DAY 275 - the shareef don't like it

Rockin' the Kasbah

        ROCK the Kasbah!

Go on!….sing it!…we know, you know the tune!

We got lost A LOT!  Perhaps we should have done more research!  A road map would have been handy, or Tom-Tom GPS map and maybe even a guide book or two?

On our first day we got lost within ½ of arriving as we took the wrong turn out of the ferry terminal.  We did however drove on the beautiful Rif Mountains, dodged a rock fall on the motorway and saw our first ‘Merlin’.  

Then whilst trying to find a campsite we got lost in the little town of Larache and ended up having a local guy hold up for 4 lanes of traffic so we could do a 20 point turn in our 8.5m motorhome, with trailer still attached, in total darkness.

Merlin is the name we gave when we saw a local dressed in their traditional robe, which for men generally consisted of a brown ankle length coat, with a pointed hood.    Donkey was generally the chosen mode of transport & often with a full load of fire kindling, twigs or straw.  It was like something out of the biblical times or Wizard movie and felt like the 21st century hadn’t really found Morocco yet.

Cascade d'Ouzoud

The ladies don’t really get out of their PJ’s!  If they need to leave the house, they wear a joyous silky robe over the top of their PJ’s, fancy shoes over their socks and head to the souk.  I initially intended on doing a montage called ‘the united colors of Morocco Merlin’s’ but found it hard to get good pics without being noticed.  You kind of stand out like sore thumbs when you wear normal clothes and carry a camera.  Anyway, bright multi-color animal print was the favorite mix.....just lovely!!

We started on the North Atlantic Coast of Morocco in a town called Larache, then travelled south along the coast to Agadir, stopping at Rabat, Casablanca, Oualidia & Essaouira. Then from Agadir we turned inland to Taliouine (Safron growing country), Ouarzazate and over the amazing High Atlas mountains via the unforgettable Tiza-n-Ticka pass to Marrakech, Cascade d’Ouzoud, the roman ruins of Valubolis & ended in Chefchaouen, which is famous for its whitewashed houses and blue Kasbah.

The Medina’s, Souk’s and Kasbah’s are really interesting and are the heartbeat of every city of town.  It’s where all the action can be found at any given time and you name it, you can buy it within the Medina walls at one of the souk’s, from live chickens to satellite dishes.   The locals are proud of their Medina’s and Kasbah’s and they all profess to have something special that the other’s don’t, but ‘dare I say it’ that after a while they all start to look and smell the same!

Anti Atlas Mountains

The drives we have done over the mountain ranges are breathtaking! It’s like being on another planet. It's bizarre feeling driving through the dry Arad red dessert plains with snowcapped mountains in the background. Then in another 30mins down the road coming across green fields with palm trees lining a valley or waterway, dry moonlike/lunar landscapes, massive lakes with pine tree forest’s and then just sand, sand and more sand!

The remote areas of Morocco remain the highlights for us, oh along with the food!  Parts of the Atlantic Coast where amazing too.  The coastline around Oulida was our favorite and the town of Tagzhout is really famous with surfers due to the strong Atlantic winds & rocky coastline that create some amazing waves.

Ait Ben Heddou

Close to Ouarzazate is a Medina village called Ait Ben Heddou where Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Jewel on the Nile was filmed & the Medina in Ouarzazate they filmed some of the latest Star Wars movies.

The people are really friendly, love talking to tourists and have a passion for languages.  Most Moroccans know at least 4.  Arabic and French are the 2 languages used by most Moroccan’s, Berber the traditional language is generally used by the elderly and in the rural areas.  English is not as widely spoken but anyone under 40 generally knows a little and we could get by.

Moroccons as a whole are extremely friendly and welcoming and we met some truly lovely people who will be some of our fondest memories of Morocco.

They are totally ‘nuts’ when it comes to driving.  They love to drive fast, overtake on corners and blind spots and love  using the horn!  After a while you get use to it, laugh, take your foot off the pedal to slow down and hope they all work it out with enough time.

Morocco was a last minute decision, it’s a 'full on' country & we had some interesting & stressful moments. It’s not our favorite destination in the world but worth the visit and we are glad we did it.

DAY 222 - from costa to costa

 Well after my last posting, I’m sorry to say I didn’t attend anymore cooking classes as they always seemed to be to early (11am) or I lost track of the days (they all run into each other) & missed the class.  So I have included below a Sangria Recipe I learnt from the bar staff during Fiesta.

Staying for 5 weeks in 1 campsite was a great experience as it allowed us to catch our breath a little and also the opportunity to meet some really great people whom have become friends.

Around end of OCT the Northern Europeans started returning home to spend Christmas with family & friends and the English started to arrive to escape Christmas with the family and the long cold winter.  A lot of English stay 6 months on the same campsite and will start heading back from MAR-APR.

We’re starting to learn the art of international speak!  We’ve had great conversations with people from all over Europe.  Them asking or talking to us in their language and we answering or talking in English and somehow we both seem to know exactly what we are all talking about.  Well, so we all think anyway. 

Spain has been hard hit by the GFC and has really high unemployment.  Development & money being spent along the costa’s virtually stopped overnight.  There are towns, villages, roads where it seems that workers have downed tools and walked off never to return.  We’ve been on road’s which have all of a sudden stop or a roundabout with only 1 exit instead of 4.  

There are quite a few coastal villages in northern Spain with apartments at various stages of development.  It’s a really strange feeling when riding around them as there is not a soul in sight and feels like something out of a movie set where a plague has been dropped on the area and no humans exist anymore.  The Spaniards are crazy people and have totally gone out of control with their developments and must have thought all their christmas’ came at once when they joined the EU.  It’s like they had the mentality that ‘if we build it, they shall come’ but once the GFC hit….the richer Northern Europeans didn’t come & the banks just stopped investing.  There is so much dead money just sitting around not being utilized and that will probably not be used for 10years or more. 

Valencia is awesome.  The old part of the city is a photographer’s paradise and every corner is an opportunity to take 100 great shots (can you imagine how many photo’s I’m going to have after 2 years – beware if we ask you around for a slides night!!!)   It reminds me a little of Paris with all the buildings the same height and the pretty baroque buildings all in a row with balcony’s overhanging the streets & ceramic tiles everywhere……….sooo pretty! 

The city is surrounded by a river that has been dammed as it kept flooding and killing people so it’s now it’s a dry river bed that has been made into a botanical park and bike track all the way around the city.  It’s really amazing and I’ve not seen anything like it before.  There is also  a new section with these amazing new artictial buildings which house their arts and science institutes and it put’s Sydney Opera House to shame.  One is shaped like a fish which is really cool and there are roads, bridges, roundabouts & walkways which cross over it…its really awesome. 

We are now in a village called Calpe which is on the coast half way between Valencia and Alicante.  It’s famous for its huge rock called Ifach & is the next largest rock protruding out of the sea after the ‘Rock of Gibraltar’.  We climbed almost to the top today, which has amazing views of the 2 bays that Calpe sits in and up the coast towards Denia & Javea and down the coast towards Altea and Benidorm. This is called Costa Blanca & the days we have had out and about on the bike riding along the coast have been breath taking. 

Benidorm is our next stop…it’s a little bit like the ‘Gold Coast’ of Spain.  Most of the places we have stayed in have been pretty quiet and laid back and there’s nothing wrong with a good dose of ‘Gold Coast’ every now and then.

We also visited two medieval fortified cities called Morella and Sagunto.  Both are on top of the highest mountains in the area & have so much history with battles between the Christians and the Moors. 

Sangria – Benicassim Style 

• 1 x 750ml bottle of cheap red wine
• 60ml of Contreau
• 100ml of Orange Juice
• 100ml of Soda water
• ½ an orange – chopped with skin on
• 4 slices of Lime and Lemon
• 5 tablespoons of sugar

Mix together in large jug along with large ice cubes.  Serves 1-2 people 

***this 1 litre drink cost 4euro during Fiesta & took about 30mins to drink…so wonder we had trouble getting out of bed before 11am.

DAY 186 - si senora

Finally we made it……we have arrived!  Sun, beach, Sangria, Paella, tapas, bull fights, fiesta & siesta. aaaAHhhhhh, yessszzzz, Spain is exactly what we have been looking forward too and it hasn’t disappointed thus far.

As soon as ‘wher’dmadaygo’ was fixed, we hit the continent and b-lined to Spain to chase whatever sun we could before winter set’s in.   We’ve found an awesome caravan park called ‘Bonterra Park’ along the coast in the Spanish village – Benicassim.  It’s about 50kms north of Valencia and is so lovely.  It’s not too touristy, very Spanish and has a great beach around 200m from the site.  There’s Dutch and Germans everywhere in the campsite.  Thankfully so far all have been fully clothed at not too hairy!!!  The last thing I need to see wiener sniztel and J.W. Bush!!!

We’ve started to get into the ‘campsite life’ a bit.  Most of the time in UK and prior to here we have been on the move and only stayed 1 or 2 nights in any one place so haven’t been able to pull out the awning and set up!  But as soon as we arrived here we felt like we were instantly on holidays and knew we wouldn’t’ want to leave for a while, so booked ourselves in for a month.

It’s so funny,  the average age of guest’s is 75 and the most exciting thing that happens during the day on site is when they all meet around the communal ‘washing up area’ and discuss (gossip) about the day (or last nights) events in Dutch and or German, which we can’t understand!   Many look at us and kind of say hello, in that Dutch manner, but I feel that perhaps we are much younger they are a little scared to say too much more.

We’ve started naming the neighbours by whatever event or sound we can associate them with.  For example, the other day the internet was down in the whole area and the Dutch guy next to us was running down our little lane screaming ‘nine interneta, nine interneta’ and the guys opposite them always say ‘yah – yah’ so of cause they are called ‘nine interneta’ &  ‘yah yah vunderba’.

Today ‘nine interneta’ left to return to Nederland’s and slowly to sun drenched Dutch and Germans are leaving one by one to return to the cold and will probably be replaced with the English trying to  avoid the winter which might then mean it’s time for us to move on!

bull ring

The village was in Fiesta when we arrived which was pretty cool.  Every night there was a party at the village square which generally included running of the bulls through the village streets, dancing in the street, fireworks, food, sangria, and a late night street party till 5am.  We gave it a go one night and stayed up till 4am but couldn’t do it anymore after that.  It was so funny at the campsite.  Half of the oldies where upset and couldn’t bear the noise anymore at night and the other half didn’t care and where telling the rest to get over it, it only happens once a year.

Fiesta Fireworks

We met a lovely couple English couple from Southampton who are our age and who come every year for 6 months or more to Spain.  They have been doing this for 12 years or so and completely have the whole lifestyle in Spain down pat.  We really admire their lease on life and attitude towards things. 

                

They do Spanish lesion and cooking classes here on the camp site, so I’m hoping to improve the Spanish and learn a few more recipes.

Here is a local Spanish dish I learnt the other day:  Its scrambled eggs in laylend terms, but tasted really yummy…give it a go!

OH and P.S…..I will also write it in the same style it was provided to me…so good luck & happy cooking!!

Ruvuelto Asturiano (scramble eggs Asturian style)

·         2 big tomatoes

·         4 or 6 eggs

·         2 or 4 cheese slices

·         300gm Parma ham

·         powder onion

·         black pepper

·         Provenza herbs

·         Olive oil

Step 1: cut the tomatoes in little squares

Step 2: with a few of oil fry the Parma ham and cover all with Powder Onion, add a few of black pepper and mix with a big spoon.

Step 3: add the cheese and stir until the cheese with be melted

Step 4: add the tomatoes and stir

Step 5: add the eggs and cover all with powder onion (again) add a few (again to) and Provenza herbs.

Step 6: stir all together until the eggs will be curdled

Step 7: serve in a beautiful dish

A few points to note:  don’t use fresh onion as it is too watery and don’t beat or blend eggs, just crack them into the pan and keep folding the mixture until scrambled (curdled).  If you use Parma ham you don’t need salt but if you use sweet ham, add a bit of salt.

local village

  

DAY 164 - HASTE YE BACK!

It’s on the sign posts at the beginning of any major roadway or motorway.  Don’t know why, but I found this really funny!  I think it means – WRONG WAY  - GO BACK!

Rosie in da homeland.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Scotland.  After catching the Ferry from Dublin to Stranrear and an amazing drive along the coast to Galway we set up camp in the 24hr TESCO supermarket for 2 days and then got told to move on.  (Tight arses!).

Glasgow was so pretty, I wasn’t expecting much after visiting Ireland and feeling a little disappointed but was so excited to find that Glasgow was so much more than I expected.  To top it all off,  Brad Pitt was in town filming a new movie so I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER!

The buildings, the shopping, bagpipes & that sexy Scottish accent….we both fell in love with Scotland immediately.

Rosie in da Homeland

We then headed north along Loch Lommond towards Isle of Skye and to my surprise, although my brother and sister-in-law did tell me, we stumbled on a little place “Gollanfield”.  When we first saw it we were driving along this awesome scenic route between Onich and Fort William and just saw the sign out of the corner of our eye.  The roads in Scotland are narrow and really windy and private property goes right up to the main road so slamming on the brakes, and finding somewhere to pull up to get a photo was interesting.   We eventually pulled up on someone’s front lawn…our whole big 28’ motorhome that is towing a motorbike on trailer….ran down the road to get photo’s, ran back and took off like lightening before the owners kicked up a fuss and gave us a mouth full.  I can just imagine Daniel and Ingrid having to do the same thing when they found it…so funny and felt so nostalgic too.

The drive from Fort William to Isle of Skye is one of the most scenic beautiful drives we have ever done.  It’s still one of the best driving days we have had.  We spent the last 2 days in & around Isle of Skye, and rough camped it at some amazing spots.  Then drove towards the highlands and followed the northern route to Inverness via Garve.

Paul caught a brown trout about 30cm, when we were rough camping in Isle of Skye, so we pulled up along a loch near Garve, set up camp, tried for some more fish (no luck), and stocked up the BBQ, so awesome and one of our most enjoyable days so far. 

Paulie with dinner

Before leaving England, we bought a generator so we can pull up anywhere and have power to watch telly etc. without the need of a campsite.  Which is great as of cause all the best views are off the beaten track, but also means communicating can be hard via phone networks & we also have no internet?

Inverness was really nice too, after wild camping in Garve we headed a little south again so we could do the scenic route to Inverness via Loch Ness, we didn’t see no monster but was a really  pretty drive and such a buzz to see Loch Ness which is the legend of so many stories.  Inverness is really pretty along the river and is also the major city near the Gollanfield where my family is from.  We rode our push bikes along the river and in and around the city and sat down to have lunch on the riverbank only to be attacked by ducks who wanted our food more than we did.  It was so funny, they were nearly sitting on our laps trying to eat the food out of our hands and fighting with each other to make sure they were as close to us as possible and their mates where at the back of the line.

We totally fell in LOVE with Edinburgh.  It’s such a cool city….so pretty, so much history and just really funky and happening place.  The buildings are great and you get the feeling your actually walking into a bit of living history (like London and Rome).  I’d love to be there during the Fringe or some other festival one day.  I could live there…if it wasn’t so bloody cold.  It’s now by favorite UK city and has bumped Oxford and Bath off the map.

My only regret about Scotland is that we only got to spend 10 days there and wish we didn’t spend so long in Ireland.

in the middle of no where....on a high mountain pass we found this guy blowing his pipes

    

DAY 150 - pogue mahone

If you’ve ever been to Ireland and visited Temple Bar, I don’t need to tell you what the title of this blog means.  For anyone else,  ‘Google’ it….Sorry Mum!!!.

Ireland is so different to what I thought I would be like….I really don’t know what we were expecting to see but perhaps a Leprechaun, a pot of gold & a guy playing the fiddle on every street corner would have been more like it.  

Kathy made it safely (Paul's Mum) and joined us in the motorhome.  Being that Kathy is Irish, she of-cause was the brunt of all our bad Irish jokes and got the daily ribbing about being Irish.

We started our journey in Holyhead (Wales) and got the ferry to Dublin.  It was really exciting  taking ‘wher’dmadaygo’ on the ferry for the first time.

Booze tour of Jameson's

Booze tour of Jameson's

Dublin is so much smaller in reality considering it has such huge stories to tell (civil & political) and such big successes like U2.  It’s population according to Lonely Planet is 1.5m, not sure how true that is but non-the-less it still isn’t that big.  I guess from that they mean the central area, but it’s not much bigger than Adelaide and you can easily walk around and see it in a day.

We discovered the art of drinking Guinness in Dublin which was fun...it's so much yummier if you gulp instead of sip and tastes 100% better.  But I reckon the Guinness family is a bit smart with this logic as it then means people drink more, get drunk quicker and buy more Guinness....so not to silly those Irish folk after all!

‘The emerald isle’ rained 12 days straight at the beginning of our trip and by rain I don't mean sprinkle, more so torrential down pour and August is supposed to be summer.  We did get a little more lucky later into the trip and got a few  lovely days of sunshine, around 18degres and even got to wear just a t-shirt and jeans.

After Dublin we drove to Connemara National Park and stayed right on the beach in a little village called Renvyle.  The beach was just so amazing but being that it was quiet isolated was pretty basic.  The first night we had the most amazing sunset & weather system set in and around the mountains, which was just so spectacular and our last day we were hit with a really full-on weather front which lasted another 4 days and followed us south towards Galway and Doolin.

Renvyle Beach, Connemara National Park

Didn’t think much of Galway.  Doolin is home to the Cliffs of Mohr, which are just amazing.  They are huge like the great Australian bite and so dramatic with the green fields, full on weather and clouds and wild, wild winds.  They have a bit of trouble with people jumping off them, so if your ever doing the daily cruise around them you might get to see a bit more than you expected or become part of the ‘recovery mission’ – yucko and very sad!

Cliffs of Mohr - Amazing

After that we followed the coast south to Killarney and hired a car for a few days and did the Ring of Kerry, Blarney Castle & Cork.  It’s a really nice spot so ended up staying 2 days longer than we initially planned & even tried our hand at 'fly fishing',  of cause not without much frustration and a lost 'fly' hook up a tree.  

Paul caught 1 small trout but we threw it back as it was too small, but really excited to have got one in our first go.  Paul's really into it now and always looking for the next possible fishing spot.

We thought it would be all pubs with singing, dancing & carrying on, drinking, jokes, laughs, cheap and cheerful, but in fact found it to be dodgy pubs, grumpy people, bad fast drivers and expensive.  That's not to say that we haven't enjoyed it, but was just so different to what we imagined.  I didn’t think much of the cities, but really enjoyed the countryside & National parks.

DAY 115 - devonshire tea, clotted cream & warm beer

We've arrived in the Cotswolds after spending the past few weeks in Brighton, Salisbury then onto Devon & Cornwall.

Devon & Cornwall are great so many pretty little chocolate box villages along the coast clinging to the cliffs or down a little valley right on the water’s edge which seem like they can only be accessed by foot. 

Dartmouth

We have a few interesting moments on the small UK roads (well small lane's which they consider roads) as our big 28" motorhome whilst towing the motorbike don't quite fit down.  We had to un-hitch a few times to take the trailer off.  In Devon we exited the caravan park the wrong way and ended up in a lane which was getting smaller and smaller by the meter.  We had to pull into a farmers drive and ask if we could open his 2 gates so we could take the trailer off,  do a 3 point (or more 5 point) turn and head back the right way.  I should have taken a photo so you could see, but I didn’t I was just sorry worried we were going to get stuck I forgot the camera.  Looking back on it now we laugh. 

Devon and Cornwall have so many little hidden gems and we are really glad we have the motorbike to explore and get into the little villages that even cars struggle with.  Some of the highlights have been Weymouth, Dawlish, Dartmouth, Fowey, Marazion, St Ives, Tintagel.

Tintagel

Tintagel (King Arthur’s Castle) was great, we really enjoyed that and so glad it stopped raining for just a few hours we could walk around without tumbling over those cliffs.....however it did bucket down on our ride back to where we were staying but we didn’t let it stop us.  Some of the local’s probably thought we were crazy riding around in the rain but when you’re on a time frame you just have to make the most of it.

We've had a quite few nights 'rough camping' so to speak and 1 of those night might have landed us a nice parking fine.  We'll wait and see but found out in the morning we were illegally parked as we were too long and had a trailer.  Doh!

We are slowing getting ourselves sorted with where everything goes in the motorhome and still trying to get use to the pack up and set up but we are getting into a bit of a routine now and hope to have to down pat in the next 1 or 2 stops.

The food is so nice in the country so much better than London and half the price.  We had Devonshire Tea for brekky the other day – oh with clotted cream.  Actually I lie, we had it a few times for brekky now!!  All the home made cakes, pasties, scones, pies, jam's, chutney's - so yummy.

For wine and champagne drinkers, we’ve managed to find a few nice local beers which we’ve been enjoying on a regular basis.  I tell ya, the pommy’s know how to make a good ale!  We don’t think much of the largers, but some of the brown ales are really good.  And we’ve even been drinking them warm.  Well, room temp as its never hot so they have been nice and cool.  Infact they taste better at this temp as they are specially brewed to be served this way.  We’ve tried to put a few in the fridge and they don’t taste as good, so have had to wait till they warm up a bit to enjoy them.

It's been raining heaps and we are wondering when the summer will start.  The locals keep telling us we are in summer, but we think they are telling fibs and we don’t believe them.

Marazion 

DAY 69 - live from New York City

what a place!  Time Square, NYC

As the title indicates we are in New York City.  We kinda thought that because we were in the neighbourhood (LON is only 7hrs away) - why not jump over to NYC for a few days (10 to be exact and then doing a QM2 cruise back to LON for 7 nights).  NYC is cool with a capital "C".   We love the big apple!  It’s  like stepping into your TV set.  The people, the places, the streets, the lights....def want to come back.

We've hired bicycles for a few days and been all over Manhattan, Brooklyn & Harlem.   Riding a bike is really the best way to see NYC.  They dedicated have bike lanes all over the city and it's just so easy and safe and we have seen more in 2 days than most people probably see in their whole trip.  If we came back again I'd hire them for a week and if you are considering coming to NYC def get a bike within the first few days.

Yankee Stadium - Yankees V Red Sox

Today we rode from Central Park, all the way down Broadway till we got to Central Hall, then crossed the Brooklyn bridge, all the way through down town Brooklyn, then along the waterway and through Brooklyn Heights (awesome suburb - I'd wanna live there) then back over the bridge, through Lower East village, all along east park waterway and back to our hotel which is near Grand Central.  Did all of that in 7hrs  and could have kept going.

I put our names down to go into a David Letterman show, got the call to say we won seats to a taping and were advised we had to be there by  4pm.  After our big bike ride we arrived a little late around 4.05pm and they gave our tickets away.  I  asked to be put on the list for the next taping, but because we were considered a ‘no show’ as we were 5 mins late we are now banned from joining the audience for 6 months.  Hate David Letterman now!!

I downloaded the Alicia Key’s and Jay-Z song and have been listening to it every day whilst in New York. 

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothing you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Hear it for New York, New York, New York

We leave NYC on Friday on QM2 and will be back in LON on 17JUN.

DAY 6 - life in London!

I've always wondered what people are 'banging on about' with London. From what they say London is cold, dreary, grey, wet, miserable, dark, depressing and hectic! So why do people love it (and hate it) so much and why don't they just leave?

I now understand why! Ah alas London, you have stolen our heart also! Yes - its been cold, dreary, grey, wet, miserable, dark, depressing and hectic, but it is so unlike home - it's wonderful!

High Street, Fulham

 The houses are so pretty & look like something out of a story book. Space is such an issue that they are all 3 story row/terrace houses and each floor will have it's own 2 or 3 bed flat. So most are converted to maximize rent return. We commandeered Nicky & Tony's lounge room (Paul's cousin's) for the first 10days until we eventually found our own place to rent in Wimbledon. We found it a little hard to find our own place or room to rent as most people don't want a short-let or couples. We could have rented a serviced apartment but that will cost around GBP3000 a month where as doing a private room in a house-share or 2bed flat is only GBP650, so massive difference. We are staying with a really nice couple Michelle & Andy, they only starting living in London in Nov 2010 as they normally live in Southampton and commute to London to work every day. But to save on the commute they bought a flat in London and go back to Southampton every weekend, so we get the place to ourselves each weekend.

We haven't done much touristy stuff yet around London we've mainly been hopping on the bus and just seeing where it takes us. The weather is warming up by London standards but is still only 17 or so. Then there is this bloody wind! which is so cold. It just goes straight thru you. We've been walking around in our big jackets & all the locals are in the little thin cardy's of just T-shirts trying to soak up as much sun as possible.....bbrrrrrr. I'm sure they think we look ridiculous in our big coat's, but really I just don't understand how they don't feel the wind! Tony keeps saying to us that our standards on summer will drop, but I don't know about that!

outside the Roebuck, Richmond Hill

I went for a big 8km run last Sunday with Tony & their flat mate Mel all around Fulham, past the Fulham soccer stadium, over the Thames & around Parson's Green. It is just so pretty & I can totally understand why people fall in love with London. There are just so many nice places to explore & hangout. Sunday was Tony's 34th birthday (sshhh) so we enjoyed the day along the Thames river in and around Richmond. After a long lazy German lunch at Stein's (you'd be impressed Ing) we went up Richmond Hill to Roebuck pub and drank jugs of Pimm's and watched the sunset over the Thames.   It's one of the best Sunday arvo session's I have ever had.

London is good....Paul and I are really enjoying it and know why people fall in love with London so easily and find it hard to leave. There is just so many things to see and do to keep you busy. Paul's back has been playing up a bit this past few days and giving him a fair bit of grief, we are going to take it easy for a week or so just to make sure it doesn't flair up again and give it a bit of rehab work to try and heal it. I've googled on the internet sports injury massage and treatment for lower backs and now find myself practising on Paul - which he's not complaining about and seems to be finding some relief. We will keep doing the exercises and massage for the next few weeks and if their so no or little improvement then we will seek some medical advice. But for now, the 1 day we have done the treatment (at home) he is feeling better.

Now - anyone for a cuppa??  

or perhaps a Pimm's??