Housekeeping... (not the cleaning type)

Soooo what have I been up to you ask?

Well actually quite busy.... whilst I haven't been jetsetting the last 2 months, I have been sorting out my life and have moved house and got a brand new visa, meaning we can stay in London for 2 more years and keep travelling if we so wish!

Our next plans are a trip home to NZ. Our leave has been approved, meaning we get a whole month for travelling late Dec/Jan! The plan so far is to hit up the US for a week (I've never been there) to visit our friends in San Diego... we'll do a few day trips and at this stage planning on Las Vegas for NY Eve which will be awesome!!!

Then straight to NZ to see some of my favourite people and places in the world. Given we are only there for 3 weeks, we will be quite limited as to what we'll see, as the eventual plan is to live in NZ for the rest of our lives, so no need to rush on the sightseeing! I will definitely be going to Mount Manganui, the best place in the entire world, to climb up the mount, and check out the beach after the recent disaster of the oil spill from the container ship Rena. So so so sad :-(  Auckland is where most of my friends and the in-laws are, and Matamata (aka Hobbiton) is where my family are. Finally, it's off to Nelson to a wedding of two very close friends (hubby is BM).

Today is the first day of broadband at home, after many months offline at home, it's good to be back! Plenty more to tell...

Mrs D xxx

My 2011 work life balance

Firstly, I know 2011 isn't finished yet, but for me, the travelling has alas, finished for the calendar year.



I've had a crazy year of travel and managed it all within 21 annual leave days. I plan, plan, planned, making the most of bank holiday weekends. When I was about to go on my last week long trip for the year (sailing in Greece), I think everyone at work must have thought I'd rigged the annual leave calendar!

Me in Paris (August 2011)

Here is the chronological order of my year of travelling:

1. January  - Czech Republic (Prague, Cesky Krumlov)
2. March - Netherlands (Amsterdam)
3. April #1 - Spain (Malaga)
4. April #2 - Egypt (Cairo, Luxor, Dahab)
5. May - Italy (Pisa, Cinque Terre)
6. June - UK (Manchester)
7. July #1 - Spain (Ibiza)
8. July #2 - Croatia (Dubrovnik, Korcula, Hvar, Split)
9. August - France (Paris, Poitiers)
10. September - Greece (Kefalonia - Lixouri) 



Best location... well that's a hard one. I am mostly drawn to the sea, and the 3 places I would like to visit again are Italy (all over!), Croatia - sailing next time, to see more of the islands and go off the beaten track and Greece - sailing again as I got my ICC Skippers license and can now charter a boat! My week in Greece was all about learning to sail, so I didn't actually see much of what Greece had to offer, but I loved what I saw (and ate!), and we're definitely going to use that next year to go on a sailing trip!



The crew in Ibiza

 Given I have 3 months ahead of me, with no travelling in sight (my bank balance needs to recover!), I'll be gradually catching up on my blogging,of each location. I've got some amazing photos, and I have to share them with someone!  So watch this space....

In the meantime, check out the photo to the left - this is at the Blue Marlin in Ibiza. It was one of the BEST days of my life at a day club drinking cocktails on the most amazing day bed! More tips to come.

Mrs D xx

I HEART Columbia Road, London

I'm terrible at writing about places I actually live.

For some odd reason, I don't view it as 'travelling' as I am a resident rather than a tourist, but I still seek out new cool places, so it would be silly not to tell others about my amazing experience!

My Grandma is visiting for a few weeks, and is an avid gardener. I'd been dying to go to the Columbia Road Flower markets for some time now, so it seemed more appropriate than ever, despite the rain!

My intrepid Grandma!

We were both impressed with the markets - the sheer volume and beauty of the flowers made us forget about the rain. Despite the wet weather, my 79 year old Grandma commented while we were there that it was totally worth it! The men with their deep bellowing voices, '3 bunches for a fiver!!' made the experience even more interesting. Pictures speak louder than words... so here are a few shots...

And finally, one with my lovely Grandma...

Check out the huge bunch of flowers in my hand in both photos... believe it or not, this HUGE bunch only set me back £5!!! I was recommended by a friend to go first thing in the morning to avoid the crowds, but because it was raining it wasn't super busy and the guys on the stall were trying to get rid of flowers at about 2.30pm-ish, which I how I scored my bargain! Now I need to go and buy several vases to enjoy them!

Columbia Road Markets are open every Sunday, I think it's a fab idea to go there with a girlfriend, Mum or Grandma.

And don't worry if you aren't overly fussed about flowers, there are plenty of other things to see and do. Mostly galleries with trendy art and prints and cutsie little independent shops and cafes. My favourite cafe was Campania, a delicious Italian bustling busy cafe with tasty cured hams and cheeses to die for.

Nom nom nom

Again, letting pictures speak for themselves, here was our tasty lunch...

And to top the day off, I took Grandma to Primrose Bakery, one of my favourite places in London. There's no better place for coffee and gorgeous tasty cupcakes...

All in all, a fabulous way to spend a day in London, and what a treat to spend it with my Grandma!

Mrs D X

I'm now obsessed with Italy... thanks to the Cinque Terre

So my latest trip, was the weekend just gone. We took an extra day's annual leave, and as it was the May Bank holiday weekend, we had 4 days in the amazing CINQUE TERRE in Italy.

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy. It's beautiful huh!?

I was constantly posting on Facebook and tweeting about it while I was there - I couldn't believe how beautiful this place was. It was also the perfect short break.. with plenty of exploring to be done over a few days, and lots of yummy food and places to relax and soak up the sun, you could chill out or be as active as you wanted to!

Cinque Terre means 5 lands (or so I've been told!) and is a National Park and territory protected by UNESCO. It comprises of 5 fishing villages along the coast, with the shortest distance between two being a 1km walk, and the longest being a 4km walk. There is a walking path between all villages, or alternative methods of transport are the ferry, or the train, which are both short trips. I didn't do the boat, but the train is uber cheap, at 1.80 euro or something for a trip between towns.

To get to the Cinque Terre is much easier than it seems. Fly into Pisa or Genoa, get the train to La Spezia (circa 1.5hrs) then change at this station to get a train to one of the 5 villages (between 5-15mins). The times I have written aren't neccessarily accurate as when I am on holiday I don't clock watch, but it's not exactly an long journey, and is totally bearable to do it both ways, even if you are only flying in for a 3 day weekend. We flew into Pisa, and I was pleasently surprised by it, as previously I'd been told the only decent thing there is the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but there were lots of lovely shops and cafes. I'd at least recommend spending a morning wandering the streets, sitting down for a coffee/gelato, and checking out the tower before heading to the Cinque Terre.

Pisa - more than just a Tower

We stayed in the 2nd most northern town called Vernazza. Each town has it's charms, but this was my favourite, which was recommended to me by a friend. It's hard to explain why, but I think it's beauty, access to swim in the sea, and cute little food places made it the winner. However, most other towns have those exact same quality! Everyone I have ever spoken to has either recommended staying in Vernazza or Monterosso. Monterrosso has a large beach with deck chairs all along, where Vernazza doesn't have as much sunbathing space, but is more visually stunning in terms of how the buildings are all piled on top of one another. Depends if you want to lay on the beach all day I guess, as to which one you'd pick, but the whole time I was in Vernazza I couldn't help but smile at the visual feast in front of me.

The walks all differ in difficulty. Vernazza to Monterosso is the most difficult, and is a pretty similiar experience in both directions (3kms one way). There are quite a few stairs, especially at the beginning and end. If you have moderate fitness you'll be fine. Even if you don't, it'll just take you a while and you'll be huffing and puffing, but I think that it'll be worth the pain if that is the case! Vernazza to Cornigila is longer at 4kms, but not as difficult. Due to track closures the only other one we did was Manarola to Riomaggiore, which was VERY easy - it was a pathed concrete flat 1km walk.

Typical scenery on the walk along the coast between villages

Definitely add this trip to your travel bucket list. It's totally worth it as a short break and is the perfect couples holiday for the lady that likes the sun and the man that hates sitting around sunbathing! (i.e. there is plenty to do while still working on that tan!) To be honest, I think it's a great trip for anyone. Happy to help with your planning if you have any questions. On that note, I'll leave you with my fav pic from the trip in Monterosso.

Ciao xx

P.S. Top tip - the food is to die for here. For a start, basil pesto was invented in Cinque Terre which pretty much says it all. Go to the supermarket or little store, buy a cheap bottle of red for 4 euros and a block of cheese and crackers and sit on the rocks as the day turns to evening. To give an even better indication of how good the food is... the scales showed me at 2kg heavier after only 4 days away, oops! All worth it though xx

I'm a photography competition finalist! (click here to see the article)

Guess what!?!? I'm a finalist in a photography competition! And here is the pic in question:


A hot air balloon takes to the sky in Luxor, Egypt

 My husband recently encouraged me to enter in The Telegraph's weekly Big Picture competition.  The incentive? To win a new camera!

I entered my favourite picture that I took in Egypt, taken with our new Minolta 70-200mm f4 lense which we bought off ebay. It is compatible with our new Sony a55 digital camera.  The photos it takes in comparison to the one that standard lense are incredible!

Back to the photo... we were in the basket of a hot air balloon in Luxor, about to take off to see views of the temples, tombs and the Nile, and I snapped a photo of another balloon taking off. I am so pleased with the results, check out the link to the Telegraph's site!

Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm... I am now scouring the net for other competitons to enter. Even though I didn't win anything, I was buzzing from the photo appearing as a finalist on the telegraph website for 2 days!

To reward you for reading this far, here are a few more pics of the incredible hot air balloon ride, which only cost a mere £55 each!!! I highly recommend adding a hot air balloon ride to your 'bucket list'. It was so peaceful and worth every penny!

Finally, I have been slack, very slack about telling you about my travels. I now owe you on Malaga (Spain), Egypt and in 4 sleeps I will be in Italy, flying into Pisa and spending 4 days in the Cinque Terre. The walking, and scenery will be amazing, but right now, the thing I am MOST excited about, is the food! After all, I am going to visit the HOME of basil pesto, one of my favourite foods!  

Coming right up: Girls weekend in Spain!

Malaga, Spain

Tomorrow I fly to Malaga, Spain for the weekend with my two girlfriends! Looking forward to sun, sea and cocktails, I'll be sure to share about it. Bring on the sun lounger! X

Exciting news... Mrs Dahlia's Travel Blog Future

No... the fingers aren't the exciting news (read on... )

So all my tweeting seems to be paying off! I've been spending lots of time having meaningful (and meaningless) chats on twitter. Have learnt in a short space of time how to get more followers (and how to lose them again by spamming them with 10 tweets a day due to over-enthusiasm!)

Anyway, the exciting news is that http://www.traveldudes.org/static/about-traveldudes who I am following on twitter are keen to post some of my travel tips and reference my blog! Exciting! I'm really excited about the prospect of sharing and interacting with other like minded people about there trips... (wonder if I could possibly say exciting one more time..!)

Off to Spain this weekend (Malaga) so watch this space!

I just have to learn to type a bit faster with my crippled fingers first!!

Bring on the sunshine :)
Mrs D X

2010 European (mostly) Travels

I've been thinking about how an earth I catch up with over a year's worth of travel, and I've decided to do it by pictures. I've been to:

• Auckland, Matamata, Tauranga, New Zealand (visit home)
• North Wales
• Paris, France
• Alicante, Spain
• Biarritz, France
• San Sebastian, Spain
• Algarve Coast, Portugal
• Madrid, Spain
• Prague and Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Following South America when the world was firmly in the recession, it was quite challenging for us both to get jobs, so took us a while to get back on our feet. Career and travel are the main two reasons were are living in London, and thankfully both of them are back on track!

Here are a few highlights...

WALES LONG WEEKEND (Easter, 4 days)

My hubby was back in New Zealand for a wedding, so I was left to fend for myself over Easter. It was also our 2nd wedding anniversary, so I certainly didn't want to sit around in London by myself!


My lovely new friend at work, Annie, invited me to spend the weekend at her family home in Wales.  We had a great time looking around, which included Snowdonia. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, and reminded me a lot of New Zealand.

    

Me with my lovely host, Annie






Conway Castle - best one I've seen so far!



Longest town name in the world! Check out
the sign behind me!









 





PARIS LONG WEEKEND (4 days)

Paris was a special trip on two levels. I've aways wanted to go there, and it was everything and more that I expected, but I was lucky enough to spend it with my 78 year old Grandma. She was an ABSOLUTE trooper, a 78 year old, going on 50! 



Below the Effiel Tower with Grandma

With Grandma in front of the Arc de Triumph, Paris

Top Paris tip... take the bus! The hop on hop off bus was a great option... so easy to get around, and you can plug in your headphones and listen or as little or as much touristy info as you like!

Grandma and I outside the Louvre, Paris

 FRANCE/SPAIN SUMMER HOLIDAY (1 week)

In September, hubby and I flew in and out of Biarritz, France, hired a car and drove up and down the coast, as far north as Bordeaux, and as South as San Sebastian, Spain.

Hubby particularly loved this trip, as he is a surfer, and the waves in Hossegor are well known on the Pro circuit, so we spent a lot of time at the beach.

 

It was great to look around as much as we did, but in hindsight, I probably would have stuck to France and relaxed a bit more around Biarritz, Hossegor and San Jean Luis.

 

Bordeaux - visting wineries in Margot region



Hossegor - Kelly Slater's footprint on the footpath

by the beach



San Sebastian, Spain













  



More to come another day!

 

Life in London inspires return to blogging

Well well well, who would have thought - I'm baaacccck!

I set this blog up in 2009 for the sole purpose of keeping an online diary for my family and friends to follow me through South America.

I'm still based in London and trying to see as much as the world as I can afford to,whilst working for one of London's biggest direct creative advertising agenices. Long story short is that my agency (Wunderman) have a social media army, and my client bought their services last year, so I should really keep up with the play myself! I have been a facebooker for many years, but am now tweeting, four squaring and re-inventing my blog!

Outside the Queens House: Buckingham Palace

The primary purpose is to document my travels, thoughts on travels, and research I'm doing about travel. My objective one day (thinking big here) is to rank in google searches about travelling one day (dreaming? probably) but utlimately I'd like to build up a community of likeminded people who I can share my experiences with and offer travel advise first hand based on my experiences.

I'm so keen, that I've even got my own You Tube Channel and plan to upload interesting pics and videos!! Here's my first test - check me out at 6075m on the top of Mt Chachani in Peru! (here's hoping this has worked!). This is the greatest achievement of my life (see earlier Peru posts for the details).

That's it for now. Welcome back to me!!