I want to learn balboa...Quick! Quick!

Balboa, I will dominate you, and make you MINE!!!

For the past year I have been saying that I want to learn balboa, but every week, when Wednesday night came around, I was always too tired and lazy after work, and then over the winter months it was too cold for me to brave the snow and minus degree temperatures, especially when my bed was so comfy...

Then I told myself that during my three month trip to San Francisco, I would have no excuses, and that I would take the opportunity to come back to London with a new dance under my belt...

FAIL.

Now I'm back in London, the weather is great, I'm currently unemployed and I have no excuses. So last night I finally made it to The Quick! Quick! Club for my second ever balboa lesson, and I loved it!


The Quick! Quick! Club takes place every Wednesday night at Peter Parker's Rock 'n' Roll Club, located on Denmark Street in Central London. A little trivia for you - this club was, in a previous life, the Regent Sound Studios, where The Rolling Stones recorded their first album and The Kinks recorded 'You Really Got Me'. Wicked.

There is both a basics and an improvers class with a dance freestyle afterwards that goes on until midnight. The classes are taught by the very stylish Paul Crook and Natasha Hall, who teach the moves in a clear and comfortable manner. The atmosphere is really relaxed, and the bar itself, although small, is spacious enough - in fact, a small club such as this demonstrates the effectiveness of a dance style with a close embrace. Additionally, there are old movies projected on to the walls, to entertain you if you're taking a break from the dancing.


I love how smooth and subtle this dance looks and I enjoy watching people alternating between swing or lindy and balboa in the course of a song. It looks so stylish, and helpfully, provides an opportunity for a little breather during the faster numbers...which I would love, given that I normally end up a sweaty mess when I'm out dancing!


Now that I have started up with the classes, I am determined to stick to it and master this dance! It can be a bit frustrating, because I always want to be good at things straight away, but this is going to take some practice. The added incentive is that my boyfriend can dance balboa already, so hopefully we will be able to dance it together soon...

I'll keep you updated on my progress, but until then, here's a clip of Paul and Natasha dancing at Southbank:

Swing dance picnic!

This past warm and sunny Sunday was the perfect day for a swing dance picnic in Regent's Park, so armed with a blanket, a bottle of cider and two boxes of strawberries, I headed over to the park to dance the day away next to the boating lake.


Coincidentally a few of my non-dancer girlfriends were also going on a picnic in Regent's Park that afternoon, and so we all met up, which was great because I got my girly gossip fix, as well as my dance fix!


There was a good turn out, and as well as dancing, we were all treated to a ukelele sing-a-long to Sweet Georgia Brown which was super fun!




After the sounds of uke, everyone took part in a riddle word quiz before learning a group folk dance, both of which were a little confusing at first...but we got the hang of it in the end, and had a lot of laughs along the way!

I love al fresco dancing, and it's wonderful that it stays light until around 10pm, so you don't feel like you are hanging around a park at night like a teenager who isn't old enough to go to an actual club...




Whilst it is a little tricky cutting some rug when you're on grass, the area that we were using was kind of dry and flattened which made it a bit easier. It did however, mean that a lot of dusty, dry soil was floating about, which made my feet sooooooo dirty!


I finally left the park at around 7.30pm so that I could get home in time to catch the end of the World Cup final. Numbers had dwindled by this point, as a lot of people went to watch the match, or for whatever other reasons, but there were still quite a few people, who, I heard, kept on dancing until around 9pm.


I decided that as it was such a nice evening I would walk a part of the way home. In the end though, a combination of a) wanting to take the opportunity to burn some extra calories and b) just missing my bus by seconds, meant that I decided to walk all the way home from the park. It took me around 1 hour and 25 minutes and it was really pleasant, but I did end up with a HUGE blister on my heel (despite wearing my comfy, granny-style orthopaedic sandals), which made it painful trying to walk the next day...

The swing dance picnic is taking place in Regent's Park one Sunday a month over the summer (I wish it was twice a month!) and weather permitting, I will definitely be back next month!

Mother-Daughter Magyar Nyár

It's been a little while since my last blog entry, because I have been away on holiday in Hungary where I did not have access to wireless internet. I was only really able to quickly go online once a day, and whilst I was at the Balaton, not at all. This sporadic access to my gmail and facebook was kind of torturous, and has highlighted to me just how reliant I am upon being able to freely surf the interwebs. A friend of mine pointed out that it was like I had gone to rehab for 10 days....except it didn't cure me - I am still addicted.

So anyway, I'm back in London now, and I'm ready to start my post-holiday diet and job search! (Note the use of exclamation mark in order to sound upbeat, when in this case, it is in fact equal to 'sigh'). But first, more about my hols...


I used to go to Hungary every summer throughout my childhood and for the majority of my teenage years (I'm half Hungarian), but prior to this trip it had been around 9 years since I was last there. I love Hungary in the summer because it gets HOT (over 30c), and I can prove this with the super tan I have come back with!


Now, down to one of the most important matters: delicious food. Ahead of the trip, I had said to myself, these are the things I want to eat during my stay:

1) Meggyes rétes (sour cherry strudel)
2) Lángos (a type of deep fried doughy bread that you can cover with garlic, sour cream and cheese)
3) Pogácsa (a savoury puff pastry scone)
4) Túró Rudi (a chocolate bar filled with soft cheese that is kind of like a cross between quark and cottage cheese - it is used in many sweet dessert type dishes).

I can safely say, that I ate all of these things at least once, although I developed a slight pogácsa addiction, and ended up eating them nearly every day...


It was great being back after all this time, although it was quite frustrating that whilst I could understand most things, my spoken Hungarian had become a little rusty. After a few days though, I got back into the swing of things and it became a lot easier to have a conversation, except, unfortunately, my sarcasm gets lost in translation. Those that know me will understand how it pains me not to be able to chat freely with unlimited humorous interjections about....well, everything.

My amazing mum treated me to this holiday, and we stayed at my cousin's house in Budapest for the majority of the time, but then also went down to the lake Balaton for a couple of days. I pretty much spent both days at Balatongyörök in my bikini reading on the balcony, and at night we played scrabble. It was lovely and relaxing, although, there was no internet at the house, and as previously mentioned, it nearly drove me insane!


On the last morning by the lake, I woke up at around 5am, and watched the most beautiful sunrise, from a rocking chair on the balcony - it was so breathtaking, and definitely worth abandoning sleep for...




The architecture is so beautiful in Budapest that I ended up taking hundreds of photos of buildings. The Szent István Bazilika is the largest church in Hungary and it is absolutely spectacular. It was also the setting for one of the funniest moments of the trip. My mum was walking around inside the church and had just knelt down on a prayer bench when her phone started to ring with the Dom Joly ringtone. It took all my strength to keep from laughing too loud, and I just kept hoping for a live 'Trigger Happy TV' reenactment, where my mum would answer the phone and shout "HELLO? I'M IN A CHURCH....A CHURCH....YEAH, I'M PRAYING!....NO, IT'S RUBBISH! CIAO!"






My last full day in Budapest was spent at the Széchenyi fürdő which is a beautiful spa with outdoor baths. It was wonderful to spend the whole day relaxing in the sunshine, alternating between laying out in the sun, and hopping between the hot bath, the cooler bath (which has jacuzzi jets at various points) and the swimming pool.


One of the baths has two circular sections in the middle of it, which people can sit on the edge of. On the very inside of the circle is a jacuzzi and between the inner circle and the outer circle the water is like a whirlpool that drags you around! So fun! Adults and kids alike went into the whirpool thingy and as funny as it was being pulled around by the force of the water it was even funnier watching people bumping into each other and squealing as they grabbed onto the wall trying to stop themselves being swept around!


Other memorable moments from this holiday included:

Going swing dancing on the Europa boat, as the sun was setting, and into the night, with two floors of freestyle dancing, as well as numerous dance performances....




A trip to an all-you-can-eat buffet (this included all-you-can-drink champers) for my mum's birthday, where, at the end, they brought her out a cake which had the mother of all sparklers in it (this thing was practically a firework) and she was really surprised!






Wandering around the city, taking in all the sights...








Eating numerous ices creams, which included flavours such as mango, caramel, apple, coconut, apricot...


This was a fab holiday, and it was great getting to spend time with my mum after being away in San Francisco for three months. I saw so many beautiful places and took sooooo many photos on this holiday that I have come away with lots of wonderful memories...

London is bloomin' beautiful (hula hey)!

When I got back home last week, one of the first things I noticed was how green and colourful everything is in London at the moment. I love how beautiful the parks and gardens look when everything is in bloom. The trees are all really leafy green, with bursts of colour from fruits and flowers all over the place.






My garden is looking gorgeous, and it is brilliant to be able to sit out in the sunshine with an ice cream or a glass of champagne, taking in the surroundings.










In between sitting around though, there's also hula hooping, which I love! I can literally stand around, hula hooping for hours, and I am pretty good at not dropping the hoop. I am also gradually building up more skills too, like being able to spin in a full circle whilst keeping the hoop going!


I bought my hula hoop last summer, and it's awesome because it is made up of multiple pieces which slot into each other, making it easier to transport or store.

Now I keep thinking of that hula song in Dirty Dancing that the sister, Lisa, sings at her audition for the final Kellerman's talent show...

I've come home....unfortunately, the football hasn't...

I have been back in London for a week now, and I have to say, it has been amazing coming home to such beautiful hot weather!

Getting back whilst the World Cup is in full swing, meant that I also came home to a refreshing show of patriotism, with a sea of England flags adorning cars, homes, shops, bars and restaurants. I can't remember having seen so many St George's Crosses up, even in previous tournaments, and honestly I have enjoyed the show of support and pride for our country. Americans always seem to display a strong sense of unity, with what appears to be an imbedded patriotic gene present in all US nationals, but I feel as though it has become almost controversial to wave an English flag, with many people projecting a clear lack of faith in everything and everyone representing England, right from the start. With that sort of attitude, how can we be a unified country that thrives?


With that said, I went to watch the England vs. Germany match on Sunday, after a cocktail tasting at Dim Sum bar, The Drunken Monkey, in Shoreditch. A yummy selection of expertly made mojitos, margaritas and cosmopolitans (not to mention, the most delicious little fried chicken wings, ribs and chicken noodles) put us in good spirits ahead of the match, although everyone was already pretty smiley and happy on what was the hottest day of the year so far.




Unfortunately, we lost. The game was so exciting, frustrating and catastrophic that the only thing left to do was enjoy the rest of the sunshine and head to Hoxton Square, where we pooled our minimal resources and indulged in an afternoon of bubble-blowing and outdoor drinking, with a selection of Strongbow and Diamond White cider. Classy.




I was totally sprung by the bouncer at Hoxton Bar and Grill for going in to use their loos twice, although, rather than chastise me for using their facilities sneakily as a non-paying customer, he simply wanted me to 'admit' that, that was what I was doing. So I 'fessed up, and asked him if he would prefer the alternative of me peeing my pants in the park (he wouldn't).




After lazing in the sun, drinking our cider, and spending a fair amount of time watching a small child try (and fail) to blow bubbles with our bubble-blower, I jumped on the tube and headed to Archway to dance to some 1950s rock'n'roll at Hell Kittie Kittie.


This club night is held on the last Sunday of every month, at the Dusk Til Dawn tiki bar and runs from 7pm until around 2-3am. For a fiver, you gain entry, as well as a Sailor Jerry cocktail, and the great thing about this venue (especially in the summer) is that if you work up a sweat dancing, then you can cool off outside at the pub's large array of bench tables.


It was a little quiet this Sunday, but I still had fun and caught up with some friends, and, it was my first time out dancing since I've been back in London!

My journey home was powered by two nightbuses - one did not have many passengers and the other was completely empty, (apart from me and the driver) meaning that it was super speedy as we bypassed all the bus stops! Whoooooooooooooosssssshhhhhhh!

Next plane to London...

Yes, let it be known, that I have now joined the ranks of being that person who is given no choice but to open up her suitcase in the middle of the airport, in front of everyone at the check-in line, to remove items due to exceeding the luggage weight restrictions.

Sigh.

Having queued in a ridiculous line for an hour just to check my bag, hearing that my suitcase - bursting at the seams - was 7lbs over the weight limit, was not something I was prepared for. Plus the fee for a fat bag is $150. So with little time to spare, I took my suitcase to the side, and proceeded to umm and ahh over which pieces of clothing I was least attached to. Talk about airing my dirty laundry in public...


After my initial panic, I chucked a few basic items in the bin, but decided I could not part with most of my stuff, so began layering up my clothes, like a snowman. To say that my mismatched layers of clothing felt rather warm is an understatement - to say that said 'outfit' made me look slightly retarded, is not. Even so, when boarding the plane, I was complimented on my "eclectic style" by one of the other passengers...

So the rest of my flight pretty much cancelled out all of the good karma that I had with upgrades at the beginning of my trip. The entertainment system and tv screen for my seat did not work (yes, that's 10 hours without movies), they had run out of meal choices by the time they got to me, (which I suppose is incidental, given that even if I had been able to have something other than chicken, all the options would have been pretty crappy anyway), and the turbulence was really bad - thanks a lot, United Airlines. I couldn't help but think that this journey was a sign that I should have stayed in San Francisco...


Once back in Blighty, getting on the Underground with my luggage in tow, it felt like I had never been away. I was eager to get home quickly to catch the England vs. Slovenia football match, so I fit right back in with the rush, rush, hurry, hurry mentality on the Tube. When I made it back to sunny Kilburn I took a cab home, and got to hear England's winning goal on my cabbie's radio...