When the hammer falls....

While Chris was looking through the local paper during the week he spotted an advert for an auction... so we decided to go along and see if there were any good deals.

They had 32, 37, 40 and 46 inch tv's, Persian rugs, limited edition paintings and also lots of little bits and pieces. Let's just say that we didn't break the bank with any of our purchases... we limited it to some pieces for Christmas presents. We certainly didn't spend as much as a couple of girls in front of us whose bill reached just under £3000 or a guy who seemed to buy so many of the items, in pairs!! (I lost count at £15,000)!!!  The bidders who wanted either the tv's of bags etc.. didn't seem to realise that as there were quite a few of the same lot number, they didn't need to outbid each other as they would all get the option to buy something at a decent price. Others just didn't know when they were paying too much for an item they could buy for less in the high street stores.

Despite everything, it was good fun seeing how the auctioneer was working the room and although the items were bargains for some people, it would have been easy to get caught in the whole excitement of the event, bidding for a signed Pele shirt, or signed images of Kurt Douglas etc... but unless it's something you would want, it's not a bargain. And to be fair, I like the signed underpants we have of Matt Lucas and David Walliams which we got in a Children in Need auction, at least that money went to charity.

It would be good to go to another auction at some point, but next time we'll be better prepared, and I'll bring out my knitting!!!

A good old fashioned ramble...

I was walking to get the train into work this morning and managed to leave the house with enough time to actually walk the entire way rather than running like (as Chris says) a constipated donkey! (I've never seen one myself but...) It's amazing that when you take the time to look around, you can notice some lovely pieces of nature and appreciate the nicer mornings when you aren't rushing or in the car. The sun was shining through the golden leaved trees and the weather was really nice and mild. During our travels we missed the various seasons... especially Autumn and it's a fantastic time of the year. The walking through the leaves, the crisp mornings and the fog across the River Lagan. No matter where you travel, there are always pieces of home that can be prettier than anywhere else and Northern Ireland has some beautiful places.

With Grier in the park

Having cuddles while Mummy and Daddy are checking in

Chris and I have been home for just over a month and time has really flown in - yesterday was my first Sunday in the house! I have been over to Scotland to say Bon Voyage to my sister, brother in law and niece as they begin a new life in Australia... down to Roscommon twice - the last time to celebrate the Christening of my niece Ruby and becoming her godmother and in between we have been re-decorating the house!

Chris and I with Ruby at her Christening

It has been strange being home and not really needing to plan where we are going to be staying in the next few weeks or wondering where we are going to be eating dinner - which has been the norm for the past year. I'm not having itchy feet, I think it's more that there is quite a bit to be arranged around the house, getting our belongings out of the attic and generally tidying up our rucksacks etc. and I cannot be bothered!

At least we have Chris' Aunt's wedding to look forward to in Durban this December... some winter sunshine and a great chance for a family get-together.

Hopefully some fairies will enter the house and unpack everything for me so I don't have to come across spiders hidden amongst our belongings. But that's just wishful thinking!

South America - Sao Paulo - the Beginning

As I remember it wasn't that Daunting leaving for a year of travel. Excitement was still in the air and we had made our flights with plenty of time. We did have a bit of trouble with the tickets when we arrived in Heathrow - BA said we didn't have any. 5 hours waiting in terminal 5 with a very clam attitude I have to say finally helped to resolve the situation. Not to mention our great travel agent.
Quiet Time in Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo was a great starting point because is got us into big city life but gave us time to sort ourselves out. With a guidebook to find the highlights of one of the worlds biggest cities we managed to stumble into this virtually empty park and even order a hotdog from a local vendor. It still hadn't sunk in we weren't just on a holiday.

Monumento De Ipiranga

We traveled by local bus to Independence Park. It was a nice place to visit and explained a little about Brazil's independence from the rest of South America. The monument in the picture is rather big and marks the spot where Brazil declared it's independence from Portugal. Brazil is the only South American country that doesn't speak Spanish. It's not even a second language. Our problems ordering a Big Mac proved this. In Spanish a Big mac is Big mac. in Portuguese it is Big Mac.

We walked along independence park to the Paulista Museum. The views of the entire park where stunning but it doesn't explain just how vast the city of Sao Paulo actually is.

Work wasn't quite out of our minds, even with 2 weeks off. The transmitter towers, in the centre of the cities business district constantly changed colour. I wonder what would happen if they did this at Divis (our local transmitter).Before embarking on our trip to Rio, we had to get a phrase book for Portuguese. English, no matter how loud just didn't work. This bookshop just looked fantastic and even had a glass listening room for music recitals and bean bags in the children's area, it was more like a library.

We're Back !

Home Sweet Home.
To say it's good to be back isn't true in every sense. It is nice to see the family again, it's also nice to have the comfort of the same bed for the foreseeable future. Today there is even a bit of sunshine and we have a full wardrobe of clothes to choose from.... well... some of them are still hidden in bags and boxes. We haven't missed the ear piercing Belfast accent first heard in Heathrow - Wadaya mean like?

Back to work is slow this week (make the most of it while we can) but it is nice answering all the questions, telling the stories and showing the photo's. We just have to remember what stories we have told to who, don't want to bore everyone.

So what now for the Blog. I've decided that seeing as we have good Internet access, time to sit in front of a computer, with a big screen, I'm going to use the blog to remember this time last year. It will help me sort out the photo's a week at a time, recall some of the memories and share some more of our experiences which we didn't have time to write about as we went along. Comments, queries, suggestions and questions, use the comments button below or send us a mail at our usual. I will also get a link to a full photo site as when we get the photo's sorted.

Homeward bound

When you have a Simon and Garfunkel song going through your head for a few days, you know it's time to head home.

Our final day in Manhattan took us downtown and we though we would see how much Ground Zero had changed. We bypassed all the hoarding and made our way to the church near the site. St John's Chapel was not open when Chris and I visited the site in 2002, so we were able to read the work which the Chapel did for those people working at the pit and the memorials left.

Some of the patches from the various emergency services personnel from across the globe

From there we headed to the Strand bookstore - 18 miles of books in the one shop and I could have stayed there all day, but the clock was ticking and we were running late for our train / subway to JFK!

The many books in the Strand Bookstore

With 1 hour to spare, we were checked in and ready for the journey home. The bags were re-weighed and just made their 20kg allowance! I was shocked to say the least.

Some lovely sculptures in the subway

The past year has been a such an adventure and an absolute ball.

We were asked what we have achieved and what our purpose for the career break was, and to be honest, we didn't have a purpose at the beginning  - apart from having the opportunity to travel and have a break from our life at home. But now the year has drawn to an end, I know what the purpose has been for me... through our travels we have met old friends and family and have met so many lovely new people who we will remain in contact with for many years to come. Strangers have touched our lives and for that I am grateful.

I have discovered that there is so much more to life than worrying about the people next door and realised that we don't have to remain indoors even if the rain is falling!

Cheers!

Another year wed!

The Hudson River

Knowing we were going to be in the Big Apple for our 5th Wedding anniversary. The weekend began with our now good friends Matt and Barbara (who we were staying with again) when they treated us to an Anniversary / Bon Voyage brunch! The food was fantastic - which was not uncommon at their home, but we'd a chance to also spend the final few hours on the beach before we left their home and went into the 'Big City'.

Our hotel and had a fantastic view of the Hudson River and we were close enough for the subway and some of the local sights to catch the last of the sunshine.

Chris with the blue whale

On our anniversary, we needed to try to do as much as possible, especially as it was the last full day we would spend in the city. Chris wanted to see the Natural History museum, so we took a number of hours to see around all the exhibits and we certainly enjoyed seeing those exhibits from the countries which we'd visited. It was also my turn to arrange something and I'm sure that Chris did not imagine that we would be going to a baseball match to let me sit and join the local knitters! 

Chris and I at the Baseball

Stitch 'n' Pitch is something which is supposed to incorporate needle crafts and baseball... and a match at the Mets stadium should have been something of a finale for us... but the match wasn't fantastic and there was more atmosphere at the stadium in Vancouver rather than here. But I'd a ball watching all the other knitters nearby and people spinning on drop spindles.

I will not bore you any more about that... needless to say, the Mets got slaughtered by the Altanta Braves 11 - 3.

We rounded the evening off having drinks in the middle of Times square, watching people walking past and realising that in the morning we would be beginning our journey home.

Marching bands

Katie, Christopher, Mama C and us!

Despite being brought up in Northern Ireland, Chris and I haven't acquired the wider knowledge of 'Marching Bands' apart from those annual events during our summer months back home!

So when we met up with an old friend - Mama C (from my Camp Connri days) we not only enjoyed spending time with the family and friends in their home, but also were entertained for part of an evening at a Marching Band competition.

Christopher and some of the marching band (he's above the sparkly girl!)

Christopher (Mama C's son) is at Edinboro University and is part of the University's marching band. They were the guest band at this High School contest and this enabled us to see what the whole thing was about... wow!

If you take the comical value out of seeing people walking sideways with their instruments and walking at high speed to a specific destination on an American Football field, the entire choreography and precision of memorising the moves and music is certainly something to take your hat off to.

Chris and I stayed with Mama C for a few days and we got to see what good work she was doing at a place called TREC. No matter where she is, there is always 101 things to be done, so Chris and I were pleased to be be able to assist in any way possible - even if it was taxi for Christopher or taking Mama C out to lunch! We also took a drive around the peninsula and saw the Niagara sailing across the lake - what a lovely site

The Niagara

From Erie, Chris and I completed the mammoth car journey from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire. It was a journey of over 10 hours and despite driving through 5 states, stopping three times - once for a State Trouper!!! and getting lost once, we arrived at our final destination (before returning the rental car) just before 10pm.

Our road trip has been fun. We covered an approx total of 3450 miles and have enjoyed every moment of it. The only difference we would make would be that we'd probably decide the next time we do a road trip, we'll remember to bring an up-to-date GPS rather then relying on maps! Just so we don't end up on the wrong freeway for over 41 miles!

The only thing we didn't spot was a Moose, but one town in Vermont (Bennington) certainly made up for that - they had quite a number jotted around the main street. It added a little something to the journey!

Just one of the painted moose