Benenden Is Fun!

And so to the reason for my prolonged absence... Benenden. For anyone out there that isn't a close friend or family (as I think they are the only people who read this!), it was a three week English summer school run by Austrians, for Austrian children. Despite knowing that I definitely do not ever want to be a proper teacher, I jumped at the chance to do it, and I am really glad I did. I was teaching the 13 year olds and it was a real challenge, but it was a lot of fun. I had a class of 10- The Incredible Sausage Rolls (their choice, not mine!)- and we were part of a larger group of 40. Out of 18 days, 10 of them comprised of lessons so it wasn't exactly intensive teaching and I was relieved to find that I was not too out of my depth. I could bore you for hours with the details, but I don't think it would be that interesting for anyone who wasn't there. Not only was I paid to be there, I also got to do lots of things I would never have done by myself. It was like a holiday! We went to Rye:

 Apparently Sir Paul McCartney lives there. I didn't see him, but I did have a lovely cream tea:

 Unfortunately I did not have a lot of time, and thus did not take many photos of the actual school. This is a tremendous shame, as it is actually beautiful. Look:

 The school was in the middle of the Kentish countryside. It was lovely, and I would like to go back and see it all without being surrounded by 40 Austrian children.

 It was quintessentially British, which made it the perfect place for Pimms O Clock on several occasions.

 One day I even went to CHURCH. Yes, you did read that right.

 Like I said, the village was simply spiffing and was ever so pretty and quite la di dah.

 One of the other day trips we did was to Hever Castle. This is where Anne Boleyn lived. We saw some jousting:

 and a lovely castle, but sadly (if unsurprisingly!) the teenagers were not interested. It seems that the thing they remembered most from the day was the ice cream!

 One of the most memorable trips was to London. In fact it was the only day we made it to the capital. One trip was cancelled owing to the peasants revolting, the other because the children were deemed too young to cope with shopping there so we went to Tunbridge Wells (adequate substitute? What do YOU think?!) Anyway, while it was stressful, it was a nice day. I felt it would have destroyed some boundaries if I had joined in with this:

 I was hard pushed to take a photo without it being invaded by a swarm of blue t shirts:

 Madame Tussauds was... an experience. We queued for longer than we were inside. It costs the earth and is so packed you can't get close to anything. I was not impressed. It was nice to see Bond though. And M, of course.

 The Queen and her (slightly racist) "butler" were there.

 And of course, my BFF. What a legend.

 Another trip was to Brighton. The Pavillion is gawwwwww-jus.

Sadly I have run out of steam a bit and can't really think of much else to say. A rather sorry excuse for a blogpost spanning three weeks. I can only apologise and hang my head in shame.

A Compact Trip to Londinium

Oops, I have got A LOT of catching up to do, probably going to need an epic blogathon. Sorry about that.

So, about six weeks ago, Boyo and I went to London. It was a compact trip for several reasons:

- we were only there for just over 30 hours

- I only had my compact camera, so photographing possibilities were limited...

...or were they? I have always maintained that you do not need a big, fancy DSLR to take nice pictures. Without blowing my own trumpet, I think I have proven this several times over, given that I photographed the whole of my first year in Austria on a cheap compact, and also when my beloved Fuji gave up the ghost in Japan. Without going on, I am quite pleased with the results, especially now I have properly got to grips with my little Samsung friend. I have tried to keep the ones I have uploaded to a minimum, but here we go:

A reminder of the Route Marches of days gone by:

Proof that Boyo CAN dress like a Grown Up and look nice:

 The best taxi ever (albeit occupied by a very grumpy driver):

 A little flourish of royalty:

 Trouble brewing over the Tower of London (though it actually didn't rain!):

 Tower Bridge and a lovely statue which reminds me of a Peacock/Blackbird excursion:

 Red, White and Blue:

 The reason for our trip- WICKED. I am undecided on this one. Whilst I did enjoy it, part of my brain is still screaming "WHAT IS THIS AMERICAN DRIVEL?!":

 A real blast from the past- Mr Boring can probably still remember how many steps there are at the Castle!:

 A lovely walk down the Embankment:

 Big Ben. Nice sky. 'Nuff said.

 My favourite memorial in London, if not the world:

 Military fashion is in. Again. Workin' it at Horseguard's Parade:

 Is there something happening in London next year?:

 Have you ever seen a man hammer a nail into his nose? No? Don't worry, you are NOT MISSING OUT:

 It is true. For a while I fell out with London, but I am back in love with it now, especially CG and its very comfortable gutters:

 Obviously it will not be as good as Granny telling the story, but I bet this is pretty good:

 Camden is cool. Yes it is:

 I wish I had bought this sign for our house:

 Do people actually wear things like this in the Real World (ie outside of Camden)? I hope so:

 Lovely old police boxes being put to good use:

 The Markets in Camden are amazing. One day I will go with my other camera and really do them justice:

That is all for now, I will be better at posting regularly from here on in. I hope. Press your thumbs for another update soon!