Sunshine Weekend.

This week a couple of Traveller's best buddies announced that she was being whisked away to Lagos, Portugal this weekend, as an early birthday present.

It is a bank holiday on Monday in London and Traveller couldn't be more excited!

Here's to a few days of sun, sand and beaches!

Happy weekend!

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3:22.

This past weekend, Traveller's brother ran the London Marathon.

Amongst 36, 000 runners, he ran with speed, consistency and strengh; T
was very proud!

The London Marathon is one of those amazing events which really brings the city together - there are about 2-3 supporters to every runner, so each inch of the 26 and a bit miles was sidelined by supporters. The atmosphere was palpable; the city was filled with jovial, passionate aficionados clapping and cheering on the runners. It was brilliant!

The other lovely part of the marathon {aside from it being run for many, many charities} is that so many people dress up in crazy, colourful costumes, whilst still managing to achieve admirable timings. Here are a few of T's favourites...

A juggler

A bride and groom {seriously}

A rhino

Hamlet
22 ft giraffe!
Camel

A whoopee cushion!
and a tiger!

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the 3:22 is my brother's time - 18 minutes faster than last year!

Go, Dan!
{costume images}

6th photo...

Traveller was tagged by one of her lovely readers to write about the 6th photo she posted on her little blog.

To tell you the truth - T's molded the task to fit her a little better. The 6th photo wasn't very interesting, so she chose the 6th photo she was in. A little narcissistic to be sure, but hey, isn't that what blogs are all about?

The photo above was from T's first European weekender since moving to London. T went to Brussels and really enjoyed the architecture, the food and the beer! It is a beautiful city and is well known for its beautiful chocolate and beer - and well, any city known for its chocolate is alright by Traveller.

Now to pass this tag on {don't you just love to hate this kind of thing?}

Three of my newly found favourite blogs --

Alison at A Pair of Aviators

Elizabeth at E Tells Tales

and

Mina and Alex at ...Sending Postcards

Enjoy!

Classroom Funnies.

Traveller's grade three boys are preparing for the English Speaking Board examinations.

They have to prepare a 2 minute speech on their favourite object (usually a toy), a 1 minute poem and a section from their most-loved novel.

Traveller asked one of her boys what he was going to show her and he replied with,

"Well, I've got my poem which I've learned ...on my harp."

"On your harp?"

"Yeah, I know it without looking at the paper."

So cute!

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Thankful.

Traveller is feeling thankful for her boys.

Today was the first day back at school for summer term and it was just so fun to be back in the classroom. T really is blessed with boys who want to learn, who have dreams and want to do the right thing. They are respectful, chivalrous and bright.

T was reminded of her luck in teaching her boys whilst running with RF today. We were running back from Regent's Park when we had a brief encounter with some young boys. Barelyteenagers, they were so tough and confident for their age. They began to cheer us on, yelling 'Run faster!' Then, as RF passed them, one hit her over the head!

T could not believe it.

When and how did things like that begin to happen?

You hear horror stories of children in the classrooms here throwing chairs, hitting teachers and swearing at anyone who will listen.

T is ever-so-thankful for her lovely boys.

Running friend is fine and even was brave enough to confront them and their minder

{unbelievably they had a minder!}

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Picnic at Primrose Hill.

Spring has finally sprung in London.

Actually, this weekend was almost like summer!

Traveller had two picnics. Both at Primrose Hill. Both comprising yummy food and delightful company.

She even has a little red nose.

As you can see, Primrose was heaving with picnic-goers, as was every other park in London.

And yes, Traveller is garnering a serious addiction to photographing spring flowers. Can you blame her? Winter in London seemed eternal.

Lavender.

Traveller has a thing for lavender:

It's purple. It's beautiful. It smells heavenly.

And...it tastes divine!

Today, Traveller made lavender cupcakes from this cookbook. Now, lavender cupcakes may sound a little strange, but T assures you that they are delicious!

Lavender has such a delicate and beautiful flavour.

Now, she could have used purple colouring, or even placed a sprig of lavender on top which would have looked pretty, but sometimes these things are difficult to find.

When in doubt, the answer is always pink.

London for a Fiver.

Traveller loves London.

There is so much to do and see as the city hosts many of the world's most iconic buildings and Traveller believes it has the most beautiful parks of anywhere she has been in the world.

Today, Traveller went on a tour of the hidden gardens of the city and it was amazing!

We toured around the small gardens that can be found in the city's financial district and T couldn't help but gaze at the gardens, but also the architecture of the buildings surrounding the city.

One of T's favourite gardens had an Azara tree in it which made the whole garden and its surrounds smell like vanilla.

Heavenly.

The Vanilla Tree.

One of the best parts was that the tour was only £5 and the money goes straight to charity.

There is so much you can do in London for a fiver or under that from now on - perhaps once a fortnight - Traveller is going to run a little feature called London for a Fiver.

Prohibition Style.

This weekend, Traveller and flattie went to a bar in Soho and found themselves in an entirely different era.

Bourne and Hollingsworth is a 'prohibition style' bar where the cocktails are served in tea cups and jam jars alongside cucumber sandwiches and shortbread cookies. Yum! Smaller than your grandma's living room, the bar is fitted with 20's style decor which includes flowery wall-paper, tassle-adorned lamps and various mis-matching chairs and tables.

Having never been to a 'speakeasy' - Bourne and Hollingsworth was a light foray into this dark era for Traveller and she couldn't help but bop in time to the themed music spinning from the turntables.

Please forgive the photo quality - it was pretty dark inside!

Traveller's little street.

Traveller lives on one of the prettiest little streets in North London.

It is full of bustling cafés, yummy delis and quaint little shops.

The best part is that it's close enough to the city {only one stop from Paddington}, yet far enough away to be quiet and village-like.