Matty's Xmas and New Year visit

Dec-Jan 09

Matty enters Year 11 in 2009, so thought it would be great to have him over for Xmas and NY. Also, being a spring chicken he should be able to handle the cold!
We organised a brief trip to give him a taste of Europe, starting off with Milan in Italy. Matty was blown away at the Duomo, just in the sheer size and the history behind it. He also got to try our favorite Osteria in Milan with authentic Italian pastas and pizzas. We spent 3 days in Milan and then flew to Germany to spend Xmas with Joe's family. For us, Xmas is always about family. Whilst we were there, we visited Cologne Catheral, it wasn't as impressive as the last time we saw it, maybe because we've seen so many larger and more grand catherals. Xmas was a great time to catch up with Joe's aunts/uncles and cousins.
After Xmas we headed off to Brussels in Belgium. Matty was impressed with how the architecture, culture and language changes as we move through each country. After visiting all the touristy sites, we ate ourselves silly, trying their waffles, mussels, yummy frites, hot chocolate…

We then caught the Eurostar back to London to spend a few days to do the washing and prepare for our next trip. On New Years day, we hopped onto the Eurostar again and headed for Paris. You cannot visit Europe without stopping via Paris. We did the tour guide thing and showed Matty the Eiffel tower, Arc De Triomph, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Lourve and the list goes on. We introduced Matty to French cuisine which he liked…
The temperature dropped down to -7 degrees one night when we went out to view the Eiffel tower … it was COLD! Bbbrrrr…. To Matty's delight it snowed in the morning, first time Matty saw snow!

It was such a delight to spend quality time with my little baby brother… he's grown up into a thoughtful, intelligent young man… what a proud sister I am!

Cotswolds

The Romantic Drive – Cotswold 19-20^th July

After a couple of rainy weekends, we found a weekend with half decent weather to do our first road trip in the UK, the romantic Cotswold. We picked up our hired car Sat morning, and after getting over the shock of petrol prices, and our GPS in placed, we headed off to the English countryside.

Joe was happy to be behind the driving seat, although the little Ford Fiesta was no Golf, it was nice to cruise along the highway away from the city life. The drive reminded us of the numerous road trips we enjoyed back home, however the added advantage here is that the GPS beeps at you when speed cameras were coming up.

The Cotswold is a lovely place, made up many small quaint towns. Cute little English cottages with pretty gardens lined the streets of the town. The English have preserved this area so well, although only an hour and a half away from London, it was light years apart. We felt like we stepped back in time, and everything was moving in slow motion.

We visited various towns such as Stow on the Wold, Lower Slaughter, Bourton the Water, Stanton & Winchcombe and enjoyed numerous Devonshire cream teas in the gardens… very “English”Our favourite was Boughton on the Waters, not only was it the prettiest town (apparently it’s the Venice of the Cotswold with its canals and footbridge) it was the most memorable, as it there we received the phone call from our good friends, Vicks and Vinh who have just given birth to their 2^nd son Isaac. Congratulations guys!

Family in London

My parents, aunts and uncles recently came to Europe for a holiday, and made London their first destination on their 2 week tour of England, France, and Italy. Their first introduction to London was getting stuck in traffic for about 2 hours to travel approx 20km. The stop and start, and unfamiliar roads tired them out by the time the arrived at their destination.
Lisa and I were acted as tour guides, taking everyone to most of the main attractions of London, from Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Parliment House, Big Ben, Southbank, St Pauls, Chinatown, up Regent and Oxford Street. We covered the city on the London using the buses and tube, and fortunately for them, the tube was not as crammed with people like usual.
We also took a few keen shoppers, to go shopping in London, visting Regeant Street, Picadilly Circus and Harrods. Everyone was very suprised how good and cheap shopping in London is. Their favourite store however was LillyWhites! where they couldn't resist the bargain.

It was nice to see everyone again, and nice to see my family come London, and see other parts of Europe.

Wimbledon 2008

On 27th June, Lisa and I went to our first Wimbledon tournament, and we were lucky because we got the tickets through a public ballot (like a lottery for Wimbledon tickets, but you still have to pay for the tickets). We went on Friday of the first week of play, and got access to Court number 1. We were counting our lucky stars, because many British people miss out on tickets many years running, and in our first attemp, we got tickets, on Court number 1 (only second to Center Court), where we got to see the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Anna Ivanovic, and Marat Safin play.

It started off with rain delays, so our first match with Lleyton Hewitt ended up being delayed by 1 hour. It was very frustrating with rain delays, because people get on court, then they get off, then on then off. The 1 hour wait was worse than waiting for a delayed BA flight, as you're always in suspence and hope that the bad weather moves on and play to start.
Once play started, it was clear all the way, and when Lleyton was playing, all the Aussies in the crowd went crazy, even Lisa! It seems a relatively easy match for Lleyton, as he went on to win in straight sets. Anna Ivanovic was next on court, and she was terrible, as she slumped to a straight set slaughter by the Chinese girl Zheng Jie (who made it all the way to the Quarter Finals). The last match of the day was Marat Safin, which got the crowd going a little bit with his antics, and his temper.

During the day, we had to do the tradition Strawberries and Cream @ Wimbledon, only made possible thanks to HSBC, as we got free vouchers to get them. No way were we going to pay £2.25 for a tube of 6 Strawberries with Cream.
Anyway, the day out was a good experience, and throughly enjoyed it. Now we can say we've been there!

Hampton Court Palace

Recently we went to see Hampton Court Palace, inspired after watching the movie 'The other Boleyn girl" to see the home of King Henry VIII, which was built by Cardinal Wolsey for his own residence, before the took over.

The Palace was about 45 minute local bus ride to get to, and spanning six acres of land, nestled next to the river Thames. As a historical Palace, it is opened to tourists, like us, to wonder the palace grounds, work our way thru their 'World famous' Maze, the first in England, and see the beautifull and immaculate English garden.

Inside the Castle, we explored King Henry's Apartment, seeing the many rooms he had, the Queens Apartment, and the huge Tudor kitchen where food came from to provide for the whole Castle.
We had a guided tour of the Castle by a lady wearing the traditional costumes, in 25+ degree heat, and the histroy lesson was well worth following the crowd. It was amazing to have a glimps into the life of a King who has shaped and changed England in terms of religion, views on marriage and divorce. It was King Henry's decision to split with the Catholic Church, so he can obtain a divorce from his Queen, to marry Anne Boleyn, hence the beginning of the Church of England.

Living in London

It’s been a while since our last update, that’s because we’ve stayed put in London for a while. We’re hosting Joe’s cousins from Germany whilst they attend English school during their school holidays. We did manage to get away to Brighton, a seaside town south of London. It looks like a great weekend getaway for the locals, however the day we visited Brighton it was snowing!

Not much happening here, so here are my thoughts on what I love and dislike about London.

5 things I love about London
1. Gateway to Europe for all our travelling adventures
2. The sheer volume of things to see and do, theatres, plays, concerts, ballets, operas, museums, galleries
3. Beautiful manicured parks, there are always flowers everywhere for the public to enjoy
4. The quaint country towns, so cute and there’s always a history lesson to be learnt
5. Christmas here is magical

5 think I dislike about London
1. It’s awfully crowded
2. There is a real problem with youth crimes here, always a murder, or some stabbing involving youth as young as 12!
3. Too many wet/drizzly days… I don’t mind the cold, but we need the sun!
4. Asian produce, particularly Vietnamese is expensive and not very good… and the seafood here is crap!
5. It’s so far from home.

Windsor Castle

Last weekend Lisa and I went to visit the Queen at her weekend holiday house at Windsor Castle. When we got there, we didn't get meet her as we didn't have an invitation, and she probably was not around.

Anyway, we wondered around the castle and had a look. Perched up high on the hill, you get a wonderful far reaching view of Windsor & Eton, and it was nice. As we walked around the grounds, you get to admire the grand architecture, and the solidity of the surrounding guarding walls. I heard (from the audio guide) that the wall in some areas would be solid rock 4m wide. Try and shoot a cannon ball through that Napoleon!

We had a tour through the Castle, seeing relics, treasures, monuments, and weapons, dating back 1000 years ago. The Castle is the oldest and largest occupied Castle in the world, and was built by William the Conquerer. It has been modified and fortified by the many Kings (Henry II, Edward III, Edward IV, Henry VIII) who lived here in the later years. It was an amazing experience to be standing on the very ground that all these past Kings and Queens have stood. (Sydney definitely does not have anything like this, Old Sydney town? ...pffftt!)

After spending about 3-4 hours exploring Windsor castle, we explored the surrounding area of Windsor and Eton (has a famous college, one that Prince William and Harry study at, and founded by King Henry VI in 1440). The town of Windsor was quiet, more laid back and relaxed, it's a nice place to live, and besides, who wouldn't want a neighbour like the Queen?

One Shoppers delight, shopping in London

SHOPPING the sales

Our first weekend back in London, and I am itching to hit the shops to check out the sales…I had to gently coax Joe out, but also be mindful that I really don’t need anything, as we did spend abit for Christmas (Joe got his Apple Mac, and I got my digital piano). Shopping now are just for “wants”. We hit the Westend (Oxford and Regent St) on Saturday… it seemed most people had the same idea and only the crappy stuff were left.

On Sunday, I wanted to go to Knightsbridge as the more boutique stores as well as Harvey Nicols and Harrods were known for their sales. Joe found a cosy café to settle himself in whilst I hit the shops! Everyone was rushing for Harrods, and I couldn’t bear the crowd so I went to Harvey Nicols instead.. ohhh.. I was in heaven… the shoe selection, jimmy choos, sergio’s, marc Jacobs, so many to choose from!! And the clothes… a huge rack of Tsubi jeans, 7’s, marc Jacobs, paul and Joe, moschino!! Literally rows and rows of clothes to choose from… although everything was on sale, it’s still so expensive…. I am a lot more sensible these days, as I’m not as compulsive as before. I would invest in beautiful garments, only if I totally LOVE it… however my weakness still remains in handbag. Last year I bought the black Luella Giselle, after much tossing between the red or black, driving Joe up the wall… GUESS what?? The red is on 50% off… I really did a backward flip when I saw it and now I am the proud owner of 2 Luella Giselle, one in black and one in red!.

Brrrrrr...tttthhheeee cccoooollldddd

This is today's forecast, and we have only just entered the European Winter season....oh we are so looking forward to experiencing the full chilly winter....not. Lately Lisa and and I have to wear 3 thick layers of clothing, just to go to work.

Every morning I have to check the weather forecast, just so we are prepared for the cold before we leave the front door, and every day the maximum temperature drops 1 degrees. For all those people who know me, I am going white... :(.... and I haven't been this white(r) since I was a kid, a very young kid.

Party time in London

Xmas party – posted by LP

Last Friday night, my company hosted a black tie Christmas party. Everyone at work got all excited about the venue, seating arrangements, menu etc. As many of my colleagues don’t live in central London, most brought their gear in to change into. I excused myself at 3.30pm to go home and pretty myself up. I was abit nervous that my dress is not formal enough, as some girls described their dress as elaborate gowns, but in the end I had nothing to worry about.

The venue was at Il Bottaccio, a posh place in the west end… the buildings here in London are beautiful, and you pretty have to dress up so that you are in the same league as the building itself!!

Overall, a great night, good food, gorgeous venue, and great company! It's nice to get dressed up every now and then!

Day out at the British Museum

Richmond

Lisa and I spent the day at Richmond, just about a 30 minute bus ride from our place. Richmond is a beautiful town, situated west of London, going towards Heathrow. There was all the usual shopping strip, cafe's, restaurants, bars and pubs, but tucked away along the banks of the river Thames, the quieter, peaceful, relaxing.

As I was walking through Richmond, I found a sign out on the street saying 'Australian trained Barrista making coffee' and it was available at a cafe called Source, so off course I had to get and get myself a 'flat white'. As a approach the counter, I can hear an Aussie accent behind the coffee machine, I was encouraged. My coffee was being made, and the barrista poured the milk and did the good old leaf pattern. I am now satisfied that the barrista was a genuine Aussie, 'Cya mate' I shouted.... the coffee? great coffee.... the price? £2 for a regular (that's like $5 for what we get for $2 at home).... but at least it was cheaper than the cafe called 'Flat White' in SOHO.


Richmond seemed to be where every Londoner goes to escape the tourists, and where permanent tourists like us go to get away from the casual tourist. It was great to go for a stroll around through the small streets, the back streets, the lanes, and the riverside walks.

We wouldn't mind living here! but it seems even more expensive than where we are at right now, and further away from the city, which would've added more traveling time each day. Oh well, we'll just let Richmond be a place to go to, to get away from from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Is this for real?

Tour de London

On Sunday, Lisa finally got on a bike again, to try out her new bike... and do as the Londoners do, I got her a folding bike. It's the best thing, since there's not much room in our apartment for 1 full sized bike, let alone 2 bikes and for £60, I think it was a good purchase. I used to laugh at seeing people back at home in Sydney riding a folding bike, but over here, it is the norm.

We went for a ride from Chiswick where we live, rode along the river Thames down to Hammersmith, and crossed Hammersmith bridge. We continued along a dirt track following the river, which reminded me of the rides we used to take with some of our friends along Parramatta through Rhodes. We got to Putney bridge, crossed that and headed home. It was a great sunny, warm Sunday afternoon ride along the river.....ahh...... feels just like as if we were home.

Cambridge day trip

On Saturday, Lisa and I went to Cambridge to see the famous Cambridge university. We caught a train from Liverpool St to Cambridge, which took about an hour and 15 minutes. It was nice as we zipped through the small towns, and the country side outside London, passing farms, rivers, and river house boats.

When we arrived at Cambridge, the station was full with people, trying to leave Cambridge. Getting to the city center of Cambridge was about a 5 minute bus ride, and once there, we just wondered through the stoned streets, lined with chapels, churches, colleges and shops. It was a nice, and relaxed atmosphere as some of the roads being closed to traffic, allowed you to just wander around.

We passed Trinity college where Sir Issac Newton once studied, we saw the apple tree (a descendant of the original anyway), in which an apple dropped on his head, and born the gravity theory. We also entered Kings college to see the magnificent chapel, and buildings in the college grounds.


As we walked the streets, we saw many students were sprawled along the road, trying to get tourists to join them on a punting tour. Punting was fun, and required quite a bit of co-ordination, we hired a punt and took to the river ourselves... it took about 15 minutes for me to get used to how to steer the thing. I rammed a few other punts a couple of times, and got rammed a couple of times, nearly fell off a couple of times too. We made our way up and down the river for about an hour, passing though the back of some of the colleges of Cambridge university. Passing under some famous bridges such as the Mathematical bridge, Clare bridge and Bridge of Sighs. After 1 hour of punting and trying to stay on, I was sweating and aching.

The rest of the afternoon we spent wondering through more colleges, shops, back streets, canals and parks. We enjoyed going to Cambridge, and was a long time coming after putting it off for so long due to bad weather. I am glad we waited for a nice sunny day to go, otherwise there would have been no where to hide from the rain. It was a great day out, and great to get out of the London concrete jungle and congestion.

The weekends are here, and quick as a flash gone again.

The weekend has just passed once again, and we got to explore another corner of London we've never been to before. On Saturday, in an area call called Ealing, there was a Jazz festival in the park, similar to that of Jazz in the Domain back in Sydney. It was nice lying out on the grass soaking up the precious rays, but could really enjoy the music much because too many kids were around and too many english people chit-chatting away. Worse still we had to pay an entry fee of £1 per person.....whereas something like that in Sydney is free!!!

Sunday was nice as we caught up with some friends for Yum Cha, or Dim Sum as they call it here, at a restaurant near Canary wharf called Lotus. It was a floating restaurant, you know, they typical asian kind of restaurant. The food was reasonable, and the price was fairly well priced considering. Over here they don't push the carts around for you to pick, you get a sheet that lists all the food they have, and you order and they'l bring it out... how cool is that! no more wondering if your favorite dish was ever going to come out.

Afterwards we headed for Greenwich, particularly Greenwich observatory, from there we had a great view of the London city skyline high up near the observatory. Greenwich observatory site, to most tourist is famous for one thing... and that is the imaginary line defining the centre of time, the Greenwich mean time (GMT). As typical tourist, we couldn't resist and took the touristy photo. The rest of the Observatory was intersting, seeing the history of the site, and the telescopes that were used, and my favorite, all the classic watches and clocks on display.

We ended the day with a stroll through Greenwich market, and through the streets....awwwhhh, the weekend was over!.... can't wait till next weekend, not sure yet what we're doing, but can't wait all the same!!!

searching for a good espresso in London

Lisa and I spent a day out and about in London, when we thought it was time to go searching for the mecca of coffee. We've heard about a cafe owned and runned by Aussies and New Zealanders, that makes the best coffee in London, and the only place where you can get a 'flat white' (hence the name of the cafe).

When we got there, we were drawn by the aroma of the freshly ground coffeebeans, and the ooozzzzzing espresso being extracted out of them, I knew I was close to home (well, sorta). We stepped in and can hear the funky music playing in the background, and felt the chilled out lazy sunday afternoon of the place. It Felt like as if we were in Melbourne!

What was on the menu? the flat white and Melbourne Latte, all excited, we went for the flat white. As I eagerly anticipate for the creation of my cuppa, I looked around around the cafe, looked at the Barista and was about to say "G'day mate"...... then I thought I am sure the guy would've heard it many times before and would have told me to shut it!

Well... at £2.30 a pop for a regular sized, or £2.70 for a large take away coffee (the most expensive coffee in London so far), it better bloody be a damn good coffee.... and it was! Luckily for me, I do not work anywhere near SOHO, so there is no chance of me burning all my money on coffee and having no money left for lunch. Oh well, home coffee is good too, so I'll enjoy that, just can't wait till one day, I get my ultimate home coffee machine!!!!!!!!

We'll, Lisa and I really look forward to going to Italy now, coffee, pizza, and pasta...yuuuuuuuummmm

Le Tour De France

The Tour De France has officially started today, and for the first time, it has visited London. It was a great experience to see the Tour, the side shows, the festivities, and the riders in real life. I've previously watched the race on the box at home, but to be here in peron was quite a nice experience, and luck have it the start of the tour began in London.

It was amazing to see all the custom built racers, worth tens of thousands of dollars wizz past you. All the riders were in their colourful team Jersey's with the team car hot in persuit behind them.

Thousands of spectators all lined the streets of London to watch the event. The event today was the individual time trial where it's a race against the clock for the riders, as they race around the 9 mile circuit through the city of London. The atmosphere was like the Sydney Olympics all over again. With what has been going on the past weeks in London with terrorism, thankfully, nothing happened, thanks to the heavy police presence.

Tomorrow, the first Leg of the race departs from London and heads for Canterbury, while taking in some of London's most famous landmarks.
I am beginning to enjoy London, because if the special city it is and for all the events that is organised, which you can only dream of if living in Australia.... although... I am missing the good food terribly.

Finally.. a place to call home!

We have finally moved into our permanent unit!! Finally a place to call home! It’s a one bedroom unit with neutral furnishing, lots of natural light, and a bit more spacious than the other units we saw. Actually this was the only one, we could consider being able to live in, we inspected around 12 properties in one day. I am so glad we had a relocation consultant to organise all the viewings for us, otherwise it would have been a nightmare! Another painful experience was forking our almost 10 week’s worth of rent to the agent (6 weeks bond and 4 weeks in advance). To write out a cheque for over £3000 was painful and left my bank account barely on the credit side!

We’re in an area called Chiswick, closest tube is Turnham Green, and it’s in Zone 2. It takes me approx 30mins on the tube to get into work, so travelling time here takes abit longer. Chiswick is very similar to Leichhardt/Drummoyne/Chiswick!! Although a lot more boutique shops, the high street goes on forever. It’s very leafy and in a nicer part of London. It does have a familiar feeling about it and Joe even catch the 440 bus to work!! [There is a 440 bus from Rozelle into the city we use to always catch in Sydney]

Now, Viet restaurant here are OK, edible, but not something you have cravings for. We’ve tried 4 now, one in Hackney, and 3 in Shoreditch, of which only 1 I would return to. Joe has tried pho in almost all of them. Far from the standard in Sydney, but seeing as it’s something I can’t cook, we have to live with it. I’ve tried a few others banh cuon, bun bo hue x 2 and bun thit nuong. The bun thit nuong is the only thing I’d go back to have again.

Other restaurants, we’ve tried a few Japanese, we’ve been hooked on Japanese food ever since our trip to Tokyo last year. We’ve tried Kobe Jones here in London, pretty good but still not as good as Sydney. There are a few we will go back to.

Food I do enjoy here is their roast, and baked veges, it’s yummy, but quite heavy, not use to eating it too often. We’ll be trying more of the French restaurant but again, that’s pretty heavy as well.

Travelling updates, we’ve got a trip to Brussels booked in 2 weeks time… we’re going to stay at the Raddison, so that would be nice, and catching the Eurostar. Looking forward to eating the mussels, and the Belgian waffles. In August, we are going to Copenhagen for a long weekend, the accommodation there is so expensive!!!

For to my favourite part!! Shopping!! I am getting over the shock of how expensive everything is!! I think rent and getting around London is ridiculously expensive.
I have been fairly disciplined with shopping, I have only added 2 pairs of shoes to my collection, black going out heels which I forgot to bring (brought all black work heels) and a pair of cream and white flats (which are really cute). We’ve bought a fair few Burberry stuff as we’ve found the outlet, but still not that cheap if you convert to AUD, a pink checked scarf, a wind jacket, an umbrella (it rains often here so I could justify the $90 I paid for it!). Joe has picked up Burberry pants and shirt (you can’t tell it’s Burberry, but the fabric is of excellent quality). I also picked up an MP3 player which acts and looks like a USB stick…

My shopping list to search for: is a nice red coat, willing to spend top $$ for it if I find the perfect one and a vintage cocktail watch, both of these items, I have been searching for almost 2 years for! I am hoping to find something here. There is so much more tripled mill French soaps here, I love the creamy lather and the smell of them. I would highly recommend the L’occitane Lait or Verbena soap if you haven’t tried it. This is my little luxury in life!! What else? I’ll be picking up a little red Longchamp pilage bag when we visit Paris later this year and stock up on L’occitane handcream, surprising not much cheaper than Sydney’s price.

Joe and I are such snobs when it comes to coffee, my prayers were answered when our espresso coffee machine arrived in the air freight. At the moment, Joe makes the best coffee in London [however I have been told of a café called Flat White in Covent Garden, and guess what? Owned by Aussies!!]

Anyway, gotta go, take care!!

Britain on high alert!!!

The past couple of days has been interesting, and a little scary for a bunch of Aussies like us. We're experience terrorism right at our doorstep, unlike when we were at home hearing it only on the news. Then we here about an attempted attack of a Glasgow airport, where a Jeep was driven, while on fire, into the airport. So it's been quite am eventful weekend in the UK.

The past weekend was all about seeing a hearing Police and Ambulance Sirens all over the City. The city did have less people around Picadilly Circus, but there were still a lot of people. Now the city is on high aleart, luckily for us we're living on the outskirts of London, so hopefully we're safe.