Pizza love.

T's back from her adventure.

Best. School. Trip. Ever.

The evidence speaks for itself; here's a photograph from their night out in the Italian Alps at a local pizzeria. They were in a teeny town called Villeneuve where little English was spoken and the pizzas cost around four euro.

Besides food, the adventure had it all - sunshine, hot temperatures and the beautiful backdrops of the Italian Alps and the south of France.

Tri-hard.

Traveller has come to the realisation that she may be, well, just a little crazy.

Scratch that.

She's definitely a little crazy.

You see, she has signed up for a sprint-triathlon; a race which requires her to swim, cycle and run one after the other.

The run is definitely manageable; at only 5k, it's much less than the half-marathon she completed last year. She's trying not to think about the fact that this will mean that people will be running quickly, leaving Traveller for dust.

The swim's distance (750m) is not too bad; T is a little nervous, however, about drowning at the hands of crazed triathletes who may swim over her, dunk her or pull her little ankles. T's watched women's water polo - she knows what girls can be like in the water!

The ride, however, is a major cause for concern. Problem number one being that Traveller doesn't even own a bike! Problem number two: at twenty kilometers, it is the longest leg of the competition and T's least-experienced-area.

Other matters keeping Traveller up at night:

sports bras under a swim suit - yes or no?
{she's thinking yes}

dry off or start cycling wet?
{brr!}

bike pants over swimmers in water?
{remember afore mentioned drowning concerns...}

and

How will T's little legs even be able to run after riding for twenty kilometers?!

It should be interesting.

Luckily, T has a few months to prepare (the race isn't until May 22nd) and she's already thinking about how bikini ready she'll be by summer...
there has to be some benefit to all these hours of training, right?

Anyone out there crazy enough to have completed one of these races before? Do tell!

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Confession Time.

It appears that Traveller is something of a royalist.

For many of you, the date -29th April 2011- will conjure up nothing more than images of spring time (or autumn, for the Aussies) but for Traveller, it is the source of serious excitement.

Not only will she score an extra public {bank} holiday but T will also be able to witness a significant moment in the history of Britain's monarchy - a royal wedding! However, while Traveller lives in a flat full of Brits, she seems to be the only member poring over news article after news article scouring it for dress, date and venue details. It would seem a confession is in order:

T loves her a royal wedding!

Now there are plenty of naysayers out there who are already bemoaning the loss of tax payer's money and who are calling the bride-to-be a social climber {from a family of social climbers} but to them, T says, 'Sshhhh. Enjoy the holiday and admire the pretty people in the pretty clothes'.

T knows she sure will be.

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Ballad love.

This weekend, Traveller had the one of the best nights out in London, thus far.

It was at an event called 'Ultimate Power' and it was really just that... a club where all they played for the entire night was power ballads.

We sang and danced to Bon Jovi, Meatloaf, Bonnie Tyler, Johnnie Farnham, The Bangles, Journey, Whitney Houston, Queen, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith and so many others.

Every song was one that we recognised and was often one that we knew every single word ... it was absolute gold!

One of the best parts was the amount of people who were dressed up - there were mullet wigs everywhere, blow-up guitars and microphones, and even the occasional hair brush being used as a microphone.

Next time, we'll be dressing up!










Is that Meatloaf in the video on the background?

Good times!

An English tradition...

Recently, Traveller experienced her very first polo match.

It is somewhat an upper-class English tradition to watch the polo and T has to admit that she really enjoyed the experience.

It might have been the game itself (T couldn't believe how skilled the players were!) or the fact that they watched whilst having a picnic fit for kings.

In the picture below, we are following the rules by filling in the divots during half-time. Replacing the divots is for the competitors' safety; T loved it because it reminded her of that scene from Pretty Woman.

Shakespeare in the Park.

One of Traveller's most favourite things to do is to watch Shakespeare.

{T guesses it's part of being a geeky English teacher.

She gets goosebumps every time}

Luckily, there is no shortage of the bard's greatest works on stage here in London.

In her time here, she has seen A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, As you like it, Hamlet and just recently she watched A Comedy of Errors, which was quite possibly her favourite so far.

Although, Jude Law in Hamlet was pretty hard to beat...

{read about it here and here}

T digresses.

A Comedy of Errors is currently showing at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and they couldn't have found a more beautiful setting. London really comes alive in the summer and the parks are the most beautiful place to be, so Shakespeare in the Park is like a little slice of heaven for Traveller.

The most delightful part about the production {aside from being funny - and we're not talking chuckles here - there was some definite guffawing happening in the audience) was that it was set in 1940's Casablanca and a live swing band were featured as part of the performance.

Traveller and flattie made the most of the lovely British weather and had a picnic in the park beforehand, consisting of all their favourite things - prosecco, strawberries, camembert and chocolate eclairs!

Well, T is excited to be properly back from her blogging break and she has lots to share with you!

The most exciting part involves an upcoming travelling adventure to somewhere sunny and beautiful...

Dancing shoes.

Traveller has been on a blogging break, of sorts.

It wasn't a conscious effort to not blog.

And, there's definitely been lots of fun Londony things to blog about.

But she just hasn't been feeling it.

T's not even sure if she's completely back.

She really just wants to tell you about her new favourite place in London.

There was dancing. Cocktails. And best of all...

there was a live, full piece, cuban salsa band!

Floridita is heaven.

Yep, that's right people, heaven is found in Soho, London.

The best part?

T was given a quick lesson by a very proficient salsa dancer, who proceeded to twirl her around the floor.

And something to drop in conversation?

There were a bunch of musicians just kicking it at the club and one of them was from Basement Jaxx. The band called him up and, after conferring for a few moments, he sung with them.

Then three more of his friends each did this and they were all amazing!

So fun.

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Hyde Park Horses.

Even though she hasn't blogged about in a while, Traveller is still running.

She's actually preparing herself for another half-marathon.

{silly girl}

Having run miles and miles through London, T is almost unaffected by the iconic landscape. She can run through Regent's Park without a second glance at the beautiful swans. She can do hill runs up Primrose and barely look at St. Pauls or the London Eye in the distance. And she can run through Hyde Park without noticing the Wellington Arch or Kensington Palace.

However, when running with RF in Hyde Park on Saturday, T came across a multitude of horses with riders in the official royal uniform. Instantly, T's breath was taken away. They were such an intensely beautiful sight.

Wishing she had a camera and wondering along with RF if the Queen was in tow, Traveller's daze was broken by another runner in front of her.

The runner {whilst still running at quite an admirable pace} proceeded to yell obscenities at the poor unsuspecting horses and in between the various types of colourful language, words like 'tax payers' money' and 'waste' were heard at full volume.

In London there will forever be a juxtaposition between the fairytale and the reality.

It was still pretty, though.

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London for a Fiver: Get your dancing shoes on!

This Saturday night, Traveller and flattie shook off their converse and hit the dance floor.

The Blues Kitchen in Camden was our space of choice and boy, what a brilliant place to move it.

Traveller can quite easily tire of 'doof doof' music, so when presented with constant blues hits from the 50s, 60s and 70s - she found her happy place. The Blues Kitchen has live music from 9:30pm and the bands on Saturday were fantastic.

It reminded T of the 'cassette tape' her father presented her with around her 10th birthday - it was a triple decker and choc-full of hits from those time periods. T can remember listening to those tapes over and over until she knew each and every song.

So, inevitably, on Saturday there were times whenT was the only one on the dance floor who knew the words to songs from the likes of Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and The Big Bopper.

Ah well, at least everyone was dancing!

With a great atmosphere, a fantastic playlist and at only £3 for an entry fee, it is a veritable bargain!

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London for a Fiver: Swimming with Ducks

Hampstead Heath is one of Traveller's favourite spots in London.

It is a vast expanse of gorgeous green fields and once arriving you feel completely out of the city.

The Heath has various bathing ponds; and, as the weather in London reached 'hot' this weekend, T and RF headed to the Heath in search of a tan and a swim.

<

We picnicked, swam and enjoyed the sunshine.

The water, however, was beyond freezing!

The screams coming from the pond should have been enough to warn Traveller, however, sometimes she likes to think she's tougher than she is...

Let's just say it took about five minutes to regain all feeling in her hands and feet.

{too cold..too cold}

The best part? The pond only charges £2 - so it is a beautiful and affordable day out!

Weekend.

The favourite part of Traveller's weekend?

Watching her brother carve it up on the dance floor!

The boy has moves!

Traveller had a great time helping her dear sister-in-law celebrate her 30th in style.

T actually had two nights of dancing and that's a fun weekend in her books.

What's your favourite thing to do on the weekend?

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}

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.