My friends, Jack & Chris...

They are such lovely people and I'm glad I have them in my life!  I've always wanted to put a picture or two or three ... (you get the drift) of their humble abode in London.

So cozy and very homely.  I've only managed to stay for a couple of nights at their place this time, but seriously, how cool is their pad??

I love the sitting area.. and Jack tends to change (remove or add) more cushions or different furnitures or more ornaments ;)

I miss you, London =(

Just came back from a week in London.  Boy!  It's been a while since my last visit, and I can't believe how much I've actually missed her.

Mind you, I do not miss the people, the crowded tube nor the 'smell'.  What I do miss is definitely the cheap eats (and good food to boot!), the sun (I can't believe I'm saying this about London!!  SUN!!) and the crowd.  I know, weird right?  I actually enjoyed wandering around on Oxford Street, manuevering around the many many people wandering lost around Oxford Street.

You know what the difference is between the people there and those in Sweden?  Here, if you are walking, people will purposefully walk into you.  No apologies, nothing!  They'll just walk straight at you, and it's you who have to move around them, which annoys me, as I'm quite small and when I'm not quick enough, I get hit quite often.  *ouch*

At least in London, people will tend to move around you, but please, I hate how lost tourists tend to stop in the middle of the street and get angry when they get pushed about. - especially during peak hour!  I remembered getting really annoyed with them when I was working back in London.  MOVE IT and don't just stop in the middle of the underground or in the middle of the street!

We'll be off to Uto this coming weekend for a few days.  Hopefully should be fun.  I think it's going to be dreadful weather here ;(

Xx

Doing the Cinque Terre Trails

We managed to squeeze in a tour during our 3 days, 4 nights trip to Tuscany.  I have to say, this was quite an active holiday compared to our usual getaway.  It was a struggle climbing up those steps in the dome and bell tower when in Florence, and also climbing up more steps again in the bell tower in Siena.

So much walking, and to be honest, I was really worried as we were doing the Cinque Terre Trails the next day, when my legs were slightly wobbly.  But, you know what, I'm glad we did a more active holiday - climbing up stairs (instead of having a nice stroll around), wandering around and grabbing food at any cafes/restaurants (instead of booking into a michelin restaurant and dining in there with 8 - 10 taster course).  and no shopping at all!!  except for some glorious Italian food e.g. pasta, cured sausages, biscottis and what not, which we lugged home on the plane =)

Cinque Terre trail was quite beautiful as we had to hike through 5 little villages on the rugged part of the Italian Riviera coastline in the region of Liguria.  It has been declared a World Heritage by the UNESCO.  The only way to go through them is via those rustic trails and boats.  There is also a train now which was installed about a century ago, which connects the five villages, but seriously, why sit in the train when you could walk from one village to the next and admire the beauty, both natural and manmade.

Unfortunately, there was a really bad flood back in October 2011, and although most of the villages have since recovered, I found the village most devastated by the flood and is still recovering is Vernazza.  Cognilia on the other hand is the only one of the village which is unaffected as it sits on a promontory about 100 meters high from the sea and getting to it, you have to climb a total of 382 steps..

Anyhow, The 7am wake up call was not too nice, but we did not want to miss the tour a second time.  We did our tour with Walkabout Florence.  There were about 20 something people in our tour and our tour guide was Stefano, who was charming and funny throughout the whole trip.  Let's not forget the "Hello, my name is Stefano.  I'm 29 years old" line he kept repeating ;)  There were quite a few one liners he used which were hilarious!  But seriously, I couldn't recommend Walkabout Florence highly enough!  If you need a tour when you are in Florence, seriously use them!!

Our guide, Stefano.  Not too shabby right?!

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Spending a day in Siena, Tuscany

We were supposed to spend last Sunday at the Cinque Terre Trials with Walkabout Florence Tour.  We were supposed to wake up at about 7am, have breakfast and catch the cab to the meeting point where we were supposed to meet at 8am.

We woke up... at 9am with a panic.. and I was half asleep and half hysterical.  I remembered running around in circles in the bedroom in a panic because I could not find the damn paperwork with the details on it.

*sigh*  Thankfully, when we rang them, they were really nice and advised us to join their tour the next day instead!  Seriously, if you are going to Tuscany and in need of a tour group, I would definitely recommend Walkabout Florence

We had a rented car at our disposal which we decided to make use of and drove to Siena from Florence.  The drive was about 1 - 1.5 hours.  I thought it was quite a nice drive, although the day was quite cloudy. The countryside was pretty, so green, and neatly cut with dots of reds and yellows.

The view of the city centre is a sight to behold..  After we have parked our car, just on the outskirt of the centre, we made our way towards the middle..

View of the city..  The Siena Cathedral is to the left

We saw a Luna Park here as well, where we walked around the park

It was quiet, but there was a family who were riding around the park on their bicycle.  In the middle of the park (which is squarish) is where an empty amusement park lies

There was also a flower market there where I saw some gorgeous plants for sale

But we didn't stay long as the pollens were too much for S who's hayfever was going from bad to worse..

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Hello Florence...

Florence was so pretty and the sun was shining so beautifully the days we were there.  Soaking in some vitamin D always make me soooo happy!

The best part of Florence is wandering around the city centre and when it got too hot, stop in one of the many cafes for a gelato or two!

Bear in mind a lot of the restaurant tend to have a cover charge ranging from 1.50 - 3 Euros, depending on how touristy the area is.  We actually found a pretty decent restaurant farther away from the tourist area which does not have cover charge.

Anyhow, here are some pictures from Florence.  Please note I don't call myself a professional photographer, just an amateur who loves taking photos of things around me.  Enjoy Florence through my eyes and the eye of my camera ;)

This is just opposite the main train station in Florence

Interested in looking at more pictures?  Then, please continue...

Back... from Tuscany...

Hello!  Just got back from Tuscany where we had the most amazing trip!!

Here's something from our trip...

Yep!  Enjoying the simplest pleasure in life..  Eating a gelato in a cafe in Florence... ;)

I must say I look funny!  I didn't realised I was being photographed while I was eating.. hehehe  It's actually made from 10 photos which S took and I've compiled it into a little animation =)  Isn't it so cool? hehehe