Travelling

It's after 1 in the morning and I can't sleep so I've downloaded an app to see if I can blog on my ipad....so we'll see how it goes.

I'm on my travels. Cardiff  has been reassuringly familiar. The city centre is a little grander,but still essentially the same. The walk from my mum's through the park down to the sea front and on to the pier is the same. The beach full of pebbles waiting for Sibs to throw into the brown murky Bristol Channel is the same...

I like that.



Everything about being home feels right. I am loving sitting in my mum's kitchen, drinking coffee and eating Jaffa Cakes. So simple, so familiar.



Sibs is having a ball too. From decorating the (real) Christmas tree to drinking copious amounts of hot chocolate to wearing her new ear warmers everywhere she goes!



Already in a week and a half there's been shopping in the city, a local matinee pantomime show, an evening at the theatre, a couple of days in Bath, a weekend in London and tomorrow we are off to Paris. I haven't got time to be tired!

Looking out of the window at Sydney Place, Bath. It was -3 degrees!

During the planning of this holiday I was the one that more or less came up with the ideas of the 'must do' places and booked the various trains, planes and automobiles. Neil on the other hand was tasked with finding accommodation. He knows that I'm a bit of a Jane Austen fan and whilst in Bath last week we stayed in the house where she actually lived!

His brief for Paris is - "somewhere that feels French...." He has excelled himself and I can't wait.

On our way across the channel to France we have been in London for a few days. Whilst Bath is beautiful, London is truly splendid and magnificent. I had forgotten quite how amazing it is.

Big Ben from the top of the London Eye

We have met up with three lots of lovely friends in London and the years apart have been forgotten in a minute. True friendships are like that. Even ournchildren sense it and became thick as thieves almost immediately.

At the gates of Buckingham Palace

Trafalgar Square where the pigeons were replaced by thousands of Santas!

I have been seeing familiar landmarks through the eyes of a child this week. It has brought back the wonder of the world....

I feel fortunate and happy that we have taken this opportunity to show Sibs some of her history and heritage.



Best get some sleep.... Paris awaits tomorrow

Beth

x

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One more sleep...

It doesn't matter how organised I think I am there is always a whole heap of things to do right at the very last minute...

It's one more sleep until we leave the heat of Summer in Brisbane to fly to the other side of the world to a cold Winter Christmas. It's predicted to get to 39 degrees here today....yep, 39 degrees! At this precise moment it's 3 degrees in Cardiff - a drop of 36 degrees!

I am so excited to be able to show Sibs all that I remember about Christmas. The abundance of lights and decorations in the city; the carols and music; warm mince pies; hot chocolate; mulled wine...
We are going to see a pantomime at the local Pageant Room; we have tickets booked for Phantom of the Opera; there's a weekend in London; some time in Paris; a trip to the Lake District, not to mention the catch ups with precious friends and family. I....Can't...Wait...

The ipad has been updated with the latest ios thingamajig so I am hoping that I will be able to blog a little whilst I'm away. I also plan to post photos on instagram as and when I can get Internet access. The link to that is HERE  if you don't have a smart phone.

So back to my huge list....

Buy extra cat food = check
Stock up on contact lenses = check
Haircut = check
Write up a huge list of instructions for the house sitters = check
Tidy all kitchen drawers and cupboards = check (they have never looked so good!)
pack suitcases = half check
clean bathrooms = no check

On that note I have a dozen or so jobs to do before I escape to my yoga class for an hour.

Enjoy the Summer heat fellow Aussies and I can't wait to see you fellow Brits!

Bon voyage to me!


PS no photos in this post as Google tells me I'm out of space and I have no time to investigate this morning. Could be just instagram during my trip then....
x