Where I've been

My last week of precious holiday was spent adding to the European capitals. We loved Athens in June and now we went first to here:

I'm 99% sure this place is on my day zero project - so that means another one down! And what a cracking one it was. It was an exhaustingly busy place. I don't think I would have the energy to be in such a place for longer than 4 days.

We then travelled with Pegasus to our next EU capital...we had leftover euros from Athens that we thought we could spend with wild abandon in this place. Schoolgirl error and clue: it is in the EU but like us is not actually part of the euro.

Pink sunset photo - I discovered the exposure button on my camera. Such fun! How did I not know about it before? I found myself thinking about getting an SLR camera, but it was so painful for everyone around me waiting for me to wiggle the button plus 3 then minus a bit then plus 1 more then take the first shot. Then take a second one with a slightly different exposure incase I'd judged wrong the first time, some times I even took a third.

I'll go into detail on the first location tomorrow.

Til then Sunny x

I'm back

Hello,

I am back and a happier bunny. I hated to leave the blog on a downer but I went on holiday!

I was going to put some "guess where I've been photos" but my camera has died.
Frustrating...

I'll charge tonight and divulge tomorrow - the places are amazing and you'll either relive some cracking memories or want to put them on your holiday bucket list.

image from acaloans.com.au

 
(I did not go to the beach).


How wonderful is this summer in good old Blighty? 

See you tomorrow  SUNNY x

can't get no satisfaction

I hope my weird sad and restless mood will do one right about now, plaguing my Saturday with melancholy.

The weather has oppressed me, Game of Thrones reading is still hanging over me, I have chores to do, I should be happy I've had a day doing my favourite things. I think I'm just tired. Then yesterday two of my acquaintances received poor health news which knocked me sideways. Having poor health scares me. Hearing of others misfortunes so close to home makes you want to seize every moment: be active or be productive or be constructive. I was none of those things today, and I feel guilty for it....sweating the small stuff...again I should feel bad for feeling guilty.

I feel guilty for having a £4.50 Starbucks brekkie yesterday. It was to take the edge off my third very looonng working day in a row.

I only had a frigging frappuccino: soo refreshing. But £4.50 for that and a blueberry muffin, I'm a mug. I at least bought my lunch in from home.

Will reading my words in black and white convince myself to chill and be content with how I've spent my day?

Walked to the butchers for real meat for our barbecue.
Drank my current favourite raspberry cider.
Read about 100 pages of GoT.
Had my lovely boyf cook the bbq.
Ate sweet strawberries.
Did some laundry.
Going to the cinema in a bit.

I'm still in no happy mood but I'm sure if I re-read this post in 2 days or 2 months or 2 years time, I'll read about my day and think it sounded pretty hunkydory.

Sunny in the rain x

 

Fake positivity

I'm embracing positivity today.
Fake it til you make it/a positive mind attracts positive outcomes.
The John Travolta Hairspray film is on TV and is very cheery and is helping.
I'm aware I'm over the hump and sliding downhill to the weekend.

Lets list 3 happy things today:
1. I've made mashed potato and cabbage ready to eat for tea tomorrow. There will be sausages with it, this is not the workhouse.
2. I've written this blog.
3. The sun shone

I feel better already - achievement in the sun! 

I'm plodding my way through Game of Thrones. 
I set myself a goal to read the series as part of my day zero project. I wish I could just skip to the fourth book which is approx where the series is up to but no, I haven't even got to the bit where that first big character dies (surely the whole world has watched it by now and it won't harm to say his name?)

I have a couple of adventures going on in the few weeks. Will update as I finish them. 

Be positive!.... and buy a little something in the sales. I got this. Very rubbish photo os gorgeous shirt WITH BUTTERFLIES ON! Pretty pretty and nice and baggy for even those pesky bloaty belly days.

 See you later alligators

Sunny x

Athens food and graffiti

I've been absent from the blog. I feel like I'm on a summer holiday from routine. No yoga, zumba, or blogging. Part of the problem is my addiction to My Kitchen Rules Australia. Its on the Living Channel for an hour every weeknight. I love the format, its such a change to the snoresville that is Normal person/celebrity/professional/*insert type of person Masterchef. BUT its eating into my blogging time.

Anyway, I still have loads of Athens photos that I have been looking at to prepare my commentary of them for the benefit of boyf's parents tomorrow.

I absolutely loved Greek food. It is very budget friendly and the fruit and veg were amazing - I miss their tomatoes.

Hello Greek beer. Having the World Cup invade my holiday is made acceptable by outdoor TVs, beers on the patio and other nationalities getting patriotic for 90 minutes.

Hello Greek wine. Its very sweet. 1 glass was enough for me. Please note the generous slab of feta in the greek salad. This meal was at a restaurant called Kotili that is on the pedestrian walkway called Adrianou Street, its near the end of Monastiraki metro station and Hadrian's library. We ate there twice it was so good and I recommend it as they have live Greek music, which I found both soothing and romantic and the garden has beautiful lighting.

This meze selection was more than enough for two people after having our veg quotient via the greek salad. It had chicken, cheese, pork, spicy pork sausage, chicken wings and some nice dips: potato salad, tzatziki . The meat was cooked perfectly. You can see its not fine dining but it was succulent.

So this is alpha beer and some hydrating water enjoyed at a bar on the promenade on the island of Aegina. Its the closest island to Athens and an hour away by ferry. Our intention was to swim on this day but you can see the sky was overcast so we chilled in the bar instead after having a wander around the Aegina ruins and small museum. They like their pottery in that museum.

 
Aegina pistachio nuts. They are apparently particularly good from this island. That bag cost me 3euro which must be only half the price of the UK supermarkets? And I didn't have to share them cause boyf doesn't like them. Little piggy here stuffed herself to the point of sickness on the ferry back to Athens.

I love ice-cream but normally avoid it like the plague as I have some kind of IBS-type reaction to it and  I regret eating it. It was worth running the risk of pain for a scoop of rose ice-cream. Yes, turkish delight flavour ice cream. Heaven in a bowl. The other pot contains cookie ice cream which was only half as good.

 Our hotel was in the neighbourhood called Exarchia. On arrival, we walked uphill along a long single lane traffic road. There was litter everywhere, dirty cars (not that I can talk), a lot of shuttered shops (it was Sunday so can't really make anything of that), a mixture of buildings and a lot of graffiti or murals. I was wondering where I had brought us...I needn't have worried.

3 example of street art from Emmanuel Benaki street. There are very talented people out there.

We only ended up staying in Exarchia because we booked our hotels so last minute.
I am very glad that we did stay there, despite initial impressions.  It has a high student population and according to the guidebook and the web its home to the Left which perhaps accounts for the creative outpouring on the streets. 

Its better because its not a tourist focussed area with guys trying to hustle you into their restos like in the Plaka area. There were loads of small bars and cafes, restaurants. It particularly came alive after 10pm.  Platia Exarchion is a real hub of the area and we enjoyed eating and drinking there. Everyone was very friendly too, the hotel workers, the people in the supermarket, the bar and cafe workers.

And this was the view from the hotel rooftop. Impressive.

Exarchia is not so leftfield really, the Lonely Planet have a chapter on the neighbourhood. For us, it was the perfect base from which to explore Athens.

Sunny x