Wednesday 30 April 2014

Writing fiction?!

Wikipedia
I've just started an Open University course through Future Learn called "start writing fiction". 

I used to love writing when I was a teenager, I always wrote about 10 pages more than I had to on story writing assignments at school. I still have some of the stories I wrote, although looking at them now the writing style is very childish. The stories themselves are fairly good, just needs a bit of a polish.

The first writing assignment on the Future Learn course sounded simple enough; write two paragraphs between 50 and 100 words, one with 1 truth and 3 fictions, the other with 1 fiction and 3 truths. I think I spent between half an hour to an hour trying to write the one with 3 fictions! I have gotten so used to writing the truth on this blog I don't know how to write fiction anymore! So of course I am really looking forward to getting back into writing fiction through this course.


Can you tell the facts from fiction?


1 fact, 3 fictions
I remember when I went to school; in every new class we had to sit down in a circle and every person would introduce themselves to the rest of the class. I loved it when I had to repeat the name of all the people introducing themselves before me, I was usually within the 5 first people so I didn’t have to repeat many names. Although I did struggle remembering the names the year I was an exchange student in China, they were just so different from the names I’m used to hearing.

1 fiction, 3 facts

Sometimes it can be quite nice working shifts. Like now, I’ve got 4 days off in a row, that doesn’t happen very often. I can go shopping when the 24-hour supermarkets are almost completely empty, I can go to the zoo, or the Blue John Cavern, or Chatsworth and other places when children are at school so it’s nice and quiet. In addition, daytime TV shows are the best!

Saturday 12 April 2014

Things to see and do in Italy

Wikipedia Commons
I've already done posts about the top 10 places I want to visit on each continent (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania), but I wanted to have a closer look at a couple of countries.

Italy is, at the moment, the country I would most like to explore. There is just so much culture, architecture, history and delicious food all wrapped up neatly in a country that also has one of the most beautiful languages in the world! So far I have only been to Rome and while I was there I also visited the Vatican City.

I think Italy is one of those countries where it would be best to just get a car and drive around, exploring the little Italian villages would be part of the charm. I have however compiled a list of things I want to see and do if I go back to Italy.

Italy

  • Verona, ever since I learned about Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet I've been wanting to go to Verona to see the place for myself, there are tours where you can explore the Romeo and Juliet side of the city
  • Ruins of Pompeii, I've always been fascinated by volcanoes so to go to a city that's been so affected by one and well preserved for about 2000 years would be really amazing,  while I was in the area I would also visit the
  • Ruins of Herculaneum, it's upstaged by Pompeii but was actually destroyed by the same Mt. Vesuvius eruption. It's smaller and easier to navigate than Pompeii and personally I think visiting the less known places is better than just seeing the same places as everyone else
  • Venice, before it sinks too much I would love to go and see Basilica di San Marco
  • The leaning tower of Pisa, it started leaning shortly after construction and they didn't just knock it down and start over! 
  • Valley of the Temples, I love old historical buildings so Doric temples dating from the 5th century B.C. would be absolutely amazing to see
  • Trulli di Alberobello, just because it would be fun to see a whole town of limestone buildings with cone shaped roofs
  • Naples, food like pizza and spaghetti originated in Naples, meaning you should go there just to eat
  • Grotta Azzurra, the blue grotto in Capri, a cave where the light from the sun coming in through the opening makes the water look neon blue (image below)
  • Cooking class in Tuscany, I would absolutely love to do this! The Mediterranean diet is one of the world's healthiest diets, in addition Italian food is one of the tastiest cuisines, I would love to learn to make Italian food from the masters themselves
  • Florence, thanks to the architecture of the old buildings Florence has been dubbed an outdoor museum, there are also loads of statues of "David" scattered around Florence, so you could do a "David" treasure hunt
Grotta Azzurra, Capri - Wikipedia
These are the places I would really love to see in Italy, but like I wrote above I would prefer just getting a car and driving around the country (getting a licence first would probably be a good idea).

If you haven't been to Rome and the Vatican City you should definitely go there as well! Rome is just and amazing city with so much to see! Just be careful as people basically shove things on that they then want money for. My top picks for Rome would be;
  • Colosseum 
  • Trevi Fountain
  • Pantheon
  • Spanish steps
  • Monumento a Vittorio Emanuelle II
  • The Vatican City, a country of its own but it's kind of in Rome so I'm going to count it as Rome
  • The Vatican Museum, if the Pope is speaking try to go to the museum while that is happening as it's VERY crowded afterwards, also it might be a good idea to get a guided tour so that you can get all the important things pointed out to you, I'd like to go back as I didn't feel like I actually saw anything when I went last time
Have you been to Italy? 
What places would you suggest/want to go in Italy?

Wednesday 9 April 2014

10 places I want to visit - Oceania

I was going to just do a list of 10 places I want to see for the whole world, but there are just too many places! So I decided to do a list of each continent instead (excluding Antarctica).

Of course there are more than 10 places to see on each continent, some places I haven't even thought of, but I had to have some cut-off-point.

I wish I'd had more time and money to explore Oceania while I was on that side of the world.

Oceania
worldmapsonline.com

  • Lake Hillier, WA, Australia, a PINK lake?! How did I not know about this while I was in Australia?! I would have totally gone to see it with my own eyes!!
  • Papua New Guinea, I'd love to explore one of the least explored areas in the world, it's believed to have many undiscovered species of plants and animals
  • Bora Bora
  • Tahiti
  • Fiji
  • Brute Slope Point, New Zealand, to see the very windswept trees
  • Hobbiton, New Zealand, probably one of the greatest, most epic trilogies of our lifetime (both books and films), of course it would be amazing to feel part of that, whether you're a Lord of the Rings fan or not
  • Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand
  • Christchurch, New Zealand, my mum and her husband was there after the earthquake and they've said it's amazing, I would love to see it myself as well!
  • Vanuatu

What would your 10 places in Oceania be? 
If you could go anywhere in Oceania right now, where would you go?

10 places I want to visit - Asia

I was going to just do a list of 10 places I want to see for the whole world, but there are just too many places! So I decided to do a list of each continent instead (excluding Antarctica).

Of course there are more than 10 places to see on each continent, some places I haven't even thought of, but I had to have some cut-off-point.

There is just so much culture, and so much history, so much of everything in Asia! How could anyone not want to go there?!

Asia
Wikipedia Commons

  • Great wall of China, a must have on any travel list
  • Taj Mahal, India, I wanted to stop there on my way back from Australia, but the Indian visa rules are very strict and it was just too tricky to apply for a visa while I was still in Australia
  • Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Singapore
  • Japan
  • Maldives, for a luxury holiday once I win the lottery
  • Bali
  • Vietnam
  • Jerusalem, Israel, I've already been to the Vatican, it would be kind of cool visit another holy city, even though I'm not religious myself
  • Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to see "The World"


One thing I've found out while making these lists of where to go on each continent is that I have a hard time remembering the places I know I've thought about before that I want to go! So these are lists of places I want to visit but at the same time I know I'm forgetting about other places on those continents that I also want to see! It's rather frustrating!

What would your 10 places in Asia be? 
If you could go anywhere in Asia right now, where would you go?

Monday 7 April 2014

10 places I want to visit - Africa

I was going to just do a list of 10 places I want to see for the whole world, but there are just too many places! So I decided to do a list of each continent instead (excluding Antarctica).

Of course there are more than 10 places to see on each continent, some places I haven't even thought of, but I had to have some cut-off-point.

Just like my South America post I actually had a little bit of a struggle finding places I wanted to visit in Africa. Africa isn't really a place I've thought much about in regards to holidays, but I do think it would be an amazing continent to see, and also to volunteer in.


Africa

Wikipedia Commons
  • Egypt, pyramids, the Nile and the Sphinx, who doesn't want to see that?!
  • Morocco
  • Victoria Falls
  • The Serengeti
  • Watamu, Kenya, dubbed the Eco-tourists dream due to the many hotels focusing on sustainable tourism
  • Madagascar, maybe I'll be able to find some Dodo's hiding?
  • Rwanda mountain gorillas
  • Sahara dunes
  • Mauritius
  • Table Mountain, South Africa

What would your 10 places in Africa be? 
If you could go anywhere in Africa right now, where would you go?

Sunday 6 April 2014

10 places I want to visit - South America

I was going to just do a list of 10 places I want to see for the whole world, but there are just too many places! So I decided to do a list of each continent instead (excluding Antarctica).

Of course there are more than 10 places to see on each continent, some places I haven't even thought of, but I had to have some cut-off-point.

I actually had a little bit of a struggle finding places I wanted to visit in South America. Not because I don't want to go there but because it's probably one of the continents I have thought about the least. But once I had a look online about places to go in South America it all came back to me, all the amazing places I would love to see.

South America

motherplanet.com

  • Machu Picchu, Peru, this is definitely on my bucket list, it's just a shame it's so expensive to get tickets to go there!
  • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, especially during Carnivale
  • The Amazon Rainforest
  • Galapagos Islands
  • Easter Island, who wouldn't love to see those big stone heads?!
  • Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Salar de Uyuni, I had never heard of this but after some research I have decided I would definitely love to go there!
  • Cuidad Perida, Colombia, an ancient city, founded even earlier than Machu Picchu
  • Lake Titicaca, Peru
  • Iguazu Falls, Argentina


What would your 10 places in South America be? 
If you could go anywhere in South America right now, where would you go?

10 places I want to visit - Europe

I was going to just do a list of 10 places I want to see for the whole world, but there are just too many places! So I decided to do a list of each continent instead (excluding Antarctica).

Of course there are more than 10 places to see on each continent, some places I haven't even thought of, but I had to have some cut-off-point. So without further ado, in no particular order:

Europe
Wikipedia Commons

  • Italy, I have only been to Rome so far, and it's just such a beautiful country with so much great food and culture, who wouldn't want to explore more of it?!
  • Athens, been wanting to go since I learned about Greek Mythology in school
  • Iceland
  • Monaco
  • Berlin
  • Switzerland
  • Moominworld in Finland, I grew up watching the Moomins on TV,  so I think this would be a very nice experience
  • Crete
  • San Marino
  • Moscow, Russia to see St. Basil's

What would your 10 places in Europe be? 
If you could go anywhere in Europe right now, where would you go?

Saturday 5 April 2014

10 places I want to visit - North America

I was going to just do a list of 10 places I want to see for the whole world, but there are just too many places! So I decided to do a list of each continent instead (excluding Antarctica).

Of course there are more than 10 places to see on each continent, some places I haven't even thought of, but I had to have some cut-off-point. In no particular order:

North America

  • Alaska. I would love to go and see the Northern Lights and the midnight sun there, I know I can see those things in Norway as well but it would be even more special to see it while exploring somewhere completely new
  • Calgary & Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. I have a friend from Red Deer, it would be interesting to see where she grew up
  • Prince Edward Island, Canada. Because of Anne of Green Gables of course
  • Nashville, Tennessee. One of the greatest music cities of all time
  • Hawaii
  • California. So many great cities to explore
  • Seattle 
  • Las Vegas. Bound to be an experience
  • New Orleans
  • The Ben and Jerry Factory, Vermont

What would your 10 places in North America be? 
If you could go anywhere in North America right now, where would you go?

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