A Taste of Paris

Tonight we met Ben after work to have dinner at Galvin - a French restuarant that had been recommended. We met at Bond St and headed straight to the restuarant - especially to get out of the cold. As we head to Paris on Friday, we thought we'd sample some of the cuisine before the trip! It was a very cute restuarant, with most of the service staff being French themselves. Ben had an entree and main, and Lisa and I just had mains - we were saving ourselves for dessert! And, we're glad we did. Lisa had chocolate fondant with vanilla icecream, I had amaretti with clementines and pink grapefruit and Ben had honey icecream. The French sure do know how to do desserts! Another recommendation for anyone visiting London!

Hackney

Today we ventured out to one of the London Boroughs - Hackney. Now, what might have enticed us to make this trip I hear you ask? You may have heard of a British label called Burberry - well, the factory store for Burberry is located at Hackney. Burberry was founded by Thomas Burberry in 1856. In 1880 he invented gabardine, a hard-wearing, water-resistent fabric in which the yarn is waterproofed before weaving. This fabric was then used to pioneer their signature item - the tan raincoat. In 1924, the now widely recognised tan, red, white and black Burberry Check was introduced to the brand, and is now a registered trademark. So Lisa and I made the trek (it really was a trek - I hate bus rides when you don't know what stop you're supposed to get off at!) to Hackney and low and behold, down a random side street was the factory store for Burberry. If you were in the market for a coat, then this definitely is the place to come. Coats that retail at DJ's for more than $2000 were between 200 and 400 pounds... now that's a saving! If I lived here, I might just have been tempted to make a purchase! Speaking of purchases, you didn't think we came all the way here and that I didn't buy anything?!! True to my usual tradition, I added (another) pair of shoes to my wardrobe!

After the Burberry outlet, we stumbled upon an usual Turkish Cafe - we were especially drawn in by their lunch deal for 7 pounds! It was some of the best food I've had in a long time. 7 pounds got us 3 salads, hot turkish bread, chicken shish kebab with yoghurt dressing and a drink! Value for money as well as fantastic food. If it wasn't so far away, I'd definitely be going back. So, if you are ever in Hackney (or at the Burberry outlet) let me know and I'll give you details!

Lisa plays Netball... I go and watch!

After dinner, Lisa and I headed out to Chalk Farm for her weekly netball game. A bit of a trek but we got there in good time. It was a great game to watch, as they were trailing until the last quarter, when they pulled it out of the bag and streaked ahead to take the game 17 - 14. I also managed to get some shots of Lisa in action.

They are now sitting 3rd on the table and take on the leaders of the comp next week - should also make for a great game.

Kings Road, Chelsea

As the major activity of the trip has been completed - buying The Dress - we were able to have a nice relaxing start to our Monday morning. Firstly Lisa and I called Connor (our ex-next door neighbour) for his birthday back in Australia - Happy 12th Birthday Connor! After talking to both Connor and Caitlin we tidied up after coming back from our trip and then headed out.

Today we ventured to Kings Road in Chelsea - a street lined with various boutiques and cafes. Kings Road is Chelsea's main road. It was once a private road - used only by royalty seeking access to Hampton Court. On our walking tour today, we started off at Sloane Square. There are lots of funky little shops selling unique homewares and accessories, as well as a few chain stores lining the street the whole way. This street is synonymous with fashion, and there are also many independent designers such as Vivien Westwood and Karen Millen. We wandered up the street and then stopped at the Cornish Pasty Shop for some lunch.

We made our way down the other side of the street back towards Sloane Square. Lisa made some purchases from Baby Gap for their friends who are having a baby - the outfits were so cute! And then we caught the tube home. Lisa is playing netball tonight at Chalk Farm so Ben is making an early dinner; one of his signature dishes - italian style chicken with parma ham. I am getting very spoilt at Hotel ala Lisa&Ben!

The Search for the Perfect Dress: Found!

One of the reasons we decided to come back early from Manchester, was to attend an appointment Lisa had made at The Wedding Shop in Fulham at 3pm. Now, this wasn't just any appointment - it was the annual Vera Wang sale! It's a one day only annual sale where you can get your very own Vera Wang gown for a much more affordable price. So Lisa and I decided to brave the mayhem in the hope that we might find The Dress. After a short adventure to find the place, we were pleased to discover that there were still plenty of dresses hanging on the racks (being 3pm we thought that all the good stuff may be gone already). What we had already learnt is that what might look ordinary on the rack, can look amazing when on so Lisa tried everything available in her size. And that's when we struck it lucky! The search for the perfect dress is over! It's going to be an amazing dress - what I'd always hoped she'd get - it's just perfect... and it's Vera Wang! So she handed over Ben's credit card.... we'll be back in 6 months for the fittings!

Now you'll all just have to wait until October to see how perfect!

We caught the tube home and I left Lisa at Victoria and changed to the Central Line as I was meeting Matt's sister Megan for dinner. I met Megan at Oxford Circus and we had a stroll around Oxford Street - that is one long street! We then made it to St Christopher's Place, had dinner there and caught up on her life in London (acutally Haslemere to be more accurate). She appears to be really enjoying it and the school seems like a great place to work. Here were are outside Carluccios:


After dinner Megan had to get the train back to Haslemere so we said goodbye at Waterloo. And with the stress of buying the dress over - I've got 2 weeks in London with Lisa to enjoy!

Greenwich

For something a bit different, today we caught the 199 bus in the opposite direction to visit Greenwich and see the prime meridian. Yes, that's where Greenwich Mean Time or Zulu time is set. It was only a short 15 minute bus ride from Lisa's front door to the heart of Greenwich. After climbing the hill to the royal observatory, we entered the 'free' (Lisa and & Ben tried to con me out of 10 pounds) visitor centre. Greenwich has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884. The Greenwich Meridian (also known as the prime meridian) marks the starting point of every time zone in the world. Here I am straddling the prime meridian:

British astronomers have long used the Royal Observatory as a basis for measurement: four separate meridians have been drawn through the building. The basis of longitude, the Prime Meridian, established in 1851 and adopted at an international conference in 1884, passes through the Airy transit circle of the observatory. It was long marked by a brass strip in the courtyard, now upgraded to stainless steel, and, since December 16, 1999, has been marked by a powerful green laser shining north across the London night sky.

On top of the observatory, a time ball was installed by Astronomer John Pond in 1883. It still drops daily to mark the exact moment of 1300 hrs year round. Ok, enough of a history lesson! From the Royal Observatory there is also a great view of southern London. You can see St Paul's, the gerkin, the National Maritime Museum and Millenium Dome to name a few.

We made our way back through the Greenwich Markets where we found a great slice stall.

As we had a 3pm appointment at Fulham we caught the bus back to Canada Water station. About two stops before the station I noticed a couple and their little girl get off the bus. As the bus pulled away I saw the lady running after the bus and realised she must have left something on board. Lisa and I decided to check where they were sitting, and found that she had left her handbag on board! So having a good samartin moment, we pressed the bell and hopped off at the next stop and ran back towards the previous stop to see if we could try and find them. As we ran around a corner, we bumped straight into them and she couldn't believe that we had her bag! There is nothing worse than loosing your handbag, and if we hadn't picked it up, it would have been stolen for sure. She was so appreciative - and even offered to buy us a beer! It was good to do something nice for somone - even if we were now running late!

Manchester

Today we had a leisurely start today the day. Cold and wet, as expected, we checked out of our very cosy hotel and headed to the city centre. After checking that our train was on time (a Virgin train derailed outside Glasgow last night) we found a warm place to grab some breakfast - Wetherspoon. Although it was before noon, there were still plenty of people tucking into pints already! After breakky, we had a wander around Manchester and checked out their weekend market.

We walked around the mall for a while - definitely an interesting cross section of people about!

It was time to head back to Picadilly Gardens station for our Virgin tilt train back to London. These trains are the way to travel, I tell you. It was comfortable, well priced and faster than driving! I would definitely recommend.

Back in London now, and Lisa is making chilli con carne for dinner - sounds good!

World Club Challenge: Broncos vs St Helens

After a few hours in Manchester, we headed out to Reebok Stadium in Bolton for the World Club Challenge game. Again, our trusty directions advised 20 minutes for the trip, and 90 minutes later we arrived. It was a wet and cold night - you could pick the Aussie's- all rugged up!

The atmosphere was amazing - quite unlike any league game back at home. Those St Helen's supporters were certainly a rowdy bunch! The Broncos had a great first half until 2 minutes before half time caught them napping and St Helen's went in to score. They went to the break just 2 points in front.

The Bronco's returned from the break (hopefully a little defrosted) and displayed both great attacking and defensive plays... and in true Bronco's style failed to convert this to points on the board. St Helen's capitalised and with 8 minutes remaining scored to take the lead. The crowd erupted and the game was won. We headed back to our cosy hotel room (obviously I was not in charge of accommodation!) and crashed. Trip advisor was right - good for one night!

Road Trip to Manchester

On the road again... well actually, we haven't been on the road since I got here! Today we headed up to Manchester for a weekend break with Lisa & Ben's flatmates - James & Belinda. The car had been picked up early, so Lisa and I joined James and Belinda to brave the London traffic and take a road trip. Ben had to work, so he was taking a train after lunch to meet us in Bolton for the World Club Challenge game tonight. And, we were very glad that we had stopped in at Tesco's to buy snacks for the trip the night before. Here is what we were faced with:


Traffic was stop start for about the first 3 hours. The directions we had printed had total trip time as just over 3 hours - but it took us 5.5 hours to get there! Obviously online directions don't factor in traffic. Luckily we had also made lunch to have in the car. We arrived just before 3pm and had a few hours to check out the city. Upon a quick peruse of the city guide, we realised that other than Old Trafford and the Man United museum, there is very little to do in this city. We managed to see the sights in less than an hour. Here were some of the higlights.

Saint Peter's Square

Town Hall

Chinatown

We then met Ben at Piccadilly Gardens (I would have taken a photo of the gardens but they've been ripped out for renovations!). Ben and Lisa introduced me to their favourite store - Primark.

This was followed by the traditional pre-footy game meal:

The Search for the Perfect Dress: Part II

Another day, another bridal shop. Today we visited Knightsbridge as Lisa had an appointment with our next bridal boutique. Firstly we made a few important stops along the way for me - Jimmy Choo and Agent Provocatuer - and then a quick tour of the Harrods food hall before arriving at at Caroline Castigliano.

The experience at Caroline's boutique was on a whole other level than yesterday. We had champage on arrival and then the sales manager spent time with Lisa talking through the wedding, her ideas and, of course, the perfect dress. We saw some absolutely beautiful dresses -and in this shop I can definitely see how more money equals high quality fabrics, design quality, cut and finished product - the dresses were simply exquisite. And, as you would expect there was a price tag to match. Dresses were upwards of $3000 (pounds!) - Yikes!!

To bring us back to reality we had a bit of a browse in The Gap and Zara before heading to the much more affordable Pronuptia's at Chancery Lane. This dress business is a much more challenging task than it originally appeared to be! We made a quick stop at Tesco's on the way home and I made Minestrone soup for dinner (perfect for the wet, cold, miserable London day that it was). We are now packing for our trip to Manchester tomorrow. C'mon Broncos!

The Search for the Perfect Dress: Part I

Today was my first day in London with Lise, and it was time for the trying of the first wedding dress. We had a leisurely breakfast and then, as we were running a little behind, we hightailed it to Fulham in record time for an 11.30am appointment at Sassi Holford. I think Lisa certainly had a lot of fun... but it all turned to depression when the assistant advised us that the gowns she liked were in the price bracket of 2000 - 3000 (that's pounds, not dollars....) Luckily we do have appointments at a few other places in the next week or so, hopefully we can find one that won't break the bank! This depression could only be solved by a hot coffee and baguette at a cute French cafe called Pauls.

We then thought we'd go and check out the Kylie exhibition, however next entry available wasn't until 4.30pm and it was only 1.30pm. So we gave that a miss and headed up Tottenham Court Rd on bus 14. What's at Tottenham Court Rd I hear you ask??? Only the best stationary store in the world..... Paperchase!! We spent a bit of time there and I made a few purchases.

Then it was a pit stop back home before heading out again to meet up with Ben who had now finished work. We had another look around Selfridges and bought some dessert.... (see below!!) and then went on the must stop place for all of Lisa & Ben's visitors - Basuba. We enjoyed a lovely meal together.

We headed home via the tube - and I found out how it feels to wait 18 minutes for a tube since there was a "customer incident" as the underground staff say. The positive in this..... we can all get a single fare refund (4 pounds) cause we waited more than 15 minutes for a tube. So really not too bad a day out at all, with the transport being paid for. For those who have been in London you can imagine how everyone was reacting to such an enormous delay but let's face it we're lucky if there is a 15 minute service for trains in Brisbane!

We are home now and have just been planning our next few days around London and what we are doing.... oh and of course we ate our dessert.

A Quiet Day in London

I think that the jetlag has finally caught up with me... today I had a very quiet start. Both Lisa & Ben were working again, so I took the opportunity to have a sleep in and lazy morning. By the time I did this, made some lunch and ventured down to Tesco's for some groceries, it was time to meet Ben after work. We met up at St Paul's Cathedral.

From Fleet Steet, we made our way to Bond St - destination Tiffany's! On the way, we stopped for a quick snap outside the Ritz.

However, before we made it to Tiffany's we were sidetracked the the many wonderful (and yes expensive) shops that line Old Bond St. We stopped in at Omega - where I proceeded to find my next watch. Now I just need to find someone to pay for it! Ben also tried on some very nice watches at Omega and Mont Blanc. It was then time for... Tiffany's! Not as impressive as the New York store, but still fabulous all the same. I tried on a few things, but as with most stores on this street - merchandise is out of my price range. It was still fun all the same. There were a few more stops at Bvlgari, Gucci and Louis Vuitton before the shops shut at 6pm... this was probably lucky for me and my credit card. Ben and I then stopped in for dinner at Carluccio's at St Christopher's place and then headed home.

Let Loose in London!

With Lisa and Ben both working today, I headed out for some adventures in London. Lisa had a late start so I caught the train with her to Baker St.

She left me on Marlyebone Hight St which is full of quaint boutiques and lots of yummy (and warm) looking deli's. I made it about 2 blocks before a coffee stop was required to offset the cold. This street then intersected with Oxford St and I was in shopping heaven! I finally found a shop I can afford (The Gap) and then made my way to Selfridges. Now, I know some people will struggle to believe this, but Selfridges was overwhelming! It is the most coveted designer shoes and bags I have ever wanted all in one location, with people commonly shelling about 1500 - 2000 pounds every few minutes to buy the lastest 'must have' item! It was also depressing.... because I wasn't one of these people! After a few hours (and that was only 2 floors) of wandering around I took a stroll back to Lisa's work for a visit. Here we are on floor 1 of the London Clinic

After this quick pit stop, it was time to meet Ben. I caught the tube down to St Paul's and we took a walk around Fleet Street. Here is the building where the fire of London originated:

And here is me in front of Australia house:

My feet were now starting to protest at all the walking, so we headed home via Tesco's (we were out of Ben & Jerry's!).