cliche shot, at camden

Wasn’t long til we could escape the life-sucking aura of the place (it did seem full of those nerdy types, who you just know are going to get straight A’s and hate vehemently without even speaking to) and hit london for real. Wooah.  

jack attemping an irish waterfall

Spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in a Lebanese cafe in Camden Town, smoking a shisha and sipping mint tea. Plain lush. Ever tried a shisha pipe? I hadn’t, it was my first and I can tell you know, will most definitely not be my last!It had a strange sort of smooth consistency, not like a normal cigg, and (being grape flavour) tasted fruity and sickly sweet. Mmmmm. Yummeh!  

john and me, shisha-ing

Lush day, ended with a trip to Covent Garden, by this time we were once again ravenous and stopped off at Oatarian, ever heard of it? It’s a pretentious all-vegetarian fast-food restaurant. Delicious, but oh so expensive. Everything is recycled, carbon neutral, energy efficient, calorie counted, blah blah etc. Still, was kind of funky (oh god, never let me use the word ‘funky’ again! but really it was the only way to describe this place). Plus. And this is a big plus. They sell the most to-die-for sweet potato chiplets. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Double mmmmmmmmm. All salty and peppery and herby and mouth-wateringly mmmm. You. Have. To. Try. Them. 

jack in oatarian

http://www.otarian.com/love-food/menu-uk.html 

So yes. All in all a pretty good day? Except for maybe the bit about the nerds… 

Much love xox

scrabble?

Why hey there stranger, I’m home! Back from the land of goulash and my, did I have my fair share of it while I was there. I got back late last night, after only a slightly delayed flight, grrr, and went straight to bed (feigning jet-lag in an attempt to avoid unpacking) But anyway. Enough talk, how was Budapest?     

Simply beautiful, in a post-communist sort of way. The buildings were spectacular, like something out of a fairytale, each one engraved in different ways, the roofs home to many hundreds of coloured mosaic tiles, which glinted invitingly in the sunshine, and it really did seem to be a city very much in love with statues…they were everywhere.  

the beautiful architecture

 

Being a landlocked county, there is no beach, but instead the Danube impressively winds its way through the city from the north, separating the two halves Buda and Pest. Buda being the less populated of the two, being hilly it offers spectacular views and is full of more historic sights than residential districts. One place I fell in love with in Buda was the Fisherman’s Bastion, we went there at dusk as all the city’s night lights were coming alive, and from the top we could look down over Pest, in all its splendour, winking up at us.      

great market hall, top floor

 

Pest is a lot more flat than Buda, terrain-wise, lying on the left flank of the Danube and most impressively boasts the House of Parliament (a giant, Hogwarts-esque building which dominates the whole panorama of the Pest side of the river). As this is the side where most of the city live and work, there is a range of cafes, shops and markets. Not to mention the Nagy Vásárcsarnok (Great Market Hall) which is grand to say the least. Three layers; the basement a supermarket, ground floor a food hall and the upper level housing more touristy souvenir stalls. My favourite, of course, was the ground floor! All sorts of different foodie goods could be bought here…meats, fruit (deliciously sweet and juicy apricots, a whole bag for less than a sterling pound!!), paprika products (for which Hungary is famous for, I am told) and, last but not least, the cake stalls…what mouthwateringly yummy selection of cakes, pastries and biscuits was on offer here…I was in heaven!     

a hungarian delicacy?

 

I’ve certainly tried and tasted some new foods whilst I was away. I am an addict to Nockerl (noodle dumplings) which I discovered on my first evening there; the ultimate comfort food, a mix between pasta and traditional dumplings but a lot smaller, best served with cheese or for breakfast, egg! Mmmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! One very typical dish I also loved was fruit soup. Served cold, the most common flavour is Meggy Leves (sour cherry), but I opted for a safer option, a concoction of pears, redcurrents, strawberries and cherries. And man, was it tasty!! I shall definitely be attempting to recreate these at home, now that I’ve tried them I’m not sure I can live without!     

tram ride, beats the tube anyday

We didn’t do anything particularly exciting whilst out there, just the usual pottering round, seeing the sights, eating lots of ice cream ‘to cool down’ and soaking up the culture. I can really recommend it, if ever you are passing through central Europe and fancy a hearty sausage or paprika chicken, or even just a jaunt round to see what Budapest has to offer. You’ll love it. I did.    

Much love xox  

“Watch things on VCRs with me

And talk about big love,

I think we’re superstars

You say you think we are the best thing.

But you, you just know

You just do.”

Her words pretty much sum up my infinite love for coffee dates; a cotchy sofa, mug in one hand, danish pastry in the other, sitting opposite a lover, mulling over nothing in particular, wrapped up in each other. Much love xox

There is no particular reason as to why I haven’t been writing, except for a severe case of exhaustion and an over-packed schedule. But don’t worry, all is well now and hopefully I shall be delighting you with the twists and turns of my life more regularly, once again. Oh joy, I hear you say, with not a hint of sarcasm there at all!

Once again, my apologies, and much love xox

So. I dusted. I hoovered. I mopped. I scrubbed. I bleached. I went from top to bottom methodically exterminating all bacterial life forms. And here I am, four hours and several chipped nails later, breathing a sigh of contentment at the shine that’s reflecting off my worktops! Ahhhh.

Kim Woodburn. My cleaning guru. I take all my tips from her, and believe me, they work! The one that came in most handy today was for cleaning the oven, which seems to have been forgotten about in my household. She recommended a thick paste of bicarb smeared all over the inside, left overnight and “then brace yourself for some serious scrubbing”!! And what a result, perhaps tonight I will bake some cakes for the weekend…or maybe I’ll just sit back and relax after a hard days work. Much love xox

a girlie catch up in the sunshine

Wow. Just reading the post I wrote late last night after a rather beautiful cycle ride along the seashore, I think all that hay fever must’ve gone to my head because my ramblings seemed a bit too serious for my liking! So. Anyway. What’s going down today? I’ve been having a catch up with my girlfriends, that’s what. We’re turning into ladies that lunch I swear, next we’ll be having cocktails in the middle of the day and marrying millionaires…Hmmm, now that scenario sounds familiar doesn’t it, I wonder where I could’ve heard it before? You guessed it, I’ve been to see SATC2. What a total waste of a sunny day is all I can say; I might as well of just waved goodbye to 146 minutes of my life and not had to endure nigh on two hours in an uncomfortable cinema seat staring at Sarah Jessica Parker’s constantly whingeing face. Okey, so I’m being a little harsh here. It was an average film, not the greatest, but by no means the worst, I’ve ever seen, if only I hadn’t been quite so long that the story line was stretched to almost breaking point.

Before I continue, I probably should admit I’m biased from the outset, if you like these kind of movies then take no notice of my opinions, but I can’t help but dislike the way these four women go about living their lives. In particular Carrie Bradshaw (played by SJP) who seems to have no ambition, and is quite happy to spend her days attending movie premiers and going for cocktails with the girls, her hardest decision each day is which scarf to wear with which dress, and if she should buy those jimmy choose in blue, or gold, or both.

Out of the four woman, I most warmed to Miranda Hobbes (played by Cynthia Nixon) as atleast she has something else in her life, other than a rich husband and an ever expanding walk-in wardrobe. In the sequel, Miranda, being the bread-winner of the family, has to make the choice between her career or her kid. Of course, it wouldn’t be SATC if she didn’t choose the kid. The highlight of the whole film for me was right at the beginning at the wedding of Standford Blatch (played by Willie Garson) and Anthony Merentino (played by Mario Cantone), where everything was very OTT; think sparkles, think swans, think a service officiated by Liza Minnelli. And it pretty much went downhill from there. Much love xox

sunshine in the fields

Late night cycle rides. Nothing  but the chirrup of the crickets to keep you company. As the sun drips caramel through the trees, dancing dusky tones over your skin, it brings a smile to your lips. Every turn of the wheel sails your tensions further away, and your childhood innocence ebbs back and forth with the rosying of your cheeks; hope in the world is returned. Birds softly hum you their lullabies. You feel at peace, once again. Much love xox 

“The poetry of the earth is never dead” John Keats