Author Archives: Catherine Balavage

Andy Murray Becomes First British Male Wimbledon Champion in 77 Years

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Andy_Murray becomes forst man in 77 years to win Wimbledon. Andy Murray reached the “pinnacle of tennis” and became the first British man to be Wimbledon Champion in 77 years. After a brutal 3 hour and 10 minute match in blistering heat Murray finally won in straight sets 6-4 7-5 6-4 against his old (on-court) nemesis Novak Djokovic. It was the hottest day of the year and the temperatures reach 40C (104F) in the sun on Centre Court.

Murray, 26, received a standing ovation last night on Centre Court. He then broke down in tears of joy. Murray is now the first British man to take the Wimbledon title since Fred Perry in 1936, Many now think he is a shoo in for a Knighthood and also BBC Sport Personality of the Year.

After his win he kept up a Wimbledon tradition, sprinting towards the players’ box where he hugged members of “Team Murray” including girlfriend Kim, 25. He did, however, initially forgot to hug his mother, coming back to embrace her after hearing her ‘squealing’.

Murray later said the success would “take a little while to sink in. I don’t really know what to say just now. Winning Wimbledon I think is the pinnacle of tennis,”

“The last game almost increased that feeling… I worked so hard in that last game. It’s the hardest few points I’ve had to play in my life… I still can’t believe it.

“Can’t get my head around that. I can’t believe it.”

Murray had previously said that the  weight of public expectation made his life “very difficult”. But he thanked the crowd for their support.

“It was different to last year’s final, for sure, and then (at) the end of the match, that was incredibly loud, very noisy. I’ve been saying it all week, but it does make a difference. It really helps when the crowd’s like that, the atmosphere is like that. Especially in a match as tough as that one, where it’s extremely hot, brutal, long rallies, tough games, they help you get through it.”

“I understand how much everyone else wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon so I hope you guys enjoyed it, I did my best,”

Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond watched the historic sport event from the Royal Box. Gerald Butler, Bradley Cooper, Victoria Beckham also watched Andy win.

Although Murray is the first man to win since Fred Perry, four women won it in that time and have largely been written out of history. Including Virgina Wade. The Guardian Said, “Yep. Partially deaf player Angela Mortimer won the championship in 1961, and underdog Ann Haydon-Jones beat legend of the sport Billie Jean King to win again in 1969.” Writer Chloe Angyal, tweeted  “Murray is indeed the first Brit to win Wimbledon in 77 years unless you think women are people” It has been re-tweeted over 9,425 times.

 

 

 

Bombay Sapphire Imagination Series Film Competition. Get Your Entry In!

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20130428-192057Oscar winning actor Adrian Brody has been named as a judge of The Bombay Sapphire Imagination Series Film Competition. Bombay Sapphire Gin has teamed up with the Tribeca Film Festival to offer film makers the chance to have their own short film made.

The Bombay Sapphire Imagination Series: Film competition, in association with the Tribeca Film Festival, is now in its second year and is sparking people’s imagination by offering them the chance to have their own short film made through interpreting a script written by Academy Award winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher.

You can visit www.imaginationseries.com to view Geoffrey Fletcher’s script and submit your imaginative film concepts based on this script. The films deemed the most imaginative will go into production and each winner can be involved in the production of their film alongside world-class talent, as well as see their version of Fletcher’s script brought to life on the big screen.

The competition will close on 4 August 2013, where Adrien Brody, Geoffrey Fletcher and a panel of experts from the Tribeca Film Festival will shortlist the four most imaginative ideas to go into production.

The panel will shortlist a further five ideas to go forward to a public vote, the winner of which will also go into production. All five films will then be premiered in Tribeca the following year, in April 2014.

Academy Award winner Brody says, “I was a wild, mischievous kid and I had tremendous imagination. Any experience I had, I’d try to re-enact it. I always had an actor within me and I feel extremely passionate to be able to work with Bombay Sapphire on this competition. Imagination really can take you anywhere and is so subjective, so I eagerly anticipate people’s interpretation of Geoffrey’s script and look forward to embarking on this incredible journey with them.”

Geoffrey Fletcher comments on his involvement, “I’m honoured to be part of this special creative journey with Bombay Sapphire gin for a second year. The calibre and creativity from past finalists was astounding and has set an inspirational benchmark for this year’s competition.”

“We are proud to continue our association with a brand who embraces creativity and imagination the way Bombay Sapphire does. The competition is a fantastic way for filmmakers all over the world to express their imagination. We are excited to see where their imagination takes them,” adds Jon Patricof, President of Tribeca Enterprises.

“The Imagination Series script entry deadline has been extended for two more weeks and the new deadline is 18th August 2013 11.59pm (GMT).

For more details on the competition, script and how to enter visit: www.imaginationseries.com

Sponsored Post.

Toulouse in Instagram Pictures Part 3: Food | Travel.

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Following on from Part 1 and Part 2 here is the part people have really been asking for: food! French food really is amazing and I had some amazing meals. As you can see from the pictures. Our Toulouse Travel Guide is here.

Breakfast at the Citiz Hotel. They had a great buffet spread. 

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Dinner at J’GO Toulouse. The best pork and chips I have ever had in my life. While we were having dinner a brass band started up outside and played ‘Funky Town’ and other classic songs.

 

J'GO Toulouse

J GoPate, bread and salad.

Pork and chips. This was the best pork and chips I have ever had in my life.

Pork and chips. This was the best pork and chips I have ever had in my life.

30896b50e17411e2898122000a9e069f_7Chocolate fondant.

We had an amazing Lunch at La Chai Saint-Sauveur. Their veal was superb, followed by strawberry pie and a cute strawberry macaroon. The second picture is Esme’s vegetarian meal.

29a13e32e17211e2810822000aaa09c2_7Salmon with pate and beetroot sauce. The salmon was marinated and divine. a468bc80e17211e28dc722000a1fbcbc_7Esme’s vegetarian dish. Asparagus and onion on pastry. db5cd816e17211e2a86422000a1f9839_7Veal and Asparagus with onion and pastry. 030d665ae17311e29e6e22000ae811b0_7Strawberry Pie with a cute strawberry macaroon.

 Py-R Restaurant, Toulouse. The food was absolutely divine.

Bread and bread stick. I love the dish.

1016801_10151432609907093_1520697695_n1016587_10151432603162093_1675868550_nThe starters. Yummy. 1043940_10151432601962093_2060176847_n

 

1045189_10151432604362093_1649701278_nPoached egg, pork knuckle baked broth, cantal paste, peas just creamed, vegetable tray: red shell onions, sprouts, broken hazelnut shortbread.

1045033_10151432611357093_259675017_nPeas just creamed.

1012607_10151432607787093_876331681_nHake, Avocado guacamole, celery paste cooked in a sugar, fennel, cherries, Pedro Ximenez, Jerez Almonds, leeks vinaigrette, beans, chorizo bellota, crunchy noughat nuts.

1044659_10151432613262093_1336705581_nChouchou, red fruits, Vanilla cream, Air Pepper.1003891_10151432614052093_1959058010_n

All of the restaurants were amazing. The food was out of this world. I highly recommend a visit to all if possible, at least one if not.

Have you ever been to Toulouse? Make recommendations below.

BMI regional operates over 450 flights a week throughout the UK and Europe with one way prices starting from £59. bmi regional flies from Aberdeen, Antwerp, Bristol, Bremen, Billund, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Gothenburg, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Esbjerg, Frankfurt, Hannover, Hamburg, Lyon, Milan, Munich, Norwich, Manchester, Toulouse and Zurich. All flights include complimentary food & drink on-board, free 20kg hold baggage allowance and 30 minute check-in. bmi regional is the world’s most punctual airline having recently been crowned the title for the 8th consecutive year.  For more information, visit www.bmiregional.com.

 

The Socrates Project Book Launch

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More than 90 influential members of the media, outdoor sports, environmental agencies and the publishing world joined explorers, adventurers, politicians and senior business men and women at the launch of The Socrates Project.

mark beaumont. The Socrates Project

We drank amazing Blue Cocktails (Blue Gold Cocktail Recipe: Equal measures of blue curacao and vodka poured over plenty of ice, top up with lemonade and stir.) mingled and talked with the author, Daron Sheehan and Mark Beaumont amongst others. All in all, it was an amazing night and we are looking forward to reviewing the book.

The Socrates VIP launch.

The event, held between 6pm and 9pm on June 25th 2013 at Artemis, St. James Street, London, was described by guests as a “massive success” and “an important starting point to spread the word about The Socrates Project and its optimistic, thrilling and at times terrifying vision of our future”.

 

The event attracted a wide range of guests from different backgrounds including the leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett and journalists from The Guardian, Frost Magazine, Daily Mail, Sunday Mirror and Friends of the Earth. Guests heard from the author, Daron Sheehan, about the inspiration behind the creation of the sicads, “the robotic creatures created by humans to save us who are the main characters in this story” (more info about the sicads – http://the-socrates-project.com/hope-vs-greed/). As Mark Beaumont, ambassador of The Socrates Project, pointed out: “This is a book that doesn’t happily sit in any one genre. In truth, when Daron told me about the idea for The Socrates Project I had concerns; that it would be too sci-fi for me, and that it could come across as Daron preaching. I’m happy to say my concerns were not founded, in fact, this is a fantastic story but it also made me stop to think and reflect on some of the news stories that had recently caught my eye.”

 

Influenced by his vast experiences while travelling the world (during a three-year sabbatical from his successful investment career spanning 16 years), the author, Daron Sheehan, was encouraged to create the story with a view to turning it into a film, something the Nautilus Media team (responsible for publishing the book) is currently working on.

 

Blue Gold cocktails were served and guests were given a goody bag complete with a copy of The Socrates Project, nibbles for the train journey home, a recycled paper notepad and pen set and a TSP-themed Oyster card wallet. Following a Twitter competition, run by Literally PR (@literallypr), David Fuentes (@theperformer) won two free VIP tickets to attend the launch. Fuentes said: “It is great to be able to come along to an event such as this, particularly one that is so busy and full of interesting people”.

 

Music was provided by the incredibly talented Fergal O’Connor and Catriona Lightfoot, who performed the first live version of a song created in honour of The Socrates Project.

 

This book is for anyone who loves outdoor sports, adventure and travel, who wants to preserve our environment, conserve nature, and reduce the threat of pollution on our wildlife, for those of us who are prepared to put our heads above the parapet and discuss what could happen when civil unrest hits our streets even more regularly and more violently than it already is, when water is known as ‘blue gold’ and becomes more valuable to millions of us, including in the West, than ‘yellow gold’. The Socrates Project is fictional, but it presents a shocking account of what could be…
Synopsis

The Socrates Project is a secret attempt by the United Nations to avert the predicted collapse of our civilisations. Simon Oceandis heads up the sicads, who must blend modern science and ancient wisdom to find the solutions before time runs out.

 

Not everybody welcomes the Project. An influential secret society plots to discredit and destroy the sicads. Torn between the love of a beautiful scientist and a fiery tribeswoman, Simon discovers an exotic world of adventure and wonder. To find the answers to save humanity, he must undergo a deep inner journey, yet his life becomes a frantic race for survival…

 

Is it happening? Could it happen? Should it happen? Decide for yourself! Live the story…

 

“Michael Crichton meets George Orwell” – Ross Leckie

“A masterpiece of storytelling…a gripping tale of adventure…” – Mark Beaumont

 

Toulouse In Instagram Pictures Part 2 | Travel.

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Following on from Part 1, here is Part 2 of Toulouse in Instagram pictures. Part 3 is here with lots of pictures of food. Here is our in-depth Toulouse Travel Guide. Hope you enjoy.

Moon Rock at the Cite de L’Espace. Rented from NASA. 

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Moon rock NASA

Breakfast at the Citiz Hotel, a great four star hotel in a convenient, central area. I love hotel dressing gowns.

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We had an amazing Lunch at La Chai Saint-Sauveur. Their veal was superb, followed by strawberry pie. pictures will be in the food special.

toulouse

Next we went to the Terre de Pastel Museum & Spa. This is newly opened in Labege.

Sandrine Banessy, the owner of Terre Pastel shows us how the woad plant dyes things blue.

Sandrine Banassy

Terre de pastel

I then walked around the city with Esme.

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Dinner at Le Py-R. With fellow travel writers. The food was superb. 

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Victor Hugo Marketplace.

victor hugo marketplace

More Marketplaces. There was a great variety of stuff.

marketplace in toulouse

 

BMI regional operates over 450 flights a week throughout the UK and Europe with one way prices starting from £59. bmi regional flies from Aberdeen, Antwerp, Bristol, Bremen, Billund, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Gothenburg, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Esbjerg, Frankfurt, Hannover, Hamburg, Lyon, Milan, Munich, Norwich, Manchester, Toulouse and Zurich. All flights include complimentary food & drink on-board, free 20kg hold baggage allowance and 30 minute check-in. bmi regional is the world’s most punctual airline having recently been crowned the title for the 8th consecutive year.  For more information, visit www.bmiregional.com.

Have you ever been to Toulouse? Do you think you will visit?

Iberica La Terraza | Restaurant Review

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photo (97)When Samuel Johnson made his often quoted remark about those who tire of London being tired of life he could have been talking about the restaurants in London. There is every nationality and cuisines in this great city. All of the different boroughs, offer unique and different experiences.

Iberica La Terraza has its own unique experience. A Spanish Tapas bar on a terrace in Cabot Square, in the heart of Canary Wharf. It is near a fountain and is just so beautiful. You almost feel like you are on holiday.

The menu has a great selection of food. Both hot and cold. If you are not in the mood for tapas you can have breakfast, or a salad. The menu offers something for everyone. Here is what we had. Which was a lot.

105Half & Half, a selection of cured meat and cheeses: chorizo de pueblo, cecina de leon, Spanish cheese taster,

This was an amazing selection of meat and cheese. Very generous portions. Delicious. Some of the meat was even cured with Rosemary.

Smoked Cod with Roasted Red Peppers Salad.

This salty and smoky salad tasted great. Quite different.

Aubergine, Honey and Pinenuts.

I loved this dish. The aubergine was perfectly cooked with honey and pinenuts on top. The texture and taste was just perfect.

101Meatballs with chilindron sauce.

These meatballs are ‘like grandma used to make’. Family food in Spain. The meatballs are pork and beef, with tomatoe, garlic and a hint of chilli. Great, honest food.

102Baby squid sandwich.

Delicious for those who love seafood. Also a very generous portion. The bread was great too. The squid was fried and delicious.

Topside veal with roasted vegetable puree.

This was perfectly cooked with a yummy puree.

Tapas

104Snow Crab Meat with mayonnaise and trout roe.

Baby Squid with Alioli.

photo (92)Ensaladilla with tuna, egg, green olives and Piquillo.

photo (91)Creamed cheese, sun blushed tomatoes, rocket and basil.

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Green Asparagus, smoked salmon, quails egg and avruga.

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The tapas were AMAZING. Just really good. It is hard to choose a favourite so I won’t. I loved them all. Definitely try a few.

Dessert.

Cream Catalana.

photo (96)Double cream, cinnamon, vanilla and lemon.

Great puffy dessert. A bit like foam but with more consistency. Is light and tastes amazing.

La Tarta de la abuela. Chocolate, vanilla and biscuit.

photo (98)Good chocolate tart. The crunch biscuit on top was a great touch. I, of course, also loved the chocolate. The entire mix of this dessert works well together.

 To Drink

La Terraza Cocktail

Gin, cranberries and lime.

All of the cocktails are made in house and a lot of thought is put into them.

photo (94)Agua de Valencia

Cava, vodka, gin and orange juice.

Another classic. The oranges are imported from Valencia to make the cocktail perfect. No shortcuts are taken. The original 1950s recipe was also sourced by Pedro Carvalho. You can taste the attention to detail and love that goes into the cocktails.

photo (95)Sangria Cava

This amazing drink was packed with delicious juicy fresh fruit and was very refreshing. You could really taste all the different fruit flavours (Orange, strawberry, blackberry and mint) as they marinated into the cool cava. A truly special drink. The only way I can describe is that it was like sipping the sun. I can really do with another one of these right now!

photo (99)Sangria White

Ditto. Both Sangria drinks were tasty and perfectly suited the mood. They also came in great jug glasses.

Berry Cavarinha

Blackberries, raspberries, lime sugar, chambord, cava.

La Terraza Cocktail

La Terraza Cocktail

I loved this cocktail. What a great combination.

 

 

 

 

We were impressed by Iberica La Terraza. The food was great as was the atmosphere and the cocktails. Prices range from low to high so you can go and have some cocktails and food no matter what your budget is. In fact, the only problem I have with Iberica La terraza is the smoking. There were a few people smoking around us and as a non-smoker I don’t want to breathe in other peoples smoke. Only a few people were smoking though so I do recommend that you head down to Canary Wharf for an excellent Spanish experience. If the weather is ropey then don’t worry, the restaurant has heaters, blankets and a big umbrella.

Cabot Square  London Borough of Tower Hamlets, E14 4QQ. Nearest Tube: Canary Wharf. 

020 7636 8650