Barcelona snacks

Uploaded by ladyhedda.

Tapas and Vino. What can go wrong?

Well, nothing went wrong..... But 3 bottles of wine plus whatever beer was in the refrigerator and we are hungover.
The tapas were delicious, the wine was really tasty and I had a blast.

Headed back to the UK for a couple of weeks... My mum and I are working on a couple of 'craft' projects for my niece/nephew. Hehe. I wonder if my brother is reading this.... Ben, be afraid, be very afraid.

And it will be finished when?

la sagrada familia
Uploaded by yobosayo.

I'm in Barcelona, with Christine and Mike, and we're sightseeing. Our schedule is relaxed - involving one, or maybe two sights a day, a nice lunch (with wine), a siesta and then dinner (more wine) and relaxing.

Today we visited La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished temple. Construction started in 1882, and is due to end in 2026. I'm not sure I'm convinced they'll be done by then, it looks like there's a long way to go. The place is beautiful and crazy all at the same time. I particularly liked the Passion facade on the West side, it's like nothing I've ever seen before.
We took the lift up to the top of one of the towers - where I was reminded of the fact that I do not do heights. The view overlooking Barcelona was fantastic, it was just the moment when taking a photo of Christine and Mike meant stepping out onto a balcony, that was when my knees started to physically shake. We descended the 427 steps on this spiral staircase, and I was happy to be on the ground.

Waffle

I know, I know, I'm a horrible blogger. I don't know what's come over me, I just can't find anything to write about. It's not that nothing is happening, I think I've just been crazy busy...
Whatever.
I'm in the UK, I've been here for a week, and already the weather has me packing my bags. I'm off to Barcelona for a few days to meet up with Christine and Mike - who are a couple of weeks into their own round the world adventure.
It has not stopped raining. Not only is it raining, but flooding too. Yikes. Floods in the UK in JULY, the weather has got it all wrong. It's supposed to be summer time now. I am not supposed to be inside knitting, looking at torrential rain.

The main reason for my visit was the wedding of Vicki & Tim, which took place up in Nottingham last week. Fortunately we managed to stay afloat, none of the (quite spectacular) hats blew away, we danced and a great time was had by all. Photos are below...

The shoes? Birkenstocks of course

I rolled the luggage trolley over my foot the minute I touched down in London. Voila, one purple fractured toe. The foot is so bruised and swollen that I can't fit it into my spectacular gold shoes. So Birkenstocks it is, and that makes the dancing a whole lot easier.

When in Singapore. Eat

I'm in Singapore. I got here 2 days ago, one short step on the long journey to Los Angeles. Singapore is a great city for just wandering around. The food is amazing, I have been feasting on dim sum lunches and Indian dinners.
Tomorrow I get on a plane to Tokyo, and then to LA. I can't really believe it. I'm excited, but it feels strange to be leaving Asia. I really love it here.
I went to a 'craft shop' today - to buy some goodies to keep me occupied on the plane. Cross-stitch, knitting - you get the idea! Oh lordy, it's gonna be a long day.....

Leaving Asia

Today is our last full day together for what feels like a really long time. Tomorrow Michael is flying to Sumatra, and then on to Nias for some quality surf. On Sunday, I fly to Singapore, where I will have 2 days to adjust before getting on a plane to the US of A.
I am ridiculously excited to see friends, I am also looking forward to eating some of Della's cooking, buying some new music, and having a bath.

I have also been thinking of my beautiful Shackleton, and how I can't wait to see him barking at the squirrels.









After a week in the USA I will be flying to London for a wedding. Vicki is gettin' hitched, and I intend on being there to throw stuff (and any other such responsibilities that may come my way).
I'm not sure how long I'll be staying. I gotta figure out some stuff....

I will post photos of our recent travels very soon. I promise. Just dealing with a nasty virus on my SD card.... Yuck.

I have volcanic rock in my shoes and my legs ache

Here are some photos from our climb up Gunung Rinjani. It was really difficult. The top section of the summit is all loose volcanic gravel. Every step you take your feet slide backwards. It's a scramble for the last hour of the summit climb.

We climbed to the crater rim on the first day, spent half a night, then got up at 3am to start the ascent to the summit. Yes 3am. WTF. It took a very long and painful 3 hours, but we made it for sunrise. Was it worth it? Yes. The view was amazing.

After sliding down (pretty scary) back to camp we ate breakfast and then started the trek down into the crater. We ate lunch by the lake, and then climbed out the other side. I was at the summit at 6am, and on the opposite rim at 6pm. That's a long day!