A Wet Weekend in Wales

On the 25th of May we officially began our second May bank holiday weekend, consisting of full 3 days off work – bliss….
Shantal, Nimisha, Portia, Jonathan and I jumped in a tank of a car (Ford Mondeo Estate) rented from Avis and drove off to Cardiff for the weekend.
After a long drive with a stop on the way at a service station restaurant for breakfast, we arrived in Cardiff. As we couldn’t yet check into our hotel, we went off to explore Castel Coch. It’s one of the two castles which belonged to the Marquis of Wales/Cardiff.
It’s a fairytale castle on top of a hill partially hidden by trees. Inside is decorated with paintings all over the ceilings and walls. Maquis Bute had a passion for all things Medieval as well as nature, and this style is definitely apparent in the decorating.
Once we’d imagined we were royalty in Castel Coch, we drove to the waterfront in Cardiff Bay and had a late lunch at an Italian restaurant.
I had a fab folded pizza filled with chicken, spinach, garlic, tomato and cheese – it was wonderful.
Then we drove our weary bodies back to the hotel, checked in and while Shantal and Nimisha slept, the others and I challenged each other to many games of pool at the pool table.
Later that evening we all ‘dolled’ ourselves up in our night-out clothing, and went to Greyfriar’s Road, one of the streets famous in Cardiff for it’s bars, cafes and clubs.
We visited Fat Cats (a bar/restaurant) first, and while sipping cocktails, sat on sofa’s near the window which had a view of the street.
Cardiff is the unofficial bachelor and bachelorette weekend venue, and there were at least 7 or 8 parties of people all dressed up in their themed outfits parading down the street and pub/club hopping. Most of the brides-to-be had veils and tiara’s, but their guests were all dressed up too, some in just tee shirts with their names on, others with sailor outfits and others in 1940’s dresses and wigs.
The other thing that struck us was the tiny-ness of some of the girl’s outfits (these were just normal patrons of the clubs and bars), some girls wore really just teeny tiny tops with belts (no jeans or skirts) and leaving nothing to the imagination!
Many were committed party goers, one of the girls both impressed and disgusted us by retching (and throwing up) into a beer glass and then 5 minutes later dancing merrily away on the dance floor – that must take years of practice…. ;-)
Jonathan left early leaving us girls to dance a little longer, at about 1am, we all decided that we were staving (having missed supper) and asked a female bouncer where we could find food at this time of the morning/night.
She gave us a road name and we jumped into a cab. We ended up in City Road which does indeed have some fried chicken shops and kebab shops open at that hour. It must however be one of the more dodgy roads/areas in Cardiff. When we asked the cab driver if it was okay for us to be there, he replied, ‘well, there are four of you, so you should be okay’ and then sped off.
Once we’d filled up on lamb kebabs (very tasty at that time of night), I tried to call the cab company who’d dropped us off at the club initially and was told that they didn’t fetch from ‘that’ area.
So stranded on the side of the road and trying to be cheerful at that time of the morning, a legitimate cab drove past, we hailed it, and gratefully piled in and got to the hotel safely.
Not an adventure for the faint-hearted! ;-)

On Sunday morning it was literally bucketing down with rain, and so we opted to have breakfast at a coffee shop at a shopping centre.
We then had a bit of a look around at the shops, and as the rain was not going to let up, braved the walk to Cardiff Castle.
We booked a tour, but ended up missing it because we arrived 5 minutes late, so had to wait around for a later tour (they were booking up fast that day). So we first went into the castle grounds and climbed the many stairs to the top of the Norman fort and looked at the view of Cardiff. Even in the whipping rain and wind, it is a lovely sight.
Finally we were able to warm up a little by going inside the castle on the tour.
I’ve done the tour before, but it is such a lovely building inside and so ornate, that it was a treat going back. Each room on view is done in a theme and is stunning. Unfortunately you’re not allowed to take photos, so you only leave with memories (and a postcard or two).
That evening we went back to the waterfront (in the rain) and had supper at a Turkish restaurant which had walls entirely made of glass to take advantage of the view of the bay. We had a lovely supper.

On Monday morning, I got up early and went to meet Emily, my cousin, for breakfast. We had a lovely catch-up. It’s always so lovely to see family in a foreign country. Being away from home really makes you appreciate your friends and family.
After that I picked up the others from the hotel and we drove home in more rain.I was glad to get home, put my feet up and drink a cuppa tea and have a chocolate bickie (biscuit). Oh dear, am I turning English? ;-)

Picture 1: Castel Coch

Picture 2: A painted ceiling (Castel Coch)

Picture 3: A painted wall (Castel Coch)

Picture 4: My Cardiff souvenir :-)

Picture 5: Cardiff Bay

Picture 6: Party gals, Shantal, me, Portia

Picture 7: More party go-er's, Nimeesha, Jonathan

Picture 8: Cardiff Castle and one of its resident peacocks

Picture 9: Nimisha and I braving the elements on the Norman fort (Cardiff in the background)

A Family Affair

It was with much excitement, on the 18th May, that I was off to see my brother and his family again in Derbyshire for a weekend.
I travelled up by train on Friday after work and was met at the station by my brother and my little niece and nephew (who were fast asleep in the back of the car).
Once they put the little ones to bed, I had a nice evening chatting to Richard and Sharon (poor Sharon spent a lot of the evening finishing up an assignment which was due the next day).
The next morning Richard and I walked Kai and Sian to the shopping area of Ilkeston. It was market day and we walked around the stalls a little looking at all the things for sale.
We stopped at the fruit and vegetable stall which smelt wonderful, just like lots of summer fruits and bought some vegetables and, you guessed it, fruit.
Then it was off to the butchers to buy meat for the barbeque/braai that evening.
Richard recently acquired a barbeque Weber, and is an avid braai-er now :-)
We visited the Ilkeston Library which has just re-opened after some rewiring and got lots of books for Kai and Sian. (Kai spent the rest of the weekend making me read these books to him, he really loves having stories read to him.)

Unfortunately the heavens opened up on us halfway on the walk home and I could see Sharon’s horrified face, when we all walked in, sopping wet resembling drowned rats with our shopping bags.
Luckily by evening, the rain had cleared and we were able to have a good old South African braai/barbeque with hunks of the best rump I’ve had in ages and ages, a huge salad with everything in it, homemade bread and a glass of wine. Yum, yum!
The next morning we hit the road and went to the Derbyshire Dales and had a walk in the countryside.
Kai and Sian really loved the long grass and rolled about giggling and shouting. It was very cute to see.
Sian has started using my name when she talks to me in her baby babble with words here and there. Unfortunately as my name is a bit of a mouthful, she’s abbreviated it a little and calls me ‘Day’. She kept calling me the whole weekend in her cute little baby voice, as well as pointing at me and saying ‘Day’ and smiling.
Her other favourite words are meow-meow when seeing pictures of a cat and saying what they sound like, and ‘raison’ (she was eating them at the time).

Picture 1: Richard, Kai and Sian running down a hill in Ilkeston on Market Day

Picture 2: A view on our walk of the Derbyshire Dales

Picture 3: Sharon and Kai on our walk

Picture 4: Me and Sian, also on the walk

Punting in Oxford

A week after I returned back to London, we had the first May bank holiday weekend. On the Sunday of this lovely long weekend, I went to Oxford for the day with some work colleagues.
We met at Victoria station early in the morning and caught one of the many busses which motor up to the historic university town everyday.
It was a chilly day, so on arriving the first thing everyone wanted to do was find a coffee shop, drink tea and coffee and have a lovely fry-up breakfast, which is exactly what we did.
After watering and feeding ourselves, it was off to catch the hop-on-hop-off bus around Oxford.
I enjoyed the view of Oxford from the top of a bus, but I think the walking tour I did there with Landy a couple of years ago was far superior as were privy to far more information about this interesting university, and we got to go into some of the college campuses and see their halls and gardens.
Our next aim was to try ‘punting’ on the river. This is where you stand at the back of a slim wooden boat and use a long heavy pole to push the boat along.
It’s certainly a very good workout for your arm muscles, I managed to wobble the boat along and didn’t fall in, so all in all I think it was a successful attempt ;-)
After our river experience, we were all cold again, so decided to find an indoor activity for a while.
We went to a famous bookshop in Oxford which has an underground floor and boasts having 3 miles of bookshelves down there.
It certainly has a book on pretty much any topic you can think of for sale. Wonderful stuff for a book lover like me.
After a cream tea (scones, cream, jam and tea) we snoozed all the way home on the bus.

Picture 1: Christchurch chapel from the river
Picture 2: Me, punting on the river
Picture 3: Side road in Oxford

An African Wedding

I went to South Africa for a week in April to go to Vicky’s wedding and spend a time at home with friends and family.
I was really looking forward to seeing sunny South Africa, having been away from home for 3 months. After a non-eventful flight, I arrived in Johannesburg on a Friday morning, and made for my parent’s house which would be my ‘home base’ for the visit.
The day went quickly, and I only just had time to say hello both my parents before going off up to Mangwa a game farm just past Pretoria for Vicky’s wedding.
The wedding was only on Saturday, but close friends and family arrived a day early for a good old braai and catch-up. It was so great to see a lot of my friends again and hear their news. Somehow it’s never the same being 1000 miles away and chatting on email or the phone.

Saturday arrived and most of the boys and some girls (all who’d arrived the night before) played golf with the groom for the morning. The rest of us headed off for a good fry-up breakfast at a local farm which had a little restaurant.
After helping out a little with wedding preparations I guiltily sunned myself at the pool until it was time to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding was lovely, Vicky and Alex’s love of the African bush certainly shone through with their unique decorations and proceedings.
The bride arrived in an open 4x4, and a choir welcomed her into the church singing ‘The bride is coming’ in Zulu. She was certainly a beautiful and serene bride with a very big smile :-)
We had a drinks and snacks on the pool deck with the African bush and a gorgeous pink sunset as the backdrop after the service.
Then it was into the reception venue for supper, speeches and to dance the night away.
Again the lovely African Theme prevailed in the hall, with metal baobab trees in the middle of each table, a metal and bead animal as a table ‘number’, little orange and red berries scattered over the white table cloths and a beaded bride and groom as a thank you present for each guest.
It certainly was a night to remember.

I arrived back at my parent’s house on Sunday, but was so tired that I slept for most of the afternoon.
On Monday through to Thursday I began running the 101 errands that pile up when one is not in the country for a while, everything from sorting out my tax return to going into the office for a day for a couple of meetings with my boss and work colleagues. On Monday night Caroline came over and slept at my parents after work, it was lovely and felt like our regular hangout Monday nights when she used to sleep over at my house once a week.
Each afternoon I hung out with my mom, and in the evenings I spent time with my parents.
My two cats were certainly pleased to see me, and I was happily surprised to see that they certainly remembered me.
Pascal, my little brown cat decided that he should have more quality time with me than the other two cats and would have little fights at my feet with the other cats to ensure that he got to sit on his mistress’s lap. It was very amusing!
I definitely miss the two little critters, but they do seem happy and well adjusted where they are right now (at my parent’s house).
On Thursday evening I spent some time with my friend’s Christopher and Cathy and their little daughter Kaitlyn who just gets cuter and prettier by the day.
Friday was a public holiday in South Africa and my parents and I had a wonderful breakfast and a little walk at the Walter Sisulu botanical gardens. It is so lovely and green there!
In the afternoon I had coffee with Michele and Sarah, giggling over many things.
Before I knew it, I was on the plane on Saturday evening, and flying back to London without having achieved half the things I wanted to. I think that is the nature of one week holidays, they are generally just too short!

Picture 1: Sunset drinks at the wedding

Picture 2: Vicky and Alex bouncing out the church

Picture 3: Baobab trees and table settings

Picture 4: Mandy, Landy, Susan, Linzi and me

Picture 5: Me, Caroline and Susan

Picture 6: Me and the about the only time Stitch got to sit on my lap (Pascal not around)

Picture 7: Mom and Dad at the Walter Sisulu botanical gardens

Picture 8: Pascal, loafing about