Buongiorno bella Venezia!

First of all, a massive hello and welcome back to my blog!

It has been a very long time since I have blogged and this has been for a number of reasons. First of all, what a wonderful year 2013 is shaping up to be. I hope you’re all having a lovely year so far.

So…what’s new? Since I last wrote to you I’ve lost two relatives, been to Venice, ended up with kidney stones, attended a lot of formals, met up with some incredible friends, gained work experience with The Times, written guest posts for all sorts of fantastic travel websites, written over 10,000 words worth of poetry-themed essays for my MA, lost 7 pounds of weight (slowly but surely!), wrote two posts for The Independent and found out that this blog has reached over 114 countries. Phew! What a busy term this has been.

Safe to say, it has been an incredibly emotional term in Durham. Not simply because of personal family losses but on the other end of the spectrum – finding out just how happy i am in my new surroundings, and how many genuine friends i have made in such a short space of time, it’s the quality of time that counts, not the quantity after all!

Easter has been truly lovely – i’ve over indulged in social activities, visited old friends, met up with new friends, spent some quality time with the family and taken some time off from work, and made the most of the break. This has had an incredible outcome and has been a real benefit to my health, mind set and happiness. I feel refreshed and excited to get back to my new love, Durham and continue studying what I enjoy so much. I feel incredibly privileged for all opportunities i receive and gain, so it is with great pleasure that i can prepare for my work experience with The Times commencing in early May. There may be the small big issue that I am yet to start my 4 essays…but that’s for another day, carpe diem and all that!

SO…onto Venice. This is actually the third time i have visited, but the first time of writing about it. It is a truly beautiful place rich with history, a beautiful language and interesting tales of the past of Venice..it’s a lot more exciting and sometimes revelrous, a bit more than we may imagine. Thanks to my wonderful Dad and his incredible social skills, our family were offered to stay in a Venetian Palace courtesy of his friend and client who is a fascinating character in himself. So that being covered, we spent 5 glorious days basking in the water-filled-streets, lapping up the venetian masks, and consuming copious amounts of spaghetti…it would be rude not to, right?

The palace is the one on the left. <<<<

It was beautiful, with a gorgeous interior, and inspiring views. I already miss the morning wakeup call the seagulls so kindly provided us, and the relaxing sounds of the water nearby. *sigh*

What a lovely way to end an equally marvellous Easter break. However it is a little alarming that i am convinced i’ve finished my MA…when in fact it’s not even half way through! My family and I spent Easter weekend in our Caravan and beach hut by the sea, and was a different but necessary way to spend the weekend, in the sun! The dogs loved it, as did we, and I’m sure one of these days I will return home from Uni and my family will have moved there permanently…hopefully with some more warning than that however.

If there is one thing I have learnt this year so far, it is that seizing the moment is of paramount importance. When we lost Uncle Fer it was a difficult time, and it left me realising how short life can be. Not to be morbid or pessimistic, but i prefer to have found an optimistic twist, where i make the most of each day and do at least 1 nice thing for someone daily. So keep an eye out – you could have a message in your inbox telling you why i like you and why i’m glad you’re in my life.

Now, for the upcoming months. I’m going to be celebrating
a lot of friends birthdays, and even my own in late June
when I will be turning 22!
When I return to London for my week at The Times, I will be dining with friends from Liverpool in the evenings and generally enjoying the time i’ve got back here. After that, it will be numerous antics in Durham including a college musical, before getting on with the big D(dissertation).

For now, I think that’s enough warblings. Keep an eye out on my upcoming posts for The Independent, they’ve been an utter joy to write and I am looking forward to when they’re published in June. I will keep you all posted with various other writing exploits!

Take care for now and keep positive!

Love,

S ‘ n ‘ S

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