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My first glimpse of The Shard as I was driven to my hotel in London.
Fortnum & Mason are now doing “afternoon tea in the sky” there.
hello london!
01 Monday Jun 2015
Category Archives: london
really london?
28 Thursday May 2015
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This is the best you can do?
Looks like January in Sevilla.
busted!
27 Wednesday May 2015
Lucky for me I’m a neurotic mess when I travel and start packing way ahead of time. Yesterday I took out my old medium-sized suitcase to air it out (a carry-on just wasn’t going to do it for a week in London) and it made a strange rattling noise. So I opened it up to find the entire plastic backing had shattered and lay in a pile of shardy bits between the lining and the outer casing. WTF? Okay, I hadn’t used it in a long while, and it only cost about 30€ back in the day, but I still hadn’t expected to self-destruct like that, all on its own in the closet. So this morning some emergency suitcase shopping was required.
I went back to the shop where I’d bought my cheapie case and saw a similar model was now 50€. So then I decided to pop over to El Corte Inglés to see what they had. And guess what? They had soft suitcases by Kipling (my new handbag obession)! Really cute ones too. Not cheap, but light as a feather and with lots of “expandible” space with clever compartments. Basically a very well-designed travel bag (well, except for those superfluous “duffle bag” handles) and so I went for it. And suddenly I feel quite grown up. I’ve never had a suitcase before that didn’t come from a cheap import place. First noticeable difference is that my new Kipling doesn’t have a weird smell – those other ones must use very dodgy materials, glues, etc. Also, it’s more versatile as it is only grows as big as you fill it. Okay, it won’t pass for carry-on, but I would take it on trips (Málaga, etc) that I usually use the carry-on and be more comfortable with the extra space “waiting to happen”. But on the other hand, nobody was ever going to steal my crappy no-brand cheapos… will a cute Kipling be more of a temptation? Yep, first world problems.
What kind of luggage do you use?
change of plans
05 Wednesday Jun 2013
Well, maybe. Remember my Northern Spain Adventure? I’m having second thoughts now that summer vacation time is almost here. Mostly because it’s not the kind of trip I want to do alone. I think there would be too many amazing moments that I’d want to share with someone. And I think it’s the kind of trip that is best done with a car, so perhaps better another time when I can go with someone who wants to do the same thing and who can also drive. The thought of me on my own catching buses and trains and then just hanging out alone in new places I’ve always wanted to visit somehow doesn’t appeal.
Having said that, I am still determined about taking my first ever proper holiday, as in, taking more than a few days off and not working while I’m away. So I may spend a whole two weeks in Málaga (if I can get Manolo’s apartment – still waiting to hear back) which would be different from my past quick getaways, and it would allow me to do some day trips while I’m there. I don’t mind exploring on my own but I think it will feel more relaxing to do this from a place I already feel at home (and I could take Smudge with me). I’m hoping to do this during the last two weeks of July, so fingers crossed.
I’m now thinking of also taking a week or so in August and doing a quick London & Bristol visit. Because who knows what news the September PET scan will bring? So I really want to make the most of this summer, even if I don’t do the northern adventure.
What are your summer plans?
oh right, flip, not spin…
26 Sunday Dec 2010
I never get these things right. It’s also hard to believe it’s only been ten days since I first found out about the possible dream come true of going to London at Christmastime – feels like this indecisiveness has been going on forever. I tried to let it go and, short of physcially flipping a coin, I thought and re-thought all the pros & cons … and ended up thinking so much that I lost my flight this morning. Or, found out it had gone up by 100€ overnight, which is the same thing. Right after I had decided that the gut feeling to go to London was the right one, which ended up being my coin flip, waiting until this morning to book my flight. Once it came up tails, so to speak, I realised how much I really wanted to go.
So now I’m just waiting to hear back from S (whose house & cat I would be looking after) because I’ve actually found another flight just as cheap, but it leaves on Tuesday. Which means I’d end up missing S and her family (they leave tomorrow) but it seems the neighbours could let me in and show me around. And then I’d come back to Sevilla on January 6th, when S’s lodger gets back to London, which means I’d also be home for my birthday (7th).
I know, I know, I should have just flipped the damn coin rather than spinning it in every which way direction. But without that process I don’t think I’d have felt as sure as I do now that taking this week in London would be a VERY GOOD THING to do. Especially as I just received two Paypal prezzies which will take care of about 2/3 of the transportation costs. So please keep fingers crossed that I haven’t driven S totally nuts with all my dithering and that before I go to bed I will have a confirmed flight to London Heathrow on Tuesday…
casa azahar 