Senna

Today I went in to Reading, wandering around the High street and the Oracle. After having lunch at Pret, I met Mickaela for a coffee on her work break, and then went to watch the afternoon showing of 'Senna".

'Senna' follows the life of Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna. It documents his rise as a driver from 1994 until his tragic accident a decade later, which resulted in his death.


It is a documentary, but made entirely of video footage of him both in F1 and his private life. It's made as a live-action movie as opposed to your usual documentaries, resulting in it feeling as if the story is happening before our eyes instead of hearing what happened in the past. I don't think it really matters whether you are a fan of the sport, as it is such an encompassing story.


Senna was definitely a great driver and interesting portrait - you see him as a religious man, an innocent victim of the sport's politics, an icon in Brasil and, most of all, as a talented young man pursuing his passion with so much determination that it bordered on being reckless and selfish.


Despite knowing how the story ends, the final few minutes are tense and nerve-racking. This on-board and intimate approach is exhilarating, and as the tragic ends draws closer, you can't help to feel emotional.

Elias Days

As you may have noticed, I really haven't mentioned much about my happenings since returning from London. With Adam in Paris and Mick at work, it meant I got to spend the days quietly contemplating to myself! The days were spent watching the Wimbledon tennis and concerts at Glastonbury festival, messing around on photoshop and reading.

Today I went to work, and spent the day pouring champagne at a function not far from home. It was a pleasant way to spend a beautiful, sunny and hot Summer's day (hopefully the first of many!), and the fact that it earned me some pounds didn't hurt!

I got home early enough to spend the afternoon with Mickaela at the bank of the river, feeding the swans and generally just enjoying the day while watching the sun slowly set.

Now it's time for an early bed-time, and then off to Reading tomorrow! Peace!

CAMDEN! (mostly)

It's that number 1 champion sound

So on Thursday we made our way into London once again. Our train rides in were easier this time, but once again the train was so full we had to stand the whole way in. With "Summer" here, as well as Wimbledon, it meant that London was even busier than before!

Building near Tottenham Court Road

Mickaela set off to meet a friend and go to a King's of Leon concert in Hyde Park, so Adam and I went to meet his family at Tottenham Court Road. Adam, his dad and I then walked around the streets here, lined with many different electronics shops, in search of a new camera for Adam. Once we had checked out enough stores, Adam finally got the camera he wanted. We then had lunch at a Subway on Oxford street, before getting back on the Underground to go to Knightsbridge, and the famous department store - Harrod's.

Harrod's

We walked through the building, looking at all the amazing stuff they have to offer (fashion, jewelry, furniture, art, food...) as well as the store itself, which is extremely opulent and luxurious! Not only did it remind us of how poor we are, but also of how rich some others are! We tried to take it all in, and then eventually went to meet Adam's mom and sister at a restaurant nearby.

Our next port of call was a quick stop at St Pancreas International station, so that Adam could have a look at where to meet his family the next day when they would head out to Paris...

We all then went to Camden town, a really cool and eccentric part of London, famous for its markets and alternative people. There are all sorts of people there, sporting colourful hair, tattoos, piercings and everything in between! It is a good place to go shopping for curious items and trendy stuff, and there really is so much on offer here! We got there relatively late, but it was still packed with people walking around the High street and visiting the stalls and stores!

It really is a unique and colourful place, and it seems that you can get a piercing or tattoo done at basically any shop, regardless of what they sell! Once the shops closed at about 6, we went to dinner at a Chinese buffet there. The food was really good and we made sure we ate as much as we could!

We then caught the tube back to London Paddington, and the train back to Goring from there. It was a nice day that wasn't as hectic as our other London trips, but nonetheless offered us so much to see and do!

Lon-DONE!

Long day in London. It was great as usual! Expect the details and pictures tomorrow! Time to go get some rest...

Into the Wild

Just finished watching the movie "Into the Wild". Really good. Really sad. If you want the motivation to go out and explore, working towards a single goal, then is the movie to watch! It's based on a book that is based on actual events... Definitely going to be on the look out for the book!

In other news, we went to Reading today. Nothing spectaculor or out of the usual, but it was a good day. Tomorrow - LONDON! Holding thumbs for some sunlight so I can get some nice photos and walk about without getting drenched.

The Way Home

So today we didn't really do much. We took a walk down to Pierreponts by the bridge, and enjoyed some salmon and cream-cheese sandwiches, and sat at one of the tables outside the restaurant just chatting and enjoying ourselves, even though the weather around it was changing from sunny and hot, to windy and cloudy and everything in between.

After that, we spent some time in the gardens of our complex looking for any birds on the river that we could feed some old bread to, but they were mostly in hiding, and the few we did see were not really interested in the food we had to offer.

Other than that, we just mostly spent the afternoon and evening listening to music and doing our own things. I set up shop on the couch and finished a book I had started reading. It was a novel by George Pelecanos (American-Greek writer of the tv show 'The Wire") called 'The was Home".

The story revolves around a kid named Chris Flynn, and the bad choices he makes that eventually lead to him going to juvenile detention. He eventually makes it out, and is hired as a carpet installer by his dad. He and his friend then discover a bag of hidden money hidden beneath the floorboards in a old house they are installing new carpets in. This is where things really get pear-shaped...

It's a gripping and exciting read, and the characters are all very flawed and 'real'. The biggest questions it asks is whether people really can reform themselves, and the struggles the people have dealing with their choices. It looks at the bonds of family and friends, especially in challenging circumstances. It also demonstrates how small decisions often have big effects on our life. All in all, it was a really enjoyable book, and it was a bit like reading a television series. Cool stuff!

Hopefully have more good reads coming up!