London Calling

And so the countdown is on...just over two weeks until I'm back on British soil and thankfully, the last couple of weeks have kept me busy enough for it to feel like it's flying by. My friend Hannah and two of her mates came out to Bali for a fortnight and it was really good to visit a few places I hadn't seen yet and to introduce them to the things I'm quite familiar with.One of them being Linga Longa Bar, our favourite hangout spot where Fran took to the stage on more than one occasion to entertain the crowd with her powerful, jazz style voice. We had fun in Ubud and dined around Sanur, not forgetting a few games of pool at the scuzzy but fun Angel bar; the only place in Bali where I get to hear my favourite tunes...Hendrix, Clapton, Zeppelin, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and even Queens of the Stone Age are always on the playlist. For those of you who aren't on Facebook, here's a few pics I nicked from the girls:

Woody, Fran, Hannah & me in temple attire

Lo and I chillin in the water

Me feeding fishies at Tirtagangga palace

Lo putting us to shame at Angel bar

Me and Hansy

Dinner in Ubud

So it's been all fun and games but the end is nigh and I've got to get my head down and finish up some work before we cross waters. I'll miss Bali for friends and certain places of course, but UK is a calling and with a few exciting things lined up for when Lo and I get there, I'm raring to go...here's what we've got booked so far:

* Spending Summer Solstice in Glastonbury - my favourite town in all of England! There'll be drumming, meditating, tree-hugging, love-spreading, rejoicing, garland-wearing and lots of other cool happy hippy stuff.

*Going on a 'Foraging for Herbs' walk - in July we're going on a jaunt around Regent's Park, led by a Herbalist and natural remedies expert who will show us how to, well, forage for herbs in London and will show us how to use these wondeful plants in cooking, cosmetics and healing...the nature geek in me squeals.

*Seeing Swan Lake at the Coliseum - tickets are booked for The English National Ballet production this August! It will be my first live ballet and I'm giddy at the thought...I know I'm gonna love it.

*Going to the Contemporary American Indian Art Exhibition at Highgate Gallery - I made friends with a Navajo artist called Troy Whitethorne when I was in Arizona and when he said he was having an exhibition in London, I promised him I'd go and see it. It's on from 8th-21st June so I'll be landing just in the nick of time. I'll be tired, I'll be jetlagged and crazy busy but a promise is a promise and I'm all about supporting what has become a very precious culture to me.

Aside from these exciting dates in the calendar, not only will I be loving the reunion of me and my city (and hugging and kissing the life out of my friends and family) but I also get to take Loic around as it's been roughly 10 years since he's been to London...the best way to get into the city again is to be a tour guide for someone else so there will be many an outing to museums, galleries, coffee shops, gigs, pubs, parks, theatres etc. There'll also be much gorging on cake, pastries, cheese, wine and all the food that Indonesia isn't really best at...ditching the motorbike for our good old reliable legs again is going to be much needed.

There are so many things that we've missed about Europe that I'm quite sure that we won't be bored for quite some time...but for now, let's enjoy what the rest of this island has to offer before we wave it goodbye.

Glastonbury: The Heart Chakra

This bank holiday weekend I did something unusual; instead of film marathons and suffering from bum-numbness, I got several breaths of fresh air trekking around Glastonbury. I'd never been before - what a stunning little town!

My friend and I arrived on Saturday afternoon and went to The White Spring where the water runs crystalline pure and tastes just as so. While contemplating in this magical little cave, my chakras danced to the beat of a drummer who took advantage of the amazing acoustics and earthy setting.

I tasted the most amazing Brazilian steak that night at a place called Hawthorn's which we had to revisit the next night because we'd given it 5 stars; we spent most of the meal talking about the food which we decided was the only sign of the most satisfying dinner out. As we left the restaurant we were pulled down the street by the sound of live blues rock; we bopped a little in the doorway of the pub that was hosting it before we decided to call in for a drink...what an incredible band! The lead singer who was also the lead guitarist had the luxury of selecting a guitar out of the five he had for each song they were about to blow us away with. Someone in the audience asked if she could sing and took the stage for 'Sweet Home Chicago', turns out, it was Suzi Quatro's daughter.

Walking up the Tor, I got a healthy clear out; you almost have to use your hands to climb just to ensure that you don't get blown off by the incredibly forceful wind up there. I began the climb with a cold and by the time I'd gotten to the top, my innards felt like they had been pumped with menthol!

Walking down the high street that afternoon I was looking around all the beautiful little shops like I'd only just seen the sky for the first time...I was surrounded by Native American treasures and Pagan decoratives and crystals and esoteric books and all of my favourite wonders on one road! Oh to wake up and have that all on my doorstep *sigh* needless to say, I spent a fair bit!
It was a sad morning on Monday, knowing that I was going home. We had a meander one last time and ended up discovering a few more delights before getting our bus back to Bristol for the train. We found a shop called Star Child which actually looks like a magical apothecary built into a tree house (the herbalist in me squealed a little) and then we entered The Goddess Temple and the vision of that can only reside in my memory and cannot be described in words and all I can say is that my heart lifted up to the cosmos and my soul felt like it was finally home. I'll go back there one day and write in that Book of Inspirations, Meditate with peace and light a candle to all that is.