Sizzling in Seville

 The streets of Seville

The Real Alcazar

Clockwise from top left: The Flamenco show; the controversial Metropol Parasol (otherwise known as the Mushroom thing); our Japanese rock star with an adoring fan

The Plasa de Espana

A few logistical issues meant that we had to reshuffle some of our holiday and annual leave plans for the year, primarily meaning that we had to ditch our plan to do the Greek Islands in October. While this was initially disappointing, we soon got over it after we replaced it with a trip that included a couple of days in Seville, five nights on the beach in Portugal, and then a few days of checking out Lisbon.

Arriving in Seville was amazing for the sheer fact that it was stinking hot.

Absolutely scorching. 

After being in Europe for just about two years now, we were well in need of some proper sun (proof of how long we’ve been away can be found in how I constructed that sentence). Our situation had become so dire that Monique had actually been diagnosed as being Vitamin D deficient (to which she glared at the doctor with a look of ‘how on earth am I supposed to get more sun in overcast London’ on her face).

Seville was just the tonic. We squeezed the absolute most out of our day and half in the city by walking our feet off, exploring the very Moroccan-esq Real Alcazar palace, seeing a Flamenco show, and relaxing at the very beautiful Plaza de Espana.

As a side note on Seville, it just so happened that we experienced one of the stranger moments so far on our adventures. Towards the end of the Flamenco performance, the MC came up on stage and announced that we were going to have a special Japanese guest join the performance.  

Hmmm…how perplexing.

We watched in astonishment as they rolled a piano onto the stage and up got a Japanese man wearing what can only be described as a matching pajama set (we’re not making an impolite culture reference – he was actually wearing pajama shorts and shirt, with oversize white basketball boots and bright red socks pulled up). He took his seat at the piano and started playing one of the cheesiest four-chord piano ballads we have ever heard, while the phenomenally talented Flamenco dancers and musicians politely looked on.

When the song was finally over, they then proceeded to do a Flamenco-style rendition of said cheesy four-chord piano ballad which they managed to make sound (comparatively) quite good.

Apparently the Japanese guy is a celebrity, but unfortunately we missed his name through the accent of the MC. It’s a real shame – we would have loved to get some more of his stuff from iTunes.

Blown away in Brighton

The West Pier 

Clockwise from top left: the Ferris wheel; a roller coaster on the pier; the pebble beach with the West Pier in the backgorund

One of the things that had been sitting on our to-do list was to check out Brighton. We had been trying to do a weekend away with Sam and Shaun for a while, and after much attempted planning, we ended picking Brighton on a weekend that coincided with Monique’s birthday.

We headed down on the train on the Friday night after work and then spent the weekend exploring the quaint lanes, the pebble beach, the teas rooms and pubs, and of course the fairground on the pier.

Brighton is an interesting place. On the one hand it is quite quaint and pretty, on the other, just slightly rough around the edges and in need of a coat of paint.

Perhaps the defining feature of the weekend was the extraordinary wind that was blowing in off the ocean. We can’t think of ever experiencing a stronger one. Watching Monique and Sam trying to convince themselves that it was ice cream weather in gale-force wind was amusing. And messy. 

Daniel's lifetime dream fulfilled...

Off the legs for a couple

I fell in love with cricket while watching David Boon craft out a solid 64 on 12^th January 1993 in a one dayer against the Pakistan in the Benson & Hedges one day series match.

  

Pretty much ever since this moment, cricket has been an obsession of mine where I soon started dreaming of playing in England. Something to do with the romantic notion of idyllic English village greens surrounded by white picket fences, with the cricket being played in a truly gentlemanly fashion always made the idea seem so alluring.

Trooping the Colour - The Colonel's Review

Following the excitement of last year’s Trooping the Colour, we decided to get in early this year and enter the ballot for the official ceremony at the Horse Guards Parade. This involved composing a hand written letter to the Brigade Major, popping it in the post in February, and then waiting patiently for a reply.

Very old school.

After a week or so of keeping an eye on the post, we received our tickets. Upon initial inspection, we were a tad concerned that Daniel was going to have to wear a full Morning Suit – three piece suit with tales and top hat – but fortunately the fine print revealed that trousers and a jacket would suffice.

Phew.

The big day arrived, and thankfully given the outdoor seating, the rain looked like staying away. We arrived at the Horse Guards Parade and went through the most thorough bag search of all time – the security guard literally went so far as to open Monique’s purse and search each little pocket.

The parade itself was well worth the effort of writing a letter. The whole idea of ‘military precision’ takes on a whole new meaning when watching a few hundred soldiers and their horses all moving in perfect time and unity without so much as a hair out of place for a couple of hours.

While if you stopped for too long to reflect on how relevant all the pomp, ceremony and funny outfits are in today’s world it would be easy to come up scratching your head. But ignoring that, it was heaps of fun, highly entertaining, and a great experience to be a part of.

Enough food for everyone IF...

A field of 250,000 flowers planted in Hyde Park. 

Each petal represents a child that died last year due to malnutrition

The world produces enough food for everyone, but not everyone has enough food.

On Saturday we had the privilege of joining 48,000 people in Hyde Park to support the IF campaign. The purpose was simple – raise awareness of the human tragedy of global hunger, and demand that world leaders take steps to fix the broken structures of the global food system.

Events like this really put life into perspective. Our worldviews can shrink so quickly.

Gosh, I hope we can find some cheap tickets for our next holiday...

What new restaurant are we going to try this weekend?

I’m so sick of my Blackberry.

Our online groceries haven’t been delivered in time so we can’t have pudding tonight.

London with a birds Eye view...

Clockwise from top left: View from the London Eye; Big Ben; Another view from the London Eye

Following our day trip to Oxford, we spent the rest of the long weekend...

> enjoying the London sun. Quite miraculously, the sun stayed out and gave us a glorious 18 degrees for three days straight....amazing!

> Rode our bikes to Hyde Park for a picnic and a snooze

> Ticked the London Eye off our to-do list.

A study of Oxford

Clockwise from top left: inside Jesus College; the exterior of Christ Church College; Jesus College again

Clockwise from top left: Exeter College Chapel; Christ Church College dining hall; Divinity School ceiling

Clockwise from top left: Trinity College garden; our good friend who had one too many; Summer Eights rowing

Despite Monique spending many long hours scouring the interweb for cheap flights for the second long weekend in May, we ended up drawing a blank. While this was a tad disappointing, we decided that a jam packed day trip to Oxford would be just as much fun.

We were right!

We caught an 8am bus that had us there by 9:45, perfectly in time to grab a coffee before embarking on a town walking tour. Oxford is a really beautiful town, and it was fascinating learning about it, the colleges, and the many famous people who had studied there.

It was quite amazing