Having a ball!

Ok, I know I know I know I know I was supposed to be a good little blogger and update every week. Maybe more. Butttt life happens and suddenly I'm having too much fun and going on spontaneous trips to Cologne and Venice to think about a blog. But I really should document my whizzing-by-in-a-flash Erasmus trip. Experience. Life. I don't know what to call it but it's pretty perfect.

Poetry Slam. A concept which I fear would be laughed off in the UK but me and my fellow Brit David were loving every minute. Contestents (mostly studends but a few middle aged) would read their poetry on stage for 5 minutes then we would applaud them. The contestent with the loudest applause/cheers wins. Simple, and in most cases, hilarious. Did wonders for my German too (I think!)

Cologne was great. We decided to really be cheap students and stay out all night, coming home on the first train back. Only do this if your immune system is tip top. Ours, after a few hours of Gluehwein (Christmas market, it's a must!) and banana beer plus no sleep and a dodgy kebab, we weren't feeling our best. However dozing on a train with the sun rising over the Rhine is the most gorgeous thing.....

Venice was like a dream. Like walking around in your imagination, so beautiful with an old charm. I am now compelled to learn Italian. I'll add that after Russian, Croatian and Maltese (I just want to spend my life travelling & collecting languages). Our hostel was really not the best and one night we were freezing cold, the next boiling hot due to problems with the heating but we had a brilliant location. Had a few problems with our airline, Ryanair, which has prompted me to send angry emails every day since returning and the flight back was pretty scary with turbulence. It seemed like we had landed a few times, we were rocked about so much! Hopefully everything goes smoothly when I fly back to the UK in two weeks exactly! Cannot wait!