West of the Wall by Marcia Preston. A good read.

Advantages: Good story set in an interesting period of time.
Disadvantages: Slightly unbelievable at times.

...I love reading a book that makes me want to find out more about a time and a place - and this is such a book. It is a story of a city divided in two by the building of a wall that physically separates families and friends, of the suffering and despair of East Berliners under strict communist occupation and the desperate choices one woman has to make. Set initially in the early 1960's we are introduced to Trudy and Rolf Hulst. Following the building of the Berlin Wall young Rolf becomes a political dissident running an underground organisation helping people to escape to the west. Eventually his organisation is identified and he too has to flee. Trudy is left living with her aging mother-in-law to bring up a small baby, Stefan, not knowing whether Rolf made it safely to the west. Life is grey and harsh in Communist East Berlin...

perfectlypolished 28.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of West of the Wall - Marcia Preston

East, West - Which is Best?

Advantages: Interesting, dramatic, good characterisation, authentic feel for the GDR
Disadvantages: Rather unbelievable middle section

...I borrowed West of the Wall by Marcia Preston from our local library, after reading a review on Dooyoo, which inspired me to seek it out. I have always been fascinated by Eastern Europe and this novel is set in Berlin, just after the Wall divides the East and West. I spent three weeks in East Berlin in 1989, just a few months before the Wall came down, so I was looking forward to immersing myself in the 1960s and to get a feeling of life then in this city. The novel began really well. I was soon caught up in the absorbing story. It centres on a woman called Trudy Hulst, who is the wife of a political activist called Rolf and the mother of a young son called Stefan. Rolf soon has to escape to the West as he is in fear of his life, so Trudi is left in the East with her son and her ageing mother-in-law Gisela. It is not long before...

KarenUK 10.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of West of the Wall - Marcia Preston

Walls Soft Scoop Ice Cream - Light

Advantages: Great taste, full of vanilla flavour, easy to digest, easy to scoop out!
Disadvantages: Expensive compared to ther brands

...is a picture of an outline of a red heart. On the lid of the Ice Cream is all of the nutritional information that you need for the product as well as the fact that this product is the Light option, this is where Walls use 33% less fat in the Ice Cream compared with their other products. I did not really go for the light option it was more of a case of that was what was available to me. There is not much else to say on the packaging, it is quite average really n my opinion but I guess it is what is inside those counts. After taking the ice cream form the freezer I first noticed that Walls are true to their word when they say that this is soft scoop ice cream, it is so easy to take a couple of scoops out even though this is obviously a frozen product. In the past I can remember having come close to throwing my tub of Ice cream...

MEL0611 22.02.2010 (23.02.2010) · Read review
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Review of Wall's Soft Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream

South West Trains - London to Exeter line

Advantages: Clean, efficient, friendly staff
Disadvantages: not enough frequency to some stations

...I use the South West Trains service between Salisbury and Tisbury, and Salisbury, Tisbury and London Waterloo frequently. The old diesel trains have been refurbished, and are very comfortable. They are still quite loud, but quite smooth. They are always immaculate, and punctual, and the staff are great. There is always a buffet trolley, which is well stocked and is reasonably priced. The fares are quite good as well, especially if you've got a railcard and you book in advance. The return fare from Tisbury to Salisbury is much cheaper than the bus. The only problem is frequency of the trains stopping at Tisbury, as they only stop once an hour, which can be frustrating. However, trains running every half hour to London from Salisbury is great, as it means that you never have to wait too long....

vc-10 06.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

VFR Real Scenery Wales & South-West England

Advantages: Value for money and superb scenery
Disadvantages: High specifications required

...VRF RealScenery Volume 3 - Wales & South-West England (PC) Let's start with the basics: This is Compatible with Windows XP or Vista. YOU MUST ALSO HAVE FLIGHT SIMULATOR X System Requirements: Processor: 2.5GHz Ram: 1.0 Gb or greater Hard Drive: 12.0 Gb or greater Video Card: 126Mb or greater Other: DVD-ROM drive VFR stands for "Visual Flight Rules" - this is the way that pilots navigate when they aren't using complex instruments - they look at a map and then pinpoint landmarks on the ground to work out their position. To do this in a flight simulator requires scenery that's exactly the same as the real landscape. VFR Real Scenery is an amazing piece of software that provides just that - fly over England and Wales in Flight Simulator X and sample the view you'd get from a real aircraft. You can see the real countryside from...

Heretohelpyou 08.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of VFR Real Scenery: Wales and South West England (PC)

Is South West trains improving?

Advantages: Getting better service, quick to London
Disadvantages: Less stops at smaller stations

...timetables smaller stations get far fewer trains, i recently had to travel from Portsmouth to Godalming, a journey which used to be direct and easy. I however, had to change at Haslemere and wait there for 40mins before the next train to Godalming. SO just check times before you travel! However, despite all these problems, i do no want to seem harsh on South West trains. Until 2 years ago almost all their trains were slam doors and they have invested huge amounts in bringing their fleet up to date. The idiocy still remains of last minute platform changes, short notice cancellations and big delays when the slightest thing goes wrong, but it does provide me with the quickest way of getting to London i can think of from my home in Guildford. The seats are comfortable, the trains are quiet and relatively smooth. The refreshments from the trolley...

ploddy100 20.07.2005 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

South Central

Advantages: Easy to reach by car, free parking, quiet
Disadvantages: Not so good if you want to head to the Central Pier or North Shore, little else nearby

...Blackpool is a place that is famous for its illuminations, and as a child of the west coast of Scotland, every autumn there have been day trips and short breaks available from my hometown to Blackpool for this visual feast. I have only ever been to Blackpool on day trips but really fancied seeing the illuminations for once in my life so on the spur of the moment, I decided to see if I could book a hotel with parking and go for a weekend. Eventually I settled upon the Premier Inn Blackpool Central, lured in by the fact it has a large free car park and the "central" in the hotel's title. Before I proceed with this review I have to take issue with Ciao stating this hotel is called "Blackpool South" - the title is incorrect as Premier Inn call this "Blackpool Central". However all the other information Ciao have for this hotel is correct...

rosebud2001 08.02.2010 · Read review
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Review of Premier Travel Inn Blackpool - South, Blackpool

South West 9

Advantages: great camera work, and a brilliant sound track to go with it.
Disadvantages: story line slightly confusing.

...If you're a fan of Trainspotting or Human Traffic you will love this film, which combines a great soundtrack (mixed by Dave Pierce) and brilliant visual effects to really bring the film spring to life. South West Nine takes you through a day of five people living in Brixton. Some of the people Freddy (drug dealer/DJ) Jake (drug Dealer) Mitch (drug Dealer) Kat (drug Dealer) and finally Helen (she's not a drug dealer she just wants to destroy the bank she works for!). some really seedy characters but really believable too! Mitch: (the heart of the film) from the start is smacked up on a LSD trip that will last for the rest of his life. (The moral don't put your hand in the wrong place) Helen: the only one that is not smacked up on something. She just wants to destroy the multimillion-pound bank that she works for. An interesting...

voodoorin 03.11.2005 (05.11.2005) · Read review
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Review of South West 9 (DVD)

Light as a fish!

Advantages: delicious, healthy, great texture
Disadvantages: A little pricey

...I've always loved tuna, and when I discovered the John West Light Lunch range, I couldn't stop myself from trying them. With four different options on offer, the first I went for was the Tomato Salsa. The lunch comes in a hexagonal pot with a cardboard lid. On this lid, there is an image of what the food should look like, which is always a help. Fortunately, when I removed the packaging, the contents did indeed look as scrumptious as suggested. Out from the pot rose a delicious aroma; a combination of tangy tomato and tuna. There seemed to be quite a nice ratio of tuna and vegetables, mixed through with the rice. With the lunch, you are provided with a little plastic fork which folds in half. Once you have opened it up and clicked it in place, you can begin eating. Giving it a taste, I discovered just how glorious the lunch was. It...

Amy69 19.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of John West Tuna Light Lunch Tomato Salsa

Wall of Genius

Advantages: Great vocals, inspiring, music,
Disadvantages: Changes the way you listen to music?

...Stewart (2nd baritone), Garfield Buckley (2nd tenor, harmonica) and Armand "Hops" Hutton (bass). With this kind of thing they are really setting themselves up for a fail aiming to reproduce several instruments with just their voices. So how do they fair? **Wall of Sound** The groups 3rd album was released on 5th January 2009, It features a mixture of covers of classic tracks and original cuts from the group. They were quite active in their promotion of this album with several appearances at Music Festivals around Europe and they also performed at the Royal Variety Performance. They have also toured as the opening act for Michael Buble who they have also recorded with. So will Roger, Warren, Rod, Jamal, Dwight, Garfield and Armand be able to pull it off?. Well stick around and read the rest of my review to find out. 1.) Wall of Sound...

jcneil 15.03.2010 · Read review
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Review of Wall Of Sound - Naturally 7