My French holiday - hokukonane

My Dublin CouchSurfing hosts
The one on the left was supposed to be writing her Ph.D thesis but the whisky managed to lure her out to socialise.

My Dublin couch
A break in the middle, but who cares? They were lovely people.

O'Connell St, Dublin, 0700
They have these neon light installations of people walking. Just walking in place.

Me's and you's
On the train to London, 20/3 to get our flight to the US.

Svetlana


Me and my best pal Jo
She's wearing a size 20 muumuu and a wig. It was great.

Mixing up cocktails


Tequila Sunrise
Potent suckers.

Blue Hawaii
Getting into the theme of the party.

Me and my crunk cup
I, like Lil Jon, have embraced the crunk cup. Mine's a hand painted wine goblet with tropical scenes, a wedding present.

Me and Heather
Look at her flat tummy. I hate her!

Me, Eric and Samantha-Dog


Me and Qishi


Me, Jo and Lana
Lana's supposed to be the photographer for the night. Thanks for all the wacky pics!

Me and my Boy
Nice gams, kid.




Me, Fiona and Simon


Me and the ppppttttt
Too much posing...

Me and the shaka
Just wanna hang loose, island style baby!

Me, Fatoosh and Jennifer


Decorations
So island, fa' real.

Work mates


More work mates


Me and Emma











Me, Fiona and Nisbet


Poor Fiona
Surrounded by crazed drunken people.


They wouldn't let me lei the bump.

My Boy's crunk cup
Keepin' it island.




Me and the girls from work
Ann, Cara, Nicola and Shirley.

Me and McAvoy
Just arrived and already pissed.

Me and the limbo
1) I know it's not Hawaiian; 2) It's out of focus, but the only one of me doing it. I was hot!

Simon's limbo
Fierce competition between my Boy and Simon!

Jo and Macca's limbo
Keep hold the drinks girls!

Waiting their turn!
It's limbo time!

Fatoosh's limbo


Eric's limbo


Nisbet's limbo


My Boy's limbo





Marion's limbo


Barbara's limbo


Cara's limbo


One time too many!
Q: How low can you go? A: Not very.

Not to let a moment get wasted


I'm turning my lemons


Into lemonade!
Just for my own amusement.

Macca and Lana
The following shows a bit of madness by my girls.

Macca's friends


Lana's in on the act


Not sure what this is about


Macca follows


What can I say?


Now it's just bizarre


That's my girls!


My birthday cake
Looked really posh, so totally up my alley.




And little cakes too!
Carrot cakes and, I think, raspberry mousse. We also had cheesecake.

The mad rush


My Boy and the pinata
The body has already been broken and candy strewn. Won't stop them from still beating that thing down.

Cara and the pinata


Nicola and the pinata








My boy and Ruth
She did so much for the party. It was a blast, thanks to her.

Ooo la la








Marion and Emma



My photographer's more interested in being in front of the camera


Or a seal in Sea World.

Come hither my cake


Roofer and Emma


Volleyball girls
Me, Lana, Macca and Jo.

Vamping it up


Somehow, I'll get through this


Whoops!


We're good!

Pebble beach, Nice, France
More like large stones! Waiting for ferry to Corsica. Shoulda seen the old bitties showin their titties!

Calvi, Corisca, France
We had our breakfast on this balcony overlooking the port.




Road going to port



There will be a series of the gorgeous Mediterranean to make you jealous.







Fortified city
In Calvi, there was a fortified city on a hill on the edge of the city. Apparently Columbus was born here.




Train station, Corsica
We took a train from Calvi, in the northwest, to Bastia, in the northeast on this great, quaint train.

On the way to Bastia
Where we were reminded me a bit of Hawaii, as they have lovely beaches and mountains. Best of both worlds.










Beach on Cap Corse, Corsica
Boy was stung by a jellyfish; I was sure I was as well, but I think it might have been a sympathy sting.

Nice, France
This was outside the modern art gallery; we didn't stop in as we only had 1 hour and were on to the Chagall gallery.

The Alps
On the train there.







Chamonix, France
Town at the foot of the largest mountain in Western Europe, Mont Blanc.

Cable car on Alps
Going up to see Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc's over this ridge
Unfortunately, never saw it, as we were running late for our train. Got out of cable car, then straight back in.

That my friends...
is a glacier.




Chamonix, France


Arc de triomphe, Paris
Didn't mean to go there, actually, but figured I get a picture of it.

At the foot of the Eiffel Tower
The only evidence of the drawings we had done of us. I lost them on the Metro. We paid 80 euros! Boo hoo!

Tour Eiffel
Actually, quite small.




Musee d'Orsay, Paris
This was an old train station. They had mighty grand train stations in France.

Vincent's bedroom
Saw loads of lovely Impressionist paintings at Musee d'Orsay

Tour Eiffel, at night
Went back to climb to the top at 10 pm. Didn't make it -- too many tourists.




11 pm, Eiffel Tower
It sparkles for 10 minutes every hour. Apparently a recent development.

Us on the Eiffel Tower
I like this picture cos Boy looks so good.

Midnight


Notre Dame, Paris
Again, another accidental visit. Better than St Peter's Basilica in Rome, though.

Mary and child
On the facade of the Notre Dame, which is located on an island in the middle of the Seine.

It's boring on the train


North Berwick
The train is passing right next to this lovely coastal town. Boy's Grandma and Grandad used to holiday here.


Would it be incredible to live in that house, right next to the beach?

That's my train!
As we leave the Newcastle stop.

Newcastle bridges
Iconic Newcastle images.

See? Not lying
We have changed trains in York to go to Leeds. The fields are flooded from the recent rains.

More flooded fields





And here it comes
Rain, rain, rain.

Knackered
Awake at 7.30 AM for the 8.30 train, and two trains and a bus ride later (a bike ride for Boy), crashed out at Grandma's

Typical Yorkshire country roads
In Bil2 & Sil's Range Rover. If someone's coming your way, you reverse to let them through or you're screwed.

Giant Balloon Man
"2 balloons for a pound! Soak 'em in warm water for 10 minutes, luv."

Scout
Bil2 and Sil's dog -- Samantha hates him.

Demon Spawn
Bil2 and Sil's kids. Left to right: Dougal, Zebedee, Dylan.

Stewie look-a-like
Dylan's head his huge, like Stewie from Family Guy. Plus, I think he is out for world domination.

The Monkey and Stewie
The boys (ok, just me) calls the Boy 'Monkey'.

It's mine now, chump!
Sarah's absconded Scoutie's bed.

Rural Yorkshire
Sheeps, sheeps, and more sheeps.

Mil's impersonation
Doesn't she resemble the scary midget who kills Donald Sutherland at the end of 'Don't Look Now'? Ok, that's just me .

Ram and co.
They'll get you.

Lambses!
It's a crappy picture, but I think their cuteness transends the crap of the photo.

And there's nuthin' you can do.
Scout can appeal for help all he wants, but we're all scared of Sarah-dog.

High jump
The Boy, after a trip to the pub, decided that he would high jump this barrier...

High jump unsuccessful
And ended up bus'in' his ass.

Samantha's fave activity





Sarah's fave activity
Doing as little as possible




Our walk - the 7 Bridges
Although no bridges yet seen by yous.

Evidence
As you can see by the mud, it's been pissing it down.

Another gorgeous shot
The pictures don't do it just. It's really lovely up there.


Water coming out drain pipe & spent 5 mins sitting there, trying to get a pic of water hitting rock, to chargin of Boy.

Courageous dog & waterfall
This is so unlike Samantha -- she never does anything brave, so we had to praise the hell out of her for venturing near.

Sensible dog & waterfall
"Uh, I don't think so."

Burnsall


500-year-old school
The bit to the left, according to Fil, has been there for at least 500 yrs and kids still attend school there today.

Warning...
The next few pictures are glorious.




Canoeing
Boy used to kayak down these rapids when he was a kid (when the river was fuller).

Exhibit number 2
More evidence that it's been pissing it down.

But still...
A lovely day.




A dog in peril
She HATES this.

Stop messin' around girl!





Something really historical
Fil pointed it out to me, sum'ink about ancient/Bronze Aged farming practices, but I've forgotten.

She made it through
But will I?

Village of Burnsall


Nearing the end of the walk



Huge ram, huge shit.

On the way home
The knackered dog is ready to be home.

Chuffed
She got her own seat, next to the window. What a waste. She's a DOG, what does she care?

It's been fun!
Thanks Girl!

View of the Castle
It's snowing, so what do we do? Go for a walk. Life in Britain.

View of the Castle, 2
We went to Holyrood Park, which has the highest points in the city.

The view north
From here, we can see north to the Firth of Forth (the sea) and the Kingdom of Fife (the snowy bits).

Pissed off
Sarah-Dog -- not going to enjoy this adventure







Rockin' it
I'm hanging out with a Russian dock worker!

The view south
The Pentland Hills.

You will look at me.
Sarah-Dog hates pictures.

I hate pictures


I really hate pictures
But I'm loving this hat. (She never once tried to take that hat off.)

Ready and waiting





Preparing
The Boy is going to sit on this carrier bag and slide down the hill. What did you think he was preparing for?


Insert rude comment here.

And away he goes...











Ooo, that looks fun
I think I'll join him







Let's do it again!





Profile of dog in hat
Hilarity.

The second run











Third run
I'm just married to a big kid.


Can't we just get on with the walk?

Fourth run


Autumn's first run
How does he get me to do these things?




I'm addicted





Samantha-Dog rockin' the hat
I wish I had got photos of her trying to take it off. It was so funny I nearly peed my pants.

On to bigger and better
We went further up and found a longer run.

Second run on bigger hill


Look at me!
He didn't manage to get my first run down the bigger hill and I've muddied myself. Argh.




The effects


A warning to you all
Sledge WITH a sledge, not a carrier bag.





It got down my trousers. I was soaked to my drawers.

Pisu desu!


Overlooking the Pentlands


The Pentlands, close up


And me too


Salisbury Crags
Looking northeast at the Crags -- gorgeous.

Salisbury Crags, 2


Going home, finally
Soaked and muddy.

Yes! Yes! Yes!
When we least expect it...

In the staff room
I had to act completely normal cos all I wanted to do was run outside and make snow angels.

Ah, to be a kid


As I leave work...
You might be able to see the Pentland Hills in the background.

Com-PLETELY covered in snow
Better shot of the Pentlands. The Boy is obsessed with snow covered hills.

Just once more


Nearing the flat
Living so close to the sea, we rarely get snow that sticks. Still a bit here.

Decapitated snowman
Done by little girl who made it. She said someone else would probably do it, so she might as well do it now.

The path to my building
Nicely crunchy.

Ready and waiting
Sarah's eager to get swimming!

Where are we going?
It's a surprise.

Yay!
Newhaven Beach is one of their favourite places to go.

Newhaven Beach, facing eastward
Go this way to get to our flat.

Newhaven Beach, facing westward
It's a nice calm day, so they'll like it.

C'mon!
Sarah's waiting for me to throw something in the water so she'll have an excuse to get in and swim.

C'mon now!
We usually throw stones in the water to get them in, so they're waiting for me to get on with it.

The reluctant swimmer
Samantha needs a lot of cajoling to get in...

Two swimmy doggies
But when she's in, she's in.

Sarah's Baywatch moment


She's lovin' it
One stone thrown in the water by me and she won't get out!




A mouthful
They've retrieved back with the things I threw out for them.

A(nother) mouthful



They will go out pretty far unless I throw some stones to bring them back.

Samantha's Baywatch moment


Stick Saga
Sarah's retrieved Samantha's stick.

Stick Saga, part two
Samantha's determined to get it from Sarah, so she wades out to steal it.

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Stick Saga continues
Samantha's daring nab.

The Stick Victor
Moo-haha!

Samantha going back home
Samantha gets very jolly after a swim...

Sarah going back home
... Sarah does not.

Sarah going back home, part 2
Grumpy dog.

Jolly Samantha
She always does this when she gets in a good mood.

Are ya gonna get it?
I'm waiting for her to jump up for it; she's waiting for me to throw it.

Tug of war
ARRRRRRRR!

I'm losing the tug of war
I think I'm at a distinct disadvantage, as I'm tugging and taking pictures! She won't give me any lee-way.

Me and the boy
Not sure the name of this dance.

Who's leading?
Zoom!

The Cumberland Reel (or Square)
In this part, the men lift the women and twirl them around, their legs going in the air (it's called a basket). Whoo!

The Cumberland Reel (or Square)
Yes, the other guy is wearing a kilt. No, he was not going commando.

Dancing Queen
Playing up for the cameras

The Cumberland Reel
Another part -- two couples join hands and go anti-clockwise and then clockwise.

Where are we going?
He never holds me tight enough. $500 dance lessons for the wedding and he still can't remember how to waltz.

Never too old!
Here's my father-in-law!

Having fun
Despite looking like it. The shoes were kicked off by the end of the night.

Strip the Willow?
I think my father-in-law is dancing Strip the Willow with one of Matth's co-workers.

Setting to my partner
Setting means for you to dance a wee jig to your partner. I just look like I'm booging down.

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