Becks Big Birthday Weekend (The One That Begins with 4)

To celebrate Becks Birthday we headed to a cottage on a farm in Devon for a long weekend. The cottage was lovely, but not the cleanest of places, despite the owners love of passive/aggressive notes and regular trips to ‘check’ the hot tub (and no doubt make sure we weren’t breaking any of the many rules, especially the one about keeping your dog in the kitchen, which seemed a little unfair as it was advertised as a dog friendly cottage). On the bright side, the drawing pins and blue tack they used to put these up with came in really handy when we realised we didn’t have anything to put the banners and balloons up with for Becks birthday party.

We went down on Friday the 8th and the traffic was pretty crap for everyone’s journey so the evening was a chilled one, we settled in and relaxed with a lovely curry for dinner that Becks and Marcus had arranged with their local takeaway and just needed to be reheated. A few drinks, a lot of catching up and a sensible (ish) night ready for some fun on Saturday.

After breakfast on Saturday morning Matt and I headed out for some supplies and stopped on the way for a quick visit to Sidmouth and the Donkey Sanctuary where I managed to tick off another photo on my Photographic Scavenger Hunt 101 quest – a beast of burden.

We headed off to for some Archery and Shooting in the afternoon, Boys against Girls seemed the best way to split into teams and things got a little competitive 😀. After the team contests had whittled things down to two finalists it ended up being a Mrs. Collins V Mr. Collins contest with Emi the triumphant winner. I used to be much better at archery but definitely was not on form today, a painful shoulder didn’t help but I can’t blame that, it was fun though and I can cross Archery off my Never Ending Life List now.

The Saturday meal was a delicious dinner cooked by Becks and Marcus. the banners and balloons were up, party hats were out, presents were given and opened and fun, drinks and CAKE was had.

 

A Broad

Back in 2009 we hired a boat for a couple of days on the Norfolk Broads to celebrate Beck’s 30th Birthday. There Were 8 permanent residents on the boat for the weekend and a few extra guests who joined us for a night along the way.

The boat was lovely, even if the sleeping quarters were a little snug!

It was my first visit to the Broads and it’s a beautiful part of the country. I was going through an HDR phase at the time (that wore off pretty quickly 🙂 ) and came back with a lot of photographs of reeds and windmills which I tone mapped in photoshop and turned into faux HDR. In hindsight it’s not an effect I particularly like, there’s definitely a place for it and it’s used a lot in the media but I doubt that I’ll use it again.

We travelled up and down the Broads, stopping at a few pubs on the way and celebrating Beck’s Birthday in the traditional way, food, fun, wine and of course… CAKE.

 

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Italy #4 Picnic

There is a lake within the fields of vines in Valdonica and it’s a perfect place to spend a couple of hours relaxing in the sunshine with a picnic. We had rolls and sandwiches from the local delicatessen and bakery, some fresh fruit and a bottle of wine. We opted for red wine as the weather was so gloriously hot that white wouldn’t have stayed cool and we didn’t want to carry a cooler with us (and the Valdonica reds are delicious). The hike to the lake isn’t too far but it is down some quite steep slopes and over uneven ground and of course once we got down we’d have to come back up again and the less we had to carry back up the better.

It was incredibly tranquil and relaxing, silent apart from a few birds and the faint hum of a distant tractor, tending to the vines. When we left the UK my job had me stressed to near breaking point but when we sat by the lake and tuned into the nature around us I felt all the anxiety slip away. A Perfect day.

 

 

Italy #1

So.. we went to Italy 😀 (another tick on my Never Ending Life List). We went to Tuscany, something we’ve both wanted to do for a long time, and if the small part of Italy that we saw on this visit was anything to judge the country by we will be back. We stayed in a vineyard, (coals and newcastle spring to mind) but more about Valdonica in another post.

We landed in Pisa and hired a car, it had to be a Fiat, not just because the Fiat 500 is an iconic Italian car but because neither of us had ever driven on the other side of the road before and a small automatic was definitely the easiest option (and because a long time ago, in another life I used to work for Fiat in the UK). In over thirty years of driving I have driven a few left-hand drives but always on the left-hand side of the road. This was my first attempt at driving a left-hand drive on the right-hand side of the road (just typing that has confused me, I’m amazed we survived the week)

We flew with Easyjet, cheap and cheerful and for a short flight (2 hours) we had no complaints. I did my good deed for the day on the outbound flight and swapped our seats with a couple who had the seats at the very front of the plane, next to the doors, but also had a toddler.  Their son was too young to be allowed to sit there – apparently he needed to be able to open the emergency doors to be able to stay in the front row – he seemed a really bright kid but I think that was asking a little too much of a three-year old. They were going to be spilt up as there weren’t three seats together anywhere else on the plane and we had three seats between the two of us in the row behind them it seemed the right thing to do to swap. Note to self – never sit in the front row again! I don’t regret doing it, it was the right thing to do and made a family very happy but we spent 2 hours downwind of the toilet which was not pleasant, on the upside if I had long legs I’d have been happy but I don’t so that was small consolation.

When we landed in Pisa the heat hit us, after what seemed like a never-ending winter in the UK sunshine was an alien concept but a very welcome change. The other observation at the airport was how cheap cigarettes are in Italy, not necessarily a good point but we indulged. We had smoked on and off for a few months, more off than on but fancied a packet so we could have one or two while we relaxed with a glass (bottle?) or two of wine when we arrived at Valdonica. At 5 euros a packet this very quickly became more than one or two over the week we were there.

We hired our little Fiat from Autoclick and they were brilliant, there was a shuttle bus from the airport to the office, the car was ready for us when we got there, the paperwork was hassle-free and there was even an option for additional insurance that meant we could trash the car and not pay anymore, it was so cheap we took it out, just in case, we didn’t need it but the peace of mind was worth it.

We set off in Remigio (cars always have to have a name and it seemed only right to name this one after my only Italian relative, my late Uncle (by marriage) – Remigio Montagnola)

We had a system. Matt (the map expert) navigated, using a combination of Sat Nav (which thankfully spoke English) and map and I aimed the car. We avoided the Autostrada and stuck to the scenic routes along the coast. It seemed to work and we made it to Valdonica late afternoon, in one piece and already in love with Italy.

We settled into Valdonica, had a couple of glasses of their gorgeous wine (which you can buy in the UK from a distributer but it’s cheaper to buy direct as long as you spend at least 100 euros which means that you get free shipping and more wine – email them, they will send you bottles of joy, very well packed and less than you would pay in the UK for it) we then headed into Sassofortino for our first Pizza in Italy at The Pizzeria Fornaccio. I can’t bear the chain pizza restaurants we have in the UK like Domino’s, Pizza Hut etc [but I will admit I do love Pizza Express Garlic Doughballs, they’re a weakness of mine] but there are a few independents that I know of that make Pizzas as I imagine they should be. This was the best I had tasted in a long time. They spoke little English, we spoke even less Italian but a smile says hello in any language.

Massa Marittima

We recently spent a lovely, very relaxing, week in Tuscany. We stayed at the beautiful Valdonica Winery (more about Valdonica in a post to follow) nr Sassofortino. We spent the week touring the area and visiting some of the beautiful, mediaeval, walled towns and villages and enjoying the hospitality, the rejuvenation and the wine of Valdonica.

One of the cities was Massa Marittima, founded by the Etruscans, with it’s history closely linked to the Copper and Silver mines nearby.

At the centre of Piazza Garibaldi is Saint Cerbone’s Cathedral, first built in a pre-Romanesque style in the 12th century in order to shelter the remains of St. Cerbone.

It’s a stunning building, indicative of the many Churches and Cathedrals throughout Tuscany, a grand design, steeped in history and a focal point of the town.

(Artistic Temperament Scavenger Hunt – Something Old)

Berlin

Working in the parcel delivery industry means that Christmas (or peak as we call it) makes November/December really busy and a little stressful so I decided to grab the last opportunity I would have for some time off before Christmas day and use up a few of the day’s holiday I couldn’t take into the new year. Use them or lose them!

Matt did the same and he found a bargain mini break in Berlin. I had never been to Germany and Matt was keen to meet up with a friend that lives there so we booked it. Three days, two nights, a super quick tour, a Christmas market or two and a catch up with old friends.

On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete “Antifascistischer Schutzwall,” or “antifascist bulwark,” between East and West Berlin. The official purpose of this Berlin Wall was to keep Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, but it primarily served the aim of stemming mass defections from East to West. The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border when they pleased. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War. (Source – History.com)

If you really want to feel, and think visit the Holocaust Museum and the memorial. We didn’t have time to visit the museum but it’s something I want to do when we next visit.

It’s a fascinating City with a rich and emotional history, a public transport system that works perfectly and Christmas markets that will get even a humbug like me in the mood.

 

Happy Christmas.

 

Marrakech

After what seems like an eternity we finally booked a holiday. We haven’t left the country (together) for years and it was well overdue. We thought about a City break, Brussels seemed like a good idea. Nice, clean, safe, English speaking, EU and a bit like home with stronger beer so we settled on Marrakech!

We only went for four days but loved every minute. It’s an assault on every sense, sight, smell, sound and bank balance – I could spend a week just shopping in the Souks. It’s hard to describe the chaos and the fascination that is Marrakech. There was a part of me that was a little nervous every time I stepped out of the hotel. My British reserve hated the onslaught of people selling everything and anything and pushing you to come into their shops, try their food, buy this, buy that but it didn’t take long to realise that a polite ‘No’ was all it took and it’s just business, no one takes rejection personally.

(All photographs are all rights reserved ©️Cathy Griffiths www.cathygphotography.co.uk please do not reproduce without permission, just drop me an email and let me know what you’d like to use them for, thanks)

The Main Square – Jemaa el-Fna

There are lots of websites and blogs that give advice on the do’s and don’ts of visiting Marrakech and it’s useful to remember a few things if you’re going to visit.

• If you don’t want to buy or to visit a shop then just say No – don’t engage in conversation, just a polite, raised hand to show you don’t want to, if possible avoid saying anything just smile and keep walking.
• Get a guide. Unless you speak Arabic or very good French it’s worth getting a guide to show you around the Souks and any other parts of the City you particularly want to visit. It’s easier to avoid the areas that may be a problem, you’ll find out far more that you ever will from a guide book and if you want to shop they can aim you to the best stalls/shops. Most will have their ‘favourites’ and probably get a commission of sorts for bringing you there if you buy but the haggling is down to you and if you don’t want to buy just say no.
• Haggle!
• Don’t drink tap water.
• If you want to take photographs of people ask first (unless you really can be sure not to be seen doing it) some people, especially women are very sensitive about being photographed, you may have to offer some payment to people like the Water Sellers and Fortune Tellers and expect to have to pay if you get anywhere near a Snake Charmer or the men with the Monkeys, and be warned no matter how sneaky you think you are with a camera they will see you, they have spotters in the crowd so if you aim a camera at a Snake or a Monkey be prepared to be holding it before you know it and to pay for the photograph before you can give it back.
• Visit the Atlas Mountains while you’re there, they are beautiful and full of lovely riverside cafes if you want to lunch. We had a guide organised by our hotel to drive us up there and we thought he would also be the guide when we arrived but had to pay for a local guide when we got there. Be sure to make sure you understand what you get for the money you pay for the trip. It was still worth it and not very expensive (about £20 for the local guide once we got to the mountains.