Longleat Safari Park

So, day 3 we decided to go and check out Longleat, got there rather early (although again the Sat-nav insisted on taking us down some rather unnecessarily small roads) so we ditched it and just started following the brown signs, which *also* took us down some silly little roads, so perhaps Somerset is just mostly made up of them...

Anyway, got there in the end (after several diversions), and even though the day was young there was already a queue for tickets -

- we had cunningly bought our tickets online (saving 10% in the process) but there was no fast-track bonus benefit to having done so...when we got to the front, the lady took our number issued our tickets and "Jurassic Park" style audio guide (had to hop out of the car and put it into the multi-changer in the boot), and then we were ready to enter!

They made it completely clear, the animals are wild, they do whatever they like and any damage to the vehicle is just "one of those things"...ulp...especially as we had watched this video on Youtube the evening before...Anyway, the first area you enter is a reasonably safe one, not only allowing you to keep the car windows open (much better for photography) -


- but also allowing you to get out of the car (in certain sections) to visit the shop (full of African tat art) -


- scare some Guinea Fowl -

- and take the "Wallaby walk" (very cute) -

- then it's back in the car, past other large and small herbivores -



- past some of the "worlds largest" aviaries (which didn't look as big as the one at London Zoo to me) -


- and thence to (what was actually probably the highlight of the visit) the "Monkey Jungle", past not one huge warning sign -

- but two "Monkeys will climb on your vehicle and will cause damage - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED" being the most fierce (no joke, we saw people turning their vehicles away when they saw that one) -

- and it was no exaggeration either, the little blighters were all over all the cars -

- including ours (I removed our aerial ball before we went in or we would have lost it, no question) -


- and the back windscreen wiper only just survived because a huge water buffalo scared the monkeys away at the critical moment -


- although some people weren't so lucky (zoom in to see this car in front of us lost their back wiper entirely) -

- the next (and much calmer) section was the large paddock where many more quadruped herbivores wander around in large groups, ruminating and posing -


- and then to another of the really good bits of the day, the deer feeding, you buy a cup of what look like rabbit pellets for a pound (which comes complete with an antibacterial wipe (for afterwards) -

- and then you spend the next ten minutes with your hand being completely swallowed by slathering beasts (and then discovering that the antibacterial wipe is sorely inadequate to the cleansing task at hand, so bring wet wipes with you if you are reading this in advance of your visit) -

- you then trundle past some sleepy Rhino and Pelican -


- and then you are warned, take your last breath of fresh air, it's windows closed for the rest of the visit, first past some extremely sleepy overfed tigers -

- then past some extremely sleepy overfed lions -

- then past some extremely playful wakeful lions, who were so hungry they were trying to sneak up on flocks of birds (and failing miserably) -

- (oh and at this point some *idiot* woman drove up with her young child hanging out of the passenger side window trying to take pictures, only to be yelled at extremely sternly by the game keeper in his van, she, obviously a little flustered, went to pull away and nearly crashed into a car coming up on the outside, can you imagine the insurance claim form?)...Anyway, then it was into the last area, to see some Timber Wolves busy dismembering a carcass -


- and then that was it, a small queue to exit the park itself, and then on to the other attractions -

- but more on that in another post... ;)

All that I have, I share with you (including this blog)

So, now I'm officially "Mrs.Flyingpops"...or should that be "Mrs.Finkangel"? I have been granted permission to post here, and it seems timely that I should write a bit about the wedding...

I came out of the shower on Monday night in tears - "Why?" - I hear you ask, well, I couldn't remember my vows (my head still spinning from the excitement of the day)... so I've put them here so I will never (ever) forget again...

I "Fink", do take you "Flyingpops"
to be my wife,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
till death us do part,
according to God's holy law.
In the presence of God I make this Vow

I "Flyingpops", do take you "Finkangel"
to be my husband,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
till death us do part,
according to God's holy law.
In the presence of God I make this Vow

We both then exchanged rings and said to each other...

I give you this ring, as a sign of our marriage
With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you
And all that I have I share with you,
Within the love of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit

Then big round of applause and my husband kisses me!

Back from Honeymoon

Wow, actually found time for a bit of typing...! ;) Now, we'll cover the wedding, and the last twelve months of preparations in much more detail in posts to come, but suffice it to say (for now) that everything went absolutely perfectly on the day, it didn't pass too quickly, as I had feared it may have done (as some grooms have told me they had experienced their wedding days as a noisy blur), and I managed to get through everything - completing service, speech and first dance - without error, and with appropriate reactions (i.e. laughter at jokes, cheering at dance steps etc. rather than visa-versa), and all with emotion, but not floods of uncontrollable ones...

A minor miracle.

The honeymoon (this first mini-one before Mexico in May) was awesome, starting (on the wedding night) with a night in the incredible Nutfield Priory (thanks to Mum and Dad for that!), followed by a few days exploring Bath from the perfectly located Bath Lodge Hotel (a converted castle) where we had the top tower and most of the roof (complete with battlements) as our private balcony (as you may have already seen)...Day 1 (as we spent much of it finishing off from the wedding, eating lunch and travelling down there) we just stayed in the hotel, Day 2 we went down to see Wookey Hole (being led a bit of a merry dance by the sat-nav as you can see from the pictures), actually managed to take some half-way decent shots underground by bracing my camera against the slimy walls (while enduring drips from the stalactites), jeered at the dinosaurs-alongside-cavemen garden, watched how to make paper from bits of cotton, got hopelessly lost in the mirror maze (it was actually rather scary), bought some of the "cave aged" cheese (not tried it yet, but it smelt rather good), then drove into the nearby (and very small) city of Wells -

- for a spot of lunch -


- then just had a nice walk around town (stopping at a few charity shops to buy books) and just taking in the scenery-


- supper that night was in a 14th Century pub called "The George Inn" -


- just simple food (exactly what I needed as my body rediscovered that it actually was able to eat (the build up to the wedding having deleted my hunger almost entirely) -


Day 3 to come (Safari Park!)... ;)

Wookey Hole in Pictures

Bath Lodge Hotel in Pictures

Amazing!

Everything went off without a hitch (well, apart from getting hitched of course), lots of photos and a full write up to come! Thank you everyone! X

Update -

Match it for Pratchett

So, a good hearted blogger has suggested that anyone who has had any pleasure from reading a Terry Pratchett book (or watching one of the TV adaptations, I guess) goes and donates a pound to the "Alzheimer's Research Trust", well why not...? ;)

The Parador, Reigate - Tapas Restaurant

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter break, I spent a bit of mine worrying about the Wedding (yes, I know it'll be fine *whatever*, but doesn't stop my mind giving me worst-case-scenario dreams), and the weather wasn't exactly inspiring - I think we can probably do without all the snow on the day (as Flyingpops keeps wondering out loud if she'll be able to cope with the cold), plus (largely) finishing my wedding speech has managed to bring the whole thing rather sharply into focus...the weather also swept us off for a rather surreal meal, eating (as we were) Tapas in "The Parador" in Reigate to celebrate Mum's 60th...(Happy Birthday again Mum!)...and watching the wind blasting snow flurries past the window outside as we tucked into our distinctly summery food -

- Now, Flyingpops and I have been here to eat about once a month since we discovered it (just wandering around town as we would do when on holiday seeing if anything took our fancy), so I have tried a number of the things on the menu before, the first time I just had to try the mixed Tapas platter (pictured at the top of the next photo) which gives you a taste of about 8 different kinds of "main" tapas dish (all of which are excellent), so this time, having had my curiosity sated by previous experience, I opted to try some of the other things on the menu, the "pimentos a padron", which are griddled spicy green peppers with rock salt (and are zingy and fresh and excellent), and you might just be able to make out the Carpaccio of Beef with lemon, parmesan and rocket salad on the bottom left, I've eaten this at the Black Duck in New York City, and frankly The Parador do it much better...even though New York was amazingly good-

- pretty much everyone else seemed to go for the paella (which again is absolutely superb) and obviously adapted according to what is seasonally available, as the collection of vegetables were vastly different to our last visit (as Flyingpops can never be tempted to eat anything other than that, she is now becoming quite an authority on it)...

- anyway, great place, great company and a great meal...We'll keep coming back... ;)

Fink's Links

So, as it's a four day week (thank you Mr Easter Bunny), it's time to share with you the LOLZ and ZOMG moments I had during the last week of interweb navigation, starting with -

A great "I'm not sure you've really thought this through" moment in internet advertising... ;)

Not the moment to realise you left the lens cap on...although quite how the camera/film survived, I have no idea...

Three signs now - A reason to offer a quick glance of thanks to heaven for living in a country sans mountain lions ("throw children", indeed)... ;)

A warm, welcoming sign summing up perfectly both the attitude and intellect of the residents of Crestwood, Kentucky (in the good old US of A)...

...and lastly "Please do not block these doors"...

The stunning view of Chicago out the window as you are coming in to land at O'Hare airport (at night)...

Following the theme, a three exposure 2 stop composite shot of New York (taken from someone's roof), making it look rather like Gotham City...

"Oak Cthulhu"...oh alright, "Angel Oak", South Carolina... ;)

How about a highly original toilet roll holder? Although I can picture visitors sitting on the throne looking around in a panic for a while before they discover it's not just a quirky ornament!

A video entitled "How not to roll cable upstairs"...

Fancy a survival kit in a sardine tin...? Reminding me of a certain episode in "Three men in a boat"... ;)

I doubt anyone missed this (but just in case) check out the absolutely incredible progress being made (with DARPA funding, as usual) with the Big Dog robot...it's just staggering...all those years and billions of yen spent in Japan, and they have *nothing* even *close*...it's 100% artifial, but the movement is 99% totally convincingly organic and intelligent (especially when it starts to slip on the ice)! (deep american voice) Watch out for them in armed combat near you...coming soon!

A very geeky measuring jug...check the bottom picture...

A practical approach to clearing up the mess after a beer delivery lorry crashes...

81 year old Aussie (with only the care home to look forward to) spends his last days designing and building an intricate "Heath Robinson contraption" in order to (very successfully) commit suicide (unfortunately the design of his "final solution" is being kept under wraps)...details of the story are here...

And finaly, the very amusing "Everyone kills Hitler on their first trip"...

Previous entries here, more links urm...not sure...maybe in a week or two, what with the Wedding thundering up as quickly as it is (see how we go)!