that I cant spell was lovely....and the views over the city were amazing...then it was down to the Arc de Triumphe, up those stairs to admire the Parisian traffic at its best.....crazy ass roundabout below always provides me with a laugh, such fun watching the ten lanes of traffic trying to merge into one.....Anyhoo, after a quick stroll down the Champs Elysee, we eventually get to the good old Louvre....so we visited Mona & Venus (Simpsons fans recall Gummy Venus Di Milo....aghhhghghhh....the statue didn't taste so good....). Cool. Fab building, sore legs after....

Next stop, the Eiffel Tour. Thanks to Mum deciding that walking is waaaaaay overrated, we coughed up the cashed and hauled lift to the top. I think this was about 8pm, however, whilst we were queuing, well the sneaky fog was cruising in. Lift went up, a synchronised group of sighs did as we ascended - pretty fairy lights glistening and sparkling. And then they didnt anymore. Booo. We jumped out of the lift and a collective groan, then a laugh escaped from our lips. The fog hit us. Badly. By the time we were up the top, we could see NADA. Fab. So down to level two to check out the views.....much better.

Next day was a cruisey one. We headed out to Pere Laichaise (francophiles pls excuse my French...), a fab cemetary where quite a few famous types are burried. Edith Piaf, Chopin and good old Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors. Um, I think this was about all we did that day. Nope, I'm lying, I just cant remember what else we did. It involved vast amounts of walking. And boulangerie brousing. I'm so glad I don't live in France, seriously, Id be as fat as fat can be. Choosing pastries became and issue so we made it easier by sometimes choosing 3 pastries and splitting them in two. Yum.

Next stop, Milano. As it is meant to be the fashion capital of Italia, we decided to skip it, why, well my scruffy jeans don't pass for rock star chic at the moment.

Jumped on the lovely Italian Eurostar trains, for a cheap and easy escape to Venice. Nice stroll about in the evening, showed mum the sights, had sloppy pizza and some fab gelato for desert. Honestly, sometimes I just don't know why I even bother with first courses.

Next day we cruised a bit more, took in the sites in a dismal rainy daylight....and then off to Florence. Go the Italian Eurostar trains. Cheap & effective, two words that seldom go together. I've introduced mum to hostels. Why, cause we had hotel issues in France and over budgeted. So dorms it is. Plus it is so fantabulous to have a bunch of other people to chat to and get ideas......

So we cruised Florence. Lovely church. I'm a bit churched out at the moment...but luckily for us, we continued strolling about and stumbled across a gorgeous looking gelato place. Corona Cafe. I wont be forgetting it in a hurry. I pointed at a cone and chose my two flavours, my god, talk about a serve. I swear the cone weighed about 700gram, Mum did the same, but hers was a more I-can-eat-this-in-public size... At the check out it was heart attack time. Budget completely up that brown river (no, not the Thames) and 22.20 Euros was the bill. Please, lets not convert this to any other currency. Thank god Italy is Euros now and not Lira.....So I ate, and ate, and ate, Repeat this motion about 1 billion times and I was bored. And only half way through the ice cream.

If something seems too good to be true....most likely it is. Ask prices in the beginning is the moral of this tale of woe.

So tomorrow we are trying the intercity train, trying to save a few euros. Roma -if you want too, roam around the world (song for every occasion. Letters are interchangeable).

Word of warning for all you faint hearted kids out there. Beware the statues. Some of those statues are a bit tooo real life (yeah, as much as stone can get to resembling flesh) animal statues, well a bit too much detail for moi.

Behave, as me and mum are and I want some replies from you all.

Ciao kiddies.
S