This week’s project is to read and record my book Tanzanian Mystery. Click the link and have a listen. 🙂
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Last summer I was invited to my friend’s wedding in Maramures (the very north of Romania.) It is a long drive from Bucharest (around 9 hours) and my fiancé and I went in the car with some other wedding guests. We hadn’t met them before, but they were lovely people and we got on really well. We stopped off at some beautiful places on the journey, including the village of Viscri where King Charles often visits and even has a house. We didn’t visit his house, but we did look around the village, stop for lunch and visit the fortified church, which looks like half church/half castle.
Maramures is a beautiful part of the country. It is quite mountainous, and the landscape was lush, green and peaceful. We stayed in a village, and everywhere we went, the local people would greet us with a friendly “hello”, as it was the kind of place where people sit outside their houses, chatting to their neighbours and watching the world passing by. Somehow it felt like going back in time.
We also got to experience many traditional wedding traditions from Maramures, such as some of their traditional dances, and the bride and groom breaking bread outside the church. Whoever wins the bigger half of the bread is “in charge” in the home! I will do another blog post about Romanian weddings one day… 🙂
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I have been really lucky to have been invited on two sailing holidays in recent years (by some friends who are trained skippers.) The first adventure was to Croatia and the second in Greece. Last summer’s adventure was in Greece. We had so much fun sailing around Corfu, anchoring at beautiful beaches to swim, and mooring at marinas for the evening. The weather was beautiful, but super hot! We didn’t feel the heat as much with the lovely sea breeze, but we really felt it on land. Sailing with the sails up is the most fun, although it really takes some getting used to when the boat tilts or heels to one side! We soon got the hang of hoisting the sails and steering under the guidance of our captains. Boat life does take some getting used to, especially when you’re suffering from sea sickness or feeling too cramped in your cabin. But it is a fun and highly recommendable experience.
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In the summer holidays this year, I had an amazing trip to Venice with my fiancé. We decided to stay on the island of Lido so we could have some time to relax on the beach, and we got the boat over to the main island of Venice when we wanted to go sightseeing. (Although sometimes that boat made me feel sea sick!)
We visited the main sights -the piazza San Marco, basilica San Marco, and the bell tower. We wandered along the streets eating ice cream, followed the canals, crossed some of the bridges including the Rialto bride, went souvenir shopping and generally enjoyed the city. We also got the opportunity to meet up with my godmother who lives near Venice, who I had not seen since I was around 4! (That was the last time I had visited.)
I very much recommend visiting Venice and relaxing on the beach at Lido, although we did find the whole trip to be quite expensive! We also went on a gondola ride, because let’s face it, when else would we get an opportunity to do that?! And going on a boat along the canal to visit Venice by night was truly magical!
We went in July, so it was quite hot and crowded!
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I want to share some poems that I wrote about the war in Ukraine. I do constantly pray for an end to the war and for peace to come, especially as I have family in Ukraine, and I have met many Ukrainians who have come to live in Romania until they can return home.
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I’ve got to admit, as a teacher I have some encountered some pretty funny things that kids have said and done. Just this week, I was explaining something to the class and one child interrupted me and finished my sentence. I said something like, “Yes, that is what I wanted to say.” And he replied with, “I know, I stole your thunder.” The whole class (and I) erupted into laughter, and that then became the catchphrase of the day!
Other funny moments have been when the children have tried guessing my age, with guesses ranging from 20 to 100. One child even asked if I once taught Einstein! I wonder how old she thought I was?
My next example is when one child came up the stairs to the classroom, and stood facing the wall wailing something that sounded like: “I don’t want to be a pencil!” I sympathetically replied, “That’s ok, you don’t have to be a pencil if you don’t want to.” She looked puzzled, then replied, “No, I don’t want to get detention.” It turns out that she had forgotten her homework so her ‘helpful’ older sister had said that she would have to do detention.. I just told her to bring it the next day and not worry about her sister’s helpful advice from now on..
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Sorry readers… I haven’t been on WordPress for a while. But I’m back, to tell you about a wonderful holiday I had in Spain and Portugal recently with my friends Laura and Caroline. It was another of those crazy holidays where we walked a lot and never stayed in the same place for long! Here is a summary:
Day 1: Saturday 15th July. We got a very early plane from Manchester to Malaga (6am). The idea was to spend the day relaxing on the beach when we arrived, but it was cloudy, so we spent the day exploring the old town instead. We went to see the cathedral, castle and viewpoint of the town and surrounding area from the fort. We enjoyed our first tapas meal at lunch, and got better at choosing what to order for tapas as the week progressed…
Day 2: Sunday 16th July. It was sunny, so we used this day to relax on the beach. We didn’t want to travel far, so walked to la Malagueta beach, which was just near the port. There were some cruise ships docked at the port, so there was quite a bit of noise from there!
Day 3: Monday 17th July. We woke up super early to get a 7am bus to Gibraltar for a day trip. The bus took 3 hours, then of course the one back to Malaga also took 3 hours, so it felt like most of the day was stuck on a bus! The rest of the day was spent queuing to go in a cable car up the rock (we were in that queue for about 1 and a half hours,) getting chased by monkeys (they pounce on tourists in the search for food), and walking down the mountain again, which I found exhausting! So, Gibraltar was not such a good day for me… But the scenery was nice, and it was interesting to see how just how British it was (even though it is on the southern coast of Spain, it is part of the UK.)
Day 4: Tuesday 18th July. We had a much nicer day trip today. We went on a trip to Ronda, where part of the town is built the other side of a steep gorge, and it’s surrounded by beautiful countryside. We wandered around, took pictures by the famous bridge from one side of the gorge to the other and enjoyed the views.
Day 5: Wednesday 19th July. Today we went to the Picasso museum in Malaga. We also went souvenir shopping and visited the Roman amphitheatre. We then got the bus to Granada, which would be our next place to stay. We wandered around that evening and enjoyed the stunning view of the Alhambra. We also looked in the little shops, filled with Moroccan-style souvenirs.
Day 6: Thursday 20th July. Today we spent the whole day wandering around La Alhambra and the Generalife. It was wonderful to see the tiled mosaics, intricate architecture and the pretty gardens.
Day 7: Friday 21st July. After a morning of souvenir shopping in the “souks” and visiting a tea shop, we got the bus to Seville. On arrival, we went in search of a tapas meal and ended up eating two dinners as we were still hungry after the first one! The thing with tapas is that one restaurant will give a lot more food than another one, for the same price, so we were never sure how many little dishes to order!
Day 8: Saturday 22nd July. Today we wandered around Seville cathedral. It’s a huge place, with lots of interesting little chapels, gold statues, old artifacts and artwork to see. We also went up the bell tower, where you walk up ramps instead of steps, so that was fun! After looking around the cathedral, we went to visit the Plaza de Espana and the park. That didn’t end up being a good idea as it was boiling hot (around 40 degrees C) so I ended up overheating and feeling sick and dizzy with sunstroke.
Day 9: Sunday 23rd July. Today we went on another lovely day trip to Córdoba, to see the castle and the famous cathedral, known as the Mezquita. It used to be a mosque, then the catholic rulers plonked a church in the middle of it, retaining most of the fabulous stripy archways that had been built by the moors. Actually, I think Seville cathedral used to be a mosque too, it’s just that the pillars in that one weren’t stripy. It was really hot in Córdoba too, so my sunstroke continued…
Day 10: Monday 24th July. I felt better today after a nice rest. We looked around the royal palace in Seville in the morning. It also was originally built by the Muslim moorish rulers, before the catholic kings sent them all away. So the palace had an interesting mixture of architecture. It also had a beautiful garden! Although we had to rush through the gardens, as we needed to get a bus to the Algarve in Portugal! Our next place to stay was Portimao in Portugal, it’s a little town on the coast, and I was surprised to see how touristy it was! It has a line of restaurants and souvenir shops, just like Mamaia in Romania.
Day 11: Tuesday 25th July. We had a lovely day of relaxing on the beach in Portimao. Our hotel was quite a long walk from the sea, but luckily they put on a bus so we didn’t have to walk all of that way with all of our beach things! We had dinner near the river in Portimao, and had a Portuguese traditional meal of sardines!
Day 12: Wednesday 26th July. We had another day of relaxing on the beach! The beach in Portugal is so pretty!
Day 13: Thursday 27th July. We stayed by the pool in our hotel in the morning, then went to get our train to Lisbon (where we would be staying next.) Unfortunately, we hadn’t booked the train in advance, and the one we wanted to get was full, so we had to sit in a cafe by the train station for 3 hours to wait for the next train! We finally arrived in Lisbon and we’re too tired to search for dinner, so just went to McDonald’s! (It’s a tradition – we have to go at least once during a holiday!)
Day 14: Friday 28th July. Today we enjoyed looking around Lisbon. We went to the castle and cathedral and took a ride on the famous number 28 tram, which goes from one side of the city to the other, past interesting sights and goes up and down steep hills, so feels a bit like a rollercoaster!
Day 15: Saturday 29th July. This time we went sightseeing in Saint Jeronimo’s monastery and the Belem tower. Both were architecturally stunning! They were built in a style that is unique to Portugal, called Manuelin. It’s a mix of Gothic and Renaissance architecture and is very beautiful! In the evening, we went on a funicular (Lisbon is very hilly) and had dinner in a nice restaurant, where I had steak in a coffee sauce. Yes, coffee! It was amazing!
Day 16: Sunday 30th July. We flew back home, on another early flight (7am this time). I then flew back to Bucharest the very next day, because I was due back at work for summer school!
I hope you enjoyed reading about my crazy adventures!
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I went on a lovely little holiday this weekend to Mamaia, a seaside resort on the Black Sea near to Constanta. We had a few days off school because of some bank holidays -yay! Of course, all of Romania had those days off work, so the train was pretty full! But all the passengers seemed to disperse quite well because, although the seaside resort of Mamaia was busy, it wasn’t anywhere near as crowded as it is in the summer holidays! Many Romanians think it’s too cold to swim in the sea at the moment, and yes, the sea was chilly, but not that cold! So, I had a lovely few days relaxing on the beach, swimming in the chilly sea and wandering around. Plus, I enjoyed the sea breeze – Bucharest is so hot and humid these days, but the coast is nice and cool!
My hotel was about 2km away from the main area of Mamaia where all the tourist shops, snack stands and restaurants are located, so I wandered along the beach or promenade every day to enjoy the atmosphere and eat pancakes… I also went on the cable car, to enjoy the lovely views of the sea and lake. Oh, and on the pier to admire the sunset!
It was a little strange going on holiday to the beach alone… waiters kept asking me, “are you waiting for your friends?” when I asked for a table for one, and I overheard groups of people looking at me and saying, “why would you go on holiday alone?”
Well, if my Romanian was better, I could have told them that it’s nice to go on holiday, to see and experience new things and enjoy a change of scenery every once in a while (plus I love the seaside!) And if your friends don’t/ can’t come with you, then it’s better to go alone than to not go at all! Who agrees?
The beach near my hotel.
All the tourist shops are squished into this area of Mamaia.
The sunsets were lovely! This photo was taken from the pier, I didn’t need to swim with my camera to take this photo! -
I was thinking where to “visit” for a travel Tuesdays post, and my mind wandered to a lovely holiday I had with my family to Skiathos, a beautiful little Greek island. We went when I was about 8 – a long, long time ago! I wonder if the island has changed much since then? Of course, my memories of my holiday were of playing on the beach, poking jellyfish with sticks so that they wouldn’t sting us, burying dolls in the sand with my sister (and not being able to find one of them again) and trying to swim to China on a lilo with some other children we befriended… I do still wonder where that doll is! Perhaps someone else found her?
We also went on a trip to see some monasteries, where we had to ride donkeys up a steep hill and my dad’s donkey didn’t want to follow the others and kept wandering off into bushes (with my dad on it!) We stayed in a nice little self-catering holiday apartment, so had to go shopping for food in the Greek supermarket, which I remember being very different from our English ones! Actually, I think I just remember the toy selection more than anything…
We also went on some fun boat trips and coach tours, where I distinctly remember one lady stealing my sister’s seat! Who would steal a child’s seat on a bus? I still think that was weird! I also remember watching lightning out of the coach windows one evening, after a busy day’s coach trip.
I hope you enjoyed reading my happy childhood memories!