Adrian Glynn "Bruise" - www.streamingcafe.net

Some songs just leave you feeling calmer...

The Naked And Famous - Young Blood

Dan Auerbach - When the Night Comes

It's time for a little autumn music. Let's get started.

A Bit of Luxury

I have no idea where I found this picture or if I've posted it before, but gosh! is it a nice room. Lighting really does make or break a space, doesn't it?




I hope you're having a great Friday.

Walking on the Edge

The Mother Hen




and Doug




took the proverbial plunge and walked ON the CN Tower. I'm not sure how they mustered up the courage to get out on that ledge...my palms are sweaty just thinking about it. But hey, if a woman who's always wanted to get up to space can make it up this high, there's no telling what she'll do next xxx

Way to go, you two!!!

Down with Consumerism

I'm doing my best to stop being a consumer. I think this will be my quest for the year: only buy things I need and do my best to be creative with the things I have. I'm all set for winter: I have boots and sweaters and layers upon layers to keep warm and look good. It's time.




image courtesy of Wit and Delight (a remarkably beautiful blog that might just make non-consumerism a challenge.)

Me? At a Beer Festival?

Erik's friend couldn't make it to the Wandsworth Common Beer Festival yesterday, rendering him a tad morose, so I offered, with only a modicum of enthusiasm, to go instead. Thankfully, he promised they offered more than just the bitter, frothy brews, so there was even more of a spring to my step.

Turns out that the "festival" was more like an intimate gathering of intellectuals around hundreds of casks of beer, so I was pretty happy.




We got a table, and started in on half pints of ales and lagers for him, ciders for me.



The weather was delightful and the company was great.

Men came armed with notebooks and pens: they were keeping track of the beers they'd tried and ranked them as they sipped. This was no joke...beer festival-ing is apparently quite serious. Still, it's hilarious cute to see a grown man in a tweed jacket making notes about beer (of all things) in inks of various colours.

As you can imagine, after several glasses of the stuff,




...we were feeling pretty giddy.

We left at around dinnertime and headed downtown after a look back at the festivities...



...and a tour of the gorgeous building.

How had I missed Liberty London before this point? Looks like a fine olde department store to me. Some obligatory photos ensued...








...then we went to Soho Pizzeria for dinner and a little live jazz music. These guys have been playing Thursday nights here for twenty years. Clearly, we liked it.

Twas a great day.

Turkey Sandwiches

The weather in London in autumn is unreliable (it happens to be unreliable most of the year, but autumn has its own surprises): it's cold; it's warm; it's rainy; it's cloudy. And these all usually happen on the same day.

Though it might sound annoying, I happen to love the unpredictability of the weather here. It certainly does make my tendency to overpack for events warranted. Everyday, I can pack an umbrella, a sweater, a hat, a sandwich, and ensure I'm wearing a t-shirt under my layers of clothes, and I've actually come prepared.

Erik and I went to see Tate Britian the other day, since neither of us had been. It sits directly across the Thames from the Secret Service here in London. I'm curious...how secret is it really if we know exactly where all the intelligence happens? Not very, says I.

Anyway, I'd defrosted some of the leftover Thanksgiving turkey and we had a lovely picnic, albeit chilly, in a park that served as the front lawn to some very lucky people. It was a great day.

When Erik left for work, I wandered around the city myself. I hadn't seen the Parliament buildings up close and personal, so I opted to head that-a-way to see what I'd been missing.

Just as I was about to leave the park that flanks the Thames and Parliament, I looked over towards the river's edge and saw the most dazzling double rainbow...




The surprises didn't end there. The rainbow stretched over the entire sky, making a full-on-would-make-a-leprechaun-excited arc that ended more spectacularly that it had begun.

Amazing, right? I love it here.

Since no trip into the city is complete without stopping in Chinatown, I did my obligatory walk-around and stopped for some pho for dinner.

This week off has proven to be one of the best vacations I've had thus far.

Classical Nights

Erik took me out to a classical music concert at St. Martin's in the Fields, just beside Trafalgar Square the night before I left for Turkey. They played Vivaldi's Four Seasons among other favourites. I was thrilled to bid my home adieu for a few weeks. Adios, Dartford...

The concert hall is this church (which I suppose is still a functioning house of worship), with this funky window in the back, pulling the rectangular glass panes into a cross of sorts. Cool, right?

After the music was over (and it was just amazing. At no point during the performance did I want to leave, Philharmonic-styles), we went to our favourite haunt, Gordon's Wine Bar, for some cheese and wine. Sounds like a pretty great meal to me ;)


(sorry for the grainy picture. I just couldn't bear the thought of being touristy and flashing in this place.)

I'm still amazed that I live here...it's a good life.

Here's to another awesome year.

Listening to Music

Image courtesy of weowntheskies.tumblr.com via Hanging Rock Comics.

Nice one. Pants really are annoying.

Skins - Bon Iver "Woods" - Freddie and Effy

Finally the Sun: Olympos

After yet another overnight bus, I wound up in Olympos, overlooking the ocean and the mountains surrounding her. What a remarkable sunrise to see on October 20th.



It was straight to the beach to soak up some sun after a week of solid frigidity...

(that man totally looks nude, doesn't he? Love.)

The ruins surrounding the beach were spectacular...

My treehouse room. Seriously, how cool is this? This is where I spent the night of my birthday. Perhaps not the most exciting party ;) but what a great experience.

The orange groves that surrounded the treehouse...

Seriously? This is the water they serve in Turkey? Perhaps it was a sign that a week was long enough to be away from home.

On another day, I took a more in-depth tour of the ruins situated between my hostel commune and the beach...

(smiling a smile of relief after some much-needed sunshine)



The entrance to the Theatre (that has been here for close to two thousand years). They really don't make 'em like they used to ;)

Ah, the violent praying mantis...I thought it was radical that she (I'm assuming it was a female) let me get so close to her. Mind you, given the domicile nature of this insect, perhaps it was a male, enjoying the firm attachment of his head. Hmm...



After yet another long day at the beach ;) I headed to this little place for some homemade Turkish Gozleme, a crepe-thin bread dough topped with cheese and spinach, folded,



...and roasted on a wood-burning stove. I'll take it.



Completely overrun with cats, Olympos residents usually treat these "pests" like we we would mice or rats. I, however, took a liking to these kittens, huddled together in the early morning for warmth. Something tells me (perhaps it was that they were asleep on the guest cushions!) that the Turkish don't really dislike these little things as much as they let on.







And on that note, a tad early, it was back to England for me :)

Goodbye, Turkey.