Ciao!
An entry from me is long over due.
I'm in Roma with Jessica Rose Pearce.
We have eaten gelati as big as your head, seen the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountian and countless other amazing 'things', been harassed by men (walking home, about 11pm, a man stops his car in the middle of the road, leans over and opens the passenger door and says: "Cuanto?") and we are on the hunt for Il Papa and Roman sandals.
Spain was a little less hot (still mid 30s) and a little more relaxed. I explored the beautiful streets of Girona solo and also did a day trip into the mountains including a lap of the lake where they held the '92 Olympic rowing. The orchestration and execution of the Great Surprise involving Phil turning up unexpected to join Niki, Jess and I in Barcelona was somewhat stunted by French air strikes and day-late-arrival of the lasses. But I filled the time with a fireworks midsummer festival on the beach at night and lots of delicious tapa.
Next on the itinerary is Florence, Verona and Venice. Then 'Salut Paris!', 'Guttentarg Konstanz' (Germany, yah?!) and 'Tousan Tak Norway'. Pics and descriptions to follow. For now I'm off to get my pasta and tiramassu on! Ciao! x
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
OBAN & MULL & IONA
As the Pet Shop Boys once said, Lily and I decided last week it was time to Go West.
We arrived at the train station very early headed for the south west highlands coast and were told we'd need to get a bus. Weird. The train goes straight there in 3 hours. Then we are informed it may take an extra hour and a half on the bus, because of a landslide on the train track and road.
That landslide turned out to be big enough to have derailed the train the night before we were to set off, which caused a fireball to shoot through the carriage and left the train half on the tracks and half overhanging the road.
Anyway, it only took 3.5hrs, not the 5 we were threatened with. We arrived after having had a little snooze on the bus- ready to take on Oban! Lily and I found an awesome hostel in Oban that gave free breakfast and was run by the hairiest (Swiss/German) woman I have ever met. Woah!
Things to do in OBAN:
* Take a walk along the harbour and admire the crazy architecture, while eating Mackie's ice cream.
* Stroll north from town and climb the cliff to get to Dunollie Castle. The only castle I've seen where you can climb the stairs to the second level. Most castles have retained the exterior but any interior features (such as ceilings) have been ruined.
*Walk to the top of town to the imposing monument that looks like it was mistakenly built when the Roman architects got 'Oban' confused with 'the Coliseum'
Next day we caught the ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull.
It is very lush on the west coast of Scotland- Mull was no exception.
The bus took us to Tobermory, the most populated town on Mull. A cute seaside village. We were the only people under the age of 64 though. Lily informed me it's like that Doctor Who episode where the town is set in the 50s and there are only old grey haired people around and it turns out the oldies are sucking the life out of the youth. (Big up to Lomax. Aiiiii)
We found a hostel, dropped our bags and went for a walk along the peninsula. Great views back across the water to Tobermory. We were undisturbed, too, since the swarm of old people must have found the walk a little too much for their hips. Unfortunately it turned from sunburn-hot to sky-breaking downpour, then just standard rain for a good few hours. Lily and I hid under an abandoned stone shed for 40 min, then moved to a rotunda thing for another good stint. Unfortunately all the midgies (Scottish equivalent of Mosquitoes, but much smaller) took shelter under the rotunda too. I'm still itching my bites a week on :(
Tobermory:
After our big, wet walk Lily and I thought we deserved a big couple of glasses of red at the pub. Which turned into a delicious crab meat pasta and bottle of white,
then more glasses of white, then move next door to another pub where we where bought multiple drinks and made many friends. Don't know who these people where- clearly they were friendly though. They jumped in a boat and rowed home after the pub shut. I desperately wanted to go with them, but probably for the best we didn't follow them on to the next party because I don't know about the structural integrity of that boat, or it's capacity to carry more than 2 people...
Then we discovered there had been a curfew and the hostel was shut. We were locked out. Long and ridiculous story short, Lily and I stayed on the floor of the hotel room of two old Welsh blokes we met until 6am, when we sat outside in the rain waiting for someone to come down for breakfast so we could be let in. We managed to get in and squeeze in a cheeky 35 min snooze before we had to get the 7.30am bus to Iona at the far end of Mull. Rough night. Lead on to a rough day. Pretty sure we were drunk right up til the ferry across to Iona. Not impressed with our hostel. Who locks people out but doesn't warn them before they go out to get drunk?
Lily: "Want to throw the keys in the harbour?" Brilliant!
IONA
Iona is nice, but not a lot going on. A chapel and a church. We spent a LOT of time sitting in the dingy diner opposite the ferry dock drinking Irn Bru and eating sausage in roll. We were suffering from the previous night.
I'm glad we made it to Iona, but I don't have much to say on it. Take a look instead:
The journey home was tough. We both just wanted to be back in our Weegie beds. It went like this: hour bus ride back from Iona to half way up Mull where the ferry comes in, hour on the ferry, hour wait in Oban, three and a bit hour bus to Glasgow, ten minute underground in Glasgow, three minute walk to Ben's house. Home. Ahh.
Verdict: beautiful and dramatic landscape. Lush. Sunny. Midgies not so good, but a ferry is always fun and the castles we saw in Oban and on Mull where grand. Good times. Shit facing, but good times :)
We arrived at the train station very early headed for the south west highlands coast and were told we'd need to get a bus. Weird. The train goes straight there in 3 hours. Then we are informed it may take an extra hour and a half on the bus, because of a landslide on the train track and road.
That landslide turned out to be big enough to have derailed the train the night before we were to set off, which caused a fireball to shoot through the carriage and left the train half on the tracks and half overhanging the road.
Anyway, it only took 3.5hrs, not the 5 we were threatened with. We arrived after having had a little snooze on the bus- ready to take on Oban! Lily and I found an awesome hostel in Oban that gave free breakfast and was run by the hairiest (Swiss/German) woman I have ever met. Woah!
Things to do in OBAN:
* Take a walk along the harbour and admire the crazy architecture, while eating Mackie's ice cream.
* Stroll north from town and climb the cliff to get to Dunollie Castle. The only castle I've seen where you can climb the stairs to the second level. Most castles have retained the exterior but any interior features (such as ceilings) have been ruined.
*Walk to the top of town to the imposing monument that looks like it was mistakenly built when the Roman architects got 'Oban' confused with 'the Coliseum'
Next day we caught the ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull.
It is very lush on the west coast of Scotland- Mull was no exception.
The bus took us to Tobermory, the most populated town on Mull. A cute seaside village. We were the only people under the age of 64 though. Lily informed me it's like that Doctor Who episode where the town is set in the 50s and there are only old grey haired people around and it turns out the oldies are sucking the life out of the youth. (Big up to Lomax. Aiiiii)We found a hostel, dropped our bags and went for a walk along the peninsula. Great views back across the water to Tobermory. We were undisturbed, too, since the swarm of old people must have found the walk a little too much for their hips. Unfortunately it turned from sunburn-hot to sky-breaking downpour, then just standard rain for a good few hours. Lily and I hid under an abandoned stone shed for 40 min, then moved to a rotunda thing for another good stint. Unfortunately all the midgies (Scottish equivalent of Mosquitoes, but much smaller) took shelter under the rotunda too. I'm still itching my bites a week on :(
Tobermory:
After our big, wet walk Lily and I thought we deserved a big couple of glasses of red at the pub. Which turned into a delicious crab meat pasta and bottle of white,
then more glasses of white, then move next door to another pub where we where bought multiple drinks and made many friends. Don't know who these people where- clearly they were friendly though. They jumped in a boat and rowed home after the pub shut. I desperately wanted to go with them, but probably for the best we didn't follow them on to the next party because I don't know about the structural integrity of that boat, or it's capacity to carry more than 2 people...Then we discovered there had been a curfew and the hostel was shut. We were locked out. Long and ridiculous story short, Lily and I stayed on the floor of the hotel room of two old Welsh blokes we met until 6am, when we sat outside in the rain waiting for someone to come down for breakfast so we could be let in. We managed to get in and squeeze in a cheeky 35 min snooze before we had to get the 7.30am bus to Iona at the far end of Mull. Rough night. Lead on to a rough day. Pretty sure we were drunk right up til the ferry across to Iona. Not impressed with our hostel. Who locks people out but doesn't warn them before they go out to get drunk?
Lily: "Want to throw the keys in the harbour?" Brilliant!
IONA
Iona is nice, but not a lot going on. A chapel and a church. We spent a LOT of time sitting in the dingy diner opposite the ferry dock drinking Irn Bru and eating sausage in roll. We were suffering from the previous night.
I'm glad we made it to Iona, but I don't have much to say on it. Take a look instead:
The journey home was tough. We both just wanted to be back in our Weegie beds. It went like this: hour bus ride back from Iona to half way up Mull where the ferry comes in, hour on the ferry, hour wait in Oban, three and a bit hour bus to Glasgow, ten minute underground in Glasgow, three minute walk to Ben's house. Home. Ahh.
Verdict: beautiful and dramatic landscape. Lush. Sunny. Midgies not so good, but a ferry is always fun and the castles we saw in Oban and on Mull where grand. Good times. Shit facing, but good times :)
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Birthday x2
On the 5th of June, 1986, a child was born.
Legend has it the mother, having gone through this child birth caper once before, assumed omnipotent power and knowledge and demanded the child be placed in her arms post haste. The child then proceeded to wee, vomit and poo nasty blackness. In utter disgust the mother cried for the beastly child to be taken away.
24 years later, that child has grown into a Lloyd Llegs Parabolloyd.
Ben's birthday was the 2nd of June. The plan was to host a Povo Black Tie dinner on the 1st with Ben's buds from Edinburgh. I sourced a dishy LSD (little silver dress) from the Opp Shop for a cheeky 3 pound, but the dinner was called off. Instead we ate a Davis Special stir fry and drank beer and wine and whisky in Ben's lounge and some of his Glasgow pals came over (with cake!!!) & we danced topless to Nirvana! Chair. Ripper night. On Ben's actual birthday we hit up a game of mini golf and then wined and dined at a verah noice Italiano restauranta.
My birthday was also a good one. As it is important to get a good run up to the anniversary of one's birth, Ben and I watched The Godfather on the telly.
Saturday the 5th was a beautiful sunny day in Glasgow. I went for a big walk through the Botanical Gardens and then along the bank of the River Kelvin. Lots of people walking dogs. Dags- you like dags? It's a funny walk in that it is so lush and green and you could forget you're in the middle of the the biggest city in Scotland. Then you pass under a grand old traffic-carrying bridge and you see some glass and stone peeping at you through the trees and you're in the city once again.
I had plans to bake ANZAC bics but the search for ingredients was epic (can you just give me rolled oats? I don't want instant porridge I want oats!) so the baking never happened.
Then Ben came home from work and we hit Glasgow town!
* 2 games of pool at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut (a live music institution in Glasgow, voted best in Britain I think)
* Espresso Martinis- made on request- at Grill on the Corner (oh la la! so swanky!)
* Beers but no food at Bier Hall Republic
* More beers with Jayne (Ben's housie) at Universal
* Classic finish: jovial convo with randoms while waiting for pizza from middle eastern take out joint below Ben's flat.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes from all my lovely friends. Too kind. Makes me warm in the chestal area. Coarse crapitations be gone!
Legend has it the mother, having gone through this child birth caper once before, assumed omnipotent power and knowledge and demanded the child be placed in her arms post haste. The child then proceeded to wee, vomit and poo nasty blackness. In utter disgust the mother cried for the beastly child to be taken away.
24 years later, that child has grown into a Lloyd Llegs Parabolloyd.
Ben's birthday was the 2nd of June. The plan was to host a Povo Black Tie dinner on the 1st with Ben's buds from Edinburgh. I sourced a dishy LSD (little silver dress) from the Opp Shop for a cheeky 3 pound, but the dinner was called off. Instead we ate a Davis Special stir fry and drank beer and wine and whisky in Ben's lounge and some of his Glasgow pals came over (with cake!!!) & we danced topless to Nirvana! Chair. Ripper night. On Ben's actual birthday we hit up a game of mini golf and then wined and dined at a verah noice Italiano restauranta.My birthday was also a good one. As it is important to get a good run up to the anniversary of one's birth, Ben and I watched The Godfather on the telly.
Saturday the 5th was a beautiful sunny day in Glasgow. I went for a big walk through the Botanical Gardens and then along the bank of the River Kelvin. Lots of people walking dogs. Dags- you like dags? It's a funny walk in that it is so lush and green and you could forget you're in the middle of the the biggest city in Scotland. Then you pass under a grand old traffic-carrying bridge and you see some glass and stone peeping at you through the trees and you're in the city once again.
I had plans to bake ANZAC bics but the search for ingredients was epic (can you just give me rolled oats? I don't want instant porridge I want oats!) so the baking never happened.
Then Ben came home from work and we hit Glasgow town!
* 2 games of pool at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut (a live music institution in Glasgow, voted best in Britain I think)
* Espresso Martinis- made on request- at Grill on the Corner (oh la la! so swanky!)
* Beers but no food at Bier Hall Republic
* More beers with Jayne (Ben's housie) at Universal
* Classic finish: jovial convo with randoms while waiting for pizza from middle eastern take out joint below Ben's flat.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes from all my lovely friends. Too kind. Makes me warm in the chestal area. Coarse crapitations be gone!
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Crabs
Ben and I went on a trek last week to god-knows-where (North of Great Western Road? No one goes north of Glasgow??!!) to a big Asian supermarket. How amazing are these crabs? They have fur around those claws, like Elizabeth Taylor might have worn in an old movie when it was cold and she sticks her hands in a big fur tube thing because it is snowing and she is walking across a bridge. Du ken? I made a Thai Green Chicken Curry last night. It has been so, so long since I've eaten food from that part of the world. It was very nice.
Squash: Lloydy is aching!
Hello. sorry for lame-o posts. (big up to J-Rose-P though, respect to the plum!)
Have been kicking about Ben's flat a lot and organising the Euro trip. Lots and lots of internetting. Not that interesting. Gowri has left for her second semester on exchange- in Denmark I think. Sad to say bye. It's getting old. Everyone is leaving (except Phil- Holla!).
It was really nice having Phoebe come up to Glasgow for a visit. She is now en route to Madagascar where she'll do 3 months scuba diving every day counting fish. Lucky girl! Then she'll head home to Aus via Karim in Morocco where they may or may not be getting married.
Kate Mac came through Glasgow too. Lily, Pho, Kate and I went to the Lighthouse (A Rennie Mackintosh building/museum) which had great views of the city but caught the terrible wind since it was a particularly shite day. Then we went to Mr Ben's vintage shop and The 13th Note in Merchant City for some bohemian vibes and ginger beer (Crabbies. Brewed in Glasgow. It's delicious).
Lily and I have been frequenting Sonny & Vito's a lot. I think it may be the Best Coffee in the West End. Nice.
Also, Ben and I played squash. Having never played a racket sport before, (half a dozen games of tennis with L. Ablett in the summer of 2005 doesn't really count) and NEVER having played squash before, it was quite the adventure. I wasn't that good at it, but got the idea of how it works, and wasn't too bad by the end (could volley for at least 6 hits!!). Now I am suffering beyond explanation. I'm so sore. My bum, back, arms. Ouchies!
Have been kicking about Ben's flat a lot and organising the Euro trip. Lots and lots of internetting. Not that interesting. Gowri has left for her second semester on exchange- in Denmark I think. Sad to say bye. It's getting old. Everyone is leaving (except Phil- Holla!).
It was really nice having Phoebe come up to Glasgow for a visit. She is now en route to Madagascar where she'll do 3 months scuba diving every day counting fish. Lucky girl! Then she'll head home to Aus via Karim in Morocco where they may or may not be getting married.
Kate Mac came through Glasgow too. Lily, Pho, Kate and I went to the Lighthouse (A Rennie Mackintosh building/museum) which had great views of the city but caught the terrible wind since it was a particularly shite day. Then we went to Mr Ben's vintage shop and The 13th Note in Merchant City for some bohemian vibes and ginger beer (Crabbies. Brewed in Glasgow. It's delicious).Lily and I have been frequenting Sonny & Vito's a lot. I think it may be the Best Coffee in the West End. Nice.
Also, Ben and I played squash. Having never played a racket sport before, (half a dozen games of tennis with L. Ablett in the summer of 2005 doesn't really count) and NEVER having played squash before, it was quite the adventure. I wasn't that good at it, but got the idea of how it works, and wasn't too bad by the end (could volley for at least 6 hits!!). Now I am suffering beyond explanation. I'm so sore. My bum, back, arms. Ouchies!
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