The quirkier things in life

Whenever we travel, we naturally seek out the more quirky things in the places we visit. Sights are one thing, but we like to get them out of the way early so we have time to wander about and find the real life in the city. The people who live day in, day out in these tourist meccas, and probably don't really notice that big ol' church they walk past everyday, or the people papping away at it. Some places you have to search really hard (Rome) and sometimes things just pop up in front of you when you least expect them (everywhere else)!

If you touch this guys' toe, you will have the good fortune of returning one day to Split. And it worked! Exactly 7 days later. Well, we were on a return sailing trip.

??

Man, we need a dog! Now.

I guess Minnie got dirty?

They sure do know their icecream over there. Not sure how old he thought I was though? Or maybe he could just tell that no matter how old I get I will always love this kind of stuff.

Best thing about Rome - free springwater everywhere.

Uh, dunno really. Wes wrote down the email address on this card, might have to get in touch. Cool, no?

Shakira's back! Be afraid...

I just had to share this video with you. It is hilarious! What is going on? Why is she dancing inside a big vagina? Is she now a lesbian? How much do you think she paid her choreographer for those moves? And most importantly, who the hell approved this video for release??
Shakira - She Wolf (Video Premier) Full HD Video by Shakira - MySpace Video

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LFW one and only post

I don't usually blog about Fashion Week - I don't think there's much point when it is covered so extensively by the fashion media, who are actually there. I, on the other hand have never been to a fashion show, and to be honest, I find them a bit overwhelming. Distilling the key themes and looks, well, lets just say I find fashion mags very useful for this purpose.

BUT when I saw these pics from the Fashion East show, I was really excited. After what seems like so many seasons of 'investment pieces' these prints are really inspiring. Whether or not I would actually wear them is to be seen. I know my 20-year-old self would have looooved them!

Oops, forgot to say, these designs are by Holly Fulton!

CatwalkQueen returns!!!

Why didn't anyone tell me that CatwalkQueen is back up and running??!? I was up late last night and something just beckoned me to type it into the address bar, despite being bitterly disappointed many times over the past few months. I used to check it daily, so it was a difficult habit to shake!
CatwalkQueen stopped posting abruptly in July because of some legal and financial issues. Perhaps not a bad thing for me at the time, as checking these kinds of sites made me miss London so much when I was in Oz.
But it is one of my favourite sites to visit for a little fashion industry insider news, peppered with some high street tip-offs, which are really helpful when I am in London, with money to spend...ie not at the moment. Boohoo for me. Anyway, check it out at http://www.catwalkqueen.tv

Bar-hopping across the Adriatic

This was not your average holiday. My average holiday usually consists of much activity planning and hectic sight-seeing and city exploration, making the most of every minute of holiday goodness. I don't usually like to lie still on a beach and do nothing. But this was something entirely new. Sailing for most of the day, jumping off the side of the boat for swims, getting fed waaay too much for lunch everyday, then a few hours of exploring a new port each afternoon before settling in for dinner and drinks. One week and we felt like the rest of the world didn't exist. Of course, holidaying with a bunch of (mostly) Australians meant the liver was not going to escape unscathed. Luckily, we were in the right place. We got to drink in the most gorgeous and idyllic settings. People have been known to use the phrase 'best bar in the world' to describe these places. We really didn't take many photos of the week, and these probably don't really do them justice, but trust alot of fun was had.

In case you desperately needed a cocktail but also had a bag of dirty laundry? Zagreb.

This bar (see the little cluster of umbrellas) on the outside of the ancient Roman walls of Dubrovnik was reached through an inconspicuos hole in the wall. No signs. No name. So cool.

You can jump off the rocks into the water then enjoy a glass of wine while watching the sunset over the Adriatic.

Sometimes beer drinking was so urgent one couldn't even wait to get to the bar and had to start drinking while sitting on the roof of the ferry!

My personal favourite, the Half-Tower bar in Korcula, at the top of an ancient stone tower.

People go up via this ladder. Drinks go up via a pulley system on the outside of the tower.

And the view of the sunset was pretty amazing too!

Having holiday withdrawals...

Well, I just returned from the most amazing trip to Croatia and Italy! Okay, maybe it was a week ago but I'm pretending I only just got back, as it's my only excuse for not posting in so long. I am still recovering, and let me tell you it didn't start well, either! Packing was always going to be a bit of a challenge, being my first summer holiday in a very long while: What do you wear when it's hot? To the beach? And to go out after a day at the beach? AND what do you wear when you're going to be spending a week on a sailing boat, going to the beach, and then going out after?? Anyway, had to go through all the boxes of clothes packed away in my friends' cupboard only to find that the whole box of shoes was missing! They must be at my old flat! Arghh! So I basically had to go on a summer holiday with shoes from my endless winter stint! I had to wear joggers pretty much everyday for almost 2 weeks! It was so hard to get dressed everyday knowing you look like a daggy tourist and not being able to do anything about it! Got some pretty funny looks from the locals, too, like they'd never seen a pair of athletic shoes before or something! Don't you just love travelling to countries where it's not considered rude to stare and point? Anyway, I think I managed to choose only photos where you can't see my shoes. Here are some typical sight-seeing photos to whet your appetite, more to come...

The promenade at Split. Hmm, I look kind of pregnant in this picture. Yeah, not.

Cafe culture inside Diocletian's Palace, Split

Dubrovnik, Croatia's 'Jewel'. Basically our week-long sailing trip was filled with scenery like this!

The Pantheon, Rome. Copied from the Greeks.

The Colosseum. Massive. Awesome.

St. Peter's Basilica, in the outfit that was supposedly so offensive it had to be covered up by scarves bought for 4 Euro each before I could enter!

After seeing the Sistine Chapel, you have to walk for about half an hour just to get out. This staircase was a welcome sight! Not that the Vatican wasn't great, just never-ending.