Wow, haven't blogged in a while...and that's because I've been in hibernation! It has felt like a very, very long winter and I have confirmed my suspicions that I am definitely not a winter person. But good news, today the sun has finally come out and for the first time in months I was able to go outside without a coat on...hooray!
Just had a really good weekend. On Saturday I went out with my housemates Hayley and Clare for breakfast at a cafe called Brew to celebrate Clare's birthday. We then went on to a pottery cafe where we got crafty and made our own mugs...so much fun! They are now going to the Kiln and we can pick them up in a week.
After pottery, I headed off to Waterloo to catch up with two of my old work colleagues from Perth- Louise who lives in London too, and Kath who is here visiting with her husband and gorgeous 8 month old baby. It was so good to see them both and to meet and get cuddles off little Owen!
After that I headed to Oxford St to meet my old housemate (from Perth) Gen who is on holiday here at the moment. We went for a bit of a shop then went out for dinner. So good to see her too!
Loved this weekend, spending time with old and new friends. It's getting to the time of the year where ppl from Perth are travelling to London so I have quite a few friends coming over to look forward to!
Things are looking up and I'm very much looking forward to the upcoming summer and all it's adventures.
In other news I've started a new job about a month ago. And for Easter I went away to Bath- will try to a blog update about it soon!
X
Monday 15 April 2013
Friday 22 February 2013
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow - London- January 2013
On the 18th Jan we had our first heavy snowfall in London. It was really exciting! I went to work in the morning, but was sent home around lunch time as the snow was getting quite thick meaning the trains would likely shut down. This meant.... snow play time!!
Here are some pictures of fun in the snow in the following days. London looked so pretty and the parks were incredible all covered in white. Definitely a great experience. Had a big grin on my face the whole time ;)
Here are some pictures of fun in the snow in the following days. London looked so pretty and the parks were incredible all covered in white. Definitely a great experience. Had a big grin on my face the whole time ;)
Back in London with Emily - January 2013
We still had one full day to go until Emily flew out so we packed it with as many things as possible. Started with Harry Potter Studio Tours- a tour of where the movies were filmed with a heaps of sets and props. They even had the great hall still set up. There's only 2 places in the world that serve Butterbeer...now I've been to both! (The other is Orlando, Florida). Definitely recommend the studio yours for any Harry Potter fans out there.
We followed this by a Mad Hatters High Tea at the 5 star Sanderson hotel. It was incredible. Great set up (see photos)
We then headed to Oxford street for a bit of a shop for a couple of hours before heading to our final destination for the day "Dinner by Heston Blumenthal". Heston is a celebrity chef that cooks all sorts of amazing and incredibly quirky foods. We could only get a 9:45pm booking, but got there early for a cocktail at the bar. Such an amazing cocktail list...but very pricey so we just stuck to one.
The dinner was delicious and worth the money for the experience. We had the famous 'meat fruit' for our entree. I then had a beef steak for the main and Em and I share a delicious 'tipsy cake' for dessert. Accompanied by a nice bottle of red. Such a fantastic day and great way to spend time with Emily before she left the following day. It was so good having Em come to visit and so sad for her to leave!
We followed this by a Mad Hatters High Tea at the 5 star Sanderson hotel. It was incredible. Great set up (see photos)
We then headed to Oxford street for a bit of a shop for a couple of hours before heading to our final destination for the day "Dinner by Heston Blumenthal". Heston is a celebrity chef that cooks all sorts of amazing and incredibly quirky foods. We could only get a 9:45pm booking, but got there early for a cocktail at the bar. Such an amazing cocktail list...but very pricey so we just stuck to one.
The dinner was delicious and worth the money for the experience. We had the famous 'meat fruit' for our entree. I then had a beef steak for the main and Em and I share a delicious 'tipsy cake' for dessert. Accompanied by a nice bottle of red. Such a fantastic day and great way to spend time with Emily before she left the following day. It was so good having Em come to visit and so sad for her to leave!
Wednesday 20 February 2013
Paris, France - January 2013
We caught the train for a quick 2 hr trip from Brussels to Paris. Wow I love Paris, it is an amazingly beautiful city. Em and I stayed at Perfect Hotel, in the Montmartre area. It was basically a nice hostel, good location walking distance to the moulin rouge.
The first thing we did when we got there was find a restaurant for lunch. We found one close by and ordered champagne! It was delicious.
That night we went on a Montmarte walking tour which I would recommend. It meets out the front of the moulin rouge and takes you for a 3 hour tour around the area where all the bohemian artists used to live and also up to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, an impressive church on the top of a hill that has great views out over Paris.
We spend four days in Paris. Highlights were going to the Moulin Rouge for dinner and a show (wow wow wow!), the louvre, the musee de orse, a walking tour around the city, going up the Eiffel Tower (it was so high I was scared on the lift!), a trip to the Palace of Versailles and of course shopping and champagne. And practicing our French ;)
We caught the Eurostar back to london which goes through the Chunnel- so quick and easy ill definitely be making more trips back and forth!
The first thing we did when we got there was find a restaurant for lunch. We found one close by and ordered champagne! It was delicious.
That night we went on a Montmarte walking tour which I would recommend. It meets out the front of the moulin rouge and takes you for a 3 hour tour around the area where all the bohemian artists used to live and also up to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, an impressive church on the top of a hill that has great views out over Paris.
We spend four days in Paris. Highlights were going to the Moulin Rouge for dinner and a show (wow wow wow!), the louvre, the musee de orse, a walking tour around the city, going up the Eiffel Tower (it was so high I was scared on the lift!), a trip to the Palace of Versailles and of course shopping and champagne. And practicing our French ;)
We caught the Eurostar back to london which goes through the Chunnel- so quick and easy ill definitely be making more trips back and forth!
Thursday 31 January 2013
Brussels, Belgium - January 2013
What can I say about Brussels besides...food! We ate so much food. Being winter all the walking tours weren't running, so we caught a bus tour around the city, but besides that we ate. Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate, frites, mussels in Brussels, etc. the Christmas markets were still on too so checked those out and ate a bunch of market food. Brussels was nice, but lucky we were only there for 2 nights otherwise we would have become fatty boombahs. The best chocolate ever there! Yumm :)
Thursday 24 January 2013
Copenhagen, Denmark - January 2013
Em and I flew from Edinburgh to Copenhagen for a 2 night stay. We got there on New Year's Day and it seemed the whole city was recovering from the night before cos everything was closed and the streets were empty. We got there in the evening so as no restaurants were open we decided to get a cheap dinner from the 7/11....a few snacks later and we had somehow spent about 400 kroners there! Copenhagen is an expensive place.
The next day was much more successful. We had heard the best way to see Copenhagen is by Segway, so we walked into town and booked a 2pm segway tour. We spent the morning cruising the shops, streets and eating Danishes.
We had heard of an area called Christiania - according to Wikipedia... " Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania (Danish: Fristaden Christiania) is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares (84 acres) in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital Copenhagen. Civic authorities in Copenhagen regard Christiania as a large commune, but the area has a unique status in that it is regulated by a special law, the Christiania Law of 1989 which transfers parts of the supervision of the area from the municipality of Copenhagen to the state. It was closed by residents in April 2011, whilst discussions continued with the Danish government as to its future, but is now open again." Basically a major hippie community. We went walking through it, pretty interesting, you're not allowed to take photos and not allowed to run!
After the hippy village we headed back for our segway tour. It was awesome! We turned up and found out we were the only 2 ppl booked, so we ended up having a private 3 hr segway tour with just us and the guide. So so much fun - riding a segway is a definite must do! And a great way to see the city too, we even segway'd past Princess Mary's house :)
The next day was much more successful. We had heard the best way to see Copenhagen is by Segway, so we walked into town and booked a 2pm segway tour. We spent the morning cruising the shops, streets and eating Danishes.
We had heard of an area called Christiania - according to Wikipedia... " Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania (Danish: Fristaden Christiania) is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares (84 acres) in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital Copenhagen. Civic authorities in Copenhagen regard Christiania as a large commune, but the area has a unique status in that it is regulated by a special law, the Christiania Law of 1989 which transfers parts of the supervision of the area from the municipality of Copenhagen to the state. It was closed by residents in April 2011, whilst discussions continued with the Danish government as to its future, but is now open again." Basically a major hippie community. We went walking through it, pretty interesting, you're not allowed to take photos and not allowed to run!
After the hippy village we headed back for our segway tour. It was awesome! We turned up and found out we were the only 2 ppl booked, so we ended up having a private 3 hr segway tour with just us and the guide. So so much fun - riding a segway is a definite must do! And a great way to see the city too, we even segway'd past Princess Mary's house :)
Friday 18 January 2013
Edinburgh, Scotland - January 2013
I love Edinburgh! Up there with my top favourite cities I've seen so far. It's so pretty...and old, and beautiful.
Hayley, Erica, Emily and I took the train up on the 27th Dec. Em and I stayed at St Christopher's, which I would recommend for anyone visiting Edinburgh, great location, central and right next to the train station. On our first day there Em and I headed out on a 3 hour free walking tour (tipping system) which was great. We were shown around the 'old town' and given a lot of history of the town. We quickly found Edinburgh is full of pubs, so at the end of the tour we went for a drink at Maggie Dicksons pub on the grass market. We hung there for a bit then got in touch with Erica and Hayley to meet for dinner.
For dinner we went to a restaurant on the High Mile called 'Angels with Bagpipes'. It was really nice. We tried the whiskey (ouch!) and the Haggis which was surprisingly nice.
The next day we checked out the 'new town' and went for a bit of a shop! Emily bought some bagpipes :) I got a new coat from topshop. After shopping we went to the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books, The Elephant House.
Hayley and Erica got their nails done and we ended up having big chats with the beauticians who recommended a place for dinner in the Leith area, so that night we caught a cab out to a tapas restaurant (called Tapa) and had a delicious and very filling dinner.
The next day was the last day that Hayley and Erica would be in Scotland. We decided to do the underground tour- The Real Mary Kings Close. It was pretty cool to go down and see what remains of old Edinburgh below the surfaces! Not too scary luckily.
We then went up to the castle, the weather was getting terrible at this point so didn't spend long there and didn't go in. Soon enough it was time to say goodbye to Erica and Hayley so we hung out with them until they caught their train back to London.
That night Em and I headed out on a night ghost tour...we are so brave! We went into a graveyard and into a crypt. It was scary because it was a full moon so lots of creepy shadows around! The tour was really good though, we also went to the top of a really big hill that overlooks Edinburgh and had some great views looking back over the city.
On the 30th Em and I headed out on a Highlands Tour. This was a full day tour that took us all the way to Loch Ness. It was snowing in the highlands!! But we didn't get a chance to play in it. When we got to Loch Ness we went on an hour boat cruise over the huge lake. Didn't see Nessy, but from the stories who knows what's living in those lakes!
We got back to Edinburgh just in time for the Hogmanay Torchlight Procession (the start of the new year celebrations). Basically everyone is given a huge flaming stick and you all march from the town centre to the top of the hill to burn a boat....crazy! Em and I grabbed some torches that some ppl were putting out and joined the procession. There were so many people all with huge flames, it's a surprise no one got hurt. Even kids were holding them! We only got to the bottom of the hill but they had a big screen everyone could watch, and they lit the boat and played fireworks to the song 'Light Up' by Snow Patrol...it was awesome!! Great vibe in the crowd.
The next day was New Year's Eve! We spend the day chilling in Edinburgh, went to the Museum of Scotland which was really good, and then shopping in the old town. For New Year's Eve we got tickets to the street party but headed to a pub called 'the last drop' first. It's the pub that prisoners used to be taken to to have their last drop of alcohol before being hung! We went for our last drop of 2012 :) Stayed there til about 11 then braved the cold to head to the street party. It was huge! So many people partying in the streets. We got a good spot with a view of the castle and at midnight they had an incredible firework show off the castle...awesome! Another great NYE.
Looking back on the year I have had, it has been absolutely incredible, so many adventures and opportunities. I'm so glad I made the choice to move overseas - as much as I do miss my family and friends (was great having Em fly over to celebrate Xmas and NYE!). I haven't made any New Years resolutions besides to keep enjoying life, making the most of it, and aiming to have a year as good as the last one :)
Hayley, Erica, Emily and I took the train up on the 27th Dec. Em and I stayed at St Christopher's, which I would recommend for anyone visiting Edinburgh, great location, central and right next to the train station. On our first day there Em and I headed out on a 3 hour free walking tour (tipping system) which was great. We were shown around the 'old town' and given a lot of history of the town. We quickly found Edinburgh is full of pubs, so at the end of the tour we went for a drink at Maggie Dicksons pub on the grass market. We hung there for a bit then got in touch with Erica and Hayley to meet for dinner.
For dinner we went to a restaurant on the High Mile called 'Angels with Bagpipes'. It was really nice. We tried the whiskey (ouch!) and the Haggis which was surprisingly nice.
The next day we checked out the 'new town' and went for a bit of a shop! Emily bought some bagpipes :) I got a new coat from topshop. After shopping we went to the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books, The Elephant House.
Hayley and Erica got their nails done and we ended up having big chats with the beauticians who recommended a place for dinner in the Leith area, so that night we caught a cab out to a tapas restaurant (called Tapa) and had a delicious and very filling dinner.
The next day was the last day that Hayley and Erica would be in Scotland. We decided to do the underground tour- The Real Mary Kings Close. It was pretty cool to go down and see what remains of old Edinburgh below the surfaces! Not too scary luckily.
We then went up to the castle, the weather was getting terrible at this point so didn't spend long there and didn't go in. Soon enough it was time to say goodbye to Erica and Hayley so we hung out with them until they caught their train back to London.
That night Em and I headed out on a night ghost tour...we are so brave! We went into a graveyard and into a crypt. It was scary because it was a full moon so lots of creepy shadows around! The tour was really good though, we also went to the top of a really big hill that overlooks Edinburgh and had some great views looking back over the city.
On the 30th Em and I headed out on a Highlands Tour. This was a full day tour that took us all the way to Loch Ness. It was snowing in the highlands!! But we didn't get a chance to play in it. When we got to Loch Ness we went on an hour boat cruise over the huge lake. Didn't see Nessy, but from the stories who knows what's living in those lakes!
We got back to Edinburgh just in time for the Hogmanay Torchlight Procession (the start of the new year celebrations). Basically everyone is given a huge flaming stick and you all march from the town centre to the top of the hill to burn a boat....crazy! Em and I grabbed some torches that some ppl were putting out and joined the procession. There were so many people all with huge flames, it's a surprise no one got hurt. Even kids were holding them! We only got to the bottom of the hill but they had a big screen everyone could watch, and they lit the boat and played fireworks to the song 'Light Up' by Snow Patrol...it was awesome!! Great vibe in the crowd.
The next day was New Year's Eve! We spend the day chilling in Edinburgh, went to the Museum of Scotland which was really good, and then shopping in the old town. For New Year's Eve we got tickets to the street party but headed to a pub called 'the last drop' first. It's the pub that prisoners used to be taken to to have their last drop of alcohol before being hung! We went for our last drop of 2012 :) Stayed there til about 11 then braved the cold to head to the street party. It was huge! So many people partying in the streets. We got a good spot with a view of the castle and at midnight they had an incredible firework show off the castle...awesome! Another great NYE.
Looking back on the year I have had, it has been absolutely incredible, so many adventures and opportunities. I'm so glad I made the choice to move overseas - as much as I do miss my family and friends (was great having Em fly over to celebrate Xmas and NYE!). I haven't made any New Years resolutions besides to keep enjoying life, making the most of it, and aiming to have a year as good as the last one :)
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