-2C..... in March.... Ridiculous

Exiting T5 at Heathrow a little after 7pm three weeks ago it struck me that I'd been a bit hasty in offloading my llama jumper! It was ridiculously cold and I can't help thinking that I must have looked a little bit ridiculous walking through the airport in flip flops and a little cardigan carrying my enormous floppy sun hat.......

After a welcome home dinner with my Mum and Dad I got back to my flat to find every room filled with flowers and plants thanks to my amazing Mum.

Much like the weeks leading up to my leaving, since getting home I have been on what feels like a never ending 'welcome home do' and that just goes to reaffirm something that I already knew, I have the best friends in the world.......

In the past three weeks I have....

• had a lovely weekend walking in the Cotswolds (I can highly recommend The Old School House B&B) 

  

  The lounge in The Old School House 

• been ever so slightly thrilled at the fact that it's snowed since I've been home, thanks to my Dad I still see snow as being magical and fun, not disruptive and inconvenient  

  

  Snow in the Cotswolds

• enjoyed an Irish Gin & Tonic served, as Harriet would say, in a 'mahousive' balloon glass with cinnamon & orange at The Port House which has just opened on the Strand, a Gin & Tapas bar - an odd combination that really works 

  

  Marc's G&T had Rose petals in it.... yep... 

• had a hot mulled wine (cleverly disguised as a takeaway coffee - genius) whilst walking round Borough Market with my Mum after visiting Somerset House for the Wool House exhibition

Somerset House

• eaten a delicious roast dinner at Hawksmoor Sevendials with my 'Urban Family', thoroughly recommend the restaurant which is renowned for its beef, be warned though, the Chataeubriand is considerably more expensive than the roast much to the surprise of Marc and Elliot, and the amusement of the rest of us!  
• come second in a pub quiz at Retro Bar, not a bad result considering how little Marc knew, 'We are OutLate" was pretty much a one man team

  

  A nervous reaction to being asked if he actually
  knew anything that might be helpful in a pub quiz

• had Libertine cocktails at Red Hook with Pat, it was great to catch up on all the gossip
• eaten Thai with Ad and Ian - so pleased that Ad is coming home for good in a few weeks, after four years in Hong Kong
• sipped Earl Grey tea in The Soho House hotel followed by a lovely supper in Soho with John
• walked in the park in the snow with Jane, I struggle to get my head round the fact that we've known each other for 37 years, but I love that we have
• started my journey to becoming a domestic goddess by baking cupcakes and cooking from scratch.... 
• Note: to those of you who don't know, I don't cook.... well I didn't cook. Truth be told I thought I couldn't cook and had  convinced myself that along with my fear of spiders this was something that I'd inherited from my Mum. But no, it turns out the actual cause was lack of time and not owning a magimix - and at the moment I have both. So please don't be alarmed if you start receiving food parcels from me just accept that it's not possible for me to bake one cup cake at a time. 

I don't know why I feel that I have to
evidence this to you....

Hot & Sour Soup - Nigella neglected to mention that it would 'blow your head off'; 
turned out to be the soup equivalent of eating a spoonful of horseradish, 
mixed with english mustard, sprinkled with wasabi

Oh god, too much time on my hands - not only have 
I started photographing my food I've
started gift wrapping it!

Oh... and I've had an interview, volunteered to work for a charity, started speaking Spanish to the barista in Starbucks, found a 'man who can' to do some odd jobs around the flat, booked train tickets for a girls weekend away to the Peak District in two weeks time and signed up for a couple of 10k runs.

But, as they say all good things must come to an end and from next Monday the 'holiday' is over and so too my career as a 'blogger'. The routine of cycling, running, volunteering, CV writing and job hunting beckons. 

It's been great fun writing sporadic updates about where I've been and what I've seen and I'd love to do more - it's so enjoyable taking some time out to reflect and to share the experiences - but I think you'll agree we'd all quickly tire of me writing about finding a handy-man, booking train tickets and my trips to the supermarket!

Thank you all for the blog comments and emails while I was away and for the hugs since I got back.

Lots of love,

Raine x

The girls from Ipanema

Wow! Rio with it's population of 6.5 million was something of a culture shock after a week on Boipeba. 

I am a self proclaimed city girl but I can say with some certainty (as this is my second visit) that Rio doesn't do it for me. I don't really understand why because all of the component parts of the city are amazing, Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf, Corcovado all around the Harbor of Rio; which collectively make up one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world, and of course Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. I found it to be a hot and noisy city best enjoyed from a distance, on a boat in the bay or from a vantage point like Sugar Loaf Mountain. 

Abby and I were lucky enough to enjoy the city from both of the afore mentioned and preferred perspectives.

Helene a school friend of Abby's who lives in Rio had just bought a 38' sailboat and invited us to go sailing which we did twice - I had the best time. I made friends with 'Invisible Ingrid', Helene's ridiculously cute daughter who I nicknamed Invisible Ingrid because she was sure that if she covered her eyes it made her invisible to the naked eye - which may well have been the case had she not been wearing a luminous orange lifesaver! 

Invisible Ingrid - too cute.

The end of a long day......

Sailing regatta Rio harbour

In between the two days sailing we took some time out to experience the city beach of Ipanema - a throng of thongs and budgie smugglers and of hawkers selling very small bikini's, drinks, street food, knock-off sunglasses and ice creams; a complete contrast to the beautiful and deserted beaches of Boipeba - but it had to be experienced.

On the Saturday night we went to Rio Scenarium a nightclub in Lapa, we went with Richard who we'd met in Bolivia last year and had a great night listening and dancing to live Samba music and drinking too many caipirinhas.

The famous Selaron stairs in Lapa

We took the cable car up to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain on Monday, our final day in Rio and the final day of our amazing trip. The views really are very impressive but I have to say, for me, not as impressive as the views from the boat. 

Whilst I'm not sorry to leave Rio going to the airport for our flight home will bring this incredible six months to an end and I'm not sure that I'm quite ready to come home just yet, not least because I have seen that the temperature in the UK is sub-zero which is ridiculous.

Talk soon.

Raine x