Snoo's kitchen

Well, here I am on the 22.00 to Manningtree. The next two months have taken ages to prepare and now I can’t stop grinning. Two months without work. Two months with adventure. All this week I have wanted time to slowdown, even wished this day would not come but it has and I am chuffed to bits. This time tomorrow I will be sitting in a bar in southern Spain. Right now am on an East Anglia train. I never thought I would be starting my journey in Essex, but wonders will never cease…

There’s a guy opposite me taking loads of selfies. On the train. Smiling into his phone, tilting his head, checking, deleting, reframing, resmiling, resulting…. why do people do that in public? Should I offer to take his photo for him? People don’t do that anymore – “would you mind taking a photo of me and my friend in front of the Taj Mahal?” We had to speak to strangers – and they were always more than willing! I even remember a group of Indian tourists at Fatehpur Sikri edging closer to me and my brothers, and dad, and wanting us to appear in their photos. I loved it! They had the memory of meeting us and we have the memory of being in their holiday snaps – never to meet again and no more than a hello and a nod between us. 

The only thing that selfies have going for them is the potential to bomb other people’s selfies. The best one I did was at the Globe – the two boys loved it and then wanted me to pose with them. We recently got photo-bombed by an armed patrol officer when cycling on a charity ride in London – that was pretty cool.  Am hoping to add to my photo bomb album over the next two months – and if successful will share the results. 

So, rather than Eat Pray Love, my sabbatical will be Eat, Eat, Pray (that the yoga retreat will counteract the Eat, Eat). I feel like I am the luckiest person alive.

I hope to blog a bit. If it gets tedious, I apologise in advance. We are just pulling into Chelmsford, seems like an appropriate place to stop writing and my battery is running low.  

Hasta luego! Sayonara! Namaste! 

Second day and we took two buses then a ferry to reach tortuguero national park. I wrote a long blog about the great journey but I think it got lost in the atmosphere. Suffice to stay I was not impressed with the good having nibbled on a empanadas which was really not pleasant. But the journey to our hotel through the canales was amazing and I felt like we were on the set of Planet Earth. We saw two kingfishers – the Amazon kingfisher and the ringed kingfisher – and a Jesus Christ basilisk. For those that don’t know – a Jesus Christ basilisk is a lizard which wakes on water – so cool. Last night,  we went on a night tour – was a little disappointing but I think that was the jet lag kicking in rather than the non appearance of a sloth. However the food has turned up and we went to a great Jamaican where the chefs salad was delicious and I was able to reach for my phone. 
Today we have been on a sunrise canoe trip – got up at 5am and it was already light. The canoe trip included some fantastic sights – Sue, John and Erika look away now – green kingfisher and a ringed kingfisher (catching a fish!), tiger heron (and a juvenile), green heron, snake bird (anhinga) male and female, keel-billed toucan, green macaws, snowy egret, montezumas oropendola, jacana and a boat billed flycatcher. Moving on to the reptiles – we saw some more Jesus Christs and a Cayman. Lastly, there were howler monkeys putting on a show and spider monkeys. What a fab place. Below are a collection of photos – spot the seat back of the bus which I had to look at for a few hours yesterday…

Travelling is great although being awake at 3am and knowing it will slow you down later in the day has its downside. We were picked up before the dawn chorus and spent the next 18 hours journeying. The last six hours really could have been squished into 3 hours in my opinion but standing in immigration queues would never register as an answer to the question “where would you rather be?” The line was its usual snake like structure – perhaps they should change the way people queue into a more kindly shape- and had its obligatory loud American talking on mobile which was on speaker mode, its fractious kids running parents ragged and British people tutting and craning necks to see how long the tortuous process would continue while complaining amongst themselves that they should open more desks/booths. There were a couple of people who tried to break free from the line and pretend they were airline crew but this plot failed very early on and they rejoined the queue where those who had encouraged such a dash for feeedom had promised to let them back in if it failed.  

Oddly, it’s 5.35am and Husband is walking around the room on all fours with an enormous elastic band around his ankles. It’s all part of his pre-season training. I darent take a photo as it wouldn’t be kind. The band has moved up to his knees. Am glad he put on his training shorts and top. This will be his daily morning routine. Mine is going to be a little more gentle – maybe a little sun salutation or just an arm stretch and a yawn.  Apparently a five minute plank is next. I am going to watch the sun rise over the lovely mountains and spot the early birds – we saw a pair of Baltimore Orioles in the tree outside our hotel room last night so I am hoping they will be back! 

Having travelled so long we then had the group meeting which went through step by step what the next two weeks has in store. I almost felt like I had done the holiday by the end of the meeting. But we tottered off to a local soda tapia and I had a cheese and ham omelette and a cup of tea. 

Early breakfast and then two two-hour local bus rides and an hour ferry awaits. Let’s hope I get a seat and don’t have to share with too many chickens….
Hasta la vista! 

Lying down and finding a comfortable position has been almost as challenging as some of the hottest and toughest roads on the ride. But morning finally came and breakfast in the Hotel Drustar seemed like it had been created in the 1970s. The jam was bright red in a plastic pot, some items were identifiable but, oddly for me, didn’t have that “eat me, I might be delicious” vibe. You can’t go wrong with a bit of muesli, yoghurt and honey, though. We set off shortly afterwards and reached the border crossing in 5 minutes. There were three cars and a van in front of us. We handed over our passports and then waited. People watching is great at the best of times but at a border crossing it goes to another level. One woman in particular was clearly having a bad day. She was getting more hot and bothered by the minute – she opened the back of her van and seemed to load more stuff in it just after she got clearance and another woman magically appeared to help her. A lot of the cars were from Ukraine – packed to the gunnels with holiday stuff. Another cyclist turned up – traditional Romanian with a plastic bag brimmed with what looked like Mother’s Pride. She tried skipping the queue but was sent back to wait behind us. Slowly slowly she crept up again and five minutes later she was on her way. I wondered where the bread was heading – seems to be a big effort to cross a border just for bread! 

So the wait was about 20 minutes – it’s always a good feeling when another country lets you enter – it’s like passing an exam. We turned right after the border and cycled along a road with vines stretching for miles on each side. Within five minutes, we passed a horse and cart with a large family sitting in the back. Soon the vines turned to sunflowers. We were parped at and waved at by every vehicle. So much to see and so much to photo – we kept overtaking and then re-overtaking one particular horse and cart I think the guy must have been roaring with laughter when having his beers that night. 

Neil took on the role of film director and cameraman for the day – capturing some of the amazing sights. We stopped at a creek on the Danube for a short break. Everyone jumped in, save me. I probably should have but didn’t want to spend the day riding in damp shorts. I twinkled my toes. The water was lovely. We stopped at a monastery which had healing waters so I washed my battered arm and drank from the spring. I saw a few poorly folk also making the trip to the healing water fountain, which was dedicated to St Andrew and highly decorated inside. 

We waited a little while for Deyan to arrive – he was stuck at the border for 2 hours – he said there was a lot of queue jumping going on which slowed everything down. Lunch was inside the monastery and was mossaka, beetroot/carrot/Apple/dill salad and mushrooms with rice. Very delicious. With 30km still to go we reluctantly got on our bikes and pedalled off up a hill in the ever increasing heat of the day. 

It was a great afternoon’s ride, though. Beautiful scenery, challenging physically and mentally and when we arrived at Lake Oltina we stopped for a rest and a packet of ritz biscuits. The path round the lake was lovely – we saw loads of birds, a massive herd of goats, sheep and donkeys, a large snake, and people fishing by hand – chasing the fish into the net while standing waist height in the water. 

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There are lots of dogs here. Lots and lots. I am not great around dogs I don’t know. So it was tough cycling through barking dogs that seemed to be chasing me. I think my Fitbit bpm peaked a few times! 

The boys made a special dinner – eggs with yoghurt and a broth, and roasted whole peppers washed down by some Romanian beer and then wine. A great meal to end a lovely day.

Kamentsi to Silistra – about 40 miles. Sat back in the bike making sure I had taken as many pills as allowed and took it slowly at first. But confidence came flooding back and had a great ride – at times a little dull along stretches of main road but a couple of great highlights. Breakfast was great – buffalo yoghurt, honey, nuts, dried plums and Deyan and Svestro had cycled 22km to bring us fresh baked Bulgarian pastries…

We then cycled to Badjaliyata – a Thracian rock sanctuary along the Taban dry valley canyon. We climbed up to the cave which provided a great photo opportunity for a “man cave” shot. 

We then stopped for a shepherds lunch, prepared by the boys – and finished up the pastries from breakfast. 

After lunch, we cycled on to  Medjidi Tabiya fort – just outside Silistra – a room for every war that has taken place since the Crimean Deyan knows his history inside out and it’s very complicated – I get a bit lost but the uniforms looked good.  Leaving the fort we had our first glimpse of Romania just the other side of the Danube – great feeling. 

Other great moments today included picking apricots from an orchard and eating them – the ones in the ground are the sweetest. We passed some large communist monuments in a park that had been abandoned – like many buildings we see, abandonment is ever present. 

Dinner was at a local fish restaurant on the Danube. We tried many different types of fish including fish soup (today was fish soup festival), Danube white fish, caviar and some weird crispy fish…

The menu also included nature brains and battered brains…didn’t like to ask what creature 😆

So the X-ray showed a fractured rib – painful but not a lot to do save for take something to help with the pain and take it easy. Walking is easy. Breathing and talking is good too. The paperwork took longer than my brief physician’s appointment and I signed everything in triplicate. Maybe I signed away some body parts – who knows! But Deyan was really good at explaining everything – the doctor asked if I spoke German – took me back to when we were in Spain travelling as kids and my brother fell really poorly and the only doctor available was German. The only person who could speak German was my brother… We flew home shortly after that episode. 
Took some shots of the market – great herbs and just lovely fresh salad. Just off to meet up with the weary bikers!

Very lucky to be travelling with Plateau cycling – they sorted out a X-ray and a physician very quickly. Just in way to market 🙂 looking at food should be a good filip. Then back for a quick doctors appointment. Have some horse strength paracetamol to take the pain away. The others tootled off and I think we are meeting up later for maybe a short ride down hill on nice road 🙂 Deyan runs a supper club too so we are sharing recipes. What are the odds?!!! Feeling ok but glad to be resting a little. Bulgarian hospitals don’t smell like British ones – in a good way! Very clean although x-ray machines always scare me – particularly when you are left naked to its shudders while the nurse goes and hides 🙂 
More later

Whose idea was this anyway? Tough tough day in the saddle and also out of the saddle. Weird breakfast of pancakes with Nutella but sun was shining and the day held lots of promise. First hour was fine but then I was trying to negotiate a heavily rutted path and fell badly. I heard a noise in my ribs that didn’t sound great and my right arm took the brunt. Deyan our guide sprang into action and cleaned me up and disinfected the wounds and I gingerly got back on my back. Was quite painful but I was sure I hadn’t done anything too drastic – was breathing and still living. Rest of the morning was a bit of a blur but lunch surpassed all expectations. We stopped at a monastery where the other guide had prepared a picnic lunch. There was a spring if freezing cold fresh water which was ethereal. I lay my injured arm in a trough of heavenly water and it was almost religious. Picnic lunch was amazing. Grilled fish and salad..



Swapping my pedals and shoes to non cleats gave me more confidence as did some painkillers and ibuprofen gel. The temperature then started to rise and rise while I started to wilt and wilt. At one point I was so hot I just lay down at the side of the road and lost the plot completely. Even the passing Bulgarians were worried – slowing down in their cars to see if I was a corpse or not. My amazing fellow cyclists and guide waited patiently for me to regain speech and some modicum of energy. I thank them for their understanding and encouragement. Once my lowest point had been reached and conquered, I was able to get back on the bike and continue to the next but one village where ice cream was available. Now almost fully restored I could again engage in speaking with the team, chatting about food and whether Bulgar wheat was from Bulgaria or not. The route was tough but we cycled past acres of sunflowers – the odd yellow head peeping out. Arriving in Dobrich, our hotel was fab – shower lukewarm though. Hot spicy sausage and the shopska salad, more beer than I should have but my ribs are feeling less painful. Iceland are 2 up but I need to sleep. Hope the boys come good in the end. 

Oh!and I had another ice-cream because I fell off my bike and Fitbit said I had used nearly 4000 calories 😍 

Eventful day yesterday with British Airways flight bringing me safely and timely to Bucharest. Shortly afterwards, Laura and Louis arrived from Amsterdam. However, the fourth man, was very delayed and took a few countries and planes to arrive 5 hours later. Luckily I had A Little Life to read – my book club choice and (no spoilers) but it’s not one you can read in a couple of sittings. After a further 3.5 hour car journey (hindsight is fabulous – we could have flown to Varna much easier and probably cheaper) , we arrived at our hotel and I slept like a log. Breakfast was very good and the Black Sea looked turquoise and inviting so a dip was a necessity. Neil’s bag was lost so he paddled (later he found a great pair of trunks for about £1 so we swam again later). After a tour of the Archaelogical museum where the sign over the whore house was the best exhibit for me, we then had some lunch in a beach cafe – blue fish and shopska salad – and a couple of beers before heading to the late afternoon waves for the last time. Our guides then drive us to Kalimentai Han – I had tried to google it beforehand but it didn’t appear to exist. If you like a place that’s sort of like a Doctor Dolittle’s Portmerion with a slight Daliesque Swiss chalet, this is the place for you. Never before had my ensuite had a tiled roof and my tv a  wooden frame. The food was very good with Neil choosing a sword of meat and Louis having a drainpipe of veal. We start the hard work tomorrow but I think the guides have realised it’s the food that takes me to the next stop   …..

These terrifying words were spoken by Husband this morning. I had just spent 12 hours over the previous two days sitting in the car parks aka the M25 and the M1. I hate sitting in traffic. It drives me insane. Apparently, according to Husband, traffic jams provide a great opportunity to listen to music and car watch. Huh? Is that a thing? Car watching? The only cars I like to watch are the ones I am overtaking. And that’s not possible when you are in a traffic jam. I have to change lanes frequently as I can’t bear to follow the same car for miles and miles. I try and liven up a traffic jam by coming off at junctions, zooming up to the roundabout and then zooming back down to filter back on. Weirdly I only do that when I am on my own in the car. But I do feel smug when it works – have only had one occasion when I tried to beat the system but ended up going down the M4 rather than staying on the M25. I recently found out that Bell does the same thing. Motorway service stations are still rubbish – particularly the ones on the M1. I think we have stopped at every single one from junction 6a to junction 29. Here’s a photo I took at Trowell services where you have to walk over the bridge to get to M&S and three separate Costas, and why on earth does WH Smith sell Krispy Kremes? 

  
I have decided never to drive on the M1 ever again. No more Watford Gap nowhere near Watford. The next journey north will be the M6. However, even the M6 has its horrors but we have decided to leave at 6am or some other time that only exists a few days of the year when I absolutely have to get up for a holiday or an airport run. So, for those of you travelling tomorrow, listen to some music and watch the cars…