Cycling

We decided to go on a family cycle on Sunday and give the bug trailer its first outing. Unfortunately we left a little late so Amelia was staring to get hungry. After about 500 meters she was expressing her displeasure quite vocally so we had to take her out of the trailer and put her in the bike seat on Sarah's bike. By the time we came back she had fallen asleep, so we had to extract an extremely grumpy looking Amelia from the seat while trying not to waker her up too much.

A week off work

I had last week off, so spent some of the time tagging along to the events that Sarah and the bug go to. It was a good job we had nothing planned because the weather was awful, with a torrential down pour whenever I left the house.

What a fun time Sarah and Amelia have all punctuated with coffee and lunch. I'm not really sure that I would fancy baby yoga (I wimped out and didn't go), but bounce and rhyme at the library was fun ( apart from the fact that I was dripping wet).

Swimming was definitely worth seeing. All the other babies were calm and relaxed as they were swished along in a sitting position for a length of the small pool. Amelia was on her front arms and legs flailing wildly with a huge grin.

Definitely a relaxing way to spend a week.

Jet Set Lifestyle

I have some friends that say my business travel always sounds glamorous. So I thought I would post details of my current trip. I am again on Sakhalin Island. I left the house at 1:30am Saturday morning (that's right about the time on Friday night when the last of the alcohol has been consumed and you are thinking of going to bed ). A coach journey to Heathrow as the earliest train arrives after the latest check in time. Once at Heathrow I can check in and wonder around the shops killing time until the airport gate opens.

Eventually I board the flight clutching a present for Sarah and the latest Kasabian album. The first leg of the journey is a 3 hour 50 minute flight to Moscow. The second leg is an 8 hour 35 minute internal flight to Sakhalin island. Unfortunately I am not able to book the baggage in for both legs of the journey and have to collect it ant Moscow and pass through security again. The check in queues for the internal flight are huge (with queue being used in the loosest possible sense). There is a problem with the baggage conveyer and check in takes until well after the allotted time but fortunately the flight is still waiting. Finally I am on the plane.

Seeing sunset and sunrise from above the clouds is a wonderful experience and makes up for the fact that Russian planes always seem to have a few more squeaks and rattles than those of any other country. Being an internal flight there is no passport control so once disembarked from the plane I exit the airport by a gate in the perimeter fence next to the terminal building. Then luggage is collected from a room in the terminal building with a single conveyer with the receipt being checked when leaving.

I am met at by a company representative who drives me to the Gagarin Hotel (10 minutes walk from the office) . It is a pleasant surprise to find that I have a suite rather just a room. 23 hours after I set out I have to try a stay awake and adjust to the new time zone 10 hours ahead of the UK. It is nice to be a walkable distance from the office as it makes exploring easier (I am warned that it is not safe to be out after dark).

Talking to someone who has recently been on training courses in the UK I have to concede how much nicer this hotel is rather than the Lack of Quality hotel that I use when visiting the UK Office.

New Forrest

Yet again it has been far too long between posts. I would like to thank all those who made the trip to help me celebrate. It was a good weekend. I am thinking of making my birthday an annual camping trip (Sorry louis). I didn't take many pictures so there are non worth posting. I thought it may just have been my eyes that were blurred but the pictures confirm that it was the day and nothing to do with me!