Wednesday 31 August 2011

My Life On Deck

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me... Well, not exactly, but a week's holiday on my aunt and uncle's boat is probably about as close as I'm going to get in my lifetime. Now, I can practically feel the cogs turning in your brain: 'Ooooh, get her, with her family boat all la-di-dah,' but before we go any further, let me make clear that my family is about as posh as a daytime TV drama, but hopefully with less annoying cliches; 'What? My sister is actually my mother? OMG!' But anyway, back to the point.

Our 'floating adventure' started in a small marina near Oban, in Scotland. (See, if we were really posh we'd have been in the south of France somewhere) We set off full of energy, ready to take on whatever the sea threw at us, and although it was fairly easy at the start as we went further the wind got more powerful, which missed with the current a bit.At times the boat seemed to tilt so far that I was sure my brother and his girlfriend were going to fall overboard, which may have led to her not accompanying us on holiday again. My aunt and uncle assured me that we were in no danger, and they were probably right, as we never actually went into the open sea, but as I was the one steering the boat I'm sure my sense of panic was not entirely undeserved. Luckily, that was pretty much the worst of the weather, as far as wind goes, we did get a bit rained on later, but as we were in Scotland, it wasn't really a surprise.

As we got used to the constant rocking of the boat, a pattern began to emerge; we would wake up, possibly sail on further or just stay anchored where we were, go out for the obligatory 'holiday activities', come back, and relax, often with a game of cards. Our daytime activities varied from going on a walk up one of the many hills and meeting an old retired hand-doctor, who generated his own electricity with a home-made wind turbine (I kid you not) and was very generous with his wine (of which I had none) and vintage editions of the New Yorker (which are now sitting in my bedroom), to watching puffins flying by on a particularly sunny day on an uninhabited island, to collected mussels and cooking them for lunch (we later discovered that my brother has an allergy to seafood, he proceeded to spend much of the next 24 hours on deck). I evenwent fishing on the last day, and caught two mackerel! It may not seem much, but it was the best fish I'd ever eaten. We also laid anchor at a few fishing villages, including Tobermory, the town which inspired the children's TV show 'Ballamory'. Although they both shared a penchant for brightly coloured buildings, one thing Tobermory had which I'm sure Ballamory does not is a pub near the harbour which sells the biggest burgers I'd had in my life.

I may be a sunshine girl at heart, but I would happily give up another week of summer for another sailing trip around wet, chilly Scotland. I guess L'Oreal says it the best: It's worth it.

Monday 29 August 2011

Final Destination 5

This film has the same basic plot as the rest of them, someone has a vision of an accident, they get the chance to save themselves and their friends. Then they all die one by one.
Really this film is just grim. 

I went to watch Final Destination last Saturday and I seriously wish I had seen something else. The deaths are very graphic, so if you see it in 3D I guarantee you will be splattered with animated blood at some point.
One girl is killed during a freak laser eye surgery accident, while another has his head crushed by a Buddah statue, but not before he has fallen onto his acupuncture.

If I'm honest only people into horror films full of blood and guts will enjoy this. You can't watch it for its plot line, as it is the same as all the rest, but if you're watching it for the spectacular death scenes, you my friend are in for a treat.

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Pergamon




  • The ancient ruins of the Acropolis of Pergamon lie above the modern day city of Bergama, Turkey. Originally built by the Greeks, Pergamon was a small settlement, before the Romans took it as a flourishing city.
  • As I recall it was twenty TL to get in to the sight, and an additional sum of money if you wanted to use the cable cart to take you there. Driving and parking was much cheaper, I advise that any of you thinking of visiting do so, if you’re on a budget. The views from the top most parking lot are spectacular, but watch you don’t drive your car straight off the edge!
  • Coming into the square where you have to pay to get in, there are a lot of stalls selling various things and a cafĂ© selling drinks at a rather extortionate price. My advice is to bring your own water and snacks. The ruins are quite exposed so it’s a good idea to bring a hat and wear sun cream, even if you don’t normally burn. It is generally quite hot up there, though sometimes it can be very windy. These windy days are probably the best days to visit at since the winds normally cool the surrounding area.
  • Some of the ruins are very well kept, like the arched tunnel that runs through the ruins, once used as a cistern I believe. There are still standing pillars, in parts such as the remains of a temple to Zeus, which makes you aware that it is a spectacular feat of engineering considering the lack of electrical equipment they had in those days.
  • The theatre, which is one of the main attractions, is one of the steepest theatres in the world, able to seat ten thousand people. Considering it was constructed in the third century B.C, the steps are remarkably intact.
This site is definitely worth a visit for those who are into ancient history, architecture, or even if you’re just sight seeing.

Wednesday 17 August 2011

My Opinion On Thomas Cook Flights To Ismir



Maybe it's unfair to be so judgemental when you've only flown with an airline once, so I appologise before hand if I offend anyone.

My flight out to Ismir, Turkey, was in a Boeing owned by the company Thomas Cook, possibly because of my lack of sleep, due to the fact I had gone through a four hour car journey to Newcastle before hand, I was not exactly in a good mood.

During the flight to Ismir, the airline company had no faults, apart from the very dodgy landing and the uncomfortable seats. Even the flight food was pretty good. No, hardly anything was the company's fault; rather it was the fault of the annoying child sitting behind me continuously kicking the back of my seat. I also discovered before I had actually boarded the plane that they had misspelt my name and put me down as a Mr, not that it particularly annoyed me, I actually found that incident quite funny. The way back how ever was a different kettle of fish.

The flight was delayed by roughly an hour and a half, which I overheard one of the more regular customers of Thomas Cook seemed to happen regularly. They also managed to confuse our food orders which had been perfect the last time, instead of having regular meals and a nut free one we ended up having to eat vegetarian meals. There were no nut free meals, which would be quite a major inconvenience for someone who was seriously allergic to nuts. The cabin crew were very appologetic about the whole thing so it was hard to be angry. Appart from the food mix up I did actually quite enjoy the flight

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Turkey...

First things first, as you readers may all be aware, the Miss B's have both been on holiday over the summer. I travelled to Turkey by plane to visit my family who live in Dikili, near Ismir, a bustling seaside town surrounded by mountains and farms. Here are a few things you should expect to see when you get there, I hope you find this interesting...
What to expect when you first arrive in Turkey if you're in the Ismir/Dikili area
  • Terrible driving on all roads: Crates flying off trucks, dangerous overtakes, swerving lorries, need I say any more? 
  • General temperatures between 27c (in the mornings) to 38c (by mid afternoon): A bit hot when you first get there, but after a while you get used to it.
  • Loads of mopeds: There wasn't a single day that went by when I didn't see at least ten mopeds, Turkey is moped crazy! 
  • Horse and carts being driven along the motorway: Weird as it sounds it actually happens quite a lot.   
  • Lack of tarmacked road: If you're hiring a car make sure it's one with good suspension because there are a lot of un tarmac ked roads, in fact a few of the main roads are un tarmac ked.  
  • Random herds of cows amongst built up housing areas (in Dikili): I could see them from my window, strange it may be but the whole thing works in a crazy way, farmers just graze their livestock on any piece of disused land they can find. 
  • Stray animals i.e cats and dogs: The place is crawling with strays, and believe you me, it really gets to you when you see stray puppies and stick thin cats, but most of the time they get on ok because the local restraunts feed them. If not intentionally, but somebody always drops a bit of food. 
  • Litter everywhere: The Turks really don't seem to be into their environment, they just throw rubbish out of their car windows and keep driving. 
  • People out to rip you off...if they twig you're a tourist: It happened to us so many times when we didn't have a Turkish relative with us, my Aunt ended up paying the equivalent of forty pounds for a bowl of chicken soup. 
  • Beautiful scenery: It's absolutely mind blowing especially in the mountains, my advice is take a drive up there, you're bound to see something interesting.
  • Amazing architecture: The town of Ayvulikk has some pretty amazing examples, though sadly some buildings are a bit run down. 
  • An amazing aray of insects: I am not kidding, it really is amazing, obviously not for those afraid of bugs though...anyhow, I saw many a beautiful butterfly, jewled beatles and even a hummingbird moth! 
  • A tan: It's wonderful, normally I just freckle, but I actually managed to get a tan!

Sunday 14 August 2011

Back Again

Hi, we're back from holiday and will soon be posting some new articles for you to read and enjoy so keep an eye out folks! If any of you readers would like to send in articles about your own holidays please email us at MissBsguidetolife@hotmail.co.uk and leave your comments, it would really be appreciated thanks.

Miss B xxxx