June - Heat, Hard Rock & Shakespeare

We started off June with a trip down to Shoreditch with Bex and Emma for some visiting of the markets and some Shoreditch afternoon relaxing. The place just teems with the young cool and trendy on a Sunday afternoon so naturally we looked well out of place but had an enjoying time nonetheless. Lauren joined us later and it was off down Brick Lane for our first Brick Lane curry. It was like being in Turkey all over again. "Come in, I do you good deal!...Free poppadoms!....Cheap Wine!" We finally settled on a restaurant which had been recommended to Lauren and after some half hearted negotiation sat down for our meals. Brick Lane was a reputation for being a bit up and down in terms of the quality of the curry you end up but luckily Lauren's recommendation had been a good one and we were very satisfied. Once full of curry the only way to go was home.

The following weekend it was time to get out of London again so we made our way on the train from Victoria down to Brighton. We were hoping for some of the British Heatwave to strike so that we would have a sunny day at the seaside. Unfortunately we were a bit unlucky and it was overcast and windy and even a bit cold. That never stopped us before though so we exited the station at the other end and made our way down the road (along with the rest of the crowds) towards the waterfront. After a visit to North Lane, which was fully of random funky shops selling all sorts of things from clothes to yoghurt to tourist rubbish, we continued down towards "The Lanes" which is a series of small winding streets filled with designer clothes stores and restaurants. We stopped in what looked like a nice fish restaurant but were disappointed with what we got but you can't win them all. We then made our way down to the famous Brighton waterfront where we went for a stroll along the the pebbly beach. There were a couple of people risking a swim but we weren't game enough to brave the cold. There were merry go rounds and stalls and all sorts of things to keep you busy down there. But we were inevitably drawn to the big one...Brighton Pier. It is a big wharf chock full of gaming rooms, food stalls and of course, right at the end of the pier were the rides. We wimped out a bit on the rides but still managed to indulge a jellybean milkshake, made with real jellybeans! We then wandered back into town looking for something to do so decided to go visit the Brighton Royal Pavilion. It was once a royal palace but was sold by Queen Victoria as it wasn't suitable for raising a family. The place itself is quite bizarre. It is a stylised version of what the far east was perceived to be like designed by people who had never even been there. There are domed roofs, exotic wallpapers of animals and plants from Asia and a gargantuan chandelier in the dining room complete with dragons. It was quite different than some of the other palaces we have visited and you can tell that it was a bachelor princes play house as opposed to a royal family home. Brighton is definitely somewhere we could return to when it was warmer.

It was also time again for the Toast NZ festival. This time it was out in Richmond, only a stones throw from Greg, Nicole, Emily and Flynn's house. This time it was at the Richmond Polo Club, which is apparently where the first Toast festival was held 10 years ago. It wasn't a scorcher like it had been the year before but it was still good to drink some NZ wine and enjoy some NZ music (care of the Feelers this year). Tom and Gini joined us later on and we managed to spot a few other familiar Kiwi faces in the crowd. We made our way back along the Thames to Richmond town where we stopped for a jug of Pimms on the riverside and enjoyed some dinner in the pub while the locals lamented the draw between England and the USA at the football world cup.

The following weekend was one of Tom and Gini's last in London before heading off on their van tour round Europe, so they decided to have one last BBQ at their flat. We joined up with them and all their other guests for a burning hot day in their backyard with burned (but not too burned) meat, salad and cider. It was good to catch up with Anna and her husband Perry too.

On possibly the hottest day ever in London we ventured to Hyde Park for Hard Rock calling. That is Hard Rock Cafe as opposed to Led Zepplin Hard Rock (although we will get to that next month...) We again met with Tom and Gini


After all that excitement we were up for something a bit more subdued the following week, so made our way up to the suburb of Highgate. We are a bit out of practice for walking on hills and Highgate does live up to its name. There are actually hills here. Good for the calf muscles. After some tea and cakes in the park we paid a visit Highgate cemetery. Doesn't get much more subdued than a cemetery. It has been around since the early 1800s and houses a number of famous people including Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers Guide the Galaxy) and Karl Marx (socialist philosopher). The Karl Marx memorial seems to be a shrine for socialists from all around Europe, draped in their red flags. It is pretty hard to miss, as it has an enormous bust of Karl Marx on the top. We then continued on down toward Hampstead, had some lunch, and after a walk through heath felt like we had managed sufficient exercise and head home to rest our feet.

We also finally managed to get ourselves to the Globe Theatre on the banks of the Thames for a bit of Shakespeare, being Henry IV - Part I. We weren't quite sure what to expect from this. It had the potential to be a nasty tourist trap, but we were actually very entertained. The theatre itself is a replica of the original globe. The seats themselves are therefore none too comfortable, even with the hired cushion, but we still felt more comfortable than all the people with standing tickets. Many of them didn't last the full three hours, although we are pleased we did. The show itself was very entertaining (once we got into the swing of the ye olde English) and the acting was excellent. I think we will definitely be back at some stage.

Another after work activity involved Marcus going out for work drinks with some of the lawyers they use, but rather than just going to the pub they took him out to the 20/20 cricket at the Brit Oval, not far from where we used to live in Vauxhall. It was good fun going out and seeing some cricket and although it's not Lords it is definitely a cool cricket ground.
 
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May - Rolling and Rugby

With winter well and truly a season of the past May was a month of social get togethers and outings. We started the month with Beverley's birthday. It was at what turned out to be a great pub in Hampstead. They had an amazing selection of international beers and a very good roast. Marcus was in heaven. They even had a heated outdoor garden area with live music. Was almost like being at Zebos...(although I think it is all called the Southern Cross now isn't it Wellingtonians?)

We also made the journey back down to Earlsfield for Freedom Day. That is South Africa Day. Dana from Marcus' work had invited us down and Chris from Marcus's work was there too. We tried some South African beer and cider and of course the obligatory Boerwoers from the braai.

With two flatmates, Anna and Jeremy, celebrating birthdays in May it was time for one of the all too rare flat outings. Funnily enough we were off to somewhere we had passed every day near our old flat but never managed to get to...the Vauxhall Roller Disco. So with our fluro clothes (Marcus is never going back to Primark) and wheels strapped to our feet we were rolling around the floor in all our 70s and 80s glory. There were some people there who clearly spent far too much time roller skating but we stumbled and tripped without falling and even got confident enough to throw in the odd dance move. Good clean fun.

We were also lucky enough to manage to score tickets to go see Flight of the Concords at Wembley Arena. We met up with Tom and Gini and Abbie and "Murray" (Dane) and after the debacle which was getting into the new event were sufficiently amused with the thousands of other Kiwis and other non-Kiwi hangers on, who had come along. It was amazing to think that these two guys from Wellington who we saw 10 years ago at Downstage theatre are now selling out Wembley Arena night after night. AND they are basically still doing the same material. Good old Kiwi ingenuity.

It was also good to catch up with Pip for her 30th up in Stoke Newington. It was a horsey theme so we did our best to dress up for the races. Marcus even managed to score himself a blue ribbon. It was also a nice surprise to catch up with Michelle and Amrith who we didn't even know were in London.

Another highlight of the month was our first trip to Twickenham rugby ground for the London 7s. Anybody who has been to the Wellington 7s knows that the event is full of people dressed up as everything under the sun. Well London 7s was no different. In fact there was a world record attempt going on for the largest number of people dressed as Superheroes in any place at one time. Naturally we had to get in on the action so Captain America and Wonder Woman were joined by Catwoman (Bex), Zorro (Riki) and Summer Captain America (Tom). We got some funny looks on the tube but by the time we reached Twickenham we were each one of many. Twickenham itself is an impressive stadium. The place was probably only a third full but was still plenty busy. We were joined by Abbie, Jon and Dan, although they wussed out on the costume front. May have been the smart move because the day was scorching and with the huge stadium there was no wind to cool us down. Marcus managed to hold out until the direct sun struck us and then it was too much and time to change. Luckily the world record attempt was earlier in the day. The actual getting everyone together took ages and was a real shambles, but you get used to that in England, and all our patience paid off and we managed to break the world record! (Alas Melbourne broke it again the following week but we won't worry too much about that...). Alas New Zealand didn't make it to the final but at least they beat England. Overall an excellent day out. Jess even managed to watch some rugby!

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Dublin

With May bank holiday upon us it was time to get out of town again. Although this time we went off in the other direction to the Emerald Isle, Dublin to be exact. Upon landing we were introduced to something which became a feature of our holiday...rain. This wasn't the weak little rain we have become accustomed to in London, this was proper big fat heavy rain like you get in New Zealand. That's why both NZ and Ireland are so green. After checking in to our hotel we made our way across the Liffey and in hunt of something we could do indoors. We made our way down to Trinity College, home of Irish academics and the Book of Kells. It is a 1200 year old book which contains many passages from the new testament along with detailed illustrations and calligraphy. They have done a good job of presenting it along with a large exhibition explaining the book so less enlightened people, such as ourselves, can actually understand what we are looking at. After a look at the book we popped our heads outside to see if the rain had stopped. It had eased, but not stopped. We went for a walk up Grafton Street (the shopping street, but not any more exciting than what you get in London) and found a local pub where we could indulge in our first Guinness of the trip as well as trying out some Smithwick's Irish Red Ale. Not too bad. People always say Guinness is better in Ireland, but to be honest we couldn't tell the difference...With the rain largely gone for the time being we then went for a walk around the rest of the central town, discovering that it wasn't exactly huge. We paid a visit to St Patrick's Cathedral (yes the Irish one) which felt like more of a museum than a working church. It was full of plenty of history about Dublin and the church itself including a door with a hole in it, where a man had put his arm through after being besieged for a very long time and made peace with his besiegers. After a short walk we found ourselves back at our hotel. It was getting late so we made our way over to the Temple Bar area on the hunt for dinner and then quickly made our way away again after seeing the drunks and the hen and stag parties everywhere and so made our way to St Stephens Green, a nice little park at the end of Grafton Street. It looked like a nice neighbourhood where we hoped to find some nice restaurants. Alas, after much searching we found nothing at all we wanted to eat. We made our way back towards Grafton Street and found a street full of nice looking restaurants and were ultimately very happy with our meals. Local seafood and good wine. Can't loose with that combination.

The next day we went for a wander through Dublin again looking for some inside activity to avoid the rain. We decided to go for a walk around Dublinia, a sort of London Museum for Dublin. It is basically the history of Dublin from pre-historic times up until present. You could see it was largely targeted towards kids but there was a good balance between games and interactive activities (including the scary video face man) and actual information. Overall it was a good way to spend a couple of hours. It is also housed in Christchurch Cathedral which is somewhat more impressive than its South Island counterpart. There was a local arts festival on around some of the streets so we went and checked that out. It had a Cuba Street sort of feel to it and after checking out one of the markets we were off to THE tourist attraction in Dublin, the Guinness Brewery. Been a while since we last visited a brewery. It was in a bit of a seedy part of town but once we made it there and got our tickets we were off to learn all about the Guinness brewing process. The tour itself is in a giant pint glass up the middle of the factory. It was interesting but very similar to the Heineken tour we went on, only with more black and Toucans rather than green. We also learnt how to pour the pint of perfect Guinness and then of course drink it. We also checked out the view from the very top of the glass. You get a good view right across Dublin. Unfortunately there isn't all that much to see. It being our last night in Dublin we decided to see what Temple Bar had to offer in the way of food. Before eating we checked out some traditional Irish music in one of the pubs. I don't think Irish music is our thing but the hordes of American tourist seemed to be enjoying it. There wasn't much to say about the meal either. It was all perfectly fine, but we were happy to get out of Temple Bar and head back a couple of streets where we found some cool local bars which were much more enjoyable.

The next day we decided we had done our time in Dublin so jumped on the train and went south down the coast to the seaside suburb of Dalkey. After a stroll around the town and some lunch we went for a wander down what looked to be a walking path which eventually took us for a nice walk along the coast and then up through a park. If not for the stone walls and the castle at the top of the hill we could have been in New Zealand. It was great seeing some greenery and families out playing and looking out over the ocean. The rain even managed to hold off for us to give us a nice relaxing end to our Dublin holiday. With hindsight we probably should have spent less time in Dublin and done a bit more travelling around the rest of Ireland. Guess that is a good reason to come back?

Speaking of getting back we were lucky to get out of Dublin at all. It was right at the time when the Icelandic ash cloud was playing havoc with air travel. Flights were being cancelled left right and centre. Luckily ours took off but by the time we landed in Heathrow an hour later Dublin airport was closed...

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April - Sunhine and Greenery

With winter now behind us it was coats off and sunglasses on again. First sign of any sun in the UK and everyone swarms down to the park. So there we were, up at Highbury fields with all the flatmates enjoying the sun and pretending it was hot (when really it wasn't...). Nonetheless a bit of vitamin D sure helps everyone feel good. The onset of British Summer Time helps too. (That's daylight savings for those of you in the southern hemisphere...)

We also made our way to a park we really should have visited by now. Kensington Gardens is right next to Hyde Park and makes for a nice walk and sit in the sun in front of Kensington Palace. Didn't make it into the palace but it was still nice being out in the sun. Marcus saved some poor little French Boys from drowning in the pond (less dramatic than it sounds but they couldn't get out by themselves...) It is also in the Borough of Kensington (surprise, surprise) which is still definitely one of the nicest parts of London to be in. If only we had a few million pounds to buy there...

April was finally time for the first party since we had moved in to the flat. With the weather improving it was time for the "Welcome to the Summer" party. Togs and Jandals and a paddling pool full of beer and we were all set. Everyone had a go at the limbo stick, with varying degrees of success...

We also caught up with Robin and Mary again and took a trip down South to Kew Gardens. Kew is a a massive park filled with gardens, ponds, greenhouses and other things to see. The day was excellent and it was actually quite interesting seeing all the different types of trees, ferns lillies and there was even a NZ fauna section. Check out the red flowers. The place is huge and is definitely a good day walking around. Excellent spot for a picnic lunch. You even get to climb up a steel structure for a treetop walk. Was good for the view, but might be better when there were a few more leaves on the trees.

One of the good things about living in a flat with lots of people is you go do things that you might not otherwise try.  So at the insistence of Bex we all made our way down to Shoreditch for Ladi 6. She is a hip hop artist from Christchurch and the cousin of Scribe. It was New Zealanders all over the place with some funky South Pacific beats and a fun night out in London.

April was also time for our first second time in London. What we mean is that we did something which we pretty much did the same the year before. Once again we were up early (as Bex and Riki arrived home) to head down to Hyde Park corner for the ANZAC ceremony dawn service. This year it was an NZ hosted service, so we stood before the NZ monument, not nearly as cold as last year, but still just as moving. More waiata and haka. However this year we didn't go out somewhere afterwards, it was back on the bus and off back home again to bed.

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Edinburgh

It was our second Easter in the UK so we wanted to get out of town and make the most of the long weekend. This time we decided it was time to explore some more of the UK with a trip to the previous home of Ben, Eleanor, Aidan and Gaby (and most probably some of our ancestors) Edinburgh. We were a bit apprehensive about actually getting there. There had been train strikes in the week leading up to Easter and if that wasn't enough heavy snow in the north of England and Scotland had closed the main line for a few days. Fortunately we left Kings Cross Station without any troubles and the train trundled up the country until finally pulling into Edinburgh station. A hike up the steep stairs towards the golden mile (not used to steep in London...) and we found our accommodation, dropped our bags and made our way out to explore. The weather forecast for our time there was good so we decided we had best make hay while the sun shines (or at least get some of the outdoor activities out of the way) but before we could tackle any of that we needed to get some good Scottish grub in us. We found a place on the Golden Mile that claimed to serve the best haggis in Edinburgh. Doesn't take much to convince us so we gave it a go. Turns out it was a gourmet haggis, neeps (turnip) and tatties and it was very tasty. Haggis may not sound good when you describe what it is but when served like this it tastes delicious. All full of Scottish goodness we made our way down the golden mile towards Holyrood House (the Queen's residence in Edinburgh) and the Houses of Parliament. These were not our target today however, we were off towards Arthur's seat. Not an actual seat but more a hill/mountain in the middle of Edinburgh. Many other people had similar plans but we made our way off towards the top. Being used to flat old London we found it pretty tough going but it was well worth the climb to get a 360 degree view of Edinburgh. Cold though. You could see all the hills around Edinburgh covered in snow and there was even a little bit at the top of Arthur's seat. We thought we could see Ben, Eleanor, Aidan and Gaby's house from when they lived there too (not that we actually knew where it was...) We scrambled down the other side of the hill satisfied that we had made a good start to our trip. After a quick trip back to the hostel we journeyed through the centre of town on our hunt for the holy grail of Scotland......the deep fried Marsbar....Lonely Planet told us where the best fish and chip shop in Edinburgh was and to there we went. Jess went for some local fish and chips, but Marcus went for a deep fried Haggis...yes twice in one day...alas there were no deep fried Mars Bars.

The next day we were up bright and (somewhat) early and travelling in the other direction up the golden mile towards Edinburgh Castle. It is situated up on a hill above the city. It is pretty interesting and it spirals up around till it reaches the old royal residence at the top of the hill. It is funny seeing things from a slightly different point of view. Everything is all about how they have spent thousands of years fending off the English invaders from the south. There are various little museums all throughout the castle. We got a special treat in the great hall where we got a special rendition of medieval music and dancing. It was as good as it sounds....We had been told by a few people to go and see Mary King's Close. We weren't quite sure what it was all about but decided to give it a go anyway. It markets itself like a haunted house/Edinburgh dungeon type thing so we were apprehensive, but actually it was quite interesting. They take you on a guide tour through some old streets and buildings which have been progressively built over over time. They tell you stories of the people who lived there and what it was like to live in Edinburgh hundreds of years ago. Overall well worth it. It was then off for a walk around town, up Princes Street and on our way to meet up with Tom and Gini. Turns out they were spending Easter in Scotland too. After a few beers at their huge crazy hostel we made our way down to David Morgan's local, Teuchters for a few more beers, wines and whiskeys and then we topped the night off with some tasty Aberdeen Angus Beef. Tom and Gini had heard of a place that sells deep fried Mars Bars too...Something for tomorrow...

The next day we journeyed back down the golden mile again for a visit of the Queen's residence in Scotland, Holyrood Palace. Again the Scottish influence was everywhere and there wasn't much of a mention of Liz. It was actually quite interesting telling the story of Scottish Monarchs who had lived there, including Mary Queen of Scots and her story. A very tough lady who lived through some very tough times. Her and Liz did not get on at all. After a stroll through the gardens we made our way around the back way up towards the fish and chip shop Tom and Gini had pointed to the night before...Alas it was closed when we reached there, however being Easter Sunday we decided we had best stop in to the local off license for a marshmallow egg (not like at home...) and a wee bru. For the afternoon we decided to get out of central Edinburgh and make our way out to one of the up and coming areas in the city, Leith. The former dock area, but now home to some trendy restaurants and shopping centres, as well as the Royal Yacht Britannia. We wandered around and it was all very pleasant, but still felt quite empty after the hustle and bustle of London. We sheltered in a local pub when the rain started pouring and eventually had to just risk it and make the dash back to central Edinburgh. On the plus side, just minutes from our hostel we managed to find the elusive deep fried mars bar. Greasy and chocolaty and all things bad. Jess thought it was amazing...Marcus will still take some more convincing...



The next morning the rain had settled in but that wasn't going to stop us. We jumped on the bus and took ourselves out to Rosslyn, home of the Rosslyn Chapel (most recently made famous from the Da Vinci Code. The Chapel is a bit of a mystery, having been built by Masons it is full of all sorts of crazy and mysterious symbols and emblems. Luckily they tell you a lot of the stories so you can understand what it is that you are looking at. Unfortunately it is in a constant state of repair so you have to imagine what it looks like to a certain extent because of all the scaffolding over it. We had enough time for a cup of tea and cake before heading back to Edinburgh. A look around the shops and a meal at The Dogs and it was time to jump back on the train back to London. Scotland....we will return...

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March - Paddy and Babies

With the snow all gone it was a good excuse to get back outside again. We had been for a walk along Regents Canal to Victoria Park with Tom and Gini so now we wanted to see what it was like in the other direction. Once we finally found the way down it was actually a really nice walk. Through Camden, Regents Park (roast dinner for lunch along the way) and on into Little Venice. It is interesting seeing London from a different angle and there are plenty of interesting things to see along the way, like all the canal boats and graffiti art, including a Banksy.

Being March it was also St Patrick's Day. In London they close off the streets of central London and have a big parade full of green and orange, leprechauns, Irish dancing and Irish music. It wasn't too bad as far as parades go. We then met up with Tom and Gini at Trafalgar Square for more Irish celebrations. There was a big free concert on there with load of Irish music, Guinness and big hats. The music was a bit melancholy for our liking and the crowd was massive so moved along to quieter surroundings at the Porterhouse, a massive Irish Pub in Covent Garden. The place has multiple levels and seems to go on forever and has random bottles of miscellaneous beer from all around the world in glass cabinets. Everything from Heineken to Guinness, to Speights to random miscellaneous beers from the 1973 Sussex Beer Festival.

March 15 was also the date of our 2nd wedding anniversary. We celebrated by treating ourselves out to a french dinner at Cotê followed by the musical Oliver. This was one we had seen a few times with various school productions etc but this was definitely the best rendition we had seen. The children were great singers and performers and Gryff Rhys Jones (from Alas Smith and Jones) was excellent as Fagan.

We also finally managed to catch up with the newest members of the wider Ritchie Family, Flyn and Harry. Greg and Nicole and Karla and James' babies respectively. We caught up with them all at the natural history museum. Emily was very very impressed with the Dinosaur Bones. Jess was more impressed with the babies. Very cute, and very cool to have some more 42nd cousins in the family.

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February - Waitangi, Birthday and Sherlock

We started the month off with a little hesitation on the Waitangi Day Pub Crawl. It's one of those things that we felt was a little bit expected of us antipodeans in London but felt we may as well give it ago. Starting the morning off early with a full English Breakfast our stomach's were well lined for a day of beer guzzling. Tripping around the circle line with so many kiwi accents felt a little odd but we soon got into the full swing off things. Other groups were well dressed in classic icons such as sheep and pavlova's but we stuck to our usual NZ t-shirts. Everyone was in high spirits and the day turned out to be a lot of fun. One disappointment was missing the haka at Westminster due to a typical long queue at the ladies loos but overall a good day out.

We also celebrated Marcus' birthday this month and not just any old one but 30! Old indeed. Marcus had to work on his actual birthday so was relatively quiet and Jess took him out for dinner at a Turkish restaurant on Upper St just down the road from our flat. After a hard week at work for Marcu's main celebrations were saved for the weekend after where we headed to the Clerkenwell with a large group of friends for a lovely 3 course meal. Afterwards we headed to Smith on Smithfields for a few night caps.

Reading books when commuting isn't so easy in London so during our time here Marcus has
taken listening to audio books on his ipod and regularly saying things like - Holmes was just driving down this road yesterday. With all this talk of Sherlock Holmes we thought we better visit his museum on Baker Street. We were welcomed in by Dr Watson who was very good at remaining in character if not a bit over the top. Marcus got to dress as Sherlock himself to get in the true spirit of the day. The mannequins were a little scary looking but an amusing day never the less.

It was also shrove Tuesday this month, also known as pancake Tuesday so what better to do than make pancakes and share them with the flatmates! Lemon, sugar, mmmm

We also checked out the Muesuem of London this month which is the history of London, including the black plague etc. We enjoyed the fact it only took us a couple of hours and we had seen the lot rather than feeling like we hadn't even seen the majority of stuff in the other mueseums in London. It has all been done up recently. Highly recommended.

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