11/07/2012 - 13/07/2012 – Hablas Ingles?

Enjoying the Roman ruins in Evora

A quick Spanish lesson on the
boat...

Some were travelling slightly more stylishly than us!

After enjoying a homemade brekkie (bread with Lotti’s special raspberry jam), it was a leisurely start to the day as we were spending the majority on the cruise ship. Time for us to start planning our European jaunt – as ever we were well prepared!

Salamanca by night

A bite to eat at the main square

Unfortunately, weren't
around at the right time
for the tournament...

Salamanca by day

Upon casting anchor at Santander, we were straight onto the motorway for a sizeable drive into the heart of Spain to Salamanca.





Excitement of the journey was spotting the large wooden bull in the countryside on the front of the lonely planet – first sight ticked off!

Salamanca streets - don't
travel here by car!

Inside the cathedral

Spot the astronaut

A couple of circuits round the cobbled one-way street systems in the car later, and we found some suitable accommodation. A walking tour was a calling the next morning, where it was lots of neck straining to appreciate the intricate stonework on the buildings.  Eagle eyes were also required to spot the stonemasons additions during restorative work, namely a spaceman, an ice cream and a frog!?! We got the first couple without outside assistance, but for anyone who has found the frog without any help we take our hats off to you!

Roman bridge at Merida - longest surviving bridge from 'ancient times'

Roman aqueduct ruins at Merida,
a stop-off en route to Evora 

Evora's streets

More roman ruins

A bit too boney for me...

Evora was our first look at a typical Portuguese town, i.e. perched atop a hill that looks out in all directions and is a nightmare to drive in (Annaliza commented “we’re somewhere in this spiderweb of roads” when navigating – helpful!). The cobbled streets were much more suited to walking, although flip flops perhaps weren’t the cleverest footwear! Evora’s highlights were the whitewashed buildings, roman ruins, hidden lanes, and the frankly disturbing crypt of skulls. Chilling to the bone…

Overview of Evora

Key Learnings:

The monoliths outside Evora -
not quite Stonehenge...

1. Careful not to panic, even when you’ve not booked anywhere to stay that evening and don’t know how to navigate your way round a “one way” city. Easier said than done…

2. Even when it is obvious that you know nothing of the language of the country you are in, and the person you are talking to knows no English, you both continue speaking! Strange...

07/07/2012 - 10/07/2012 - Wine in Win(e)chester

A toast to the happy couple - Mr and Mrs Spampinato... How do you say that name again?

Annaliza had been on the
shrinking pills again

Yep Andy - we did get some
photos... The best of a bad bunch!
For anyone interested in Andy's travel
adventures - http://tbc234.wordpress.com/

Headed back to das Capital, where we had a couple of nights in London for more catching up with friends and family before heading down South once again. Firstly, a stop off in Fareham to spend the night with Auntie C for a good chinwag and a lovely feed. Only downer was Tony slamming the car door onto his fingers – don’t try that at home!

Never has a signature been so enjoyable!

Another wedding, another
beard trim

Kathryn and Dan’s wedding in Winchester was next, so after cutting it a little fine on getting to the hotel we were treated to another brilliant occasion. Set in the countryside outside Winchester in the fantastic Clock Barn - the English weather was unchanging but no matter - it was brilliant to share a few wines with the crew and lots more dancing! Thanks Kathryn and Dan for an awesome day and enjoyable recovery session on the Sunday. The less said about Tony’s undies the better….

Casa Dawson, depleting the red wine stocks...

'The' Round Table

With Murray offering up more resistance in the Wimbledon final than expected, we headed to the Dawsons (Balfour family friends) in Winchester. It had been over 4 years so there was lots of reminiscing to be done and the reknowned Dawsons hospitality was in full-flow (as was the red wine!). Unfortunately we missed Bazza but Jayne and George ensured we were well looked after and even provided the nomads with a place to stay for the night – thanks again guys!

King Alfred of Winchester

Luckily for us, we weren’t in the 7am train to London party (still feel for you George and Tom!), and could enjoy a relaxed morning with Jayne. Took in the sights of Winchester (thumbs up all round, even if the round table was fabricated - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Table) before heading to the New Forest.  Driving past a B&B advertising a Spa room felt like fate was giving us a serious nudge, so an afternoon with the feet up was complemented by some good honest pub grub for din dins.

The New Forest - Thatched cottages and wild horses - tick!

Portsmouth port

Had a roam in the New Forest amongst thatched houses and wild horses (yep – we didn’t really believe it either!) before heading to Portsmouth, where we unfortunately didn’t have the time to see the recovered ruins of the Mary Rose (brought up from the sea on Annaliza’s birthday!)– we had a working ship to catch! It didn’t disappoint, being the most cruise-esque ship either of us have ever been on. Couldn’t get carried away though – our continued nomad status meant we took on homemade sarnies to last us through the 24 hour crossing. 

26/06/2012 - 06/07/2012 - York(ie) - Where the men are hunky and the chocolate's chunky

Don't tell an impromptu (waiter) photographer how to take a photo - he'll take the picture right when you're explaining
at the exact moment that makes you look like you've got something wedged up your bum...

A different type of night out on
Chapel Street (Stratford-upon-Avon)

A blast from the past
at Birmingham Uni

Folly number 1

Leaving Torquay, we headed up north to the Sturge stronghold. Given the massive journey (yep – our families are on opposite ends of England, but that’s quite a bit better than being on opposite sides of Aus!), we took in Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham along the way, immersing ourselves in Shakespeare’s history and then Annaliza’s university history. In Birmingham we also commenced a new hobby – folly spotting (for those of you who don’t know what a folly is, wiki probably explains it better than me:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly).

Lake Derwentwater - enjoying the
delightful weather... 

Folly number 2

Snouts in the trough

I don't like to Rabbit on...

We’d been briefed on the weather to expect in the Lake District, and it didn’t disappoint. 3 days, and only fleeting breaks in the rain, so rather than embark on a monster walk we contended ourselves with a visit to the Beatrix Potter Museum and some more folly action. Highbrow stuff!

Ashness Bridge in the Lakes

Got to love a well named hall!

Gordale Scar, Yorkshire Dales

More Yorkshire Dales action

From there it was across to York to catch up with M&D Sturge to be spoilt by some more home comforts, and discovery of the game Carcasonne (as you probably know, we do love our board games: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne) where Annaliza had the golden touch. Enjoyed a day trip to the Yorkshire Dales for a stretch of the legs, unearthing another gem of a place on our doorstep we’d never visited before. The first attempt for Tony at golf since being on the Nullabour links went marginally better than that previous outing, but we’re talking about small margins!

Carcassone before the final tally

Position A - nicely in the rough!

18/06/2012 - 25/06/2012 - The English Riviera

Eating - an Olympic sport!

When Annaliza sees the beach huts,
she knows she's home

Berry nice at Berry Head

From the Cotswolds (after a few emotional farewells) it was straight to the English Riveria – from one UK highlight to another! Barely got our feet into Casa Balfour before we had to shoot off for our very own Olympic event – fortunately only a dinner rather than anything strenuous! Despite thinking this was related to the 2012 London Olympics, turns out that there’s also a culinary Olympics (http://www.messe-erfurt.com/presse_mitteilungen_details.html?pm_id=PM_4b7eb62ea77c5) – if you ever get a chance to sample one of these get involved!

Cheddar Gorge - sorry it's a bit cheesy...

Brixham Marina

Making sure the numbers
stack up for Balfour Photographics

The ins-pier-ing delights of
Weston-Super-Mare

We started some wedding planning of our own in searching for a venue, whilst reconnecting with the Torquay / Devon area during a couple of daytrips. Tony also got his first experience of working for the institution that is Balfour Photographics (in a vain attempt to get an invite for the golf day!). Yep – a drive out to Weston-super-mare at the crack of dawn to collect the photos, where we depressingly came in below the average annual sales. We unhesitatingly blamed the photographer…  

Catching up with firends

Vicar's close - Wells (a bit wonky due
to balancing on a bin...)

Torquay, at it's finest

We do love a bit of clog dancing!

The half marathon - go IronRik, IronBruco et al

That weekend was another Balfour tradition, being the Torbay half marathon. We didn’t enter ourselves – left that to IronRik and friends – but we got involved with other elements of the Babbacombe Festival, most notably the Ceilidh and clog dancing.

Torquay's famous Banksy -
unfortunately it had been
graffiti'd!

Out with the Beaut, in with the Gorge!

Sealed the deal on our purchase of the Balfour Photographics’ car, to enable the upgrade to a Honda Jazz for M&D Balfour (silver, not red, or blue for that matter!) – what kind folk we are. After serious deliberations, chose to christen it ‘The Gorge’, to keep a common theme. Having 5 doors still feels like an absolute luxury!