Visit to SA 18-26 May 2017

A quick trip back home to CT and JHB. Athol had business commitments in JHB so we decided to also spend a few days in CT.

Athol was invited to speak at the Living Newspaper on Monday 22 May, which is a non-profit which hold talks at the synagogue in Sea Point. Athol spoke about A Life of Possibilities. Me, You , Us.

Athol also spoke at Portlands High School in Mitchells Plain and Lwazi Primary School in Gugulethu.

Trip to Pisa, Italy - Part 2 - Food Heaven

The food in Pisa is amazing! I've always wanted to visit Italy. I grew up with Italian food. My mom used to make spaghetti and pizza. My mom used to have an Italian coffee shop and sold cappucinos, tiramisu, focaccia, Italian ice-cream, etc. Even my two best friends at high school were Italian.

We have the best pizza at Pizzeria Rustica. To our surprise we loved the Funghi pizza without cheese! You really get to taste the base, mushrooms and pomodoro. Think it was the best pizza we ever had.

We also tried their Anchini which are fried rice balls with vegetables inside.

We had a great lunch at Ristoro Pecorino on Via Santa Maria - Bruschetta, Vegetarian Platter, Ribolitta (known as poor man's food, which is a vegetable stew with beans and bread) and tiramisu! Absolutely delicious!

We had pasta at Il Peperonchino on Santa Marina one night. I had the Spaghetti Cabonara and Athol had the Pesto Tagliatelli which was absolutely delicious!

 Of course, we had to try the gelato :) I tried the Straciatelli i.e. chocolate chip :)

Trip to Pisa, Italy - Part 1

Athol handed in his 30,000 word thesis last week. So we decided to take a short trip to relax and have a change of scenery. We still have our Schengen visas which are valid until January so decided to take advantage of it. Flights from London to Pisa, Italy are cheaper than a return flight from CT to JHB! We decided to spend four nights in Pisa which is a 2 hour flight from Luton Airport. We caught the bus from Gloucester Green bus terminal in Oxford to Luton Airport, it was a 2 hour trip. It's the first time going to Luton Airport, which is under renovation. It is much much smaller than Heathrow, only one terminal. Most of the low cost airlines fly from here to Europe. We flew with EasyJet. They had an automatic bad drop, the first I've seen. So simple, you weight your checked in luggage yourself, the label gets printed then you put the label onto your bag and hand it to the attendant. We just had to get our SA passports validated at the counter. Through security, there are a few restaurants, there's a Pret a Manger if you want to grab a quick bite.  

Flying into Pisa you see the beautiful Italian coastline.

As it was May Day, there were no buses in operation so we caught a taxi to Via Santa Maria which is the centre of Pisa, 10 minutes from the airport. This is a busy pedestrian only street that leads to the majestic 'Field of Miracles' where the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Cathedral and Baptistery are. What a sight! This tower leans at about a 10 degree angle :) funny seeing all the tourists taking pictures pushing the tower :)

This area is extremely busy during the day, the best time is to go in the evening.

Walking along the streets has a real Tuscan feel - it feels like you are at Monte Casino (for those of you in JHB!). So pretty with the colourful buildings and window shutters.

Our third children's book - Oaky the Brave Acorn

In February 2017, Theart Press published our third children's books in the Oaky series - Oaky the Brave Acorn.

This is the prequel to Oaky and the Sun and Oaky the Happy Tree.

Such a cute story by Athol Williams (www.atholwilliams.com) with such a positive message about being brave. I loved doing the illustrations of Oaky hanging from the branch, jumping off and having fun with the other acorns rolling in the grass.

Available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com and Theart Press. All proceeds go to literacy NGO READ to RISE so that we can inspire children in South Africa to read.

Athol and I are currently working on the fourth book which will be published in May 2017.

www.theartpressbooks.com

Exploring Summertown - Cutteslowe Park and Sunnymead Park

So after 14 months in Summertown, we discovered Cutteslowe Park and Sunnymead Park is a short walk from where we live. It's the biggest park in North Oxford with large open fields, basketball courts, beach volleyball, jungle gyms, etc. We've noticed that there are so many nice open places in Oxford where you can go for walks.

This is Sunnymead Park which has a beautiful view of the River Cherwell.

Cutteslowe Park stretches over the highway so you have to cross the bridge. Lovely to explore on a lovely Spring day. The clocks went ahead 1 hour on 26 March so the days have become longer, with the sun rising at 6am and setting at 7:30pm. Summer is going to be so nice!

Exploring around the Oxford Castle

Oxford has a lot of interesting areas. I decided to explore the area near to the Oxford Railway near to the Oxford Castle. There are some nice walks along the Oxford Canal. Here is the Isis Lock.

Walking down to the Castle is lovely.

The area by the Oxford Castle is quite a trendy area with a lot of restaurants. There is even the Oxford Central Library.

There is a mound outside the castle.

Athol in Florida for the Salvation Army Gala

One of Athol's friends form Harvard runs the Salvation Army in Sarasota in Florida and invited Athol to be the key note speaker at their Gala on 16 March.

Athol was supposed to go last year, but due high cholesterol and new medication he had to cancel his trip. So it was that this trip was finally happening. Unfortunately, I didn't go with as I don't have a US visa. Would have loved to have gone as I believe it's very nice there.

Athol was in Sarasota 14-19 March and gave a few talks.

The highlight was his talk at the Gala at the Ritz Calton on 23 March.

The Salvation Army kindly donated 50 copies of Pushing Boulders to READ to RISE to distribute to under-resourced communities in South Africa,