Awesome Weekend!

Wow, what a fantastic weekend :) Seriously folks. Erm, Friday started out with a movie. Varen & I went to see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (yes, that's how *they* spell pyjama!)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a fictional story that offers a unique perspective on how prejudice, hatred and violence affect innocent people, particularly children, during wartime. Through the lens of an eight-year-old boy largely shielded from the reality of World War II, we witness a forbidden friendship that forms between Bruno, the son of Nazi commandant, and Schmuel, a Jewish boy held captive in a concentration camp. Though the two are separated physically by a barbed wire fence, their lives become inescapably intertwined. The imagined story of Bruno and Schmuel sheds light on the brutal, senselessness and devastating consequences of war from an unusual point of view. Together, their tragic journey helps recall the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust.

Varen bought me this book last year before my trip to East Africa. I loved the book (see, it really is supposed to be pyjama!). The movie was done amazingly well. And actually I went home and read the book again this weekend. Such a tough story told thru the eyes of innocence. If you haven't read the book, read it. And then watch the movie :)

On Saturday the morning was a bit of a mad rush to get things done before the bloggirls xmas party. Almost bought a laptop, but kept changing my mind. Finally after almost spending 9 grand, Varen & I changed our mindset. Originally he'd told me to stick with Core2Duo or at very least DualCore chips. By the end of the morning we were looking at a machine with 2 Gb RAM and 250Gb hard drive. All very impressive specs for lots of moola. But I wasn't so sure ... cause I don't really like a wide-screen 15", I'd prefer a 17". But then we chatted for a bit and had a think. Actually, this laptop is just sort of for fun for me. It doesn't need to do any serious work, store my photos, let me connect to the internet, play a few strategy games (if I ever get a chance!) and run Photoshop every so often. And at most it'd probably get used an hour a day, if that. So why spend all that money on the fancy specs when I'll barely be using the power of it. (Now if I were buying something to use at work all day then I'd be happy spending some serious money and push my budget up to about 15 grand, but that's not what I'm looking for here). So we headed home with a new plan for Sunday :)

And then it was off to the bloggirls Xmas Party at Louisa's house :) Wow, it was such fun. Varen & I were there from 14h30 till 21h30. My favourite lady bloggers were there: Jackson & his mom, Angel&Glugs&theKnucklehead, Sweets (and yes, we all nagged her to start blogging again!), Exmi&TheBoyfriend, Tamara&TSC, Jeanette&DH&2kids and Louisa (obviously). I also got to meet some new girls, Arkwife&Hubby and Ruby. The Secret Santa worked out well. The boys seemed to get on quite well ... and it's amazing how many of them are Afrikaans! Angel made some delish cupcakes for us - yummy! (That's a pic I stole from Angel on the right but, those were the cupcakes she made for us!)

I can not begin to explain just what a wonderful afternoon I had and how fantastic all the people there are. Really genuine people who I thouroughly enjoy the company of ... and let me tell you, they can be hard to find! I am amazed at what bloggirls has turned into since I started it in May, but I have a feeling next year is going to be even better :) I've got some great new ideas like spa days and Christmas in June ... I'm really looking forward to it.

On Sunday morning Varen & I went to Doppio Greenside for breakfast with J9-double0blonde and Squeak. Was nice to see them because we haven't really had a chance since we got back. After that we went to complete our laptop shopping ... well, that was the plan. We headed back to Greenstone Mall (where we'd been the day before) because we'd seen a Dell Inspiron 1525 (with a Celeron chip ... I know but I tried to explain this already) for R5499 at Game.

And here begins a rant (figured you needed a bit of a warning after all that upbeat stuff from the Xmas Party!). We waited ages for someone to assist us. Now these Dell's are supposed to come in a variety of colours and I wanted red, which was the colour of the laptop on display. But it turns out that Greenstone Game only had pink or black so he kindly checked the system for me and found 2 red ones at Eastgate and 8 in Wynberg. I insisted before we started driving around that he call them and confirm that they did indeed have the laptop I wanted and would keep it for me. Eastgate turned out not to have any - funny how often that sort of thing happens! But Wynberg did. So off we drove. Only to get there, find the guy, say I was here to buy the red laptop, sent from Greenstone etc. etc. He comes and asks if I want that with or without internet - an annoying price difference to all the Game laptops is if you want it cheaper you have to sign your life away to mweb. There was no chance I wanted that! Let me explain, the laptop I was lok at cost R3999 if you took it with a 2 year internet contract or R5499 without. But the dude came out saying without internet it's R7999. Nope buddy, that's not the Celeron, that's the Core2Duo ... see the price difference that helped with my decision making?! Then we went over to the display case (yes, in Wynberg they have the laptops behind locked cabinet doors!) and pointed out the R5499 one that I wanted. To which he replied, that special is only for the pink ones. He has red and black, but then you have to pay R6499. Yes folks, he wanted to charge an extra R1000 for a different colour ... there was no difference in the machines at all! He even pointed out a handy Game flyer he had stated "available in pink" as his reasoning.

So we left, in a near-rage, and drove back to Greenstone - Varen was now determined. And well, if I couldn't get red, black was fine by me ... but not for an extra R1000! The dude at Greenstone didn't ask any questions, just went and got the black laptop. And while waiting I browsed their adverts at the counter. Would you believe that Game had 2 advert inserts (you know those huge annoying things they fill newspapers with!), one valid from 30 November - 07 December and the other valid from 04 - 07 December. The one the guy in Wynberg showed us starting "available in pink" and the other without any mention of such a thing ... both for the exact same price. Can you believe how annoyed I was! See adverts below.



But, I left happy with a new laptop, in black, and Varen & I went home. Brother Zion came over for the afternoon and he & Varen installed and got my machine up & running (you know, removing Windows & installing Linux). I am loving it :) It's all new and shiny and mine! I've never had my very own computer before, one that didn't actually belong to a company, anyway.

We watched Be Kind Rewind on dvd in the evening.

Jerry is a junkyard worker who attempts to sabotage a power plant he suspects of causing his headaches. But he inadvertently causes his brain to become magnetized, leading to the unintentional destruction of all the movies in his friend's store. In order to keep the store's one loyal customer, an elderly lady with a tenuous grasp on reality, the pair re-create a long line of films including The Lion King, Rush Hour, Ghostbusters, When We Were Kings, Driving Miss Daisy, and Robocop, putting themselves and their townspeople into it. They become the biggest stars in their neighborhood.

It's kinda fun, but you sorta see all you need to in the trailer to be honest.

And that was the end of my awesome weekend :) Except that I went downstairs this morning to find Bell had broken out of the new hutch. She'd climbed onto the cat-box (that I put in there to give them some hide-away space from the thunder & lightning we've been having) and pushed open the top lid and managed to somehow get herself stuck in the small space between the hutch & the wall. Boy was she was happy to see me! Crazy bunny.

09 November: Faro to Seville to Jerez

This morning we left quite early (well, earlier than usual at any rate) to catch an 8:20am bus back to Spain. We drove for 4 hours before we arrived in Seville where we got to spend the afternoon. This time I slept right thru the border crossing, they didn't even stop or bother to check our passports at all!

Had a little lunch at a crazy tapas restaurant with one very angry waitress! After that I went into the Cathedral of Seville with Michael. He kindly paid the 7.50 EUR entrance fee (each). I think he was a little tired of me not going into anything (like our day in Sintra). Or maybe he just wanted the company. Either way, it was lovely, completely churchy as one would expect, but the best bit by far was the Giralda Bell Tower and the view over Seville from way up top! I gather the Bell Tower was once the Minuret from a Mosque and mirrors one in Marrakech (photo on right).

Have just read in the brochure that I was looking at Christopher Columbus's tomb and wondering who was in there - haha!

After that we made our way back to the bus station. But we stopped at a fete/market in the nearby gardens first. Quite fun but actually not that different from the stuff on sale at markets back home.

Photo below of Bells in Giralda Bell Tower, I think I read there were 17 Bells and they're massive! Lucky they didn't start ringing while we were up there :)

Okay, quick side-track. Seville was, I think, the most beautiful city we've visited so far. So far I've found Spain & Portugal quite disappointing and not quite what I was expecting. Yes, yes, I know, so many people love Spain, but find me one person who loves Spain who has *not* been to Barcelona. I think the trick lies there! Anyway, I guess having traveled in Africa so much, I have an expectation of Europe, with it's history, to be far more glamorous. Until Seville, it really hasn't been. And maybe that really is only a comment on the area's we've been staying in, but I've found the places to be quite run down and in disrepair/ There are so many deserted buildings and the places seem, quite simply, shabby. Actually not all that different from Nairobi. They have all had stunning old buildings and cathedrals, but the rest of the town has just never been all that impressive :( Seville, on the other hand, appeared well looked after. The end result was that the bit (small, I know) of Seville I saw this afternoon left me with a better impression than other cities we've spent two nights in!

Anyway, at 18h30 we caught our bus to Jerez. We're staying at Hotel Tierras de Jerez, and that's almost all of Jerez we'll get to see, after arriving so late :( But we are off to a specially-put-on, just-for-us Flamenco Show this evening (it is, after all, a Sunday). Sadly tho, we're missing out on the Sherry tasting tomorrow :( Nothing opens for tastings before 11am and we have a long day of travelingto get across the Straits of Gibraltar and into Morocco. It's a pity but, I think the show tonight (which only starts at 21h30) will be worth it and definitely make up for it - finger's crossed!

A Bunch of Stuff

The Vaal yesterday was pretty cool. Weather was nice (we were back before the giant rainstorm!). Am a little over the whole Vaal River Cruise thing now ... after my third time doing it, never with the same bunch or the same Cruise company tho - this time it was with Waterfront Country Lodge. Would you believe how completely the same all these places look too? And I must say, I'm never all that blown away by the food :(

Is there really that little to do in Joburg? Hmmm, yes, I think I'm becoming bored by Joburg. Anyhoo, am feeling a little out of sorts at the moment. I haven't been sleeping that well and I have been spontaneously waking up at around 5:30 (no matter what time I go to bed the night before!!). Last night we went for a yummy dinner at Varen's folks place and then drove home watching the lovely lightning spread across the whole of Joburg. By the time we arrived home it had hit full on and we got soaked running between the car & house (have I mentioned before how badly planned our complex is in regard to this?!). With such loud thunder and lightning, I just couldn't let my girls sleep outside so they spent the night in the bathroom :) They really are the cutest things ever! But I think Henna is going a bit mad :) She now stands up on her hind legs at the fish pond and eats the plants growing out of there! And yesterday I found her flopped (all stretched out and relaxed) in their potty! Funny little thing :)

And now, thank goodness, it is Friday!

08 November: Faro

Today we took a bus to Olhão. I'll say right now, I'm not really sure why we did this, I think we were on the budget Algarve trip!

In Olhão we wandered some amazing fresh produce and fish markets right along the sea-side while waiting for our ferry. The fish markets absolutely amazed me, I couldn't believe they had hole moray eels and wray for sale. I certainly didn't expect to find them, except when scuba-diving!

Then we caught the ferry to Culatra, one of the many surrounding islands. On Culatra we took a walk thru the "town" (photo on right) and out over some dunes and then found ourselves on an almost deserted beach. We were very lucky because it was by far the most stunning day we've had so far. Beautiful sunshine without a cloud in the sky! We lazed on the beach for a while. I tried getting my feet wet but the water only felt marginally better than Cape Town, so I didn't even pretend swimming was an option.

A little later we caught the ferry back to Olhão and then had some lunch at a fabulous little pizza place (we sat upstairs and had a lovely view) before catching the bus back to Faro.

I thought I would be spending a relaxing afternoon in the hotel, Afonso III, with a full stomach because my legs have been so sore whenever I have to walk any distance since the lengthy Sintra walking day (I think it might be shin splints or something?) but I was wrong. I ended up going for a lengthy stroll around old Faro this afternoon after I'd ditched the rest of the group.

I stayed in tonight and watched bots of old movies on the hotel TV: Death Becomes Her and one of the Back to the Future movies. Was nice to just do nothing and laze in bed. I didn't miss out on much because most of the others just went back to the same restaurant as last night anyway. I was still full from the lunch time pizza, but munched on an apple in bed :)

Day-tripping at the Vaal

Righto, this is gonna be a short post. Just a quick note to say ... enjoy work cause I'm off to the Vaal for the day ;) Dan I hope the weather improves, but any day not spent in the office can't be bad! Especially with how work has been going lately. Am currently stuck with a frustrating problem that I can't seem to resolve and there's no examples online either! Sheesh. Talking about demotivating! I like problems I can solve :) Doesn't everyone?

Anyhoo, last night was fab. Went to bookclub and caught up with all the girls :)

07 November: Lisbon to Faro

This morning we took a tram from Rossio Square to Belém. We arrived just outside the Monastery there and then wandered down to the waves to see the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) which I absolutely loved!

You cannot believe the detail carved into each explorer (according to Wikipedia, there are 34 people carved on the Monument and it's amazing to be able to see them listed because when you're there looking at it, as awe-inspiring as it is, you have no idea who is who!).



Note: The above photo is more to try and show a little detail of the carvings (my favourite part of the monument) and actually doesn't give you any indication of the actual monument. If you're interested, check out the Wikipedia link.

After admiring that, we walked further to the Torre de Belém (Belém Tower). As a building, it's not nearly as impressive (in my opinion) as the Monument to the Discoveries, but it was made awesome by hearing Vangelis' 1492 (what I consider perfect ship explorer-type music! Thanks Daddio) playing just as we got to it. It was purely by chance, but a perfectly timed coincidence :) Also, apparently there's a significant Rhino head on the base of one the turrets that has a story behind it. Sadly this was too tricky to find (or to be sure if the worn down piece of cement you were looking at, at the time was a rhino head or not?)

Then we went for a custard tart, what Belém is equally famous for! Pastéis de Belém has been serving custard tarts since 1837 and they were delish (more different that I expected from the custard tarts we'd been eating before now). We were also lucky enough to see them making the tarts thru a glass wall into their kitchen.

Didn't do much else before leaving Lisbon, but I did try a Fanta Maracuja (Granadilla / Passion Fruit - no one else knew what a Granadilla was!). I was sorta expecting it to be like Schweppes Granadilla, but it wasn't. It was good tho :)

And then we took a 3 hour bus ride to Faro (Capital of The Algarve Region).

22h45: Just got back from a delish dinner at a local spot. I think a little more upmarket than the places we have been eating (it was quite a bit more expensive). But it was definitely on my top 3 eating experiences so far! I had a Monkfish and Prawn Espetada. With plenty of wine. I am looking forward to some good weather and a day at the beach tomorrow :)

Christmas Market Tuesdays

Eep, I have just realised that I completely missed mentioning my 2nd Blogoversary (it was Sunday, so that's kinda acceptable!). Wow, in the 2 years I have posted 623 times, had 2 jobs, 2 boyfriends, lived in 2 places (I see I must be averaging one a year of everything then - tee hee!) but, I've been on 3 holidays (although I've posted about 3 more, thanks to back-dated posting), written 12 Accommodation Reviews, 81 Book Reviews, 74 Movie Reviews, 96 Restaurant Reviews and recommended 6 Recipes. Wow, pretty eventful I'd say :) So cheers to that.

Last night I dragged Varen off to the Bryanston Organic Moonlight Christmas Market (it's on every Tuesday evening leading up to Christmas). The first time I ever went to the Bryanston Market was for one of these Moonlight Markets and I remember it being amazing. There were fairy lights and people bustling and lots to see. But since then I've been to their usual Organic Market on a Saturday morning. I will say that I haven't been in a really, really long time. The things rarely change. I don't think I've ever actually bought anything there but food, but I forget. That's my point. It is always the same and it's never stuff I'd actually buy, I don't think :( So it was a little disappointing as I wandered around the same stalls for the 3rd time for the evening although we'd only been there an hour and still couldn't find something for the bloggirls secret santa :( I hate Secret Santa. It's so much easier if you know who you're buying for ... well, sometimes. Now it'll be a mad rush on Saturday morning before the braai. Oh well, I did try to be organised!

Anyhoo, after the Market didn't quite live up to my memory, Varen & I went for dinner at Sfigati. The first time we actually sat down and ate there rather than ordered take-out :)

Had a horrible dream last night that I lost Henna down a storm drain type thing and I couldn't get to her or get her out and I was afraid that if I couldn't save her, she'd die. Not a great way to wake up. But on with Wednesday :) And looking forward to our company Xmas day tomorrow ... yay, I get another 4 day week!

06 November: Lisbon

This morning we took a train to Sintra. There are loads of expensive day trips to the town but most of us chose to "backpack" it by making our own way there on the local train from Rossio station.

Let me tell you upfront that I think this was the biggest waste of my whole trip, but more on that later. Sintra was touted as having a Disney World palace and being a beautiful city. Mostly it was a disappointment (perhaps because I didn't pay the entry fee for anything) and a long day of sore legs from walking uphill!

On arrival, we split up. Michael (a 60 year old New Zealand guy, who I think sort of felt like he was "looking after" me, not letting me wander off in a strange city alone) & I walked / hiked up to the Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors). Let me tell you, from the train station it is freaking far and way high up! We didn't go into the Castle of the Moors (it was a 5 EUR entry fee) instead we walked further along the road to the Pena National Palace, which we didn't go into either (this one was 8 EUR, I think). Let me explain right here that food in Euro's is damn expensive and this was fairly early on in my trip. Who knew if I could spare 5 EUR on some more ruins when I knew the thing I'd mostly come all this way (from Lisbon to Sintra) was still going to cost be about 4.50 EUR in bus fare each way. In the end when I got home and realised how much I had left over from my trip, I do kinda wish I'd gone into the Castle of the Moors, but I don't know if I had gone in if I would've got to do the thing I've already mentioned was number 1 one my list for the day because as it was we only had about an hour to spare which we used to have some lunch.

The view of the Castle and the Palace are pretty useless unless you pay to go into them (they're pretty far from the entrance gates). But the view over Sintra from that high up was pretty spectacular. After that we strolled back down and enjoyed some Spinach quiche for lunch. The walk was long and exhausting!

(Here comes my number 1 bit of the day that made it all worthwhile ... although I do sorta wish I'd just gone straight here after arriving in Sintra by train, but oh well!) After lunch we took a bus out to Cabo da Roca, which forms the Westernmost point of both mainland Europe and mainland Portugal. What a spectacular view of the coast! You might wonder why this would be the highlight of my day, but it is a pretty cool thing to be able to say you've done (especially since I've also been to the Southernmost tip of Continental Asia on Sentosa island in Singapore :) ).

We ended up back in Lisbon after sunset, just before 6pm. A much longer day-trip than I was expecting!

21h00: Just back from dinner out at an Indian / Italian restaurant. Some of the group ate there yesterday and were (oddly) keen to go back. I say oddly because you'd think you'd wanna try somewhere new when you're only spending 2 nights in a city half way around the world from home! But clearly I was not the only one unimpressed by regular Portuguese fare). But, I hadn't tried it so I was keen to tag along. It as expensive by SA standards, my Chicken Makhni cost more than what we normally spend on a meal at Ghazal's for Varen & myself! But it was delish and I topped the evening off with a Capirenhia (can you believe none of the Aussies knew what that was!). I am disappointed to say that I have yet to actually find Trinchado on a menu - it's my favourite "Portuguese" dish from back home. Odd!

Relaxed Monday

Last night was uneventful. The girls seem to be adjusting to life in a double story (they are slowly figuring out to come down the ramp when I open the door at the bottom so they can get out and have a run round the garden!). Varen was home early :) We just had a relaxing Monday night at home. Shoulda gone to gym tho, but it's so hard to get back into the routine after the holiday. Finger's crossed for today tho! Tee hee.

05 November: Coimbra to Lisbon

Obama Won!! What fantastic news :)

We took a train from Coimbra to Lisbon today and checked into the Grande Pensao Alcobia (it sounds far more glamorous than it was!).

Had another disappointing lunch today. I am just not that in tune with Portuguese / Spanish food. Nothing I order is quite what I'm hoping for and it all seems to be an exorbitant price to pay for what I've been getting! Sigh. None of my trips has ever topped Thailand food-wise.

After lunch we took a stroll via Praça da Figueira to the Praça do Comércio to see the sea :) We also wandered past the Casa dos Bicos (photo on left - officially in English that means House of the Spikes, but it's more commonly refered to as The Diamond House ... mostly it just reminded all of us of Madonna's famous connical bra!)

Then we strolled up to the Castle of São Jorge and enjoyed a gorgeous view of Lisbon from up there! The views were stunning and it was almost sunset. I think this was the first time I really wished Varen had been there to share the experience. Obviously I was missing him in general, but there's something particular about a sunset over a city that makes you wanna share it with someone special :)

Eep, I have just herd on CNN that Michael Crichton died. That's very sad :( I really enjoyed his books ... especially Jurassic Park & The Lost World (the books, all the movies after the frst one just plain sucked!)

23h00: I just got back from dinner at a real Porto restaurant, completely with screaming soccer fans! We took the Elevador de Santa Justa up (it's this crazy elevator in the middle of Lisbon, truly a bizarre concept!) because you really get a spectacular view from the top at night (see below).

And wandered around until we found a spot. I ate a simple shrimp soup. Cheap, easy and the first time in a while I wasn't envying what someone else ordered!

In the photo on the right, you can see the Castle of São Jorge in the middle at the top of the hill and the brightly lit square is Praça da Figueira.

After dinner we stopped at Casa Brasileira for a traditional Portuguese Custard Tart (during our short time in Lisbon, this became a favourite spot for pastries!). Also, I got a fab photo of myself with the famous (another one of those things one only learns about thanks to the postcards for sale!) Fernando Pessoa (although I only found out who he was once I got home thanks to Wikipedia!). Turns out he actually went to school in Durban, score one for the South African chick ;)

First Weekend Back

Shoo, what a way to spend our first weekend back. Not a lot of relaxing going on here!

Friday night started with dinner out with JofH and YogaCherryl. They got married and went on honeymoon in the Philippines for 3 weeks. It was an interesting way of doing things, they signed the legal bits at home affairs on the Friday and had celebratory drinks with friends and family that evening (which sadly I had to miss because that was the weekend I was in Cape Town). On the Monday they headed to the Philippines for 3 weeks where the had a wedding ceremony on the beach with just the two of them there. I've seen the photos and it looks truly spectacular. Sadly we also missed their welcome-back wedding-dinner because we were still in Morocco. Hence the catch-up dinner on Friday night.

We went to Bismillah, an Indian restaurant in Fordsburg. The food was okay, but the funny thing was we weren't allowed to order anything hotter than a Medium ... they obviously didn't think a bunch of white folk could take the heat - tee hee! Anyway, the evening was all good and we gave them their tagine-for-two wedding gift :)

On Saturday we hit the shops and accidentally bought a new bunny hutch (it was such a spontaneous purchase). So on Saturday the girls went from living in this (left) to the high life with a spanky new double-storey (right).


It's taking them some getting used to, that's for sure! The ramp is a bit slippery for them (no grip) so on Sunday we bought some dowels and glued on some grips as well as made them a ramp out the door from the bottom. Hopefully things will improve during the week as they get used to their new home :) The old one will hopefully now be moved to the farm in time for our Christmas break there.

Oh, and I also update the Salamanca to Coimbra post with a photo of the girls enjoying the treats I bought them :)

After the excitement of the new bunny hutch, we headed out East to Exmi's Kid's first birthday party. Was fabulous ... even tho we were in the small minority, not having a kiddie ourselves. Especially nice to see so many of the bloggirls (Exmi, Jackson's Mom, Angel & SleepyJane) and a few new blogger faces (Jeanette & MommaNats) there too :) Am now really looking forward to our Christmas braai next weekend! Ps. Angel, those cupcakes were amazing! You can see some pics of the party on Jeanette's photo blog. I will say that Exmi certainly outdid herself with the excessive catering. Not a soul went home without a sugar-high, I'm sure :)

After that we headed to Varen's folks place for a welcome-back family braai. Was a lovely way to spend the Saturday :)

Sunday was spent madly dashing from shop to shop, from Clearwater Mall to Eastgate, if you can believe it. All because I've finally given Varen the go-ahead to find me a laptop. He's undeterable when he's a man after a gadget, even if it's a gadget he'll get to buy vicariously thru me. He knows he'll get all the "fun" (well he thinks it's fun anyway!) of doing the setting up, installing and what not before I even get to touch it. Hence the willingness to drive (almost literally) to the ends of the earth to find the right deal. Well, I'm the one looking for the "deal", he's looking for the "specs".

After hours of driving around with no luck (I am still laptop-less), we came home and re-vamped the new hutch (as described above).

And then Sunday afternoon spiraled into a void. Varen had a migraine, again. After he'd tried to get some sleep, drunk his body weight in water and sat in front of the fan and it had still not improved, I went to the local after-hours pharmacy (handy knowing where that is!) and got him what they call a "Migraine Kit". They didn't get to stay in his system very long so, 45 mins later we were in the Emergency Room for some stronger drugs. Wasn't much of Sunday left after that ...

Oh and a weird thing happened to me on Saturday night / Sunday morning. I woke in the middle of the night with a hectic pain in my calf muscle. I woke Varen cause I could hardly move and he just rubbed it for me until it was okay. I've never had a cramp quite like that before. He said he could even feel how tightly wound the muscle was. Hmmm, wonder what I was dreaming or what the hell happened while I was asleep to cause that!

Bond-tastic

Oh. My. Word. Has anybody actually seen the Nu Metro website lately? What the hell were they thinking. I mean the last update they did was bad (all those annoying pop-ups) but this, this is just too freaking hard to navigate! And there seem to only be about 4 or 5 cinemas listed. Did the others all close while I was away or have they not been added to the website yet? Finding information out about a specific cinema is actually downright impossible (I don't think it exists!).

Aha. I've just discovered the error of my ways. What the freak is up? There is the old (still hideous) Nu Metro site at their .co.za address, but a completely different one (freaking hard to get the information you need from) at their .com address. Now that's just plain silliness if you ask me. And this is why, no matter what, Ster Kinekor will *always* be better.

As you can probably tell, Varen & I went to movies last night. We had to see Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond.

Forensic intelligence links an MI6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti, where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille - a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene - a ruthless businessman and a major force within the mysterious organisation.

On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world's most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano. Using his associates in the organisation and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin-American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land.

Hmmm. Daniel Craig is definitely right up there as James Bond. Hard to tell if he's better than Connery or not, but it's a close call. Pity this movie wasn't up to the standard set in Casino Royale. But it was still fun. And the dude playing the villain, Mathieu Amalric, is truly a creepy man! Needless to say, Varen thoroughly enjoyed it :) Meh, you've gotta see it either way, it's a Bond film.

In other news, I'm now happily adding recommendations to NextStop.com, so go check out this new travel recommendation site :)

*update* Oh my word. I forgot the most bizarre part of our movie watching experience! They showed the annoying trailer of Leon Schuster's new movie, Mr Bones 2. I mean how is this man still making movies? More importantly how do these movies make any money? I always feel embarrassed that these are South Africa's Box Office movies, what must the rest of the world think?!? Anyhoo, I learnt last night why they make money (to my horror), at least half the cinema was in hysterics over his ridiculous and slapstic on-screen antics. I hung my head. It was a sad day for South Africans.

04 November: Coimbra

This morning we grabbed a quick pastry across the road for breakfast. It was a bit of pot-luck guessing what was good. Mine was fine, but a little too sweet for breakfast (Yes, I really did just type that?!). After that we took a half hour bus ride to Conimbriga to see the Roman Ruins.

Side Note: Let me tell you, pastries get plenty boring for breakfast after 3 weeks ... I cannot wait for my first weekend back home and some eggs!



They were quite cool, lots of crumbly stones but some beautiful mosaics. The weather was a bit dismal and drizzly, but I had my handy new rain jacket with me :) I think this was the only day I really got to use it for real.

There was also a covered area (photo on right) that had some of the best mosaics (not simply patterns, but pictures - photo below). It also had a working fountain of the time (obviously restored) that played for a minute when you put in 50c. It was lovely, my favourite part.

Before we left, I sent the Peeb a postcard (her being an Archaeologist and all) and had a surprisingly delish lunch (honestly, the best meal of the trip so far!) of Game Pie with cranberry sauce.

When we got back, I took a wander around the city. I went up to the Post Office on Rua Oimpio Nicolau Rui Fernandes (yes, that is just one road name!) and then along Rua Fernando Borges to the Santa Clara bridge. Then all the way uphill (the hills in this city have serious uphills!) along Rue da Couraça de Lisboa and then all the way back to Praça 8 de Maio via the Universidade. During the walk it started raining. I'm a little soaked right now, but still glad of my new KWay waterproof jacket!

Wandered into another pet shop on my way back to the hotel and saw 4 Chinchilla's for sale. Never seen one of them before but they look cute. More buns (same colours as Bell & Henna but these were angora) and loads of squirrels too.

Am now in my hotel room watching the US Election on CNN and about to see Band's man live from Kenya! Quite surreal seeing someone you know live on TV, expecially on something as global as CNN. Pretty darn cool.

22h00: We're just back from dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It wasn't my best meal but, I think that's because I don't often (if at all) eat Chinese food so I didn't order the best dish at the table. But it was still better than last night's "Authentic Portuguese" meal.

Now still watching the US Election. It's an hour till the first polls close. Sadly we'll no doubt be asleep by then.

Oh, and I also wanted to say that this is the best group I've traveled with so far. I don't know if it's because I'm traveling "single" for now and there are so many of our group doing the same or if it is just because it's an older group (I'm 2nd youngest and I think we range all the way up to 65!). Surprisingly enough, it seems to work really well :)

03 November: Salamanca to Coimbra

I spent the morning wandering Salamanca before getting on another bus. First I joined some of the group and we went to a local market. Not at all what we were expecting, I don't think. This was a food market (I eventually got used to them, but this was my first), filled with fresh fruit and veg, but also plenty of meat and fish. Yep, just lying there. Often whole animals and definitely all sorts of bits of animal I never needed to see, still looking very much like the animal they once were.

I don't plan on ever becoming a vegetarian and I'm not a big meat eater, really. But I prefer my meat not to look anything like the animal it once was ... call me naive all you want I know where it comes from and that cute little animals are dying to provide it, I just prefer not to think about it too much. These little piggies were especially upsetting, I love pigs (live ones ... although bacon too). But the biggest gross-out factor definitely goes to the skinned (nothing smooth about face muscle) goats heads with their eyeballs still staring out at you. Euw.

After that, we managed to get inside the New Cathedral, it was huge and ornate as you'd expect (pretty impressive as the first Cathedral I went into, but the novelty wears off!). And then I went off in search of Salamanca's other carved icon, "The Frog (La Rana) on the Skull", hiding somewhere on the facade of the Universidad de Salamanca.

He's pretty high up so quite hard to spot, but the few of us from the tour that were there looking did manage to find him :) I also only found out about him after seeing the frog and the clam shells (from the Casa de las Conchas) on so many tourist items ... and then on the post cards, of course!

Later, we caught a 5 hour bus ride, complete with a grumpy driver and hideous music to Coimbra. Had a very boring border crossing into Portugal. Although they did take slightly more interest in my passport (I was the only one in our group who needed a Schengen Visa ... or Moroccan Visa for that matter. How sucky is that?!). I didn't even get a stamp or anything :( Seems kinda ironic actually then that I had to apply for the visa at the Portuguese Embassy since that's the one country of the three that doesn't even show up anywhere in my passport!

We arrived in Coimbra at about 6pm (now SA Time - 2 hours). We're staying at Hotel Oslo, and it's right next door to a pet shop which I explored while we waited for the keys to our rooms. They had three bunnies, one very like my sweet Henna, but a bit lighter. They also had an albino hedgehog (although all we could see of it was prickles inside it's plastic house) and a little squirrel (chipmunk, maybe?). So cute!

That evening, we went for dinner. I don't think I especially like Portuguese food. Lots of meat and potatoes. I had grilled veal or something (it was a little hard to tell since we could barely read the menus). Plus, they bring loads of food to the table before you've even ordered, a little like what they do with bread back home, but it's bread, cheeses, pate's and sometimes even plates of prawns. But, if you eat any of it (even the bread!), you pay for it. Quite rude and presumptuous if you ask me ... we had to actually ask them to take the plate of prawns away. No doubt the next table got them instead. Gross.

After dinner we did a bit of a steep walk / hike up to the Old Cathedral (Sé Velha). It's not very exciting. Instead, when we got back to the hotel, I visited the pet shop again (it was open late!) and I found some treats to take back for the bunnies. I know that sounds truly peculiar, but South Africa isn't exactly advance in the pet bunny department and this shop had so much bunny specific stuff, it was hard to just limit myself to just treats and not toys. Varen says they're all doing well, but I miss them and their cuddles!

Note: That's a pic I took of the girls with one of treats I bought. They loved loved loved them :)

I Won, I Won

Last night was fab, went to the last Girl's Poker night of the year and I freaking won. It was awesome. And it wasn't one of those close win things, it was like I was the banker in Monopoly :) I feel I have the right to gush a little here because it's my first win.

Other than that there is not much going on. But I can see the end-of-year rush has certainly kicked in socially. My calendar is getting all booked up till around the 16th December (when most people start going on leave, so you have to cram everything in beforehand!). But it's good ... am just a little worried about it affecting my current 6am wake-up (gotta get up earlier to miss an hours worth of traffic these days ... drives me freaking nuts if I don't!). Am definitely a little bleary-eyed after poker last night. Yawn.

02 November: Madrid to Salamanca

Last night after our group meeting, 8 of us went for a walk to the Puerta del Sol and then had a tapas dinner at a cosy little place called Cuervos el Secreto (or something similar meaning The Secret Cave). The food was delish! We all shared 3 salads (1 green salad, 1 tomato & anchovy salad, none of that for moi, and 1 red pepper & basil pesto salad), bread, cheese, 2 meatball stews (the best dish of the evening!), grilled potato and a variety of kebabs with Sangria to wash it all down.

This morning we were up early and got on the bus to Salamanca. It was a 3 hour trip and we arrived around midday. We had a little free time after we had arrived and checked into Hotel Condal, then we went for lunch in the Plaza Mayor. I had some yummy paella and red peppers stuffed with cheese & ham.

After lunch we wandered to the Casa de las Conchas, an old palace (now library) who's exterior is covered in approximately 400 stone shells, on to the Cathedral Nueva and then over El Puente Romano (the Roman Bridge) which was apparently built in around 89 AD.

The rest of the afternoon was spent dipping pastries into thick hot chocolate, commonly known as Chocolate con Churros.

And then I went in search of "The Astronaut in the New Cathedral (La Nueva)". It was damn tricky to find, I wandered around the entire building staring at each doorway's carvings. Eventually I gave up and asked someone at the Cathedral viewing desk (for people who want to go up to the bell tower for a view over Salamanca) who directed me to the relevant doorway.

By then there were a bunch of other people looking too which made it quite simple in the end. So funny! Side Note: After having looked it up online when I got home, I found out he was probably carved by one of the restorers in 1992. Apparently there's also an ice-cream cone somewhere on the New Cathedral, but I only found out about that one when looking online for the above link. Not that I knew to look for the Astronaut before I went either tho, I just saw him just on one of the postcards for sale after arriving in Salamanca.

After a bit of a relax at the hotel, we met up to go out for dinner, which didn't really happen. Instead we went out to drink (most of us were full from the big lunch). I started with a glass of Taurus wine (simply had to try it since I am in bullish Spain and a Taurean myself). Then we headed to a fab little bar in the Plaza Mayor called 23 that let you have 1 tapas with every drink ordered. What an ideal way to dine!

Back to Normal

Things are quite a blur at the moment. There was a whole bunch of stuff I forgot to say yesterday ... like, we watched a dvd on Monday night, Baby Mama.

Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey), a successful single businesswoman from Philadelphia, has put her career before her personal life. At the age of 37, she has finally decided to have a child on her own, but her plans change when she discovers she has only the slimmest chance of becoming pregnant. Also denied adoption, Kate hires an immature, obnoxious South Philly girl, Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler), to become her surrogate mom.

We were looking for something light post-holiday and this was light enough, but not near as funny as we were hoping for. Meh, it was average.

Right now I've still forgotten some other things I'm sure. But they'll come when I remember. On the plus side I see that petrol went down in my absence. Nice. Work is a bit of a nightmare - I can not remember how to do anything after 3 weeks away! And eep, there is now officially less than a month till Xmas. Sigh.

Last night was pretty uneventful. Varen came home at a reasonable hour, we made dinner, ate, watched some TV. A nice, relaxed normal night at home. I make a point of saying that because, well, it's been a while :)

01 November: Madrid

10h00: My poor Bell had to go to the vet last night and again this morning. I hope she's feeling better!

Have arrived in Spain and am currently sitting in a McCafe drinking lukewarm Chocolate Caliente (Hot Chocolate, I presume) out of a glass!

The flight was okay. Horribly annoyed to discover that Iberia barely does in-flight entertainment. There was 1 TV screen in the middle which showed 2 movies at set times during the flight. No choices or options here. And I'd left my book & iPod behind because I thought I would hardly need them. No such luck. But with nothing much to do, I did get some sleep!

The flight left just after 10pm yesterday evening. I slept and was woken for dinner at midnight over the middle of Angola. After that I slept as best I could till breakfast.

We landed in Madrid at 7am (that's SA Time - 1hr) to 4 degreesC outside temperature and the sun had yet to emerge. Sadly I completely forgot to take a photo of "The Rain in Spain falling on a Plane" :) Not that it really would've been possible anyhow in the darkness. I was expecting an Airport Transfer but after half an hour of waiting, I made my own way to Hotel Laris. This involved a Metro trip with 3 changes and the help of a very kind little old man who spoke no English but escorted me to the hotel's street when he saw me staring, completely puzzled at the street map.

I can only check in at 2pm so I'm off to see what's within walking distance.

12h15: Am back at the same McCafe - seemed like a safe spot to lunch. And I do so like to try the weird overseas additions to McDonald's staple menu. I had a McNific Meal with the CBO (Chicken, Bacon & Onion) Burger. Not particularly upset that we don't have it back home. Plus, it gives me a safe comfy seated spot to write all this - still have just over an hour and a half till I can check in.

Before lunch I visited the Museo Naval de Madrid. Not the sort of place you might ordinarily find me, much as I love museums, I don't find boats / ships that interesting. But it was FREE. And I figure Spain is famous for it's Armada so it was probably worth a look.

And it was very interesting ... aside from the fact that all the blurbs below each item were only in Spanish. The weaponry was interesting too, it's amazing how little guns have actually changed in all these years. But my favourite part was the room containing pieces recovered from the San Diego, which sank in 1600.

19h00: After lunch, I came back to the hotel and met a few of my fellow tour mates. This afternoon I intended to visit the Archaeological Museum, but it turned out I'd found the wrong museum on the map and walked all the way to the Anthropological Museum and found it closed before I realised my mistake. So off I headed in completely the opposite direction to the Archaeological Museum (quite a trek all the way up Plaza del Prado) only to find it was also closed. I'd left it till the afternoon because it's free after 14h30 on Saturdays (no sense on spending all my Euros on museums) but I was completely unaware that today is a public holiday, All Saints Day, and it had closed at 15h00. Sadly I won't even get to visit it during our 8 hour stop-over on the way home because that'll be a Sunday and it'll also be closed by 15h00. So annoying cause I was quite keen to see it.

Note: Bell is back to normal apparently but managed to pull out both stitches. Luckily it sounds like she's healing fine tho!

Hello Stranger

Hi y'all. I'm back in good old South Africa and having a little trouble adjusting actually. Landed back in Joburg yesterday afternoon and am back at work this morning, it is freaking hot here (!!) and I spent over an hour in traffic this morning. Sheesh.

Won't give you any of the holiday details in this post, instead I will be uploading separate holiday posts whenever time allows, like I did after East Africa :) Needless to say, 3 weeks off are always good, but I will say it is nice being back at home after living out of a bag for so long! And I was so thrilled to see my boons after so long ... things are quite different after Bell's spaying. Henna is so much calmer and she & Bell really seem to be getting on much better :)

So ye, back to the grind :P

Oh and ps. after 3 weeks of no internet, there is just too too much in my Google Reader for me to even consider catching up on any of it ... so I'm marking it all to "Read" and starting fresh from today. Hope there isn't any massive news I've missed out on (if there is, leave me a comment or otherwise I'm sure I'll catch on soon enough once I'm reading avidly again!). Sorry in advance, but it's not really optional with 1000+ unread items (literally, Google Reader stopped bothering to count them!)