...So naturally we spent the day exploring the coast, including a visit to see the location of Dragonstone, as well as a bracing hike to the Giant's Causeway, a stunning basalt volcanic formation famous the world over for the stories of Finn McCool who continues to sleep beneath the rock to this day.
The drive through the countryside was lovely, and it took around an hour and a half to get to the first destination. the temple and castle ruins that served as the backdrop to the burning sequence in season one of Game of Thrones. From there, we made our way to the causeway via the coastal route, which isn't really as coastal as you'd expect, but a good drive nevertheless. The hike to see everything took around two and half hours, and by the end the weather had come in with wind gusts of over 100mph, which isn't brilliant when you're walking up a cliff. We've never felt anything like it. Right at the end, it began to rain, which is quite painful on bare skin when it's sideways at that speed.
We weren't in the ridiculous weather for that long, and we got back in the car for our journey home. After a quick trip up to our room, we realised that Tuesdays at the cinema here are ridiculously cheap (three pounds per ticket) so we walked to a local cinema to see Sisters (review is up). It was thoroughly enjoyable, and after a quick pub stop afterwards for a drink, we came back up to our room for much needed rest after a very big day.
- Jess
Day 18 - Belfast
Today we explored Belfast, and it would seem that aside from post Christmas shopping, everything here shuts down. We began by walking through the CBD to the botanic gardens and palm house and on to the Ulster Museum. The museum was deserted, so we took our time learning about 'The Troubles' in an excellent exhibition which was balanced, clear and surprisingly unbiased considering where it appears. This is a city clearly still grappling with its recent past, the graffiti we've seen alludes to the undercurrent of civil dissatisfaction that has been heightened by the fallout of the GFC here in Northern Ireland in particular. Being in an industrial city is also a change aesthetically speaking. There's an incongruity in the architecture from what we've seen elsewhere; brutalist industrial buildings abutting Victorian era pubs and homes, with new developments and 70's blocks in between. It's a fascinating city to explore.
After our wander in the museum we made our way past the university to the major shopping district, where we finally found where everyone was - sales. We shopped for a few hours, I bought a jumper, but it was mostly just a window shop. We had dinner at Five Guys, yes it's American, but it was very tasty.
Everything shuts at six, so we picked up some nibbles and went back to our hotel as the weather had turned, nothing was really open, and tomorrow is going to be a big day. Currently watching The Hogfather on tv and drinking cups of tea, and Guinness.
After our wander in the museum we made our way past the university to the major shopping district, where we finally found where everyone was - sales. We shopped for a few hours, I bought a jumper, but it was mostly just a window shop. We had dinner at Five Guys, yes it's American, but it was very tasty.
Everything shuts at six, so we picked up some nibbles and went back to our hotel as the weather had turned, nothing was really open, and tomorrow is going to be a big day. Currently watching The Hogfather on tv and drinking cups of tea, and Guinness.
26th and 27th of December - We're on a boat...
Boxing day meant a very early start, as we had a 700km trip to the Lake District to drive. We made excellent time through the countryside until we hit Cumbria, where flood waters created huge traffic jams and cut off roads. As a result, we didn't arrive at our beautiful hotel until it was evening, and we had to fjord a road or two on the way.
Because of the conditions, we thought it best to eat at the hotel rather than risk going out again, and we had a fantastic dinner, one of the nicest so far. Andrew had steak, and I was thoroughly impressed with Rudolph (venison). We went back to our room in time to watch The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and promptly fell asleep afterwards as we were exhausted.
This morning we woke up fairly early again so that we could get some daylight hours to explore before making our way to Scotland to catch a ferry to Ireland. And what a stunningly beautiful morning it was. There was no cloud, and in the sunny but freezing outdoors we could actually see the countryside in all its picture postcard glory. We wandered through the woods down to the ruins of Furness Abbey, and it was just beautiful. The scale of what would have once been a gargantuan building was clearly visible, and the red stone looked even more spectacular in its bed of lush grass that carpets the entire ruin. It was a lovely way to spend our morning before another long drive.
After yesterday, we needed to make sure we were going to be on time for the ferry, so we allowed five hours for what google told us would be a three and a half hour drive. We needn't have worried, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, and the sunny skies meant our day of winding through the Scottish countryside was brilliant, as we could actually see the scenery!
Then it was onto a very big, surprisingly luxurious boat. There's a cinema, a number of bars and restaurants and lounge areas, so our short two and a half hour cruise was spent in comfort. That being said, I still felt a little ill (boats and I do not mix) but a few laps of the deck helped. We arrived in Belfast around six, and after a short drive to our hotel, we settled into our lovely room and then went out for a very tasty pub meal where I discovered sloe gin. So good.
Now we're back, as everything is shut after nine on a Sunday night (feels a little like Adelaide in winter really) and we'll get to bed early so we're rested for a big day of exploring.
- Jess
Because of the conditions, we thought it best to eat at the hotel rather than risk going out again, and we had a fantastic dinner, one of the nicest so far. Andrew had steak, and I was thoroughly impressed with Rudolph (venison). We went back to our room in time to watch The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and promptly fell asleep afterwards as we were exhausted.
This morning we woke up fairly early again so that we could get some daylight hours to explore before making our way to Scotland to catch a ferry to Ireland. And what a stunningly beautiful morning it was. There was no cloud, and in the sunny but freezing outdoors we could actually see the countryside in all its picture postcard glory. We wandered through the woods down to the ruins of Furness Abbey, and it was just beautiful. The scale of what would have once been a gargantuan building was clearly visible, and the red stone looked even more spectacular in its bed of lush grass that carpets the entire ruin. It was a lovely way to spend our morning before another long drive.
After yesterday, we needed to make sure we were going to be on time for the ferry, so we allowed five hours for what google told us would be a three and a half hour drive. We needn't have worried, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, and the sunny skies meant our day of winding through the Scottish countryside was brilliant, as we could actually see the scenery!
Then it was onto a very big, surprisingly luxurious boat. There's a cinema, a number of bars and restaurants and lounge areas, so our short two and a half hour cruise was spent in comfort. That being said, I still felt a little ill (boats and I do not mix) but a few laps of the deck helped. We arrived in Belfast around six, and after a short drive to our hotel, we settled into our lovely room and then went out for a very tasty pub meal where I discovered sloe gin. So good.
Now we're back, as everything is shut after nine on a Sunday night (feels a little like Adelaide in winter really) and we'll get to bed early so we're rested for a big day of exploring.
- Jess
Day 15 - Christmas Day
Christmas Day, otherwise known as food coma day. We've had the laziest Christmas ever. We slept in late, then walked downstairs for Christmas lunch at 12.30pm. Five courses later, we were absolutely stuffed to the gills with delicious food. The hotel decorated the dining room beautifully, and we wore stupid hats, popped party poppers and enjoyed the weird tradition of flying balloons - everyone had a long balloon in their gift box that's only purpose was to blow up and then release without tying it, emitting a long fart noise whilst torpedoing around the room. And everyone in the dining room did this. It was great fun.
They lit the fires during lunch, so we spent a couple of hours just lounging in front of one with coffee and mince pies, trying not to fall asleep. Then we went back to our room and did some Christmas special streaming. We bought some 'dinner' yesterday, so around seven we cracked out the snacks and had a makeshift dinner, finishing off the Irish cream in the process. It was great to be able to watch Dr Who as it aired for a change, and we just finished the final episode of Downton Abbey as well.
Tomorrow is entirely devoted to driving 700kms up to Barrow-in-Furness, so we'll succumb to sleep to rise and shine very early in the morning. We hope everyone had a brilliant Christmas back home, we'll update again soon!
- Jess
They lit the fires during lunch, so we spent a couple of hours just lounging in front of one with coffee and mince pies, trying not to fall asleep. Then we went back to our room and did some Christmas special streaming. We bought some 'dinner' yesterday, so around seven we cracked out the snacks and had a makeshift dinner, finishing off the Irish cream in the process. It was great to be able to watch Dr Who as it aired for a change, and we just finished the final episode of Downton Abbey as well.
Tomorrow is entirely devoted to driving 700kms up to Barrow-in-Furness, so we'll succumb to sleep to rise and shine very early in the morning. We hope everyone had a brilliant Christmas back home, we'll update again soon!
- Jess
Day 14 - Christmas Eve
Firstly, Christmas lunch crisis was averted in the morning when we were informed that we could in fact have Christmas lunch here at the hotel, which is brilliant news. With that sorted, we went for brunch at a local cafe, then we made our way down the cliffs for a nice walk on the beach - once again, many people were out surfing, in spite of the freezing wind. The sun was out, so we spent a while exploring sea caves and enjoying the fresh air.
Then it was time to explore some countryside, so we drove to a famous cyder (that's how it's spelled) farm and whiled away the afternoon tasting cyder, drinking tea and eating scones with jam and cream. The Cornish countryside is beautiful, and the sunny skies made for a lovely drive along the (very, very narrow) country lanes.
On our way home we stopped off to get some Christmas dinner treats for tomorrow evening, and we finally got around to eating some Cornish pasty for dinner. Now we're hole up in our room watching Christmas specials, eating Quality Streets and imbibing Irish Cream at an alarming rate. Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful family and friends back in Adelaide, we hope you have a brilliant day, and enjoy the sun for us!
- Jess
Then it was time to explore some countryside, so we drove to a famous cyder (that's how it's spelled) farm and whiled away the afternoon tasting cyder, drinking tea and eating scones with jam and cream. The Cornish countryside is beautiful, and the sunny skies made for a lovely drive along the (very, very narrow) country lanes.
On our way home we stopped off to get some Christmas dinner treats for tomorrow evening, and we finally got around to eating some Cornish pasty for dinner. Now we're hole up in our room watching Christmas specials, eating Quality Streets and imbibing Irish Cream at an alarming rate. Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful family and friends back in Adelaide, we hope you have a brilliant day, and enjoy the sun for us!
- Jess
Day 13 – Newquay is gnarly, man…
This is such a surfer’s town, in spite of the fact that it’s
here in England. We’re overlooking beautiful Newquay beach, which had over 25
people out the back enjoying the excellent waves, I can only assume they either
don’t feel the cold, or have heated wetsuits.
We slept in this morning, meaning that there was actually
sunlight when were ventured out, so we took the opportunity to walk along the
cliffs to the headland to visit Rick Stein’s fish restaurant. It was lovely, a
fantastic view over the ocean, and I had some great fried Cod chips. Dogs are
more welcome here than in London, in pubs and restaurants they’re frequently
found lazing about with their owners, and here was no exception.
After a leisurely brunch we began the hunt for a place to
have Christmas lunch. Ah, what naïve sweet summer children we are. I had
naturally assumed that we could eat at our hotel on Christmas day, provided we
couldn’t book anywhere else, so it was only with mild disappointment that we
were told they were fully booked. Oh well, we thought, there’ll be plenty of
other places.
Wrong. So wrong. We spent our afternoon walking to every
single hotel, restaurant, takeaway and food outlet to be told one of three
things: We’re not open on Christmas day; we’re fully booked; try (insert place
here) and repeat the first or second phrase. Over twenty venues later, I
thought never mind, we can just get room service. Ha! Turns out, due to
Christmas lunch, there is no room service on Christmas day. We came back to our
room to begin calling less local places in the hope of being able to drive
somewhere. After ten phone calls, all of which were met with the same fully
booked mantra, we gave up.
We had a nice meal at a restaurant across the road for tea,
and have reconciled ourselves to having our own homemade Christmas in our room.
However, this is somewhat complicated by the fact that we have neither a fridge
nor microwave in our room (as an aside, I’ve rekindled my great hatred of long
life milk in tea) so we’re going to have to get creative. Currently drinking
Archers and lemonade in a can, ruminating on what to do next.
- Jess
- Jess
Day 11 & 12 - Goodbye London, Hello Cornwall
Wow, an epic two days! Apologies for no entry yesterday, we didn't get to sleep until about 12.30am and had to be up at 6.am. So, last day in London was a full day of food, shopping, movies, concerts and awesomeness.
We went back to Electric Diner for lunch, it was excellent, and finished up the last of the shopping in Portobello Road. The rain set in at this time, so we decided to use our vouchers to go and see The Good Dinosaur (review pending). This finished around 4.30pm, so we decided to make our way straight to Camden for our dinner before Ghost at Koko Theatre. We settled into the pub, had a couple of happy our drinks, and watched the very. very long line progress. Security was very thorough, Andrew was frisked three times, I was once and they searched bags. This meant it took quite some time to get in. - Jess
Day 10 - Museum-o-rama
Today was museum-o-rama! We began our morning at the beautiful Victoria and Albert museum, a stunning building with mosaic floors and a really eclectic mix of Mediaeval treasures, Asian artefacts, both ancient and modern, and some brilliant exhibitions devoted to the national theatre and, bizarrely, shoes.
After lunch we crossed over the road (they're all next to each other) into the Natural History museum. It was very crowded, but fun nevertheless. T-Rex was in fine form, oodles of rocks...and more rocks...sparkly rocks, space rocks, weathered rocks...all the rocks. The blue whale was under construction, so we could only see him through scaffolding. We had a quick cup of tea at the conclusion, and then made our way next door to the Science museum. Because holidays have begun, they're open until 7pm.- Jess
Day 9 - Laundry Day
Today was really about a little rest, only 12 000 steps, we had a bit of a sleep in until nine, then went for brunch back on Portobello Road at Electric Diner. We wandered around for a few hours, I bought a vintage coat that belonged to a 'London celebrity' (*sure* it did...) and we bought some gifts.
Then, as inevitably happens, it was time to do laundry. Yay. After that was done, it was dinner time and we had Pizza Express, which was tasty, did a little more shopping, and then came back to our room. A rather boring day, but we needed to rest. A few observations:
The tea here is lovely, as you would expect, though lots of places are perplexed when you ask for honey. Filter coffee is big here, we've had both good and bad, I'm not yet convinced by it.
Customer service is either exceptional or totally non-existent, there's no middle ground to speak of.
Dogs are allowed everywhere, which is adorable and weird, the tube has signs saying that dogs must be carried on the escalators, and people take them into shops, but people don't pick up after them very well, at least, not on the footpaths.
Times that things end/begin are strange - retail shops sometimes open at nine, or ten, or eleven, and close between 4pm and 10pm, though it's not consistent between types or even location. Pubs stop serving food really early - we were 'too late' at seven o'clock and turned away. It seems to be seven thirty at some other pubs. But again, inconsistent. Supermarkets are sometimes open until 10pm, but it seems dependent on size, or maybe type?
Christmas jumpers are a celebrated thing here, at least a third of people wear them when out and about.
It's also been so 'warm' here that daffodils have sprung up in confusion, apparently.
We're now well rested, so it's back to more intense touristing tomorrow.
- Jess
Then, as inevitably happens, it was time to do laundry. Yay. After that was done, it was dinner time and we had Pizza Express, which was tasty, did a little more shopping, and then came back to our room. A rather boring day, but we needed to rest. A few observations:
The tea here is lovely, as you would expect, though lots of places are perplexed when you ask for honey. Filter coffee is big here, we've had both good and bad, I'm not yet convinced by it.
Customer service is either exceptional or totally non-existent, there's no middle ground to speak of.
Dogs are allowed everywhere, which is adorable and weird, the tube has signs saying that dogs must be carried on the escalators, and people take them into shops, but people don't pick up after them very well, at least, not on the footpaths.
Times that things end/begin are strange - retail shops sometimes open at nine, or ten, or eleven, and close between 4pm and 10pm, though it's not consistent between types or even location. Pubs stop serving food really early - we were 'too late' at seven o'clock and turned away. It seems to be seven thirty at some other pubs. But again, inconsistent. Supermarkets are sometimes open until 10pm, but it seems dependent on size, or maybe type?
Christmas jumpers are a celebrated thing here, at least a third of people wear them when out and about.
It's also been so 'warm' here that daffodils have sprung up in confusion, apparently.
We're now well rested, so it's back to more intense touristing tomorrow.
- Jess
Day 8 - London Zoo
Today was enjoyably spent with the creeping, crawling, bounding, slithering and otherwise occupied animals of London Zoo. We met some pygmy goats (and now I want one) and there's a walk through Tamarind and Lemur exhibit where you can get up close and personal with these ridiculously cute monkeys (yes, Lemur's are apparently a type of monkey).
Following our trip to the zoo, which took all day, we were exhausted, so naturally we found a cinema and went and saw Star Wars for a second time. It was even better on in second viewing. We were in Camden Town, which surprisingly had most of the food outlets shut by the time we came out, very odd as it's a 'party' part of the city. Some clubs were open, but pubs had stopped serving food, so we found a fantastic ramen place and enjoyed some excellent Japanese food for dinner.
A note on yesterday, in addition to seeing Star Wars, we found our way to platform nine and three quarters, where I acquired Hermione's wand and had photos of me pushing my Hogwarts trolley through the entrance to the platform. We also did lots of shopping in Carnaby Street and Kensington.
Day 7 - STAR WARS
We saw Star Wars. Nothing else matters.
Just stop reading this and go see Star wars. If you've already seen it. Go see it again.
- Love Andrew
Just stop reading this and go see Star wars. If you've already seen it. Go see it again.
- Love Andrew
Day 6 - Goodbye money
Ah London, what a magnificent city to haemorrhage money in. Today was brilliant, but eye-wateringly expensive. We began by walking though Hyde Park to Kensington Palace for morning tea, which had to be a Victoria sponge, and made our way through the park from there to Diana's memorial fountain towards Kensington. The reason for heading to Kensington was that we managed to get a booking at Heston's two Michelin star restaurant, Dinner. For two and a half hours on a weekday there is a set lunch menu which is expensive, but not prohibitively so, and we were able to get a table.
The food was exceptional, and also a little odd, as you might expect. As it's a set menu, there are only two choices for each course, so we just asked that they bring us one of each, and we swapped plates (discreetly-ish) halfway through each dish. I never thought I'd eat jellied pigs ear, but I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed it! The staff were thoroughly attentive, and we both had one glass of wine, from a thoroughly intimidating wine list that was over 40 pages long, with bottles over $4000 regularly peppered throughout. We each had a glass of the cheapest wine on the menu.
Lunch took around two hours, so we had quite some time to fill before our evening show, so we finally got to explore Harrods. What a ridiculous, opulent, altogether over the top place! It's fun to wander around and gaze at the displays and sheer level of opulence, but there is very little that's in the realm of even a semblance of affordability. There was a child's play house that was twenty thousand pounds! We wandered around most floors a little, and then made our way to H&M, a much more reasonable prospect.
We did a little shopping, and then explored Foyle's, a famous London bookstore, where I was delighted to pick up a first edition signed copy of Atwood's The Heart Goes Last, her new novel. By this stage we needed to get to Soho for our West End show, Miracle by Derren Brown. Our original seats in the beautiful Palace theatre were in the nose bleed section, but they were offering upgrades, so we paid a little more to get better seats in the stalls as we couldn't see some of the stage in our original ones. The show was fantastic, and it was brilliant to be able to see someone we've seen countless times on television 'work his magic' in the flesh, as we both never thought that we'd get the opportunity.
Soho and the West End late at night is very different to early evening, so rather than mill about, we decided to make our way back to our hotel in anticipation of seeing The Force Awakens tomorrow morning. 'Till next time, may the force be with you!
The food was exceptional, and also a little odd, as you might expect. As it's a set menu, there are only two choices for each course, so we just asked that they bring us one of each, and we swapped plates (discreetly-ish) halfway through each dish. I never thought I'd eat jellied pigs ear, but I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed it! The staff were thoroughly attentive, and we both had one glass of wine, from a thoroughly intimidating wine list that was over 40 pages long, with bottles over $4000 regularly peppered throughout. We each had a glass of the cheapest wine on the menu.
Lunch took around two hours, so we had quite some time to fill before our evening show, so we finally got to explore Harrods. What a ridiculous, opulent, altogether over the top place! It's fun to wander around and gaze at the displays and sheer level of opulence, but there is very little that's in the realm of even a semblance of affordability. There was a child's play house that was twenty thousand pounds! We wandered around most floors a little, and then made our way to H&M, a much more reasonable prospect.
We did a little shopping, and then explored Foyle's, a famous London bookstore, where I was delighted to pick up a first edition signed copy of Atwood's The Heart Goes Last, her new novel. By this stage we needed to get to Soho for our West End show, Miracle by Derren Brown. Our original seats in the beautiful Palace theatre were in the nose bleed section, but they were offering upgrades, so we paid a little more to get better seats in the stalls as we couldn't see some of the stage in our original ones. The show was fantastic, and it was brilliant to be able to see someone we've seen countless times on television 'work his magic' in the flesh, as we both never thought that we'd get the opportunity.
Soho and the West End late at night is very different to early evening, so rather than mill about, we decided to make our way back to our hotel in anticipation of seeing The Force Awakens tomorrow morning. 'Till next time, may the force be with you!
-Jess
Harrod's was a like a fancier David Jones, which has it's own brand that I couldn't care less about. They charge $50 for an empty shopping bag with their logo on it. What the actual?
We also saw (from a distance) the Star Wars premier here in London. There were police stopping plebs from going anywhere near the theatre so we saw nothing.
- Andrew
Day 5 - Tower of London, Westheads and Rain
A drizzly but thoroughly enjoyable day five. We arranged to meet the Westhead's in the afternoon, so we spent the morning at The Tower of London, which was magnificent! Not only were there no crowds, but our tour guide was also the Master of Ravens, and he was brilliantly entertaining. I had no idea that the Beefeaters actually live in the tower, as do a doctor, chaplain and other staff, so as he pointed out, we were essentially wandering around his front yard. The crown jewels are spectacular, but really it's the buildings of the tower complex that are absolutely fascinating. The exhibition of armour and weaponry was so nicely presented, with a dragon made from armour a highlight.
From the tower, we met Jess and Wezz at Hyde Park where we went for a couple of pints and a catch up before the group of us making our way to the Winter Wonderland in the park itself. It's the biggest Christmas market I've ever seen, with the rides of a theme park and the food of a traditional market. I decided to test my archery skills on a sideshow and ended up winning a giant Care Bear - a plan which was not well thought out on my part, as I've now got a giant bear to try and find room for.
Following some wandering, we said our goodbyes and made our way to a Jamie Oliver restaurant for tea. The food was great, though we were soaked at this point, so we decided to head back to our room to dry out and relax a bit. Yet again a delightful day in London Town.
From the tower, we met Jess and Wezz at Hyde Park where we went for a couple of pints and a catch up before the group of us making our way to the Winter Wonderland in the park itself. It's the biggest Christmas market I've ever seen, with the rides of a theme park and the food of a traditional market. I decided to test my archery skills on a sideshow and ended up winning a giant Care Bear - a plan which was not well thought out on my part, as I've now got a giant bear to try and find room for.
Following some wandering, we said our goodbyes and made our way to a Jamie Oliver restaurant for tea. The food was great, though we were soaked at this point, so we decided to head back to our room to dry out and relax a bit. Yet again a delightful day in London Town.
The Globe Theatre!
Two Hillys, both alike in dignity, in fair London(a) where we lay our scene:
From ancient desire to new adventures
Where civil exploration makes wanted joys now seen
From forth the curious minds of these two numptys
The pair of travellers finally have been
To the Bard's fair playhouse on the Thames
Fulfilling a long time dream...
Apologies for butchering the prologue, but I had to be somewhat Shakespearean in this post, as today was the day we visited The Globe theatre, and it was brilliant! Yes, it's not the original one, nor in the original geographical location, but it's as close as it's possible to get dammit, and I loved every second of it. Our tour guide was delightful, very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and the theatre itself was fascinating learn about in greater detail. A brilliant start to day four.
From the Globe we wandered to the Borough Markets, the oldest produce markets in London, for some very tasty lunch in a delightfully bustling atmosphere. Think Central Markets crossed with Fork in the Road, and that's pretty much the vibe of the place. Lunch was excellent, and we decided to then meander back to the Tate Modern for a modern art hit.
What a brilliant gallery the Tate is! A former power station, the architecture is on a massive scale rarely seen, and as a result there is room for some pretty spectacular installations. We were able to see Liechtenstein's Whaam! and Warhol's Marilyn Diptych in the flesh, which was just fantastic. In addition, there were some truly amazing sculptures which were fascinating in their construction, and like all galleries, it's a fantastic place to wander through.
After the Tate, it was well and truly dark, so we decided to get a few hours of shopping in at the shopping centre two stops from our hotel as I needed socks, and we had tasty burgers at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, did a little more shopping, before finally making our way back to our hotel. An epic day again - we're averaging around 18000 steps per day, around 13.5 km per day, which explains why my feet are suffering so much. Time to put them up in preparation for tomorrow.
From ancient desire to new adventures
Where civil exploration makes wanted joys now seen
From forth the curious minds of these two numptys
The pair of travellers finally have been
To the Bard's fair playhouse on the Thames
Fulfilling a long time dream...
Apologies for butchering the prologue, but I had to be somewhat Shakespearean in this post, as today was the day we visited The Globe theatre, and it was brilliant! Yes, it's not the original one, nor in the original geographical location, but it's as close as it's possible to get dammit, and I loved every second of it. Our tour guide was delightful, very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and the theatre itself was fascinating learn about in greater detail. A brilliant start to day four.
From the Globe we wandered to the Borough Markets, the oldest produce markets in London, for some very tasty lunch in a delightfully bustling atmosphere. Think Central Markets crossed with Fork in the Road, and that's pretty much the vibe of the place. Lunch was excellent, and we decided to then meander back to the Tate Modern for a modern art hit.
What a brilliant gallery the Tate is! A former power station, the architecture is on a massive scale rarely seen, and as a result there is room for some pretty spectacular installations. We were able to see Liechtenstein's Whaam! and Warhol's Marilyn Diptych in the flesh, which was just fantastic. In addition, there were some truly amazing sculptures which were fascinating in their construction, and like all galleries, it's a fantastic place to wander through.
After the Tate, it was well and truly dark, so we decided to get a few hours of shopping in at the shopping centre two stops from our hotel as I needed socks, and we had tasty burgers at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, did a little more shopping, before finally making our way back to our hotel. An epic day again - we're averaging around 18000 steps per day, around 13.5 km per day, which explains why my feet are suffering so much. Time to put them up in preparation for tomorrow.
Day 3 - Day in the Museum
Today was entirely devoted to the British Museum, and what a day it was. We arrived at just on 10am and left at 5pm having seen every part of this incredible place. Seeing the Rosetta Stone was amazing, and something I've now ticked off my bucket list. Add to this the phenomenal treasures this museum houses, not without controversy I might add, and it was really a day of trying to absorb wonder after wonder. The Parthenon wing was both astonishingly beautiful and also problematic, as I've never been entirely convinced that these treasures belong here in London rather than the Acropolis, and the accompanying explanations are quite British in their take on the issue. In spite of this, the stunning presentation was epic and considered.
Other highlights included seeing Cleopatra, the head of Rameses, Mesopotamian cuneiform friezes, Viking jewellery, Roman armour and the entirety of the King's Library Wing.
For dinner we went out to Hammersmith to a lovely pub for some Shepherd's pie and burgers, then we made our way back to our hotel. A brilliant way to spend our sixth anniversary in London :)
Other highlights included seeing Cleopatra, the head of Rameses, Mesopotamian cuneiform friezes, Viking jewellery, Roman armour and the entirety of the King's Library Wing.
For dinner we went out to Hammersmith to a lovely pub for some Shepherd's pie and burgers, then we made our way back to our hotel. A brilliant way to spend our sixth anniversary in London :)
Day two - Westminster Abbey to Trafalgar Square
Today, after a great sleep, it was sightseeing galore. After breakfast at out beautiful hotel in Notting Hill, we made our way to Westminster Abbey and did the full tour, courtesy of Jeremy Irons' disembodied voice. It was a brilliant experience, and a surprisingly moving one; seeing Newton's memorial, amongst the many others, Poet's corner and the various chapels within the Abbey was surreal. The stunning architecture and history spanning more than a thousand years made this a very special place to visit.
We had a muffin and tea in the Abbey cafe, then made our way to St James' Park, stopping to watch the changing of the horse guard, then following the horses up the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Queenie wasn't allowing tours, so we busied ourselves taking photographs of the courtyard and guards. We visited her gallery at the rear of the palace, and bought a little corgi as a memento.
From the palace we stopped at The Bag O'Nails and had a fish platter and beer/Pimms for lunch, before making our way to Wellington's Arch, which we were delighted to find had a little museum and a lift inside! We went up and took the opportunity to look over the War Memorial and Hyde Park. The plan was to visit St James' Palace, but it was closed, so we traipsed through St James' park, down Regent Street, to Piccadilly Circus. It's a busy intersection, essentially, in the theatre district. We had a little wander around, bought tickets to Derren Brown for Wednesday, and then walked past Whitehall to the National Gallery, where we spent a couple of hours wandering about admiring the (mostly Dutch) paintings. Nelson'd Column was infested with drunk Santa's (we assumed there was a pub crawl) so we made our way back to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament along the Thames.
Back on the tube, we popped back to our room to see where the best curry in our area was, then made our way to Dunbar - a recommended Indian restaurant down the road from the hotel. It was there we had some of the best Indian food I've ever tasted. Tired and stuffed to the gills with Lassie and curry, we staggered back to out hotel to get some much needed rest. Now to organise tomorrow and sleep :)
We had a muffin and tea in the Abbey cafe, then made our way to St James' Park, stopping to watch the changing of the horse guard, then following the horses up the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Queenie wasn't allowing tours, so we busied ourselves taking photographs of the courtyard and guards. We visited her gallery at the rear of the palace, and bought a little corgi as a memento.
From the palace we stopped at The Bag O'Nails and had a fish platter and beer/Pimms for lunch, before making our way to Wellington's Arch, which we were delighted to find had a little museum and a lift inside! We went up and took the opportunity to look over the War Memorial and Hyde Park. The plan was to visit St James' Palace, but it was closed, so we traipsed through St James' park, down Regent Street, to Piccadilly Circus. It's a busy intersection, essentially, in the theatre district. We had a little wander around, bought tickets to Derren Brown for Wednesday, and then walked past Whitehall to the National Gallery, where we spent a couple of hours wandering about admiring the (mostly Dutch) paintings. Nelson'd Column was infested with drunk Santa's (we assumed there was a pub crawl) so we made our way back to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament along the Thames.
Back on the tube, we popped back to our room to see where the best curry in our area was, then made our way to Dunbar - a recommended Indian restaurant down the road from the hotel. It was there we had some of the best Indian food I've ever tasted. Tired and stuffed to the gills with Lassie and curry, we staggered back to out hotel to get some much needed rest. Now to organise tomorrow and sleep :)
United Kingdom 2015/16 - Flight in and Day One
My God, I don't think it's possible to feel more tired. We left home at 7.45am on the 10th of December, and I'm writing this at 3.55pm in London, meaning we've not rested in over 40hours. I have vertigo. However, we've had a fantastic start to our trip. As we arrived well before check in, rather than sit in the hotel, we're right next to the Portobello Rd markets, so we decided to see how much we could explore. They are fantastic - I've already bought four dresses, three scarves and a pair of boots, and we saw pretty much everything. The prices range from very cheap (10 pounds for a dress) to very expensive (850 pounds for an antique cane) and all manner of things in between. The markets are a delightful mix of established clothing and antique stores, hipster eateries, old pubs, bric a brack stalls, vintage clothing shops and stalls, fresh produce and street food.
We had some lovely pastries and coffee in Second Cup, and then Andrew had a pie, mash and mushy peas with gravy from the most British eatery I could imagine - white and green tiles, washing dishes behind the counter, with an owner who sounded like Rose's mum, whose son was in the back making the mash. Delightful :) We visited virtually every shop and stall, finding a beautiful stall specialising in movable type and printing press decorative stamps - needless to say, much time was spent perusing the beautiful items. A few observations so far include: We both keep giggling at the accents, we watch too much British television and, as a result, we associate certain accents with comedy, regardless of the content of the conversation. Dogs appear to be more welcome here, with many of them being allowed in shops, and most of them are in jackets. Finally, where we're staying is both beautiful and insanely well-off, we counted no less than four Porches, one Aston, numerous Range Rovers and one Rolls Royce in less than 100m.
I think we'll go back to Portobello Rd tonight for tea, but right now it's time to have at least and hour or two of sleep as we're both virtually delirious at this point. We'll try to keep everyone updated here on the blog :)
- Jess
We didn't go back out. We just slept from 3pm until 7:33 am.
- Andrew
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