BEAMET: Slovenia

Hi all, I write to you on day 2 of the Great BEAMET.

We left Stansted midday yesterday and already that seems like an eternity ago. With the hustle and bustle of the last few days at school it seems like the BEAMET has just suddenly arrived and hit me in the face, which also means that I don't feel quite prepared for it.

That certainly hit home yesterday when I realised at the airport that I had forgotten to transfer my memory cards over from my old camcorder to my new one - which I can get away with I suppose, but I won't be able to do any quick little video messages standing outside some important place (this I had hoped to do in Israel, so that's a pity). Oh and I've forgotten a few other bits and pieces but hopefully can make do...

Anyway the flight to Ljubljana was pretty uneventful (except for some dodgy turbulence - can I just say I'm having some trouble typing this blog as in typical European fashion, the letters are not where they should be - so if you see me typing a load of z's, be aware they're supposed to be y's).

We stepped off the plane late afternoon to 35 degree heat (after having left London where at midday it was barely 20... bit of a shock to the system!) and then promptly wondered what to do. I had booked accommodation for the evening in a little town called Bled, but couldn't see where to get the bus from, and anyway, we decided that as Agata will be joining us tomorrow for a few days, we could just hire a car and drive to Bled. So we did.
Sounds easy, doesn't it. But the 'map' we have, if you can call it that, is less than ordinary and a journey which should have taken 45 minutes took us 2 hours.

We arrived at Hostel 1004 to find that they hadn't even built the beds we were to be having that night. She told us it would take an hour or so, and as it was still light, we decided to walk down to the lake and have a bit of a look around. I have to say Bled is a very beautiful town, the lake is just gorgeous, and the instant I set eyes on it I felt the rubbish of the past few dazs at school melting away.

Got back to the hostel and the beds were now assembled, so basically I crashed for the evening.

Next day (today) we got up and wandered down to the lake to see it all in the day. I have to say it really is stunning. In the middle of the lake is a little island upon which is a cute little church. Slovenia sure seems the place for cute little churches, and they are all built in the same style. On top of the hill, overlooking the lake, is Bled Castle, which looks like it is about to fall off the hill and into the lake!

We spent most of the morning wandering about Bled (there were craft markets to see) and then Agnieszka took the wheel and we headed off to Bohinj. This is another lake, like Bled, which was formed by melting glaciers, only this one is not so touristy. We got a boat to the other side of the lake and then decided to walk back around the lake. Sounds like a good idea, but the walk was 8 kms and it was, by this point, rather hot. So, when we got back around, we had to have a swim in the lake, glorious it was too, and then a coffee at a cafe overlooking the water.

It was at this point that madness set in. We realised with Agata arriving tonight we wouldn't probably be travelling back this way again. Bled and Bohinj are part of the Triglav National Park, which has as its main attraction, the Julian Alps. The Vršič pass is a road that crosses the Alps, is very spectacular, and has a height of 1611m above sea level. So, we decided to drive there and have a look - only its 5.30pm now and Vršič is in completely the opposite direction to Ljubljana. Madness!
But it was glorious to see, and well worth it. This meant that the drive to DIC Hostel, Ljubljana, mostly took place in the dark, with me driving, wrong side of road and all, and Agnieszka attempting to give directions from the 'map'. Fortunately I only went the wrong way down a one way street once... Suffice to say we arrived several hours after we intended, but it has been a good few days, and we are looking forward to Agata's arrival later this evening. I do wish though that the hostel had airconditioning - or at least a fan...

Tomorrow the plan is to see Ljubljana and then maybe start to make our way to Croatia, or we might stay another night in Ljubljana, depending upon what the others want to do.

Stay tuned! The Great BEAMET has begun...

Lake Bled with the Castle overlooking the lake

Hiking at Lake Bohinj

Lake Bohinj

The Julian Alps on the way to the Vršič pass

The Great BEAMET

Just to say I'm leaving in 10 minutes to embark upon... The Great BEAMET (Big Europe And Middle East Trip)! We're intending on going to (and hopefully pretty much in this order) Slovenia Croatia Bosnia / Herzegovina Montenegro Albania Macedonia Bulgaria Romania (maybe if time) Turkey Syria Jordan Israel The last 3 depend on updates from smart traveller. And the only other restriction is I have specific dates I must be in Macedonia, so we may have to skip to there pretty quick... So stay tuned to this blog for updates on our adventures!

If you're British and you know it, clap your hands...

So Saturday night I went to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" with my friend Sara. I have to confess, right from the outset, yes, I am a Harry Potter fan. Strange, I know, but true. Anyway, I thought the movie was excellent, they managed to cut out a lot of stuff from the storyline (which would have made it too long) yet maintained the integrity of the book. And finally the kids have learned to act, which is a big improvement.

Funnily enough, though, in light of my recent cinema visits, and bearing in mind this is allegedly a children's movie, there really weren't many kids there at all. Probably that had to do with the fact that I was at the Odeon, Leiceister Square, so the tickets were exorbitantly expensive. £12.50 for an adult, and then £1.60 booking fee! Come on... although I suppose its understandable when you consider this is the cinema where they hold all the Premiere's...

The wierdest thing about the whole experience was the clapping. Seriously, there was actual clapping. After the ads, (just before the movie started), and then again at the end of the film. Now what I want to know is, who (out of those who deserve congratulations and applause) do they actually think is going to hear this? Do they think Daniel Radcliffe himself is going to look up from whatever he's doing, and acknowledge the applause? Seriously, people. Enough already with the clapping.

You know they don't just do it at the cinema either. The first time I encountered this British clapping phenomenon was when I went on a package holiday to Crete. We'd been cramped in this tiny plane (leg room, what's that?) for a couple of hours, and then when we landed (without incident) there was spontaneous clapping. Now at the time I just thought they were doing it out of relief that we could get out of this cramped space. But since then, every time I've been on a plane with predominantly British passengers, there's been clapping.

Bizarre...

May The Force Be With You

So this weekend was "Celebration Europe", a Star Wars convention celebrating 30 years of Star Wars (scary to think that Episode IV: A New Hope has been around for that long!) I managed to get along to the convention, and it was amazing! First of all I couldn't believe how many people were there (it was jam packed to the point of being a bit unbearable at times) and then I couldn't believe the range of stuff there was! Not just merchandising, but there were several 'fan' stages set up where they would interview actors and crew from the films (I got to see Ray Parks (Darth Maul), Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), vintage toys auction (didn't buy anything fortunately, although I did see a vintage Luke Skywalker for sale at one of the stalls for a whopping £295!), jedi training (for the kids), autograph area (seriously overpriced)... and then there were the fans themselves, dressed up in various Star Wars costumes. There was a big disco on the Saturday night and a big screen set up on the Friday night showing A New Hope - I really wish I'd been able to go to the whole convention, not just one day. Oh and they had some of the original props, concept drawings and stuff from the movies, plus I also got to see the trailer for the new animated TV series of The Clone Wars which looks really impressive... Anyway, I managed to bring my trusty canon camcorder along for the event, and have put together a little teaser for those Star Wars fans out there who didn't get to go to the convention... the only problem is my camcorder doesn't do so well in low light, but hopefully you get a sense of the vibe... enjoy!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Well today is Dad's 60th birthday, and tonight he is having a big birthday bash with his family and friends at home in Brisbane. Of course, I'm not there, but he did ask me to send him a short video message, which I posted about on blogger recently (see "It Never Rains But It Pours"). Well it turned into a bit more of an epic than originally planned - lasting some 9 minutes! But if you're interested, here is my video message (apologies for the bad singing though, I had had a cold for like 2 weeks and lost my voice)...

Happy Birthday Dad!

Four more sleeps to go!

Yep, that's right, 4 more sleeps until...

CELEBRATION EUROPE!

Yay! Die hard Star Wars fans out there, unite!

Can't wait, the only problem for me is that the convention is 3 days long, and I can only go on Saturday! Alas!

Die Hard 4.0

Well as you would know from previous posts, I haven't had much luck at the movies in recent weeks. So I was a bit dubious about going to see Die Hard 4.0 with Jane and her sister Anne on Sunday night. Especially as we had decided to go to My Vue at Croydon. Nonetheless, along I went, and I am happy to report that there were no 6 year olds in the audience who could not sit through the whole thing, no one talking, no untoward behaviour - and that I was actually able to enjoy the film for a change. Except for one small criticism. This is an action film with lots of very big explosions, and these are exacerbated by how loud they actually play the film. Seriously, I needed ear plugs in some spots! But other than that, it was a fantastic film and I really enjoyed it. Wow. Want to go see it again, it was so good. And here's a taster for those in Oz, where the movie's not due out til August 9th or something... So when's Die Hard 5?

Accidentally Friday Street

Well, after all the Triple M last week (and with more to happen this week), I decided actually to have a weekend off for a change.

A couple of weeks back, in fact, it was the day after Gemma's girly night, Gemma, Louisa and I decided it would be a good idea to go hiking. We originally planned to go to the Yorkshire Dales (my absolutely most favourite place) but time got away from us, and we left it a bit late to buy train tickets (they're so much more expensive if you book under a week away). Also, we thought it might be better to go at another time on account of the floods they've been having up there.

Anyway, Gemma and I decided that we would go hiking in leafy Surrey yesterday. Unforunately that meant that Lou couldn't come, because she lives in Leeds, but we will still do the Yorkshire thing at some point.

I subscribe to Walking World, a website that lists a whole heap of walks that you can do in the UK, and even some in France and Spain. Last year Jane, Agnieszka and I went to do a walk in a quaint little village called "Friday Street", but it rained so we kind of just had lunch in the pub and abandoned it (although we did do a drive around some of the villages in the area). I've always wanted to go back, so I suggested it to Gemma, and off we went.

It was a beautiful little walk, 6 miles (which took us a lot longer than it should have because we kept stopping to take pics, but also because I forgot to bring the compass so a couple of times we had to spend a bit of time trying to figure out where to go next). The walk takes place mostly in woodland, and starts in Friday Street, then heads up to a nice little village called Coldharbour (where last year Agnieszka bought a load of cards at the Church because she liked the picture), the highest village in Surrey, and then you go up Leith Hill, Surrey's highest hill, before heading back to Friday Street. We had a fantastic time, and saw some lovely scenery. It was very rewarding to do a 6 mile hike too!

The view from Leith Hill

Gemma at Leith Hill Tower

By the time we finished, we didn't want the day to end. Gemma's parents in law, Gill and Adrian, recently bought an apartment in Canterbury, because Adrian has to work down there quite a bit. They let it out to people and had suggested to Gemma that she could use it over the weekend if she liked. So, seeing as we still had a few hours left of sunlight, and also because the weather really was glorious, we decided on a whim to head off there and stay the night. We had sort of thought we would do that, so we had packed overnight bags just in case.

I have to say this apartment was absolutely amazing! Full of all the mod cons, and minimalist in its decor (but classy), its an easy 5 minute walk from the centre of Canterbury. We dumped our stuff and headed off into town for a bit of a stroll, to find a French market there (probably in honour of the Tour de France which was scheduled to go through there on Sunday). The cathedral was closed, but we enjoyed looking at the exterior and also walking around the streets at the back, where there are some truly quirky examples of architecture. Then we bought some nougat and some fudge at the markets, got some take away Chinese and headed back to the flat for a nice quiet evening in front of the telly. Fell asleep watching the Da Vinci code.

The next day there was no real rush to head off, so woke up leisurely, had breakky and then headed back to London. I had some work to do for school so I spent the afternoon doing that (and then again later on in the evening).

What a wonderful, relaxing weekend!

Mixed Mental Mayhem

Oh wow, what a week! (and there's still another mental one to go...)

I know it's the end of term, so one should expect it to be very busy, but seriously. I have aged quite a bit this week...

I hate having to be in two places at once. Its just not feasible, and causes a lot of stress. This happened to me this past week (and I've got it again tomorrow).

It started with an "11th Day" on Monday (the "11th Day" is this thing that the school do, whereby every so often - and not necessarily every 11th day, they take the whole school off timetable to do various projects). For this particular 11th day, I booked in jazz musicians Tomorrow's Warriors to work with the girls on improvisational skills and general musicianship. We had Abram Wilson (trumpet) leading the workshop, assisted by Gary Crosby (bass) and a dude called Shabakah (tenor sax / clarinet). I can't remember the name of the guy on kit, but he was excellent. Anyway, the kids really enjoyed the workshop and got a lot out of it. But the reason it was so stressful is that Monday was also the day of the 2nd of the Cruse farewell gala events, in that it was the special church service with the Bishop of Kingston. I had to organise a bunch of girls to sing "Give Thanks" and also performing "Very Real Way". So here I am, sorting out kids with Tomorrow's Warriors, then rushing off for the church service, then running back for more Tomorrow's Warriors... seriously tired by the end of the day hey.

Tuesday and Wednesday were sort of normal, actually taught someone something for a change, then Thursday was the day of 'Triple M' - Mixed, Mental Mayhem. Before I can fully explain, I have to give you a bit of background. In England they have this stupid thing called Enterprise Education, which basically means I have to spend some time teaching about careers in music, and the music business etc. To be honest, its a pile of rubbish. But we have to do it, so that's why its easiest if you get an organisation in to do a workshop - then you can tick the 'enterprise' box for another year, and be done with it. So on Thursday we had in this group called Urban Edge, who did a workshop with 50 kids on designing logos, organising an event, singing / songwriting, and playing keyboards / guitars. The problem was that the tutors got caught in traffic, weren't allowed into the school (because I didn't know exactly who was coming so I hadn't told the school keepers), and then they hadn't told me exactly how many computers etc were required, so I had to spend ages rustling a few up. The kids seemed to enjoy the workshops though and I was pleased to get to the end of the day.

Then there was Friday. Event number 3 in Mrs Cruse's gala farewell. This was the big one, a concert in honour of Mrs Cruse. The Concert Band, Jazz Band and Orchestra were performing and I was supposed to be conducting the concert band and the orchestra, but one of my teachers at the last minute wasn't able to make it, and I suddenly found myself having to play Tuba for the Concert Band. Completely ridiculous. Going from Baritone Sax in the Jazz Band, straight to Tuba for the next item - couple this with the fact I had to walk in carrying these oversized instruments in my black satin dress and ridiculously high heels - man, I nearly stacked it several times! But the event went well, the Head seemed happy - 3 down, 1 to go. Fortunately we don't have to do anything at the last one.

So it's been hectic. And it's not about to let up next week. On Monday we have 18 kids doing ABRSM exams, so we have a visiting examiner. At the same time (oh how I love this 'be in two places at once' malarkey) I have to rehearse the gospel choir, then run an assembly for the new Yr 7s coming in next year, then teach some "taster" sessions to them... its a joke. Then, I have to go to the Macedonian embassy to get a visa at 3.30pm, then be at the Institute of Education at 5pm for the final session of this course I've been on called Leading from the Middle (which to be honest has been a bit of a joke).

Tuesday and Wednesday should again be normal, but Thursday is Junior Prize Day - so its all mental mayhem again!

Seriously, I can't wait for the holidays...

It Never Rains But It Pours

It's Murphy's Law, isn't it. When you really need to get something done, the elements conspire against you to make the task nigh on impossible. Today I went into town - not a big deal, I know - but the reason was because in a few weeks time it's Dad's 60th birthday, and he asked me if I could send him a video message to be played at his party. No worries, easily enough done - especially as I have borrowed the school mac and could do a spot of editing on it. A few years back I did a video message for my grandparents for their 60th wedding anniversary. I went around to a few of the places that we had visited together when they were here, and I told a few little anecdotes standing in front of those locations. Packaged the tape all up and sent it to Uncle David at AVP to work his magic on. No worries.

So I thought that I had best do something similar for Dad. Only problem is, his birthday is in 2 weeks and so there won't be enough time for Uncle David to edit it. But I have the mac. If I can get the footage done on Saturday (today), edit it a bit on Sunday, post it off Monday special delivery or something - that should do it. It should arrive in time. But of course, I didn't allow for Murphy's Law. I woke up this morning, it was absolutely pinging it down with rain. Heavy, heavy rain. Me and a video camera in London in heavy rain. Yeah, right. But I packed it all up, rugged up in my weatherproof (what a sexy look that is!) and headed off to my first location, Trafalgar Square. And at Trafalgar Square I was accosted by thousands of leather clad, pink t-shirted, rainbow flag hippy dudes and dudettes in drag. That's right, people. Today was gay pride or some such. They took over all the locations I needed for my video message, some of them thinking (how?) that I was some sort of reporter, and trying to get in on my video... they were everywhere! Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Oxford St - everywhere. So that was Murphy's Law problem number 1. Problem number 2 was that I had borrowed a camcorder from school because mine is not so good when its overcast - the media guy at school assured me the battery was fully charged, but I got half way through my first message and the battery completely died. Completely. Couldn't even take the tape out of the camera. Luckily I had mine there for backup, but now I've got very dark pictures and also, my camera doesn't have an external mic input - so I had to shout my message. And all the while the rain just keeps pouring on down... Then I found out about Murphy's Law problem number 3. You wouldn't read about it. The posties are on strike at the moment. So even if I manage to edit something in time for Monday, there's no knowing when it will actually get sent. Or even if it will arrive in time... So looks like I might have to give up my delusions of video message grandeur and pop out a quick, emailed mpeg message instead from the living room! Oh well, I can always try again tomorrow - anyone fancy going up to London to be my cameraman?