Christmas

I hope everyone had a good Christmas.
I had a lovely couple of days with Esther's family in Upper Minetry in Wiltshire. It was a proper English Christmas with Turkey, Christmas pudding, all the trimmings and a roaring fire. I am now back at work which is very quiet.

A Cold and Foggy Morning

This is London Fields, I live on an estate that looks out over this. Hundreds of flights out of Heathrow have been cancelled due to fog.

Work Christmas Party

Our work Christmas party was held in a Club in Covent Garden. Santa, a Portrait Artist and a live snake provided entertainment early in the evening.

Munich

I went to Munich for the weekend to see the
Christmas markets, my penfriend Nadine and her
boyfriend Ruben. Nadine and Ruben with mulled wine and Christmas cookies

Christmas Build Up

The shops are all putting up Christmas window displays at the moment. This one is from Fortnum and Masons. I went to a carol concert at St Martin in the Fields at Trafalgar Square on Saturday. The church is under scaffolding at the moment so doesn't look the best on the outside but is very beautiful inside with candles everywhere.

On Sunday I went to visit my cousin, Anna and her family in Surrey. I went to Polesden Lacey with them. Polseden Lacey is a historic home that is managed by the National Trust and has lovely manicured grounds.

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.

Tea and Coffee

Tea is real institution in England. I recently wandered through Soho and came upon Yauatcha at 15-17 Broadwick street which serves 150 varieties of tea, iced tea, tea smoothies and tea cocktails as well as some delicious macaroons and cakes. It also does dim sum. It is not cheap but very enjoyable.

London has rather a bad reputation for coffee but guided by Pim from the food blog www.chezpim.typepad.com, I found a great place just up from Covent Garden station called Monmouth coffee co, they sell coffee beans at the front of the shop and at the back have tiny booths where they serve really good coffee.

Wales

I went to Cardiff for the weekend. Cardiff Back packers didn't quite live up to Lonely Planet's glowing review but was conveniently located near the river Taff. Plastic covered matresses are not the most comfortable though I guess they keep the bed bugs away and door closers that slam didn't make for the best night's sleep.

Cardiff has a castle in the city. I took the tour through the ornate interior with an entertaining guide pointing out the various features of each room. Cardiff Bay is where the restaurants are mainly gathered. I had a nice meal at the Art cafe which has an art and craft shop attached with a nice range of stuff. I walked along the waterfront past some interesting architecture and sculptures. The information centre is a tube like structure that is covered in stretched canvas.

This photo is of Big Pit in Blaenafon, north of Cardiff. It is an old mine that has been turned into a museum where you go on an underground tour with an ex miner.You are kitted out with hard hat,light and emergency breathing filter and then descend 90 metres in a wire lift to the mine. I really enjoyed the tour. Unfortunately public transport to Blaenafon on a Sunday is somewhat irregular however the hills were in lovely shades of orange from the Autumn leaves.
A few miles from Cardiff is Caerphilly Castle. This has a proper moat and looks most impressive.

Light Up Hackney

There are fireworks in London Fields nearly every night at the moment. Some are for Diwali festival of light, some for a Light up Hackney celebration and some seem to be totally random. I am looking forward to Guy Fawkes which I have missed not celebrating in Australia.

I worked on Saturday as we have moved offices and am now working in Hanover square near Oxford Circus. Consequently sightseeing was a bit limited this week. On Sunday I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and saw the fashion section, I then went to Harrods for scones and tea. The Food hall at Harrods is great, alsorts of game meat, fish and cheeses.

One Month In London

Today I have been in London one month, it seems to have gone very quickly. I have seen quite a bit but there is an endless amount of things to see in London.

I haven't yet braved the culinary delights of pie with jellied eels or whelks, maybe this month. I did have Chinese takeaway recently but don't think I will be repeating that experience; it was like Chinese food that was served twenty years ago in Australia and NZ (overly sweet, sticky and lacking decent quality meat or veges). Indian takeaway though is fantastic. Sainsburys is still quite exciting with the different brands and the food markets have great fruit, bread and cheese.

I am enjoying the little red squirrels in the park and I saw my first fox on the way home recently. Grey hounds seem to be rather popular round Hackney.

The weather is still good, the papers are full of the fact that it is the hottest Autumn on record. I am looking forward to buying some proper winter clothes and boots this year.

Frieze Art Fair

I have just joined the London Art Club

London Walk

This week I did one of the London Walks guided tours round the City after work. This is the Royal Exchange where we started off. We also saw where the London fire had been, lots of historic buildings and where Harry Potter bought his wand for Hogwarts. The guide was very entertaining, quoting Shakespeare and giving his views on the architecture.

London Wetland Centre

A short bus trip from Hammer - smith tube station (central London) takes you to the London Wetlands centre. A bird watcher's paradise. There are 110 acres of wetlands with paths, ponds, different types of vegetation and some areas of birds from different parts of the world and some wild areas. I think that these birds are Mandarin Ducks.

Cambridge

I survived my first week at work. After some horrible weather through the week Saturday dawned fine and sunny. I stocked up on raspberries and cheese from the local market and then I headed off to Cambridge. It was about an hour on the train from Liverpool street. This is a picture of Kings College. I did the touristy thing in the afternoon and went for a punt tour along the river Cam.

To Market

On Saturdays there is a food market just round the corner from London Fields, (Broadway Market). There are great pastries and cheeses. On Sundays there is the Columbia Road Flower market at Bethnal Green where you can get flowers, plants, pots and quirky garden ornaments. The Spitalfields market near Liverpool station is a much bigger affair with food, clothes and knick-knacks. I spent most of last Sunday wandering round the markets.

Brighton

Last weekend I headed to Brighton for the day. Brighton is about an hour on the train from London. There are great art and craft shops. Unfortunately the weather was not the best and the umbrella came out in the afternoon.

London

I arrived in London, nearly two weeks ago now. I now have a job and am getting settled in so thought I would start a Blog.

Accommodation
Cheap accommodation in London is pretty rare. I spent the first couple of nights in Bayswater which was a good location but the hotel was somewhat grotty. £35 a night got me a single room on the third floor with a bunk bed that sagged rather badly. There was no lift and my suitcase was packed to the max so a bit of a struggle up the narrowing staircase.

I then moved to the Ace Hotel thanks to a recommendation from Samantha. It is more like an Australian Hostel, (www.ace-hotel.co.uk). About £20 a night in a dorm room. It is clean, recently renovated, has internet access, a bar and a garden.

I am now in London Fields (Hackney) staying with Rob, (a flatmate of mine in Sydney a couple of years ago) and a friend of his Andy. The flat is in a Housing estate that has partially been sold off to private owners. The flat has been renovated and is lovely, it looks out over London Fields.

Sightseeing
As the weather was fantastic for most of the first week, I did a lot of Sightseeing.

Next stop San Francisco

I had a few days with my brother, James in San Francisco.
This is at North Beach.

If anyone's heading to San Francisco the de Young museum is worth a look, it has some interesting modern art. Also if you feel like some theatre there is a Half Tix office in Union square where you can get discounted tickets. I saw an interesting one person play about internet dating. It was funny and involved audience participation.

First stop NZ

On the way to London I stopped off in NZ for a days with Dad. I bought a camera just before I
left and enjoyed trying out some of the settings.
This is a picture taken from Cable Bay, just outside Nelson.