Llangollen

Jam and cream scones. Yum yum!

Well, I suppose it’s unfair to describe how delicious these were; how scrumptious they tasted, the perfect combination of jam, cream and butter. The way the butter melted into the scone and with every bite, how we could not help but enjoy the wonderfully crafted delight.

How cute were our own individual little jars of either Tiptree’s raspberry or blackcurrant jam; blackcurrant being my favourite. And then there was the cream, well, where to start with describing this dairy product. I think it was Cornish cream, or maybe not, but whatever it was, delicious is the word. The difference between this scone and others, was that it was home-made, and gosh, we could tell the difference. It tasted like it was made with the special ingredient of care, care for how much sugar and flower was added to the mixing bowl, not that I’m a baker or anything, but it was evident that these scones were not shop bought!

Anyway, you’ll be wondering where these magnificent scones cropped up during the summer holiday for me ... Llangollen, a small town in North-East Wales, beautiful it has to be said. It’s situated on the River Dee, a 70-mile long river in the UK. I’d heard of the River Dee the previous summer when my Mum and I went up to visit my brother in Aberdeen, and we went cycling along the river, from Ballater, yet another gorgeous place to visit.

Let’s get back to the scones ... let’s just say they were a well deserved treat after our walk alongside the River Dee in Llangollen. My Mum, Grandma, Grandad and me planned our day out and left home earlyish in the morning to get a long full day in.

Our first stop on the way to our destination, Ponderosa, the Horseshoe Pass, where the scenery was wonderful. I shouldn’t really mention the lovely sausage sandwich we enjoyed with brown sauce, a necessity to make it tasty! The journey involved driving up and down hills, as green as green can be. It was funny how we were discussing the idea of living somewhere like that, as we noticed little cottages on our way, and then came to the conclusion that if we were to win the lottery, I mean a large amount, we could possibly think about it. But if not, we wouldn’t buy one, as it seemed far away from anywhere, in the middle of nowhere perhaps, and the idea of being snowed in, as the winters can be harsh as we all know in the UK, so feasibility and health care could be an issue.

So, once we’d parked up after the long drive to our destination, well after we were stuck behind a tractor, haha, we stretched our legs and set off on our walk along the gorgeous River Dee. Passing some cottages and houses along the way, as well as hikers and day-trippers, some of who were pleasant and we exchanged good mornings with, we took photos of the scenery on offer. My Mum and Grandad brought their new cameras with them, both of which produced fantastically great quality photos. It’s amazing how cameras, for example, have developed and can now give us pictures of such clear quality, as though we are there.

Skipping along, we came across Hercules and, what was the other one’s name ... oh yes, Stan it was. These were the horses operating the horse-drawn barges, what a wonderful novelty I thought, and so, as they approached us, my Mum snapped some great photos. Coming towards us, working hard pulling his barge full of day-trippers.

Oh, I forgot to fill you in on the weather. Well, it turned out to be a gorgeously hot day, no rain in sight, and yes, the weather forecast had said rain and as usual, it was wrong ... Haha!

The horses, oh yes. It wasn’t too far past the horses that we arrived at the jam and cream scones. A lovely cafe serving many dishes and desserts, all of them looked as tasty as each other. We settled on the scones, as I’ve described, but what I haven’t told you yet is about what happened when we were in the midst of enjoying them. Oh my word, if you had seen the size of it, wow wee. A horse-fly was crawling up the wall beside my Grandma and me, and much to our surprise, my Grandma, being brave and not knowing what it was, got a few tissues and grabbed it! My Mum and Grandad had spotted it, but knowing that I’d jump or scream, which I sure enough did do, didn’t say anything. Only when it was squashed in the tissues and my Grandad stood on it, my Mum said it was a horse-fly, and mentioned that it was a dangerous insect. My Grandad said the sting could have been deadly, oh no I thought! Then planted his foot upon it. 14 stone on top of it, which of course, is my grandad. Don’t worry, you’re safe now, it6’as got 14 stone on it now. Thank goodness it was squashed now and not flying around us and near our scones!

And on that bombshell, as Clarkson says, that is the story of our scones, delicious as the home-made treats were.  

Emeli Sandé

Emeli Sandé. Amazing voice. Superb in concert.

Me being me, researched Emeli and found out that her name is Adele Emeli Gouraguine, a recording artist and songwriter, born 10 March 1987. She was raised in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. I was flabbergasted to find that she’s written many songs for various singers including Alicia Keys, Gabrielle and Rihanna. How talented I thought. Simon Cowell has even named her as his favourite songwriter at the minute! Listen to this, it’s unbelievable ... she wrote her first song at 11 years of age for her primary school talent show!  

Anyway, it was whilst walking along in Florida’s Downtown Disney this summer, that my Brother disappeared into a shop, caught us up and gave us 4 tickets to see Emeli at The House of Blues. What a fabulous treat!

How brilliant our evening was. Not only was Emeli fantastic with her songs which she co-wrote, but to actually see her in The House of Blues; a real feel for blues, jazz and a great sense of soul throughout. What a great atmosphere and layout; with the balconies and different levels looking down and across onto the stage where she stood, sat and played the piano - an extremely talented artist.

Her outfit consisted of a dress and a short denim jacket; something I’d definitely wear. Her shoes were of the Dr. Marten type, and gave a casual, smart look.

Emeli Sandé hit the stage and well, wow, what a superb voice. ‘My Kind of Love’, ‘Read all about it’ and ‘Heaven’, were absolutely fabulous along with many others. As soon as she started singing each of her songs, you should have heard the crowd applauding and joining in too. It seemed like she performed for hours, and it sure enough was past midnight when she finished.

It was unbelievable to see her in concert, especially when it was her first performance in America/Florida.

And then the ballad type: ‘Clown’, oh how gorgeous this song is, you could feel the emotion she poured into each and every word. Then there’s ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ too, which she sung perfectly.

Having had a wonderful time at her concert, my Mum kindly treated me to her CD, and so, every time we listen to it, we remember how awesome Emeli Sandé was in Florida’s The House of Blues. Who would have thought when we were in Disney, Emeli would have been there too!     

Dubai

Dubai. The Emirate on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf. One of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Dubai. The city lots of people have heard of; the Burj Khalifa building that Tom Cruise absailed down in Mission Impossible Protocol. The city where Sex and the City 2 was supposedly filmed, yet it was Morocco but you wouldn’t realise the difference if you haven’t visited this part of the globe.

It was flabbergasting to see the skyline of Dubai and how much it had changed from years ago when we arrived in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. It was 18-and-a-half years ago when we arrived and the landscape was completely different.

You should have seen the amount of desert back then, the numerous camels roaming the sandy white dunes, the little architecture that existed. A marvellous transformation has taken place. The vast multitude of buildings, all shapes, sizes and architectural styles. So many highways, roads, so much more traffic too. And talking about traffic, you should see the fabulous cars which zoom on by. Gosh, the speed they go too despite the whopping 140kmph speed limit on motorways! A race track you could say, or wacky races as my Grandma pointed out. I love seeing all the cars on the roads, it’s as if you’re in a showroom full of all the amazing cars Dubai has to offer.  

We say that there isn’t much of the desert left as properties, shopping malls, hotels and many more buildings have taken the place of the sand which we were welcomed by 18½ years ago. The doors to Abu Dhabi airport opened and blimey, we were hit by the shocking heat and the gust of humidity attached to it; as though we stepped into a sauna. It’s unbelievably unbearable in the summer months, with temperatures over 50°C, difficult to imagine when you’ve grown up and lived in the UK for example.

Before I was born, my Mum, Dad and brother lived in Sharjah, covering 2,600 km². It’s amazing to hear their stories of how this emirate was not so long ago. I remember them telling me that roads were narrow, one-laned and it sounded like the compound they lived on was lovely. My Mum says that their bungalow backed onto the communal swimming pool where mums and toddlers used to gather in mornings, swap stories and socialise. Thinking about how life was in Sharjah back then and how much Abu Dhabi and Dubai have changed from when the four of us arrived, makes me wonder about how great and wonderful the United Arab Emirates are, and how powerful the rulers can be in advancing their emirates with the help of construction workers, consultancies and workers like you and I.

I’ve had a fabulous time growing up in Abu Dhabi with my family. We’ve had so many opportunities to travel around the globe, grow up amongst a multi-cultured society, and for that, I am truly thankful to my parents for broadening my brother’s and my knowledge and opening our eyes to the many wonders which this world has to offer.