6 months down, 6 months to go

After the whirlwind that was March, April has turned out to be a much more subdued month (aside from the road trip over Easter of course!).  Carrying out more research and making more bookings for the upcoming summertime bonanza of travelling has been at the forefront of our activities and we've kept all adventures this month low key and local...
 
The never-ending search for London's best roast took us to a north side pub and was certainly a contender for the prize and we also found another in the running right on our doorstep in the west. 

Fancy seeing you here!
(Anna, a work colleague of Julian's from Oz joined us for a roast)

Speaking of right on our doorstep, after 6 months of living just a stone's throw away from Fulham's home ground, Craven Cottage, we finally made it to a game and a Premier League game no less!

For the very back row, we still had a good view
(aside from those two columns though)

We've finally succumbed after seeing the rowers on the Thames day in and day out and enrolled ourselves in a beginners rowing course.  Unfortunately we've not made it out onto the river yet as the conditions haven't been great but hopefully this week...

Danielle's absolute highlight of the month would have to have been catching a glimpse of Prince Harry at the London marathon.  She went along (with Gemma) for a spot of charity work, cheering on runners at the finish line on behalf of the British Red Cross, expecting a great atmosphere with plenty of entertainment but got much more than this when Prince Harry was spotted doling out the medals to the elite runners a mere 20 metres from the posse in the charity stands!

Dressed in blue, kind of in the middle of the photo. 
Ahh Harry, so close yet so far!

Finally, Julian has resumed his quest in earnest to have a pint at every pub in Hammersmith after finding the long lost map which happens to have highlighted every pub in Hammersmith.

March Madness

Iceland, Ireland, farm, France-four weekends in March equals four adventures hence the name 'March Madness'!
These adventures used all our energy and the majority of our time this month and so Iceland, Ireland and France each have their own page of the blog dedicated to them-check them out!

The farm gave us a weekend of family time and the opportunity to see more of the lush, green countryside and quaint little villages within easy drive of the farm.

In Thaxted-the cobblestone path leading from the Guild Hall up to the Church

This path in Saffron Walden led us to some beautiful gardens-at this point though we thought we might end up in someones backyard.

Of real note though this month, was the beginning of British summertime (daylight savings), and the coincidental,  run of gorgeously warm, sunny weather.  This meant everyone in London came out of hibernation, no longer grumpy and glum but in good humour, smiling and chatty-ourselves included!

We celebrated the start of Summertime with a sunset drink by the Thames

February has 28 or 29 days each leap year (one extra for us to travel)

Just when we thought we were on the down hill run from Winter into Spring London pulled out its wintry weather for us including snow-and not once but twice!  You could tell by the snow fights and laughter in the streets, just who the visitors were.  All the locals just grumbled, pulled their collars up high and went about their business as if it were just another day.

The backyard

February has been a month of a 'heads down, tail up' lifestyle, trying to work and save money in preparation for March madness where every weekend will see us in a different place, if not country!  
We did treat ourselves to two little excursions.  The first being a day trip down to Windsor (this also included a quick stroll across the river into Eton)  With the castle being the main feature of Windsor, we did as all tourists do and explored it, keeping an eye out for the Queen as the flag indicated she was in residence.  Unfortunately the day passed without a sighting but we did get to the see the changing of the guard and a few other bits and pieces.

We hopped over to the continent for a couple of days to check (or Czech hehe) out Prague, trekking up the hill to the castle to find the best views of the city.

Only to then climb the 250 odd stairs up the bell tower of St Vitas for an even better view-it was worth it though!

The decision to wake up early on Sunday to visit St Charles bridge proved worthwhile as aside from the street sweepers we were the only people on the bridge-a rare moment on a weekend apparently.

The combination of cafe hopping(we did find a few good ones) and sightseeing made for a lovely weekend. The cheap beer helped too! 

New year, new jobs, new adventures

January has been a month of much needed R & R from our busy December and the fact that we both had to return to work just after new years-yes that's right, much to his disappointment the days of Julian's role as a house husband are over.

 We did a weekend trip to Oxford which was just lovely.  So lovely in fact that we went back again for a day trip to further explore and visit sites we were unable to get to the first time round.

The Bodlein Library-scenes of Harry Potter filmed here for all you fans

We did the usual tourist things, visiting the Oxford Castle, a couple of colleges, the Sheldonian Theatre as well as the Bodlein Library & Radcliffe Camera.

The famed inspiration for the dining hall in Harry Potter is the top left building at Christ Church college

The two most notable things about Oxford, other than the beautiful, old, historic buildings in lovely surroundings, would have to have been the obvious rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge and the Harry Potter claim to fame.  Locals and tour guides were quick to poke fun at Cambridge and equally as quick to point out Oxford's role in the Harry Potter films.

Main quadrangle at Christ Church college

For more Oxford pics check out the photo links page.

Being the first Australia Day we've ever had to work, the 26th was a subdued but still celebrated event considering the large expat community in London.  We attended a combined birthday/Australia Day soiree and partook in the usual celebrations of listening to Triple J and having a few drinks (even if we were listening to the graveyard shift and in an Irish pub to boot!)

Aside from the Oxford adventures, we continued our never-ending search for good English pubs and good English pubs serving good English roasts, meeting up with friends and family along the way.

A quarter of the journey complete!

So December didn't bring us a white Christmas but it didn't really allow us to dwell to much on the lack of snow as we were so busy.  Aside from the visit to farm, ski trip to France & New Years adventure in Edinburgh (all of which you can read about on the other pages) we squeezed in some London activity too, trying to soak up as much winter Christmas atmosphere as possible.

We tried our hand at ice skating, choosing the rink set in the moat of the Tower of London and no the moat didn't freeze over-there is no longer water in it.  It was just one of the numerous, temporary, purpose built rinks around the city.

Christmas markets seemed to be all the rage in the northern hemisphere so we braved the London version, enjoying some mulled wine and big, fat, tasty German sausages as well as making a little purchase or two of crafty goods.

Looking down Southbank at the Christmas market crowds

Christmas Day was a nice, quiet affair.  After opening presents (including Arsenal branded santa hats!) and enjoying a home cooked roast, a nap was definitely called for!

We decided to (perhaps foolishly??) to venture down Oxford St en route to a ballet performance on Boxing Day.  The street lights were lovely but the crowds were crazy!

This photo was taken in the middle of the street amidst the crowds-no cars permitted as there were too many bargin hunters.

December has also been our 'cultured' month where we've managed to see three completely different types of performances.  We saw a science-y variety show at the Hammersmith Apollo which featured Brian Cox.  For all you non physicists click here to see who he is. We then saw the Nutcracker at the beautiful Coliseum and a few days later watched a stage adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle.

The Coliseum where we saw the Nutcracker

Check out the Photo Links page for more photos of December.

November for the Norths

November has just flown by in a blur!  We helped cousin Sid celebrate his 40^th-he had no idea about the party let alone the Australian cousins being in town so it was a double surprise.  We met other long lost cousins of cousins of cousins-the relationship between everyone got a bit complicated especially with free flowing wine and endless tins of beer!  In any event, the distant relatives seemed to have a good memory of Julian as a wee lad and we spent an enjoyable night regaling stories of days gone by.

We experienced the novelty of purchasing fireworks from the supermarket then being able to set them off in the back yard on Fireworks Night/Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Day (something we haven’t been able to do at home since the early 80’s!)  Some were impressive, others just fizzers but we managed to set off all 44 crackers without a hitch-so the OH&S officer’s precaution of a bucket of water was thankfully not needed.

We have wonderful memories of our visit to Cambridge mid-November but not too many photographs as Danielle had forgotten to charge the camera battery!  As well as seeing the beautiful old colleges and hearing embellished stories & tales about the places beside our punt ride along the river Cam, we took the opportunity to catch up with an old flattie-Kier-now a resident of Cambridge who was able to show us some of the fine ale houses about the town too.

The month with rounded off with a touch of home, seeing Lior live (click here if you've not heard of this fab musician) at a very up close at a small place in Soho as well as a trip to Twickenham to see the Wallabies absolutely thrash the Barbarians 

We continue to be reminded how mild the weather is at the moment compared to last year when the place had almost come to a standstill due the amount of snow, although it is quite cold enough now!  London has been blanketed in fog a couple of times already and a little rain has fallen but all in all, we shouldn’t complain.  At least the pubs are a cosy place to bunker down and forget the winter weather worries.

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Employment + Cooler weather = Settling Down ??

Well we've been busy little beavers these past couple of weeks or should I say squirrels?  The cute little pests are everywhere!

The better half began supply teaching two weeks ago with the phone running red hot for bookings for days to work while the other half combines his greatest love-coffee-with what seems to be London's greatest attribute-free wifi- by passing the days away in the coffee chain Nero studying and job hunting simultaneously.

Fortunately for the teacher, a week and half of work was rewarded by a week of holidays (the mid term week off that staves off the potential insanity of working a 12-14 week term!).  This time has been put to good use though, investigating potential longer term dwellings.  We've been scouring the web, making contact with advertisers and viewing places in the vain hope we might find something half decent and at a half decent price.  So far, no luck but what a great way to get to know London and its suburbs.

We're able to tick a few more items off the England to do list including a delicious, proper home made Sunday roast,  a not so delicious pub made Sunday roast,  markets, markets and more markets and most notably for the male half of this couple- a proper football game, watching what seems to be one of the most disliked teams (unless you are a supporter of course which he is) Arsenal playing at their home ground, Emirates stadium.  Arsenal won keeping everyone happy and positive but I just loved how Bolton (opposition of the night) supporters were relegated to a far corner of the stadium, fenced off and heavily guarded who then would have had to join the 55 000 plus throng of people exiting the stadium-imagine the heckling!  The photo below shows the three sections they were permitted to sit in.

Needless to say, pubs have still been a significant part of our agenda :P