Bailey's Blog

Bog-Standard Advice

Bog-Standard Advice
Originally uploaded by Stephen DF Bailey

I usually follow all the rules in airports, but I wasn't able to on this particular occasion!

Found in a cubicle in Rio de Janeiro airport last Wednesday.

Other pictures from my recent trip to Brazil are available here.

What Costs 6 Euros in Rome?

We've just had a fabulous weekend in Rome together. We explored all over the Eternal City, mostly by foot, and ate and drank in some lovely places.

We stayed in the Hotel Alessandrino which is about a kilometer from St Peter's Square. This was a pleasant  three-star hotel which was comfortable enough, but it could have done with a bar and an Internet connection! The convenience of the hotel, however, was that it was "off the beaten track" of Rome's busy and expensive city centre. Walking towards the centre we found several little cafés and trattorie (I learnt that a trattoria is a family-run Italian restaurant, I had no idea - I thought it just meant somewhere that sold pasta as well as pizza!) that sold top quality food at a reasonable price. Not that Rome's cheap, but  you just felt you were paying a fair price for what you were getting.

The ice cream in the picture below was one of the best I've ever had, the vanilla flavour was like frozen custard!

Which brings me neatly to the title of this entry:

There's all kinds of things that you can buy for 6 Euros (about £4) in Rome:

 

1. One beer, one double ice-cream (pictured, strawberry and vanilla) and one cup of tea for the missus.
2. One plate of ripe Gorganzola for my "cheese board" desert at a local trattoria. (This was swiftly followed by a trip to a café for the feast above!).
3. One litre of red wine from the local trattoria. I know, 6 Euros! Very drinkable wine too!
4. One souvenir which I can't divulge much information about, as it will be someone's Christmas present.
5. Three pictures  / drawings of scenes of Rome which we will frame and hang up at home.
6. Shaving foam and a pack of disposable razors. (Couldn't take my own because of Ryanair's hand baggage restrictions!)
7. A salami, pepper and black olive pizza.
8. A single shuttle-bus ticket from Rome Termini (main railway station) to Ciampino Airport (Rome's low-cost airport -  45 minute journey)

Impressive huh?

Even more impressive - these pics from the Vatican museum. Both of these pics were taken with my phone.

Not sure if Baby Jesus was really ginger, but I like the idea!

Trip to Worcester and Weston-Super-Mare

Today Ania and I had a day out. We went to have a look at Worcester, a city which is relatively near to us, but that we hadn't explored yet. Then, on to Weston-Super-Mare for a breath of sea air. Weston is about 1.5 hours drive from our place in Tipton, and it's the nearest sea to us.

Here's me chilling out in a deck-chair!

Ania loves the sea - so it's always a pleasure to take her there!

When we came home, I updated my Photo Album from the tour, and Bix, one of the kittens, decided to join me.

By the way, all Desford players, please email me any pics that you have so that I can add them to my album!