A Wales of a time

Hello everyone from a freezing cold London – so cold that we are expecting a snowing downpour in just one hour’s time. Pretty blimmen cold!

This weekend we headed to Cardiff for the highly-anticipated All Blacks game which we purchased tickets for during our first few months in London, and despite the severe weather warnings and the snow, off we set on Friday evening after another week of work. As always, traffic was terrible but we arrived in Cardiff just before 9pm, so it could have been a lot worse and by other reports, we seemed to fare quite well.

We met Ryan (flatmate) and his mates as the bar where they were drinking with the bar-man and the father of the owner, Douggie. After a few drinks we headed out to meet up with the rest of Ryan’s friends, who were staying at a different hostel. All in all there were about 10 people who officially made up the ‘Cardiff crew’, plus all the random people you bump into from back home, of which there are always a few! We had a grand night heading home via the infamous ‘Chippie lane’ – a place where you can get deep fried food for cheap at any hour of the night... After a few onion bhajis, a pizza and a few cones of chips, we were ready for bed.

Despite our every intention not to, it ended up being a big night and we got to bed at about 4.30am, waking up at 8am to put some money into the parking metre – not the best start, but the atmosphere was epic which made the lack of sleep worth it. After the boys had a few morning drinks with Douggie and I had spent an hour putting on as many clothes as I possibly could, we set off and after the obligatory snowball fight, we settled into a Welsh bar and managed to score a table – no mean feat given half hour later you couldn’t move on account of it being packed with so many people.

The game was really out of this world and the whole thing was such a surreal experience. The stadium is huge and so steep – our seats were at the back and the merest glance down was enough to turn my stomach. I clutched that hand rail pretty tight when making my way up and down the stairs. A real highlight for us both was the minute of silence in memory of the miners – 80,000 people fell silent and you could have honestly heard a pin drop. It was certainly an experience we will never forget.

After the game we set off to a bar called Tiger Tiger – a great spot, which was rumoured to be hosting the mighty Abs later on in the evening. While we didn’t see any current Abs, we did happen to spot Paul Tito and Casey Laeulala and I just managed to restrain myself from telling him you’d named your cat after him Mum! We had a great night dancing away, but true to form, I couldn’t last as long as the other boys and Ryan walked me home a few hours before the rest of them stumbled in. Because Ryan has spent a bit of time in Cardiff before, we just followed him around the weekend and never learnt our way... It was welcome relief to not have to navigate, but at the same time Ryan was not impressed he had to leave the warmth of the club to accompany me home through the blanket of snow and -5 degree weather!

The next day we decided to take the scenic route home, darting off to wherever took our fancy. This is always a great approach and although it often brings added stress with a longer route and additional traffic, often you stumble across little gems that make the stress worthwhile... This time was no exception and we managed to stumble across one of the prettiest places to date – Caerphilly. A small village north of Cardiff which is home to a medieval castle, complete with moat and a leaning tower, which rivals that of Pisa (or so says Lonely Planet). Snow had freshly fallen the night before and the sight really did take our breath away. The snow was like powder – so much so that we could barely make a snowball, let alone a snowman. Brad managed to muster through it though and produce our very first snowman of the season. Despite only being 20cm tall it was a snowman all the same! After all that work in the snow, we were frozen solid and the only option was to head to a cosy little pub for a Sunday roast – Turkey for me, lamb for Brad – bloody good tucker! It was the best pub lunch we’ve had and despite having just had a hearty dinner as well as a supper of peanut butter on toast, my mouth is watering at the thought of it!

After lunch we slowly made our way back to London, skidding around the ice on those smaller roads, so we stuck to the main roads which had been salted, arriving back in London at around 5.30pm. A perfect day to finish a perfect weekend!

This weekend we’re off to Lille, France with the flatmates and Philly to check out the famous Christmas Market... We’ll be experts by the time the week is out as we’re also heading to the famous Winter Wonderland Christmas Market in Hyde Park tomorrow evening.

After a snow-filled weekend though I have managed to pick up my first bout of the English flu and was sent home from work today on account of looking dreadful.... Teary eyes, runny nose and continuous sneezing – not fun and I’m anxious to kick it in the bud as I don’t want it to interfere with tomorrow night’s ice-skating and mulled wine escapades!

Love to all in sunny New Zealand. Missing you all heaps, although the snow and sub-zero temperatures are helping to keep it at bay!

xxxx

Autumn adventures

Contrary to popular belief, we don’t venture off travelling every weekend and we’ve had quite a few lovely autumn weekends in London over the past few months.

We always head out at some point over the weekend, whether that’s to a destination village pub for a hearty roast, or some neighbouring place for a day trip. It’s nice to get out off London and see the countryside – particularly because England in autumn is one of the prettiest sights we’ve seen, with all the red, brown and green it’s just like a scene out of a movie – bella bella bella! Brad travels all over the show (well South England anyway) every day with work so we often head back to the cream of the crop during the weekend.

This weekend was no exception as we headed to a tiny wee place called Ettington, 15 minutes drive from Stratford-Upon-Avon, for the weekend, where we stayed in a luxurious old English manor. We spent the weekend exploring this one-shop town, and even attended a local art fair as a relatively famous artist lives there. The rest of the weekend was spent stuffing our faces with the most delicious country pub food, including pigeon, black pudding, rack of lamb and enough apple crumble to sink a ship!

Sunday we headed into Stratford-Upon-Avon, which is the birthplace of William Shakespeare don’t you know! We had a lovely day strolling around the town and the river Avon, as well as taking the time to pick up a few bits and bobs. Shopping in London is a nightmare so we jump at the chance to be able to actually try things on in a shop, rather than wait for an hour in a queue.

Another highlight of autumn has been a casual stroll through Hyde Park with Shady, Emily and Philly which ended in a leaf throwing fight, as well as hand feeding squirrels. The confident wee beggars just come running up to you – especially if you have food in your hand, and even climb up you if you let them! I couldn’t believe my eyes – they are sooooo adorable! After watching Brad feed them like they’d just recovered from a famine, I decided that I wanted a piece of the pie. I stuck my hand out and just as a fat one scampered over to me, I was all of a sudden quite terrified! It’s one thing to watch others feed them, but an entirely different matter when you’re bombarded with hungry squirrels. Thankfully I got a grip after seeing a two year-old feeding them like nobody’s business.

We’ve also discovered the key to making it through the long, cold winter.... A mid-weeker trip to the pub! It’s amazing how this simple outing helps to keep the homesickness at bay. No longer do you sit and anxiously await the weekend, rather you have just three days to wait until the next reprieve! Last Wednesday saw us gather at the Chicago Rib House where we stuffed our faces with ribs and 2-for-1 cocktails. When we first arrived and started working we couldn’t understand this mid-week business, but it’s amazing how quickly you come around. After all, there’s only so much ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’ that you can watch. My other personal favourite is ‘Dating in the Dark’ – a dating show where couples meet, as the name suggests, in the dark. One is always inevitably disappointed... I’m not sure whether you have seen an episode, but as I’m sure you can tell, you see our need for a good old-fashioned pub thrashing each Wednesday!

While I remember, does anyone need any Kate and Wills paraphernalia? It’s great being over here while this news is a hot topic, but really, enough is enough! Themed plates, cups, pencils, t-shirts... you name it. I’ve picked up a few things for your Christmas presents, so you can all look forward to a ‘Prince William and Kate Royal Engagement 2010’ mirror in your Santa sacks this year. I know what you’re thinking and don’t worry, it’s not at all tacky. It’ll fit right in there with the butterfly on the outside of your house or the gnomes in the garden! Not that I’m complaining as we have a an extra four day weekend next year to look forward to, which has already been accounted for – Turkey here we come!

Love to all and will update again soon with our Cardiff weekend adventures!

xx

Let it be Liverpool!

We loved Liverpool – what a great city! There is such a divide between North and South England and it is really hard to see why. The people were friendly, it was so much cheaper than London and the city is quite picturesque!

After being picked up from work on Friday evening by Brad, James and Emily, we set off for Liverpool, where Emily had books us into a cosy little hotel called ‘Roscoe House.’ The drive wasn’t too bad (says the girl stuffing her face with chocolates in the back seat) and we seemed to get there at no time at all, pulling up to Roscoe House at around 10pm.

Our room was huge and more like a giant studio apartment and it overlooked a few pubs and clubs that the boys made good use of that night, while Emily and I slept soundly. That is we did sleep soundly until the boys got home at around 4am, full of stories that had gone on over the night. It seems their accents went down a right treat and although they couldn’t understand a word the Liverpudlians were saying, they made a ton of friends!

The next morning we were up and about by 10am, much to the boys distress. The car was parked on a local street and we needed to move it to the Liverpool Cathedral where we could get parking for just £6 a day – bargain price when compared with the hefty charges London parking wardens throw at you!

Seeing as we were already there, we checked out the Liverpool Cathedral which was lovely of course, although considerably more modern than what we have grown accustomed to – 100 years seems like nothing after the ancient sights we’ve been seeing as of late! By this stage we were ravenous so we headed to a local cafe for breakfast. From here our intended destination was the Albert Docks where we thought we would walk around and catch take a harbour cruise on the famous river Mersey. Although we did end up here, we got a little side-tracked on the way and stopped off at 101 shops on the way, buying all sorts of goodies for people’s Christmas presents!

We then stumbled across a Christmas fair where Brad and I went on this huge swinging ride, which gave great views of Liverpool, but left Brad shivering like anything as he hadn’t worn a jacket! Not a good idea in these temperatures!

Our next stop, at long last, was the Royal Albert Docks where we waltzed around, checking out the exterior of the Beatles museum (we weren’t to be fooled by a tourist trap like that!), before heading to the ferry station where we picked up tickets for an hour long harbour sight-seeing cruise. Again, the temperature was freezing and my fun was somewhat dwindled due to worrying about poor frozen cold Brad, but regardless it was incredibly pretty and we learnt a lot about the history of Liverpool along the way – particularly during war time.

The tour concluded at 4pm and of course, it was already dark, so while the boys hot-footed it to the nearest pub to watch the rugby (not an easy task when nearly all of the pubs are playing the football), Em and I strolled through the streets of Liverpool, desperate to take up the chance of shopping when there were no crowds. Alas, we weren’t in luck and the only thing I managed to pick up was a jersey for Brad! While the people are lovely and the shops are far less-crowded than in London, sadly the fashion in Liverpool is nothing to aspire to. Everywhere you look you could see girls painted to the nines with make-up, covered in diamantes and bows... I tried to keep an open mind but when Em and I found ourselves in a packed shop selling fluffy bags covered in diamantes and putrid patterns, we decided to call it a day and off we went to join the boys. We eventually found their pub of choice and nearly immediately we were forced to turn around and find a bar of our own on account of the place reeking of vomit, so while the boys watched the ABs we gorged ourselves on £5 pizza and £1.50 desserts – rhubarb crumble anyone?

Bit of a cringe-worthy yet funny story, over the past week the Brits have been donning their poppies in memory of their soldiers lost at war. While Remembrance Day was officially last Thursday, the country has been having moments of silence all week in honour of fallen soldiers. The bar Brad and James were in was split-level and the All Blacks happened to coincide one of their countless tries with a moment of silence. Oblivious to the national holiday, the boys started whopping and cheering to their hearts content only to be met with dead silence. They looked down over the mezzanine to see a hundred Brits standing in silence with their heads bowed! Poor wee beggars were mortified!

The boys joined Em and I after the game and us girls soon got carried away with the cider and cocktails. It didn’t end up being too late on account of the boys having had a big one the night before and us girls being feather weights, and after deciding that we wanted to head home to get a bit more made up (the Liverpool girls were really putting our natural, ‘just been shopping all day and have frozen my arse off’ look to shame!), we crashed and burned the moment we set foot inside the door. Instead of heading back out, we caught up on what had been happening on our beloved X Factor programme that night as we had missed the episode. For those that don’t know, X Factor is a 10x better version of Idol. The country is hooked and the elimination news often makes it to the front page of the newspapers!

We had an early start Sunday and couldn’t stay to explore a second day as Em and Shady had a flight to Morocco to catch. You could spend a good week in Liverpool, more if you factor in the surrounding area, and we will definitely be back sometime soon. I’m keen to check out the night life a bit more than what I did this weekend.

So off we set for home, via a little town out of Preston called Banbury Bridge where we met some of James’ extended family. His father had left Banbury Bridge when he was just eight years old and set off for Otorohanga, New Zealand, falling out of touch with his cousins back in England. Through technology, they all managed to make contact just five years ago and are now as close as anything. This was the first time James has met his Dad’s cousin and she was just wonderful. Her and her husband were so welcoming, even asking us back to stay when we are there next. She called Brad ‘love’ and took us on a tour of the town in which Mr Bailey grew up in. It was awesome – we really got to see a glimpse into what it would be like to live in a small village in England. We would have loved to have stayed longer, but Morocco was calling and we made it back into London at around 5pm just in the nick of time! It was perfect really as it meant Brad and I started the week with a clean bedroom and clean washing – most unusual given our weekends as of late!

This weekend we are off to Stratford-Upon-Avon, with Cardiff calling the week after for the mighty ABs game!

Watch this space!

xx

I Amsterdam

This weekend saw us cross four countries until we reached our final destination Amsterdam, The Netherlands – just another casual weekend living this side of the world! After departing London, we embarked on one of Sea France's luxurious ships and found ourselves travelling through France, Belgium and The Netherlands before arriving in Amsterdam, tired from the journey but otherwise excited.

Niels lives in essentially a University hostel so it took us right back to our days of study as we navigated our way through communal hostels to his room, where he had a mattress already set up with our name on it – brilliant.

We kicked off our fleeting weekend with our tried and trusted walking tour and although it wasn’t as good as the other tours, it was certainly worthwhile. There didn’t seem to be as to learn re the history of Amsterdam and we also had our very own local tour guide in Niels, but of course we did learn a few facts around what Amsterdam is renowned for – hookers and drugs! I’ve listed a few facts for you below in an attempt to give you a virtual tour of Europe...
• The hookers you can see standing in the windows of Amsterdam are essentially running their own business. Pimping is illegal in Amsterdam and the woman standing there have hired their windows at a cost which is based upon the location.
• Contrary to popular belief, Marijuana isn’t actually legal in Amsterdam. Rather it is decriminalised and rather than prosecute like in NZ, the Police choose to look the other way as it is ‘better for business!’ A true reflection of the good old Dutch values – money makes the world go round!
• There are as thousand bridges in Amsterdam.
• The smallest house is just 1.8 metres wide – we have the photos to prove it!
Our guide was actually Swedish and had zero sense of humour – something which was demonstrated when he asked the group why Dutch people were so tall. When Brad answered ‘clogs’, he simply turned and without a trace of irony explained that his theory wasn’t correct as when they took their clogs of they would once again be short. Niels, who spent six months studying at a Swedish University, explained that the Swedish are renowned for being quite humourless – mind you they are also absolutely stunning, so perhaps they can be forgiven.

Amsterdam is a really beautiful city, which the humourless Swede likened to half an onion... Granted it’s a pretty odd analogy, but it certainly makes sense as the narrow alley ways and canals act as different onion layers.

After narrowly avoiding being hit by a bike we decided to join what Amsterdammers refer to as 'cyclopaths'. Hired bikes and we were away sailing. In Amsterdam everyone gives way to bikes - if you're a pedestrian or even a car it can be a scary position to be in as you're constantly being mowed down by cyclists ringing their little tinkley bells to death!

Nice city could easily live there. All canals and cobbled streets. No hugely old buildings but lots of character.

After hiring our beloved bright red bikes we were away sailing and soon we were whizzing and weaving through Amsterdam’s alley ways and over endless bridges in no time. Having Niels was fabulous - he took us through the roads less travelled and we really got to experience the complete package - not a tourist in sight.

We managed to stumble across a real gem - a local flea market. Brad and I could have lost ourselves in their for hours - particularly in one stall where we each picked up a pair of puffy snow boots, or moon boots, straight out of the 80s! Brad's have a crotched strip and mine look like patchwork curtains. Hilarious, yet already we know we'll wear them to death - not bad for five euro. I also picked up a retro little satchel bag which is perfect for travelling.

We then whizzed around some more, stopping in the park to climb a huge old tree where we sat up there watching the world go by for hours. Very Peter Pan like.

They do say that trying the local cuisine is the best way to suss out a culture and what better way than with a traditional dinner... Don’t ask me, I wouldn’t know because as soon as those boys saw that ‘all you can eat ribs’ sign it was game over! The whole concept was a bit of a scam though as the waiters brought the ribs out at a snail pace, meaning we ended up in a waiting game standoff. Let’s just say the Commerce Commission and Fair Go would have had a field day! By the time the boys had their fill it was quite late, although Niels called it a day decidedly earlier after a particularly unflattering photograph was taken of him that morning!

We had grand plans of heading back into the red light district to scope out some more prostitutes and visit a 'peep show', which are weird booth type things frequented by creepy creeps, but after our huge day of sightseeing we fell asleep at just 2am.

Our next day got off to a rip-roaring start when we woke up and realised that because daylight savings was at end, we had an extra hour added on to our time in Amsterdam – brilliant. Amsterdam’s such an amazing place that the extra hour was very much appreciated. After the obligatory hostel shower and hours wait while Niels did his hair, we were back on the bikes, whizzing around the streets of Amsterdam. This time we headed out to the streets less travelled where we went to a delicious little cafe where we stuffed our faces. I had a blueberry mascarpone and pistachio pancake roulade, which is apparently quite the traditional Dutch breakfast, while Brad went for the good old fashioned Irish breakfast – when in Amsterdam after all!

We had the most enjoyable five or so hours of biking around, with Niels as our personalised tour guide pointing out all the local haunts, including Anne Frank’s house, world-famous museums and more hookers - delightful! There really is something for everything in the red light district – girls of every age, size, ethnicity and... gender. They all pout like anything, stick out their hips and try to lure you in. Despite the fact they did this to every male that walked past their window, one lass had Niels blushing and giggling like a school girl when one tried to invite him in with a suggestive lick of his lips. He swears he didn’t, but we wouldn’t have been all that surprised if he popped back once we had all left! He did seem to be taking a careful note of the street and window number...

We also got to check out these world famous peep shows – well Shady and I did anyway due to a lack of change. Two euro goes in and I'm standing there mortified while some woman who couldn't look more bored stands there and half heartedly shakes her hips – not an experience to write home about and I spent more time wishing the ground would swallow me up, than looking eagerly on like the other dirty perves I could see with their noses pressed against their windows!

Amsterdam is an amazing place and there really is something for everyone. We’re going back for New Years as part of our tour, which is just as well as one weekend is certainly not enough! It is such a liberal and accepting city, which was always years ahead of its time and it is easy to see why many Jewish families flocked to Amsterdam after they had been pushed out of the rest of Europe.

Most of all, it was a truly fabulous weekend with fabulous friends and it was amazing being able to spend the weekend catching up with everyone. Niels was an expert guide and placed our fun as his highest goal, and I don’t even want to think about how much we are going to miss Shady and Emily when they go home in December. Riding around on our bikes made us feel five years old again and really knocked years off our lives – forget about a facelift, bike riding and climbing trees is where it is at!

Good times, good company, a perfect weekend!

Xxx