Mallorca
Thursday to Sunday HD and I were in Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands of Spain. We spent 3 gloriously sunny days at Hotel America hanging out by the beach, the pool and even doing a little shopping at the local market.
Mallorca is divided up into various areas and we were in Callas de Mallorca which the lady at Resorthoppa, (the bus company we booked our transfers with, if you're going to go to Mallorca use them because they are the cheapest), said is the most peaceful area. She wasn't lying. The hotel we were at was geared primarily towards families with small children and older couples, there weren't alot of young folks there so it didn't have a party atmosphere. This was both good and bad - I mean we could've gone for something a little more livelier but then again, the calmness was exactly what we both wanted.
Anyway, the scenery was gorgeous - bright blue-green water as far as the eye could see, blue skies (most of the time), and caves and cliffs all along the coast. We lucked out on our room, it was clean and large enough for the two of us, but it was the view - a beautiful seaview and it was so nice to just sit on the balcony and stare at it. The first night was incredibly windy and a little chilly, we didn't do much except watch some of the "entertainment" and check out the pool bar.
Thursday after checked in we hit the beach. It's a small beach and not attached to the resort - there were tons of people on it and the water was rough, good for surfers. I went in and a big wave hit me and almost knocked me over. After a few hours there we went up to the pool area and hung out there. In the evening was dinner, "entertainment" and visits to the pool bar.
Friday we were up fairly bright and early, had breakfast and hit the beach - HD and I made a friend - Sandrine from France - she came up to us in the pool, which was freezing by the way, and started talking to us because we're so smiley. She was a nice girl and she hung out with us for the rest of the time we were there. That night we checked out the Cafe Bar which was indoors and nice enough.
Saturday was our last day as we had to leave at 11pm that night to get back to Palma airport. I got up in time to see the sunrise - that is a sight to see. We met Sandrine for breakfast and hit the pool. Around 11am Sandrine took us to the local shopping area and I bought a few little things - a Mallorca sticker for my Heys, a "pearl" necklace that looks really cool with my tan, and a magnet that says Mallorca with a parrot on it and a thermometre. I didn't want a t-shirt or anything like that.
The rest of our holiday was by the pool, pool bar, and in the pool. Went to our room around 6pm, packed, showered, met Sandrine at the Cafe Bar, had dinner, and then said our farewells. The coach came to pick us up and it was good-bye Mallorca.
The whole travelling part was a bit of an ordeal since we had an early morning flight from Gatwick to Palma and both the tubes and train stopped around 12am - so we got to the airport at 1am spent about 4 hours hanging around Gatwick trying to stay awake. Coming home wasn't much different since our flight was scheduled for 2am, delayed until about 3:30am, and then we had to hang around Victoria station for the tube to start at 6:30am. Sunday was definitely a day of rest.
As for future travelling I think I'm done with the all-inclusive deals - it's a bit too touristy for me and I don't really feel it's true travelling. Don't get me wrong, this trip was a blast, after nearly 5 months of what sometimes felt like being on a constant merry-go-round it was nice to get away from the big city and spend a few days listening to waves crash against cliffs and watching the sunrise. 
babble
On Friday was another birthday celebration and this time it was held at Babble bar in Mayfair, one of the swankier areas of London. Actually, Mayfair, I believe, is the area I work in, and it basically includes places in and around Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, and Green Park.
Babble was a nice place although very crowded with the afterwork business folk who clamoured in to take advantage of happy hour. The night was fun and we partied pretty late, considering it started at 6pm.
(I don't know if I've written this before but the worst part of a night out is having to go home on the night bus. It's such an uncomfortable ride!)
Saturday we chilled out and did a bit of shopping on Fonthill - a street we've now dubbed Fonthill Couture because it has some of the most awful hoochie-mama clothes imaginable, however it does have some great bargains and if you're in the mood to hunt around there are some good pieces to find.
In the evening we were supposed to go out with some folks from the night before but I think everyone was pretty much exhausted so we cancelled that and settled in for a chill-out night. We got Collateral from the library and watched that on our new DVD player. I love that movie!
Anyway...in a mere 41 hours from now we should be in the sky flying off to Mallorca for the weekend! I can't wait - I'm all packed and ready to go. Will be talking LOTS of pictures!
Photos
Here are a few pictures from the Regent Street Festival - the focus was on Spain.
Spain's police exhibit at the festival
Area to try on costumes
Performers at the festival
Fireworks from one of the shows
Drunk Pirates. What's a festival without them?
A building on Regent Street.
Tate Modern & Covent Garden
It was a beautiful weekend here in London - lots of sunshine, breeze and awesome clear, blue skies. I did my laundry on Saturday and was able to hang my clothes outside on the clothesline we have in the garden - it really does make your clothes smell fresh.
Saturday evening around 5:30pm HD and I left the flat to go the
Tate Modern gallery. It's open late on Friday and Saturday evenings until 10pm, which is cool. I wouldn't mind going there after work on a Friday to hang out.
Lamp posts lead the way to the Tate Modern
The Tate Modern is sister gallery to Tate Britain and 2 other Tate's around the country. It's located in an old power station and is pretty isolated, about a 5 minute walk from the Southwark tube. There are a few modern-looking apartment buildings around it and that's about it. The Millenium Bridge is also near there, as is St Paul's Cathedral, but we didn't check them out, next time.
Of all the galleries & museums I've been to so far the Tate Modern is now my favourite. It houses international modern art (post-1900) so alot of abstract art and we saw paintings and pieces by Dali, Rothko and Miro and then by artists I've never heard of like Christopher Wood, Christian Schad, and a whole host of others that I can't remember their names right now. The art the British have such easy access to is just mind-boggling sometimes. And it's free - it's not like paying $10 or $20 to get a ticket to the ROM or AGO. It's free to see Picasso, Miro and Pollack - I've never seen a real Pollack before!
I like art and I don't claim to always understand it nor am I always moved by it, but this was the first time, when I walked into one of the rooms in the "Idea and Object" section, that I felt it in my gut. It was visceral. It was amazing - I can't even describe it clearly but I'd never felt physically affected by art before, not until I went here. There was too much to look at so there will have to be another trip. So many places that need revisiting. I've posted a pic of the piece that both HD and I were captivated by.
Untitled, 1997 - Christopher Wood
When we left we headed to Covent Garden to walk around. It's an area that is bustling with people but with a quaint feel. A good place to take a date with warm, cozy restaurants and street performances. It's not very far from Leicester Square but has it's own tube stop, although you need to take a lift (i.e. elevator) to get to street level because you're so far underground it's equivalent to 15 flights of stairs.
We found a little pub tucked away down a side-street, it was all lit-up from the inside and was just what we were looking for. Called The Lamb and Flag it's been around for over 300 years and is the oldest pub in Covent Garden. Luckily it wasn't that busy and we were able to get one of the 2 tables in the back by the fireplace, (no fire), and watch the coming and goings. I didn't take any photos though!
The weekend was just great - on Sunday we went for breakfast at The Rainbow Cafe and got the traditional eggs & bacon for £3.50 with the best coffee in the area - and then did our groceries at Tesco. Again, another lovely day, so we spent most of it outside in the garden watching more of my clothes dry and just chilling out. And, to top it all off we made a very good lasagna for dinner and had it with a fresh salad and garlic bread. Leftovers tonight!
More slang...well really, they're just words
I'm not bothered (some say I'm not bovvered). 85% of the time means you are bothered. Like asking "do you mind if I give you more and more work that you have to come in on the weekend to do it?" and you say "I'm not bothered" when clearly you are. Or, when boyfriend asks girlfriend, who is clearly pissed at something boyfriend did, "what's wrong?" and girlfriend responds, "nothing". Also works with Q: "are you ok?" A: "I'm fine" (said through clenched teeth). Sometimes it means "I don't care" and it can also mean that the person just really isn't bothered, however this is rare and should only be used if you can prove that you aren't bothered and not just saying you are because that's annoying as well, people not believing the person who claims to not be bothered.
Rushed off my feet - Used when one is extremely busy or claims to be. I don't know if I've said this before, but the hyperbole is a necessary part of everyday life here.
Proper - adjective. Meant to indicate a "true" or "real" form of a person, place or thing. For example, I want to get a proper cup of tea, not that liquid that comes from the vending machine. Or, why don't they have proper gum/chips here? Sisy wanted a proper hamburger on the weekend, not the frozen kind. Get it?
Well - adjective. Means very. Charlotte Church's new show is said to be "well Welsh" - meaning it's very Welsh. Or, according to the commercials for the Oyster card, (used for travel on the tube), it's "well easy" to get one online. Meaning, it's very easy.
Sorted - Used often to mean to get things cleared up. "Let's get it sorted" is a common phrase heard around the office.
Chuffed - verb. My favourite happy word so far. Means - to be happy. Used by old and young alike. But you don't just say "I'm chuffed" when merely having a nice day. It's used more when you've been made happy, so happy you might cry, like if someone gives a really thoughtful gift to another, the receiver will say "I'm chuffed."
The Family
3am Sunday morning, Sisy, D and my wonderful nephews, (AR and H), made it to my flat after a very long journey from Brindisi in Italy. They left this morning and over the last 30 hours or so we had a great visit together, albeit much too short.
After arriving and a bit of conversation they all went to bed. HD was really nice and gave her their bedroom so they could all sleep together - Sisy and D had the bed and the boys got the blow-up mattress. I was going to bunk with them on the mattress but there's not enough room so I stayed on the couch, or loveseat to be exact, which is quite comfortable if you're someone like me who can sleep basically anywhere.
On Sunday morning around 9am everyone was up and well-rested. We had a breakfast of hotdogs, yogurt, coffee, tea, and lots of clementines! After that we all got ready, with the exception of HD who had to work yesterday, and I took them on a little tour of Finsbury Park - down Stroud Green to Seven Sisters. We went to The Happening Bagel Bakery and got cheese and spinach pastries and a samosa for AR and went to the park to eat it.
After that, we went to the tube and I took them down to Oxford Circus. I showed them where I work and the park where I have lunch. It was a pleasant day weather-wise, lots of breeze and sunshine. There was a street festival going on down Regent Street with a Spanish theme so we checked that out as well, walking towards Piccadilly Circus. As usual, with anything that goes on in London, the place was ram-packed with people. I almost lost them but we managed to get through it all. The festival was okay, there were some neat things to see but it mostly seemed like a big tourism ad for Spain. We went into L'Occitane, which has really nice toiletries and Sisy got a perfume called Neroli and D bought a shaving cream.
At Piccadilly Circus the crowd thinned considerably and we went to Leicester Square. We chilled out for a bit with some Ben and Jerry's and then went to catch the tube back to FP. At this point everyone was a little tired and ready to just chill out at the flat for the rest of the day. D treated us to dinner at one of the kebab places on Stroud Green and it was a good meal. In the evening, after everyone was relaxed and the boys were in their pj's we watched X-Men 2 on my laptop and then it was time for bed for the boys. H had already fallen asleep on Sisy and AR was getting very tired. HD came home from work around 10:30pm and the four of us talked for a bit then D went to bed and it was the 3 of until about 11:30pm.
This morning we were all up by 6:30am and got ready to go to Victoria Station. We took the tube and they got their tickets for the Gatwick Express. Their train was leaving at 8:15am so we had a few more minutes together. D was so nice he gave me £20 to get ourselves a DVD player! It was all kind of sad too, it was a such a nice visit and it ended too fast for me. It was great seeing Sisy and D again, with our indepth talks about "what's going with our lives" and the boys really know how to make an aunt who lives faraway feel missed and loved. If all goes well and I'm still here next year then they'll come back for a longer visit!
Ruby Blue
On Friday after work I walked down to Leicester Square to Ruby Blue bar for the birthday celebration I previously mentioned. It was a fun evening with lots of wine and good company. I arrived around 6 and HD showed up about a half hour later. We left around 11:45 I think and were able to get the tube home - the only downside to nights out when you're having fun and don't really want to leave, but don't necessarily want to take a bus home with lots of weirdos on it either. Ruby Blue is a good space, we had a corner area with comfy benches and low tables and people mixed and mingled all night long.
A culture lesson
So it's Friday at 4:11pm and I'm finished this short work week in about 70 minutes. Today was one of those "manual labour" kind of days where I lugged box after box of catalogues around the office and assembled a shelf - which looks pretty decent, by the way. After this I'm walking down to Leicester Square to celebrate the 27th or 28th birthday of one of Supa's cousins - R. We're going to Ruby Blue and it looks like a nice place.
This week has gone by pretty fast which is nice. I find sometimes that weeks when you get a day off tend to go slow. Anyway, not much blog-worthy happened to write about. Except that celebration, and preferably celebration with alcohol, is clearly a part of the English culture, and while I knew that before coming here, I really didn't understand it until I started working here at KF.
In the 3.5 months that I've been working here there have been more bottles of champagne popping open than I have ever seen in my previous 28 years of life. In fact, I don't really remember ever having champagne before this. Anyway, it seems like everything is cause for celebration. (Oh look, while I'm writing this the office manager just passed us each a small box of truffles!) Just now we finished a celebration for the engagement
party of a co-worker with champagne in lovely flute glasses. We already had a toast for the actual announcement of the engagement last month. Last Friday was champagne and strawberries to commemorate the intern's completion of her time here at KF. Once, in the early days I walked in on an impromptu "celebration" of sorts for another co-worker who broke up with her boyfriend and therefore had to move out of her flat.
I think it's cool - I mean it's celebrating the personal, acknowledging that these employees here are human and have lives outside of a company. It's weird though, because this is juxtaposed
besides these exact same people who appear to be absolutely driven by their work. It's an odd work-life balance that I don't think has been achieved in Canada yet, or at least not by what I've seen so far in my experience, which I admit has been very limited. I mean I still am not a lover of work but it's cool, and I'm going to eat the milk chocolate truffle now because it looks just sooo yummy!
