We're all going on a summer holiday...

Finally back in London after a massive summer of work. OK, and a little fun as well. Here are some of the places I worked this summer:

It all started with a week in beautiful, sunny Portugal


Followed closely by a month on Sea Island in Georgia




Next stop was Washington DC



Back to London in time to enjoy a glorious sunny day in Green Park with friends


Before jumping on the Eurostar for a few days in Paris





So back to routine this week. The kids are back at school (hooray!!) and there is no more travel on the horizon...until at least October!

And summer is over, the days are getting shorter and the tan built up over 6 fantastic weeks in the sunshine is beginning to fade. Autumn is here and it's time to get out the warmer clothes. Seems a crime almost...

Highlights of my second year in London

 

Hampstead Heath

This week, I've been on holidays and London has certainly turned on the sunshine for the occasion. I thought I'd make the most of the weather and finally make a trip to "The Heath" as Hampstead Heath is known to the locals (am I a local now, after 6 months??). I walked from Hampstead Heath Overground Station to Kenwood House at the top of The Heath, famous for featuring in Notting Hill, one of my all time favourite movies.





I spent a couple of hours lazing in the sun on the grass in front of Kenwood House, followed by ice cream and a walk back through Hampstead Heath to Gospel Oak Station. A perfect day.

Sorry, Primrose Hill, but I think I've found my new favourite place in London!

Marrakech

At the beginning of April, I travelled to Marrakech for 10 days for work. Here are some highlights of the trip:

The Great London Tube Adventure

On Saturday, I met up with my friend Hannah and the kids I used to look after in the city for what L, aged 7, christened The Great London Tube Adventure. Our first destination was Tooting Bec on the Northern Line. I have wanted to visit this station that shares my name since I moved to London, and here I am:


From there, we headed to London Bridge and the Borough Markets, where you can buy THE best cookies in the world and had lunch at Southwark Cathedral.


From the Markets, it was back on the tube, this time the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf, to catch the DLR to Greenwich.


The sun was shining all day so we had a wander through the park and the kids played in the playground there. The next plan was to walk through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames, but time was running out so we'll have to save that for another day. Back on the DLR, this time to Bow Church, then we caught the Hammersmith & City Line from Bow Road to Tower Hill. Time for a quick play on the tiny playground that the kids love right opposite the Tower of London, then back home on the District Line.

Tips for walking down Oxford Street on a Sunday afternoon

Tip No. 1
Don't do it!

Tip No. 2
But if you have to do it, take a deep breath before you begin. Go immediately to one of the many shops selling highly caffeinated beverages and purchase the largest size you can afford. Better yet, it helps to have a beverage of the stronger kind close to hand. After all, isn't this what hip flasks are for?

Tip No. 3
Find a couple of people, walking at the same pace as you wish to. It works better if they are holding hands or linking arms as fellow pedestrians walking towards them seem reluctant to break apart linked couples. Next, stay behind these people as long as you can. Be ready, however, to glance quickly into the nearest shop should they happen to look around. Remember, you are not a stalker. Beware of sudden detours made by your chosen couple. If they disappear into a store or down a side road, find another couple, using the same rules outlined above, as soon as possible.

Tip No. 4
Leave all unessential bags and luggage at home. Trolley cases on Oxford Street are generally only pulled by tourists and the insane.

Tip No. 5
And finally, if your visit happens to fall in the two months leading up to Christmas, please refer immediately to Tip No. 1.

Not as smart as my phone

OK. I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth...at least as far as I can remember! My main reason for not blogging has been that since my digital camera met its untimely death, I have bought a new phone. A smart phone. Smarter than its owner, obviously, since I can't figure out for the life of me how to get my pictures from my phone to my PC. So rather than disappoint my two faithful readers, I've decided to post this blog...without pictures. I hope to get them up soon but for now, you'll just need to use your imagination.

Since my last blog post, I have made my first trip overseas with a family I've worked for. The destination for this trip was to a house in Normandy, France. I was more than a little nervous before heading off on this particular trip as I had no idea what to expect and the thought of 5 hours in the car with three kids was not filling me with joy and happiness. In the end, I didn't need to feel nervous. The trip over was pretty uneventful, except for my excitement about my first trip in the Euro tunnel. The house (a HUGE understatement!) was in the beautiful village of Beauxville. The countryside was just gorgeous. Green fields, picturesque cottages and autumn colours everywhere. I even had my own room (no sharing with the children for me, praise God!) with exposed beams and a fireplace.

We made day trips out to Deauville and Trouville on the coast, ate crepes, crepes and more crepes, donned the wellies for wild raspberry picking, strolled along the sand on the coast of the English Channel, ate at delicious French restaurants, and shopped til we dropped. All in a day's work for me, really! On the last day, we all headed to Honfleur which, I'm sorry, but words cannot describe. I promise to get some pics up as soon as I can.

Since France, it's just been work, work, work. These past few weeks, I have truly appreciated the easy life I used to have when I worked part time. But even with the long hours, there's not a lot I would change. The 1-year-old boy has started to walk, give out kisses (of the slobbery, open-mouthed variety!) and tottering up to me for a cuddle when he sees me, so that makes starting and finishing in the dark worthwhile. The older two...well, it's a work in progress!

Last weekend, I actually did something I thought I'd never do again. I went back on The London Eye. The only difference was this time, I really enjoyed it! There is even photographic evidence to show the distinct lack of fear in my eyes.

I'd show it to you...if I was as smart as my phone!

Primrose Hill...my new favourite place in all of London

The Week That Was

I know I haven't been around for a while but I've been a little busy. Here's some pics from what I've been up to this week:


Last week, I took the kids back to Ham House, somewhere I haven't been since I first arrived. We had a great day exploring the gardens.


On Monday, I had my little cousin who's two with us so we all headed into Kensington Gardens and The Princess Diana Memorial Playground. What an awesome place! It was packed to the rafters with kids, but the sun was out, so that made everything OK!


Wednesday, we headed to Bushy Park for a picnic, clown show and a play on the huge playground there. Bushy Park is a lovely place and I don't know why I waited so long to get there!


And yesterday, I took the kids into the city for a Great Bus Adventure (as they called it!), starting with the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (which turned out to not be on that day!), then on the no. 11 bus to Trafalgar Square where we then hopped on an old Routemaster bus, the no. 15, to The Tower of London. We found a little patch of green and a playground to have lunch at and then headed home on the train.

Marge...Marge...the planes are 'ere!

This week saw the return of planes to the skies over London. Having just gotten used to the sounds of living under a flight path from Heathrow, it was amazing to be able to hear the birds singing again and enjoy the peace and quiet, only for the planes to be back in the skies a week later. There were a few of those moments of total silence that probably go unnoticed anywhere else, but in London can make it seem just a little bit unnatural. Don't get me wrong, that is a very good thing the planes are flying again. Unfortunately, it did not bring my birthday parcel from home in time for Thursday.

Oh, well.

On my birthday, thanks to my lovely bosses, I had the day off and decided to head into London as it was a beautiful sunny day. I walked along the Thames to the Tate Gallery, then back across Lambeth Bridge, to Southbank where I had a lovely lunch, listening to Big Ben chime and watching all the people frantically doing some last minute training for the London Marathon on Sunday.

I had that feeling again, seeing all the tourists on Westminster Bridge, that I live here and can come here whenever I want.

Here's some pics:

A Day on the Farm

This week has turned on some gorgeous sunshine, so on Thursday I ventured out to Bocketts Farm in Surrey with my cousin and her two kids and the kids I look after. It was such a beautiful day and we got to see all the new lambs and even had a tractor ride.

The farm has amazing children's play areas and the kids were happy to spend most of the day on the super slides and making a huge sandcastle in the sand pit.

Here are some pics:

Sunday Snapshot (and a little bit more!)

Today was one of those gorgeous winter-sunshine days that London turns on every now and then purely, I believe, just to prove to the rest of the world that they can have blue skies here. Still bitterly cold, though!

After church this morning, I wandered down Piccadilly to Fortnum and Mason where, if I had a spare 15 pounds, I could have purchased an oven-baked tarantula direct from Cambodia (True! I wouldn't lie to you about something like that!). Choosing to pass on the cooked creepy-crawlies, the scorpion vodka (sadly, also true!) and chocolate-coated ants (true, again!) on offer in their foodhall (think I'll stick with Harrods from now on!), I headed back out to the street, made my way past The Ritz Hotel, through Green Park, past Buckingham Palace, down The Mall and back to the tube station at Embankment.

Londoners and tourists alike were out enjoying the sunshine that you could actually feel, at the same time as the Arctic winds all the way to your bones.

It was such a great day out that I am choosing to block out all memory of my journey home, consisting of two trains and one over-crowded, slow-as-a-week-of-wet-Sundays bus, filled with noisy teenagers...

Bliss.

Sunday Snapshot

This weeks Sunday Snapshot is from the Maslenitsa Russian Festival, that was on in Potter's Field Park today. These two girls were wearing the traditional dress of Tatarstan and kindly posed for me.

Maslenitsa is a Russian folk celebration that takes place just before Lent...sort of like a week-long version of Britain's Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day for the Aussies!).

I have a love for all things Russian and it's my dream to travel there one day. I even managed to say "Thank you" in Russian...very proud that I could remember it after 11 years! On a cold, foggy afternoon in London, surrounded by the Russian language, it was easy to imagine that I was in a city square, somewhere in St Petersburg or Moscow.