Saturday in Brighton

The weekend before last was an absolutely gorgeous weekend in London, this weekend was half sunny half rainy but that's what I've been told to expect. Anyways, last weekend I made the most of the nice weather and headed down to the coast and arrived in Brighton 40 minutes later by train.

May 10th, 2008
It was a really cool town to explore which was fairly heavily impacted by visitors from around the country but it was still a nice city. It was quite diverse in what was available to explore. I walked through the small streets of really cool, unique shops which lead down to the small, old english like narrow streets called The Lanes. Little shops popped up around the corners of the lanes as I kept walking around each narrow turn. The lanes then opened up to a wider, main street which was home to the more upscale shops found in most cities.








That street lead down to the ocean where the Brighton Pier could be see off to the left and a massive beach covered completely in pebbles could be seen. The street wrapped closely around the edges of the beach and ocean and two to three story buildings lined the coast as it continued in each direction. Pubs lined the stone-filled beach and the stones certainly didn't stop anyone from lying out and soaking in the sun.






The pier was an odd bit of work but fun to explore and see. It's like a mini-carnival on a pier with lots of junk food, yummy doughnuts, amusement rides, games and a full arcade in the middle and of course fish and chips. It was a fun place to explore and just walk around looking at the different people and shops.







I think I'll definitely go back and explore the beach area a bit more, explore the shops as there were lots of neat ones I didn't get to go into. One place I did go was a little shop off to the side that sold mini guitars made of wood and painted in different colors. I had to get one, they were too cool to pass up even though they were £8. I bought a red Fender strat with the words "Sex Pistols - Never mind the bollocks." It makes me chuckle when I look at it which is exactly why I bought it, not because I'm a massive Sex Pistols fan because I'm not, haha.

After consuming a double chocolate cupcake from the butterfly bakery, an ice cream cone, a few doughnuts and a nice italian meal I was ready to head back. Definitely need to check out a milkshake place that advertised 150 different milkshakes!!

Welcome Drinks & My Day Out In London

It's been a nice weekend so far, lots of things going on some for fun, some just to distract myself. On Friday after work, I arranged to meet up a few friends from work that I met at GS training in NY. We went around the corner to a place called the Centre Page and had a pint outside and chatted a bit. It happened that the same night another guy from training was leaving the firm and sent out an invitation for drinks on Friday as well. So we merged the two events and quite a few people turned up to the pub right across from our main GS office. I now forget the name of the place but it was a cool spot and you could definitely tell that's where loads of people went after work to cool down but cooling was definitely limited. The main area was really really hot! fortunately the back room wasn't taken so we meandered our way back there and found a few bottles of wine for us to enjoy. How could we pass that up? The group that had just left didn't finished a few full bottles of wine so we happily took over where they left off. :-)

Yeah, so it was a fun night, lots of catching up and seeing faces I hadn't seen in ages. By the sounds of it, a lot of people hadn't seen each other in donkey's years (britishsm for you) so it was a great night of catching up. Some people were definitely surprised to see me there and know that i had moved over here and of course i got the question "so why have you come to London?" a gazillion times but i was expecting that and had my answer ready, haha. It was good to see everyone, lots turned out like i said before and from what i can remember i saw: tim, stew, ash, alan, ali, john, alice, melissa, darshini, chris, simon, steve, eric, vicky and i'm sure there were others but the names aren't popping into my head.

Right, so today I had a lie in and puttered around until about midday until I decided to head out and explore a bit of London. I didn't really know what I wanted to do so I looked up a few places on my list near Green Park which would be my last stops and then took the train into Blackfriar's station and started walking. It was such a beautiful day and i stupidly brought my coat with me which after about 2 minutes of walking was taken off and stuffed into my backpack. There was a cool breeze, blue sky and sun shining down on London. Lovely. I headed west through a few areas and one really cool street i found was Denmark street which is perpendicular to Charing Cross and SOHO. It was lined with guitar and music shops and I wanted to explore all of them. I'd been meaning to get new guitar strings so I headed into an acoustic guitar shop that smelled of polish. I saw the familiar elixir nanoweb's behind the counter and inquired how much they were. £12 was the answer which was crazy as that's how much they are but in dollars! I was a bit shocked so I decided not to buy strings until i really needed them (i.e. one popped off) because that price is just outrageous to me, that's about $24! I passed a pub along the way that caught my attention...see the picture below. he he.



I continued on and hit Oxford street, a very busy shopping area and lots more people were out and about. I stopped in John Lewis which is a large department store over here and picked up a few kitchen items that I've been meaning to get. I continued on, stopping at Boots (pharmacy like CVS) to get some water and a few things. The odd bit is they didn't have non-spray deodorant which is the opposite of what you'd see in the states, well at least in the past. They only had stick and that was the major stock. But here, at least in Boots, they only had spray deodorant which i thought was a bit weird but I purchased a can and continued on my way.

I kept going on Oxford street, and passed by a belgian waffle shop that looked VERY tempting. I had just eaten a snack so i wasn't too hungry but was very intrigued and starting to feel hungry after seeing a chocolate covered waffle advertised. I kept going and headed towards Hyde Park. I passed another waffle place and couldn't resist this time so a VERY tasty chocolate covered waffle was purchased and carried to the park. Along the way, passerbys stared hungrily at the chocolate mess that I was holding. I tried to stop myself from chuckling as their eyes widened once they spotted my tasty treat. I would be doing the same if someone was walking down a busy street carrying a chocolate covered waffle. That would be grounds for pinching it, me thinks. I'm a chocolate addict and in times of need, drastic measures must be taken. he he.



Right, so i arrived at the park, ate my waffle and found a nice tree to rest under for a bit. I explored a few other places, stopped in at an old fashioned shaving stored called Taylor's of Old Bond Street and bought a few items as an impulse buy. They've already been tested out and approved so it was a worthy buy even though it was a bit pricey.

All around it was a nice day out in London and I liked walking around and just getting my bearings about where things are. I now can pinpoint oxford street or at least the relative direction it's in and have a better grasp about where things are and how far apart they are. Much more exploring to come, hopefully with some company along :-)

Marble Arch


Hyde Park


Hyde Park


Relaxing in Hyde Park


Wellington Arch


Sliding down a fountain in Green Park


Buckingham Palace


Buckingham Palace

Snow in London!!!

April 6th 2008

I woke up today feeling a bit under the weather (Britishism cockney: tom and dick) with a sore throat and just a bit weak and tired. But, it was SNOWING outside so I could I not go outside, especially Brockwell Park. I got out of bed around 11:30 and made my way to the park to take some photos and enjoy the pretty whiteness all around and collecting on the trees and flowers. It was stunning, really gorgeous how the snow collects and bunches up on the different plants. Lots of people were out and playing in the snow and I was really wishing I had someone to play around in the snow with. Still haven't had a proper snow ball fight, snow angel's or snow man making since I've been in colder regions where snow is possible in the winter. It's a bit odd that snow came in April of all times, that was a bit shocking but then again I welcomed it and so did everyone else in the park :-) I passed a few people and was taking photos as they passed. Most of them commented on the scene like "it's beautiful isn't it?" or "what a gorgeous park in the snow!" It was nice to have people just chatting around, I don't think I ever had anyone speak to me when I was taking pictures in NY. It could just be because I looked like a goof with my hat and camera around my neck or it could also be that snow doesn't come all that much in England and people were just in a happy and talkative mood. Either way, it was nice.

PICTURES

Londonisms

After reading many books, speaking with a few Brits and being in London all of last week, I've definitely picked up a few Londonisms, Britishisms and just fun things. My thought is to keep track of them on my blog but I already know it's not going to stay up-to-date. I'll still try though, so keep tuned and check my site for updated Londonisms as I dive deeper into the culture. The list is there on the right side of my blog. You can't miss it!

My official move date is April 4th, just need to wait for my work permit and visa and then buy my flight then I'll be sorted.

oh and more photos from London:

Primrose hill at dusk


view of london from primrose hill


night shot from waterloo bridge

Hike Through the Rain Forest

I've just woken up from a nice nap which was well needed after a big day of hiking. I'm ready to recap what we've experienced today!

We woke up this morning to a rain filled sky and muddy roads. The wind was still banging our door open and closed ALL night which with my extremely uncomfortable bed, kept me up most of the night. Tonight I'm going to stick some magazines and paper under the crack in the door to hold it shut. That should do the trick. The wind is so strong though, it comes shooting through the door behind us and the shakes the front door with a jolt of energy. It's a loud and spontaneous noise and not fun to sleep with.

We're off to find some supper so i'll continue with the day when we return...

* * *

We had an amazing dinner at a chilean run restaurant called Restaurante Lucia. We had an incredible bottle of Pinot Noir from Chil and I ordered Mexican Steak for dinner. Yummy! Before i even ordered, i scoped out the dessert menu (it would only be proper!) and my eyes grew wide when they spotted "Tres Leches" on the menu. Mmmmmmmm! The meal was very good and the Tres Leches was DIVINE! We had a really wonderful converstion that was very heartfelt and deep. I shared everything that's been going on lately in my life and my sister shared her heartbreak which lead to some warm family discussions. I love my family dearly! At one point we were speaking about things that make you smile in the morning when you wake up and things to take the ho hum out of your day and that made me reflect and think hard and smiles erupted from me. :-) What a wonderful saying and thought, it is so important to find something(s) that make you excited to start the day and even better if you can find something or someone that makes you smile each and every morning. Definitely going to store that one away for later.

On to the days adventure! >>>

We decided to skip the morning guided tour which started at 6:45am and have a more leisurely staet to our day. We ate breakfast downstairs which was absolutely delicious and homemade. It consisted of fried eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice, pineapple, mango and tasty homemade corn tortilla's which were hand-ground! Incredible!

So around 10:30 we headed out for our walk at the Sanctuario Egologico which our guide book recommended for a nice 2.5 hour hike at a leisurely pace. We arrived and paid our 5,000 colones entrance fee each and then off we went into the rain forest

We arrived at a lookout point with MASSIVE panoramas of tree covered slopes and the nicoya peninsula in the horizon to the west. The sun was partly out but there was a constant mist in the air. The green hillsides were amazing and had us all oooh'ing and ahh'ing as we stared out into the vast valley below. The trees covered every inch of the hills and surrounding area, completely consumed by a dark green. It was a marvelous sight and could not be captured on camera, but of course i tried.






Speaking of my camera, I started to have difficulties with it and focusing on objects and horizons. It has has consistent issues with trying to take panorama's or pictures of the distance which have always been my favourite to capture...poo! it became quite irritating especially as i experience it more and more throughout the day. At first i thought it might be because the sun was reflecting off the mist but now i think it has more to do with the camera and maybe the humidity and wetness.

Right, on to the adventure! We decided to hike down the slopes to a waterfall below. The train down was steep, narrow and slippery but brought incredible vistas and closeups of plans and wildlife all around. Ultimately (after a 30-40min hike down) we emerged in a dense forest of wetness and greenery with a damp mist surrounding everything. The thundering waterfall and flow of the stream next to us was intoxicating and relaxing. We hiked up the slippery rocks to find a 30 foot waterfall pouring over the edges. The sound was extraordinary and the wind gusted from the impact of the water on the rocks at our feet. Mist consumed the air around us as we all stared at the massive spectacle of nature.




Naturally, I was trying desperately to get photo's of the waterfall but the issues with my camera continued. Fortunately, I took enough to where i came away with 2 or 3 clear shots that weren't completely blurry and out of focus.


Seeing that brilliant force of nature filled me with smiles and wonder. I was gleaming with happiness as we trekked back through the dense, damp greenery and back up the steep mountain to the lookout above.


We continued along the trail and saw many different types of flowers, trees and mushrooms and noises all around. One extremely funny event was my mom and dad literally got ants in their pants that were biting them on their legs and thighs. SO, on the platform overlooking the edge of the vally and vast greennes, my parents stripped off their pants (trousers, mind you!) and looked for the ants crawling around on them. HAHA! My sister and I were in stitches!

One really interesting aspect of the rainforest is all the different smells. Different areas had varying degrees of humid, sweet, foresty smells to animal stinks like skunk to fungal smells that didn't smell terrible but definitely...distinctive. It was hard to describe these sense as the whole forest was just one massive sensory overload. Mix that with fatigue, sweat and thirst and we have quite a combination of feelings.


I'm lying here with the wind still blowing strongly and a kitty sleeping under my folder legs. I can feel her tail twitching against my calf and her paws burying themselves into my feet. This kitty is so funny and crazy but wonderfully precious! She has been nicknamed the Christmas Kitty as she's been our little treasure to have around while we've been here. :-)

Traveling to Monteverde

22-December 2007 : Monteverde, Costa Rica
We left bright and early from San Jose this morning after a mere four hours of sleep. We had breakfast downstairs and then met our CRT (Costa Rica Temptations) travel guide and off to went to Monteverde along with a Spaniard from Madrid who spoke very little English.

The first half of the trip was mostly city driving with some hills and slopes and the van remained quite quiet. We passed vendors selling fruit and sunglasses in the middle of the highway during a traffic jam and hand painted signs along the side of the road mostly for "Repuestos" which we later found out means "parts."

We stopped two hours into our four and a half hour drive for a short break. The humidity was intense at this little shack/soda and the air felt very warm, close to 80 or 85 degrees i'd estimate. We continued on through lush greenery and every so often would catch a glimpse of the mountains ahead. This was where we were going but we didn't quite realize that yet.

We drove up into the hills and then down steep descents which lead us to our first view of the bast pacific: Punta Arenas. We merely had time to look out into the sea of blue until we were right back on a road headed into the hills. With a sharp right hand turn, we headed away from the ocean and up and up the mountain.

A short ways into the "new" road, the cement stopped and the rugged terrain began. Deep rooted dirt roads carved out by the wet season were ahead of us with daunting pot holes and ruts to navigate through. Brutal bobbing and juggling around in the van was had by all of us as we felt like bits of popcorn in a metal box. The driver swerved and swayed across the road looking for the safest path to take over this tumultuously road. Miraculously, we were actually passing other cars on the road although very safely compared to other drives were saw maneuvering on our journey.

As we climbed into the mountains, my sister started to chat away with the Spaniard in what seemed like fluent Spanish. He was very excited to chat and my mom added a few sentences and words here and there as she's been recently trying to learn the language.

The roads, while completely miserable, lead us up into gorgeous mountains. Higher and higher we went with vistas emerging off to the side. I pulled out my camera for my first photo opportunity of the trip. The lush green mountains, pillowing clouds and mist settling among the peaks distracted us from the rugged terrain. My camera held up quite well with all the bumpiness and shaking and i think i took a few nice shots.






At certain times, around particular corners, vista open up to the west and sparkling blue water could be seen far in the distance down through the valley's of verde.

After about an hour of extremely, bumpy, rough, popcorny travel, the road smoothed out and we were greeted by Monteverde, "Bienvenidos a Monteverde!"

We arrived at our lodge, the Mannakin Lodge, and spoke with a young, teenage girl there helping out her parents with translating English and taking care of the rooms and arrangements. We were shown t our room, only one of about 12 or so, and were treated with a rustic, quaint cabin on the second floor with two connected rooms. The walls smelled of fresh wood which reminded me of our cabin in Julian when we had it and I absolutely love it!


As i am writing, the rain is dribbling down off the rood, tip tapping above me and steadily streaming down out of the sky. We have been greeted by an absolutely adorable kitty that has snuggled with all od us and is currently laying on my mom's chest. So cute!

We ate lunch at a spot called Flora de Vida and each of us ordered our first plate of Casado - a traditional white rice and black bean costa rican dish. We also had fried plantains, a savoury chicken alongside the rice and a cinnamon, pineapple, coconut and ginger flavoured smoothie! yum! it was absolutely delicious!

It's the middle of the afternoon and we are deciding what to do this evening. We've heard that monkey's come up to the balcony looking for banana's and i am really hoping the rain doesn't keep them away!

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!

It was great having Michelle's parents here to visit. We did most of the things we planned on doing and most importantly went to the restaurants we planned on taking them to. NY is all about the food, well any city is about the food for me!

I don't mean to...ah, the words are NOT coming to my head and I can't figure out how to best put it. So forget that sentence, all I really want to say was IT SNOWED TODAY!!!! I woke up to a winter wonderland outside as a blanket of white powder covered the area outside the apartment. I quickly showered, had some yogurt, got dressed and put my boots on. Michelle asked "where are you going?" I didn't need to respond since the look on her face knew my response was going to be "I'm going to play in the snow!" I bundled up, grabbed my camera and headed out the door to find flakes fluttering through the air. The picked up speed and showered me with white flakes. I had a HUGE smile on my face as I walked around, cozy in my coat, scarf and sweater. I snapped a few photos of the wintery goodness but mostly I just walked around and let the snow piled up on me. I think this photo brings that description to light (it's blurry because the camera chose to focus on the background instead of yours truly).


More pictures of the snow! View the rest on my flickr page.








The city was absolutely beautiful today as we walked around. Snow covered every spot of the city: signs, doorways, rooftops, car windows, benches, christmas trees on the street. Ahhhhh, how lovely to see the city in the middle of the holiday season AND fully covered in snow. It was gorgeous!

Tonight we made use of the Bowbeer's rental car and drove to Jersey (i know, we're crazy but keep reading) to go to Bertucci's. It's the italian place with the AWESOME bread. Oh man, so so so good. I haven't had that since I went to Michelle's graduation in May.

Last night we went down to Rockfeller center to see the tree. We got there around 11pm and it was practically empty. Our strategy of going late seemed to pay off. I took a couple of photos (of course) and here are a few of them: