I spent a lovely week in Huddersfield relaxing with my mum. The weather was typically British with lots of drizzle and clouds but the sun came out every now and again and it even reached 21 degrees on my last day. I think I drank more wine in one week than I have done all year, and the dog, the sofa and mum's cream carpet all suffered for it!

I got to eat all the things I wanted, had a bacon sandwich almost every day, had scones and clotted cream, a Sunday roast with yorkshire pudds and of course fish and chips with Sarsons vinegar! Pure luxury! Also hit Marks and Sparks and came back with the bras and pants I needed.

Visited the family, met Adam's girlfriend who had just paid for him to have his ear pierced! Bling bling! Chav chav!

It's nice to be home again though, although the heat really hit me when I stepped off the plane, I can't sleep at night it's soooo hot! Back to my carpet free home and my nose has settled down from the nasty bout of allergies I was suffering at mum's. Already looking at xmas flights to go back though. I wish I could go back more often!

Old Blighty

My parents have kindly offered to fork the bill for a last minute flight home to Huddersfield so I am excitedly in the middle of doing all my laundry in preparation for Tuesday's Sleazy Jet departure to Liverpool! I can't wait to go! It's been 8 months since I last stepped foot on British soil and my mouth is just watering at the thought of crumpets and scones and bacon sandwiches!! I might even get chance to buy some Marks and Spencers underwear!! My mum, bless her soul, has even booked me a hair appointment so I can get my mop sorted out by a professional instead of having to go to these Spanish cowboys here! The last time I walked out of a salon here I looked like I was auditioning for Abba!

Sook sun wan gerd

This, apparently, is how you say 'Happy Birthday' in Thai, more interesting a title don't you think? and it looks prettier! I am 24 today hence the greeting. I was thinking about past birthdays and I remembered that one year, I think it was my 20th although I am not really sure, when all the Huddersfield Lassies went on the Otley Run wearing matching black vest tops that we bought in New Look and decorated with pink and silver fabric pens! What a laugh. We all had to have names written on our backs that matched our initials and I was a Foxy Hussy or something like that and Sara was a Sex Kitten. I don't think I felt too well at the end of it all, better than the previous year though, on my 19th! I haven't drank Tequila since then, even the smell of it turns my stomach. It's funny really because my friend Elizabeth bought me a birthday card with this image on it the night we went out (see pic). She must be psychic! I don't remember much about that night except for rolling around on the floor in the hospital and throwing up in mum's cleaning bucket in front of my father, oh the shame! I'm sure that this year’s birthday celebrations will be much more civilized.

Summer Seconds

Last Thursday we went on our second holiday break to La Vid de Ojeda. It's a tiny village in the north of Spain where Jaime's parents live, about 19km south of Aguilar de Campoo (a town that smells of biscuits due to the factory there...yum yum). We spent a few days there relaxing and being looked after. We went swimming in the reservoir (see photo) in Cervera de Pisuerga ( once I had got over the fact that there were fish and snakey things and we had taken the pedalo to a place where I couldn't see any water vegetation) and we went to the festival in the same town one evening. This year we decided against going to Santander to avoid the holidaymakers and we went to Liencres instead. It's a national park to the west of Santander, famous for it's sand dunes. The water was beautiful and crystal clear. (most foreigners tend to go to the Costa del Sol but they are really missing out by not visiting more typically Spanish areas like Cantabria) Once again I almost lost my pants tho! The waves in the Cantabrian Sea are almost as bad as those in Portugal!

On Sunday we celebrated Jaime's 38th birthday with a big family lunch and freshly made cakes. Lovely! We came home on Sunday evening with a dozen eggs from Jaime's mum's hens and fresh vegetables from her garden and a freshly made Tortilla.

Jaime went back to work yesterday leaving me to contemplate what I should do for the rest of the month now that I have the house to myself. I started with a big movie fest watching Finding Neverland and Million Dollar Baby both of which reduced me to a snivelling wreck on the sofa (clear to see why the latter film won best motion picture, best actress, best director and best supporting actor at the 2005 oscars) After the films I started cooking up a storm in the kitchen marinading chicken kebabs and making my first Tortilla with all the bloody eggs we now have from the last three visits to La Vid (damn near perfect even if I do say so myself).

Cruelty to Cats

I recently received an email raising my awareness of a cruel phenomenon called 'Bonsai Kittens' and asking me to sign a petition. The email was highly disturbing and I decided that I should investigate further so I went to the so called bonsai kitten homepage to find out more. I looked in horror at the brutal images of blatant cruelty to small helpless animals. I found it sickening and I wanted to cry. Of course this is the reaction of any 'normal' human being. Many of you might have already heard of Bonsai Kittens as I think that it is quite old news and some of you might be aware that it was in fact a hoax. I feel better knowing that cruel bastards are not going around shoving cats into bottles and gluing their anuses shut. However, it still disturbs me that some people's idea of a joke is this!? It wouldn't have surprised me if it had been true baring in mind the world that we live in today. The human race can be evil and twisted and capable of anything.

La Ciudad del Pecado

We went to see a film tonight that was right up Jaime's street, full of violence and fit birds. The film was Sin City based on the comic books by Frank Miller. I expected to be entertained since the film boasts an all star cast and I definitely didn't have time to be bored. It is an action packed fast moving film and the best thing about it is the visual impact. I always hated black and white movies so I didn't expect to like this too much but this was a B&W flick with a difference. Every now and again there was a splash of colour, the blue of a girl's eyes, or the red of someones shoes, or the orange of a box of pills. The film looks amazing and I don't really remember a great deal of the dialogue, I doubt it was that good, besides I was watching it in Spanish of course (no VO for Jaime) but it didn't seem to matter as the whole thing was eye candy (Bruce Willis included!).

(I also spent a lot of the time tutting at the couple in front of me who had deemed it suitable to bring their children (looked under 10) to a highly violent and sexual film! Some people clearly should not be allowed to have children!)

Veritaserum, apparating and Hogwarts

I've just finished the new installment of the Harry Potter series! Fantastic! Full of oh-my-god-no moments! I was slow to catch on to the Hairy Poofter craze as people at uni used to call it, I only read book one last year but I was hooked from the start and am now fully up to speed and can't wait for the final book to come out! The film will be out in November too to keep me going for a while. Mint!

Portugal, Punctures and Piri Piri Chicken

Jaime and I packed our bags and set off on our 2431 km round trip to Portugal on Tuesday the 2nd of August. I was very proud of the fact that I managed to stay awake the whole 7 hours of journey to the Algarve since I usually tend to snooze when locked in a moving vehicle for more than an hour.

Before crossing the border to Portugal we made a fleeting stop in Isla Cristina which is on the Costa de la Luz. This was my first opportunity to don the new bikini in public, the beach was lovely and sandy but I refrained from bathing in the sea after spotting about the 15th dead jellyfish on the shore! They were huge and after seeing them there was no way I was dipping even a toe in the sea. We only stayed for about an hour, had a drink and bought some beach chairs and set off again for the Algarve.

Within about 15 minutes we had crossed the border and were driving along the Portuguese coast. The change in language came as a bit of a shock as it didn't really feel like we'd left one country to move into another. We decided that Albufeira should be our base and we set about looking for a campsite there. We found this one pretty quickly, and it was fantastic. It had a restaurant, a night club, swimming pools and four bars. We arrived quite late so it was just a case of putting up the tent, getting some grub and going to bed. (The food part was rather interesting as you paid for you dinner according to how much it weighed!)

We woke up bright and early the next morning (still not having realised that Portugal is an hour behind Spain) and the following four mornings and we did some exploring of the surrounding area. First call was Albufeira, where I bought this fetching hat and we had a wander and a bite to eat. We soon realised that we would have no trouble conversing with the Portuguese as they were nearly all good English speakers and after trying to order 'um cafe com gelo' and failing we decided that English was the way to go. I just threw in the odd 'obrigado/a' so at least I looked as if I was trying with the lingo.

We spent our time in the Algarve visiting the beach every afternoon and setting off in the car every morning to see the neighbouring towns. We went to Quarteira (beach), Lagos, (lunch) Silves (castle) and a nice iced coffee in an English café called, surprise surprise, Café Inglês! (It has a fab terrace with great views of the town and it is right below the fortress.) We also went to Sagres and the fortess at Cape St Vincent which is apparently the most south western point of the European continent. We had a lovely stroll aorund the cliffs, I spent most of the time holding on to my hat so it didn't fly away on the wind and then I nearly shat myself when I slipped on a particularly jagged rock edge whilst trying to see what the fishermen were doing below.

In a small village about 20 minutes from Albufeira we saw a sand sculpture festival that represented the lost worlds. People from all over the world had come together to build a very impressive representation of ancient civilisations. Well worth the 7 euros entry! After we went to a little cove on the coast where I nearly drowned and my bikini filled with sand as the big waves pulled me under. Then as the waves went back out again I very nearly lost my pants altogether! Very scary.

On an evening we went into Albufeira and had a few cocktails (obviously geared at the huge number of British tourists, and what is with these gigantic straws??), or we went out for dinner (with normal straws) or if we were too tired after one of our excursions we sat in the bar of the camping drinking and listening to the live music they put on. During our stay in the Algarve I sampled the typical Piri Piri chicken which was rather spicy but very tasty and some Port of course.

We decided to move further north after a few days in the Algarve and so we headed for the coast of Lisbon. We managed to find a decent enough camping about five minutes from Guincho beach and we pitched our tent there. No swimming pool, very basic, restaurant service was diabolical but amusing. The campsite was infested with tiny ants and I spent the three nights there itching in my sleeping bag. Nor was I impressed when a huge spider fell on me while I was blowing up the air bed for the twentieth time (puncture number 1). The only thing it had going for it was it's nearness to the beach but we only ever got chance to go there on an evening at about 6 and it was windy and quite cold. I'm not surprised that the beach is famous for windsurfing and kitesurfing. (not sure if Jaime is attempting kite surfing or just shaking off my mat).

We used this campsite as a base for visiting Lisbon, Estoril and Cascais. Lisbon was our first stop. The problem with Lisbon is that it is built in and amongst hills so with the exception of the areas around the River Tagus and the centre the streets are very steep and cobbled, making them difficult to deal with in hot weather. The jewels of the city are hidden in and amongst the old quarters of the town (Alfama and Baixa) where you find beautiful chapels and the cathedral.

We decided that the best and most fun way to tackle this was to pay 17 € and go on a sightseeing tram. The price seemed a bit steep to me but it was fantastic and it allowed you to see all the main sights. (miradors, churches, the narrowest house I have ever seen) and when we were travelling through the Alfama the streets were so narrow that we could touch the walls of the buildings from the tram. At times it felt more like a rollercoaster! For people who don't want to fork out the money you can get the same effect by catching the number 28 ordinary tram, and to move around the steep streets there are lifts like the Santa Justa and funiculars.

Jaime was disappointed with Lisbon, I think he had expected something bigger and better. I have to admit that it is a little rundown and shabby in places but in a way I think that is what adds to its charm.

After that a walk along the river led us to Belem and it's tower, the discovery monument and the Jeronimos' monastery.

Having had enough for one day we retired to the beach and returned the following day to visit the Expo 98 area of the capital. We walked around the Oceanarium and had a lovely meal in the restaurant there, Agua e Sal. The pumpkin and mushroom risotto was orgasmic! After lunch we caught the cable car for a view of the river and the city. Not a good idea after risotto!

Of course our final day in Lisbon would not have been complete without struggling along the one way, cobbled streets, getting a flat tyre (puncture number 2) having to change the tyre for a temporary one, then going to the garage to buy two new tyres and then having them fitted to leave the garage and realise that they had only fitted one new tyre and charged for two and then fight our way through Lisbon traffic on a one way system without a map amongst crazy Portuguese drivers who shouldn't be allowed on the road to get back to the garage and have another tyre fitted! Aggghh!

Once the car was finally fixed we drove through Estoril and Cascais to go to the beach and look at all the pretty houses and the famous casino! Apparently this is where Portuguese high society lives so that would explain why some of the houses looked like mini castles.

After all that we zonked out in the tent for one last time before packing it all up, ants and all, and heading back to Madrid just before the first rain drops began to fall. Phew!

We're all going on a summer holiday...

Well I think that I have almost finished the pre-holiday ironing and packing. I have tried to be less of a female and only take what is really necessary but it is difficult to part with some things!



Jaime and I are setting off tomorrow morning at about 8.30 to go camping in Portugal. We are aiming to reach the Algarve in the early afternoon. Don't know how long we are going for or where we are going exactly, all a bit of an adventure. It really depends on how many times I can put up and take down the tent without killing Jaime as he has no patience whatsoever when putting up the tent. We were going to buy one of those supadupa-throwintheair-2 seconds-self mounting-tents but the shop assistant told us that people had been taking them back and complaining so it looks like I will have to brave putting up our two man dome with Jaime.

I will post some pics and fill you all in when I get back. Toodle pips. xx