Off-putting advertising

I love Spring Harvest but there has been one annoying thing about it this year which seems to be much worse than in previous years and that is the amount of advertising. Virtually every workshop, lecture, Bible study session or worship session seems to be interrupted by someone plugging a book or CD or event. It’s not so bad when it’s actually relevant to the session but when it’s completely unrelated, it completely puts me off buying the product even if I would have been interested otherwise. The book/CD plugging has always happened but it used to be more subtle.

Creative zone

The theme for this year’s Spring Harvest is “Route 66” – Biblical direction for the road we travel. We have been exploring the analogy of the Bible as a sonnet, as a symphony, as a screenplay and as a streetmap. There have been various different sessions exploring the theme – discussion-based sessions, sessions which use media to illustrate the theme, sessions for those new to reading the Bible and creative sessions. Needless to say, I’ve been going to the creative sessions – the use of art and drama as a way of exploring various themes is definitely a style which works for me.

Taking time out

As much as I enjoy the Bible studies, workshops and worship celebrations, it is also nice to take some time out just to be alone, with a cup of hot chocolate, watching the world go by (not always easy to achieve when with a group of friends, particularly when you also tend to go to the same things!) I’m realising again this week that my decision to take a break from drama is definitely the right one – the drama workshop is usually on my ‘must do’ list but this year having time out for me instead was much more appealing.

The lure of the bookshop

Every time I go to Spring Harvest, I tell myself that I won’t come home with lots of new books and within a couple of days this resolution fails. The trouble is, the Skyline is generally the easiest place to meet up and generally the bookstand ends up being the meeting point. Plus the thirty minute gap between workshops is just enough time for another browse and there’s just such a good selection of books, several of which seem to be on special offer and before I know it, there I am at the till with another pile of books…

Off to Spring Harvest

Going to Spring Harvest seems to be a triennial thing for me. This hasn’t been intentional – I have wanted to go most years but my annual leave didn’t happen to be at the right time, or it clashed with rehearsing for and performing a show, or there was just some other reason why I didn’t end up going. For me, it’s a chance to go away and unwind for a few days, to spend time focusing on God (which all too often falls by the wayside on a day-to-day basis despite the good intentions) and to catch up with friends.

In and around Dublin

I have managed to take a couple of days off call and so we had another day in Ireland. Michael and I have been to Dublin before and visited most of the typical touristy sites (such as the Guinness storehouse – although have to confess I preferred the Jamesons’ Distillery!). We’d hired a car so decided it was worth seeing something outside of Dublin. We went to Howth, just north of Dublin on the coast and then to Malahide Castle (which we nearly didn’t find as the sat nav took us to a timber yard about 10km away from the castle!)

Holiday at the Costa Nueva Casa

Two weeks of annual leave are ahead of me and rest and relaxation are not very high on the agenda for my “staycation”. Two weeks free to focus on the decorating and keep it progressing so that we can hopefully move in properly soon. It’s getting there slowly – we have started “de-Kermiting” the hall and the bright green skirting boards and door frames are now gradually changing to white; painting the lounge is almost finished and we have now started painting the main bedroom. The bathroom is still a disaster zone but hopefully is becoming less so by the day.

Day 5 - Beamish/Rugby

Our final full day of our holiday was spent at the Beamish Open Air Museum where we explored a restored colliery and pit village and an Edwardian town and had a ride in a vintage bus and tram. It was quite interesting to look around the restored buildings and try to imagine what life was like at the turn of the century. I also learnt a new rag-rugging technique which I’m quite keen to try out – but not until I get my creative writing assignment finished! We then headed south to Rugby to go for dinner with some friends there.

Day 4 - Falkirk

It was lovely to be able to spend time with my friend Gillian, a fellow midwife who used to work with me when I first moved to London, but now lives in Glasgow. We don’t get to catch up very often so it’s nice when we can do so. We had a lovely day visiting the Falkirk Wheel – a rotating canal boat lift which connects the Union Canal (at the top of the wheel) and the Forth & Clyde Canal (at the bottom, 35m below the level of the Union Canal) and went for a boat ride on the wheel.

Day 3 - Lake District/Glasgow

Day 3 of our holiday was summed up as spending the entire day intending to go to ‘Go Ape’ and completely failing to do so. The one nearest to our starting point (Cockermouth) was closed for training and given that we were heading to the north side of Glasgow, it seemed to make sense to aim for the one in Aberfoyle and go later in the day. Unfortunately we got stuck in a big traffic jam caused by an accident en route and arrived at ‘Go Ape’ to find that we had just missed the last session of the day.

Day 2 - Alton Towers

Despite the fact we were actually supposed to be travelling north, we started our day by driving south to Alton Towers. I hadn’t been for a few years and Michael had never been before. The last time I’d been, I thought I’d conquered my fear of scary rides by going on both Nemesis and Corkscrew and enjoying them so naturally Nemesis was the first ride we headed for. Unfortunately, to my great surprise, I didn’t enjoy it at all this time which meant I suddenly reverted into wuss mode and wouldn’t go on anything faster that the Runaway Mine Train.

Day 1 - London/Leicester/Bakewell

We celebrated our anniversary with a meal at L’Autre Pied in London and a night at a nice hotel in the West End. It felt quite strange the next morning to be wandering through London with a suitcase in tow on the way to get the tube back home when we both normally just see London from the perspective of working there. Then it was time to start off our holiday by driving to Leicester to go out for a curry with one of Michael’s work friends followed by a drive to Bakewell where we were spending the first night.

Malta - day 8: Comino

Our final full day in Malta was spent on Comino, the smallest of the inhabited Maltese islands (population c.5). We took a ferry across to the island, and relaxed on the beach around the Blue Lagoon, one of the most beautiful bays on the island. The sea was a little on the cool side so I was quite happy to stick to paddling, but Michael had a swim (keeping an eye out for jellyfish as there were quite a lot around the island) whilst I took a wander across to St Niklaw bay on the other side of Comino.

Malta - day 7: scenic flight

Before I did a fear of flying course just over four years ago, my flying phobia was so severe that even the thought of getting on a plane would send me into a panic. Thankfully I’ve managed to gradually overcome my phobia (I’m now just a little anxious during take-off and landing but not panicky). Still, going on a scenic flight around Malta on a sea plane was a big step forward for me. The views over the island were amazing, and doing the flight towards the end of our holiday meant we were more familiar with the landmarks below.

Malta - day 6: Valletta

Our day exploring Valletta, the capital of Malta, started with a tour of the Standing Battery, overlooking Grand Harbour, led once again by guides in Victorian army uniform, where we watched the firing of the noon gun. We then visited St John’s Co-Cathedral, the cathedral of the Knights of St John before taking a horse-drawn cab ride around Valletta which was a nice relaxing way to see the city. Our afternoon was spent visiting Marsaxlokk, a very pretty fishing village on the east coast of Malta, before driving back across the island to Naxxar, where we visited the Palazzo Parisio.

Malta - day 5: The Three Cities

Our day’s explorations of the island took us to the Three Cities east of Valletta – Senglea, Vittoriosa and Conspicua, which are similar to Mdina in that they are all quite old-fashioned and quiet. We visited the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa, the Maritime museum in Vittoriosa and then went for a guided tour of Fort Rinella, a coastal battery built in the 1880s, led by tour guides dressed in Victorian army uniform who treated us to a display of gun-firing, sword fighting and different types of signalling and showed us the 100-ton Armstrong gun that was part of the coastal defences.

Malta - day 4: Mdina

Mdina is a tiny walled city in central Malta which once was the capital city. The city itself is pretty and except for the occasional parked car, seems almost to have been frozen in time. Its maze of narrow streets is tranquil and serene. We had our lunch in a cafe in Mdina where we were served by a waiter who displayed a degree of sullenness previously only experienced in teenagers which slightly spoiled what otherwise was a lovely day; the Maltese have generally come across as very friendly otherwise. We also visited Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra – two ancient temples.

Malta - day 3: Gozo

The day started off warm and sunny and so we decided to take a boat across to Gozo, Malta’s smaller sister island and spend the day there. We started at Dwejra at the west end of the island with its beautiful natural coastal scenery, taking in the Azure Window, Blue Hole and Inland Sea, before heading to the Ta’ Pinu basilica and then back across the island to Calypso’s Cave and Ramla Bay. By the time it got dark a lightning storm was brewing across the channel between Malta and Gozo which made for a somewhat choppy boat ride back.

Malta - day 2: exploring the island

Our first full day in Malta has been spent mostly driving around the island. We visited Mosta Dome, where a bomb was dropped during mass during World War II but then miraculously didn’t explode. The dome dominates the skyline around Mosta and is the fourth largest dome in Europe. We tried to take a boat to Comino but there didn’t seem to be any running (probably because we are outside of the main holiday season) so we then drove to Wied iż Żurrieq on the western coast of Malta to visit the Blue Grotto – a natural arch in the cliffs.

Malta - day 1: first impressions

We arrived in Malta yesterday afternoon just before dusk which meant we didn’t get much opportunity to see much of the island on our way to our hotel in Qawra. The guidebook advised against renting a car on the basis that Maltese drivers are a bit crazy and don’t pay much attention to speed limits, give way signs or indicate – and it wasn’t wrong! I’m quite relieved that Michael is going to be doing all the driving particular after encountering some of the crazy drivers down narrow pot-holed roads! Still crazy road conditions aside, we are enjoying it so far!