Quite.The.Adventure.

Adventure? Yes, quite.

I popped up to Edinburgh two Fridays ago for the hip & happening Fringe Festival. My plan was to stay for just two nights with my chum Olivia who's at the university & therefore has a fab flat which she was chilling in.
I felt quite overwhelmed initially because there's just so much to do & see - so we speedily set about booking shows & cruising around town, soaking up the vibes & enjoying every minute. Almost frantically we raced from one thing to the next & even fitted in an early morning car boot sale on level -4 of a massive car park. It was mentalist. I almost bought I guitar but the fact I can't actually play the guitar stopped me at the last minute. Olivia bought some blank cds. Ideal.

Hokay so, just two days in Edinburgh did I say? Well, 13 days - 30 show & 10 art galleries later it hit me - hang on a second, I'm STILL in Edinburgh? How did that happen?! And so, sadly, I finally left. It was the most wonderful time ever - but seriously, HOW did that happen? I've told this tale to a number of friends who've all laughed & said that it was very typical of me - labeled by one friend as 'the queen of spontaneity'. I prefer the word 'spontaneous' to 'disorganized', so I'll go with that.
All I can say is that I feel most cultured. In my next post I'm going to chat about all the shows I saw - some intense, others funny & there was those which were so bizarre I don't think I can even begin to describe them.

Certainly my most unusual experience was when I rocked up to a venue & was told 'Tis In My Memory Locked: An adaption of Hamlet' was about to begin & so decided to pop along. I arrived at the theatre a few minutes before the play was due to begin to discover I was the only spectator. Yes, not another single soul in the audience. I was slightly apprehensive & took a seat near the door, praying someone else would join me. They didn't. Just me. And what happened when the actors came on stage? OH NO there were no actors - there was ONE actor. Just one.
So there I was, sitting all alone in the audience with one guy on stage pouring out his heart about his failed relationship with bloody Ophelia in Shakespearean language. FOR ONE WHOLE HOUR. I find Shakespeare rather hard to follow as it is, but being in an intense eye lock with the one actor on stage made things even more confusing. Intense to the extreme.

He was quite an attractive chappy, so at least that was something.

Sun?.We.Should.Be.So.Lucky.

Humph.

While I was in Italy I decided to do a bit of yoga every morning - the 'Sun Salutation' sequence. I love it, with a bit of mountain pose, cobra & the downward dog, one feels quite frankly a piece of zen by the end. The unfortunate thing was that there wasn't terribly much sun to be saluting. Not ideal in Italy I must say...at least we had T-Pain's 'I'm on a boat' song & video to keep us amused & satisfied that being surrounded by water (rain in our case) wasn't so bad.

Hardcore rain

Like hardcore metal music but slightly less violent.

On a slightly less wet yet chilly evening we decided to make a fire to warm our summer clad - unprepared for the chill - bones. It took several guys an age & a half to get the bloody thing going & when it was eventually showing some signs of life they told us this was thanks to half the liqueur supply. Vodka or a warm bum? We didn't even have the choice - warm bum it was.

 

 EXTRAordinary fire. I get completely obsessed with fire when I'm near it. Perhaps a bit worrying, but fortunately there will at least always be a lens in front of my eyes to keep some kind of distance.

 

How is that amazing colour even possible? I want to touch it, draw with it, paint with it, play with it, eat it...(too far?!)

Chopping.&.Chilling.

 

After hanging out in France, the eight of us hopped on the train to embark on a 9 hour cruise to Perugia in Italy. Arjun met us at the train station & drove us to his house in the hills of Umbria. All of us squeezed into two cars (plus 8 suitcases, handbags, hats & a bloody massive watermelon I picked up on the way) may have uttered a few words of discomfort if it were not for the numerous prostitutes by the side of the road to keep our attention off our restricted blood flow.

14 of us rockin out in a gorgeous house with a swimming pool, tennis court & a few lizards around & about, things couldn't have been more ideal. Oh, except for the fact that Arjun is a chef who's just opened a hip restaurant in Mumbai - with the kitchen run by a chef who previously worked with Gordon Ramsay in London. Yes, that made things even more than ideal.

So my chum Arjun Gadkari (not pictured above - that's Trevor) moved to Mumbai a year ago to open 'The Cafe at The Mill'. The Mill opened as the first 'concept' store in Mumbai, offering a selection of stylish & chic merchandise. Essentially very cool BLING stuff, from what I gather. 'The Cafe' is located in the store & is equally chic & stylish..Arjun told me about a pepper soup on the menu which is made & served in some way that it is half red & half yellow in the bowl when it arrives. Niiice.
If u happen to find yourself in Mumbai, hungry & in need of some chic retail therapy, stop by yeah? http://mumbaiboss.com/2011/02/28/sneak-peek-le-mill/

  

Every meal time, Arjun set to work chopping, cutting, grating, peeling & generally rockin' out in the kitchen.

Lots of pasta sauces & that kind of business...I enjoyed photographing them up close to create abstract shots. The colours & textures were amazing.
So the holiday consisted of eating, relaxing, playing Around the World on the tennis court & games in the pool, the HAT game, Mafia & watching porn (there were 10 boys, after all). Oh, & a few drinks now & then...most memorably Will's coffee margaritas. A very interesting concoction indeed. Not entirely sure what when into them, but I hear rumours of ice cream, expresso & a hell of a lot of alcohol.

Bit of courgette & pancetta oohlala.

 

 

 

 

 Oooh la la a bit of sausage, tomatoes & fennel...

 

 PERUDO DICE. BEST GAME EVER.

 

Showers.&.Plugs.

Here, there & everywhere is where I seem at be at the moment. I get most confused. In fact right now I'm not 125% sure whether I am here, there OR everywhere.
I think I'll stick with everywhere, just to be safe.
'Here' was France for a week then Italy for a week. Maxin & relaxin at friend's houses with a group of 15 friends. Absolutely ooh la la & wonderful.

'There' is the BIG CHILL festival which I'm off to with a group of Durham chums tomorrow morning. We're all working as Oxfam stewards at the fest - like I did at Glastonbury. It's literally the best way to go to a festival because you get a free festival ticket, free food, a super sahweet crew campsite with showers AND plugs. Having plugs at a festival is a big deal. My friend is hoping she'll be able to use her hairdryer but I think the stressed out people waiting to charge their phones may not take too kindly to this idea. Check it out & sign up next year chaps http://www.oxfam.org.uk/Stewarding

SO ma bloggin bits & bobs won't be updated for a few days. Quelle disaster, as the French would say.
Or maybe they'd just say - whatever, give me a baguette.

Here are a few random snaps from here & there. Anything colourful, weird or owl related deserves a snap. I'll pop up more from overseas when I'm back.