NHS and Tube Aggro

I didn't start work till 1pm today as I am doing some one off support this evening, so thought I'd take the opportunity to get registered with a NHS doctor for free medical care. I rang several practices who said they were not taking patients, then a couple more who only registered patients in the middle of the afternoon, not really convenient as you have to go to a practice near your home rather than workplace. Finally found one that was suitable unfortnately there was nearly a two hour wait to see the nurse, however I am now registered and did get a flu shot for my trouble. Then got on the Tube which is never a pleasant experience and had someone head but someone else in the carriage and fists start to fly, hence police called, train delays and no body saw anything.

Stonehenge

I did a Mad Max tour through the Wiltshire countryside Mal, the tour guide obviously didn't know that silence can be a virtue so talked continually or put on a tape of history for the entire trip making it somewhat difficult to talk to anyone on the trip. We did however see some pretty villages, churches, Stonehenge and a white horse cut into the hillside. I was really impressed by Stonehenge, quite a few people had told me that they found it disappointing and that you can't walk between the stones. It is true that there a small barriers that prevent you from walking under the stones this does however provide the advantage of being able to take much better photos. There was also an interesting audio guide that discussed the stones and why the may have been placed there.

Bath

Just been to Bath for the weekend. The Roman baths had an interesting audio guide of the history. I also went to the Abbey and the Jane Austen centre and wandered round the city.

Birthday Dinner

I'm now 32!
Rob, one of my flatmates organised dinner at a restaurant in Covent Garden.

Highgate Cemetery

This is Karl Marx's grave in Highgate cemetery, nothing too subtle! Sidney Nolan and Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) amongst others are also buried here under small headstones. The cemetery has ivy growing all over the graves, birds and foxes.

Tower of London

The Tower of London is £15 which seemed like quite a bit but it is very worth while. The Beefeaters (Yeoman Warders) give a great talk on the history of the tower.The displays and jewels were also interesting.

Christmas Lights

The Christmas lights have been turned on over the last week or so. These ones are on Regents street at about 6pm.

Richmond Park

I went for a walk through Richmond park on Sunday. The leaves were in lovely shades of red and oranges, there were lots of deer and squirrels.

Regent's Canal

I often walk along Regent's canal where it passes through Hackney.

Borough Market

Jamie Oliver's favourite market under the London Bridge has a great range of food and game on display. Boar heads and unplucked pheasants hang from hooks. There are photos outlining the process of a slaughtered pig turning into sausages; not good if you prefer not to think of where meat comes from. The hot chocolate laddled out from the Konditorei and Cook shop was a real chocolate overload.

Autumn

Autumn has arrived in London, the coats are out and the leaves are falling off the trees.

Last Tuesday was Halloween, we had a couple of groups of kids from the Estate come round, cute rather than scarey.

On Wednesday I started an Introductory Wine Tasting course run by the London Wine Academy. There are about thirty five people in the class which is more than I expected. It is run in the City Club which is a very similar environment to Jason and Annie's wine club at the Masonic Club in Sydney. It was an interesting evening with a good mix of people.

I went to Late at the Tate at the Tate Britain on Friday Night with the London Art Club. The Turner prize is on at the moment. The four finalists are on display which were interesting, modern art which I didn't really get at all.

On Sunday I went to Bookgroup (Cloud Atas by David Mitchell) and then went to Fireworks in Victoria park. Hackney council had decided that they were not going to do Guy Fawkes this year as they did it last year and as the area is very multi cultural they would do a Bengali tale instead, it has been rather controversial and unfortunately it was hard to make out what was going on, the following fireworks were good.