1.
There is only one disease called common: the common cold. We call it the common cold because every year millions of people catch it.
Everybody knows the symptoms: a runny nose, a slight fever, coughing and sneezing. It is very unpleasant, but nobody knows a cure.
At the drugstore, there are usually shelves with cold "cures". These medicines don't cure a cold, but they do relieve the symptoms. Whatever you do, your cold will last for a few days and then disappear.
How can you help prevent a cold? Eat well, exercise and you will be fit and healthy.
2.
A couple of months ago I went to the Greek island of Crete. We stayed in a town called Xania, which is on the coast in the north west of Crete. It is a really picturesque town with small cobbled streets, a large harbour and many ancient buildings. I went there with my husband Brendan for a one-week holiday.
We got there by various means of transport, taking a train to the airport, then a four-hour flight, followed by a twenty-minute taxi ride from the airport to where we were staying. The whole journey took around eight hours from door to door, which was a bit longer than we expected it to take, although we didn't have any major delays, thank goodness.
I enjoyed my stay there very much, as I had not had a holiday for ages and needed to switch off from working. We didn't do much sightseeing, although Xania itself has a long and fascinating history so went to the local museum in order to learn more about it. I spent a lot of time reading books and swimming in the sea, which I must admit was quite a lot colder than I thought it would be. I also enjoyed eating the delicious Cretan food, and walking around the ancient streets in the town.
One of the things I enjoyed the most was going to a restaurant called Xalkina, where they had live Cretan music every night. The musicians were playing instruments that I had never seen before, and I loved the style and tempo of the music they played. I would definitely like to go back to Crete one day, though next time I would probably make more effort to see the amazing sights of the rest of Crete.
