Happy birthday to me!

It was my birthday yesterday and I am now 23 years old. It is so weird to write that, 23 sounds so old. I can’t believe it is five years since I turned 18, it really does not feel that long.

I had a fantastic day yesterday though. My best friend Johanne and I had a Starbucksdate where we ended up spending a few hours talking about everything. I love my Starbucksdates with her; I could sit there all day long with her if we had to. We always have a lot to talk about and I just have to say that she truly is an extraordinary friend. I am not looking forward to spending the summer not being able to see her every week. So I’m glad we had some quality time together yesterday.

After our date we went home and later I had dinner with some friends at Pizza Express. They have very good food there and it is absolutely a restaurant I recommend. I’ll write a review about it later. But the evening was such a success, at least in my eyes. I got to spend time with my friends and boyfriend and even though some people are still busy with revising for exams they took time off to spend time with me. And that means a lot. So thank you so much, everyone, you’re the best!

 I also feel very spoiled as I got some very nice birthday presents. I even got a cake, and I love cake. I could probably eat cake all day long, if I had my way. Just look at the picture below; doesn’t it look like a little piece of heaven? It really was. And so was the rest of my presents, I love them all. I am truly blessed with some amazing friends.

How good doesn't this cake look? Yum.

My amazing birthday cards.

Beautiful shoes from my best friend Johanne.

Earrings also from the always lovely Johanne.

Wine with my name on it from Jenny and Eirik. I didn't see it yesterday but it says happy 22nd birthday, which is funny because I'm 23. I could not help but laugh.

My boyfriend completely surprised me with these Burberry shoes. How amazing isn't he?

The Royal Wedding

I feel extremely lucky to be living in London these days. Next to being a beautiful city, there is always something happening. Of course this week it was something rather special going on; the royal wedding. Prince William would finally marry his beloved Kate.

Kjell Steinar and I decided to go to Central on Thursday to have a look at the decorations for the wedding. We ended up having a great time, looking at all the people from every corner of our world. It was so nice to see that so many people were excited about the wedding. We saw several people who had brought their tents and were ready to spend the night on the street so that they were able to have a good view the next day. Many of them were dressed up and counting down the hours until Kate and William would say their I do’s.

The atmosphere was amazing. By walking in the streets you could feel that something big was about to happen. The camera crew was already in place the day before the big day and you could feel the excitement of the people. When we got back home we found out that Kate and William had been in the church when we were outside. Oh how I wish they would have come outside and said hi to us.

On Friday was the big day. London was like a ghost town. Hardy anyone was outside. I have lived here for nearly three years and I have never seen the streets more empty. But the minute you got close to Westminster you could hear people shouting with anticipation. I don’t think I have ever seen so many people in one place, it was insane.

I am very glad that Kjell Steinar and I decided to go to Central on the day of the wedding, even though we didn’t see much. We saw Kate and William drive from the church but only for a brief moment as it all happened very fast. But we were there and we celebrated their wedding with a frappuccino from Starbucks. Funnily enough we were not the only ones with that thought. While we were at Starbucks we saw two nicely dressed men who bought a coffee. They had been to the wedding and came straight from the church to Starbucks. They had the program from the church with them, which is why we knew where they came from.

I think it is important to remember that even though Kate and William are royalty, they are still people. This was a big and special day for them and the people who were lucky to be invited. They all might just be craving a Starbucks like the rest of us every now and then. 

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Hi again, everyone!

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I have now officially finished my last essay for Roehampton University. I never thought this day would come that I would put on my shoes and jacket, walk to uni and actually hand in my dissertation, feature story and crime fiction essay. It felt amazing!

I have worked so hard this last month and been extremely stressed. This is why I had to stop blogging for a while; I simply did not have the time. I have missed it though, and I have missed you guys. Not blogging and being a part of this community have made me realise just how much it means to me and how much I’ve learned. It really feels good to start again; I have been looking forward to it for a month.

Your travel.

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I have been blogging quite a bit about my around-the-world trip from last summer and I am actually still not finished with that. I love to write about it and relive the good memories and share them with you. For a while now I have been playing around with an idea and I would love to hear your opinion about it.

Every two weeks I would like to have a guest post from you guys where you share about your favourite travel. It could be about travel tips, what you did and saw on your holiday, if you recommend the place or not or anything you would like to share. It can be as long as you’d like and if you have a picture or two to be on the guest post then that would be fantastic. So if you are interested in contributing then please email me on: cammiewaaden@yahoo.com

I love to read about travel and to learn about new destinations, which is why I am trying to write about my travel experiences in detail. I would be so excited for you to share yours and make this blog a part of a travel community.

Hope you are all well and I’m looking forward to start reading your blogs again and to hear from you. Have a lovely weekend, everyone! 

Back in Norway

 

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Hi, everyone. I just wanted to apologise that I haven’t been doing much blogging these past few days. I have just been so busy with coursework that it is taking all of my energy.

I am actually back in Norway for a couple of weeks now. It is Easter holiday so it was about time to visit the cold country in the north. And yes, it is still winter here. It is quite a lot of snow and still cold. Last week, it was a blizzard here but the snow has started to melt now so I’m hoping spring will come here soon as well. It is beautiful in London these days and it was so sad to pack my suitcase with winter clothes. I didn’t bring my camera, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to post photos from Norway right now.

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I also wanted to let you know that I probably won’t be blogging as much as I have over the next month as I have a lot of coursework to finish. Of course there will be some new post every now and then, so please don’t forget about me. When April is finished I will be blogging as much as I have before. I have a few ideas I want to share with you too, so please stay tuned. But for now, I’m going to enjoy spending time with my family and friends this weekend before continuing with my dissertation and essays. I honestly cannot wait to be finished. Have a lovely weekend, everyone!  

Britney Spears - Hold It Against Me

Just a little something to enjoy this Wednesday.

A woman’s right to have a dream basement

My dream bar!

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Ever since I saw my old boss’ basement I have always thought it would be cool to have my own private bar. Usually basements are just a place where you store all of your stuff that you don’t need, but it can also be a nice place to spend time with friends and family.

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My old boss from Bugatti has an amazing bar in her basement. It is not too big, white and with a mirror on the wall behind the bar. It is simply amazing and two of the years I was working there we had our work party there. Her bar gave me inspiration to start dreaming about this and I actually think it is a very smart and trendy way to remodel your dirty basement.

My aunt also has a small bar in her basement and it is so nice and cosy. I would love to be able to have a nice, cosy basement with a big sofa where we could gather all of our friends and simply have a good time, eating fantastic food and talk all night long.

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I have to admit that a bar in the basement is not exactly a must-have in my dream house, but it is fun to dream about. It seems like this idea is becoming more popular these days and it really gives a new value to your house. But for now I can settle with dreaming about it, there’s no harm it that.

Sydney

Leaving Singapore was actually a little sad. I loved everything about this place and during our seven hour flight to Sydney I was starting to plan my next visit to Singapore. It was a long flight and Johanne and I were tired when we finally arrived down under. We just wanted to get to our hotel and get some sleep before starting a new adventure.

When we arrived at our hotel in Singapore we thought the taxi driver had taken us to the wrong hotel. We thought the same in Sydney. Wake Up Sydney Hostel was nothing like the luxurious Atrium Holiday Inn and I really wish we had not chosen the cheapest hotel. But the lobby was actually rather nice, but the receptionist was scary. No one is that happy so late at night but fair enough. We finally got our room key and we could not stop laughing when we saw our room. It actually reminded me of a prison cell, with a bunk bed, nothing on the walls except an ugly vomiting green colour. At least we had a TV. After laughing for a while I thought that it could have been worse. After all, we did have a bed to sleep in, but I was beginning to worry what to expect the hostels in Cairns and Auckland would be like when this hostel had won the prise ‘Best hostel in the world’. And I was right to be worried.

But before that we had to experience Sydney. I could not believe how far away from home we were but our first dinner at Burger King sure was a life safer, and it tasted the same. What surprised me was how cold it was. Yes, I was aware that it was winter in Australia but our travel agent had told us that it wasn’t going to be that cold. It was and we were forced to buy some warm clothes. It was nowhere near a Norwegian summer, like she told us.

After a little shopping trip we were ready to see what Sydney had to offer. Our hostel was very central so we could walk to some of the main tourist attractions. The world’s biggest Imax cinema at Darling Harbour is a must and we ended up having a good time watching ‘The ultimate wave’ with the famous surfer Kelly Slater. There were a few restaurants at Darling Harbour and we decided that we wanted to treat ourselves to a steak dinner. We ended up at Angus Steak House at the Promenade and it was the best meal we had had in days. A little pricy but the food was delicious and the waitress was nice and helpful.

We also visited the Australian Museum where they had some interesting historical facts about this amazing country, and also a whole floor with dinosaurs. The Opera house is of course a must see, where you’ll have a great view of Sydney Harbour Bridge. We also took a walk in the Royal Botanic Gardens, which was a big beautiful park right next to the Opera House. It was so relaxing to walk here but as the sun was setting we saw several bats in the trees and decided that we did not want to spend the night there.

Bondi Beach is perhaps one of the most famous beaches in Sydney and even though it was winter and cold we decided that we wanted to visit. Bus 380 took us to the beach and it was so beautiful there. We ended up sitting there for a while but it was rather depressing to be at a beach wearing a lot of clothes because we were cold.

I liked Sydney but I do wish we had been there during their summer. I don’t really feel like I got to see the best side of this city. If I ever go back to Australia then I would like to go during November, when it is a lot warmer.