Showing posts with label Saunders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saunders. Show all posts
28 December 2005
9 December 2005
15 November 2005
23 July 2005
Sally comes to visit
Sally and Ally in Claire Garden, Cambridge. Ally took the day off to spend some quality time with Sally. Lovely to have her to stay for a night.
25 April 2005
Culture galore
Wow, what a great art exhibition. It's all the rage in London at the moment, booked up for months in advance. The story of Whistler (American )and Turner (British), their love affair with painting London landscapes and how they inspired Monet (French) in his impressionist style. We met up with Rosemarie and Nick and spent an exciting two and half hours exploring the paintings.
There were lots of interesting landscapes of London in the 1800's - what an awful place it was with its appalling polution and thick smog. Ironically however, it was the smog that brought Monet back to London over and over - he loved the ephemeral quality it gave the light and the moods it cast over the city. Oh well, i suppose there is a silver lining in everything.
I particularly liked Monet's paintings. My favourite paintings of his were this one and this one - both of the Parliament Buildings. There was also an amazing painting from Turner of the Parlimant Buildings burning down in 1834.
It was a wonderful exhibition and Ally was particularly in her element. In her words: "It was an explosion of light and a heady experimentation of colour, combining all my most beloved subjects - namely sunsets and travel." As you can see, she's becoming quite a poet.
There were lots of interesting landscapes of London in the 1800's - what an awful place it was with its appalling polution and thick smog. Ironically however, it was the smog that brought Monet back to London over and over - he loved the ephemeral quality it gave the light and the moods it cast over the city. Oh well, i suppose there is a silver lining in everything.
I particularly liked Monet's paintings. My favourite paintings of his were this one and this one - both of the Parliament Buildings. There was also an amazing painting from Turner of the Parlimant Buildings burning down in 1834.
It was a wonderful exhibition and Ally was particularly in her element. In her words: "It was an explosion of light and a heady experimentation of colour, combining all my most beloved subjects - namely sunsets and travel." As you can see, she's becoming quite a poet.
11 April 2005
Weekend in Jersey
We spent a wonderful weekend with Rosemarie and Nick in Jersey this weekend. Nick has changed companies recently, requiring a move from Guernsy and they are settling in. It was great to spend some qulaity time with R&N. And Jersey really impressed us with some gorgeous coast line and open spaces. It's a great island.
On Friday night, we went to a local performance of Carousel - a great "Rogers and Hammerstein" musical. We recognised lots of the songs without ever having realised they come from this particular musical. I'd like to see some more of their musicals now - particularly South Pacific which I remember watching as a kid (and being blown away - it was my first ever musical) but haven't seen again since. They also wrote King and I and Oklahoma to name but a few.
Aren't Rosemarie's ear muffs cute! I only realised when we had got home that I hadn't got any photos of Nick. He was on top form this weekend - making us all laugh all weekend long. He's a bit like Gramps - always full of funny stories. He has been in amateur dramatics for many years - and we got to see some great video footage of him in some of his previous musicals including Carmen, Carousel, Oklahoma and Carmen.
On Friday night, we went to a local performance of Carousel - a great "Rogers and Hammerstein" musical. We recognised lots of the songs without ever having realised they come from this particular musical. I'd like to see some more of their musicals now - particularly South Pacific which I remember watching as a kid (and being blown away - it was my first ever musical) but haven't seen again since. They also wrote King and I and Oklahoma to name but a few.
Aren't Rosemarie's ear muffs cute! I only realised when we had got home that I hadn't got any photos of Nick. He was on top form this weekend - making us all laugh all weekend long. He's a bit like Gramps - always full of funny stories. He has been in amateur dramatics for many years - and we got to see some great video footage of him in some of his previous musicals including Carmen, Carousel, Oklahoma and Carmen.
4 December 2004
Day in London (Ally)
I went up to London today and had a wonderful time. I met Kerry for lunch and we went to the nearby opened Spur close to where Kerri is working for the council where she is being excruciatingly "underchallenged" . She is celebrating the fact that she's just got her "indefinite leave of stay" in the UK. Wonderful!! Then I saw Sally for a hot chocolate and jean shopping. Sally returns to Cape Town on Sunday and I'll really miss her after having her close for a year.
26 October 2004
Sally, the jet setter
Sally has just got back from a wonderful couple of days in Prague. It was great to see all her photos. She is staying over at Chateau Brooklands till her flight to France on Wednesday. What a jet set life she is living!
8 October 2004
Dinner at Kew Grill (Ally)
Sally has worked for Kew Grill a Anthony Warrall Thompson's resturant in the dessert section. I was determined that we should go and we certainly had a night to remember.
The starters we had were girlled mushrooms, cheese phyollo pastry and chilli squid. Then we all had steaks which would rival Barristers in every way apart from price! Sally had made all the desserts so we had every one on the menu - 6 between 5 of us and I got to have my favourite - florintene tart.
It was pure heaven and lots of laughter around the table. It was good so to get everyone together.
The starters we had were girlled mushrooms, cheese phyollo pastry and chilli squid. Then we all had steaks which would rival Barristers in every way apart from price! Sally had made all the desserts so we had every one on the menu - 6 between 5 of us and I got to have my favourite - florintene tart.
It was pure heaven and lots of laughter around the table. It was good so to get everyone together.
12 September 2004
Visit to Buckingham Palace
We went to visit the inside of Buckingham Palace with Rosemary, Nick and Sally. Wow, what opulent banquet halls - quite exquisite. The palace has 500 rooms and 78 bathrooms, so I doubt the queen and her hubby ever have rows about who takes a shower first or who is taking up the most cupboard space.
9 August 2004
A weekend in Guernsey
Puffin Air
It was off to Guernsey this weekend to spend time with Rosemarie and Nick. What a great weekend we had. I was immediately impressed with Aurigny, the airline with whom we flew, because their symbol is a Puffin, one of my favourite birds. We didn't see any puffins this weekend but apparently there are plenty of them on island, so next time i come, i'll definitely have my bins on me!
Nutters!
Rosemarie and Nick were as wonderful as ever and it was brilliant to spend some time with them. They took us to their favourite fish and chip restaurant where the fish very much lived up to its reputation. The restaurant had a great sense of humour. On the menu were the words: Food may contain, be cooked by and be served by nuts! (and enjoyed by us nuts too I might add..) We then went off for a brisk swim in the ocean, an important landmark as it was Nick's first dip in the Guernsey sea.
What a lovely pair of Scollops
Saturay nignt, Rosemarie and Nick went out to watch Shrek some friends (which they loved) but we opted for a quiet evening together. Went to a quaint pub restaurant for local scollops (delicious) and Ally wore a new dress. Lovely she looked...
A Sunday Stroll
Sunday it was off for a brisk stroll. As you can see, the roads in Guernsey are very narrow and quaint. The island really does have a delightful atmosphere, especially with it's mix of English and French influences.
The Navigators
We left the important role of navigation to the girls but never found the elusive reservoire we were heading for. But never mind, we found something far more exciting and historic...
The German Bunker
A tiny gap in the hedge piqued our interest. Nick and i being the boys we are dived in to explore - and found it led to a brilliantly disguised second world war bunker set deep in the thicket. It was fascinating to explore a slice of history. Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during the war and the island is riddled with German defense structures. If you look at the photo on the left, you'd never know there is a bunker set in the hedge. The view through the peep hole was panaramic; you could understand why the Germans chose this spot...
The intrepid explorer
To get into the bunker, we had to climb up a small "chimney" Here's Nick making his way back down. The girls stayed on the road and let the boys be boys...
Guernsey Castle
After a delicious lunch (we haven't eaten so well in a very long time!) where we met two lovely friends of R&N, we went for a drive around Guernsey and got to see some great views. Here is a view of the local castle. We look forward to exploring the island in more detail in the future. Thanks to R&N for a great weekend - they always make us feel like family.
It was off to Guernsey this weekend to spend time with Rosemarie and Nick. What a great weekend we had. I was immediately impressed with Aurigny, the airline with whom we flew, because their symbol is a Puffin, one of my favourite birds. We didn't see any puffins this weekend but apparently there are plenty of them on island, so next time i come, i'll definitely have my bins on me!
Nutters!
Rosemarie and Nick were as wonderful as ever and it was brilliant to spend some time with them. They took us to their favourite fish and chip restaurant where the fish very much lived up to its reputation. The restaurant had a great sense of humour. On the menu were the words: Food may contain, be cooked by and be served by nuts! (and enjoyed by us nuts too I might add..) We then went off for a brisk swim in the ocean, an important landmark as it was Nick's first dip in the Guernsey sea.
What a lovely pair of Scollops
Saturay nignt, Rosemarie and Nick went out to watch Shrek some friends (which they loved) but we opted for a quiet evening together. Went to a quaint pub restaurant for local scollops (delicious) and Ally wore a new dress. Lovely she looked...
A Sunday Stroll
Sunday it was off for a brisk stroll. As you can see, the roads in Guernsey are very narrow and quaint. The island really does have a delightful atmosphere, especially with it's mix of English and French influences.
We left the important role of navigation to the girls but never found the elusive reservoire we were heading for. But never mind, we found something far more exciting and historic...
The German Bunker
A tiny gap in the hedge piqued our interest. Nick and i being the boys we are dived in to explore - and found it led to a brilliantly disguised second world war bunker set deep in the thicket. It was fascinating to explore a slice of history. Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during the war and the island is riddled with German defense structures. If you look at the photo on the left, you'd never know there is a bunker set in the hedge. The view through the peep hole was panaramic; you could understand why the Germans chose this spot...
The intrepid explorer
To get into the bunker, we had to climb up a small "chimney" Here's Nick making his way back down. The girls stayed on the road and let the boys be boys...
Guernsey Castle
After a delicious lunch (we haven't eaten so well in a very long time!) where we met two lovely friends of R&N, we went for a drive around Guernsey and got to see some great views. Here is a view of the local castle. We look forward to exploring the island in more detail in the future. Thanks to R&N for a great weekend - they always make us feel like family.
2 August 2004
A great day out in London
London Bridge
We decided to spend Saturday doing touristy things in London. One of Ally´s life goals was to walk across London Bridge so that was the first thing we did. Caught the tube to Tower Bridge and it was a short stroll from there. It was a gorgeous day; close to 30 degrees.
Another View
Another view of London bridge. I borrowed our camera from work (a £900 gadget with all the trimmings) so it was nice to have some optical power. The zoom on my little camera is a little limited - but then it is a tenth of the size!
Big Ben
No tourist trip through London would be complete without a photo of Big Ben so here it is - snapped from the top of our double decker bus as we whirled past (we used one of those hop on - hop off tourist buses to get around.)
Hamleys
Ah, aint the little one adorable! The little doggie is also quite cute... As you can see, next stop was Hamley's in Regent's Street. 6 floors of wonderful toys, enough to bring out the child in anybody.
The Royal Coach
We visited the Royal Mews where they keep all the horses and coaches for use in the Royal processions. The highlight was this Golden Coach immortalised in such grand processions as the Queen's inauguration and the 50th Jubilee. It was very impressive.
The coach is so heavy it can only be pulled at a walk by eight horses. The 24-foot long, four-ton coach, was built in 1760 for the then-astronomical sum of £7,562. Despite the expense, it's apparently not very comfortable if this BBC article is anything to go by.
Dinner with Sally at Belgo´s
After our sight-seeing, we met up for dinner with Sally in Covent Gardens. I haven't seen dear Sally in a while so it was great to catch up. She's working at the moment at Kew Grill as their "dessert specialist" (chocolate and almond spring roll is her most recent creation - mmmmm!) having completed a cooking course in Ireland.
Lobster!
Belgo's specialises in lobster, along with it's other Belgian delicacies like muscles and waffles. I haven't had lobster in years so succumbed to te temptation. Delicious and fun digging all the flesh out of the legs and claws with the special tool they give you.
Go, go Joseph!
After dinner, Ally and I went to watch "Joseph and his Technicoloured Dream Coat" at the New London Theatre in Covent Garden. Watching Joseph has been a life goal of Ally ever since she listened to the record as a little girl. I'd already seen the musical a couple of times but was delighted to see it again as it is one of my favourites; especially since I got to play the part of Pharoah in a school play. The show was fantastic and we both loved it. Joseph was played by H from the band, "Steps" who Ally thought was deliciously cute...
Visiting Sanjay
After Joseph, we went to visit Sanjay - a good friend who I met hiking in the Himalayas in Nepal back in 2001. He's a wonderful guy who always makes me laugh. Sanjay is a doctor specialising in Pediatrics at a local hospital. It was great to see him as always.
We decided to spend Saturday doing touristy things in London. One of Ally´s life goals was to walk across London Bridge so that was the first thing we did. Caught the tube to Tower Bridge and it was a short stroll from there. It was a gorgeous day; close to 30 degrees.
Another View
Another view of London bridge. I borrowed our camera from work (a £900 gadget with all the trimmings) so it was nice to have some optical power. The zoom on my little camera is a little limited - but then it is a tenth of the size!
Big Ben
No tourist trip through London would be complete without a photo of Big Ben so here it is - snapped from the top of our double decker bus as we whirled past (we used one of those hop on - hop off tourist buses to get around.)
Hamleys
Ah, aint the little one adorable! The little doggie is also quite cute... As you can see, next stop was Hamley's in Regent's Street. 6 floors of wonderful toys, enough to bring out the child in anybody.
We visited the Royal Mews where they keep all the horses and coaches for use in the Royal processions. The highlight was this Golden Coach immortalised in such grand processions as the Queen's inauguration and the 50th Jubilee. It was very impressive.
The coach is so heavy it can only be pulled at a walk by eight horses. The 24-foot long, four-ton coach, was built in 1760 for the then-astronomical sum of £7,562. Despite the expense, it's apparently not very comfortable if this BBC article is anything to go by.
Dinner with Sally at Belgo´s
After our sight-seeing, we met up for dinner with Sally in Covent Gardens. I haven't seen dear Sally in a while so it was great to catch up. She's working at the moment at Kew Grill as their "dessert specialist" (chocolate and almond spring roll is her most recent creation - mmmmm!) having completed a cooking course in Ireland.
Lobster!
Belgo's specialises in lobster, along with it's other Belgian delicacies like muscles and waffles. I haven't had lobster in years so succumbed to te temptation. Delicious and fun digging all the flesh out of the legs and claws with the special tool they give you.
Go, go Joseph!
After dinner, Ally and I went to watch "Joseph and his Technicoloured Dream Coat" at the New London Theatre in Covent Garden. Watching Joseph has been a life goal of Ally ever since she listened to the record as a little girl. I'd already seen the musical a couple of times but was delighted to see it again as it is one of my favourites; especially since I got to play the part of Pharoah in a school play. The show was fantastic and we both loved it. Joseph was played by H from the band, "Steps" who Ally thought was deliciously cute...
After Joseph, we went to visit Sanjay - a good friend who I met hiking in the Himalayas in Nepal back in 2001. He's a wonderful guy who always makes me laugh. Sanjay is a doctor specialising in Pediatrics at a local hospital. It was great to see him as always.
