While I was in London a few days ago (jumping around in time all over the place has obviously become a hallmark of this blog), I had to get from the tube at Piccadilly Circus to Haymarket to head to the school reunion. Looking on the map, one might think that that was a very simple process... However, I managed to walk in completely the opposite direction required until, becoming increasingly sure that I was going the wrong way, a kindly copper put me right.
What is the point of me telling you this story you might ask? Well, if I hadn't gone the wrong way, I would never have looked up and seen this:
And of course, as any good tele watcher would know, that immediately signals one thing: Gok Wan! And even though the chances were slim that he would actually be there in person, there he was!
It was really funny, he had security people to try and push us unwashed and deeply unfashionable masses away and the poor woman he was doing his magic on looked quite vacant like she couldn't actually believe she was there! People were everywhere, spilling onto the streets trying to take pictures and angling to be the next people of whom he asked their opinion. I thought it was quite classic that he was talking to two 'passers by' who just happened to be both carrying Harrods bags - obviously their opinions were worth something!
Back in May (sorry for the delay on all these posts, I’ll get better soon I promise!) we decided that we had to get into some of the camping action that gets massively hyped up here during summer, and headed to Wales for a weekend of walking. It also coincided with the Cooper’s Hill cheese roll festival – but more on that in a subsequent post!
We spent the first night in Cardiff checking out the sights and sounds with Adrian’s mate John and his girlfriend Jen. Those lovely girls in Cardiff sure aren’t too keen on wearing too many clothes that’s for sure! The next day we headed up to Brecon which is in the middle of the Brecon Beacons national park in the heart of south Wales. Adrian took inspiration from the Cardiff beauties and showed off his underwear as much as possible...
We started off with a quick walk around a reservoir practising our ‘off path’ skills (not getting too lost in the process fortunately) and then headed up into Brecon itself. The extremely friendly ladies in the tourist office helped us find a campsite for the next two nights (an eco-site walking distance from Brecon, excellent) and then we were back into the wilderness, checking out some waterfalls and sheep hangouts.
The following day it was the big one – the ‘Beacons Circuit’. This was an 18km circuit of the main summits and ridges of the central Brecon Beacons and was definitely deserved of the title ‘epic’ it was given on the map! Unfortunately Jen had to stay in Brecon to do a key changeover so their cat back in Cardiff didn’t starve for the weekend, but John, Adrian and I started off bright and eager at the first hurdle. The first climb was the biggest, right up to the summits of Corn Du (pronounced ‘Corn dee’) and Pen y Fan (pronounced ‘Pen ee van’), the latter being the highest mountain in southern Britain (886m). No Aoraki I know, but still made us puff!
After that it was a series of ups and downs that were killer on the knees and muscles to finally finish nearly six hours later. One of my boots has lost its waterproofing which led to me getting what Adrian lovingly referred to as 'trench foot' which was extremely attractive, and, as we’d brought raincoats and no sunblock, of course it was boiling hot and we got all sorts of terrible tan lines as well! I do have to say though, that night was one of the best sleeps I’d had in ages...
May weekend mini-break #2 was organised courtesy of the lovely Katy and her new husband Dave, who are currently living the life of luxury in Vienna (those diplomats have it good I tell you - sure, they might have to work hard, but look at the amazing places they get to live!).
We got el cheapo airfares courtesy of Aer Lingus (flying an Irish airline from England to Austria, globalisation in action) and arrived in Vienna on Saturday afternoon.We started with an orientation walk around the city – Vienna is gorgeous!So many parks (apparently the most for any European capital??) and incredible buildings, it was all a bit overwhelming.So after that (admittedly moderate) piece of exercise it was time for dinner, and what a dinner we had...If I didn’t know it yet, the lesson was quickly learned: Vienna is all about the food.Adrian stuck with the traditional Wien Schnitzel (I found it difficult to remember to say ‘v’ for ‘w’ the whole time, even though ‘ween schnitzel’ doesn’t really have the best ring to it really does it), and I got the käsekreiner (sausages stuffed with cheese...mmm...).Dave beat us all though by getting the half metre of ribs and polishing them off in a flash – they did look so delicious I can’t blame him!But we weren’t done there; next it was off to have the biggest icecream sundaes I’ve ever seen in the middle of town sitting out under the stars.Absolute gluttony!
Sunday was another gorgeous day and we made the most of it by visiting the Belvedere Palace near Katy and Dave’s apartment and seeing the gardens and an Alfons Mucha exhibition, and then heading out to Schönbrunn which is Vienna’s version of Versailles.It is massive!We took in a strudel making demonstration (they soak the dough in oil for 30 minutes...no wonder it tastes so delicious!), ran around the maze, checked out the interior, and walked up the hill to the Gloriette and a beautiful view over the city.
Adrian reckoned that he could top my floor piano performances from Malmo and New York with his own rendition. Check it out and see what you think!
Sunday night was topped off by a visit to the Wiener (Vienna) Prater, a giant fairground with fantastic rides.We went on one called the ‘Admiral’ which pulled you up so fast you left your heart on the ground and then once at the top, suspended you there for a couple of seconds (which felt like an eternity!) and then plummeted you down leaving your stomach at the top – and after this happening three times in a row you had no idea where you were or how you were ever going to put your insides back together again!In a word: brilliant.
Monday was our last day and after heading back for another look at some of the buildings (the town hall, parliament etc.) we headed out to Kunst Haus Wien (Vienna Art House) which was built by Hundertwasser – better known to NZers as the designer of the green koru flag and the Kawakawa public loos!It was fascinating, his art is all about organic forms, and there was so much information explaining his intentions, it was great.Watching a 1990 TVNZ ‘Living Treasures’ video there was hilarious too, almost as if NZ didn’t really know what to make of this internationally renowned artist living in its midst.
There was so much we didn’t see – the opera house, or anything to do with music at all really which was a bit of a sacrilege, the main art galleries, or any of the city outside the very centre.It is definitely on the re-visit list.Thanks again so much to Katy and Dave for having us, we had a brilliant time!The rest of the photos are here.
In an attempt to see as much of this fair country (and Europe) as possible, we've started on a rigorous programme of weekend mini-breaks. It's all about the cheap rail ticket (love the student rail card) and, despite my conscious telling me NOOOOOOOOO, the occasional cheap airfare.
So, in May, we started things off locally, with a 48-hour sojourn in Canterbury. We didn't even know where it was, so after a quick check on the map (it's near Dover) we booked our train tickets and were off. We stayed in one of the highest rated hostels in the UK (Kipps Independent Hostel) which was fantastic! They have a bbq on Saturday nights which is only £3.50 for a hotdog in a bun, a hamburger, and a beer! Nice one.But, Canterbury's all about culture with a capital C so I really should stop talking about food! We started off with the big daddy, the cathedral. It's enormous! Just keeps going on and on and on and so much history everywhere you turn. I particularly liked the cloisters and some of the newer stained glass windows. While we were in there the Polish Radio Choir were practising for a concert they were performing later that night - it was some very dischordant, jangly operatic stuff and sounded incredible in that space. We were lucky to get a sneak peek!
After gorging on culture it was time to gorge on lunch (yes I know, back to food, inevitable really isn't it...). The main street was home to a food festival which gave us a delicious Thai lunch and then a vegan blueberry tart...mmmmmm.... Fully refueled it was back on the tourist trail. That led us to a river boat trip and the Canterbury Tales - the latter's this fantastically kitsch Madame Tussauds-esque trip through Chaucer's stories. We were really lucky that we were the only people in there and could prance around making fun as much as we liked! We also checked out some gardens, (other) old churches, and op-shops. The shopping was actually pretty successful - Adrian picked up this brilliant long grey suit and waistcoat at a huge discount and has since proceeded to make everyone else in Oxford look underdressed - a pretty hard task actually!
After a night out on the town checking out the local chavs (sorry Canterbury, but it's true), we spent most of next day at St Augustine's Abbey. It was one of the largest Benedictine abbeys in the UK, but was destroyed in the Reformation. We've been learning all about Henry VII's role in the history here, man, that guy was pretty incredible (in the literal sense of the word!). But, I have to say, the highlight of Sunday was coming across these guys:
Did you see the amount of greenery on their heads?! And that one particular guy in the second row - like an entire garden growing on top...
So, Canterbury mini-break gets a big thumbs up from me. I may even go so far as to say it's very nearly as pretty as Oxford!The rest of the photos are here.
One of the must-do things in any Oxford student's life is to go to a ball. Those of us with £££ to spare would obviously choose the Magdalen College ball, but at £195 for one night it's a little on the steep side! A much more reasonable choice was the Keble College ball for £70, so a whole group of us from my course decided that a fun and frivolous night out on the town was definitely in order.
The theme was Neverland and it was definitely a fantasty paradise! Entertainment on offer included a silent disco, a chocolate fountain with cream filled profiteroles to dip into it (!!), a bouncy castle, a photo booth, a casino room, shisha pipes, and even sumo suits to play with! All that and unlimited food and drinks until 5am... We most definitely got our money's worth!
Adrian was particularly enamoured with the sumo suits (at about 4 in the morning) - see if you can tell which one he is in the video! I got into them as well after this scene was shot, man, are they heavy! I could hardly lift myself up again once I'd fallen over. Enjoy the video and the rest of the photos here.
The luxury of a taxi (for the mammoth one kilometre walk home...) at 5am was well worth it, as was the greasy fried chicken in bed the next day - so classy.
