Cheap Flights

Jo and I have just boarded a Ryanair flight from Milano back to Manchester when I noticed a girl had snuck onboard with double-bass case. Normally I wouldn't remark (if you can get away with it and you're not inconveniencing anyone else...) but this was a new carry-on record for me...
I pointed it out to Jo and she remarked, "yeah, she had booked an extra seat for it. It must have been cheaper than paying the excess luggage.."

Photo's below; crazy times.

Cinque Terra

How beautiful is this? And the best bit is that this is at 6:30 in the evening! This is Vernazza. Gorgeous days (scorching sun), cold beer, fresh & clear water to swim in, great food and quality family time. Matt and I have decided this is where we are going to retire (little white terrace, second row back, just behind the wharf & beach).

Vernazza is one of five coastal villages in Cinque Terra on the west coast of Northern Italy. If you haven't heard of it, don't worry, we hadn't either, but check it out on wikipedia, it is absolutely beautiful. We travelled here with my mum and dad from La Spezia, just outside Cinque Terra. We visited Monterosso on the first morning where there were cute little private beaches with colourful umbrellas & reached Vernazza by the evening. I took this photo as we were coming down in to Vernazza, and the water was as refreshing and welcoming as it looks. Finally, a swim in the ocean!!

You can walk between each of the villages, and so on the second day we came back to Rio Maggiore, (the first village of the five) and walked the opposite direction toward Vernazza and ended up there again. The walk between Monterosso and Vernazza is pretty 'sketchy', if it was in Enlgand or Australia, there would have been fences and signs saying "do this at your own risk"; but the Italians, are so much more chilled out...we certainly deserved the beer and pizza at the end of the walk. :)

If you are ever in Italy, skip Rome, and go to Cinque Terra...absolutely gorgeous.

Simon and Cindy come to Manchester

Last week Simon and Cindy came to Manchester to visit! We knew 'Hey Simon!'very well from New College, but we had never met his lovely wife. Well, what can I say, Si, your bride is gorgeous! It was simply the best to have some Aussie, Christian, love in our house ;)

Simon and Cindy stayed for a couple of nights. During the day, they explored Manchester in the very unusual sunny weather. We had to have a little chuckle at them lathering on sunscreen before they set off! They took hats, sunnies and more sunscreen with them on their day out. They may as well have just worn a T-shirt saying - "I'm an Aussie!!"

The above photo is taken at the Hilton Tower in the bar called Cloud 23. You can see for miles of Greater Manchester through the floor to ceiling windows. And...the sky was even clear enough to see passed the street below!

We both forgot how much we missed how easy going, relaxed, generous, thoughtful, outgoing and fun Australians were...or maybe that was just Simon and Cindy. :)


Thanks so much for a lovely time guys, please come back soon!

Snapped...

It happened again... I've snapped my front axle... How do you snap a 3/8" thick metal rod..twice..?

No idea.

Locked In...

Not content with conquering the Black Route at Glentress - no dabs, not even on the aptly named Wormhole descent :-) - Jo's decided to up the ante and dive into the world of clipless peddles.
So here she is, locked in and moving through traffic on a sunny Manchester afternoon (with Red and Black socks on).

For those who've not felt both the pure Zen and terror of riding a bike with 'clipless peddles', imagine locking your shoes straight to the peddles with a metal clip - much like a ski-boot and skis (just without the soft snow). Much as you'd expect, the benefits are, increased efficiency (peddle up and down) and security (shoes don't come off your peddles) - which is also the main drawback: your shoes will stay glued to your peddles even as you go down with the ship - unless you can master the art of clicking your heels while trying not to fall on your head - rather like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. :-)

Summer in Manchester

What more proof do you need...? Hat and T-Shirt. Summer has come at last :-)

Dirt Jumps

Perhaps not surprisingly, I was at the local dirt jumps this afternoon enjoying the relatively rare moment where leisure time and sun coincide (I think it's called a Solar Relaxinox), when some locals pulled up and started riding with me.

Over the next little while, we got to talking, I said, "so I haven't seen you around before.." he replied, "yeah, so we've never actually got over to these mud jumps before..."

MUD jumps..!..?

Manchester's wet, but - please - not so wet that even local vernacular has succumbed to grey skies and sodden ground... apparently so.

...so here I am, at the mud jumps.

Ros is here!!

Ros arrived safe and sound this morning complete with luggage, thankfully!

So lovely to see her, and hug her.

We are about to go up town to get a coffee...and the good news is...it is not raining!

5-Days Running

We've had no rain in Manchester for 5-days running !

Vente

I'm sitting in a Starbucks near our house (is that a tautology?) reading my bible and catching up on email and I overhear a girl stop another girl on her way out asking, "was that a tall, extra-hot, hazelnut, sugar-free, skim latte-to-go..?"
"No," came her reply, "It should be a tall hazelnut, extra-hot, skim-free (?!),
sugar'd capp(acino)-to-go."
At which point the barrista chimmed in, "That's a tall, hazelnut, sugar-free, extra-hot, skim lar-tay-to-go, I'm working on the tall extra-hot, hazelnut, skim-free, sugar'd cappacino-to-go, now. Did you want that with choc-on-top..?"
(To let you know my involvement, I'm just drinking a latte-to-go - I think...)

After another few volleys, the sugar-free vs sugar'd latte/capp girls were sorted and out the door while I got back to reading just as a man's voice came over loud-and-proud, "Can I have a double-shot, Vente, hazelnut, soya, sugar-free, latte-to-go..? Not-so-hot if that's okay."

Maybe I need to try hazelnut (and buy a cardigan).