Stanley Park Seawall Walk, Vancouver.

A document of my 10 mile walk around Stanley Park... From my hotel on Robson and Hamilton, I headed up to Vancouver Convention centre and took the coastal path, through Coal Harbour, to the Park. It was exhausting and rainy but fantastic and worth the effort.

Coal Harbour.

There's a great little cafe just around the corner which has the best orange juice in town!

Lion's Gate Bridge

Looking over English Bay to Kitsilano.

Monsegur 24h du Swing' jazz festival, Aquitane, France

Sweet Dixie, 24h du Swing jazz Monsegur
Monsegur is a gorgeous little French bastide town in Aquitaine France. In the centre of the little town it has a 19th century iron covered market which often hosts the smelly fish stall! It was around this structure that 24h du Swing' jazz festival was held.


Les Jazpilleurs, 24h du Swing jazz Monsegur


On the first night we relaxed in the cafes situated in the cloisters around the square, soaking up the ambience, chatting and enjoying some jazz. We repeated this on Saturday, as tickets were pretty pricey and we’d decided to spend the whole day in the Tilleuls on Sunday to make the most of our money!!! It was well worth it. Sunday's jazz was excellent especially Les Jazpilleurs and Sweet Dixie jazz off, although it did get a little loud with acts like Rachael Magidson Quintet and Bere Combo.

We reclined with a few friends, several carafes of rose, and a deck of cards. Bliss....

Bere Combo, 24h du Swing jazz Monsegur

Moulleux au choclate for dinner parties

The French know how to make desserts, and this one is genius!!

Everything is in the bag, so all you need are a few little ramekins and an oven.

It's a bit messy, but with the aid of a little helper you can scoop the mixture into your ramekins. We like to put a bit of chocolate on top.

It's a great thing to do for a dinner party because it is quick, easy and fun. I asked my guests to bring along a chocolate bar each. We sliced these up and placed them on top of the dessert mixture before it went into the oven.

We have tried Dime bars, Dairymilk, and now Toblerone and Snickers. Dime and Snickers have been the best so far.

Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay, Alaska

I've pulled together my favourite shots of this spectacular glacier.

According to Wikipedia, Margerie Glacier is 21 miles long and is an excellent example of a tide-water glacier! Its height above water is 250 feet, and is extends another 100 feet below the water line.

Debris!

What I had not realised is how powerful glaciers sound. It was really exciting listening to all the cracking, ripping and tumbling of ice and debris as it split off the glacier and crashed down into the calm water. You can't hear brilliantly in this video but it gives you an idea.

On this trip we also saw the John Hopkins glacier but I don’t have any photos. Sorry guys.

Ketchikan, Alaska plus Rain Forest Walk

Beautiful Ketchikan! My favourite stop on this cruise.

Ketchikan, named after Ketchikan Creek which flows through the town, is kept afloat but the fishing and tourism industries. Many of the houses are built on stilts and some streets (walkways to a London girl) are made of wooden platforms. We walked through the quieter, non touristy, part of town to get to the rain forest walk.

After mounting countless steps, I stopped counting at 162, we found ourselves in the beautiful depths of the forest. We clambered up and down higgledy-piggledy stonecrumb trail, stopping every now and then to take in fantastic panoramic views, for around ¾ hour until we stammered down some slippery steps at the other end.

I would highly recommend making the effort to find this trail and enjoy its splendour.

Skagway, Alaska, White Pass and Yukon Route

Welcome to Skagway. A quaint hick village kept afloat by cruise tours.

The gargantuan Zuiderdam docked in Skagway.

White Pass and Yukon Route Railway

Those hip sunglasses again!

This railway, built in the 1900s, was born of the Klondike Gold Rush to provide an alternative for the treacherous route through the mountains. It winds through gauged out mountains faces, through incredibly dark tunnels and over a few fragile little bridges.

There are some truly amazing views, it was by far the best way to spend our day in Skagway.

Some tips for ultimate enjoyment!

• Board the train early so you can sit with your group. It fills up quickly.

• Sit on the left on the way up to make the most of the views.

• Stand on the platform outside on the way down and let the wind whip around you, not that it goes very fast.

• We went on a sunny day and it was beautiful. It wouldn't be so good in bad weather.

• Good narration giving you a feel for the building of the railroad, and how treacherous the route was before this was built. What people do for gold! I guess nothing changes... Listen to the narration on the way up, as you should be delighting in standing on the platform on the way down.

• If you like card games, buy the historic playing cards. They have unique pictures for each card and although distracting, they are fun to play with!

• More for adults, it’s quite a long trip so maybe not suitable for kids. We didn't see any in our carriage.

• Charge your camera battery! My camera ran out of battery half way up so I actually sat back and enjoyed soaking up the ambience, history and awesome views. However, I don’t have as many pictures to share with you as I’d like!

Four Lions: a rather late review

I went to see Four Lions in the Odeon on Holloway Road a few days ago. There were a total of four of us in the cinema, which seemed a little ominous. Was the film that bad, we wondered? Or was it some kind of boycott, led by the Daily Mail and the 7/7 relatives?

Answers: no (it's terrifically good), and probably not. At least, I can't imagine why anyone would be offended by this film, which is moving, unbearably sad and bitterly intelligent. It's also terrifically funny, but I don't think anyone who's seen the film would believe that we were laughing at the victims of terrorism.

Four Lions is about a group of angry but incompetent militant Islamists planning a bombing, although until the latter end of the film they're not sure what they want to bomb. One of the group, the blusteringly venomous white convert Barry, thinks they should trigger an uprising by blowing up a mosque. Others suggest the chemist Boots, or "the internet". They finally settle on the London marathon.

This is a very, very funny film; perhaps it was the disinhibiting effect of an almost empty cinema, but the four of us were giggling like children most of the way through. Most of it's down to the contrast between the bombers' grim, grand aims - explained eloquently by sympathetic family man Omar, their articulate and conflicted leader - and the pathetically parochial reality, the way the message is filtered to and by the rest of the group.

Martyrdom saves up points for Heaven "like a Nectar card". Killing non-believers will be like playing on an Xbox. Life is the queues at Alton Towers; the afterlife is the rides themselves. "Rubber dinghy rapids bro!" says Waj, the dimmest and most easily manipulated of the bunch, as he resolves to kill himself and a kebab shop full of bystanders.

But, for all the jokes, this film is never flippant. And I don't agree that it simply sets out to ridicule suicide bombers. Chris Morris famously said he wanted to show the "Dad's Army side" of terrorism, and he depicts the bombers as misguided bumblers - but they're also human, likeable, often well-meaning and occasionally terrified.

Omar, seemingly the only member of the group to fully grasp the consequences of what they're doing, discusses the plan with his wife and child, visibly struggling to persuade himself as well as his son that what he's doing is right. Later he is consumed with guilt for convincing Waj to take part. And there's a brutally poignant scene where a hurrying Omar is forced to say a restrained, cryptic goodbye to his wife in front of two policemen: "I'm taking my team up to the top floor now. I'll see you up there."

I'm a bit of a latecomer to this one, so you might struggle to find Four Lions still playing in cinemas. But if you can, or if you can wait to see it on DVD or television, it's well worth a look. Just don't expect two hours of deliberate controversy baiting, or jokes about the 7th July, or whatever else the Daily Mail has told its readers to expect.

Theatre Review: The Comedy of Errors, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Philip Franks’ lively, but slightly disjointed production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors is currently showing at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. I have seen numerous Shakespeare productions here, and this one was truly unique. The production is set in 1940s Casablanca and features a generous amount of silliness, music, dance and wit.

Shakespeare’s play is about two pairs of identical twins, one pair of masters (Antipholus and Antipholus) and one of slaves (Dromio and Dromio)..The twins are separated early in life, making two Antipholus-Dromio sets. Don’t expect to find out why the twins have the same name, their parents must be pretty lacking in imagination...

25 years on they end up in the same town and mistaken identity immediately ensues. Beatings, theft, jealousy, high jinks, rage, and yet more beatings follow but there is a happy ending to be had. I shan’t reveal the details!


The first musical number is bright, witty and enjoyable, however the continual song and dance numbers, and questionable costumes and endless silliness make you think you’ve stepped into a Simon Pegg wet dream.

This production, set in the open air in London’s beautiful Regent’s Park, was fun, fast-paced and made Shakespeare incredibly accessible.

Days Out: Ham House, National Trust, Richmond -upon-Thames

“Ham House and Garden is an unusually complete survival of the 17th century that impressed in its day and continues to do so today. Rich in history and atmosphere, Ham is largely the vision of Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart, who was deeply embroiled in the politics of the English Civil War and subsequent restoration of the monarchy.”

Wow, Ham House is spectacular. One of my favourite National Trust properties so far.

We took the district line to Richmond due to the ongoing headache of engineering works. It was a fair walk from there, but being along the Thames it was quite a treat. We even paused at Stein’s, an outdoor and delicious German beer and food “shack”, yummy sausages and weissbier were inhaled.

So after our little walk we arrived at the glorious Ham House. It was quite a spectacle being late February when we visited, surrounded by immense lawns, bare trees and an impressive façade.

We swiftly entered the house, to warm up a bit. It was pretty interesting actually, especially the kitchen area, but I love brass, so the large collection of Russian doll like brass saucepans impressed me a lot! Also the marble floors, lavishly decorated rooms and sweeping staircases were fun to explore.

Then back out into the cold to investigate the gardens, and get lost in the numerous maze-like hedges and hidden delights. Really fun. We imaged ourselves coming up the road between the hedges in a horse drawn carriage, horse hooves clopping, snowflakes floating down to the floor (it was cold) and a fancy ball awaiting us inside. Very Jane Austen.

Getting fit over the winter months… Extended (due to English summer)!!

A simple review of Nintendo Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board

This was a great investment, although we had to wait 3 weeks for there to even be stock in the UK! Seriously, every one had sold out. I even wrote to Nintendo to see why there was nothing available, the Wii is that good! Of course there were some on eBay for £150, sods.

I am not a gamer. When I was a teenager we had a SNES with Mario games and also the enormous gun blaster which you could shoot moles with. However in an effort to be more active in the evenings, and not just watch TV, we invested in the Wii in order to stand up more and even get a little more co-ordinated.

Wii Fit has some great, fun games to get you more active and improve your balance. There are also some more serious and tedious activities (for spectators mainly) like the yoga and boxing, great to play but rubbish to watch. The only negative with the Wii Fit is the ridiculous Wii Fit Age calculator which assesses you by balance and weight only, not your overall fitness. A better name would be Wii Balance Age or Wii Demoraliser.

The games range from frustrating but addictive balance games, like Table Tilt, Segway Circuit and Snowball Fight to semi-aerobic games such as Rhythm Kung Fu and Skateboard Arena and ridiculous games like the bird flap game, ‘Bird's Eye Bulls Eye’, where you stand on the Balance Board and flap your arms. Gets the heart rate up though.

There are also some great dinner party games. Being in my late 20s (just about) we find ourselves either having a go at bowling, ski jumping, archery or golf. Hilarious after a sumptuous dinner, and a fair bit of wine. Great fun for all involved. One, not so enthusiastic friend, managed to bowl sitting down which was quite impressive, and a little upsetting…

Swan Lake at Royal Albert Hall

“Derek Deane's critically acclaimed production of Swan Lake caused a sensation at its premiere in 1997 and has since been enjoyed by over 350,000 people, captivating audiences worldwide.”[Royal Albert Hall]

I went to see the English National Ballet performing this beautiful production of Swan Lake last night to Tchaikovsky's score. It really was well worth the trip. Not being able to afford the enviable box seats (with champagne reception), and pricier stalls, we settled for front row seats in the Circle but 90° west of the front. The Albert Hall was more than able to cater for this distorted view and, in fact our seats were superb. Best view ever!

The performance and sheer number of dancers exquisitely catered for the 360° view offered by the Albert Hall. Noteworthy, was the first appearance of the corps de ballet. I was astonished as an growing number of ballerinas filtered on to the stage, 60 in total (although this was a little distracting as I had to count twice – they kept moving about!)

The pas de quatre reminded me a little of Terry Pratchett’s 'luggage’ at first, with 8 little feet (8) moving about individually and the 4 dancers moving smoothly as one body, but then they did some very impressive and fun moves, no idea what these are called but I mean to find out!

On top of these, I really enjoyed shadow watching when the prima ballerina and her man were on, they were surrounded by shadows, very cool to watch. I’m starting to develop a real taste for watching the floor when I go to the ballet!

Oh and the music... I really liked the trumpet solo too, maybe a cornet.

I would see this again, and again. Fantastic venue and memorable production plus the outfits and lighting were beautiful.