Denmark- hidden gem in Europe!

Hello everyone

Well, its a Monday evening here in London and the weather has turned a little nasty... they are even expecting snow tomorrow!! Maybe for the first time in my life I will see falling snow.. I can only hope!

My weekend, well this time I visited Denmark! I flew to Copenhagen and I was met at the airport by a friend of mine that I havent see in 7 years!!! Line and I did the WALK program in Africa in 1999 and we have kept in contact (except for a couple of years in between) and I always said that one day I will get to Denmark to visit her! Well that day was on Friday.. I must admit I was a little nervous if I would recognise her as its been sooo long and I didnt have a recent photo of her!

There was no problem, as her and her boyfriend spotted me when I got through customs and it was all a little surreal seeing her after such a long time. Even though its been a long time, after a while it felt like I saw her yesterday. Her and Lars are such great people and they made me feel at home.

I stayed in their one bedroom house and we got up on Saturday morning for some brunch at Roskilde (the small town about 30 mins from Copenhagen where they live). We then caught the train into Copenhagen for a walk around this picturesque capital with Line as the perfect travel guide. Unfortunately, the weather wasnt very favourable as it was very wet! We did all the sights, with the highlight being the Royal Castle where our very own Princess Mary waved after marrying Frederick and the little mermaid..

It was a fun afternoon, besides the weather, and Line was the perfect guide as she gave me a detailed perspective about all the attractions we checked out! (she is definitely in the wrong career)

That night, Lars came into town and we all had dinner together and then had a drink at a bar.. It was the end of a great day in Copenhagen!

The next morning I got up early and went to Obsense, which is located on an island off the mainland of Denmark which is where my friend Dorte lives with her husband. I caught the worlds most comfortable train and made the 70 minute journey to visit her.. I also havent seen her in 7 years after we travelled through Zimbabwe together for a week when I was there in 99. She has not changed at all and is still heaps of fun and would love to still be travelling.. Obsense is famous as the birthplace of H C Andersens (author). So everywhere you go you see sculptures representing characters that come from him..

I had lunch there with her husband Mark, and we all had a great chat about life in Africa..

I then boarded the train back to Copenhagen airport to fly back to London.

It was the end of a wonderful weekend catching up with two people I havent seen in years but hopefully I will see again while Im in London. They were both sooo accommodating and made me feel at home and hopefully I can return the favour if they come to London this year.

So that is Denmark... of course this weekend is Australia Day!!

It will be a huge night on Friday night celebrating our national day and maybe will continue on until the rest of the weekend..

Hope everyone is well and post a comment if you get a chance!

Stay safe

Troy

Paintballing weekend - 'Troyfest 07'

Good morning from a battered and bruised Aussie here in London

Yes, after nearly 3 months of preparation I had my paintballing weekend in Brighton. Where do I start?? Well, after the numbers were reduced to 8 due to a few people pulling out I thought I would have to pay the difference as I paid for 10. Thankfully, a few more people were able to come along and we eventually had 17 in our group!! Nearly twice what I expected..
We all met at Victoria station to catch the train to Horsham (that was the closest station to where the paintballing venue) .. after organising everyone in the one spot and getting 17 tickets I thought we could all get on the right train.. unfortunately no.. poor Dan was waiting for us at the ticket window and a couple of girls went to platform 16 instead of 18.
So as the train pulled away, we realised that we were missing a few people!! (I wouldnt make a great teacher on a school trip!) Thankfully, they caught the later train and we all arrived on time..
There was plenty of nervous chatter and timid threats of what will happen on the battlefield.. deep down most of us (including me) were just a little nervous of what was ahead of us for the day.
We got to the venue and into our commando suits with our ammunition and we were ready for action.. the adrenalinwas pumping as we were allocated into 2 teams..

We hit our first course and we were split into either side of the game... lets just say I only lasted a short time before I was hit in the arm.. I kind of let everyone know as well that I was hit! (Hey, it really did hurt!)

We then had two more games and unfortunately my team failed to come up with a win. Then Bradd had the smart idea of asking the host what happens to the birthday boy??

Well, if he is up for it he can run the gauntlet with 17 barrels totally aimed at me.. Of course I was, so I took a deep breath and put my head down and somehow managed to make it to the finishing line with only a little blood on my hands!!

It was the end of a terrific day and we were all well and truly exhausted!

We then caught a train to Brighton and I checked into the one and only Hilton Hotel! Luckily, for me a friend of mine works for the Hilton so she got a discount room for £26!!! Bargin!!! It was my first time staying at the Hilton and when I arrived my jumper was muddy, I had paint all over my face and my shoes were a disgrace!!! I must say it was one of the best showers Ive ever had.. and the Hilton even arranged a complimentary bottle of wine due to my birthday!!! (So this is why I always make a fuss of it!!)

After cleaning up we had a group dinner (19 of us in total) before hitting a local club... At some wee hour in the morning I hoped into my double bed bruised but very happy after a successful day.

The next morning, I thought I would have to try the pool and spa.... which I found out was a perfect hangover cure! We then caught up for a look around Brighton before boarding the train back to London.

It was a terrific weekend, one of the best since Ive been here.. had such a great time and Im now planning on having my adventure weekends in the future!

Enjoy the pics

Troy

Christmas and New year cheer!

Here are some pics from our Christmas party in Acton.. there were 18 of us 'orphans' who came together on Christmas day to have a four-course lunch!! A wonderful achievement from the gang in West Acton.. great work Jacky, Dylan and Denny!!

Ive also attached some pics from the Aussie New Year party in Edinburgh.. which was heaps of fun!!

Cheers

Troy

Hogmanay 06 so close yet so far!!!