nathan bentley's personal playground...

Firstly, and to start, I’ve got a legitimate reason for not having posted anything for a while.

Secondly, I’m about to dive out of the office, so this post is going to have to be a short one.

Back to that first point… I’m back! From Mexico! Riviera Maya to be more specific (on the Caribbean coast, near Tulum). I’m moderately tanned, somewhat relaxed, and missing the hell out of being waited on with cocktails and food all day long. London met my return with about 5 minutes of sun, before finally reverting to a nice solid grey sky - kinda fitting when you’ve spent 12 hours on a plane, followed by another hour on various trains and tubes.

Anyway, before I ramble on (and make myself even later), here is the very brief summary of my holiday:

• Took a taxi to the airport. With a taxi driver who couldn’t drive, or navigate, and who took 2 hours to get to Gatwick
• Almost missed the plane, but instead, after some schmoozing at the check in desk, managed to get upgraded to increased leg-room
• Took a 12 hour flight to Cancun
• Followed by a 3 hour bus ride to Riveria Maya
• Finally stopped travelling. Got greeted by waiters handing me cocktails. Bliss.
• Explored hotel and beach. White sands, crystal blue seas, no clouds. Check
• Took a trip to Chichen-Itza. Gorped like an idiot at the incredible architecture.
• Went to Xel-Ha, swam with dolphins (incredible!), snorkelled, and lounged in luxery. All in an eco friendly resort.
• Rode speed boats through the mangroves on the coast before snorkelling around the coral and attempting to take photos of the crazy fish.
• Got bitten by aforementioned crazy fish. Now have small teethmarks in my finger.
• Ate at a mexican-japanese restaurant where the food tasted like chinese takeaway. Top marks for effort though (the guy on the hotplate who was spinning knives on his fingers and juggling eggs was a real treat)
• Got drunk in a swimming pool with a bunch of Americans.
• Flew back!

I’ll update this blog with a bunch of content once things settle down at work - the vids of dolphins, speed boats and ancient temples will come as soon as I manage to edit the footage (taken with a Hi-def digital camcorder - in 720p glory!)

Nath.

Saturday was really great weather in London and rather than stay in glued to my desk, working on my blog, I decided to grab my camera and flatmate (petermarkellis.com) and go take some photos. It’s been a while since I’ve been over towards Shoreditch, so thought it would be a great place to start - for those of you that don’t often head over to east london, Shoreditch has long been renowned for its bohemian atmosphere, as well as its excellent examples of urban decay and gentrification. After the usual shots of the market stalls, we stumbled across some great street graffiti and street art - and couldn’t resist taking some cheeky snaps of the “Banksy” style wall art.

After a solid day of walking and shooting, we decide to call it a day and hook up with Petes girlfriend for an impromptu picnic in Hyde Park - which, by the time we got food and hiked our way across the other side of London, soon became a night-time feast. Still, it was a much better way to spend the day than sitting staring at my monitor!