Well! After not blogging for a year I'm getting my mojo for writing back and reflecting on another year of "Anne's Amazing Adventures!" in spite of all the tedious medical stuff!!
Following a wonderful week in Madeira last Christmas this year's adventures started with 5 days in Amsterdam over my birthday in February with my lovely friend D whom I hadn't seen for a couple of years. It was a first visit for both of us and I have to say I think it comes close to Florence in being one of my favourite cities I've visited - I found it a really friendly,well-designed and traveller-friendly city. Our basic but good hotel was on the edge of a huge,park which had a cafe which did the most delicious sandwiches I've ever tasted! We packed a lot into our 5 days,lots of walking around,getting lost,an evening canal boat trip which was lovely,visits to the Rijksmuseum,Van Gogh museum,Anne Frank museum which was hugely humbling.On Valentines night,the day before my birthday we went to a great Italian resturant I'd found on the internet prior to the trip which was a few hundred yards from the exquisite Concertgebouw concert hall where we had tickets for their Valentine's concert which included a glass of wine (very civilised!)and was an assorted programme given by the Netherlands Chamber orchestra and amazing classical guitar and free bass accordion soloists playing a lot of Piazzolla amongst other things and was really lovely. Even we were 2 singletons amidst lots of couples,old and young,it was a really lovely evening.
I'd gone for a wander round the canals that afternoon and found some lovely quirky shops and seen that in many bakerys there were delicious looking cakes specially for Valentine's Day so I bought one in honour of my birthday which we had the next day and thoroughly enjoyed.
People who know me will know that I love my colourful clothes and I was in 7th heaven when I saw there was a big Desigual (Spanish designer clothes company known for very colourful and unique designs and usually very expensive in the UK)shop with a big sale on and as I have found in Sicily,Sardinia and Italy,Desigual seems to be at least a third cheaper than in the UK so I took advantage of this and bought 2 tops and a lovely dress!
I would go back to Amsterdam in a heartbeat and there's so much more to explore than we had time for. I found it quirky,individual,friendly and my sort of place!
In April I found myself in need of another break and found a cheap offer on Travelzoo to go back to my beloved Sicily to a fairly rural rsort near Catania. It wasn't quite the relaxing week I'd envisaged as I hadn't been feeling so good leading up to the holiday with feeling breathless and having increased chest pain so we'd fixed up an urgent scan in London on my return so I spent the week rather anxious and as it was out of season there were very few people at the all-inclusive resort and a rather mature British gentleman followed me around like a lost sheep which I didn't really appreciate especially as he had very strong opinions about everything so I spent a lot of time trying to avoid him - difficult in a small,rural resort!! The last 2 days got a lot better as the very windy weather improved hugely and a huge influx of Italians and Bulgarians really livened up the resort. I enjoy practising my Italian and find the Italians always very engaging and lively! I do love Sicily though and will get back when I have chance.
The beginning of July brought a wonderful week back at the same Hotel Alpino in the fairytale town of Malcesine in Lake Garda in Italy where I'd stayed in May 2014 immediately prior to discovering that my right lung had partially collapsed and was full of fluid - I did feel a bit off colour but thought I was imagining breathlessness!!
Malcesine is so stunningly beautiful and my favourite of all the lakeside resorts I've visited. I was remembered and made very welcome by the small family-owned hotel and they left a beautiful calendar with local photos on my bed on my last night which was a lovely touch. It was extremely hot the week I was there so I didn't do as much resort-hopping as I intended as it was so tiring in the heat. I managed to get to a most wonderful outdoor thermal lakes spa in a beautiful pine forest setting which was really relaxing and worth the 2 buses it took to get there. I was able to use my Italian,French and German throughout the week. There are a lot of German visitors to Lake Garda and they will just speak to everybody in German wherever you may come from! There are lots of swans on Lake Garda and I saw the same family of swans over 3 consecutive days in different parts of the lake which was very sweet. I managed to find the hotel with the amazing views over Lake Garda in Limone and enjoyed the huge Coppa Limone icecream I'd sampled the previous year!One day I was having a wander in Malcesine and heard a violinist playing the theme from The Godfather by the old harbour and so I found a great little pizza place,got a takeout slice and sat with many others enjoying the music for over an hour and relaxing in the sun by the lake. It was bliss!I did have a couple of days where I was too tired to do very much but it was a very relaxing and enriching week. On the last night I went to a wonderful concert of opera in the castle in Malcesine given and presented by an English-born mezzo who married an Italian and lives in Malcesine and along with her was a fantastic Japanese-Italian soprano. It was a really wonderful end to another great holiday.
At the end of July I drove to my dear piano friend M's house along with my dog Bass to give a joint recital in a church in Nantwich. The concert was a great success and we had a very full church and several pinao friends came to support us which was lovely. Bass and I then went on to Welshpool in Powys where we stayed nearby in a really welcoming and hospitable B&B in the Powys countryside for the following 6 nights. Our friend J from Cardiff joined us for the 1st 3 days in which we explored Powis Castle with it's beautiful gardens,Bala Lake, where Bass enjoyed his first ride on a steam train and the stunning Lake Vrnwy. It was quite scary driving to Bala, very high up roads and almost hairpin bends precariously going up into the mountains but very much worth it. I competed in the National Eisteddfod of Wales for the 1st time in both the accompaniment and solo classes and although I didn't win either I really enjoyed the experience and was pleased how it went and it was lovely to meet other friends there too and practise my Welsh after a long time since I've spoken any. In fact I was lucky enough to meet a lady whose daughter I am now teaching piano to in Welsh which is a challenge for me but I'm enjoying it! When J had gone back to Cardiff Bass and I went to Llangollen on one day,where I'd sang in the International Eisteddfod back in the late 80s with my school choir. It's a very attractive small town and walking by the river Dee with BAss made me thing of the song "The Miller of Dee" - in fact we had lunch in the Flour mill pub with the Mill Wheel still working.The next day Bass and I visited the very attractive city of Chester. We went on a walking tour of the city with a "Roman Soldier" which was very interesting. It was a really lovely week and I gained a lot of confidence with my driving and getting around. Bass was a joy to take away and so well-behaved throughout. He's a wonderful companion.
My next big travel plans are to return to Funchal,Madeira, where I spent last Christmas in a 5 star hotel, This year I've booked a much cheaper studio apartment right in the centre of Funchal and I'm really looking forward to it. It was so festive and ively there last year and I've already found out that the ballet Petrouchka,which I've never seen, will be on in addition to 3 concerts I've already found out about and soon the full programme of the many free musical events throughout Funchal will be published. I'll go back to the English church there which was so welcoming last year.
Onwards and upwards and I'm sure lots of adventures will await me next year!
Following a wonderful week in Madeira last Christmas this year's adventures started with 5 days in Amsterdam over my birthday in February with my lovely friend D whom I hadn't seen for a couple of years. It was a first visit for both of us and I have to say I think it comes close to Florence in being one of my favourite cities I've visited - I found it a really friendly,well-designed and traveller-friendly city. Our basic but good hotel was on the edge of a huge,park which had a cafe which did the most delicious sandwiches I've ever tasted! We packed a lot into our 5 days,lots of walking around,getting lost,an evening canal boat trip which was lovely,visits to the Rijksmuseum,Van Gogh museum,Anne Frank museum which was hugely humbling.On Valentines night,the day before my birthday we went to a great Italian resturant I'd found on the internet prior to the trip which was a few hundred yards from the exquisite Concertgebouw concert hall where we had tickets for their Valentine's concert which included a glass of wine (very civilised!)and was an assorted programme given by the Netherlands Chamber orchestra and amazing classical guitar and free bass accordion soloists playing a lot of Piazzolla amongst other things and was really lovely. Even we were 2 singletons amidst lots of couples,old and young,it was a really lovely evening.
I'd gone for a wander round the canals that afternoon and found some lovely quirky shops and seen that in many bakerys there were delicious looking cakes specially for Valentine's Day so I bought one in honour of my birthday which we had the next day and thoroughly enjoyed.
People who know me will know that I love my colourful clothes and I was in 7th heaven when I saw there was a big Desigual (Spanish designer clothes company known for very colourful and unique designs and usually very expensive in the UK)shop with a big sale on and as I have found in Sicily,Sardinia and Italy,Desigual seems to be at least a third cheaper than in the UK so I took advantage of this and bought 2 tops and a lovely dress!
I would go back to Amsterdam in a heartbeat and there's so much more to explore than we had time for. I found it quirky,individual,friendly and my sort of place!
In April I found myself in need of another break and found a cheap offer on Travelzoo to go back to my beloved Sicily to a fairly rural rsort near Catania. It wasn't quite the relaxing week I'd envisaged as I hadn't been feeling so good leading up to the holiday with feeling breathless and having increased chest pain so we'd fixed up an urgent scan in London on my return so I spent the week rather anxious and as it was out of season there were very few people at the all-inclusive resort and a rather mature British gentleman followed me around like a lost sheep which I didn't really appreciate especially as he had very strong opinions about everything so I spent a lot of time trying to avoid him - difficult in a small,rural resort!! The last 2 days got a lot better as the very windy weather improved hugely and a huge influx of Italians and Bulgarians really livened up the resort. I enjoy practising my Italian and find the Italians always very engaging and lively! I do love Sicily though and will get back when I have chance.
The beginning of July brought a wonderful week back at the same Hotel Alpino in the fairytale town of Malcesine in Lake Garda in Italy where I'd stayed in May 2014 immediately prior to discovering that my right lung had partially collapsed and was full of fluid - I did feel a bit off colour but thought I was imagining breathlessness!!
Malcesine is so stunningly beautiful and my favourite of all the lakeside resorts I've visited. I was remembered and made very welcome by the small family-owned hotel and they left a beautiful calendar with local photos on my bed on my last night which was a lovely touch. It was extremely hot the week I was there so I didn't do as much resort-hopping as I intended as it was so tiring in the heat. I managed to get to a most wonderful outdoor thermal lakes spa in a beautiful pine forest setting which was really relaxing and worth the 2 buses it took to get there. I was able to use my Italian,French and German throughout the week. There are a lot of German visitors to Lake Garda and they will just speak to everybody in German wherever you may come from! There are lots of swans on Lake Garda and I saw the same family of swans over 3 consecutive days in different parts of the lake which was very sweet. I managed to find the hotel with the amazing views over Lake Garda in Limone and enjoyed the huge Coppa Limone icecream I'd sampled the previous year!One day I was having a wander in Malcesine and heard a violinist playing the theme from The Godfather by the old harbour and so I found a great little pizza place,got a takeout slice and sat with many others enjoying the music for over an hour and relaxing in the sun by the lake. It was bliss!I did have a couple of days where I was too tired to do very much but it was a very relaxing and enriching week. On the last night I went to a wonderful concert of opera in the castle in Malcesine given and presented by an English-born mezzo who married an Italian and lives in Malcesine and along with her was a fantastic Japanese-Italian soprano. It was a really wonderful end to another great holiday.
At the end of July I drove to my dear piano friend M's house along with my dog Bass to give a joint recital in a church in Nantwich. The concert was a great success and we had a very full church and several pinao friends came to support us which was lovely. Bass and I then went on to Welshpool in Powys where we stayed nearby in a really welcoming and hospitable B&B in the Powys countryside for the following 6 nights. Our friend J from Cardiff joined us for the 1st 3 days in which we explored Powis Castle with it's beautiful gardens,Bala Lake, where Bass enjoyed his first ride on a steam train and the stunning Lake Vrnwy. It was quite scary driving to Bala, very high up roads and almost hairpin bends precariously going up into the mountains but very much worth it. I competed in the National Eisteddfod of Wales for the 1st time in both the accompaniment and solo classes and although I didn't win either I really enjoyed the experience and was pleased how it went and it was lovely to meet other friends there too and practise my Welsh after a long time since I've spoken any. In fact I was lucky enough to meet a lady whose daughter I am now teaching piano to in Welsh which is a challenge for me but I'm enjoying it! When J had gone back to Cardiff Bass and I went to Llangollen on one day,where I'd sang in the International Eisteddfod back in the late 80s with my school choir. It's a very attractive small town and walking by the river Dee with BAss made me thing of the song "The Miller of Dee" - in fact we had lunch in the Flour mill pub with the Mill Wheel still working.The next day Bass and I visited the very attractive city of Chester. We went on a walking tour of the city with a "Roman Soldier" which was very interesting. It was a really lovely week and I gained a lot of confidence with my driving and getting around. Bass was a joy to take away and so well-behaved throughout. He's a wonderful companion.
My next big travel plans are to return to Funchal,Madeira, where I spent last Christmas in a 5 star hotel, This year I've booked a much cheaper studio apartment right in the centre of Funchal and I'm really looking forward to it. It was so festive and ively there last year and I've already found out that the ballet Petrouchka,which I've never seen, will be on in addition to 3 concerts I've already found out about and soon the full programme of the many free musical events throughout Funchal will be published. I'll go back to the English church there which was so welcoming last year.
Onwards and upwards and I'm sure lots of adventures will await me next year!
No comments:
Post a Comment