Where's Mine?

Lyndon had some important stuff to organise at home on Saturday so Monet and I got out of his hair by going into Cairns for a few hours.  

It was nice to browse (seems like ages since I had done so) and Monet was okay doing the same after she got a belly full of McDonalds.  (Happy Meals aren't called Happy Meals for nothing you know!)  

We visited Toys'r'Us, where last week we bought Monet this...

Yeah she's spoilt but gees it is fun playing Barbies once again! *heehee*  This week I told her she could look but we weren't buying her anything.  Instead we chose lots of presents that she wants for her birthday!  We also spied something for her cousin Heidi, who turns 4 five weeks before Monet.  I know Heidi will love this...

(She's Dora mad that niece/cousin of ours! I hope Sarah is prepared for her own little Dora the Explorer running around the house!)

On the way home we popped into KMart, browsing per usual, when Monet and I both spied at the same time and both said the same thing, so I just *had* to buy this...

We both thought it looked very much like a Minnie Mouse dress (you'll agree right?)

At under $13 I thought it was a bargain and now quite pleased we didn't fork out the $50-odd for a Minnie Mouse dress at Disneyland. 

I wonder when I'll buy myself something for a change?  Lyndon is wondering the same. 

12

Lyndon and I first became a couple 12 years ago today.  (You might remember this post from last year!)  A lot can happen wtihin a year!

It only seems like yesterday we got married, a whole 3 months ago to the date today.  I guess that March 29th will always be remembered and celebrated but one thing we will not let pass is today's date.  I think it is important to remember the 'first date' alongside with your 'wedding anniversary date'.  

Even in the three months since our wedding quite a lot has happened in our lives - our holiday to begin with.  (I'm yet to do the final post on that adventure!)  There have been a few other things I haven't blogged about but probably will in time.  You know how it is.

We're off to dinner tonight, to the fabulous Blue Moon Grill restaurant (check out the menus on the link), in recognition for our 12th year together as a couple.  I'm looking forward to it. 

Happy 12th year anniversary Lyndon.  xx

:-)  

Can I Dress You Up...

Monet loves to dress up.  I guess most girls her age (nearing 4) love to do the same.  

The past few weeks, if Monet isn't wearing one of her scraggy fairy dresses pretending she's either a ballet dancer or a fairy or a princess, she's wearing something else to pretend she's something or someone else.  She is actually becoming very (very) inventive with her own wardrobe.  

This little outfit is her 'Minnie Mouse' outfit - red dress with white cherries printed on it complete with black leggings, black long sleeved top and her Minnie Mouse ears.  (And a rather pathetic looking nose painted on by eye with eyeliner that I never use)...

Of course I think she is awfully cute and clever to come up with an outfit that looked unlike Minnie Mouses, but she really out did herself late last week when she walked out of her room dressed like her Irish Doll, Molly (That is Molly sitting on the little lounge - not a great photo but Monet did actually look like her doll!)...

I had to put her hair up in piggy tails of course but otherwise it is all Monet's doing.

Prehaps I have a costume designer on my hands here?

Malaysian Chicken Curry

This is a fabulous recipe from Gordon Ramsay.  It is really tasty and even though it looks time consuming, it isn't.  I made this early one morning and re-heated it up for dinner that evening as curries generally taste better 'the next day'.  This recipe made a lot so it served us a couple of good-sized meals.  Will definitely be making this again in the future.  You should too.

*Taken from Gordon Ramsay's 'Sunday Lunch', page 116, published 2006*

Ingredients

For the Curry Paste

5 garlic cloves, peeled & roughly chopped

4-5 long, red chillies, trimmed, deseeded & roughly chopped (I used 3)

3 lemongrass stalks, trimmed, outer leaves removed & thinly sliced

5cm piece root ginger, peeled & chopped

4 large shallots, peeled & chopped

1 tsp ground tumeric

2-3 tbs groundnut oil

For the Curry

1 kg skinless & boneless chicken thighs

2 tbs groundnut oil

2 onions, peeled & thinly sliced

sea salt & freshly ground pepper

4 kaffir lime leaves

1 cinnamon stick

3 star anise

400ml coconut milk

100ml Chicken stock

1 tsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)

2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tbs fish sauce

400g green beans, trimmed & cut into 5cm lengths

handful coriander leaves, roughly torn

Method

First make the curry paste.  Put the garlic, chillies, lemongrass, ginger, shallots and tumeric in a food processor and whiz to a paste.  With the motor running, trickle in the groundnut oil and blend well, scraping the sides of the processor several times.  (Or you can pound the ingredients together in batches using a pestle and mortar.)

To make the curry, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.  heat the groundnut oil in a large cast-iron casserole or heavy-based pan.  Tip the curry paste and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant.  Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes until they are beginning to soften.

Season the chicken piece with salt and pepper.  Add to the pan and stir to coat them in the spice paste.  Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, coconut milk, stock, sugar, soy and fish sauces and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook gently for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is tender.

Skim off any excess oil on the surface of the curry.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Tip in the green beans, put the lid on and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the beans are tender.  Scatter the coriander leaves over the curry and serve with rice.

Serves 6

Chicken, Vegetable and Pasta Soup

I love a good hearty soup and this is no exception.  Very tasty indeed and Monet really loved it!  I found this recipe in my folder of 'ripped-out' recipes.  It was originally in the July 2006 issue of Australian Women's Weekly magazine.

Ingredients

40g butter

1 large carrot, halved, thinly sliced

2 trimmed celery sticks, thinly sliced

1 large leek, halved, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bacon rashes, chopped coarsely

500g chicken thigh fillets, sliced thinly

1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock

2 cups (500ml) water

1 cup vermicelli soup pasta (or risoni or stellini)

50g baby spinach leaves

Method

Heat the butter in a large saucepan; cook the carrot, celery, leek and garlic until softened.  Add the bacon, cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the chicken, cook, stirring, until the chicken is lightly browned.  Add the stock and water, simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.  Add the soup pasta, simmer, covered, for about a further 5 minutes or until the pasta is tender.

Remove from the heat, stir in the spinach.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve topped with parmesan cheese flakes if desired.

Serves 4-6

They're Wheely Yummy...

With Fairlie talking about her Toorak Driveway, I present to you my Subaru Outback Wheels...

(Otherwise known as Wagon Wheels or Marshmallow Biscuits...)  

They are very nice, a little fiddly to make, but taste not unlike the real thing.  You have to love that.  I've already posted the recipe here, if you think that the Subaru Outback Wheels look good enough to eat that you'd like to make them yourself.

I personally think the Subaru Outback Wheels would look good on a plate with the Toorak Driveway - white or brown.  What do you think?

Maybe Nanna Muzza would have liked some for her birthday, Saturday just gone?

Marshmallow Biscuits (aka Wagon Wheels)

Lyndon spotted this recipe on 'The Age' website recipe page and seeing that Wagon Wheels are Lyndon's favourite biscuits, I made them today.  

They are a bit fiddly to make but I think they are worth it.  I made mini ones and a few bigger ones.  I also used milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate.  When using the jam, I put the amount into a small zip-bag and snipped off a little bit of the corner to use as a bag to pipe it rather than spooning it.  

Ingredients

60g butter

100g (1/2 cup) firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

225g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour, sifted

110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

1/2 cup water

3/4 tbs gelatine powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

8 tsp raspberry jam

150g dark chocolate, chopped and melted

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160C (fan forced)

For the biscuits

Place butter and brown sugar in a large (I used small) bowl and beat with an electric beater until smooth.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.  Fold in the sifted flour.  Place mixture onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 5mm thickness.  Cut out 16 circles with a 6cm round biscuit cutter and place on a lightly greased oven tray.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on trays.

For the marshmallows

Combine the caster sugar and water in a small saucepan , then sprinkle gelatine powder into the mix.  Stir over low heat until sugar and gelatine dissolve.  Bring to the boil, stirring and simmer for 4-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool.  When almost cold, pour mixture into a bowl, add vanilla and beat with an electric mixer for 3-4  minutes (took really about 8-10 minutes), until mixture is very thick. 

To assemble

Spoon marshmallow mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain tube and pipe marshmallow around the edge of half the biscuits.  Spoon a little jam into the center of the marshmallow and top with the remaining biscuits, pressing gently.  Rest biscuits in the fridge for about 15 minutes until marshmallow is firm then place on a cake rack and spread over melted chocolate.

Store in an airtight container.

 

Makes 8

Lemon Yoghurt Cake

I found this recipe on the side of a 'You'll Love Coles' SR Flour packet.  The result was a perfect lemon cake and very easy too...

Ingredients

125g Butter, softened

1 cup Caster Sugar

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

3 Extra Large Eggs

1 tbs lemon juice

1 1/2 cups Self Raising Flour, sifted

1/2 cup Greek-style Yoghurt

Icing Sugar, for serving

Method

Pre-heat oven to 180C/160C fan forced.  Grease and line base of a 20cm cake tin.  (I used a loaf pan.)

Beat butter, sugar and lemon rind in a bowl until light and creamy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Fold in the lemon juice then flour, alternately with the yoghurt until combined.  Spoon into the pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool.  Dust with sifted incing sugar and serve with berries and cream if desired. 

La Trompette

Lyndon and I enjoy a good meal.  If the food we've eaten is tasty, then you'll be guaranteed that we'll be talking about it in the days/weeks to follow.  

We are *still* talking about the fancy French Restaurant we visited in Chiswick, London over six weeks ago.  It didn't matter that it was pricey because we are still getting mileage out of it.  *drool*...  It had even recently been rewarded a Michelin Star so that is saying something... 

Our old friend, now London resident, J loves good food too and knew that Lyndon and I would enjoy a meal at La Trompette.  Click here to see their website and view their menu for the month.  

Our meal was so good...I started off with a Potato and Leek soup, followed by slow cooked shoulder of lamb on creamy mash (I have never seen or eaten mash like it before) with spring vegetables and ended it with a Creme brulee with hints of rhubarb and ginger served with pistachio madelines.  The servings weren't big but they were very fulfilling.  

With help from the Master Sommelier we started off with a glass of brut each, followed by a delicious Austrian Red and then a dessert wine each.  

Lyndon is not a 'sweet' dessert kind of person so he opted to choose a cheese platter to finish his meal.  The Head Honcho of Cheese presented this platter for Lyndon to choose from...

There were some really stinky ones on there, which all went down very well with the dry crackers in the center of the table.... 

The bill made us take huge gulps of air (over 70 quid each - J gave me the receipt for a souvenir!)  I even took home the menu as each night the menu changes.  (I asked permission so I didn't 'steal' it!)  We have got good mileage out of that restaurant.  

I just emailed Lyndon the link asking him to book a table for our 12th anniversary of being together, that is coming up!  

I wish.  Boy, do I wish!!

Baked Corned Beef

This recipe is GOLD.  Very, very tasty and absolutely delicious when served with the potatoes recommended.  (I didn't use kipfler ones though - they were unavailable at the time.)  I also served this with cooked cabbage which really set the meal off.  The meat was really, really tender and the sauce from the potatoes mixed extremely well with the meat.

*Taken from Karen Martini's 'Cooking at Home', page 162, published 2008*

Ingredients

1.5 kg piece corned beef

2 bay leaves

2 tbs black peppercorns

2 carrots, sliced

3 celery sticks, sliced

2 leeks, trimmed and sliced

1/4 bunch flat-leaf parsley

1 whole bulb garlic, unpeeled, cut in half length ways and cloves separated

4 sprigs thyme

For the Mustard Kipflers

8 large kipfler potatoes, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

200ml pouring cream

4 tbs Dijon mustard

3 tbs seeded mustard

sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Place the beef in a large ovenproof dish and cover with cold water.  Bring to the boil over high heat, then remove the beef and drain the liquid.  Return the beef to the dish, add the bay leaves, peppercorns, carrots, celery, leeks, parsley, garlic and thyme and cover with boiling water.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then cover and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours or until tender.

Meanwhile, to make the mustard kipflers, boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for about 15-20 minutes or until tender.  Drain and place in a large bowl.  Add the onions, cream and mustards, then season.

Remove the beef from the dish ans discard the other flavourings.  Cut the beef into slices and serve with the mustard kipfler potatoes.

Serves 6

A Pleasurable Afternoon

Back to some London posts me thinks...

Our aim on the last Tuesday of our London stay was to get out of it!  Lyndon decided he wasn't up to spending time on a long train ride (he was over all kinds of travel by this point of our holiday which was coming to an end), so it was only Monet and I who traveled out to Southend in Essex, with Kimbofo.  

It took a good hour from the middle of London to travel out via train to where the mouth of the Thames River meets the North Sea.  To a place which claims to have the longest pleasure pier in the world.  (If you wish, you can read more about the pier here, when my sister visited it earlier on in the year.)  

Monet was very excited to see the Fairground at the foot of the pier and proceeded to take her Auntie and I through the gates to explore... 

I can't remember how many of these rides she went on but it was quite a few!  

Kim and I were very hungry by this stage so after a few tears (from Monet, not I) we crossed the road to a little Cafe who served THE best fish'n'chips along with Mushy Peas that I can say were very, very tasty....Mmmm.... 

Man they were good!!

The walk down the (2.2 kilometre) pier was 'pleasurable', bar the fact that Monet had to be carried half of the way and it was rather difficult to see where you were going on the delightful spring day, because I was too busy eating my hair.  It was rather windy out on that pier.

At the end of the pier we settled for an ice-cream each (of course) and sat and watched other people eating theirs (as you do!)  There were loads of fishermen at the end of the pier with their lines cast.  We did peer into one fisherman's basket to see a lot of crabs but I don't know if they were what he had caught or if they were some kind of bait.

The pier has it's own little train, so we opted to return back down the length of the pier back to Southend on it.  A smart move really.  There was no way I could carry an 18 kilo child back to shore!  Monet thought the train (very tiny train) was great and smiled the whole way back...  

To say we were exhausted when we caught the train back into London is an understatement.  We had, had a great time though, getting out and about and enjoying the pleasant weather and exploring a little part of England. 

We bid Kim goodbye as we exited at our Earl's Court station stop, where we were greeted by a relaxed Lyndon who had spent his day browsing, shopping and...relaxing.  We only stayed in the hotel for another hour or so before we headed back out. Kim and her partner were going to look after Monet for the evening, as Lyndon and I were going out for some posh nosh with an old buddy...

Stay tuned for our Michelin Star restaurant visit!...

Fragrant Chicken Curry

I'm always on the lookout for a good chicken curry recipe.  I found this tucked away in my cupboard, photocopied from some book.  (I think it might have come from a BBC 101 Recipes type book, but I am unsure which one..)  

It was super easy to make and the result was delicious.  Very tasty indeed.  Just the right amount of heat for my liking.  Instead of chicken breasts I used chicken thighs and I also halved the recipe.  I served it with poppadums and steamed jasmine rice.  It is also very low in fat (something like 4 grams)

Ingredients

3 onions, quartered

4 fat garlic cloves

5cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled & roughly chopped

3 tbs moglai (medium) curry powder

1 tsp tumeric

2 tsp paprika

2 fresh red chillies, seeded & roughly chopped

40g fresh coriander

1 chicken stock cube

6 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

2 x 410g cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed

natural low-fat yoghurt, naan bread or poppadums to serve

Method

Tip the onions, garlic, ginger, curry powder, ground spices, chillies and half the coriander into a food processor.  Add 1 tsp salt to blend to a puree (you may need to do this in 2 batches).  Tip the mixture into a large saucepan and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  

Crumble in the stock cube, pour in 750ml boiling water and return to the boil.  Add the chicken, stir, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

Chop the remaining coriander, then stir all but 2 tbs into the curry with the chickpeas.  Heat through.  Serve topped with the reserved coriander and the natural yoghurt, with naan bread or poppadums on the side.

Serves 8 

A Sticker Book & A Meme...

When we were in London, I came across a terrific Sticker Book for Monet.  I gave it to her on our flight home and honestly, it filled in most of the time (inbetween meals and sleeping). 

This book is still getting a good workout, even though all stickers have been stuck and re-stuck and the story been read a hundred times, I need another.  I'm unable to find another (or similar) here in Cairns, typically.  *hint hint Auntie Kim*  Monet loves the fact it is about Dolls (she loves dolls this girl of mine) and involves stickers.  It was bound to be a hit in this family!!

Anyway, I have been tagged by a new blog friend of mine, Katherine of Kitten's Lost Her Mittens.  We were kindly introduced by Alice of Magpie Files.  (Oh the blog world is great isn't it?)

Here are the rules of this 'meme'...

I have to answer 6 questions about myself. At the end of the post, I then tag 6 people and post their names, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read my blog. Then, I must let the person who tagged me know when I’ve posted my answers. 

Interesting hey?  So here goes...

Places I have Lived  (all in Australia here, nothing exotic!);

Malvern, Victoria

East St. Kilda, Victoria

Rye, Victoria

South Melbourne, Victoria

Cairns, Queensland

There have been more but I choose not to share...

What I Was Doing 10 Years Ago

Hmmm...1998.  I was living in a Victoria Country town, had shacked up with Lyndon and working in a local Supermarket (so glamerious, I know!) but wanted more.  We both left town and headed to Melbourne and never looked back.  Never.  It was the best move we had ever made.  We lived in a gorgeous little newly refurbished 1-bedroom flat in a leafy East St Kilda Street.  It was close to everything we wanted and I have fond meomoires of this move, the flat, the area, the fun times, back in 1998...

Five things on my to do list today (not that I write a list everyday!)

1.  Take Monet for a play in the Playground tomorrow morning. (Done)

2.  Give Monet's old Highchair a good old scrub down and see if I can take it to a 2nd hand baby shop to get some extra $...

3.  Make a list of the weeks meals, followed by a Grocery list.

4.  Go grocery shopping.  Woolworths or Coles?  Coles more than likely.

5.  Clean out my Kitchen cupboards.  Even though I only cleaned them out not that long ago, I think it is about I threw some stuff out I haven't used in the past year.  Anything to justify this purchase in the future!

Snacks I enjoy

Too many to mention!  I do love the odd pack of Twisties, the odd Chokito Chocolate bar, but really I do love to snack on a platter of cheese, biscuits and dips.  Any excuse.

What I would Do if I was a Billionaire

Travel.  Well, I could list all the things I could do to help create world peace, help the environment and try to eliminate famine in third world countries but at least I'm honest here.  Of course I'd donate $ to charity and the like but this is my meme.  I'd like to have homes in different parts of the world and travel to place to place...

Six People I Would Like To Know More About

I have to choose six fellow bloggers here and I know a few of you have done this already, so if I have chosen you and you've already done it (or don't want to), that's fine!

Kikimiss from The life, Habits & Routines of Kiki

Julie from Dreaming of Daisies

Alison from Three Times Kewl

Fairlie from Around The Traps

Kimbofo from Kimbofo

Deana from Friday Night Fish Fry

Like Sands Through The Hour Glass *giggle giggle*

The weather the last few days have been a bit 'grey' but last week Cairns showing off its glorious best.  I know because they are the days when we go down to our local beach.  And we did that last week, five days out of seven.

I'm not really one to go in the water though when the weather has been cool.  Cooler weather equals cooler water.  (!)  I can't say the same for Lyndon and Monet though, as they frolicked in the water on the weekend. Besides not being a fan of cool water (I'm too much of a Queensland wuss now with the water temperature being 20 degrees Celsius, it is still too cool for me) and I'm not a fan of waves with murky water, as our local beach was last weekend.  (However if the water was crystal clear and warmer I probably would have jumped in.  I'm fussy like that.)  

Instead, I stayed dry on the sand and kept a close eye on them.  

Monet really enjoys being down the beach - I hope she remembers days like those in years to come.  We spend ages building little sandcastles and collecting little shells and rocks to put on them, we spend ages doing drawings in the sand...

(This one is a joint effort of both Monet and I and our portrait of Lyndon!)

...and ages running around and laughing.  

*sigh*

But today (and all this week in fact) it has been grey.  I needed to brighten up my day a little.

*sigh*

Chicken Peri-Peri Marinade

No photo here, just a recipe for my own reference to make a 'Nando's'-like marinate for chicken breasts.  Very tasty indeed and very much like a Nando's chicken breast when popped into a Hamburger bun with sliced iceberg lettuce and tomato...

We found this recipe via the Internet in a Yahoo discussion site.

Ingredients

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tbs cider (or white wine) vinegar

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp angostura bitters

1 tsp hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

1 dried hot red chili (I omitted this)

1 fresh red chili

2 cloves garlic

Chicken Breasts

Method

Combine the lime juice, vinegar, paprika, bitters and hot pepper sauce in a glass baking dish.

Wearing kitchen gloves, split the dried chili with a sharp paring knife and remove the seeds.  Do the same with the fresh pepper.  Mash the peppers with the garlic into a smooth paste using a mortar and pestle.  Add the paste to the lime mixture in the baking dish and combine.

Toss the chicken breasts in the marinade until they are completely coated.  Cover and let marinate several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

BBQ or grill, basting regularly until cooked through.

In the Mean Time...

Our first couple of days back in London involved a couple of 'field' trips with my sister as tour guide.  

The Monday was a Bank Holiday in England and we knew anywhere we headed would be busy...and we weren't half wrong.  We made our way to Greenwich via Canary Wharf.  The 'light rail' system was down so we had to catch a bus (much to Monet's delight) from Canary Wharf.

(Did you spot the Traffic Light Tree?)

A walk 'under' the Thames was in order (There is a big pedestrian tunnel that joins the north and south sides of the Thames together, underneath the Thames.  Amazing.)  Literally every man and his dog were at Greenwich that afternoon, which was understandable because it is a lovely little corner of London with some cute (but busy) pubs, some wide open spaces on the border of both eastern and western hemispheres and the weather was pleasant!

When we visited back in 2000 we had lunch in the first pub in the eastern hemisphere.  This time we had lunch in the first pub in the western hemisphere.  

I remember my meal here was delicious and the pint I had too was refreshing...  

We spent the afternoon wandering around Greenwich (it really is lovely) and making our way back 'under' the Thames, back on a bus to Canary Wharf.  Here we visited a lovely trendy bar with so many beers on tap it was hard to choose which one to sample!  I do remember though the 'head' on our chosen pints because I took a photo of it!

Looks like ice-cream!!

We were simply exhausted when we got back to our hotel but we had, had a lovely day exploring that part of London.  

More London to come...

Stay tuned...

London Loves

(Thanks to Blur for the title of this post!)

There is something about going back to London that feels like home.  

I have been to London a few times now and even though a lot has changed over the years, it doesn't feel like it does.  It feels like home.  It also helps that my only sibling lives there too! I know of people who bag London but I never will.  I'm sure it would be different to living in the place rather than visiting it, as I have, but people shouldn't knock it.  I think it is a wonderful city.  I want to go back...

It was nice to see Kimbofo's face after our trip over to the continent.  We had settled into our hotel (we stayed again at the Premier Inn, Kensington) and spent the late afternoon in Holland Park (with her) so Monet could have a run around...

No, we didn't play any ball games!

We were absolutely exhausted after our big day of traveling from Venice, which involved catching a ferry to the bus terminal, catching a bus, changing buses on the mainland of Venice, catching a bus from the airport terminal to the actual plane out on the runway, an aeroplane, a train from Gatwick to Victoria Station and then a tube train.  To say we were exhausted really is an understatement...

It was nice to be back in London that afternoon.  It only felt like yesterday.  

London Loves. 

More London to come.

Stay tuned...

We Could Be Giants

As much as I enjoy a good sleep in, which doesn't happen all that often these days, I do love being up and about early.  Especially when the sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Got to love this Cairns weather as of late!

When walking to the local group of shops before 8am the other morning, our shadows were very amusing to Miss Monet.  

Now, I know people tell us how tall Monet is, but this is just ridiculous!! *smirk*

Do you consider yourself a morning or a night person?

We'll Be Back...One Day...*fingers crossed*

On our final full day in Venice we headed over to the Island of Murano.  It is very much like the Island of Venice, though smaller in size, not 'quite' so busy, but every shop sold glass.  Glass and more glass.  It is famous because of it I suppose, so we shouldn't have been surprised to see every shop window looking a bit like this...

  

There seemed to be 'lots' of locals living there too, which was good to see.  There were people going about their own business, shopping in their local Co-op supermarket and buying fresh produce off boats in the main canal...

If you ask Monet, she had 'the' best chocolate ice-cream here...

We caught a ferry back to Venice which we really enjoyed.  It took us right around the outskirts of the city so we got to see some great sights we otherwise might not have seen.  And we got to have a bit of fun taking self portraits. *heehee*

In Venice we found ourselves wandering again.  And getting lost.  And taking loads of photos.  And eating some delicious pizza.  And waving goodbye to the Gondolas (& getting waves back which was nice!)

I think by now you would have gathered that we loved Venice.  It stole a piece of my heart so I must go back to find it.

The next morning we made our way, bright and early, to Marco Polo Airport and flew back to London...

Stay tuned...