Beaches

Hi Cris and everyone,

Thank you Cris for some more tremendous pictures. You are really whetting my appetite to go travelling now. Mar Del Plata looks like a lively resort. You said that the beaches are 400km FROM (not down) the city – what is the best way to travel there? Do you drive? Carilo beach looks beautiful and deserted – it reminds me a beach near where I like in the UK, which is also large and empty, but much colder I expect than your beaches, even taking into account the cold waters and the wind you mentioned. The beach is overlooked by a fabulous castle.

(images from www.thegreenhouseguesthouse.co.uk)

We would go there when we were kids, to play and have picnics. The castle is called Bamburgh and is well worth a visit, if you ever find yourself in the north of England. Northumberland, which is the northernmost county in the UK, is beautiful – filled with castles, amazing scenery and great countryside. Here is a shot of a famous landmark from my past, the Whitley Bay lighthouse. It is situated about 2 miles from the house I grew up in, and my dad would take us here to look for crabs in the rock pools and to have the occasional ice cream. Whenever I go back home, I like to take a walk along the coast to go and see the lighthouse.

(image from www.freshpage.co.uk)

But, what can I say about the picture of the beach and waterfront at Saint Barths? It looks like a tropical paradise. You have some amazing shots and I imagine many, many happy memories to go with them. You and Oscar are very photogenic (this means you both look good in photos). And Steve is desperate to visit Patagonia. It’s one of the spots on the planet that he has always wanted to visit.

Talking of ‘spots’, well done for spotting the mistake in the bookshop. The inscription should indeed read ‘books delivered to your door’. As you rightly point out, the preposition ‘to’ can also be used with the verb ‘to bring’. For example, ‘I can bring the books TO you, if you like’. Now, the phrasal verb used to mean ‘to decline an offer’ is ‘to turn down’. You can also say ‘to refuse an offer’. To answer your other question, sweet mango is the fruit that most of us have probably tasted outside of Asia. It is sweet in taste, the flesh is orange and quite soft in texture. Sour mango has a harder flesh, and they are eaten when the mangoes are green in colour. They are often used in salads, as they are easy to shred. I prefer sweet mangoes myself.

Actually, I’ve been off work today. I’ve had a really bad stomach ache and Rachel has been ill as well. We went out for lunch with a friend, Ingrid, yesterday and had a lovely meal in a local hotel, but I was sick all last night. So today has been a washout. Poor Steve has had to look after me, as well as both the kids (I was less trouble, of course…). Ingrid lives in our building, along with her husband-to-be Nigel. They are very busy planning their wedding, which will be at the end of the year on a beach on one of the Thai islands, Koh Samui. We spent the whole lunch gossiping about their wedding plans and listening to the fabulous jazz band that was playing. There was a lady playing a double bass, a pianist and a drummer. The kids went bonkers when the drummer did a couple of solos. It was doubly annoying after such a nice day out, that I had to be ill. So your blog, with all the pictures of travelling has really cheered me up, Cris.

Well done for rewording the sentences.

1.You were correct to change the preposition to ‘related to’. However, I think you need a different verb here. I would say something like, ‘this avenue is connected with the tango, because….’ or maybe something more poetic like ‘the history of this avenue and that of the tango are intertwined’ (to be intertwined means to be twisted together )
2.Palermo Woods: It is 80 hectares (in size)
3.CORRECT
4.It’s one of the FEW squares that are totally covered in asphalt / or made from asphalt
5.CORRECT

And here are a few more for this time.
• This is the best photo I took in my life (and it is a good photo!!)
• It was the first time I’d seen snowing
• In Saint Barths we sensed the charming of the French.

Thank you for the wish of good luck for the first movie lesson tomorrow. Fingers crossed that it will go smoothly and that the staff at work will like it. Night night for now, I'm off for a restorative sleep.

Annx
xxxx

PS. Well done to everyone who tried the adjectives exercise. Here are the answers:
Tremendous
Fabulous
Outstanding
Incredible
Fantastic
Superb

To whet someone’s appetite – to make someone want to do something
Spots on the planet – poetic way of saying ‘places’
Today has been a washout – today has been a bad day, where I did nothing
to go bonkers (informal) - to get very excited about something
Doubly annoying – literally, annoying for 2 reasons i.e. very annoying
restorative - something that 'restores' you, or makes you feel better

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