I could just add a note onto my last post about jazz, but that wouldn't be doing this guy any justice at all.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Jose James!

So, what's so special about this guy? He's just another jazz vocalist right? Oh no...Oh no, no, no...His stuff is interesting, combining hip-hop, soul, drum and bass kinda groves, he is like no other. You can sample his music on his MySpace page by clicking  here.

Another class act at the Roundhouse in London. I love this venue!

 

Yey! I've finally got myself down to the Emirates stadium to see my team play. Yey!
OK, it's not a league game or anything and the tournament is just an excuse to hold pre-season friendlies and charge normal prices for the ticket but still... I'm at the Emirates and eleven players wearing the Arsenal strip are on the pitch!

All in all, it was a really fun day. Firstly, I got myself kitted up properly...Yey! I've got the new away kit.




There are four teams that play over the two day tournament. We're at day 1 which I was originally a little bit disappointed about because on day 1, the teams usually play their B teams, leaving the A teams to play on day 2. However, this is how it all panned out on day 1...

First game: Real Madrid v Hamburg
Real won by 2 -1 which was hardly a surprise but they did play quite a few of their first team including: Raul, Diarra, Robben, Robinho, Van Nisterlrooy and Baptista. Wow!

Then Arsenal came on and lost to Juventus... Juventus played most of their first team including: Buffon (I hate his stupid hair!), Mellberg, Nedved, Trezeguet (legend!), Camoranesi and Sissoko. However, I'm not going to use that as an excuse for losing.

It would seem that Arsene Wenger was keen to give all his youngesters a kick of the ball, so we brought on our youngest player on the first team squad: Jack Wilshere. He's English and only 16! But doesn't seem to crack under the pressure. Aaron Ramsey (aged 18) who has recently joined the Gunners from Cardiff also played and had a pretty solid game.

Matthew got super duper excited about Carlos Vela (aged 19) who has been on loan since forever and is finally going to playing his first season for the club. We've also recently signed a young player (aged 21) from Marseille, the promising Nasri. Too early to tell how big an impact he'll have on the team, but there's probably a good reason why he was voted Young Player of the Year on the French league two seasons ago. Oh and Theo came on for a bit too.

There's no denying it, we have a very, very young team, but doesn't mean we're not any good. Despite losing one nil to the Italian team, I'm sure (absolutely certain) we'll have a great season. We should probably think about trading Nicklas Bendtner in for someone who knows what a goal looks like... But I am still fairly confident that the new season isn't going to be a complete shambles. My belief is so strong that I've finally got my act together and have officially become a Arsenal member.
Come on Arsenal!

It's funny how we sometimes focus on the negative things in our lives and completely lose sight of everything else. Perhaps a glass of bubbly with some good friends will make everything a bit clearer? :)

Cheers everyone! Long may the good times (that we too regularly disregard or play down) continue!
 




















Sharing a glass or two of bubbly at great heights (at Vertigo 42)

I'm beginning to think that I should set up a monthly direct debit into Ray's bank account so I don't have to keep on giving him money! I'm not actually complaining here as all the things he's suggested recently have not only been absolutely brilliant (truly un-missable), but also come with his personal money-back guarantee. You can't really say fairer than that!

Ethiopiques live at the Barbican

Featuring:
Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astatqe, Getachew Mekurya, Alemayehu Eshete + The Either Orchestra (27 June)

This was their first live UK performance (they then went to play at Glasto the following night) but it was amazing to see the very middle-class audience at the Barbican completely transformed. I went along with a completely open mind as I had never heard of any of the music before...And now I can't get enough!

Soil & "Pimp" Sessions at the Round House (14 July)

"Who?! Pimp? As in Pimp?" That's all I hear when I tell people about this act. They are (to date) the best live jazz act I have ever seen.

I was in a really foul mood when I got to the Round House that day, but everything was forgotten by the time I left the venue. These guys are awesome! They came on dressed in Japanese robes and full on bling and looked just like members of the yakuza. Words cannot describe just how brilliant they were... I was dancing from the minute they started right til the end of their 2 hour set.... In heels!

I looked on Facebook the following night and found out that Jide was meant to have been at the gig that night... I called the boy up and he almost cried when I told him I was there and he had missed a truly wicked gig. Never mind Jide - there's Jose James coming up soon. (Both Ray and Jide tell me it's going to be brilliant... I'm just a sheep)

Oof! Just got home from Sam's birthday dinner at Buen Ayre (aka the best Argentinian steak restaurant in London! And it's in Hackney), so happily full of steak and cider now (went for a couple at the Dove, one of the best pubs in Hackney!!)

So more on Latitude...I've been reading a lot of the reviews about the festival and what keeps on coming up is "Oh, it was a very middle class kind of festival". Well to be honest, if "middle class" means no one pukes up over me, I don't get pushed and shoved all weekend and there are no sh*theads running around, then that's perfectly fine by me! But what did people expect really? Latitude isn't all about the music, in fact there's so much other stuff to do that you automatically end up attracting a slightly different crowd from your average festival.

Other stuff (aside from Sigur Ros and Amadou & Mariam) I saw which were brilliant:

Music: The Go! Team, Elbow, The Fairey Band (playing acid brass.... absolutely wicked stuff!), Interpol, Martha Wainwright, Shlomo, Grinderman (Nick Cave is awesome), British Sea Power
Comedy: Frankie Boyle, Andrew Lawrence, Adam Bloom, Simon Day, Dan Atkinson, Steve Weiner (winner of the Hackney Empire Comedy Act of the year 2008. Hackney!!) and the hilarious Omid Djalili
Theatre: 50 ways to leave your lover
Film: Sweet (with the Mighty Boosh!), a series of films from the Hard Liquor & Porn Festival
Literature & Poetry: Lots and lots of cool stuff going on in the tents and spent lots of time lounging around being entertained. Really liked the stuff from the Word Theatre (like Hearts Aflame; Love and Hate Letters from from 12th century missives to 21st century emails). Ray Panthaki reading 'Paki' by Gautam Malkani was really powerful. Was inspired by TimeOut's Michael Hodges (who says we have to start taking Boris seriously because the more you make fun of stupid people, the more they keep on doing stupid things).
Cabaret: Spent a lot of late nights in this tent either enjoying (use the term loosely) a bit of karaoke or just a bit of fun. Acts included: Stella Plumes/TrixieMalicious/Fred Bear, Duotard: Witness The Fitness (they live in Hackney!), Hot Breath Karaoke (from Hackney again!)
Other stuff which was great fun: Dancing to house music in the woods until 3am, the pink sheep by the lake (they're in charge of Latitude), dancing to good old cheese at Guilty Pleasures...

I just can't wait until next year's festival!

What an amazing weekend of camping we had at Latitude (Henham Park, Suffolk). This was my first festival (and camping experience too!) and the overall verdict is "When's the next festival?! I want more!"

I got back this afternoon and the brain is a little mushed... but I will try to put down some words about the festival over the next few days. Here are a couple of highlights to keep you going for now...

Sigur Ros - I saw they were headlining and immediately bought my ticket for Latitude...And they did not fail to live up to expectations, in fact they completely blew me away. You see, Henham Park is beautiful. Henham Park at sunset with Sigur Ros playing live is a beautiful and unforgettable experience... Listening to Sigur Ros under the stars with a full moon hanging above is just... Completely and utterly blown away.

Amadou & Mariam - This was the headline act in the "Uncut Arena" while Franz Ferdinand was headlining on the main arena on Friday night. Amadou & Mariam or Franz Ferdinan? It wasn't a tough decision to make; Amadou & Mariam don't play in the UK all the time and Franz Ferdinand just sound like any other band these days... (sorry if you disagree!). Anyway, it was definitely the best decision... They were awesome!

Travel music, i.e. music which is good to listen to when travelling:
Chromeo: Fancy Footwork - I think I pretty much listened to this one on loop for most of my train journeys

Never mind a sms, what you need is a sweet caress...

Maxwell: Now - In particular track 1 (Get to know ya) and track 5 (NoOne)


Travel Reading, i.e. books to read when travelling, which to me is any book really!

It's been a while since I did any reading to be honest, but during my two weeks in Spain I managed to get through three books and start a fourth on the way home. Now that's a record for me!

Started in Ireland with PS. I love you then moved to China with Empress Orchid, next stop was the US (mostly Las Vegas and Boston) with Bringing Down the House before returning home with A spot of bother.

New foods, or really just food that I didn't really like or enjoy or just haven't tried before the trip

Cheese! Especially manchego... yum!

Meat - there was no way I was going to continue being a pescatarian in Spain when there's all that yummy jamon. Though I actually turned back into a proper carnivore at the end of May. Seven months without meat, what was I thinking?!

Zumo de melocotón (aka peach juice), wow it's yummy!

Cafe con leche - I usually take my coffee black at home but not in Spain, it's all about the cafe con leche here!

And pintxos galore!

Other loves
The Spanish football team. I love them more than ever before! I was so close to buying the Spanish team football shirt and a Spanish flag when I was in Madrid, but finally talked myself out of it as I just didn't want to jinx the Spanish team (what if I buy the shirt and only get to wear it once??!). I'm so glad they won the Euros. They completely deserved to win.

Mañana, mañana... why stress? There's always tomorrow.

So leaving Bilbao on the Sunday morning was easy... tram back to the Termibus station, buy a ticket from the PESA ticket office (no queue, yes!)  and an hour later I'm in San Sebastian.

San Sebastian is named after Sebastian (I was told by Sebastian in Barcelona) so did I really need a reason to go? However, my first impressions are not great. Perhaps it was because of the big dark clouds looming, or because I spent longer than needed finding my hotel, or just the fact that I really, really needed to talk to someone! So, now I know that it's about 7 days without really communicating with people that I begin to go stir crazy. That's good to know for future trips.

Anyway, I'm staying in small hotel (Hospedaje Ibai) on what looks like a busy street in the old town. It's not the most obvious youth hostel and I'm worried that it's on a street which is lined with pintxos bars. I'm not thinking about the food, more the need for sleep! But all is good at the hostel as Suzanna, the lady who runs the place, is so lovely and the room is very, very quiet... Phew! Feeling somewhat relieved, I head out and look for food.

I wander around the old town for a bit and decide on a place which serves some traditional basque dishes like bacalao con tomate y pimientos (smoked cod with tomato and peppers), soooo good!

Right, with my tummy full I decide it's time to go for a walk and seek out the best bars to watch the football. It's Spain vs Italy in the quarter finals and I'm quite glad to see that my football options are good. I end up in a bar in the Cathedral plaza called Plaza Cafe which has two wide screens. Perfect!

So the questions I keep getting asked by friends when I come home from these "Mei-den" voyages is what is it like travelling around on your own? Is it really that enjoyable being on your own? To be honest, I don't notice it most of the time, until of course after day 7 when I start craving some proper conversation! But seriously, I don't notice it until people start staring and then I'm conscious people are staring at me!  In San Sebastian, I was probably also quite conscious that I was the only ethnic minority that I'd seen in days!! But I didn't let that get to me. If the locals like to stare, I'd stare back! :) No, well... that's really how I met Lano who runs the Plaza Cafe. My Spanish is rubbish and he can barely manage more than two sentences in English, but I finally manage to say the one sentence that I've wanted to say for so long.... The conversation kinda went like this:
Lano: Espana or Italia?
Me: Espana!!!
Lano: Muy bien.My bien. Torres?
Me: No! Me gusta Cesc Fabregas! Me gusta Arsenal!
:)
Wonderful.After that, I become one of the locals... And it feels good to be able to celebrate Spain qualifying for the semi-finals!




To be honest, unless you're a surfer, there isn't a huge amount to be done in San Sebastian but that's precisely why I decided on going to San Sebastian. The next two days kinda go like this: Get up, breakfast in an terraza, wonder to the beach, read, get up go to find pintxos, back to the beach/hotel, then more food, then sleep... I am super, duper chilled out by the time I need to get my train to Irun. It's been a good trip.

The train journey home from Hendaye is not particularly intersting and quite exhuasting. Though I am wondering how the transiberian might feel like.... London to China by train sounds like it has to be done!

OK, I'm fessing up that I'm about 2 weeks behind with the blog entries but this girl is busy! :)

So, I leave Madrid by coach on the Friday morning. Coaches for Bilbao leave from Avenida de America and the journey takes a painless 4.5 hours. However, I couldn't work out a way to book the ticket over the internet and there are no ticket machines at the bus station to I had to queue up just like everyone else.

So what happened with the trains I hear you ask. Well, I did think about getting the train from Madrid to Bilbao but there only seemed to be two trains a day and the journey would take 6 hours. The coach made better sense!

I arrive at the Termibus station nr San Mames tram stop in Bilbao. It is early afternoon and once again I arrive in the city absolutely starving. I thought about taking a taxi from the Termibus station to the hotel but I look at the queue and think again. There are no taxis at the rank and there's a queue of at least 20 people. I quickly change my mind about the taxi and look around... OK, renfe station, bus, tram... I go with the tram option and head towards the Guggenheim. All I know is that my hotel has coloured windows and faces the river on the other side from the Guggenheim. It can't be that difficult to find, and indeed it wasn't. In most cities, I would normally try to find the hotel first and then find an attraction. Not in Bilbao you don't. You just can't miss the Guggenheim and the architects knew exactly what they were doing when they built this urban landmark.

The Hesperia Hotel where I'm staying is a four star hotel. My room has a balcony and river views but I can come up with a long list of reasons as to why I wouldn't recommend the place, beginning with the fact that my floor continuously stinks of cigarettes despite being a non-smoking floor. OK, I suppose it wasn't all that bad, but when you pay for a four or five star hotel you do expect everything to be absolutely perfect.

I spend my first afternoon in the Casco Viejo part of the city which has plenty of good pintxos bars and cafes.... Yep, more eating! Pintxos follows the same principle as tapas. You order a glass of wine and just pick at the food at the bar. In my first pintxos bar, I pick up something which looks quite interesting, the waitress heats it up for me and I munch away... Only half way through do I read the sign and match it up with LP and realise that it's blood sausage in light batter covered with peanuts. It's still interesting so I continue munching... I'm drinking rioja of course.



The next day, I wander over to Casco Viejo for breakfast then stroll along the river to the Guggenheim. The interior of the art gallery is just as impressive as the exterior.... I can't remember paying much attention to the art inside at all, not surprising since installations and contemporary art doesn't always float my boat.

After the Guggenheim, I walk over to the Fine Arts Museum... By the time I finish here, I am really feeling art gallery fatigue! So I turn my attention back to the football and food. I'm a simple girl really...

Before I leave Bilbao, I decide to take a trip to Portugalete which is a short ride on the metro from Bilbao. Portugalete isn't in LP and I wouldn't necessarily recommend the detour out to the town unless you have a strange obsession with bridges...

The Puenta Colgante is the transporter bridge that links Portugalete and Gexto. More importantly, it is the world's oldest transporter bridge, built in 1893, it is still in operation and is listed as a World Heritage site - the only UNESCO site in the Basque region.




God, I'm such a geek! :)

'Tis true when they say you haven't really visited the country if you've never seen the capital city. And Madrid really does bring that home.

I arrive at Atocha station and make my way to my hotel (Hostal Santillan) near Plaza de España. The metro, similar to Barcelona's, is easy to use (though I do have to remind myself that having negotiated Tokyo's metro system, everything else has seemed easy!).

The hotel is basic but is well placed, has everything you need and the staff are very friendly and helpful. I especially like the caged elevator in the building (the hotel is on the 8th floor).

So where does one start when exploring this great city? For me, the only items on my itinerary are the three main art galleries, so I try to get a feel for the city by walking from my hotel to Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. It's not a long walk at all and I soon realise that I won't be needing to use the metro as much as I originally thought. I arrive at the Thyssen and decide to reward myself with a nice long lunch in the outdoor cafe. It is, after all, at least 32°c! And so it begins, the long lunches or coffee breaks in any welcoming terraza .

The Thyseen-Bornemisza is my favourite of the three main art galleries in Madrid. Here, I fell in love with the works of Degas and Gauguin and seriously have to restrain myself from breaking the bank at the gift shop. After an afternoon of high culture, I head over to the park, buy myself an ice-cream and people watch by the lake. It is nearly 8pm when I decide that it's time to start thinking about tapas...

The first stop on the tapas crawl is a place called La Casa del Abuelo, where gambas (prawn) is the speciality, nicely washed down with a small glass of El Abuelo red wine.



The next tapas bar I stop in Las Bravas, where patatas bravas is the top choice here alongside a cerveza of course. La Trucha is the last bar I nip into for some pulpo before I have to call it a night. The trouble with going on solo tapas bar crawls is that my stomach just isn't big enough!

The next day, I decide to start with the Artistic Madrid walk as advised in LP. Breakfast is taken in the splendid café Comercial where I order the obligatory cafe con leche and tostada. By the time I reach Gran Cafe de Gijon on Paseo de Recoletos I decide that it's time for the first alcoholic drink for the day - a champagne cocktail. It's just before noon, but what the hell. I'm on holiday! And an empty stomach is no way to appreciate all the splendid art right?!

First of all, I visit the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. The building itself is magnificant and I especially like the glass elevators. However, having been to the Thyssen the previous day, I was a little disappointed by the art on display. Perhaps I'm just not big fan of Dali, or I was all Miro-ed out from Barcelona, but I wasn't too impressed... Though saying that, Picasso's Guernica does save the day. I am in complete awe by the sheer size of the canvas and very glad that I decided to buy the audio guide. Guernica alone is probably a good enough reason to visit the Reina Sofia.

Next, I head over to the Museo del Prado which I think is in many ways similar to the National Gallery in London. The gallery is enormous and while the art on display isn't to everyone's taste, I would definitely recommend a visit and getting the audio guide to the permanent collection. For me though, I've always loved the works of Titian, Rubens and Caravaggio so there was no way I was going to skip through this place.

Needless to say that after my first day and a half in Madrid, I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed by art, feeling inspired but also very insignificant and humble in front of some of these master pieces (especially considering that I came back from New York not so long ago and saw many other masterpieces there too).

Feeling the need for another drink, I walk to Plaza de Oriente which sits opposite the Palacio Real. I couldn't agree more with LP when it says there is no finer place to spend a hot Summer's evening. However, I didn't spend all evening in the Plaza as there were more pressing matters to attend to.. the football! That night it was Spain vs Greece so I bags myself a nice spot at a local tapas bar and soak in Spain's love for the game.



On Thursday, I kick start the day with breakfast in a terraza in Plaza Mayor, though it's nearly mid-day by the time I leave the terraza, heading towards another Plaza and yet another terraza... agua con gas, cafe con leche, zumo de melocoton, tapas etc from one terraza to another. This is the life!

There is one thing that I did promise Matthew that I would do in Madrid, and that was to visit the Real Madrid football stadium and buy him a postcard of Raul. The stadium is huge! I end up walking around for a good 15 minutes before I find the gift shop. I don't really care for Real Madrid so it wasn't a difficult decision to make about whether to do the stadium tour or not. I did have to hold back on buying the Spain football shirt though. As tempted as I was, I just had a horrible feeling that I would jinx the team...

As I was leaving the stadium, I noticed a poster of Fabregas advertising Smints. The poster is almost on every street corner in Madrid, but something about it being in front of the Bernabeu made me smile. OK, so there's no ruling out that Fabs will play at the Bernabeu on an opposing team one day but the chances of him ever playing for Real Madrid are pretty slim.

LP says: Toledo (p239) - The 'city of the three cultures' is a fascinating medieval warren , the heartland of El Greco and epicentre of deep Castilla.

Do I need more of a reason to visit this city? It's just 30 minutes from Madrid and Renata and Sebastian both gave strong recommendations, so why the hell not?!

I arrive in Toledo mid-afternoon and I'm starving. I check into my hotel (Pintor El Greco) and then head straight towards the main square in search of food. I settle for a place with tables outside on a quiet side-street and order a local speciality of Caramusa (a pork dish). There is just no way that I can not eat meat in Spain! I'd just be missing out on soooo much.




With my tummy now full, I decide I have enough energy to explore Toledo. The town is small enough to walk around on foot, from the hotel which is on the other side of the town to the main square is just 15 mins walk. Saying that though, there's enough to see in Toledo to keep you going for hours. I decide to take the walking tour detailed in LP, starting with the Alcazar (which is still being restored and isn't due to the public yet), then over to Museo de Santa Cruz which was built in the 16th century. There's a gallery on the ground floor which has a number of El Greco paintings on display. I love the cloisters and feel there's something very peaceful about the place.



Next stop is the Cathedral which is the main landmark in Toledo - which is very handy when navigating along the narrow winding cobbled streets. The Cathedral is impressive from the exterior and the interior and is worth the 7 EUR admission (I generally dislike the admission charges that churches impose). There's a gallery within the Cathedral which has a number of paintings by El Greco, Titian, Rubens, etc.




The last stop on my walk is a the Plaza de San Juan de los Reyes which is a church near the Jewish quarter an is worth visiting for its beautiful cloisters. By the time I finish here, it starts to rain... I take the train to Spain and it rains...

Oh it feels so good to come back to Barcelona. Some people wonder what my obsession with this city is all about and I wish I could completely verbalise the feelings...  There's the sea, the beach, the city, the architecture, the mountains, the football, the shopping, the food... Everything seems to be there and it's all so fun!

Having been to Barcelona twice before you would have thought that I've seen most of the sights before. Wrong. I'm still spoilt for choice as to what to do with my time in the region.

I'd booked a room at The Garden Hostel for the first night, which is a couple of metro stops past Park Guell. Dumped my bag, had a quick shower and grabbed some food and then went off to meet Sarah, who I had met on the train from Paris. We decide to spend the day in Montjuic. We visited Fundacio Joan Miro, strolled up to the castle (it's really not worth taking the cable cars) and then spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing at the botantical gardens.

While on Montjuic, I completely forget that I'm in Barcelona, a cosmopolitan city... Where are all the people? It was just so nice to stroll around the mountain and feel like you were far, far away from anything. Certainly at the botanical gardens, I think Sarah and I were the only ones there!



That first day in Spain was lovely. Perfect.
Sarah and I parted with a hug and I felt as though I was about to cry. It's amazing what effect strangers can have on us sometimes...
Anyway, Sarah and the day in Montjuic did seem to set my pace in Spain. I decide there and then that every day for the next 11 days, I'm going to relax.

The next morning, I pack up my bag and head towards to Sants station and buy a ticket to Villafranca del Penedes, famous for the production of cava in the region. On the way, I stop off at Freixenet which is right next to Sant Sadurni station. After a quick tasting, I head over to Villafranca del Pendes (the next stop after Sant Sadurni). Villafranca is about a hour away from Barcelona and it's a nice place to spend the day. There's a market in the town at the weekends and it's all hustle and bustle until 2pm and then it's siesta time... Another thing Villafranca is famous for is its castellers (Catalan human-castle builders). I do wonder sometimes how these things get started?! Unfortunately the festival where you can usually see the castellers isn't until the end of August, so I have to settle with a picture of the statue in the middle of town.



That evening I head back to Barcelona to meet up with Renata and Sebastian. Actually, we all meet up but Sebastian and I leave Renata to go and shop while we go and watch the football. It's Spain vs Sweden and I'm really looking forward to watching the game with the Spanish fans... But there are none to be seen (or heard). Renata reminds me that I'm in Catalunya! Oops! Sebastian and I end up watching the game at an Irish pub called The Temple off Las Ramblas.... Once again, I manage to forget that I'm in Barcelona. There's not a single Spanish or Catalan speaker to be heard, the pub is packed with Swedish fans and Americans - not even the bar staff are Spanish! But, I do not complain. I have a nice spot in front of the television which is broadcasting ITV's coverage (not even Spanish TV!!) of the game... Oh and Spain win with a cheeky goal during extra time!

The next day, I manage to sleep right through to mid-day! I really must have been exhausted. The weather is mild but not warm enough for the beach so we decide to stay in Sant Cugat that day. Sant Cugat, where Sebastian and Renata live, is about 5km from Barcelona. The village has everything you need without having to go into Barcelona but there are also two lines which run from Sant Cugat into Barcelona should you need to make the journey. We spend the day drinking cups of tea, eating and just catching up. As always, it's a pleasure to spend time with these two and I just can't believe it's been over 2 years since Renata left MORI. How time flies...

A week ago, I packed up my (stupidly heavy) backpack and took the train to Spain... Well OK, it wasn´t quite that easy but it wasn´t particularly difficult either... Here´s how:

London St Pancras to Paris on the Eurostar. Book ahead! The cheapest return tickets are around 55GBP. From Gare du Nord transfer to Paris Austerlitz station which is only 10 mins away by metro. Just remember to have coins at the ready! Austerlitz station is tiny compared to Gare du Nord but has everything you need, including showers! So, this is where I board the Elipsos Trenhotel bound for Barcelona (booked in advance, the single ticket costs 54GBP).

My accommodation on board is a tourist class sleeper (4 beds in each single-sex cabin). It may be tourist class but the accommodation is very comfy (i.e. much better than the soft sleeper trains in China!). The journey from Paris to Barcelona takes roughly 12 hours but remember this, there are no hen or stag dos on board, making this the most civilised journey to Spain I have ever encountered!

The train arrives at Barcelona França station which is a short walk from Barceloneta metro station.

After a lovely chilled out weekend spent in Barcelona, well actually I spent most of my time with Renata and Sebastian in Sant Cugat (in the burbs of Barcelona), I take the AVE from Sants Station to Madrid. The new high speed line from Barcelona to Madrid has only been running for a few months and the journey is completed in just 2 hours, 40 mins with the speed of the train reaching 300 km/hour. However, expect to cough up for the convenience. The ticket which I booked about a month ago cost 49€, which is the special discounted fare available on the renfe website. The normal fare is around 110€.

I decide not to spend my first night in Madrid, but instead head South to the small, medieval town of Toledo, again on the AVE (30 mins, 16€ return).

I am a transport geek, there is no hiding it! Details of my actual experience in Spain to follow when I return to London. In the meantime, I need to go and find some more scrummy tapas and enjoy my last night in Madrid.

Ray was probably thinking "You big sap!" when I started crying during PS. I love you on the way back from New York. And he´s probably right, as movies and books tend to have little effect on my emotional status (that is, apart from horror movies), but this one got me going...

While the film is miles better than the book, the line that made me choke initially was:

If you can promise me anything, promise me that whenever you're sad, or unsure, or you lose complete faith, that you'll try to see yourself through my eyes. Thank you for the honor of being my wife. I'm a man with no regrets. How lucky am I. You made my life, Holly. But I'm just one chapter in yours. There'll be more. I promise. So here it comes, the big one. Don't be afraid to fall in love again. Watch out for that signal, when life as you know it ends. P.S. I will always love you

Only managed to catch two films this year at the Tiger Festival, ICA. Both were excellent though.
I went to see The Case on Friday. This film is from the Yunnan Film Festival (a series of films by female directors in Yunnan). It's about an inn-keeper who finds a suitcase floating in the river. He hides the case from his wife and when he manages to break the lock, the contents trigger a downward spiral of events. It's a 'thriller' but it's also quite funny. I loved the character of the inn-keeper's wife - a mega insecure, psychotic woman.
Then went to see Mad Detective on Saturday with the same film buffs I went with on Friday (it's like a little film club going on...). This is Hong-Kong movie by one of my favourite directors, Johnnie To and he doesn't let me down. Mad detective is about a detective with schizophrenia who uses what his 'gift' to solve crimes. Here's a trailer for the film.
I love Asian cinema and both films have renewed my faith that not everyone is about to sell out. Here's two examples I want to chuck rotten tomatoes at: Dragon Ball the Movie. Oh dear god! Don't do it. There's no trailer for this yet, but it's a recipe for disaster: James Wong directing, Stephen Chow producing and Chow Yun-Fat playing master Roshi!
The Forbidden Kingdom - Jet Li and Jackie Chan should stop making movies in English. Though at least they shot this one in location.

14 Hours and 36 mins  until kick-off!
Hurray! The Euros start soon and I'm so excited.
My money (team sweepstake) is on Portugal winning though my heart is set on Spain. However, the more rational part of my head tells me that the likely winners are Italy. Here's how I got to that conclusion....


Team A
Winner: Portugal
Runner up: Czech Republic

Team B
Winner: Germany
Runner up: Austria

Team C
Winner: Italy
Runner up: Netherlands

Team D
Winner: Spain
Runner up: Greece

Quarter Finals
Portugal v Austria

Germany v Czech Republic

Italy v Greece

Spain v Netherlands

Semi-finals
Portugal v Germany

Italy v Netherlands

Finals
Portugal v Italy

Winner: Italy

Obviously, would like to see Spain make it through... but you NEVER bet on your team!

Loved the film, loved it, loved it, loved it!

And what a totally impromptu SATC (in London) I had over the weekend myself. Thanks to Wing (for your many words of wisdom), Wei-Wei (for the new hair-do) and my lovely friends that I had lunch with on Sunday (for just being fabulous). 

And a SATC weekend surely couldn't be complete without a spot of shopping... Ahem, I may have bought some shorts for the beach and ASOS mail tracking tells me that my new bikini will be delivered tomorrow.  Hee!

If you haven't seen any of the series on the telly while it's been on (Sunday evenings on BBC Two), then get it on the i-player!

Allow me to side-track for a moment...I love the i-player (and 4oD). The Internet and its capabilities don't ever fail to amuse me and the i-player is just one of those things which I think is brilliant beyond belief! I'm lying here in bed, streaming the latest Wild China programme on a wet and miserable Bank Holiday Monday. If I didn't need to eat then I could happily stay in my room for the rest of the week! (Though OK, I would get a little bit bored). Inside sources tell me that there will be something out soon that will supercede the i-player, 4oD and whatever else there is.

Right, so back to Wild China, a six-part documentary about China's landscape and wildlife. I really enjoyed the first programme where the makers focus on the rice fields in Southern China. Throughout the programme, I was mentally ticking off all the places in Southern China that I visited last year. At the end, I heaved a big sigh "It's so beautiful but if only!". The BBC film crew must have either filmed very, very early in the day or completely went off the beaten track because I can remember being by the River Li at 7am and I was still being hassled by tour guides to take a river cruise! So where are all those tour guides and tourists in the programme?

Programme 5 is called Land of the Panda.

The Dalai Lama says happiness = inner peace. For me, happiness is making a big slab of chocolate brownies. It's not so much the eating, (I usually only manage a tiny piece in any batch), it's more the distribution process.

Judith and Lisa always complain that "it's all your fault" after they've managed to scoff three pieces down in one sitting, but hey it's not like I'm force feeding anyone!



Here's my favourite brownie recipe:

From Green and Black’s Chocolate Recipes: Unwrapped - From the Cacao Pod to Muffins, Mousses and Moles

• 250 g unsalted butter (the recipe book says 300g but do you have any idea how much that is???!)
  
• 300 g dark chocolate (I tend to use 2 bars of 70% dark chocolate and a bar of milk chocolate. And seriously, if it's not good quality chocolate like Green & Blacks or Divine, then you shouldn't even bother!)
  
• 5 large eggs
• 400 g granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 200g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Tea Smith is a lovely little tea shop/house in Spitafields Market. A friend recommended it to me a while ago. Today was my first visit.

"Do you have a favourite tea?" The lady asked
I had to think for a while. Not really, I'm still finding my way around.

I can't remember why I picked this one to try. Perhaps because it's an Oolong from Taiwan and the description looked interesting but there are few teas that I've tried that will match this one. Well, so far anyway...



Ali Shan - Oolong

The aroma from the leaves and the cup itself was delicious.  It's a delight on the tongue  - very smooth, buttery texture and tastes just as good as it smells. And the flavours linger in your mouth too.

The next one I tried was a recommendation from the lady in the shop.  Another Oolong  called Phoenix Sung Special.


Phoenix Sung Special

This one was brewed in a little YiXing teapot . The leaves were a lot darker than the Ali Shan but had a really sweet aroma which hits the back on your tongue on the first taste. This one was very different from the previous, but again the aroma was captivating.  Tasted like lychees at first but on the second and third flush, the flavours become more intense but still sweet and mellow, a bit like honey.