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

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Little Updates

I had a visitor yesterday.

He kindly stuck around long enough for me to grab my camera and sneak outside to take a couple of pictures, and then when I looked up from my camera display, he had vanished. So long, friend.

In getting my camera to photograph my little fox pal, I finally got around to moving photos onto my laptop, which means a select few of the Newquay ones will be up at some point. There's some great ones, Newquay is beautiful. So watch this space for those. Or don't, whatever. I'm not the boss of you.

I recently read the entire Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor and I loved it so much (excellent recommendation, thank you Lydia). Here's some mini extracts (non-spoilery).

  "Where I come from, old man, a soul's as useless as teeth to the dead."

  "Spoken, I think, by one who still remembers what it was like to have one."

   Akiva did remember. His memories were knives, and he was not pleased to have them turned against him. "You should worry about your own soul, not mine."

  "My soul is clean. I've never killed anyone. But you, oh you. Look at your hands."

- Daughter of Smoke and Bone

  "Mercy breeds mercy as slaughter breeds slaughter. We can't expect the world to be better than we make it."

- Days of Blood and Starlight

  The two of them were stoic and stone-faced and ten feet apart, currently not even looking at each other, but Zuzanna had the impression of a pair of magnets pretending not to be magnets.

  Which, you know, only works until it doesn't.

- Dreams of Gods and Monsters

They were right up my street, I really enjoyed them. Also they have what is maybe my new favourite fictional friendship in Karou and Zuzanna, I loved their dynamic.

In other news, I've seen a few new (to me - two of them are actually old) films. I watched Love, Rosie on Netflix which is your standard predictable romance, but fairly enjoyable nonetheless. The other two are both Studio Ghibli ones. Firstly, Laputa Castle in the Sky which is adorable and I really loved. The second one was Grave of the Fireflies which I knew enough about to know that it was going to be sad, but holy hell, it is potentially the most upsetting movie I have ever seen. I sobbed. And I am not known for sobbing.  

Music wise, I have been listening to a lot of soundtracks, namely from Princess Mononoke and Braveheart. But also, Stevie Wonder and Adam Lambert (I can't get Another Lonely Night out of my head.)

Song of the Day: Soul Meets Body by Death Cab for Cutie (And I do believe it's true/That there are roads left in both of our shoes/But if the silence takes you then I hope it takes me too)

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May the Fourth be with you

In honour of Star Wars Day, I'm bringing this back.

It's still my favourite thing.

Speaking of Star Wars, I'm sure by now everyone has seen the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and is suitably excited. It was so full of nostalgia and I may have squealed when Han and Chewie rocked up at the end. I can't wait.

Song of the Day: Resolve by the Foo Fighters

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A very british ramble about weather

The good news is, we made it through January. The bad news is that the weather forecast for the next week looks like it's going to be really, really cold. Sub-zero maybe. I wouldn't mind if any of the snow we've had here actually bothered to stick around for more than an hour at a time. This is about the best we got.

At least it makes a pretty picture. A couple of hours after this was taken you wouldn't have seen any evidence that it had snowed at all. Things like that really annoy me. I think I've spoken about it before, but I like the weather to stay the same all day. If the day starts off miserable and grey and rainy, then I get irrationally angry if the sun comes out in the afternoon. I don't know why. It's not that I don't like change. I love change; I crave it. Just not when it comes to the weather I guess. Where weather is concerned, I like to know where I stand. 

In other news, Jack and I added a new recipe to our repertoire last night. It was a casserole/stew type of thing and it was delicious. I love it when new things turn out well. Also, cooking new meals makes me feel like a grown-up. Go me!

Song of the Day: Be Good by Emily Kinney

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Snow Worries (get it?)

It snowed last night. There's something really magical about when it starts snowing at night time. It's like a promise of what tomorrow might bring. At the very least, your usual surroundings will be completely transformed into a winter wonderland for you to marvel at from the comfort and warmth of your house.

However, that's not to say you can't be disappointed. It can't have snowed for that long as there really wasn't that much, and the sun was out in full force this morning, creating patchy, sludgy bits of snow not worth taking pictures of. I did spend a little time watching the snow melt and the steam rise off the tops of the fences where the sun hit though. So not a total loss.

There's more forecast for Saturday. Fingers crossed.

Song of the Day: From a Closet in Norway (Oslo Blues) by You+Me

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Snippets of Christmas

My one and only resolution this year is to drink more water. That's it. So far, on the third day of 2015, I have had precisely three glasses. Not pints either, just regular sized. It doesn't sound much, but if you know me you'll know how bad I am at keeping hydrated. So, you know, baby steps.

Christmas and New Year have passed by in a blur, as they tend to now I'm an 'adult', but it has been wonderful. Quiet family time, fantastic food, lots of wine and even more chocolate. It's been perfect. The tree came down today, so it's looking rather bare in our living room.

A trip to Derbyshire where there had been snow resulted in some unexpected sledging fun. On bin-bags, mind you, but sledging nonetheless. We discovered that we'd grown out of our 'no sense, no feeling' ages, and began to feel the cold very quickly and so retreated inside. Alas, the trials and tribulations and getting old.

I feel refreshed, relaxed and ready for what the new year will bring. Welcome to 2015 everyone. Here's hoping it's a good'un.

Song of the Day: Shake by Walk Off The Earth

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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

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