Swimming with the dolphins in Florida

Ok, so having caught a bug on the plane on the way over, I was ill during most of my trip to Florida, hence why I haven't been blogging as often as I would have liked.

Towards the end of the week though, I managed to get well enough to realise one of my life long travel dreams - swimming with the dolphins! Ever since I knew dolphins existed, I have wanted to swim with one. I saw my first dolphin in Florida at the age of 10 and now 16 years later, I am back in Florida for the second time, realising my dream.

There is something about travel and the feeling that you deserve to realise your dreams while you're there or you may not get the chance again. Dolphin Cove, the place where I swam, had a unique approach to dolphin swimming, in that all contact was initiated by the dolphins themselves and if they chose not to participate in the swim and interaction with me, they wouldn't have to. To my relief, both my assigned dolphins - 17 year old Alfonso and 7 year old Leo chose to take part. They swam under my hands, they swam under my hands so I could hold onto their fins and they pushed me along by feet. It was an amazing feeling to feel that they were the ones that had complete control and I was just like a dolphin toy! They felt like pieces of rubber covered in silk and were so unbelievably powerful and strong.

I also learned a great deal about an animal I thought I knew a lot about already. For example, did you know that mother dolphins name each of babies and can call them individually? Or that dolphins see an x-ray of your body when they look at you with echo-location?

Thank you Alfonso and Leo for making my dream come true!

Second Trip of the Year

Well, I'm going on my second trip of the year next week .... and I didn't think I'd be able to go anywhere this year! So next time you hear from me, I'll be blogging from sunny Florida! Stay tuned to find out what's hot in Florida this spring and where to go to avoid the Mickey Mouse going crowds and see the real Florida.

First Day of Spring in London

Since I've been writing about all these far-flung destinations, I thought it was about time to talk about a  destination a bit closer to home - London. Yesterday felt the like first day of spring here in London (although we seem to have regressed back to winter again today), the sun was actually shining, the daffodils and blossom trees were blooming, the squirrels had come out of hibernation and it seemed that the whole of London had descended on it's parks for this long-awaited day.

I spent the day, like a lot of Londoners yesterday, in Kensington Gardens. It is a large and beautiful park in the grounds of Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana used to live and where a few royals still live today. I had my first picnic of the year of fresh salads, sitting in the park and then went to see the outdoor sculpture exhibition, by world renowned artist - Anish Kapoor. The sculptures consist of a series of huge mirrored discs and cones dotted around the park, which, when the sun is shining, mirror the sky. I finished my amble through the park at the Lido cafe and sat outside, sipping my cappuccino, watching the pedalo boats paddle across the lake and graceful swans glide in between their paths.

London has some of the best city parks in the world and if you get the chance you should definitely come and visit and see for yourself what they have to offer.

Pancake Day - Pancakes Around the World

Today is Shrove Tuesday, also known in the UK as Pancake Day. Although many countries throughout the world celebrate this day differently, some throw festivals or have carnival processions, I thought that I would focus this blog on pancakes, because of the universality of this food.  If we look at the world’s cuisine, we find that many countries have their own versions of pancakes.

The French Crepe – These are probably one of the world’s most famous pancakes, thin paper-like pancakes, cooked on hot griddles in the street. They can be eaten savoury - with fromage (cheese) or sweet – smothered in Nutella.

American – American pancakes are big, fluffy and thick. They are usually sweet and are eaten for breakfast; they can be made with an array of ingredients from blueberries to chocolate chips and are often covered in maple syrup.

English – Pancakes from the England are somewhere in between the French crepe and the American fluffy pancake and are almost always eaten sprinkled with sugar and sprayed with lemon juice. On Pancake Day some towns and villages have pancake races, where people dress up and run through the streets tossing pancakes in a frying pan.

Chinese – Chinese pancakes are an essential accompaniment to that world famous Chinese dish – Crispy Peking Duck. These pancakes are thin and made without egg and milk; and are just a simple flour and water dough. They also have that all-important flavour of sesame oil.

German – German pancakes are large, puffy and light. These pancakes are baked in the oven instead of cooked in a frying pan or griddle. They can be eaten with powdered sugar or are often made with potato or apple. 

Dutch – The Dutch are also world renowned for their pancakes, these pancakes are as big as pizzas. They are kind of similar to the German pancakes, but made in frying pan and can be eaten with a large variety of toppings.

Scotch – The Scottish make their pancakes small and puffy, in Scotland they are often referred to as drop scones. After they are made, they are great toasted and most often eaten with butter and jam.

Mexican – Mexican pancakes are like flat dough balls and are usually fried in a little more oil than other pancakes. They are traditionally served when they are a deep golden brown colour and smothered in honey.

This morning I decided to go for the American chocolate chip pancakes (I couldn’t resist). I also made some American gingerbread pancakes, which were a new one for me, both topped with homemade honey and cinnamon syrup. Here’s the pic. If you want to make these click here to find the recipe.

P.S. Happy International Women’s Day! Here’s to all the inspirational women out there. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkp4t5NYzVM

How much should you plan for a long haul backpacking trip?

To plan or not to plan, that is the question. Personally, when I decide to go on a long backpacking trip, I love to plan and research. I buy guidebooks, look at photos on the Internet and look up potential guesthouses/hostels to stay in. For me, planning is the thing that gets me excited about my trip. I like to print out little maps and draw imaginary routes of where I think I might go, but despite all this, I am not an obsessive planner. I think that when embarking on long backpacking trips you need to sometime let the trip take its course, you can’t possibly know exactly when you will arrive at each destination (public transport in a lot of countries doesn’t allow for this), or know how long you will want to stay in each, so leave some things for when you get there.

Here are the things that you should and shouldn’t plan in advance:

• Book your first few night of accommodation, but don’t book too far ahead as inevitably your plans will change and you can’t guarantee exactly when you will arrive in each place.
• Sort out visas for the initial countries you are going to visit, if you don’t know exactly when you will be entering countries further on into your trip, don’t worry, these can be sorted out on the road. You can always visit embassies to help you sort these out, or most popular backpacking destinations have travel agent offices that can sort these out for you. In some places they only take a few days to process.
• Make sure you get the correct vaccinations at least a month or two before you travel, to ensure that they have enough time to work.
• Make sure you have some type of guidebook with you and maps of the cities you are you going to visit. Safety advice and knowing where you are going can be life saving when backpacking.
• Map out roughly where you think you want to go and countries you want to visit (but be prepared for this to change).
• Don’t bother booking buses or trains in your destination country before you leave, wait until you arrive, as booking transport there will be a lot easier. These can either be booked a few days in advance or on the day of travel.
• Insurance – insurance should always be booked before you travel, so that you are covered from the day you leave home. Backpacking trips are often unpredictable so make sure you have this. 
• Check on the safety and political situation and stability of the country you are going to, by visiting the governments website Know Before You Go -  http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/

Best Travel Movies

Since the Oscars were a couple of days ago, and we all have movies on the brain, I thought I would talk about my favourite travel movies. So, if you can’t afford to go anywhere right now, or don’t have the time then these movies will transport you to far away lands and show you windows in other cultures.

Hideous Kinky – This movie follows the story of a young English woman in the 1970’s who goes to live in Morocco with her two small daughters and stars Kate Winslet. The film shows stunning shots of Marrakech that are so realistic that you’ll feel like you are actually there. It also gives you an insight into Moroccan culture and it’s peoples, from the people that the mother and her daughters meet along the way.

La Casa del Los Locos / Auberge Espagnole / Pot Luck – Believe it or not, these are actually 3 different names for the same movie depending on weather you get the Spanish, French or English version. The truth is though, it doesn’t matter which version you get, as the movie is in all 3 languages. It follows the story of a French guy who moves to Barcelona to study abroad for a year. There, he shares a house with Spanish and English students and communicates with them in their respective languages. The film shows beautiful scenes of Barcelona and is a must see for any of you who have gone to study abroad and those of you wanting to brush up on your Spanish or French language skills.

The Beach – One of the most iconic travel movies, but maybe one of the most untrue as well (or maybe not, I guess there could be a secret paradise island of foreigners somewhere). The movie does in parts give great insight into what it is like to travel around South East Asia and shows great shots Thailand’s cities and beaches. Although ‘the beach’ does not actually exist, it is maybe one of movies that actually fulfil our travel fantasies. If you don’t know the story, it follows a group of traveller’s who find a secret paradise island and all choose to stay there to live.  It stars Leonardo DiCaprio.

Broke Down Palace – Ok so this movie is pretty old now, but for me really shows the essence of a travel movie, going to discover a new place, to have an adventure. Unfortunately it doesn’t turn out quite as expected for the girls, Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale. It is not exactly the way you want your adventure to turn out – getting locked up in a Thai prison for drug smuggling. So this might be more like a nightmare travel movie, but is still a great watch and shows some beautiful shots of Bangkok, as well as giving a great insight on Thai culture. 

Motorcycle Diaries – The film tells the story of the young Che Guevara, who travels around South America with his best friend on a motorcycle. The film has some really beautiful cinematography of the scenery in Argentina, Chile, Peru, and into the Amazon. In the end, it turns out not to be so much about the actual travel, but about helping people along the way. A beautiful must see film.