this time in 2011...

Budapest- Tuesday

Budapest -monday

Budapest -sunday

Budapest- saturday eve

Kirstie & I went for an adventure to budapest- and I very much enjoyed! :D
Thank you for a lovely holiday Miss McKay!
:D
shopping and mooching and (iced) coffee and cake and boat-hotel and lots and lots of learning &walking.
yussssssss
I had a lovely time and I am suntanned! what more could i ask for?

never buy suncream from poundland.

My poundland suncream caused a fuss at gatwick airport security! I guess its because the packaging is a little shoddy & it wasn’t a big name or anything- obviously since it cost £1.

So yeah, I got stopped.

And they took the suncream off and tested it for drugs like on UK border force! It was kinda cool in a worrying “I wonder what poundland put in their cosmetics..” kind of way.

Yes, that’s me, international drug smuggler extordainaire. . Clearly I have a bit of a “drug abuser chic” look about me when travelling.

Classy, no?

new macbook- long story

..otherwise entitled, how I lost 5 years of photos, music, documents & saved websites. Epic fail, but on the flip side I do now have a shiney new computer.

and all the keys work, and its fast, and I ca get online and it doesn't turn itself off randomly.

AND I can even use it not plugged in (as in, from the battery) how amazing is that?

:D

so yeah, RIP old macbook, we will miss you and your midnight shop stickers, 40000 photos and all my coursework that is due in on monday.

swings and roundabouts.

x

Northampton tescos!

Yeah, I know, horrible Multinational Corporation that rips off farmers & everyone else I know, but they have their own bridge!

How crazy does this thing look?

Yeah, exactly. Worthy of a post.

The manics at the CIA!

The manic street preachers

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.

Yussssss

My mum & I met up with Sarah, Dan, emsy-wemsy, dan Dan and jess in wetherspoons and we went together to the gig- on arrival everyone else bought 3 bottles of stellar each so it was due to be a messy night (I had to drive my mother to Merthyr so I was on my soberest bestest behaviour- but I did get to enjoy the show nonetheless-and I had a cheeky lunchtime cocktail in milgi so I wasn’t totally had done by)

The set was age, the atmosphere was awesome & the crowd we’re fab- all singing along and joining in! Loads of tiaras and feather boas! Brilliant- I felt super-very underdressed in jeans and a strappy top! Ha-ha.

more food..

My mum came to visit! So I took her form Moroccan food & cocktails in milgi. As you do. We had tagine (free sound 1^st though! The guys who run this place are so generous!) And then we have fruit for afters- AND they washed our hands at the table after our main!

With a giant teapot!

It was awesome. I may employ my very own had washer for all the time eating.

And we had more mint tea! Turn out my Nan had one of the Moroccan teapots and my mum thinks its in our house somewhere so I may steal it for making my mint teas at home- so much classier than my dented, flaky Teflon saucepan. Oh yeah.

But yes, again the food was amazing, the service was impeccable & my mum had fruit juice served in a melon, with sparkles and straws and umbrellas and EVERYTHING.

She very much enjoyed her tour of Cardiff’s arty bars and pubs- milgi & buffalo and then on to central bar wetherspoons to meet everyone else to go to THE MANICS! Eeeeeee

Timmy pirate

..but its such an ace costume! Top marks for effort and a firring end to my totally ruined brown boots oi took to morocco. Im sure they’ve walywas wanted to be a party of something spectacular. And piracy I feel is that. Land piract anyway, in a Cardiff night club.

Winner!

J

tim has now moved back to north wales & is trying to rehome marmite the cat!

Come and visit us soon! & good luck!

Jubilee

OK, I get that people are really divided over this- some people think its really ace to have something to celebrate and show some national solidarity and other people think its all a big waste of time and money.


I was of the latter camp, I'll be honest- but recently I've gotten a teeny bit excited- I mean, the queen won't be celebrating 60 years on the throne again. this is like the millennium, or the olympics or the coronation- once in a lifetime historical events. so I've decided I'm going to enjoy living through them.
And stop being so grumpy.
ok, maybe just reduce the grumpiness a notch or two.


My parents are planning to go to london on sunday to see all the boats on the thames to mark the start of the jubilee celebrations- and I have to admit I'm slightly jealous.
I'm off next week and didn't twig that was the jubilee weekend- so I've made a bazillion other plans for my time off.


Hopefully there will be some kind of celebration when I'm in wales I can get involved with. 


There was a dress rehearsal today in London for all the events- which is INSANE.
I wish I'd been able to see it!




This was the MSN news report- I just can not get over how many people are involved and the sheer scale of events. it's mad.


My contribution was to buy some twinnings tea (assam) in a jubilee tin. I must try not to get carried away and buy to many jubilee themed things because they are in tins.

Hundreds of soldiers have ridden on horseback through the deserted streets of London at dawn to rehearse the State Procession for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

While most of the capital was still sleeping, members of the Armed Forces performed a full dress rehearsal ahead of the spectacle on Tuesday.

With the sun barely risen, members of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment rode from the Palace of Westminster along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, then through Admiralty Arch and along the Mall to Buckingham Palace.

The route was lined with personnel from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, Foot Guards and Massed Bands of the Household Division, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Queen's Colour Squadron of the Royal Air Force.

The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery simulated firing a 60-gun salute on Horse Guards Parade as some 2,000 servicemen and women took part in the rehearsal.

The 1902 state landau carriage, which will transport the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh from a service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral on Tuesday and was used by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their wedding day, followed behind the mounted regiment, but remained empty.

On Tuesday thousands of flag-waving well-wishers will wait hours to see the procession, but on Friday the only audience members were a few early joggers.

Next week the arrival of the mounted regiment will be greeted by deafening cheers, but this morning's eerie silence was broken only by the sound of horse's hooves and barked instructions to the path liners.

Speaking after the rehearsal, Warrant Officer 1 Paul Barker, state ceremonial training officer for the Royal Navy, said he was delighted by how well it had gone:"It went very well this morning. We are at the right stage that we need to be at, we don't want to peak too early but it's everything I expected them to achieve.

"On Tuesday there will be a mixture of nerves and pride; this is a one-off event, it's not going to happen again in our lifetime and it will give us lots and lots of memories for the future. We have lots of pep talks with our sailors and it's nice to see young sailors in naval uniform on the streets of the capital."