richmond

had friends in town and what better excuse than to visit richmond park. L is a dear friend who hosted us during our day in sao paolo en route to santiago and we were only too happy to have more time with him when he was in london. C, a recent london transplant, was game and after an italian lunch in the 'hood (C's italian, L is italian brazilian) we headed south of the river. the sun was out and we had the first picnic of the year to christen C's newly acquired picnic mat, and some! lots of rose, music when my data plan cooperated and a post-prandial nap so necessary after a hearty lunch. we saw the deer, tried not to stalk them. L had the most success slowly creeping up to them. then again, he's been a boy scout his whole life so the playing field was far from even. C and i were trusted with the navigation, thank goodness she's much smarter than i am.

river walking

stayed put over easter and made the most of the downtime. it was truly restorative to be able to sleep in after a long placement in intensive care. the days flew by and when the weather was good, i tried to leave the house at least once. hermetic habits die hard! not one for vigorous exercise but do enjoy a leisurely stroll when the fancy takes me. being near the river is a plus and walking along it even better. went a'wandering on a couple of days and cobbled the photos together for this post. liked watching the row boats along the thames, the hidden pathways and general sense that summer was on its way.

and aren't these blooms gorgeous? went trigger happy taking them to send to my grandmother who inspires a love of all things arboreal in me. who needs to go to japan for sakura? ;)

at some point i also had tea with a dear friend. we met serendipitously when we both happened to be in dublin visiting my cousin, then somehow had our paths cross every few years. with T in singers for a fellowship at KK, me going to stockholm on exchange (T is swedish!) and even now with T doing a sports medicine masters in london. hankering for english tea, found a pretty place and caught up in the bird cage.

baby watch

hadn't realised that my third placement would give me ring-side seats for the royal baby watch. since i started, the number of eager royalists has grown steadily, from the lone gent above to the camp below. they're friendly and happy to have their pictures taken, especially when i explain that my grandmother in singers is looking forward to the birth, too. not looking forward to the throng of people that will make actually getting into work difficult, but we've already scoped out the best wards to catch a glimpse of royal baby from so i suppose it works both ways! was trying to take a shortcut to main outpatients earlier today and clocked burly security guards by lindo wing entrance. suppose they don't want curious onlookers actually hanging around inside the hospital building. don't get the media fascination (there's a trickle of reporters now but the press pens and vans are at the ready). was amused by the lone lost-looking japanese media crew wandering around last week. either didn't get the memo or display of asian hyper-efficiency. your guess is as good as mine!

have more than one friend staying in the development and have squeezed in one lunch by the water so far. most times it's straight from morning rounds to pm clinic, or literally running from one thing to the next but i'm trying to sustain my pop out for lunch habit for fresh air and head-clearing. as always, the first couple of weeks are a steep learning curve and there's so much to absorb just by being with the firm. constantly reminded of the innumerable gaps in my knowledge and am continually humbled. there's just so much to know and i do sometimes wish i'd done a doss placement instead. then i kick myself for being lazy, for not wanting to make the very most of this second bite of the university cherry. grateful for ever-eminent supervisor and his firm of superstars who are lovely, patient and happy to teach. doesn't happen often, especially on a busy unit but hey, no complaints ;)

more pretty villages

there was this perfect moment when we'd stopped for crepes by the sidewalk and had the yummiest savoury crepes. simple stuff, local fatty pork and cheese, apples and were chatting over lunch when this street performer dressed as charlie chaplin started dancing to happy music. the sun was just right, the company even better and the music had me wanting to join the tap dance (hey, secret skill!). it was one of those things one can't plan, but enjoys immensely when it happens and for a while everything was well with our world.

re-visited deauville! was there during my gradtrip and proudly wearing my honfleur hat. the mister hadn't been but my various protestations that it was twee and artificial fell on deaf ears. he had to see it for himself. and he did. and it was cuter than i remember it to be but trying too hard for me to find it truly attractive. so we did a quick survey then headed to honfleur which i much prefer.

pretty villages

i've a sign in my kitchen that says, 'all happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast'. am not a breakfast person and usually go without. will make an exception when i'm on holiday, or if the mister desperately wants someone to have breakfast with. so the ritual of having breakfast makes me feel like i'm on holiday. we'd said leisurely breakfast in the beautiful dining room before heading out for the day. there were pretty villages aplenty and we were spoilt for choice. happened to bump into a well-dressed russian foursome who were staying at the same chateau at a few stops en route so we must've all been reading the same travel blogs!

henry iv shenanigans

the mister decided to go to normandy on a whim. booked the eurotunnel on friday for saturday departure and off we went! ol'blighty, for all its flaws, is really good when it comes to continental travel. when the tunnel works, and one's not delayed. like it was on our way back. but that's another story. 

he's been to normandy when he was on exchange in belgium and i'd been on my grad trip so we were glad to miss the must-see must-dos like the beaches, bunkers and war memorials etc. had a friend in london before christmas last year who must it very eloquently. he said he'd been to london before, didn't need to do the touristy thing and was really just in town to spend time with friends. he probably said it much better but i felt how lovely it must've been to be in a city without FOMO or tourist pressure. and that's sort of how this trip to normandy was. the mister plotted our route over breakfast and we'd spend the day wandering around "the prettier villages in france" which was such a treat for the senses.

oh and the chateau we stayed at is where henry iv allegedly engaged in trysts so we felt very boring staying with our legal +1s.

salt lake

atacama

we swapped the cold weather, patagonian lamb and mountains for extreme of a different sort. the atacama desert was the stuff of legends, having only read about death valley and its many curiosities. after a week in patagonia, it made sense to complete our time in chile with the desert. this time, the mister had wised up to my sun-averse ways and in our first meeting with the guide, made his brief, well, brief. "my wife does not do well in the sun." you should've seen the guide's face. he must've thought we were crazy to be in the hottest, driest desert in the world and not want to be in the sun. to his credit and sheer professionalism (we've not had the pleasure of being with a better guide) managed to keep me out of the sun for three whole days. in the desert. this is a feat so amazing i cannot begin to describe how good he was. somehow he found and plotted walks and trials that were IN THE SHADE or had the sun on our backs. madness. pure skill. i was beyond thrilled. so indeed, it is possible to go to the atacama and not leave charred to crisp. 

the amphitheatre in the valley of the moon

sunset over death valley

glamping!

retreat at dusk

torres

climbing the base of the tower was supposed to be the culmination and highlight of our trip. for health and safety, C had to make sure we were physically fit and able to do the hike without any drama. what he didn't account for was drama of the non-physical kind. it's not something i'm proud of but i may have had a mini-meltdown at the prospect of walking as far as we did under the unrelenting sun. do not like the sun. do not wish to be under it. was so angry that i ran up the mountain because the only way to shorten the hike was to do it faster. this was a bit ridiculous and i ended up feeling terrible that C was struggling to keep up because he had the unenviable task of carrying all the barang barang and i was, well, just carrying myself. i also felt bad because it must've been awkward for him to be in the middle of a warring couple. ok, only i was warring. it was quite one-sided because, bless him, the mister has the patience of a saint. and is lovely and calm and very very forgiving of my many misdemeanours. 

(it looks like we were play fighting, but no. i was really mad!)

the days blurred into one

couldn't tire of the view. and we had a couple of days of excursions that have now blurred into one. spent a day with the gauchos and went riding, climbed a random ridge and saw the chinese teeth (?!) and resisted pilfering shark teeth fossils from the mountaintop. amazing plate movement for what was once seabed to be dredged all the way to the top. O level physical geography came flooding back to me, all right. oh the 4x4s were cool and we'd literally drive through rivers to save time because it's this mass expanse of wilderness and we wanted more time for walking.