Sweden & Helsinki

We encountered quite the extensive bus journey today from Norway to Sweden.

The beautiful scenery started to taper off as we made our way towards the bustling city of Stockholm. 

Now I don't have all that many photos to share with you, as we went out one night (self explanatory) and I also had a false alarm losing my phone...here's how it went down. 

When we arrived in Stockholm we very promptly got ready to head to the Ice Bar, the very first ice bar in the world. 

We were handed out coat and gloves, got a drink token and I used mine for a mango chillie cocktail - so good! 

We got some group photos with pops 

And continued the night onto an awesome club called Sommar.

The night looked a little like this 

And a little like this 

(Double parked all night) 

But it mostly looked like this 

We managed to polish off approximately 9 drinks, lost Stacey for the night, salsa danced with the Russian and got in an unlicensed cab with 8 people back to our hotel. 

Oh and our cab driver Marcus, gave sally a banana and said "don't tell the others"...and offered us vodka from underneath his van.

A super random night to say the least!

And thankfully we found Stacey - happy times all round.

Day 2 - 

With only 2 hours sleep and literally no darkness all night, we got up with great difficulty at 7am. The breakfast at our hotel is amazing but incredibly hard to stomach. We pop on the bus to head into the city at 8.15 *groans* 

Our first stop is the Vasa museum,  showcasing a boat that sunk 300 years ago, it didn't see much ocean either as when it was first sent off to sea, it sunk immediately because it was too heavy, classic Sweden. 

So they resurfaced it and put it in a museum.  When we got there we were an hour early however, so we had a little snooze on the grass. 

The museum is amazing though! The ship is enormous and fantastically detailed and definitely worth it being resurfaced 

We take a stroll along the waterfront which is sunny and gorgeous 

And head to the royal palace to see the changing of the guards. You can tell I was on struggle street today because I didn't take any photos of it, but I can tell you that it was awesome to watch!

We met back with the group, said farewell to some people leaving us in Stockholm and met the newbies back at our hotel. We had some dinner and crashed, hard. 

Day 3 - 

Unfortunately no sleep in today as we had a pretty early start to see the Stockholm town hall where the Nobel peace prize banquet is held.

We walked through the blue room 

(Quite obviously not blue) 

And the gold room which is covered in 17 million gold leaf mosaics 

Because our bus was late we only got a brief 20 minute tour and then decided to head to Sanskar park.

When we arrived we realised it was a zoo and we didn't have enough time to check it out, next time Sweden! 

On the walk back however, I realised I was no longer holding my phone - shiiiit. 

The girls reassure me that it's probably on the bus, so Sally and I decide to check 

No luck in seeing it, we decide to check out the royal armoury which had a game of thrones exhibit on, I've never actually watched game of thrones but enjoyed the dress ups 

And rode a horse...

Clearly not a real one, I can barely ride a bike

Our bus driver Ricky meets me at the bus and much to my relief, my phone is sitting on the chair! Fantastic!! 

We head back to Central so we can hop on what pops likes to call "The Love Boat" 

We got on the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki that is literally stuck 30 years in the past with it's entertainment and carpet choice. 

We locate our rooms (which are below the car deck, winner) and grab a drink at the pub 

(Skittles, Sophie, ailsa, yumi and Stace) 

We have an all you can eat buffet organised, plus all you can drink wine. Safe to say we took full advantage of this and I ate my body weight in potatoes.

I also tried caviar for the first time! 

Its an acquired taste I think ...

But we sang a little karaoke

And the whole contiki group took over the dance floor in the casino (where we saw 8 year olds on the pokies) 

I may have also done a little interpretive dancing...

It was quite a fab evening, and made better by the fact we got to walk back to our room, no cab necessary!!

Day 3 -

We had a little later rise today thankfully, and entered a FREEZING cold Helsinki.

Windy, rainy, cold. But we need to make most of our time here so we head to two different cathedrals. A Lutheran and a catholic cathedral, both very different from each other but really interesting to see

This is the uspenski cathedral (catholic) 

We then wandered down to the market area to suss out finlandian cuisine, something strange caught my eye...

Yes everyone, you can eat Rudolph in Finland

We then get offered some free food by a finlandian. However I'm not a seafood fan, but my boyfriend is...so I'm making an attempt to try new things for his benefit :P

Obviously loving it.

It's still FREEZING cold with the rain and ice wind so we decide to grab a hot chocolate (quite possibly the best I've had in my life) and I buy a new moose friend named Sven 

We caught a ferry to Soumelina which has an old fortress on it, a good idea in theory, not so much in practice as obviously the island is surrounded by water therefore windy. But we do a little exploring in what looks like a hobbit village 

Turns out it's actually a cellar for prisoners.

We get back into the mainland after almost hitting hypothermia and decide to warm ourselves up with some reindeer 

Actually rather enjoyed my reindeer meatball! 

We caught our coach back to the hotel for an early night so we could be fresh faced for Russia tomorrow! 

I loved Sweden despite my phone scare, however I'm not sure if it was the weather or not, but Finland didn't really meet my expectations. I've actually always wanted to go there but I guess. sometimes it's the places you least expect to be good, that end up being the best :)

Top 5 Things to do in India

In August this year I was blessed with the privilege of visiting the beautiful India. An overwhelming country for many! The poverty, garbage, sounds and smells are all incredibly different from our home here in Australia.

But if you can visit with an open mind and heart and be willing to try new things then this is the place for you! You'll experience color, unlimited smiles, insane busyness, fantastic food and an incredible sense of wonderment. It's hard to sum this up, but here goes! Here are 5 of my favorite things to do in India. 

1. Ride a camel into the Bikaner desert & camp overnight

I'm not much of a camper, camel rider, or an outdoors person at all really. But sleeping outside under a field of millions of stars was worth not being able to walk properly for a few days after 4 hours riding a camel!

2. Embrace the culture and talent literally anywhere

Dancers, fire breathers, magicians, singers, weavers, arts and crafts enthusiasts - you name it. The Indian culture is incredibly talented and imaginative and definitely worth experiencing when you're there.

3. Visit the Ganges

There's a lot of talk about seeing bodies float down this river and people defecating in it (how pleasant) so imagine my surprise when I arrived and it looked like this! I visited in monsoon season so it was incredibly overflowed but you can find amazing spots to view this river all through Varanasi.

4. Visit the kids from the Salaam Balaak Trust program

A beautiful trust fund that's run in New Delhi that helps get kids off the street. The program encourages them to finish schooling so they have the best chance at starting a life of their own once they're of age. You can donate to this fund and even volunteer with them if you're interested (one for the bucket list)

5. And of course, visit the Taj Mahal

This beautiful monument was my first wonder of the world and was even more impressive than I could have imagined. Its a little pricey to see (750 rupees if your a tourist, 20 rupees if you're a local) and you have to go through a crazy amount of security, but the feeling when you get your first glimpse is something no picture can do justice!

Okay so really there's 6.

6. Put yourself out of your comfort zone!

California Highlights

Just recently two friends and myself won a free trip to California and got to experience a 10 day Contiki California Highlights trip.
We took a limo up and down the strip in Vegas,  watched the sunset over Bass Lake, ate a smorgasbord of delicious food San Francisco (my favorite city, so far) and checked out the stars on Hollywood Boulevard.
But enough of my bragging, here's a list of some of my favorite things to do / see in each of these fabulous places!

Vegas Baby

- Indulge in a street performance and drop them a dollar if they make you smile

- Catch a show! Cirque de Soleil, Variety, Burlesque - whatever! You can get cheap tickets last minute on the strip, just wing it and see whatever they have on offer

- Take a stroll around the One Mile Mall and drink an alcoholic beverage the size of your midsection

- Walk up and down the strip (of course!) it seems to change every hour on the hour

- Take a look at the Bellagio fountain show. Apparently the water jets are strong enough to shoot a hole through you if you were to lay on top of them

 Bass Lake

If you hit a bit of misfortune like myself and end up on a set of crutches after your night out in Vegas, your options may be limited in Bass Lake, but here's a mix of the things I did and what I would have liked to do:

- Sit on the jetty and watch the sunset

- Grab dinner at Duceys followed by $2 beers and karaoke at the Pines Bar

- Have a BBQ on the balcony of someones chalet 

- Get into the water sports! Jet skiing, kayaking, swimming (granted its summer and not 10 degrees celsius like it was for us) or try your luck at fishing

 San Francisco 

My most favorite city in the world, it'll be a challenge to summarize this!

- Check out the farmers markets on the weekend. Take the F line to Pier 1 and taste some of the delicious fresh food up for grabs

- Walk down to Pier 39 on Fishermans Wharf, eat more, and see the gorgeous Sea Lions 

- Hang out the side of a cable car from Fishermans Wharf to Union Square

- Eat MORE at North Beach, check out a fantastic restaurant "The Stinking Rose" they cook everything with Garlic, including their icecream - don't knock it til you try it

- Visit Alcatraz (granted the government isn't shut down like it was for us also)

 The City of Angels

- Stroll down Hollywood Boulevard and check out the stars, Mans Chinese Theater, the Egyptian Theater and the Dolby Theater. You can get a cheap walking tour which gives you a bit of insight to Hollywood's history - definitely worth it

- Grab an ice cream on Santa Monica Pier

- Spend some money on Santa Monica Boulevard

- Check out the Nickel Diner in downtown L.A. A 20's themed diner with fabulous wait staff and delicious hangover food.

I've had the pleasure of checking out the West Coast of America twice now. Although my heart has been left in San Francisco, I look forward to heading over to the East - New York, New Orleans...in fact the whole south is calling my name. 

In conclusion, let me say that what happens in Vegas... 

 Does not always STAY in Vegas