After having a brilliant time down in W. Sussex with Heather and John, and happily getting to see a lot of Susie and Jason and the kids, Heather and John drove us up to Gatwick, just to make sure we left England, probably!!
Anyway, Fiona Beveridge was there to meet us, and we enjoyed a couple of days with her. Happily her sister Rosamund and brother-in-law Robert were also able to spend time with, and we thoroughly enjoyed their company too. Nice pubs in Edinburgh!! Freezing cold and raining unfortunately, which meant our proposed walk to the top of Arthur's Seat had to be abandoned. Thought we would go to the Museum, and we were pretty chuffed to find a park nearby... Paid for parking, to find it was closed, electricity outage apparently!! Damn....
Fiona drove us down to Linlithgow, where Louise ( Scots lass who visited Oz recently) lives, with her folk on a very impressive Dairy Farm. Great situation for their homestead, about a 5 minute walk to a great pub!! So, had a few hours in the company of Fiona, Louise, and her parents, before Louise then bravely embarked on driving us to Inverary, where Maggie Campbell met us... Poor Louise then had to drive home alone, and the weather was still awful.
So, then Maggie took us home to Lochgilphead, where we stayed for the next few days. Still freezing of course, but we still managed to catch up with her two sons, their partners, and her two gorgeous little grand-daughters. It is a beautiful part do the world, and the Lochs are really lovely, with many small villages dotted around their shores.
We managed to avoid cooking a meal whilst there, and took advantage of the never-ending supply of pubs nearby, all of which provide very adequate, if not brilliant, food.
Arthur came down with some sort of bug which laid him low for about 24 hours, and unfortunately Maggie followed suit today..... She was definitely NOT well this morning, but insisted on driving us to Glasgow go catch the plane to London.... Rang her later, and happily she survived the long drive home, but we felt really bad about ALLOWING her to drive us....
Cannot wait to get home now, have missed everybody, especially our wee girl Tessa, and so looking forward to a big hug, and a long chat with her!!
We've heard about the invisible man ( Ted) doing the disappearing act, and about Julia's brush with political death, but look forward to catching up on other important bits of gossip.
Be home soon......
A&A
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday 11th March - Albourne, West Sussex
Left our hotel in London on Monday morning, to find it snowing. Wow, we thought, that's exciting.
Missed our preferred train south (on the Gatwick/Brighton line), where Heather & John were to pick us up at Hassocks. Not to worry, next train same deal.... So, off we go..... About 30 minutes down the track, still snowing very heavily (!), the train slowed down and stopped. Announcement..... Somebody had apparently found life a bit too hard and had chosen to step in front of the train in front
of us, which was in fact the express train from London to Gatwick...... Very upset passengers....... We're on the phone to Heather & John, keeping them posted. Finally we are diverted to a place called Redhill, where the Jordans struggled to drive to - traffic already being chaotic.
Drove home to Albourne, all the while snowing heavily. Snow increased in intensity all afternoon, and we sat inside watching Heather & John's garden turn white and disappear under a white blanket. It was gorgeous. Went to bed expecting it all to be 'normal' in the morning.....
This morning - Tuesday - woke to find about 6-8" of snow blanketing everything. Beautiful, and took lots of photo's, but the news told us that the night had been disastrous for drivers and passengers on the motorways.....
John had just taken the "winter" tyres off the car, assuming there would be no more snow, so before we could leave today, Arthur and John had to replace them.... Too dangerous to be sliding around on the snow-covered road without proper tread on the tyres.
Went to the local village for some supplies, and to a nearby pub for a lovely lunch.. Very nice, and lovely snow covered scenery again - lots of photo's.
Took the dog for a nice long walk over hill and dale, through snow-covered fields, and, strangely, passed a couple of vineyards. Apparently a very bad Summer last year saw NO wine production - expensive hobby for someone...
Lovely dinner at home, nice fire, early(ish) night..... Has stopped snowing, should be a. It messy tomorrow, once the melting starts.
Missed our preferred train south (on the Gatwick/Brighton line), where Heather & John were to pick us up at Hassocks. Not to worry, next train same deal.... So, off we go..... About 30 minutes down the track, still snowing very heavily (!), the train slowed down and stopped. Announcement..... Somebody had apparently found life a bit too hard and had chosen to step in front of the train in front
of us, which was in fact the express train from London to Gatwick...... Very upset passengers....... We're on the phone to Heather & John, keeping them posted. Finally we are diverted to a place called Redhill, where the Jordans struggled to drive to - traffic already being chaotic.
Drove home to Albourne, all the while snowing heavily. Snow increased in intensity all afternoon, and we sat inside watching Heather & John's garden turn white and disappear under a white blanket. It was gorgeous. Went to bed expecting it all to be 'normal' in the morning.....
This morning - Tuesday - woke to find about 6-8" of snow blanketing everything. Beautiful, and took lots of photo's, but the news told us that the night had been disastrous for drivers and passengers on the motorways.....
John had just taken the "winter" tyres off the car, assuming there would be no more snow, so before we could leave today, Arthur and John had to replace them.... Too dangerous to be sliding around on the snow-covered road without proper tread on the tyres.
Went to the local village for some supplies, and to a nearby pub for a lovely lunch.. Very nice, and lovely snow covered scenery again - lots of photo's.
Took the dog for a nice long walk over hill and dale, through snow-covered fields, and, strangely, passed a couple of vineyards. Apparently a very bad Summer last year saw NO wine production - expensive hobby for someone...
Lovely dinner at home, nice fire, early(ish) night..... Has stopped snowing, should be a. It messy tomorrow, once the melting starts.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Sunday 10th March - London
Didn't lift our heads off the pillows until after 9am - absolutely worn out, and slept like logs.
Absolutely freezing again today, about 1 degree (not taking the wind chill into account), and very miserable.
However, we bravely ventured out again, stopping for another very nice late breakfast...
Walking again - thank god I spent a small fortune on brilliant (Ara) boots before I left Oz - have seen nothing as good anywhere we've been, and I have worn them EVERY day!
Anyway, as we've never made the effort on previous occasions in London, we made our way down to Buck House to pay Betty and Phil a visit; rudely, they didn't even come out to ask us in, or acknowledge that we were there. Betty might still be having tummy troubles!!!
Walked back into town, and over to our next adventure - a "flight" on the London Eye. Happily this time there was no bomb scare, and happily too, we'd paid a bit extra for "go to the front of the queue" tickets, so that meant we were spared queueing in the freezing cold... Really enjoyed the trip, the views were good, and it was WARM in there!
Walked up Northumberland Avenue where we'd stayed previously, and continued on into Trafalgar Square, and eventually home again. Athur has such a good sense of direction that he really doesn't need the map much any more; on more than one occasion (as usual) he has given directions to other tourists!!
Our small hotel is very quaint, very old-fashioned, and has the added bonus of rumbling a little as the trains in the tube go trundling along way below... The staff are numerous and very formal, and I'm sure they wonder silently at these ghastly Aussies, going in and out in the same coats, hats and boots every day!!! Not to mention, washing our 'smalls' in the bathroom, and hanging them on the heated towel rail!!!
Absolutely freezing again today, about 1 degree (not taking the wind chill into account), and very miserable.
However, we bravely ventured out again, stopping for another very nice late breakfast...
Walking again - thank god I spent a small fortune on brilliant (Ara) boots before I left Oz - have seen nothing as good anywhere we've been, and I have worn them EVERY day!
Anyway, as we've never made the effort on previous occasions in London, we made our way down to Buck House to pay Betty and Phil a visit; rudely, they didn't even come out to ask us in, or acknowledge that we were there. Betty might still be having tummy troubles!!!
Walked back into town, and over to our next adventure - a "flight" on the London Eye. Happily this time there was no bomb scare, and happily too, we'd paid a bit extra for "go to the front of the queue" tickets, so that meant we were spared queueing in the freezing cold... Really enjoyed the trip, the views were good, and it was WARM in there!
Walked up Northumberland Avenue where we'd stayed previously, and continued on into Trafalgar Square, and eventually home again. Athur has such a good sense of direction that he really doesn't need the map much any more; on more than one occasion (as usual) he has given directions to other tourists!!
Our small hotel is very quaint, very old-fashioned, and has the added bonus of rumbling a little as the trains in the tube go trundling along way below... The staff are numerous and very formal, and I'm sure they wonder silently at these ghastly Aussies, going in and out in the same coats, hats and boots every day!!! Not to mention, washing our 'smalls' in the bathroom, and hanging them on the heated towel rail!!!
Saturday 9th March - London
So, last evening (Friday), we headed off for our appointment to view the City of London from The Shard - the newest, tallest, most amazing building in town... With great anticipation we caught the tube over to the site, and joined the queue - we had an appointed time, which we'd chosen so we could see the lights of London coming on at dusk!!!.
We zipped up half way, changed lifts with great ceremony, and finally arrived at the viewing floor - floors 68 and 69 I think, - not sure how high, but the 72nd floor is 244M above the ground. The view???? Bugger all... Thick, low cloud enveloped the entire building, and we could see a small amount directly below the building, but otherwise, NOTHING....
Wow, talk about anticlimactic..... Very disappointing, but they DID give us a gift voucher, to come again......
So, we wandered off, and found a cozy pub which was positively buzzing. Freezing cold, but about 30 patrons lined up on the pavement drinking outside!! Hardy souls - we thought, until we'd spent about half an hour inside, and realised the temperature must have been about 35 degrees, inside...
Found a restaurant, mostly empty, upstairs, and had a nice dinner..
We've been on and off so many trains already, we feel like locals, and are absolutely in awe of the number of people moved all day, every day, on the tube, and local trains. It is really incredible, so no wonder London grinds to a halt when there is some major happening and the trains don't run.
Saturday
Today was "Visit Wimbledon" day.
Caught a train out to Earl's Court, and had a massive cooked breakfast. Not too bad, until they gave me a jug of milk for my coffee which was SO off, it had set like blanc mange!!!!! Nice. They had the good grace to be equally appalled, and apologised a dozen times. Might have been a wake-up call to check the milk in little jugs more frequently....
We got another train to Wimbledon area, but got off the train one station early (Southfields) and walked.... As is our wont, we walked for miles, actually around the perimeter of an 18 hole golf course in Wimbledon, through an athletics field and around a lake!!! Passed some magnificent houses overlooking the golf course, and some of them must have been on half-acre blocks. Brilliant... Some new houses being built, all being kept pretty much in the same style, nothing hideously jarring, ruining the streetscape.
If I ever have the need to come to London to live, I'm definitely living in Wimbledon...
Had a look through the "Great Stadium" and looked in the Museum, were shown "Henman Hill" by the guide, with a sense of 'awe' at how brilliant it was, and how busy!!!! Very small, we thought, about half the size of the Village Square in Melbourne Park, but good manners prevented us from saying anything!!!
Got home pretty knackered, had an hour or so R&R, and headed out agin....
This time we went to see "We Will Rock You", the musical written around Queen's best songs.
Once again, we emerged from the tube, to find we had to walk about 20 metres to the front door of the Theatre. Great.... Great Show, good fun, and good music.
Home. Bed by about 11.30pm. Worn out!!!
We zipped up half way, changed lifts with great ceremony, and finally arrived at the viewing floor - floors 68 and 69 I think, - not sure how high, but the 72nd floor is 244M above the ground. The view???? Bugger all... Thick, low cloud enveloped the entire building, and we could see a small amount directly below the building, but otherwise, NOTHING....
Wow, talk about anticlimactic..... Very disappointing, but they DID give us a gift voucher, to come again......
So, we wandered off, and found a cozy pub which was positively buzzing. Freezing cold, but about 30 patrons lined up on the pavement drinking outside!! Hardy souls - we thought, until we'd spent about half an hour inside, and realised the temperature must have been about 35 degrees, inside...
Found a restaurant, mostly empty, upstairs, and had a nice dinner..
We've been on and off so many trains already, we feel like locals, and are absolutely in awe of the number of people moved all day, every day, on the tube, and local trains. It is really incredible, so no wonder London grinds to a halt when there is some major happening and the trains don't run.
Saturday
Today was "Visit Wimbledon" day.
Caught a train out to Earl's Court, and had a massive cooked breakfast. Not too bad, until they gave me a jug of milk for my coffee which was SO off, it had set like blanc mange!!!!! Nice. They had the good grace to be equally appalled, and apologised a dozen times. Might have been a wake-up call to check the milk in little jugs more frequently....
We got another train to Wimbledon area, but got off the train one station early (Southfields) and walked.... As is our wont, we walked for miles, actually around the perimeter of an 18 hole golf course in Wimbledon, through an athletics field and around a lake!!! Passed some magnificent houses overlooking the golf course, and some of them must have been on half-acre blocks. Brilliant... Some new houses being built, all being kept pretty much in the same style, nothing hideously jarring, ruining the streetscape.
If I ever have the need to come to London to live, I'm definitely living in Wimbledon...
Had a look through the "Great Stadium" and looked in the Museum, were shown "Henman Hill" by the guide, with a sense of 'awe' at how brilliant it was, and how busy!!!! Very small, we thought, about half the size of the Village Square in Melbourne Park, but good manners prevented us from saying anything!!!
Got home pretty knackered, had an hour or so R&R, and headed out agin....
This time we went to see "We Will Rock You", the musical written around Queen's best songs.
Once again, we emerged from the tube, to find we had to walk about 20 metres to the front door of the Theatre. Great.... Great Show, good fun, and good music.
Home. Bed by about 11.30pm. Worn out!!!
Friday, March 8, 2013
Friday 8th March, London
Far too much wine - or possibly, just enough! and a couple of sleeping pills ensured I didn't lie awake all night thinking about things in Sydney...
Awoke to rain....... Heavy, continuous rain.....
After doing some "admin" we headed off to find an underground station, and proceeded in the direction of the Natural History Museum.
What a stunning place - brilliant building, brilliant exhibits, and SO big.... so much to see.
Major downside was that the schools had obviously decided that this particular day was perfect to take their kids on an excursion!!! They were all good kids, and very enthusiastic, but added to the crowds big-time. Never mind, we had a great visit, and left weary and foot-sore.
Another tube ride to Harrods. So many tourists gawping at "stuff" - as were we. There was a definite frenzy of buying in the "foodie" areas, both to take away, and eat in, and the produce was of course spectacular. We were tempted to buy some Australian Wagu Beer for a mere 178 Quid a kilo, but thought better of it!!!!
Did not see anybody actually purchasing in the other parts of the store, just "looking". However, a handful of ugly middle eastern men had obviously been shopping, as they were lugging piles of Harrods bags up the High Street......
Got home about 3pm, dripping wet, and had a bit of a warm-up before heading out again........ Will report on that excursion later!!
Awoke to rain....... Heavy, continuous rain.....
After doing some "admin" we headed off to find an underground station, and proceeded in the direction of the Natural History Museum.
What a stunning place - brilliant building, brilliant exhibits, and SO big.... so much to see.
Major downside was that the schools had obviously decided that this particular day was perfect to take their kids on an excursion!!! They were all good kids, and very enthusiastic, but added to the crowds big-time. Never mind, we had a great visit, and left weary and foot-sore.
Another tube ride to Harrods. So many tourists gawping at "stuff" - as were we. There was a definite frenzy of buying in the "foodie" areas, both to take away, and eat in, and the produce was of course spectacular. We were tempted to buy some Australian Wagu Beer for a mere 178 Quid a kilo, but thought better of it!!!!
Did not see anybody actually purchasing in the other parts of the store, just "looking". However, a handful of ugly middle eastern men had obviously been shopping, as they were lugging piles of Harrods bags up the High Street......
Got home about 3pm, dripping wet, and had a bit of a warm-up before heading out again........ Will report on that excursion later!!
Thursday 7th March, Oslo - London
Found another little local gem in Oslo for dinner last night. Real locals' restaurant, not one word of English on the Menu, which was brilliant we reckoned, so definitely NOT catering for tourists.
Good food and good beer, and not expensive, although every meal and a couple of drinks for two ends up costing about A$100.
Went to check in on-line and were offered the chance of an upgrade to Business for about $120 - what was not to like about that. Jumped at the chance - more room on board, and a larger luggage allowance... Not to mention, champagne on the way over.
Left Oslo on another brilliant sunny day, and arrived in London to rain. Surprise...
Took the plunge and went all the way by train, which left us with about a 5 minute walk to our hotel, which is a very quaint, small, rather uppity hotel, in Mayfair. We're staying with the beautiful people; sadly, we only have our grotty, trekking kinda clothes, but I guess if we pay the bill, they'll get over it!
Whilst we were getting ourselves organised, I turned on my telephone to find a message from Andrew Parsons, telling us that sadly Libby had passed away on Thursday evening Sydney time. We knew she had been in dire straights for a few weeks, but the end seemed to come so quickly. We are so sad, and so far away from everyone....
There didn't seem to be anything else to do, so we went out for 2 or 3 hours, just to wander around, and ended up on Oxford Street in the rush hour.... OH-MY-GOD.......
I have never seen so many buses - hundreds of them, nose to tail, and coming out of side streets as well; there was literally a tsunami of people on the streets, all hurrying along, most with their heads down (it was still raining of course), mostly dressed in black (wielding umbrellas), and rushing down into subways like rats into a drainpipe. Honestly we just stood there in amazement, our mouths gaping in awe at this mass of humanity - on a mission!!! Melbourne suddenly seemed SO small, and so empty!!
We headed in the direction of home and ended up in a very ordinary little pub - sky high prices for wine and beer, grubby tables, and staff who spent all the time gossiping amongst themselves!! So, not being in any mood to put up with nonsense (or warm beer in Arch's case), we went back to our hotel and settled ourselves into the bar for several drinks. We drank a toast or two to Libby, and to her family at home, and proceeded to pass a couple of hours away very comfortably; except when Arthur had to sign the bill - THEN he nearly fainted!!! I mean, we ARE in Mayfair!!!
No dinner, not in the mood.....
Good food and good beer, and not expensive, although every meal and a couple of drinks for two ends up costing about A$100.
Went to check in on-line and were offered the chance of an upgrade to Business for about $120 - what was not to like about that. Jumped at the chance - more room on board, and a larger luggage allowance... Not to mention, champagne on the way over.
Left Oslo on another brilliant sunny day, and arrived in London to rain. Surprise...
Took the plunge and went all the way by train, which left us with about a 5 minute walk to our hotel, which is a very quaint, small, rather uppity hotel, in Mayfair. We're staying with the beautiful people; sadly, we only have our grotty, trekking kinda clothes, but I guess if we pay the bill, they'll get over it!
Whilst we were getting ourselves organised, I turned on my telephone to find a message from Andrew Parsons, telling us that sadly Libby had passed away on Thursday evening Sydney time. We knew she had been in dire straights for a few weeks, but the end seemed to come so quickly. We are so sad, and so far away from everyone....
There didn't seem to be anything else to do, so we went out for 2 or 3 hours, just to wander around, and ended up on Oxford Street in the rush hour.... OH-MY-GOD.......
I have never seen so many buses - hundreds of them, nose to tail, and coming out of side streets as well; there was literally a tsunami of people on the streets, all hurrying along, most with their heads down (it was still raining of course), mostly dressed in black (wielding umbrellas), and rushing down into subways like rats into a drainpipe. Honestly we just stood there in amazement, our mouths gaping in awe at this mass of humanity - on a mission!!! Melbourne suddenly seemed SO small, and so empty!!
We headed in the direction of home and ended up in a very ordinary little pub - sky high prices for wine and beer, grubby tables, and staff who spent all the time gossiping amongst themselves!! So, not being in any mood to put up with nonsense (or warm beer in Arch's case), we went back to our hotel and settled ourselves into the bar for several drinks. We drank a toast or two to Libby, and to her family at home, and proceeded to pass a couple of hours away very comfortably; except when Arthur had to sign the bill - THEN he nearly fainted!!! I mean, we ARE in Mayfair!!!
No dinner, not in the mood.....
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Wednesday 6th March, Oslo
Amazing breakfast spread, most impressive so far we think, so as usual, we ate enough for two meals(!), we never seem to stop for lunch, so that's not too bad we think...
Quite grim looking day early, very low cloud, and still about -5C. We ventured across the road to the brand new Opera House - stunning building, lots of blonde wood interior, and a lovely feeling, sitting right on a headland of reclaimed land, jutting into the bay, which still has a large proportion of the surface covered in ice.
We wandered off up-town again, this time getting as far as the Royal Palace, just in time to catch the very end of the changing of the guard.... The entire Palace is set in vast grounds, most of which are entirely accessible to the public, and are still covered in snow - very pretty. We wandered around to the front (which seems to be at the back??), and this is at least fenced off more securely, with guards on gates etc. Indeed, this is the part of town in which the poor people do NOT live.... The houses sharing the neighbourhood with the Palace are stunning, but not on large grounds, just very large houses..
We went on to the Waterfront which is a new development for Oslo, and it's gorgeous. By this time the sun was shining, and everything was very attractive. Most of the cafes are not yet open (after Winter), and many of the "party boats" moored there are still covered in several inches of snow, but you get the feeling that the proprietors are just bursting to get their businesses up and running again, after the Winter hiatus. There was much hosing down of boats, steps, and concrete pathways.
It does have the advantage of facing South, so every single ray of Winter sun is taken advantage of, whereas Melbourne's Docklands faces South (in the Southern Hemisphere), and is a shocker.... Cold, miserable, and...... empty!!!!! How did we get it SO badly wrong???
Found a brilliant little local cafe which serves great coffee and great almond croissants, they are few and far between unfortunately.... 2pm, lunch. Siesta........
Quite grim looking day early, very low cloud, and still about -5C. We ventured across the road to the brand new Opera House - stunning building, lots of blonde wood interior, and a lovely feeling, sitting right on a headland of reclaimed land, jutting into the bay, which still has a large proportion of the surface covered in ice.
We wandered off up-town again, this time getting as far as the Royal Palace, just in time to catch the very end of the changing of the guard.... The entire Palace is set in vast grounds, most of which are entirely accessible to the public, and are still covered in snow - very pretty. We wandered around to the front (which seems to be at the back??), and this is at least fenced off more securely, with guards on gates etc. Indeed, this is the part of town in which the poor people do NOT live.... The houses sharing the neighbourhood with the Palace are stunning, but not on large grounds, just very large houses..
We went on to the Waterfront which is a new development for Oslo, and it's gorgeous. By this time the sun was shining, and everything was very attractive. Most of the cafes are not yet open (after Winter), and many of the "party boats" moored there are still covered in several inches of snow, but you get the feeling that the proprietors are just bursting to get their businesses up and running again, after the Winter hiatus. There was much hosing down of boats, steps, and concrete pathways.
It does have the advantage of facing South, so every single ray of Winter sun is taken advantage of, whereas Melbourne's Docklands faces South (in the Southern Hemisphere), and is a shocker.... Cold, miserable, and...... empty!!!!! How did we get it SO badly wrong???
Found a brilliant little local cafe which serves great coffee and great almond croissants, they are few and far between unfortunately.... 2pm, lunch. Siesta........
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