harasness

The Ashes

2010-05-22T22:18:00.005+01:00

July rolled around, and before heading home to Australia for the Summer holidays, I had one more glorious sporting event to attend. It was all thanks to the most amazing and generous Captain, who procured tickets to the second Ashes test at Lords, and who found herself with a spare ticket thanks to a bit of a muck up with dates.

The tickets were for the day one of the test - a Thursday, and literally the day before I left my job and flew out. I feigned a migraine, threw on my Australian cricket shirt, and headed into London to meet up with the Captain. We got off the tube (after I gave a guy in a suit a lesson about sportsmanship when he booed me), and joined the masses heading for Lords. We had to queue for a bit, and were anxious to make it inside for the first ball. We ended up missing it, because I had to go through the rigmarole of having my bag searched and my flag confiscated (although I got it back at the end of the day). Somehow the Captain managed to get through with hers - rather unfair I thought!

We found our seats and settled in for some good cricket. Unfortunately for us, England had their best ever opening stand against Australia. Andrew Strauss also brought up his 5000th career test run. We were on our feet applauding all of the achievements, and had our good sportsmanship commented upon by the British guys beside us - take that, Nasty Tube Man! Eventually though, wickets began to fall, and we were rubbing it in wholeheartedly.

Ricky Ponting is second from the left.

Mitchell Johnson

The Australian end of the Member's Pavillion

It was a great day, and I'm glad I can say I've been to the Ashes at Lords. Next time though, I'll try to get tickets for somewhere with a bit of atmosphere. Somewhere that I can keep hold of my flag. Somewhere that people don't wear suits to!

Wimbledon 2009

2010-05-22T21:38:00.011+01:00

My trip to Ireland saw the end of May, and June meant one thing - Wimbledon. The Captain and I decided to do what we'd done the year before - go on the middle Saturday, turn up at 8am, queue for hours and have a bloody good day. This year we also took a picnic breakfast, and enjoyed ham and cheese croissants, strawberries and orange juice whilst marking our place in the endless queue.

The Captain soaking up the sun.

The weather was great. In fact, we were in the middle of a level 3 'heatwave', meaning that temperatures got up to 30 degrees during the day and not less than 17 at night. We found this quite funny, but nevertheless enjoyed the sunshine. Eventually though, my poor fair skin was at risk, so I did the very British thing and sat under an umbrella in the sunshine, whilst the Captain worked on her tan.

We got in at about lunch time, the same as we had the year before despite being further back in the queue. We again did something terribly British - we got straight into another queue! We wanted to get onto court 3, as a few of the big names were playing there. Eventually we did get in, just in time to see Jelena Jankovic (ranked 6th) lose to Melanie Oudin, an 18 year old American girl (ranked 124th). We stayed were we were to watch Amelie Mauresmo play Flavia Pennetta. I'm pretty sure that GMTV's John Stapleton was in the audience for that on... Bit of celeb spotting on top of great tennis!

Jelena Jankovic

Amelie Mauresmo

I think that's John Stapleton, front row, to the right of the guy in the white hat.

After that we decided to go for a wander. We went past Caroline Wozniacki playing ladies doubles. We saw her play last year, so we stopped to watch for a little bit. The Captain had a couple of friends there this year, and one of them messaged her to say they'd managed to blag their way onto court 2 and were watching Lleyton Hewitt play. The challenge was on - we had to get there too! Court 2 is one of the courts that you can't get into with just an ground pass. We finally found a guy willing to let us in, and we got to watch Dinara Safina, who was women's world number 1 at the time. Not too shabby!

Caroline Wozniacki

Dinara Safina

Then it was back to court 3, this time for some Aussie action. We had planned all day to see Sam Stosur and Renee Stubbs playing in the doubles, and not only did we see them play, we saw them win AND we got Sam Stosur's autograph. Needless to say, Nan did not get that particular copy of the program! They played against Amelie Mauresmo and Svetlana Kuznetsova, so we got to watch four great women play (well, three great women and one half man/half woman!).

Sam Stosur and Renee Stubbs, with Stosur signing the program for the Captain.

Last but not least, we had one more thing we wanted to accomplish. We wanted to get into centre court. In the end, it was easier to get into centre court than it was to get into court 2! We just walked straight in. Granted, the last match had just finished, but we did get to see the brand new roof close and pretend for a while that we were amongst the lucky ones for a change.

Centre Court.

We were pretty much at the end of play for the day by then, so it was time for the long trip home to Essex. I forgot to put in for the ballot for this year, so if I want to go again, looks like it'll be hours in the queue once again!

Days Six and Seven

2010-05-21T22:55:00.007+01:00

We woke up to our last morning of the tour in Belfast, and had some time before boarding the bus, so we took our time to shower and get organised, and went off on our own for breakfast and a bit of quiet time. I headed up to Starbucks and wrote on a few postcards, before being found by some of the others and hanging out with them.

Our first stop for the day was at a former monastery that was apparently founded by St Buite, who died in 521. None of the original buildings remain, but there are several that were built in the 10th century. There's not a lot to say about it really, apart from the fact that the Vikings occupied it for a while, which is kind of cool.

Our 'Team Nerd' family photo. Back - Grasshoppa, me, the Captain. Front - DPA. Absent - Big Mumma and N-Dog.

Eventually we were on the road back to Dublin, our trip nearing its end. We did the obligatory tour of the Guiness factory (this inevitably would have been more enjoyable had I actually liked Guiness), finishing with the girls enjoying a few pints.

The Captain, DPA, Grasshoppa and N-Dog enjoying their pints.

That really was the end of the tour then. Connor dropped us off near Paddy's Palace, where we had begun a week before, strangers instead of the friends and Team Nerd that we were at the end of it. The Captain and I arranged to meet up with Grasshoppa and Big Mumma for dinner, as we were staying at different places. Matt and Robyn had managed to book into the same hostel as us, so we trekked up there, got changed, and headed down to the Stiffey on the Liffey to meet the others. We were going back to Luigi Malones because food was definitely worth a second trip. The ribs had been calling for me all week long... Matt and Robyn also ended up joining us for dinner, which was good fun.

After we'd eaten ourselves into a food coma, we said goodbye to Grasshoppa and Big Mumma (as Big Mumma was flying out), and we headed down into the Temple Bar region for a few drinks. We ended up running into quite a few more of the people from the tour, so much drinking and merriment ensued. Having decided not to drink, I cabbed it back to the hostel, leaving the Captain in the capable hands of Matt and Robyn. She got back in the early hours of the morning, trying to break into the room as she couldn't work the card key! I thought someone was trying to break in, so that was a great way to wake up. I distinctly remember some drunken ramblings about a burger, and about needing a shower, and me having to explain the concept of a Pommie bath to her. I managed to convince her to just go to bed, meaning I too could go back to sleep!

The next morning was a bit of a revelation for the Captain - quite by accident I prompted her into remembering she'd kissed not just one guy, but two during the previous night. What happens in Ireland stays in Ireland, except when you have a travel blog! We headed down the street in need of caffeine and munchies. We spent the remainder of the day wandering around Dublin, doing a bit of shopping (I had to buy a dress for the prom, having made a deal with one of the kids), and generally enjoying ourselves before heading out to the airport, exhausted but very happy.

Day Five

2010-05-21T18:36:00.018+01:00

The morning dawned far too early for my liking, having had yet another late one the night before (not to mention having had a few drinks!). The Captain wanted to get up early and go exploring, and I woke up as she was getting herself ready and decided to go and find a place to have a bit of me-time. I ended up walking down to the cliffs. The day was gorgeous - bright blue skies, reasonably warm, and the views were spectactular - rolling green hills down to the blue sea.

I was walking down there when Mum and Dad called, so it was all pretty special. I found a nice little spot overlooking the water and a few boats, and settled in with my book. Eventually a few of the others from the tour strolled past, and a while after that along came the Captain. I ended up racing her back up the hill towards the hostel (no prizes for guessing who got her ass whipped, and it certainly wasn't the Captain!). We showered and organised our stuff, set Grasshoppa up for a good call on the degradation of her attitude for a word of the day win, and headed out to the bus.

Our first stop for the morning was the Carrick-a- Rede rope bridge. It was a scenic walk along the clifftops (with a slight pause for Grasshoppa to fall into some stinging nettles laughing at the concept of FOMO), and then we got to the bridge. Let's just say it's not for the faint of heart. The bridge is 20m long, and 30m above the rocks and ocean. Fishermen used to use the bridge for salmon fishing, although it's not done any more.

The bridge took us over to Carrick Island, which is basically a grassy knoll atop a huge rock. We posed for many photos, and tried to get a group jump shot (which I also fail miserably at!). Then it was back across the rickety bridge, up the God-knows-how-many steps and back across the clifftops to the bus.

From Carrick-a-Rede we headed to the place I had most looked forward to seeing, and was especially excited about spending my birthday at: the giant's causeway. I have long wanted to visit the place, and I was certainly not disappointed. I missed most of Connor's history of the place, and the legends surrounding it, because I got a phone call from Matt and Jo. I finished the call just as we were pulling up *sigh* We hopped off the bus and decided that we'd take the Shepherd's path across the top, down the cliff face and straight to the causeway. It was a pretty phenomenal experience. We were so high up, you couldn't really make out the individual rocks that make up the causeway.

Somehow we ended up singing a bit of Queen on the way down, helped out by Robyn and Matt - completely random, completely hilarious! We even posed for our own version of the Queen II album cover!

Finally we made it down to the causeway. For once in my life, there was no hesitation to go climbing on things that would normally deter me because I'm so damn unfit. I was a freaking mountain goat that day! I absolutely adored being there. I definitely was in no hurry to get going, even though we were quickly running out of time. There was a whole lot of posing going on, that's for sure!

I ended up catching the shuttle bus back up to the top (there was no way I was going to make it up on foot, and 27 was too young to die, especially on my birthday!). I was totally soft about it, but I'm ok with that! We had a little bit of time to check out the souvenirs, grab a cold drink and get back onto the bus.

From the giant's causeway we headed to Belfast. As we drove through the city, I was feeling slightly nervous. There'd been some attacks the week before, the usual violence between the Protestants and the Catholics. I wasn't overly worried, until Connor decided to tell us that the hostel wasn't named Paddy's Palace as that would make it a target for attack, and that he wouldn't be leaving the bus anywhere near the hostel for the same reason. In fact, several of the coaches were torched a few years before just because they play up the whole Irish leprachaun stereotype and the locals don't appreciate it. Awesome. Felt totally safe then.

It got better. We decided to do the black cab tour, which was the only way for us to easily see Belfast without the coach. We were booked for a later tour, so we popped up the road for a Starbucks break and some lunch, then went back to the hostel to shower and change for the evening. We had to hang around for a while waiting for the cab (we thought we'd been forgotten actually), but eventually one showed up. It was full of other members of our group, and they said the tour was fantastic.

Our driver took us straight into the Protestant area and parked in a dodgy kind of park. We were surrounded by murals, similar to what we had seen the day before in Derry. He gave us a bit of a rundown of the area, then told us we could get out and take photos of the murals, but he would drive a little further down to pick us up, and he'd be leaving the engine running. Turns out he'd been kidnapped there before and tortured for 3 days. Yep, feeling TOTALLY safe. We had a (very) quick walk through to where he drove up to, snapping pictures as quickly as we could. This is where the mural is of the soldier in a balaclava pointing a gun at you - I swear it follows you no matter where you stand. Scary stuff.

Once we got back in the cab, we drove through the gates (which are still closed every night) in the wall that separates the Protestant and Catholic areas, getting a little more history along the way. We then stopped at the peace wall. Basically this is one section of the peace lines that segregate the Protestants and Catholics, but it's dedicated to finding peace between the two groups. It's obviously painted over every so often, but stopped to sign our names (vandals that we are!).

We then headed through the Catholic areas, hearing more stories of some of the terrible things that happened during the Troubles. It's hard to believe that people can do such horrible things just because someone believes in a slightly different religion to you (and the history that goes with it, but really, religion is the root of all evil!). We heard stories of murder, kidnapping, torture, and other brutal crimes. This was definitely putting a downer on our trip, but was very worthwhile hearing about first hand.

Eventually our tour came to an end, and we were dropped off near a pub, where the DPA was meeting up with a friend of hers. We (the Captain, Grasshoppa, Big Mumma and I) ended up leaving her there and heading off to find somewhere for dinner. We found a Thai restaurant, and had one of the best meals of the trip. I had my birthday dinner in a Thai restaurant in Belfast, with another Aussie and two Americans, drinking French liquer. Totally awesome.

After dinner we headed back down the street to have a drink, and ended up at - where else - a JD Wetherspoons! The Captain and I don't travel without a visit to a Wetherspoons somewhere! Quite a few drinks later (to the surprise of the Captain at least), I called time on the night and headed back to the hostel. It had been an amazing day, an amazing birthday, and it will be a long time before I have a better one.

Day four

2010-02-06T18:03:00.005Z

After a huge night in Galway, we packed up and headed out on the road. Our first stop for the morning was the Knock Shrine. In 1879, a whole bunch of people saw what they believed was an apparition of Mary, St Joseph and John the Baptist, in the local church. The church has now become a shrine and is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. Pope John Paul II visited there in 1979, and its popularity isn't showing signs of decreasing.

It does say knock...

The entrance to the church.

From Knock we headed over to Sligo, where William Butler Yeats is buried. Plenty of other famous people have come from Sligo, including Westlife, although we were banned from mentioning their existence by our bus driver. It was almost worth tempting fate, if there wasn't a chance we'd be left behind!

William Butler Yeats' grave.

After a rambunctious lunch and a frolick down the street, we got back onto the bus and headed over the border into Northern Ireland. We had a bit of an odd moment just before we crossed the border - we stopped for fuel, and Connor suggested that while we wait, we buy an ice cream. Suddenly 50 of us were standing around eating ice cream - Connor said it, we did it. He figured he had some power over us by then, but it didn't last.

We stopped for the afternoon in Derry. The official name of the city remains Londonderry, but the council are trying to officially change the name. Nationalists (Catholics) would rather have no reference at all to London, Unionists (Protestants) stand firm on maintaining the link to Great Britain. We tried to just not refer to it by name at all for fear of offending someone! We were in Derry to do a walking tour. The guide had to be one of the worst I've ever seen. He started the tour by lecturing us to stay close to him so that we could hear, and that we wouldn't be able to complain about not hearing him if we didn't essentially stand in each other's pockets. He then proceeded to barely speak above a whisper. Whilst standing on the side of busy roads at rush hour. Totally smart. I doubt more than the closest 5 people could hear him, and even they would have caught only every second or third word. The walking tour was essentially a waste of time, because I've learnt far more about the place from doing my own reading afterwards than I did on the tour.

Unionist areas are noted by the red, white and blue gutters.

Some of the many murals painted on the ends of houses.

The memorial for the victims of the Bloody Sunday massacre.

We left Derry after the tour and headed for our final destination for the day. This was easily my favourite of the places where we spent the night. On the way in to Ballintoy we were told that there were just two pubs, and to try and split ourselves between them. Team Nerd stuck together for dinner, with a plan to go across the road afterwards to have a drink. In the end we stayed right where we were. We had a fantastic meal, far too much food, and lots of drinks. This pub was where the Grasshoppa met and had a little crush on Rodney, the singer, and where I totally peer pressured her into fulfilling one of her dreams - singing an Irish love song in an Irish pub. I'd have apologised for bullying her, but it was totally worth it!

Grasshoppa, the Captain and the DPA at the pub in Ballintoy. Can't remember why they were pointing at me!

Grasshoppa singing her song.

This was the place where we rang in my 27th birthday with a couple of Bushmills. We were of course still there enjoying ourselves at midnight, so it was only natural to start the celebrations early! It was also the place where Cliff made his second and somewhat surprising appearance. I'm not sure if I ever told Grasshoppa how that came about!

Day three

2010-02-04T20:23:00.006Z

Day three dawned far too bright and far too early for our liking. We spent most of the morning driving, headed for the Cliffs of Moher. The weather had held up thus far, but it was set to change, albeit temporarily. We stopped for lunch, with Team Nerd as we were quickly becoming congregating in a pub around two small tables. This led to the now-infamous 'circle of trust' incident (which is understood by fellow team members, but is too long-winded to explain here). Suffice to say I was left with a circle and Grasshoppa lost hers.

The weather by this stage was turning grey and misty. We'd hoped to have it clear off before we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher, but it was to be the one single disappointment of the tour. The cliffs rise up to 214m where we visited, but visibility was down to 2 or 3 metres or so. Ridiculous! The wind was whipping around us, and we were hit with rain and spray from the waves below. It was insane, and yet loads of fun. The best picture of the cliffs in the end was a picture of a picture - taken inside the visitor centre. Oh well, I'll just have to go back again!

The spectacular and wondrous Cliffs of Moher. Or not.

Ghost cows!

Trying to cross the path - more difficult than it should have been!

The picture of a picture - the cliffs as they should have looked.

From the Cliffs of Moher (and from Cliff the puffin's first appearance - perfectly timed) we continued north to the Burren. This is a huge (250 square kilometre) area made up mainly of limestone with crevices in it that allow the growth of Arctic, Mediterranean and alpine plants side by side. It's amazing to see it spread out in all directions. We wandered around here for a while, exploring the various plants and bugs and things that we could see. Eventually though it was time to move on, headed for Galway, after a pit stop in a tiny town whose name we never knew.

Heading out to explore the Burren.

The Captain taking a moment.

The Captain and Grasshoppa.

We were spending the night there, on the same night that the Volvo Ocean Race was in town. It was utter madness, but lots of fun. The usual shenanigans made their presence felt - group dinner, followed by a couple of pubs, lots of Guiness, lots of giggles and this time, the need for a designated wingman for a certain Grasshoppa who was wearing a hardcore pair of beer goggles!

Day two

2010-02-03T20:32:00.008Z

We were up bright and early the next morning, in fact too early for most people. Tamara and I decided to go for a wander around downtown Killarney to kill some time. Along the way we ran into Jen, whom we'd met the night before. Most people were nursing their first hangover of the tour, and Jen was out for a run! Insanity. We told her to do a lap for us and sent her on her way, before making our way back to the hostel for breakfast.

Once we got going for the day, our first stop was just down the road a little. We got dropped off at Killarney National Park, for a ride around the park in a horse drawn jaunting car. Somehow or other our little group that had formed the night before ended up in the same cart, to be driven by - I kid you not - Tom and Jerry. We were the last of the jaunting cars to depart, so we were following all of the others. I think some of the others might have wished we were further behind! Our driver was hilarious, he was telling jokes like being a comedian was his profession and he drove the cart for fun. Consequently, we were roaring with laughter the whole time - definitely a good way to spend a morning. Another highlight was seeing a stag. The park is home to Ireland's only remaining wild herd of red deer, and this one stag came out to say hello. Sure, Jerry told us he'd arranged it especially for us, and that his name was Seamus - even better as far as we were concerned!

Ross Castle, Killarney National Park.

Seamus!

Tom and Jerry.

Eventually we left the park, bellies and ribs aching from laughing so much. We also departed Killarney, on our way to the Dingle Peninsula. We did stop at the top of the hill overlooking Killarney for a bit of a frolick, and then it was back on the bus, headed for the beach. Now, I say beach, but in my head I'm denying that it was any such thing! First of all, we pulled up on the side of a cliff, and had to negotiate our way down to the sand in a stiff wind, climbing down the rocks, in pluggers. Not an easy feat. Why we did it, I'm still not sure! The water was a loooooooong way out, and it was freezing. Yes, it was May, but that meant nothing! It was ridiculously cold, given that the sun was shining and it was Spring, but it was worth it for a good laugh with the girls.

Looking back towards Killarney.

After imitating some kind of monkey and climbing back up the cliff, we headed for our lunch stop - the town of Dingle. The Dingle Peninsula is the most westerly point in Ireland, and indeed in Europe. It's a seaside town in a gorgeous location, and is also a Gaelic speaking town. Luckily for us though, being a tourist town, they also speak English! The town is also famous for its resident dolphin, Fungi, who comes in regularly to meet and greet the locals and tourists alike. There is a bronze statue of Fungi in the town, which of course we had to have photos taken with. The other famous place in Dingle is Foxy John's, a combination hardware store and pub. Apparently it's a hardware store by day, pub by night - every man's dream!

After fish and chips for lunch in Dingle, we headed along a coastal road around Slea Head. There were stunning views, and we even hopped out of bus to walk part of the way. This stroll included various stops for photos, including a few ridiculous ones the likes of which won't be posted here. Eventually we made it to the ruins of an old church, however I don't remember the details of this as I broke my own golden rule and forgot to take a photo of the sign. My bad.

Eventually we carried on a little further, arriving in the small village of Annascaul, where we were to spend the night in a fluorescent green hostel called the Randy Leprachaun. We took a moment to discover that the shower in our room didn't work, before heading into the bar for dinner and a rowdy night of tunes, Guiness, pool, dancing and karaoke. There were also some jaeger-bombs involved, but I think those drinking them would really prefer to forget... It was only our second night away, but we carried on until we were kicked out of the pub - again!

Ireland tour, day one

2009-11-20T21:54:00.007Z

After a hot, loud and relatively sleepless night, we were up early to start our tour. It turned out that seeing as it was half term, there were two buses instead of one, and we were doing a reverse tour - heading south first instead of north. We jumped on the big green bus and settled in.

Our first stop was actually still in Dublin, at Phoenix Park and the Papal Cross. Phoenix Park is 712 acres in size and is home to fallow deer, some of which we saw. It's also the location of Aras an Uachtarain, the home of the Irish president. The Papal Cross is a huge cross that was erected when Pope John Paul II visited in September 1979, and said mass to over one million people. We were only there for a few minutes, and then Connor (AKA Conrad and El Capitano), our guide and driver, got us back on the bus to get on the road properly.

The next stop was at the Rock of Dunamase. Apparently the rock was first settled in the 9th century, but the castle itself wasn't built until the second half of the 12th century. It's all ruins now, but it's clear to see why it was a desirable position. It's perched up high, overlooking the wide green valleys, so would be an excellent defensive position. This was the stop where Team Nerd really introduced themselves to each other. Tamara and I first spoke to Jen and Dorothy as we got on the bus in Dublin, and we chatted to Nicola and Tennille as we wandered around the ruins. I'm not quite sure, but I think it started there when Tamara and I were insulting each other rather loudly and we were overheard... All fun and games!

After pulling out the Peter Pan pose, we stumbled down the steep gravel path back to the bus. It turns out, contrary to popular belief, that it's not such a long way to Tipperary after all. It was our lunch stop for the day. We weren't there for long, enough time to be fed and watered and to empty out the bladder ready for the next leg of the trip. Oh, and time enough to buy the obligatory postcards and souvenirs!

Once again we jumped on the bus and hit the road. Our stop for the afternoon was at Blarney Castle, home of the famous blarney stone. It had been raining on and off on the drive down there, but magically enough it stopped raining for us to wander around the beautiful gardens and to make our way up to the top of the castle to kiss the stone. The legend is, of course, that those who kiss the stone are given the gift of the gab. So, we made our way up the steep spiral stairs to the top of the castle, and lined up ready to be dangled head first over the edge of the parapet to kiss a rock. You know, because I really needed an increase in my ability to shoot the breeze. Apparently the blarney stone has been ranked as the world's most unhygienic tourist attraction - not hard to see why! It's only slightly terrifying to place your safety into the hands of an old man who is holding you by the ankles. Ok, so there are also iron bars in place, but you don't see those when you're dangling there, you just see how very, very far it is to the ground below!
After a further wander around the gardens it was time to board the bus for the final leg of our trip for that day. We were to spend the night in Killarney, and it wasn't a great distance between the castle and our destination. There was a bit of a tour dinner that night, so the whole group trudged across town to a pub for a noisy meal. After that we all trudged up the street to a local pub that had some traditional Irish music. We were there for quite a few hours before eventually wandering back to the hostel to get some sleep, ready for another big day.

The first Irish Guiness of the trip!

The Emerald Isle

2009-11-19T22:24:00.008Z

A few weeks after our weekend in Belgium, Tamara and I were off again, this time for a week in Ireland. We'd booked ourselves on a tour that would take us around both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The tour meant staying in hostels - something I'd only done once before, in Belgium. I wasn't looking forward to that part of the trip, but at least I had a seasoned pro with me. To be honest, I can't see myself staying in a hostel again if I can help it!

We flew out on the Sunday, arriving in beautiful, sunny Dublin. After breezing through immigration (and then waiting forever for Tamara - having dual citizenship is awesome :P), we made our way out of the airport and over to the big green Paddywagon bus, which would take us to Paddy's Palace, where we spent our first night. Our tour was to begin there the next day. I'd pre-booked the hostel, only to find out on arrival that they didn't have our booking. Of course. Luckily though they got us into another room, only and 8-bed instead of 4, so they refunded the money.

That drama over, we headed down the street for lunch and a little exploring. We were staying around the corner from the spire - known, amongst other things, as the Stiffy on the Liffey. Trust the Irish to tell it like it is! Other names for it include the Rod to God, the Binge Syringe, the Erection at the Intersection and a few others. I snapped off a couple of quick photos, picked up a sub from Quiznos, and then we continued down O'Connell Street. We had a map with us, and decided we wanted a photo of Little Britain Street, so headed for that. From there it was pretty simple. We were a short walk away from the Jameson's Distillery, so when in Ireland...

We didn't want to do the tour, but we did settle into the comfy leather chairs at the bar for a drink. Keeping in mind that I hadn't had a drink for over two years at this point, it only took one - very slowly sipped - drink to make me feel a bit of a buzz. Tamara thought this was hilarious, and laughed at me over it for the rest of the week!

We left the distillery and then headed back towards the centre of town. The weather was still glorious - sunshine and happiness! We wandered along the side of the River Liffey (unable to escape Essex no matter which country we were in), past another of Dublin's fine memorials, the Tart with the Cart, known more formally as Molly Malone. She too has other names - the Flirt in the Skirt, the Dolley with the Trolley, and the Dish with the Fish, along with a few more. Standing beside Ms Malone was a guy in a giant leprachaun costume. We also saw him at the end of the week, which I'd find somewhat odd, but hey, it's Ireland.

Just up the street from the Tart is a park. We decided to join in with the rest of Dublin and cob a squat and partake in a bit of people watching. It was awesome to sit in the sun and not have to think about how much work I wasn't doing and all the other dramas that were going on at the time. Eventually thought, like all good things, the time came to move along. The sun was starting to go down and it was a bit too cool in to sit in the shade. We soon warmed up though. Tamara, on one of her previosu trips to Dublin, had been to a restaurant called Luigi Malones. She had a vague memory of where it was, and wanted to go there again. Turns out she didn't really know where it was, and we walked all over Dublin, on both sides of the river, before giving up just near the Temple Bar region, and of course stumbling straight into it.

The food there was sooooooooooo good. We made early plans to go back there for dinner on our last night, just so that we could try more of the menu. Just thinking about it makes me want to go there now! By the time dinner was finished with, we decided to head back to the hostel as we had an early start the next morning. It was certainly a great start to the trip.

Western Front, day 2

2009-11-17T20:53:00.013Z

After our rather rambunctious shenanigans the night before, and getting in after 3am (and remaining awake whilst the girls tried to get themselves into bed), it was a little difficult getting up the next morning. Nevertheless, we crawled out of bed, shivered through icy cold showers, picked up Leah's jocks off the floor for her and got ourselves organised.

Our first stop for the day was at Spanbroekmolen, also known as the Lone Tree Crater or Pool of Peace. It's a crater left behind after a mine explosion. The mine took six months to lay, and was one of 19 set off at exactly 3.10am on June 7, 1917. In actual fact this particular mine went off 15 seconds late, killing infantry who had been told to advance whether or not the mine had exploded. The blast from the mines was so loud that it was reported to have been heard in Downing Street and in Dublin. The land including and surrounding the crater was bought by a British lord in order to preserve it, and was eventually sold to a museum for a symbolic 1000 francs.

The next visit was to Hooge Crater Cemetery (nicknamed Huge Crater thanks to our very poor ability to pronounce words with an appropriate accent). This cemetery is the final resting place of Private Patrick Joseph Bugden, an Australian soldier who died aged 20. He was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross. Private Bugden died in Polygon Wood, where we had been the day before.

From Hooge Crater we went down the road a little further, jumping off the bus on the side of the road and walking up a path, through the fields, finally arriving (after a quick llama/alpaca photo call) at a German medical bunker. As I noted about the road to Passchendaele from the day before, these bunkers are all over the place, left as they were in the middle of fields and whatnot. I think most of them are probably not overly safe to go into, but this one is a bit more of a tourist attraction, so I guess it's somewhat preserved. I've spent a lot of time reading and researching World War 1, given that I regularly teach poetry from the war, but I was completely unprepared for just how small and cramped this bunker was. It's not like I went in there thinking that it would be a full-sized hospital or anything, but it must have been absolute chaos to have casualties in there. I'm far from tall, and I struggled a bit with claustrophobia. There was literally no room to swing the proverbial cat. I assume it was just a clearing station for the front line, or at least I hope that's all it was - there's no way it was big enough for anything else.

We then made our way back over to Polygon Wood for a better look than we had the day before. We stood up on the butte and heard about its original use as a firing range, before moving down the steps and amongst the graves. We had to wait for quite a while for another group to finish up before we had a look at 5 graves of recently uncovered and identified Australian soldiers. They were the only graves that I saw all weekend that had a personal message on them.

Eventually we left Polygon Wood and headed for our lunch stop - a Tommy Tucker lunch. We ate at a cheese factory, featuring a globe that had the countries made of cheese. There were a few pieces of Australia missing, but Queensland was all there, so it was all good! Lunch was... interesting. We started with beef and ale soup (or beer soup as we called it), and this was followed by a kind of corned beef and vegetable pie. It was densely packed and very filling - I'm not sure that anybody actually got all the way through it. It's the kind of thing that the soldiers would eat during the war. They would often go days without a decent meal, so something like this was useful for them (but no so much for us after a big fry up breakfast!).

Our second last stop for the tour was probably one of the most poignant. We went to Langemark German war cemetery. The idea was to show us a different perspective of the war, and to be honest, it was a perspective that I'd truly never considered before. There was obvious significance in going to the dawn service, the Menin Gate and to Tyne Cot, but this was a place that really made me consider what I knew and thought about the war. The most striking thing about this particular cemetery is the stark contrast to the British Commonwealth cemeteries. All of those are open and light, with straight lines of upright, white marble headstones. Langemark is dark and gloomy, made so by the numbers of huge oak trees all over the place. As well as that, the headstones are a dark grey colour, and some are just flat square stones placed in the ground, whilst others are a vertical cross.

We walked through the gate and then stopped in front of a large square garden. Mark, our guide, told us a little of the history of the cemetery. Hitler himself walked through the gate that we had just passed through, and this certainly sent a shiver down the spine. The feeling grew worse as Mark explained about the garden in front of us. It's a mass grave, home to nearly 45 000 bodies (there are conflicting numbers on this - some say the mass grave has 25 000 bodies, others say the total number of bodies in the cemetery is 45 000 - our guide, smartest guide on Earth, says 45 000, and I'm sticking with that). Basically what happened is that during the clean up operation in the years after the war, the local people (rightly so, after so many years of occupation) didn't have a lot of respect for the bodies of the soldiers, and so threw them in whatever they could find and buried them all together. The Germans didn't begin to help clean up the area until at least two years after the war, so that was a long time to be collecting bodies. The bronze plinths that surround the garden give the names of the soldiers as much as possible.

Our final stop before going back to Ypres was at Essex Farm Cemetery. This place is home to two particular items of interest - one of the youngest British casualties of war (aged just 15) and the location where the famous "In Flanders Fields" poem was written by the army doctor Major John McCrae. The medical bunkers where he worked are still there, along with the original sandbags. I think they're smaller than the German bunker we went into earlier that day, but at least these were at ground level and therefore they had a lot more light and seemed to be more open than the other one.

Finally we headed back to Ypres for a little more chocolate shopping. By this stage we'd eaten so much chocolate that we couldn't imagine getting our own waffles, so we split one between the three of us! We also bought these peculiar sweets, but I have no idea what they're called (it's not like I've forgotten in the six months since I went and haven't blogged about them, I don't think any of us ever actually knew the name of them). They were these odd conical-shaped things, a dark purple colour. We asked if we could try one between us - our favourite chocolatier was selling them - but he gave us one each. We walked down the street nibbling on them, trying to figure out why we recognised the taste. Eventually I realised they were just like Allens red frogs! Massively excited, we went back and bought yet more from this guy. He was our favourite person by that point after all the free samples he'd given us!

Eventually the time came for us to board the bus and head over the border to Lille, ready to catch the Eurostar to London. It had been an amazing weekend, and we were absolutely shattered. The hardest part though was yet to come - going to work on the Monday morning!!

Western Battlefronts

2009-11-15T19:05:00.011Z

A few of us decided that this year we wanted to go somewhere for Anzac Day, seeing as we were close to so many places that were significant during the war. Our first thought was, of course, Gallipoli, but as that meant taking time off work, it wasn't realistic. We decided on a weekend trip to Belgium, to the Western Battlefronts.

We met up at St Pancras to catch the Eurostar to Lille in France, where we jumped on a bus and went over the border to Belgium. The weekend was going to be pretty busy, and as it was almost midnight when we arrived at the hostel in Messines, we decided against going to the pub with the rest of the tour group. We had to be up at 5am the next morning, and it wasn't something that we wanted to be exhausted for.

5am came waaaaay too early, but we were up and showering before the wake up door knocking commenced anyway. Our first item on the itinerary was the dawn service at Buttes Polygon Wood. This was the first time that they had held a dawn service for Anzac Day, and the first time that any of us had been somewhere so significant for it. Polygon Wood was the scene for a large part of the Battle of Passchendaele in World War 1. It was captured by the Australians in 1917, and was part of the push for Ypres and the Menin Road. The service was amazing. There wasn't a dry eye around, even from the boys who'd been out at the pub probably until we were just getting up. It was eerie as well. We were standing with our backs to a mass of identical white headstones, facing the butte itself with the memorial for the 5th Australian Division, who had captured the area. The cemetery is surrounded by the woods, which had been wiped out by the time the Australians arrived during the war. It was basically an area of mud and trenches at that time. There was very little sound, certainly no traffic, and the bugle sent shivers down our spines as it played the Last Post and Reveille.

We had time for a little wander around, but fairly quickly headed back to the bus after the service had finished. We made our way to the war museum in Zonnebeke. The tour had two buses - one for the Aussies and one for the Kiwis. We had been together for the dawn service and were staying with them for a few other things that morning, before splitting up and going to visit places that were slightly more personal for each country. We were at the museum because they were opening a new exhibit that day, a sculpture from a New Zealand artist. The mayor of the town spoke (not that we could really hear what he was saying), and then we took a tour through the museum. It even has trenches recreated underneath.

After the museum we wandered across the road, to have breakfast with the Australian Ambassador to Belgium and the head of the Australian Army in Western Europe. They were there to mark the first Anzac services being held in the region, and so met up with us for a few of the events. When breakfast was over we jumped on the bus and went to Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world.

This is a place that I don't think I'll ever forget. There are 12 000 graves there, and only about 3000 of them actually have identified bodies in them. It's literally a sea of graves, most of which you don't even see until you're halfway through the cemetery. We had very little time to look around when we first came in, as we were there for another service. It was different from the first one, in that this time it was daylight, and whilst the cemetery was still important in Australian history, it wasn't quite the same as Polygon Wood.

After this service had ended, we had a few minutes to look around, but then it was straight back on the bus. We were part of the official convoy, with the ambassador and Army guy, going to Ypres and then marching through the town up to the Menin Gate for another service. The Menin Gate is where the names of the missing soldiers from each of the allied forces during World War 1 are listed. There are nearly 55 000 names in total. There was another service there once we arrived, and again the bugle playing sent shivers up my spine.

We had the opportunity to go to a talk after the service there, but decided it was time to take a break and have some lunch. We wandered around Ypres, and eventually found a cafe. Before we settled down though, we did check out a few chocolate shops, and made plans to go back. The chocolate shops are unreal - they're so keen for your business that they offer free samples and gifts with purchases.

After lunch we boarded the bus back to Zonnebeke, as we were going to walk the Road to Passchendaele. This road, or path as it now is, is the route that the allied forces, including the Anzac corps, fought to gain control of during one of the final pushes of the war. It's a couple of miles in length, ending at Tyne Cot. Along the way are bunkers, with their sandbags intact, the remains of a railyway line where a soldier was discovered and identified a couple of years ago, and the remains of other trenches and bunkers spread out across various fields. It's interesting to see all of them still there. It's not as if they need reminders of what went on, there are plenty of cemeteries for that. And yet people have chosen to leave them in place, and open for tourists to come and look at.

This time we spent a lot more time at Tyne Cot. Our guide, Mark (most knowledgable guy EVER), took us through the cemetery and told us a few of the stories of particular graves and soldiers. There are 4 graves there belonging to Germans, which seems odd given the history of the area. However, they were discovered there during the clean up operation at the end of the war, and in the end they were left where they were found. The memorial that runs along the top entrance of the cemetery had a message on it that says something along the lines of 'we were enemies in war, now we will look after each other as friends'. It truly is awful to think of how many families never had a body to bury, and how many of those bodies never had a family to mourn them at their final resting place.

Eventually we made our way back to Ypres for dinner and for the 8pm playing of the Last Post. Every single night since the 2nd of July, 1928, the Last Post has been played there as a mark of respect. It was halted briefly during German occupation in World War 2, but it was played every night in England to compensate. The first night of freedom after the town had been occupied saw the service resume. We watched the service, had dinner, bought some chocolate and headed back to the bus to go back to our accommodation in Messines.

That night we decided that, despite being seriously shattered, we'd go up to the town and go to the pub. Never have I been in a situation which has seen me so seriously outnumbered by Kiwis, to the point that we were embarrassed. We were out-drunk and out-sung, but as a matter of principle, we made damn sure we were the last ones in the bar! I think it was about 3am before we left, and even then I had to drag the others out of a different bar on the way back to the hostel. They had decided they weren't finished drinking yet, but we walked in, were glared at by some unfriendly looking people, and I literally dragged them back out and home. It had been an amazing day, and such a long day, but we had another one to go before we went back to England.

Oxford and Cambridge boat race

2009-07-26T04:26:00.005+01:00

The 155th Boat Race, held between Cambridge and Oxford Universities, took place way back in March. It didn't start off as an annual event, but quickly became one as the rivalry grew. It's a very 'British' event, so naturally was on the list of things to see and do whilst in the UK.

As usual, Tamara did the research into it and came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to do a lunch cruise and to view the race from the Thames itself, rather than on a crowded bank or pub. We went through the usual travel rigmarole, this time involving me being at the meeting place first (a rarity, given that with Tamara taking the tube and me on the overland, it's usually me delayed), and then hot-footed it over to Festival Pier to jump on the boat. We somehow scored a table upstairs at the window, and enjoyed the first part of our cruise down towards St Paul's Cathedral. We reached there and then turned around, cruising past such icons as the Globe Theatre, Battersea Power Station and Fulham FC. Not that Fulham FC is an icon to me, or to most people in the world, but I know that it's considered to be one to a lot of people in the UK. But I digress.

We had lunch whilst cruising towards the finish line for the race, where we were to anchor to await the race itself. The banks all along the river from the starting point of the race were crammed with people, and we were thankful to not be part of it all. There were helicopters everywhere, along with television crews, and there we were, perched merrily in prime position without anyone impeding our view. It was awesome.

Eventually the first race started. We weren't entirely sure of what to expect, in that we didn't really know much about the history of it all or the other races taking place. We were pretty happy just to be there really. I got a few photos of that one, and then came the main event. There was a sweepstake on the boat, which we entered, trying to guess the correct time of the race. Tamara and I also had our own bet, not that I've cashed it up yet, but it was in the spirit of things!

In the end, Oxford won, to our mutual disappointment. We'd decided that we wanted Cambridge to win, because having visited both cities, we liked Cambridge more than Oxford. In the end this brought the historic score to 79-75 in Cambridge's favour.

After the race we waited around for a while to get the official time, so that we could settle the sweepstake. We then cruised up to Kew, and got off there, as it would have been a very late night had we waited for the tide to go out to allow us to go back to Festival Pier. All in all, another good day out in London.

The Cambridge shed. The Oxford shed was about 20m away.

Security for the teams.

Separate bars...

More security, this time the transport police.

Part of the first race.

Incoming!

The Cambridge crew.
The Oxford crew.

The media contingent that followed the race.

The Oxford cox about to be thrown into the water, as tradition dictates for the winning team.

The clearest picture I got of the cup. We were still across the river at this stage.

Oops!

2009-07-26T04:25:00.000+01:00

So much for my plan to not let too much time go by before writing updates. Ah well. Here goes!

Phew!

2009-03-21T18:26:00.003Z

It's official, the blog is updated. It's taken me several hours today to do that, and it'll need updating again after next Sunday - the Oxford and Cambridge boat race is on, and we're going to see it! I've got a couple of trips planned after that, but at least I'm caught up for now. Now I just need to remember to not let it go so long before I write the updates. Anywho, for those few who read it, enjoy!

Cambridge

2009-03-21T17:43:00.007Z

Last weekend we decided not to go to London, but to go for a bit of a road trip to Cambridge. We had two plans actually - if it was bad weather we were going to Freeport, Braintree to do some shopping at the outlet shops; good weather would be Cambridge. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day.

I picked Tamara up and we headed up the motorway. There was no way I could have gotten a photo of them, but there was a big group of deer in one of the fields that we went past. That was exciting on its own! We found our way to Cambridge, and did a quick drive around before parking. The main thing that we wanted to do there was to go punting, but we wanted to look around as well.

We set off towards the main streets, and found some markets to look through along the way. Then, after a quick stop at Paperchase for Tamara, we decided to head towards the river. In the end, we were approached by someone offering punting tours on the River Cam (legit tours, not just some random guy), and we decided to give that a go. It was so much fun! Granted, it would have been better without being jammed in with so many other people, but it was gorgeous. The trip took us past many of the colleges, including Trinity College and Queens' College, and our guide provided a little history for us. He also told us a lot about the bridges, including the Mathematical Bridge (the wooden one), the Bridge of Sighs and the Clare College Bridge, with a section missing from one of the globes on the top of it.

Cambridge had plenty of daffodils and crocuses to keep us occupied with taking photos of flowers. This is just a couple of them!

After we got off the punt, we wandered around the town, before having lunch at our old standard, a Wetherspoons pub. We were at the wrong end of town from where it was, decided we wanted a burger and beer combo (or J20 for me), and walked all the way back from where we'd come from, only to then decide to have a roast - after walking past pub after pub offering a Sunday roast. Well played!

After lunch we headed back to the car, to head back home. Along the way though, we decided to go to Colchester. Tamara had been to the zoo there, and that's still on my list of places to go, but neither of us had actually been to the town itself. It was late on the Sunday afternoon, but we thought we'd have a quick look and see if there was anything we wanted to go back for. Turned out to be a good plan - it was just like every other town, and there was nothing remarkable to go back for. I think I probably will go back at some point, to have a better look around, as it's supposed to be the oldest town in England. I need to do a bit more research on that one - surely there's something different to see there!

And again

2009-03-21T17:30:00.002Z

The next weekend it was a Sunday trip to London. I had free movie tickets to see "Marley & Me", so met up with a couple of friends for that. It was another chance for the train gods to defy me - my normal 40 minute journey to Liverpool St took nearly and hour and a half, and then there were other issues with the tubes. Honestly, for the money they charge you think you'd be able to get a decent service. Instead you get delayed or non-existant trains, trains that stop at the station but that won't let people on, trains that stop in between stations, and a constant run of tube lines suspended week after week. Oh, the joys of public transport!

But I digress. I made it to Picadilly Circus at the time when the movie was supposed to start, only to find that my friends weren't there. My first thought was that they had gone on without me, but then they came flying up the stairs a minute or two after I had. We rushed to find the actual cinema, only to discover it was the wrong one - we should have been at the other Cineworld, a whole block away! I mean, geez, who builds two cinemas of the same chain within a block of each other? Ridiculous. Luckily, despite our tickets saying no late entries, we were let in, and just missed the first few minutes of the film.

When we had gone in to the cinema, it was a nice enough day, a little overcast and on the cool side, but nothing to worry about. When we came out it was grey and windy, and quite cold. We went to lunch, and came out to pouring rain. Ahhh, bless this country! We bolted across to the National Portrait Gallery for a bit of a squiz at what they had to offer, and came out an hour or so later to bright blue skies again. Well played, weather gods! In the end, after the gallery, we went home, as one of my friends had to get back to Bristol and it was a long drive from the south east.

More tripping around

2009-03-21T17:08:00.005Z

That weekend kickstarted what was to be a run of days out in London and elsewhere. The Saturday after I went to Portobello Road, I went to Greenwich. I had been meaning to go there for quite some time, and figured that I might as well do it then.

I went in early, as I had plans to catch up with Tamara later in the day to go to the Tate Britain. In the end though, the train gods were against me, and it took forever to get there. Eventually however I did arrive, and started the journey up the hill to the Royal Observatory. This proved a little more difficult than anticipated - I was still feeling pretty crappy from my cold, and got a coughing fit halfway up the hill and had to stop for fear of falling over and rolling all the way back down!

I got up there in the end, and took the obligatory photos of the prime meridian. I had a look around at all the telescopes and things, but to be honest, I'd seen what I came for and that was enough for me. I picked up a shot glass for my collection and a post card for my nan and pop, and started the journey back.

I had been planning on meeting Tamara at Leicester Square tube station, and even that proved more difficult than planned. Thankfully I knew my way around this area, as I had to walk from a tube station I hadn't planned on. Also thankfully, Tamara didn't mind that I was so late - she understood about the train gods!

We had lunch, once we found a GBK - Tamara had been told that they did great burgers. They were a bit disappointing really, but as with many other things we've seen and done, we've done it once as know we don't need to go back now. We then headed to the Tate Britain. I've made my feelings about art clear on this blog before, but we had decided that we should try to at least take in as much as we could. Honestly, I put up with it as long as I could before just taking the mick. We chose the Tate Britain over the Tate Modern on the basis that it should be more appealing and should simply make more sense. To some extent it did, but there was so much of it that looked like it was done by children. I mean, you can draw a rough square on a bit of paper and it's art. You can write three words on a bit of paper and it's art. There was someone's personal timeline hanging on the wall - my year 7 students did these!!!

Then there were the guides. There was one woman who I swear was the living embodiment of the English art snob. She was wandering around with a group, with that kind of high pitched snobby voice, saying things like, "This is from his Surrey period," and "This is simply vulgar!" I'm not ashamed to admit that most of my comments after this where uttered in her affected voice and with the same pronunciation of words. We got the giggles several times as well - I was a little surprised that we weren't asked to leave!

Portobello Road

2009-03-21T16:42:00.004Z

By the time the half term holidays rolled around, I was seriously ready for a break. I'd been through my assessment and was waiting on the results, but didn't have any choice in how fast they would come. I'd worked myself to the point where I'd made myself sick several times, and was in desperate need of something to do besides more work. In the end though, the matter was settled for me - I came down with a hideous cold and ended up spending almost all of the week off in bed.

I was determined to spend at least one day sightseeing, and dragged my sorry butt into London on the second Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, one that hinted that Spring was, indeed, on its way. I started my day at Portobello Road markets. For the life of me I couldn't get the song from "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" out of my head! The markets are famous for their antiques, but I was more interested in just having a look around. I did pick up a couple of things there, but I can't give the details because it will give away what someone who reads this is getting for their birthday this year!

Once I'd finished with the markets (from antiques to jewellery to fruit and veg, right up to the flea market), I headed back into the West End as I was going to see "The Lion King". I'd seen it on stage before, in Sydney, but that was some years ago and I do love the film. By the time that finished, I was sick of the crowds, and headed home. I was tired and cranky, but glad that I got out of the house at least once that week!

The rest of the half term

2009-03-21T16:27:00.004Z

There was no more travel for the rest of that half term, because I was consumed by the process of getting fully qualified over here. But there was something more exciting than travel - SNOW DAYS!

When I first came over here, my mission was to live in a place where it snowed. Once that happened, last Easter, my next mission was to have a barbecue in the snow. I did that too, when it snowed before Christmas. After that was to have a snow day, and then to build a snowman. I did both - in fact, I got two days off work! Granted, it's not the kind of snow that blankets other places, because all told it was less than a foot of it. But it did shut the country down, and I did get two days off work, so I feel blessed! My next mission is to build an igloo. Many have said that it's impossible here in old Blighty, but they built them in Trafalgar Square that day, so there's hope for me yet!

And yes, I know my snowman is small and pathetic, but I didn't really know the best technique for building one then, and I was also outside in my pyjamas!

Back to work... In the snow!

2009-03-21T16:23:00.003Z

I still hate the fact that here I only get two weeks off for Christmas. I've been raised to have 6 weeks off because it's Summer, so not only do I have less time off, it's also cold and dark! I have to say though, that this was probably the best back to school day EVER - because I woke up to snow! Not enough to get the day off, but snow all the same. Hurrah!

My last night in Rome

2009-03-21T16:01:00.002Z

Once I'd had lunch, I had to decide what to do for my last afternoon / evening in Rome. In the end I explored the area around the Vatican, becasue there were markets there and plenty of shops. I spent a few hours doing this, and then headed over to the Spanish Steps for a look at night. It was just on dark when I got there, so I saw the Christmas tree lit up and all the rest of it.

I then figured that I should brace myself and take a walk down Via Condotti - something I'd put off the other day. The one shop I told myself I was completely barred from was Louis Vuitton. I couldn't trust myself to not buy anything, so I figured it was best to just stay away! I still had to take a photo though - particularly as there was a queue around the block to get in! I did take a look in Burberry, but it just reminded me of the chavs back home, so I didn't stay long. Other shops along that street include Valentino, Armani, Hermes, Gucci, Prada and Chanel. There's also a Fendi store, which had a fun light display.

I kept wandering through this area, and found my way into one last church - San Carlo al Corso, on the Via del Corso. It had beautiful celings and cuppolas, and of course the artwork. Apparently construction of this church began in 1610.

That was the end of my tour. After the church I headed back to Termini for my shuttle. I had room service back at the hotel, and an early night, because I had a really, REALLY early flight the next morning. I didn't mind that my trip was just a few days, because after throwing my coin into the Trevi Fountain, I know I'll be back.

Back to the Vatican

2009-03-21T14:24:00.008Z

On day 4, my last day in Rome, I was headed back to the Vatican. This time it was to go to the museums, and of course to see the Sistine Chapel. Even though I'd gotten there well before they opened at 10am, there was still quite a queue. I prepared myself for a long and arduous wait, but was surprise to actually be through the doors a few minutes after 10. There was a little judicious moving around big tour groups, but I managed it nonetheless.

One thing I have to say about the tour is that once you get started, the guide is easy to follow, but it's finding that starting point that's difficult. I ended up having to double back from where I'd started from, as the natural progression was to go out to the courtyard and then into the busts gallery. There is no possible way I could have remembered all of the works that I saw, even if I'd had the time to take notes on all of them as I went through. I spent a little time in the busts gallery, seeing statues of Artemis and Ocean, amongst many others. I then realised that I wasn't in the right spot and was going to cut off vast areas of the tour, so went back through the courtyard to start again
.

This time I headed up the stairs, and found myself in an Egyptian gallery. Honestly, I feel like I've seen so much of Egyptian history and culture without ever stepping foot in Egypt itself! The thought did occur to me whilst I was standing in front of a mummy laid out with the funerary objects that it would require in the afterlife, that there was a certain kind of hypocrisy about one religion who is so adamant and rigid about its own beliefs allowing relics of a different religion to be displayed in what is supposedly the most holy of places.

From the Egyptian rooms I went into some kind of garden - I have a vague memory of the name of it being something to do with an octagon, but I may well be making that up. There were statues and what looked like bathtubs in every corner, and ponds in the middle. I sat down at a bench to take a moment to absorb it all, and literally got shoved off the seat by some fat American woman as she sat down to rest her th-cankles. I took it as a sign and moved on.

What followed for the next few hours were endless rooms filled with statues, scultures, paintings and beautiful ceilings. If my neck wasn't already sore from the previous few days of staring up at various works of art, it would have been stuck permanently at an odd angle after this. I'm not sure if the ceilings are designed the way they are for effect, or if they simply ran out of room on the walls and wanted to fill up more space. Either way, the mix of art and architecture is sublime.

This is actually a tapestry. There was a room filled with massive scenes, depicting various battles and religious wars. Amazing.

This one looks curved because it wasn't on a wall, it was on the roof.

I can't even remember most of the history that goes along with the museums there. I was doing the audio tour, so I got lots of information, but it reached the point of overload well before I was even halfway through. I'm sure I could look it all up again and do the research, but to be honest, I'm not interested enough in it. I liked a lot of what I saw, but it meant nothing to me for it to have been created by Raphael or one of his students. I do remember the tapestry room and the Gallery of Maps, but a lot of what else I saw is a blur. Goes to show once more that art really isn't my thing!

This statue freaked me out. It was the only one I saw all day that had proper eyes, and it was just strange!

Eventually I got through the hundreds of rooms, apartments, and everything else, and was close to the Sistine Chapel. Before that though, much to my amusement, was a modern art gallery. I took a couple of photos which help to demonstrate my point - the statue indicates how I feel about modern art, and the "painting" beneath it shows... I'm not sure what, exactly, it shows. But it's art, apparently.

The only reason I could come up with for including the modern art where they did was that it juxtaposes nicely with the awe-inspiring creations in the Sistine Chapel. Thank God (no pun intended) that I can play stupid in several languages - they don't allow any photography in the chapel, but I did manage to get away with a few happy snaps. I didn't know the history of the art in the chapel (I knew of its fame, but that was about the extent of it), so I finagled myself a seat and sat back, listening to the audio guide give me the brief version of the history of it all.

Eventually the seething mass of humanity that was filling the small space got to me, and I headed out. Once again I went through long corridors of statues, paintings and wondrous celings, before finding myself at the exit. There was one job to do before that - send a couple of postcards so that my nan could have a new stamp from the Vatican for her collection. I'd have been in some serious trouble if I'd have come home without getting that! I also admired the design of the staircase - it's massive! Turns out my dodgy camera struck again, and the photos turned out blurry, so I stole someone else's to post on here.

When I finally got outside, it was time for a very late lunch. I found a little restaurant in a quiet street and had yet another pasta dish - lucky I was walking so much, as I was eating my body weight in carbs!

Day 3

2009-03-20T21:12:00.015Z

I was up early again the next morning for round 3 of 'Sarah walks across Rome'. My first planned stop on this day was the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, to see La Bocca della Verita - the Mouth of Truth. I caught the metro Termini to Circo Massimo, and then walked along the side of Circo Massimo itself. This used to be a grand stadium, where races were held - up to 12 races per day in Augustus' time. Caligula liked to gamble a bit more, and held up to 24 races each day. These days the area is just a place for locals to walk their dogs, but you can still see where the track would have been.

Anywho, it was just a short (wet) walk up and down the hill to the church. I'd gone out of my way to go there because I knew that it was a central scene in the film "Roman Holiday", which I figured I'd be watching when I got home. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that I hadn't seen it before I went, and I haven't seen it yet - but I have the DVD here and it's a current plan for this weekend! I could see the Mouth of Truth as I arrived at the church, but wanted to take a look inside first. Turned out to be a great idea - inside I discovered a relic of San Valentino - yep, you guessed, good ol' St Valentine himself. It's kind of morbid to be standing there looking at a skull, but that's just what I did.

There wasn't much else to see inside this particular church, so I wandered out and joined the queue to have my photo taken with my hand inside the mouth. For those who don't know, the legend has it that if you put your hand into the mouth of the sculpture, and you tell a lie, it will bite your hand off. I can testify now that the legend isn't true, but the lie I told wasn't a big one, so maybe there's just degrees of lying!

I went inside to buy a souvenir, and discovered a piece of an 8th century mosaic on the wall there. Apparently it comes from the Old St Peter's Basilica. I loved the fact that there was no glass over it, and no apparent security system - something that's at least 1300 years old, and it's on the wall of an old, small church in a city known for its thieves. Britain would guard that with several armed forces units, heat sensors, motion detectors, and a donkey.

I left the church and jumped onto a bus, taking the scenic route through the city before eventually finding my way to Barberini. From there, I walked up the hill to the top of the Spanish Steps, which I had avoided going to a couple of days before. I'm not sure in the end if it would have been better to approach them from the bottom or the top, but nevertheless I did get lots of photos. I'm still not sure what's so special about these steps. I mean, I know the history of them, I know that they're in a few movies, but really? They're just steps. Slippery steps, covered in tourists and freaky guys trying to give women flowers. I did kind of like the fountain at the bottom of the steps, the Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Old Boat).

Right next to the Spanish Steps is the Keats Shelley Memorial House. I got all excited when I realised that, because of all the English poets, Keats is a favourite. Naturally, it was closed. I said a few naughty words quietly, turned around, and realised that I was at the end of Via Condotti, one of the premiere shopping streets in Rome. Somehow though, I restrained myself, however temporarily, and headed in a different direction - towards Piazza del Popolo. I didn't know what was supposed to be there, but it was highlighted on the tourist map I was following, so I figured it must have been worth a shot. It was a bit 'more of the same'-ish, so I didn't hang around there long. Can I just say though, it's no wonder I don't understand modern art. There were a couple of sculptures on the street on my way to the piazza, and lets just say I don't think anyone around me really got the point of them.
Got a little excited again when leaving Piazza del Popolo!

I wasn't really sure where else to go from here. I covered a lot of places much more quickly than I had anticipated, I think because I hadn't realised how close they all were to each other. I'm too used to big distances. I decided to go to Rome's cathedral, Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. I'd already seen a lot of churches, but what's a trip to an ancient city without a whole lot more? The cathedral was huge. I'd figured that with so many churches in such a small area, that the cathedral wouldn't actually be that big. Wrong. It wasn't huge as in the size of the Vatican huge, but it was certainly big enough.

From there I headed down the street, looking for the Scala Santa. This is supposed to the the staircase that Jesus walked up in Pontius Pilate's palace in Jerusalem. I don't really know why I couldn't find it, but I never did get there. I went into Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem. There was a lot of interesting things to see there, not the least of which was a shrine to a young girl who is up for sainthood, but there is was is reported to the holy relics from Jesus' crucifiction. I wasn't sure if they were real when I was there, but I did a bit of research afterwards and it seems that they are. The relics, known as the passion relics, include: a large fragment of the Good Thief's Cross; the bone of an index finger, said to be that of St Thomas, which he placed in the wound of the Risen Christ; pieces of the Scourging Pillar, Christ's tomb and Jesus' crib; two thorns from the crown of thorns; three fragments from the True Cross; a nail used in the crucifiction; and the Title of the Cross. There is also a copy of the Shroud of Turin there. I wish I'd taken it a bit more seriously now - I snapped a couple of pics while I was there just to record it, but didn't really believe it, and left relatively quickly.

That was pretty much the end of my day, as it was time for dinner and to head back to the hotel. Yet another successful day!

Buon Natale!

2009-03-19T19:57:00.008Z

I'd rung the family the night before, as it was Christmas Day their time and I knew it'd be the best time to speak to everyone. That meant that I didn't have anything to do on Chrsitmas morning, other than organise myself and get to the Vatican. I'm not a Catholic (I had a stand-up fight with Sr Therese at school when she called me an aetheist, because I'm agnostic), but I figured, hey, when in Rome...!

I don't really know how I managed to fluke this, but I timed my arrival to St Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro) quite perfectly. I'd stopped on the way from the train station to give Aunty Ann a call (being Welsh she was in almost the same time zone as me, and I'd get in trouble if I didn't call), and arrived at the piazza just as the various groups of guards were doing their little march past. I snapped a couple of photos, found the way through the gates, and headed for the front of the piazza. Basically, there's a space under the balcony for the Swiss Guards, followed by a seated area, a fenced off gap for the march past, and then the crowds. The gazillions of people, just like me, who all wanted to see the pope wave his hands and ramble on. Somehow, despite all of those people, I ended up as the third person back behind the fencing. I was also right in front of a big screen, so I had the perfect view of things (that is, when the blonde, Amazonian woman in front of me swayed left and I went right, or vice versa).

We stood around for quite a while waiting for the big guy to appear, and quite a roar went up when he did. Needless to say, I didn't understand more than a few random words, but it was a good experience all the same. He gave a blessing (I assume) in what I think was just about every language, including Esperanto. It was like he was some kind of rock star, the way people carried on. I don't really get the fascination with him myself, although I suppose it doesn't help that I was more a fan of JP2 than of Benny, but anyway.

After he'd finished his somewhat short appearance, the crowds began to disperse. I hung around the front for a bit to snap a few pics, then wandered back to the nativity scene, before exiting the piazza on a search for something to eat. Christmas Day, and what do I have for lunch? Pizza, of course! I didn't pay by the slice either - I paid by weight. You tell them how much pizza you want, they cut it, weigh it, you pay for it. And the pizza was gooooooood. I then turned back into the piazza, sat down for a spot of people watching while lunch settled down, and then went into the Basilica di San Pietro. It was yet another opportunity to get a crick in my neck and to marvel at the sheer opulence of the place.

I spent quite a while wandering around the basilica. The big red circle on the floor is where Charlemange and later Holy Roman Emperors were crowned by the pope. I took stacks of photos, far more than I'm putting up here. I saw the high altar, where the only person who can say mass is the pope, and St Peter is reportedly buried underneath it. I also saw the 13th century bronze statue of St Peter, with the worn down foot that has been touched by thousands of pilgrims (thanks for the info on that one, Lonely Planet!).

This photo was taken directly below the balcony. You can see the fence at the back of the seats - that's where I was.

After I left the basilica, I headed down the street towards Castel Sant' Angelo. It wasn't open, so I wandered through the markets, somehow found myself in Piazza Navona, and figured I'd have dinner before heading back to Termini for my shuttle. Another lovely day filled with wandering and discovering - and once again I was shattered.

From the Roman Forum...

2009-03-19T18:41:00.010Z

...along the Via del Fori Imperiali, past several other forums, and the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. This is a momument to the first king of the unified Italy (he became king in 1861 - practically yesterday in terms of Italian history). It has various nicknames, including the wedding cake and the typewriter, and is pretty much derided by Italians young and old.

From there it was a hop, skip and a dash across the busy street to Piazza Venezia, which didn't have anything to hold my interest, so I strolled down the street, wandering in and out of shops, wishing I didn't have a credit card limit. I picked up a couple of souvenirs and eventually found my way to Piazza Navona.

This place was exactly what I'd imagined a piazza to be. I don't know if the stalls that were there are year-round or were just there for Christmas, but they sold everything from cheap crap to leather handbags. By this point in the day it was early afternoon, and I was a little peckish. I grabbed a panini and parked my butt on a railing around the Fontana del Nettuno. It was glorious - I sat there for quite a while, soaking up the sunshine, listening to the people (a good mix of tourists and locals), and trying hard to work out more of the language. It was that perfect temperature where I could have fallen asleep though, so I made myself get up and move on.

This time I headed for the Pantheon, which was only a few blocks away. I somehow managed to approach it from behind, which meant that I didn't really get the full effect of the columns until after I'd been inside. They're *massive*, and like the Colosseum, made me marvel at how they had been built so perfectly so many years ago. I went inside, and it was amazing. There are beautiful paintings everywhere, more huge columns, and, something I didn't realise beforehand, the tomb of Raphael, the painter and architect. It made me stop for a second, one of those 'wow' moments (there were a lot of them during the trip, but this was one of the first). I was suddenly standing before the tomb of someone whose name is bandied about so frequently when talking about history, and there it was, right in front of me.

The real 'wow' moment of the Pantheon though, for me, was the roof. This is a church, filled with priceless relics, and there's a gaping hole in the top of it. It's designed so that rain will drain away from small holes in the marble floor, which is great, but it's still kind of odd to go into somewhere like that and find that you're staring up at the sky whilst standing between the tombs of kings and queens.

I sat for a while here, too, to take it all in, before heading out into the piazza to take some photos of the front. In the end I didn't manage to get a photo of the whole front of it properly, but I did get most of it. It's just too big! I was about ready by this point for some dessert, so naturally I headed for the nearest gelati vendor. I bought a couple of scoops, saw lots of people sitting on the steps of this monument in the square, and figured I'd join them. I don't really know how I do it, but as soon as I sat down, a policewoman was telling me to bugger off. Turns out you can't sit anywhere even AROUND the monuments. Luckily, one of the easiest phrases of Italian sprung to mind, and "Mi scusi, mi scusi!" got me out of trouble!

Having nowhere to sit, I wandered up the street, with no real direction in mind. Eventually I saw a sign for the Fontana di Trevi, and seeing as that was on my list of places to go, headed for it. There's not much to say about it, apart from that it was truly spectacular. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, it was still warm, and there were so many parts of it all. I managed to wiggle my way into a seat in front of the fountain, and stayed there for a while, drinking it all in. I must have had my trustworthy face on, because I took photos for a stack of people while I was sitting there. In the end I was there for about two hours, just people watching and enjoying it all. I did throw a coin into the fountain, over my shoulder - now I get to go back!

It's a bit hard to make out in the photo above, but there's a guy leaning over in a khaki jacket and black beanie - he's got a magnet on the end of something like a television aerial, and he's fishing coins out of the fountain. Bastard.

I figured it wasn't yet time for dinner, but the sun was starting to go down. I had originally thought of going to the Spanish Steps as well, but then figured I'd leave it for another day, as I'd have very little to do otherwise. I decided to go back to the places I'd seen already, and take some night photos. That meant back first of all to the Pantheon, and then to Piazza Navona. I figured I'd eat somewhere in the Piazza, because there were lots of places to choose from and not so many on the way back to the Colosseum. I settled on this little out of the way place, which had very few people at it. One of the waiters was standing out the front, trying to convince people to come and eat there. He was funny, spoke enough English to understand my sarcastic retorts, and I was sold. Turns out, he wasn't even the charmer in the restaurant - the other waiter proposed to me! I couldn't really see myself married to a (hot) waiter in Rome, tempting though it was, and declined. Still, I can notch that up as a proposal all the same!

Finally I headed back through the piazza, past the Fountain of the Four Rivers, and back along past the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, along the side of the Palatine and back to the Colesseum. I was exhausted by this point, so luckily for me it was time to head back to Termini and get the shuttle back to the hotel.

I saw this back at Termini - how exciting to see the Grandview on a poster in Rome!!

Day one - straight back in time

2009-02-22T16:05:00.006Z

I had arrived in Rome late in the afternoon, and by the time I got to my hotel, there wasn't time to go anywhere. Instead I settled in, kicked back and sorted out a plan of attack for the next few days. I had a Lonely Planet guide and map, and a vague clue as to the things I wanted to see. Eventually I sorted out a bit of a plan, knowing that I'd play it by ear a lot of the time depending on things that I came across.

That first morning I was up bright and early, and I jumped on the hotel shuttle bus which dropped me off at Termini, one of the main public transport hubs in the city. It's also where the two metro lines meet. I somehow, with a mix of broken Italian and English, managed to get myself a ticket (for some reason, you buy metro tickets from the tobacconist, not the ticket office). I found my was down to the correct platform, jumped on a graffiti-covered train, and headed for Il Colosseo - the Colosseum. I had been told by someone else who'd been there before that the Colosseum itself was right outside the metro station, but even then I wasn't quite prepared to have it literally right there across the street.

There are a lot of hawkers hanging around the various sites, doing whatever they can to get money out of you. I learnt this quite quickly, as I was approached by some men dressed as gladiators. They took a couple of photos on my camera, and then tried to tell me it was going to cost me 20 Euro. I told them I'd rather delete the photos than pay, pretended to do so, and then took off. I got the photos, didn't get my wallet out, and learnt a quick lesson about who to be aware of!

I then headed into the Colosseum. I'd already bought a Roma pass, which gave me entry into a couple of sites, a few discounts on others, and a rail pass that lasted a couple of days. I used this to get into the Colosseum, as it was the most expensive place on the list that I was going to visit (thanks to the Lonely Planet guide for the tip on that one!). It was pretty much what I had expected, but it was still amazing. The only thing that I had expected to see but didn't were the cats - everybody told me that there were cats absolutely everywhere, but I didn't see a single one!

I was there for quite a while. It's not hard to imagine what the place was like back in the day, with so much of it still intact. How they managed to build it, though, is what's hard to get your head around. I imagine that it's a lot like the pyramids of Giza - you're struck by feats of engineering that we seem unable to replicate today. I have to admit, I was also thinking of the movie 'Gladiator', and trying to work out where the various parts of the ruins fitted into what they suggested was the layout of the arena.

After the Colosseum, I headed over to the Palatine and Roman Forums. I didn't really know much about the Palatine, other than the few paragraphs in my Lonely Planet guide. According to mythology, the Palatine is where the cave is where Romulus and Remus were found by the wolf that kept them alive. The twins were then found by a shepherd who raised them, before they later killed their great-uncle (who had betrayed their father and taken the throne). They started their own city on the banks of the River Tiber, before having a fight, where Romulus killed Remus (and thus the city is called Rome).

Basically, the whole area is a mass of ruins and gardens. It's gorgeous, and provides great views across parts of the city.

The forums kind of blend into the palatine, so I didn't realise until after I'd left that I'd actually seen the forums at all. The forum was where the government and senate began, and was where people gathered for a variety of reasons. It was also considered the economic hub of the city.

Finally, down to business.

2009-02-22T16:02:00.002Z

I may well have failed my assessment (results pending), I've had a week off (and have been sick the whole time), and my house is now spotless and smelling of freshly made muffins.

Yes, that's right, the time has come to update the blog. Now to remember everything that I did in Rome, and preferably in the correct order...

Where does all the time go?

2009-01-28T18:34:00.002Z

Somehow it's been over a month since my last update, and even worse what should have been updated was the details of my trip to Rome.

My bad.

I'm almost at the end of my assessment period for getting my teaching qualifications sorted out here, so I have a couple more weeks of hoops to jump through, and whole trees worth of paper to sort, then things should be back to normal.

Once all that is done, normal services will resume!

Buon Natale!

2008-12-25T19:40:00.002Z

Buon Natale everybody! I hope you were visited by the fat man! I'm still away, so this isn't a proper update, but I had to post about one of the funniest things I think I've ever seen in my life, before I got home, procrastinated, and forgot it.

Being Christmas Day, and given that I'm in Rome, I thought I'd go to Vatican to see the Pope's blessing. The place was packed, but I finangled my way to a spot fairly close to the front. There was an Amazonian blonde German woman in front of me, which meant that I was doing the old duck-and-weave to see sometimes, but there was only one person in front of her, and then the space for the march past (more on that later) and finally the seating area, before the steps and the basilica itself.

Anyway, this is not what was so funny. I hung around St Peter's Square and Basilica well after Benny had finished reading his message to the masses and had gone off for the after party. There were nuns and priests absolutely everywhere, along with the other people who were either with their families and were watching their kids chase pigeons, or were like me and on their own doing a bit of touristy people watching. I was wandering around one end of the square, and I walked past a group of nuns eating fairy floss. For shiz. Honest to God (no pun intended), octogenarian Brides of Christ partaking in a little spun sugar. And loving every minute of it. Unfortunately, the batteries on my camera had just died, and there was no way they were going to understand my English (or limited Italian) for me to ask them to stop for a moment whilst I changed them over.

This is right up there with Sr Therese drinking beer and swearing. I don't know why I am not more religious, with these people as my role models!!!

Roman Holiday

2008-12-24T21:59:00.002Z

Greetings mere mortals! It's 11pm on Christmas Eve, in good old Roma. And boy do I mean OLD. This is just a quick update to say Buon Natale to everybody, and in case I don't update again before it, Buon Anno Nuova!

Had a maaaaaaaassive first day in Rome, walked across the city and back it seems (only a slight exaggeration there). I'll of course give the full details and pics when I get home, as this is a free internet computer in my hotel and I won't/can't type properly (Italian keyboard) and can't upload the pics from my camera (computer restrictions).

Suffice to say, I'm shattered, I'm loving it, and I think I'm sunburnt. For serious. So worth it though.

Trip highlights so far:

The Colosseum
The Trevi Fountain (I was there for a full two hours)
Piazza Navona
Remembering the little Italian I learnt at school (Non parlo Italiano, scusi!)
Having my hot waiter at dinner propose to me.

Given that I've only been here a day, the good things are set to continue! Tomorrrow is Christmas Day, and I'm off to see the Pope in all his Hitler Nazi Youth glory. If you think I'm kidding, google him.

In the meantime, buona notte, arrivederci, ciao!

It's "Australia" day!

2008-12-18T08:36:00.002Z

In a strictly non-travel related post, I'm declaring today to be "Austraila" day! No, I'm not calendar-challenged; I know that it's not January 26. Instead, it's the day that I'm finally getting to go and see "Australia", which was filmed for two months in the town where I lived. It's the reason that I went to Leceister Square and souvenired the big signs.

Officially the movie doesn't come out here until Boxing Day, but there's a charity screening tonight and I've got a ticket. It's excitement plus here today! A couple of my year 7 kids are jealous, because they want to see it after me talking to them about it all, and they don't get to see it for another 8 days. I won't see them in class tomorrow because we finish early, but I'll surely be tracking them down to rub it in. That's the kind of mature, responsible teacher I am!

Lock the doors, call immigration - I'm coming home!

2008-12-15T19:25:00.002Z

Alas, it won't be a permanent return to warmer shores, but I'm starting to feel like a bit of a toff. I'll be spending Christmas in Rome, and then I'm Summering in Australia - this is the life! Of course, that's a Northern Summer, which means it'll be Winter back in the Land Down Under, but I can almost guarantee that it'll be warmer there than it will here.

Now that I've finally gotten around to booking my flights, here's a few things I can genuinely look forward to without just dreaming about them:

Proper fish and chips. I know the English claim this dish as their own, but really, no. Not a chance. I long for the days of nipping across to Beaches for a staffroom lunch, with crumbed and cooked to order reef fish - red emperor, coral trout, etc.
Silverside with normal cabbage. Seriously - another supposed British dish that just isn't right.
Prawns.
Hog's Breath steak. I don't care what anyone says, Hog's Breath steak may not be the best steak in the world, but it beats the hell out of what you can get here.
Mrs Bacon's roast lamb. It's tradition.
Normal Cadbury's chocolate.
Bundaberg ginger beer that I don't have to go to London to buy.
Mangoes. Oh dear Lord, the mangoes!

Hrm, I've noticed that the entire list revolves around food. It's a given that I'm looking forward to seeing the family, as I will have been away for two years by the time I get there. Same goes for Samuel, the mischief-making chocolate lab who sleeps on my treadmill. I'm looking forward to more than one day (or more like one hour) of sunshine. I'm looking forward to going barefoot!

Sigh. 7 months and 2 days, but who's counting?

Santa came to my house!

2008-12-15T19:15:00.004Z

It's a little more than a week away, but tonight Santa paid an early visit to my house. And no, I've not been drinking spiked egg nog.

Every year here the Rotary Club in the town where I live hook Santa's sleigh up to the back of a 4WD, and drive him around the streets to say g'day to the kidlets and to raise money for the good work that they do. I'd completely forgotten about this from last year, so while I was sitting here tonight procrastinating (I should have a PhD in that by now), I heard the fat man himself engaging in a bit of karaoke as he travelled around.

I took off down the stairs to see him, and nearly face planted along the way. Note to self - last year's lesson about ski socks and polished pine stairs not mixing clearly didn't stick! Regardless, I got downstairs relatively safely, donated my money to the Rotary 'angel', and stood with giddy excitement with the neighbour's kids, waiting to see the jolly old man. He didn't disappoint (nor did he truly believe I'd been good all year - Santa has clued up a bit in recent years!). The photos are dodgy, but seeing as I had to throw myself back up the stairs to fetch the camera before going back down (and I'd left the door open, so if I fell going down I was going to roll into the street), I think they're reasonable. Besides, the guy in the 4WD wasn't taking chances; he put his foot down as I was trying to take them!

Now that I've got the commercial side of Christmas out of the way, it's time to organise my trip to see the Pope and make Sr Therese proud of me!

"Australia" the movie - premiere!

2008-12-13T13:18:00.002Z

Last year, before I left Bowen, the stars of the Australian film industry were in town for a couple of months, filming the Baz Luhrmann-directed "Australia". Last Wednesday night was the London premiere of the movie.

I know that it's been out for weeks now back home, but it doesn't come out here until Boxing Day *sigh*. There's a charity screening next week that I'm trying to get tickets to, but in the meantime, we had a lot of fun rushing into the city after work and checking out the red carpet at the premiere.

We were slightly delayed in arriving at Leceister Square, thanks once again to the outstanding success that is National Rail East Anglia. I'd really like to commend them on their ability to ruin any and all of our plans, no matter how last minute we may have organised ourselves. Anywho, Tamara and I met at our usual spot at Liverpool Street, and jumped on the tube. We raced around Leceister Square to get to the premiere side of it, and started to force our way through the crowd. Being as vertically challenged as I am, I saw a good portion of Nicole and Hugh wandering around through the screen of other peoples' cameras. Praise technology - if this was in the time before digital cameras, I would have seen nothing!

We managed to eventually squeeze our way through to the front of the crowd, or near enough, after a little while. With that magic gift I have of finding the perfect spot at the right moment, we found ourselves right where the cars were pulling up and the stars were getting out. We'd missed the arrival of Nicole, Hugh and Baz, but we were there for Twiggy and Konnie Huq. Having forgotten the date of the premiere, I wasn't prepared for it and didn't have my camera, but luckily Tamara did. She was all set to take a photo of the next car to pull up, but I don't think she managed to get the photo. We were too stunned - it was Elton John! We were seriously like 3 or 4 feet away from him, and more than a little shell shocked. I'm still waiting for Tamara to upload her photos, so I don't know if she got one at all (he did move away quite quickly).

We hung around until the end of it, hoping to see a few of the other stars up close and personal, but it didn't happen. It was so cold, no wonder they went inside! We'd said when we first arrived that it would be great if we could get one of the big signs on the fences keeping the plebs back. Well, we managed that (thanks to my sheer brute strength, unlike the pansy men standing around wishing for pliers), and then figured we could probably go for one each. That started a trend - one each became one for each of us and one for Millsy for her media classroom, and then one each for three of our Aussie friends who couldn't make it. That was 6 all up. Then we scored two more, so that Tamara and I had one for home and one for our classroom each. By then the security guards were helping us out, so we walked away with ten all up!

They're massive, and even carrying 5 each, they were damn heavy! We had to walk them around to Leceister Square tube station, down the stairs, through the gates and down again before getting onto the train. Then we had to change tube lines at Holborn, which involved walking down stairs and around a corner. Let me just say, those suckers caught the wind and it was like we were kite surfing! We then had to get back to Liverpool St, before we took them up the stairs to McDonalds for dinner. We then of course had to take them back down for our trains home! The next morning the kids were laughing at me because I could barely lift my arm to write on the board. It hurt like hell, but was so worth it! They've actually got pictures on Bowen on them, and of course the large picture of Hugh Jackman doesn't hurt...

You can see on the left of the photo an A4 page on the wall. That gives you some idea of how big the signs are - that and the fact that you can't even see the chair that it's on!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2008-12-11T22:06:00.002Z

It's that time of year again. Time for carols, fairy lights, too much food and obnoxious children. Christmas!

With this being my second Christmas over here, I decided it was time to buy a tree. I only bought a little one, just 3ft, but I think it's all I need. I also put the lights up in the window and on the stairs again, and added a few extra decorations.

Wembley!

2008-12-11T21:30:00.008Z

That night, it was time for rugby, take two: the Wallabies v. Barbarians. Despite the fact that it was bitterly cold, that it was a work night, and that I was still pretty shattered from the weekend in Wales, there was much excitement.

I somehow managed to arrive a full hour before the other two girls, so like the true nerd I am, I sat in the seats of Wembley and read a book. Granted, it was a novel that I'm teaching at the moment and was trying to catch up on (the kids were further ahead with it than I was), but still - I'm in one of the greatest sports arenas in the entire world, and I was reading a book.

Being so early meant that I got to hear the background story to the game. It was the first rugby match to be played at the new Wembley, and was the centenary anniversary of the 1908 London Olympics (which, conveniently Australia won the rugby gold medal at over the British). The British team at the time were represented by the Cornwall County team, so instead of playing in their home socks, the Barbarians played in the current Cornwall County socks. Also, her highness the Princess Royal was there to present gold medals to the winners, and silver to the losers, to commemorate the event. Took me quite a while to figure out that the Princess Royal was Princess Anne (I knew it was either Anne or Margaret, and that one of them was dead - thanks to the British guy who sat in front of me and told me!).

The seats we had were incredible. I don't know how I managed to pick them, having never been there before, but I managed to fluke it. 4th row, right behind the try line. Outstanding! We were in a prime position to watch the warm up, to see the tries being scored, and to try to get George Gregan's attention as he warmed up for the Barbarians, traitor that he is.

The coup de grace of the evening actually happened after the match. We hung around to watch the medal ceremony (Australia won, 18-11), and the players came back down onto the pitch. We lined up at the fence with the boys from Nudgee College who happened to be on their rugby tour, and three of the Wallabies came around to shake hands. Not only did I touch three Wallabies, but they also signed my boxing kangaroo flag! How excitement!

Oh yeah, and one more thing - we managed to get into a bit more drunken singing! We were sober, well, I was sober, the girls had just had a couple of beers, but somehow on the trek back to the train, shuffling along with the thousands of other people, we came across some really drunk Aussie boys. and got into the spirit by singing a few Australian songs. Tamara and I were in stitches - you can't take us anywhere!

Jimmy the Ice Cube

2008-12-11T21:14:00.004Z

The following Wednesday, this was the sight that greeted me when I came out of the house:

Poor, icy Jimmy. I had to pry open the door, and I had no hope of opening the windows. Luckily I had bought some de-icer spray the day before, although I'm not sure it's so good for my car. It immediately turns the ice to slush, which is plain weird. And heaven forbid you should leave trace elements of it on the windscreen! That stuff is harder to get rid of than a kid on Christmas Eve.

That Wednesday also marked my first experience of driving on ice. I don't like it. Torrential rain? No problems. Oil on the road? Sure. Ice? Hell no. It's just plain unpredictable. Granted, I'm being a bit of a wuss, because it wasn't black ice. But you just can't count on seeing white stuff on the road and thinking that it's frost. What also didn't help was that a taxi driver smashed his car up on the road I take to go to work. It caused all kinds of problems with traffic (not helped by the fact that every road into London from the south east was closed due to other accidents). My usual 15 minute journey took a lot longer than usual, broken only by a small touch of the giggles when I finally got the windows to open and the ice literally cracked and flew off.

Long story short, driving on ice is sucky.

This is not a misleading heading.

2008-12-11T20:08:00.006Z

I didn't realise until after I looked at the actual post of my last update just how big it was. No wonder I couldn't be bothered doing more of them at the time! Anywho, it's procrastination time, ergo, it's update time! Yay!

The weekend after our day out in London at Harrods and the Christmas markets, we went on a mini-break weeked (minus Hugh Grant and a bunny costume). We went to Wales for the rugby union match between the Welsh and the Wallabies. I picked up a couple of Aussie girls on the way, and stayed with the family.

The atmosphere at Millenium Stadium is unbelievable. There were 70 000+ people there, the vast majority of them Welsh (naturally). There were small pockets of Aussies around the stadium, and it was very pleasing to still be able to hear them on occasion! I was a bit mixed up over who to support in the end. I wore my Welsh jersey, knowing that I'd be sitting with 4 members of my family, not that you'd have known it because it was SO COLD, and I only unzipped my coat for a few moments at the time. I accessorised with a green and gold beanie and an Aussie flag tattoo. This covered all bases, even though in my head I'd been planning on supporting Wales.

This photo was taken about 2 minutes into the game. One guy from each team was hurt. The Welsh guy got up first, and played on for a few minutes with what turned out to be a skull fracture. The guy is apparently a medical student - note to self, don't go to see a doctor in Wales!

It turns out that it's hard to switch off the innate need to support Australia. My cousin thinks that I was supporting whichever team was winning at the time (and in the end it was a Welsh victory). Really, I just didn't know who to support, so I cheered on anything and everything - made especially hard because of my inability to understand the rules of the game! AFL I understand, rugby league I understand, rugby union, not so much. I think it's all about stacks on and man love. I would never voice this opinion in the middle of a packed stadium; I value my life.

We wandered around Cardiff for a little bit before heading back up the mountain on the train. It was really just too cold to stay outside! I'd heard all about the singing and whatnot that takes place on the trains on the way home from matches, but we didn't see it to start off with. We stopped part of the way home for dinner (best Chinese buffet EVER - namely because we were freezing cold and starving), and then hopped on another train. Jackpot! Drunken revellers! Drunken Welsh singing!

It's hard enough to understand Welsh when the person saying it is sober - vowels are in existence for a reason! Add alcohol and singing, and it's just noise. Apparently they were singing the words wrong anyway, and they were certainly not on key, but they were enthusiastic nevertheless! We managed to have them singing Waltzing Matilda before we left them (and it was the clean version, even though we'd struggled momentarily to remember the words to it!). Success!!

The next morning we departed the Rhondda, and made our way to the Big Pit in Blaenavon. I'd been there before, back in April, and loved it. I'd told Tamara about it, and promised to take her if we ever went to Wales, so down we went. It was a slightly different tour this time, and didn't cover as much as the last one (probably because our guide this time looked ready to have a heart attack any moment). He told a few different stories though, so it was still good value.

After a brief lunch stop, we hit the road. Another successful weekend road trip!

Updates ahoy!

2008-12-04T20:38:00.007Z

I've had two big weekends in a row, and now it's time to stop procrastinating (marking) and write some updates (procrastinate a bit).

The weekend before last, Tamara and I went into London for the day. We had two main missions - to go to Harrods (I'd been a couple of times before, but Tamara hadn't been, and I needed to pick up a couple of Christmas presents), and to go to the German Christmas markets in Hyde Park. We also had plans to check out some of the Christmas lights around the city.

We started by going straight for the centre of opulence - Harrods. We ended up wandering around for a good four hours. We picked up lots of presents, not that I can mention too much here, as it would give too much away! We spent a fair bit of time in the jewellery and watch sections, scoping out loot that was worth more than our annual salaries combined. We also found pens worth more than our salaries - and I seriously think my supermarket biros are of more use!

After Harrods we regrouped and headed over to Hyde Park for the German Christmas markets. They only opened that day, and it was amazing. There were all these wooden huts selling all kinds of gifts. We started out with a bite to eat, as we'd been going all day without a break. It didn't help that the first couple of stands that we came across were the food and drink huts, so naturally we had bratwurst! They were being cooked on this huge round brazier, and smelt delicious. They tasted pretty damn good as well - we were talking about them again just last night! We also managed to score a freebie taster of Pimms Winter - Pimms mixed with warm apple juice.

Yes, yes - I do realise the sexual innuendo here!

The Pimms teapot/van

Once our bellies were full (and we'd taken some photos), we wandered around the stalls. There were some awesome beanies for sale, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not buying one - it was cold. Oh so cold. My ears were on the verge of dropping off methinks! A lot of the stalls were selling crafts made in Germany. There was so much that I wanted to buy, but I did manage to be at least a little bit restrained! One end of the market had lots of rides, like they used to have at the show. We didn't go on any of them, but it certainly added a festive atmosphere. Of course, the ice rink that had been set up helped with that! We finished up with Tamara having a mug (glass? cup?) of mulled wine, and the fake snow machines kicked in. Turned out, fake snow was actually bubbles!

Our next stop was Covent Garden, as I'd been told that the Christmas lights there were worth a look. Turns out it had been a bit of a miscommunication. The lights weren't up at all! Apparently last year's lights were spectacular, and the friend who told me about them was planning a visit this year, but hadn't yet been. Nevertheless, a trip to Covent Garden is never a write-off, thanks to the Australia Shop being located there. We walked down there, intent on just one purchase - Bundaberg Ginger Beer. Well, it was a great theory at least. All that way, and not a drop of ginger beer to be found. I won't even go into how upset we were. Let me just say that we seriously contemplated going to this convenience store on Fleet Street that I know stocks it. From there we wandered to Leceister Square, contemplating dinner. We decided to go to Chinatown, and somehow came up with the idea of dim sum, as neither of us had had it before. Again - good in theory. We looked at a few menus to see what they served for dim sum, and whilst the odd dish looked good, the chicken feet, intestines and pig's organs really did manage to turn us off. We still somehow managed to decide that we wanted Chinese food for dinner, and had quite a good meal. I think I'll be back to that restaurant!

After dinner we headed down the street, stopping for a quick bit of shopping (new beanies), before reaching Picadilly Circus. There was a vague thought to go to Hamley's Toy Store, which is on Regent Street. We played tourist, as neither of us had photos of the big signs at night. We then noticed that Regent Street had these huge stars stretching across the street, and they were pretty! We followed the stars, stopping periodically for photos and to readjust beanies to cover our ears, and finally got to Hamley's. Sadly for us, Hamley's had closed over an hour before, so there was no re-enacting Tom Hanks' role in "Big" by playing with a giant step-on keyboard. Shame, shame, shame. Regardless, we amused ourselves with the window displays.

After we grew bored of staring into the windows like the children in "Oliver Twist", we headed another block down the street, and found our way to Carnaby Street. Well, not so much found out way there, as saw a sign, swivelled on the spot, and saw the giant snowmen! We took a few photos, and broke into song with Christmas carols that were actually relevant for a change ("Frosty the Snowman" and "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"). By this stage were were both shattered and frozen, so it was time to commence the journey home!

A wee bit chilly

2008-11-17T17:41:00.002Z

Temperatures plummeted again overnight, and after a bit of rain yesterday, there was quite a layer of frost on my car this morning. It took nearly 20 minutes to clear it off my windscreen. You could actually hear it crack as I opened the door, and the electric windows were frozen shut! Why am I here again???

Hardcore

2008-11-16T15:17:00.001Z

I went to the supermarket earlier. It was 9 degrees, according to my car. I wore pluggers. I'm not sure if it makes me tough or stupid, but I wasn't cold!

Cheese rolling!

2008-11-12T20:55:00.003Z

A few months ago, we attended the annual Gloucester cheese rolling festival. It was total madness. In something completely unrelated, I'm currently watching an old episode of "Gilmore Girls", and there was totally a reference to it! We thought it was random enough in the first place, but this was random ++!

I managed a while back to actually upload some of my own video. This still makes me laugh. A lot.

Sparklers ahoy!

2008-11-01T22:41:00.003Z

I'm just back from the fireworks, defrosting and drying out. It was a fantastic display, and after much consideration we decided it was planned by a woman (big bang moments separated by smaller, prettier displays). I only have a photo of it on my phone, and I don't have any way to get the pic from my phone to my computer, so I can't post it.

There was a HUGE bonfire as well. It was set up to look like Westminster, with a few 'people' at the front of it, ready to be burnt. We were a fair distance away from it, and it was pouring rain, yet we could still feel the heat from it. Now I need to read up on Guy Fawkes, as I've forgotten half of the story and had to be filled in! I do love though that the English celebrate a near-disaster (although they say that they celebrate the fact that they caught them before it happened).

We came back to my place afterwards for hot chocolate and something to eat, and the necessary sparklers. Last year was my first Bonfire Night experience, so I was invited to Millsy's place to take part in their traditional feast. It wasn't quite as big tonight, but tradition had to be maintained! Millsy loves sparklers, so I queued at the supermarket for nearly 30 minutes to buy some. I'm pretty sure my neighbours now think I'm somewhat insane, but it was fun!

Mr Pumpkin-head also made a re-appearance, just to get into the Bonfire Night sparkler fun!

Hey! Traditional English activities - I bite my thumb at you!

2008-11-01T17:56:00.002Z

November 5 is, amongst other things, Bonfire Night. This year, the big fireworks displays are happening tonight, Saturday the 1st. I'm going down the street to the farm to see it (last year I saw their display from the train as I was on my way home, having supposed to have seen it properly). This is all well and good.

What is not so well and good, however, is the habit that is developing of going to see traditional English things in the pouring rain. I refer in particular to the Cheese Rolling Festival, also known as the coldest and wettest I have ever been in my life. Well, again, it's raining, it's cold (about the same temps in fact), and I'm going out to spend several hours outside. The main difference this time is that the fireworks are at night, whereas the cheese rolling was during the day. I guess that just means that I won't be able to see how cold and wet I am. Awesome.

Lights! Camera! Pumpkin!

2008-10-31T17:48:00.002Z

Mr Pumpkin-head

2008-10-31T16:52:00.007Z

My mission this Halloween was to carve a pumpkin. Well, mission accomplished! With a little help from my friends (draw on the pumpkin first and look on the Internet for a picture to copy), I successfully managed to carve my first pumpkin. It doesn't look half bad either! It's still a little too light outside to put the candle in him, but I'll do that shortly.

BRAINS!!!

These are some huge jelly cockroaches that I found - they're gross to touch!

It worked! Kind of...

2008-10-30T15:26:00.002Z

A big shout out to Mother Nature for almost coming through with the goods today! There was a brief moment of sleet, and then some hail, which is all frozen stuff falling from the sky. I was massively excited! This bodes well for our future...

New layout

2008-10-29T19:39:00.003Z

I have a week off from work. I have plenty of work to be doing (marking never stops), but I'm procrastinating. As usual. I decided to go with a simpler layout and create a header for myself. Navigating through the blogger gadgets is annoying, just so you know.

Now that it's 1 degree, it's clearly time to head out of my heated bedroom, to the cold kitchen and cook something for dinner. Time to add some layers!

Snow photos... But they're not mine

2008-10-29T15:35:00.006Z

It's been 74 years since snow fell in London in October. I grabbed these photos from the Daily Mail, seeing as Mother Nature wasn't so kind to me (see my previous post).

Hyde Park this morning. Apparently there was more than this earlier, but had started to melt quickly.

Millenium Bridge, which crosses the Thames.

Westminster. I love this photo - two English icons, and snow. Perfection.

Somewhere in North London. Lucky buggers.

Hrm

2008-10-29T15:19:00.004Z

Dear Mother Nature,

I am writing to you today to express my disappointment over recent events. Whilst I am aware of the random nature of the weather forecaster's occupation, and their incredible inability to actually forecast weather with any accuracy, it concerns me that it appears that you have been incredibly selective in giving out your favours.

Perhaps you could take the time to explain to me why you felt the need to give snow to London, a city known to have temperatures a good two or three degrees above the area in which I live, and yet withhold it from me. It's been 70 or so years since you last gave snow to the ungrateful people of London, who bemoan the effects it has on their own selfish lives. I, dear Mother Nature, would not be so ungrateful. In fact, sheer excitement had me awake before dawn this morning to see if you had blessed me with your icy whiteness. Alas, no. You have forsaken me, Mother Nature. You give me sub-zero temperatures and ice on my car and on the roads, but no actual snow.

Have I not done enough to please you? If not, please be clear in what you desire of me. I praise the cold, crisp sunshine, even with its lack of heat. I even go so far as to praise the overcast and rainy days, as they do provide at least a few more degrees for us. I bless the stunning array of Autumn colours; I am in awe of the magic of daffodils who magically appear at the appropriate times. I appreciate all that you do to make this over-populated country of ours more beautiful. Last Winter, I observed the mere centimetre of snow that fell (which, I might add, melted too quickly to really enjoy) with the glee of a small child on Christmas morning. And still you spurn me.

I urge you, Mother Nature, to be kind to this poor Aussie living abroad. If I must live with freezing temperatures and outrageous heating bills, please allow me the pleasure of fresh, white snow.

Sincerely,

Sarah.

Halloween, take two

2008-10-27T22:58:00.003Z

This Friday is Halloween. My mission this year, after last year's efforts, is to carve a pumpkin. I've already bought new decorations, and loads of sweets. I'm excited already! I'll post photos after the event, should I still have fingers and thumbs after carving with a sharp knife.

Buckingham Palace and the Australian War Memorial

2008-10-27T22:35:00.003Z

A couple of weeks ago (a couple of weeks after the Dover trip, I guess) we went to Buckingham Palace. I know I'd been there several times before, but this time we went inside the palace - and it was all legal. Every year they have a Summer opening, and we went on the last weekend that it was on. This year they'd even set up a state banquet to see as well. Unfortunately you can't take any photos in there, which is a shame, because I know it'll be a long time before I see such opulence again. Much to my nan's disgust, I didn't happen to run into the queen. Guess I'll have to keep trying.

We left the palace and wandered over to the Australian war memorial. It truly does look like a urinal, which is a real shame. It takes away from the serious nature of the memorial. I was impressed however with the way the names are engraved, so that if you're standing close to it, you can read the names of the soldiers, but if you step back, you can see the names of locations of important battles.

Completely unrelated - I think I was channeling Dad whilst we were here. I'd stepped right back to get as much as I could into photos. I had an Aussie couple approach me - I was wearing my State of Origin jersey. They were from Victoria and wondered if I knew the AFL grand final score! Even though the mighty Lions weren't in it, I still knew what it was, which made their day.

The next weekend

2008-10-27T21:56:00.004Z

Despite having worked a full week in between, the next weekend we came up with just as much to see and do. First, I headed in to East London to see my first football (soccer for those antipodean readers) match. It ended up being a League One match (the league below Premier League), just because it was easier to see one of those, and it was also my friend's home team, Leyton Orient. It was certainly an experience. They played Stockport, and lost. There was a very small contingent of Stockport fans there, but what they lacked in numbers, they made up for in volume. The Leyton Orient fans made up for their overwhelming numbers with language. I mean, I swear like a sailor at the best of times, but they put me to shame.

After the game Mil and I went back to her place to collect Matt, before heading out to my place for a BBQ. Although I'd had plenty of meat-cooked-by-fire over the past couple of months, the others had been without for a year. They camped at my place for the night, in readiness for our trip the next day.

The weekend before, we'd stood in the furtherest corner of the South West of the country. Our mission this week was to stand in the furtherest corner of the South East, and also to try and see France. In the end it was no hardship. We headed to Dover (not Devon as we kept calling it from the weekend before, thanks Mil). We were going to the castle, and to see the white cliffs. I think the cliffs were far more spectacular than the castle. I'd suggested the castle based on someone else's recommendations about how good it was. I was far more interested in the secret wartime tunnels that were there than the castle. The castle didn't really have too much information about the place, and it wasn't as informative as others. I still think that Edinburgh Castle has been the best castle I've seen so far, but I digress.

Dover Castle did have the secret wartime tunnels. I know it must seem like we seek out these kinds of places, after the nuclear bunker tour, but really we don't. We didn't know that they were even there until we got there. There's actually 5 tunnels dug into the white cliffs, that were used as the headquarters of the Royal Navy during World War 2. Winston Churchill spent some time there, and Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay was in charge there for many years. Dover is very close to Dunkirk, and was where the evacuation was co-ordinated from. They were actually going to use the tunnels as a nuclear bunker in case of attack during the Cold War, until someone with a few active brain cells realised that chalk wasn't going to keep out radiation.

It's hard to see in the photo above, but the shadowy part just above the horizon is France.

We didn't hang around Dover after we left the castle, apart from to get something to eat and some fuel. There's a lot of castles in that area, so I know I'll be going back sooner or later.

Cornwall

2008-10-27T21:05:00.005Z

It was an awfully long time ago now that my friends and I went on a little journey. I say little, but to the locals around here, it was downright madness. Seeing as I now have a car, and my friends were soon to depart for the land of the moose (Canada), we felt it was necessary to go to Cornwall for a weekend. We knew it would be quick: a chance to see the main sights for them, a taster for me so that I knew where to go back to. Regardless of our lack of time, we hit the road.

We left Saturday morning, heading for Southampton first of all. It was pouring rain, so of course it was British seaside weather. We made it down there with no problems, and drove around trying to decide what to stop and see. We made a half-hearted effort to find a Titanic memorial, having figured out through random trivial information and using the internet on Mil's phone that we were in the right spot for it. We didn't end up finding the proper one, but we did find another one. It was a memorial for the engineers on board the ship. Close enough, we figured. We wandered around the park for a while before jumping back in the car, and continuing our journey.

We had decided to take the slow roads down there, and see what we found along the way. This meant it was going to be at least two hours longer than by going on the motorways, but we didn't care. In the end, the total trip down there was 13 hours, including stops, but we enjoyed it! We stopped for lunch a bit further down the road, at a town that I'm not sure I knew the name of even when we were there. We found a trusty JD Wetherspoons pub - a staple on our travels.

Getting back on the road was a tough call, as it meant leaving the warmth of the pub (it was cold and wet outside, as usual). We eventually made it to Penzance, what we figured was our destination. We had planned to find a B&B to stay the night at, but of course they conspired against us and we were stuck in a bloody Travelodge. We took a spin through nearby Hayle, and found a local pub for dinner. We were clearly the tourists, as you could understand us clearly, but nobody seemed to mind us being there. We did a bit of night-time site-seeing that night, which included seeing St Michael's Mount all lit up.

The next morning we were up and about early, with one destination in mind - Land's End. I don't know how to use my words to adequately describe it, apart from saying that it was absolutely stunning. The weather had cleared up, so it was a perfect, sunny day. The cliffs are awe-inspiring. It's easy to imagine why people thought it was the end of the earth, as they're certainly formidable. I do think the most classic moment though was the three of us standing on a rock, simultaneously realising that it was Father's Day back home, and also then realising that we had no phone coverage. We all eventually managed to get at least a message to our dads (luckily!).

John O'Groats is generally regarded as the most northern settlement in Great Britain. It's in the Scottish Highlands. The post box in the last photo above is the first and last post box in England. I don't understand why it's both first and last, but either way, it's no longer in use. You have to use the normal free-standing red one a few metres away. I don't see the point in that, really. I did, however, send Nan and Pop a postcard from there, and Mum and Dad as well I think.

We wandered around the cliffs for a bit longer, before doing the one thing we knew we had to do on this trip. That's right, we ate a genuine Cornish pasty. Just because you can buy them on every corner in London, from places like the Cornish Pasty Company, doesn't make them real Cornish pasties in Cornwall. Actually they didn't taste any different, but they were certainly the genuine thing!

From Land's End we took the back road over to this Roman-style amphitheatre, set right on the edge of the cliff. It was in a place called Porthcurno. As with most things in this country, you had to pay to see the amphitheatre, so we strolled to the left of it and overlooked the most beautiful beach I've seen on this side of the equator. I know part of it was due to the gorgeous weather and our view over the cove, but it was still fantastic. It reminded me a lot of the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

Next up we headed back to Penzance for some fuel, before heading out towards Newquay. We knew that Newquay was a surf town, but I think we were all a bit unprepared for the kind of surf culture that permeates (check my vocab :P) the Sunshine Coast. It was another town perched high above the actual beach, but there were REAL waves there. Something new everywhere we go!

We didn't stay long in Newquay, as - predictably - there was nowhere to park. We headed this time for the Eden Project. It's kind of like a biosphere type place. It's made up of these giant half golf ball things, each containing a different kind of ecosystem. It was a loooooooong walk down from the car, just to find that it was going to cost us £15 each to get in. We knew we only had an hour or so to look around, so that was a bit outrageous. We then had to walk allllllllllllll the way back up to the car. We were so knackered!

That was pretty much the end of our trip to the South West corner of the country. We jumped straight back on the motorway and headed home. Total driving time for the outgoing journey - 13 hours. Total driving time for the return trip - 5 hours. For serious.

How slack am I?

2008-10-27T21:03:00.001Z

Too slack. Time to update properly.

Brighton

2008-08-24T21:33:00.003+01:00

From the secret nuclear bunker we headed to Brighton. None of us had been there before, and after my Blackpool experience, I wasn't sure what to expect. In the end I was pleasantly surprised. It was what I had expected Blackpool to be, and yet wasn't. There were the usual tourist shops along the beachfront, and the pier was exactly as I imagined - full of games, nasty food and the fun fair.

We had parked quite a way from the pier, so we walked up along the top road (I'm not sure what it's called - there's a road that goes along the beach where we parked, and another one above it, which we walked along). We walked along to the Royal Pavillion, not realising that it cost so much to go in there, and not really sure what was in there. In the end we walked back to the beach for some fish and chips for lunch, before walking along the pier. Can't say I'm a massive fan of those piers - they're old and wooden and a lot of the planks wobble. I'm sure they're fine, but they don't inspire confidence, especially with the remains of another pier just beside it! However, if it burns down, it's not my fault...

We had been planning on visiting Hastings and Battle when we left Brighton, and whilst we did go there, we were too late to see where the Battle of Hastings had taken place, so we headed home. It's another recurring theme - being just a little bit too late for things!

Secret nuclear bunker!

2008-08-24T21:19:00.002+01:00

Not far from where I live is a 'secret' nuclear bunker, the Kelvedon Hatch. Until the end of 1994, it was a working bunker, which would have housed the prime minister if need be, as it was the closest one to London. It'd deactivated now, but apparently could go straight back into service if necessary.

I say 'secret', as although once it was indeed secret, now it's a tourist attraction. Doesn't change the fact that you're driving along the road, and suddenly you see a sign that says 'Secret Nuclear Bunnker, turn right'. Awesome!

We walked in there, and it was like a scene from 'Z for Zachariah', if they'd actually had a bunker. It was a little freaky; there was just the three of us, and a siren going off in a deserted corridor. Eventually other people showed up, which changed the atmosphere. By the time we were most of the way through we were laughing about most of it - whoever runs it rivals Mel Gibson in 'Conspiracy Theory' for their level of paranoia!

Yet another reason why I should write updates more quickly

2008-08-24T21:16:00.002+01:00

I left out a show that we saw at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival - they were a group called Dead Cat Bounce. It had nothing to do with dead cats (sadly), but it was just as entertaining. We saw their late show, which was a 1930s-ish radio show. It was 3 guys doing voices, songs and playing instruments, and one guy doing sound effects. It was fantastic!

Imperial War Museum and Hampstead Heath

2008-08-24T20:55:00.002+01:00

The next weekend the same three of us went into the city to go to the Imperial War Museum. Mil's dad had been bugging her about it, so we figured it must be worth the trip. It was.

The ground floor of the museum takes you through World Wars one and two, with lots of displays and information. It would have been much better had their been room to move - one of the most convoluted and cramped museums I've ever been to. We took our time moving through (like we had a choice), looking at everything from weaponry and uniforms to mission documents and ration packs.

Funniest moment - hearing this stupid American woman going on about how America just HAD to step in and save everyone, because the Allies kept jumping out of their trenches to make attempts to advance their position (trench warfare anyone??).

Moment that angered me the most - having gone through all the details of major battles and who helped out, and how many died and what was gained - and seeing Gallipoli barely mentionedl. It said that Australia and New Zealand took the beach, and that was it. No mention of casualties or the reason we were there in the first place.

Upstairs was the Holocaust Exhibition. It was amazing, but simply too big. We spent a lot of time in there, and I learnt a lot from it, but I think we were all feeling a little suicidal by the time we went out of it, and none of us had read or watched everything. I do recommend going if you ever have the chance though.

Needing some light relief, we headed into the centre of the city for a very late lunch and to decide on our next stop. Originally we'd planned on going to Hampstead Heath, but we hadn't counted on being at the museum for so long. In the end we decided to go there anyway, as there were still quite a few hours of daylight left. We caught the tube out there and wandered towards it. We weren't sure of what we were going to find out there, but Mil mentioned going to Parliament Hill - one of the highest points in London. We wandered around for a few hours, past several lakes and along scenic pathways. We also bush-bashed our way through several parts without tracks - can't take us anywhere! In the end we did find Parliament Hill, and the views, whilst not stunning, did cover a lot of London.

Windsor Castle

2008-08-24T20:39:00.003+01:00

A few days after I got home, I went to Windsor Castle with a couple of my other friends from home. We met up at Stratford, then headed over there (more complicated than it sounds - train operators really need to get their crap together). We got off the train at Eton, and walked up to the castle. Having pre-purchased our tickets - which Mil found out about before we went, thankfully - we managed to skip the queue and go straight in.

We had the audio tour - another place where we wandered around listening to what looked like oversized mobile phones. It was very useful though, as there was so much history there.

I didn't know a lot about the history of Windsor Castle, so it was quite interesting. We saw Queen Victoria's dolls' house, where the fire had happened in 1992, the Waterloo room, and how odd the guards look as they turn around whilst marching (knees out and bent like a frog). It was more interesting than I had anticipated! Sadly, despite it being a weekend, Lizzie wasn't home, so I couldn't call in for high tea and thank her for the photo and letter that she sent my grandparents on their recent diamond wedding anniversary. What a shame!

Heading home

2008-08-24T20:15:00.003+01:00

The time had come to leave Scotland and start heading home. Our first stop once crossing the border was in Gateshead, near Newcastle. There is a giant sculpture there called the Angel of the North. It's a huge steel angel, with a wingspan the same as a jumbo jet. It's amazing! We had to walk a fair way back to get a photo with all of her wings in it. It was finished in 1998, so it wasn't the oldest landmark we'd seen, but it was certainly one of the biggest.

From Gateshead we headed towards Nottingham. Tamara's brother had lived there years ago, and she wanted to see the area. I was more interested in something else - Robin Hood! We followed the signs to Sherwood Forest, and took a walk through it, which included going to Major Oak. This is the tree where legend has it Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men had their hideout. We didn't get robbed (but neither did we receive any riches!). There are some amazing oak trees in the forest, and I got some great photos.

We then drove through Nottingham itself. Same old, same old. There's a lot of history in the town, but as usual there was nowhere to park, so we didn't hang around. Instead we got back on the motorway and headed home. The road trip was over.

The rest of our time in Scotland

2008-08-20T18:38:00.004+01:00

We did one more day trip whilst we were in Scotland. We packed the car with people (Tamara, the couple we were staying with and one of their friends), and hit the road. First stop was Kirkcaldy, which is a pretty little beachside town. I don't think any of us had enough caffeine in our bodies to truly appreciate it! We stopped at the beachfront for a few photos, then headed on our way.

The next stop was St Andrews. We stopped on the high street first for some food and had a little look around. As we were driving out, we saw this old cemetery with what looked like the remains of some kind of castle. In actual fact it's not a castle, but St Rule's Tower, which used to be part of the cathedral there. We stopped again for some photos. I wasn't sure where the rest of the group was, as we'd done a bit of a jump and run thanks to no parking being available, so by the time I wandered in I couldn't see them. I walked up to the left, just outside the cemetery, and discovered a cliff top walk. The scenery was gorgeous - Scotland is so pretty! The others ended up finding me there, and we wandered along the cliff until we actually did come to a castle. It cost a fair bit to go in there, so we didn't. Tamara, Clare and Dwayne decided to walk right down to the beach and have a skimming competition. I stayed up top, and discovered that the spot where I was standing was actually the spot where the first congregation of the Protestant church was formed in Scotland.

Our next stop was, of course, the golf course. There was no way we could go there without visiting! We stopped first on one side of the course and took a few snapshots, before heading over to the clubhouse. I actually got a photo of me standing on the course, but it's on someone else's camera, as my batteries chose that moment to die! Hopefully sooner or later I'll actually get a copy of it...

From St Andrew's we moved on to Dundee. There was no real reason for this, apart from it's a big(ish) Scottish town, we'd heard of it, and we figured we'd have a look. We didn't stay long - same thing, different location!

We then took the scenic tourist route up to Aberdeen. It took us along the coast a lot of the time, and generally it was quite pretty. We stopped along the way at Stonehaven, on another cliff, to take yet more photos. Yes, we are tourists!

Finally we got to Aberdeen, and our first mission was definitely food. It was nearly 5pm, and whilst we'd had something to eat in St Andrew's, that was nearly 7 hours before. We parked, and walked right up the high street until we found a Wetherspoon pub. We're all fans! We had a bite to eat, and then tried to figure out exactly what it was that we wanted to see in Aberdeen. I think we should have done some more research before we left - we had no clue! We ended up going to the Golden Square, which in true UK style, is neither golden nor square. Fantastic! In the end, from this point, we decided to start making our way back to Edinburgh. It was another long day on the road!

A rest, finally!

2008-08-20T18:23:00.003+01:00

We'd covered a lot of miles so far on our trip, and as I was the only one who could drive (thanks to stupid UK rules), I was starting to feel a bit tired. Tamara was keen to go and explore a bit more, so she and Clare went into the city. I slouched around, reading my book, and then went to meet them to see Jimeoin.

It's the first time I'd seen him live, and I know it was a preview show, but it wasn't quite as good as I'd expected. I still liked it, but I don't know, I guess I expected more.

More comedy fun

2008-08-20T18:20:00.002+01:00

I can't really remember in which order we did things in Scotland, but I think the night we got home from Inverness, we went to see David O'Doherty. He's awesome! He's been in Australia a few times, and I think I'd seen him on TV. It's a tough call, but I think that it was probably the best of the shows that we saw. If you get the chance, go see him!

Loch Ness

2008-08-20T17:53:00.002+01:00

We decided to do a day trip up to Inverness, to go to Loch Ness. We left early in the morning, and drove straight up there. After a quick stop at the Trespass outlet and a mis-guided detour through part of the town, we were on our way to to the loch.

We stopped a few times along the way for photos, and then stopped at a souvenir shop to make a few purchases. We even took some photos with our 'see you Jimmy' hats on! Sure, we might have looked like dickheads, but we were having fun!

We also stopped at Urquhart Castle, although we didn't need to go in (I was OK with this one though - the castle is in ruins, and we still got some great photos!).

Around Edinburgh

2008-08-20T17:36:00.004+01:00

The next day we headed into the city to spend some time site-seeing. We had arrived in Edinburgh at the same time that the Fringe Festival started, which includes the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. We went to the festival tent, and booked some tickets for shows. We'd decided before we even got to Scotland to try and get tickets to see Jimeoin, and we managed to get some. We also booked another show, for two comedians (one who had been named Scottish comedian of the year), Sean Grant and Tiernan Douieb.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, doing a little shopping, before Tamara and I went to Edinburgh Castle. It was great! We did the audio tour, so for a nerd like me it was good to have so much information. Shame I felt like I had to rush through it all, but oh well.

Bonnie Scotland

2008-08-20T17:03:00.002+01:00

We hit the road once more, heading for the border. We drove through Gretna Green, so that Tamara could see the marriage houses. Leaving there, after a quick stop for lunch, we headed towards Glasgow. We had no intention of stopping there, but part of Tamara's family is Scottish, so we were in search of Hamilton Ave in order to take a photo for her grandmother. The things we do for family!

We negotiated our way through rush hour traffic, took the photo, and headed back through the city again. We headed towards Edinburgh, where we were planning on staying for a few nights with more friends of Tamara's. Somehow we ended up going right through the middle of the city, including driving on part of the Royal Mile - not the quickest route!

We found Tamara's friends' house, and hung out for a bit before catching a bus into town. There, we met up with Clare (whose flat we were staying at but who had been at work), and joined the queue to see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. It was awesome - the rain bucketed down, but it didn't stop the show being amazing!

Hadrian's Wall

2008-08-20T16:50:00.002+01:00

Even though I'd been to Hadrian's Wall on my first trip up north, I wanted to see it again. Actually, I'd wanted to see it on the other side of the country, but shockingly, that didn't happen either. We headed towards Birdoswald Fort, a Roman fort. We did stop along the way as well for a few random photos.

My last trip had me wondering if I was in the right place, as I had to walk through a sheep paddock to get there. Nothing changed this time around!

Back to my happy place

2008-08-19T22:18:00.005+01:00

Leaving Warrington, we had an extra traveller with us, albeit just for a few hours. Another friend of Tamara's came with us to Southport and Blackpool.

Southport was our first stop. It's a seaside town, with what is actually quite a nice high street. We parked without looking around properly first (mistake), grabbed some breakfast and wandered towards the beach. Turns out, the beach was quite a way away. We walked down a street, across a beach, through a carpark, past Pleasureland (mini golf and stuff, not as raunchy as it sounds), and along another street. Jackpot - the beach. Well, sand anyway! The water itself was a looooooong way out, which made the presence of a lifeguard in his hut quite funny.

We left Southport and went to Blackpool. Blackpool is like a show on drugs. It's freaky and trashy and just plain bizarre. I'm sure in the 1970s it was a great place to take your kids for their seaside Summer holiday, but now it's just... wrong. They were starting to set up for the Illuminations, but that just added to its overall crackwhore image. Can't say I was sorry to leave! The highlight of the visit was going on the old wooden tram down the esplanade, and buying some Blackpool rock candy, which I'm yet to sample.

We left Blackpool, and our third adventurer, and headed to my happy place - the Lake District. I swear I felt more relaxed as soon as I turned off the M6! We didn't have any accommodation booked, but I told Tamara about where I'd stayed last time, and suggested we try there. Turns out we not only got a room, the people who own it remembered me from my last trip. Great service!

We drove up to Penrith, stopping along the way for many photos. We had dinner up there, and then headed back. The next day we went in search of Hill Top Farm, favoured place of Beatrix Potter. I didn't realise that the farm they use as Hill Top in the movie 'Miss Potter' is not the actual Hill Top, but another farm that she owned. The actual Hill Top is very small and dark - not at all as I'd imagined it. I loved looking at some of the illustrations in her stories and seeing exactly where they came from.

After Hill Top Farm we went to Keswick, as Tamara wanted to go to the pencil museum. Yes, the same pencil museum that I have mocked relentlessly since my first trip up there. We actually went in there, and it was exactly as expected. A waste of time. Funny how we went into something like that, but not something like Shakespeare's birthplace...

From there we drove around the area, before heading back to Ambleside for dinner and sleep.

Warrington and Manchester

2008-08-19T21:57:00.003+01:00

We left Birmingham, hit the M6 and headed north. We weren't too far away from our final destination for the day, and so we just went straight there. We found Tamara's friend's house with no difficulty, and proceeded to sit out the back in the sunshine and have a chat.

I had earlier gotten in touch with a friend from Cairns who lives in Manchester, so I took myself off to the city centre to catch up with a drink with her. Always good to see a familiar face!

Strangely, I don't have any photos from this part of the trip, apart from our short sojourn to Liverpool. I guess it's because really, despite what tourism boards would like to believe, I could just have a photo of any city and call it Manchester. I'm wondering why I don't have at least one photo of the Manchester United stadium though... We didn't do much actually in Manchester - we wanted to go to Old Trafford, not realising that there are TWO Old Traffords - one for Man U and one for the cricket. I know I didn't get any photos of the cricket ground, as I was driving. Tamara hasn't put hers on facebook, so I can't steal those. We also were going to go to where they film Coronation Street, but it looked awful, so we didn't stop.

We were only in town for one full day, and we went to Liverpool for the afternoon. We parked at Abbey Docks, where the Beatles Story attraction is. Now that I'm writing this, I'm realising that we saw the outside of a lot of places, but didn't actually go in to many. *Sigh* We wandered around the town, before heading back to Warrington. We also didn't go to The Cavern. You may well be thinking why we bothered going at all - beats me.

To Birmingham, and beyond!

2008-08-19T21:42:00.005+01:00

We left Stratford-upon-Avon, and headed towards Birmingham. Our final destination for the day was Warrington, which is near Manchester. We were intending to spend a couple of nights staying with friends of Tamara's. Birmingham is not that far from Manchester, and it was time for a break.

Now, avid readers (yeah, like you actually exist) may remember that the last time I was in I Birmingham, my original sat nav's battery died, and the car I'd hired didn't have a working cigarette lighter. Well, this time, it went one better. This was the second one I'd had since October 07, as the first one lost its life suddenly in Cardiff in April. This was also the first big trip it'd been on. Birmingham must be some kind of anti-sat nav society, as this one became what we fondly call an epileptic Arabic. Now, I don't mean to offend, but it took on a life of its own and did things that I didn't know a sat nav programmed in English could do! Firstly, it fell in love with the letter e. Yeah, you read that right. Suddenly I had nearly 30 favourites saved, with various combinations of e and E. Then, like that wasn't enough, it wouldn't let me access anything, before bringing itself to its grand finale - upside down question marks. I didn't even know you could somehow put in an upside down question mark! So, given that this was day one of a trip that could last up to a couple of weeks, I rocked on down to Tesco for a refund or replacement.

Sounds easy, right? Wrong. I was a couple of hundred miles from home, and home was where my receipt was. Despite the fact that Tesco could have sent the stupid thing back to the manufacturer without losing a penny, I couldn't do anything but buy a new one. So I did, this time a different brand. I'm hoping for a longer life for this one - 3 in less than a year, when I didn't even have a car for almost all of that time, is ridiculous!

Anywho, whilst looking for a Tesco, we realised that Birmingham is home not only to Birmingham Football Club, it's also home to Aston Villa. We did a proper drive by after we found Tesco, so that Tamara could take some photos. The photo below is hers - I was driving and didn't get any myself.

Other than that, Birmingham is really just like every other town in the UK, so we hit the road again.

And they're off and running...

2008-08-19T21:19:00.005+01:00

We headed out bright and early on a Sunday morning, thinking that by delaying our trip until Sunday, we'd miss the traffic. This was true, but we didn't then take into account that being Sunday, things might not open till at least 10.

I picked up Tamara and we headed towards Stratford-upon-Avon. We were intending to go to Shakespeare's birthplace and the other Shakespeare-related places. On the way though, we realised how close we were to Warwick (known to us as Historic Warwick - say it quickly), and we decided to call in. Apparently there's a great castle there. We wouldn't know, as it didn't open for about an hour and a half after we got there. You couldn't even drive close enough to see it. Guess that's something to go back to. Driving away, we saw a sign for the Dream Factory. The name alone had us driving through the back streets looking for it - although we never found it. All in all, a successful visit to Historic Warwick!

We motored on out of there and moved on to Stratford-upon-Avon. After doing a little reconnassaince, we found a park, and wandered over to Shakepeare's birthplace. In the end we didn't actually go in there, as it wasn't open (surprise), and whilst we were taking some photos of the outside of it, a busload or two of kids showed up. Summer holidays is as much a kid-free zone as possible.

We then wandered through the town a little, grabbed some breakfast, and considered our next plan of attack. We decided to try and find Anne Hathaway's cottage. I didn't realise until we actually found it that Tamara (wingman and navigator) didn't know who Anne Hathaway was, besides an American actress! Given the cost of going into her cottage, we decided to not go in there either. We did manage to lean over the fence and take a few photos however. Looks like another trip back!

After the cottage we wanted to find Shakespeare's grave. My map (brought with me more for looking to see what was near us rather than for actual navigation) showed us where it was, so we headed over to the cemetery. Well, I should have done my homework on this one. Turns out, after wandering through the entire cemetery, that his grave is INSIDE the church, and that you can't visit it if a service is taking place. After our luck so far, you guessed it, there was a service taking place. The photo below is the River Avon, which runs along behind the cemetery.

First official place we had planned to visit, and I had seen the outside of the 3 things I'd wanted to see. Awesome.

Road trip - the summary post

2008-08-19T21:14:00.002+01:00

Yes, yes - I know I've been slack. I've been back for a while now and haven't managed to get my crap together in order to write up the road trip. I've also been a few day trips, so I have to add those in as well. If you can't be bothered reading through each of the entries, here's the summary:

Countries visited - 2
Road trippers - 2
Sat nav failures - 1 (I'm now on my third one since October 2007 - wish me luck!)
Near accidents - 2
Near accidents caused by me - 0
Beaches visited - 4
Nessie sightings - 0
Experiences that make my relatives jealous - 2 (3 if you count the fact that Elaine is just plain jealous that I'm here at all)
Strange foods eaten - 1
Cheap meals from Ikea - 2
Days when it rained - lost count!

Greetings from the road

2008-08-03T10:48:00.003+01:00

I'm currently in Edinburgh, enjoying the sunshine up north. This is not a full update, but a quick note about where we've been so far:

Historic Warwick (have to say it together - all the signs called it that)
Stratford-upon-Avon
Birmingham (home of the latest sat-nav failure)
Warrington
Manchester
Southport
Blackpool
Lake District
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Inverness
Loch Ness

There's plenty more, but that's the basic idea so far. We've also seen the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and have been enjoying cheap as chips tickets for the comedy festival. Rate it!

We're all going on a ...

2008-07-26T19:41:00.000+01:00

Summer holiday!

Road trip, UK style.

Stay tuned.

And again...

2008-07-20T15:51:00.014+01:00

Yesterday it was back to London, this time with a firm plan to go back to Baker Street to go to Madame Tussaud's. Baker Street, for those not in the know, is the home of one Sherlock Holmes. His presence is everywhere there - from a motif in the tiles on the tube platform, to a statue on Baker Street and even his own museum.

We eventually got in to Madame Tussaud's, despite their best efforts to keep us waiting all day. Let me just say that they need to learn how to keep crowds happy from the Wimbledon organisers! We fought our way through the ignorant and rude people throughout the wax museum (and managed to not kill anyone in doing so - I'd not had any caffeine at that point, so this was not easy!). I think the highlight of the experience was the live scream part - seeing Lisa actually jump so much that she was about a foot off the ground was priceless!

We had to zoom out of there pretty quickly, as we had tickets to go and see We Will Rock You (yeah, it was my third time, and still as good as ever!). We got over to Tottenham Court Road, met up with the others, and rocked out for the next three hours.

After the show we headed over to Covent Garden. We wandered through the shops and markets, meeting up with a couple of my other friends along the way. Then, after a little side trip to the Australia Shop (Bundaberg ginger beer and strawberry Freddo Frogs mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm), we went down into Leceister Square for dinner.

After dinner, the girls I'd seen the show with all wanted to go home, but I stayed out with Matt and Mil. We strolled over to Carnaby St, which I have to say wasn't what I thought it was going to be. It's one of those streets that seem to be in London folklore - like places such as Portobello Road and Notting Hill. It wasn't anything like I thought it was going to be, sadly. It's an upmarket street, much like Chapel Street in Melbourne. Oh well - at least I have been there now!

We wandered back over towards Regent and Oxford Sts then, before deciding to go to St Paul's Cathedral - another place I hadn't yet been. The walk there was a bit like picking a direct line along the major tourist attractions - from Regent St to Picadilly Circus, down to Admiralty Arch and along the side of Trafalgar Square, and then along to the end of Whitehall and to the Thames.

We walked along the Thames, trading bits of random information (topics ranged from the Great Fire of London to the geography of Egypt!). The obelisk that is along the path still has damage from a bomb that was dropped during World War II. We kept walking along to Blackfriars, and then up to St Pauls. We were distracted on our approach to the cathedral by a funny street sign - not the kind of thing you normally associate with a church!

I still am stunned by the intricate work that was done on buildings like this, especially given the time frame. St Pauls was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It was finished in about 1710. It's enormous! We didn't go inside, so I'm sure I'll go back again at some point.

We then headed along Fleet Street (where there was a barber shop, but not where we could get a photo with a street sign in it as well). Along the way we found the place where Twinings Tea started. That's what I love about London - you can find all these random places without even trying!

Next we walked past the Old Curiousity Shop. It's hard to tell from the photos, but it's a wonky building. It seemed like there was either construction or renovation going on inside, so we didn't see any curiosities, but it was exciting for its Dickensian references all the same!

After all that we walked over to Holborn tube station to go home (passing the Australian Embassy along the way). It was late, I was shattered - and I was still over an hour away from home! Two great weekends in a row, and I'll be spending the next one in Wales. Roll on Summer holidays!

Being social

2008-07-20T15:35:00.006+01:00

Well, I've been out the last two Saturdays, up to mischief and enjoying myself! Last weekend I met up with two friends from home, and we spent the day in London doing various things. First we wandered through St James Park, stopping momentarily to look at the animals made out of fake plants. It was some kind of save-the-animals charity, but the elephants were far more exciting!

From there we continued on to Buckingham Palace, getting there in time for the changing of the guards. It wasn't my first time to the palace, but it was my first time seeing that. Unfortunately I didn't see what happened inside the palace gates, but I did see them do their march up the road and inside. I need to grow a bit more in order to see things properly!

Next we headed over to Baker Street to go to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. That was a bust - there were huge queues that didn't really move, and we didn't have all day to hang around as we were going to the theatre to see Wicked. We ended up leaving, and going for a wander down Oxford Street instead.

We saw the show - amazing. If you don't know what it's about, it's the untold story of the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz. It was great, and I'm now looking for a copy of the book that it's based on!

After that we headed to an Indian restaurant in Covent Garden, before finally heading home.

Am I no longer a North Queenslander?

2008-07-06T23:56:00.002+01:00

I spent part of today, which is Summer, walking around in the rain. It was 14 degrees. I was wearing a t-shirt, shorts and pluggers. Am I losing touch with it all????

Wimbledon!

2008-07-05T18:53:00.008+01:00

Last weekend, the girls and I headed out at the crack of dawn, on our way to the ultimate tennis event - Wimbledon. It was a long enough trip just to get there - up at 4.30am, out the door at 5.45, and arriving at Southfields tube station at 8. 20 minutes later Tamara and I had met up with the other two girls, Yana and Sabrina, and were on our way to join the queue.

It was amazingly well organised, to the point where we hardly noticed that we'd waited 4 hours just to get in the gate. Other organisations should take note - this is how to do it and keep your crowds happy! It really was phenomenal; my queue card number was 7965, and we were there 2 hours before the gates even opened. We even got freebies along the way - sunscreen, muesli bars and, best of all, strawberries! One tradition out of the way before we'd even got inside.

The girls and I with our queue cards.

Once we got it, we tried to take a moment to get our bearings. The girls were in desperate need of a potty break (have to say bless teaching - ensures you can hold it for a REALLY long time!). The nearest toilets were beside the Wimbledon Shop, so naturally that's where we wandered. We all ended up buying the same cap, which made for some good photos.

Next up it was time to watch some tennis. We started on the nearest court to where we were standing, which was a boys singles game. Not a bad introduction to the tennis - got us in the mood for bigger games. We had bought ground passes, which allowed us to see any court except Centre Court, and Courts 1 and 2. This didn't really matter, as it was early enough in the Championship for high ranking players to be on outside courts.

We left the boys and headed over to Court 18 to see what was going on there. It's a bigger court, kind of the next step down from the 3 big ones. We had to wait for a change of ends and for seats to free up, but we waited, as it was Ai Sugiyama and Alisa Kleybanova (who lost in her next round to Venus Williams). It was Sugiyama's 16th Wimbledon in a row, so although she lost, we saw some amazing tennis. We hung around for the next match, which was Jurgen Meltzer and Arnaud Clement. Clement lost to Rainer Schuettler in an epic quarter final match the other day. It was blazing hot, and we were facing the sun, which didn't help matters. The girls gave up after the first set, but I rated it, so I stayed for the second.

Ai Sugiyama

Jurgen Meltzer

Arnaud Clement

I ended up leaving at the end of the second set, as it was just too damn hot. I never thought I'd say that in England! Just before I left, I looked across to the box where the players and supporters sit, and who should stand up but Alicia Molik. I was too slow trying to get my camera back out though, so no pics.

I caught up with the girls, who were watching a mens doubles game, and we headed over to the practice courts. We weren't quite sure who the players were there, but lets just say their groans were forced and fake. Totally wrong. From there we wandered back towards Court 18 so that I could see who'd one the match I'd been watching, but it was still going. We stopped for a bite to eat, and took a seat on Henman Hill (or Murray Mound as it's being called now), to watch the big screen. Andy Murray was playing Tommy Haas.

From there we stood around waiting to get back into Court 18. The Clement/Meltzer game finished, and we went in. We watched a mixed doubles game, followed by a women's doubles game. It's so quick!

After that, it was about 8.30pm, and we'd been sitting in the sun all day, so we made a move home. Finally, at 11.30, I was home and SO ready for bed! All in all, awesome day, awesome weather, awesome experience.

Mobility and independence!

2008-06-21T20:36:00.001+01:00

Finally, FINALLY, I bought a car! It's a sexy little beast, as yet unnamed. I pick him up on Tuesday. This means that not only do I have the independence to do all those normal things that people do (like grocery shopping), but I can also go on weekend road trips and day trips to see more of the area where I live. Bring it on!

I'm a bit of a tard

2008-06-08T17:54:00.005+01:00

Somehow, in gloating about having finished my update and sitting in the sunshine, I seem to have forgotten an entire trip. Another episode in the "Sarah is a tard" saga.

The day after my birthday BBQ, I went to Wales for the weekend, this time for someone else's birthday. Aunty Ann (my great aunt) turned 90, so the extended family got together for the afternoon. She was delighted to have everybody there, as that is what's most important to her. She also had a visit from the Mayor and Mayoress. Aunty Ann's cake was definitely better than mine!

I'm also posting a couple of photos to show you how green it is now that Summer has rolled around - bit different to the last time I was there, in the snow!

Back to the present

2008-06-08T16:03:00.002+01:00

I now find myself up to date. Back to sitting around, soaking up the sunshine, killing ants, wondering if I'm getting sunburnt, not caring if I AM getting sunburnt, and wondering what else to do now, given that it's 4pm and I still have at least 5 hours of sunlight left.

The next trip was going to be Pamplona, Spain, to see the running of the bulls. I've decided in the end not to go, as it is only a week after I start my new job, and although they said that I could take the two days off, I don't really feel that it's the right thing to do. Doesn't worry me too much though, as there's always next year.

That leaves me thinking about what next, and I'm wondering still if the answer might be Ireland. Thanks to my new job starting in July, I'm now getting paid for Summer, instead of having to slog it out in a supermarket or pub. So Ireland, Scotland, maybe North Wales - who knows? I still want to go up to Yorkshire and look around up there, and see the other end of Hadrian's Wall (I saw one end of it on my trip to the Lake District). Of course, I could always go back up there now that it's a different season, as it will look completely different. And there's always plenty to do in London as well - Wimbledon is coming up, so is the cricket, and the usual tourist attractions are still there.

If only I was good at making decisions!!

The anniversary of one's birth

2008-06-08T15:52:00.003+01:00

After Gloucestershire, I had a few days off, which coincided with my birthday. A birthday I'd tried very hard to once again ignore, but someone managed to find out all the same. The general consensus had been to go out for dinner, but I put my foot down on that and instead suggested a BBQ at my place. Great plan - apart from the fact that I didn't actually HAVE a BBQ.

A quick trip to Argos later, and I not only had a BBQ, I also had a filled gas bottle. I put it all together in the middle of my lounge room. Why didn't I do it outside, I hear you ask? Well, in typical British form, it was pouring rain. Honestly, it seems like if we go a day or two without rain, it gets made up for by constant rain for the next few days. Nevertheless, I got it all put together, defrosted some steak, and had the best dead cow I'd had in months.

When everyone arrived for the actual event a few days later, I warned them that this was a new BBQ, and that I wasn't necessarily going to do the best I could do until I got used to it (it also has a wire grill, instead of cast iron). Apparently though, if this was a rough go, I am to inform them all when I get it right, as it should be absolutely brilliant. Perhaps it's because the English aren't known for the "fire + meat = excellent" ways, but they were all thrilled. I was too - thought I might have lost my touch a little after so long without one!

One of the gifts that I received from my parents was money for a Nintendo wii. I finally bought one - best birthday present ever! If only my arms didn't ache so much from tennis and baseball...

Cheese Rolling Festival

2008-06-08T15:42:00.003+01:00

Not a great deal happened between going to Paris and the Cheese Rolling Festival, a month later. Well, plenty happened, but nothing of real interest, and nothing travel-related. It all revolved around work, work, and more work. Work for a school that decided that I was good enough to run a staff in-service for, but not good enough to continue to employ. Bitter? Yes. But moving along.

The cheese rolling was... insane. It was cold. It was muddy. It was totally English. The basic premise is that you take a 70-80lb wheel of double gloucester cheese, chuck it down a really REALLY steep hill, and watch people go A-over-T trying to chase it and be the first down the hill, therefore winning the cheese. We spent the weekend in Cheltenham, driving over there on Saturday (with a not-very-brief stop at Ikea in Bristol), Sunday in Oxford and around the Cotswolds, and Monday at the festival before driving home.

I don't have pics of it, as I was on video duty, and I can't be bothered logging in to facebook to steal someone else's pics. Check out a few of the clips on youtube - totally insane!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpzEF0D2xfE

The sun is making me so lazy, I can't even be bothered writing the html to make that a proper link. Just click it, watch it, and build a bridge.

On a side note, the actual temps for that day were about 7 or 8 degrees. The rain and wind chill made it much worse. By the end, I was dry from the knees down thanks to my wellies, dry wherever my mac covered me, and wet and cold for the rest. So cold, in fact, that I couldn't bend my fingers at all. The things we do for a bit of entertainment!

Back to Paris

2008-06-08T15:32:00.004+01:00

The next day, instead of going to Disney Studios with the others, Banana and I headed back into the city, intent on hiring bikes and seeing the sites that way. It was mad fun! The scariest moment was probably early on, whilst I was still building up a bit of confidence doing something that I hadn't done any time in the last decade. Paris has a lot of dedicated bike lanes, but as we approached the Louvre, that dedicated bike lane became a shared lane with buses and taxis. Hot fun. After that though, we cruised along through the park (until getting into trouble for riding there by some random guy with a whistle), and up towards the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. We got some great photos, and even some entertainment when we stopped to have a look at the map, and I dropped the bike (admittedly it was very heavy at the front, therefore not evenly weighted), and not only made some noise, but ripped the map and spilled the contents of my bag onto the pavement (think camera, mobile phone etc - all fun to drop). I'm a class act.

We then made our way through some of the back streets, along to the Paris Opera House. Next time, I'm going in! Finally, we headed back to the main tourist track, returned our bikes, and had an impromptu picnic on the grass, before heading back to cold England.

Eurodisney

2008-06-08T15:15:00.007+01:00

Following our huge trip the previous day, we were equally as excited by the thought of finally going to Eurodisney (AKA Disneyland Paris). Banana and I were up early, intending to go and grab some breakfast before meeting the others. What followed was slightly more unexpected, in that we had to travel some way in order to find anywhere that was open and selling food, and then we had to deal with our first case of French arrogance. However, we survived that, and headed out to Disneyland itself.

Given that we were a grand total of 7 minutes late (not bad given neither Banana nor myself speak French, and where we'd been), the others had already gone inside the park. Turns out we were virtually next to each other, as we'd planned the same kind of route for the day, but Banana and I did our own thing. We fast-tracked one ride, and then headed over to the Indiana Jones ride. We caught up with the others for lunch, and went in our own directions again.

Finally at about 4pm, Banana and I decided it was time to stake out a spot to watch the parade from. What followed was comedic in a Monty Python or Fawlty Towers kind of way. I was ringing my other friends, desperate to have them join us, as we were going to lose our spot right on the edge of the road to an army of stroller-wielding guerilla parents. Banana and I were kicked, punched, rolled over, shoved and rammed, all in the name of a good viewing spot. It was so worth it though - I was more excited than the kids trying to climb over us when the parade was finally on!

Ain't life grand?

2008-06-08T15:04:00.003+01:00

The weather is perfect, the house is clean, the washing is done, I've read over 150 pages of my Gordon Ramsay book and my arms are too sore to keep playing on the wii. So I find myself parked out the back, in the glorious sunshine, watching the birds have a feed at my expense (I allow this because it appears the slug war has been won, with their help).

What else to do but finally get my slack butt into gear and not only finish my French update, but add the latest? I know, I know - about bloody time. I hear you. I'm a procrastinator, and I'm very good at it. Deal with it.

On a different note, I finally found out the names of the druid stones in South Wales. My illustrious cousin Julie (I SEEEEE YOU!!!!!) informed me that they are the Gorsedd Stones, located in Treorchy. Now I just have to do a bit a research to see what else I can find out about them.

Onwards and upwards, dear friends.

The Lourve

2008-05-13T17:52:00.005+01:00

Eventually we made it through Jean de Tuileries, and into the area around the Louvre. We got heaps of photos (again) of the glass pyramid. I always associate the pyramid with "The Da Vinci Code" now, and being there was amazing.

Given that by now it was 8pm (don't let the sunlight fool you), we decided to head into the Louvre to have some dinner. The Louvre itself is not just the art gallery/museum that I had thought it was, and to be honest I was quite disappointed by its commercialism and the materialistic nature of it all.

We went downstairs on our way to the foodcourt, and of course stopped to take the obligatory photos with the upside down pyramid, again another icon of the Louvre. However, we were surrounded by Virgin Media, Esprit and a variety of other stores. Starbucks was just around the corner. Not what I expected at all.

Given that we still had an hour on the train to get back to Disneyland where we were all staying, we decided that after dinner we'd head home. A good thing too - I think we were all just about ready to sleep on the train!