We then visited the grounds where we went to the ‘pet corner’ and I was able to hold a 17 year old python, we were able to watch extremely intelligent parrots count with a cow bell, see some general animals (rabbits etc) then head to the more exciting animals like otters, tortoise and, see our first ever porcupine! Oh my gosh! I NEVER knew that a porcupine was so bloody big!! I thought it was a little bigger than our echidna, but they’re actually the size of a middle to large sized dog. Surprised the hell out of me!

Jenny (rabbit) and I (otter?!)

The massive porcupine!!! Who knew they were so bloody big?!?!

Contemplating life.. oh it can be so difficult!

"How low can you go?"

After our lazy lie in today, our leisurely breakfast and packing a bit of a picnic, we head to Coldicote Castle, which unbeknownst to me, was actually in Wales. I had no idea that we were so close to Wales, shows how ignorant I am, and also how geographically challenged I am, I’d best not loose Chris or the GPS during these next few months.

The castle was nice, not as big as it was perceived to be in the brochure, but nice all the same. They lost a little of the historic atmosphere though, as all around the gardens and in the castle ruin rooms they’d placed stuffed folk art rabbits for Easter, they also had some school holiday activity happening where children had to find all the clues etc, which is all well and good, but it appeared every mother in Wales that brought there snotty kid to the grounds to complete these activities and receive their free mini egg gift.

The towers though were quite nice and had beautiful views. I could happily be a princess if it meant waking up to that view every day, the Welsh country side is gorgeous! We had a lovely few hours wandering about the gardens, sitting and watching the swans and ducks (we sound like such an old couple, but in our defence, it was really nice and relaxing!) before settling down to eat our picnic lunch full of yummy and healthy treats. It was cold today and god I craved a good hot Milo, but I soldiered on and had my liter of water with lunch.

Coldicote Castle

Coldicote castle

Just as we were thinking of leaving Jen remembered that there was an old Abbey close by and did we want to see that? We agreed on the proviso that we all got a hot drink when we arrived there. Having negotiated this skillfully and successfully we found ourselves in this amazingly, gorgeous, take your breath away want to live there forever, valley called Tintern, and the Abbey was mind-blowing, jaw dropping, lost for words beautiful. It was just ruins, but oh my gosh, just gorgeous.

Tintern Abbey

Bloody hell, more of Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey ruins

The abbey was built around 1123 AD and housed monks who had chosen to adopt the ‘poverty’ lifestyle (just as Mother Teresa did many many years later) and who wanted to house themselves away from the ‘world’, and I have to say, what a place to do it! Back in its day Tintern would have been a difficult place to access being in a little Welsh Valley. These monks would get up at 2am to meditate and do this up to 8 times a day (that is the definition of dedication if you ask me) they would go to church and listen to lessons and would sing in choirs. The sense of peace and stillness you get from this place is indescribable. You could spend days there and not get sick of it, despite the fact that from the outside (and admittedly the inside) it is all just ruins. The old structure that remains is breath taking though, such high walls with amazing windows and door frames, amazing peaceful views from each window, and the thought that went into the foundations and architecture is beautiful. Thus far, I have to say that this has been one of my most favourite places to visit! Wales is truly beautiful with its green pastures and laid back, content lifestyle. I would love to see more of it before we go, and with 5 or so months left up our sleeves, I would hope we can make this possible.

written by  Chris and Emily on April 14, 2009 from Caldicot, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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Chris and I catching the steam train, a very Bristish thing to do!

We went up the dock and then back along another track to the start, where by now, we were a tad hungry. We kept walking until we hit a little ferry that has been converted into a restaurant. Very yummy and rather cheap (no Styrofoam cup and cardboard banner required today) We all had a lovely meal, but I really enjoyed watching the new extreme sport “free running” that was happening beside us. I remember watching James Bond (the first Daniel Craig one.. you know the one where he comes up from the ocean in his undies) anyhow, that first scene where he’s chasing the baddie and he’s doing all that crazy stuff that I originally thought was C.Ged (or the guy was possessed and was really a crazy demon) I now know that it’s real and that there are some mad men out there who quite enjoy throwing themselves off a 10 story building onto a small ledge, swinging onto a washing line and then running up a wall and flipping themselves over (which could only obtain a perfect score of 10 in the gymnastic world) It was entertaining to say the least. After lunch we took a stroll to see a local cathedral, which was huge and lovely (as it seems all the buildings in England are) but we weren’t allowed to take photos as it was prayer time. We’ll go back another time for a pic or two and maybe when the neurotic usher isn’t there…. It worked out well though that we only had a chance to stick our head in and out as we then caught a boat around the harbour and learnt some of the history of the Bristol water front. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, nice and leisurely, and it was nice to be off our feet for once! We later strolled back to Jen’s place where we ate fish and chips for dinner and watched “Dr Who” (for the record and at the risk of sounding like a true “Who nerd”, David Tennant makes the best Dr ever)

'Anyone going to Melbourne?' Em hitching a ride home...

It was at Jens that I discovered the amazing red glow illuminating from my neck area.. who ever told me that the sun was less fierce in the UK was a big fat liar! Bloody hell, Rudolph has nothing on me I tell you! But the pain of the burn wasn’t that bad.. not in comparison to the rash I’d picked up somehow all over my legs and upper thighs. No, that took the cake and made the sunburn feel like a little pinch. Hmph. Chris always jokes that he can’t take me anywhere and that if anything was to happen or slightly go wrong it will happen to me, and he’s not wrong and most certainly not lying. Looks like another 6 months of religiously applying 30+ sunscreen is in order. Oh well, it beats the alternative right? It was home for a refreshing shower, reading and an early night for us, we’ve had such big days and taken so much in over the past week or so that it’s just so lovely to be able to relax and be at ‘home’. We’ll always be appreciative to all the help and assistance our UK family have given us with this trip, a huge help to the both of us!

written by  Chris and Emily on April 11, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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Aww, Paddington Bear and I lurking outside the mens loo.. we'll crop this photo I think..

We hopped on the train nice and early and found that our seats were at a table for four. “No problem” we thought “that’s cool, just hope our seat mates are nice” and they weren’t nice.. they were awesome! It was so odd. The train was practically empty, seats galore to choose from and yet they’d clumped us together and it was great! We met Helena and Nils, a couple heading away for the long weekend. God knows what they may have thought of us, but we thought they were great. They were great fun and were very generous in shouting us drinks, only wouldn’t allow us to shout them back, we’d like to be able to meet up with them and buy them a round or two in the future. It was lovely though as up until this train ride we’d not come across anyone who would voluntarily talk to you. So far we can only assume that the people in London are nice, we make this guess as no one will bloody talk to you in this city! Unless of course they HAVE to, like at the hotel or bank, or to tell you to “move please” when you’re standing on the wrong side of the escalator and they’re trying to rush on past you… I learnt that one the hard way. But this train trip was a lovely experience and I hadn’t laughed that much in a long time, it was so nice and such a relieve to meet some lovely, genuine people. As I sat there thinking ‘hmm, this woman is bloody gorgeous” it came to pass in conversation, that she is indeed, a model. Knew it. She was just gorgeous inside and out though and her partner a lovely, witty bloke. Lovely couple, who we wish all the best to and would, if it was to happen, see again.

The great somethingarather that we caught to Bristol, great bar on board!

We arrived in Bristol, perhaps a little, shall we say, merry? And were picked up by Jenny and it was so lovely to see her again! We loved having Jenny with us while she was in Australia and it’s great to see her again, she’s a complete gem. Luckily Jen was more than happy to see us too and had no problem in overlooking our merry state. We lost our merriness during the drive and arrived to our home away from home not long after. Ann and Brian are so welcoming and lovely and we feel at home straight away. Later on, after Martin had arrived and we’d all eaten dinner the four of us head out to sample some of the more local beer at the most local pubs. It was a great casual night and a nice way to start our stay down here in Bristol, though the large consumption of alcohol probably was enough to keep us going for a good few weeks. No more for awhile I think, I’m not 18 anymore sadly!

written by  Chris and Emily on April 10, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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We did have plans of seeing the museums today as the weather was shite and it was better to be indoors than out, but we realized that the day of runabout had come. We had to organize our mobiles and their numbers & the bank accounts. We caught the tube a bit of a ways to where the agency we’d signed up with were, grabbed our ‘start up packs’ and then head to the bank which of course, had to be another few good tube stops away and then another 10 minute walk.. nothing seemed easy today. We got off at the right station and began to walk, it was crazy busy and people were just pushing and shoving you in every direction, there were nothing but fashion shops and all we wanted to do was sit down and pull out a map so we could see where the bloody hell we were.. and then we saw it, a big fat sign on the corner of a building stating “OXFORD STREET”… ooooohhhh, now that explains it all. We’d totally stumbled upon it by accident, and we couldn’t wait to get off it! We pulled into a small café to grab a milkshake and coffee just so we could breathe for a minute or two, but then our breath was taken away once more when the bill arrived… it was 9 bloody pounds for 2 drinks! 9 freaking pounds…. That’s equivalent of $18! Thank god we didn’t decide to eat there as well! (no smuggled sandwiches today, we think they’re onto us now…) What made it even more annoying is the fact that we were expecting a pound or so change and that never arrived as they’d kept it as tip. Sorry, but they’d just sent us broke, they didn’t deserve to keep our change as well!! At this bloody rate we were going to be sitting on the street with a Styrofoam cup in front of us with a sign saying “we’re not crack addicts, we just had had a quick drink, any change appreciated”

Anyhow, we moved on to where we eventually found the bank and were served by a very nice young man, who assisted us in setting up our bank accounts. Along the way we passed Marble Arch, but neither of us could be bothered getting the camera out to take a snap shot. We then found a shop in which we were able to buy 2 new mobile phones and set them up so that we could keep in touch with friends and family. Figuring out the international codes etc was fun (please note the large dose of sarcasm) but we did it in the end.

By now it was well and truly into the late afternoon and we were both stubborn and didn’t want to waste today on just running about, we wanted to get some form of sight seeing out of it, so we made our way to the British Museum. Whoa, is this place ever big!!! Its ginormous and so easy to get lost in!

Venus getting ready for her bath. The unoffical title I've given this statue. British Museum

A startled Venus in the bath, seriously, that's the title of this piece. I doubt I'd look that serene if it were me.

Again tour groups were pushing past and we’d by now had enough of the crowds and in immature fashion made a deal of pushing past the tour groups that had just pushed by us.. Do unto others and all that.. Our feet were sore, our patience was non existent and we were getting hungry by now (again, no sandwiches…) so we decided to go and grab dinner in Leicester Square, where we had a rather yummy Japanese meal.

I Emily, who is allergic to fish and all things that grow, live and breed beneath the waves tried some vegetarian sushi. Last time I tried this I did have a reaction, and this time was no exception, though it was less severe and I popped a pill straight away so I was fine and dandy. Next to us at the restaurant sat a couple who were on their first date and god it was painful to observe and listen to! We weren’t being noisy, we couldn’t help but practically be involved in their date, the tables were all crowded in there and we had (with NO exaggeration or sarcasm used at all here I promise you) an inch between their table and ours. My gosh though, the guy on this date was something that very strongly rhymes with banker! My head was screaming “RUN GIRL RUN!” but that was just me, hopefully she has sense to see through the guys crap… though when we got out into the somewhat fresh London air, Chris turned to me and said “that guy was a complete… banker.. “(remember to rhyme!) So it wasn’t just me thinking that after all.. I don’t actually know why I’m filling this blog in with someone else’s date, it’s not relevant at all, but it was a highlight for me being a woman and gossipy I guess…… Anyhow, we got back to the hotel, packed and went to bed early that night ready for our check out and trip to Bristol the following morning.

written by  Chris and Emily on April 9, 2009 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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So to catch up we shall pick up where we left off (if we can remember…)

After another huge breakfast consisting of the likes of toast, yoghurt, porridge & cereal we managed to smuggle out some more ham and cheese sandwiches for the day ahead. I know it sounds stingy, but it IS expensive in London, it’s not just a myth!

We skyped home and after a quick chat to the family hit the road. Today’s agenda consisted of the Tower of London, London Tower Bridge and then St Paul’s Cathedral. We were amazed by the size of the Tower. Again I don’t know what I was expecting really, but it wasn’t a 1000 year old Castle that just commanded the sky line and your attention.

A vicious hunter.

It was huge and there was so much history in it that it took us a good 5 hours of wandering about to see what we wished too see, there are still rooms we haven’t discovered. The grandeur of the building, the architecture, the history, it’s all amazing and the views of the bridge from the tower are great. Of course, the most amazing and gorgeous part of the Tower experience is the tour of the crown jewels. Security here is insanely huge and so when they say “no photos” you listen and fight the urge to take a pic or two to show those back home! It was amazing though, the room was filled with gold plates, cups & bowls, full of diamonds, sapphires and pearls, full of amazing sculptures and of course, crowns from the ages. There are no real words to describe the room. I spent a long time just staring in awe of the craftsmanship that went into making such beautiful objects and although I don’t think of myself as a princess and I’d never ever wear a crown like that, I wanted one!

The crown jewels lie within these solid, sercurity ridden walls. The tower of London

The Tower Bridge was also amazing and wonderful. I know I keep saying it, but the work that went into these landmarks is just outstanding. There all 1000 years old but they’ve lasted to this day and age and are still standing in tact and more to the point, safe and useable! I wish that we could adopt this infrastructure in today’s day and age, it would make sense.. There were tours that we could do inside the bridge if we wished, but we were happy enough to just walk over the bridge for now as we were on a tight schedule for St Paul’s Cathedral.

Content and chilled out.

A closer view of the Tower Bridge

St Pauls Cathedral

Another sneaky shot of the roof of St Pauls

So, it was a great day and we saw so so much and did so so so so much freaking walking! We caught a tube home where we then relaxed with a bath, TV, a book and our smuggled breakfast sandwiches. Mmmmm.

written by  Chris and Emily on April 8, 2009 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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Last time we wrote we were waiting to board into the lap of luxury once more. This time, there were only 7 other people sitting in buisness class which suprised me. I thought HK - Ldn would have been a very popular leg for the buisness lot, but apparently not, not that I'm complaining. It was nice to have a virtually empty section. We settled back into our comfy pjs, selected a movie to watch and found ourselves a comfy position in the chairs (which are more like pods to be honest) and it was great. For 8 hours. Now, I really really don't wish to come across as if I'm sounding ungrateful, because I'm not, I'll always be thankful and appreciative to the upgrade during the flight, but my god did cabin fever set in! Our flight was 13 hours long, and as I said, the first 8 were fine,but then the lack of sleep, restlessness and boredom set in and all this doesn't help when your in a confide space. It wouldn't matter if you were sitting in premium, first, buisness or cattle class, 13 hours in a small space is too long. The air stewards were great though, so lovely and helpful and my god did they ever feed us. I felt like a bloody hobbit! Breakfast, second breakfast, 11sies, lunch, second lunch and all the snacks and free drinks in between! They love to give you drinks of the alcoholic variety on this section, and you can't help but think "why not? You only live once!" and swig back one or two.. (this time we didn't break any of the glasses, we were very civilised)

As we were flying we flew over some of the most amazing snow capped mountains I've ever seen. They went on for miles and miles and were gorgeous to watch and check out. It was insane though that on one side of the plane you had this view and the other showed this barren, dry dead land. Such conrast! We flew over Russia too which was also covered in snow. It was quite amazing to be flying over these landscapes.

Amazing mountains from plane

Barran land from the plane, on the other side of the plane there were snowy mountains!

We touched down at Heathrow after doing several circles of the city as the air space was so busy. Kind of reminded me of Die Hard 2 when John McClanes wife is on the plane and they circle and circle and circle before going down in typical Hollywood fahion.. Thankfully for us though there was a smooth landing and no flames, though I wouldn't have minded too much if we'd run into Bruce Willis.. I'd have taken a photo or two for my mum.

Customs was nice and easy, just a few quick questions and we were through. We brought some 'Oyster cards' for the train, a prepaid train & bus ticket and head to Earls Court where we're currently staying. Negoiating the tube was easier than I thought, even with our MASSIVE packs and the first thing we saw when emerging into the sunlight was a 'tardis' which Chris insisted I posed with for a quick photo.

Tardis in Earls court!!

Our accom. is nice enough. We have a twin room which the lady at the check out desk said was 'bigger' than some of the other rooms. Well, if our room is bigger than the rest I'd HATE to see the size of the others! Chris and I have to suck in our breathe and walk sideways to walk past each other in this room... Okay okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but it's not far off the truth I swear! The corridoors are so thin that you do bash into the walls as you walk down them and I promise you that's no exaggeration at all! All in all though, it is a nice little spot. We're down stairs under road level and at the back of the hotel, it's a bit of a rabbit warren but it's quiet and that's what you want when all you want to do is SLEEP, which we did for 13 hours once our heads hit the pillow.

Big Ben

Chris with the London Eye coming out of his head

Lion, no, not with a witch or in a wardrobe, but rather sitting in Tragfalgar Square

Trafalga Square

So now, after giving our legs a bloody good work out we sit in our wee hotel room resting and relaxing and looking into what lies ahead for us tomorrow, probably the London Eye and Tate Museum of modern art, but we'll wait and see how we're feeling tomorrow I guess. We DID want to go into Westminster Abby today but there was a large protest going on and we didn't wish to get caught up in it all. There was a huge police presence, underground in that area was closed and this morning the Westminster bridge had been closed off too as protesters had been threatening to throw themselves off into the river Thames (another site we saw today for the record) so.. we left it for today and quickly walked past it all in search for a cup of tea and hot chocolate, but could only find the pub so settled for a guiness and lemon lime and bitters (which they didn't know how to make?!) All in all, a nice day and we're looking forward to what else awaits!

To be continued...

written by  Chris and Emily on April 7, 2009 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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