I was thinking about the recent few posts I wrote about nice people and was trying to think of another theme that I can write about. I think there are a couple of things that have happened either to me or to people around me that have been the most amazing coincidences that they're worth writing about. So here goes.....
....it was the winter of 1992-1993 and I was on a skiing holiday with a select group of close friends (actually there were 54 of us, but at the time, we heaved around in a mob!) It was Val Thorens in France, an excellent resort for pre-ski, durant-ski, and apres-ski!!!! There was alot of social activity. It was a great holiday. I may have some pictures which I'll scan for facebook at some point. yeah, just to embarrass you all!
Anyway, back to the story....so I was in the queue for a chair lift, and because it was peak season, the lift operators weren't having any of the 'I want to sit with my friends' lark which normally goes on. No empty seats. They made everyone fill every seat on the lift. So, I ended up on a 3 seater lift with 2 chaps who I didn't know. It was a loooooooong chair lift. 15 or 20 minutes up to the top. So when I realised they were English, we got chatting and exchanged pleasantries.
"Where are you from?" they said
"I'm from Portsmouth, where are you guys from?"
"Wirral"
"Oh really? I live in Portsmouth now but the Wirral is where I grew up"
they smiled (I don't think my accent gives me away as a Wirralian)
"Whereabouts on the Wirral?" I asked.
"Heswall" they replied (** for the non Wirral people reading this, Heswall is a village about 7 or 8 miles from Bromborough)
I explained that I knew people from school who had lived in Heswall coz I'd gone to Upton Convent - but that actually I was from Bromborough.
"Oh we know Brombrorough" they said.
In fact, they went on to tell me that they were solicitors acting for a business in Bromborough, hence why they knew it so well.
Cue the point were I say "Oh my Mum and Dad have a business in Bromborough - it's the Italian restaurant. Do you know it?"
"Do we know it?" they looked at each other and laughed. "We had lunch there 2 days ago!"
"You are kidding?" I said. "It's the one on the precinct. Used to be a SPAR. Right opposite the British Legion?"
"Oh yes, they said, that's definitely the one. Roberto's?"
"Well my Dad is Roberto, and everyone calls it that, but it's actually called Romagna" I said, and they went on to tell me that they were acting on behalf of the shop next door to the restauraunt, which was a sewing shop called 'The Stitchery' during the dispute that all the tennants of the precinct were having with the landlord in relation to the recent rent increases. Mum and Dad were having the same dispute.
It was a major coincidence!
I couldn't wait to tell the crowd! So, that evening I was holding court at the bar. As everyone was coming down ready for dinner, I was telling them all about the fact that I'd shared a chair lift with 2 guys who'd had dinner in our restaurant, 2 days before. Mega coincidence.
As I was telling the story, I noticed a gentleman sitting at the bar. He was listening intently to my story and as I told it a couple of times to different groups of friends, he seemed to get more interested. Eventually, as I filled in the end of the story again, telling the 2 solicitors that the restaurant wasn't called Roberto's, but that was Dad's name....the guy leant forward and shouted across the bar....."Are you Robbie's girl?"
"Pardon?"
"I said, are you Robbie's girl?"
"errrm, well I think I could be described as that....my Dad's name is Roberto"
He looked me up and down and said "Italian, Roberto, Dibbinsdale Hotel. How many Italians called Roberto can there be in Bromborough?"
Turns out that many years before, in the late 60's, when Mum and Dad worked in the Dibbinsdale Hotel, this chap had been a regular resident at the hotel, in fact had virtually lived there Monday to Friday for a couple of years! He'd heard me telling the story to the guys at the bar (several times!), and had put 2 & 2 together, and realised he knew Mum and Dad. It was hilarious.
You should have seen the incredulous looks on the faces of all my friends. I think that they thought I'd bribed this guy to pretend to know me after the story of meeting the solicitors on the ski-lift.
What can I say?
It's not my fault that I'm the centre of the universe, is it? :-)
25 Nov 2008
16 Nov 2008
Mark's 40th Weekend
We're just back from a fabby weekend away with Dan's school chums coz Mark turns 40 this week!
We all went up to Amerdale House Hotel in Arncliffe, a fab hotel/restaurant in the Dales. On Saturday, we went for a wander to a nice pub for lunch (and back)
After our walk - and cleaning up after; it was very muddy, we settled down for dinner in the hotel. Very very good - including the best creme brulee (and monster choccie biccies) we'd ever tasted!
We all went up to Amerdale House Hotel in Arncliffe, a fab hotel/restaurant in the Dales. On Saturday, we went for a wander to a nice pub for lunch (and back)
After our walk - and cleaning up after; it was very muddy, we settled down for dinner in the hotel. Very very good - including the best creme brulee (and monster choccie biccies) we'd ever tasted!
14 Nov 2008
12 Nov 2008
Planning for the weekend!
Last night we had a nice evening (keeping Tuesday special) with Marina and Gemma, to plan the food for the weekend in a few weeks when 9 of us are going to a cottage near Kirby Lonsdale.
I don't know whether it was some form of auto-suggestion, but we'd had chicken pie for tea and so in the ' brainstorming' part of the evening, we managed to suggest at least 5 sorts of pie; chicken pie (obviously), meat pie, veggie pie, spaghetti pie (an Aldridge special) and just general PIE pie! Hmmmm, I wonder what we'll be having on the weekend.....?
Anyway, needless to say, the menu is good, wholesome, comfort food. There are going to be pancakes and pies, chilli and lots of nice wine!!!!! Even a fondue! We're all cooks, so it's not your average team cooking!
I don't know whether it was some form of auto-suggestion, but we'd had chicken pie for tea and so in the ' brainstorming' part of the evening, we managed to suggest at least 5 sorts of pie; chicken pie (obviously), meat pie, veggie pie, spaghetti pie (an Aldridge special) and just general PIE pie! Hmmmm, I wonder what we'll be having on the weekend.....?
Anyway, needless to say, the menu is good, wholesome, comfort food. There are going to be pancakes and pies, chilli and lots of nice wine!!!!! Even a fondue! We're all cooks, so it's not your average team cooking!
10 Nov 2008
All together now...lets remember the 1970s
I heard this song on the telly the other day - it's the barclaycard advert where the guy slides down the extra long water slide. I know this probably makes me dead old, but I do remember liking this one (it came out in 1976, which would make me 7) but it has such a modern feel to it that it doesn't seem like it's 32 years old....or is it just me...?
Anyway, all together now.....
Lyrics | Bellamy Brothers - Let Your Love Flow lyrics
PS How cool is this widget with the scrolling lyrics!?????
Anyway, all together now.....
Lyrics | Bellamy Brothers - Let Your Love Flow lyrics
PS How cool is this widget with the scrolling lyrics!?????
Another post in a series of nice people!
Dan posted this a while ago and I posted this one yesterday.....and for some reason another nice person popped into my head as I was driving home from work today.
I was in my little white Metro, with Helen, and we were driving up north to Blackpool from Portsmouth to see a show - the Northern Ballet Company's production of Dracula, if I remember correctly.
Anyway, I was used to driving up to the Wirral to see Mum & Dad and it all worked nicely on a tank of petrol. Unfortunately, Blackpool is a bit further north and so on the M55 I looked down at my petrol gauge to see the light on...and the arrow was already most of the way down to the red. Damn! I said to Helen that we needed to get petrol....quickly!
So we turned off the motorway onto a dual carriageway, and spotted a petrol station on the other side of the road. Great, but, then we had to drive up the carriageway, round the roundabout and down back to the petrol station. It was a good mile!
The inevitable happened, we were driving up this side of the road when the the car ground to a halt. Nightmare.
OH MY GOD, we both start to panic a bit, thinking that he's probably some form of rapist or sex offender. Problem is, we really needed his help. So we go into a huddle and decide to accept his offer of a lift to the petrol station, with Helen in the front of the bus, and me in the back holding the petrol canister, poised ready to hit him over the head with it, just in case he did anything dodgy!
We got to the petrol station and got out with a sigh of relief that neither of us had been killed, but we are polite girls and thanked him profusely for his help.
"What do you mean?" He said. "I'm going to give you a lift back to your car".
We were both pleased and terrified - pleased because at this point we were worried about being late for our show, and terrified because we had to go through the petrol can/head/might attack us journey again.
As we travelled the mile and a half or so back round the dual carriageway to the car, we got chatting to him and turns out he drove the bus for the local handicapped club, his wife had died recently, and he was 'keeping himself busy' doing some good things for the local community.
We got back to the car, and he parked the van at a bit of an angle so as to protect us from the traffic whilst I was filling the car up from the can. He drove out a bit into the dual carriageway to allow us to get back on to the road and he also followed us back to the garage to make sure we got there to fill up properly.
As we waved him off, we felt SOOOOOOO guilty for thinking that he was a sex-offender! What a lovely man. He was just trying to help out two girls stranded on the side of the road. He was a genuinely nice person.
I was in my little white Metro, with Helen, and we were driving up north to Blackpool from Portsmouth to see a show - the Northern Ballet Company's production of Dracula, if I remember correctly.
Anyway, I was used to driving up to the Wirral to see Mum & Dad and it all worked nicely on a tank of petrol. Unfortunately, Blackpool is a bit further north and so on the M55 I looked down at my petrol gauge to see the light on...and the arrow was already most of the way down to the red. Damn! I said to Helen that we needed to get petrol....quickly!
So we turned off the motorway onto a dual carriageway, and spotted a petrol station on the other side of the road. Great, but, then we had to drive up the carriageway, round the roundabout and down back to the petrol station. It was a good mile!
The inevitable happened, we were driving up this side of the road when the the car ground to a halt. Nightmare.
- We were on the wrong side of the road from the petrol station
- It was dark
- It was Friday rush hour,
- and....it was raining.
OH MY GOD, we both start to panic a bit, thinking that he's probably some form of rapist or sex offender. Problem is, we really needed his help. So we go into a huddle and decide to accept his offer of a lift to the petrol station, with Helen in the front of the bus, and me in the back holding the petrol canister, poised ready to hit him over the head with it, just in case he did anything dodgy!
We got to the petrol station and got out with a sigh of relief that neither of us had been killed, but we are polite girls and thanked him profusely for his help.
"What do you mean?" He said. "I'm going to give you a lift back to your car".
We were both pleased and terrified - pleased because at this point we were worried about being late for our show, and terrified because we had to go through the petrol can/head/might attack us journey again.
As we travelled the mile and a half or so back round the dual carriageway to the car, we got chatting to him and turns out he drove the bus for the local handicapped club, his wife had died recently, and he was 'keeping himself busy' doing some good things for the local community.
We got back to the car, and he parked the van at a bit of an angle so as to protect us from the traffic whilst I was filling the car up from the can. He drove out a bit into the dual carriageway to allow us to get back on to the road and he also followed us back to the garage to make sure we got there to fill up properly.
As we waved him off, we felt SOOOOOOO guilty for thinking that he was a sex-offender! What a lovely man. He was just trying to help out two girls stranded on the side of the road. He was a genuinely nice person.
More Nice People - A Christmassy Tale
About a year ago, Dan posted a link to a heartwarming story which reminded us that there are some lovely people out there in the world - even amongst all the trauma.
Ever since, I've been meaning to do a post on a really nice thing that happened to the Rossi family (and me in particular) one Christmas morning.
It was Christmas Day 1986 - I was in the Upper 6th at school - and I'd just completed my set of mock A'Level exams in anticipation of the real ones coming up that summer. I think I failed most of them but that's not relevant to the story!
We'd just got back from Mass and were in the process of preparing for our 'at home' party which we had always had on Christmas morning - half the parish would call round after each of the morning Masses and have a little Chrimbly tipple, some panettone, mince pies, and all the lovely nibbles of the season.
It wasn't time for any of the guests to arrive yet, but the doorbell rang and I ran off to answer it. As I did, a car which looked as though it was waiting until someone opened the door, moved off and drove away down the street. How weird. I thought it was someone hand-delivering a card - but you'd have thought they'd put their head round the door to say hello, seeing as it was Christmas morning!
I looked down and there was a plastic carrier bag on the doorstep. Weirder still! I picked it up and brought it into the dining room. Mum, Dad, Janey and Uncle Jim were there. I told them what had happened and we all started to get a bit nervous. Was it a bomb? Who would leave a bag of stuff, anonymously, on someone's doorstep, on Christmas morning? Curiouser & curiouser, as Alice would say.
Inside the bag were a number of little parcels wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper.
Eventually, we plucked up the courage to open the first one and found a toy, suitable for a little girl, aged about 5 or 6 years old. What was going on? We opened the next one, another toy, again suitable for a tiny child. A children's book, a puzzle, a teddy. This was very strange indeed.
Eventually we got to the bottom of the bag, and opened the last parcel. Inside, beautifully shrouded in coloured tissue paper, was my favourite, and oldest cuddly toy. A little pig, called 'Piggy' (good job I went into the sciences, rather than the arts!) who I'd had since the day I was born.
Piggy is a MUCH LOVED toy, whose hands and feet I chewed on as an infant, and so my Nonna sewed him a little yellow jumper and orange shoes, to keep his stuffing in. He once was pink, and fluffy, but over the years he's gone a bit grey, and bald! You just can see how much he's been hugged!!!!
So, how come he ended up in a bag of toys on our doorstep on Christmas morning?
Well, as mentioned at the top of this blog, It was exam time, and as well as being my oldest toy, he was my lucky mascot during exams and has sat on the exam table with me for every test I've ever taken! Fortunately, Mum made me stick an address lable to his shoe when I took him out of the house.
So.....all we can speculate is that I must have dropped him somewhere, and someone lovely found him, on the bus or in the street, and pictured the little girl who was going to be missing this well loved toy. They must have planned to deliver her a lovely surprise on Christmas morning by returning Piggy and a whole load of other toys, suitable for the owner of this little pig. Little did they know that the little girl was not so little - 18 years old and sitting her A'Levels!
It really made our Christmas Day, we thought it was WONDERFUL. Proper Christmas spirit. And we kept imagining the family who must have been enjoying their Christmas day because they'd done a good deed to a little girl who had lost her favourite toy!
Needless to say the toys which I was given, went to a deserving cause, and Piggy has been kept safe with me, sat on the bed, for the last 22 years!
He's getting on a bit now (a bit like his owner, he he) and Auntie Bo has recently done him a refurb, so he's all bright and shiny again - although he is still a bit grey and balding! It doesn't matter, i'll always love him!
Ever since, I've been meaning to do a post on a really nice thing that happened to the Rossi family (and me in particular) one Christmas morning.
It was Christmas Day 1986 - I was in the Upper 6th at school - and I'd just completed my set of mock A'Level exams in anticipation of the real ones coming up that summer. I think I failed most of them but that's not relevant to the story!
We'd just got back from Mass and were in the process of preparing for our 'at home' party which we had always had on Christmas morning - half the parish would call round after each of the morning Masses and have a little Chrimbly tipple, some panettone, mince pies, and all the lovely nibbles of the season.
It wasn't time for any of the guests to arrive yet, but the doorbell rang and I ran off to answer it. As I did, a car which looked as though it was waiting until someone opened the door, moved off and drove away down the street. How weird. I thought it was someone hand-delivering a card - but you'd have thought they'd put their head round the door to say hello, seeing as it was Christmas morning!
I looked down and there was a plastic carrier bag on the doorstep. Weirder still! I picked it up and brought it into the dining room. Mum, Dad, Janey and Uncle Jim were there. I told them what had happened and we all started to get a bit nervous. Was it a bomb? Who would leave a bag of stuff, anonymously, on someone's doorstep, on Christmas morning? Curiouser & curiouser, as Alice would say.
Inside the bag were a number of little parcels wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper.
Eventually, we plucked up the courage to open the first one and found a toy, suitable for a little girl, aged about 5 or 6 years old. What was going on? We opened the next one, another toy, again suitable for a tiny child. A children's book, a puzzle, a teddy. This was very strange indeed.
Eventually we got to the bottom of the bag, and opened the last parcel. Inside, beautifully shrouded in coloured tissue paper, was my favourite, and oldest cuddly toy. A little pig, called 'Piggy' (good job I went into the sciences, rather than the arts!) who I'd had since the day I was born.
Piggy is a MUCH LOVED toy, whose hands and feet I chewed on as an infant, and so my Nonna sewed him a little yellow jumper and orange shoes, to keep his stuffing in. He once was pink, and fluffy, but over the years he's gone a bit grey, and bald! You just can see how much he's been hugged!!!!
So, how come he ended up in a bag of toys on our doorstep on Christmas morning?
Well, as mentioned at the top of this blog, It was exam time, and as well as being my oldest toy, he was my lucky mascot during exams and has sat on the exam table with me for every test I've ever taken! Fortunately, Mum made me stick an address lable to his shoe when I took him out of the house.
So.....all we can speculate is that I must have dropped him somewhere, and someone lovely found him, on the bus or in the street, and pictured the little girl who was going to be missing this well loved toy. They must have planned to deliver her a lovely surprise on Christmas morning by returning Piggy and a whole load of other toys, suitable for the owner of this little pig. Little did they know that the little girl was not so little - 18 years old and sitting her A'Levels!
It really made our Christmas Day, we thought it was WONDERFUL. Proper Christmas spirit. And we kept imagining the family who must have been enjoying their Christmas day because they'd done a good deed to a little girl who had lost her favourite toy!
Needless to say the toys which I was given, went to a deserving cause, and Piggy has been kept safe with me, sat on the bed, for the last 22 years!
He's getting on a bit now (a bit like his owner, he he) and Auntie Bo has recently done him a refurb, so he's all bright and shiny again - although he is still a bit grey and balding! It doesn't matter, i'll always love him!
9 Nov 2008
A lovely weekend in Bristol
We're just back from a fab weekend in Bristol with Helen and Steve. It's been very relaxing - we drove down on Friday afternoon and apart from a bit of traffic on the M1, we had a clear run. Starting early meant that we got there at 5:45! Brilliant for a Friday night. Needless to say we made the most of it - I think it was well after midnight when we crashed - many bottles of wine later!On Saturday we went for a nice walk into town - it was about 4 miles in the end as we came up to the downs and got a beautiful view of the Clifton suspension bridge. How lovely to be able to walk to this!!!
Anyway, we then ended up sitting in a nice pub (The Albion) for a coffee and a pint (or 2). A hair of the dog for the night before.
We followed on the evening at a nice restaurant in Clifton Village for early dinner - and then grabbed a taxi home for a pleasant evening in front of the 'X-factor' and 'Strictly'!!!
Today (Sunday) we had great plans for going down into the town centre, wandering about and taking in the harbour and surrounding areas....however, the weather had a slightly different idea....proceeding to absolutely chuck it down all morning and making us rather disinclined to leave the house. So we didn't! We've sat around drinking coffee and then had leftovers from Friday's lovely dinner, for lunch!
We left a bit earlier than usual - about 2:45 - in order to try and get home before dark. Didn't quite make it but we were home by 6 and now we're cooking in the warm lounge with the fire turned right up!
7 Nov 2008
Jenny Wren
I was upstairs in Conrad&Michelle's house and I could hear Michelle downstairs 'where are you birdie, where did you go?' I came out on the landing just as she was coming up the stairs. She told me that she'd just seen a bird fly in the front door, along the hallway and up the stairs.
We had a bit of a look round the landing - it must be there somewhere as all the bedroom doors were shut - but we couldn't find it. Michelle opened the office door (at the head of the stairs) and opened the window, so that if the bird saw it, it'd be able to get out.
She walked towards her bedroom and started opening in the door. Just as she did so, the bird flew accross the landing, and into the bedroom! We crept in and were both quite surprised to see a tiny wren in the wardrobe! Fortunately it wasn't distressed at its predicament. No 'presents' left for Michelle to clean up!!!!
We opened the bedroom window and stood back. Within about 10 seconds the wren was sitting on the top of the sash, and in another couple, it had flown out.
Awwww it was so tiny! And cute!
No pics tho - it all happened a bit too fast.
We had a bit of a look round the landing - it must be there somewhere as all the bedroom doors were shut - but we couldn't find it. Michelle opened the office door (at the head of the stairs) and opened the window, so that if the bird saw it, it'd be able to get out.
She walked towards her bedroom and started opening in the door. Just as she did so, the bird flew accross the landing, and into the bedroom! We crept in and were both quite surprised to see a tiny wren in the wardrobe! Fortunately it wasn't distressed at its predicament. No 'presents' left for Michelle to clean up!!!!
We opened the bedroom window and stood back. Within about 10 seconds the wren was sitting on the top of the sash, and in another couple, it had flown out.
Awwww it was so tiny! And cute!
No pics tho - it all happened a bit too fast.
5 Nov 2008
Pics from the Scottish weekend
We had a lovely weekend up in Scotland with Conrad & Michelle as we blogged a couple of times already becauuse I'm feeling quite blogtastic at the moment!!!
In the first post I mentioned about the birdies outside the window and as I've just managed to get the photos of the camera, I thought I'd share the nice one I took of the bird peeking out of the nest.....cute or what? It's actually a sparrow in a house martin's nest - an avian squatter!
Next we went for a little walk up the hill behind C&M's house. You get some lovely views of the house, the valley and the Tay estuary beyond....house is in the red circle in the centre of the pic.
Rest of the pictures are here on Picassa web albums
In the first post I mentioned about the birdies outside the window and as I've just managed to get the photos of the camera, I thought I'd share the nice one I took of the bird peeking out of the nest.....cute or what? It's actually a sparrow in a house martin's nest - an avian squatter!
Next we went for a little walk up the hill behind C&M's house. You get some lovely views of the house, the valley and the Tay estuary beyond....house is in the red circle in the centre of the pic.
Rest of the pictures are here on Picassa web albums
The whole Brussels/Visa/USA debacle
I seem to have blogged this story in dribs and drabs, and in totally random order - mainly because I've not really wanted to think about the trauma of it all in its entirety! So here's a summary of the articles, in an order that makes sense!
Pour the wine, settle down, and prepare for the trip from hell.
It's a wonder I didn't get some stress related illness......!
Pour the wine, settle down, and prepare for the trip from hell.
It's a wonder I didn't get some stress related illness......!
An unexpected night in New York - and finally Raleigh
Not the sort of thing that happens every day. And, I never thought I'd ever find myself there and not actually WANT to be there....! But nevertheless on this trip fraught with trauma, it was the case!
My previous blogging of 'nearly' getting to Raleigh got me as far as JFK airport, and so the story continues with me standing, chocking back the tears, at 11pm, as the Continental Arlines lady told me that they weren't going to be able to get me to Raleigh that evening. I was gutted. My hotel was booked in Raleigh - it was late. 11pm US time which meant that I'd been travelling for 22 hours since Brussels - I was in New York, and I didn't want to be there.
So, first things first, let's get me on a flight to Raleigh tomorrow. I knew there was an 8:05 flight and an 11am one the next morning. But the Continental lady disappointed me yet again. All the direct flights from JFK to Raleigh were fully booked. She could only get me there via Cleveland (Ohio) and that wasn't until 3pm the following afternoon.
Dispair truly set in when I phoned the AmEx travel line people only to find that because of the tornado shutting the whole airport, there were hundreds of people looking for a place to stay. I was too late for a place at an airport hotel. I was too late for a place within 2, 5 or 10 miles from the airport. I ended up getting somewhere in Long Island City....10.5 miles from the airport and virtually in Manhatten.
A I walked into the 'La Quinta Inn' the manager said - "you must be Miss Rossi, you're so lucky, when your agent phoned, we had just received a cancellation or we'd not have had a room to offer you". The staff were lovely and freindly and although the place itself looked a bit shabby, I was relieved to get somewhere. (anywhere) I just wanted to sleep. I'd been travelling for 23 hours by this time.
I got into the room, ready to collapse, and was confronted with this - a BATH next to the bed - complete with frayed carpet around the tiled splash area. Special. I'm sure it must have been theyr idea of a honeymoon suite. I didn't want to think about what it had been used for.
Good job I was so tired - I got into my nightie and laid on the bed with the TV on to watch some of the Olympics and wind down. Sniff, sniff. Hmmm, I thought - travelling doesn't exactly keep you clean and fresh - must get a shower before falling asleep. It was with extreme horror then, that I realised that the nasty BO niffings I smelled, wasn't eminating from my person, but from the BEDSHEETS! Eeeeeeeeeeeeek. Under normal circumstances I'd have been right up to reception, asking for a new room, clean sheets, compensation. I have to confess that I was soooooo tired, I put a scarf over the pillow, spreyed my bed with perfume, and launched into one of the best night's sleep I've had!!!!
I woke up about 9am the next morning and after connecting to the internet and working out where I was exactly, I decided best not to go for a wander to explore the local environs. I holed myself up in the hotel and chatted to the family on MSN/Skype, and watched the Olympics.
At midday I headed back to JFK and had a remarkably uneventful trip to Raleigh via Cleveland - nothing worth mentioning other than the fact that as we were coming in to land at Cleveland, I saw what I thought was the coast, and realised it was in fact Lake Ontario - an amazing vast body of water which is SO BIG, it LOOKS like the sea....
View Larger Map
My previous blogging of 'nearly' getting to Raleigh got me as far as JFK airport, and so the story continues with me standing, chocking back the tears, at 11pm, as the Continental Arlines lady told me that they weren't going to be able to get me to Raleigh that evening. I was gutted. My hotel was booked in Raleigh - it was late. 11pm US time which meant that I'd been travelling for 22 hours since Brussels - I was in New York, and I didn't want to be there.
So, first things first, let's get me on a flight to Raleigh tomorrow. I knew there was an 8:05 flight and an 11am one the next morning. But the Continental lady disappointed me yet again. All the direct flights from JFK to Raleigh were fully booked. She could only get me there via Cleveland (Ohio) and that wasn't until 3pm the following afternoon.
Dispair truly set in when I phoned the AmEx travel line people only to find that because of the tornado shutting the whole airport, there were hundreds of people looking for a place to stay. I was too late for a place at an airport hotel. I was too late for a place within 2, 5 or 10 miles from the airport. I ended up getting somewhere in Long Island City....10.5 miles from the airport and virtually in Manhatten.
A I walked into the 'La Quinta Inn' the manager said - "you must be Miss Rossi, you're so lucky, when your agent phoned, we had just received a cancellation or we'd not have had a room to offer you". The staff were lovely and freindly and although the place itself looked a bit shabby, I was relieved to get somewhere. (anywhere) I just wanted to sleep. I'd been travelling for 23 hours by this time.
I got into the room, ready to collapse, and was confronted with this - a BATH next to the bed - complete with frayed carpet around the tiled splash area. Special. I'm sure it must have been theyr idea of a honeymoon suite. I didn't want to think about what it had been used for.
Good job I was so tired - I got into my nightie and laid on the bed with the TV on to watch some of the Olympics and wind down. Sniff, sniff. Hmmm, I thought - travelling doesn't exactly keep you clean and fresh - must get a shower before falling asleep. It was with extreme horror then, that I realised that the nasty BO niffings I smelled, wasn't eminating from my person, but from the BEDSHEETS! Eeeeeeeeeeeeek. Under normal circumstances I'd have been right up to reception, asking for a new room, clean sheets, compensation. I have to confess that I was soooooo tired, I put a scarf over the pillow, spreyed my bed with perfume, and launched into one of the best night's sleep I've had!!!!
I woke up about 9am the next morning and after connecting to the internet and working out where I was exactly, I decided best not to go for a wander to explore the local environs. I holed myself up in the hotel and chatted to the family on MSN/Skype, and watched the Olympics.
At midday I headed back to JFK and had a remarkably uneventful trip to Raleigh via Cleveland - nothing worth mentioning other than the fact that as we were coming in to land at Cleveland, I saw what I thought was the coast, and realised it was in fact Lake Ontario - an amazing vast body of water which is SO BIG, it LOOKS like the sea....
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4 Nov 2008
Many apologies to the people of Tewkesbury
...and Colin and Chris, for being the pedants they are, and for noticing the incorrect spelling of TEWK_SBURY (missing an 'e').
Sackcloth and ashes will be my wardrobe for the foreseeable future.
Humbly
Liza
Sackcloth and ashes will be my wardrobe for the foreseeable future.
Humbly
Liza
3 Nov 2008
Tewksbury & Vaughn Williams
As we were in the St James church in Chipping Campden, (which gets 4 stars in my 1000 best churches book) Jacq said, "how many stars does it go up to?" I turned the page. Tewksbury Abbey was the next church listed. It had 5 stars! "Five" I said. We looked at each other. "How far away is Tewksbury?" We worked out that it was about 20 miles. Too close to miss, we decide...and off we go!
Well it certainly was worth the journey. An absolutely stunning church (not a cathedral, they were very insistant to point out) in fact 14 of Britain's cathedrals are smaller!
As we wandering round the back of the beautiful church, round the outside of the choir, we heard this beautiful sound....
It sounded so perfect, like a recording, but as we came back round to the front of the choir, we realised that an orchestra was rehearsing for that evening's concert. A Vaughn Williams evening. Very haunting and beautiful music. It totally made the visit to the Church! The acoustics were perfect - and we decided that the sound was better when we were at the back of the choir than in the 'audience'. Fab!
Well it certainly was worth the journey. An absolutely stunning church (not a cathedral, they were very insistant to point out) in fact 14 of Britain's cathedrals are smaller!
As we wandering round the back of the beautiful church, round the outside of the choir, we heard this beautiful sound....
It sounded so perfect, like a recording, but as we came back round to the front of the choir, we realised that an orchestra was rehearsing for that evening's concert. A Vaughn Williams evening. Very haunting and beautiful music. It totally made the visit to the Church! The acoustics were perfect - and we decided that the sound was better when we were at the back of the choir than in the 'audience'. Fab!
Chats, Churches and beautiful strange curly things
I briefly mentioned that Jackie and I spent a lovely weekend in the Cotswolds a few weeks ago, here's a bit more detail.....
So, I'd been at a test conference down in IBM Hursley the 2 days before, and finished work at 12pm. I just got a text from Jacq to say she'd already arrived at the hotel....and so I got on my way....up the A34 and then turn left at Oxford.....towards Chipping Campden.
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As I got into the Cotswolds, it got so pretty, and I slowed down driving to take it all in. Woodstock is GORGEOUS!
Anyway, with a bit of help and directions from Jacq, I arrived without too much trouble in the lovely old pub where we'd decided to stay. The Volunteer Inn. Very nice.
We had a lovely chat & a catch up - can it really have been that long....? Guinness, a fire, and curry were all involved in the evening. Most lovely.
Next day we headed off to the Church - St James - it scores very highly in my 'England's thousand best churches' book. The church is gorgeous.
After the church we went to have a look at the lovely arts & crafts museum - Court barn - virtually next door to the church. It was really interesting. A history.jpg)
of the Arts and Crafts movement in the Cotswolds. The most interesting part was the exhibition from a local artist, 
Jenny Ford, who made these lovely curly things out of cloth and wire things she finds in skips! The looked like a cross between flowers (very organic) and pied piper shoes - pointy & curly! Gorgeous. Jenny was there and was incredibly interesting to talk to. She was explaining her techniques (very patient stitching of wires into cloth), and inspirations (medieval clothing), and where she gets her materials from (skips!)
So, I'd been at a test conference down in IBM Hursley the 2 days before, and finished work at 12pm. I just got a text from Jacq to say she'd already arrived at the hotel....and so I got on my way....up the A34 and then turn left at Oxford.....towards Chipping Campden.
View Larger Map
As I got into the Cotswolds, it got so pretty, and I slowed down driving to take it all in. Woodstock is GORGEOUS!
Anyway, with a bit of help and directions from Jacq, I arrived without too much trouble in the lovely old pub where we'd decided to stay. The Volunteer Inn. Very nice.
We had a lovely chat & a catch up - can it really have been that long....? Guinness, a fire, and curry were all involved in the evening. Most lovely.
Next day we headed off to the Church - St James - it scores very highly in my 'England's thousand best churches' book. The church is gorgeous.
After the church we went to have a look at the lovely arts & crafts museum - Court barn - virtually next door to the church. It was really interesting. A history
.jpg)
of the Arts and Crafts movement in the Cotswolds. The most interesting part was the exhibition from a local artist, Jenny Ford, who made these lovely curly things out of cloth and wire things she finds in skips! The looked like a cross between flowers (very organic) and pied piper shoes - pointy & curly! Gorgeous. Jenny was there and was incredibly interesting to talk to. She was explaining her techniques (very patient stitching of wires into cloth), and inspirations (medieval clothing), and where she gets her materials from (skips!)
Last chance to see....
....the chickens :-(It's a sad tale, but the lovely chickens, which are kept in the best chicken run in the world, and which are just around the corner from Conrad & Michelle's house, and about which I have blogged previously, are going. Apparently some sort of disagreement has arisen between the man who keeps them, and the landowners (his landlord).
This weekend was going to be their last. Sob.
They were being picked up early on Saturday morning. There were a few solitary birds left when we went to see them on Saturday lunchtime - barely glimpsed thru the trees in the pic - but even they're destined for the pot.
We are very sad.
2 Nov 2008
More Scottish Activities
After being woken up by the birdy noises yestrerday morning, we went for a wander to the Glendoik Garden Centre, about 2 minutes wander from Conrad & Michelle's. We were looking for "fireplace paraphenalia" - tongs, brush, shovel, poker, coal, peat etc - but nothing doing. It's a lovely place tho, so we did have a nice wander round.
After lunch we decided to go for a bit of a drive....
Ended up being a MEGA one....but really nice! The countryside round here is truly lovely.
We finally foound some fuel at the nearest garage to C&M's house - but no fireplace furniture as yet. That's today's job. After a small surf I've found 2 potential locations....
After lunch we decided to go for a bit of a drive....
Ended up being a MEGA one....but really nice! The countryside round here is truly lovely.
We finally foound some fuel at the nearest garage to C&M's house - but no fireplace furniture as yet. That's today's job. After a small surf I've found 2 potential locations....
1, Melville Street,
Perth,
Perthshire
PH1 5PY
Tel: 01738 624902
- Marble, Stone & Wood
- Marble Sets & Victorian Insert
- Electric & Gas Fires
- All Makes,Traditional & Modern
- Custom Made Mantels
- Bespoke Fireplaces
Inveralmond Place,
Inveralmond Industrial Estate,
Perth,
Perthshire
PH1 3TS
Tel: 01738 633113
- Wood Burning Stoves
- Rayburn Range Cookers
- Fireplaces
- Gas & Oil Fired Stoves
- Chimney & Flue Systems
- Expert Advice & Guidance
1 Nov 2008
Lanzagrotty Part 2
I've finally got round to putting the piccies up onto Picassa, so they're scrolling over in the slideshow for a bit but the permanent link to them is here.Anyway, I think in my previous posting on the subject we'd got as far as taking off - no mean feat given my recent bad luck with flights! Anyway, we landed, and then the trouble started! It turns out that one of the reasons our flight was delayed was that the ATC people were having a problem with the system and therefore instead of being able to let planes take-off at a rate of about 1 a minute (at Gatwick) it was 1 every 7 minutes. You can imagine the delays that were building up - 6 or 7 hours, hence why we were merged with the XL rescue flight. Anyway, eventually that propblem sorted itself out, and therefore a load of delayed flights all took off around the same time (one minute apart!) in the evening. Of course, it being the tourist season, that meant that a load of flights all landed, late, at Arrecife airport, all at the same time. The baggage handlers just couldn't cope. Over an hour waiting for the bags.
Whilst we were walking up and down baggage reclaim, looking for the right carousel with our luggage on it, we could see out into the arrivals hall. There was a stressed-looking lady with 'ROSSI' printed on a card. I did the 'it's me' mime through the glass doors, and she looked relieved to have found us. I assumed it was the taxi we'd pre-booked.
When we got out to the arrivals, we met up with the lady whose name was Paula. She turned out to be not the taxi person but the JamesVillas rep. There was a problem with our villa (Villa Lapa) - roadworks outside the gate, and she was there to offer us a swap. Another nice villa we'd been looking at called LanzaVilla.
Going outside the airport we realised that there was a MASSIVE queue for taxis, yes even the pre-booked ones, due to all the late flights arriving at once, and so, Paula, bless her, crammed us all into her little Yaris, luggage an' all, and saved us over an hour's wait in the queue!
In the end, we decided to take them up on the new villa - in the pictures, the Villa Lapa looked nicer but actually LanzaVilla had a nicer pool and outside area - and the decor inside was just a little bit newer!
The rest of the holiday was quite uneventful - eating, drinking, laughing (alot!) and much relaxation was had.
On the way home, the only thing that hadn't happened in my recent travel traumas, finally occurred; I lost my luggage. It didn't arrive off the carousel at Gatwick. Not as traumatic as losing it on the way out - by this point it was 3am and we didn't care! Dropped Janey off home and we headed back up to Leeds arriving hime a few minutes before 7am, and we crashed out and went to sleep. At 1pm the doorbell rang and it was the luggage (not The Luggage!) delivered by a courrier. So really I never even noticed its absence! Thanks Monarch!
In Scotland
After a bit of a harrowing journey last night (5 hours, eeeeeek) during which we encountered rain, sleet, snow and howling gales, we finally reached Glendoik - Conrad & Michelle's lovely home. It was very welcoming as usual - extra special this time as they have got the fire going in the lounge. Dan and Michelle are pyros so it was great fun!This morning we've woken up to the sparrows scrabbling against the bedroom windows. They have taken over the nests left by the house martins or swallows, from the summer. No idea what they're doing - isn't it a bit late to be having babies? - but anyway, they're as busy as bees, flying in and out of the nest every minute or so.
Also, another strange wildlife creature has appeared in the room....it's the pinker spotted Dan, wearing his Mum's dressing gown. Very scary!!! To be honest I'm surprised he's not wearing a kilt today as he's gone very Scottish on me. Conversation this morning has ranged around the subjects of Grouse, Deer, Birds of Prey, Otters, Lochs, Perthshire Honey and whether there is snow in Aviemore. All in relation to 'what we're going to do today'! Either he's fogotten we're only here for the weekend, or he's thinking of staying!
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