2015 is flying along, it is quite incredible to think we are already closer to Christmas than we are to the start of this year. July could well have been a glum month – with holiday blues – but in actual fact it turned out pretty peachy – here’s my highlights!
The month kicked off with a revisit to Vienna – it is handy having friends in lovely places, visits aplenty! The weekend was an absolute scorcher, even by Viennese standards, so we made off to the Donauinsel on hired bikes and swam in the Danube, then braved the Lido on the other side of the city! Of course our friends know us well and there was a case of Brundlmeyer sparking wine ready and waiting!
Vienna – a beautiful European city
Next up was a few days at work – but thankfully for most of June and July I don’t think there were many 5 days weeks! I had a few trips – Edinburgh and Geneva. Both were fleeting visits, I saw both of the Geneva sites – the big fountain and then Mont Blanc from the office window and in Edinburgh as we walked past the castle even heard Lionel Richie’s dulcet tones! The flight home from Edinburgh was exciting – the back wheels touched down half way along the runway due to a ‘gust’ of wind (a big one clearly) – always good to see how quickly a plane can take off again when careering towards the motorway at the other end of the runway!
30 hour biztravel visit to Geneva – sightseeing ticked: #jetdeau fountain seen and #MontBlanc view from the office. Ready for hometime tomorrow!!
Then what i’d been excited about for a long while – getting back on the water yacht racing. We had a fantastic time – inshore racing in the Solent followed by an overnight race to St Malo (which we won or category in). The crew is coming together fantastically, lots of fun and banter, not long until Cowes and the Fastnet Race now. I got quite giddy about being back on the water – it does put everything in perspective – and had to say yes to taking in part the Fastnet Race having been adamant I wouldn’t do it again! If you had asked me 12 months ago if I would be doing this then I couldn’t have dreamt it, getting reinvolved has sparked me up again, into a happy place!
3 hours sleep in 2 days has me broken, but a fantastic sail to St Malo and back with RORC winning our class! Good times, banter and champagne conditions on the mighty Desperado
The rest of the month flew by after the sailing – a Sunday spent learning about sea survival and clambering in and out of life rafts (including jumping into a swimming pool multiple times which I have (had) an abject fear of)…. Mr P had the car which meant that we had to the get the train home from Bursledon to Southampton, not a great fan of Sunday service but nice to sit in the sun (at possibly the only village station I know of that isn’t next to a pub)!
Anyone going yacht racing offshore should do their sea survival training – intense but lots to learn splashing about in a pool fully clothed with life jackets on!
Kelly at Around the World in 80 Pairs of Shoes arranged for us to have a lovely Claridges afternoon tea – a full afternoon of nattering while the rain poured down outside! I have to say – having not been for tea in about 6 months, it really was rather lovely! And Claridges were very good at making sure our meals were still lovely despite our allergies! The cakes were great, of course, but the sandwiches – they really were very tasty indeed.
“Tricky” afternoon for bloggers taking tea and trying the dairyfree and glutenfree options
The Americas Cup came to town. Having seen the boats warming up in the Solent last week we were pretty excited about seeing the action. On the saturday we listened in from home as Ben Ainslie Racing (the new British team) got a 1st and a 2nd – what a great start to the #bringthecuphome campaign. We had tickets for the Sunday and had a great day out – albeit with no sailing to watch. Getting the train over to Portsmouth our whole carriage was full of sailing friends, clad in full waterproofs given the monsoonal conditions – thank goodness we are a hardy bunch! Rarely have I seen so much sailing waterproof gear being worn in one place – we just togged up at home like we were having another day on the water! If only the commute to London could be so much fun. When we arrived in Southsea the wind was too strong for the spectator area which was being evacuated… marquees were blowing away and a big TV screen had fallen over…. After the ‘evacuation’ the day still turned in to a great one, a relaxing lunch at the Jolly Sailor and good times catching up with friends.
Too windy for sailing (and the spectator park kind of blew away) but Land Rover BAR won the first event of the Americas Cup World Series
Summer finally came back by the end of the month (for how long it is unclear…). Garden furniture is out again and happily the nice weather coincides with a BBQ evening! Hello weekend:
The weekend has arrived – at 5.50pm (decadently early)
And so we race into August – 2 weeks of sailing to look forward to, first Cowes week and then the Fastnet Race. Let’s hope the sunshine and breeze stay!
I’ve really missed a trick not going to the Claridges tea from the sounds of things! Just went to a lovely one at the Intercontinental recently though so might have to wait a while before another one!
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There is just so much choice in London – I agree though, can’t go to often (especially in the summer)
What an incredible month! That cheeky beer sounds well worth it!
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A perk from working at home on a friday, busy month – August will no doubt beat it!
Congratulations on the yacht racing, sounds like a lot of fun and your Vienna trip must have been brilliant
Suze | LuxuryColumnist
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Thanks Suze – a real mixture of a month, Vienna is just gorgeous!