Walking in a winter wonderland

As I headed out to explore London my first stop was lunch with Jean. I headed towards her work and found my way on the tube without any hassles.nit was great to see her again and catch up briefly before I left London again.
After catching up with Jean, I wanted to make my way to hyde park, they had there Christmas markets called winter wonderland on. As I arrived i was fairly overwhelmed by the size of the markets . It was cold but beautiful to just look around.
My first stop was a white hot chocolate to warm myself up as I wandered through the variety of markets,  rides,  games and attractions. 
I made my way back to the hotel and relaxed for a while before heading back out for dinner with Jean.
All in all it was a great first day London but I was more than ready for bed before heading off to Paris in the morning.

Treking in a new direction

Christmas day arrived and i was all packed. I had a relaxing morning before heading to sydney, my parents and Nonna decided to come to the airport with me.
The flight went smoothly, the plane was full for the first leg to Dubai and we were delayed due to a storm so I spent most the leg reading or sleeping.
The transit through Dubai was fast and within 30 minutes I was back on the plane which was not as full. I was lucky enough to have a whole row to myself so laid down and slept the remainder of the flight.

Once I arrived in Heathrow it was fairly quick through the process and I was on the tube into London, Earls court to be exact. I checked in and was given a room straight away. So after a quick shower the real adventure was about to begin.

Cake decorating and Broadway

I was up early today having to check out and change rooms at the hotel. My friend Catherine was meant to be joining me from last night but the polar vortex had her stuck on the west coast in San Francisco, we were hoping they would find her a flight and she would be joining me soon.
I had another journey out to New Jersey today, this one was more hands on.

I have a habit of watching the food channel and in particular shows that involve cake; baking, decorating and everything in between. A few years ago now I stumbled on cake boss, a show about an Italian bakery in Hoboken New Jersey. I took a trip to the bakery on my last trip to NYC in 2012, this time however I was doing a cake decorating course.

I made my way to the new factory Carlos bakery owns. Catching the path and waking through the snow, I was a little early but other people were waiting as well. The minute you entered the building you could instantly smell things baking it was delicious.

We were introduced to our instructor for the day she checked us in then we were given a tour of the factory

The other side of the globe

I contemplated starting a new blog all together since I am not heading to the US this time, however having all my travel updates in one spot one out in the end.

The plan for the upcoming trip is as follows:

London
Paris
Switzerland
Florence
Rome
London
Wales
Iceland
Paris

I am going into this trip more blindly so to speak than others, its uncharted territory and I really have no idea what I want to see or do. I usually have plans and ideas that are more than I can possibly fit into my time away. With this trip the price was right and the spur of the moment booking has lead to what will surely be my next adventure.

Iceland was the only mandatory aspect of the trip, I wanted a chance to chase the Northern Lights, I am trying not to focus on them though as I know there is a high chance I won't see them. On the upside if I don't see them I still get to explore Iceland which by all accounts is apparently spectacular.

Only 2 more sleeps till I am on that plane, so ready to go explore new places.

First Date in NYC

After a day in transit and done much needed sleep I had a lazy day, sleeping lots with a little wandering and shopping. Vera was arriving into NYC today and we had tickets to a show on Broadway called first date.
We planned a time to meet at the theatre, I had more luggage issues upon arriving into JFK so I was down a few items and needed to replace them so I wandered through times square hitting up forever 21 making a few purchases. The Disney store was looking less crowded so I though I would go have a proper look as I can out of the Disney store it had starred to snow.

If you know me you know how much I was hoping for snow whilst I was in NYC, what I didn't want was a blizzard that would nearly shutdown the city and throw a spanner into friends travel plans but more on that later. I decided I wanted to grab a bite before the show so found a little pizza place I ate at last time I was in NYC. They are one of a few that do Hawaiian so it was nice to have a touch of home, whilst eating I got chatting to the family next to me they were Blackhawk fans and since I was going to the game the following night we talked hockey a lot.

Vera met me not long before the show started we were able to go straight in. We had debated where to sit when buying the tickets turned out we got the perfect tickets they were second row and positioned directly in front of a take where the majority of the show took place. First Date was funny and witty, it had moments where you cringed with the character and in the end you get the happy ending outcome you know you want.

After the show I said bye to Vera she needed good and sleep (she only arrived from Sydney that afternoon). By now the blizzard had set in the roads were just white now and the snow was falling consistently. Instead of being sensible and going home I stood in the falling snow at the stage door. Zachary Levi the start of the show and also known for his charming antics in the show chuck (which I watched for years) was known for coming out and greeting fans.

We waited a while and Zachary came out, this is when I learnt that he is as lovely and humble as you would hope. He stood out in the falling snow singing and dancing making sure he signed everyone's playbill before taking photos with everyone there. He would have hung around at least an hour or more in freezing conditions to make sure he didn't let his fans down - pure class.

After that it was off to bed with the hopes of another sleep in.

A trip to Orange county and New year's babble eve

I started out with a 4 am start to make my flight to LAX, hoping this time there would be no delays, my luggage would show up with me and things would just go smoothly. I arrived in L.A.with no problems, connected to my shuttle and was soon on my way to Brea. Brea is in Orange county about 20 mins from Disneyland, my only reason for going to Brea was for the new years show I was going to.

I arrived in Brea extremely tired but unable to check in (most places in the US have a check in time of 4 pm) so I asked them to call me a taxi and I headed to Brea mall for some shopping and a bite to eat. I shopped a little bit really was just exhausted, I found a great little good court with fresh food (one reason to love California) I was able to create my own stir fry and it was so nice to have vegetables again.

I heeded back to my hotel ready to check in, checked in made a few calls then had a quick 30 minute nap hoping it would get me through till after midnight. After my very quick nap i had a shower, packed my stuff (I would be getting picked up at 3 am to head back to LAX) then started my walk to the venue.

There was already some people in line when I arrived so I lined up behind them it didn't take long till we got chatting or me entertaining them highlighting the differences between words in our cultures. Ryan, Michelle and Adrian were lovely and asked me to sit with them for dinner and during the show.

To explain Hollywood babble on to those who have no idea, for the past 4 years I have listened to a podcast by Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman on a weekly basis, last time i was in California I made sure I caught the show as well. When I knew I would be in the states for new years there wasn't a question of where I would be spending my night.

We were the first ones in the door so had our pick of table,  We chose the front centre table, this table was connected to the table that Ralph and Kevin would be sitting at. Dinner was included so we got to eat our dinner before the show started, it was nice to have company for the meal and conversation flowed easily.

Once the show started I was in for so many laughs, I was lucky enough to receive the first shout out of the evening and got to hear a great Ed Wynn impression. It was Ryan's birthday and he also received a shout out. Once we got to the email bag section there was a letter from an Australian So Kevin thought it would be a good idea if I read it. Apparently it would be better if it was in an Australian accent, I tried my hardest to not do it but alas Kevin got his way. I do dread having to listen to the podcast when it is released.

After the show ended, I had to jump in line for the next show. This time the line went around the block and I ended up at the back of the venue. The site was different as Ralph had promised lots more laughs and a great way to bring in the new year. After we left the venue a group of people I met in the second line cane and found me to offer me a ride back to my hotel. All I can say is that the people here are beyond nice.

I had a great news year's eve, my shuttle was arriving in 2 hours and i knew the first day of 2014 was going to be long but I wouldn't change it, it was completely worth it.

Bears and wolves.... oh what fun

My last day in West Yellowstone I had a lazy morning before setting out on foot. I had one thing I wanted to do today and that was visit the Wolf and grizzly discovery centre. At the centre they have taken in bears that were at risk or posing a risk to humans the area around them. I could have spent days watching the bears, they switch them over after a couple of hours.

The wolves were interesting especially after learning about some of the packs that live in Yellowstone. I spent most my day just checking out the centre before grabbing a bite to eat and heading to my shuttle back to Bozeman.