I'm aliiiiiive!

I've long given up feeling like I have to apologise whenever I'm absent from this blog for an extended period of time - it is what it is, and I know that it's here for me to return to whenever I see fit. Usually when I want to talk about books or music or something cool I found on the internet.

My friend Sophie had her hen-do a couple of weekends ago and we went to Alton Towers, which was fun, but it did reaffirm the fact that I am not a roller-coaster person, as much as I'd like to be. The last time I was there I did go on Oblivion and decided never again, but the Smiler wasn't there last time. I took one look at it and said "nope." Which was a good thing, really, because Soph said it was, and I quote, "vomit-inducing."

Park aside, we got to stay in the most adorable little lodges, ate tapas (and drank copious amounts of sangria) at a local pub where we were served by the friendliest staff I have ever come across, and got to have afternoon tea the following day at the Alton Towers hotel. There was also a spa trip but I forgot my swimming costume, it didn't even occur to me to take it, I'm not sure why. This is clearly a very 'me' thing to do because when I was telling my mum about it afterwards, she said "Oh Emma" in a very mum-like way. I didn't mean to. But anyway, in lieu of the spa, I went back into the park with a couple of others and had a wander around and went to the aquarium. And anyone who knows me knows that I love a good aquarium. What a lovely weekend, can't wait for the wedding now.

On Saturday, it was my brother's 30th birthday, which I'm struggling to get my head around. He's in America, so I didn't get to see him, but I did post this picture on his Facebook wall, just so he knows I care, and to remind him of the days when he was nice to me and not annoying me from thousands of miles away. (It should be noted that I don't actually know how many miles away he is. I was going to say millions, but that seems excessive. It feels far, anyhow.)

So yeah, Saturday was James's birthday. But that is not all it was. Saturday was also Eurovision day, that wonderfully weird event that comes but once a year.

Eurovision is incredibly difficult to describe to the uninitiated. I think it's the kind of thing you have to experience to understand. I have a sort of morbid fascination with Eurovision - I never really mean to watch it, but somehow I nearly always end up doing just that. It's like a trainwreck, I just can't look away. Although I will say that this year was relatively tame on the whole, compared to previous years.

I felt a bit bad for the British boys, who ended up coming third from last (I think? Can't quite remember), when their song was actually objectively one of the better ones. But I suppose it's par for the course and we never do all that well. It's all good fun and I hope they didn't take it to heart.

My personal favourite was the entry from France, it was super catchy and I'm disappointed he didn't win.

C'est la vie.

Currently reading: I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak. Loving it so far.

Song of the Day: Australia by The Shins (You'll be damned to pining through the windowpanes/ You know you'd trade your life for any ordinary Joe/ Well do it now or grow old/ Your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold)

Bloglovin'

Super Belated Newquay Photos

I promised they'd be coming, and here they are. Just a few, mind. I don't want to bore anyone too much. They might be the kind of thing only my mum would be interested in (hi mum).

Look, look, it's the hotel from The Witches!

The water must have been freezing; those people were very brave. Also, I managed to get sunburnt on my face despite it being cold enough for me to have to wear a cardigan and a waterproof. So, there's that.

On the way home we went to the Eden Centre which was cool and I have photos from that too. If I don't post them on here, I'll put some on my Flickr stream at some point.

Finally, as a bonus picture, here is me elegantly maneuvering around a puddle with the grace of a mountain goat.

Many thanks to Jack for capturing this moment

Adios.

Song of the day: Hello by Adele (Hello from the outside, at least I can say that I've tried/To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart/But it don't matter it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore) Ohhh man, this song, it just gets to me.

Currently reading: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Bloglovin'

I'm a grown-up, and grown-ups go to the dentist

I've been meaning to post some of the photos I took in Newquay up here, but truth be told they're still on my camera. I'll get round to it. I will.

In other news, I went to the dentist this morning for my annual check-up. Normally when I go to the dentist all that happens is I sit in a chair, Mr. Dentist asks me if I've had any problems, I say no, he counts my teeth, charges me £18 for the privilege and then sends me on my merry way. Easy.

Today, after counting my teeth Mr. Dentist decided to give them a little extra clean for me and then take an X-ray. He said that he didn't suspect there were any problems but it couldn't hurt to make sure. In all honesty I think he was a bit bored and felt like playing with some of his dentist toys. 

This is the first time ever in my life that I have had anything done at the dentist other than getting my teeth counted, so I know I'm one of those lucky people who doesn't have any dentist horror stories (so far at least, touch wood!). But getting my teeth cleaned was horrible; I hated it. It didn't hurt exactly, it was just incredibly uncomfortable and made my entire head vibrate and the sounds it made were horrendous. Also I did not enjoy having two people (Mr. Dentist and his lovely assistant) looking inside my mouth. I felt like saying, "Look, I know you're only doing your jobs and everything, but can you just sort of piss off?" Of course it's hard to say that with a suction thingymabob in your mouth, but I tried to express the sentiment through my eyes.

Immediately following the torture, it was time for my X-ray. We had the following exchange:

Mr. Dentist - "We'll do your right side first."
Me - "My right or your right?"
Mr. Dentist - "Your right."
Me - "So my right?"
Mr. Dentist - "...yes."
Me - "OK."
Mr. Dentist - tries to put the thingymabob in my mouth and says "Could you relax your tongue for me?"
Me - pushes my tongue into my cheek.
Mr. Dentist - "Relax your tongue."
Me - nods and does no such thing.
Mr. Very Patient Dentist - "No, just relax your tongue."
Me - finally relaxes my tongue.
Mr. Dentist - audible sigh of relief.

After that, I was all finished and got to pay and leave, somewhat traumatised from my ordeal but at least I got my moneys worth this time. In fairness, it can't exactly be a barrel of laughs, being a dentist. I mean, I know they get paid pretty well but god, at what cost?

Currently reading: I cheated and read Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas before I'd finished Ready Player One so I'm back to that now. I think I was disappointed. I enjoyed it but some of the characters seemed a bit out of character compared to the previous books and it made it a bit infuriating to read.

Song of the Day: Grow by Frances

Bloglovin'

A Brief Guide to Rome

So where was I?

Oh yes. Rome. This is a VERY picture heavy post. I just wanted to put it all in one though.

Rome is, as you would expect, beautiful. Everywhere you look, there's something worth seeing. For that reason, I would highly recommend walking places, if you're able to. The metro is always there if you get tired, but you really might miss something. Also, your hotel will most likely give you a street map that has all the landmarks on it, and it's kind of like a treasure hunt when you're looking for places.

All of the above photographs were taken at Castel Sant'Angelo which was one of my favourite places from our trip. It was only about 5 minutes away from our hotel, so we walked past it quite a lot, and there are some great views from inside, not to mention all the history related bits.

Admittedly, I took way too many pictures of St. Peter's Basilica while we were there, but it was really hard not to. It's quite hard to describe, but it's so worth seeing in person. It's a beautiful piece of architecture. The photo directly above was taken from inside the Vatican grounds, and the top two were taken from the rooftop terrace of our hotel, which was right around the corner from St. Peter's.

I started to get to grips with taking photos at night properly for the first time. I'm not quite there yet, but relatively pleased at my progress.

We managed to see all of the must-see's. The only problem was the Trevi Fountain. We saw it, but it was undergoing restoration works and so was covered in scaffolding and there was no water in it. So no wishes for me.

The Colosseum is incredible. It's such a surreal feeling, standing inside when you know the history of the kinds of things that happened there (I've seen Gladiator). We had a guide who took us around which I would definitely recommend, it's really interesting.

The last photo is the only one with both me and Jack in it. I could have asked someone to take one of us but I just kept thinking about what happened to Mr. Bean and couldn't quite bring myself to do it!

Quick Tips:

• If you want to go inside St. Peter's, go early. Some afternoons the queue went right the way round the square and people waited hours. It's much less busy in the morning. Also, make sure your knees and shoulders are covered or they won't let you in.
• Don't keep buying bottled water. Buy one, and just keep refilling it; there's loads of fountains where you can re-fill your bottle for free, and it's cold.
• There are quite a lot of guys selling roses. They'll come up to you (especially if you're in a couple) give you one and say it's a gift, then try and make your boyfriend pay. Just give them a firm 'no' and keep walking.
• Watch out for bum-pinchers. I was actually warned about this but didn't actually think it would happen. It did, once, and it was gross. Be on the lookout for men who look like they're about to bump into you.
• Always save room for gelato. It's every bit as delicious as you've heard.

And this concludes me talking about Rome. Regularly scheduled content will resume...at some point. Arrivedeci!

Song of the Day: Darling I Do by Landon Pigg & Lucy Schwartz

Bloglovin'

Ragdale Hall

Yesterday was my last shift at work before my holiday and on the drive home Dancing In The Moonlight was playing on the radio and I had a good old fashioned singalong. It would have been rude not to. 

Unfortunately I have yet to really even think about packing. I might do it later, but then again I might leave it until the last minute. I'm good at winging it. Jack, on the other hand, has already had what he's called a 'practice pack' to make sure his luggage would come in under our allowed weight. I think his bag weighed 9kg and we're allowed 23kg each. So I guess that if I overpack, at least he'll have room. Or there will be lots of space for souvenirs!

When I was at Ragdale Hall last week with my mum I took a few photos of the grounds shortly before we left (I say a few, there were about 80 of them), and I managed to convince myself I had already posted them on here. Turns out, I hadn't. So here they are!

Ragdale was lovely. Super relaxing and in an absolutely beautiful setting. I'd never been to a spa before and wasn't sure whether it would really be my 'thing'. However I put my preconceptions aside and just let myself enjoy the experience. I'd go again just for the coffee and walnut cake in the little cafe. Almost as good as my Grandma's. Almost. 

Song of the Day: Radioactive by Kings of Leon