the really really great garage sale.

This weekend Traveller and running friend went to the really really great garage sale at Selfridges.

The garage sale was in aid of charity 'mothers4children' and you were able to buy donated goods from celebrities like Natalie Imbruglia, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lily Allen and Liz Hurley. There were also many celebrities on hand to sell the items in the store's carpark.

Now, T and running friend skipped the crowds and went later in the afternoon, but we still managed to see our fill of B grade British celebrities {remember the bands 'All Saints' and 'Atomic Kitten'?} and 'running friend' even managed to find two lovely dresses.

T has to say that the donated clothes were in super-good-nick. And this means that when Gwyneth Paltrow's Balenciaga boots are up for a thrifty sale (£70!), it really is a case of 'one's trash is another's treasure'.

photo via flickr

Our new favourite place in London

Traveller and hubbie never get tired of the beautiful buildings in London. They have so much history.

Our new favourite is the Coronet Cinema in Notting Hill.

It opened as a Victorian theatre in 1898 and today is a different kind of theatre, feeding film to the people of North London. You might remember the cinema from the scene in the film 'Notting Hill' where Hugh Grant is wearing prescription diving goggles, because he can't find his glasses.

Anyway, on Tuesdays they have half price day, where you can see a new release film for £3.50! Bargain!

T and hubbie saw 'Time Traveller's Wife' there last night and, seriously, nothing beats seeing a movie in that cinema. It has such character and atmosphere.

photo by flickr, flickr & flickr

A little bit of luxury...

Traveller and running friend set aside one day in T's school holidays to really treat themselves (they do run a lot!). So this week, they headed off to a Georgian mansion in Kent to have a spa day.

As Kent is only around 40 minutes travel from London by train, it didn't take long before we had switched the city clothes for a robe and slippers, and enjoyed our first treatment. Now, before you think we were being really relaxed with our budget, let it be known that T found a super deal on lastminute.com - 2 for price of 1! This meant that Traveller could relax without stressing about the bank balance. Bliss!

We each received a neck, shoulder and back massage; a salt body scrub or a facial and a manicure or a pedicure. The best part about the spa, aside from the treatments, were the other facilities. There was a relaxing room, where you could read the lastest magazines and recline on super comfy chairs; there was a room with endless tea, drinks and water; and there was also a squash court, a tennis court, a gym (with classes), a pool, a hydrotherapy pool, a sauna and a steam room!

T and running friend stayed all day and, quite simply, could have stayed forever.

The feet (post-pedi)

All things free and beautiful...

Traveller can't resist filling you in on another free thing she was able to do in the Capital. Filled in by her flattie, T learned that Nokia were hosting a free roller-skating night near Tower Bridge. You just had to sign up online beforehand and you were given free skate-hire and rink time for an hour, while a DJ played in the background.

Fun!

T hasn't roller-skated since she received her first roller-blades at around 10-years-old. After getting a group together during the week, it ended up that there were ten of us going to hit the rink.

It was a beautiful night and it was finished well by having dinner at the close-by Cantina del Ponte - one of T's favourite Italian restaurants.

Kicking up our heels at the scoop

Traveller is lucky to have a hubbie that likes to celebrate by doing something with a bit of 'culcha'.

This weekend we went down to 'The Scoop' on the Thames. The Scoop is an amphitheatre right near Tower Bridge which, during the summer, holds free events. You can see plays, films and hear music - all for free! The best part of the deal is the atmosphere; with Tower Bridge and many other icons in the background, it is a beautiful night.

While we were lining up for our bit of free London, we saw the lifting of Tower Bridge. We haven't seen this before and were quite excited. Yes, we are a bit nerdy like that.


We then entered the scoop, placed our picnic blanket down and commenced eating dinner while waiting for the show to begin. The agency which organised the job interview for hubbie gave him a bottle of congratulatory champagne, so we enjoyed that along with a few other yummies.

The play we came to watch was 'Medea'; it is originally by Euripides but was re-translated by Stella Duffy. Free theatre tends to attract a very diverse audience, so this version of the ancient play needed to be engaging and it was! The audience were on the edge of their 'seats' which was lucky, because T gets quietly rankled when people chat through live theatre (it must be the teacher in her).

So, Traveller and hubs enjoyed another fun and thrifty night in London. T wishes she had some photos to show you of the peformance but, as always, she was much too engrossed in the actual event to think of her camera. Next time!

A bit of cul-cha

Traveller had been looking forward to her summer holiday for weeks, whereby she imagined days and days of doing whatever she wanted in one of the most exciting cities in the world. However, what T didn't anticipate was that London is also one of the most expensive places to live and travel; how was she going to entertain herself without spending all of her hard earned cash?

Well, truth beknown, that while London is expensive, it probably has the most free events of any city that T has been to. You can watch free concerts, have free entry into museums, experience free tours, watch free plays, and anything else you can wangle your way into!

Upon reading a fantastic book about the things you can do in London (after borrowing it from the library of course!), T uncovered a wide range of fun activities that will keep her occupied for the next month and a half.

The most recent free event that T attended was a free lunchtime talk at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.

The lectures are featured at the museum's theatre from Tuesday to Saturday at 1pm every week of the year. Yesterday's lecture was on the musuem's current focus painting, Caravaggio's 'Supper at Emmaus'. It was a 45 minute discussion of why the painting was so extraordinary and the learned chap that spoke also pointed out many interesting parts of the painting and what they were symbolic of - so fascinating!

T understands that this isn't really everyone's cup of tea, her cousin's fiance is her case in point as he fidgeted his way through most of the talk, however, she is not deterred and can't wait to go and experience more of what Free London has to offer. Perhaps she should now go under the pseudonym of Thrifty Traveller?

Let the travelling begin.......

Those of you who have followed this blog since the beginning of the year are probably beginning to wonder when Traveller's next adventure is. Traveller as a name is becoming fairly arbitrary when all the places she has been so far come down to the two B's - Britain and Belgium.

Well, don't be alarmed, all of this is about to change! Traveller and her hubbie are feeling quite settled in the UK and are now ready to see even more of the world. For the last couple of months, T has been busy planning the next three trips: Bath, Italy and Paris. We are going to Bath this weekend (it is a long weekend in the UK), Italy for two and a half weeks in June/July and then Paris for a long weekend in August.

With these three trips to plan, Traveller has begun to realise that planning an itinerary for a trip can be a full-time job. And, just between you and her, she has been very grateful for the access to the internet she has during work hours! Planning a two and a half week trip includes hours of researching, and then the booking of flights, of BnB's, of the Eurostar, of theatre tickets, of popular museums & galleries, of restaurants and of rent-a-cars only takes more time! Though, T wouldn't dare complain about such a task.

The itinerary planning and trip researching only became more complex when yesterday a budget airline announced that they were selling cheap flights until midnight. Hubbie was very excited and ready to dedicate the entire evening to flight searching and booking. Traveller, who was a little weary of flight searching, happily looked over hubbie's shoulder as he tapped away on his laptop.

It is necessary to say that over the last few months, T & H have developed a love/hate relationship with RyanAir (the budget airline). The flights always appear to be very cheap - however, the price does not usually include taxes, baggage or even checking in! As this was the case, Traveller spent much of the evening consoling Hubbie as he became increasingly frustrated with the site. However, with persistence and determination generally comes a reward and by midnight, Hubbie had booked FOUR trips! And that's only in September and October! We now have Bath in May, Italy in June/July, Paris in August, Oslo in September, Stockholm in September, Berlin in October and finally, a little closer, Dublin in October as well! We are going to be well-travelled (and perhaps a little weary) come this October!

If you are now not concerned for our travelling, but more for our empty pockets - do not fear - RyanAir put forward some amazing deals. We paid for all four trips what a friend paid for two Eurostar tickets to Paris! Let's hear it ---- bargain!

So, as the travelling begins, Traveller is learning one of life's great lessons - the art of organisation! It had to happen sometime, and T is so happy that she is able to enjoy Europe as a result of her new found skill! .......let's give it up for RyanAir...!