Hard Rock Calling

Went to Borough Market and feasted on really yummy food, Palma Ham cut straight from a whole side of a pig, raw oysters six times the size of Bluff Oysters for 1.50 and not at all tough. I'm really scared now as its only ten minutes away by train and a total foodie heaven, lethal on my wallet and not too mention my waist-line.





Went for a great ride in Bexley tried out a new horse, had some great gallops thru the woods and blew away some of the cobwebs, Ginger was incredibly fast!

Went out to Tunbridge Wells to celebrate Twee's Birthday which was a bit of a mission as it was an hour away to get there and we needed to get back to town to go to Hard Rock Calling, which we did with plenty of time to spare luckily the traffic co-operated on the M25!



Hard Rock Calling was fantastic, The Bangles were the first band we saw they played Eternal Flame, Manic Monday and of course Walk like an Egyptian, the scary thing was the lead singer didn't look any older and even scarier I could still remember all the words. Next up was Starshifter they were good followed by K T Tunstall who was excellent and really interacted well with the crowd.




Last but certainly not least was The Police playing their last ever UK concert and it was pretty special to see it at Hyde Park, everything they do is magic, lol, how cheesy am I

Roma

As soon as I found out I had secured a contract I headed off to Italy as I loved it so much last time I was there. Upon arrival in Rome we were advised under no circumstances were any photos to be taken as we left our flight, Air Force One was in residence. It was pretty impressive but all in all a little over the top in that we weren’t allowed to take any photos.







Arrived into Rome pretty late but found my Hostel (in Termini wouldn’t recommend it) ate Pizza de-lish, got given a free bottle of wine, Italian men are definitely trier’s! And hit the sack.



Went to the Vatican Museums really early didn’t queue at all and was inside in a matter of minutes to be told that all the wonders of the Vatican awaited plus the added extra of President Bush, he was following me I swear it! The Raphael Rooms his painting and of course the Sistine Chapel were all exquisite.

Upon arriving at St Peter’s Basilica I was advised that it was all to be shut off to the public for yes you guessed it President Bush, I decided to watch his motorcade, 50 cars in his convey plus helicopters all for one man very OTT.





Next stop for me was the Castel Sant’ Angelo beautiful views of Rome from the top of the fort.

Went to the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Colloseum, full on day but it was light until 9:30pm so I made the most of it.








Next day I went back to St Peter’s Basilica went to the top of the Cupola very narrow staircase inside, stood in awe inside the Basilica and paid my respects to the old Pope in the crypt.



I walked here there and everywhere saw the Circus Maximus, beautiful views of Rome, stunning streets and the odd gladiator, no Russell Crowe though unfortunately.

Spent my last day shopping, eating seeing more churches and lazing around in the parks, brilliant last day and did I mention that although the food was heavenly it will be a while before I eat anymore Pizza or Pasta, funny thing is that I don’t have that aversion to Gelati....

London Sights, Bexley & Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is fantastic, live animated T-Rex and Raptors so lifelike that some children were afraid to go in, not me of course!




The Mammal section was huuuge and had a cool representation of how much blubber is on a Blue Whale with its actual skeleton above. I experienced a Volcano and the earth moved for me in Kyoto, Great morning spent here.

Thought I would put some photos in of where I go riding, Bexley in Kent is a really beautiful village only 15 minutes away from where I live, I can gallop across golf courses, come across Foxes and Badgers mid jump and there is even a pub that you can tether your horse to on one of the rides, now that is impressive even by my standards.




There is always something going on in London like the Mountain Bike world champs a free event.














The architecture of the Canary Wharf area is really impressive and you may recognise the escalators (Canary Wharf Tube station) it was used in Mission Impossible 2.

Naples & Pompeii

I set off for Naples and Pompeii with a little bit of trepidation as Naples was on a travel black list as no rubbish had been picked up for six months!
Naples wasn’t quite as dirty as I would have expected it to be, a few mounds of rubbish but nothing compared to what I had visions of, piles of rubbish, rats etc you get the picture.

The Bay of Naples was nothing short of stunning apart from no beach only concrete slabs I just don’t get that about some European Beaches.

Saw the fort, castles and Main Street of Naples a bit whistle-stop really the main draw card of this area for me was Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius.

Pompeii is about an hour away from Naples reached by going across the Vesuvio plains; my first glimpse of Mt Vesuvius was a mist like shrouded mountain very ethereal.



Reached Pompeii and I was blown away immediately the mosaics on the walls of houses, the streets themselves and the way everything including the stumps of trees had been preserved by the ash and mud.


We saw old theatres, houses, bars and even street advertising from 59AD it’s amazing how advanced they were. The body casts were unbelievable, unreal to think that they were killed instantly in such a horrific way that they were captured in mid pose.





While we were there a torrential downpour happened it was fantastic as you got to see how all the ancient guttering still worked, I was also pretty happy as I had decided to wear jandals and had received a couple of reproving looks but it was commented on that after the deluge I had made the better choice, lol.






Thoroughly recommend Pompeii you could spend days there its huge, not the small village I imagined...

Farley and Salisbury

Spent the Bank Holiday weekend at Farley with Colina, Hew, Tasha, Gunter, Scott and Lorraine.

We arrived in the afternoon and went for a walk around Colina & Hew's lovely farm, very picturesque with lots of woods and cropping fields.



We played Texas Holdem Polka and Pictionary mental note everyone If you happen to have the luck of having me as your partner and I draw something that vaguely resembles a penguin it is actually a Grizzly Bear. I kid you not (does that give you any indication of how good my drawing skills are?!?



Next day we started the day with a wee game of tennis, went to a fantastic sculpture park, wandered thru Salisbury, saw the Magna Carta at the Catherdral, played croquet then badminton, competition was fierce...excellent day and we were all a wee bit tired by the end of the day, not surprising realy



Fantastic weekend out in the country, thanks for having me Hew & Colina