Where to start…

So lets rewind to three weeks ago. Alex was working and Amber was busy looking for work although not so busy she couldn’t fit in a date with the London Film museum. It was great, props from Harry Potter, Star wars, the Borrowers, Excalibar, Batman and the list goes on.

That weekend was the Notting Hill Carnivale. We went to the family friendly day and it was not that. There were girls dressed in very little following a chocolate truck that was spraying chocolate. There was the thick smell pot in the air together lots of jamacian alcohol. Food stalls were set up everywhere along the side streets the parade went past. People who owned a property in Notting Hill were setting up hot dog stands in their front yard. In typical London style it started to pour after being hot and sunny all morning, so we took that as an excuse to find some lunch and leave.

We then have Camden markets, Camden is like the Newtown of Sydney. The markets are extravagant. You can find all sorts of clothing, jewellery, clocks, paintings, toys and bits there. We spent 3 hours exploring the markets and barely scrathed the surface. The nice thing about Camden is the canal that runs through the town. Because of this canal there are a lot of water side pubs and little bridges over the top. Fast forward a week and we were shopping big on Regent St (high end shopping) and experienced the BEST hot chocolate and strawberries. YUM!!!

Last weekend we were exploring Paddington and Maida Vale which is also known as ‘Little Venice’ due to the canals. After an overpriced burger we wandered along the canal, admiring the boats and the scenery.

We have also walked in the footsteps of the infamous Jack the Ripper and discovered just how brutal his murders were and how he managed to get away. That was our only visit to East London so far and could well be our last as well. It has managed to retain its name as the rough and poor part of London throughout the years and we were lucky to be in a group of 20 walking down some of the scary streets. We now know why everyone talks about the number of curry houses on Brick Lane, it is crazy!

Somehow during the time between this entry and the last one Amber found a job for a travel company and Alex lost his, spent a while searching and applying for another one and now has four to choose from. Luckily he has the Rugby World Cup to entertain him, GO WALLABIES!!

One of the days when Amber was working and Alex was ‘job searching’ he went to pay a visit to Greenwich Observatory where 0 degrees longitude is based and learned about the history and significance of it.

Amber is also dipping her toes in the London film scene (pardon the pun). One of our housemates is the producer on a film which he managed to get her working on and she is also writing reviews for movies.

We are endlessly seeing ads for various holiday destinations at some unbelievable prices, the latest is a trip to Iceland to watch the northern lights. But we have to remember that we are planning a big trip at the end of our time here so need to pace ourselves with the “smaller” trips.

During the week we tend to keep it cheaper and low key but have found a very nice local pub called the Barrow Boy and Amber is loving the cranberry juice with malibu and lime. We have also visited an Aussie pub chain called The Walkabout which did make us a little homesick, but dont worry guys it didnt last long. We socialise with our housemates all the time and have frequent outings to cafes and movies. We are planning a group outing to Amsterdam soon. We’ll keep you posted

London living

About our home. We are living at the first floor of a three storey house. Each level is a self- contained flat with a bathroom, kitchen, verandah and lounge. The floor we share is with two Aussies, Josh and Mich. We moved in three wks ago and our tight group of 7 all moved within a couple of days. On the floor above us we have another couple Canadian girl and Irish boy, Rhonda and Eoin. There is also an English girl Hannah. On the top floor we have a Spanish born Englishman, Andres. There are a few other additions to our house but that is our main crew. People are always coming and going for work and travel but we go out for drinks one night a week and sometimes to the movies. This weekend the plan is Notting Hill Carnival. Alex has started work at a Pizza restaurant and is happy to be keeping his eyebrow piercing. Amber will be working as a travel agent while networking for film experience. We are unsure of how long we will stay in London for – Guess it depends on a number of things. We are keeping all options open. Ciao for now! xoxo

A rugby lovers delight

On Thursday what started off as a wet and dreary day soon turned into a simple yet exciting outing. Amber bit the bullet and took Alex to Twickenham the home of the English rugby team for a behind the scenes tour. Upon arrival the first thing Alex saw was a guy in an All Blacks tshirt. So, not to be outdone and to prove us Aussies can be as tough as a kiwi Alex took his jumper off in the shall we say rather cool conditions to expose his Wallabies tshirt underneath much to Amber’s delight as she was able to add another layer on. The tour was led by an octoganarian volunteer who certainly knew his english rugby. We started up in the top stands for an amazing view then moved through to the Nike corporate box (poor views but a big screen). An interesting fact: in order to keep the pigeons from inhabiting the stadium an making a mess on all the hand polished seats, they have a guy with a hawk come around once a week. The hawk coasts around the stadium for a while so the pigeons learn its not a safe area to be in and avoid it!

We then wandered through the royal box and sat down outside where the prince’s sit when they come to watch a game. Not only were the seats cushioned but oh the leg room!! Following that we went pitchside (not allowed on the pitch itself) were Alex got too cold and had to accept defeat from the kiwi and don his jumper again. The change rooms were interesting, as one would imagine the visitors was very simple and stark but the English one was spacious with players to warm up, run through some drills and each player and member of staff with their own area with their name on it.

That wound up the tour but we were given free admittance to their rugby museum which had things like the original pigs bladder football, tickets to a 1918 Wales game and a couple of really old jerseys. As you can imagine Alex was like a little boy in a candy shop while Amber was rolling her eyes and walking quickly through the exhibition. The highlight for both of us in the museum was the one person scrum machine Alex packed down against. To his credit he did manage to make the machine move!

A worthy (and cheap) outing on an otherwise miserable day.

Paris

Hello,

It’s been awhile. We’ve been busy beavers. Right! Our last little trip was across the English Channel for a 3 day tour in Paris. We were welcomed in Paris by a Seine River Cruise. The cruise started near The Eiffel Tower and went around the two islands (one is the home to Notre Dame Cathedral). The weather was beautiful. We stayed in a small town called Bercy and had dinner at the local restaurant strip.  Following dinner we headed into town to see Notre Dame at Night after walking through a f***ing stupid station called Chatelet (never ever get off there). Day 2: Up nice an early for a bus tour around the city visiting Arc de Triomphe, Champ Elysees, the high end shopping district Galleries Lafayette. On foot we explored the medieval part of Paris Montmartre  and the Moulin Rouge.  The rest of the day we broke off from the tour group and found an absinthe shop and spoke to the shop assistant about the history and art of drinking the potent drink. Lunch was spent on the smaller (not so touristy) island in Paris, Île Saint-Louis. Amber was treated to the best hot chocolate she has ever had apart from one in Italy four years ago that she still raves on about. We found a chocolate shop on our travels that had the most amazing chocolate items. shoes, handbags, donald duck and guitars all made out of chocolate. Dinner was back in Bercy at another beautiful restaurant before seeing the 11pm lights sparkle on the Eiffel tower. Day 3: Our final day we spent at the Louvre the highlight being the sculpture of Psyche Revived by Cupid’s kiss and The Raft of Medusa. It was a long journey back across the Channel with very empty wallets.

 

West End & South Bank

We recently saw Shrek the musical on West End, being the second show (after the Lion King) we have seen in our time here. Both nights were fantastic. The night we saw the Lion King it reached 30degrees that day and the Theatre had no air con. I felt so sorry for the actors. We watched Shrek with Daddy dearest. Alex laughed like a school boy through all the rude jokes! It was that night the Tottenham riots occurred. We were in that part of town a couple of hours before hand- its possible to see how something like that could occur, we spent an hour trying to get into a bar for a drink with Dad but the streets were packed, bars even worse! Think the easter show but everyone is drinking. Yesterday we wandered to the South Bank of London for the Jubilee food Markets. A lot of European produce mostly French and Turkish. Lunch we had on the Thames in a pub. I had the most amazing meal – a lamb shank pie with literally a whole lamb shank in the pie.   Alex is yet to find fish and chips that beat the shop in Drummoyne!

Loving “Notting Hill”

So today we ventured out to Notting Hill. Yes the suburb featured in the movie by the same name. It was amazing! Beautiful weather for our short bus ride, then walked for at least an hour along the markets on Portobello rd. It is supposed to be the worlds largest market. There was literally everything you could possible want from spice stalls, mini cooper models, leather and lace stands, hand made items and record albums. Unfortunately we didn’t make it all the way to the end of the markets – so we shall return another day. I wasn’t able to find any locations from the film but being only 20mins from home the hunt will continue.

Hello world!

Hello, Welcome to our blog.

The reason Alex and I are starting one is to enable us to update you on what we are doing, while sharing photos as well. Otherwise we’ll lose track of who we told what!