Around the World

April 2017 - January 2018
A 282-day adventure by Simon Read more
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  • Day 66

    Day 2 - Puno

    June 7, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Yesterday when I said I hoped the shower was hot, well it wasn't! So our day started with mucho friyo showers!

    We only had one full day in Puno before we head off to Cusco so we booked ourselves on to a couple of tours with our hostel. Our first tour was to the floating islands of Uros which are on Lake Titicaca. It took around 30 minutes on the boat to get to the floating islands during which our tour guide explained a bit about the islands and the people who live there. The islands are made entirely of reeds and the houses on the islands are made of reeds also.

    When we reached the island we had a very warm welcome from the families that live on the small island. We were given a demonstration of how the islands were made and they explained a little bit about their daily lives.

    Not only can you make islands, shelters and boats with the reeds, you can also eat them. It tasted a bit like soft celery. I don't think I will be rushing to eat any more reeds anytime soon.

    We were then invited to see the islanders home. A lovely lady called Marie who I reckon was around our age kindly welcomed us into her reed hut. She also encouraged us to dress up in some of her clothes which Simon found very entertaining! She was very sweet! We liked her so much, we felt obliged to buy one of her Incan tapestries that she made. Well we hope she made it anyway otherwise we were seriously conned out of £30. She was so pleased that we purchased it, we both got a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek!

    We then headed across to another island on the family's boat made entirely of reeds! But not before being seen off with some songs from the ladies. They even did a rendition of row row row your boat for the two English folk!

    We got back around 12:30pm and our next tour wasn't until 2pm so we ventured out to the market to look for some lunch. We stumbled across a stall where we sat and had some sandwiches and some fresh juice.

    Our afternoon tour took us to Sillustani, a pre Incan cemetery on the shores of lake Umayo, not far from Puno. The tombs are all at various stages of completion which enables you to see how they are created. In the largest tomb which is 12m high they found 35 mummified bodies, which included children. It was really interesting and we were able to walk around them and look inside.

    After visiting the tombs, we stopped for a delicious cup of Peruvian coffee and a Dairy Milk Caramel bar. The coffee has to be the most delicious cup of coffee we have had since entering South America.

    On the way back to Puno, we stopped at a farmers house to look around and learn about how the native people live. The native people only eat meat on special occasions such as a wedding or religious festival. They therefore get their protein from various types of quinoa which we were shown. We were also shown some other strange vegetables that grow in the area and belong to the potato family and then got to see try some of the food. The strangest thing we ate though was edible clay which is apparently very good for ulcers. You eat it by mixing the clay with water until it forms a paste and then dip a boiled potato in it. It didn't taste that bad as they add a lot of salt to the clay mixture so it was just really salty.

    We then had a look around the farmers house which just had one giant bed in it. All of the family sleep together in one bed to keep warm until the children become teenagers, then they sleep in a separate hut. They then have separate huts for the bathroom and kitchen.

    It was very interesting and the farmer also had a couple of alpacas, llamas and sheep including a one day old lamb which was very cute!

    In the evening we went out for pizza at a place recommended in the Lonely Planet which was delicious! We ordered so much though that we now have leftovers for bus journey tomorrow.
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  • Day 67

    Cusco

    June 8, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    The bus journey from Puno to Cusco came with a new surprise that we hadn't experienced before. Once on the bus we were all settled ready to go when a man came round and shoved a video camera in all of our faces. I believe it is a preventative measure against hijacking but even so it made us feel slightly on edge. We didn't get hijacked though and the bus journey was around 7 hours so we arrived in Cusco just after 3pm.

    When we arrived we went outside to grab a taxi to our hostel which was relatively easy. This was until the taxi driver asked us to move up so that 2 extra people could share our taxi. We weren't really sure about the situation however the extra 2 people were travellers like us so we went along with it. We had agreed a price of 15 soles upfront so I'm assumed that we would share the cost between the 4 of us. How very wrong was I! The driver wanted 15 from us and another 15 from them. Bloomin cheek! We really weren't in the mood to argue either after our long bus journey. I'm annoyed at myself for paying him but you have to pick and choose your battles.

    Hostels in Peru are pretty cheap so we have a private room in what is a pretty decent hostel. It even has hot powerful showers so I can finally wash my hair (there was no way I was washing it in the freezing cold shower in Puno!)

    We still had to pay the final balance for our Machu Picchu trek so we went in search of Lorenzo Expeditions. After that was sorted we went for a wander around the Plaza de Armas. Much to Simons delight we stumbled across a KFC so we treated ourselves to a KFC dinner. In Peru they sell a fizzy yellow drink called Inca Cola everywhere. It's fluorescent yellow! Intrigued by what it would taste like Si opted for that with his KFC. It was incredibly sweet and the only thing I can really compare it to is Irn bru.
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  • Day 68

    Day 2 - Cusco

    June 9, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We had a few chores to do in the morning, like make a start on purchasing all the bits we would need for Machu Picchu so we spent the morning doing that.

    Deciding that we needed some vitamins ahead of our trek we went to a make your own salad and wrap bar for lunch and tucked into the most enormous lunch!

    In the afternoon we went on a free walking tour which focused on the history of Cusco. Our guide Richard was very sweet and knew a lot about Cusco, Peru and its history. We didn't cover much in the way of distance but we did learn a lot. Richard also showed us pictures of local delicacies including guinea pig which is apparently his favourite food! Poor GP's! The tour took us to the San Pedro market, the Plaza de Armas and some historic Incan sites in the city centre.

    For dinner we treated ourselves to some food that cost us nearly our entires day budget but it was delicious! It was a restaurant called PerU.K and the food was divine. I had a very Peruvian dish of Thai chicken curry and Simon went for Lomo Saltado which is a Peruvian dish of beef, onions and tomatoes. For dessert we shared a pineapple carpaccio which was also divine. I have never seen Simon fighting over fruit before! If you look behind Simon in the picture you may also spot the St Austell brewery beer mats on the wall behind him!
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  • Day 69

    Day 3 - Cusco

    June 10, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today was our last day before leaving for Machu Picchu so we decided not to set an alarm and slowly get up for breakfast.

    Once ready we headed out with a long shopping list in preparation for the 4 day trip. Key things on the list included a medium sized rucksack to replace my broken smaller bag, a GoPro attachment for my bike helmet and suncream/bug spray. When we had everything we needed we dropped back all the goodies and headed out for lunch.

    The central market is by far the cheapest and most local way of eating and drinking. We headed to the juice stand and ordered some drinks which came in a tall milkshake style glass for 13 soles (roughly £3). This was more than usual but we realised why when we finished and were topped up another one and a half times! We then headed to a sandwich stall for a chicken, cheese and avocado roll. Whilst nibbling on our sandwich we noticed a HUGE marble cake so opted for 2 slices of that too coming to a total of 10.50 soles, not a bad lunch for a total of around £2.50.

    After lunch we decided to hit two free museums. The first was the Choco Museo (Chocolate Museum) where we learnt about some of the history of chocolate. This included a reference and picture of the Frys factory from back in the day. We then learnt about the production process from plant to bar. Walking down the stairs I spotted a tasting stand. Without hesitation we made our way over and tried some white, white with coca, milk and dark. All were delicious. We then got to try some chocolate jams and liquors which were also yummy.

    After the chocolate we headed to the coffee museum. Much like the chocolate it taught us about the history and process but unfortunately there were no freebies here.

    All museumed out we walked back to the hostel to pack for the big trip. We opted for the hostel BBQ for dinner which was a large plate of food and beer for 20 soles. We then got an early night before the big trip.
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  • Day 70

    Machu Picchu

    June 11, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    It was a very early start as today was the first day of our 4 day / 3 night Inka Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu. We were picked up from our hostel at 5:30am and taken to Lorenzo's Lodge where we had some breakfast. I was particularly excited to see that they had peanut butter which I haven't had since leaving the UK! Our guide, Juan Carlos (JC) , recommended that we have some coca tea as it would help us with the altitude and also give us some energy for our mornings bike ride. It smelt pretty bad however it tasted better than some herbal teas I've had!

    After breakfast we got sized up for our jacket and trousers for our bike ride and then jumped back in the mini bus for the 3 hour drive to the starting point. As you can imagine, I was very pleased to see that we would be riding on a real road which was nothing like Death Road in the slightest. We did however have all of the safety gear you could imagine, knee pads, body armour, helmet and gloves!

    The ride started at 4,700m and was around 50km in total which was broken up into 3 sections so we could have a rest and also start to strip off as the lower we got the hotter it became! The ride took us along the edge of Cloud Forest, the edge of the Amazon which was pretty awesome but also very cloudy! I also successfully made it all the way down without falling off which was a pretty big achievement!

    At the end of the ride, we jumped back in the minibus and headed towards our hostel for lunch. When booking the tour we were told that we would be staying in very basic accommodation however this place is lovely and we got a 4 course lunch.

    Our day of adventure didn't stop there though. In the afternoon there was an optional activity of white water rafting. We had ummed and ahhed as to whether we were going to do it but at the last moment decided to go for it! We got picked up from the hostel in a rickety old van with a dingy strapped to the top which if I'm honest didn't fill me with much confidence. When we arrived at the river however there were loads more people with more rafts. We got geared up with our splash vest, lifejacket and helmet and clambered down a steep bank in our flip flops. I imagined that we would be starting off in a really quiet section of water but it really wasn't! We huddled round one of the instructors to learn the 5 rules of rafting after which I was wondering if I could somehow get out of it and go back to the hostel!

    I'm glad I did it though. We got very wet and it was pretty scary in places but I managed to stay inside the boat for the duration of the journey which was pretty much my sole aim. There was a section where we stopped and the instructor said "you can get out and jump off that bridge if you want?" Yeah right!

    After all the excitement we returned back to the hostel for some dinner. There are 10 of us on the tour altogether, with people from Chile, Brazil, Germany and Sweden.
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  • Day 71

    Day 2 - Machu Picchu

    June 12, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today was our day of trekking (around 18km) along part of the Inca trail. The 3 ladies from Brazil were doing a shorter tour than us so we said our goodbyes and continued as a team of 7. Breakfast was at 6:20am and we were on our way by 7am.

    The first part was along a road so we drove that part and were dropped next to a small path that lead into the jungle. We had anticipated a full day of hardcore hiking however to our relief it was far more relaxed. Every now and then we would stop and JC would talk about the flora and fauna. We saw many coca plantations, pineapples, bananas, coffee, some rather large bugs and so much more. We also stopped for a taste of some typical Peruvian fruits that a lady on the side of the trail was selling. One of them was called chirimoya which was delicious and I can't remember the name of the second one but it wasn't very nice anyway.

    We stopped at a lady's house for a bathroom break where I got to experience the squat toilet! I certainly won't miss those. She also had a pet monkey which was tied up as apparently he had a habit of stealing people's sunglasses.

    One of our longest stops was at a random place in the middle of the jungle where we got to try some more Peruvian goodies. There was 100% cacao chocolate, a very disgusting snake alcohol shot and some other shot with some leaves in, a delicious passion fruit juice and chicha morada which is a typical drink made of purple corn. They also had a pet monkey, coati and macaw. Simon had the monkey sit on his shoulders however after the dog incident I wasn't taking any more chances which involved potential rabies. This was followed by a very random dressing up session where we all got dressed up in traditional clothing. I was given a very special hat however the funniest by far was Lukas who was given a black dress like thing to wear and a balaclava mask along with a dolly wearing a creepy mask!

    Before continuing on with our hiking we had yet another treat in store, face painting! JC painted our faces with a red berry that grew locally and which is also used in cosmetics such as lipstick. The Incas also used to use it as a sun block. This was all very well and good until we sweated profusely walking up the giant hill that followed and needed to put on more suncream. I definitely looked like I had been tangoed at one point.

    The next bit of the path was very narrow in places and wound its way around the side of the mountain. There were very steep steps up and down as well as some bits where you needed to hold on to the side. It certainly put Simons fear of heights to the test. This was our final stretch before lunch and we were very happy when we arrived at the restaurant.

    Following lunch we had a mere 20 minutes hammock time before JC was rounding us up again to continue. It was at this point that we lost Annie as she had started feeling incredibly sick so she got a taxi back to the town where we would be spending the evening.

    The afternoon saw around another 2 hours hiking before we would be reaching the hot springs which we were all most certainly ready for by this point. Before we got there though we had some more interesting obstacles to overcome. One of which was a rickety old bridge across the river which had huge holes in places, resulting in more squeaky bum time for Simon. After which we had to climb over huge rocks alongside the river and back up again.

    The hot springs and where we would be staying for the evening were on the opposite side of the river so we would be needing to get across. JC informed us that there was a cable car which we would get. Now I don't know about you but when someone mentions cable car I don't think of a giant metal tray suspended from a wire. You went across in pairs so Simon and I sat ourselves on the tray and before we knew it we were being whizzed across the river. Well it definitely beat swimming and was actually quite fun.

    Now we had just one final obstacle before we could relax in the hot springs. JC instructed us to get out our torches as we had to walk for a couple of minutes through a tunnel in the pitch black! Said tunnel was also full of bats! Fortunately I made it to the other side without being pooed on and as we walked out into the sunshine we could see the hot springs in the distance.

    There were 4 pools in total, all of various temperatures but we went straight for the hottest! It was just what we needed after our hard day of trekking. I realise that this post may make it sound like a stroll in the park but believe me it was tough! Our dip in the pool was then followed by a much deserved cold beer!

    We were then taken to our hostel for the evening by minibus and went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant.
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  • Day 72

    Day 3 - Machu Picchu

    June 13, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today was our relaxed day before we tackle Machu Picchu. Breakfast wasn't until 8am so we had a lie in which would have been amazing had some marching bands not started practising at 5:30am. I mean seriously, these things follow us everywhere!

    Our morning activity was zip lining which we were both looking forward to. Only 4 of the group braved this though, us, Lukas and the 47 year old Chilean lady. We were very impressed especially as her son and daughter in law sat this one out!

    There were 5 zip lines in total and a bridge that you had to walk across. The first zip line was the 'practice' one as it was one of the shortest. We watched the people in front of us whizz down at super fast speeds and started to get a little nervous. It was really fun though! The second zip line was longer so you had to go across in pairs so that you didn't get stuck in the middle. I was in front so had to hold my arms out to help slow us down whilst Simon had to be the brake which meant he had to put one of his hands on the wire behind us to help slow us down (we had very thick gloves on). Now the third one was the scariest of all. People had mentioned that you had to go upside down on one of them however I hadn't really thought about what upside down actually meant until I saw someone in front of us going down looking like they were hanging from their feet! I was thinking that there is no way that I am going to do that! I manned up and did it though. The scariest bit is when they flip you in the first place before they send you down the line. When you get in the middle though you relax and enjoy it. It felt like it was really long too as you couldn't see where you were going. When I reached the other side, the guy ninja flipped me over on to my feet which was very impressive!

    Before the forth zip line we had to tackle the bridge which is Simons worst nightmare! There were huge gaps between the wooden slats and it was pretty wobbly! He manned up though and walked across. In the middle, the photographer stops you and asks you to pose for pictures, taking your hands off and sitting down. Simon politely told the man that there was no way on this planet that he was taking his hands off and clung on for dear life! The go pro footage most definitely needs to be censored!

    For the forth zip line the guide asked for someone to go first. It looked relatively short in comparison to the other ones and I was stood near him so I volunteered. I was harnessed in and ready to go when he said 'spinning' and spun me round and pushed me off! I was not expecting that!

    The fifth and final zip line was called the big daddy and the longest one yet. Our harnesses were taken off and turned around as we were doing the superman on this one so suspended from our backs! It was a bit scary to start with but was definitely my favourite.

    Our activity for the afternoon was a relatively short 3 hour hike so we jumped in the mini bus and headed off to the starting point. We only had 40 minutes of hiking (of which only 7 were uphill although it was very steep!) before we would be stopping for lunch which was good. En route we stopped off at an Incan sundial that also doubled up as a sacrifice table, of which there is apparently one exactly the same directly East on Machu Picchu. From here we could also catch our first glimpse of Machu Picchu in the distance.

    After lunch we walked alongside the train tracks which was really pretty, catching glimpses of Machu Picchu every now and then. Eventually we arrived in Aguas Calientes which would be our home for the night. For 5 soles (£1.20) you could pay for your bag to be sent to the hostel via taxi so that you didn't have to carry it which me and Si obviously did! We had to wait another hour or so for our bag to arrive so we went for a wander around the town to pick up some snacks for the next day as the tour wouldn't be providing anymore food. When our bags arrived I took what may have been the best shower ever! Unlike the rest of our Machu Picchu trip it was consistently hot and powerful! My body was feeling very sore so it was amazing!

    We went out for dinner in the evening which was very nice and JC handed out our Machu Picchu tickets and briefed us on how things were going to work for our final day.
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  • Day 73

    Day 4 - Machu Picchu

    June 14, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Our alarm went off at 3:20am! We were given 2 options for our ascent to Machu Picchu. You could either get the bus or do as the Inkas did and walk up the 1,700 steps. We decided to walk along with Lukas whilst the other 4 members (Annie was back with us again) of the group opted for the bus.

    We left the hostel around 4:10am and set off on the 30 minute walk to join the long queue of other maniacs that thought walking up would be a good idea. The gate opened at 5am and after a quick passport and ticket check we were on our way.

    I don't think I had been walking for more than 5 minutes before I was already exhausted. Those Inkas sure didn't make nice steps. Some of them were huge, others tiny and some were floating steps sticking out of a wall! Apparently the quickest ever time for walking up the steps was 19 minutes. We did it in just under an hour. I genuinely have no idea how anyone could get up there in 19 minutes!

    JC met us at the top as even he got the bus and we went through the main gates to start our 2 hour tour of Machu Picchu. I've seen lots of pictures of Machu Picchu but it was so strange to actually be there walking around. It really is quite spectacular. JC started by giving us some history on the Inkas and Machu Picchu and then as we walked around pointed out certain things. One things for sure those Inkas were very clever!

    After the tour JC said his goodbyes and we were free to roam as we pleased. We started off by walking up to the Guards Hut to take the iconic Machu Picchu picture, stopping off to take a lama selfie or two on the way (I got my best lama selfie so far!) We were incredibly lucky with the weather and have been for the entire trek. It hasn't rained once! The sky's were blue and there was hardly a cloud in sight which meant we had a great view of Machu Picchu. You see many peoples pictures and you can't even see Machu Picchu as it is completely covered in mist!

    Simon and I had purchased an extra ticket to walk up Machu Picchu Mountain so we headed off to do that next. This was like the journey up to Machu Picchu but 100 times worse! I'm not ashamed to say either that we got half way up and decided to walk back down (which is no easy task). From the top you get a view down over Machu Picchu however there were many viewpoints on the way up and we already had a great view. In addition to this, my knee started making some very loud unnatural grating and popping noises so we took that as a sign that our bodies (especially mine) were over walking up a ridiculously large number of higgledy piggledy steps.

    We were both absolutely shattered so we retreated back to the bottom to have some lunch and a little rest. After lunch, a large glass of coke and a brownie the size of my face, we set off to explore the main part of Machu Picchu. After around an hour we decided that we'd had enough and would catch the bus back down to Aguas Calientes.

    The night before JC had pointed out a hot spring so we made that our first port of call. It wasn't anywhere near as nice as the one we visited before but we were sore and tired so we went for it anyway. My bikini definitely came out a funny shade of brown but it helped.

    To get back to Cusco we had to book a train. This costs almost as much as our entire 4 day jungle tour so as we are poor travellers we went for the cheapest train which doesn't leave until 8:50pm. It doesn't even take us all the way to Cusco, just Ollantaytambo. From there we have to get a 2 hour taxi back to Cusco. We got out of the spa around 4:30pm so we had a long time to kill. We therefore spent the next 4 hours eating dinner, sitting in the main square people watching, playing I spy and drinking coffee.
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  • Day 74

    Day 4 - Cusco

    June 15, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We woke up having had a great nights sleep. We were so tired after waking up at 4am the day before, hiking all day, then 3 hours of travelling back to Cusco that I probably could have slept anywhere, but we booked a night back at Intro where we had left our bags in storage.

    Sore from all the hiking we were in no rush to go anywhere so we decided to mooch around the hostel sitting in the sun until lunch time. For lunch we decided to head back to the salad bar to get some goodness back in us. Blake opted for a build your own whilst I went for the wraps again, however this time with chicken.

    After lunch we walked back to the hostel for some more chill time on some giant bean bags and that's where we remained for the next few hours.

    On the walking tour we did Richard suggested the Inka museum was a good and cheap thing to do so we headed out in that direction. When we got to the main plaza we were confronted with hundreds of people all dressed up for a catholic procession with even more people spectating. It seemed that because of the festival everyone had their favourite dish, guinea pig, on display outside of the restaurants. They even dressed the poor cooked GP's in little outfits! Each cluster of people in the parade had their own giant statue that a number of men were carrying or struggling to carry as they walked around the square before entering the cathedral. Due to this the Inka museum was shut and subsequently so were most other attractions, so we decide to make our way to 'Jack's Cafe' for an early dinner. Blake went for a chicken and veg stir fry and I had a delicious chicken satay.

    After dinner we strolled back to the hostel to collect our bags and 30 minutes later we were in a taxi on our way to the bus station to catch our overnight bus to Arequipa.
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  • Day 75

    Arequipa

    June 16, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Our bus arrived in Arequipa at 6am so we arrived at the hostel hours before we could check in. We were however allowed to shower and have some breakfast so could freshen up which was good. As we had lots of time to kill we decided to join the 10am free walking tour.

    The tour took us around the downtown area of Arequipa. The historic centre has wide streets and you can tell when you get into the downtown area as the streets are narrower. Our guide was absolutely crazy! He was also slightly obsessed with food and drinks that are an aphrodisiac and kept using me and Simon as an example! This probably was due to the fact that at one point in the tour he asked if anyone was travelling as couple or with someone they love. I put my hand up, Simon didn't - awkward!

    At one point in the tour we got a great view of the 3 volcanoes (one of which is dormant) that sit alongside Arequipa.

    We also went to the main market which was designed by Gustave Eiffel. It's no way near as impressive as the Eiffel Tower, in fact you'd be hard pushed to realise that he designed it without being told. He also designed the market we visited in Cusco. The market was your typical Peruvian market that we get our juices from usually. Our tour guide said that they sold live guinea pigs in there but we couldn't find them so we're not sure if he was joking. Good job too otherwise I may have ended up adopting them all!

    Whilst in the market our mental guide told us a very long winded story about how you could buy babies in the market. He talked about it for so long that we almost started to believe him. To cut a long story short, Peruvians are usually very conservative when it comes to courting except for one day a year where everyone gets a bit crazy and their are lots of unplanned pregnancies. Because of this, back in the day, you could buy a baby at the market approximately 9 months after the evening of crazy shenanigans. Nowadays you can buy a baby in the market all year round in the form of a loaf of bread with a very creepy looking clay baby face on the top! There may be more to this story but it was so random we lost track.

    We were also introduced to cheese ice cream. The name is very misleading as there isn't actually any cheese in it. It gets its name as Peruvians have a habit of naming things like they look. It looks like slabs of cheese so they called it cheese ice cream.

    After the tour we headed back to the hostel to check in, stopping off for a cheeky Starbucks en route. After popping out for some lunch we headed back to the hostel to catch up on the blog, as some of our followers have informed us we have gotten a bit slack!

    In the evening, we went out for dinner to a pizza restaurant to satisfy Simons pizza addiction. It was really great pizza! I had the quinoa pizza which had a quinoa base with cheese, cherry tomatoes, sprouts (not the Christmas kind) and pineapple. Simon went for the hangover pizza as it had a fried egg on the top! We washed these down with a delicious glass of red and a beer.
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