Hello all
Well with news that the blog readership has spread outside of just mum and dad (to a very few bored others) the weight of expectation and a stint travelling thru the more expensive countries of england and turkey has seen me reluctant to get to the blog... but here goes another monster installment....
The last blog left us in London floating merrily on the thames in my brothers new adapted houseboat living quarters.
Time here has been spent like most Londoners do, walking around areas better known from the monopoly board, giggling at such place names as cockfosters, reading daily news updates about maddy, diana and kate moss and most importantly trying not to snigger at the recent results of english sporting teams. (they have just failed to qualify for the euro cup 2008).
London has been a great city to visit, once again its funny to walk around a city that you have seen so much of and feels so familiar. I will put photos up but you have seen them all before no doubt.....
A few of the major highlights though have been a walk around Kew Gardens, gardens of her maj, a wander down around the thames, portobello road markets, and a visit to the Tate Modern gallery, a long time pin-up building of mine by suisse architects Herzog & De Mueron, a great gallery with a great collection. Other essentialy listed sights of London that we have managed to see below!
We also attended a service at St Pauls Cathedral, not a bad place to attend my first communion, and whilst i still consider myself a non religious man there was definitely a spirituality about the place... lets just hope that the spirits were looking the other way (like the guards) when carrie and i snuck in without paying. Many men would pay any price to find god, but the im sure they are not paying pounds when they only have aussie dollars.
We also visited the Tower of London, unfortunately for us the Beefeaters payed much more attention to guarding the gates than their cross town counterparts at St Pauls. But the price of admission was well worth it, as we we visited the impressive crown jewels (hee hee) and the more impressive armoury. We had a cracking tour aswell which really brought the place alive.
One major accomplishment (i wont call it a highlight) has been obtaining our indian visas, here at the Indian embassy. A simple routine we thought of popping our head in, flashing some cash and our passport and leaving with criteria fulfilled... we were soon told that we would need to que early the next morning, the earlier the better. Arriving at 7am the next morning (consulate opening time of 8:30) we believed we would secure an early place in line and would be soon stamped and on our way. Upon arrival we saw a massive line that i believed could only be a line up for a Kylie concert or a football wife perfume launch, but soon we realised that this was the line for the consulate, begrudgingly we took our place at the end of the que and were eventually seen many hours later, number 692 and 693. We were then informed that as we are Australians there is a lengthier procedure to sticking the sticker on the page and would therefore be required to pay more money and return later in the week to pick up our passports. Upon arriving a week later after more hours of queues, a triumphant victory for the Aussies with our passports returned (we had sincere doubts they wouldn't be) and a visa sticker within (the same type as the brits mind you). Three full days spent and all we have to show are a few happy snaps of the embassy and a 90 day visa. We are glad that we got to see this great part of London though, museums and galleries can wait for other visits. Once again we hope this isnt a sign of things to come in India.
It was not long after as we trundled around Trafalger Square that Carrie was accostered by yet another old Indian fellow that generally abused my skills as a photographer and told me that Carrie was a beautiful girl and she should pose for a beautiful photo, after some manipulations to the model he had Carrie posed, please see below. I think the man has a certain career waiting at Vogue magazine and have told him that he is wasting his efforts there at Traflagar. Once again a little to much attention directed towards Carrie and after the hotel in Barcelona we hope it is not a sign of things to come in India.
Scotty and Lorraine with a spare weekend in hand suggested hiring a car and with a brilliant deal and with Scott at the helm (displaying a talent for kerb mounting and cornering seen often from finnish rally drivers) we set out for a road trip across country to Wales, not sure why Wales was selected, and after returning we are still not sure why but we had a fantastic time and it was great to get outside of the city and see some English (and Wales) countryside and small villages.
Our first day on the road was spent getting out of London, no small task, and finding our way across the sevens to Cardiff via a small stop at Windsor Castle. Unfortunately no Queen in residence, so on we went. We arrived in Cardiff to the news that Welsh boxing hero Joe Calzaghe was fighting Dane Michael Kessler and that more importantly everyplace in the town was booked solid, so after a brief drive around we were off again to the nearby town of 'the mumbles' (the Welsh have a very peculiar sense of humour, best expressed through their language) where we were able to find some digs for the night and even watch the fight.
Our road trip the next day saw us return to Cardiff to have a look at the castle, indulge in the traditional devonshire tea (incidently everyone laughed at us for that one, here its just called scones and tea.... what do they know) and then take us north to the small town of Abergevvney and to one of the funnier B&B's we have ever seen. Enquiring about the price for a couple of rooms we ran across the owner an all together sweet looking old lady who soon shattered that image by letting loose a barrage of swearing that even made us a little red in the face. When having breakfast the next morning we were informed that we could have our eggs any way we wanted, poached, boiled, scrambled, fried or jammed up our arses if we wanted. All of this within ear shot of a 97 year old dear eating breakfast at an adjacent table, we noted that she had taken the boiled option for her eggs. She was a great old bird, certainly lots of fun and a reminder that one day senility will hit us all. From Wales it was high speed, break neck (and fender) driving from scotty, with choruses of 'its a rental from the back'. Stopping along the way saw us pay a quick visit to the Roman baths of Bath, Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral.
Being old pros in the way of breaking into cathedrals we spied a back entrance to the cathedral and crept in to find that we had crashed a funeral that was being attended by the Arch Bishop of Canterbury. An apology and chat to the redcoat had him showing us around by the end of the ceremony, where we saw a splendid church and even received a hearty grin from the arch bishop. All said and done, besite a scraped fender it was a terrific trip across some amazing countryside, i cant imagine a prettier country to be in with the falling autumn leaves.
Well with our time in London almost spent the last stop was to visit the Camden markets, home to a few interesting characters, it was here that i have learnt that you should never trust a polish man handing out £6 haircuts in a dodgy shop in Camden.... The lawsuit is progressing, and i will try and keep my face of the next few blogs although in fairness Michaelangelo didnt carve david out of concrete...
Despite all of the magnificent sites, museums and architecture the great thing about being here has been seeing friends and family over a pint or two of bad beer, and sad to say friends i have downed more fosters in the past month than the entire consumption within Australia for the last year... i guess it really does taste better over here, or maybe its just the best of a bad lot. But the pubs and pub culture here is fantastic. There is a pub on every corner, and lots in between for those that cant walk that far. So it is sad to leave but the show must go on....
Anyways.... take care, we are currently back in London after a 2 week stint in Turkey, which i hope to write about pretty soon! Send us an email if you get the chance. In the meantime please help us support the 'Name Your Child Bruce' campaign by emailing Craig Holly at onbigboost@hotmail.com to ask that he and Kate name their first child Bruce.
Cheers
Brett and Carrie
