It’s been a bloody long time since I blogged, so here is a monster to make up for it.

I’m back in London after a trip to Copenhagen, Helsinki and Modbury. I’ve had a good Christmas, eaten too much, had too much to drink, and got some incredible pressies from my lovely family. Greg, of previous blogging fame was staying with the family for Christmas, and we did some amazing stuff. Have a few (ha) photos, many thanks to Ash for his amazing photography skills. (Some of the photos are mine too, hehe.) There is more stuff below the photos, so keep scrolling.

Ashton and Greg on Dartmoor being artistic.

Me on Western Beacon

Ash tobodying down Western Beacon.

Testing the ice on the way to Westcombe Beach

I found me a horsey friend!

The guys on the beach.

The sunset, with Ash's friend Tom being a starfish.

Greg and me recreating a photo from his previous trip.

Christmas Dinner; Beef Wellington.

Ashton got a dress-up box for Christmas - really scary mask!

Us kids playing dress-up again.

Also, I’m typing up my holiday diary and will share with you to delight you with while I get stuck into revision for an exam in two weeks.

So, here goes.

18th December 2010

COPENHAGEN

Finding Andrew and sister in TGI.

The journey to Scandinavia started yesterday, with last minute packing, a trip to Oxford Street and a panic at Earl’s Court. The first I knew of it was Lucia finding me waiting for her and Kathy, and just saying “We have a problem. Kathy’s lost her passport.” An urgent phonecall, the upside-downification of Kathy’s flat and a scolded shoe-rack later hiding the significant item, all was sorted and the three of us were all set. By this time, Lucia and I were ready to get on a tube to Heathrow, while Kathy got a taxi from London. We met at the airport, sent our bags off and were all ready to go to…TGI Fridays! Our flight was delayed by an hour, which facilitated a round of sesame chicken strips and chicken wings. We met Andrew and sister Louise in TGI, them on their way back to Lagos. By 8.45, the flight was ready to board; after about half an hour we got on the plane, with brief messages to everyone and a quick bye-bye England. On the plane, Lucia and I quizzed Kathy on planes we could see out on the runway (“what is that?” “Kathy, I think that one is the A380”).

Ready to go...sort of!

The plane sat on the ground for ages, with us raring to go. It finally took off – the sky was totally clear and we got the most incredible view of London at night as we circled right out of Heathrow.

We basically read all the way to Copenhagen. We landed at 12.30 am and met Lucia’s parents, Henrieta and Juraj, in the arrivals lounge, following a brief panic at the luggage conveyor belts (LHR belt 6 – eight minutes…twenty-eight-minutes…six minutes). We went outside into the snow, and walked to the car. The snow here has a totally different quality to any I’ve experienced before – snow in London crunches when you stand on it and forms a snowball really easily. Here, it doesn’t crunch but behaves a bit more like sand on a beach, and when you try make a snowball it just sticks to your gloves!

Anyway, we found the car, and after another brief ‘eeek’ moment caused by driving on the WRONG side of the road, we were off! Henrieta pointed out significant places in

London by night - plane moving too fast to take a good photo.

Copenhagen as we went – parliaments, palaces, lakes, the answer to Harrods in Denmark, the shopping street…I can’t remember any more specific names or anything. What sticks in the mind most is snow covering buildings covered in lights, showing every postcard fairy-tale you’ve ever seen wherever you look. There are Christmas trees literally everywhere (there was even one between runways as we landed!). They don’t have ornaments on them but are literally dripping with light. Incredible.

We had a brief conversation in the car about Materials Science (“They rent the cars with summer tires” “What’s the difference between summer and winter tires?” “Tread and rubber – they stick to the ground better.”) This can only be described as Materials geekery.

We went past the city centre and came to the residences of the Slovak embassy. This is where Lucia spent four years, and it was really interesting to see the flats. One of the

Toooo long to get our bags!

bedrooms in Lucia’s parents flat had all of her furniture in it from when she was a child. It was cool. We dumped our stuff in our flat and proceeded to sit in the lounge of Lucia’s parents’ and have some nibbles accompanied with champagne. We stayed awake until four in the morning, chatting and discussing life, the universe and everything. One of the topics of conversation was Ashton and I clicking at each other, which got renamed to clucking.

We went to our flat and didn’t go to bed till five; talking too much! In the (snowy) courtyard is all the playground stuff Lucia grew up with. ♥ “See I may not be able to cluck like you but I can oink like a pig better than anyone I know.”

Lucia after too much champagne.

Lucia's pressie from the front.

The end of term is tomorrow. Obviously, we have all been celebrating. I mentioned unveiling something in my last post, and you can see it in all its glory here. I started it on the first day of my internship, and I finished it two weeks after ending my internship. That right there is dedication.

FOOD

The grand event happened at Lucia’s flat. Kathy cooked, Lucia helped, and I….drank vodka orange and played Angry Birds on my phone. Not the most social…I got a nice little slap on the wrist from Lucia for that, became more social and the evening progressed. With the arrival of Luisa, Matt and Patrick, we were all set to eat an amazing Christmas pasta dish. I know, you’re confused about how a pasta dish can be Christmassy? Well, it was a TURKEY pasta bake with CINNAMON, NUTMEG and CLOVES in it. Genius! It was delicious, and much appreciated.

The magic revealed!

Anyway, we then exchanged gifts, and after the unveiling of the Harry Potter illusion knit, it was my turn to be the recipient of the item that has been the subject of the grand deception all term. Basically, Lucia coordinated everyone to get me a Amazon Kindle, which involved all my Materials friends, and, right from under my nose, my boyfriend, John and my parents. The deception failed in that I saw Lucia emailing Tom, so knew about the ruse but not what it was. Oh. My. God. I’m so happy. The Kindle goes everywhere with me now. I’ve downloaded a lot of books and papers, and am convinced that it’s going to influence my degree in a good way. Thank you, you’re all the best!

Big pile of pressies.

Following the Unwrapping, we played games, which upon the disappearance of Kathy, Matt and Luisa, turned into drinking games that resulted in a few rather hilarious antics which can be hinted at in the photographs.

Wondering what the hell it is.

Patrick and I headed home at around two, getting a bit lost on the way but getting home safe and sound and happy.

I was very hungover yesterday. My head hurt. It was the second one I’ve had, and I didn’t much enjoy the experience.

So I’ve realised as I’ve been writing that I haven’t said much about Materials for a while. That’s largely because the stuff that is going on is fairly uninteresting. I took my samples out of the furnace in preparation for the Christmas hols today, have spent quite a while revising for my exam in Jan, and have had a couple of assessments this week for the Big Project. That’s about it really – nothing I can wax lyrical about anyway.

I’d rather talk about Christmas!

On the cards for today and tomorrow is cleaning the flat in preparation for leaving tomorrow evening, as well as making sure I have enough warm clothes for Denmark/Finland, all my revision and pressies for the family. I’m excited to be leaving tomorrow. I would like a break.

Pretending I'm actually Patrick

My new toy

HANDSTAND...Impressive!

Kathy with a new hot water bottle cover, for her below-freezing bedroom

Everyone needs a giant cookbook

Ciao for now!

Hello,

The Towersey Tiger Hats

It’s been a few days. Oopsy daisies. My advent blogging failed. “What have you been up to?” I hear you ask. Well, on Saturday I had the most awesome lie-in I’ve ever had, like, ever. I was supposed to be revising but the radio was on and my bed was warm and the flat was untidy, which I would have had to face when I got up. So I didn’t. This requires me pointing it out on my blog because people always say students are lazy and spend all their time in bed – it’s quite unusual for me to be in bed after 8 am, even after a 4 am bedtime (as I had on Friday). It was nice to relax – something that I forget frequently. The stress of this term is making me forget to be a real person, which is something that I’ve forced myself to do every year up until now. More lie ins are on the cards, I think! John and I cooked a Jaimie’s 30-Minute Meal, we recorded some Quartet Christmas music, and watched Inception. I also gave the boys their pressies, which I knitted in September during a day-long hospital visit. It’s taken me since then to sew the ends in. They are to match the infamous Tiger Hats.

One of the Tiger Scarves

On Sunday all my music peeps came round and Tom and I cooked a Christmas dinner for them. I don’t have photos unfortunately, cos I was too busy cooking – I think John has some which I will steal from his camera when I next get a chance, so you can all share the awe we felt at fitting 9 people around our little kitchen table. I think we used every single pot/pan/cooking implement we own, but in the evening we went out and everyone else cleaned up.

Where did we go out? To see Ross Noble! zOMG it was hilarious. When I watch him on DVDs or TV or something, I never think he is as funny as I did on Sunday. I pointed out to Tom, John and Jenny as we walked home that “I was laughing so much that I couldn’t laugh anymore”. First time in a long time. This is something else I want to do more often!

I had an assessment yesterday for my final project. I think I passed. Yay! Tonight Lucia, Kathy and I are cooking dinner for the Dwarves, and exchanging gifts as well. I can’t wait to give Lucia hers – you will see why tomorrow, when I finally post a picture of it somewhere on the internet where it can be seen! I finished it in September, have been waiting a long time for this day.

Ross Noble

Anyway, that’s about it. This week is just finishing up in labs, getting ready to go home, and packing for a five-day trip to Copenhagen and Helsinki with the girls. Excited!

Ciao for now!