Crossing Borders

A long silence, but that is because I have been in 4 countries in as many weeks.   When I finished off my last blog I went off to Spain for a long weekend.  What glorious weather after the deluge we have been experiencing  in Amsterdam, what bliss to have blue skies, sun and barmy nights after weeks of grey and rain.  Future plans are to spend more time there if this dreary weather persists.  Not only the dark skies but the 16^th century windows rattle in their casings when the wind blows across the flatlands.

What could be better than a stroll along the beach  in the sunshine to enjoy a tapas lunch.  An ice cold beer watching the sun set  over Gibralter or dining al fresco in the old town.

Inspired, I decided to paint the hall wall  a beautiful sunset orange.   Mediterranean bold colours suit the light, now the hallway looks really fantastic.  Sadly, we had to leave too soon but..

Where next?  Then off to London.  A great time there too.  The APT tennis will now be played in London for the next 5 years. No self respecting tennis enthusiast should miss the opportunity to see the top 8 male tennis players battle it out over two weeks play.  Very impressed with the venue at the 02 (ex millennium dome) great seating no bad views and very cheap into the bargain.  Must make a mental note to go back next year.

But, the most exciting part of going back to London was that we had booked two plays, Lenny Henry in Othello and Kevin Spacey directing The Power of Yes.  Both had good reviews so I was really looking forward to seeing them. On Saturday night, braving the underground, (were there always that many people travelling and pushing their way out of Leicester Square underground station),  we arrived early at the Box Office to collect our tickets , only to discover the  receptionist couldn’t find them. 

A fuming K was not happy and after trying to locate them through his credit card whilst being jossled around by the incoming theatregoers, the receptionist announced that K had booked for the show the previous weekend but we had not showed up!!  Of course not, we were not even in the UK.  How annoying was that!  Definitely not the moment for me to say too much.  Luckily, returns were on hand, an American couple with two extra tickets saved the day and after K had raced around the corner to the nearest ATM to get enough cash to pay for the replacement tickets,  we did see the show and well worth it too.   But what about The Power of Yes the next day, yes you’ve got it K booked these tickets too for the wrong weekend so we never got to see the play.  An expensive weekend .  Oh well,  c’est la vie there are more important things in life.

Christmas Lights in Utrechtsestraat - close to home. 

 

Heading back to Amsterdam and the final Mexicaanase Griep Prik it was time to pack up for my long trip to Mexico.   I left Amsterdam on the 5^th December arriving in Mexico to blue skies interspersed with a little warm rain, glorious white beaches and living in a jungle setting.

Great, apart from the mosquitos who love me.





I am about to become a grandmother, that is why I am here on the other side of the world.  What excitement .   It’s years since I was surrounded by all this baby stuff.  Today’s baby has endless designer clothes, parents have his and her matching bags to hold all the  baby needs, I don’t remember such smart accessories, not to mention all the equipment that are “must haves”  for the new arrival ....but  time moves on.