Patience is a virtue

I’m pleased to say that after almost four months of [patiently?] waiting for my visa application, I have received confirmation that I am able to continue to live and work in the UK for a wee bit longer. While I did manage to kept myself occupied during the past four months, it didn't take me long to jump on a plane with my passport safely back in my hands!

Over this past weekend I spent all of 36 hours in Finland’s cosmopolitan city of Helsinki. With six layers of clothing, my winter boots and a trusty local map, I enjoyed wandering around the capital in temperatures hovering around the zero degrees. I stayed at one of the purpose-built hostels in town, chosen for its added benefit of a sauna! A morning sauna is certainly a great way to start the day.

Helsinki, with approx 600,000 residents is located on the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. It has a fascinating history with both the Swedish & Russian rulers leaving their resepctive marks in the architecture that remains in the city today.

I have included a few pictures of this site in this blog:

• Helsinki Cathedral (top left) was built in 1852 and is arguably the most photographed building in Helsinki. I enjoyed the night time view of the Cathedral while tasting some of the local cuisine in a nearby cafe.
• Above are two pictures taken near the coast, including some of the seaside architecture and an old chap returning from one of the many islands which sit fairly close to the shore.
• Suomenlinna (below) is a maritime fortress built in 1748 on six islands just off the shore. It was once used by the Finnish and Russian war ships and is now home to 850 inhabitants and a naval college. It was a quick trip out to the island for me via a 20 minute ferry. With the sun setting at 4pm, I had to quickly run around to take the pictures while there was still some light.
  

The leaves are turning...

Here are just a few pics from the weekend, in and around London.

On Saturday, I enjoyed a hike through a part of the Surrey countryside, from Holmswood to Dorking, via Leith Hill Tower, Wotton House and St John the Evangelist Church at Wotton.

Below are a few pics in London's largest ancient parkland, Hampstead Heath. The Heath is a city getaway, with woodlands, grassy hills, ponds (used by some of the braver Londoners' during the summer) and plenty of tracks to wander around. South of the Heath is Parliament Hill which boasts a stunning view of the city skyline (with Canary Wharf on the left and the city to the right).

[And yes, I still consider myself a tourist and am therefore allowed to still take photos with the more 'iconic' features of London]

Lily of Hamble

The English summer had yet another burst of life over the past weekend - it was a absolutely stunning. I had the great pleasure of enjoying the weather by sailing to the Isle of Wight, off the south of England. We spent our weekend aboard the Lily of Hamble, a 50ft Bavaria yacht. The photos below are of our boat running "goose-winged" as we entered the heads; the rest of the crew relaxing at the stern; and the Needles, a row of stacks of chalk on the western tip of the Isle of Wight.

On Friday afternoon we sailed to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. With solid winds, we had a good intro lesson in the art of sailing. The photo below is of myself behind the helm with Graham (our trusty skipper) providing expert tuition and sharing his knowledge. Amongst other things, I now understand the difference between a genoa & a jib, and also have a better idea of how to use the "head to wind" concept to find that optimal point of sail.

On Saturday & Sunday, with minimal see breeze to take us on our way, we took the opportunity to enjoy the stunning sun & relaxed onboard as we motored along. We managed a [quick!] dip in the cool waters when we dropped the anchor at lunch time. One of my highlights of the weekend, both literally & figuratively, was being winched to the top of the mast, approx 60ft high. From the top, I had a great view of the Needles & Hurst Castle, which was built in 1544 by Henry VIII to protect the western approach to the Solent (the sea which separates the Isle of Wight from the mainland). What an awesome experience! The photo above shows the fantastic view of the boat from the top... definitely not for the faint hearted!

And finally, along with the blues skies came two stunning sunsets. The first photo was taken in Yarmouth harbour and the second as we headed from Cowes to Gosport (near Portsmouth).

Life in the country

For the last official weekend in summer, we hired a car & headed north to the Peak district, located in the midlands of the UK. We stayed in the town of Edale, at an historic cotton mill. The mill was built in 1795 and was restored by the Landmark Trust in the 1970s. To the left is an obligatory photo of Beth & Anne on the deck chairs in front of the mill.

During our relaxing weekend we visited the town Chesterfield, famous for the “crooked spire”. The girls bought a variety of goodies from the markets and cooked an end-of-summer BBQ feast, including a scrumptious dessert – fondly named the “Edale mess”, composed of jam roly-poly, sweetened cream & summer berries – yum!

On Sunday, we joined a few locals for a horse ride through the rolling hills. It was a popular area for mountain bike riders. In the 2 hour ride, we must have past about 30 bikers, many of whom were doing it tough! In the afternoon, we visited Chatsworth House, the home of the Dukes of Devonshire. The house & its extensive grounds have been used in several movies, including The Duchess (Keira Knighlty) as well as Pride and Prejudice (ie, Mr Darcy’s Pemberley residence). We had plenty of time to enjoy the grounds & get lost in the maze (honestly one of the hardest mazes I’ve ever done!). After searching through the house & all of the relics, I'm pleased to say that I did eventually find Mr Darcy! :)

We finished off our weekend on Monday at the a agricultural show in the town of Hope. We had a few hours of breathing in the fresh air, watching the sheep dog trials & horse dressage, looking at the craft stores and of course eating some of the local produce. The photo on the right is my favourite photo from the trip. I was brought up with the competition of “How many jelly beans are in the jar”… well, this is the country version – “How many balloons fit into a tractor?” Classic!

Long summer days

It has been a wee while since I have typed a blog... a testament to the great summer we have had in London. OK, so it hasn't quite been the "BBQ summer" that some weather forecasters were predicting, but it has been pretty close! I have had plenty of opportunity to enjoy various outdoor activities, brunches, picnics, BBQs & parties in the long summer days.


This blog has a few photos from my shenanigans:
* Top: A night of random open-air theatre along Southbank, near the National Theatre. The night time shot is taken next to the River Thames, with St Pauls Cathedral in the background.
* Above: Enjoying an summer evening picnic at Fulham Palace while watching a performance of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Nights Dream".
* Below: Some pics from a Saturday walk in a Wivenhoe, Essex (about an hour north of London)
* Further below: A pic of Victoria's Victoria sponge taken at a friend's traditional English Coronation garden party!