Regent's, Lord's and Helsinki

Yesterday the homeless girl staying with me, Sharna (Michelle's little sister), and I headed off from home after lunch to walk down Abbey Road, and see the recording studio. After the obligatory photo of Sharna walking across the pedestrian crossing, we then walked further down, past Lord's and down into Regent's Park.

With the sun shining and all the flowers in bloom, Regent's Park is gorgeous at the moment. We sat for a bit on the deck chairs by the lake, and watched people paddle by in the row boats.

After walking through the park, and finding out what was in there, we headed back the way we came, and found some lads leaving the cricket. After some smooth talking by Sharna, we scored their tickets, and managed to get into the ground for the last hour of play. Awesome! It was so exciting to be in at Lord's soaking up the atmosphere, and watching England play Sri Lanka on the hallowed turf.

Sitting with the lovely Pavillion at one end, and the spaceship style media centre at the other end, the crowd was lively, and we even got to see a wicket. (More photos)

At stumps, we then walked home for a quick dinner and a few drinks, and to load up with a traveller, before heading into ULU to see Melbourne band Architecture in Helsinki's only UK show this year.

They were awesome! Was so much fun, with their funky music, and weird instrument choices. Dancing up the front, nice and close to see all the silliness going on on stage. Ohhh, and one of the guys who plays bass and drums is hot!! Hee hee.

Charged from our massive day, we arrived home, made a call home to wish Mum a Happy Mother's Day, and then crossed the road to join Toni and her mates in the house party over there.

The tube

I get the tube everyday to and from work...and it's awful!! Just when you think that cramming into a train carriage, jammed up against unfriendly Londoners can't get any worse, the temperature starts to rise outside, and the conditions underground reach tropical conditions!

The regular morning 25 minute tube ride, before the overland, does my head in. Unfortunately I am not one of those people who feel justified in pushing other people aside to get a seat, so I only manage a seat for the tube portion of the journey maybe one in every 5 mornings. It's bareable if I can read, and pretend I am anywhere else. Not when I am hanging on for dear life as the train hurtles through it's black tunnels.

Tonight I embarked on my trek home, which usually involves a normal overland train, and then the tube with two changes: should be an hour an a half. I got to Victoria station to jump on the Victoria line tube, only to be routed through the tunnels to a side entrance with 15,000 other people, sweltering. Ditching this plan as the London Underground customer service officers continued to tell the already jammed commuters to keep moving or they will have to close the station, I decided perhaps the District line would be a better bet. Took that down to Earls Court, and thought I would then change to Paddington. Upon disembarking, I am met with the loud, loud speaker announcement saying that there was a fire at the Notting Hill tube station, so most lines have been shut down.

Jumping back onto a city centre bound Piccadilly line train, I have now ducked in and out of London, with another carriage full of sweaty people. Ewwwwwwww! Change at Piccadilly Circus, till I am finally on the usually reliable (touch wood!!) Bakerloo line home. An extra hour for these diversions, and when I emerge onto street level I discover that the sunshine that had been shining over the city when I started my journey home had turned into rain!!! What??!!

Today has been the first real summer day, and it felt like Outback temperatures down there. I am dreading the commute during real summer - I guess the one and only blessing is that there is only about 5 days of it over here in the UK!!! And I must remember, a recent study has supposedly found that the average commute in London can justify twice my current weekly Maccas consumption....gotta cling on to those good points!! Hee hee.

Beautiful Cumbia

Heading south this time in my little golden hire car, I ambled my way down to the beautiful village of Ambleside. Was starting to stress about the mile to kilometer conversion and the translation into reserve fuel tank through parts of the beautiful drive down there, through the hills and winding roads and along the pristine lakes. Damn yellow fuel light!! Hee hee!

Made it though!! And trickled into Ambleside. It seemed every man and his dog was there this Sunday afternoon of the long weekend, and finding a carpark that wouldn't land me a parking ticket proved impossible. I did risk it, and found a quick park to run over and have a look, and take a picture of the Bridge House - apparently the most photographed building in the Lakes Districts! Reportedly built over the river like this to avoid land tax (tight arse Brits at their best!!), it has also house a family with 6 children. Gee, wouldn't that have been fun!! (More photos.)

The whole village was so cute, with the bluestone slate buildings, and the cobbled and tiny streets.

I continued on around Lake Windermere, stopping at Bowness to wander about the little laneways, and walked through (and released a book in) the shop and tearoom of the Beatrix Potter Attraction. Would have been a fun place to take a little person!! If only I had a neice or a nephew to buy for....

For the remaineder of the day I drove down to the shore in the south of the Lakes District area, and read by the sea. Saw the castle off on the island, Piel Castle, from the shore, before heading back to Keswick.

Today it has been raining all day, after a weekend of nothing but sun. Certainly luck out on my days. Another full English breakfast, before returning the car, and catching the train back to London.

Driving around the Lakes District

After my full English breakfast at my B&B yesterday morning, I hit the road. Heading west, I drove through the valleys and around the lakes surrounded by mountains on either side. Driving through Honister Pass without another soul around was awesome! Sheep crossing the road in the tiny villages, the colours and expanse of the area were amazing.

Through towns like Siddick and Cockermonth (seriously! Where do they get these names from!!), I headed towards the sea. Coming out of the mountain surrounds, I drove through to Workington and Maryport to see the sea. Usual disappointing British beach - or lack there of. Oh, and a dirty big pipe dumping who knows what into the ocean...nice one.

I then drove on to Carlisle, and had a look at the outside of Carlisle Castle. Lunch and coffee and cake in the little streets of Carlisle before heading off again in the Fiat.

On the way back to Keswick, I managed to find the Castlerigg Circle of Stones, and stopped to have a look. A ring of rocks in the middle of a paddock, thought to be a meeting place in medieval times, surrounded by the 360 degree view of the mountains.

This morning I have set the alarm to listen to the Hawks beat Essenscum by one point...gold!! Happenchance wireless in my B&B room, the streaming was loud and proud!! Any post-September Europe planning must now go on hold!!! Hee hee. (I am not actually kidding on this one...)

Another full English breakfast just now, and now I am ready to hit the road again. I think I have finally managed to re-set my concentration levels for driving, which was actually really hard to get back. What's with watching the road when there is so much to look at....opps!! (More photos.)

Land of green mountain sides

Hanging to spend some time out of the city, time on my own, and time behind the wheel, I have taken advantage of the need to do a work visit in Cumbria, and just happened to scheduled it for the Friday before the long weekend....nice!

Tuesday I was up in Manchester for the day, for a work assessment. Wednesday night I was out for Dim Sum (Yum Cha really. Same same...) in Chinatown to catch up with another friend who has quit our job. Issues!

But today, I boarded the train up to Cumbria, and completed my assessment with my client, before heading off to collect my hire car (I have never hired a car before!!), and driven around among lush green pastures and hillsides, dotted with sheep in lambing season and the daffs out at every turn, to find my Guest House in the little village town of Keswick (I was saying it like Creswick without the 'r', but was corrected...it's a silent 'w'!!?? Go figure!!).

I haven't driven for so long!! It was so nice just reaquainting myself with driving. And probably a good thing too, given all the accident stories I hear on a weekly basis for work! Getting used to it again, in my little Gold Fiat for the weekend, and the tiny English roads. The mad English drivers, and the unposted speed limits....

Wandering into the little town centre, surrounded by stone cottages and cobbled little streets, I walked down to see Lake Derwentwater, and the sunset behind the Cumbria Mountains, before dinner. (More photos.)

Hawks are hot, farewell to Kimberley and The Proposition

Friday morning at work, I got to listen to the footy!! Hee hee!! Whilst continuing to bill, bill, bill (of course!! I am a working machine! Everyone knows that!!) I listened to the game beamed out of the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, into my laptop at work!!! Awesome!! Thanks to the AFL website, I could listen to the commentary, and follow the whole match. And the time different is working nicely for a Friday night game!!

And the Hawks come in with a win, Melissa calls me from the Dome so I can hear the victory song - all good. How much is everyone loving the Hawks right now!!

Friday night I headed off to Clapham area, and met Kimberley for her last get together, before she heads home to Canadia! Hee hee. Meeting Nat, Cam, Caitlin, Jack, Craig and John for drinks at Kimberley's first, we then headed off to the dodgey Swan for more drinks....to see Kimberley off in proper London style.

Saturday I soaked up the unusual London sunshine on our rooftop terrace, with a book. The first of many of those afternoons, me thinks!! Very lovely!

Sunday, after watching the London Marathon on TV, I headed out to the Everyman to meet Caitlin, to see The Proposition. Highly recommended by my Jessie, I found watching Guy Pearce on the top of a rock formation in central Australia without a dress on all wrong!! But seriously, this movie was not for the faint hearted, with some savage violence that shocks, the compelling unraveling of the story, of the tale of three brothers in early Australia, was very, very good. Will be one for Year 12 classes to analyse in years to come, I reckon!

Roman Holiday

After a bit of a flight delay at Gatwick on Thursday night, I touched down in Rome, Italy for the Easter weekend. Getting in quite late in the end, I taxied from the main station to our hotel, Colors, to meet Nata and Laura, to prepare for our long, long weekend of exploring the Eternal City. Technically two countries in one, there was much to see and do!!

Good Friday we visited the Vatican. Wowed by the site of San Piedro's Basillica from the Tiber River, we walked up the main street up into the Square, and joined the queue to go in. Accosted by someone offering a free tour in English, we tagged along and listened to an American lad with too much time on his hands tell us all the history and the special sites of the Bascillica itself.

After a tour inside, and a walk through the Grotto below the Basillica where popes including John Paul II are laid to rest, we had lunch (pizza!) in one of the cobbled side streets near the Square, before heading up the hill behind San Peidro to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. Loads of rooms full of amazing paintings before the final, gob-smacking roof of the Sistine. Full neck crick material, we each walked through with our faces glued to the roof, trying to take every intricate bit in.

The next day, we walked Roma! Walking across the Tiber and finding our way to Piazza Navona. Taking in the square and the amazing sunshine, we then set out through the cobbled streets preparing for the next sight....the Pantheon. Taking the piss about setting our face to stunned (The Simpsons style), I was soon silenced by the massive pillars and structure that is the Pantheon. Wow! Hee hee. A little disgusted that the piazza had a Golden Arches in the coloured shuttered buildings surrounding the obelisk and fountain.

Every couple of turns in the street and we were confronted with another towering, amazing old old building....

Walking then further, we located the Trevi Fountain, and threw the necessry three coins with our right hands over our left shoulders. Depending on which guide book you read, this ritual means that you will return to the Eternal City I can certainly live with that!! - or you will get married - hopefully that can wait!!


Walking a little way more, we then found the beautiful Spanish Steps. Covered with people, basking in sunshine, with a fountain at the foot and an obelisk at that top. Resting at the top to people watch and gaze on the sight below us, we sampled some gelati.

Still more city to explore we set off south, and once we knew we were in the vacinity of our intended destination, we stopped for lunch. Pasta was the call this time, and some much deserved Italian beer.

On the day my girls were watching our team deliver the biggest upset in the AFL season so far, in the shittest stadium in the world, I visited the greatest stadium in the world, the Colloseum. (Although perhaps the two stadiums are in the same state of disrepair - hee hee, Laura made a funny!!) Wow! The Colloseum is amazing! Awesome!


After lining up, and then walking through the giant ruin, we then wandered across to CIRCUS MAXIMUS. Just a green paddock now, was once the site of chariot races, and a huge crowd. Ahhh, I had built that place up all day!! Hee hee.

Veiwing the Roman Forum ruins in the setting light of the sun from up higher, we then had espresso and chocolate taking in the wedding cake building, the Vittorio Emanuele Monument towering over the Piazza Venezia.

Nata being sick all weekend, Laura and I headed off to see the Roman Forum ruins while Nata rested. Tasting some gelati to die for after walking through the huge, crumbling ruins of an anicent civilisation, we then walked over to Piazza Bocca della Verita, where the Mouth of Truth is located, and a rather nice lawn for a nap was found!

Walking along the river after this, we wondered over Isola, the island in the middle of the Tiber, before walking through the beautiful cobbled streets to find Piazza de Fiora. And a gnocchi and people watching stop here for lunch. And then some sun soaking and a beer in Piazza Navona.

The next morning I headed off to see Piazza della Repubblica, with it's grand pillared buildings and the Santa Maria degli Angeli, before having coffee along Via Vittoria Veneto, made famous by the 1950s La Dolce Vita fame. Tree lined, and now big multi-national hotel street, there was much people watching to be done here.

Laura and I then headed out to see one of the catacombs, St Sebastian. Site of Christian burials, our tour was unfortunately disappointing. Joining the English tour, this was lead by an Italian man who seemed to speak rote learnt speech for the walk through, which seemed to make very little sense. I don't think we came away from there the wiser!!

As darkness gathered over the city, the three of us then set out for a food and beverage crawl through the city, getting in some views of the lit up sights along the way. (More photos.)

With Laura heading off in the morning on Tuesday, Nata and I took in some final wanderings through piazzas and cobbled streets. Some authentic Italian cooking, more pasta and espresso....before having to head out to the airport for our respective flights back to London.

Roma! What an amazing city. Has easily become my favourite European city, just like that!! Five days in Rome. A city bustling with good food, amazing sights, cobbled streets, and vespas aplenty!