Despite the heavy rain shower forecast, the Felday house set out for a day at the races. We were dressed to the nines in our fancy dresses, fascinators, and suit carrying bags with wine and snacks for a lovely picnic at the race. Next came the journey to Ascot which was delayed almost an hour than we had planned due to the ridiculously long lines at the station to pick up our pre-paid rail tickets. Luckily enough we were able to get seats for the hour long train ride and Monica even found a People's magazine for us to peruse.
As luck would have it though it was raining when we arrived in Ascot. We all brought our umbrellas which helped immensely as we made the trek from the station to the grounds. Deciding to be rebels we walked on the road on the outside of the barrier and beat much of the well dressed crowd that were also walking towards the gate. Everyone looked fabulous and it was great to see all the different dresses, fascinators, top hats, and tails. For some reason it made me feel as if I were in a Victorian movie.
After a couple phone calls and texts we located Fletcher, Jade, and their friends who had a prime spot right by the track. We quickly got settled and opened up the bottles of wine. We were about to go make our first bet when the Queen hit the track. We stayed put and got the see the Queen go by in her carriage and do a little wave. She even smiled!
Those who know me know that I'm not much of a gambler. I've been to a casino maybe 3 or 4 times and each time I've spent no more than $20 each time. So, betting on horse races wouldn't seem like my kind of thing. Nevertheless, I got right into it and chose my first horse named Self Centered to come in either first, second, or third. He had 18-1 odds which I didn't find out until after I had bet but I was feeling lucky! The race started and we watched most of it on a big screen until finally they came zooming by us. All of a sudden I started hearing my horses's name being called out repeatedly and I got super excited because he came in 3rd! I brought my ticket back to the counter and I won 3 times my bet! I only bet 4 pounds so it's not like I was in the millions but I didn't care. I was just excited that I had actually won. I wasn't as lucky the rest of the time but it didn't matter. There was great wine, snacks, and company. Just the recipe for a wonderful afternoon at the races.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Return from the blog hiatus....Spain and Portugal edition
I know, I know, it's been ages since my last post and I haven't told everyone about my travels yet. I've just been so exhausted and frankly didn't feel like spending time trying to recap all of the details of the trips. However, I'm going to persevere and attempt to give a shortened version of my trips.
First off...I absolutely love travelling. It can be quite exhausting, especially the way I do it (quick visits to many places) but it is always fun and totally worth the money I no longer have. The first big trip was over the Easter holidays where we had 2 weeks to travel. Susan, Monica, Chris and I went to Spain. We ended up doing 2 days in each of the following cities: Madrid, Granada, Malaga, and Sevilla. Each city had its own charm, positive aspects, and unfortunately things we disliked. I'll break it down rather simply by city.
Madrid: Our trip started off here and we were sooo excited because we were leaving London for a lovely hot country. We were a little wary since we didn't know the language but we took a Spanish language book that I found in the lounge with us and it helped a lot. We learned the correct phrases to be polite, ask for things, and excuse ourselves. This definitely came in handy for the rest of the trip. The highlights of Madrid were the 3 hour walking tour that we took (guided by a man from Blackheath which is 10mins from my house in Lewisham). We learned about the history of Spain and saw many neat places that we never would've seen on our own. Another highlight was the tapas tour where we went to various bars and got free food when we ordered drinks. What I disliked about Madrid was our hostel. Unfortunately there was a large group staying there and they were ridiculously loud. The only positive that came out of that experience is that now when booking hostels I will make sure that they don't allow large groups.
Granada: The next stop was about 5 hours south in Granada which was absolutely beautiful. I would definitely go there again as the people were great and the tapas was much better than in Madrid. Highlights of Granada include the medieval tapas bar, our gorgeous hostel (Oasis Backpackers), the Alhambra, and learning that Spain's partying doesn't kick off until about 2am. If you were ever to go to Granada I would suggest staying at the same hostel. We paid a little more but it was certainly worth it. Our rooms were clean, beds comfy, breakfast delicious, and we even had a wicked view from the rooftop terrace. The Alhambra, a 14th century Moorish palace and fortress, was spectacular. It was a little bit of a journey to get to the palace and it was slightly overpriced for what you got to see but is something you cannot miss if you ever get there. Finally, we met some young British lads who were teaching English in Madrid and hit the town with them. When we arrived at the club around 11:30pm we were the only ones there. The place was packed by 2 and everyone partied until 6am! Somehow I managed to stay up (yes, me who goes to bed by 10 usually) and discovered I could power through most nights out like this for the rest of the trip.
Malaga: We headed south to the coastal town of Malaga which touches the Mediterranean Sea. It was here that we found out about Semana Santa (Holy Week) and the devotion of the Spanish people to their Catholic traditions. During Semana Santa many cities across Spain have religious processions across the city. People are dressed up in religious costumes, carrying huge statues of Jesus or crucifixes, and playing music through the streets. These processions go on all day and night and people line the streets to see it. At first it was really neat to see this because I had no idea that this happened but by the end of our trip we were frustrated with them because there were crowds and road blocks everywhere you went. The weather in Malaga wasn't as cooperative as we'd like which meant we didn't spend much time on the beach which our hostel was right across the street from. We wandered around the city on our own taking in the sights and climbing to the top of a giant hill to get some great views of the city and coast.
Sevilla: This was the last stop in Spain and was my least favourite part of the trip. Sevilla is essentially the capital of the processions for Semana Santa and most of the city was closed off which proved difficult for us to get around. Highlights include the Flamenco night and the Plaza Espana. Our hostel arranged for a large group of people to see a Flamenco show where we got to see the traditional dance in an intimate setting while drinking sangria and Spanish beer. On what was supposed to be our last day we walked to the Plaza Espana which was a palace in a Star Wars movie so Susan and Chris were super excited to see it (they're Star Wars geeks, haha). It was quite an impressive place and we ended up paying 5 euros to take a little row boat around the water in front of it. Monica and Chris left to go back to London and Susan and I puttered around a bit more before going to catch our overnight bus to Lisbon. Unfortunately this did not happen as some jerk pick-pocketed Susan at the bus station and stole her passport. Luckily it was recovered but it was a crazy ordeal with a roller coaster of emotions right up to the end when Susan practically attacked the police man with excitement when he showed her it was recovered.
Lisbon: After a little bit of a delay because we had to take a bus throughout the daytime we got to Lisbon. Our hostel had a great homey vibe to it and the people were so nice to us. It was such a relief after the ordeal we went through in Sevilla. Highlights of Lisbon include the awesome hostel, walking tour, and our day trip to Sintra. Although our walking tour was mostly in the rain we had a great guide who showed us around many of the cute places in Lisbon and told us about much of the country's history. I didn't know much about Portugal to begin with so it was quite informative. We met a really nice Canadian from Alberta who came with us to a cafe where were discovered an amazing Portugese dessert (we liked it so much we each had two). On advice from everyone who had been to Lisbon, we took a day trip to Sintra which is a small town about 45mins away. We got to see the Pena Palace which sits atop of a hill surrounded by forest and vast gardens. The palace was impressive but the queues to get in and the way they organized the visit were irritating. What was more impressive were the remains of a 9th century Moorish castle which were also atop a large hill. Only the walls remain but that is just a testament to how well that fortress was made to protect the King. It was very foggy and a little rainy when we visit Sintra but it gave it a little bit of a mystic element to seeing these historical sights. After our touring we stopped at a little restaurant for some dinner and met a lovely waiter who insisted on being our own personal tour guide and proceeded to give us all of his contact details. Sorry Bruno, I think your card ended up in the bin.
Porto: This was the last stop on our trip. At this point we were pretty exhausted but totally in love with Portugal because of how friendly the people were and how beautiful it was. We had terrible directions to the hostel but eventually made it there after many stops and finally running into some boys who run a pub crawl at night. Highlights of Porto include the late night tour and finally getting to put my feet in the ocean. We were easily convinced by the boys to join their late night tour which started at a bar outside our hostel and ended at 6am. A guy we met on the bus to Porto ended up coming out as well which was neat. We went to a bunch of different bars, played drinking games in the park, and met some really fun people. It was definitely an awesome last night out. The next day by some miracle I did not have a hangover and Susan and I hopped on a bus and went to the beach. It was too cold to go swimming and too cloudy for tanning but we had fun nonetheless. I was like a kid in a candy shop and got all giddy and excited as we got closer to the water. I was so excited in fact that I didn't even realize how fast the tide was coming in and got drenched almost up to my waist. After a couple hours taking in the last of the city we headed to the airport to go back to London.
Although I was exhausted from my travels I had 3 days to prepare for my sister's arrival and the next European adventure which was to start the following week. =)
First off...I absolutely love travelling. It can be quite exhausting, especially the way I do it (quick visits to many places) but it is always fun and totally worth the money I no longer have. The first big trip was over the Easter holidays where we had 2 weeks to travel. Susan, Monica, Chris and I went to Spain. We ended up doing 2 days in each of the following cities: Madrid, Granada, Malaga, and Sevilla. Each city had its own charm, positive aspects, and unfortunately things we disliked. I'll break it down rather simply by city.
Madrid: Our trip started off here and we were sooo excited because we were leaving London for a lovely hot country. We were a little wary since we didn't know the language but we took a Spanish language book that I found in the lounge with us and it helped a lot. We learned the correct phrases to be polite, ask for things, and excuse ourselves. This definitely came in handy for the rest of the trip. The highlights of Madrid were the 3 hour walking tour that we took (guided by a man from Blackheath which is 10mins from my house in Lewisham). We learned about the history of Spain and saw many neat places that we never would've seen on our own. Another highlight was the tapas tour where we went to various bars and got free food when we ordered drinks. What I disliked about Madrid was our hostel. Unfortunately there was a large group staying there and they were ridiculously loud. The only positive that came out of that experience is that now when booking hostels I will make sure that they don't allow large groups.
Granada: The next stop was about 5 hours south in Granada which was absolutely beautiful. I would definitely go there again as the people were great and the tapas was much better than in Madrid. Highlights of Granada include the medieval tapas bar, our gorgeous hostel (Oasis Backpackers), the Alhambra, and learning that Spain's partying doesn't kick off until about 2am. If you were ever to go to Granada I would suggest staying at the same hostel. We paid a little more but it was certainly worth it. Our rooms were clean, beds comfy, breakfast delicious, and we even had a wicked view from the rooftop terrace. The Alhambra, a 14th century Moorish palace and fortress, was spectacular. It was a little bit of a journey to get to the palace and it was slightly overpriced for what you got to see but is something you cannot miss if you ever get there. Finally, we met some young British lads who were teaching English in Madrid and hit the town with them. When we arrived at the club around 11:30pm we were the only ones there. The place was packed by 2 and everyone partied until 6am! Somehow I managed to stay up (yes, me who goes to bed by 10 usually) and discovered I could power through most nights out like this for the rest of the trip.
Malaga: We headed south to the coastal town of Malaga which touches the Mediterranean Sea. It was here that we found out about Semana Santa (Holy Week) and the devotion of the Spanish people to their Catholic traditions. During Semana Santa many cities across Spain have religious processions across the city. People are dressed up in religious costumes, carrying huge statues of Jesus or crucifixes, and playing music through the streets. These processions go on all day and night and people line the streets to see it. At first it was really neat to see this because I had no idea that this happened but by the end of our trip we were frustrated with them because there were crowds and road blocks everywhere you went. The weather in Malaga wasn't as cooperative as we'd like which meant we didn't spend much time on the beach which our hostel was right across the street from. We wandered around the city on our own taking in the sights and climbing to the top of a giant hill to get some great views of the city and coast.
Sevilla: This was the last stop in Spain and was my least favourite part of the trip. Sevilla is essentially the capital of the processions for Semana Santa and most of the city was closed off which proved difficult for us to get around. Highlights include the Flamenco night and the Plaza Espana. Our hostel arranged for a large group of people to see a Flamenco show where we got to see the traditional dance in an intimate setting while drinking sangria and Spanish beer. On what was supposed to be our last day we walked to the Plaza Espana which was a palace in a Star Wars movie so Susan and Chris were super excited to see it (they're Star Wars geeks, haha). It was quite an impressive place and we ended up paying 5 euros to take a little row boat around the water in front of it. Monica and Chris left to go back to London and Susan and I puttered around a bit more before going to catch our overnight bus to Lisbon. Unfortunately this did not happen as some jerk pick-pocketed Susan at the bus station and stole her passport. Luckily it was recovered but it was a crazy ordeal with a roller coaster of emotions right up to the end when Susan practically attacked the police man with excitement when he showed her it was recovered.
Lisbon: After a little bit of a delay because we had to take a bus throughout the daytime we got to Lisbon. Our hostel had a great homey vibe to it and the people were so nice to us. It was such a relief after the ordeal we went through in Sevilla. Highlights of Lisbon include the awesome hostel, walking tour, and our day trip to Sintra. Although our walking tour was mostly in the rain we had a great guide who showed us around many of the cute places in Lisbon and told us about much of the country's history. I didn't know much about Portugal to begin with so it was quite informative. We met a really nice Canadian from Alberta who came with us to a cafe where were discovered an amazing Portugese dessert (we liked it so much we each had two). On advice from everyone who had been to Lisbon, we took a day trip to Sintra which is a small town about 45mins away. We got to see the Pena Palace which sits atop of a hill surrounded by forest and vast gardens. The palace was impressive but the queues to get in and the way they organized the visit were irritating. What was more impressive were the remains of a 9th century Moorish castle which were also atop a large hill. Only the walls remain but that is just a testament to how well that fortress was made to protect the King. It was very foggy and a little rainy when we visit Sintra but it gave it a little bit of a mystic element to seeing these historical sights. After our touring we stopped at a little restaurant for some dinner and met a lovely waiter who insisted on being our own personal tour guide and proceeded to give us all of his contact details. Sorry Bruno, I think your card ended up in the bin.
Porto: This was the last stop on our trip. At this point we were pretty exhausted but totally in love with Portugal because of how friendly the people were and how beautiful it was. We had terrible directions to the hostel but eventually made it there after many stops and finally running into some boys who run a pub crawl at night. Highlights of Porto include the late night tour and finally getting to put my feet in the ocean. We were easily convinced by the boys to join their late night tour which started at a bar outside our hostel and ended at 6am. A guy we met on the bus to Porto ended up coming out as well which was neat. We went to a bunch of different bars, played drinking games in the park, and met some really fun people. It was definitely an awesome last night out. The next day by some miracle I did not have a hangover and Susan and I hopped on a bus and went to the beach. It was too cold to go swimming and too cloudy for tanning but we had fun nonetheless. I was like a kid in a candy shop and got all giddy and excited as we got closer to the water. I was so excited in fact that I didn't even realize how fast the tide was coming in and got drenched almost up to my waist. After a couple hours taking in the last of the city we headed to the airport to go back to London.
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