Portugal - Algarve for a conference!!

Well lucky ol me. The ERYICA conference was held in the Algarve this year and was at a seafront hotel near Villamoura. It was difficult to concentrate on speakers, workshops, and seminars when every 5 minutes a tanned beauty walked past to go in the pool. Soon got into the spirit of it though with late lunches, early afternoon siestas, and a nice pace of life in the evening with dinner at 9, drinks to 3am and a late breakfast. Somewhere amidst all of this we did some work too, honestly. Ghent next meeting in februar, when i will be attending my first governing board meeting and we will be staying in a Belgian Monastery apparently. Not sure if they will do a full english there and a bit worried already.....

Schoolboy error in front of goal

Hallo all
Just to report that we had a scorching time at Lake Balaton and were so hot when we checked out of the hotel that we decided to have just one last swim in the beautiful refreshing waters of the lake. So, leaving about 60,000 forints (nearly 200 quid) in my shorts at the side of the lake along with rucksack containing passports, i-pod, camera, and all the gifts we had bought for you all (just joking about that bit) we romantically waded into the lake only to return having been robbed of all of the above .... Schoolboy error, left an open goal - Doh. Still... no-one was hurt and worse things happened here in 1956 so let's get things in perspective here and just accept that I was stupid to leave them there whilst we swam. Fortunately, andi's bag was left alone and so we reported the theft to the police,bought a few beers, had a final paddle and headed back to Budapest on the train in good to high spirits. Only downer really was the loss of the video diary that I had made of the trip although andi reckoned many people will be glad of that .... happy days have been had anyways and we are looking forward to getting home soon and telling you the British Embassy story...... xx

Thirsty in Hungary

Hello all
Hozj pozj.. (How are you) We have been having a rare old time out here in Hungary. We arrived at my mate Patrick and Susza's bar in Budapest - The Caledonia (it is now a must in Budapest for all weary travellers) and enjoyed the first of many cold ones!! The beer here is ace - but then I would say that .. Hmmmm Beer (homer simpson styley). Dreher is our favourite at the minute - nice smooth pilsner, ice cold fresh taste... Anyway, after a couple of good days in Budapest we headed on a cruise up the Danube to a beautiful place called Visegrad which is steeped in mediaeval history and it was a real unspoilt area of Hungary. We cooled down by swimming in the Danube and of course ice cold Dreher. Then it was back to Budapest to catch the train (more of that later - oh what a journey!!) to Siofok on Lake Balaton. Both of us sunbathed for England yesterday and I forgot to turn over and now look like a giant crabstick!! Rainz today, which is not a bad thing really - chance to cool down.. Update soon .. photos to follow... happz dayzs to you xx Mick and Andi

East again - not quite as far this time

Right, well after the delights of China recently I have developed a taste for the east and so myself and Andi are off to Budapest for a 2 week break to visit a mate of mine Patrick (complete Celtic FC nut) who has just opened a bar there with his Hungarian girlfriend Szusza. Looking forward to catching up with him and talking a bit of footie - will report on the beers, baths, and scoff whilst over there - hope to get a few more posts in than in China. I couldn`t speak as I had a frog in my throat as you can see from the picture. Bring on the goulash.... piece of cake (that`s a poor analogy to go with Goulash mick)... watch the space folks - please add a caption to the photo... cold beer for winner

We today travelled to the Buddhist Grotto at Baoding Shan. The site began with a series of small retail outlets, including cages containing chickens and rabbits,We were driven to the start of the Grotto accompanied by Peter, our tour guide who was a rock carver by trade. Peter took us around Baoding Shan grotto. The grotto is comprised of hundreds of statues carved straight from the rocks hundreds of years ago by the Zhao Zhifeng between 1179 and 1245. Among the highlights of this Buddhist site include the Cave of Full Entitlement with twenty life sized Bodhisattvas, the twenty-metre-long Reclining Buddha and carvings depicting the role of parental kindness and filial piety in Mahayana Buddhism.
On our return we were fed at a local restaurant where we were each given plastic gloves before trying their delicacy of black chicken legs including their feet. ‘The food again was a challenge to our taste buds and included some interesting surprise dishes, including Lotus flower roots.

As Faithless say....... I can`t get no sleep

nee haa everybody! (thats hello in Mandarin!)
Well its 4 in the morning and I am wide awake in the city of Chongqing. We arrived yesterday and for the past 36 hours I have been completely fascinated by this place! It is just one major assault on your senses - sounds, smells, sights, and especially tastes are all completely different here in Chongqing. We visited the Children`s Palace today (Sunday) and then went for a traditional sichuan meal - tried Turtle soup, Whole Duck (yes, including bill!!) and some Yak! the food is very spicy in this region (and plentiful) Everywhere you look there is a different food, vegetable, meat, fruit, that I have not come across before. here is an account of the visit today. It was my turn to take notes - it's a bit formal but it is for the report that we have to do for the British Council....... see you soon - out into the rural areas tomorrow. Dislikes at the moment just two words - Warm beer!! - hope to finda few cold ones!