Spring Break in Italy (yet again)

Yet another year where I get really lazy and head off to Italy for a week's worth of cycling. I can't help it. I don't have to do anything but show up and make the decision of what to choose from the buffet. It's easy. This year, we had some sun and some clouds but the weather was better than in England so it made it worthwhile. Surprisingly, there are lots of photos of me for a change. (I obviously only put the good ones in......)

On the day we cycled to the barbeque, I thought I would take advantage of the lounge chair. And the wine with lunch made me sleepy.

 Climbing up a hill. I was actually first for a change, but only because Marc chose to take the day off. It really was quite steep, I'm having to look at my feet to see if they are still moving.

The wine made me sleep and it made Simon giddy. Or he is happy that he stole the whole pitcher.

Paul, me and Gope resting up. Sorry about the pictue Paul, nice face. If it makes you feel any better, my sunglasses are sitting funny on my head. No, doesn't help. You look funnier.

On the last day, I rode with the fast group. When we finally got to stop, it was only a few steps from the top. Plenty of climbing in Italy. Did you know there are hills there??

 Making our way down to the lookout point and trying not to fall on our rear ends in slippy cycling shoes.

 The lovely water. Some day I will actually go there when it is warm enough to swim in the water!

 This would be my Pippi Longstocking look.

Not quite sure why I was posing all the time. It must have been the sun dazzling my brain.

Last day. My good friends enjoying our final beer and Italian pizza. Such fun!

My Favorite Kind of Marketing

My favorite kind of Marketing? Pure - unadulterated - honesty. Honestly. I love it.

When I was in New York, I saw this shop that sold rice pudding. Rice to Riches....

Perhaps a bit harsh, but technically true.....

This is my favorite. It's almost a bit like Bertie Bots Every Flavour Jelly Beans from Harry Potter. Here's hoping you order one of the dozens of good ones....

The Passport is Back in Action

I know it's been ages and I don't really have a good excuse, but with the long Easter weekend I thought I'd catch up a bit. Now that the passport is back, I actually got to leave the country again. In January, I went to California and New York - just to make sure I crossed as many time zones as possible. 

Although I went to visit in January, Rachel was sweet enough to save Christmas for me. Here Winnie is helping me to unwrap my stocking.

Since it was the first time I'd been on vacation in over 6 months, and the weather was good, I had to bring my cycling kit. A self portrait in the sun. Yes, that's right. It's the sun!

I also got to meet my new newphew on this trip. You can see the expanding Hart family is hard at work. Once again, Winnie is there to supervise.

 Did I mention the hard work? You can just make out Ken, Rachel and Winnie in this picture.

 When Ken and Rachel weren't around - Winnie went into stealth mode.

 I took advantage of the sunshine by spending some time reading in the sun (yep, I'm using that word a lot!). Once again, Winnie is on hand to act as supervisor. .... I know, not much going on in these pictures. It wasn't exactly like my trips to India, France or Africa. BUT, it was a great break and wonderful to spend with family. In the sun.

After California, it was off to NYC. I need to grab some better photos from friends for another blog. Here are a few that I took with my camera. Holly's dog Shakti is tired out from helping us shop at Lululemon.

I had to share the photos of my hotel bathroom. It was completely black. Black toilet, black tile, black shower, black sink. It made trying to shave your legs in the shower quite dangerous. I was trying to figure out if that is all the rage, or just a throw back so it's easier for people to see their drugs on the counter top? Hmmmm....

The black shower. The flash has illuminated it quite differently so I'm afraid you cannot get the full effect. As for the next picture, WARNING: contains adult material. :o)

The other interesting thing about the hotel room, is aside from the black bathroom, the mini bar (counter) was also stocked with Babelube and playing cards. Whereas I tend not to spend much time in the hotel room when I'm on vacation, I think this hotel is encouraging that behaviour........

Thanksgiving!

Hmmm.. I magically seem to have the pictures working again so I am going to play a bit of catch up. 

This was the table for Thanksgiving. For some reason, I once again thought it would be a brilliant idea to host a table for 12. This time I have learned my lesson and I roped in a bit more help than last year. I was ready with about 10 minutes to spare this time! You can admire the butternut squash soup as it is served and ignore the water bottle on the table. That actually held Gope's special dressing and it was the best travel container he could find! I don't want you to think we completely hard core athletes or anything.....

Out of Space

Just a random update... I'm out of space to post new photos. As soon as I stop to breathe (Christmas?) I'll buy more space and start posting again. I might even try and go out of the country before then....

It Apparently is Tasty

A friend of mine had this for dinner the other day.

It is apparently quite tasty. I'm not saying another word. (This is one of those posts that probably should be titled 'Cultural Differences')

River Competition

Sorry I've been absent so long. Work and life are a bit of a struggle at the moment. All good things (of course) but I am not balancing my time well, hence no blogging. I'm using my lunch hour at work to catch up a bit though.

Unfortunately, I don't have the best pictures from this event. Good friends Tim and Shannon Phillis organized us into a team for the local Cookham Regatta. We entered into two events, Dragon Boat races and the Canoe Cat. (Just a note none of us have ever done this before, I'm manning the front right)

 I have to say, it's all fun and games until the last 45 seconds or so.

The form starts to go and you can see I'm not nearly in time with the other rowers as I should. A tough day!

 Tucker was brought along as number one fan.

He got some serious lovin' from Shannon

So serious, that he got very tired.

And fell asleep on Katy. Such a great teammate! She lets my dog fall asleep on her when he is tired. (Note: Katy was sleeping too) Also, you can see one of the drago boats in the background. Complete with dragon on the front and requisite drummer.

In the end, we won the losers bracket for the canoe cat. I have some celebratory pictures around here somewhere. We celebrated in style by drinking bubbly out of the cup. If I get mono, you know why. PS I voted. Yeah!