Newcastle

On Friday we caught the train up to Newcastle to see our friend Rob.

Kirsty and the gang were coming up too but they were driving up.

We decided to check out Hadrian's Wall on Sat which is the wall built by the Romans to keep the Scots out. It stretches from the East to the West of the country at a reasonably narrow part, but is still impressive. There are a few remaining sections and we checked out the Housestead's Fort.




















As we were so close to Scotland we decided to head to Gretna Green for lunch!








On Sunday, Rob took us on a walking tour around Newcastle.








We checked out several bridges including the one modelled on Sydney Harbour bridge and the Millenium bridge which rotates up in the air to let boats underneath,





















the Sage (which is a large modern building that looks like a slug from the side), Garth Castle and Bessy Surtees old home.

Then it was time to get back to the train station and head home :-(

Shell Wildlife Photographer

Went to the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition exhibition today at the Natural History Museum.

There were some amazing photos in loads of categories. Also impressive were the photos from the children. All in all a great exhibition.

Dublin & Andrew's birthday

We flew to Dublin for a long weekend (10-12 March). Everyone tells of the friendly, welcoming Irish people, so we were expecting a lot. We were off to a good start with Ryanair, the budget Irish airline. We usually get Eastern European crew whose English isn't too good, but this time we had quite a good Irish captain & crew. I clearly remember this quote from the captain (in a strong Irish accent): "Once we take-off we'll take a right, head to Liverpool, then take a left to Dublin" as if he was just driving us up the motorway!


Once in Dublin we caught the bus to our hostel, we ventured out into the city. First things first we had to eat, so following Lonely Planet's recommendation we had brunch at Gruel. Pretty good.

Wandering around we saw the old parliament building (now a bank), and a very decorated pub preparing for St Patrick's Day celebrations the following weekend.





We went to Trinity College and did a walking tour which was guided by one of the history students there. We finished at the Library where we saw the the famous Book of Kells and the Long Room (a long room full of books).






This sculpture is found outside one of the libraries. Interesting.









Walking along the road we saw Christchurch Cathedral and the Medieval museum to the left.






Next we walked to Dublin castle, of which there isn't much left. It didn't seem worth going inside.







There was a nice park next door, and also the Chester Beattie Library (an award winning literary museum???). We didn't have time to visit that. Maybe next time!





We went into St Patrick's Cathedral...





















Off to the Guinness Storehouse where they used to brew Guinness. The new brewery is just next door. Very good displays of the beer making process and a nice glass of "the black stuff" at the 360° bar with great views of Dublin (through the rain).








We took a hop-on, hop-off bus tour around the city, mainly for the transport rather than the tour itself, but it was also good to get the commentary. We went around the loop nearly three times over the 24 hours. The Kilmainham Gaol was fascinating, especially since our knowledgeable guide gave us lots of history about the jail and also Ireland. There have also been a few films made in the gaol - Michael Collins, The Italian Job and In the Name of the Father.









Peering into a cell, prisoner's writing "Beware of the Risen People That Have Harried And Held. Ye That Have Bullied And Bribed", and the jail Chapel where Grace Gifford got married.

Many were sent here due to their part in rebellions against the British. One highly respected prisoner had this cell, complete with fireplace (the picture on the wall describes what it was like for him).




Other scenes from Dublin:

O'Connell St and the "Spike"












Some colourful and elaborate doors.













The Ha' penny bridge (it used to cost a half penny to cross it).

Old Georgian Buildings.



Overall Dublin seemed to lack some of the character that a lot of European cities have. We struggled to find all the friendly Irish people, not helped by the large number of (mostly eastern) European immigrants which made you question whether you were actually in Ireland!

We are now looking forward to our drive around Ireland in May. Hopefully once we leave the city we will find some nice (real) Irish people!!

Happy Chinese New Year!

We headed into Trafalgar Square today to check out the CNY celebrations into the year of the Pig. There was a large stage setup in the square and we got there in time to catch the dragon dance. As to be expected there were lots of people and moving around was a bit of a mission.
From the square we headed to Leicester Square where fireworks were due to be set off. After grabbing a bite to eat we watched the fireworks. They were good, though not quite as spectacular as it would have been as it was in the middle of the day!
Then we decided to walk through Chinatown and here the crowds were massive. There were a few lion dances occurring through the area and as such were causing blockages as people stood to watch. At one point we were caught is a mass of people who were all just shuffling to where they were going. We squeezed our way into a Chinese supermarket to grab a few things, then squeezed out way out of Chinatown, and back to Trafalgar Square to catch our bus home.

Back in London

We're back now!

We had a good time back in NZ with the two weddings and catching up with everyone - it was good to see you all! And the weather was great, well we thought it was after cold London, I didn't wear any longs the entire time I was there.

After stopping for a further three nice warm days in Singapore on the way back, we arrived at Heathrow to cold rainy London weather. The temperature wasn't too bad, it's just a bit miserable.

Getting home was a bit of a mission with two tubes, train and bus and all the stuff we had with us.

Our landlord had the house all heated for us, which was a nice welcome, after struggling through the rain.

Off to NZ

We fly back to NZ tomorrow, will be good to get some warm weather - hopefully!

We have two weddings to go to, and plenty of other things to keep us busy. Not looking forward to the long flights!

New Year's Eve party

Happy New Year!!

We went to a new year's party last night a our landlord's place (the flat below us). We met some of the neighbours and his family.

It was a good night, especially when the karaoke started!!

Canterbury

We caught the train to Canterbury today to catch up with Anna and meet Niall. Anna's an old English friend who spent a year studying in NZ and we met during her time in Engineering school. It was great seeing her again after so long - 4 years!

We couldn't go to Canterbury and not check out the cathedral, so that's what we did.
It's a large Cathedral with large grounds, it made for an interesting visit, though it was much better after I found a small guide book which told me about what I was looking at!





























After the cathedral we had lunch at a cute little pub called the Cherry Tree and caught up with each others news.

We then headed back to Anna's parents place in Nonington for a cuppa and chat while it poured with rain outside - what miserable weather!

Brussels

We hopped on Eurostar at Waterloo (only about 20 minutes away by bus). While waiting at the station we discovered by reading the Metro newspaper that the weather forecast for Brussels was 0 degrees with fog. Colder than we were expecting and much colder than London!

We arrived at Gare du Midi station and met up with Yvonne (one of Grace's old school friends).

We caught the metro back to her place and met Andrew (Yvonne's boyfriend) and dropped our bags off before heading back out. We realised at this point that the weather forecast was right and it was indeed very cold!

We walked to the St Michel Cathedral and walked through it. Beautiful stained glass windows.










We then headed towards Grand Place and walked through Galleries St Hubert which had lots of chocolatiers. It started snowing very lightly at this point. Pretty cold.









We checked out Grand Place before finding a place down a side street for lunch. They have lots of restaurants selling a €15 3 course lunch.

After lunch, headed to the Christmas markets. The atmosphere was still very festive and it was nice to experience a little bit of cold European Christmas.

Yvonne showed us a landmark - the Mannekin Pis. There is a myth behind the pissing boy that is something to do with putting out a fire and saving the city. We're not convinced, but this little guy was attracting a lot of attention!









Went to supermarket to pick up some stuff for dinner. Yvonne and Andrew were making a traditional Belgium dish for us which consisted of endives wrapped in ham and baked in a cheesy sauce. It didn't turn out as well as she'd hoped but we thought it tasted good!

The next day we slept in and eventually got up and headed to the Musical Instrument Museum in a beautiful Art Noveau building. It was a large museum with lots of different types of instruments. Visitors are given wirelesss headphones where they can listen to snippets of music played on the various instruments at various listening points.

After the museum we headed to the Palais de Justice. We walked past the arts museum on the way as well as one of the royal palaces (though the royal family don't actually live here, they stay at another palace on the outskirts of the city).


Headed back to Grand Place to get to the supermarket to buy some stuff for dinner that night.
As it was really cold, we didn't stay out for long.

On our last day, the weather got better, there was sun and it was warmer. We checked out the comic museum - for those who didn't know Belgium is the home of Tin Tin. The museum was interesting though it contained way too much information.

After the musuem we headed to the Christmas markets and grabbed some bratwurst for lunch. We also bought some chocolate from Neuhaus chocolatier. Then we headed to Parc du Cinquantaire for a look around before it was time to head back to pack up.

We met Yvonne for dinner before leaving on the Eurostar.

Our first cold Christmas

Today was our first Christmas in London which we spent with some other family-less kiwis.

We went around to Trudy's where Trudy, Rob (and flatmate Debbie) were putting on a feast of a lunch for us. Initially we thought we would have to walk to get there but we managed to get a lift in the back of Kirsty's van which we were thankful for.

Here's a photo of our feast:












Unfortunately (or fortunately) it wasn't cold enough, so we didn't have a white Christmas.