Goodbye, Bristol!

Today was my last day as an intern! It was bittersweet, really. I can't imagine going back to Vancouver to work in some coffee shop after working in such a great environment, and one so in line with my interests. I'll miss Bristol, too - I really felt like I got to know the city fairly well, and it's so great.

Tomorrow I am taking the train to London, and then, volcano permitting, flying to Copenhagen to visit the newly-weds, Elaina and Mark! I've been looking forward to this part of my trip for SO long - so the volcano better behave itself!

Food

My lunch a couple of weeks ago - I normally just eat a muffin, but this day I was organized: Quiche Lorraine from the grocery store deli, a with watercress salad and cherry tomatoes.

Lunch by the quay last Saturday afternoon: Marks & Spencer salad with brown rice, lentils, soy beans, red pepper and prawns, in a sweet-chili dressing, with a to-go (!) glass of rose. Not pictured: mini M&S jaffa cakes for desert.

Dinner (on several occasions): Coconut chicken curry with pilau rice, served in a cancer-inducing microwavable plastic container - but really delicious and no strange ingredients/preservatives! I normally eat these during the week when I am too lazy to grocery shop or cook after work.

Dinner tonight: mashed potatoes, braised spinach, and pork 'bangers' with sweet onion chili and basil. Served with English mustard, a sprinkling of coarse salt and a glass of £4 red wine. Yes - I ventured into the dirty kitchen, cleared a spot on the crumb-covered counter, and actually made a meal tonight.

Batiste!

You know how dry shampoo in Victoria/Vancouver is $$$ and only available through salons or specialty shops? Here it is £3 for a bottle and available at Boots (so, everywhere).

Coming home my suitcase will be full of Batiste and Jaffa Cakes (thank you, Bibi!)

Riding in Cornwall

I'm back from Cornwall with several bruises and sore muscles and a strange fore-arm tan. The weather was perfect and so was the farm / riding school. Turns out riding 5 days in a row after not riding for 5 years is really exhausting!

The first night I was there I wandered out into the fields and hung out with the horses (and a bunch of wild rabbits).

The miniature ponies who lived next door.

A pony named Storm who was very slow (and too small for me).

I caught up on my riding skills in the evenings via the "Young Riders Handbook" from ~1970.

The horses (all 60+ of them) lived as a herd in the giant paddocks and about 15 of them were brought in to the outdoor stables each day. I think I had ridden about 6 different horses by the end of the week.

This is Pogo, the farm dog. He lived outside all day and slept in the barn in a giant dog bed at night.

Out on a evening 'hack.'

There was a little village nearby that we visited on horseback.

An example of one of the 'bridleways' which are maintained by the Council. Really nice and flat/safe, so we got to canter around a lot.

A wild pony! Not really wild, but we couldn't figure out where his farm was.

The farm is surrounded by old tin mines/smelters - apparently Redruth was at one point the wealthiest city in England because of the mining industry. All that is left now are the old chimneys and dilapidated brick buildings covered in ivy.

The horses were so brave/well trained we got to ride through the 'ruins.'

Me on 'Jasmine,' an ex-steeple chase horse.

Riding on the beach. It's hard to see in this picture, but the lighthouse in the distance is THE lighthouse. As in, "To the Lighthouse" / Virginia Woolf. I was had no idea!

My gentleman guide who was about 70 and about as English as you can possibly get.

Stella, a fat pony.

The back patio, which I had to myself because I was the only person 'on holiday.'

Home cooked meals every night.

A glass of wine in the jacuzzi, overlooking a field of horses. Not bad.

I have a million more pictures but uploading them to the blog takes forever. I hope this gives you 'the idea' - it was really great! I'm back in Bristol for another 10 days now, then it is off to Copenhagen!

to Cornwall!

I leave tomorrow morning for Redruth, Cornwall for my week of riding ponies! Today I spent the afternoon at a huge 'countrystore' (their word, not mine) - it's the best place on earth. Every horse product you can imagine, in every colour/variation you can imagine, plus general things like shovels and plants and boots and wool jackets for 'being outdoors' on your English farm.

I settled on this hat (not called helmets here!) - only mine's got a bit of grey on it. It's pretty 'eventer'-y, I guess - but I already have a classic velvet one so I opted for the 'sporty' look this time. I also got some 1/2 chaps (£15 - so cheap) and had to restrain myself from buying two different pairs of jods (they had PLAID) and a bridal hook...

I imagine I won't be riding the ENTIRE time I'm there (I've sort of been wondering what I'll get up to in the evenings), so I bought a new book.

Which I know nothing about other than that it is about Hackney, London and it has a very nicely designed cover!

Here's an inspiring promotional shot from the farm's website. You can picture me galloping over grassy hills the next 6 days. However it's currently pouring rain (the first time it has since I arrived), so this may not be so accurate.

Ashton Court Estate

This place has been on my 'to-do' list since I arrived. It's giant old estate (used to belong to some family or other) just across the Clifton Suspension Bridge that has been converted into a public park, and DEER park. As in you can - in theory - picnic under a tree while deer roam around the grassy hills and provide you with atmosphere.

The entrance gate (one of them) is so huge that they rent parts of it out as apartments.

Acres and acres (no really, I'm not sure I can express how giant it is) of rolling hills and big, shady trees. There were families running around flying kites and picnicing and so many cute dogs (although people here only seem to own terriers and spaniels). It was easy to find my own secluded little spot, though.

The building itself isn't open to the public, but round the back they had a little courtyard with a stand outside serving Pimm's and lemonade and tea and treats (!!) and an ice-cream truck. Adorable.

Notice the absence of deer? I swear I walked every inch of that place - partially by accident, when I couldn't find my way out at one point - and I didn't see ONE deer. Maybe they're hiding in the forest making baby deer (it is springtime)? Anyway, here is what I was supposed to see. It was still very lovely.

Jaffa Cakes

Jaffa Cakes are still consistently making up a large part of my Fishponds diet.

The Royal Wedding

It was really great to be in England for the Royal Wedding! But you can't imagine how frustrating it was not having a proper kitchen to bake in or a living room to host a tea-party in! I managed to scrounge up some ingredients, a muffin tin and even some union jack napkins from the store across the street and make cupcakes for the office - the best I could do:

Vanilla sponge cakes with synthetic from-a-jar strawberry icing.

Thursday was also the other intern's last day, so we had a tea party! (except I think here it's just called 'drinking tea.') We discussed Kate's weight loss.

Friday I got up early to watch the wedding in my little room on BBC.com. I had to pull myself away from replays of the ceremony/balcony kisses to go to a garden party, equipped with my ring:

Sarah, from work, prepared an AMAZING and giant spread of English foodthings: scones with cream and jam, cucumber sandwiches (crusts removed), mini salmon salads on rye, 2 kinds of quiche, Pimm's and lemonade, Mint Julips ... all accented with bits of Kate and Wills paraphernalia she ordered online.

Her cupcakes were better:

Handmade bunting!

The garden:

Royal family masks (not pictured: Charles, the Queen, Prince Philip, Harry):

Girl dressed as huntsmen with stuffed fox:

A fellow from Ireland, who was possibly my favourite guest, demonstrating a commemorative Kate and Wills bell:

Dancing. In case this is not obvious (which it was not to me) I may need to point out that this guy is wrapped in a Mr. Men sheet (and that the Mr. Men books are from England).

So many great outfits. They told me to tell all of my Canadian friends that this is not what the English typically do/dress like, but I'd rather you all imagine it this way.

Couldn't have imagined a better way to celebrate - I'm so glad the English people around me decided to get so 'into' the wedding (ironically or otherwise).