Tortola

Tortola is the main port of the British Virgin Islands, just a dinghy ride away from the US Virgin Islands - and of course m. wouldn't miss an opportunity to pay a visit to the motherland (he kept wondering whether we'd get proper beer and pub food over there, quite cute) (spoiler alert: we didn't)... so, on a cloudy, stormy morning a few days after Isaac's passage, we hopped on a boat and half an hour later landed on the kind of shabby, kind of unkempt island of Tortola... 

What did we see there? Among other things, we saw.... 

a tiny little port town bearing a striking resemblance to the house of Malibu Barbie, 

 shabby roadside huts covered in flowers,  

huge, sort of spooky, unfinished mansions, 

a nice looking rooster marching proudly by the side of the road, 

... and after lots of walking and walking

 we made it all the way to Apple bay:

Apple bay is famous for a couple of reasons: first of all, for being one of the very few spots around the Virgin islands where its is actually possible to surf, and second, because of Bomba's infamous surf shack, perched over the waves. We weren't able to do any surfing, but we did go ahead and pay a visit to the shack.... 

As you can see, the place does do justice to it's name. Made up of painted wooden boards and pieces of metal haphazardly put together,

...its walls (in airquotes) are covered in strange graffiti from all over the world 

even in greek! οποια πετρα κι αν σηκωσεις.... ακομα και στην Καραιβικη!

and pictures of Bomba himself posing with an assortment of topless women (apparently, if you go topless you get free drinks and also end up on the wall of fame). 

It's quite a strange place - notice all the ladies' underwear hanging around? 

I believe that if you're not drunk enough to go topless, you can also get a free drink by donating your delicates to Bomba's collection (!!!). How about that. The place offers an interesting choice of beverages,

including the shack's famous mushroom tea..

i'm not quite sure what you get for donating your flip-flops.... :-)

The shack was absolutely empty when we stopped by, so we just relaxed amidst a sea of panties, had some tea (no effect except what is to be expected from what felt like a ton of rum) and watched the storm roll in from the horizon.... 

England in the summer

Scarborough 

I know, i know, when i said i'd post pictures of sandy beaches and tropical waters this is not exactly what anybody had in mind… But we’re still about a month away from the Caribbean, and lately my only contact with the sea were the (sandy: yes, sunny: nope) beaches of Yorkshire. I spent a week in England when M. got back from Costa Rica (you can read about some of his adventures here). We hang out in Lincoln, but also went to Leeds and Oxford to visit friends (i'm in love with Lincoln, didn't get to see a lot of Leeds, more on Oxford later...) and spent some time wandering around Yorkshire. It was a bit surreal to walk around, practically in mid-summer, all bundled up in jackets and scarves and look at the people surfing the freezing cold waves of the Channel. We only got a quick look of Scarborough (it was freezing!) before we headed back to the Yorkshire moors – kept thinking of this song and this book. It  was exactly like I'd imagined it - wild, unfriendly and a bit frightening but also strangely beautiful. 

We camped in a little place called Rosedale Abbey - there was a little river right next to our tent,

and a village pub with good beer and  excellent food - still daydreaming about my glazed pork with thyme and mash. Oh pub food, i love you too much for my own good (**sigh**). 
After a proper english breakfast (**sigh**, again), we headed back to the beach -  to Whitby this time, where none other than Count Dracula's ship landed when he first arrived in England (apparently, that is where Bram Stoker got the inspiration for the book). Quite cool, hey? 

Whitby Abbey

St Mary's churchyard

Looking at the ruins of Whitby Abbey, standing eerily on a big cliff overlooking the stormy sea and surrounded by tombstones eroded by the rain and the sea winds, you can kind of understand why Bram Stoker chose to make this Dracula's first playground in England.... (though it was sunny and warm-ish when we were there, which made the place look slightly less intimidating). We had scampi and chips with salt and vinegar, hiked up to the Abbey, and walked along the colourful line of "chalets" on the beach (you can rent them and hang out!). 

photo by M. 

The drive back was perfectly lovely - sunny hills, little cottages, big country homes, village pubs and lots of sheep.

sheep!

I kept thinking of my parents, who love all things english (the four of us used to have afternoon tea when my sister and I were little, such a fun little ritual!). Parents, you'd love it over there!