Isle of Wight

It was a bit tricky getting six people to agree on a place for a bank holiday weekend away; the seaside, a farm house in the middle of nowhere, a city break somewhere far?
We decided on the Isle of Wight, a place none of us had been, close enough to home but somewhat of an adventure. We stayed on the north side of the Isle, it was quiet, though all agreed the west/south sides is more favorable. The island is small (30 minutes here to there) and so it didn't really matter where you are if you have a car because it is easy to get around. We stayed at Regatta Cottage:
Regatta Cottage
perfect for six and with an ever important BBQ.
We couldn't ask for better weather, it was so bright and sunny Saturday and Sunday. In classic British form it rained the bank holiday, Monday, but quickly dissipated to warm overcastness. Saturday day we spent traveling on the ferry, exploring the village of Cowes, and drinking mojitos waiting for the coals to burn in our BBQ.

Sunday we woke late, had a huge breakfast out in the sunshine, went to 'the Needles' famous for its jetting rocks and coloured sand. We took a chair lift down (see photo) to the beach where a boat awaited us. It was nice being out with the boats, the water off the coast of England continues to surprise me, blue as blue can be. We drove south to look for drift wood on the beach. I was feeling a bit sick so hung back on a cliff while the others walked on the beach and found 'dinosaur' prints.

Monday we got up early and went to find a Lavender farm. There wasn't much Lavender, but the countryside was beautiful. We then went to a local winery. I had low expectations about the quality of the wine and they proved right, it was a beautiful area all the same. We ended up at a Spanish restaurant which was an interesting experience as our waitress was a newbie and trying to tell us about the dishes. What was funny was the fact that of our party three were from Spain and the other two, myself and Roger, the husband of one of our Spanish friends knew what we were ordering. The waitress didn't really get it and kept saying, 'yes it's spanish'. I found myself enjoying our diversity; Roger was from Australia, Dav another friend from England but truly Punjabi, and myself from America and the three Spanish woman, all from such different parts of the country, had such different personalities and experiences, but all so fun! After lunch we walked on the beach, had an ice cream and then made our way back from the ferry (we made it by five minutes).

Roger dropped us off in a chaotic crowded London which was a mighty contrast from the quietness of the Isle of Wight.

The next British adventure, camping with the girls up in the lake district!

Culture: Elegy and other bits

I had a sheepish night a week ago with a friend or two at home. Not expecting much from a movie I knew nothing about that I received from Lovefilm (the London equivilant to Netflix) I was blown away by Elegy. With Ben Kingley (always solid) and Penelope Cruz (who constantly suprises me) this movie is a love/life story. It left me thinking for days, the issues between a man and a woman and a friend and a friend. It was a quite explanation of life...but as a prefice, it's not for the prudish as there's some nakedness (I think by now Penelope should have some sort of nudity clause, right).

My thoughts of the movie were lost when I picked up the book The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafron. Based in Barcelona it follows a young boy living his life surrounded by books who reads one that changes his life and sends him on a quest for the author. The mysteries uncovered are better and better with each turn of the page and it's four hundred pages breezed by. Buy it! Buy it now!

Miceala and Chris' wedding photos!

Miceala's photographer, Jennifer Longaway was wonderful! Not only was she really friendly, but her pictures are fab.
The above photo is us and the bride, well our feet anyway. I am third from the right with the obscenely high heel.

She also did her engagement photos, take a peak of their engagement photos on her blog at
Longawaypix


You can book through her site at: http://longawaypix.com/

Wales

My friend was generous enough to lend me her ride for a weekend trip to Wales. The weather was meant to be nice and once I picked up the car, I was very excited to hit the road. Getting out of London was a mission as roundabouts aren't my forte, but after a quick three hours, we entered Breacon National Park. The villages were quaint, the rolling hills a plenty and the sheep overwhelmingly outnumbered the people. It was amazing to go down a country road, on either side a view wide and green as the next, with not one car passing you for miles. We set up camp in a beautiful organic campsite (see link above) next to a river with chickens roaming free. We made a fire (our first) and cooked dinner with a bit of difficulty (our veggie sausages fell into the fire).
The next morning we woke up and explored the park, hiking up to its many waterfalls and devouring its lovely cakes at the local pub.
The following day was a bit gray so we packed up to take the long way home, through Cardiff where I thought; oh poor people of Cardiff, your weather is rubbish! With a luxury of a car I sneakily came upon an ikea and so spent the last of the three day weekend running crazily around it.

I would definitely recommend Wales.

Bu 'n fawr! (It was great, in Welsh)

Things I don't like: Charity Theft

On Saturday morning I did my run to the few charity shops around my neighborhood. With my small budget, charity shops are the way to go in finding something different to wear (I desperately need new clothes) and something cheap. While in my favourite shop, I was appalled to see a middle aged man in a suite stuff items in his bag.

I am not adverse to stealing a few bits here and there from corporations. I wouldn't do it myself, but if you're a little old lady surviving on a pension Tescos or Safeway isn't going to miss those batteries in your pocket. But this was a CHARITY SHOP with few clothes and barely surviving and this guy was in a suite and picking out not just one or two items, but six or seven. How greedy!

I didn't say anything to the shopkeeper who was helping other customers at the front of the store. I felt bad for not even trying to give the shopkeeper the 'eyes' or telling him after the thief left the small shop. I didn't want to be a snitch, but I was then riddled with guilt for the rest of the weekend for not saying anything and vowed that if I saw the guy on the street I would go up to him and call him a thief to his face. Needless to say I didn't buy anything on Sunday because I felt a bit disheartened by him and with myself!

Street discoveries

One finds various things living in a busy city. Although my mother tells me to hold my head high, in London I am constantly looking down for lost treasures. Last night on the way to the shop to get a bit of milk I found a packet of cigarettes. Normally I would leave random cigarette boxes, but this one looked unopen and it was, still neatly wrapped in plastic. With the price of cigarettes very high, I pocketed it to give to my co-worker. This morning on the way to work I found a lighter. I thought to myself, is someone trying to tell me something? Am I supposed to be smoking? as I dropped it in my bag. No, I thought I think it just speaks to the amount of people who still smoke here in London!

I get so happy when I discover something, it makes my day, even if it is quite insignificant. A few months ago both my friend and I jumped on a twenty note outside a tube station and went off to spend it in the pub. And on New Year's day I considered myself a wealthy woman when I found five quid on the ground. So many people drop money out of their pockets. I am sure you all have stories of what you've found or lost? Please let me know them.....

Religion

We visited or passed by a plethora of churches and synagogues in our travels last weekend. As it was Easter weekend there was a lot of activity. Here are some photos.

A church or temple (we never were sure of the name) on Buda in Budapest.

Lighted candles in Vienna. Can you spot the decoration?


Mass starting at the church in Vienna's main square, named St Stephen's (they loved this guy). It smelled outside from all the horses who pulled tourists carried in their carriages. They are doing a major restoration on the building and as Belen said, it looked like a huge undertaking.


A church by one of the Castle's in Budapest, so intricate. the castle was also amazing.


Mass at the most beautiful church, (another) St Stephen's in Budapest. This was truely the most beautiful church I've been to (REALLY!).


One of the stain glass windows inside St Stephen's. I then ran outside to listen to the bells of this church ringing and ringing, calling the people to mass.

Budapest and Vienna

Belen taking a rest in front of the Royal Opera house.


A hello from it's most famous castle. We were a bit too hungary to walk the journey up to see it.


The parliament building of Budapest. It's massive and just needs a little TLC.


With Schubert

Bratislavia, Slovakia

Now with the Euro!

Beefs with Vienna

Overall Vienna is a clean European city; its palaces and museums impressive, its avenues wide (although not heavily crowded) and its tram and metro system far reaching and fairly efficient. However out of the three places I went to on my mini Easter trip Vienna was my least favourite. I might even say it's one of my least favourite places I’ve been to while living in London. Besides it’s grandeur and it’s historical significance with the arts, I have two main 'beefs' with Wien.

1. Having to pay for ketchup and mayonnaise. Vienna is expensive, but it’s a low blow to charge one Euro for EACH condiment that should be everyone’s good given right, in my opinion, when ordering at a restaurant. Come on you Austrians, mayonnaise is not that expensive!

2. The opera. I made such an effort to see the opera or a classical concert while in Vienna and it was such a barbaric experience and an utter disappointment. We arrived one hour before it started because this was when five dollar tickets for the day were up for sale. We qued and entered to find people pushing there way back and forth front and center in the standing area. We asked someone what was going on and found that people who were the first to arrive attached lace or clothing or even a newspaper around an area sectioning off their space and then went and sat until it started. Those, like ourselves, that weren’t regulars stood around dumbfounded as people fought about spaces and tried to explain what was happening. The rudeness and aggressiveness started 10 minutes before when everyone returned to their places. Three Italian women argued saying they were there first and weren’t moving even though they didn’t leave their mark and there was a ribbon in front of them. An Austrian called them a bad name. Belen and I were forced in the middle of the aisle balancing oh so uncomfortably. Someone tried to get through and with this Belen moved to the left and was elbowed by a very large rude woman yelling at her, ‘hey, this is my spot what are you doing, what are you doing’. Belen at this point had had enough (she hadn’t even wanted to go in the first place). She said, 'it’s just the F***** opera, you are an animal.' The woman retaliated back with, 'Please watch your language, this is no place for that’ which I thought rich coming from her (she was a shusher and shhhhhd people throughout the whole opera too) It got a bit worse as more people came, but I will spare you the gritty details. When the opera finally started, I had images of the real drama playing out in the standing area with me tugging at someone’s hair (embarrassingly yes I thought it because I was SO heated up). After about ten minutes our feet and legs ached from our days walk around Vienna and the fact that we had stood already for an hour to reserve our spot that we wanted to leave. I told Belen we would be killed and we suffered on…needless to say, it was torture! By the time it was over we needed a chair and a nice stiff drink.

Things I don't like

Police officers manhandling peaceful protesters at the G20 summit.