London life - September and October 2009

Something we had been looking forward to for a long time was finally here - the start of September and the arrival of Warren's little sister Janine to London (and surrounds) for a two month holiday.
Showing Janine around Putney on Saturday the 5th.

Sunday the 6th was Warren's other sister Carolyns (and her husband Glenn's) 30th birthday party next to the River down the road in Wandsworth. Lots of Warren's family were there, including the son of Warren's cousin who we hadn't met before.

The following weekend we took Janine to Bath (see seperate post), before continuing the party theme for our friend Nic's 27th on the September the 18th.

Having Janine around was a good opportunity to up our London sightseeing. So on the 26th we went through the staterooms at Buckingham Palace. Ange and I have now seen a lot of palaces over Europe, but Buckingham was certainly right up with the best.

The girls (Ange and Warren's two sisters) then went on to Portobello markets for some shopping.

That night was another of Warren's cousins 30th birthday, held at one of the many awesome pubs in Putney.

Sunday the 27th was a very hot day in London, not the greatest timing for Warren's half marathon (that's his excuse anyways). Set out in east London and starting and finishing at the o2 arena, at least it made for a lazy sunny afternoon in the park and a trip back west along the Thames.

Another busy weekend on the 3rd and 4th of October, starting with a tour through the Houses of Parliament and a wander through Westminster Abbey on Saturday before more partying, this time at one of our good friend's leaving do.

Sunday morning Ange and Warren's sisters again went shopping, this time at Camden markets.

...which took its toll on poor Janiney.

Thursday the 8th of October was Janine's birthday, so we took her to a medieval banquet held near the Tower of London. Great night and great costumes made getting up early the following day for our Cambridge/Cotswolds roadie (see seperate blog entry).

After 10 days or so in Ireland, Janine had one last week in London, so we crammed in a west-end show (Wicked) and a few laughs at the Comedy Store on the 21st and 22nd, before a last weekend of London sightseeing. Kensington Palace on the 24th:Plenty of Diana's dresses:

Superbly timed was a Kiwis vs Aussie rugby league game down the road at Twickenham, which for some reason meant we had to wear blue wigs! Great game which we nearly won, pesky Aussies!

Sunday the 25th Ange and I left Janine with Carolyn and went up to Wembley for the one NFL game played outside the states. Watching a one sided match between heavyweights New England Patriots and also-rans Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it felt like every US person in London was in Wembley! But at least the action was good, and we saw an impressive pre-game show.

The last few days with Janine we had a curry in Brick Lane on the 27th and a night out in Clapham on the 28th before she boarded a plane early on the 29th.

But we weren't going to let that stop us partying, and so we had our own little Halloween party on the 31st with 15 or so of our close friends and family. We even had a go at scary decorations and pumpkin carving!

Cambridge and the Cotswolds - 9th to 11th of October 2009

With Janine still around and keen to see a bit of the English countryside, we took Friday the 9th of October (Ange's birthday) off work, jumped in the car, and cruised north of London to Cambridge. Mark, a friend of Glenn's is studying there, and so we were privileged enough to be shown through a few of the Cambridge colleges.

But the highlight without doubt was punting down the River Cam. Mark showed us how its done before handing over the reigns to Warren who managed to make it back to base without getting wet. Well, wet from the river anyway - by the time we got back the rain was starting to come down pretty hard.

Drying out afterwards we found a few pubs, with a great dinner squeezed in as well.

After a bit of a sleepin and a great breakfast, Janine Ange and I climbed the step of St Mary's for some great views over Cambridge.

We said goodbye to Mark and jumped back in the car and headed out west to the Cotswolds. Before holing up in Stow-on-the-wold for the night, we passed through cute little villages including Stratford-Upon-Avon (the birthplace of William Shakespeare), Bourton-on-the-Hill, and Moreton-in-Marsh.

Not the greatest of weather on Sunday, but that didn't stop us seeing a few more Cotswolds villages on the way back to London, including Burton-on-the-Water, Buford, Minster Lovell, Witney and finally Oxford.

Bath - 12th to 13th of September 2009

With Warren's sister Janine arriving the previous weekend for a few months holiday in Europe, we jumped on a train early Saturday morning for an hour and a half west to Bath. The city was established as a spa resort by the romans in 43AD. They built baths and a temple on the surrounding hills of Bath in the valley of the River Avon around hot springs, the only ones naturally occuring in the UK. After arriving in Bath and dropping off our bags at our hostel, we were in need of a snack, so we went to Sally Lunn's house, the original bakery of the famous buns, and had a light tea of original recipe buns. Rearing to go, it was time to visit the main attraction in Bath, its Roman baths. Very well preserved and in the shadow of Bath Abbey, with plenty of infom they are actually pretty impressive. A roman version of the Polynesian Pools in Rotorua perhaps.

A quick bite to eat and a short wander up the main shopping street to the circus (i..e a roundabout surrounded by Georgian terraced housing), and a chill out in the sun in the Royal Victoria Park.
Turns out Bath is a bit of a university town, so we partied a little bit with some youngies on Saturday night. Not huge though, Warren wasn't feeling 100%.

Sunday morning the girls wanted to go through the fashion museum. The highlght being the interactive display below:
Time for a a quick lunch next to the Avon.
After a quick pitstop for the Italian grand prix, we got a cab up to the Prior Park landscape gardens, created by Ralph Allen (Bath Mayor) from 1734 to 1764 to basically show off his wealth to the district. It's a great spot on a rise overlooking Bath, and we spent a few hours there before dinner and a late train back to London.

August bank holiday weekend - 28th to 31st of August 2009

The last bank holiday of the year, and for the first time in a long time, Ange and I did our own thing.

My bank holiday started a bit early, at about 6am on Friday. My mate Conor picked me up and we jumped on the Eurotunnel to France, and then cruised along the Belgian motorways for about 3.5 hours past Brussels and deep into the Ardenne forest to the circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Its the longest race on the F1 calendar at just over 7kms, and if any racetrack can be beautiful, this is surely it. We spent all weekend at the track, eating frites and drinking beers, and made it back to London mid afternoon on the bank holiday Monday.

Not too sure what Ange got up to. May have had something to do with a bunch of girls and some funky looking drinks...? When I got home on Monday she was still out, apparently at the Notting Hill Carnival.