The Isle of Capri

The Isle of Capri is a quick ferry ride across the sea from Sorrento and we heard so much about its blue grotto cave so we decided to spend Friday on the Isle of Capri. We took a high speed ferry over to the island only to find out that the small boats to the blue grotto were cancelled due to high winds/seas! We were so sad but decided to make the best of it and went for a swim on their rocky beach to cool off. It was a warm but overcast day and the sea was quite warm too.

We then decided to take the funiculur up the side of the mountain to the town of capri for some lunch and sightseeing.

It had lots of high-end shopping (prada and the like) but we were most interested in trying caprese pizza. We sat in a lovely restaurant overlooking the sea and the pizza was fantastic. In fact, Syd compared all other pizzas to it for the rest of the week! We then had caprese gelato, which was also excellent, so the meal alone made the trip worth it!

Once off the ferry we ran to catch the shuttle back to the hotel and then went out to Sorrento that evening for dinner and dancing. We discovered that the Italians love to provide you with the best service possible and always aim to please. They say 'prego' all of the time, which basically means you are welcome. We loved the culture.

We found it really strange later in the evening that there were only 3 discos in the whole city of Sorrento, and one was called 'the American bar' and it was lame and touristy. We finally found a great disco at 'the English Inn', and it was an open air club at the back of this 'traditional English pub' and it was full of Italians so it felt more like an experience. There was a swimming pool in the middle of the club space where they run contests and such, but there wasn't any contests that evening. We enjoyed some beers and danced a bit before making the trek back up the mountain path to go to bed. I'm glad that I packed my mini flashlight in my purse because we definitely needed it at some parts of the dark path! Getting home at 2 am after a hot walk up the side of a dark hill is not the most pleasant feeling, but it was worth it to experience some Italian nightlife.

London to Italy in under 4 hours

Its brilliant to live in the UK because its so easy to grab a flight to anywhere in Europe for cheap, and for a short flight! We caught an early train right near our place on the West Hampstead Thameslink that took us directly to Gatwick Airport in about an hour and was soon on a plane to Naples Italy, which in itself was only slightly over 2 hours. At the airport we had our first drink in the hot sun while we waited for our bus to Sorrento. I must say that it was very ideal that we travelled with our backpacks (which up until this point we only ever used for camping) on this trip as it made the entire journey very easy.

Our bus travelled along the coast and we came upon this beautiful view of Sorrento and we instantly knew that we could look forward to a fabulous time.

With the help of the GPS on Syd's blackberry we figured out where to catch our shuttle to the hotel and we booted to the spot right after we got off the bus. We were the last to board the Aminta shuttle (aka coach bus) and it was good that we did because our hotel was set way up on the hill and is a good 15 minute hike uphill. You can see our hotel at the very top of the hill in the picture above.

We settled into our room and then caught the shuttle back down to Sorrento to go out for pizza and pasta for dinner. Our first dinner was just a taste of the authentic pizza to come, so needless to say, we were super pumped!

Our new flat

We are confirmed to move into our new flat on October 1. It is the opposite side of the same tube stop that we currently use down a quiet street. It is on the top floor of a triplex and it is a two-floor apartment with our bedroom on the second floor. Its not very big but its quaint. The front hallway has a washer/dryer unit under the staircase - this reminds me of the cupboard under the stairs in Harry Potter!

It has its own private terrace with herb garden. We hope to grow peppers, basil and tomatoes next spring! A barbecue or two would be ideal as well. This terrace is accessible via a back staircase and is next to a couple other terraces.

Our bedroom is in the loft, and while it doesn't have windows that look out, the skylights are pretty cool. It also has tons of closet space!

The second bedroom is a nice size and it overlooks the back terraces.

The front room is a cozy size and has a corner couch, a small dining table, and is adjacent to the kitchen that has a breakfast bar and new appliances.

Brighton

On Saturday we went to Brighton (as per the last mobile post). It was an amazingly warm day to go visit this seaside beach town. Apparently everyone else had the same idea due to our packed train and the congested town itself. We enjoyed sitting and having a pitcher of Pimms & lemonade on the beach - which basically tasted like a fruit punch. This is a drink that the Brits only drink in the summertime. They tried to turn it into a 'warm Pimms' drink in the winter but it just didn't stick. We also had spanish tapas. Quite tasty.
We walked along Brighton pier, which is a total tourist area with carnival rides and food and such. The views were incredible and we enjoyed pints of guinness in a pier pub overlooking the beach and the sea.
I was chuffed (british word for excited) to go through the Royal Pavilion which was owned by Prince George (later King George IV) when he was a regent and had lots of money and wish for tasteful expensive things. We listened to audio throughout the tour that told us about his extravagant life and love of wine, women and dancing. When his castle was built, people in the UK thought that it looked like a box with turnips and bulbs on the top. They soon grew to love it and it is now considered one of the most famed and honoured buildings in the UK. It is filled with a number of eclectic pieces of art and decor from China (including dragons and serpents all throughout the house and holding up massive chandeliers!). It is said that George never went to the Orient, and just designed his decor from a number of paintings and artifacts. I loved it, and bought a couple postcards of the inside banqueting room and music room since I couldn't take pictures (boo!).

After that, we walked among pedestrian streets that were cobblestoned and winding, filled with many pubs with patios until we settled on one for dinner called the "Druid's Head" (naturally I loved the name). It was a traditional old pub that was actually used in the 1700's as part of a smuggling scheme attached to underground tunnels that smuggled whiskey and other spirits from the port to the palace. It was neat to enjoy a bit of history...however sordid! ;o)

On the walk back to the train we saw a camping store with a familiar name:

We grabbed the 7:30 train home to West Hampstead and we got home at 9, at which time we stopped by the local pub for a brew with some of Syd's work mates. Overall a great day!

Brighton Mobile

So we decided to head to Brighton this morning since we woke up to some amazing sunshine this morning (a true rarity in these parts!). What's sweeter is that we grabbed the train directly from west hampstead, which is all of about a 3 minute walk from our doorstep (its closer than the tube!). 1.5 hours later and we're here -- enjoying a guiness and the view on the pier (and some blackberry blogging).

Though the beach is pebbled and essentially identical to lake erie back home, except that it is packed with people. I don't sunbath on lake erie rocky beaches, so why would I here? :).

The peir is massive with a mini amusment park built on it. Look for some pics in our next post. Time to get back out in the sun....

Syd.

We Will Rock You

On Friday night we checked out the London theatre scene. We saw We Will Rock You and it was authentically British. The show was really good. It was set in the future and they used a number of large screens to make up the back drop of the set. Very cool indeed. The music was very good as well (as could be expected!). But I didn't expect it to be so funny! Lots of English humour and innuendos. Good laughs and good times.

I bought the tix for $35 each same day at Covent Garden (which in itself was a fun outdoor market with buskers and tons of shopping and people!). Syd says that I am into too many touristy things, but I figure if it keeps me entertained, then its all good. I lost a couple of hours just wandering around there before meeting up with Syd for the show. Also tried a most yummy filled pastry called a 'west cornwall pasty'. It was a flaky pastry filled with sliced potatoes, bacon and cheese. sooo good. If you come up you have to try one. Syd had a curry chicken one right before the show too.

Astrid's First Soggy Days in London

Well, I'm here, after some great farewell parties from work friends and my family. I'm going to miss everyone so much!
On Wednesday morning I arrived here in London and used my new UK passport at Heathrow airport. The woman didn't even say a word to me, just waved me on. I love the lack of 'customs' here! hee hee. I got back to west hampstead with my 125 pounds weight in luggage, yes, that's right, two heavy bags weighing 50 lbs a piece and my carry-on weighing 25. There was no way that I was going to take the tube with all that so I took a taxi. The driver kept complaining about the rainy weather (I didn't say too much because I figure its like that all the time!).

I was quite tired when I got back to the flat so I had a quick snooze before heading out in the pouring rain to go check out some neighbourhoods that we could live in. I was thinking victoria and tower hill, but they ended up being tourist stops more than anything. I walked around the outside of buckingham palace. its just gorgeous! I wish I had my camera with me (it wasn't recharged after my night out the week before). I was thankful that the streets are favourable to tourists because almost every street here (at least in the popular parts) has signs painted on the pavement - look left or look right. I believe that has saved me quite a bit already!

I met up with Syd at 6:30 and we checked out this great little flat that he wanted to show me. It's quite small, but the layout is really unique. Here is the link but I don't know how long it will be active. We may put a rental offer on this place tomorrow. Syd then took me out to an awesome little italian restaurant in the neighbourhood where I had walnut/blue cheese ravioli. yum!

Today I tried to contact more lettings agencies to set up appointments for tomorrow. It is a little discouraging though because a lot of sites show listings, and when you call them up they are no longer available! Especially here in West Hampstead because the properties are rented so quickly - Its a hot area! I will keep at it, but we may go with the one above because we like it and its available October 1.

I've been in the UK for 2 days and already a new umbrella that I bought is broken! It's so windy and rainy, its no wonder the 'brolleys' here are expensive and well-made. Its my fault for buying a cheap brolley in the first place, but now I know. I also tried to buy a few groceries on my way home from running errands (like getting my cellphone unlocked) that I realized I need a rain parka with a hood here! You can't use an umbrella and carry groceries. durr. Anyways, I took a pic of myself looking like a soggy dog when I returned to the flat.

Here's some things I have observed lately...

1. Many things break down here. Like when I called a lettings agency the entire phone system was down so I had to call the agent's mobile. Also, when I was at a local sainsbury's I noticed they use very outdated tills (looking through paper listing for food codes, and even some codes were WRITTEN down on scrap paper...I had to wait for my cashier to find a code from 3 other cashiers for lettuce before I could get served...it was very odd), not to mention that the debit machine was also down! ;o)

2. I speak with 'relaxed english' - whatever that means! Someone told me that yesterday and figured that I was either from Canada or Australia. I wonder what he meant? Hopefully its not bad! But at least he didn't think I was American, so that's definitely good.


3. The tubes (a.k.a. subways) are packed like sardine cans during rush hour. I learned yesterday what it feels like to be a sardine at 6 pm and it became super hot very quickly. Just a taste of what I have to get used to!

4. I will need to start wearing my contacts in the UK more frequently OR get over my pet peeve of water droplets on the lenses of my glasses!

I noticed this cereal box has a great name. check it out!

Cheerio for now!

Rollerdisco

I just found this old blog from August 20th that was in draft mode. I have a new Roller Disco post coming soon, and was unable to track down the photos for this, but thought I'd get it posted as-is.
---
This past Friday night we had the first official Itnfusion social event. We went to Roller Disco -- apparently a very popular thing over here.

Canada Summary

Well I'm back settled in the UK now after a whirlwind trip home. Headed straight from the airport to Muskoka -- landed at 6:30 or so, picked up just before 8pm, and sitting on the dock at 10:30pm :) Spent a few relaxing days up there fishing and water skiing before heading back to the city. Tuesday AM we ran errands (including purchasing a couple sweet suits from the Harry Rosen outlet). Tuesday night was drinks and dinner visiting with Scott & Clare. Wednesday was more packing with a big help from Astrid's folks (the van was FULL). Didn't get out of the apartment until midnight, hit Josh's at 1am to drop off the fish, and back to Astrid's parents for 2am.

If I wasn't tired enough, just as I was about to go to sleep i turned on the bedroom light only to disturb a bat (yes a bat!) who started swooping around. I hate bats. They're small, but something is scary about them. I can't help but to think of Dan Akroyd and John Candy dressed up in mesh headgear with tennis rackets hunting them down in the Great Outdoors.

Thursday was pretty chill at the parents -- Friday was wedding setup at Dan's farm, followed by rehersal and dinner. Saturday was a full day of wedding festivities, and Sunday was goodbye's, Tivo setup at Nyla's, and catching my flight back.

Astrid is all set to fly out this Tuesday night! Then the real adventure begins....

Toronto trip

So I'm back in Toronto today for a week off. Coming back from the cottage Monday night -- spending Tuesday packing up the house. Tuesday after work I'm having some drinks and food somewhere in town with Scotty and Page -- drop me an email if you want to join up.

While in Canada I can be reached on my mobile, but you are better off txt'ing me or ringing and hanging up so I can call you back to save you the charges. The number you dial is 011 44 7920 008 035 (yup, that is a lot of numbers).

Muskoka Bound

So we got the bad news the week before last that Astrid's nagging knee pain is actually more serious than we thought. She saw and Dr and apparently has torn a muscle in the knee and that she may need surgery depending on how serious it is. She's in the queue (as the brits say) for an MRI, which will hopefully happen before she departs Canada. If surgery is required I'm told that its just as good and easy to get this done in the UK, so it shouldnt hold anything up.

But onto better news -- due to this we've decided to change our Algonquin canoe trip to a relaxing weekend up at the Armstrong's cottage. Looking forward to chillin by the dock, soaking in the sun, and seeing my cousins Glenn & Sue and they're two boys.