Emily loves Serious! This is Edinburgh!

She's* made the video - you voted - we did it guys!! I am in the top 50 for the STA UK Travel Intern 2010! Ok, party over. Stage one complete yes. But there are still 3 more stages to pass before I can call myself STA UK world traveller intern 2010! So I better share some more travel experiences from the past and prove to this team I got what it takes to be that Intern.

Scotland it's a big place,
lots of space,

One month of time,
let’s cut it down.
Edinburgh -
Old town,
Pebbled ground,
Turn around,
Sea front?
How about...
Ten things you could to do in Edinburgh -

1. Spend a whole entire afternoon in the National Museum of Scotland and only leave when the fire alarm goes off.

2. Take a tour of the Castle and learn about the one o'clock gun - did you know the Scots were a little tight on cash so they changed the time that the 12 O'clock gun was fired to one O'clock so they only had to fire one cannon rather than 12. Well that's what our tour guild said, the hint of Scottish in me prefers me to tell that they were rather economical - well done the Scots!

3. Walk for an hour along the coastal road until you reach a little town (be careful not to miss it -its more like a road with shops) when you get there buy an "Italian" ice cream and walk back. (It wasn't Italian, It wasn't that great but the sun was shining and we were travelling)

4. Notice the paving slabs with quotes around the town - did you see the one with the world on it?

5. Spontaneously book a trip to The Gambia without telling anyone just 'cause you saw a really good deal and before you knew it you've entered your details and clicked confirm all without thinking. Great well you're going now so you better start planning!

6. Buy a Haggis in a tin - If you are flying on don't put it in your hand luggage! Although the total volume is equal 200ml and the Haggis takes up more than 90% of that space the airport staff will still most likely insist that they pierce the tin to let the liquid out. Well yeah I guess I would do the same - we don't want that haggis blowing up on the plane now certainly not with the new liquid regulations!

7. Work for ISIS Education and Travel and take a bunch of really great Italian kids on day trips and walking tours - what a great way to learn and teach some Scottish History.

8. At the end of your Edinburgh sightseeing, count how many times you see or hear about Mary Queen of Scots - She gets everywhere that Queen.

9. Discover the local pub the night before you start work and drink a hot chocolate just because you are too responsible to let down a bunch of eager kids down and to be honest you'd rather enjoy the look on the barman's face when you order and ask... "do I get a free biscuit with that?"

10. Get your Camera out at 4am to take photographs of the sun rising on your way back to bed from the toilet.



So there you have it, there are ten things you could do, you could also take a photo of the moon during day, visit the Royal Botanic Garden and a whole lot more but that should be enough to get you started.

* this star would like to acknowledge that of course some parts of the video 'she' made were filmed by friends but to type to that up there would have interrupted the flow thanks little helpers - you know who you are :)

Emily loves Berlin & Potsdam too

This is my diary extracts taken from when I was in Berlin and Potsdam with my sister Leah. I wrote my diary in German while I was there because I wanted to get to know the language better and start learning it as a second language. I have translated the paragraphs into English below and added some pictures and a video from our time there.

Am Ersten tag sind wir am Hauptbahnhof in Deutschland angekommen.

On the first day we arrived at 'Hauptbahnhof' train station in Germany.

Wir waren am Alexanderplatz am Mittwoch, wo wir einkaufen gegangen sind. Danach sind wir zum Prezlauerberg gegangen und haben mit Helen Schnitzel mit Kartoffelsalat gegessen. (sehr Deutsch)

We were in Alexanderplatz on Wednesday, where we went shopping and after that we met Helen in Prezlauerberg where we ate Schnitzel* with potato salad (very German).

Am donnerstag haben wir eine Sightseeing Tour durch Berlin gemacht. Auf der Tour haben wir viele Sehenswüdigkeiten besucht. Unter anderem haben wir das Krieg Denkmal für die Juden, das Brandenburger Tor und das Deutsche Parlement 'den Reichstag' gesehen. Wir haben auch die Neue Wache besucht.

On Thursday we went on a sightseeing tour of Berlin. On the tour we saw many tourist sights. As well as other sights we saw the war memorial to the Jews, the Brandenburg gate (this famous gate with the four horses marks where the East of Germany was separated from the West) and the Germany Parliament 'the Reichstag'. We also saw the New Guard House (originally used as a guard house for the troops of the Crown Prince of Prussia, the building is now used as a war memorial.

Am Freitag sind wir in den Zoo gegangen, wo wir viele Tiere gesehen haben. Im Zoo haben wir 'Knut' den weltberühmten Eisbären getroffen. Des Weiteren haben wir asiatische Elefanten, Robben, Nilpferde und viele mehr gesehen.

On Friday we went to the Zoo in Berlin, where we saw many animals. In the Zoo we met the world famous polar bear 'Knut'. We also saw Asian elephants, seals, hippos and many more.

Am Wochenende sind Leah und ich mit unseren Freunden Maxi und Helen nach Potsdam gefahren. Potsdam hat eine schöne Altstadt und die Landschaft ist wuderschön. Da haben wir auch das Schloss Sanssouci, die Brücke, das Chinesisches Haus, das holländische Viertel and das Theater gesehen.

At the weekend Leah and I went to Potsdam with our friends Maxi and Helen. Potsdam has a pretty old town and the countryside is beautiful. There we also saw the Sanssouci Palace, the Chinese haus, the Dutch Quarter and the theater.

Am Samstag haben wir mit Freunde das Berliner Nachtleben kennen gelernt.

On Saturday night we went with friends to experience the Berlin nightlife.

*Schnitzel is a thin steak fried in bread crumbs

Emily loves The Czech Republic (České Republice)

This one was a week spent with my friend Lucie in Olomouc and Prague. Lucie is from the Czech Republic so during the holidays I decided to pay her a little visit and get to know some stuff about her home country as well catch up and drink an insane amount coffee.

I can't say I learned much from this holiday in way of which hotels to stay at because I was lucky enough to be staying in Lucie's family home in Olomouc and with her sister in Prague. But I can give you a few tips on some great places to visit when there and how to deal with being in this country if you don't have a Czech speaking friend.

It's true when I say no-one is expecting you to go to the Czech Republic and be fluent in the Czech language but it does help to revise some basic language before you go. Personally I like to do this wherever I go I think the locals appreciate you making effort even if your pronunciation isn't spot on. A nice little site I came across before venturing into the unknown of Eastern Europe is http://www.myczechrepublic.com/. Here you can find some useful phrases covering typical tourist subjects such as greetings, eating out, getting directions and some random ones you might come across if you're lucky "Smím prosit?" (would you like to dance) to which you must of course reply "are you kiddin’? I love dancing let’s go!!" ok I don't know how to say that in Czech but maybe the more subtle approach will do, a simple 'yes, why not' ('jo, proč ne'). The thing I like best about this little sight is that besides each phrase is a play button so you can even practice saying it right before trying out your new language on the experts. Brilantní!!

Another really important thing to do when you visit Prague is make a note of the places that you eat that are exceptionally good and value for money (*cough* errrrm....yeah something I didn't do) but there is this really great pub/restaurant we visited in Prague. Maybe I can be forgiven for not remembering the name of this place as Lucie didn't have a clue either. All I can tell you is if you walk into a pub with lots of varnished wooden beams and a particular Czech puppet dominating the surroundings then order a plate of something czech it was good and value for money.

Prague (Praha)
Top places visit

1. The Prague castle (night and day - it looks different in the dark)
a. The Charles Bridge
b. The Astronomical Clock (on the hour so you can see the musical instrument playing puppets pop out as the clock chimes)

2. The Museum of Communism (http://www.muzeumkomunismu.cz/eng_find_us.html) - Really interesting to see historical information from different perspectives. I stumbled across this museum on my way to meet Lucie for a drink and I'm really glad I did.

3. The restaurant U Brejšků (for directions click here) http://www.ubrejsku.cz/br_mapa.asp - It's the one with the puppet of this czech character, Vojak Švejk a famous Czech character of a solider.

Olomouc
Top things to see and do

1. Visit the Astronomical Clock - Yes, there is one in Olomouc too!! ( I did not take that picture, sorry yes next time I will set up my camera on time delay and make sure I get the top of the clock in - sorry Lucie, great bricked ground but it's not the main attraction!)

2. Spot the Baroque Fountains - we are sure there are six we think there may be more but I'm told not even many people from Czech know for sure. The most famous is the Neptune one.

3. Drink some Kofola - it's a bit like coke but nicer I think, it's also "VERY" Czechish and became popular in the 60's in Czechoslovakia during communist times as a substitute for the western Coca-cola and Pepsi and is now only avaliable from Czech Republic and Solvakia (I've read quite a few pages about people in the USA having difficulty finding it there so literally if you're in Czech try it - you might not get another chance!)

4. Notice the Holy Trinity Column - a UNESCO world heritage site, this column is representative of the Baroque period.

Overall top tips

1. practice some basic lingo - especially if you want to visit smaller places outside of Prague (not everyone can speak English)

2. get a map of the areas you want to visit - you can find these at most tram and tube stations, tourist info places or if you're super organised, online before you leave

3. public transport - I travelled from the main station Prague (Praha hlavní nadraží), to the main station Olomouc (Olomouc hlavní nadraží), all the cities have a main station and will be called the name of that city followed by "hlavní nadraží" (main station).

4. the currency - Czech crown or koruna (Kč) £1 is about 28 CZK

Emily loves poetry in German & English

Today is Mothers Day so happy happy happy may my Mother be today and all her days to come.

Here is a poem from me to her, I found it on card I bought in Germany to help me learn the language. I have translated it into English below my mum is not German but I seeing as I'm learning it I thought it would be nice to put this too:

Danke,

Danke dass du immer an mich glaubst,
Auch wenn ich mir selber gar nicht so sicher bin
Thank-you that you always believe in me,
Even when I doubt myself.

...dass du immer fuer mich da bist,
Wenn ich dich brauche,
...that you are always there,
when I need you,

...dass du so Lieb zu mir bist,
Auch wenn die Welt richtig gemein ist
...that you are so kind to me,
even when the world is really mean.

Danke dass es dich gibt ich hab dich sehr lieb :)
Thank-you that you exist, I love you very much :)

Alles Gute zum Muttertag - Happy mother's day.

Emily loves Celebrations & Events

You gotta give it too them, the girls in our flat are great! there's Lucie, Naissa, Donata and Suzie. Sunday night was the celebration for finishing my finial video for stage one of the STA Travel Internship; we all cooked together! My favourite little dish for eating with friends, think sharing, think building and wrappin'...yup you got it! Faijta's, vegtables and salads, we are loving the chicken, don't forget the cucumbers and tomatoes! Donata's having falafel and tofu (she's vegatarian) also a tasty choice. It was small, it was sweet, all in all a feast to eat!

The conversation on the night,
was something that I really liked,

The event Sense hosted by Listen for Vision is coming up! A couple of friends of ours Ricarda and Tony are completing a group project for their university module to host a music event and raise money for the charity VISION it's in the Eastbourne Waterfront on the 19th March at 20:00.

Event Sense are holding a live music event to raise money for Vision Charity, at The Waterfront, Eastbourne 19th March 2010. Tickets are £6 for students and £7 for non-students.

Providing the music:
Friday Night Hero
LUMI (Luxembourg)
Inseminate
The Gameboys (dj set)

So there you have it, be there or be square :)

for more information check out http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=321207516901&ref=ts

Emily Loves the International Students Society (ISS)

I'm English and studying in England, so maybe not your first guess at one of the international society members. I have always had international friends since the beginning of uni so when some of my best friends and housemates became committee members it was natural that I should become a member too.

Besides being loads of fun with cool events organised by Gaby, Naissa, Lucie, Jasmin, Ricarda, Jimmy and Shanin (the committee), the ISS is a great place to meet people from all around the world in my own country and while studying.

The lastest event took place last night, a quirky theme was to be choosen. Pirates? Arrright! The best dressed lady and gent recieved the prize of a bottle of rum and there were also prizes for the best pirate imitation, pirate song and various other quizzes.

I met loads more new people from my uni last night from Luxembourg, Lithuania, Romania, Finland, Bulgaria and Germany (which is always good as I'm trying really hard to learn German as a second language right now).

As well as great friends and great times I have a lot to thank the ISS for in supporting my application to become STA travel's Intern this summer. Last week the committee let me spread the word in their column featured in the university paper, the pebble. I got to explain to fellow students what my application involves. Thanks to Gaby (ISS president) yesterday, for making the announcement at the Pirate party.

To find out more about:

Eastbourne's ISS visit http://www.eastbourneiss.co.uk/?page_id=260
Our University pebble visit http://www.ubsu.net/content/11567/the_pebble/