Adios and gracias my beautiful Valencia....

Imagine this as cannon ball fodder!

The return to Valencia with my lovely friend Trish was not without incident, in my infinite spirit of adventure I had decided it might be nice to try another area,this in it's self was a great idea and would have come off a treat if they had given us the whole apartment (as booked ) rather than just half for the first three days....

Needless to say we found ourselves somewhere else...eventually...(which, and I possibly should not admit to this fact, it had a TV that you could change to English! We watched Bones it was awesome! Sadly it couldn't translate the three local Tarot channels (Vitch TV)... 

After extolling the virtues of Valencianas style and grace I discovered there is a whole other bit... the actual ACTUAL El Carme...the Old City even though it is only 15 minutes away from my old digs, I discovered I had been living in the "white bread" end of town, we have come to the wholemeal, actually the grainy and full of nuts end....

However, its COOL!

Filled with street art, fabulous clubs and restaurants and lot's of "local identities"...

                                            Here we find the only remaining part of the original gates to the city, the Quart Towers. If you look high up the walls you can see the "dinks" made by cannonballs, fired by someone (or other) who fancied getting their hands on this lovely place...

you never know where a car will come from!

We found Radio City where they have some rather fabulous hot sweaty stampy Flamenco. Although it's not for the faint hearted it doesn't start until 11ish...

A much easier option was to swing by the Central Mercado Markets again and watch a crowd bust a few Tango moves at around lunch time, how gorgeous!

Tango in the Aisle of Hams, why on earth not!

We have eaten (and eaten) We have enjoyed the joys of Paella de Valencia, done our very best with the three course lunch Menu Del Dias, we have drunk Horchetta and eaten a Farton :0) and we have washed it all down with the very refreshing Tinto de Verano...

I took Trish to my final Happy Mercioles, which once again made me a touch teary, as it really was good bye to some amazing people who are now firmly a part of my "adventure"...

Finally! Take THAT bollard!

Thank you Valencia for so many things, at the risk of sounding like an ABBA song, thank you for the music which has been one of the absolute themes here, fittingly, one of the last songs I heard was Chiquitita played on the pan pipes...

Will I leave my heart in Valencia? No way, there are many more adventures to be had. 

Will there always be a place in my heart for this beautiful, warm and gracious city that has given me so much? Absolutely! 


Off to The South of France for a couple of days to catch up with friends in their  Château, and then to Madrid (the city that has more bars per inhabitant than any other city in the world) for some Culture :0)


Thank you for sharing xxx

Italy (part two)... George, a yacht and Team Punto....

Time to explore! we hired a car and "Team Punto" was born...what an amazing couple of days!

this not a Fiat Punto...

Lake Maggiore actually means Major Lake (which is a rather disappointingly unsexy moniker...)

However considering I travelled through towns such as Busto Arsizio, Cartorate and saw a shopping centre called the Conad Centre...I guess it's really not so bad....:0)

the Asti summer palace is much more "Disney" than this, but it's a bit rainy for a photo, so this will have to do...

The area is a mecca for the rich and famous, the Summer Palace of the Asti Spumante family is found here, it's hard to imagine that a drink as tacky tara as that could result in such a splendid reward!

It is also home to yup...George Clooney (well his holiday home at least) more about that later!...

what a wonderful idea! beautiful mixed tomatoes

Day one we drove around "our" Lake and did a quick flit into Switzerland (well why wouldn't you?) however, I find it truly fascinating that I have been able to waltz into Italy and swish into Switzerland and not ONE person has asked to see my passport, yet I cant take hand cream or a bottle of water on to the plane....hmmmm, food for thought....  Day two we headed to Lake Como and into George territory...

Switzerland is a very organised country, you need tickets for everything...

We stopped in at beautiful little towns on the way around, and due to a detour through the mountains we discovered that a Punto has a warp speed power button that is required for manual hill starts when in an almost upright position on the side of said mountain (its called the air-conditioner...) great job to our designated driver Pete! Also to Lucy who was in charge of making sure we didn't scrape the side mirrors on the walls...and Trish who did a marvellous job on navigating(we also discovered that trying to go backwards with Italian "where the hell is it"printed off is actually quite challenging)...my contribution was at each intersection turn to the "wrong side" of the road..."passenger to the curb"...Good job Team Punto! We earned those drinks at the end of the day!

  

more delicious places....

and then... yes of course we found Georges house... unfortunately he was in Costa Rica (according to the workmen down the road) and we couldn't find the mat with the key under it... but we did manage to see his helicopter, his hovercraft and his doorbell....

Hola George! oops! I mean Buenos Aires oops! I mean Buonasera... Spangitalish it will get you everywhere!...

and this is not Georges yacht, however, hows that capsule wardrobe packing! like a good Girl Guide I am nothing if not prepared!

Back to Valencia tomorrow, what a glorious Italian sojourn!

Thanks for sharing xxx

Italy...a Wedding, Winston and the Pope....

I have just spent the last week in the lake districts of Northern Italy...we gathered here to Celebrate the Wedding of Fran and Michael...


What an extravaganza!

as you can see, it's an awful part of the world!

Exquisite...

Married by the Lord Mayor(ess) of Baverno in an exquisite Villa, with the eight course reception dinner held on the island in this photo...the epitome of good taste and good times...

Such an incredible opportunity to catch up with friends to share and create memories for a life time...

the pool boys domain

Our hotel 

The Lido Palace is elegant old world colonial and class personified...

T with your G?...

20 foot ceilings 6ft chandeliers in the dining room and black and white clad spunky Italian waiters who know how to add a touch of tonic to your Gin!

In fact it's where Winston Churchill spent his honeymoon, we had drinks in the the suite and I feel sure that if the walls could talk that room (in fact the hotel it's self would have some stories to tell...) 

It is also home to the mother (or should that be Father of all snow domes...)

Feast your eyes on this little baby, possibly a 200 year old antique, totally not but is sounds really good, and this is a family owned  hotel so it could well be possible.... 

Il Papa snow ball...

       

Thanks for sharing! xxx

 

Spanglish...TICK...Schools out!

My tres muy Guapo Professoro's de Espanole! Ismael, Carlos and Biel... Mucho's mucho's Gracias y gigante (bet you all didn't know I knew that word) besos, el stupendo hombres! :0)

Six weeks in and I'm afraid my Spanglish is STILL a little more "glish" than "Span" despite the valiant efforts of those gorgeous men above! However,they certainly made it a bit easier to set the alarm each day :0)

I'm actually a bit knackered... being in class every morning (ok, I did wag two) 

A mighty fine year...however possibly why I'm a bit weary...

I realised that yesterday was the first time I had comfortably sat down and read an English book, I have actually felt a bit naughty if I wasn't trawling through a work book, my notes or a Spanish newspaper trying to decipher them (consequently, has anything dramatic happened in the world?) aside from the photos re the wedding of Albert and Charlotte in Monaco I am none the wiser, I found this info at the hairdressers, (now there I come into my Spanish phrasing own!) in Hola Magazine of course.

For my last couple of private lessons I thought it no use at all wanting to slam your own head in a door, my brain is quite simply FULL! lets just have some fun! So I suggested a visit to the Gallery of Art "Modern" and for my final class, Carlos and I went out for lunch! 
IVAM was just WONDERFUL! as was lunch today, thanks Carlos you're a very good man, great company and thanks for your patience!

Not from the gallery of Modern Art Our Class photo (cheers Thijs)

Frankly I now have a bit of a yearning for a place with a big fat pool for a time. That I can sit about read trashy novels and to perfect ordering drinks that are large, exotic and involve bit's of fruit and many cocktail umbrellas...and are possibly blue because that always makes them EXTRA exotic, my synapses have

maxed out!

Having said that, have I had fun?.... HELL YES!!!!!

one happy Wednesday!

Just some of the delicious peeps of our World!

I have met people from all around the world, I have learnt that when if you reach out, the kindness of strangers can be truly amazing, that our younger generations are sensational people (I have never had so many offers of free beds from gorgeous young men throughout Europe and I so don't mean that in a rude way!!!)

Also, I think that "big people" rock too! (cheers beautiful Michelle that I only found last week at Happy Mercioles! you fabulous, interesting, inspirational and fun woman!) that I have just said goodbye to and it's made me a bit teary...

and... that not only do you have to be brave enough to say Hi, you also have to learn to say goodbye... which is not always fun nor easy...

My certificate from the assembly (not really) they were very kind and said I was "Bien" which I sincerely doubt is an official mark in the Language School World (Cheers Babylon Idiomas)

I now know that Ching Goo means friend in Korean, Vriend(en), Vriendin(nen) means friend/s in Dutch that Heysh-hrrrRhecky (said with guttural gusto) means Grasshopper in German, which is V handy if you have a penchant (as I do) for Kung Fu stories involving removing pebbles from hands :0)

Thank you for your friendship, new friends and old xoxox

I have learnt especially that less judging, more smiling, behaving with grace and dignity AND a good slab of self deprecating humour is an International Language...

So...! Hasta Luego to the Spanish B/verbs, (you awful little beasts, you belong right along side of the V/bollards)

That's what I think of Verbo's!

I'm off to Italy for a week a wonderful Wedding! and to catch up with some fabulous friends :0)


Thanks for sharing xxx

Musings, observations and more hot tips..

Who could resist! Yes my darling sister she's for YOU!

 Snow Domes are timeless and elegant souvenirs that transcend all others, particularly so when purchased  in the old "El Carmen" district of Valencia from the Chinese shop, this makes them especially authentic...

Shiny colourful handy stuff...

It's not all Bvulgari, Chanel and Louis you know!...there are places to buy handy "stuff" in down town Valencia, however they're not much chop at it... 

...that could be used to fix the leak at the front door of the Handy Stuff shop that needs this bucket to catch the drips...

                                                  

Going out at 11.47 pm on a Friday night with no fixed address for the party but a fair idea it's at a place on the other side of the/a bridge, maybe one (or two) streets in, near a blue building and it has a balcony and is near an ambulance (oye?!) depot, with your schoolies can result

in the most fabulous experiences! 

11.56 pm on a Friday night a Choir in the Plaza del Virgin, exquisite!

...and to all those reading who have kind of "grown up" aged children, Friday night I was hanging out with your kid's!!!! (and some of their older friends)

I have good news for you all though, they are a wonderful generation and thank you parents for doing such a good job I am grateful and impressed, they are doing you proud, but I'm sorry I can't tell you what really goes on at a "Frat Party" moi's lips is sealed, having said that I left a little earlier than the rest so I probably don't really know either :0) 

However, it was like being on the set of one of those awesome perfume ads, the ones that make you just want to buy it regardless of the fact that it may make you smell like a wet chook, you just want the bottle on your bathroom bench and a "holiday snap" of the "shoot" and "talent" on display in your lounge room...The power of advertising or is that imagination!

So, as not to burst my own bubble I left before the drinking games were too firmly under way and wandered home for a treat....what's a girl to do...nothing like a good profiterole...

Nirvana in the early hours :0)

And the tip de Dias: Beware the small blue plastic bag of unidentified fine "white powder" that one finds in the kitchen cupboard...it may not be what you think...it may well be dish washing powder rather than laundry powder, wild and reckless use of this substance could result in multiple tiny holes in some items in your "capsule" wardrobe...

what's not to love...

The last week of school coming up (six weeks nearly done and dusted) I'm going private for those classes I can only imagine the teachers out the back drawing straws for that little gig...Oh she's the one that just wouldn't deal seriously with her Verbs...Lucky I'm guapa!

Thanks for sharing xxx