Hey, did you lose weight, or a limb?

Happy Easter to all. Spent mine in South Wales camping at Cadarn Bunkhouse with about 80 other people for a combined birthday party. Had a fantastic time. Went horse riding which was interesting. Trotting is much harder than it appears and advice such as 'just feel the rhythm' is nigh on useless when all you can feel is jolting through your spine as the pony (mongrel pony might I add) jolts into action without warning. Thank goodness I didn't have to get back onto the horse the next day as my groin/thighs were definately not up to the challenge. Not to mention that when I was delegated my pony who was deceptively named 'Sugar', I was informed that... "Sugar is by himself because he is a little grumpy and doesn't like the other horses"...great. I was fortunate enough to have the honour of mounting this mongrel pony as I had ridden a horse at the age of 5 and was considered slightly more advanced than the 4 other people. Managed to survive two hours of walking/occassional bursts of trots and get back to the farm in one piece. The most challenging aspect of this ordeal for most people was wrenching the horse to stop it from eating grass otherwise you'd receive an earful from the supervisor at the back. Although Rachel/horse whisperer did have a close call as she recalled that as a child she rode a horse and it broke into a canter therefore that qualified her as an 'advanced rider'. It was evident the stablehand didn't agree as she chased Rachel and her horse out of the arena shouting 'stop.. stop.. maybe you should stay in the beginner group'. After being hauled through some brambles Rachel was taken back to the stables where her horse proceeded to do lap after lap without 'rein' (?!?!) instruction .

Other than that.. I am back in Manchester working at St Mary's. Had my flat mates bike stolen on Friday night (was in organic grocery store for 15 minutes and the little vermin nabbed it). Went for a beautiful walk in the Peak District on Saturday. Played with the lambies in the fields and visited a National Trust home/garden. Sunday went for another walk and had a fabulous Sunday roast.

Going to Katrina (ex colleague/house mate) and Matthew's wedding on Saturday evening.

Hope you are all well. Ciao xoxo



Sophie, Ruth, Me and Becky at Rachels Birthday (Theme 'R' or Latino)

Rachel, Ruth, Sophie and Becky... did someone say pout?!?!


Rachel (the horse whisperer).. setting off for Cadarn Bunkhouse...

Jennie all ready for the sun..

You have really kind eyes, you know that?

Thanks. Umm... your hat has sequins.

Have had a fantastic week with Champs and Hannah in Les Gets snowboarding. We managed to choose a week where they had their best snow fall for the whole season. Was a little cold but conditions for landing were much softer!! Fortunately no major injuries were sustained despite a few bruises, whiplash and possibly mild concussion. The potential for much worse damage was there especially after going out until 4am and then being on the slopes at 9am the next morning. We were extremely unsteady on our boards but needed to take some video footage. Unfortunately we weren't carving up the slopes as usual but did manage to stand on our boards for long enough to get some footage. The rest of the morning was spent making snow angels in the fresh snow.

Spotted some seriously awful jumpsuits out on the slopes. I can't work out if it is European cool or really bad taste. I started to think there was a crazy jumpsuit competition going on that I was unaware of. Wouldn't have stood a chance anyway.

Anywho.. just waiting for my 10hr bus journey to bologna where I am spending a week at Ca del Buca organic farming. Hopefully it will be a little warmer.

Hannah, Champs and I on the slopes of Les Gets

Champs donning the celebrity sunnies...

Hannah donning the celebrity sunnies...

Me donning the celebrity sunnies...

Champs in the ever flattering dungarees...

Petition to kill all snorers

I almost numchucked you, you don't even realize!

I am thinking that the bigger the hostel room I stay in i.e. 14 bed dorm the less likely I am to be found out if I smother a snorer with my pillow? Even if I do get locked up sometimes it takes a martyr to start the revolution of change and I am willing to do this for the sake of the many other hostel dwellers out there.

Have arrived in Lisbon after spending a relaxing 24 hours in the hills of the Serra Valley in Portugal with a friends parents. Lisbon seems gorgeous. Am yet to actually explore but from first impression it seems really lively and beautiful. Staying in another Oasis hostel which provides waffles for breakfast... now who is going to complain at that...

Nothing exciting to report. Head up to Porto, Madrid and then going snowboarding for a week and then organic farming. Heading back to Manchester for a while on March 30th.

Granada to Seville

You know what your problem is?

I only have one?

Spent a couple of nights in Granada with a bunch of nomadic hippies wearing fisherman pants and dreadlocks. De La Alahmbra beautiful muslim palace! Waffles for breakfast!



Caipirinha...mmmmm.... at least Rachel if I write it I don't have to pronounce it!


View.

Arrived in Seville today. Met American Brandon. Went to 2nd largest cathedral in ?Europe? Sat in a plaza drinking cerveza (beer) and got shit on... twice. Either really bad luck or really good luck..? Having gazpacho, paella and sangria tonight! Yumboot.

Plastic bags are another thing that should be banned from hostels.

Tapas

You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you?

You know, for a second there, yeah, I kinda did.

Silly rabbit. Trix are for kids.

Went down to El Kiosco last nite for a few beers and some Tapas with Irish Will. Will hadn't had tapas before and didn't really know what they were and I am certainly no expert. The fact that the menu was in Spanish (go figure) and the waiter didn't speak any English meant that our attempt was destined for disaster from the outset. After long attempts of trying to find out what menu item was ie making fish gestures etc I finally went up to the bar and pointed to 2 fishy looking things. Will then went up and came back and reported that he had ordered another three things!! Hmmmm... this meant a lot of tapas.... and stares from the locals. As it turns out,Will had ordered more fishy stuff and potatoes so really we just had a huge portion of spanish fish and chips. From what I could see they didn't sell mushy peas. Agghhh gotta love the culutre....

Fireworks at the Las Fallas festival.... scary.... especially as all the paramedics were wearing hard hats?

Heading off to Granada today on 8 hour bus. Joy of joys.

Beach in Valencia.. beach is a beach really?

He he.. think this might be the queen of valencia or something with all her terribly dressed princesses. Boy did she love the attention. Jumping up and down, waving her arms, cheering on the locals... oh the fan fare...

Barcelona to Valencia

I just don't know what I'm supposed to be.

You'll figure that out. The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.

Arrived in Valencia today and I am in love with this city. Sat in a bar about 3pm and had a coffee and a couple of beers. It was absolutely buzzing with locals drinking and eating tapas (think its called something else at lunch actually).

Very long journey. The train was delayed after supposedly running over an animal? Goddam enormous animal as the train was delayed for about 2 and a quarter hours. Even had a good look for blood and spatterings when I got off the train but there was no sign of any railkill. Either the Spaniards are extremely good at cleaning up dead animals from the front of a train or they were spinning a yarn.

Coming up to Las Fallas in Valencia which means that there are people everywhere and fire crackers going off when and where you least expect them. Sat on the terrace of my hostel in 28 degree heat eating my dinner. First time this trip that I have thought 'this is the life'.
Bar in Valencia...

Farewell Manchester

Hey Romy, remember Mrs. Divitz's class, there was like always a word problem. Like, there's a guy in a rowboat going X miles, and the current is going like, you know, some other miles, and how long does it take him to get to town? It's like, 'Who cares? Who wants to go to town with a guy who drives a rowboat?

I have been in Manchester for a year and have for whatever reason made a very rash, spur of the moment decision to go travelling indefinitely. One could say that I am slightly anxious about the months to come but have unfortunately finished work thus have no other choice but to pack my bags and catch my Wednesday Ryan Air flight to Barcelona. Stupidly I did not consider luggage limits when organising my flight therefore I am restricted to basically a spare pair of underwear and toothbrush for my travels unless I pay an exorbitant amount for a few extra kilos worth. This could actually be a blessing in disguise as I am really struggling to find the motivation to pack. I find that I pack much better under pressure any way.

Have loved Manchester and would recommend anyone to come up here and work if the opportunity arose. Want to just post on my blog a big xoxoxo MWAH xoxoxo to everyone that I have met whilst I have been here...

The past few weeks have been flat out catching up with everyone before I go and thinking that I should really get organised. Had my farewell soiree at Hannah's house last wednesday night which was fabulous. Plenty of food, wine and champagne as usual. Waking up at 0430am to throw up was probably the only downer of the evening... this was probably a result of the half tia maria/half cream and black zambucca shot topped with cream that I had at the Metropolitan. Bad move...

Since I wrote the above text I have actually arrived in Barcelona. Have spent today wandering around looking at lots of Gaudi architecture/buildings, a beautiful park, many shops and Las Ramblas. I am absolutely knackered. I am wondering how long it is going to take for me to go insane if I have to put up with myself for any length of time. Will post some photos soon. Adios Amigos.

Olympic stadium. So desolate. Great views.
Sorry but the rest of my photos of Gaudi etc are on my phone and I can't get them on my computer.