Reading, Wearing, Watching, Buying (& Booking!)

 

Hello! Hope all's well in your world. 

On Sunday I wore one of my vintage block printed kaftans (from our pals, Old's Cool Traders) for a lazy day mostly spent reading with a bit of housework and some eBay sales wrapping thrown in.

On Monday, for a morning of charity shopping and an afternoon of eBay listing, I wore a vintage India Imports of Rhode Island block printed maxi skirt with a charity-shopped Zara blouse and an orange fedora bought new from a proper shop in 2018.

Today, for swimming, a Spoons breakfast and more eBaying, I wore a Dilli Grey block printed maxi dress with this embroidered linen jacket (fully lined & with pockets) which I snaffled from the Air Ambulance (the Ambo) charity shop for £3. The previous owner had removed the labels but a quick Google revealed that it started life in Free People and retailed for £100! In addition to my fancy jacket, here's a few more of our finds.

Liberty cotton blouse; 1980s Cheong-san; 1980s 100% silk Gabicci shirt; Handmade mermaid pin-up dress; 1980s hand knit; 1970s Windsmoor suede belt; 1980s mohair & pearl jumper; 1980s Panhandle Slim, Texas-made cowgirl shirt; Urban Outfitters gold disco boots; Y2K Oasis leather cross-body bag; Spanish tiered cotton sundress; Monsoon co-ord; Y2K suede & leather jacket; 1970s tooled leather bag.

When I signed off on Saturday we were off to celebrate Liz's birthday (she's a whopping three months younger than me!) We enjoyed a few pints of lager in The Avion, Aldridge's branch of Wetherspoons (I've written about it HERE) and for once, it wasn't absolutely rammed. Here's the carpet for your delectation and a very poor mirror selfie, Spoons have the best toilets!

With beers in hand we popped over to Laboni for an Indian feast...

After poppadums, Jon & I shared a chilli paneer and for our mains Liz & I had Clay Pot Vegetables, Al had Clay Pot Lamb and Jon had a Chicken Biryani (which was so big he took a doggy bag home).

It was our Never Had A Wedding Anniversary on 1st April,  32 years of unwedded bliss (yes, I know you'd get less for murder!) Forget candlelit dinners, floral bouquets and boxes of chocolate - we celebrated by treating ourselves to the best thing that we believe money can buy, another holiday! We had every intention of travelling independently but nothing fitted in with our dates, budget and Jon's desperate need for somewhere hot enough to wear shorts so we ended up with a package holiday (the price had been slashed by 58%, a Bank Holiday bargain!) If you remember, we went on the first package holiday we'd taken in decades last year (HERE) and although it didn't have the most auspicious start, we had a fantastic time in Halkidiki. So it's Springtime in Greece again for us and we're travelling to an island neither of us have been to before. It'll be our 19th trip to Greece, making it our most visited country after India. (Corfu x 4, Crete x 3, Rhodes x 4, Pelion, Thassos, Kos, Santorini, Zante, Athens & Halkidiki)

Kos, 2018

We had such a laugh yesterday reading the negative reviews of the place we're staying in (a basic, family-run hotel apartment) including how the bathroom looked like it was decorated in the 1970s, the TV only had Greek channels, there wasn't any hair conditioner and - the funniest by far - it wasn't suitable for anyone over 50 as there are steps. I might be 57 but I ain't quite dead yet!  Incidentally the most pathetic negative review I ever read was for a lovely little place we stayed at in Kos which was given a zero rating - A terrible place to stay, there wasn't even a spatula in the kitchen. The owner responded with Lady, if your trip was ruined by the lack of a spatula can I suggest you need a psychiatrist rather than a holiday?

Athens, 2023

I wonder if anyone ever lay on their deathbeds and regretted going on so many holidays? I don't think I will! 

In other news after eight days I've finally finished reading John Irving's A Son of the Circus (I've got serious Mumbai yearnings now!) and I've finally decide which books(s) on my ever growing to-read pile I should start next....I haven't included the stack of Montalbanos from Lynne & Brendan either. The Caliph's House is a present from my fabulous blogging buddy, Betty. 

I've finally settled on two books with a Scottish theme, Mackintosh which follows the rise and fall of the artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan which sounds right up my street: The devil's daughter rows to the shores of Leith in a coffin. The year is 1910 and she has been sent to a tenement building in Edinburgh by her recently deceased father to bear a child for a wealthy man and his fiancee. The harrowing events that follow lead to a curse that will last for the rest of the century. Irving Welsh compares Jenni Fagan's work to Alastair Gray, if it's half as good as Poor Things I'm in for a treat! 

Now we've rewatched Tales of the City  and binge watched More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City and Tales of the City (2019) our latest obsession is Stephen Peaky Blinders Knight's This Town, another stupendously good BBC drama set in the Centre of the Universe that is the West Midlands!  

The night club scenes were filmed in Walsall last year at the now derelict Sofa Sofa (where Jon and I spent many a Saturday night) and we often had to squeeze past all the vans and cameras on our way into town. When we were coming back from Athens last year we accidentally wandered through the filming with our bags, looking ridiculously out of place next to all those cool kids.

Of course, haters are gonna hate and apparently people are already moaning about This Town. For feck's sake, it's a drama, not a documentary. Personally I love what Stephen Knight has done to raise the profile of the West Midlands. Up until Peaky Blinders, whenever we travelled abroad nobody ever understood where the Midlands were, only being familiar with London & Man United. Now wherever we go, we're constantly asked to say "We're the f*cking Peaky Blinders" over and over again - even by camel herders in India's remote Thar Desert when we visited in 2020! 

Rant over! I'm off to watch more of This Town.

See you soon!

Travels in India, 2020 - Namaste, Rajasthan!

  

 We'd been told that a couple of days was more than enough time to spend in Jaisalmer as there wasn't anything to do. Aren't people weird? We ended up staying for five nights!

(Click the photo above to enlarge it - "boring" Jaisalmer in all her golden glory!)

Within the fort walls is a treasure trove of seven interconnecting Jain temples, carved from yellow sandstone and dating back to the fifteenth century.

A religion dating back over five thousand years, Jainism is based on non-violence. Jains lead a vegetarian lifestyle, renouncing the killing of all living beings no matter how small. Jains refrain from eating root vegetables as the plant is killed when the root is removed from the ground, some carry a broom to gently sweep away any tiny creature in their path and others wear face masks to avoid inadvertently breathing in insects.

The Jain temples are open from 8am to noon daily. Shoes and all leather items must be removed before entering. The entrance fee is 200 rupees/£2 for foreign tourists.

The Fort Palace, the former ruler's elegant seven-storey home, towers over Jaisalmer's town square.

 Much of the palace is open to the general public and the small rooms on each floor give a fascinating insight as to how the residents could spy on the outside world. The doorways connecting the rooms are rather low - not a reflection of the stature of the Rajput leaders but a means of forcing visitors to adopt a humble stooped posture in case the room they were entering contained the royal family.

The Victorian tiles in the collage above are Minton and originated a few miles away from Walsall in Stoke-on-Trent.

The bedroom windows of the Queen's palace (Rani-ka-Mahal) offered the royal women the perfect view of Jaisalmer's annual Gangaur processions in Spring.

Entry to the palace is 500 rupees (approx.£5) which includes a fascinating audio guide lasting 90 minutes. Open from 9am - 6pm daily.

 The 450-year-old Baa-ri-haveli once belonged to the Brahmin priests that advised the maharajah.

We stumbled upon the haveli and museum by accident when we took a wrong turning and at just £1 (including the services of an engaging young guide) it was brilliant value for money although, as you can see, we were persuaded to wear a turban for the duration of our visit (a small price to pay!)

As it only rains four times a year in Jaisalmer there's a profusion of pots enabling as much precious water as possible can be collected & stored.

 The family photos lining the walls gave a tantalising glimpse into the lives of the wealthy, ruling classes in 19th century Jaisalmer. (Click on the photo collages to enlarge them).

 The rooftop offered a great view of the Jain temples.

Jaisalmer fort is packed with cafes, coffee shops, and restaurants all touting for business. I'm sure they're very nice but we refuse to be shepherded into places, preferring to choose somewhere at leisure. Our favourite hangout was this funky little cafe a short walk away from the general hubbub of the fort. We loved how they'd repurposed old beer bottles (and were more than happy to contribute a few more!) 

 Jon's snapping some graffiti on the wall that says, The Plan is No Plan, which sums up our approach to travel!

 The cafe had just opened a shop downstairs, employing disadvantaged women to sew clothes made from recycled sari fabric. There was a tailor on-site offering alterations, bespoke clothing and also an option to dye fabric to customer specifications. 

 It's often remarked that I don't dress like a typical Western tourist eschewing the ubiquitous uniform of puffa jacket, cropped jeans and trainers for vintage dresses and tribal jewellery and many Indians ask if I'm a French or Italian fashion designer or an actress. When we first met, manager Ajay thought I was in the fashion business and asked for my help in writing some signs for his shop to explain what the business was all about. I was more than happy to help for free - although he insisted on giving me a wonderful antique printing block by way of a thank you.

The people of Rajasthan really are wonderful.

 For reasons far too mundane to explain, we missed the long-distance bus we'd booked from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur to catch our flight down to Goa. When Jon asked the manager of the Toyko Palace to arrange a driver to take us to Jodphur Airport at 4am the following morning, he insisted on driving us there himself (a nine-hour round trip!) The hotel manager was as bewitched as we were by the sunrise over the Thar Desert and the multiple peacocks by the side of the road, even stopping at a Hindu temple to give thanks for Rajasthan's beauty. When we reached Jodhpur he bought us roses as a reminder of our journey. 

Our ten days in Rajasthan were truly magical and, although Jodhpur stole our hearts, our time in Jaisalmer was pretty special, with grand Havelis and palaces, ancient forts and temples and, of course, a night in the desert, it certainly wasn't boring.

See you soon!

For more photos see HERE.