Day 237- 27/5/10

Lots of England flags around England now in prep for the World Cup...



No more posts for the next little while....Taking a trip down to Gloucester, and then a ferry over to IRELAND! I've never been and am so very excited to see it...Hang tight for some photos after the trip. :)

Day 236- 26/5/10

The rain came and so did these guys...ewwww

Day 235- 25/5/10

A friend and I found a great deal on a sewing machine on ebay, so we decided to go halfers and buy it. Here she is! Can't wait to be creative and whip some stuff up!

Day 234- 24/5/10

Just catching the sunset at the right time to see the interesting shadow. A bit of basil, watering can and the Mayflies on the window.


This is a mayfly. I find them a bit gross and weird. To watch them fly around is neat, as they bob up and down, lets call it dancing- but now they are all dead and stuck on the side of the flat. One cool fact is their lifespan. Mayflies can live anywhere from only 30 min- one day. Thats it.

Day 233- 23/5/10

Today we took advantage of the 25 degree weather for a little outing. England has these safari parks where you drive around and see the animals, it was too cool! Like a zoo, but you are in the cages with the animals.

The "air lock" between some of the cages closed you in a gate before opening the next gate to let you in...

Very cool

What a sight!

Oh hello!

Showdown: Rino vs. truck

Something was happening with these giraffes. We couldnt tell if one was the mom/baby or if they were in love

"Elephant valley" was a fave among the drivers ahead of us, a but of a traffic jam to see them.

Cute little Zebra...

Day 232- 22/5/10

My very first 99 ever!
A 99 is basically a ice cream cone with a Cadbury Flake chocolate bar placed in it. Yum.

Day 231- 21/5/10

Whoops!
Sometimes I forget to take a photo on those "regular" days.
Some basil in the window slowly growing...

Day 230- 20/5/10

First BBQ of the season! What a cute wee BBQ as well. Also, first evening drinking Pimms outside, if you don't know Pimms, you should. Awesome summer drink.

Day 229- 19/5/10

We took a trip to Ikea today, but I didn't take any photos. Just imagine what your Ikea looks like.....and its the same as the one here, though everything is listed in pounds!

In lieu of an Ikea photo, here is a photo of the rape seed/canola that is blooming creating these brilliant fields of yellow!

Day 228- 18/5/10

A book and lunch in the dingle.

Day 227- 17/5/10

Day 226- 16/5/10

Some days are just normal, regular, relaxing days. On days like today I am at a bit of a loss of what to take a photo of, because no longer is everything new and different, its life.

Do you have jaffa cakes in Canada? They are lovely.

Day 225- 15/5/10

Enjoying a cider in one of the local beer gardens. If only the sun would have stayed out a bit longer...a lovely day besides that!

Day 224- 14/5/10

I attended a little exhibition of student art work that was done through a gallery, and their three year program. The gallery has a partnership with three schools that every student in those schools makes three gallery visits in a year. Along with that is hands on work, and CPD for teachers. How great is that? I think Canada needs to start doing something like this... Its so important.

Day 223- 13/5/10

Day 222- 12/5/10

Italy has stuck on me...In my opinion Italy is a very easy place to find a good lunch or dinner, compared to somewhere like Spain. I've seemed to be a bit more picky in Spain, and can't always find something I really want.

I bought this great bread book called "Dough" (The local bakery even uses it!), and decided to make some pizza of my own. Fantastic.

Day 221- 11/5/10

A very cool installation that artist Sun W Kwak calls a "drawing". She was installing the piece today using black tape and "responding" to the shape and size of the room, working without a specific plan.

Once the piece is taken out of the gallery wall all the tape is discarded, so the only proof of the piece is photos taken.

Day 220- 10/5/10

One thing we noticed in Italy was the lack of green spaces and the lack of flowers in the city. Arriving back in England something that struck me. How green and lush everything is in the town, not just the countryside.

It's odd how something can seem to change even when you are away for only 11 days, I swear the trees are fuller and brighter with that time that passed.

Day 209-219 30/4/10-9/5/10

For the last eleven days I have been in Italy with my parents. This was a trip we had planned for months and months with the initial plans being altered as flights were cancelled due to the volcano. In the end the trip was fantastic, and I loved enjoying Italy with my folks.

This morning I sat here wondering how I would put up a photo a day for a 11 day trip which covered Rome, Florence, and Cinque Terra.

I have chosen one photo per day of the trip just to give a glimpse of what we saw. For those of you with a keen sense for details will notice there are actually 12 photos. The extra photo will be the one of the gelato, so lovely to look at and consumed every day it had to be included. For those of you lucky enough to be friends with me on Facebook you will see a full album soon...

Ciao!

Arrived in Rome, and taking the Leonardo Express into the Termini station. I like how the train is named after one of the greatest artists of all time.

We climbed to the cupola (dome) of St. Peters in Roma. Lovely view over the city and of St. Peters square. Warm weather and sun...
Italian women have nice handbags and shoes. So many of them would walk around the cobbled streets in heels, I was always amazed.
The Trevi Fountain and all the goodies you can buy! Still warm and sunny...
Inside the duomo in Florence
Gelato. Awesome gelato.
Wandering around Florence, I loved these little trucks mainly for deliveries and waste. This is when the weather turned chilly...
A view of Florence from Michelangelo's piazza. A cold and rainy day.
Breathtaking Cinque Terra. This is Manarola. Still cold and rainy...
The next day we took the train through all five towns since the path was closed due to the rain they were having. A glimpse of blue sky and sun was nice to see at points though the day.
Last night in Rome, Fiumicino actually. Early flights the next morning lead us to stay close to the airport. We had dinner at a family run restaurant that evening. Our fave was the head of the family who sat behind the counter, reading the paper, and passing jobs onto the women working.
Flight home. Almost didn't leave Rome due to ash...