Bath - it's old school!

It aint warm over on this side of the channel.

It's kind of weird to have gone from, two or so weeks ago, temperatures in their high twenties, to now overnight lows of below zero.  It's not necessarily a bad thing - there's something beautiful about a crisp autumn day;  Big piles of leaves to kick, clear watery light coming in through the empty branches of the trees, and mulled wine.

Oh, and flooding.

We headed up to Bath to catch up with a friend and to have a look at the city.  Even coming in by train, the water was everywhere, like riding a train over a huge lake, rather than a river.

The Abbey sits over the Christmas Market

Nonetheless, Bath is a truly beautiful city.  We arrived in the middle of their Christmas Market, so we drank mulled wine and ate British pies (What, I hear you ask are British pies?  Simple, they're pies made in Britain.  Duh.) and did some shopping.

As you can see from the picture, it was an absolutely beautiful crisp autumn day.

Our lovely host made us a roast pork dinner that evening, which was lovely!


Day two we made a late start to the day and headed to the Roman Baths.  Bath is a city that was built around service to these baths, so is a very old place.  Unlike other Ancient Roman cities we've visited however, the whole city was essentially built over the top of the older city, so it's a mix of ancient and other times.

How the Romans did it!

Still, the Baths are amazing.  Naturally hot, steaming water in these Roman Ruins, plus the story of where all the water comes and goes.  The ruins are quite well preserved and well researched, so you get a real idea of what the place used to be like.

After that, we had a walk through the Victorian Part of the city - Victoria Park and the Royal Crescent.  Quite beautiful.

The last day we decided to head out of the city and, rather than be overly touristy and go see Stonehenge, we went and saw a henge that was made of stones.  BAM!

Avebury is quite interesting - you get there by driving through this old English country side - thatched houses, cute brickwork stores, bricked in paddocks.  Then you arrive at the stones themselves - huge circles of stone in large circles.  Very interesting, and not as touristy and Stonehenge (apparently).  Well worth the morning out of the city.

Nick and Corry get Stoned!  Hah!

So yes, if you need a break from the Big City, I'd highly recommend a weekend away to Bath.  Take a car, because touring around the countryside is also very interesting and cute as well.

Oh, I do like to be beside the Seaside...

After five days in London, we decided a seaside holiday might be nice!

In November.

In temperatures ranging between 5-10 degrees.

Ah, a beach holiday!


Anyway, we took the train from London to Brighton (helpful tip for new players, make sure you book online in advance, you can end up spending three times as much booking on the day as booking online) and were met at the other end by our lovely host Shannon who met us at the station with - get this - cocktails in takeaway coffee cups.  Start as you intend to continue!

Then, after dropping our stuff off at the house and a quick dinner, we headed out to an quintessential British Experience - The Pub Quiz.  We came fifth, but who cares, we had so much fun!  And we met a few other locals who gave us their take on the city.  Plus cider.  There was cider.

So a quick tour of a couple of other local pubs (there may have been more to drink), we made our way back to the house.  

First evening, a success!

The next day we made our way downtown to the Lanes.  After a lovely brunch of Smoked Salmon Benedict and a soya mocha (yes, a real soya mocha!  Sorry, it's been a while), we window shopped in all the cute little stores in the middle of town.  Yes, I tried on a purple top hat.  Sorry folks, had to be done.

Then we made our way down to Brighton Pier - it's kinda gray, depressing and plastic.  But, as we are wont to do, we made the most of it.  I tried to win a stuffed Dalek and failed.  Brighton Beach is similar to Nice in that there's no sand, it's just pebbles.  So it's not that great for just walking or sitting on.  Plus it was raining and gray, so all in all...

After that, we made our way to the Royal Pavillion.  We didn't go in, but had a good look around the outside as well as a look around the museum.  It's an amazing building from the outside, with Indian style domes - very flamboyant.

After more coffee and chocolate, we had a quiet night in.


Day two started off with home made eggs benedict.  While we were going to head outside of the city and see the Seven Sisters, it was too late by the time we got out of the city.  So instead we just hung out at local places:
 - We drunk mulled cider and ate chocolate guiness cake
 - We had lunch in the gay district
 - Then headed into the lanes and had delicious chocolate brownies
 - And then Shannon cooked us home made Paella
 - Before we went out for drinks in the Gay District again.

So yes, essentially a day of eating and drinking.


So Brighton was absolutely lovely.  It's a funky city full of fun, hip people, amazing shops, great eatings and drinkings.  I think it would be lovely to go back for a long weekend in a slightly warmer period.

Next stop - Bath.

Last Day in London

Our last day in London was one of those, "What haven't we seen, what's still be done?" days.

So we started off with a visit to Tate London (Or Tate 1.0 as I like to call it).  Really not overly fascinating - it's free so that's all good, but if you only have time for one of the Tates, make it the modern.  Perhaps by this time we were slightly over museums - it's a possibility.

More walking ensued - lunch followed by a visit to Hyde Park and a walk along the Serpentine.  Then quickly swung by Royal Albert Hall and more wandering through Knightsbridge.  Then off to the Saachi gallery to look around.  This was much more interesting than the Tate.  These I imagine are exhibitions which change on a regular basis.  Slightly disturbing, but well worth it.

As always, the best part of any city is meeting up with locals and trying their recommendations - especially when it comes to food.  So we had dinner with a couple of expat kiwis and had dinner at a really cool hamburger restaurant - if you go to London, I'd highly recommend Meat Liquour.  Delicious things made of meat.


So, for all intents and purposes, that's London done and dusted for the time-being.  We'll come back for a day or two soon, but for now we're complete.  

London is an amazing city.  I was expecting something dark and enclosed and bland.  Instead, this is a city which mixes the old and the new - its history meets its modern role as a capital of Europe.  I found the city to be colourful and vibrant - its bars and restaurants were great, its travel networks are efficient and easy to use.  Like any big city, it can take a bit to get used to and figure out where you are, but that is something that comes with experience.

We'll definitely be back! 

Buh-Bye!

A weekend in London

Dragon-ey Goodness at the Tower

So Friday, after a late start to the day, we decided to go and look around the Tower of London.  We had turned up the previous day an hour before closing, and the entry person suggested we perhaps wanted to give ourselves more time. 

So glad we did!  We spent about three hours looking around the whole facility.  An absolutely fascinating piece of British history.  If you do decide to go, I’d highly recommend taking one of the Yeomen tours – for a start, you’re able to get into the Chapel which you wouldn’t otherwise be able to, also they provide some great stories and entertainment to go along with the visit, and there’s no additional cost.

Then, after catching up with a friend for a (very) late lunch, we took a stroll through Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Leister square etc.  I’d also highly recommend a quick tour around the National Portrait Gallery – some very interesting takes on ‘portraits’, as well as some great photography and painting.

Gay’d it up with dinner and drinks in Soho to finish off the day – thoroughly enjoyable, very vibrant and fun community.

Then ‘twas a weekend of markets.

We started off on Saturday morning by heading to the Barnes Market, this amazing little Farmers Market that had a lot of delicious gourmet food.  And a duck pond. 

After that, we caught a bus into town and headed to Notting Hill markets.  This is a... well, to be honest, a market for all sorts.  We ordered ham and cheese crepes, wandered down the packed streets peering into antique stores, food markets, clothing booths... You name it, you could get it!  Plus the Notting Hill Buzz is something else altogether.

Then we took our first double decker bus ride!!!  We went from Notting Hill to Knightsbridge and hit up Harrods.  This is an AMAZING store - we only hit the food halls and the gift shop, but even this is enough to make you drool.

After Harrods, we made our way up to the Victoria and Albert Museum and viewed the costume exhibit - this was sooo much fun!  The Tim Burton Catwoman costume, the Batman outfit, the Ruby Slippers (Take two), just a really interesting insight into Hollywood.  Very cool.

Brick Lane Markets

Sunday started off with a visit to Brick Lane Market.  Once you get past all the curry houses closest to the Subway, this is a fantastic way to kill some time on a Sunday afternoon.  Very kitcsh, very cool, very alternative.  We also found this old factory style building that had different food stalls with food   from all around the world, so we enjoyed the most delicious Chinese dumplings on noodles.  Absolutely fantastic.

Making our way back into town, we stopped for a quick coffee in SoHo and then made our way to the Natural History Museum (for those of you who are interested, you might want to have a quick look at maps to see how far this means we walked...).  Nothing like dinosaurs to finish a day off. 

Two more days left in London - my, we have packed in an awful lot of goodness over the last few days!

London, Part II

So, after a day of settling in and getting used to English again after three months on the Continent, we decided to start off with the tourist hot spots, so off to Westminster.

So when one arrives in the city and comes out of Waterloo Station and heads towards the river, the first impressive sight you really notice is the London Eye.  Towering over it's surroundings, it looks exceptionally touristy and out of place... but we'll come back to that.

Next, we've crossed the Westminster Bridge and came up to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  All that's going through my head is the first two bars of "Rule Brittania!"  Once again, one of those buildings that you've seen so many times in movies and TV, but there it is - in front of you for the first time.

Following that, we quickly headed up to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guards.  While a little late, we were a little surprised to see them playing "Live and Let Die" and the Austin Powers Theme!  Good to see them having a sense of humour - I half expected the Queen to come onto the Balcony and say, "We are not amused!"

The Palace itself is not super interesting -  a large grey building, really, but the Changing of the Guard was a lot of fun.  The bright costumes, the fun music, the pomp and ceremony of it all, the police on horse back, would love to go see it again at some point.  By the time we got there we didn't have a great viewpoint, so will definitely get there early next time (trip for other travellers!)

Then a wander down Pall Mall, past Trafalgar Square and down to the London Eye again.  This time we took it for a spin (hah!  Dad Joke!).

From atop the Eye

Yes, it's expensive and touristy, but it's also a great way to get some perspective on the city which can prove difficult initially.  And the views are great, with the touch screen providing interesting history behind the different buildings.

From the Eye we made our way along South Bank where they were setting up for the Christmas Market.  We passed the Globe Theatre and walked up the Thames up to the Tower Bridge.  Stunning.  Then, after a quick visit to the Tower (we didn't go in this time), we walked back along the river to the Tate Modern.

Tower Bridge!

Tate Modern is an interesting buiding.  A converted power plant made into a modern art gallery, it has some stunning spaces.  We managed to catch a very interesting temporary exhibition on William Klein.  Absolutely fascinating.

So another busy day, and then back to the suburbs for the night. 

Plenty more London to come!

London, Baby!

Gotta love those trains.

11:00am, standing in Paris' Gare du Nord.
12:30pm, standing in London's St Pancras.

No two hour check in, no long drive to the airport.  Boarding half an hour before leaving, and straight off.  Not even a passport check on the other side. 

Trains are the way to go, folks!

On top of that, after leaving a rather gray and grizzly Paris, we arrived on a rather beautiful London day.  Not warm per se, but beautifully crisp and clear.  So we spent the first afternoon looking around Euston.

At the British Museum!

After quickly getting our bearings we started off by visiting the London Library, where they have the Magna Carta on display, as well as several other important treasures of the UK.  Very cool to see Beethoven's tuning fork and one of Shakespeare's folios.
Then, after that, a trip to the British Museum.  Following the Shakespeare theme through a little further, they had an exhibition about the Bard and London around his time.  Very fascinating to put his works into context.

Oh - also the Rosetta Stone and some ancient Egyptian-ey and Greek-ey goodness.  But we've seen all that before! :)

Then a quick dinner in town, and off to our friend's place to get a good night's sleep.

Further days to come soon, but am very much liking these towns so far.

DISNEYLAND!!!! (Oh, and Versailles)

When one is going to the Happiest Place on... well, in Europe, one might get a little excited.  Even if one is in one's thirties.  

So we got up and had breakfast.  After having a bit of a kerfuffle with how to get there and how to buy tickets, we finally arrived at Disneyland Paris at about 11:30. 

DISNEYLAND!!! (Paris).

Okay, I'm in my 30's.  I'm a mature, responsible adult.  But I really didn't care!  I was grinning from ear to ear, squee-ing with the best of them in sheer childhood joy.  We did all the standard stuff - Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Carribean, plus a whole lot of little, fun stuff  - Buzz Light Year, It's a small World... 

And then at the end of the day, they lit up Sleeping Beauty's Castle with an amazing light show - fire works, flame balls, water projection.  Absolutely a stunning way to finish a great day.

Me about to go SQUEEE!!

Star Wars!

Who's cuter?

Pretty pink castle!

O-arrgh!  Pirates!

Had to be done...

Bye-Bye Disneyland, you were AWESOME!!!

 Such fun!

So, after a great day at Disneyland, the following day we spent at Versailles.  It's an absolutely amazing palace set in what has to be one of the largest gardens that I have ever seen in my life.  From the Hall of Mirrors to the King's bed chambers, the absolute majesty and sheer luxury of the facilities is overwhelming.  And this is after a lot of the furnishings were destroyed or given to the people after the Revolution.

You can understand why the populace was getting disillusioned with the Monarchy when they were living in such unadulterated wealth and they were living in such squalor.

Still, an amazing experience and I'd highly recommend anyone having a look around should they head to Paris - well worth a day trip out of the city.

So... for now we say goodbye to Continental Europe - next step, ol' London Town.

Paris, Part Deux

It was Nick's birthday wish to be in Paris for his birthday.  And of course, who am I to possibly object?

So we arrived in Paris on Saturday evening and, after settling ourselves settled in and having a good night's sleep, we decided on Sunday to tourist the crap of out this city.

We started off with a walk from the Louvre, down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.  On the way, we stopped off on the way to visit the Musee d'Orangerie (which had a rather lovely impressionist exhibition), the Grand Palais (currently exhibiting two very intriguing exhibitions - Boheme about the development of the French Bohemiem culture out of its gypsy roots, and also an extensive exhibition of Hopper's work, including the famous Nighthawks), and saw the end of the Armistice Day Parade (Sunday being 11/11).  

At the end we arrived at the Arc du Triomphe.  I think it's still going to be a while before one gets over the fact that one is in the prescence of these objects of cultural, political and popular history.  Still, rather magnifcent and great just to be there.

So, afterwards we headed away down towards the Eiffel Tower (It's still there, you'll all be pleased to know).  There was an exhibition of the Berlin Bears (2.5m tall painted bears - there was one to represent all the nations of the world), which was lovely.  And of course, it being Nick's birthday, we celebrated by having a picnic in the surrounding gardens.  Nick ate cake under the tower itself.

So, after our picnic lunch, we headed up to Montmartre to explore the area.  This is (apart from the EXTREME red light district) a very interesting part of the city (Yes, we saw the Moulin Rouge) - in between the flat and the Cathedral there are some lovely squares and interesting little side streets with great little boutique stores, cafes, bars.

So a busy day!

Day two and three - well, this has been a pretty long post in itself, I'll post the other two shortly.

A rather lovely side step

After Luxembourg, we had to decide where to for a few days?  We thought maybe Rheims, but without a car we'd probably just be bussing around all day, plus we can always buy Champagne anywhere.  Tours was an option, but it turned out to be very expensive.

So, quickly crowd sourcing the options, we decided on a few days in Lille.  

The beautiful city of Lille

We were a little concerned in the approach - it appeared to be more of a transport hub than a destination, and it has more of an industrial history.  However we were pleasantly surprised.  From the moment you leave the station, you see amazing sculptural art work on the streets, which are clean and fresh, especially in the autumn crispness.

We were lucky enough to arrive in the middle of their arts fest - Fantastic - so there were a lot of great things to see.  We managed to go and see quite a few art galleries - Tripostal, the Palais des Beaux Arts, the Maison Folies, the Musee de Hospice Comtesse, all with some absolutely fantastic works.  If you can get to this city before February, I'd higly recommend popping by.  Plus they have some impressive art work on display just around the streets.

Yes, that is an upside down house.

On top of this, we had some really delicious food, and the old town was truly spectacular - an interesting mix of modern and ancient.  I'd also highly recommend this small city for shopping - it has some great little boutique stores.  It's an easy place to get to - an hour outside of Paris by train on the TGV.

So yes, highly recommend a stop in Lovely Lille.

Luxembourg

We decided to add another country under our belt, so have left France for a couple of days and crossed the border into Luxembourg.  We didn't spend particularly long in this country - we based ourselves in Luxembourg.

Pretty canyons

 Quite a small country - about 1% the size of New Zealand land wise, and about 10% of the population.  Yet it is incredibly wealthy - it is one of the banking capitals of the world, and thousands of Europeans come in every day to work in the city from France, Germany and Belgium.  And being wealthy it is very expensive - it was cheaper for us to drive to Germany and have dinner there one night (in a lovely little town called Trier where we went to a Schnizel restaurant:  Nick had Schnizel, I had goose for the first time!  Delish, served with roasted chestnuts, potato dumplings and red cabbage!)

Nick's dinner - old school schnizel

And mine - roast goose!

Anyway, back to Luxembourg.  It's a city that is built around a set of canyons which provide natural defences for the city, which its human inhabitants have then made excellent use of, digging into the stone work.  Unfortunately with the weather now getting colder, these were closed to the public, but still the cliffs provide amazing views, and it's great to walk through the canyons with the bridges above you and the canyon walls running up.

Probably worth a couple of days exploring - at this time of year, like lots of places we've visited, it's stunning with the Autumn leaf colouring, but you do have to be careful, it can be rather cold and gray.  Although we were lucky.

Back into France again next!

Strasbourg

The hotel room has a slight wet dog smell.

We got caught in the rain as we went out for dinner this evening.  And wearing a woolen coat and hat, it has a slight... whiff now that it's sitting and drying.  But all considered, if that's the worst thing that happens to us in Strasbourg, we'll still have had a wonderful time.

So very pretty!

This is an amazing place.  On the border between Germany and France, this place has changed hands several times, so is a very interesting mix of German and French influence.  Honestly, the best way I can think of describing it is like something out of an old-school Disney film!  

Oh, and the food, the food!  We have eaten so many delicious things over the last three days!  Spetzel, tarte flambee, cockerel, duck, savoury crepes, vin chaud (mulled wine) ... absolutely stunning!  

We've walked along rivers, visited the cathedral (which is pretty cool), gone up to the EU buildings, admired Petite France and the falling autumn leaves, eaten gingerbread, walked across historic bridges, saw... something related to a beaver or otter in the river, all in all just had a wonderful time.

Such pretty houses!