I’m on holiday in the States at the minute with very little access to the internet, but I had to jump on and include one of the highlights of our road trip so far – a Baseball game! Being Brits we have no idea of the rules of baseball, let alone having ever seen a game live, so whilst in Montana it was a must to go and catch the Missoula Ospreys playing at home. We picked up the rules fairly quickly (with the help of some fans behind us!) and had a fantastic evening soaking up the atmosphere of a true American sport. What a great night. So far we’ve travelled from Alberta, Canada, through Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. This country is awesome! Much more to come!
So last weekend I completed the Cross du Mont Blanc; a 23km race up and down the mountain trails of Chamonix, and I loved it! I’ve never done anything like that before and I was fairly apprehensive about how I would find it, but at the same time very excited to be involved in a big event with people from all over the World. It was nothing like the scale of the huge marathons with tens of thousands of competitors, but 1500 runners on single mountain trails only wide enough for 1 person feels like enough!
I’ve never been a runner, never will be I don’t think! But I’ve discovered I much prefer trail running to classic road running. I love the varied nature of it, the ups, downs and the beautiful views, rather than the repetitive pounding. I’ve been training a lot over the last few months and always run with headphones in, lost in my own thoughts and those of the podcasts I listen to. I love the tranquility, the solitude and just simply being in nature. But despite this I have to say I got totally caught up in the buzz of the race and absolutely loved the whole atmosphere! From the exciting, mass start, the crowd cheering, the cowbells being rung throughout and just the sheer positivity and support of everyone from start to finish. It’s brilliant. I don’t think I’m going to become a regular racer, but I’ll definitely do another and I recommend it to all as an experience at least once!
Mid way round, what a backdrop!The finish, finally!
Last year, in perhaps a moment of madness, I decided to enter myself in to the Mont Blanc half marathon. 23km long, with over 1000m of vertical ascent, around the mountain trails of Chamonix. Whether this was a wise move or not will be revealed next week…! So I’ve been training, and earlier in the week I thought it would be a good idea to run the whole course, mainly to see whether I could actually do it! Of course I took my camera, as this, early summer, is a truly beautiful time of the year. In almost 4 hours I saw maybe 10 people, and had the chance to spot things that I just wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t been on foot. Lovely!
Beautiful alpine flowers!A path of tangled rootsSheep just chilling in their alpine meadow!Literally in the middle of a forest, how handy!And look how posh it is inside! I couldn’t resist a photo!
In the excitement of travelling, back-packing and globe-trotting these days, the desire for more is ever apparent; to go further away, to experience a different culture, to go somewhere no-one has ever been before, to achieve a goal… With the ease of travel and low cost flights, a camping trip to North Wales just no longer seems to satisfy that travel bug. People want to go further, better, hotter.
In all this, I think there are tiny places on Earth which have been forgotten, cast out as places that are ‘no point’, ‘too close to home’, and in my humble opinion, Northern Ireland is one such place; a totally underrated corner of the globe. I can’t begin to imagine how many Brits have never set foot on the Emerald Isle (other than perhaps for a stag do…) despite living only a 30 minute flight away, certainly very few of my friends have. Because why pay for a flight to Ireland when you can pay the same for a flight to Spain? I can see the logic, but Ireland has so much to offer, and it is such a beautiful country.
My family are all from the North, so despite having spent various holidays in the Republic, I naturally have more memories and knowledge of Northern Ireland. Nowadays I don’t go there anywhere near as often as I used to as a child, but a recent visit to see family reminded me of what a fantastic place it is. It’s certainly changed a great deal in the last 20 years, but much of the beauty remains, and the people of N.Ireland are what can only be described as a delight. But despite my desire for everyone to love it as much as me, I couldn’t help but feel just a tinge of sadness to see that some of my favourite childhood haunts have now become just another stop for those doing the tour of Europe. But no, I can’t complain, Ireland needs tourism just like anywhere else; it’s what keeps a lot of these heritage sites open and maintained.
If you’re planning a visit to Northern Ireland, I can’t recommend the North East coast more highly, the drive from Belfast up the coast towards Coleraine is difficult to beat; an open road of spectacular rugged coastline all the way. Plus, passing through villages named Cushendall, Cushendun and Balleygalley doesn’t sound like too much of a chore does it?! Sights not to be missed are the incredible Giants’ Causeway, and the Carrick-a-reed rope bridge, once upon a time simply open farmland for you to wander around on, yet not anymore, so pick your time wisely. The Bushmills distillery is also in the vicinity if you’re a whiskey fan, although again, full of tourists. And this is only the tiniest pocket of the island. There is so much to explore, and so many wonderful, friendly people to meet. As an introduction to what to expect from Ireland, I must point you towards Round Ireland with a Fridge, by Tony Hawks. Comfortably the funniest book I’ve ever read and which will make even the hardest hearts fall in love with this fantastic country.
Enough said, Northern Ireland is a wonderful place, stop by if you can!
The stunning Giants’ CausewayTourists exploring the columnsHow did they get there…?The Carrick-a-reed rope bridge, long gone are the days of no tourists
France is a wonderful country. It has beaches, mountains, rugged coastlines, fantastic climbing, amazing cycling, brilliant skiing, hot weather, snow, quaint countrysides… the list could go on and on! It doesn’t surprise me at all that it’s known as one of the World’s top holiday destinations.
Taking advantage of a long weekend, that wasn’t a bank holiday weekend (!) we decided on a spur of the moment trip down to the magical land of Provence. Only 3 1/2 hours drive, pretty much guaranteed sunshine, and the prospect of a few days camping, climbing, swimming, and reading books in the sunshine was mighty appealing! The month of May is the time to go, especially if you plan to do any kind of sporting activities, as from June onwards it becomes unbearably hot if you aren’t in close proximity to water at all times! Right now the temperatures are hovering around 28-30 degrees, perfect for a bit of daytime swimming and evening climbing in the cooler temperatures. We sought out some wild swimming in nearby rivers and found some shady crags to climb at, a perfect mini-break!
I can’t ask more from life than waking up to the sounds of birds singing their morning chorus, a nearby cockerel crowing his heart out, the cows gently clanging their bells, and the church bell chiming. Simple pleasures, and long may they last…
The tiny village of Orpierres nestled in its little nookWe love everything about Provence, even the forest paths…My all time favourite bridge; wonky, haphazard and full of rustic charm; only to be found in rural France!Not a bad spot for some wild swimmingAnd a bit more…This little chap sat with us all morning!
Did you know that the average person spends 4 years of their life looking down at their cellphone? 4 years?? That’s a massive chunk of a life, how utterly terrifying. I recently came across a very thought-provoking youtube video, interestingly I was sent it as part of teaching literature, perhaps with the hope that teachers would pass on these messages to the future generations before it’s too late.
Personally I’ve always had a problem with the ever increasing and worryingly sharp rise in technology, the inability of people today to go out for dinner with their friends without having to check their phone every 2 minutes, or even worse, those who have their phone sitting on the table during dinner so that it can obnoxiously ring or beep in the middle of a conversation. Do we need to be in constant contact with the World? Would it be so terrible if for 2 hours your phone was in your bag on silent so that it didn’t disturb your evening with friends?
So very sadly, these behaviours are no longer seen as rude, it’s now normal to sit with your phone on the table, quite acceptable to pull it out to take a photo of your dinner, or to search for something on google, or to simply have a quick check on Facebook. How is this acceptable? Not so long ago it wasn’t seen as polite to have your elbows on the table during dinner, yet now it’s completely fine to cut someone off mid-conversation to flick through your phone?
Just some of the ideas coming from this simple yet very thought-provoking short video: Ironic how these ‘touch screens’ can make us actually lose touch. Zuckerberg should rename his empire an ‘Anti’ Social network, as rather than connecting people, it leads to less and less face-to-face contact. In a world full of i-Phones, i-pads and i-macs, so many ‘i’s but no ‘we’ or ‘us’. Technology has made us more selfish and separate than ever. Most striking to me was the observation that we sit at home on our computers measuring our self worth by the numbers of followers and likes. On your death bed when you are looking back and reflecting on your life, are you really going to worry and fret that you didn’t quite reach a million followers? Is your biggest regret going to be that not enough people ‘liked’ the video or picture you uploaded? None of this matters, none of it. It doesn’t matter how many Facebook friends you have, it matters how many actual friends you have. Who will rush to help you when everything goes wrong? Not your 2000 ‘followers’, but your real friends, the ones who know your likes and dislikes, who know what makes you happy, who make the effort to stay in touch and who you’ve seen face-to-face in the last year.
‘Ignoring those who actually love us it seems we’d rather write an angry post than talk to someone who might actually hug us’
Studies show that down time, even boredom, is good for you brain. We all need more of it. When a momentary gap appears in your day, instead of mindlessly reaching for your phone, mindfully let your mind wander.
The longer I’m away from the UK, the more I feel an affinity to it every time I’m back there. No matter how long you spend away from your home country, I don’t think you ever lose where you came from, and perhaps it is just a British thing, but there is something so very quaint and charming about the British people, and being one of them, I feel I am allowed to draw attention to the quirky nature of the Brits. Recently mentioned on the radio was a Twitter account called So Very British, which, upon hearing some of the anecdotes, I just had to look up for myself. It’s so simple and honest that I genuinely laughed out loud reading these as they are so true of the British public. I’ve listed some of my favourites below, but feel free to go and check it out for yourself, there are hundreds. If you are a Brit you will know exactly what they mean and will also laugh out loud as you imagine yourself and everyone you know doing the same thing. If not, the following comments will most likely sound very bizarre and make no sense at all, but rest assured that this is a pretty accurate representation of the British people, and long may these quirky traditions last!
Brilliant! So fantastically polite!
– Becoming so cross with someone that you beg for their pardon
– Entering into mild panic if unable to pick the correct amount of change from your hand within three seconds
– “Anyway, I’ll let you get on…” – Translation: Please go away
– Really going for it with your “I’m enjoying my look around” act after entering the wrong shop
– Gearing up to order with your menu closed, then opening and pointing at the very last second
– Being unable to concentrate as someone gives you directions because you’re so focused on looking like you’re paying attention
“Well anyway, just an idea…” – Translation: I can see you all think my idea is terrible, I’ll be quiet now
– Unknown number rings phone – Brit sits perfectly still in terrified silence until it goes away
– Attracting a waiter’s attention by apologising to them
– Hovering your finger a millimetre from the train door button, so everyone knows you have the situation under control
– Worrying you’re going to be arrested as you present your perfectly valid train ticket to the inspector
– Being unable to place your items on a shop counter without saying “just these, please”
– Whispering “come on” at cash points and ticket machines, to assure the queue you’ve done all that you can
– Being unable to leave the office without first staring at everything on your desk and saying “right”
– “After you” “No, after you” “Honestly…” “Go on…” “Please…” – Brits go for the door at the same time, chuckle, then begin again
– Holding your hand to your chest while hiccuping, to assure everyone that you know it’s annoying and you’ll be stopping ASAP
We first happened upon the Monte Carlo Tennis Masters 3 years ago purely by chance and thought it was so fantastic that going down to Monaco for 2 days of tennis in the sun has now become an annual thing! It’s one of the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, a little known fixture which just happens to feature almost all the top 50 players in the World, in one of the most stunning locations imaginable. The journey from Nice in to Monaco in the morning has to be a contender for one of the most scenic train rides in the World, and whether or not you’re interested in F1 (I’m not!), walking round the famous hairpins, through the tunnel and round Casino Square does feel pretty special!
Monaco is a strange place, like nowhere else I’ve ever been. The feeling of wealth and privilege is literally dripping off the yachts moored in the harbour, and stopping for a window shop in some of the estate agents is always good for a laugh! It’s not somewhere I could ever imagine living but it’s most certainly worth a visit. From the royal palace on the cliff top to the famous aquarium, to the stunning sea view, there is no shortage of things to capture your attention.
And once a year Monaco, of course home to the current World number one Novak Djokovic, the Monte Carlo Country Club hosts the Rolex Tennis Masters, a truly brilliant event, so much quieter then any of the Grand Slams, so picturesque and so warm! The tennis is superb, the atmosphere calm and intimate, and what a treat to be skiing one day, and be court side watching Roger Federer the next?!
Everyone has their annual treats, and this is one of mine!
Marvellous Mr Federer in the flesh!The majestic Monte Carlo Country ClubDjokovic at full stretchThe iconic Casino Square
My family originally hails from Northern Ireland, but having never lived there myself I have always been interested in ‘The Troubles’ and what it was like to live through it. Last week whilst visiting family I finally did something I have wanted to do for some time; a political tour of the troubled parts of the city with a private guide taking us past the murals, the memorials, the Sinn Fein headquarters the particularly prominent areas for both Catholics and Protestants.
It made me realise that although most people are vaguely aware of ‘The Troubles’, many have no real concept of what is was really like, what it meant to the people of Belfast, or that there is still continuing unrest now, many years after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which theoretically brought an end to the 30 years of conflict.
Our guide was a fantastic chap called Mark (http://www.niblacktaxitours.com/belfast-political-tours/) whose family had lived in Belfast for generations. We couldn’t have asked for a better insight from someone who has lived through it, is still living through it and simply wants peace in his country. In a very brief nutshell, the most troubled part of the city is very much divided in to the Falls Road area, which is home to the Catholics or Republicans, and the Shankill Road area, historically home to the Protestants or Loyalists. Cutting right through the middle of these two areas is the imposing ‘Peace Wall’, a concrete and steel wall, 10 metres high in parts, erected to ‘keep the peace’ between the Catholics and the Protestants.
I wasn’t aware that the Peace Wall still, in 2015, has huge steel gates that are locked at dusk and at weekends in an attempt to prevent violence and keep the warring sides apart. Mark told us that even now, children will gather at the gates in the evening, throwing stones and looking for a fight. In recent years there have been calls to remove the wall, but they haven’t been well received as there is still so much bitterness between the two sides and civil war could well break out again if the wall came down. Catholics are not welcome on the Shankill side, and vice versa for the Protestants on the Falls Road side. People must not find themselves on the wrong side of the wall late at night, and often even choose to take a convoluted route home from a night out in order to avoid certain areas. We asked Mark how we would be viewed, walking through the streets on either side as tourists. After a moment’s thought he said that with our English accents we would be more welcome on the Protestant side, yet everyone knows everyone and any stranger will be questioned as to their motives and reason for being there. In his words “If you don’t have the right answers it wouldn’t end well for you”.
The murals are sobering, especially when you hear the stories behind them and the fierce loyalty and hatred that sparked their creation. Their significance is still so relevant in Belfast, and it is hard to believe that within our own lifetime, a civil war was raging just across the water, with frequent petrol bombs, shootings and severe violence.
I’m not a politically minded person as a rule, but I was genuinely gripped with everything Mark had to say. Northern Ireland is such a beautiful country with such wonderful, friendly people, but with such a fascinating and terribly sad history which is still very much in the minds of those who both live in and visit Belfast. Children today have no experience of ‘The Troubles’ yet unfortunately in the Falls and Shankill areas it seems they are born with the hatred in their blood, told from a young age that the other side is their enemy. It is easy to look from outside and wonder why they can’t just let bygones be bygones and live in peace, but the violence and hatred is still so raw and the evidence all around that you are left wondering if Northern Ireland will ever be able to forget and ever find peace.
Some of the prominent political muralsThe headquarters of the Sinn Fein political partyOne of the memorials with the Peace Wall in the backgroundWelcome to the Shankill RoadSigning the Peace Wall on the Shankill side
I recently spent a week in the UK visiting various friends and family, and was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to potter around London for a few days being a true tourist. Every time I’m in London, which is pretty rare, I have the same thoughts. Firstly, it’s enormous, and for a country girl, rather overwhelming! Secondly, I can never quite believe just how many people there are milling around; it’s SO busy! But most importantly, what a brilliant, historic and interesting place to be a tourist. I genuinely believe that London is the best city on earth to visit, and is an absolute must for anyone travelling through Europe. From the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, to Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, Hyde Park, and even the London Underground and the characteristic London buses, there is so much to see and so much history right there before your eyes.
I also managed to tick off a big must on my lifetime to do list; the Natural History Museum! If only to see the life-size Blue Whale, a visit is so worth it, and hard to believe, but it’s actually free!
You won’t be able to walk along the pavement in a straight line during your entire trip and you’ll be exhausted due to having to walk at ‘tourist pace’ all day, but what a fantastic city to visit. Not to be missed!
The historic Houses of Parliament and Big Ben across the ThamesBuckingham PalaceChanging of the GuardThe Blue Whale!My new favourite fact!
Sharon Wray Writing 