Fish and chips on the beach

 

Washing the new golf

 

A beautiful day at Delphi

No sign of the Oracle tho'

Jordan Wadi Rum

Flower the Donkey

This is 'Flower' the Donkey - Elly's new best friend. She had made it all the way through the 2km or so from the entrance to the Treasury, but it was clear she wasn't going to make the same distance again, up 800 or so steps, to the Monastery.

So we enlisted the help of Flower. At first Elly was very reluctant to get on the donkey. But once dad was on, she jumped on too. After a minute or so, she was fine all by herself. And thereafter she was practically attached to the donkey.

And Nial, Flower's owner, was always at her side, guiding Flower and holding Elly on when necessary.

She became somewhat of an attraction; other tourists stopped and watched, Jordanians tried to touch her hair, and random people commented on how cute and happy she looked.

And eventually we made it all the way up to the Monastery. Yay!

Jordan Petra - just like in Indiana Jones!

This is the view you get as you walk through the Siq towards the Treasury... Tantalising...

And then you're through the gap and the whole thing is just amazing

Jordan Dead Sea - Salty...

This is the 'before' shot: Elly ready with her pink goggles, standing on the beach of the Dead Sea.

What happened next was a bit more traumatic, as the salty water started burning her skin and created rashes on her arms and legs. Elly started screaming, and Bridie raced her into a shower, but it wasn't until we got her into a cold pool that she calmed down.

Bridie and Steve were fine - tried floating for a bit, but the novelty wears off quite quickly. And yes, the water tastes terrible.

Jordan Jerash - hanging with the Romans

Elly wandering the Roman streets of Jerash in northern Jordan.

Snow and ice

Well it snowed in London - and probably our last snow in 'ol blighty before we head home.

Steve and Elly headed off to the park to enjoy some fun in the snow - Elly even has a colour coordinated coat and sled!


Then of course there was the obligatory snowman....


I headed off to the National Gallery for the final day of the Leondardo Da Vinci exhibition that everyone has been talking about (it was fab) and couldn't help but notice another snowman....


And then there were the fountains in Trafalgar Square...not quite defrosted.

Day 10 - half baked

Well it's the big day. Time for Herman the baked friendship cake to be unveiled.


Mixing, mixing, tasting, mixing...


And here he is in all his lovely cinnamony loveliness.

And then we got to eat him!

The other Herman's are off new homes to start their own journeys.

Day 9 - more feeding and some division

Well, it's time for Herman's final feed of flour, sugar and milk.

Then a good stir.

Followed by dividing in four. We keep one and make a cake with it tomorrow and we'll pass in the other three to friends so they can grow their own Hermans.

Herman - Day 8

While Bridie is out at the opera, Elly and daddy stir Herman.

Herman - day 7

Well Herman is still growing and we continue to whip him into shape.

It's been a wee bit cold here which explains why Elly is still wearing her hat!

Day 6 - growth spurt!

Herman had grown so big he was touching the towel.

Elly soon whipped him back into shape.

Day 5 - Herman is growing

After his big feed yesterday and a good stir today, Herman is definitely getting bigger!

Elly - feeding Herman the German friendship cake

Herman - Day 4: feeding time

It's time to feed Herman and the whole family got into the act.

Getting ready to feed with flour, sugar and milk.

Elly giving Herman a good stir

A little help from Daddy

Herman - day 3

Bubbly again and another stir.

Herman -the German friendship cake

A friend of mine at work gave me Herman, a German friendship cake. It's a sourdough cake. You are given, the 'starter', and then like sourdough you feed it and stir it until it grows and then you divide it and give portions to friends. You cook your remaining portion into a cake. It's like a chain letter with cake!

Day 1 - put Herman in a bowl




Day 2 - Herman is all bubbly - give him a stir


More updates to come.

Flying back from Paris

On our return flight from Paris, Elly was lucky enough to go on the flight deck and talk to the captain. She scored postcards of planes and even a sticker saying "I have been on the flight deck". But she was too shy to sit on the captain's chair (though Bridie would have loved to take her place).

Pyramids of Louvre

Elly is trying to reach the inner power of the pyramid. By touching the ends, sliding down, and giggling a lot.

Dan Brown would be proud.

Elly the unicorn!

Halloween brings many things. Witches, Warlocks and kids knocking on the door for a sugar fix. But this year we had a unicorn come and visit

Google streetview of our old flat in Galway!

Google streetview now does Ireland. After a quick search we found our old flat in Galway - looking exactly the same as we had left it.



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Muppet name etymology

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We're in Pompeii

And we're walking. While one of the few things the Romans did for us was roads, they didn't really do nice smooth roads. Or smooth footpaths for that matter. And so here we are walking.... without our pram.

When the day was 36 degrees, with a hot sun beating down, father and daughter became worried about sunburn. And since there aren't many roofs left in Pompeii after the volcano, then the best we could hope for was standing in the shadow of tall walls.

While mum flitted around snapping photos, we had to dash from one shadow to another to keep cool. Which involved dad carrying both 4 kg of water + 12kg of wriggly tired child. And you can see from the photo above how successful we were at keeping Elly's hat on.

My poor widdle finger!

It turns out stoves are hot as Elly learnt today. She now has a little burn on her finger, but it's not too bad and hasn't stopped her from enjoying her breakfast.

I can play the piano now...move over Mozart!