10 May 2007
It's summer, good food & wine and we are in Paradise...
It is great not to know what to expect and then be surprised by a world of discovery. That's how it has been so far all the way from the capital Palermo, the fishing village of Cefalu on the way, and now in the Island paradise amongst the volcanic isles of the Aeolian sea.Until today Stromboli was a vaguely familiar name for some cocktail, until we saw the fuming crater on the horizon, well almost everyday as we tour the islands from dive site to sulphur mud baths (between Mediterranean gastronomic indulgences).
Off to the next coastal resort and eventually up Mt. Etna.
Will keep you posted.
04 May 2007
ALMOST new home
We were lucky and, after some negotiation, we got the house we liked the most. It's pretty and it's got a very nice garden. Unless the reference-check uncovers some obscure side of our past (!!!), we will be starting a fresh new life in Wimbledon on 26 May! Cannot wait!02 May 2007
Fingers (and toes!) crossed
Yesterday we saw three really good houses in Wimbledon. Two of them are perfect! Anyway, the three of them are slightly over our budget, but we will make an offer for all of them. Let's see what happens... Please cross your fingers! The pressure is there: in three days we are off to Sicily and when we come back we have just 13 days left to move!27 April 2007
Dear Sicily, I am looking forward to meeting you...
Everything is under control! Well, at least the flights and the accommodation have been booked and confirmed. Is there anything else to be done??? Ah, yes, we will pay for the car tonight and the diving trip will depend on the weather, but we have all the contact details for Giuseppe, who after exchanging four or five emails with us, he sends a ver funny one that starts with "I don't know English..." Anyway, I am sure we will understand each other, especially underwater anyway! He seems very nice guy though. How do we know? Well, we just know. The same with the managers of the B&Bs and hotels we have booked. Their English is basic but they are extremely helpful and nice. Gerino, Giovanni, Carlo... Cannot wait to use our "phrase-book Italian" with them!
On 5 May we land in Palermo and we will stay there for two nights. This means we'll celebrate Isabel's birthday there (but of course! Birthday with style!)
On Monday 7 May we'll drive to Milazzo, stopping wherever we feel like on the way (no planning, no planning, we love this!!!) We'll just spend one night there. Apparently Milazzo is the perfect gateway to the Aeolian Islands... And that's our next destination.
On Tuesday 8 May we will take a ferry to Lipari. The idea is to explore the island, enjoy the beach and, if the conditions are right (Giuseppe is confident it'll be OK), we will dive! It's been a long time since Sipadan! Eight months!
On Thursday 10 May we will take the ferry back to Milazzo and from there we'll drive to Taormina, our base to enjoy the "resort style" vacation and visit Mount Etna. This is very exciting! We've never visited a vulcano before.
On Saturday 12 we'll drive to Palermo, to spend one more night at Gerino's B&B and take the late evening flight back to London on Sunday.
As you can see, apart from a list of places, this trip is quite open to improvisation. That's exactly what we want.
One more week of work and... Bella Sicilia!
25 April 2007
Should we try again?
Let's see... From 31 January 2006 to 25 April 2007 it is... Bah, forget it! This is too much, we know. And we don't want to put ypu to sleep with all the excuses, so we'll focus on the future, which is always brighter, isn't it?
Still in London, yes. Still in that tiny place, yes. But with sofa and internet connection. And now, looking for the next home. One that lasts more than six months (PLEASE!!!) Area of focus is Wimbledon. The area looks so nice, it's got that "village atmosphere" we like so much (a bit like Mosman Village in Sydney, yes!) Still no sea, but... one thing at a time. Also, Wimbledon is slightly closer to Guildford, where Angel and Maria are, which means it would be easier to catch up with them end enjoy the English countryside together more often. Let's see... We've seen a nice house yesterday but we won't make an offer yet; we'll wait and see a few more to compare with.
Our future plans, apart from moving houses as soon as we find one, don't go too far. In fact, not further than 13 May. That's the last day of our "9-day spring holiday". We are really looking forward to it. We'll go to the beach, we'll spend two nights in an island suitable for diving (warm waters, yeah!), we'll drive through tiny villages filled with fruit trees, we'll see a vulcano... Oh, haven't we told you about this? Haven't we? Then, check our blog tomorrow to get more details!
Have a lovely day and, if you follow our blog, let us know by leaving comments. Last time we were not very motivated to write because nobody left comments and we thought nobody was reading it. Only after we stopped people started complaining!
Have a wonderful day!
31 December 2006
Happy New Year from Bath!!!
Hello our dear readers. Next year, we promise, we will be more organised and will update the blog more regularly. As soon as we get Internet at home!!!Good news is... the new sofa-bed has been ordered and is due to arrive on 18 January. Cannot wait!
We are in Bath, spending the last hours of 2006 as tourists. Anyway, that's what we've been for most of this year.
We wish you all the very best for the New Year. Have fun and, remember, SMILE!
16 December 2006
Alive, we are alive!
Our dearest readers:
Please accept our most sincere apologies. We know we are bad. Very bad. Awful. Yes, we know. But there is a reason why we haven't updated the blog for... over a month! (Ooops, that's BAD, isn't it?) You can call it excuse rather than reason. But it is true: we haven't had the time! Maybe, with Internet connection at home it would have been different... Maybe. But not like this. Not like this.
So... What are we up to? Well, we are settling down. Yes, still setting down. This time in London. We came here on 10 November and started our flat-hunt. Oh, that was hard. We saw lots of super-small flats, some of them with that "wonder of the British Empire": Carpet in the bathroom (Can anybody explain WHY they do that???) We had to be realistic and increase the budget. We did. Then the flats were not super-small. Just small. Still, some of them with carpet in the toilet... But finally we found a place. We are trying to call it home. Trying... Getting there. Yesterday we had our second Ikea lot delivered. Well... almost. There was a little "problem". Even though the flat is not too small... the staircase to access the flat is very narrow. Well, at least for a 3-seat sofa-bed. A pity... No sofa for us, no bed for you in London yet... Sorry! Let's see how we solve this one. BUT... We haven't mentioned that we have a nice view of the Big Ben and London Eye!!!
Otherwise, things are OK. The landlord, little by little (v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y), is fixing all those little things that were supposed to be fixed before we moved... Nothing major, just a bit annoying. But we are almost there now and we know we will start the New Year fresh! (This is not literal, we are actually quite lucky with the heating system, thank God!)
Karthik has been working for three weeks now. Isabel has been lucky to find a job with a start date on 3rd January. So at least there will be some pounds coming home (hopefully not "the other type of pounds" -this is Isabel writing, just in case you don't know what I am talking about!) By the way, we know this is not new to anyone, but we have to say it: London is very expensive. We try not to convert to Aussie dollars, but we do... And it is horrible!
We will go to Spain for the Christmas break (just 7 days) and we are planning to go to Bath or somewhere nice for New Year's Eve. The rest of the time, we want to make the most out of living in London. It is a beautiful city and we are already enjoying it. We have been to a play, we have spent a long afternoon at Camden Market, tonight we are celebrating our second wedding anniversary in a nice Covent Garden restaurant... Also, we are lucky to have Angel and Maria (Isabel's brother and his wife) here, as it's lovely to have someone with whom to share those lazy days and they DO have a sofa and they are very generous and let us use it once in a while!!!
We miss Australia, of course, and all our Aussie friends. But we are happy. It is exciting to start again. New home, new city, new jobs... It is great to know that even though the home, the city and the job is something that we cannot keep forever, we still have YOU: the OLD friends!!! Thank you for being there and please keep in touch!
Our dearest readers:
Please accept our most sincere apologies. We know we are bad. Very bad. Awful. Yes, we know. But there is a reason why we haven't updated the blog for... over a month! (Ooops, that's BAD, isn't it?) You can call it excuse rather than reason. But it is true: we haven't had the time! Maybe, with Internet connection at home it would have been different... Maybe. But not like this. Not like this.
So... What are we up to? Well, we are settling down. Yes, still setting down. This time in London. We came here on 10 November and started our flat-hunt. Oh, that was hard. We saw lots of super-small flats, some of them with that "wonder of the British Empire": Carpet in the bathroom (Can anybody explain WHY they do that???) We had to be realistic and increase the budget. We did. Then the flats were not super-small. Just small. Still, some of them with carpet in the toilet... But finally we found a place. We are trying to call it home. Trying... Getting there. Yesterday we had our second Ikea lot delivered. Well... almost. There was a little "problem". Even though the flat is not too small... the staircase to access the flat is very narrow. Well, at least for a 3-seat sofa-bed. A pity... No sofa for us, no bed for you in London yet... Sorry! Let's see how we solve this one. BUT... We haven't mentioned that we have a nice view of the Big Ben and London Eye!!!
Otherwise, things are OK. The landlord, little by little (v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y), is fixing all those little things that were supposed to be fixed before we moved... Nothing major, just a bit annoying. But we are almost there now and we know we will start the New Year fresh! (This is not literal, we are actually quite lucky with the heating system, thank God!)
Karthik has been working for three weeks now. Isabel has been lucky to find a job with a start date on 3rd January. So at least there will be some pounds coming home (hopefully not "the other type of pounds" -this is Isabel writing, just in case you don't know what I am talking about!) By the way, we know this is not new to anyone, but we have to say it: London is very expensive. We try not to convert to Aussie dollars, but we do... And it is horrible!
We will go to Spain for the Christmas break (just 7 days) and we are planning to go to Bath or somewhere nice for New Year's Eve. The rest of the time, we want to make the most out of living in London. It is a beautiful city and we are already enjoying it. We have been to a play, we have spent a long afternoon at Camden Market, tonight we are celebrating our second wedding anniversary in a nice Covent Garden restaurant... Also, we are lucky to have Angel and Maria (Isabel's brother and his wife) here, as it's lovely to have someone with whom to share those lazy days and they DO have a sofa and they are very generous and let us use it once in a while!!!
We miss Australia, of course, and all our Aussie friends. But we are happy. It is exciting to start again. New home, new city, new jobs... It is great to know that even though the home, the city and the job is something that we cannot keep forever, we still have YOU: the OLD friends!!! Thank you for being there and please keep in touch!
