Welcome to the Scottish leg of our trip. We actually have one more day here in Scotland before we head back to Australia via Hong Kong, and we have one more foodie experience today so I will talk about that a bit later.
Let's get the most obvious question answered first - yes, we tried haggis! More on that later.
After spending the week in London, we caught the train up to Edinburgh. It was so fast, only taking around 4 hours, so we had the afternoon to wander around the city. After having a truly terrible pizza at a place on the Royal Mile for lunch, we took a slow stroll up the hill. We were fortunate enough to be here right at the end of the Edinburgh festival, so there was a great atmosphere with part of the street closed off, street performer, touts for comedy shows and just generally some great opportunities for people watching. For dinner we had really great Thai at one of the newer shopping centres in town.
The reason why we came to Edinburgh before our tour though was to go to the Military Tattoo which was an amazing experience. It had been quite warm during the day, but we did get absolutely drenched when the rain started falling about half way through the show! These days the tattoo is not just about your traditional style of pipers, dancers, military bands etc, those were still the highlights for me. Overall it was an amazing experience that I have grateful to have been at. If we never have the opportunity to go again that will be okay, but if we do have the chance to go again I would jump at it!
Here's a taster
When we were planning what to do on the Saturday, we wanted to do something outside of Edinburgh as we knew we were coming back as part of the trip. We therefore chose to do a day trip to Hadrian's Wall. As our guide said, we came to Scotland only to then go back to England!
Our first stop was in a pretty town called Jedburgh, which has a ruined abbey (not the last ruins we would see in this part of the trip) but also has a museum about Mary Queen of Scots, who spent some time in the town.
We then crossed the border and stopped at Steel Rigg which is part of the wall, and then onto a Roman site called Vindolanda. Vindolanda was a Roman fort which pre-dated the wall, and is an ongoing archeological dig. It was very interesting. After a final stop at the wall, we headed back to Edinburgh, we had Italian for dinner.
The next day we hired a car for the day to go from Edinburgh to Glasgow. It really only takes an hour but we chose to go and explore a bit. We started at Falkirk where we visited The Kelpies and also visited the Falkirk Wheel. We were hoping to go on the wheel but unfortunately it was booked out, so we just had to watch. What a fascinating piece of engineering this is. It replaces many locks with one single contraption where the canal boats sail into a cradle, which then transports the boat down to the lower level of water, and then the boat sails off along the canal.
At the Kelpies we tried something new to us called tiffin. It's a chocolate slice with biscuit chunks in. We have something very similar at home which we call Chocolate Hedgehogs. Whatever your call it, it was delicious.
We then visited the battle site at Bannockburn and then headed to Glasgow to meet our tour. The next morning we had a tour of Glasgow and some time to wander around and then we headed to Stirling Castle which I absolutely loved! I could easily have spent more time there.
On the way to Edinburgh we stopped in the lovely village of Culross and then to our hotel for a quick refresh and then we chose to go on an optional inclusion which was a Spirit of Scotland dinner. At this event there were dancers, a piper, a fiddler and a piano accordion and we were treated to lots of traditional Scottish music...and yes...food!
The evening started with the piping in of the haggis, and then the address to the haggis.
We then got to taste haggis. Now I have had haggis before so I did know what to expect but not everyone in our group did. Whilst I wouldn't choose to eat haggis if it was on a menu it is okay to eat. We then had a three course meal. My starter was a fig and strawberry thing (not sure how traditional that it but never mind) and then Cullen Skink Pie (which is a fish pie) and then Cranachan for dessert, which is whipped cream, oats and raspberries - delicious! It was a fun night.
The next day we visited Edinburgh castle. We had quite a bit of free time here so we were able to wander around, visit the various parts of the castle, visit a couple of the regimental museums as well as the Scottish National Military museum.
We then went to the Royal Britannia yacht to see how the royal family lived when they were basically on holidays. We headed straight for the tea rooms and had scones and clotted cream and then finished wandering around the boat, including this very impressive formal dining room. We could have easily spent more time on the yacht.
After this, we headed to an Italian restaurant in the city, for what was probably the best meal of the tour. Some of the hotel food was pretty average. I will say, it surprises me how much fish I ate on this trip.
From Edinburgh we headed to the highlands, with stops at St Andrews where we saw the golf course and then walked to the ruined castle and cathedral, the to the spa town of Pitlochrie which was gorgeous, and a visit to Culloden.
The next day we visiting the town of Ullapool where we had Scottish Seafood Soup and then onto Loch Ness where we searched to no avail for Nessie, and then we visited a small town on the Isle of Skye before heading back to Glasgow via Glenfinnan (home to the Harry Potter viaduct), Glen Coe and Loch Lomond.
I literally have hundreds of photos of mountains and lochs that I could share but this post is already way too long. Today, we are visiting a museum and then going for afternoon tea, and then tomorrow we make our way to Hong Kong, but I could definitely see ourselves coming back to Scotland to explore some more.
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home pa
I was supposed to post this last week but I am travelling and we have been having trouble getting the laptop to connect to wi-fi, so apologies for being late.
Clare has a good job working at the BBC, but when she finds herself compromised by a married man, her parents disown her due to the shame, without making any effort to understand what happened. Pregnant and alone, she moves to Scotland to live with her sister until the baby comes. However, soon after, she finds herself called upon by a former colleague asking her to come and do her part for the war effort.
This means leaving behind her baby, Mirren, with her sister and her husband to look after, but at least Clare knows that she will be safe in the last house on the lochan. Anne and Allistair are good people, and she knows that they will take good care of Mirren, especially seeing as they have not been able to have children of their own. There are also some other people who Clare will be sad to leave behind, including the friendly postmaster, Cal McInnis.
I have read quite a few books about women who helped break the codes at Bletchley, but this is the first time I have read anything about the kind of work that Clare does, which is about taking existing maps, and adding in the new information that is obtained from spy photographs. These new maps are then going to be used to determine targets for bombing runs. This work was done in the house of the former British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli.
Clare is good at her job, but she is very aware that the work that she is doing is contributing to the death of many people, and this is something that weigh's heavily on her. Combined with the lasting impact of the events which led to her pregnancy, Clare is somewhat emotionally fragile.
Fast forward to the 1980s and Mirren is trying to deal with her past and how it has impacted her present. She knows that Clare is her mother, but she has very few memories of her, and the only tangible link she has is a pair of earrings. When she is given some letters she finally begins to understand her full story, but is it possible for these new truths to help her put her own life back together.
I love a good dual time but I am concious that they don't always work. This one did. I understood Mirren's feelings of being abandoned and how that impacted on her relationships through her life. I also really loved the 1980's references sprinkled throughout the book. For example, at one point Mirren and her husband sit down to watch the Band-Aid concerts which was a fun detail.
The timing for me to read this book was also fortuitous as I started to read this book just before landing in the UK, and now, as I write this review, we are just about to start our tour of Scotland which will take us into the Highlands.
I hadn't read Catherine Law before but I will definitely read more from her as I really enjoyed her storytelling.
Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resourses for the review copy of this book. I am sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host, and also with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review blog.
About the book
The Map Maker’s Promise
One night, everything changed…
It is yet another night of air raids, and instead of heading to the basement of her London workplace – risking being in the same vicinity as him, the man who hurt her in the worst way possible – nineteen-year-old Clare runs to the first place she can think of…
… and makes a decision that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
Over a year later, and Clare is heartbroken to be saying goodbye to her newborn Mirren. Leaving her in the care of her sister, in the remotest – and therefore safest – village in Scotland, she heads back south to take up the position of mapmaker in the Air Ministry department.
The work is tough, and Clare struggles with the fact she has a direct hand in hurting the enemy – hurting people. Combined with the guilt for leaving her sweet angel behind, the dark thoughts could destroy her… or make her stronger than ever.
A heart-breaking tale of love, loss, and redemption, this is a moving and poignant story of motherhood and the complexities of healing in the aftermath of war.
Catherine Law writes dramatic romantic novels set in the first half of the 20th century, during the First and Second World Wars. Her books are inspired by the tales our mothers and grandmothers tell. Originally a journalist, Catherine lives in Kent.
Well, what a week we have had in London! It's been more than 25 years since I was last in London, and whilst all the major tourist attractions still look the same, the city as a whole has definitely been evolving! I feel as though we managed to fit in a good mix of old and new.
We arrived in London very early last Friday morning feeling fairly fresh. I was quite surprised by how much sleep I got on the flight from South Africa. Normally I don't sleep much on planes but we bought a new type of travel pillow and it was much better. After a quick shower, we wandered around the area behind Kings Cross Station whilst we waited for my brother and sister in law (my husband's brother) to arrive from the Netherlands. We then spent the day basically on the tourist route on the hop-on-hop-off bus. Here is one site you might recognise.
My first foodie treat is one that I don't have a photo of. We were walking around the back of the Tower of London and everyone else decided to get hot dogs but I saw the cup of strawberries that looked so delicious I had to have them, especially seeing as you could get them smothered in chocolate. Can I tell you, those were the most strawberry tasting strawberries I have had in years. They were sweet and juicy, and much better than the strawberries we get a home, even at the height of their season.
We went and found our accommodation, and there could be only one thing for dinner - fish and chips! And they were really good! Especially sitting outside in the evening with a beer! We were very lucky weather wise and we were able to sit outside every time we wanted to. Given that we were in London for a week, we only had a slight drizzle on the last day. Otherwise, it was hot the whole time.
The next day we started off by attending the changing of the guard at Horseguards with all it's pomp and ceremony. From there we wandered around a bit, and then we headed to the Imperial War Museum which was very interesting. On the way there, we saw this street which looked liked there could be some restaurants, and there were! We had found a street called Lower Marsh, which is just behind Waterloo station, and it had a heap of restaurants along it. There was music and a great vibe and we had some great pizza there..
This was the fuel that we needed for the final thing of the day - a spin around the London Eye! When I left the UK at the very end of 1999, the Eye was just being built and so it was one of the things I really wanted to do.
On Monday, it was time to say farewell to my in-laws but not before we joined up with my step-daughter who has recently moved to the UK. The five of us had morning tea in a tiny cafe which is below Westminster. You access it through the Deans Yard and it was a really good find. t was quiet so we could easily catch up on everything that had happened since everyone last saw each other. I saw this cake and knew I wanted a piece, regardless of the flavour. In the end it was a mango coconut loaf with a lemon icing.
We then wandered up to Buckingham Palace to say hi to the King, a then a quick dash to Harrods to look in their Christmas shop. I meant to drop into the food hall but by that time we were running out of time.
Having said farewell to the in-laws, we then ventured to County Hall where we had Afternoon Tea in the library. I am going to do a separate post about this at some point, but here are just a couple of pictures until I get around to doing that.
The next day we left London and did a quick trip down to Brighton, because this is where my step- daughter is currently living. She will be moving back to London in a couple of months, but it was fun to go down there and see where she is living as well as taking a look at the Royal Pavillion. We also took a walk down the pier, and of course that meant more fish and chips. After saying a tearful farewell to B, we headed back to London.
We had noticed earlier that there was a canal quite close to where we were staying. We should really have explored this a bit more earlier in the trip as there were some very interesting places in the area and it was named as one of the coolest areas in London not too long ago. We ended up having dinner at a bar/restaurant right on the edge of the canal.
Your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a burger using crumpets as the bun. It was a char sui pork burger and it was very tasty. Not sure that crumpets as a burger bun are going to catch on but it was very nice.
Wednesday was the day that we used all the public transport types in London. We caught the Overground train to connect to the Underground train, to connect to the Docklands Light railway, which took us to the cable car over the Thames which was fun. From there we caught the bus to Greenwich to visit the National Maritime Museum. One of the offerings was this Garden Pea and Lemon cake, and you know what, it was pretty good.
From Greenwich we caught a tourist boat up to Westminster and then a river bus back a few stops as we were having dinner at the Swan, which is right next to the Globe theatre as we went to see A Comedy of Errors there. Years ago there used to be a pop up globe in Melbourne and we went to see a number of performances there, as well as one in Sydney, so going to see another one while we were in London was a must and it was so much fun.
Given how many public transport options we took you wouldn't think that we would still need to walk 160000 steps on this day but we did.
Our final day in London, we decided to go to Richmond, which is where they filmed some of Ted Lasso. It is also a town that sits right on the Thames, and has a long Royal history, although there isn't much left now. It was a very interesting town. While we were there I thought we might have been able to try some of the Ted's famous shortbread but alas no. Instead we tried this interesting concoction, which was advertised as London Cheesecake, although I have no idea why. There isn't a skerrick of cheese anywhere in it.
We had better success at Covent Garden where we had this delicious marittozo. Maritozzo are traditionally a breakfast dish in Rome, but this was next level. I actually really liked Covent Garden. Yes, it's touristy, but it was great. From there we walked to the British Museum, and then onto our final destination - dinner at Sky Garden. It was a very fitting way to finish our time in London.
You may wonder why I am finishing with a picture of Cornflakes. When I returned home after living here for 5 years back in the late 1990's I was absolutely convinced that Cornflakes tasted different here than they do in Australia. So one of the things I had to do while I was here was taste them again. And I was right
Are we all London'd out yet? Probably not. There were a heap of places that we didn't get to visit, but when we travel we often find that we run out of time before we run out of things to do. We walked more than 100000 steps, we travelled all over the city using all the public transport things, we visited museums, we tried new things. I can definitely see us coming here again.
Now we are on our way to Scotland. Haggis here we come.
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page
We are currently on holiday so you know what that means! Lots and lots of holiday photos!
We travelled to South Africa to help celebrate my husband's parents 60th wedding anniversary but of course we took the opportunity to see a few things while we were here.
The flight from Australia is a long one. We had to fly to Sydney at 6am, and then fly from there to Johannesburg which is about 14 hours. We had previously agreed that getting on a plane to go on holidays is really the only reason why we willingly get up at such a crazy early time, but I have since realised there is one other exception which I will get to.
We arrived at my in-law's house just before dinner time, so despite being well fed on the plane we had two types of soup, and then dessert of milk tart and apple tart. My father-in-law is quite the baker, and there are definitely a couple of recipes that I need to get off him at some point.
The next day was their actual anniversary so we took them to a coffee shop in the morning, and then we all went out for dinner at a local restaurant. I will say that all the places that we went to on this trip were modern, clean and wouldn't look out of place in Australia. Definitely more so than the last time we were here 6 years ago. Food here is also very cheap. Let me clarify that, it is super cheap in Australian terms. I am sure it isn't for everyone here.
Whenever we go somewhere for family reasons, we still try to find things to do so that we can still feel a bit touristy. This time our touristy thing in Johannesburg was a visit to Soweto where we did a walking tour through the township. Most of the history that was talked about was the 1976 uprising, but we also visited the Mandela house, saw Archbishop Tutu's house and walked through the shanty town with a local. It was a really eye opening experience.
One of the stops was for lunch and this was a kota which is a hollowed out bread roll, which has chips, mango achar, cheese and eggs put in it. We chose to add a Russian sausage to ours.
The formal celebration was a lunch at a restaurant where friends and family could come together to acknowledge Jan and Corrie's 60th wedding anniversary! For my husband it had been many years since he had seen some of these people, so there was lots of reminiscing going on! Here is a pic just of the starters. Let's just say we didn't need dinner when we got home that day.1
After the big party on Saturday, on Sunday we headed to a game park about an hour and a half outside Johannesburg where we spent 3 days. We went on a game drive on that first night where we saw giraffes and a rhino, zebras, wildebeest and lots and lots of impalas and the first of several spectacular sunsets. Over the next couple of days we also did some self drives and saw a hippo, more giraffes and so much more.
The highlight though was the game drive that we did on Tuesday morning. This started at 6.30am (which is the only other reason I can think of to willingly get up at stupid o'clock), and we were so lucky. We got to see two lions with their kill, some monkeys, more giraffes, more of everything really. One of the highlights was getting to see a family group of cheetahs which were playing together. We were the only ones there to see them and we stopped and watched them for around 20 minutes. So gorgeous.
The place we stayed was absolutely beautiful, with lovely decor, spacious rooms and even a splashpool, although it was a bit cold to do anything more than just stick my hand in. My husband was in his element as we were able to light a fire in the boma on two nights. The villa was right out in the bush, and there were several different types of animals that you could see and hear just from the window. One of the funniest things we saw were two ostriches that raced us as we drove along the dirt road leading to the compound.
On the way back we took a bit of a detour and visited a town called Cullinan and we visited an operating diamond mine. This is where the Cullinan diamond was found. Once it was cut up and then polished there are two diamonds which form part of the British crown jewels. We learnt all about the mining, and got to see the mine pit. As my husband quite rightly said....it's a bloody big hole.
There aren't many things that my husband reminisces about foodwise, but there are a couple, one of which was a sauce burger, and so we had to make sure we had a least one of these. It is a pretty normal burger, but it has the addition of some sauce. I added mushroom sauce to mine and it was delicious.
Another thing that he reminisced about were fizz pops - lollipops that have sherbet in the middle so we are taking a stack of them with us!
We started the trip with a giant capuccino with cream (which you can't get in Australia) and then I finished with a hot chocolate with cream, which brought back memories of Europe last year. In the background you can see a chai latte with cream, which you also never see at home. Along the way, I tried various other things including chicken livers which seems to be on all the menus here, koeksisters and various different types of sweets and other treats, ate way more rusks than I have ever had and so much more. We certainly ate well.
We also finally found a travel mascot. We have been looking for something to take with us on our travels, but hadn't found anything that really struck our fancy until now. Meet Dino the Rhino who is sitting on the edge of the splash pool at the villa. His name is Dino because we bought him in Dinokeng and we saw Rhinos there.
On to the next stop!
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page
As a young woman, Rani had lived an interesting and free life. Her father was an exiled prince of India. He had married a young German woman and had Rani and her younger brother. Her father was quite determined to leave his royal life behind, until suddenly he is called back to court in India. Suddenly the man who believed in equality and education for all, in encouraging Rani to think independently, became the opposite of who he had been. Rani and her mother were forced to live in the women's court, only seeing her father and brother when they deigned to visit, and any thought of education or independent thought are out the window.
Rani finds a way to escape from her gilded cage and becomes friends with a poor young man named Prashad. Soon she is hatching a plan to escape. When it all goes horribly wrong, Rani is exiled to the other side of the world, to Cambridge. There she makes quite an impression and is soon selected to work as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park. With her family not responding to any of her letters, Rani is beginning to make a new life for herself, until a face from the past reappears with devestating consequences.
There were several reasons why I agreed to read this book. One is the Indian connection and the other main one is Bletchley Park, because I find the stories of the work that was done there endlessly fascinating.
It is, however, always a risk when you try a new author and there were things that both did and didn't work for me. I do enjoy a dual timeline story, but this is one of those occasions where I am not sure that the modern story was completely necessary to the story. That part of the book was about a woman who is trying to figure out her family's story, a story that has been not talked about at all. Her family have always been quite isolated emotionally from each other.
I did find the writing very descriptive. If the author was describing a scene where the sky is blue, then then the sentence would include something about the wind, the grass gently crunching underfoot, the wispy clouds on the horizon. It was quite noticeable.
I thought that the premise was very interesting, and as always the Bletchley Park parts were always interesting.
Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy of this book. I am sharing this review with The Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review blog.
About the book
The Secret
Keeper
1938: Rani, the bright and
spirited daughter of an Indian Crown Prince, leads a privileged if lonely life.
Longing for freedom and purpose, she escapes the confines of her father’s
palace and meets Prasad – a poor young man – with whom she falls deeply in
love. But her plan to gain her father’s approval for the match disastrously
backfires.
Estranged from her family and
haunted by guilt, Rani’s path takes her from Cambridge to Bletchley Park and a
new world of intrigue and secrets. Against the backdrop of war, Rani finds
comfort and a sense of belonging with fellow codebreaker William and his young
son. Could they heal her heart and become the family she craves?
Then Prasad reappears – and past
and present collide, shattering Rani’s fragile happiness. As retribution for
the hurt she caused him, he demands she pass him secrets from Bletchley. But at
what cost?
Torn between her past and her
present, love and loyalty, Rani must face up to a heart-wrenching sacrifice . .
.
Renita
D’Silva has had eleven historical fiction novels published, the most recent of
which is The Spice Maker’s Secret. Her short stories have been featured in
several publications and have been shortlisted for the Love Reading Very Short
Story award and longlisted for the BBC National Short Story award. Her first
psychological thriller, The Neighbour, won the Joffe Books Prize 2023.
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Planes, Trains & Automobiles/Books Featuring Travel (books whose plots involve travel or feature modes of transportation on the cover/title) (submitted by Cathy @ What Cathy Read Next)
Oooops. I did holiday vibes post last week. Probably should have looked ahead a bit before choosing that topic. So what am I going to do instead? How about books I have read on holidays, including on planes!
I am currently on holidays in South Africa, so here is a pic of the book I was finishing off today sitting outside at our lodge, looking out at the pool and the bush.
The Map Maker's Promise by Catherine Law - This is the book I was reading in the picture above.
Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg - I read this on the plane home from Queensland
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - I read this on the way to Tassie a couple of years ago.
Escape to Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen - I read on the way to Broome
The Language of Love by Annabel Abbs - I read this during an Easter road trip down the Great Ocean Road
Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi - I read this while I was on holiday in South Africa last time
Just One Wish by Rachael Johns - I read this book on my way to my wedding in Vanuatu
The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary - According to my blog I read this on a plane to somewhere
Barriers to Entry by Ariel Lawhon - I read a few short stories on my flight this week, and this was one of them.
Come Fly With Me by Helen Rolfe - I couldn't not include this book which is about a helicopter pilot in an emergency response team
We have a great life in Australia. One of the less positive things is that it takes a long time to get anywhere, but of course you can find some silver linings if you look hard enough. For example, this week we had around 20 hours of travel time which means I got a few stories read and watched a couple of things.
While we were on the plane, I finished reading The Secret Keeper by Renita D'Silva and then I read a few short stories. I will post my review for The Secret Keeper next week.
I was introduced to a historical fiction short story collection which is being published as a collection called Blaze by The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog. It is spotlighting interesting stories about women. So far I have read Barriers to Entry by Ariel Lawhon and The Forgotten Chapter by Pam Jenoff. I have had Lawhon on my radar for a long time but never actually read her. I will definitely read more. And I have read Pam Jenoff but it has been many, many years. I have some more long flights in my future so I will probably read more.
The other short story I read was by a new to me Scottish author, Stuart MacBride. The story was called The Tasting Menu. I don't read a lot of crime these days, so this was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I picked it up as part of the Amazon First Reads. If I had to pick a word to describe it, it would probably be gruesome.
Finally I started read The Map Maker's Secret by Catherine Law, which is another book predominantly set in Scotland. So far I am enjoying it a lot.
I'm watching
Before we left home, we were still watching a lot of Olympics, and that has continue since we arrived, except now we have to cheer for Australia, South Africa and the Netherlands.
On the plane there were a number of things on offer that I would like to watch. First up I watched a French/Japanese movie called Umami which stars Gerard areu. It is about a French chef who nearly dies and decides on a whim to go to Japan in search of the mysterious qualities of umami. It wasn't bad.
The next movie I watched was called Just One Small Favour. This is a Spanish comedy where a dysfunctional family is called to their summer home when the maid dies, and suddenly lots of secrets are being revealed. It was a bit of fun.
The final thing I watched was a cooking series called Simple Spices by British chef Nadiya Hussain. I have enjoyed a few of her books and series, and this was really good as well. I am not sure this is on in Australia so it was a bit of a find, and there are definitely
Life
Can you tell I didn't get much sleep on the flight? We are here for my parents-in-laws 60th wedding anniversary, but on Friday we did a walking tour of Soweto which was very interesting, and now we are at a game lodge where we have been on a game drive so far and this morning a massage. The place we are staying is really 1beautiful, with this lovely pool. I am not sure it is quite hot enough to get in the pool but we will see
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