Working Vacation??? Or for keeps???

Well hello there Fiona…welcome back to the world of blogging. So yes I know what you are thinking…where has Fiona been? Where are my updates? Has The Netherlands swallowed up Fiona? Or has she been run over by a giant wheel of cheese? Or has she fallen into a canal? Well ‘none of the above’ is the choice to make here.

I am waking up on my last day in Cardiff, Wales. I have been at the hotel here for sixteen nights, longer than I had been in The Hague!! So I have had the feeling of being on a working vacation; as if it hasn’t been real and I will be heading back to Bridgewater some time soon. Part of the unsettlement is that my stuff has yet to arrive from Nova Scotia and I living with a lamp and a bed and a pot in my flat in The Hague. I feel as if I am just passing by and waiting for the ‘real’ think to happen.

I have really enjoyed getting to know and hang out with my Hague family. The four of us newbies have been dining together for the past two and half weeks and sharing a laugh and an entertaining cab drive each morning and evening. We have discussed the fact that we would make a kick butt trivia team – sports, literature, science and random stuff ().

I cannot remember the last time that I have slept in and I was soooo looking forward to doing just that this morning…but no way…I was up at six am and watched the sun creep over the Welsh countryside. I am watching the weekly reruns of Coronation Street on TV and realized that I actually had some time to write a blog. It has not been the case of Cardiff not being exciting enough to write about, but a case of not having the time. For all of you Canadian Corrie fans…I can update you if you wish!!

So a bit about my time in Cardiff….I am staying on the executive floor of the Hilton and have a lovely view of Cardiff Castle. The castle is light up at night and a brilliant sight. Today it is in full preparation for the Welsh Cheese Festival, I stand corrected I have just googled the festival and have found out that it is the Great British Cheese Festival more impressive than I thought. I cannot wait to try the Oggy Oggy Pastry Co. I will have to report about the festival when I get back to The Hague; and when I get internet at my place

We have had some lovely eating adventures in Cardiff…all you can eat breakfast buffets which have been fab. However, I would not recommend ordering soft boiled eggs; I would imagine that just about anyone would know that a 25 minute boiled egg does not translate to a soft boiled egg!! I sat at the table with Sean and Jenny and my toasted soldiers (toast fingers) wanted earnestly for my soft and runny boiled eggs. I also sat at the table watching my toast grow colder and colder by the minute. That has always been one of my pet peeves about breakfast in UK. At many B&Bs and hotels, the toast is served so cold that you have no idea when it was toasted...perhaps in the last century. This is one sure fire way to disguise stale bread!! But back to my longing for my soft boiled egg…I sat patiently and tried to replace my yearning with a bowl of porridge, but I still had that hunger for runny yolks. The chef finally came to my table with two steaming hot eggs nestled in their cute little egg cups. My mouth was salivating in anticipation of my egg dipped toast fingers. I knocked off the top of the egg and surprise surprise no runny yolk. Instead my soft yellow yolk had been replaced with a chalky dry yellow blob. I know that I should have cleaned my plate, but I could only manage one egg.

We have also managed to eat had some fabulous restaurants for supper. We have mostly stuck to Italian – Bellini’s (for pasta and pizza), Jamie’s Italian (pasta and lousy tiramisu) and Positanos (for risotto, pasta and free drinks (another story)). We also had a fabulous Indian meal that kept me full for three days!! At the Spice Merchant we ate and ate and laughed and laughed and ate some more – Kingfisher beer, Chana Piaza, Naan and Vegetable Bhuna. The food was fantastic.

I just got my wake up call, although I have been awake for a while now. Arranging an alarm had been quite the task at the hotel. There is indeed an alarm clock that is quite easy to set…but the alarm clock is locating across the room…I mean who puts an alarm clock eight feet from the bed, unless of course the plan was so you actually woke up. Well if that was the case it did work, but I also stubbed my toe and cursed under my breathe each morning. I then tried the automatic phone wake up call thing, which worked in theory however things went awry when I pressed snooze so many times the phone went crazy and rang every minute. Ok, Ok, I am up!!

The job is very different from teaching and I am missing teaching chemistry and being in the classroom. I have been spending a lot of time in front of the computer and sitting. But I am enjoying the switch and using some of my other talents.

Have to run and pack for my return home – to The Hague. My mother arrived in Amsterdam yesterday and is loose in the city today…hopefully she stays away from the ‘coffee shops’ and manages not to get lost!!

Will have lots of more blogging to do once I am back in The Hague. I also have to blog about my time in London and my butterfly party!!