After a chat with my friend we both realized (as if we didn't knew this before) we had to loose weight. We exchanged whale mail (fat photos of ourselves) and decided to start an exercise routine from home. I don't believe in gyms. I have joined before but as it turns out you actually have to go. Having a monthly debit order is going to get me skinny.

As you might have read on my about page, I am a chocoholic which makes all the more sense and more difficult to be skinnier.  To defend the above mentioned issue I have to admit that I still fall into the 'normal weight' bracket when I worked out my BMI which is fantastic but I still need to loose some kg's.

The plan of action:
Three reps of 12 each.

I made a compilation of my favorite exercises. I am not going to torture myself. Therefore no burpees. Yeah - I rule! Wearing high heels to work is torturous enough. If I am going to do this, I actually have to like what I'm doing. If you don't know how to do the exercise - google it or watch a youtube video. That's what I did.

If you are making use of these exercises please let me know what the progress is.
Would love to know...

Valentine's day onboard a steam locomotive

For Valentine's day this year, my husband surprised me with a train trip for two to the small town of Cullinan, 30km east of Pretoria. Much to my surprise our romantic day was to be on board of a steam locomotive. A true living museum operated by Friends of the Rail.

We left Hermanstad station, in Pretoria a bit later than expected due to unforeseen circumstances but the wait made for more excitement.  My previous train ride was with my parents and I was still in primary school and it wasn't a steam locomotive. I have been on the Gautrain a couple of times but it is more of a convenience getting to the airport than to get stuck in traffic than anything else. 

We were seated opposite each other. I was gazing into my lover's eyes and thinking I am the luckiest woman in the world. The train cars started rolling forward on the tracks, the engine chuffed and we left the station in a cloud of smoke. Then came the significant "whoo-hoo' of the steam whistle. There were smiles all round. It is as if we were all anxiously waiting for that sound. I think kids would be this happy if they were on board Thomas the tank engine. 

We chugged past metro rail stations and we're stationery at some them for a while. Please take into account when you do choose to make use of FOTR (Friends of the Rail) that they do not have riding priority over metro rail. We had to stop a lot on our journey. Not that it bothered us a bit. The scenery towards Cullinan is much better than the beginning where you travel through squatter camps. Neither is is dangerous nor is it unsafe it's just not very scenic. We had quite a long stop at Eerste Fabrieke Station and had the opportunity to take photo's at the locomotive and I tripped over a piece of steel sticking out in front not once, not twice but three times. Some of the kids and one adult even had the privilege to pretend that we were driving the train. What an experience.

Basically the same rules apply when driving in a train or a car, and one of them is to not lean out of the windows.

The town of Cullinan is within walking distance from the station and there are numerous restaurants, a tea garden and even a brewery to choose from. Do yourself a favor and make a reservation. We had lunch at the tea garden and the food was really outstanding. We both had savoury pancakes. After lunch we still had two hours to kill before we would leave for Pretoria again. We strolled through the shops and made our way back to the restaurant/bar located at the station, where we had a drink or two and took some more photos. Marius had my name engraved on a penny and he placed some coins on the track for the kids. After the train drove over them they totally loose shape. What an awesome memoir.