As part of Barry’s Video Challenge, I have now created Part 3 of my Amazon S3 series.

In this post and video, I cover 3 different methods of distributing from your Amazon S3 account.

After all, it’s all well & good storing your data in there, but how do you get it back out again?!

This video explains that.

Incidentally, if you haven’t seen the first or second parts, they can be found here:
Video 1: http://nikkistephens.com/online-business/amazon-s3-beginners-guide-part-1

Video 2: http://nikkistephens.com/online-business/amazon-s3-beginners-guide-part-2-uploading/

(as the URLs might suggest!).

In this video, I show you 3 different ways of getting the links that you need in order to distribute your media from your Amazon S3 account.

1) Distributing directly from your Amazon S3 account

 

2) Using a program called Cloudberry to get the relevant distribution links (I covered Cloudberry in Video 2 if you aren’t sure what it is)

 

3) Using Easy Video Player to distribute videos and audio from your S3 account.

Each of these have their uses, and I would say that it’s up to you whichever one you decide to use (or all 3, depending on what you’re doing!)

So without further ado, here is part three of my Beginner’s Guide to Amazon S3.

As always, if you have any questions about this, then please leave me a comment below.

Speak to you soon,

Nikki

P.S. Let me know if you entered Barry’s Video Challenge!

Do you like a challenge as well?  

Then this could be for you.

Barry (at www.Barry-Wells.com) has come up with a Leap Year Video Challenge, and it’s something that I’m most certainly going to be partaking in.

You’ll have seen from my last post that I was having a bit of a ‘meh’ moment about what I’m doing (or more appropriately, not doing), and so this challenge has come along at the perfect time for me.

Oh, and did I mention he’s giving away prizes as well?!

The basic premise is simple:

From 29th February to 29th March, create & post new videos on to your blog once a week (and host them on YouTube as well if you like).

This will give everyone four weeks’ worth of video posts where you can show off your skills.

There are 2 caveats; the videos have to be made by you (whether you’re in front of the camera or doing a PowerPoint presentation or screen capture tutorial), and they have to be related to Internet Marketing.

So get your thinking caps on! (Or in my case, my Thinking Witch’s Hat).

For the full story, please see Barry’s post here:

http://barry-wells.com/an-internet-marketing-video-challenge-and-everyone-is-invited

We have to let Barry know as soon as we’ve uploaded each new blog post, and then he’s going to compile them all into a particular post over on his blog – what a great way of sharing expertise and driving traffic!!

Yes, there’s a limit on what you can cover in a 10 minute video, but with four weeks that gives a minimum of 40 minutes – ideal for a series of videos (and the aim that it will bring your viewers back for the subsequent parts).

Especially if people know they only have to wait a week for your next instalment.

So if you have a skill, or you have a particular field of knowledge in the IM arena, then make some videos for it and join in the fun!

For example, you could do:

~ How to conduct interviews

~ How to install a new blog theme

~ How to set up hosting, get a domain name, and sort out a domain email

~ How to use Aweber

~ How to use your favourite piece of software

The list goes on!

Leave me a comment to let me know if you’re going to be joining in!

Also, is there anything you’d like to see me doing? I’m planning on finishing off my Amazon S3 series (see part 1 and part 2), but is there anything else that you’d like to know about?

Let me know as I’d love to provide content that helps you!

Speak soon,

Nikki

So, my last post was all full of enthusiasm about my goals for 2012 and how I was going to get stuff done and my life would be structured and all would be well in the world…

But like all best laid plans, this has kind of gone to pot.

In my (somewhat limited) defence, this wasn’t helped by a throat infection and a course of antibiotics (started with a nice fever which left me in bed whimpering pathetically!). 

So that wiped out a week, and then I’ve been trying to catch up on my work in the day job and all that stuff.  Also, I’ve been trying to take things a little easier as I really don’t like being ill and so I must make an effort to look after myself!

But anyway – I’m still typing up my goals so that I can share them all with you and so you can hold me accountable.  I’d put all these tasks into my organiser, and then things just haven’t happened.  Partially due to the illness, but also partially due to a lack of enthusiasm on my part.

Now, this seems silly.  I want success, of course….so why am I procrastinating and self-sabotaging?  Plus, I’m the one that set all of these things up!  Surely I can’t be rebelling against myself, that would seem….well, stupid!

*sigh*

There are now all these things that I was going to have done / started by now that haven’t happened.

For example (and yes, these are in the goals report that I’m trying to write!), I wanted to:

• Go for a 20-30 minute walk at least 5 times a week.  I’d even considered using my lunch break at work for this..and have I done it?  No.  Well, twice, but that’s not exactly 5 times per week, is it.

• Eat more fruit – I was being good and bringing some in as part of my lunch at work….but then that’s slipped as well.  Silly, because I love fruit, so it’s not a negative task!

• Do one blog post a fortnight and create a new video every fortnight (overlapping so I’d be doing one thing each week).  I’ve got as far as writing in my diary which I should be doing (i.e. is it a blog post week or a video week), but I haven’t actually created the content.

• Plan out and update my Aweber mailing lists so that I’ve got a much better follow-up sequence in place (this will require some additional content in some cases).

I have done some of them, or have started some of them, but then there are others that have just slipped by the wayside.  The main problem for me I think is the apparent lack of enthusiasm that I have for my success and my future. 

Again, this is ridiculous – of course I want success.

So what am I going to do to get myself out of my own pit of despair?

Drink more tea?

(For me, that’s a given!).

But really, what am I going to do?

Ask my friends for help of course!

So…please could you help me?  I need a gentle prod occasionally, or just a bit of contact so that I’m reminded that people notice if I don’t do things.  If I let myself down, that’s bad, but if I let my friends down that’s even worse.  So if I know you’re watching me & supporting me (can I emphasise the importance on *supporting*) then I’m a lot more likely to stay somewhere near the tracks…

Of course, life will throw up the occasional issue as it does; it wouldn’t be any fun otherwise.  But I would just like to know that I have your support in making my 2012 amazing (and hopefully I’ll be able to help to make yours great as well).

Let me know what’s happening with you: are you sticking to your 2012 plans?  Have you fallen by the wayside?

I’m off to the Land That Time Forgot to visit my family, so I apologise in advance if there’s a delay in me replying to your comment – I hardly get any phone reception at my parents so I can’t get on the internet on my phone to reply.

Normal service will resume on Monday though as I’ll be back in the Land of the Living!

Take care, and stay focused….

Nikki

Kind of as the picture suggests, really.

Anyway, I know I’m a bit late with sharing this.  I wasn’t sure whether to or not as I’m still in the process of fleshing these out into specific tasks (& then diarising those tasks), so it may seem a bit woolly at the moment.

Firstly, I should confess:  I rarely make New Year’s Resolutions.  Actually, make that never.

For me, they always seem to be about giving something up, or some kind of deprivation, or some other negative connotation.

So instead I normally think about stuff I’d like to do, or try etc; and then make that into a bit of a goal for the year.

Yeah…you’ve guessed it; I don’t get that far with those either.  Or I kind of start on them, or do something about them, and then get bored / distracted by the mundane nonsense of everyday life.

I am the Queen of Procrastination.  The Grand Emperor.  The Big Cheese.  I’m not saying this to impress you; who on earth would ever be impressed by the fact that I repeatedly stop myself from achieving anything?

I’m just saying it so that you know I’m human.  I make mistakes, I waste time, money, and anything else you care to mention.

However – this year, I have decided that things will be different.

What’s the old phrase: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got” (or something along those lines).

 
Well, I want to do something different with my life.

It’s no secret that I want to work for myself. 

It’s also no secret that I resent the fact that my life is ruled by my alarm clock.

(If we’re friends on Facebook you’ll have seen me bemoaning this very fact on a regular basis!)

 
So I knew I had to do something to ensure that this year won’t be like my previous years – I want to get to December 2012 and be proud of what I’ve achieved throughout the year.

 
Now, as I am generally Captain Organised** in most areas of my life I knew I just needed to pull some structure together around all of this and then diarise certain tasks relating to the goals so that I’m reminded to do certain things.

(**some might say I work in organised chaos, which would be a fair judgement.  But actually it’s not that bad – when it does get silly then I take a break, sort everything out, and then carry on).

So I made a list of stuff I want to achieve this year, from small things like getting more sleep, to big things like creating 3 products this year.

Then I categorised them all to give me (counts on fingers & toes) 12 overarching goals.

Then each month, I pick 4 of these big overarching goals to focus on.  Each of these gets up to 4 tasks allocated (so for each month, a maximum of 16 goal-related tasks).  These then get diarised.

I have a nice little Filofax & so I’ve got it all set up to have these lists in them.  Oh how I love lists! 

The aim is that by the end of the year, I will have done everything on my original list of stuff – but not only that; I’ll have done it in an organised and productive way.

For example, one of mine is that I’ll be making a substantial and regular income online by the end of 2012, as that will then buy me my freedom.  Obviously there are several tasks involved in working towards & ultimately achieving this, so that’s why the breakdown into tasks is absolutely crucial.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all!

____________________________________________

How about you?  Have you set goals for 2012?  How will you know you’ve achieved them?  What will your rewards be?

Let me know in the comments below!

Speak soon,

Captain Organised

(Yes, I know, another nickname!)

Happy New Year!

I hope wherever you are that you’ve had a great time celebrating and seeing in the New Year.

For me in the UK, that will be in a few hours’ time.

I’m having a quiet one this year; last year my boyfriend and I went to a party dressed as Morticia & Gomez Addams (from The Addams Family) – I know, not much of a stretch for me to dress up as a gothic witch! But it was a great night & we didn’t get home till gone 6am.

This year, Chris is coming over to mine, we’re going to cook together (how old do I sound now?!) and then chill together to see the New Year in.

For me, as I’m sure it is for many people, the New Year is a time to reflect on the year just gone, and to make plans and get excited about the year just beginning.

What went right, what went wrong, what have I learned, and what will I do to improve my life?

Some of my personal highlights of 2011 include:

- Visiting Rome twice

- Maintaining a very happy and successful relationship

- Taking a brilliant coaching course that’s made a whole world of difference to my online career

- Making lots of new friends both online and offline

- Improving my work / life balance (now, where’s that lottery win to make it even better?!)

- Spending time with my family and friends

- Chasing away most of my online fears (being seen in front of a video camera, for example)

- Taking better care of myself and my health – after my illness at the end of 2010 I’ve made a real effort this year to listen to my body

- I moved house as well – not easy when you own as much stuff as I do!

That’s a good start on the list anyway.

I’ve achieved a fair amount in 2011, and have had some great times with some fabulous people. To me, that’s what life is all about – having a great time and making the most of every opportunity.

So with that in mind, I’d like to raise a toast to you & yours…(feel free to drink whatever you like; it won’t surprise you that I have a cup of tea by me as I’m typing this!).

I wish you a very Happy, Successful, Joyful, Prosperous, Healthy, Exciting and Fantastic New Year!

With very best wishes from me, enjoy yourselves!

Nikki

P.S. How about you – have you made resolutions, or looked back on 2011, or made plans / goals / actions for 2012? Let me know in the comments below!

P.P.S. There’ll be a couple of new pages added here soon, so there’ll be even more of the Purple Minxy Witch for your enjoyment!

Barry Wells kindly tagged me as one of his 5 nominations, so as I can’t resist a challenge, here I am!

If you’re wondering what the Seven Link Challenge is all about, then this should give you the info (taken from http://www.tripbase.com/blog/my-7-links-the-rules/)

My 7 Links: The Rules
Welcome to the My 7 Links home page.

THE GOAL

To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create

a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

THE RULES

1) Blogger is nominated to take part

2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.

This shouldn’t take you long to do – don’t over-think it!

- Your most beautiful post
– Your most popular post
– Your most controversial post
– Your most helpful post
– A post whose success surprised you
– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
– The post that you are most proud of

3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.

(Feel free to nominate any kind of blog to take part – we want this project to be as inclusive as possible!)

4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers

5) And so it goes on!

So, I’ve been on a rummage back through the archives of my blog to dig out the ones that I think fit within each category. It’s funny; some were easy to identify, and some took me a little longer (and a few cups of tea & a debate or two with myself).

Without further ado, here are my 7 links:

…………………..

My Most Beautiful Post:

Actually, this one is quite easy. Some of you will have seen this post already, but it’s a personal post about my relationship and overcoming my fear of commitment (or maybe it was just that I finally found someone as mad as me!).

http://nikkistephens.com/personal/sometimes-you-should-just-take-a-chance/

…………………..

My Most Popular Post:

Now, I do have one that has more comments than this, but that’s because we were having a blog comment dialogue on there, so it isn’t the most popular in the truest sense.

In fact, I shall just skim over my recent posts and see which has the most comments (other then the one I’ve just mentioned, and the one in the answer above…give me a moment…)

http://nikkistephens.com/online-business/video-marketing-tutorial-email-management/

It’s my first ever Camtasia tutorial video, so it has the black bars of death (note to self; record PowerPoint at 16:9 ratio to prevent that happening!). But it got the most comments to date, so there it is!

…………………..

My Most Controversial Post:

Unusually for me, I don’t think that I have anything controversial on this blog. There’s lots of talk of tea drinking & purple nonsense, but nothing of any controversy.

Maybe I shall have to go and create something specifically!

So…I’ll have to pick http://nikkistephens.com/online-business/how-much-is-too-much/ – a post about frequency of emailing your list – that’s the nearest to controversy that I have for now!

…………………..

My Most Helpful Post:

Hmm, this one is difficult to judge. Quite a few people have commented on a variety of my posts to say that the information that I have provided has been of use to them. Decisions decisions; which one do I pick?!

I’m going for this one:

http://nikkistephens.com/online-business/check-out-my-brand-spanking-newly-revamped-blog/

As the free report that I offered there on how I revamped my blog got a lot of praise from people, and has been accessed by over 183 people (according to my link cloaking software!). So that highlighted to some people that I can provide useful information over here, and from that I’ve created the free Easy Video Player report plus a whole host of videos (you can see those on my YouTube channel).

So as this is kind of where it started, I’ll go for that!

…………………..

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me:

This one is an old post that I’ve found – it’s about remembering to take time out for you, as if we aren’t looking after ourselves then all of this becomes pointless.

http://nikkistephens.com/online-business/self-worth-and-success/

But looking at it, it had a lot of comments at a time when I wasn’t getting so many…so that qualifies for ‘surprising success’ I think?!

…………………..

A Post I Feel Didn’t Get The Attention It Deserved:

I had trouble thinking of one until I went fishing through my archives. My first adventure to Rome only got 7 comments, and that just doesn’t seem enough given how much detail I put in there! That being said, I know most people have got thoroughly bored with me talking about Rome all the time, but here you go: http://nikkistephens.com/personal/rome-wasnt-built-in-a-day-the-adventures-of-the-pmw/

(There’s lots of pictures if you aren’t in the mood for reading!)

…………………..

The Post That I Am Most Proud Of:

To be fair I’m proud of a few of my posts. The first one I linked above, for example, where I was really open about my feelings for once. However, I’m going to pick this one because it showed how far I was progressing through my Learn With Sally coaching – prior to taking that course, I had always avoided video marketing and the thought of appearing in front of a camera filled me with dread.

But I faced my fears and so this post shows me in front of the camera for the first time ever (well, apart from that one time in Vegas…)

http://nikkistephens.com/video-marketing/understanding-easy-video-player-questions/

…………………..

So now I’ve shared my 7 links with you, I have to nominate 5 people to take part!

What does my crystal ball say…(other than “drink more tea”!).

Right, here goes:

Mandy Allen, co-student on the Learn With Sally course

Hilary Dickinson, was on Alex Jeffreys’ coaching with me at the beginning

Nigel Yip, was an AJ student and also an LWS student with me

Sonia Hoque, a new friend that I have made in the IM arena.

Sally Neill, who is both my friend and my coach on the Learn With Sally course (and now the course has just finished, I’m sure she’d love to take up this challenge!!)

I don’t think any of you have been nominated yet; apologies if you have!

So what did you think of the posts that I linked above?

This was quite a fun challenge for me, so I hope you enjoyed taking a look.

As always, leave me a comment to share your opinions.

Speak soon,

Nikki

Hello,

Here is the second part of my Beginner’s Guide to Amazon S3.

(If you haven’t seen the first part, it’s here: http://nikkistephens.com/online-business/amazon-s3-beginners-guide-part-1/) 

In this post & video, I show you 3 different ways of uploading your media to your Amazon S3 account.

1) Directly uploading to your Amazon S3 account from your computer

2) Using a program called Cloudberry to upload (works like Filezilla)

3) Using Easy Video Player to upload to your S3 account.

Each of these have their uses, and I would say that it’s up to you whichever one you decide to use (or all 3, depending on what you’re doing!)

I explain more in this video:

Next time I will be showing you how to embed the files from your Amazon S3 account into your blog (or wherever you wish to embed them).

As always, if you have any questions about this, then please leave me a comment below.

Speak to you soon,

Nikki

Hey everyone,

I’m busy fighting with Photoshop and planning my next couple of videos & blog posts as well as creating my Facebook fan page, but in the meantime I thought I’d share my second Rome adventure with you all.

If you haven’t see my post from my first adventure, it’s here: Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day

Oh, and in fact this second visit coincided with my first anniversary with Chris – you can see my ridiculously personal post about that here: Sometimes You Should Just Take A Chance.

Anyway, this time we went for 5 days / 4 nights, so half the time of our previous trip.

We stayed in the same place that we went last time as we’d had such a great time there, although this time we were in a slightly older chalet which wasn’t quite as nice as the previous one we’d had. Still perfectly fine though, and for the low price we paid we really couldn’t complain.

……………………………..

Day One: Flying To Rome; Touring the Colosseum
……………………………..

We flew out obscenely early on the Friday morning (our flight was at 6am, so we had to be at the airport for 4am, so I had to pick Chris up at 3am…I had about an hour of sleep that night!!). Anyway, we landed at Fiumicino Airport (last time we went to Ciampino Airport) & as we’d only taken hand luggage we went straight off to find the train to get us to Ostiense.

**yes, that’s right – I managed to take a small hand-luggage-sized suitcase for the whole trip. Miracles can happen!!**

Now, I’d done my homework (won’t surprise most of you) and found that you could get a train from Fiumicino to Ostiense…which is by the Piramide (Pyramid) Metro stop…which is where Chris’ pizza friend worked.

(Last time we went, we found this cafe that served hot dog & chips pizza – Chris was beyond delighted by this so I think half the reason we went back to Rome again was primarily to get some more of this pizza!).

So off we went on a double decker train (I’d never seen a double decker train before!)…and Chris’ pizza friend wasn’t there! Last time he made friends with one of the people that worked there, but he wasn’t to be seen this time. And no hot dog & chips pizza either! So we made do with a ham pizza…considering we’d had barely any sleep I was just grateful for food!

Anyway, we went off to Termini afterwards to drop off our bags at the left luggage storage, and then we went to the Colosseum for our tour.

We had found out that you could get access to the hypogeum (the underground bit where the gladiators were kept) and the third tier, but only if you were part of an official tour group. As we didn’t know this last time, we decided we’d do it this time. Particularly as they only open that part of the Colosseum for certain parts of the year, and we were there on the last day (think from October to March those parts of the Colosseum are shut).

So our tour started by going down to the underground bit:

And then making our way back up to the third tier:

(This is a new floor that they’ve put in at one end to show where the floor would have been)

The views from up at the top were amazing, both inside and looking out from the Colosseum.

After spending a good few hours pottering around there, we made our way back to Termini to collect our stuff, and then went off to Flaminio Village to check in. We ate at their restaurant that night (mmm spaghetti carbonara) and then crashed out (unsurprisingly!).

……………………………..

Day Two: The Roman Forum & Palatine Hill – plus the Colosseum at night & Trevi Fountain
……………………………..

The ticket for the Colosseum included access to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill within the same 24 hours. So this dictated how we’d be spending our second day in Rome.

After breakfast in the sunshine we made our way down to the Forum, and spent several hours rummaging around there. We even found Julius Caesar’s tomb:

Last time we didn’t explore the Forum fully so this was a great opportunity for us to be a lot more thorough.

We then made our way up to the top of Palatine Hill and admired the view over Rome. It was so nice to be out in the sunshine pottering around – for those of you from the UK, you’ll appreciate what a novelty that is!

We got kicked out of there at closing time, and then went off to find some food as we wanted to wait for it to get dark so that then we could go back to the Colosseum to see it all lit up at night.

After Chris had quite finished taking a million pics (he’s got manual settings on his camera so was fiddling about to get the best effect), we caught the Metro to Barberini so that we could go to Trevi Fountain – again, seeing it lit up at night is beautiful. Not to mention the amazing icecream that we were feasting upon!

……………………………..

Day Three: Castle St Angelo & the Tiber River
……………………………..

When we’d been talking about going back to Rome (about 5 minutes after we landed in the UK last time we went), one of the things we wanted to do was go and see Castle St Angelo and the bridge with all the statues on it.

So off we went!

I’d also read that there was a cafe inside, so this pleased me as it meant we could have a little tea break.  As a sidenote, one thing I still haven’t been able to explain over there is that I would like milk with my tea.  Is it just English people that have milk with their tea?  Suffice to say I’ve discovered I can drink black tea…

…and people wonder why I take a kettle with me & tea bags whenever I go on holiday…luckily the place that we stay at has a fridge in the room and a supermarket near by, so I can have milk there to appease my tea addiction!

I’m rambling, I know.

Back to the castle. We went in & strolled around, making our way up to the very top where you get absolutely stunning views over Rome, and you can see the angel statue at the top of the castle.

After taking loads of pics & basking in the sun, we went back down a level to the cafe & discovered a restaurant as well, so we ate there with a naughty pigeon that kept looking at me.

(I had very tasty parma ham & melon, in case you’re wondering, and yes, that’s a pot of tea you can see!)

We then made our way back outside, and along the bridge opposite the castle. We also went down to the bank of the Tiber River to take more pictures & generally chill in the sun.

We’d seen that they did river cruises so we thought we’d explore that option – we saw one boat that was all enclosed so we gave that a miss, and then we saw the open top one. Much more like it! So while we were standing there chatting about going on it, a couple of people approached us & gave us their ticket as it was valid for 24 hours & they didn’t have a further need for it, so I thought that was really kind of them. It meant we’d only need to buy one ticket so saving us some money.

However, when we went to get on the boat, Chris showed them the ticket & I had my purse out, and they just waved me on anyway…bonus!! So we had a free tour of the Tiber River.

To be fair, I don’t think it was worth the 15 Euros it would have cost us each, so I was really pleased that we’d had such generosity. It was really nice to just sit in the sun, a gentle breeze blowing as we meandered along the river…very relaxing, and just what we both needed.

After all that, we made our way back to Flaminio Village and ate at the restaurant there again…very nice. Then just chilled & slept!!

……………………………..

Day Four: Dead People, Metro Strikes, and more icecream
……………………………..

I wasn’t feeling well on this particular morning; lack of sleep was getting to me. Chris wanted to go and rummage around at the catacombs, and I get weirded out by dead people. So I sent him off to go and play with the dead people, with the understanding that he’d text me when he had finished & then we’d meet up & spend the rest of the day together.

However, this didn’t quite go as planned. I had a nice morning dozing and pottering around in the chalet, and then got the text…but Chris hadn’t got to the catacombs as there was a strike on the Metro, so instead he’d been to various places on a bus & eventually ended up at Termini (main train station). So I begrudgingly went off to find a bus to Termini (I hate buses. I generally don’t do public transport at all, but I particularly hate buses). After an hour and a half of standing at the bus stop, & some increasingly annoyed texts to Chris (I also hate standing around waiting for things), he found out that the strike was due to finish at 5.30. Now, this pleased me as it meant I could get on the Metro and actually do something with my day.

To cut a boring story short – the Metro came back online at 5.30, we met up at Barberini and went off to Trevi Fountain again for a huge icecream as compensation for our wasted day (not that it was really wasted; I got a chance to doze & then I was standing in the sun – it all could have been a lot worse!!).

……………………………..

Day Five: Making the most of the sunshine & then flying home
……………………………..

I woke up with a streaming cold…so nice! Anyway, we had our last breakfast in the sun & then checked out of Flaminio Village and made our way back to the Colosseum Metro stop. There was another part of the Roman Forum that we hadn’t been able to explore, so we went off to look at that & see if it was open. This was the old shopping centre; believed to have been the first ‘mall’-type shopping centre. So I was right at home!

However, it was all barricaded off so we wandered around the outside for a bit, and then caught the Metro to the Pyramid to go back to the pizza place and see if a) Chris could have his pizza and b) if his pizza friend would be there.

And he was! They didn’t have any hot dog & chips pizza but the man went and made it especially for Chris – you can imagine how delighted Chris was with this! Well, actually, here’s a pic of him with the huge amount of pizza…

I then had to virtually carry him to the train station as he was so full, but he was very happy – a great way to end our holiday (in Chris’ mind anyway!).

Back on to the double decker train to Fiumicino, and then the usual hanging around at the airport.

Now, one thing I hadn’t appreciated was how far away some of the terminals are – and as we were flying with EasyJet, our terminal took about 20 minutes to walk to (including a short ride on a monorail). So should you ever find yourself at Fiumicino airport, bear that in mind! If you’re going to the G terminal, it’ll take you quite a while!

Anyway, we flew out from Rome in beautiful sunshine, tired but happy. As we approached the UK and started our descent, all we could see were thick grey clouds…and then more clouds, and then rain. So we landed in Bristol & it was cold, dark & raining. Not quite what we wanted to come back to!

We collected my car from the secure parking facility thing, and then made our way home…our holiday was over & it was back to reality.

(I say that – I had the rest of the week off & my mum came up to stay & we abused the shops in Bristol, so again, I can’t really complain!!).

…………………………….

So concludes my tales of our second trip out to Rome…I do love being able to reminisce and share these stories with you!

Where have you been on holiday that you really enjoyed, and where would you like to go? Let me know in the comments below.

Speak soon,

Nikki

Hey everyone,

Today I’ve started on my Amazon S3 series, which will take up the next couple of blog posts as well.

I’ve created a video for you to show you how to set up an Amazon S3 account, and in subsequent posts I will show you how to upload files (videos, audio, images etc) to your S3 account, and then how to use that to embed your media on to specific pages.

I will also be using Easy Video Player and Amazon S3 together, so I will show you how to do that as well.

But for this blog post, I’ve uploaded my video on to YouTube, and have then embedded it below.

How to set up an Amazon S3 account:

As always, if you have any comments I would love for you to leave them below, and if you have any questions about this then please add them into your comments and I will do my best to answer them.

Until next time…stay safe & drink tea!!

Nikki