Andrea goes exploring again!

Unfortunately I have been unable to keep my run of blog posts going as when I woke up yesterday I discovered I’ve got vertigo which makes typing just a little challenging (not just typing actually…). Not exactly the way I wanted to end my career break, but well, not a lot I could do to stop it so I guess it’s just a case of rolling with it (and boy does it make me feel like I’m rolling!). I’ve managed to find a strange semi supine position that enables me to see the screen without everything going haywire to write this, but it’s not doing much for my headache so this post may be a little shorter than I’d originally thought it would be! The post that I’d been planning for yesterday was my review of the goals that I’d set myself at the beginning of my career break, so I’ve decided to do that today instead and in a way it’s quite a good post for the last day. Assuming I am OK tomorrow, I’ll shift today’s planned post back a day and when you see it, in a way that will be a good fit too...

So if you hadn’t guessed, in these last few days I’m aiming for a blog post every day! I’ve been thinking about the things I want to cover and for today’s post there were two different topics I couldn’t decide between writing about. The first is how I’m feeling about being back and the return to London, work and the life I lived before my career break and the second is the quotes I’ve heard throughout the year that have resonated with me. However, when I reviewed the latter, I realised that actually many of them are relevant to the former and so I decided to do a weird amalgam of the two. Whilst I was away I listened to a lot of podcasts, for which a favourite of mine has always been Desert Island Discs, if only to listen to Kirsty Young’s dulcet tones. One of the things I’ve decided to do more of is listening to the radio rather than automatically putting the TV on. I must admit that I’m not doing so very well at this one but I will persist (although I won’t stop my TV viewing...

As I may have mentioned once or twice, I'm a great lover of Haribo. On my travels I decided to explore further Haribo's happy world and discover the experiences of this wonderful sugary treat that others have. I had two criteria when making my selection: firstly, I couldn't have tried them previously in the UK. That's not to say you can't get them in the UK, just that I'd not tried them. Secondly, I couldn't buy the same variety twice. I promised that I would let you know all the different varieties I had whilst travelling and so this post will be dedicated to Haribo: The Champion of Chewy Sweets!  EASTERN EUROPE Budapest Tokarosvert I was obviously so desparate to eat these I forgot to photograph them first! Gyor Veszprem Heviz Keszthely Bratislava These were delicious Debrecen These were awful! Club Napoca These were quite bland but did an excellent job of sticking my teeth together! Sibiu Sighisoara These were probably th...

This time next week I’ll have done my first day back at work. It feels a little strange and I’ve been playing the lottery manically for the last few weeks in an attempt to not have to go back! And yes, I do realise that probably isn’t the best strategy… A week ago I moved into my new flat. I’m still doing stuff to make it feel like mine, which of course is always a challenge in a rental. I’m feeling quite a home here but the Landlord’s curtains are crying out to be replaced by mine and so now I have my sewing machine here this is a work in progress as mine needed altering to fit the windows and I’m super happy to have my bedroom curtains up tonight (my green taffeta are sooooo much nicer than the grey unidentifiable material ones that are currently there!). Having all my things around me brings back memories of hostels and how very different the travelling life is to routine life. As I’ve mentioned previously there are a number of things I really wished that hostel owners would do ...