Liverpool :: The Pool of Life

I have mentioned before that Liverpool is my favourite city, and my friends have been on at me to take them and show them. I finally got around to organising this for the weekend before Christmas this year.

We stayed by the docks in an Air BnB, and despite the weather forecast of heavy rain for the entire weekend, Liverpool gave us a wonderful weekend of blue skies and sunshine (love temperatures but it was December!). We joined a 'free' walking tour which was a good move as our guide took us on a short but interesting tour of the town centre entertaining us with tales of the history and comparing the city to what it used to be like when I begun university to how great it is now.

We also squeezed in a quick look in at the central library, which had also had a facelift, and was a beautiful space. If only there was a public library space like this in London!

Finally, we spent the slightly less sunny day in the city museums; Maritime/International Slavery museums and the Museum of Liverpool. The Slavery and Maritime Museums were exceptionally interesting and were so full we were not able to get through all of the exhibits. We whizzed around the Museum of Liverpool, which was slightly more of a let down, quite a number of the exhibition spaces were closed and we ended up spending more time in the cafe (which was good!)

Liverpool still has it for me, it's still a wonderful place to visit, full of friendly and welcoming people. It's big enough to be a city full of places to see, things to do, restaurants and bars but not quite as overwhelmingly big as London. I'm not about to turn my back on the capital and still love living in Canada Water, but I've definitely left a piece of my heart in Liverpool and can't wait to visit again in the future.

Autumn in Geneva

I live in a shared house, with three other girls. One of the rooms has had 4 different occupants since I moved in. When Johanna left, to take a job overseas, we lost a great housemate. But it did mean we gained a friend overseas to visit! We headed over to see her in Genève just as Autumn hit full foliage, and had a wonderful time exploring the city and have a good old catch up. 

We ate lots of cheese, made an impromptu visit to the UN and took in a view of the city from one of the surrounding mountains that are technically in France. 

In the end, all your need for a an enjoyable time is good company.

p.s. I like my burgundy passport but neither a red or blue one has any control over my identity.

Geneva 2017 from Ruthie Rolo on Vimeo.

Wanderings Lately :: November

Right, so November (and October) now feel like a distant memory as we approach the end of December and the beginning of a new year. But I still want to remember what each month held, so to reminisce over last month these were my wanderings in November.

Social Drinks 

We had a supposedly small after match drinks gathering with our full netball club, which turned into multiple bottles of prosecco and a telling off from the bar manager just after the end of October. For fireworks night, we headed over to Southwark Park once again and I had my first mulled wine of the season. Good times with lovely housemates!

Scotland

I spent a week in Scotland, on a pre-organised tour with Contiki tours. I hope to get another post out all about my experience here, but here are a few highlights; Starting in a return to Edinburgh, a whistle stop journey around the Highlands and a couple of nights in Glasgow I had my two best experiences in the start and end cities and met a some great people along the way to share the bus ride through the beautiful scenery.

Job Changes

At the very end of November I had my final day working at AIFS. I was sad to leave, and had a lovely last day with work colleagues and friends. Now I've started at my new job, and so far am enjoying everything about the new challenge. I finished the role on a Wednesday and began the new position the following Wednesday which was actually a really great way to go, as one week marked the ending of one chapter, with a nice space in between beginning of the next one. 

Christmas Prep

Blitzen, my newest Christmas decoration, made his way to my London house, through a tube ride, a backie on my bike until finally taking his place at the bottom of our stairs. On my first day off between jobs, I headed to Kensington for lunch with a friend and started getting more in the festive mood as I passed the restaurant above. Christmas was well and truly on the way from the beginning of December!

Wanderings Lately :: September

Today I had a mammoth day of cleaning my house. It felt like a good time because for the following 4 weekends of October I'll be either away or have friends visiting. So I won't really get a proper chance to do anything so boring and adult like hoovering or properly scrubbing the corners of the bath with an old toothbrush for about a month. It was pretty much like a spring clean, but for autumn. Today was a lovely autumn day, fairly sunny, slightly crisp but warm. I ventured out from my cleaning to pop to the shops and cycled the long way through the park to take in the fallen leaves and orange foliage. This September had some ups and downs and has shown itself as a transition month. I graduated right at the beginning, moved fully into the next stage of planning at work (which involves planting your mind firmly in 2018) and Strictly came back on our screens much to my delight!

Here's a little look back:

Plants

My bathroom plant finally gave up on me after our holiday in Cornwall and where it had always come back to life when I'd neglected it before this time there was no saving it. 

So now I've done my season changing clean up, and I've replaced the windowsill plant and added a little succulent to the room as well. Trying to bring some of nature in!

Healthy

I met my friend Macey in Oxford Street to check out the Deliciously Ella cafe, on the morning of my graduation. The food was really yummy, particularly the brownie (not pictured!) but boy was it expensive! One other minor gripe... I was early and therefore decided to order a coffee to sit with and read my book whilst I waited for May. As this is a vegan cafe, I was very surprised when I ordered my usual soy latte only to be told they don't have soya milk. I could choose from almond, coconut or oat. I went with almond but this didn't really work in the coffee and it was a bit separated and not enjoyable (and cost me £3.50 for a privilege...) I really can't understand why they wouldn't stock soy which is a staple in all other coffee shops and really think it would improve the taste of the drinks if they did!

I am now officially a UCL Institute of Education masters graduate! I wasn't too bothered about the ceremony beforehand but it was actually a really nice experience and inspiring so I am glad that I attended.

Zero Waste Update

Slowly, slowly I'm replacing things from plastic to more sustainable options when they run out. This month I ordered some silk floss, a wooden dish brush, a metal 'safety' razor and shaving gel in a metal tin. My bathroom is really moving towards minimal waste, which is really encouraging!

Friends

My housemates and I took advantage of a lovely sunny warm September Sunday and spend the afternoon in Greenwich park, playing card games and throwing a ball about which was so wonderful. London really is a great place when the sun is shining, and there are so many parks and green spaces to spend time in. 

The same weekend I also went to Battersea Park, with my friend Polly (from work) to check out Go Ape. We had a great time swinging around through the trees and making our wobbly way across the treetop walkways. I'm really looking forward to going again soon, and next time I will try not to get stuck on the zipwire!

Open House London

For Open House this year I managed to book tickets for a walking tour at Bethlem Museum & Priory on the Saturday and a tour of the House of St Barnabas on the Sunday. Both were really interesting and unusual places to see inside. The House of St Barnabas is such a good cause and set up in a way that is quite unusual. It's a private members club, based on Soho Square but all the proceeds go into the employment academy on the top floors of the building which helps homeless people back into work. The history of the building was very interesting too.

In Bethlem, we were also able to pick up some apples (probably too many) and take them home. So far I've made an apple crumble and the apple cake, and I still have loads left. Going to make ANOTHER crumble tonight!

Netball

I attended my first CSSC Games with my netball team in Loughborough. It was tough and we only won one game but I really enjoyed paying multiple matches and indoors. We took the train on Thursday night after work from St Pancras, stayed overnight in student halls (very glad I'm done with that!) and then headed home after our matches and dinner on the Friday. 

::Welcome to Autumn, what you are most looking forward to this season? ::