TODAY

 A love of grey!

painting voodoo doll pins!

 ink well treasures

the workspace

What a work space, Ibiza

The beautiful space downtown Ibiza that will be work for J & J,Those floors!!!!

Ibiza

The Phoenicians named the port on this Balearic island Ibossum, dedicated to the Egyptian God of music and dance Bes,  In 654BC the Island of Ibiza had a destiny. The" Party Island" has seen plenty of change over the years Cataginians, the Romans, the Moors, and then the Catalans, now over 6 million visitors pass through Ibiza airport annually, most of them between June and September, at the end of the season parts of the clubbing town are wrapped and "tumble weed rolls through the streets" (says J),
Were staying in the old part of town at the end of the street the fortified wall of the Dalt Vila rise, we walk through the ancient arched tunnels as we meander through the town, and off the terrace we look into the ancient Necropolis walled off but we can see the skeletons lying in their dug out resting places, Ibiza was used as burial grounds by the Cartaginians perhaps because at the time it lacked animals that would dig up the dead. Ibiza is more than a party island and so much more historical and Spanish then I expected.
We're on Ibiza time now, slow to rise after a late early morning bedtime, no one rises before lunchtime and the day is relaxed and slow, a drift into the streets to get a coffee, we explore J&J new work space and make our way to the beach to meet friends, the water is warm and so clear and the various club send their promotion dancers to look bored and awkward in their sequin swimsuits to entice us to club with them tonight.
We pick the kids up from water world, we can't all fit into the car so three of us decide to walk which is fantastic, popping into pumping beach scenes for an ale and wiggle, pause to watch transvestite dancers, dancers with nipples decorated with tassles perform, past volleyball games and quiet beach scenes, we select our super yacht from the port, clamber over the rocks to ladies beach (the rocky beach where the Ladies could bathe...no white sand for them!) Its warm and time has no meaning, thats Ibiza....

Time to holiday and a reunion

So this has been a hard post to write....we have been together since we were 20, known each other and been best friends since we were 18 and started at Uni together, somehow it transpired that i would head away for 3 months! what were we thinking? Anyway three months was crazy tooooooooo long and we had to experience some of this together.....Im in France and he's on a plane and Im loving this new confident traveller that I feel(well kind of)   Im wandering the streets of Geneva, going with the flow, (no schedule no plan) when i realise Im totally lost and I mean really lost, Im working my way through google maps, and then I get the text, "Im in the taxi and will be at D work soon".....total panic focus( 20min to get there) and runnnnnnn..........just as the taxi driver and C is looking and D runs down from her office building(cos I m not there) I round the corner and we reunite.......Dinner with D, swim in the lac , lunch by the lac, a bike ride to sit by the lac ,then we thought a leisurely ride to the airport! which turned into D slowest commute ever (I think we all missed a train before,just saying)super stress, call the taxxxi from Geneva, quick fire get them to the plane instructions.......we made it! ...... Ibiza, met by friend's we've known since those 18 yr old time now living in their new Island home ....... Ibiza time, wine and catch ups on the terrace and one hour flows into the next and the next and the next....C is fine he is still on NZ time , 4.30 I run for bed!.......xxA

today

Montreux

 A drive around the lake today to Montreux, home of the Montreux Jazz festival the second largest jazz festival in the world and like Glasto 40+ years, established in 1967.not held in a field but the town of montreux an several venues and boats clubs. We originally planned to book tickets to some events but the cost! logistics and the fact that many of the acts had just been at the Glastonbury festival, we opted for a decadent lake view lunch at the Suisse Majstic Grand hotel. The colour of Montreux is yellow...yellow awnings from the ornate buildings that line the lake. The festival brings crowds of people and the usual mish mash of goods for sale, hairbraiding and food stalls. We opted for movenpick icecreams (as you do in Switzerland) amongst the stalls on the foreshore after a fellow diner/diners asked for the awnings to be lowered as it was a bit bright!!!! as the sun made its way from behind the moody clouds and the Alps rolled into view, and our lake and mountain views transformed into a view of a yellow awning. We drove further around the lake to Vevey wandering the foreshore  D marvelling that the French would never have vegetables in their curb side gardens as they would just pick them all (she's French so can pass such judgements!)past  a crazy container stuffed with greenery and nicknacks and a fork sculpture in the lake, plastic seats on poles embedded into the foreshore rocks and then drove up into the steep terraced vineyards and villages, truthfully getting a little tightly squeezed on some of the tight village roads. A snack in the countryside by the "heidi" homes and cows, before making our way back to the french side of the lake.

Yvoire

 

Yvoire is a flower filled medieval village on the shores of Lac Leman ( lake Geneva) and is classified as one of the most beautiful villages in france. I feel unqualified to make that call but on this day the stone walled streets, overflowing walls of flowers and winding streets to the lake, were definitely stunningly beautiful. We were booked for a waterfront lunch . I think the restaurant was called au Bord du lac but I didnt write it down and am a little unsure. I was expertly guided to select the local fare fillets de perche and we wandered the busy saturday streets visiting galleries and stopping to order a beautiful stained glass pendant light for my hosts dining room. We paused at a church to listen to a rehearsal for a visiting  singing group, the twins were captivated and we decided to cancel our restaurant meal for the evening and return for the concert.

Sciez

Old friends are just that, you may feel that time has slipped by and that slight uneasiness that things wont be the same when you see each other again after so long....but a hug, two breaths and it was just like we had never left each others sides, we live such different lives on either side of the world....but it was just fill your soul up with friendship times......spending our time by the shores of lake Geneva,  taking the time ....  just perfect. xxx