Ice Skating At Somerset House

Friday Night
22/12/06After the trip to the gallery and a few pints at the pub we made our way down the street to somerset house. It was a pretty nice atmosphere their, the cool arcitecture of the building and the lights made it a great scene for outdoor ice skating. Oh yeah it was bloody freezing, when i got home and read the thermometer the temp was in the negatives, its been hovering around zero the last few days.

Something else cool happened when we were wondering along The Strand, I found an Aussie shop that sells Bundy! 20 pounds a bottle (25 for OP). A bit expensive but worth it!

Have fun everyone and enjoy Christmas and New Year!

Trafalgar Square

G'day sam here! Thought it was about time that I had some input on this blog!

On friday we went to Trafalgar Square and went to the National Gallery where paintings by Van Gogh, Botticelli, Monet, Rembrant and three of the Ninja Turtles are on display. The gallery is an enormous place and really quite boring. So we saw some of the more famous paintings like "The Virgin of the Rocks" by Da Vinci, then went to a pub. The pub was good. So was the pub after that.

These are some photots of Trafalgar Square and the National museum. There were carolers singing under the christmas tree.

Fox visitor

Hi again,

This is a just photo of a fox which was in our backyard yesterday morning (when i was talking to you brooke!). It was a pretty big one and seemed to have a sore leg but when sam went outside it took off really quickly! Then he came back, and went again when he saw us looking at him. We're not sure how it got in or out of the backyard cause there is a pretty big fence right around. oh well, a bit of excitement anyway. I hope his leg is ok and that he doesn't scare away the squirrels cause we like watching them bounding around.

Tower of London

HI guys,

Just wanted to say first that we love getting your comments. so please feel free to leave a note. it's nice to know you're looking at our blog! :)

Yesterday we went to the Tower of London in the afternoon. it's another historical, touristy thing and we really enjoyed looking around. As you probably know, the Tower of London was a residence for the kings and queens of England as well as being a fortress and a prison. It is also currently home to the famous British Crown Jewels. One of our first stops was to look at the jewels. They are amazing, so sparkly.

We enjoyed wandering through the little coridors and up the winding stone staircases. It's got quite an eerie feeling really especially with the 'ravens' hovering around.

The tower bridge is just next to it and that is the bridge you can see behind me in the photo. we'll walk across it another day.

The funny man with me in the photo (with the red and black dress) is called a "beefeater." they got that name becuse they used to test the food before the royal family could eat it!

We decided if we go to the Tower again we would do a tour or get an audio guide because there is alot of history there which would make more sense if you had a bit of background knowledge. It would take forever to read all the little info plaques they have everywhere. xox

St Paul's Cathedral

Hi there,

Hope you are all well.

A couple of days ago we went to St Paul's Cathedral which was a great day. We spent quite a bit of time there and took an audio tour which was certainly a good idea because it makes sense of everything like the paintings and points out the story behind all of the decoration and memorials. You are not allowed to take photos in there which is a shame although you can understand why. I don't think the photos would capture just how beautiful and amazing it is anyway. We got a couple from the outside though. There is a photo above of Sam knocking on the giant West door of the Naive. This is the formal entrance to the cathedral used for significant occassions (like when Diana married Prince Chrarles!).

We walked 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery which gives you a wonderful view of the paintings and mosaic art work that covers the inside of the famous dome. Then up more steps to the Stone Gallery and the Golden Gallery where you can get a perfect view across London. here are are couple of photos from the top as well.

We then went down under the Church's floor into the Crypt which is the Cathedral's burial chamber. A bit creepy really. There are many important figures buried or commemorated here such as Churchill, Wellington, Florence Nightingale...

love Anita and Sam

Loughton

I just wanted to include these couple of photos of Loughton (the suburb we're living in) cause i thought they were really nice. The day time ones were taken from outside the library just down the road. And the night time pic was taken looking up the High Rd, which is the main road at the end of our street. It has lots of great restraunts and shops.

LONDN EYE

Hi Guys,

Last night we went for a "flight" on the famous London Eye. It had been a lovely sunny day and ended up being a clear night of which there haven't been many so we thought we'd make the most of the good weather. We got the train in at a about 5pm so it was dark when we went on the ferris wheel. We wanted to go at night to see all the lights and it was certainly worth it, what a beautiful view of the city we had. You go up in a gondola type thing which is very spacious. You can walk around in it and it fits quite a few people. It takes half an hour to go all the way round. We took lots of phots and i've attatched a few. It was a wonderful view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. They were staright across on the opposite side of the River Thames to the London Eye.

Afer our ride we went a few stations further back on the tube to try and find what they say in my book is one of the last original english pubs in West End. Anyway, after walking around in circles looking very touristy with our map...we couldn't find it! We went to another nice place for dinner instead cause by this stime we were starving. It's amazing how much busier the city is late mid-week compared to home!

cya xo

Shopping!

Hey!

As you can see... went to Harrods today! Quite exciting :) So i've been shopping in London now Bekki (you would be pleased to know). We got the tube train into Oxford Circus Station which leads you to Oxford Street which is a very very long street and the main place for shopping in the city. I dragged sam around to do some christmas shopping. The shops are really beautiful with all the chrissy lights. We were going to walk through Hyde Park down to Harrods but it started to rain and we didn't have our brollies so we got the bus down (its not in oxford street). It was very flash. Nice to have a look and dream. So now we've been into central London. About time hey!? We were on a bit of a mission though with the presents (although i did find something for myself of course). Didn't do anything touristy this trip into town. Except for Harrods. Bye xoxo

Trip to Bournemouth

Hello! Just to update you on what we have been doing lately.......

Well we've spent the most of our 1st week here just checking out the local area which is really lovely. We have settled in well and have sussed out the local pubs of which there are many within 200m or so of our house!

Also we went for a walk in the forrest at the end of our street. it is so pretty at the moment with all of the autumn leaves on the ground. i'll attatch a photo. can't wait to see it in the snow hopefully. wellingtons (he, he) are a must though as the ground is quite soggy. yes, as expected it has been raining a fair bit compared to sunny qld. Although the cold is bareable at the moment.

We went and visited sam's aunty Liz and her family on tues and it was really nice to see them. she was very excited which was great...alot like you cathy :) we got the train there and i must say... i'm pretty proud of the way we are getting the hang of the public transport around here, although it is fairly easy.

We have spent the last few days in Bournemouth (which is on the south west coast of england). it took us about 3 hrs to get there by train. it was a pretty funny trip as we accidentally got a train ticket instead of a bus ticket (just as i was saying we were getting the hang of the transport system!). anyway, we were crammed in the end of the carriage as it was full of workers at the time we went and no seats available. we sat on our suitcase in a corner and drank a beer and wine and nibbled some nuts. so it wasn't too bad.

We stayed in a lovely, cute Bed & Breakfast with an owner who gave us exceptional service. it was very reasonalbly priced as well. the reason for our trip to Bournemouth was for me to attend a day at Bournemouth Uni for the overseas nursing program i have to do. luckly it didn't end up being a full day but i got a huge booklet to complete which i think will be quite time consuming. anyway, all this has to be done to get my UK nursing registration.

we really liked Bournemouth. it is a very clean, pretty coastal town which has "award winning beaches" (nothing on australia). we went for a walk along the cliff top and nearly got blown away! it was freezing there on your ears and nose! i'm sure it would be lovely in summer. the town square had some festive christmas lights and really nice gardens running though the town. we enjoyed watching the squirrels there, they are very cute. we spent a long time getting a decent photo! they come very close when they think you've got food. one jumped on sam's arm. they're actually a little scary when they get that close!

we had some other plans for bournemouth but the weather was no good on our last day so we came back to london. we have to travel there for uni again so will postpone our day trip to "monkey world" which is an ape refuge centre. we were looking forward to checking it out but will do it next time.

bye for now guys xoxo