Mariajoy's VirtualTourist Home Page

Welcome to my home page btw - the title is Latin for "I am not lost" which I am not - at the moment - not geographically anyway :)

The old homepage was in need of an overhaul - and I will build this one up gradually - with some new photos and anything I think anyone out there in the ether who strays onto this page might find vaguely interesting.

I'm often in London exploring the "off the beaten path" areas, particularly around the east end as that's where I was born and my ancestors lived in this area for centuries so I find it fascinating to discover the history of the area and people. This is Sutton House, a National Trust property in Hackney - my latest find! There are always updates on my London page.

I tend to visit lots of National Trust properties at the moment as overseas travel isn't a possibility we are staying closer to home. If somehow, you are remotely interested, you'll find them on my Kent and East Sussex pages.

Last August some friends and I went along to the Notting Hill Carnival - the biggest street festival in Europe which celebrates the abolition of slavery. It's a fabulous multi-cultural event with a celebration of music and dancing and food and fun! Definitely not to be missed if you are visiting London during the carnival weekend!

I live on the south coast with my husband and family in Sussex not far from Hastings - (famous for the Battle of Hastings). This is in fact not quite right as the battle of Hastings actually took place just up the hill a mile or so from Hastings at the village of Senlac - which was ever since, known as Battle - 'cos no-one ever heard of Senlac but every one knew where the battle happened. There's more info about these towns on my Battle and Hastings pages.

The photo here is of the East Cliff funicular railway in Hastings.

From time to time I attend VT meetings in London. This one, organised by sue_stone was for HORSCHECK and yumyum's visit during the "Switched on London" event in Febuary 08. Our table of happy VTers at the Hide Bar in Bermondsey included, Sue, Sonja, Natalie, Jen, Carol, Jo, Liz, Andy and Holger.

When I can, I love to go to gigs and festivals with friends. There are a lot of great venues listed on my London and Brighton pages under nightlife and you might see the same singer/songerwriters or bands featured there, namely, Josh Ritter, Tom Baxter, Elbow, David Ford, Jack Savoretti, Josh Radin, - check out any of those names if you want to hear really good new music!