Exploring...

I find myself thinking back 3 years to when I was living in Majorca working as a holiday advisor.

My wonderful team.

It was a pretty full on job and the very little time I had off, I spent lazing around - sleeping in, swimming in the cove by my hotel, round the pool.

My little slice of the island, Camp de Mar, Southern Majorca

Though I encouraged the customers to get out and about and see the island, outside of my training period of freebie trips I did so very little myself. In my team of five, two of my colleagues were lucky enough to have a day off together. They were always off doing something and their day of exploring was dubbed Tourist Tuesday.

Living just a stones throw away from a beautiful city like Seville, I have vowed not to make the same mistake twice...and so Seville Saturday is born!

Seville Cathedral/Giralda

With such a jam packed timetable during the week, I also have very little time to blog so my Seville Saturday antics will be available in segments for your reading pleasure throughout the following week.

This week you can look forward to:

• Una vuelta: Citysightseeing Sevilla
• La Plaza de Toros: The Bull Ring
• Seville Street Art

La Vida Andaluz: Week One

Gatwick's newly refurbished South Terminal departure lounge: 6.45am aka silly o'clock. I prioritise spending 45 minutes staring at the board over shopping - my zombie-like morning self can do little else. I spend the two hour and twenty minute flight sandwiched between two fairly burly guys doing all I can not to snuggle on to one of their shoulders during my plane nap.

Arriving at Seville airport, I am waved through security (my passport didn't leave my hand!) and find myself, bags in hand, in arrivals with no idea who is collecting me or from where - the epitome of Spanish organisation! I find myself scanning the expectant faces of those waiting - what if both parties are standing in arrivals, not knowing what the other looks like? I send the mandatory: 'I've arrived, I have a pink bag with flowers on it' text and see who gets out their phone but no one does. Turns out she's running late and we've landed 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

My boss Eva arrives and spends the car journey chatting away. I reply in nods, ahems and occasionally in an completely indecipherable Russian/Spanish hybrid language. Guess all those months in the Motherland paid off. 

We arrive at a white wash chalet in Valencina de la Concepcion (8km from Seville) and I haul my suitcase (spot on the 20 kilo limit) inside. Eva shows me my room and bathroom and invites me to unpack - I happily oblige.

 

Surprisingly, a week later it still looks fairly similar...those who know me will tell you that either I'm lying or some kind of miracle has occurred. I can assure you its the latter!

Almost as soon as my suitcase was stowed away in the wardrobe, I was taken out for a tapas lunch in nearby Gines. El Tinterillo de Gines is something to be seen indeed. A sun drenched patio surrounded by orange trees, the chatter of families and couples alike sharing the days news and suddenly out from the restaurant doors pour waiters laden with plates flogging their wares like market traders, shouting what delights are coming from the kitchen. You have to be pretty quick with your shouted replies as dishes are snapped up pretty quickly.

Credit: restaurant facebook page

The blogger in me was itching to get out the camera but politeness told me that it wasn't the time. Look out for a future post on this unique restaurant...

With my first day drawing to a close, I wondered how I would find the week ahead. Filled with new faces, new places and new experiences. 

On Sunday, I received my timetable, a stack of Cambridge course books and the page numbers covered thus far - away I went to plan Monday's lessons. Getting thrown in at the deep end much? Not that I don't have experience enough to handle it... :)

The week in general has been a blur of little faces looking up at me, getting lost in and under piles of files and teachers books and getting a taster of what la vida andaluz is going to be like for little old me.

I guess I could get used to lunches in the sun and this little guy greeting me when I open my window in the morning.

Until next time!

52 lists: List your favourite quotes.

When those pretty pictures with life affirming quotes appear on the news feeds, I am that girl that hits save. I am a full on quote hoarder (the contents of my pictures library stands as a testament to this!). I don't know what attracts me to them - maybe the fact that the perfect one is always on hand to commiserate, to enlighten, to encourage. There are several quotes that I'd like to think were true and others that I'd like to try and live by. Some of the most famous quotes were, at one stage, just one guys optimistic way of thinking. I guess the world needs a bit of optimism and that's why these things get passed around the way they do!

Here are some of the quotes that adorn my picture folder. One of these days I'll get round to making some quote wall art so I can see them every day (and hopefully be inspired to be as great as these guys were/are). For now I'll have to make do with sharing them on my little corner of the internet!

• 'Dreams don't work unless you do'
• 'There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind' C.S. Lewis
• 'Don't confuse your path with your destination just because its stormy now doesn't mean you aren't headed for sunshine'
• 'If everyone were cast in the same mould there would be no such thing as beauty' Charles Darwin
• 'Wherever you go, go with all your heart' Confucius
• 'It always seems impossible til its done' Nelson Mandela
• 'Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain'
• 'The greatest relationships are the ones you never expected to be in, the ones that swept you off your feet and challenged every view you've ever had'
• 'Life is not about finding yourself, its about creating yourself'
• 'Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.' Matsuo Basho

The 52 lists project is organised by Ema over at Made in Hunters. See her list here

The lessons I learnt from Auschwitz: Holocaust Memorial Day 2014

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day.

I have been an ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust since I took part in their Lessons from Auschwitz project in 2008. The trust aims to educate about and show the contemporary relevance of the Holocaust as well as to help to combat all kinds of prejudice in society today. Its Lessons from Auschwitz project takes sixth form students from around the country to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau, meet survivors and encourage them to take an active role in Holocaust remembrance and education upon their return. 

I wanted to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on my little corner of the internet by telling you about my personal experience of visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland.

It is hard to explain the affect that a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau has on each individual that visits. There is no text book reaction; some cry, some stare blankly. For the many responses, there is one resounding and unspoken link between them – the realisation. There are not many that do not know of the fate of the 11million Nazi victims, 6million of those Jewish – we learn about it at school, the text books tell us all the facts. What I have learnt is that facts never prepare one for experience, for the realisation: putting a face, a name and a story to every one of the victims of the atrocities that took place at camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, and all over Europe. The figure 11million translates in to individuals as you walk the stairs of the Auschwitz I labour camps, uneven under foot, worn from the tread of the prisoners and perpetrators who walked them before you.

I visited the camps back in the winter of 2008 and there are still a number of things that remain imprinted in my memory. It was a grey day, the sky heavy with rain clouds, I remember how it contrasted with the redbrick buildings of Auschwitz I. I thought it odd that all this time I’d imagined the place in greyscale – just like the textbook photos. Walking through the barracks, through the exhibits of victims belongings, touched everyone the most. Behind the glass, now an artefact in a museum, were the keys of a man who locked his front door on the morning of the transport, hoping to return one day to the house in which he grew up. In a room full of human hair, shaved from victims on arrival at the camps, were the plaits of a little girl who was gassed and burnt in Birkenau, still tied with faded ribbons. We saw the photographs that victims brought with them – the wedding pictures, the birthday snapshots, the family portraits – photographs like you have at home; smiles, laughs and memories. In stark contrast, the registration pictures of the same people as they entered the camp, their eyes not full of hate, but pleading - pleading with us across the years to remember, and not only to remember but to learn.  To learn a lesson from the senseless cruelty that caused their pain, to build stronger and more tolerant communities, to safeguard the future from such atrocities. These were people no different from you or I; they were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents and aunts and uncles. It is true to say that ‘hearing is not like seeing’.

After we left Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous gate and watch tower, the gas chambers, furnaces, barracks and barbed wire were all as they were upon our arrival. The only trace that we’d been there at all were the hundreds of candles we left burning trackside. A small tribute to the 1.2 million who died there, to those who, in the face of adversity, resisted, and to those who lived to tell of the horrors that occurred there.

This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day marks the sixty ninth anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau. The number of Holocaust survivors is dwindling and soon there will be nothing but their memoirs by which to remember their suffering. The lessons I learnt from Auschwitz 6 years ago stay with me today. I can speak for all of us when I say that we left those camps the same people but with a new determination – determined that we mustn’t tolerate racism or prejudice even in the minority, determined to tell people about what we had seen, to spread our knowledge, to give people a better understanding, and to encourage people to stand up for what they know is right. Above all we must never forget, and never let it happen again.

For more information on the Holocaust Educational Trust or to make a charitable donation to support their vital work, please visit http://www.het.org.uk/ . 
For more information on this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day, please visit http://www.hmd.org.uk/ .

Also find this article on: http://www.scriptoeris.co.uk

'Pack a suitcase, wander to the next town...'

Unfortunately, 20 kilos of EasyJet baggage allowance doesn't allow me to look this glam...

Source

Another boarding pass, another adventure...hopefully one you'll share will me.

Destination: Seville.

Status: Boarding.

See you lovelies in Andalusia.

'Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.' Matsuo Basho

Harbour Life

After a few rainy days in Somerset, Rich and I took advantage of our only day of semi-sunshine to visit the South Coast. Arriving at sunset (after a fairly lazy morning) made for some beautiful pictures.

When I was younger I always thought I might like to live by the sea...the sound of the waves, the beautiful views, sand between my toes. Looks fairly tempting, wouldn't you say?

Culinary Adventures...

Down in Somerset, weather hadn't exactly been on our side for Rich's week off. After spending a good part of the morning searching rainy day activities and days out in the area, we weren't convinced by any of them. Despite the fact we'd spent most of the week just lazing at home, we figured there wasn't any point of going anywhere for the sake of it so Gourmet Friday was created.

It was decided that we'd be adventurous and make a three course meal entirely from scratch. Now cooking together isn't something we'd normally do, mainly because Rich always completely slates my cooking! It's not that I'm bad at it, its that all culinary disasters seem to occur in his presence (mainly because he distracts me, the dog wants to play...etc.). Cue concrete risotto, uncooked brownies (yes, I forgot to turn the oven on!)...you get the idea. We decided to stick with good British fare, with maybe an exception for the starter (British starter ideas anyone?!): grilled mushrooms with goats cheese to start, chicken, bacon and leek pie with veg for the main and apple crumble and custard for dessert.

After a Sainsbury's haul (in which you can probably spot a few cheats from the off *cough* packet custard and pre-roll pastry *cough*!), we got cracking...

Starter: Grilled mushrooms with goats cheese.

An easy peasy recipe: Portobello mushrooms, two gloves of garlic (finely chopped) divided between them, a sprinkling of parsley, top with goats cheese and half a slice of procuitto ham then drizzle with oil. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, cover with foil for the first 5 then uncover for 5.

Next time I might forgo the oil and make a garlic butter to go under the cheese...I think it would add a little something.

Simple and tasty!

Main: Chicken, bacon and leek pie with veg 

Time consuming but worth the hard slog, this recipe is from BBC Good Food and we followed it to the letter. A lot of people in the comments had cut out the eggs and cut corners with the chicken but I can say it was truly stunning (if a little pricey) just as stated.

I won't reproduce the recipe but you can view it here.

My cheesy pie art...

If you've got friends or family round for dinner and want to impress with traditional fare, this is a cracker! We soon realised it was a little excessive to make it for just the two of us (it serves 6!) but served a few slices at a party we had the following day - it was a great success! Might make it for my host family in Spain for a special meal!

After boiling the chicken, you get a wonderful stock and that gave Rich the idea of making home-made chicken soup with the remnants of the chicken - it smelled divine!! A great way to be thrifty and make the most out of a meal!

Dessert: Apple crumble and custard.

Absolute English classic! It always reminds me of summers with my Grandma with whom I always used to make apple and blackberry pies and crumbles with berries from the bush in her garden.  With everything going so well (including the crumble filling, which filled the kitchen with sweet apple and cinnamon scents), I had to screw something up didn't I?! 

 The pesky crumble was what did it...

 This is what crumble looks like when you put twice as much butter as you need in to the mixture...

 ...I knew it was wrong as soon as I put my hands in to start crumbling!

 Disaster diverted by doubling up all the ingredients - crumble topping for 12 anyone?!

 It all turned out deliciously in the end...

 Another wonderfully simple recipe: 6 granny smith apples (peeled, cored and diced), 1 cinnamon stick, 250g caster sugar, 200g plain flour, 120g butter.

Pop the apple chunks in to a pan with the cinnamon stick and 3/4 of the sugar and stew on a low heat for around half an hour. Add the rest of the ingredients in to a mixing bowl and rub together with your hands until it looks like breadcrumbs. Cool the apples before topping with the crumble then oven bake at 150 for 30 minutes. Serve warm, add custard, cream or side of your choice and enjoy.

LUSH!

With so many lovely smells wafting around the kitchen, Maxy put on his best wrinkle face hoping we would cave and give him a taste of the days delights...safe to say he was sorely disappointed. I put your name on the pie Max, what more do you want?!