Review of the Week!

It has been a very busy and eventful week.  My 4 year old grand daughter started "big school" on Tuesday - this was an emotional time for her parents.  She particularly wanted me to see her new school so I duly accompanied my daughter on Friday in the pouring rain following the long snake of parents delivering their offspring.  We were invited to stay for assembly.  My thoughts were how different things have become from even my children's time at school. There seems to be an overwhelming number of activities and clubs for kids these days - every interest catered for which can only help in building confidence and widening their skills and expertise. A surprise to me was that they don't make headmasters like they used to!  We were addressed by a Bradley Wiggins lookalike with a tight suit.  He reminded me of the "Small Faces" which sort of dates me...........

He certainly was enthusiastic and had a good rapport with the children and we came away feeling more comfortable with the fact that the atmosphere was a happy and seemingly productive one.

On Thursday my husband and I went to see "Confessions of Gordon Brown" 

Really recommend this Play which is on at Trafalgar House Studios  - fantastic performance from Ian Grieve. We hadn't been to the studios before and were surprised how small the venue - word of warning not to sit on front row!

Whatever your politics you can thoroughly enjoy - its more a message about leadership and good and bad traits. They have just reviewed the play on Sky News and the actor provided a snippet - his impersonation of William Hague is really impressive.

http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-confessions-of-gordon-brown/trafalgar-studios/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-2395249/Confessions-Gordon-Brown-drills-right-soul-PM.html

On the same day we popped in to the National Portrait Gallery and particularly loved the paintings by Jonathan Yeo.  His portraits of celebrities are so realistic and impressive with a twist. I never tire of looking around the gallery as there is always something new to see whilst still being able to enjoy those we have seen  before.  I sometimes think that we should charge at least one pound per head entry fee to help with the upkeep of our Galleries and Museums.  We are charged when we go to other countries and I don't think this small contribution in the UK would cause much hardship. Just a thought................

On Tuesday saw my close friend who completed her course of chemo this week before starting radiotherapy end of September. She is feeling good and thankful that she has finished with the chemo!

Wednesday had lunch with another friend who I don't manage to see so often as she is either in Geneva or Turkey - so we make the most of it when she passes through London.  So nice to have a girly lunch and to catch up - it is so important to keep in touch with friends  even if it is a challenge sometimes!

Looking forward to a quieter week and to spending more time in the gym to work off some of the lunches!!

The Face You Deserve - update!

A while ago I mentioned using Nivea in one of my posts ..........."The Face You Deserve"

In an article today in the Daily Mail they compare the benefit of using the expensive Creme de la Mer and Nivea.

On balance they found that Nivea fared very well if not better in terms of hydration. Both creams were found to be very good but why pay a fortune for a cream if a much cheaper one delivers!

From previous post

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2418153/Claire-used-1-
Nivea-cream-half-face--105-Cr-la-Mer-The-results-VERY-revealing.html

Graduation Day!

These days it seems that graduation can apply to any age.  I was so surprised to learn that my 4 year old grand daughter had graduated from nursery a couple of weeks ago!  She looked really cute in her red mortar board and gown and it was yet another excuse for a celebration but a little curious.

The growing trend also of the graduation at 16 - the prom dress, the stretch limo, the big party.  The funny thing is how all these trends have snowballed in the last 3 or 4 years.

What I would like to know is what can we seniors do which would warrant a graduation ? Graduating from paid employment? Graduating from the rat race? Maybe it isn't such a bad idea :)

Formal Frocks!!

The worst part about coming back from holiday is the washing!

We are just about on top of this now but there are still some dry cleaning and repairs to do.

The most challenging and expensive thing for me is dealing with cleaning of evening gowns from the formal nights on board.  I am not complaining as dressing up is one of the most enjoyable parts of the night life.  So many passengers comment on the fact that everyone almost without exception "scrub up well" when dressed in their finery.

Assessing the cleaning problem!

There are so few opportunities to dress formally these days and so certainly we make the most of it. If sailing from Southampton on a return trip there's no problem regarding amount of clothing that can be taken - the difficulty arises on a fly cruise and weight restrictions.  My husband loves to see me enjoying myself with clothes but he does read the riot act when we are flying and I have to do my usual strop when asked to be sensible as to the quantity!

I just hate leaving out some items as we girls know,  sometimes you feel like wearing a certain dress and sometimes you don't!  Good to have many options..............hmmmm

My favourite black tie designer is Marchesa - so feminine and special but unforgiving if you put on an ounce.  Also like Anna Sui, D & G, Prada ........ this sounds expensive but with careful buying in sales and outlet sites you can accumulate a range of items which suit your shape and style and which you can use over and over again.  (This is the line my long suffering husband is never tired of hearing form me and he enjoys mocking me - but ladies it is so true - isn't it?)

It really is worth the effort and am looking forward to the next jaunt!!

                                               .........................................................................

Something quite remarkable happened as we left the dining room one night - a woman called after me and this was someone who I haven't seen for 27 years - our children went to junior school together and we shared school runs!  How random is that?

and then on to Norway..................

After Iceland we sailed on to Norway and visited 3 ports of call - Alesund, Flam and Stravanger.


The most notable of the 3 was Flam which was a jewel - really pretty nestling deep in a tributary of the world's longest and deepest fjord.  It is surrounded by steep mountainsides, waterfalls and deep valleys.. I am afraid my snaps do not do it justice. Its definitely worth a visit for the breathtaking scenery.

Iceland and Norway were very expensive and can't say that there was a lot to buy and so purchases were few and far between.  My husband thought that this was a real bonus!!!  Grrr!

Iceland Experience

My daughter went on holiday to Iceland a few years ago and really enjoyed it - she said it was something most people should do once as it was something completely different. So we embarked  on a cruise to Iceland and Norway in August and arrived back yesterday.

We went from Southampton to first port of call  Dublin before making our way to Reykavik.

On our tour in Reykavik and beyond the temperature dropped to 8 degrees with a biting wind which made it feel much colder. We travelled to the Thingvellir National Park - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Park straddles the mid Atlantic ridge and its where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.  These plates are constantly pulling the earth's crust in opposite directions which result in unusual and impressive landscape which seem to go on forever.

 

We saw the incredible Gullfoss Waterfall and the Geysir Strokkur which shots 75 foot high column of hot water  every few minutes

Thankfully we chose not to bathe in the Blue Lagoon that day given the really cold weather conditions but saved the Geothermal experience until we went to  Akureyri where it was a more comfortable 14 degrees. The pool at Myvatn was wonderful although the smell of sulphur could be overwhelming at times. 

Its quite surreal lazing in very warm water with your head in the cold air - just as my daughter  descrIbed. The mountainous surrounding area was covered with volcanic ash and the whole experience was quite surreal. We also took in another impressive waterfall - Godafoss - the Waterfall of the Gods which was particularly beautiful

 

The Icelanders are keen to share their stories about trolls, "hidden people" and elves - we were left with the feeling that maybe they believed that the stories were true!

 We agreed it is something everyone should do once we have enjoyed it but we won't be rushing back. Incredible natural phenomena but the landscape and temperatures are bleak and unforgiving. As one of our guides said Iceland doesn't have weather but examples of weather and you can sample them all in one day. The only one we didn't have was snow although we could see it around us on the roadside at times. 

Incredible place. Good to visit but not to live!

Iceland

been quiet for 2 weeks.... been on holiday more to come but really exhausted tonight but will fill you in later..............

Iceland and Norway so
interesting but so cold!!!