Sunday in Frascati

View from Frascati over Rome... yes we were up high

Phillipa, Ross and Betsy Al Fresco Dining in Frascati

Ross, Betsy and Phillipa playing silly buggars at the signpost.. only I missed the signpost.

Me looking through the wrought iron opening up to 'The Villa'. A good day was had by all as you can see despite the problems getting back on the train!!

A weekend of nice weather and a little excursion into the countryside around Rome. Frascati is famous for (if one could call Frascati famous!) its Cathedral which contains the heart of Bonnie Prince Charlie was absconded to Rome after his defeat in 1745 and Frascati Wine... neither of which we got to see. Yep.. the Cathedral and Church were closed (hello it was Sunday!!) and we couldnt find a wine place open. I guess its only Spring and the Italians being what they are .. dont bother opening these places until later when the hordes of tourists arrive.

We had a good day ambling around, had lunch outside under the sun and generally took in the scenery.

The main activity of the day was however wandering around the Town Square Marketplace as this seemed to be the only thing that was open. Have no fear.. almost anything you could think of could be found here.. shawls, screwdrivers, pliers, mirrors and of course the usual fare of the 'black guy'.. rip off sunglasses, CD's and belts.

Trains only leave every two hours from Rome even though it is only a 30 minute ride to the north. Buying a return ticket at Termini was difficult to say the least as you had to nominate the time of the return and as part of our group slept in and missed the train (two of us made it!!) we werent sure when we would come back. About ten minutes before the train left Frascati we decided to buy our return tickets.. Oh No!! an impossability. The station was closed, the first coffee shop we went into shrugged his shoulders, hrrmphd and ignored us.. the second didnt sell them but pointed us in the right direction. Up 100 steps, round here, through there and across there.. I decided I would take my chances without a ticket.. as did Betsy, I have been in Rome 6 months and only seen Inspectors three times!! Ross and Phillipa gallantly charging off in the direction of the well hidden Tabacci shop in hot pursuit of €1.90 tickets to Rome. As Betsy and I arrived at the station there was a group of very angry Italians arguing.. and who with? oh yes, a bloody inspector. Essentially she said (In Italian of course) she didnt care the station was closed, she didnt care they couldn't buy them on the train and she couldnt sell them.. in fact she couldnt care less but if anyone got on the train without a ticket they would be fined €100!! Yep folks.. that is the way of the Italians. To get on the train without a ticket or to wait another 2 hours.. that is the questions... easily really isnt it? And then.. our gallant knight came racing on to the platform with four returns tickets to Rome... with Phillipa trailing slightly behind trying to run in 4 inch heels!! Thank god for Ross's commonsense.. and Phillipa's persistance.. we all poked our tongues out to the Inspector and travelled back to Rome in peace!

The good, the bad and the ugly!

Rome... the good..

Transport. The local and the Londoners think the transport is abysmal but compared with Auckland its amazing! Only two metro lines (which in a city with 4million people tends to get overcrowded) but the system is fantastic. The busses dont just go into the city.. the go across the city, from west to east, south to north and every other combination you could wish for. They are frequent, versatile and efficient. And of course its 24/7 to facilitate ones social life.

The Sport. There is always and English/Irish pub showing Rugby, Soccer, Boxing, Car Racing.. you name it if its sport it will be there! Even NZ Super14.. although it does get turned off for important 'soccer games'!!

Food. Yes its true folks eating out in Rome is cheap and gooood! In fact I think eating out is cheaper than eating it. Of course if you dont want Pizza or Pasta you could have a slight problem.. and if you drink wine with it.. well its about half the price of a coke!!

English Movies. Until I arrived I didnt realise how big and 'important' the Italian film industry is.. there are new movies coming out every week.. all in Italian of course. However there are three theatres that show movies in their original language. One has to be vigilant as the original language could be Spanish or French... but there is a reasonable variety of English movies available for those who get heartily sick of the Italian language.

The BAD...

Transport. It's always full!! You never get to sit on a bus or metro. Busses especially! They only have 20 seats to have lots of room for additional people. I read the 'rules' at the front.. 20 seated and 93 standing. However 'rules' are made to be broken and during rush hour it is quite common for there to be well over 150 people standing with the driver having difficulty shutting the doors. Everyone standing around the doors has to get off to let others on and off. One day last week a woman getting on the bus exclaimed 'Oh Sardino'!! in a very looud voice... I guess the phrasal verb to be squashed like sardines is just the same in Italian.

Accommodation is extremely expensive.. about three times that of Auckland.. and the wages are much lower. Not so in other parts of Italy.. just Rome!

Supermarkets shut on Sunday! Most of them! You had better believe it unless you want to trek into Termini and the surrounds make sure you stock up on Saturday.

Shops and Services. Italy comes to a standstill between 1.30 and 4pm. Banks, shops etc you name it and it closes. Of course the upside is you have to plan well and develop ones time management skills. Its all about adapting to ones environment.

The UGLY

Cellphones .. being a phone freak myself it seems like tongue in cheek but everyone, I mean everyone from the age of 5 has one or more cellphones. Being on public transport is one cacophony of sounds. And just in case you didnt know Italian people dont speak quietly (they are known as the Americans of Europe!) so be warned.. dont get on to the bus or metro if you have a headache... earplugs are a godsend!!

Xmas in Norwich

Jenny and I on the 'front' at Xmas... pretty rugged.. perhaps its Piha after all!
Ray and Jenny enjoying a breath of fresh air....

And just in case you thought it couldn't be that cold.. here is the outdoor.. yes folks.. the OUTDOOR skating ring in Norwich. A bit of fib.. as its a man made one and only set up for December and some of January.. but I found it impressive. It was the first outdoor skating rink I had seen.. and believe me it seemed as cold as it looks... as do the rest of the pics.
The wild North Sea!! We went for a drive one day out to Saxlingham (which incidentally is beautiful in the summer) and this rugged, murky mess was the result of winter storms and a stong undercurrent dredging up the bed. No swimming for me.. although I am told there is a 'mid winter' swimming event here too.. I guess if ever I was demented enought to try a mid winter swim it would be in Auckland at much lower temperatures.
Just thought the pink building 'suited me' lol. It was actually a Pub behind the sea front..which, once again in the summer has outdoor tables and a busy atmosphere.

A day at the sea.. Saxlingham again... but with the winter garb!!
Not the best of pics.. but the Xmas lights in the UK are just wonderful. I thought they were nice in Italy and the British teachers I work with thought I was crazy.. and I can see why. This isnt a particularly good example but almot all shops and street corners are lit up like this.. and much better. next year I will try for a better subject.

After my ordeal at Ciampino Airport the rest of my travels went well, arriving in Norwich around 5pm.. well ahead of schedules as traffic was heavy and busses were running late.. which suited me perfectly.

Unfortunately it didnt snow in Norwich although it was predicted and like a child waiting for Santa I woke in the night to check.. to no avail. BUT for about 30 minutes there were very small flakes of snow which landed on my coat.. and they were definitely white.. and most definitely snow. The snow which lasted was only in Scotland and the North of England... needless to say it was cold enough for me in Norwich.

Depsite having spent most of my life in NZ I enjoyed my first winter Christmas and it seemed very natural.. much more natural than the heat of summer in New Zealand. Christmas lunch was spent at the golf club with the most mouth watering ham, turkey, gammon and roast veges (just like the old days lol) but it was enjoyable to eat in the cold.. not cold inside of course.. but most definitely cold outdoors.

New Years Eve was spent with family and friends watching a 'live' concert from the Millenium Dome in London... eta your heart out folks.. you gugs in NZ will probably get it Next Year or as a Mid Winter thing. One great think about the UK is things are up to date... did I mention the goings on in Coro Street.. almost a full 12 months ahead of NZ. And at the risk of sounding like a sad case I really did enjoy watching English TV after three months in Italy with NO television.

I was sad to leave as it was a very special Xmas.. A Winter Xmas with family... no BBQ's.. no going to the beach.. just cosy indoor stuff... can recommend it to all.

Ciampino Airport on 20 December

You wouldnt believe it! I had checked in my luggage at Ciampino Airport and went outside for some fresh air when hundreds of people started pouring out. I must confess in my ignorance I thought mmm ... a large flight has arrived. But it was not so. Oh no.. nothing so simple. There was a bomb scare and the airport was evacuated. With helicopters overhead, police cars zooming in from everywhere and general chaos (as is typical in Italy) the Airport was closed and flights delayed.

A great start to Xmas.... and thanks to the kind person (who shall remain un-named) who responded to my text advising him of the chaos 'Well at least you're not in the air!!'... a very sobering thought.

Rome in December

Christmas shoppers in Piazza del Poppolo.... its 2 degrees and the stalls remain open..
and still at 2 degrees.. and the Romans are outside eating.. in their wooly hats and thick jackets under the warmth of Patio Heaters
This woman is sleeping at a bus stop. It is her home. She has been in this possy since I arrived. I took this photo at 11pm and it was minus zero.. and she was sound asleep. I have seen her since and before.. in the same position.. in the rain, sun and very low temperatures. I guess its a way of life over here.. there are many homeless people like her and people just seem to take them for granted.
Not a good pic - I was trying to capture how the road is lit up for Xmas. You can see all the way down Via Merula the lights are strung across the street.
Piazza del Poppolo with the ancient churches etc in the background. This is where there is a movie theatre that shows films in English!! Yee haa.. I will be going back.


December in Rome was unusually cold. The temperatures went down to minus 3 and believe me I struggled. I was told it was the first time in years the temps were below zero. Also, not sure if you read but it actually snowed in Bari.. over the Agean. The papers were full of pictures of snow along the beach. Hard to believe but I saw it!! Not that I could read the story as my Italian is still at minus 0 level :-)

I am looking for new accomodation as I can't cope with my Italian flatmate any longer and it seems things are more and more expensive over here.. and with the few hours teaching I am barely covering my costs.

And of course I am looking forward to going to Norwich for Xmas.

Merry Xmas to you all... Good luck and a prosperous New Year.

My first week working for a living again

Welll .. not a helluva lot to update except the weather is turning to crap.. Only to be expected seeing it is November I guess but only 10 degrees outside today.. or this morning it was its 12 now.. and has been raining for a few days. I ventured out this morning.. the bus went a different way to what I thought.. but there were shops there.. although I wanted a Supermarket.

Working has been fun.. I am actually starting to enjoy teaching but still have trouble with all the tenses and putting labels on things like infinitives, the perfect continuous and imperatives etc .. but getting there slowly. I am teaching an elementary level student next week which will be good as he wont be able to ask me too many difficult questions!

I have ditched my crappy 5 euro jacket and bought myself a beautiful knee length coat.. and the bonus is its Pierre Cardin! And not that expensive either. I feel a million dollars in it.

I have been venturing out looking for Shopping Malls. They are all miles out of the City and you get the metro to one of the last stops or the last stop and then get a bus. It was great fun.. sort of.. Although getting off at Aningnina (the last stop on Metro A) was not the best. I was going up the escalators and I felt someone behind me trying to open the zip on my bag. It gave me a helluva fright. It is the first time since I have been away that anything like that has happened to me.. although Coraleen having her purse stolen at the Internet in in Valancia was pretty bad. It made me think twice.. in saying that I never had my credit card or any documents on me... and I dont carry money on me. He would only have got a notepad and pen as everything else is in the inside pockets. Anyway the Mall wasnt that good and not a lot of shops although there was a huge Ikea.

Ikea over here is like a Warehouse and Placemakers Megastore all rolled into one!! Its is ginormous.. and took me ages to find my way out through the cashier. The queues were akin to Foodtown Greenlane on Xmas eve.. and they are always like that.. about 20 in ech queue, all the cashiers open.. and just chaotic... but thats Italy for you.I

I start my Italian lessons on Monday.. so pretty busy as I have heaps of teaching hours. I am in Italian class from 9am till 1pm and then most afternoons I have three hours teaching and 4 nights out of 5 I am teaching until about 7 or 8. so Things are finally coming together. All I have to do is find a decent place to live.. but I guess that may have to wait until after Xmas.

I do need to change my living accommodation.. its ok.. BUT and there is always a but.. I dont think I am cut out for flat sharing with two 20 somethings... and of course the place isnt the best. I did go and have a look at one place on Friday.. 5 storeys high.. no elevator AND no better than the place I am in now.

And thats about it from me for this week.. no pictures as I have been too busy working.

End of CELTA

Erica and Anna, two of my classmates on the CELTA course

and Nicola, another classmate who came to Rome for the course but lives up near Bologna..

and below Nicola and I pretending to be 'the best' on the last day...

Elizabeth, one of the teachers.. this time not in Halloweeen costume
and Lavinia on the right and Becky, another teach, this time also not in Halloween costume..
Roberta.. one of the students we taught.. she doesnt look any worse for the trials of our teaching
Rachel... another colleague on the course

and below.. Nicola and I went out shopping and visiting the sights on the Saturday after the course had finished

and another one while out 'shopping'... the sun was there but it was bloody cold.

Well its finally over and now time to find a job. It seems.. at this stage jobs arent too difficult to come by.. wait for the next instalment to see if this is true.

It is definitely getting colder now, not freezing yet but about 12 during the day and its been raining. I couldnt be without my eleectric blanket although I have been told I am a wimp as there is no need for electric blankets in Rome as it doesn't get that cold!! Try telling that to me who has an electric blanket on from Easter through until al ost Christmas in Auckland!! Anyway I bought myself a very cheap one.. and it works just fine.

Looking for work in Rome.

Finding Work!!
I decided it was about time I started earning some money again. Traveling around Europe having a great time does not bring in the money and with the cost of living in Rome (apparently its 99.7% of the cost of living in London) is astronomical and wages are generally low. For someone who doesn’t speak Italian job opportunities are limited to, basically, teaching English. The majority of schools who are looking for teachers want CELTA qualified people.. and that’s where moi comes in. However Italy is infamous for its short term ‘contracts’ offering teachers a few hours a week at very low rates even for those who are CELTA qualified. Moreover the teachers do not teach in the school but give ‘private’ lessons in people’s homes or places of business.

I scoured the Wanted in Rome magazine (the magazine for ex pats living in Rome) and applied for half a dozen jobs. There always seem to be a lot of vacancies and I have discovered the reason why. Most of the schools employ teachers for a few hours a week and when those teachers have some experience they grab the first permanent position that comes along usually moving to another school. It does make you ask the question, why do Employers not learn and hold on to good staff? But that’s a political minefield and one I am not qualified to enter.

At this stage I have a job at twelve euros an hour working 6 hours a week over two evenings. I start on Monday 5th and the teaching is outside the school. HELLO!! With my rent costing 500 euros a month I do realize I could be destitute before Christmas!

I have three interviews lined up over the next 10 days (my course doesn’t finish until the 8th) and from what I can gather they are reputable schools, although being told by my prospective employer to text him from the front door to be let in does leave me wondering…J

From what I can gather teaching Business English is the most lucrative and the hardest to get into as most of the new teachers with CELTA are young and don’t have the experience I have. One point for us experienced oldies!! Anyway.. time will tell and in the meantime I am just working on getting through the last four days of my course in one piece and of sound mind.

The CELTA course.. and the teachers

Becky in Halloween costume for Kids Party.

.. and Margaret..
and Elizabeth...

My course? Mmmm.. I guess I have to say right now it’s great!! But that’s because I have a four day holiday. Wednesday was Halloween and being a school, on Wednesday evening say scores of children arrived in their costumes and terrorized the school! Of course, for those of you who know me well will realize that is a total exaggeration and the kids were having a wonderful time eating and drinking fabulous concoctions of witches brew, skeleton cakes and making pumpkins and wands. The teachers dressed up for the occasion, as you can see, yes they really are our teachers!! November the 1st is All Saints Day so its like Good Friday at home and everything is closed; and schools (a chance at some sanity for us CELTA students) close on the Friday making it a 4 day weekend. Meanwhile in the real world ...

Since 10 October when I started my 4 week foray into studying again I have not only forgotten to eat but haven’t had any time for sleeping even.

School starts at 9am and goes through until 5pm with an hour for lunch. Every second morning we teach, (yes real live Italian students learning English) and that started on Day 2. Each lesson is either 40 or 60 minutes long for which we must write a lesson plan, copy or design activities and type them all. Lesson plans take about 4 – 5 hours to prepare as every detail must be included and the activities have to be photocopied for the students. On top of that workload we have an assignment each week of about 1,000 words. If our assignment isn’t up to ‘standard’ we are asked to re-submit it.. of course by that time the next assignment is almost due and we have another two lessons to prepare for. I guess you all get the gist of this by now!

And if you don’t think that is stressful enough consider this: There are 6 students on our course and another 12 on the part time course (who are at school Tuesday and Thursday only) only one of us has the internet and a printer at home as most are in similar situations to me and from outside Rome and in temporary accommodation for the duration of the course. Facilities at the school are meager to say the least. There is one computer which will take a memory stick AND a printer, a second computer has a printer but no usb port for a memory stick; these two computers are available from 8.15 until 7.30pm at night. There are a further two computers in the ‘library’ which is open 5 – 7.30 4 nights a week and Saturday mornings; all four of these pc’s have email facility BUT NO MICROSOFT!! Yep, we bring our information in on our memory stick and can’t even amend it.. only print it. And the congestion on Tuesdays and Thursdays!! .

A day in the life of Vicki goes something like this… wake about 7, check my work from the night before is on my memory stick and all my books are in bag, walk to school (that’s a good point – it’s only a 2 minute walk) dropping off the rubbish on the way (no such thing as a rubbish bin here it’s Wheelie Bins at the end of the street!!). Arrive at school at 8.15 in the hope of getting to the computer first and print out my lesson plan and copious copies of the handouts for activities. Change pc’s to let the next person print out her stuff and open emails… enjoy emails from home and reply if time permits. I am in class all day until 5 o’clock, then to use the library to find materials for next lesson and/or assignment, photocopy relevant information (you can only borrow one book at a time) .. walk home in the dark. I work on laptop until the outline of the lesson comes together, whip up a salad or boil some soup, make lunch for the next day, have a shower and back to the laptop. Around midnight I may just have finished.. although to be working at 1am is not uncommon.

Am I a looser or what??? When I am the last person in the school at night and the first person to arrive in the morning I think so!! I had to re-submit my first assignment, which was grammar, so for two days I didn’t get to bed until almost 2am!! If only someone had told be the ‘infinitive’ is the base form of a verb and a past participle is the past tense of the verb. Why do linguists think up such fancy names for basic things? I thought this course would teach grammar but it only just touches on it, the main aim of the course is to teach one HOW to teach.

The UPSIDE of this? Yes there is one.. truly I kid you not! The other 5 girls/women in the class are fantastic company and I am so busy I don’t have time to get lonely! There are two Americans, one girl from London and two Italians and ALL of them speak Italian to some degree.

Half way through my CELTA and a lovely diversion for the weekend!!

Ken getting ready to get on the train for his 10 hour journey through to Nice! The end of a fantastic few days.

Communist Rally... yes it was the communist one!!
At the top of my street... no traffic whatsoever for about three hours.. and I was carrying two heavy supermarke bags down the hill!! I was not impressed
and still more coming down the hill... they went in waves.. looked as though their was perhaps some law or whatever which meant they had to let so many go and then another lot.. not sure but there were 1 or 2 minute breaks betwen the waves and the whole front line were in a row.

Yes, believe it not I am more than half way through the CELTA course and it's extremely difficult. In fact, I am not doing very well at all. The other 5 girls are nice and friendly which makes things bearable.. but the workload is horrendous. I am at school every morning at 8.15 (when it opens) to print my lesson plan and activities I have planned.. or for some other work which still needs doing, lessons start at 9 and go through until 5 .. and then its more work, either on asignments or lesson plans. Yes we teach real Italian students who are learning English. We are taught how to explain everything in English as we can't use Italian (not that Iknow any anyway!!) and then its tutorials and that night there is working on the next assignmetn (one a week) as well as lesson plans. Lesson Plans are detailed.. almost every word you are going to say for the hour lesson. I rarely turn the light off before 1am and allthat time is spent working on school work. I will get to see Rome AFTER the course has finished.

Last weekend there was a huge political rally through the streets of Rome. Actually there was one the week before also but I didn't have my camera on me. This time I got some shots.. coming down my street.. or the main street my little private road goes on to.. Merulana is the name of the main street down from Termini.. and there were literally thousands of people, big trucks with music machines on the back (bloody loud too) and people following with flags, flaggons of wine.. you name it.. they seemed to be having a good time. And we have two days off this week.. a public holiday on Thursday and an extra day on Friday.. so 4 whole days to work on stuff for school lol!!! Then to complicate matters further for myself Ken was in Rome for a few days.. and I had a great time.. going out for meals, walking around looking at shops and generally having a relaxing time. Not that I am complaining.. it was absolutely fantastic to have someone here I could talk to about the real world.. and we went out to a nightclub where one of the girls at schools plays in a band (when she isn't spending 100 hours a week studying!!) Unfortunately for me I tried to have a few drinks.. not a good look. I hadnt drunk anything for so long and hadnt been eating and was dog tired.. I will leave the rest to your imagination!! And Ken was not at all impressed.. I think if we had been in Auckland he would have disowned me! No more g and t's with 80% alcohol!! That was Thursday through until this morning.. so now I have to get my A into G and catch up on a Assignment due Wednesday and a lesson plan on conjuctions.. at least its only conjunctions 'cause those adverbial clauses, infinites and present continuous tenses really do my head in!!

The weather changed last weekend and it was abnormally cold.. read freezing for me after two summers in a row!! I had to buy myself a pair of trackies for pj's and a warm thick jacket for Euro 5. It isn't the type of jacket I would wear at home but at five euros.. it will do me.. especially as its warm. And yesterday while I was out shopping I saw an electric blanket for fifteen euros.. so that will be my next purchase. However, luckily for me the cold snap has passed and its actually warm and sunny.. and has been for the past 4 or 5 days!! Things are looking up.

First Week in Rome.. it aint all bad!!

My room... as small as it is.. bed, table and little else!!
The garden out the back.. we have a door to get out through the kitchen but arent allowed into the garden downstairs as it isn't hours.. but nice to look at as you can see.
And the viw from MY window.. more apartments.. well it is Rome you know and there are millions of people living in such a small space.. it's always crowded!!
Me at the forum...
And another one of me at th Forum.. first weekend with Erica.. was nice to have someone to see the sights with.

I must confess I am slowly getting the hang of study again. Whenever I get lonely or homesick I think how hard it would be to put the hours into this course if I was at home in New Zealand. School officially starts at 9 but I am usually there at 8 to use the computers to print out my lesson for the day. Teaching (yes we teach real live students already) and lectures go through until 5pm but I need to stay until the school closes at 7.30 to get information for lessons etc off the internet.

Then its home to my ‘apartment’ which leaves a bit to be desired but at Euro500 a month it’s almost half the cost of the average ‘nice’ apartment in Central Rome. Writing up lessons, lesson planning, preparing lessons and doing assignments takes me through till about 11.30 (with a quick break for a salad or soup) when I hit the sack.

My apartment is on the first floor of a very old building only 3 minutes walk from the school. I have my own bedroom with a table for study, and eating, a small single bed, a bookcase (which I use for my clothes) and two ornate hutch dresser type affairs. The bathroom and kitchen I share with two other girls, both very nice, both very young and socialites one of whom speaks no English whatsoever. However that is compensated by the fact the other speaks Italian – to varying degrees – and we are all considerate which makes for a pleasant life. Italian kitchens leave a bit to be desired.. no microwave, no toaster, no jug, no dishwasher, an ancient gas cooker and a very ancient washing machine that only works on very hot!! Still… one can’t complain as the apartments I saw advertised in the local Rome magazine in English ranged in cost between Euro1,500 and 3,000 a month!!! I am counting my blessings!

Sunday afternoon I put aside for exploring. Erica, one of my classmates who is from Chicago and I spent three hours wandering around the Colosseum area which includes the Forum, Palentine Hill and the Vittoria Emanuele Monument. She was a fantastic tour guide having studied Roman Classics and Art history. a great way to see Rome without paying a cent. We didn’t venture inside the Colosseum or Palentine Hill or the museums as you had to pay and we were really just generally exploring or was I just being a poor student?

The Forum is amazing.. to think these five acres were once the heart of the Mediterranean world and have been around since the 3rd Century A.D. In fact parts of it were ‘re-constructed’ in the 2nd Century AD!! Imagine that!

The Vittoria Emanuele Monument however, was only built at the beginning of the 20th Century to commemorate the unification of Italy.. yes Italy has only been a unified state for little more than 100 years.. yet another piece of information I learnt today. The tomb of the unknown soldier was guarded, as they all are, by two guards who, I am happy to report were not in the silly garb we saw in Athens but in traditional soldier like uniforms.
History lesson over folks.. but it is amazing to think you can just walk out the front door of your apartment and within three blocks arrive at some of the most amazing historical sites in the world.

And now its back to my Aprtment to study all those bloody horrid tenses and to do some more work on my first assignment which is, as you can guess, all on grammar!! Why didnt I pay more attention at school?

'The' Flight.. and first day in Roma

The trip over here was just terrible.

I arrived at Stanstead at 10am for a 12.45 flight and I only just through boarding at 12.10! My suitcase was heavy, yes I grant you as it was full of books so after standing in the queue for 40 minutes I then had to go and stand in another queue to pay excess luggage.. they only allow you 15kg so I had to pay £82.

I was then allowed back in the front of the queue to put my bag through... only to find they class a laptop as a bag and you are only allowed one carry on bag.. not a handbag and a bag just a bag. So I had to go through the whole proces again.

I was almost in tears and I think the girl knew. I went to the front of the queue, much to the disgust of everyone else and said.. I am sorry but I didnt realise I can't take this laptop on board.. in NZ you are allowed a laptop and I didn't know'... she took pity on me, didn't charge me and labelled it for me.. but no.. it doesnt end there. If I wanted it to go as fragile I had to take it to another queue to go through the scanner.

Still more to come.. I then had to wait another 30 minutes in Security and once through security where you get well and truly frisked BELIEVE IT!! .. unfortunately it was by a woman! I then had to take my shoes off at another line. Yes, everyone has to take their shoes off and walk through another scanner while the shoes go through separately. I guess that's London for you.

After an uneventful flight which was only 2hrs and 5min and the bus from the airport another 45 minutes with me trying to manouvre a 32kg suitcase, laptop and backpack which has now disintegrated! Needless to say when I did finally arrive I didnt venture out and so only started exploring Monday morning.

Rome is warm still, a mild 28 degrees when I arrived yesterday afternoon and the sun is shining brightly this morning althogh I am in jeans.

My digs leave a bit to be desired. It's a room on the first floor of a very old building right in the heart of Rome, that is its a 7 minutes walk to Termini Station which is great as its only 2 minutes to my school which means no money for busses. On the first floor are two other bedrooms with students, a shared kitchen and a shared bathroom. Phillipa, one of the other students came and introduced herself to me last night on her way out. She completed the course a month or so ago and is now teaching!! After talking to her I felt a bit more confident about getting a job teaching as she said it was easy to get a job once you had completed the CELTA course.. so time will tell.

I was feeling very sorry for myself last night.. no TV or Radio or music of any kind... stuck in one room with no groceries etc but this morning everything seems a bit brighter. I guess I will just have to get my shit together, meet other students on the course and start working hard. I start officially on Wednesday... so more news from me at the weekend.

Norwich Whitlingham and The Brick Kiln for Dinner

I had a great last few days in Norwich with Calvin taking me to Whitlingham which is a 5km walk around a man made lake with a 'beach', wild geese etc and really nice and of course a Cafe at the end for that coveted Flat White and chocolate cake.

This 'lake' was actually a big hole a few years back having been a gravel quarry and the gravel dug out for building materials. The council spent money and made it into a lovely picnic, walking and swimming area where, in the summer, the hold Rock Concerts. The stage was huge and it was easy to imagine sitting around the lake having a picnic and a wine or two listening to great music. Roll on summer!! (Was that me who said I would love to feel the cold again after all those 40+ degree days? Surely not!)

In the evening Jenny and Ray took me out with their friends Frank and Eileen to the Brick Kiln for a lovely meal. Honestly I have never seen such a large menu. And we were home just in time to see the end of the NZ v France game!! I will say no more 'cause if you felt as sick as I did there is nothing more to be said.

And then it was a 6.30 wake up call to catch the dreaded Ryan Air flight to Rome!!

Wells Next the Sea Norfolk

The Crown Hotel where we had lunch and it was an amazing lunch with a menu you would be hard pressed to better even at Number 5 or Sails!! And guess what? the Chef is a Kiwi; you had better believe it. He actually has a TV cooking programme over here cooking local fish caught along the North Norfolk Coast, Coastal Kitchen. I have never heard of him so if any of you have please enlighten me. Here is the blurb on their website.

General Manager, Kiwi Master Chef Chris Coubrough ...



And down on the sea front at the other end of the culinary scale is the local Fisherman selling Crabs and Lobster caught that day. Unfortunately for us he had sold out of crabs so we had nothing to take home for dinner.

mmm...couldn't resist this. I have never noticed before but there are loads (a hundred maybe) of these little beach huts at the back of the beach still on the sand which have power.. and they are privately owned for people to get changed and have a cup of tea!! It's true, It's true I tell you!!!

Calvin was saying earlier in the year a few beaches further around the coast one of them sold for £30,000... thats dearer than a parking space in Auckland City!!

And you wouldn't want to be in difficulties out in the water, well at least not until the tide came in!! This is their rescue boat up on dry land with no way of getting anywhere near the wet stuff until a considerable rise in water levels!!

And another great weekend came to an end. We actually walked for about an hour after lunch as we had eaten so much it was divine..I even had to have desert.

Wells is a lovely seaside resort (although the weather left a bit to be desired) a long sweeping beach bordered by pine woodland and a harbour full of small fishing boats and children fishing for crabs and digging for cockles against a backdrop of Georgian houses along the sea front.

And all that not half an hour away Norwich....

Cambridge .. Norfolk

The kind of history we don't have in New Zealand. This is a picture of Kings College Cathedral in Cambridge .. the first stone laid by Henry VI... here's a bit of a blurb

Henry VI was only 19 when he laid the first stone of the 'College roial of Oure Lady and Seynt Nicholas' in Cambridge on Passion Sunday, 1441. At the time this marsh town was still a port so, to make way for his college, Henry exercised a form of compulsory purchase in the centre of medieval Cambridge, levelling houses, shops, lanes and wharves, and even a church between the river and the high street (now King's Parade). It took three years to purchase and clear the land.
A picture taken from the back and the Cambridge River where the famous Oxford Cambridge boat racing takes place. The day we were there we could see lots of Punts on the river but most of them moored.

..the ceiling of the Chapel..itis just amazing

Uncle Calvin with Kings College itself in thebackground.Kings College was one of the first in England to admit women so they have been ahead of their times and Prince Phillip also studied here.

The genealogy of the College.
And a little bit more history.
A full view of the actual college. They are rather pompous and The Porter, who is little more than a butler dressed in extremely pompous garb actually stops you going in (in his oh so perfect BBC English) unless you have membership and it's only members who are allowed to walk on the grass. Now we might be from the Colonies but what a lot of pomp and ceremony that is!!

It was a rather cold Saturday Calvin took me over to Cambridge which is about 1.5hours from Norwich and boy was it busy. The whole Town of Cambridge was absolutely packed there were buskers (a group were playing some great rock sounds) while others were more mellow, and shoppers and just generally lots of people. We spent about an hour and a half looking through the Colleges.. there are several.. Jesus College, Trinity College and I guess they all teach various discilpines but cant confirm that I was overawed at the history of the place.