Morning Wander in Grenoble

We arrived to Grenoble just after midnight, so on Monday morning.
Neither of us was able enough or interested in doing anything else as soon we reached the hotel room and saw the fresh, crispy white bed. There is no bed I like more than the hotel bed. Or the one in parents house. My mum is always the best in making those beds super comfortable, cool and warm enough at the same time and crispy, as if she is putting freshly bought linen every time I come to see them.

We woke up early, despite being very tired from the entire day of driving and visiting few cities in Spain, and first thing I saw in the window, as I put my head up, was this:

Something you don't get to see very often. I have always loved mountains and clouds.
We jumped in the shower, made few calls to my network provider, as my phone would work in any other country, but refuse to work in France, and after this was sorted, we checked out of the hotel and went to get some brunch.

Going through the streets of Grenoble, we spotted a friendly cafe/pub with locals having their food outside. It is always a good sign and so we went in.

Tiny tiny herb filled ravioli parcels in a cheese sauce

Despite I went for simple ravioli, those were the best ones I had in a very long time, almost as good as the ones at Ginos, Spain.

Meal was so good and satisfying, I was feeling the taste in my mouth looong time after we left the cafe and went for a wander in the town. It was lunch time, so many locals were out eating and running their errands.
After a while, it was time to escape to that mountain we kept eyeing since the last night.
We went up by car and the incline was so steep, that my legs started to shake..

The view from above was well worth it, when we reached the top.

Hidden, there layed the fort as well, with the funicular going back to town. A long way down.

The funicular, which we didnt go on...

Definitely coming back soon.

After we spent sometime on the top of the highest mountain there and enjoying the amazing view, it was time to head to Hamburg.

More about our journey to Germany in the next post.

Tale of few cities (Tres Cantos)

It all started last week, when my Mr. decided it would be good we visit Spain. It sounds good, but the plan had a little twist - we drive to Spain from UK, spend a week there, and then we drive to Hamburg for a day or two and back home.
Sounds exciting.

We took off at 3am on Sunday morning, to reach Eurostar train on time  (6:21am). Had our breakfast there, and in 45 minutes we reached Calais.

From there it was just driving non-stop. Or with a few stops to see some interesting bits, like the Bordeaux region in France...

Lavender here is huge, bushes are up to my breast and very fat blossoms...

As we approached the middle of France, it started to become quite unbearably hot (+32 - +34). Aircon was there to help.
As you stop and come out of the car to view the surrounding, and take some photos, the hot air would just wrap you up and stay like that, not wind, nothing, but surprisingly, it didnt feel bad, like it does in a more humid climate.

Or the beach on the French-Spanish border...with the most amazing gelato. Think of this: lovely creamy soft vanilla ice-cream, with chunks of soft meringue, caramel, marshmallow and a dash of liqueur. Heaven on Earth that was.

We had a short walk on the beach, watched the ocean and some yachts in a harbor and went on, to continue our journey.

To keep us focused while driving, now and then we would switch on the eBook.

After we crossed Spanish border and entered the mountain zone, the heaven changed to bright yellow/orangey colour and it started to pour with rain, like we have never seen it before! Many lightnings would come up just in front of us, between two mountains ahead, as we continued driving.

Just before the heavens opened

Later on, on the road, in the dark, we noticed a completely smashed car, resting on the small motorway fence, we stopped our car immediately, and went to see if we can help. Thank God, both girl and a guy were fine and not hurt, but the car - was a write off. They are locals and according to what they said, it rains like that very often, so they are used to the weather conditions and have been going quite fast... Car slipped and ended up impaled on a fence, after smashing about 40 meters of the fence.
We helped to install the triangle sign, waited until police and father of the guy arrived, and continued our journey.

It was "only" 5 hours left to drive... As night approached, we started to get more and more tired, and to be honest, I just wanted to stop somewhere on the side and have a 20 minutes snooze, as we started to feel zombie like.

My dinner (you can see we are in Spain already, as the omelet is present ;) )

But I wouldnt fall asleep, as Mr. had to drive and he also wasnt doing well at all. The last 1 and a half hour before we arrived  to our hotel was a pure torture... when we do this next time, we will make sure to break the journey in half and have some sleep somewhere in between.

Finally, soft cushions and amazingly soft bed were awaiting for us at about 1:47am of Monday, UK time...Zzzzzzz..


Until tomorrow.

County Boundary and Boris

   I woke up today and since the very morning the weather was amazing - felt like spring is here, plus 13 outside and sun, sun sun all around! Weather decided to make sure everyone knows that its 1st of March today!
   We had a slow breakfast in the sun in the living room, with wide opened windows and fresh fruits and went off one to play, the other one to catch up online with the lecture I missed out early this morning on.

   Once it was done, it was time to go out and explore - Mr. A decided to pick a new location himself today. So I just went with it. And we ended up in the surroundings of Yateley.  A cozy little village and the one which has a point where two counties meet each other...

    We abandoned the car and off we went. Through the woods and along the fresh stream...

   Across the bridge into the  enchanted early spring forest.

   Sun was so bright, that it was a fist day I have officially taken my sunglasses from their shelf again. Which I am not wearing on the photo below :) 

   Pink blossom is always the sign it is spring and the frost and cold, wet weather has left back where it came from. 

   We have also made a new friend, called Boris. If you are wondering where I know his name from, I found that out after exploring many of his tokens on the collar, one of which said: "Please, dont feed Boris". He was very cute and friendly, we left him lazily stretching in the sun and proceeded to explore the neighborhood further.

   Everytime I see the pink blossom tree, I remind myself how much I want to buy a house one day and I will have that tree by the entrance to put a smile on every passer by and my future visitors. 

   We tried to understand how deep the river was by the ruler below, but couldnt work it out. If someone knows how to do it, please, tell.

   Passed by the daffodil house, which looks a bit American and is very pretty...

   River, which separates the huge wedding venue on one side and the walking path through the woods on the other...

   And we finished our walk with some small village, looking like it just came off the movie set about Red Indians. With the smoke signals and horses all around...

   And last, but not least - as soon as we got home, I just had to have some runny boiled eggs. Which are my absolute favourite :-P

    I hope you all had a chance to go and spend some time outside in the sun for the first (day) of March!
Until then x

Winter Forest Cake

Hello, my friends,

   I spent my Christmas with my boyfriend's family and, obviously, I wanted to add some RUssian touch to it and also let them try something not so typical (in echange I would get to it typical British Christmas traditional food and sweets).
   As I was ill, I didnt get much preparation done, so couple of hours before hitting the road for the 3 hour journey down South, I got few ingredients from the shop and got to baking. The cake itself is so quickly and easily made, that I think even the kid will be able to prepare it :)

Ummm..Yumm...Yummm....

So, to make this amazing piece of yummy cake,