London

Well, we are off again!  Its 2014, Zac & Tony have just graduated from High School, so this time we are doing a family trip to the United Kingdom and Europe.  Christmas with Tims brother Jeremy, and spending some time in Europe... all with our very good friends the Henrys.

Watch this space for more commentary and photos over the next month or so, and follow our blog!  If you sign up at the bottom of the page you will be able to get notified of updates as they are posted (I think that is the "online" term for it!).

 So if your seat backs are upright, and your tray table is stowed..... let's begin!

Jess took a family "selfie" before we got on the plane.

After a long flight in cattle class (yuk!), we have finally arrived - and the fact of being being cooped up in a plane for 24 hours is fast being forgotten.  A chilly 2 degrees met us as we exited the terminal at Heathrow.  We had some head-winds on the Singapore to London leg, and the plane was a little bit late arriving, so there were some minor dramas locating our taxi.

However, these didn't really slow us down and we were soon sitting down to a yummy cooked breakfast at Tim's brother, Jeremy's, place before we check into our apartment later this morning.

After checking into our apartment at Barbican, a short walk from St Pauls, we took a stoll down to "One New Change" to get some essential supplies.  Jeremy then came in to the apartment after he had finished teaching some students, and we went out to a Mexican dinner before checking out the Christmas markets on the south side of the river in front of the Tate Modern.  A glass of Mulled Wine should be enough to get off off to sleep, to try and beat the jet lag!

Untill tomorrow....

Christmas at St Pauls, anyone?

We woke today to weather that was a bit milder than yesterday - good walking weather!  We went to church in the morning at Finsbury Park to catch up with some folks that Jessica had spent time with while she was in India last Christmas at the Indian Childrens Home.  It was a good morning to catch up!

We then made our way back down to Barbican to an English gastro pub called "The Jugged Hare" for a birthday lunch.  It was a great pub with excellent food - RJ, from Tims work, had highly recommended it.... and it didn't disappoint!  Tim and Ian ordered the Jugged Hare - it was delicious!  Everyone else ordered some great food from Burgers to Grouse.  It was a very nice way to spend a birthday.

We then went on a walk along the Thames from St Pauls to Tower Bridge, and we had a beer at the Dickens Inn in St Katherines Dock to finish the day.

Champagne anyone?

While Tim set off for work early for a video conference with India, the rest of the crew and the Henrys started the day with the idea of heading west to hit some of the shopping districts.  it was a bit of an edventure and we pretty much followed Anthonys sense of direction....

We set off toward the meat markets in Smithfield and then continued on to Soho to have a morning coffee in a cafe that doubled up as a bike shop.  On the menu was selections for "before the ride", "during the ride" and "after the ride".  We then continued on down to Regent St and Carnaby Street and onto Mayfair and then Hyde Park Corner where we had a quick look at the Winter Wonderland (it was packed).

We then walked onto to Kensington to have a look around and located a small Pub in Knightsbridge for lunch.  From there our target was the King Road shopping strip where some money was spent!  After this long journey, we located the Fulham Broadway tube station and made our way back to the apartment using the underground.  It was exhausting days walking - we covered some ground!

After some relaxing time, Tim returned from work and Tim, Kellie and Jem visited the Champagne Bar in One New Change for a quick glass of Champagne, before we headed to one of the local Pubs called the Lord Raglan for dinner, before returning to apartment for a cup of tea.

Family "Selfie" in Trafalgar Square.

We woke this morning to another clear, crisp day.  The weather has been pretty kind to us so far! While Tim went off to work, the rest of the family met up with the Henrys and we made our way on the tube to the Natural History Museum.  We spent quite a while looking at the Big Blue Whale, the earthquake and volcanos exhibt and many others - and don't think we saw even half of what was available!  The exhibits were very interactive and fun.

From the Museum, we caught the tube to Trafalgar Square to see the National Gallery.... a lot of cultural things were done today, heh!  We saw lots of great paintings, and among the favourites were some Monets and Van Goughs... we even saw the original of the painting that Jess copied as a 10 year old in art class - seems like a long time ago.  Van Gough did a pretty good copy of Jess' painting.....! Out the front of the National Gallery were a bunch of street performers dressed up as Santa, Yoda and even the Grim Reaper!

We parted ways with the Henrys at Trafalgar Square, and they went on to Soho to do some shopping, while we walked along the Strand and had a look at the Ice Skating at Sommerset House.  Along the way we stopped at a Pub for a rest and a snack as our feet were beginning to ache!  We then found a tube station and decided to catch the train back to the apartment for a rest.

Tim then came home from work and Kellie, Bec, Ant and Tim walked to Faringdon for a drink at one of the Pubs there, before we left Bec and Ant and met up with the kids at Leicester Square for dinner - the kids had already found their way there and met up with Jeremy.  We tried to get into Jamies but it was fully booked, so we went to Mexican instead.

With full tummies, we caught the train home to the apartment for bed.  Before hitting the sack, we had to check the Board of Studies website for HSC results, where we learned that both Tony and Zac did really well, and are "eligible" for an HSC.... I guess it is "in the mail" as they say!  Now we all have to wait for the ATAR which is due out in a few days.....

Getting a backstage tour...

This morning when Tim went off to work, we caught train to Westminster, and visited Big Ben and Westminster Abby.  It was an impressive structure, although some thought it was "one massive tomb" with ornate memorials to past relatives.  Most of the tombs were from Royalty. We even saw the corronation chair.

After this we took the train to Bond steet where, after a short stop for lunch, we did some shopping! - everyone got something... Boots, Jumpers, Shirts, Jeans, even a Christmas Jumper with a big fluffy nose on Ruddolf the Raindeer (Jess).  After this we went back to the apartment for a rest.

Tim came home a bit early from work in time to meet up and catch a train to Charring Cross to have dinner at a mexican restaurant before picking up tickets to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels from the Savoy Thatre box office.  The show was one that Ian was performing in and it was great. Great story, excellent music and lots of laughs. After the show Ian gave us a back stage tour explaining everything that goes on behind the scenes. The Savoy is quite a small theatre that was built in the 1890's, and was the first to have the electic light!  The owner of the Theatre thought that there were so many out-of-towners that came to see the shows, that perhaps building a hotel next door would be a good business proposition...... hence the swanky hotel next just outside the main entrance to the Theatre.  It was great to hear from Ian, how everything worked and what everyones role was from the stage manager, to cast, to gaffers - we even got to see into the orchastra pit.

After a quick drink at the pub next door to talk more with an about the show, we then went home on the tube exhausted.

The Thames country-side

Today we decided to go for a walk along the Thames, a little way out of the city. while Tim went to work.  We caught the train to Richmond where we began our walking adventure.  We walked all the way to Hampton Court in a very cold and bitter wind.  It was a long and tiring walk, but was really nice to see some new and different twon-like scenery as opposed to the city-scape we had been experiencing for the last week.

While we were walking Max and Tom found an abandoned swing that they amused themselves with for a while before we continued on to lunch at a pub on The Thames in Kingston.  We were the only ones in the pub - a bit different from the ones in the city that we had been frequenting, which were usually packed to the rafters!

We were very exhausted by the end of the walk and caught the overland train back to Waterloo before having a brief rest in the apartment before meeting Jeremy near St Pancras station to hear his students sing some festive Christmas Carols.

While we were doing this, Tim had a long Christmas lunch with his London work colleagues at a restaurant on top of the One New Change buiding overlooking the dome of St Pauls Cathedral.

When the carols were done, we caught the train to Covent Garden for dinner with Shane (an old friend who Tim had worked with in Australia), and then went back to Shanes place after dinner to continue our chat while we waited for Ian to join us after finishing his show for the evening.

Ledenhall with its Christmas lights

Early this morning Kellie and Bec woke to get to the Smithfield Meat Markets before it closed, to stock up on meat for the next week in Yorkshire.  We then all met up at Smiths - a restaurant near the markets for breakfast before Tim had to go off to work.

After breakfast, the Girls and Boys split up to go shopping at One New Change before heading back to the apartment.  Zac was feeling pretty sick with a head cold, so he stayed indoors for the rest of the day while the others contiued our adventures.  We grabbed some street food for lunch from White Cross markets - which was quite near the office that Anthony was working in a few years ago - and then sat in a cemetary to eat it!  Hot pulled pork rolls were the order of the day!

Bec then took Max to Euston Station where he caught a train to Manchester to spend some time with one of his friends from Australia who now lives in Engand and Will headed back to the apartment for a rest.  The remaining five went to the Tate Modern to see some modern art - white triangles, black canvas and ripped canvases some some of the bizzare pieces that we couldn't make a lot of sense of... but there were also some beautiful pieces by Salvidor Dali and Piccasso.

We stopped for a bevvy at the cafe in the Tate Modern, before making our way on to the Burough Markets - Tom and Tony tcured the whole market trying to find as many free food tastings as possible! We then followed our nose across London Bridge to Ledenhall Markets which was all beautifully decked out with Christmas trees and lights- very festive.  Ledenhall was used in some of the filming of  Harry Potter, so the Harry Potter fan club was thrilled!  We shared a beer with a few of Tim 's work mates, before catching a cab to Brick Lane for a curry dinner with Jeremy and his friend Richard at Shampan.

We then returned home to see our sick patient Zac, and start packing up for our trip to Yorkshire.

Edge Farm in the night time

Not much to report today, as we spent most of the day in a car!  We got up this morning and finished packing up our stuff before catching the DLR to London City airport to pick up the hire cars, before thundering up the M1/A1 to Yorkshire.

Our house is very remote, and near the town of Lofthouse in Nidderdale.  We arrived in the dark and had to drive through a field of Sheep - most of who were too lazy to move off the road - to get to our house on the side of a hill.

It was pitch black as we arrived, so we really don't know what the landscape is like around us, but after lighting the fireplace and settling in for a glass of wine - it is a puzzle we will leave for tomorrow....