Our New Local

Our new neighborhood, Golders Green, is very Jewish, so though there are loads of kosher shops and restaurants, pubs are few and far between.  This one, The Bull and Bush, is closer to Hampstead but still only a 10 minute walk from our flat.

A Fairytale Wedding

With the weather forecast dubious, and after much deliberation, we decided to be brave and join the crowds in Hyde Park to watch the Royal Wedding. Tim, Lee and I were the early birds who arrived at 7 am to reserve a prime spot in front of the big screens, setting up camp and tucking into the Bucks Fizz and cupcakes while we waited for the others who had decided to sleep in. As the crowds gathered the atmosphere was fantastic, with everyone in high spirits even before any of the formalities had even begun. It was a very British event, with Union Jack flags galore and Kate and Wills memorabilia everywhere, and lots of people dressed up as we had been encouraged to do by the event organisers. Everyone joined in with rousing renditions of Jerusalem and God Save the Queen. As the couple emerged from Westminster Abbey we were showered in red, white and blue confetti. After the ceremony and an amazing military flyover the party continued well in to the afternoon with a live band keeping everyone happy with cheesy wedding dance tunes. I think Hyde Park could've won the record for the longest conga line ever that afternoon! We're so glad we made the effort to be there, it will be an occasion we will remember for a long time to come.

Picnic Preparations

All ready for tomorrow's Royal Wedding celebrations.

Anzac Biscuits

Easter Bunnies

Paella Pan

Our souvenir from our trip to Spain was a paella pan.  It didn't take long before it was put to good use with some very delicious results.

One Good Thing

Better in Blighty

Our last day in Spain was spent in our hotel bar watching a spectacular thunderstorm roll in over the Mediterranean.  Turns out the weather was better in London.

Benidorm

On the Wednesday we took a day trip up the coast to Benidorm, notorious for it's popularity amongst Brits and other Northern Europeans seeking cheap package holiday deals, and made famous by the hilarious TV series.  It wasn't actually too bad, the beaches were beautifully sandy and white, with clear sparkling waters, if only the weather decided to behave itself!  Anyway we hired a couple of sun loungers and tried to catch a few rays in between the gusts of wind and cloud cover, we must have managed to get a bit of sun as we both ended up returning to our hotel slightly on the pink side.

Semana Santa

While we were in Alicante we were fortunate to witness a Semana Santa parade, a religious tradition that takes place during Holy Week all over Spain.  The parade in Alicante involved hundreds of people of all ages, and began around 7pm and was still in full swing when we left the centre for our hotel about 1am!  The parade consisted of massive religious statues depicting different stages of Jesus' life and death, carried on the shoulders of teams of men and women.  Accompanying the weighy floats were "nazarenos" dressed in tunics, conical hoods and masks (these robes intentionally served as the basis for the traditional uniform for members of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States). There were also women dressed in black veils carrying candles.
A brass band, marching band, a drum and bugle band, also accompanied the parade, playing rousing funeral march type music, adding to the solemn atmosphere.  It was an amazing and powerful sight to watch, with everyone taking the parade so seriously and with such pride.

Alicante

The day after the marathon Tim and I caught a train down to Alicante on the Mediterranean Coast.  The plan was to enjoy some well deserved post-marathon rest and relaxation on the beach, but unfortunately as the weather wasn't the greatest, our plans didn't quite come to fruition.  However we enjoyed Alicante and found plenty of other things to keep us occupied as we hobbled around (Tim with his broken toes and me with my aching legs, going down stairs was the worst!)

Alicante has a spectacular backdrop, the 16th-century Castillo de Santa Barbara, which ordinarily I would have insisted we climb to the top of, but Tim was in luck as I was in no state to climb this time, and we caught the elevator to the top for sweeping views over the city.  Alicante also had a pretty cool covered market where we gorged on Spanish strawberries, and a beautiful port area where drooled over some amazing super yachts.    Being in the Valencia region, the home of paella, it was compulsory to sample the legendary dish at a local restaurant, as you can see the proof of how good it was is in the empty pan!

Off the Bucket List

Sunday morning we were up early to eat our porridge breakfast bought especially all the way from England ahead of the two hour gap between starting the run.  Dressed in our outfits it was soon time to head to the start point, where the first task was to queue for the toilets, a very long wait meaning we were just in time to make it to the start before it was time to go!




Wishing each other luck, we ran together for the first kilometre or so before splitting up.  I had an arm band (such an awesome idea) with time splits to do the 42km in 4 hours 15 minutes, where as Estelle was aiming for around 4.30.  I can't say I remember much about the run, it all seems a bit of a blur now, but there were some pretty special moments:

• Chatting in limited English to a veteran runner who was doing his 15th marathon.  He was very baffled when I told him I was from NZ, he couldn't believe that I would travel all that way just to run a race!  I didn't have the heart to explain it to him!  Anyway I later saw him twice more during the race,  I must have run ahead and then he caught me up again, but each time he shouted out 'Hello New Zealand!'
• The little kids handing out water at the drinks stations.
• The roller blading medics who were dispensing giant tubs of vaseline and a sort of deep-heat spray to runners like they were going out of fashion.
• Seeing Tim and Simon on three separate occasions, ready to pass us energy gels, bananas and take photos.
• The crowds of people cheering in Spanish, none of which I could understand, although the words 'animo', 'venga' and 'chica' will forever be etched into my memory.
• The Spanish supporters handing out bananas, bits of fried donuts and even slices of tortilla!
• The people standing on their balconies banging saucepans with wooden spoons to encourage us, I'm not sure they would've been popular with their neighbours at that time of the morning!
• Running through an echoing road tunnel with the Spanish runners behind me singing 'Ole, ole, ole'!
• Seeing Tim handing out jelly babies to runners, most of whom had no idea what they were, but happily took anyway!
• Starting to flag at about the 39th kilometre I resorted to walking a bit (I think I was starting to hit the dreaded 'wall') when a Spanish runner tapped me on the elbow and motioned for me to run with him and his friend, which I then did - without them I doubt if I would have finished under my goal time.

So it was a tough race, but an amazing experience, and it was an incredible feeling to cross (or dance as many of the guys around me did) the finish line 4 hours and 13 minutes later, sneaking in just under my goal time.  Estelle came in a bit later, having had an equally amazing experience. 

Silvia joined us at the finish line as well and returned to our apartment afterwards with us for some well deserved champagne and takeaway pizza.  Then it was time for a shower and siesta before heading out to celebrate with our medals proudly around our necks!

It's a great feeling to be able to tick 'run a marathon' off my list of things to do in my life!  When's the next one?!!!

Carbo Loading

With 24 hours till race day Estelle and I had a lazy start to the day, pottering around the apartment setting up ipod playlists and sewing our names onto the front of our running tops, the boys took the opportunity to escape for a few hours.  Simon is quite a foodie himself, so he and Tim happily whiled away the morning at various markets, picking up supplies for lunch and even discovering Museo de la Cerveza (Museum of Beer) much to our disgust!  They redeemed themselves though, meeting us later on for lunch at the Retiro Park, laden with goodies.  So a lovely afternoon of eating, drinking (water of course!), people watching and general lazing in the sun followed.

Later on we went for a wander to check out the finish line and starting point of the race, making ourselves just a tad nervous, it was all becoming so real!  Back at the apartment that evening it was time to carbo-load, which we achieved with a guided Spanish olive oil tasting, Simon had bought a selection of sampler bottles at one of the shops they had visited that morning.  Then Estelle and I put our feet up while the boys got stuck into cooking, an entre of fresh artichokes followed by a massive pasta dish, which we somehow managed to finish with a bit of encouragement from the boys.  Feeling very full it was time for an early night ahead of our big day.

Dress Rehearsal

Friday morning Estelle and I decided a dress rehearsal was in order, and headed out in our lovely running outfits for a quick 30 minute jaunt around the city streets.  We certainly attracted some odd looks and comments in our bright blue tops and leopard patterned running shorts.  And no we didn't choose the leopard print just because we liked it!  The reason was to promote one of the reasons we were running, to raise funds for a trip to Tanzania in August where we will spend two weeks teaching at an English medium school.  To raise money we asked the boys at school to pay to make bets on our final marathon times - an interesting exercise!

After breakfast we headed towards Casa de Campo, marathon headquarters, to collect our race numbers and check out the expo.  After making sure our chips worked and collecting our bags of goodies we had fun having our photo taken in front of a fake finish line with the Madrid record time emblazoned across the top, something to aim for at least!

For lunch we stopped off at an old favourite, the Museo del Jamon, where we shared a few tapas and some non alcoholic beer for us girls, surprisingly good actually!

The plan after lunch was to check out the Royal Palace, but once we got there we decided we really couldn't be bothered!  As the sun was shining we decided to lay on the grass nearby and study the course map, with much debate taking place about Tim and Simon's marathon day itinerary, trying to factor in as many photographic and cheering opportunities as possible!

Later that afternoon we returned to our apartment for a brief siesta, before heading out to some local bars in Lavapies to meet up with Silvia (my brother Michael's girlfriend).

Madrid Again

Tim and I arrived in Madrid in the late afternoon after spending way too long at Gatwick airport waiting for our very delayed Easyjet flight.  Slightly slowed by a hobbling broken-toed Tim we managed to find our apartment in the very funky, if slightly rough-round-the-edges Lavapies area.  First job was to head out to grab some supplies at the supermarket. Then it was time to settle in for some beers and tapas at a sunny street-side cafe while we waited for Estelle and Simon to arrive.  After being delayed themselves they eventually arrived and were ravenous, so once again we headed out grab a bite to eat (we just watched this time), not a problem in a city that never seems to sleep.

Tacky

There is Royal Wedding souvenir tack all over this city - couldn't resist this biscuit tin though!

Broken

The first morning in our new flat I awoke to a loud crash followed by groaning, Tim had slipped down the wooden staircase.  After putting on a brave face for awhile I eventually persuaded him that going to work was probably not a good idea, he could barely walk!  A trip to Accident and Emergency confirmed our suspicions, he had broken two of his toes.  Unfortunately there's not much that can be done about broken toes apart from strapping and rest, he quickly ditched the crutches after deciding they were too cumbersome on the scooter!  With less than a week till the marathon I'm just glad it was him not me!

Moving Day

Whoever said moving house was one of the most stressful events of a person's life was so right.  We're not doing that again in a hurry!  We're loving our new place though, we've even got a spare bedroom for any international guests!

London Drivers

We borrowed a flat deck truck from Tim's work on the opposite side of the city in anticipation of tomorrow's move.  Tim had no worries driving it over Tower Bridge - I wish I had his confidence!

80's Babies

Estelle and I had a joint birthday bash with a 1980's theme.  We began with dinner followed by trying our luck at a retro bowling alley.

Twenty Nine

The perfect birthday: manicure and a picnic lunch in the London sunshine with the girls, followed by a stroll along the Thames and dinner at Jamie's Italian.

Nearly There

Today was the last day of school for the holidays. Estelle and I were thoroughly spoiled the day before our actual birthday with a rendition of happy birthday from each of our form classes, followed by lots of goodies at morning break and champagne in the sun after we sent the boys home at lunchtime!

Heatwave

Today was the hottest day of the year so far.  We celebrated with nibbles and a glass of rose in the garden after work.