Photo time!

Here's a few photos of our lovely little girl. There's a few more on my Facebook profile too, these are just the highlights.

If you didn't already know, we're heading back to New Zealand very shortly. I finish up work in three weeks then we're off to France for a month of wine and cheese. Oh yeah. Then back to NZ early in December for a second summer.

New addition!

Our brand new daughter arrived at 2:27am on Thursday 18 June 2009. She weighed in at a nice 6lb 7oz or 2.92kg. Kingston Hospital did a sterling job and we actually had the whole ward to ourselves while she was in labour.

We've named her Hassanah Maree Ryan, Zanah for short. Hassanah means first born daughter and Zanah means resembling a white lily or the three graces.

There are some photos over at www.martinandlucy.com.

She's settled into the family very well and keeps Lucy up a lot with feeding, but is very well behaved and sleeps 90% of the time she's not feeding.

Spring is in the Air

Spring is well and truly here.  Today the winds and rains arrived to get rid of any Wintry remains.  Hopefully, the real Summery stuff will soon be upon us. 

Martin and I have been feeling busier and busier lately.  Maybe it's because we know that in about four weeks time, we won't have the time we have now to do whatever we want, whenever we want.  Having said that, it's a Sunday afternoon and Martin is snoozing on the couch and I'm surfing the internet.  Not so busy today obviously.

We began a NCT (Nation Childhood Trust) antenatal class three weeks ago.  The class has eight couples and a really good presenter.  She knows her stuff.  As a result, we are feeling a lot more confident about having our baby over here in Kingston Hospital in the NHS system.  We will have a doula with us which is going to be wonderful.  (http://www.doula.org.uk/content/duk/about/default.asp)  The group is encouraged to 'bond'.  The boys went out last week and it's the ladies turn this week. 

Last Saturday we went into London, to Southbank, and met my cousins for lunch.  Following this Martin and I went on a mission to find him a new top at Covent Garden.  Then, exhausted from the crowds and walking and dodging, we decided to battle the tourists and catch a tube from Leicester Square station to Waterloo.  Whilst looking for the correct gate, a London newbie walked right across my path and proceeded to park her little blue wheeled suitcase directly in front of my feet.  Of course, I didn't see this until I was flying over it!  I landed miraculously on my left side, flat out.  Martin, full of concern, quickly helped me to my feet as I brushed off the queries of random strangers.  We ducked around a corner where I promptly burst into tears!  It was such a shock. 
Tip for those of you traveling to London:  If wheeling a suitcase, bring it in close when you stop!  Very simple. 
Anyway, the baby was fine and kicking away.  On Sunday morning we decided to go to the hospital to have it monitored though as I was a bit concerned and worried.  Turns out that a Sunday is the day the baby likes to have a bit of a sleep in.   Go figure, as that is my earliest day of the week due to getting up for Church and racing for a bus.

 As is predictable at this point in a pregnancy, I am consumed with thoughts about the baby and being ready and all else.  We can't wait for the arrival!  We are very fortunate to have several friends, new and old over here who have had babies in the last year. 

My mother is coming over for a month at the end of June.  We'll also have a cousin staying for a few days.  Then at the end of the year (almost) Martin's parents are coming to stay too.  More arrivals we are very much looking forward to.

My writing is going well (www.lucyryan.com).  I am currently matching a manuscript up with the right publishers.  Then I'm going to cross my fingers and send it out there!  Who knows!
I belong to a writer's group which meets every third Friday of the month.  It's a great place for contacts and knowledge about the industry and also for feedback on stories as we all take turns to read something out.  That's a bit scary!  Good practice though.  Incidentally, Jacqueline Wilson (children's author) lives nearby and is the president of this group.  She doesn't come to the meetings though!  Maybe I could write her a letter...

Martin is curled up on the one seater and I can just see myself placing little baby Ryan in his arms to nap with him.  Ohhh, cute.

We have many travel plans but they are all for later as you can well imagine--so that's about it for now.

Catchup

Been a while since the last update and things are chugging along nicely. Lucy's looking good and pregnant now - three months and three days to go. Everything in that department's being running as smoothly as can be hoped for.

I've started my new job with HSBC, and been there five weeks now. The work is interesting enough. The politics keep me on my toes. It's good to be working with a team again - working in TM1 can be solitary work sometimes.

Had a great weekend away a couple of weeks ago to Stuttgart to see our friends Chris and Pris. Climbed a hill to see a castle, went to a beer garden and the Porsche museum. We were very lucky with the weather.

Christmas was in Wales with Margaret and Daniel Craig, their families, my cousin and a few other orphans. Was good times.

Baby bump

For those of you who didn't get the email or see the update on Facebook, we have some happy news to share - Lucy is pregnant with baby number one. We're ecstatic and can't wait to meet the new edition! Sadly with the human gestation period (ewww clinical!) being what it is, we have to wait till June 17 to meet him or her.

Movenpick Rendevouz

Today we were looking forward to heading to the beautiful hotel across the river and seeing everyone, including the bride and groom!

It was pretty early, so we decided to check out the markets across the road before we left. They were fascinating and I enjoyed them much more than the Cairo markets. Not every seller chased after you, so that was nice. Also, there was a lot of Egyptian people doing their shopping in the non touristy end. Fresh carcasses were being delivered and chopped up in unrefrigerated stalls which dozens of shrouded women were crowding around to haggle for. Again, fascinating.

Martin was enticed into a shoe store and happily bought some sandals to suit the climate. It took a lot of haggling and removing of the wool that was trying to be pulled over his eyes to get the right price. But he was happy with the purchase.
Having exhausted ourselves, we headed back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage, checked out and tried to locate the free shuttle to the Movenpick hotel. It took awhile but we found it and became really excited about the next few nights accommodation at this fine resort.

We met the others coincidentally in the foyer, as we were all early for check in and there was a slight hitch in the room arrangements. Kahanita was sorting it all out though. There were now seventeen of us I think. Everyone was very excited.

After checking in or storing luggage if rooms weren't ready, we headed to the pool. It was delicious! It was refreshingly cool and so nice to swim in. Those of us brave enough spent a decent amount of time in it. We had just eaten pizza at the pool bar too, so I was happy.

That night we all journeyed across the waters and entered a floating hotel for dinner. We didn't have much time as we were heading to Philae temple for the sound and light show. The meal was pretty average with cold chips and funny tasting fish for me. I helped myself to Uncle Paul's margarita pizza. Actually, to be fair, most others enjoyed their meals. I was just being extra paranoid obviously.

The boat trip to Philae temple was nice. It was so dark. We haggled our boat of course and a couple and a single American guy got in on it as they were having real trouble convincing someone to give them a fair price to the island. They were totally getting scammed, so we sympathetically let them in our boat.

The show was cool. A little cheesy but cool. The lights really showed off the temple ruins. They had the story in English with voices and legends being told etc. There was a bit of Christian bashing as could be expected I suppose when looking at ancient Egyptian history. We left via the same boat and piled onto our private bus back to the Movenpick shuttle boat. We headed up to the top floor for drinks where everyone else was hanging out. The views were fantastic and panoramic. The non-alcoholic cocktails were absolutely delicious. Yum, yum!

Alone in Cairo

Everyone else was catching a morning plane to Aswan. Martin and I had booked separately and weren't flying down until later that night. We missed breakfast with everyone. Martin made a filled roll just quietly but was spotted by a waitress who basically told him it was a great idea. Funny. We checked out and stowed our luggage for the day. Then we caught another dodgy cab up to the Citadel on the hill.

To get there, we went past the slum areas. It was a real eye opener for me. The piles of rubbish with people scavenging, the undernourished work animals and carts stacked high with I don't know what. It was really sad. We arrived at the citadel to find dozens of school groups waiting for their dodgy bus rides home. They all called 'hello, hello!' and 'how are you?' It was kind of cheeky and cute. They seemed to run wild.

The citadel was another un tourist friendly attraction, but still rather interesting. We had to tip a guard to let us over a rope to a lookout of the city. Honestly, everyone wants a piece of you in Cairo, or a piece of your wallet that is. Then we went wandering into the museum up there. It was where Mohammad Ali had his offices and home. No labels and an old man in an oversized guide jacket followed us into the courtyard insisting on telling us what was around the run down place. Then of course we had to tip him. Apparantly we didn't tip him enough. We went inside and it wasn't that interesting unfortunately. Mostly cos we didn't really know what we were looking at. On the way out the guard from the lookout was waiting for us as we had failed to tip him earlier. Gees Louise.

The mosque was pretty cool. It was designed beautifully and the highlight of the Citadel visit. We left after eating our packed lunch on a grassy patch. I think Cairo could do well if they put a bit more into their attractions. Though, they should probably take care of their people first I think.

We jumped in another cab and were returned wearily to our hotel. We had a few hours to kill so got a coffee and soda on the roof terrace. It was hilarious. There was cigarette ash in my glass and floating on top of Martin's cappuccino. Gross and funny. It just highlighted how much smoking is a part of the culture here. They smoke everywhere and anywhere. Then we went and chilled on some couches and waited for an appropriate time to enter the bar. Following this, we had dinner at the restaurant and then headed to the airport for our flight to Aswan. I should mention that on the way in our dodgy cab we were dinged into by another car. Our cabby got out, shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way. Crazy. All the cars have dings in them unsurprisingly.

Arriving in Aswan with a bit more experience, we were able to haggle our own taxi cab into the city. We were dropped right outside our hotel. It was really late by this time. The hotel was directly opposite the Movenpick which we were booked into the following night with the family. So that was handy. Pretty crazy hotel the Isis. It was outdoors with the rooms opening onto paths winding around the river banks. Pretty cool and very basic.

First Day in Cairo

Breakfast was a wonderful spread in the hotel. We greeted Bernadette, Kahanita's family, Bijarn, Rebecca and Andrew who were already into it. The guys had the brainwave of making rolls to wrap up and take for lunch, much to the embarassment of the rest of us! Though we regretted it later! I took some pita pockets and apricot jam.

We were almost ripped off by the hotel porter by paying a ridiculous amount for hotel found cabs. But all of us were seasoned travellers and we decided to split into groups of four and find local cabs instead. It was very cheap: Twenty to thirty Egyptian pounds each. The cab drivers were even madder and crazier and dodgier than the one from the night before! I just can't get over it. We had all arranged to rendevouzs at a well known 'cafe' in the big markets called Fishawe cafe or something similar. We arrived first through the traffic and it took awhile for the others to catch up. Tea was ordered and a Shisha pipe with apple tobacco was happily smoked by the men. Martin and I with Rebecca and Bernie decided to explore the markets themselves. Lots of beautiful scarves and ornaments and galabayas (spelling) etc that were thrust into our paths. Quite emotionally draining by the end of our exploring. Bernadette proved herself to be the best haggler I'd ever seen. She got some good bargains. Martin and I felt ripped off more than once unfortunately!

After much touting in our faces, and after Nick (Kahanita's brother) bought many pairs of sunglasses and all sorts of other things, we found some more cabs and were dropped off at the Egyptian museum. With the promise of seeing ancient relics etc we were quite looking forward to it. However, the labelling of displays was uninspiring and only occasionally in English. I know, I know, don't be such a tourist-but it is a huge tourist attraction and was so poorly put together. The artefacts we could work out were interesting though, and we were fascinated by Tutenkahman's tomb relics and the old chariots that had been discovered buried beneath the dirt. Our interest waned quickly though and we soon left to walk home along the Nile via the Hilton. Everyone was shattered. We all retired to our rooms and watched movies, (Cocktail and Rushmore) reappearing in time for dinner with the whole group of thirteen in the hotel restuarant. It was a lovely buffet with the best mashed potato and lemon sea bass ever. Oh yeah.

Egypt! The time had finally arrived to carefully pack wedding outfits and summer clothing into our twenty dollar Warehouse suitcases and board a plane to Cairo. I couldn't wait to see my cuzzies and I was very curious to see if Egypt superseded my expectations. which admittedly were a bit low.

We arrived after a long five hour flight with no onboard entertainment and a dry chicken breast dinner to a bustling Cairo airport. The heat hit us straight away even though it was nine o'clock at night! We stood in line for passport check, then realised by the number of English type people being turned away, that we were supposed to get a visa first from a poorly labelled counter. So we paid twenty american dollars, no questions asked for an entry visa. Weird.
When we'd collected our suitcases (few moments of panic as mine took FOREVER), we discovered we'd left the carefully chosen bottle of nice champagne on the plane. Stink. So we decided to try and track it down. This was unsuccessful and added an hour to our trip. Never mind. As we were heading towards the exit, we were greeted by an official 'greeter' and taken upstairs to a funny little office to book a car to our hotel in Cairo. It seemed like a scam, but wasn't and I'm glad we did it. Another guy in a nice suit led us outside and waved aside many cab drivers insisting on driving us. Then another guy got his car and picked us up. It was strange. Anyway, this was my first driving experience in Cairo and WOAH! I thought Turkey and Rome were mad. But they have nothing on Cairo.

It was a long and scarily exciting drive to The Shepheard hotel by the Nile. Drivers follow no lanes. They crowd into tiny gaps on the road in traffic. They toot their horns every two seconds to warn cars in front that they're coming past them on the inside or the outside or the backside! They flash their lights to say 'move out of the way' and the flashed cars usually do! It was madness! But so fun! I should mention the lack of seatbelts. They seemed to have been cut out completely. Dodgy.

Regardless, we arrived safely at the hotel then found Aunty Frances' room to say hello and tell her we'd arrived. I was very late so we went straight to bed.

We headed back to Budapest and it was a long drive. Martin and I had booked a hostel ahead of time but without much real consideration. What a mistake. We dropped Mike off at his posh hotel where his colleague was staying then Martin and I headed off in search of parking. It was a really busy, dirty feeling city with heaps of graffiti everywhere. Our first impressions weren't that great! We found our hostel and rang a poorly labelled buzzer for the 'reception desk'. We were buzzed up and into an old building that had spiral stairs, with private apartments opening onto circular floors. We were feeling a little hesitant but went inside the hostel anyway. The hip young guy looked at us as though we were in the wrong place, but put aside his facials and welcomed us warmly.

It was such a hostel. The kind you can put up with if you've never stayed anywhere nice and are traveling on a shoestring. We were given sheets (3/4 size) and pillow cases for our single beds then taken down to the lower floor for our private room. It was awful. The walls were stained, the matresses were springy and lumpy. It was roasting hot (in contradiction to previous places we'd stayed in) and we had to open the window to breathe. The sheets didn't cover the whole mattress (ew) so Martin went and got some more. It was so gross. The communal bathroom was the final straw with hair strewn through the shower and the toilet filthy. Yuck. Not quite what we were accustomed too as a married couple approaching their thirties I must snobbily say. Anyway, we had paid for two nights, but decided to find somewhere else for the second night and just make do.

The receptionist guy was really helpful with maps and stuff. He recommended an absolutely delicious place for dinner, again the food! Oh yeah. We'd 'settled' in and spent the day walking around the city but were both a bit travel weary I think. So the nice meal was fantastic. After a very very bad nights sleep (due to drunken german girl sobbing hysterically next door whilst her friend tried to calm her for a few hours in the early morning) we were pleased to pack up and find our nice hotel on the other side of the river in Buda. It was luxury in comparison.

We went in search for hot pools and arrived at our destination after walking for miles (was only supposed to take half an hour) but it was up hill and cold etc. Moan, moan Lucy! Anyway, we found the pools and again, looked forward to nice warm waters etc. The signposting in the place was shocking though. Nobody (proven by us explaining to confused English people what we'd learnt) knew where to get changed or the lockers and where the pools were. It was very strange. We were now very frustrated and a bit fed up. But we found the pool which was cold!!!!! Then there was a hot pool crowded at the end of course that was for both sexes. We soon realised that the real pools were in the segregated sections of the complex. So Martin and I departed ways and promised to meet back in half an hour. I wove my way through massage tables and cubicles till I found two nice hot pools full of women. Some were naked. It was weird as not all were naked. I stayed for about five minutes but was bored on my own so got out and got dressed.

Martin and I then walked up into the castle district and got a great view of Buda and Pest. The castle district was pretty cool. It was all cobble stoned and lit softly etc. But it was absolutely freezing! For some reason we found it hard to find somewhere to eat. I can't remember if we were being cheap, or if I was feeling sick. Probably both.

Before we left though we had a glass of wine in a teeny tiny little pub where the patrons were sitting outside with blankets but we scored a table inside next to two Germans who were very chatty and loved talking to Martin about NZ etc.
After our plesantries we went down into the Labyrinth. It was a series of underground tunnels designed to, well, let people move in secret underground the castle I guess! It was really cool and a definite highlight of the trip for me. We were given a gas lantern and left to our own devices. There was again a lack of signage so we basically just explored this pitch black tunnel system with carved figures and random puddles of water. It was quite spooky. Especially when our lamp ran out of gas! Pitch black! Luckily Martin had his phone which provided a beam of cellular light to catch us up to a tour group with their torches. We managed to spook ourselves quite nicely and happily left the tunnel system in search for food. It's probably worth mentioning that we came across a reception or something being prepared in an open area of the tunnels that held a fountain in the middle. Very cool place for a wedding!

We didn't find food to satisfy wallet and tummy, so jumped on a random bus and was led by a very friendly Hungarian to the tram track that would lead us to our hotel. We couldn't work out the ticketing system so guiltily had a freebie on the bus and the tram. Then we had to walk down a very spooky, shady avenue that had us breathing a sigh of relief when our hotel came into view. We ate our last Hungarian meal at the hotel. In case you can't tell from my tone, we didn't think much of Budapest and probably wouldn't recommend it really. Sorry!

I have to go a bit backwards and finish off our trip to Slovenia etc.
We visited one of the many natural hot lakes. It was a bit of a drive from where we were staying but the promise of a nice hot pool (think Rotorua) was tempting. We eventually found the place and it was huge! I giant lake with all these senior people and tourists (no kids) floating in the water serenely with rubber rings and noodles. Realising the water was quite deep we back tracked and bought a ring each from a stall cleverly placed by the car park. It was very confusing buying tickets and working out the locker system. But quite efficient. So we excitedly headed towards one of the many entrances into the pool which promised healing and therapeutic properties. The water was way over our heads so we were pleased to have our rubber rings. However, the temperature was more than a little disapointing, proving to be only tepid leaning toward luke warm. Needless to say, we didn't stay the three hours we thought we would. Plus it was weird. A fun travel experience though!

Even this far on, it's the food that stands out in my mind! Funny that. The second night we had in Keszthely (hurrah! I found the fridge magnet with the name on it), we found another empty but cosy restaurant to dine in. I had roast duck on red cabbage etc. It came out on the dinner plate as a WHOLE roast duck sitting on red cabbage. Tell it how it is. It was delicious and I ate the whole thing bone dry. Almost.

Flat and Job

We've managed to secure a new flat from 1 November. It's just around the corner from our current flat and we have four suitcases and a tv to move (well we did when we moved in, surely we haven't accumulated much more. Surely), so the move should be sweet.

It's a mirror image of the place that we're staying in, except there's a lot more carpet, which should be nice for the winter. It's a bit grandma-ish, so I'm looking to butch it up with a few motorcycle pictures.

We have to move out of the current one because the landlords are moving back from Brazil. They're around about our age and stage, so it'll be good to have some neighbours that we vaguely know.

My fixed term contract has also been turned into an ongoing rolling contract, which is good news.

Went to see Tropical Thunder last night. Was pretty funny. Tom Cruise had the best roll.

KrK to K..t..s..y. 1st October 2008

The plan today was to drive to an island called 'Krk. I drove today which was a nice change. The viaduct to the island was pretty cool. It was all feeling a bit industrail though. We came to the 'main' town which lacked a bit of anything. So we had lunch then pushed on to Zagreb.

In Zagreb we felt rather uninspired. We went into an internet cafe to search for accommodation but couldn't find anywhere! Another 'pro' for booking ahead! We sat at an outdoor smokey bar and I had a green tea with honey and lemon.

Feeling a bit muh, we then decided to drive the extra three hours to K..t..s..y, a night earlier than intended. So it was another day with heaps of driving. We arrived at 7pm.. I began to like the idea of prebooking a place more and more, as we wandered from penzion to penzion. Eventually we found a grand looking place called 'Muzeum Penzion'. A sweet little old lady answered the door looking rather surprised to see us. The room was huge for three people and decorated with an antique/aunty type feel. (Felt a bit like Aunty Cecilia's place). There were little yappy dogs and birds in cages in the entrance hall. It was really a B and B without the second B.

We went off for dinner. DIVINE! In case you can't tell, I'm loving the Eastern European fare so far. This little place was empty of any other guests and the Maitre'D was really welcoming. I had a beautiful rich Goulasch for starters. Oh yeah. The boys had deer something a rather. It was all very very good. Then, the Maitre'D brought us complimentary house shots. Mine was a lemony type thing for the ladies and the boys threw back Ouzo or something similar, we never knew. That's not dodgy at all! They were left spluttering and cringing much to the delight of our host. The shots could've warmed an eskimo in a snowstorm. It was great fun. I should mention we finished it all off with a cheese strudel which was surprisingly sweet and delicious. YUM!!!!!!

Porec Day

I was woken early by foreigners calling all sorts out to each other on the stairs.  Bah. 
We headed into the town centre again after breakfast courtesy of Martin's early morning walk to the supermarket. 
Porec is a lovely town with cobbled streets and upmarket stores all mingled in with t-shirt and souvenir shops.  Mike purchased a lovely new watch, very professional and styly.  We also bought a small piece of art from a local artist--so he claimed.  Not much else to report really.  A bit of a lazy day.  I had an absolutely yummy salad whilst the boys drank beer.  Then I bought some sunnies from an elderly lady who was so lovely.  She taught me 'hello' and 'thank you' in Croatian and applauded my pronunciation.  I could've bought her whole store!

We returned to the hotel and drank more beer.  We optimistically put our togs on and headed to the water's edge.  It was pretty.  But we chickened out.  The wind was a bit chilly and the water was icy cold!  I was very disappointed but felt like I was still thawing out from canyonning or something. 

We went for dinner across the road in a smokey restaurant (what's new).  It was okay, the food, but very salty.  Too much.  After we'd eaten, at about the same time as the rest of the customers, everyone at every table (seriously) lit up a cigarette.   I couldn't handle the smoke any longer so we passed on dessert and went home.