Jubilee-ing it up 2012

While London celebrates the Queen's Diamond Jubilee I am off to Scotland to meet up with a very dear friend. We will see what Edinburgh has in the way of royal festivities. Somehow I don't think it will stack up to the £32 million celebration in the capital.

I am actually  surprised by the amount of bunting and red-white-blue that is cropping up everywhere. Even my beloved Jubilee tube line (opened at the last Jubilee) has been redecorated in celebration, complete with painted bunting and a flag:

 It seems that while London is a bit grumpy and pretends to not be excited by anyone - actually they secretly get excited about things!

This actually bodes well for the Olympics. If you want to get a Londoner to moan and sign - just mention The Dreaded Games Which Will Disable Our Transport Networks. Always worth a groan and a sigh. And maybe, just maybe, some excited happiness closer to the time? You never know...

Tips for Eating Tapas in Spain

Weirdly, one of the things I was unprepared for in Spain was tapas. Of course, this is one of the most famous things about Spain - so you would think it would fit straight into expectations.

I have had tapas a few times in London, with varying results. In particular, we had an amazing tapas experience while visiting Oxford last summer: fried goat's cheese with honey anyone?

But I've always associated tapas with the world of restaurants. Instead, Spain greeted me something completely different.

3 Reasons to Move to Spain

My top reasons to visit/live/breathe in Spain

Number 1: It's perfectly acceptable to drink thick hot chocolate for breakfast (maybe accompanied by churros):

Number 2: Everyone gets to take a nap every afternoon (potentially behind blue-shuttered mountain windows):

Number 3: Tapas for dinner. Long narrow bars lined with bits and bobs of food, just waiting for a flash in the pan (and the sangria, did I mention the sangria?):

Of course, like an good Brit I also have to mention the weather. So coming in as an unofficial Number 4 - sun, sun and more sun.....