Preparing for the big move

So my flight to Budapest is all booked! In just under 7 weeks I will be in Slovakia.

It might be a bit early but I have started packing already. I'm usually a very light packer but I keep worrying that I'm going to forget something important. The suitcase I'm using is quite large but super light so it won't take up too much of the weight allowance. To save space in the suitcase I'm packing all my clothes in vacuum storage bags which shrink everything down into the smallest possible space! I'm planning to buy kitchen stuff and bedding when I'm there to save space, and all I'm really taking is clothes and the bare essentials.

I've also been sorting out getting my A level certificates apostilled. This is a requirement by the university to make sure students graduated school. The apostille legalizes the document for use in countries outside the UK. It took a while for me to wrap my head around the process but I'm nearly sorted now so here's what needs doing as simply as I can write it for any other prospective students.

1. Your A level certificates first need to be copied and the copy notarised by a notary public. This cost me £60 for two documents but I think it varies by notary. You can find a notary in your area easily through Google. It might be worth ringing round a few to see if you can get it cheaper.

2. Once this is done you are able to send them off yourself to the legalisation office. You have to fill in the application form that can be found on the website, pay the fee online and then send the application form, confirmation of payment and your notarised certificates off to the address given.

3. When you arrive in Slovakia these apostilled documents need to be translated into Slovak. I've heard it's cheaper to get it done over there so that's what I'm planning to do. I haven't done this part yet so don't have any more info!

One more thing I will say for people planning on travelling with Wizz Air is check the flight prices several different times during the day over a few days and watch for a pattern before booking! I checked my chosen flight one week day morning and it was only £30 (previously when I had booked it had been £40-£50). I had to rush off to work but planned to sort the flight out when I arrived home. By that time it had gone back up to £50! I checked each morning and a few days later it had gone back down to £30 so I booked it straight away. I know it's not a huge amount of money in the scheme of things but it will add up if you're flying back and forth a lot.

That's all for now!

Lucy

Pipkin Knits - my new shop!

I have started a Folksy shop to try to use up and sell off some of the massive stash of yarn I have accumulated over the last few years! I will mostly be making toy animals, but I might also have the odd accessory/ pet toy for sale. I'm just going to see how it goes!

The shop is named after my bunny Pipkin, because I was a bit stuck with what to call it. So, without further ado, the link:

Pipkin Knits

I only have two things up for sale at the moment, but I have a few other half completed bits that will hopefully be added soon.

Bye for now!

NYC Days 3 & 4!

This post has taken quite a bit longer than I'd hoped, sorry!

On our third day in New York we spent the morning in Central Park just having a wander. We only walked about a third of the way into the park in the end. I didn't really realise how big it is but it's about 800 acres which is bigger than the zoo I work at (600 acres) and that feels massive!
 
The park was very peaceful although still quite busy. It was just a nice change of pace from the rest of our time in New York.  It was really weird being surrounded by green but seeing the skyscrapers either side.

I had seen some black squirrels on my first trip to Central Park in the early evening of the first day, but I didn't see any on my second visit. I did however see a cardinal which I know are not particularly rare but I had never seen one before and it's quite a surprise to see a flash of red go by when we don't have any birds of that colour at home in the UK.

We left Central Park at about lunch time and headed back towards the hotel to the pizza place right next door. My sister said it was the best pizza she'd ever had. I probably wouldn't go that far but it was really good and not too expensive either. The restaurant is called Angelo's Pizza and is very convenient for people staying at the Salisbury Hotel next door (just in case anyone is thinking of staying there!).

The afternoon was pretty relaxed, we just had another look at Fifth Avenue and went to sit in the Apple store for a bit (free wi fi! :) ).

In the evening we went to see Matilda the musical. Times Square was sooo busy that evening. We encountered a hold up in front of a store called Oakleys where they were holding some online music awards and Andrew WK was sitting in the window playing drums with one of the Ramones. We had to hurry past to get to the theatre on time but I'll come back to this later in the post!

The musical was so good! I had been wanting to see it on the West End since it won lots of awards last year, including the Olivier award for best actor in a musical won by Bertie Carvel for playing Miss Trunchbull. He was also in the Broadway production and I could see why he won the award, Miss Trunchbull was hilarious!

I wasn't sure I would like the songs much since I hadn't heard any of them before but they were really good and very clever. I'm going to try to get to see the West End production later in the year because I'd like to see it again. It's the sort of thing you will pick new things up in each show, I think.

On day three we didn't do much. We went to Macy's in the morning on the request of my mum (neither me or my sister really like shopping!) but she didn't like it in there that much, surprisingly. We had visited a Macy's in Florida and apparently she preferred that one! It probably didn't help that the store was being renovated while we were there but it was quite a disappointing trip compared to the rest of the week.

We walked back to the hotel through Times Square and when we walked past the Oakley store Andrew WK was there drumming AGAIN with someone different this time. Apparently he was attempting a 24 hour drum session record, which he did complete later that day!

After packing during the afternoon, me and my mum returned to the Rockefeller Centre in the evening so that we could visit the observation deck in the dark. It was pretty impressive to see the whole city lit up. I did try to take some photos but they didn't come out great.

The next day we were up at 4.30 to get to the airport for our flight home. I think the time we went for was long enough for one trip, but there were plenty of things we could have done if we had more time there. We'll have to save those up for our next visit!

So that's the last post on my New York trip. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I got home but time seems to have been running away from me for the past few months! In two months I'll be off to Slovakia and I bet that time will be gone before I realise.

Bye for now!

Lucy