Spanish Castle Magic

Yesterday we took our second trip to Malaga. Last time we had decided to leave a tour of the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle until we had a complete day to spend, so we headed straight for the Alcazaba only to be greeted by the worst words; "Cerrado Lunes". Fortunately this only applied to the Alcazaba, so we instead to the long trek up the hill to the castle instead.

The castle itself wasn't particularly interesting, but the views over Malaga and the surrounding area were breathtaking. It was built when the city was under Muslim rule in the 14th and 15th Centuries, and was certainly a superb lookout point (the name comes from the Arab for "hill" and the Greek for "lighthouse"). We had a great view over the sea, towards the mountains and of the city's cathedral, bullring and port. It was incredibly hot for a December day, but the wind at the top of the rampart made for a real difference in temperature. Back down the bottom, it was warm enough for us to eat lunch in the sunshine before heading off to the Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares.

I had seen an article about this museum in the local English language paper. It is in a building that previously housed the Victoria Tavern and it displays the day-to-day life of the people of Malaga, both working and middle classes. It's very well done, placing as many objects as possible in "room" settings to give them a more realistic feel.

On the recommendation of our host, last week we took a trip out to Ronda. It was a long bus journey and we had to catch the 7am bus to Marbella. As we travelled back inland, the sun rose over the sea making Marbella oddly picturesque! Having spent the last few months in mountains I think I may have started to take the scenery for granted, so I made sure I enjoyed every minute as the bus swerved around the mountain roads.

Our first stop was the Plaza de Toros, Spain's first purpose built bullring still in use. Inside was also a museum detailing the history of the bullfight, although I would have appreciated a bit more information about the fight itself. You could walk almost throughout the whole building, including onto the ring itself and into the paddocks. We watched one girl training a horse for a while with an amazing disply of balance - riding without stirrups or reins. The bullring also had displays of riding gear and an exhibition on duelling with swords and pistols.

Ronda is a town cut in two by a gorge, across which the Puerto Nuevo links both halves of the town. The bridge provides some of the most spectacular views of the trip so far, miles and miles of mountains. It was incredibly relaxing - like Villefranche-du-Conflent, I could quite happily revisit Ronda just to sit out in the sunshine. I'd also like to return to try and find a decent restaurant. After the worst meal of the trip (and I didn't think I'd say that after Marseille) we went in search of the Bandit Museum.

Lots of tourists come to Ronda to take in the views, but the locals obviously want to get in on the act. There are a huge number of museums for such a small place, many of them seemingly set up in people's houses! The Museo del Bandolero is no exception. It's a very impressive collection of bandit memorabilia, from costumes to birth and death certificates to comics and videos. I'm not sure I learnt too much from the museum, but it was good for just a couple of Euros.

For another couple of Euros we visited the museum under Puerto Nuevo. The small exhibition explained how it took several hundred years for technology to catch up to the design of the bridge and how important the bridge has been to Ronda's development as a town. It also gave us a better view of the ravine itself. Then it was back to the bus station and the long journey back to Monda.

Unless I have the time and the facilities in Paris or Amsterdam I suspect this will be my last update until I return to British shores. As much as I am looking forward to returning home, I will miss Monda. It's a wonderful little town in a really beautiful area. It's the sort of place I can imagine living. Maybe I'll return one day.

Picture This

Darren's uploaded lots of new photographs from La Fonda, Figueres, Montserrat, Malaga, Marbella, Gibraltar and Monda for you to view. And Blogger is providing me with a nifty little slideshow function on the sidebar which I'll probably use for pictures of our latest location.

Yesterday morning we went for a walk. Christina took us and Matt - an American WWOOFer who has been with us for the last week - to a spot from where we could walk to a lovely view over Marbella and of the sea. At first the sea and sky blended seamlessly, but eventually we got a very faint view of Gibraltar and Morocco. Tomorrow we are taking a day off to go to Ronda, a town about 60kms away which is apparently a very nice example of an old fashioned Spanish town. It is also home to the oldest bullring in Spain.

Enjoy the photos!

Take The Long Way Home

We spent yesterday on British soil once more! Being this close, we felt the need for a visit to Gibraltar. We caught the first bus out of Monda to Marbella, then another to La Linea. Watching the sun rise during the journey, the big rock came into view. As we got closer the Atlas mountains of north Africa also became visible. Once in La Linea, we walked over the border and across the runway of Gibraltar airport into the territory. We then walked through the town to the cable car which took us to the top of the rock.

For an extra £1.50 (yes, that is good old sterling) we also got an audiotour which gave us a very interesting potted history of Gibraltar. Most importantly however we got to see the monkeys! The Barbary Macaques are famously the only wild monkeys found in Europe, and they were very entertaining. We particularly enjoyed one small ape tucking into a pineapple, and tried not to laugh too much when another stole a tourist's bag, took it out of reach and studiously unzipped all the compartments before leaving it when no food was discovered inside.

Back in the town, we had a pub lunch before hopping on some of the local buses to guide ourselves to the southernmost tip. We alighted at the 100 ton gun where we had the museum all to ourselves to investigate. We then continued south to Europa Point. Unfortunately the weather had really turned against us at this point and we could only just make out Africa across the surprisingly narrow strait of water.

We used our remaining time to peruse the many "duty free" shops on Main Street before walking back over the frontier into Spain. Then we discovered that - once more - we had misread the bus timetable and missed our planned bus back to Marbella. By the time we had gone to Estepona and then to Marbella the last bus to Monda had long since departed. A taxi worked out cheaper than a hotel or hostel would have done, so another €20 taxi fare was spent. I think I'm going to start taking photos of all these bus timetables...

How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?

I like getting a night train. There's something magical about going to sleep in one place and waking in another. There is also something incredibly English about going to Malaga. We had a slight change of plan in who we were staying with. We are in a village called Monda which is a fairly typical southern Spanish village - to our eyes at least! Our host is Christina, an Englishwoman who has lived in Spain for over 20 years, so her opinion is somewhat different. I like it here a lot though. We are staying at her house in the village and travelling to the land each day which is about 30 minutes walk. This is quite a departure for us - firstly the feeling of "going to work" and also being near some civilisation. We can go to the pub at night here! We're also just a few minutes away from buses to Malaga and Marbella and lots of places inbetween.

The land is on several levels and is dotted with orange trees. We've been digging up new plots for the most part to plant in. I think Christina sells some of her produce but most of it is for her own use. We normally get a lift up and walk back when we're finished. On our first walk back we stopped to read a sign about some local walks when I heard a squeaking coming from the nearby bins. I knew it was going to be more trouble than it was worth but I just couldn't resist such a distress call. A plastic bag was writhing in one of the bins - I fished it out and there were two newborn puppies inside. Darren thought he had seen a vets in the village so we carried them back with us.

It turned out there was no vets. We tried to call some local dogs homes - one that spoke English said they had no room and the others we simply couldn't converse with. Christina was unable to help as she was busy. Without any way of feeding them they were not going to make it through the night. We couldn't keep them in the house and unfortunately this story simply could not have a happy end.

On our first day off (last Saturday) we took the bus to the city of Malaga. The city was not at all what I expected it to be. It's probably true what they say - all that most tourists see of Malaga is the airport. Which is a shame because it's a lovely little city. It's nice and manageable to walk around and there is lots to see including 23 (I think) museums. Our main reason for visiting was to see the Picasso Museum. I've never been much of a studier of Picasso's work, but - like the Dali Museum - it was interesting to see some of his less famous work and how he came to Cubism. It makes it a little easier to understand. We had fun improving our Spanish as none of the titles were in English. Not that Picasso always makes it completely obvious what he's painting!

We thought about visiting the Moorish castle grounds but decided to leave it until we had a full day to appreciate them. Instead we went to the Interactive Music Museum. It wasn't bad althoughall of the explanations were in Spanish so we probably didn´t get anywhere near as much out of it as we could. We did however see some of the Rodin statues which are currently displayed on the city's streets including The Thinker.

The weather has mostly been beautifully sunny, but today has been wet and very windy. Instead of kick our heels at the house, we took a bus to Marbella. What a horrible place! OK, it's probably not improved by the weather (which was distinctly drier and warmer than in Monda), but it's a fairly soul-less town. Dali has some good sculptures which was the highlight of our day. You can tell that Marbella is where the wealthier tourists go - it's full of designer(ish) shops and restaurants selling lobster for 75€. We wondered round, got the cheapest meal we could without resorting to McDonalds and came back.

Food Glorious Food

Sorry, I've got some catching up to do haven't I? Let's start with our final week in Catalonia.

The one thing I most wanted to do was visit the Dali Theatre Museum in Figueres. About 2 hours north of where we were staying, we decided to visit on a weekday in the hope that it wouldn't be too busy. If Saturdays are busier than I'm very glad we went on a Thursday! There were a lot of guided tours and school trips which was a particular nightmare when they stood in front of a piece you wanted to view. However, it is a fantastic place to visit.

The entire museum stands as a piece of art. The experience begins with the outside, decorated with Dali's symbolic eggs and bread rolls and the statues in Placa Gala i Salvador Dali. Once inside you are greeted by the open courtyard containing what Dali considered the biggest surrealist monument in the world - it's almost a compilation of pieces by both himself and other surrealist artists. There is then the stage area, dominated by a massive backdrop of his beloved wife Gala. Dali's love and passion of his wife oozes out of almost every room in the museum. The museum also contains the Mae West room - along with the famous Mae West lips sofa, other pieces have been arranged so that, when viewed from high up a long way away (or in this case up some stairs through a concave lens) the face of Mae West is created. There are actually very few of Dali's most famous works in the museum and it's interesting to see where he started and ended rather than just the things you already know.

On our final evening in L'Ametlla del Valles we visited the restaurant we had been working for over the last month. It would have been easy - having looked forward to this meal for 5 weeks and already tasted (albeit in a much more rustic form) what the chef and his staff could do - to be disappointed with the meal. However, disappointed we most certainly were not. Every course surpassed our expectations. We were first presented with appetisers of veal tartare and tuna sashimi. For starter Darren had foie gras cannelloni and I had a wild mushroom stew. My main course was veal cheeks and Darren had the Butifarra - a traditional Catalan sausage which absolutely astounded both of us for it's complexity of taste and velvety texture. We were then served a delicious lemon and ginger drink to cleanse our palettes before dessert - figs and red berries of toasted bread for me, pumpkin pie for Darren. We really were incredibly impressed. This is food which deserves to be eaten and enjoyed, and I really hope that La Fonda goes on to be as successful as it should be.

It was time to move on. The following evening we left Lluisa to catch the night train to Malaga from Barcelona...

Calendar Girl

I've been having a play with Google Calendars. Have a look at the new little device on the right there, and let me know if scrolling down causes you any problems. It keeps crashing IE here, but it might be this computer!

The Incidentals

It’s been a bit weird at this WWOOF. I really love the area, being so close to Barcelona, the restaurant, the house and our host Lluisa. But it’s a difficult time for her as the restaurant is not doing good business. This is demoralising for everyone involved, including us. It’s also meant that Lluisa has had to go to lots of meetings and hasn’t been able to guide our work. So we’ve ended up doing a lot of weeding - it’s often the safest thing to do on someone else’s land. Lluisa herself has said the vegetable patch has started to resemble a Japanese garden! But there's only so much weeding you can do, and we're seriously running out of ways to occupy our time. We feel a bit like we're imposing and that we're not earning our keep which is not a great feeling, but Lluisa still seems happy for us to be here.

Lluisa's is quite a cautionary tale. Her original vision was to work in the kitchen and garden herself, but she spends most of her time doing business and trying to promote the restaurant which she doesn't enjoy and doesn't feel she is particularly good at. She recruited a head chef, and he is absolutely brilliant. Maxi is originally from Argentina, and I think he was working with some top, top chefs before coming here, partly for a less stressful life. It’s unlikely I know, but if anyone viewing this blog is in Catalunya over the next few months, come to La Fonda in L’Ametlla del Valles as it’s a really wonderful restaurant with a very talented chef in the kitchen. We can’t wait to be proper paying customers before we leave – every time we go in for our meals with the staff we have another look at the menu. I've really got my fingers crossed that things improve over the next few months as it's a fantastic project and I'd hate to see it close.

We have managed to get a few other jobs done. Last week we harvested the olive tree and got a huge haul. Sorting cut this down to about half, but we still think there is about 10kg. They’ve all gone into a bin of water which we had to change twice (without touching or spilling any olives, not easy) and then changed for salt water. Hopefully they’ll be edible before we leave – I don’t really like olives but I still want to try one! Our favourite job of the week is to collect things for the restaurant on a Thursday morning. It’s surprising just how productive a small piece of land can be. We pick peppers, tomatoes (if they ever ripen), aubergines, courgettes, lettuces, spinach and figs, as well as basil, rosemary, thyme, chives, mint and various flowers (some for decoration, some for cooking).

Last week the weather had turned quite a lot colder - cold enough for Lluisa to light the fire! This week has been warm enough in the sun for us to work outside in T-shirts, an instant indicator that we are English rather than Spanish as they’re already wrapped up in winter coats. It's cold at night though, especially in the caravan. We've got three duvets on the bed, and it's a real struggle to get out of the cosiness in the mornings. And my tan is fading fast!

We've eventually sorted out our final home for the year. After contacting many places in the south of Spain, one person replied to say they didn't need anyone, but that they had friends who were thinking of taking on helpers. I spoke to Natalie yesterday and we're booked in as her and Mark's first WWOOFers! They are based near Estepona in Malaga. We're going to go to Barcelona tomorrow to book our overnight train. It's all fairly mysterious as we could only talk briefly over a bad line so I'm quite excited (and Darren's rather apprehensive!).

Barcelona

Our first stop on our latest trip into Barcelona was to see it’s most famous landmark – La Sagrada Familia. I visited Gaudi’s unfinished temple to the Holy Family a few years ago, but Darren hadn’t been so I insisted that we go. In any case it’s worth returning to see the additions that have been made. It’s fantastic to see such a work in progress – we’ve seen a few cathedrals and churches so far on our trip (unavoidable in Western Europe) but they are all old buildings. We opted for an audio guide which was a wise idea as there is so much detail already in the church and obviously a lot to learn about the project’s past and present. I like the fact that as different people work on different parts they use Gaudi as inspiration but bring their own style to the piece. Darren seemed torn as to whether they should have continued with the building or left it as a tribute, but Gaudi himself spent the last years of his life drawing up detailed plans and making models (many of which were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War) and I don’t think he would have wanted it to remain unfinished. The thing that struck both of us most of all was not just the scale of the completed sections, but how big the thing will be when it is eventually finished! I wonder if we’ll ever get to see the finished article in our lifetime…

We then hotfooted it to our new local pub to catch the end of the Everton v Liverpool match (and a scandal it was too!) We then checked into our hostel just down the road – it wasn’t very secure so we kept our small bag with us for the rest of the evening. Back in the pub we found some decent seats at the bar and stayed there to watch the footie results come in, the Aston Villa v Man Utd match and the rugby. There were again a lot of opposing supporters (are there no Saffy bars in Barca?), but the atmosphere was definitely not as friendly this time around. It was a tense and exciting match though – the South Africans deserved to win the tournament and our boys can be proud. As we’d planned an early start the next morning we grabbed a pizza and returned to our dormitory.

Often when we arrive at a new WWOOF we like to take a peek at our hosts bookcase for any English books. The only English book here is a 10 year old edition of Lonely Planet’s guide to Spain, so I’ve been studying it and one of the first places that stood out was Montserrat. The Serrated Mountain is home to a monastery dating back nearly a thousand years and the Black Virgin, a wooden sculpture of Mary that brings pilgrims from far and wide. It gets it’s name from it’s unusual shape, and on a clear day you can apparently see as far as Mallorca. Unfortunately this view was not for us on Sunday, but it was well worth the trip in any case.

It took us quite a while to get there due to line closures and difficulties working out which ticket to get and how to get it out of the machine (European train stations seem to be a bit temperamental when it comes to British credit cards). We arrived around lunchtime and grabbed a bite to eat before taking a very steep funicular up to Saint Joan. From there you can walk to the top of the mountain at Saint Jeroni, but being short on time we decided just to stroll back to the monastery via the vestry and viewpoint at St Miquel. I’m glad we didn’t choose to walk up as it was very steep!

Back in the village (as well as the monastery there are a few gift shops, restaurants and hotels), we thought we’d better take a look at the monastery, although it wasn’t what had originally inspired us to visit. We were very pleasantly surprised as the church was very beautiful. The courtyard looked quite new and polished – a lot of it has been rebuilt over the last 150 years. We decided not to queue for a close up of the Black Virgin, and instead watched people filing past from the pews. Inside was equally ornate with a lot of small multi-coloured chandeliers. They were preparing for a ceremony so we couldn’t view the front of the church close up as it was cordoned off. On our way out was a peculiar little room filled with gifts sent in thanks to the Black Virgin.

Our combined train ticket included entrance to a multimedia exhibition about the lives of the monks which we had a quick look around but didn’t really have the time or patience to view everything. We had a final look around the gift shop, and left for our train. The journey home was another event. We had to wait for the connection back into Barcelona, and arrived at Barcelona Sants just a little late for a train to catch the last bus from La Garriga. So we took the next train to Granollers to catch the last bus from there. After waiting nearly an hour we eventually deciphered the timetable to work out that the last bus had actually been three hours earlier! It took us another 30 minutes to get a cab, thus negating the financial reason for staying in Barcelona in the first place. Live and learn as they say…

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Last Saturday became quite a series of quests. First was to see if there by any slim chance was somewhere we could watch the football and rugby in nearby Granollers. Darren found out about an Irish bar but we didn't really know where it was. It was tricky to find because it is an upstairs bar with very little downstairs signage. We eventually found a sign which told us that it wasn't open until 6pm (so no football) and would be showing the Spanish football match that night (so no rugby).

As it is only a few Euros to Barcelona we figured we'd take the train and see if we could find anywhere in there - quest number two. We got off the train at Passeig de Gracia which is usefully on Las Ramblas where we felt our best bet at finding either an English pub or an internet cafe would be. After a bit of walking up and down we found our place - the Jules Verne just south of Plaça Catalunya (which was useful as that was where our last train would leave from). We settled down with our pints and watched the football match, then ventured off to find some food. After a little walking "off the beaten track" and not finding anywhere, we resorted back to the tourist trap of Las Ramblas where we had some very average food (future mission - find good tapas in Barcelona).

After our meal we had an hour before the rugby started so we had another wander and came across the fantastic Mercat de la Boqueria just off Las Ramblas. A riot of colour from the fruit and veg and sweet stalls, and a riot of smell from the fish stalls. It all looked amazing though - imagine that being your local supermarket?!

Back to the pub 30 minutes before kick off and it was packed. I was surprised how quiet the rendition of God Save The Queen was until the French national anthem started - the English pub was full of French people! Everyone was friendly with their rivalry though and it was a really good atmosphere throughout the match with many reprised renditions of the La Marseillaise and of Swing Low Sweet Chariot. Of course it was all the better when we won - I think we may be back there this Saturday! I wonder if there will be many South Africans there though...

So to the return journey. Our host's boyfriend had said that he may be able to pick us up from Granollers but in the event he couldn't. There will be a taxi or two around though, surely? Nope! So we ventured back towards the town chatting with three other English travellers who had the same idea as us. We spotted one cab who kindly called another and waited so that none of us got stranded. We're worked out that we can actually stay in a cheap hostel in Barcelona next weekend for less money than the cab, so I think we'll visit Montserrat on Sunday. Hangovers permitting of course...

The Rain In Spain

It took us a long time to travel not very far, but we have finally made it to another country. True to form, our arrival heralded rain - yet another spectacular thunderstorm in the mountains. We've had a few days of cloud and rain and (shock horror!) cold, but today brightened up considerably and it was wonderfully sunny this afternoon.

We are about 25km north of Barcelona in a village called l'Ametlla del Valles. We are sleeping in a caravan (that's fun during a thunderstorm) in the garden and there is a smallish vegetable plot with a few fruit trees. Our host Lluisa owns an organic restaurant in the village called La Fonda and the garden exists primarily to help supply the restaurant.

Our first day was just the usual weeding, but our second day Lluisa took us up to her family's property called Fontdellops (which means 'fountain of the wolf'). The nearest neighbours to here are about 6km away, and it was a long drive up a rough road up a mountain. No-one is currently living at the house, but it is the epitome of being away from it all. It was incredibly peaceful and very beautiful. We spent the day collecting mainly walnuts and chestnuts, but also apples, grapes, various herbs and a few mushrooms (but not as many as we hoped). The place lived up to it's name when we saw a very tame small wolf (or grey fox, we couldn't decide which). It was clearly quite ill as it had lost a lot of fur from it's back, but it came quite close to us on it's quest for apples. All in all it was a wonderful day's work!

The best thing about this place is the food. On the days the restaurant is open (Thursday - Sunday) we can eat with the staff and the food is fantastic. And after the weekend we get to eat the leftovers! Eating with the staff (just 4 of them) is really good because we get to hear some Spanish (or Catalan) conversation. This isn't the best place to learn Spanish though - the Catalans are far to proud of their own language!

Misty Mountain Hop

Well we had a fantastic weekend in Villefranche de Conflent. It is a walled village in the middle of the Pyrenees - there's only really two streets so you feel quite at home very quickly! After our first walk around we thought we'd see if my French hotel reservation had been successful, only to find that our auberge was shut until 4pm. We decided to take Le Petit Train Jaune further into the mountains to Font Romeu which was wonderful. You can sit in an open air carriage which is especially exhilarating when you go over a couple of rather high bridges! Our plan was to spend 90 minutes in Font Romeu before getting the train back, but when we arrived it turned out that Font Romeu station is actually nowhere near Font Romeu. A 5km hike was out of the question so we meandered around a couple of the nearer villages. There wasn't much around, but we did get to see the world's biggest solar furnace at Odeillo from above. It was VERY impressive!

We sat inside on our return train, and checked into our hotel on our return. Yes it was reserved! We changed and headed out for some food. It turned out that only two restaurants were open in Villefranche de Conflent and I think we were lucky to get in either of them by being very English and eating a bit earlier than the locals. It was the best meal of the trip so far. Fantastic food, beautifully cooked, good local wine and very reasonable too.

The next day we first went to some nearby underground caves, Les Grandes Canalettes. They were pretty good, although we got stuck behind a Spanish tour group and there was a musical section with a "light show" which did nothing to enhance the formations. After a crepe for lunch, we ventured to Fort Liberia. This is halfway up the mountain that Villefranche de Conflent lies on, and was built to further protect the town. It's quite a hard walk uphill to get to though and our first stop at the top was for an ice-cream. We then followed the mapped guided tour around and took in the views. It was certainly a good place to build a fort as you can see down three valleys and you could probably see an enemy from miles away. Alas it wasn't such a clear day for us.

We had a final look around the village and bought a few presents before we were due to catch the train home. It was a marvellous weekend, and all the better because we more or less got by completely in French. I'm definitely understanding a lot more now, although I still think Darren understands more than I do. And we leave France in three days time!

We're definitely ready to move on now. We're trying to plan for the next few months, and it's getting a bit fraught. I've e-mailed a few WWOOFs and not had any reply which is very frustrating. So we don't know where our last stay of the year will be yet...

Wind Of Change

It's been incredibly windy down here the last couple of days! It's not easy working in that kind of weather, or cycling along a rather busy dual carriageway. We came into Elne to use the internet at a lovely bar with a couple of computers but it's closed for the next two weeks. We managed to get a free hour in the library on a very slow connection but today we found the "proper" cyber cafe. So Darren can now provide you with lots of pictures. No beer though. Or coffee...

We made it to the beach on Sunday! It was a bit of a gloomy morning - good for cycling but not for sunbathing. Still, we went to Argeles village where there was a market (some of which looked more like a jumble sale!), then to the port for lunch. Darren decided to confront his disdain for the idea of Moules Frites and we both had a portion. It's a fine idea - more filling than you'd expect and very messy!

We then cycled back to the beach and the sun came out so we did get an hour of sun-worshipping in after all. Only an hour though because it was kick-off in Manchester. We sat in the pub with some good ol' Cockney Utd supporters and pints of beer (haven't had a pint for a while!) Then we cycled back before it got dark. Hopefully we'll get an afternoon nice enough to nip down to the beach again before we leave.

I booked a hotel room in French! Well I think I did. We'll find out for definite when we get to Villefranche du Conflent tomorrow. In health news, my hayfever has been very bad here, so I don't think this is an area of the world where we'll be setting up home. Maybe it's because I haven't been eating the local honey...

Bicycle Race

I'm aching all over. Not because of the work, my body's getting used to that. Our latest farm has a couple of bikes, and as the nearest town is only a couple of kilometres away, we're making some good use of them. Now, bear in mind that the last time I was on a bike would have been at least half of my life ago, it didn't have gears, the handlebars were higher than the seat and once I got above the age where I could cycle on the pavement I got freaked out and decided that cycling was not for me. Still, I got my courage up and ventured onto the road. For our first trip into Elne we took the long way which avoids the busy duel carriageway over the river Tech. This was about 10km, which is why I am now in so much pain. Still I'm enjoying the freedom that it gives us - the main thing is that we're a bit less reliant on our hosts.

Elne is quite a nice little town although we haven't looked much further than this internet café yet! There is a big 11th century church which I think we'll visit one afternoon. On Sunday we're going to the beach in Argelès sur Mer - Ursula our host took us for a look around on Wednesday night and it's quite touristy so if I'm lucky I might get to see the Man Utd / Chelsea match! We're also hoping to go to Villefranche du Conflent in the mountains if I can find a hotel...

La Ferme Musicale is our current location. So far we've done quite a lot of jobs. There's always weeding of course (and these have been some huge weeds) and Darren's been using a strimmer everyday. We've collected a few squashes, raspberries and tomatoes, trimmed pine and orange trees and I've had to poison some moles (not sure that's something I like doing, but sometimes you just have to do as you're told). In a change from our last place, we're in an upstairs room in the house but our bathroom is outside. The floor to our attic conversion room is very creaky and our hosts are sleeping below - Victor being a musician doesn't like to be disturbed too early so we have to creep about as quietly as possible! Victor and Ursula have two daughters, Delphine (14) and Joanna (10). It's good for us to listen to their French conversation but they speak very quickly sometimes! Darren definitely has a better idea of what is being said than I do.

Steve Hogarth was excellent in Marseilles. My favourite tracks that he performed were Cage and Three Minute Boy, but that may have been because we all got to sing along! We spent Sunday doing a few tourist things, the most impressive being the Palais du Longchamp. Not knowing really what it was or what to expect - the scale was breathtaking. It's a fountain which makes the Trevi look like a bidet. It's simply huge, and the best thing is that you can climb it! We approached it from the gardens at the top and the view of the city from there isn't bad either.

Our journey to Elne was fairly uneventful. We had a couple of hours in Nimes, so we hauled our packs on our backs and had a wander. There's a big Roman arena which still stages events including bull-fighting - if we had more time we'd have gone in but we contented ourselves with a walk around it.

About an hour after we arrived at the farm - in what is becoming a common theme - the heaven's opened. And I mean REALLY opened. It blew a gale, there were many thunderstorms around and it was as if someone was pouring a huge vat of water onto the roof. It didn't last long and we could soon see the skies clearing over the mountains.

I've changed a couple of things on the blog. On the right hand side there are two links, one for the photo page (not sure how many photo updates Darren can do here, a bit of trouble with these computers) and another which says Current Location. This will take you to a Google map link zoomed in on our current location. It can take a while to load, so be patient! Also I've unlocked the comments function so you should be able to leave a comment if you wish.

Let It Bee

I forgot about another final piece of excitement during our stay. Mandy and Brendan decided to empty their beehive, but the honey had crystallised in the combs and wouldn't spin out. So their friends (with many decades of bee-keeping experience) came up with the bright idea of leaving the honey in the metal spinner outside the house (like a big tin bin) to try to melt it. Unfortunately no-one told the bees who thought their home had been moved and bee-sieged (sorry) the house. Hundreds of them gathered around the spinner, and when night fell they surrounded the house instead! Eventually Mandy and Brendan managed to move the spinner back to the hive, but the bees wouldn't bee-have themselves so they had to be smoked away. When the eventually worked out where the proper hive was it was too late - they took their honey back with them so the whole operation had been in vain.

We just made it to Marseille! We only had 10 minutes to change trains at Toulouse, so I had a sinking feeling at Limoges station when the board sad that our first train was running 5 minutes late. On top of the early morning start and the tilting train I felt really quite sick on the first leg. We prepared ourselves to jump straight off the train in Toulouse - we had 6 minutes to find out the right platform, get to it and board our train. Fortunately we made it just before the train and the panic was over!

Last night we had a very dodgy meal and then saw out the evening in a bar with a live blues band. We mostly stayed outside to enjoy as background, but as they came to an end we went in to join in with the shouts as they played Mannish Boy, to generally clap along and be rowdy drunken Brits (well we haven't had a night on the town for a few months!) They closed with Hey Joe which is my favourite Hendrix song and was fantastic. Boy did I have a hangover this morning. Tonight is definitely going to be a sober one...

Here Comes The Sun

We’re coming to the end of our stint in central France. The weather has improved and we’re basking in sunshine now – a marked contrast to our arrival in the driving rain. We’ve had more fun and games with France Telecom who cut off the phone AGAIN in the same way as before. When the engineer came out to fix it he told our hosts that there should never have been a line in the first place, and that the line engineer would have to look at it. Fortunately (because otherwise we wouldn’t know where we’re staying tomorrow night) the line engineer put the line back on today, but how long it lasts, no-one knows…

I’m going to miss this place. It’s been the most incredible insight to (a) starting up a new farm and (b) starting up a farm in France. Wherever we choose to settle, it will definitely be worth doing a WWOOF in the area with an English host first! Brendan and Mandy have been excellent hosts, and I've got quite attached to the girls (it's what happens when you stay away from your nieces for too long!)

So it’s 9 hours on trains down to Marseille for the weekend where we’re going to see Steve Hogarth on one of his solo gigs – we missed all the UK shows last year so we thought we’d make an effort. Then on Monday we travel from Marseille to Elne, just south of Perpignan right on the Spanish border. As well as growing and selling fruit and veg, they hold music workshops and make musical instruments out of cucurbitaceous plants. It all sounds very intriguing…

We’re also trying to plan until the end of the year. Hopefully Barcelona will be the November stop, with somewhere in the south of Spain to follow. Then it’s up to Paris to see both Fish and Marillion, then home for Christmas!

Digging In The Dirt

Over the last two days we have, quite literally, been doing a crap job. Yes ladies and gentlemen, it is a fact of life on an organic farm that sometimes you have to shovel some manure. The routine has been this – dig a hole, fill with manure, plant a courgette, cover with topsoil, repeat. We’ve had to erect a polytunnel over them as well which took some time and working out, but we are quite proud of it. And it’s not as smelly as you might think!

We’ve been given the bottom field as our project for the month, so we have a nice 15 minute walk to the "office" most mornings. The main job has been planting – as well as the courgettes there has been fennel, beetroot, lettuce, radish, red chard and endive. We have been weeding leeks and carrots, pruning tomatoes, putting up a fence for beans to run up, preparing salad for evening markets, trimming onions for sale and harvesting green beans. We also spent a few days at couple of other fields that Brendan and Mandy have been renting digging up onions and potatoes. Lots of onions and potatoes. DAYS of harvesting onions and potatoes. Lots of scrabbling about on hands and knees. It’s so glamorous this travelling lark…

Away from the farm we have been to a few more evening markets. As well as La Dorat there is another on a camping site in La Souterraine. This is a smaller affair, with the stallholders setting up their own barbecues to cook on. The first we went to was completely washed out, but the last week has been really good weather, so both markets were excellent. We have also spent a morning in La Souterraine. We bought some pastries from a patisserie and took them to a coffee shop overlooking the market for breakfast, then wandered around in the sunshine. Not the most entertaining place in the world, just a fairly typical small French town.

We also took a long walk around some of the nearby villages. First due east to a disused uranium mine which Darren has been obsessed with since we found out about it. You couldn’t really get close enough to see the big hole in the ground though – not even when he snuck under the security gate! Next we walked north to Jouac and stopped for a beer. Jouac is a very pretty little village which is more than can be said for St Martins Le Mault. We walked there to find it’s a bit of a dump and the bar wasn’t even open! The knowledge of a cold beer back home kept us going for the southbound leg past a huge "pond" (more like a reservoir) and through some nice shady woods. In all we think we walked about 11 miles. This weekend we’re going to Limoges for the day, the biggest city in the area.

Apologies for not updating this for a few days. Last Friday, the phoneline went dead. Mandy called France Telecom who tested the line and said it must be a fault in the house. On Monday we found out from Mandy’s mum that the line had been diverted to someone else’s house in the village. Another call to France Telecom – if it were a business number they’d be out in 8 hours, but as a personal line they couldn’t come out for 48 hours. The next morning, after working out in the fields Brendan finds a note from a France Telecom engineer saying he’d been round but couldn’t fix it because no-one was in (despite the fact that they’d broken it without being anywhere near the house in the first place!) The line was finally reconnected today, although Mandy and Brendan still can’t find out if they’ve been billed for any calls made from the other house ("you’ll just have to wait for your next bill"). And you thought BT were bad…

Le Pluie

It’s been raining. Lots. Our washing has been attempting to dry on the line for 4 days now. This is not what we came travelling for, but it’s definitely proving to be a very grounding experience. Today we have been pulling up onions in the drizzly rain. Our other tasks over the last week have been to weed the leeks and plant some fennel.

Not much else to report. Darren has temporarily (we hope) lost some of the use of his right foot, so we took Tuesday off for him to recuperate and we’ll work at the weekend instead. We were going to go for a walk on Sunday but that’s when the rain really started so we’ve been a bit holed up for the last few days. Hopefully we’ll get the chance to go into either La Souterraine for the market on Saturday or to walk into Lussac Les Eglises, the nearest town as the forecast is looking a bit more promising. And I might get to post the postcards I’ve been trying to send for the last two weeks!

Geneva to La Souterraine via Paris

Well we eventually arrived safely in our new abode. As our train progressed towards Paris the skies got greyer, and as our connecting train left Paris (an hour late) the rain began. When we met Mandy at La Souterraine station the heavens well and truly opened and we got drenched trying to fit our bags into the little car.
The new farm is a little more rustic than the last – Brendan and Mandy have only been here since March, and as the farm is their only income that has been their priority. We’re sleeping in a section of the barn that has been closed off, it’s nice and cosy. They have two young daughters, Bronwyn who is 3 years old and Ailish who is 14 months. They’re both very sweet, and Ailish in particular is a real character. There is also a dog and two cats.
The land is quite big, although not all of it is in use yet. Brendan and Mandy sell at quite a few markets including two evening markets – we spent our first day preparing salad for that evening in La Dorat. At both of these markets a big barbecue is set up and you buy your meat and they cook it for you. There is entertainment and it’s a wonderful atmosphere.
Brendan and Mandy evidently work very hard. I think this is going to be a good insight into what we might be letting ourselves in for if we decided to run our own farm. It’s certainly interesting to hear about how things are in France, the red tape, rules and regulations. The quiet here is very striking – in the Alps there was a lot more background noise, traffic, airplanes.
Unfortunately there’s no broadband here, so we may not be able to get many pictures up while we’re here. I’ll try to keep you updated in text though!

Smoke On The Water

Last week it rained. A lot. This meant we couldn't do too much work, which sounds great but is actually quite depressing. We did go to Annecy one day - it's the biggest town in the Haute Savoie department, and has a very pretty old town. We spent the day browsing shops, and ended with a crépe. Last week we also had proper fondue which was delicious and very good fun!

On Saturday there were the closing fireworks for the Geneva festival. As we had the day spare we went in early to watch Ratatouille at the cinema. We then struggled to find a good spot to see the fireworks but we did ok in the middle of a closed street. Most importantly it had a barrier that no-ne else was leaning on where Darren could set up his replacement camera. We couldn't see much of anything low down but the big bangs during the 45 minute display were spectacular and at times relentless!

Yesterday we went up a mountain. We took the train to Chamonix and a cable car up l'Aiguille du Midi. In two stages it takes you to 3777m, a height gain of 2800m in just 20 minutes. It's fair to say that your ears pop! We went up to the top, then took a much smaller cable car across the Vallée Blanche and Glacier du Géant to Helbronner in Italy. We had a beer there (hmm, beer and lack of oxygen, probably not a great idea!) We then came back and took a lift up to the peak of l'Aiguille du Midi, another 60m. At 3842m (12605ft) it is the highest point you can get to in Europe without putting on lots of gear and hiking! Unfortunately the cloud had drifted over us so we didn't get any view at all. On the way down we stopped at the midway point to watch the cable cars go over the edge, then headed back into Chamonix for some food.

Alpine Adventures

Sorry I've been neglecting my updating duties! What have we been doing over the last couple of weekends..?

The weekend before last we walked up Le Petit Saléve. It was a 5 hour round trip, up the smaller peak of the mountain (899 metres) and back down through the nearby village of Monnetier Mornex. The hike was mainly through woodland but the paths were good and we had a nice view of Geneva through the trees at the top. There was a wedding going on in Monnetier, and we found ourselves having a well deserved beer amongst English accents!

Last weekend we spent another Saturday in Geneva. We had to report our camera missing for the insurance company (that was fun - the policeman didn't speak English and our French hasn't improved enough yet!) We then walked right up to Jet d'Eau, then back around the lake to Jardin Botanique. despite all the signs being in French it was quite interesting, especially the rockery area whiwh had examples of plants from mountain ranges all over the world. Geneva has an annual festival which began last Saturday and finishes this Saturday - we'll be joining the family as they head into the city to watch the fireworks. After the pace and quiet of our first visit Geneva was packed and the rides and food stalls have turned Lake Geneva into an English seaside resort!

On Sunday we joined our hosts Francoise and Bernard for a hike. We thought they knew where they were going. We were wrong. It all started so well, but we then found ourselves traversing overgrown and very steep woods with no path. What with the altitude and unusual (for me) amount of exercise my breathing became difficult and it ended as quite a directionless chore just to end up where we started. Thankfully it was too late to try to re-conquer the mountain and time for a much needed beer.

We've been joined by a German girl, Sara, who is just 17 but has fantastic English and is here for her summer holidays to try to improve her French. Really, these Europeans put us to shame when it comes to languages!

We've had a bit of rain here so there have been a few indoor jobs to door - peeling apples, stoning plums, filling jars and bags of the final product. We've also had to do more back-breaking weeding as well as the harvesting - lots more flowers, plus lemon thyme and hysope. Darren has been putting his culinary skills into action with a curry (Sara's first!) and I've been roped into baking the banana bread recipe that we picked up in Cornholme. I have a feeling we'll do quite a lot of transplanting recipes from one place to another...
Darren's added a few photos that he's taken with his phone - we should have a new camera by the weekend so I'm sure there will be plenty more photos on the way!

We're in the Alps for just one more week before we head to our next WWOOF. This will be west of here near Limoges. The easiest way by train is from Geneva via Paris, and as all the discounted standard class tickets had gone it's cheaper for us to go first class. Who said that travellers have to slum it?! We'll be there for a month, then we're taking a weekend in Marseille to see Steve Hogarth before probably heading towards the Pyrenees.

What Harry Did Next...

On Saturday we went to Geneva. For two reasons - to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and to buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Geneva's a wonderful place when you're English!

So we didn't actually see much of Geneva. We had a brief walk through the old town and the main shopping areas to the lake. We had a very nice lunch on the lake as it was Darren's birthday. Lake Geneva has a very impressive fountain. Called Jet d'Eau, it simply spurts water 140 metres into the air and lets it drop again. Id love to show you some pictures but somehow we've "lost" the camera (I sense a host of parents' eyes rolling). Bit too much of a mystery to go into, suffice to say it looks like we're going to get the chance to discover how good our insurance company are. Typically Mont Blanc has since put in an appearance, gleaming in the sunshine...

Darren finished Harry Potter on Sunday night, I'm about halfway through. If anyone wants to borrow it, let me know and I'll post it on to you - that's one weighty item that I DO NOT want to carry around Europe for the rest of the year! The film is really good. Did you realise that people watching with subtitles actually find out more because they get a translation of all those inaudible whispers...

And so to work. I haven't told you what we've been doing here have I? So far we have harvested:

Oregano (harvest is now over and it's been mown down)
Marigold flowers
Mallow flowers
Cornflowers
Chamomile flowers
Verveine leaves. Lots of them (it's the staple green tea crop. very nice too - slightly lemony, nice with a drop of honey)
Strawberries
Rhubarb (50kg!!!)

It rained heavily last night so this morning we sorted and weighed potatoes (about 180kg) and weeded the tomatoes in the greenhouse. The weeding was fine until the sun came out and it was like working in a sauna! Good for burning off all that cheese I've been eating! I hear that summer has bypassed you all in the UK, so you can console yourself with the thought of us working in such conditions. And I have a very strange tan - standing up in the sun means my shoulders and feet are going a lovely colour but my legs are still pasty white. And my hair is going the same colour as my oldest niece's!

Je Parle Trés Peu Le Français

We seem to have landed nicely on our feet here in France. Our latest farm is a herb garden on the French / Swiss border. The people are lovely, the view is amazing, the work is enjoyable and very interesting. The family speak varying levels of English, but it's all better than our French. We're working on that though, trying to learn some new phrases and words each day.

We're on a mountain called Saléve. Apparently on a clear day you can see Mont Blanc, but it hasn't put in an appearance yet. Francoise - who owns the farm - is taking us up to the top of this mountain in a minute (so this is a short blog!). I'm sure Darren will take some good pics for you all. Our train to Geneva was good fun. We had all day to catch it and still ended up running for it!

Must go now - will elaborate a little more when I next get the chance!!!

Arrivederci!

It's our last day in Rome and we're exhausted! We've done practically all the sights, picked holes in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, and seen Genesis for the second time in a week. I won't tell you everything we've done (I've only got 20 minutes credit left!), but here are some highlights.

The Pantheon - As is so often the case, the sights you are most indifferent about seeing are the best. This quite literally took my breath away. The shaft of light from the hole in the roof is the first thing you notice when you walk in the door, and the scale and perfection of the dome - especially considering the age of the building - is the most astounding.

The Trevi Fountain - It really is amazing. And quite bizarre that anyone would want to build a fountain quite so large!

Castel Sant'Angelo - We went here on an Angels and Demons pilgramage, but it's definitely worth a look. Hadrian's mausoleum turned Papal fortress, it's reworkings reminded me a lot of the Tower of London.

St. Peter's Basilica - it was hard work in the heat of Rome, but the climb to the top of the dome does provide the best view over the city. And the church itself is simply vast and magnificent.

Pincio - take a walk through Villa Borghese and end at Pincio, with a breathtaking southern facing view over the huge Piazza del Popolo.

Genesis - they were playing at Circo Massimo near the Forum and Colloseum. It was incredibly dusty which made breathing rather difficult, but the dust did at least diffuse the light and make the show look even better. After seeing them from so close at Twickenham, it was great to see the lightshow in all it's glory. The atmosphere was fantastic as well.

Our hotel was right near Piazza Navona, and is fantastic. Never pay full price for a hotel! There's a lovely terrace where Darren's taken some great photos from (hopefully uploaded soon, see the address on the right!)

It's been incredibly hot, but a great start to our travels. Tonight we take the sleeper train to Geneva before heading over the border into France and our next WWOOF farm.

Nearly Gone!

There's just a few more days before we leave the country! It feels a bit odd because we're coming back for Christmas, but 5 months away from ol' Blighty and of course all the friends and family is still quite a long time. We're putting our photos on Picasa, which has a nifty map feature so you can properly see where we've been. How often we get to update it (much like here) who knows. The link is on the right there ---->

We managed to get a car in time for Glastonbury. It was quite an epic experience. The rain and mud might be some kind of tradition, but it makes it all very tiring and you know you'd have a better time if it was dry and sunny. We saw nearly 40 acts in all. My most memorable moments were Carrie Tree in a really vibey little tent on the Thursday, Guy Pratt, some brilliant dance acts and chilling out on Kings Meadow on one of the rare sunny moments. I'd love to go again, I'd just love it even more if it was good weather!

In other news, I am once again a proud Auntie! Lucy Dudman just couldn't wait to see me and spend a little extra time with me, so she was born over a week early last Tuesday. Mother and baby doing really well, as are father and older sister. Aww, I'm gonna miss them two!

Down On The Farm

We're staying on a farm halfway up a Pennine hill right on the Lancs / Yorks border. We eventually made it on Monday night and got instantly treated to a slap up meal. Let me introduce you to the family...

The farm is owned by Ben and Penny, who are both full-time anthropologists and live in the house with their 12 year old daughter Laurie and Pickle the cat. There is currently a Kiwi WWOOFer here called Bryony, who has stayed for 3 months but is leaving on Monday. There are four goats - Cheeky the male, Misty the mum and Coco and Fudge her daughters - and three chickens.

We're living in what's affectionately known as The Piggery. It's an out-building to the main house, and as well as housing pigs it has also formerly been a grave and a bridal suite. It's slightly spooky but quite cool as well. The worst thing is the stream that runs down behind it - it can be quite a palavar to get out of your sleeping bag and go to the main house if you need the loo!

On Tuesday Bryony showed us the ropes and we set to our main project - creating a level place for a trampoline. You see, a trampoline is rather dangerous on the side of a large and pretty steep hill. So we've been digging trenches and then filling them back in as we work by a bit of trial and error. Hopefully we can get it complete before we leave.

On Wednesday I milked my first goat! Misty was very obliging, and althought I squirted more up my arm than in the bucket the first time, my attempt yesterday was a bit more successful. Bryony thinks I'm a natural, I'm not so sure (stop sniggering at the back there!) The goats are fantastic and my favourite task. They all have their own personalities, and watching them happily munch on grass is a wonderful thing. As is drinking a cup of tea made with the milk you squeezed out yourself - all very satisfying. We took them up to the top of the hill to graze on Thursday. Walking up that hill is hard work on it's own, being dragged my a goat made me realise just how unfit I really am! As well as drinking the milk Ben also makes cheese and yoghurt.

I've also done my first weeding, planting (runner beans) and pruning (cherry tomatoes). Us three WWOOFers spent most of yesterday pulling a huge amount of bracken out of the ground. It's nice to do things where you see the results so quickly and so obviously. The weather's been gorgeous, although it's been a bit hot for all this manual work. It's a fairly leisurely atmosphere though, and we always make sure we stop for a cup of tea or a good feed.

The food has been fantastic. Ben's an excellent cook. It's all been veggie, and I haven't missed eating meat at all (although we got fish and chips after we came back from a nearby town to watch the footie!) Yesterday we had a great combined effort for lunch, making a Mexican bean stew with guacamole and nachos.

The car has broken down so we missed the Marillion gig on Thursday (absolutely gutted!) Not sure if it's repairable, or what we'll do over the next few weeks. Could be a bit awkward getting to Glastonbury...

I'm physically quite exhausted, but I've been really enjoying working out in the open air. The views are fantastic, I'm starting to get a nice bit of a tan and I might even be a little less scared of spiders than I was a week ago!

OK, off to see if I can find somewhere nice for you to view my pictures from...

Get It Together Girl!

OK, what's this blogging thing again? Ah yes. Well I've been distributing this address out to a lot of people lately, so I figured I'd better make an effort to post at least once before "the trip". We've got less than a month before we're kicked out of the flat, and we've got a LOT of stuff to get rid of in the meantime. So if anyone wants to buy anything (and I mean pretty much ANYTHING) please let me know! We're doing a boot fair this weekend, but our boot doesn't hold much so I'm not sure how successful that's going to be. Still it's only a fiver, not much to be lost.

We've started buying the bits and pieces we need as well. We still haven't negotiated the minefield of insurance, and I still haven't properly got my head around what to do with money but I've started doing some important shopping and we've also joined WWOOF UK - this will keep us occupied until we leave the country in July. We're planning on WWOOFing all over the world, so it'll be the perfect starting point we think.

Anyway, can't chat long. Many things to be done...

This month I have...

I’ve been a bit rubbish at updating this lately haven’t I? Here’s a quick update of the last month…

L’Enclume

We drove over to Cartmel in the Lake District, stopping off in Grange Over Sands for a nose around as we couldn’t check into the room until 3pm. The room was very nice with a beautiful view of the Priory. We then had a walk around Cartmel (it’s not very big so it didn’t take long!) and I bought a necklace to go with my outfit for the evening. Back at the room we watched the first half of the football while we got changed – then Darren switched off the TV and dropped to one knee to propose to me! Of course I said yes, but it took me a while to stop shaking!

We celebrated with a glass of champagne to start our meal. It’s difficult to describe the experience of the meal itself. We went for the Underground, a meal of at least 20 courses (we actually finished with 21). Some are staple dishes to the restaurant, for example the Razor Role Reversal which has clam and chestnuts served in an eggshell and chicken served in a razorclam shell. Sometimes the staff were as puzzled as us about what was in a dish and had to check with the chef – “he’s experimenting” as one of the waiters explained to us!

There are a few dishes and elements that really stand out for me. BBQ pig with sweetcorn puree, cola jelly and deep-friend oregano was brilliant. Expearimenthol frappe was pear jelly, mint cream and coffee flavoured crushed biscuit served in a shot glass. The slow drop duck egg which had been cooked for two hours but was perfectly runny. Liquid chocolate – it looked like cake and felt like cake at first, but then dissolve to liquid. Foie gras ice cream (it takes a couple of mouthfuls to get used to that one!) All of the dishes were presented like works of art, but then that’s the difference between a great restaurant and a Michelin star restarant.

The staff were particularly wonderful. They served the meal with humour and we got the feeling that they were perfectly aware of how bizarre the idea was. They were attentive but we never felt pestered. The sommelier helped us pick an amazing bottle of red wine for the second half of our meal (we started with a white). I don’t think we’ll spend £65 on a bottle of wine very often, but you can taste the difference – the depth of flavour was incredible.

I struggled with the final few mouthfuls and just couldn’t face the coffee and chocolates (served on skewers). It was back to the room to collapse on the bed and allow my body and mind to digest everything! We also had breakfast at the restaurant, which was probably the best breakfast I’ve ever had. I was surprised I was hungry at all! We had another wonder around Cartmel, picking up some of the world’s best Sticky Toffee pudding on the way (we’ve since devoured it and it’s truly wonderful). I think I want to live in Cartmel. It’s the food capital of the world…



Marillion – Somewhere Else

I’m not sure what insanity drives us to travel to Glasgow to listen to an album that’s out in a few weeks and that I could probably download if I were that desperate to listen to it. Especially when we’d already heard over half of it. Such is the life of a Marillion fan. It was an opportunity to catch up with some friends as well, always worth a journey. The listening party was held in Arta, a lovely if expensive bar. The soundsystem wasn’t particularly good though, and the heavy bass combined with the chatter made it quite difficult to really assess or appreciate the album.

There were two tracks that we heard at the Convention that I was very much looking forward to hearing again. Most Toys is probably the most catchy song Marillion have ever produced and The Wound is dark and moody. Opening track The Other Half again appeared to me as a song of – ironically – two halves, the first being my personal favourite. Of the songs I hadn’t heard before, No Such Thing stood out the most in it’s quirkiness, and the title track definitely has potential as a grower. Overall it’s quite unusual for a Marillion album in that all the songs are relatively short and many are of a basic song structure. It’s really quite Beatle-esque. Although I couldn’t hear much of the lyric, what I heard was quite dark, both on a personal and a global level.

Afterwards I got a chance to chat to bassist Pete Trewavas (who recognised us from our exploits in Luxembourg a couple of years ago). Even he thought the bass had been too loud! He was in fine form and we had an excellent natter about the album. Unfortunately it was all too short as he had to go and mingle further. The album is out on the 9th April – I can’t wait to hear it properly!

A Lucky Weekend

Not only did I win £150 on bingo last Saturday, I also managed to nab a couple of Glastonbury tickets! This is VERY exciting! I’d never thought of going to Glasto before, but we thought we’d give it a go and after half an hour of refreshing browsers I managed to get through. Now where are my wellies...

Busy busy busy...

Life is still pretty breathless! Last week we got last minute tickets to see the Kaiser Chiefs at Newcastle Academy. Unfortunately they were seated balcony tickets and I just couldn't get into the gig at all. Nevermind, maybe we'll snaffle Glastonbury tickets and see them there instead...

Before the gig we went to St Sushi - it's like Yo! but a bit cheaper and it feels less like a chain. Really excellent and pretty experimental sushi. My favourite was deep fried prawns with strawberry.

We went to the Destinations Travel Show on Sunday. It was essentially just a huge travel agents, but we grabbed quite a lot of brochures to give us some ideas. I also got a copy of Rough Guides new World Party book - I want to go to as many carnivals and festivals around the world as possible!

This weekend is L'Enclume. I'm REALLY excited about it, I don't think I've done anything this posh before!!!

Colours And Sound

It’s 10pm on a Monday night. I’m lying in my bed for the first time since I left it at 4.30am the previous Thursday. Every muscle in my body aches. The hangover is just starting to subside. The throat feels and sounds like someone has been spiking my drinks with razor blades. And I’m feeling the onset of a fluey cold. All of this can only mean one thing. I’ve just been to a Marillion convention.

For the uninitiated of you, let me try to explain. Rock band Marillion have a small but incredibly devoted following. Every two years they book up a holiday camp and up to 3000 fans travel to enjoy three days of music, drinking and general jollity. And now I’ve got to try to put it into words. I’m not sure if this will be a cohesive diary, or more of a collection of chronological memories. It’s difficult to know where to start. As I lie in my bed there’s no space in my head. It’s too full of colours and sound.

Thursday morning feels like a long time ago. The alarm was set for 4am, the taxi picked us up at 5am and the flight to Amsterdam 7.10am. Unbelievably by the time we boarded, my boyfriend Darren and our friend Neil had already drunk two pints of beer! Start as you mean to go on lads...

We landed an hour later, set our watches forward to local time and then spent a further hour hiking across the vast plains of Amsterdam Schipol airport. A short train ride into the centre of the Dutch capital later and onto our hotel for tonight. The convention didn’t start until Friday, but we thought we’d get there a day early and Annett on the online forum organised an extra special rate at the extra posh Radisson for Marillion fans. We couldn’t yet check into the 5 star luxury, so we left our bags and headed out for some tourism.

We walked to Anne Frank House, somehow avoiding the trams and the thousands of bicycles that rule the streets. I visited Anne Frank House when I was 15, but I don’t think I was old enough or educated enough to really appreciate it. It is the most moving and thought provoking experience. White Russian plays in my head as I view the pictures of piles of dead bodies in the concentration camps.

I take a deep breath as I leave and we make our way to the nearby Pancake Bakery for some nourishment. Then it’s back to the Radisson where we could now check in. The hotel is amazing and the room wonderful. We relaxed for a few hours before heading out for some sushi – Darren had found out about an all-you-can-eat place. When we arrived it was packed and fully booked. This place MUST be good. We snuck in after a cancellation and had 2 hours to fill ourselves before our session ended. The fish was so amazingly fresh, it was well worth the money. Tokyo Cafe, highly recommended!

Well fed, it was on to the Tara, an Irish bar where there was a pre-arranged Marillion meet. This is where the recollections get a little hazy. Apparently we left around 2am, but I can’t really be sure...

Five hours later and we’re awake again. Breakfast was included, so we wanted to take full advantage before heading back to the airport to meet my sister Vicky from her flight. After a few more hours of hanging around and meeting up with old friends, we could hop onto our coach to Center Parcs in Port Zelande. This was where the convention was to be held, and it was a long, boring, tiring two hour trip west, especially after the previous night.

The check-in queue was ridiculous so we visited the shop to get some supplies. When we did check in I couldn’t wait to get rid of the case I’d been dragging behind me for the last two days! The cottage was absolutely lovely, despite a rather treacherous looking spiral staircase up to the bedrooms! Our room-mate Paul arrived just after us, and he and Darren headed back out for further supplies (largely of the alcoholic variety). In his infinite wisdom, Darren insisted we bring a PS2 including Guitar Hero controllers and Singstar microphones for entertainment. All the extra lugging around was worth it, and we spent the rest of the afternoon on a Singstar marathon. Vicky and I on vocals, Darren and Paul performing to the camera. It was a hilarious, “you had to be there” moment.

Luckily someone remembered that we were actually in the Netherlands to see Marillion so at 9pm we ventured to the tent. After obtaining some beer tokens we made our way to guitarist Steve Rothery’s side of the stage. The band opened with five, as yet unheard songs from the forthcoming album, Somewhere Else. On first listen my personal favourites were Most Toys (fantastic single material) and The Wound (think Massive Attack or Portishead with more of a rock edge).

Then onto the main feature. At every convention, Marillion perform one of their albums in its entirety, and this year’s choice was This Strange Engine. I love every song on this album, so I was pretty excited. Keyboard player Mark Kelly is the shining star – the album is littered with fantastic keyboard solos. Rothery was also in excellent form, deservedly given an extended and rapturous applause for his solo in the song This Strange Engine. However, Hope For the Future was always going to be the highlight. Much maligned by most fans, the chorus is a very cheesy attempt at samba, but there are some great moments in the song. Armed with maracas, we came, we partied, we laughed out loud. The reception was huge – I think the band gained a lot of respect for performing something so unpopular, although I think the applause was partly out of relief that it was over!

The gig closed with a reprise of two of the new songs, and the catchy chorus to Most Toys was left to reverberate around everyone’s heads. It was on to the Rock Disco at the Adventure Factory. The bar system was more than a little chaotic – particularly frustrating when all you want is a glass of water. The disco itself was a bit hit and miss, although Freebird provided us with one of the songs of the weekend. We never did learn more than the first four lines...

More Guitar Hero and Singstar back at the cottage, before collapsing into bed at some unknown time. The main thing on the agenda on the Saturday was the pub quiz, so after breakfast it was back to the Adventure Factory. We were more than happy with our #5 placing, although we could have done much better if it wasn’t for a poorly played joker and some stupid errors. Boos echoed around the room when the ubiquitous Cakey Boys were announced as winners – they beat everyone the convention before and once more won the right to battle it out on stage against the band.

We plumped for Italian for dinner, although the service was poor the food wasn’t bad. We were then invited to a gathering of rugby fans to watch England thrash Scotland in the 6 nations. I’m not generally a rugby person, but I’m always happy to watch the Auld Enemy get beaten! After a change of clothes it was on to the second gig of the weekend, Rareties and Covers. In my opinion it wasn’t a brilliant setlist or show, but there were moments of genius. Built In Bastard Radar – a song only beaten by Hope For the Future in most least liked Marillion song lists – was excellent, as was the oft forgotten These Chains. A friend of mine Liz provided one of the best surprises by stepping up to sing an excellent version of Sympathy. But surely the most brilliant moment was Marillion does Britney. A cover of Toxic showed that this band don’t take themselves as seriously as many think. A point further made by lead singer Steve Hogarth donning a dress and fishnets to perform Abba’s Money Money Money, and providing some excellent yodelling for the finale of Hocus Pocus by Focus.
The party of the night was in cottage 268 where a couple of our good friends from Marillion tribute band Forgotten Sons were staying. They had also brought proper guitars. A long, LONG singing session ensued, mostly of Marillion songs old and new. There was a weird rotating audience thing happening though, and when Kayleigh and Easter were being requested for the third time, we decided it was time to leave. Mind you, it was about 4am at this point...

We had to set alarms for Sunday. I agreed to set up a pool competition and was due in the Adventure Factory at 11am. 11am didn’t seem that early when I planned it. It was obviously too early for some of the people who had entered because we were running a bit short on players! I reluctantly put my hat in the ring to make up a knockout of 8 people, and just as I started my match Graeme came running in with apologies galore. I wasn’t really up for humiliating myself, so with everyone’s permission we agreed he could take my place. It was a hard fought competition with only two players not winning a frame and many frames coming down to a black ball fight. Darren v Graeme was the final, and after many misses Graeme snatched victory. It was great fun, but maybe next time I’ll make it a more reasonable time!

Next on the agenda was the quiz final. More boos were directed at the Cakey Boys who took it all in their stride. It was excellently compered by Andy and Jim from the Marillion fan club Web UK, and the competition was even closer than the pool! The band got their revenge on the Cakeys and beat them on a tie-break. The band also did a Q&A session – I’m sure they get less and less informative as the years go on, but they’re always very funny to watch.

We decided to eat at Sharky’s that evening, and what a fantastic choice it was. Vicky and I both ordered steak, and it was the biggest, juiciest, best cooked steak I’ve had for a long time. It absolutely stuffed me though, and back at the cottage I barely felt like I could move. The previous evening’s singing had taken its toll on my throat and I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy that night’s show. Darren was invited out to take on one of our pool no-shows, our good friend Brian but I just wanted to chill out for a couple of hours. Vicky had a game of Singstar – she’s a bit too good at that for my liking!

Darren came back with lots of excuses as to why he had been soundly beaten by Brian and we cracked open a bottle of wine before heading off to the final show. This seemed to lubricate both my throat and my spirits, and I was ready for the final push. We only just made it to the tent before the gig started, so decided to dance around at the back. Tonight’s setlist was a compilation of the band’s favourite Marillion songs, kind of a best of. Despite the fact that the songs were largely predictable and there were probably only a couple of I would have chosen, it was incredibly enjoyable. My highlights were You’re Gone (how can you not love that bassline?), Between You And Me (now known as “The Jumping Song”) and The Space. Halfway through King I turned around to see Darren and Paul run out the back, Darren holding his face. When I saw him bent over the barrier outside, I thought the alcohol had got the better of him, but it turned out he’d gone down, Paul had gone up and nose made contact with back-of-head. Nothing appeared to be broken though, and he patched himself up and was back for the end of the song!

The encore and finale of the weekend was a reprise of Hocus Pocus. Exhausted but elated, it was off to the Adventure Factory for the Farewell Party. Another hit and miss rock disco, but we managed to get quite a moshpit going when Rage Against The Machine came on! Vicky went back to the chalet early – I think pregnancy and sobriety were starting to catch her up. We decided to locate the infamous Norwegians party and the most infamous of them all, Andreas. We met lots of new friends, but the mood was a little sombre as we all knew the weekend was coming to a close. At 4am we remembered that we had to be up at a decent hour of the morning to catch our coach back, so off to bed we went.

I don’t think I slept too well despite my red wine haze, and the next morning I felt decidedly off colour. The fresh winter air outside revived me a little, and I was glad I woke myself early to try to sober up and pack. Certainly the prospect of another two hours on a coach was not appealing. The Cakey Boys were on our coach – despite being anoraks of the highest order, they are very funny blokes and made the journey go a little quicker. We arrived at Schipol at midday, and got a pancake for lunch. Mine and Darren’s flight wasn’t until 8pm, so we put our bags into lockers, said a final farewell to Vicky (who had an earlier flight) and decided to spend a little more time in Amsterdam.

We eventually negotiated our way onto a tram to Museumplein. You can never be bored in Amsterdam. There are museum’s on every street and on every subject. We walked past a Diamond Museum – it was free so we figured we had nothing to lose but an hour. It was actually more of a large shop, and oddly enough there was the “real” museum at the end which cost €6 to enter. Hmmm. We looked at going in the Van Gogh museum, but €10 for the hour we had left was a bit steep, so we got a tram back towards the station, alighting at Dam Square. We got some frites mayo but still had some time to kill. Walking up Damrak we passed the Sex Museum. It was only €3, so with little else to occupy us and our minds not entirely with it, we went in. I’m not sure what I expected, but seeing 100 year old pornography was very strange, especially given my state of mind at the time.

We emerged probably slightly more dazed than when we entered, and embarked on the long journey home. A needlessly prolonged check-in, a McDonalds, a dozy flight and cab ride later, and here I am once more. Aching in body, tired in mind and lighter in pocker. Was it worth it? You bet!