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From Camels to Cadbury

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I’ve been back in the States going on 2 days now and am just getting back into the swing of things with jet lag and the fun accumulation of snail mail and work projects that built up while I was away.

We were very lucky and had a long layover in London so I went from Camels one night to Double Decker buses the next afternoon. It was surreal to go from sand to the pavement and hustle of London within one 24 hour period.

On our last day, we went to a farm out in the country side and rode camels, Arabian horses, hiked to the top of a hillside to watch the sunset and experienced traditional dancing, food & hookah smoking (Well, it was available. I’m a wimp and didn’t try it). For future reference, camels are really, really tall and when you’re in the air, you feel very high up. And, they’re not smooth at all to ride unless they’re running. When they are running, they’re easy to ride but when they are walking, it’s a core workout!
When we got back to our hotel (which overlooked the Red Sea), we were interested to see that there were blankets spread out all along the waterfront with small groups of people eating and hanging out in picnic-fashion. There were a lot of people out picnicing by the water, too. Imagine our surprise the next morning to find many of them still along the waterfront. The had stayed up all night! The photo from the top left is one of the picnic-groups leaving their area and walking away, presumably to go home and sleep.
And then it was off to London for 2 days. London was cold, drizzly and foggy but was steeped in history. We rode the Red Bus for the entire day on the first day, listening to the tour and marveling at the sights. In the evening, we went to go see the musical ‘Wicked’ (which we loved and highly highly recomend). On the second day, we went to the Tower of London and the Tate Modern. It was quite a juxtoposition – a tower that had been around since 1078 and then the Tate Modern, showcasing international modern and contemporary art. It was almost a 1000 year swing in time periods.

We were sad to leave the history-rich city of London but thrilled when we retuned home to Seattle to find that the weather in Washington state was warmer and more clear than in London (How is that possible? We typically have terrible weather in Washington state!).

I was delighted to see everyone at Bramble Berry and was especially thrilled that the 24-hour-turnaround goal had been kept for all of our orders that shipped while I was gone (yay!). A special thanks to Amber for doing such an incredible job with putting her spin on the blog and keeping everyone entertained with her screen printing and mad baking skills. She’s quite a whiz.

Look for a new SoapQueen.TV video tomorrow! Sign up to receive the latest video news at SoapQueen.TV if you want to be the very first to be notified. Also in Bramble Berry news, we sent out a newsletter yesterday. If you didn’t get it and you’re a subscriber, let me know. There was an exclusive recipe in it for subscribers.

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25 Comments

  1. Definitely not anything but really sweet smelling tobacco =) They may look like bongs but they were only smoking yummys-smelling tobacco.

  4. Welcome back! The colors, sights, sounds and smells must have been so amazing! The pictures look unlike anything I've ever seen for sure. It would be wonderful to experience something so different from "home". You must be full of so many ideas now.

  5. Welcome back! Yeah girls were very entertaining and Erin hooked me up on cupcake soaps! Already ordered glitter and fun colors to experiment with πŸ™‚

  6. Welcome back! I'm so happy you had a a great trip and I'm looking forward to your pix. you look so cute in hijab! πŸ™‚

  7. Looks like you had a great trip and glad that you enjoyed London. It is unusually cold here and the drizzle really doesn't help. It's much nicer in Spring or the Summer !

    Hope you got over your jet-lag by now and loving your new Soap Queen TV !

    Cheers
    Sabine

  9. Not trying a hookah doesn't make you a wimp. It's no better for you than cigarettes–just smells better.

  10. Anne, Maybe I could pay Amber the bonus you suggested with that letterpress machine she asked for =) (he he) And, I missed you guys too. Not having reliable interent was a mind shift for sure.

    Evermore, I posted about 1/3rd of the photos we took (I need to upload more tonight or tomorrow) to this Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brambleberry/sets/72157623237409586/ I have a bunch more to post of some traditional food that we had on the last night (that was ultra yummy!)

    E-Scentual, I was singing 'Defying Gravity' this morning at 5:30 a.m. My husband thought I was nuts but it's been stuck in my head for days now! =)

    Mary, Yes, I was COLD in London. Even with the ski jacket, mittens and scarf, I was still chilled every day. But, it was a small price to pay for such a great experience.

    Tican, IO hope to visit London again. =)

    Lady of the Loch, I will post a video of our camel. He had a really awesome riding saddle/cage thing that made riding him easier than you probably got! =)

    Michelle, It's completely a core workout. I can see how you could easily get a back ache if you didn't flex your core the entire time. =)

    Unique, I just need to know your email address or email it to amber(at)brambleberry(dot)com if you don't want to post it and we'll forward you the newsletter ASAP.

    Kindred Scents, Ditto what I just told Unique Garden =)

    Holly, Now that I've spent two days unpacking, cleaning and doing laundry, I feel so happy and settled again. It's great to be back.

    Megan, It was an incredible trip. I feel so lucky and blessed to be in a business that allows me such great opportunities =)

  11. AM – Love the picture of you and your hubs up top. You both are just too cute! And I have been loving the updates… sounds like an amazing trip!

    I love to travel too, I hope to ride a camel someday too!

  12. It's been so fun to hear of your travels. It sounds like you had a great time but there's no place like home. πŸ™‚

  13. I just started to make soap and I love your site and your recipes! I signed up for the newsletter a week ago but have not recieved the new one that was just sent out. Maybe my information did not go through?

    Thanks for all the great information and ideas!

  14. Welcome back! It is fun to see your pictures and hear of your adventures, thanks for sharing!
    I have not received my copy of the newsletter and would appreciate your re-sending it. I don't know what has happened, I didn't receive it last time either.
    Thanks,
    Tammy

  15. Welcome Back AM! It is great to see some pictures from your trip, thank you for sharing!!

    Just last night some friends came over to share pictures from their trip to Israel, Jordan, Turkey. They had some video of themselves riding the camels… too funny! I can now understand what you mean by core workout based on what I saw in the video. It is interesting how the camels stop and let people off, that looks challenging in itself.

    Your photos of London make me want to go! Hopefully some day πŸ™‚

  16. I love reading your blog. Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to share with us. I agree about the camel riding!! We went to Cable Beach, Broome, Western Australia many years ago and rode camels at sunset. It sure was lovely.. The camel mount/dismount is an artform. I almost went heels over head (my heels over the camels head) and my poor (then) boyfriend (now husband) was just 6 days post op from a knee reconstruction. We enjoyed it so much that we made sure to take our 3 year old son camel riding the next time we visited Broome.

    Cant wait to see the next episode of soap queen tv.

  18. As I looked at your London photo, Anne-Marie, I thought, "She looks cold." Brrr!

    I am glad you had a good time. I am sure it was a wonderful adventure. The posts have been very interesting!

  19. Welcome home!! I have to agree that Wicked is a great show. We are going to see it on February 6th. This will be my third time going. I never miss it when it comes.

  20. Im so jealous of your trip! Id have a hard time with the way women are treated over there, but what an incredible place to visit. And London! Ive always wanted to see London because of all the history there. Its just so fascinating. Post more pictures if you have them!

  21. What an amazing adventure you had, AM! I really enjoyed your pictures, updates, and comments on the Arabian culture. As I travelled to Japan about a year ago, I can attest to the fact that it takes a week or so to get back to "American" time!

    While I am glad you're back, I must say that Amber did an awesome job holding down the Soap Queen blog while you were away. I think you should give her a big $ bonus and allow her to do periodic "guest spots"! I enjoyed her "favorite blogs" post and really, really appreciated the info and personal e-mails on the YuDu.

    Welcome home, Anne Marie! We missed you.

    Kindest regards~
    ~~~Anne

  22. Holly – Thank you! It was an amazing experience and I am still taking it all in but the one thing I am totally certain of is that yes, my team at BB rocks, rocks, rocks! =)

    Laurie – He he, Princess Bride is such a goodie but oldie. I loved that movie so much and it's stood the test of time for me.

    Kelly – You like to travel too? (squeal!) It was one of the first questions I asked my husband when we first started dating – if he liked to travel!

    No, we didn't have high tea but next time we will, next time . =)

  23. Thank you for sharing all of your experiences.

    I am a seasoned traveler and it made me pine away to go somewhere…..anywhere.

    I know all about jet lag so don't give in and you will be back to normal….soon!

    Can't wait to see The Queen on TV!

    BTW, did you get to have some High Tea? Oh my, what a treat that is!

    ttfn!

  24. It's been fun seeing all the pics & hearing of your travels, Anne-Marie. And Amber's posts were great. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Nice to meet you! I just noticed that your favorite movie is The Princess Bride. Definitely one of my all time favorites.

  25. Anne-Marie,

    So glad to have you back and it sounds like you had amazing cross-cultural experiences and unique insights for business application – and how nice to have a reliable team supporting you and your customers all the time! Bramble Berry honestly makes soaping the most fun and interesting as possible for all of us – thanks!

    Holly