Silvano On The Go: 2012

Monday 4 June 2012

Barcelona

Was just about to start blogging on my Budapest trip and realized I hadn’t written anything about Barcelona (March 2012)! Years ago, while on holiday to another part of Spain, I did a day trip to Barcelona. The only things I remember are the Hagan Dazs café and an C&A, (as all the branches in the UK had been closed for years).

Barcelona is a lovely city, beautiful architecture, in some of which Gaudi’s influence can be clearly seen. None so much as La Sargrada Familia. My personal opinion is that it’s far more impressive from the outside and the inside is a disappointment. But hey, I’m no expert so if you’re ever in the city, decide for yourself. Eating was also delightful, yes, another one of my favourite activities while abroad. Tapas restaurants on every corner, fresh seafood.

A walking tour in any city is usually a good idea and a great chance for orientation.

If you’re a football fan then it’s worth a visit to the Barcelona football grounds – and the museum. If you’re not …..

Never knew Barcelona had it’s own Arc De Triomf. A visit to the musical fountain in the evening is well worth it - wrap up warm if it's a windy night.

Monday 21 May 2012

Mummy and Me! - Oct 2011

How do you get your mother all to yourself when she had 7 kids and 8 grandkids? You take her away on holiday. And that’s just what I did (Oct 2011). Mummy and me alone for 3 days in Tropea, Italy. We explored the beach.

We explored the town.

And just chilled as mother and daughter. It was wonderful!

South of France - Sep 2011

My wonderful husband organized and booked a trip to the South of France for us in September (2011) to celebrate our third anniversary. We stayed in Cannes and as he had hired a car we found it easy to explore Mougins and Nice. Mougins is a quaint little village, great art and even greater food!

Loved the pebble beach at Nice that just went on and on and on. I needn’t have bothered collecting any of the pebbles for my garden back home though as they were all confiscated at the airport from my hand luggage. Who would have know that pebbles could potentially be used as a weapon? (Note to self, next time going to Nice, check a bag!)

I'll leave out the details of the drive into the steep mountains that left me petrified and in tears. Oh but it was so beautiful once we got up there.

Laurence Jenkell, had his sweet wrapper art dotted around Cannes to decorate the town for the G20 summit which was taking place November 2011. It was an interesting challenge trying to name the countries depicted on the wrappers soley by their flags, but I was at a disadvantage. There were 55 pieces in total and I’ve only been to 33 countries – time to dig out the old passport me thinks!

Sunday 1 January 2012

Back To Barbados - Jul 2011

I got really lazy and didn't upload my last three blogs of last year, so, before I start my travels in 2012 I thought I should get it done. Here they are:

Here I go, WAY overdue with these blogs again. Too busy travelling to write, right?
Every year I think ‘this is the year I’ll give Barbados a miss’ but for some reason I end up there every year! This year, it was for my cousin’s wedding in July. Which just so happened to coincide with one of the busiest seasons – Crop Over. This year I attended Pan pon di san for the first time. The family orientated Steel Pan event is held at Brandon’s beach.

Strangely enough it was also the first time I’d ever visited the Barbados Museum. Small, basic but imformative.

As always, mum was doing improvements to the house and as usual, we all got stuck in.

It was the first time Anthony had seen eaten a pomegranate

I always enjoy spending time with my godsons. The shoot up so quickly between visits

I try to go to the beach early morning or late afternoon to avoid the sun. For some reason we ended up at Brown's beach during the midday sun. Everyone laughed at me going into the water with my umbrella up BUT who was laughing the next day when their skin was peeling and mine was fine??