Day trip to Lifwaynia

Hello Gentle readers. We have now left Riga and are spending some time with Babushka in Liepaja.

Today though we took a trip to Lithuania which is not that far away with Lena's Dad and Robert's Granddad.

We came to a park near Palanga called HBH and we visited the petting zoo, had lunch, Robert rode on a battery car and we had a walk in the woods.

Winter is Coming

It really is a very nice place and well worth a visit if you ever visit the area.

#lithuania #palanga #HBH

Wednesday Thought: Moving (C-20)

Well hello there Gentle Reader, I'm so glad you could spend a few minutes of your time to visit.

Tomorrow or Friday I will leave my home for the last 5 years. Lena will leave her home for nearly 3 and Robert will leave after 18 months.

In 20 days time we will arrive in Guangzhou to start the next step in our family journey so that got me thinking about moving and its importance.
The quotes today are therefore all about leaving home and moving on.

Making a big life change is scary. But Regret is scarier.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Its OK to be scared. Being scared means you are doing something really, really brave.

#wednesdaythought #moving #china #leavinglatvia

Home from Cyprus

Hello Gentle readers. We got back from Cyprus this morning to a sunny Riga and I wanted to round off our trip by thanking everyone in Cyprus who has been reading and sharing my posts about our trip to that beautiful country.

From the restaurants where we ate to the shops and services we used and anyone else we came into contact with.

I want to send a very big thank you to the staff and management of the Marios Appartments where we stayed.

Located in Pervolia near Larnaca the appartments were clean, comfortable and well decorated. The pool area was also clean and tidy and although small it was big enough for us.

Marios himself was friendly, courteous and always willing to help if we needed anything. He even got out of bed at 5am on our arrival day to make sure we got into the appartment safely.

If you are planning a trip to Cyprus and are looking for self catering appartments I would definitely recommend Marios Appartments.


Here is the link to their website

http://mariosapartments.com

#mariosapartments #pervolia #cyprus

Today in History 23rd July

Greetings to you Gentle Reader as we once again pull open the spell book of time and cast our magic of history.

1903: The Ford Motor company sells its first car.

1921: The Chinese Communist party is founded.

1942: The Treblinka extermination camp opens.

1989: Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe is born

#expelliarmus #fordmotorcompany #chinesecommunistparty #treblinka #danielradcliffe #todayinhistory #july23

Ayia Napa: Drunks in Trunks

Hello Gentle Readers

Today Lena wanted to see Love Bridge which is a beautiful natural sea arch on the East coast of Cyprus near Ayia Napa. I was excited to see it too as we never really had a chance to visit the place before and as a teacher of Geography its wonderful to see real examples of the stuff I teach about.

The main problem with going to see Love Bridge however was the fact that in order to get to it we had to drive through Ayia Napa itself and I'm sorry Cyprus but this place is just the worst kind of holiday resort.

How would you feel Gentle Reader if your town was suddenly filled with scantily clad 18-25 year old males and females drinking and partying all night.

We stopped off for a bite to eat and every few minutes a group of boys or girls in their swimwear would walk down the street.

Another thing was the fact that in Ayia Napa there are lots of these young people hiring quadbikes and beach buggies and then driving them like crazy around the town. I am pretty sure that many of these are being hired to people who dont have driving licences or have no common sence or are still drunk from the previous night.

At least 2 times I had to swerve to avoid
hitting or being hit by these crazy idiots.

Please Gentle Reader take my advice. If you are normal, decent and not a drunken pedant whose goal is to make people miserable....

DO NOT GO TO AYIA NAPA.

#ayianapa #drunksintrunks #brainlessmorons #lovebridge

An Akrotiri Full English in England, Cyprus.

Hello there Gentle Readers wherever you are. Were you confused by the title of this post?

Fear not, I shall explain everything.

Two years ago when Lena and I came here on our honeymoon we stopped at a cafe/bar called The Swan in Akrotiri.

The Swan

Lena had her first Full English on that occasion and we decided to go back and see if it was still as good.

Venturing forth with Robert and Babushka we arrived at around 11.45 local time to have brunch. Lena and I dutifully ordered the full English while Robert and Babushka opted for the Sausage and Eggs.

Now gentle reader as you may not be from the UK and not be familiar with the Full English, let me enlighten you.

Bacon 2 rashers
Sausages 2
Fried Eggs 2
Baked Beans
Fried Tomato
Toast

There are other ingredients such as mushrooms, black pudding or fried bread but The Swan's version is pretty definitive and damn is it good.

A full English.
Not the Swan's but looks very close.

If you ever find yourself in Cyprus make your way to the Swan in Akrotiri.



Anyway what you have to realise is that Akrotiri although in Cyprus it is British territory.
There is a very large radio monitoring station nearby and the British military maintain several bases there.

I hope that makes the blog post title a bit clearer.

Night night, sweet dreams.

#swanakrotiri #fullenglish #cyprus

A big Mess of Meze

Ouch Gentle readers. My tummy feels all stuffed. To quote Robert, "I'm as stuffed as 55,000 bananas.

We are not sure why 55,000 is so important to him but it is, so we dont ask any questions.

Any way, I want to get back to the point by saying that as tonight was out first in Cyprus we decided to go out for dinner.
Mixed grill and Meze....nummy treets we thought.

And it was nummy really tasty. But they kept bringing more and more food. Now I can eat Gentle Reader but even I was sweating meat juice by the end.

The restaurant in question was Soutsos Tavern in Pervolia. When we arrived the place was empty and the owner, a friendly guy, with a meat sweat look about him said he would do us a special deal.

We just wanted a mixed grill and a single portion of Meze to share betweeen the four of us.

THEY KEPT BRINGING MORE AND MORE FOOD.

Dont get me wrong, it was absolutely delicious but way too much. It turns out they gave us 2 meze not 1 and also gave us extra dishes on the house.

We actually had to bring some stuff home and everytime a waiter appeared with more food we all said "please dont let that be for us."

As a word of warning for you all out there in blogland please be sure to get your order confirmed or have 2 extra adults to share it with if you ever make it to Pervolia.

The quote of the day belongs to my Mother in law who after tucking into allthe extra food turned to Lena and said, "All I wanted was a salad."

Bon Appetite.

Goodnight.


#soutsostavern #pervolia #larnaca #meze #toomuchfood #stuffedasabanana #ifeelfoodinmyfeet

How much Food?

10 fun filled facts about......Cyprus

Hello again gentle readers. Cyprus is our favourite holiday destination so here for you are my top 10 facts about the Island of Love.

1. Cyprus is only 1 of 2 countries that have a map of their country on their flag. The other is Kosovo.

2. Cyprus has been split in two since the invasion of Turkey.

3. According to legend, Aphrodite was born on the Island.

4. For nearly 5000 years Commandaria has been the worlds oldest named wine.

5. The whole town of Paphos is a UNESCO world heritage site.

6. Several British military bases still exist on the island, as the country was once governed by the British.

7. It is one of only three countries in the EU that drives on the left. The other two are the UK and Malta. If you flash your light at somebody, it signifies that you are indicating them to stop quickly and let you pass. Drivers – keep this in mind while driving in the island nation.

8. The remains of the oldest known pet cat was found in Cyprus, buried with its master. Archeologists found the remains to be dating back about 9,500 years.

9. A rare variety of sheep–The Cyprus Muffon–can only be seen in the country and nowhere else in the world.

10. Cyprus is also the first country to be governed by a Christian.

#cyprus #top10facts

Three in a row.

Hello Gentle Readers

In 2015......there was 2 of us
In 2016......there was 3 of us
In 2017...... there is 4 of us.

Yes its our Summer tradition and this year Babushka is joining in the fun.

Cyprus here we come.....again.

We had our honeymoon here in 2015.

Last year we bought Robert.

We actually had not planned to come this year but we had the opportunity so we decided just to go.
Its not on our 2017 world tour t-shirts however, we had them done a few months ago.

Anyway we are leaving tonight for a few days. I will try to blog when I can.

#cyprus

Today in History: 17th July

Well hello there Gentle Readers. Its time once again to try the Pick 'n' Mix of History.

1762: Catherine the Great becomes Tsar of Russia when Peter III is murdered.

 1899: Hollywood legend Jimmy Cagney is born.

1918: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his entire family are executed in Yeketerinburg.

1945: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin meet at Potsdam to discuss the future of Germany after the defeat of the Nazis in World War II.

1952: The Hoff: David Hasselhoff is born.

1955: Disneyland opens in California.

2014: Air Malaysia flight 17 is shot down over Eastern Ukraine killing all 298 people on board.

#MH17 #disneyland #thehoff #potsdam #romanovfamily #jimmycagney #catherinethegreat #july17 #todayinhistory

Its a girl.

Well Gentle readers, I have been waiting since January to tell you the news and now today 6 months later I can.

for 54 years a man has been in the drivers chair and now after all this time a woman is in the role.

I have anticipated this since I was a little boy and now I can say that Doctor Who is a woman.

Since 1963, Doctor Who has always been a man. Now the final gender barrier has finally been broken. 

As a Doctor Who fan I am very excited about this news. On Christmas Day 2017 the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi will regenerate into Jodie Whittaker.

If you have never seen Doctor Who, the Doctor is a time travelling alien who can change his/her appearance in emergencies.

Jodie will be the first female actor to play the role regularly and I cannot wait to see her first appearance on Xmas Day.

See the video below to see the previous regenerations of Doctor Who.

#doctorwho #jodiewhittaker

Leaving Latvia

Hello Gentle Readers.

As you may be aware Lena, Robert and I will be moving to China on the 15th August where  I will start work at the Citic Lake Bilingual International School in the city of Foshan which is near Guangzhou in China.
Robert will also be attending the school and he is excited too.

Of course moving to China is a great adventure but I am also sad because it means that we will be leaving Latvia. Lena and Robert are both Latvian and they will be leaving their home country but I will miss my adopted home a great deal.

When I moved here in August 2012, I had no idea just how important this place would become. I still remember that first night in my apartment wondering just what I had let myself in for.

Nearly 5 years later I know that this place is truly special. Moving away will be as hard as leaving Scotland was and I had been in Scotland for nearly 30 years.

Riga is a great city full of friendly, gracious people and Latvia is a beautiful green country.

I will miss the forests, rivers and towns. I will miss the noise and lights the people and the weather; yes even when its 20 below freezing and the snow is 2 feet deep.

I met my wife, adopted my son and furthered my career in this beautiful, crazy, incredible place and when I leave I will count the days until I return.

#latvia #riga

Today in History: July 13th

Set phasers to stun Gentle readers and lets get ready to make the Kessel run. 2 famous Starship Captains (Picard and Solo) have their birthdays today so lets make the jump to lightspeed and 'Engage' with history.

1923: The iconic "Hollywood" sign is dedicated. For 26 years it said Hollywoodland.

1940: Actor Patrick Stewart is born.

1942: Actor Harrison Ford is born.

1985: Live Aid takes place. The concerts in London and Philadelphia raise money and awareness about famine in Africa.

2016: David Cameron resigns as UK Prime Minister after the Brexit referendum.

#todayinhistory #july13 #hollywood #patrickstewart #harrisonford #liveaid #davidcameron

Wednesday Thought: Malala

Hello Gentle reader and happy 20th birthday to Malala Yousafzai.

As a teacher I found this young womans story inspiring. The youngest person ever to win a Nobel prize and a true hero for the rights of girls everywhere and their right to an education.

Here are some quotes by her.

It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are.

Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.

If you go anywhere, even paradise, you will miss your home.


I don't want to be remembered as the girl who was shot. I want to be remembered as the girl who stood up.

I say I am stronger than fear.

There are so many figures in our history that did not believe they could make a change, and they did.

#malalayousafzai

Top 10: Most interesting things you can find in a Walmart in China. (C-34)

Nihao gentle readers

As part of our research into living in China we have been looking, sometimes cringing, at grocery products which are common in Chinese supermarkets.

Here for you are some of the strangest.

1. Fruit loving Crocodile

2. Pig faces.

3. Powdered Horse Milk

4. Antibacterial Bikini Underwear

5. Meat flavoured water.

6. Frog pickles

7. Sausage Mountain

8. Meat pick n mix

9. Hot n spicy beef granules.

10. Diet Water

Now I for one will be fascinated by Chinese Supermarkets and will try to keep you informed when we get there.
If any of you out there have tried any of the products shown in this post, please let me know.

#china #supermarket #walmart
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