A reader’s travel diary 2

So last week I travelled to Romania. I wanted to write another travelling/reading diary, but the weather in England decided to get HOT right when I had to travel, so it was hard for to concentrate on anything. If you have carsickness you know that the heat only makes it worse.

I think I only wrote like two notes, so it’s gonna be a short one, but here it goes:

As usual I left things for the last minute, so I’m in a rush. I decided to wear my maxi blue dress, and I feel like I’m travelling in style. My luggage is quite heavy, but I manage to get to the bus stop without any incidents. It’s blazing hot, so I find some shadow. I’m thinking about reading, but the bus is gonna come in ten minutes , so there’s not much point in starting.

I’m waiting…and waiting…and waiting, but the bus doesn’t come. I start to be suspicious, so I doublecheck my ticket. Turns out I’m half an hour early to the bus. GREAT! So typical of me. :))

So, it makes sense to start reading now. As I’ve said in my previous post, I didn’t take Game of Thrones with me, so I start looking for something to read on the Kindle. The first book I check out is a business book. Not gonna happen, it’s too hot for that sort of stuff.

Next is a book called When women where warriors. Ok, that sounds light e enough. As I read the first chapter I decide it’s not a masterpiece, but it is enjoyable.

When the bus finally arrives, I get settled and I don’t go back to reading straight away. I spend something like then minutes contemplating on the tattoo I would like. The people behind me are eating popcorn very loudly. I’m not good with eating sounds, they drive me crazy (uhm, I’ve read somewhere that it’s one of the telling signs of a genius :)) ), and I’m even worse with smells on a bus.

We get to Heathrow and I look for a less busy place where to sit. Thankfully it’s quite cool in the waiting room. Time to go back to my warrior ladies. They remind me a little bit by Xena, the warrior princess. :)) For a good while the story captures me, and I’m so deep into it, that I notice nothing of my surroundings except for a little bird looking for crumbs, that looks quite out of place indoors.

As time goes by, I start getting sleepy, so I give up reading and I start listening to the languages around me, trying to guess where they come from. As soon as I’m settled, I fall asleep, and I wake up in Luton. There are 3 hours until my flight takes off, and no places to sit, so I sit down on the floor in my blue dress. I go back to reading, to keep myself awake. Hey, I’m reading about female warriors, it’s no time to whine about tiredness. An hour and a half later, luggage is dropped in, security check over with, time for some last minute shopping from the duty free department and the I decide I definitely deserve to sit down and have a cold beer. The airport is crazy busy and crazy hot, it’s like a steamroom. I try going back to the book a few times, but it fails to engage me.

On the plane I read some more, I take a nap, I read some more. I’ve gotten to a point where the story is dragging out, but I think I will finish the book before landing. I wish the old lady next to me would stop fidgeting so much, it’s distracting me. Ok, maybe I’m moody. :))

When we land, I have only a few pages left, and I feel grateful for the cool breeze that’s welcoming me at the airport. Once again, I am home.

In full bloom

 

Guys, I started reading Game of Thrones, and it’s so, so good, I just wanna get lost in it. I think I will put it on hold in a couple of days, because I’m going home on holiday, where I plan to see many of my friends, and I’m afraid if I would be reading Game of Thrones, I would start cancelling my commitments. :)) So, I’ll look for something else to read while I’m there.

In the mean time, I wanna share this picture of a beautiful little flower. The picture was taken especially for me. ♥ Flowers make Summer rich in colours and smell, and right now, Summer is in full bloom! ♥

Isn’t it a lovely little thing?

And one of my favourite quotes to go with it:

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever.”
― Alfred Tennyson

xxx

Update: I’ve asked around and turns out this little one is called Hidcote. 🙂

Mentés

A short history of England, Ireland and Scotland -Mary Platt Parmele

Ha! I finished my history book sooner than I realised. History was always one of my favorite subjects. Even if I don’t believe everything that’s being taught in textbooks, I find it fascinating to learn how the story of humanity has unfolded.

England, Ireland and Scotland have a rich and entangled history. I’ve always been keen on learning about it, given my fascination with the culture on the island. I’ve read many books on the topic, most of them when I was living in Scotland. Obviously, the versions slightly differ depending on the country that’s telling the story.

However, the book itself was far from being objective. The author’s stand on the matter came across quite clearly. I can’t say it wasn’t informative, but I really didn’t like the style, which was hard to read, and pompous.

It does help to put into context the kings, major battles, religious and political currents. A few things don’t sound quite right though, like how she makes it sound that the English did a favor to the Indians by colonising them, and I particularly didn’t enjoy the last paragraph of the history of Scotland, but we’ll be tolerant and blame it on patriotism.

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. If you’re interested on the history of England, Ireland and Scotland, and if you are looking for the sort version, give it a try, but don’t forget to take into account the year it was published.(1895)

 

 

 

It’s the Euros, baby!

I didn’t do much reading lately, and the reason for that is that football is taking away a lot of my reading time. But come on, the Euros is on once in every four years, so it’s a major thing. Tonight the first semifinal is on, between Wales and Portugal. I think Portugal has been dissapointing so far, and it would be quite dramatic, if a small team like Wales would get through to the final. So, as far as I’m concerned ,tonight,  Come on Wales!

I’m also reading a history book currently, and I don’t often say about a book that it’s boring, but this one, well let’s just put it this way, it doesn’t read itself :)). My summer break is almost here (7 schooldays to go!!!), so there will be plenty of time for good books, good movies and frappes. ♥

In the mean time I’m gonna share a picture I found the other day. I found it on Facebook, unfortunately I don’t remember the page, but it definitely doesn’t belong to me.

 

So, this week, there’s still football going on, but after the final whistle of the final, I’m going back to reading. 😀