Weekend in London 30th to 31st of August 2008

Thanks to a workmate of Warren's, he was able to get a ticket to a Premiership match between Arsenal and Newcastle for Saturday afternoon. So he went up by himself to Arsenal in northeast London to their new Emirates Stadium with 60,000 other people. Great experience and the homeside had a win so (almost) everyone was happy. Ange was left at home and decided to go and sit by the river with some mates and some cider.

Sunday afternoon we went to Claridges for English afternoon tea. It was a present from Warren's sister for our wedding (thanks Caz!) and was great fun dressing up, eating sandwiches and scones and of course drinking tea!

The Lakes District - 23rd to 25th August 2008

Bank holiday weekend in England, so we hired a car and drove north with Nicola to the Lakes District. The Lakes District is in northwest England, famous for its lakes (surprisingly!) and its mountains. It should have been about a 5 hour drive, but with long weekend traffic took us closer to 6 and a half. We finally made it there on Saturday afternoon and checked into our farmstay near Hawkshead overlooking a paddock to a little lake.

Sunday we toured around the surrounding villages Ambleside, Keswick, Penrith and Windermere through some tight and twisty country roads with plenty of stone walls trying to take off our wing mirrors!

On Monday we arose to rain, so pretty much just headed back to London. Lots of driving but well worth the trip!

Brighton - 16 August 2008

A week after York, with Warren's parents still around, we travelled down to the south coast of England to Brighton. The girls (Ange, Warren's Mum and Warren' sister) spent the morning looking around the shops for dresses to Warren's sister's wedding, while Warren and his Dad wandered around the pier and beachfront.

Warren's cousin and his wife live in Brighton, and the main reason for the trip was to attend their son's first birthday. Lots of crazy childrens music and games, and plenty of adults speaking in baby talk, but a good afternoon in the sun. We left Warren's parents in Brighton for the night (they planned to spend a few days looking around southwest England), while the rest of us got the train back to London, around 10pm.

York - 8th to 10th of August 2008

With Warren's parents in the country and keen to look around, we hired a car and got up early on Friday to travel up to York. We went with Warren's parents in their hire car following Carolyn and Glenn in their car. The trip north was probably around 5 hours, but we stopped on the way at Sherwood Forest, the home of Robin Hood, for a quick walk through the visitor centre and out to a major Oak tree, at least 300 years old.

After a late lunch in York we went to York Minster, the second largest Gothic Cathedral in Northern Europe, and walked up the 270 steps of the tower for some great views over York. The Cathedral itself was very impressive, right up there with some of the monsters we saw in Italy. Saturday was rubbish weather wise, but we battled the rain for a few hours running from shop to shop through the crazy old streets known as the Shambles.

We then headed out towards Hull (about an hour east of York). Warren's Grandad was born just out of Hull in 1922 (before coming to New Zealand in 1926) in a town called Ferriby, in this very house:

Sunday we walked some of the city walls around York, before taking a cruise along the Ouse River (the river that runs through York) and stopping in at the largest railway museum in Europe. Back on the road around 4pm for our trip back to London with Carolyn and Glenn, getting home just after 8. We left Warren's parents in Yorkshire to spend the week travelling around, and planning to return to London before the following weekend.

Warren's b'day weekend - 1st to 3rd of August 2008

As a joint housewarming/Warren's birthday celebration, we had our London friends around for a few drinks on Friday night. Our London friends total about 15, and most of them turned up which was great. Surprisingly (since we finished up around 3am), no complaints were made from the neighbours about the noise!
On Saturday, Ange had planned a surprise afternoon for me. We went out to east London for the Red Bull Air Race, which just happened to be in London this weekend. Very quick (the pilots pull up to 10 G's) and some awesome stunts, so it was a very fun afternoon. We travelled back to Putney on the ferry along the river which we hadn't done before either!
Sunday morning (Warren's actual birthday) Warren's parents arrived for their 5 weeks in Europe, so we were up early cooking pancakes for breakfast. We spent the day catching up with them before going out for a nice pub meal for dinner. 26 years and Warren yet to spend a birthday without his parents!

Glasgow - 19th to 20th of July 2008

In order to get our Saturday morning flight, we had to get the very first tube from Putney, 5.03am! Eventually we made it to central Glasgow around 11am for a walk around the city centre, taking in the river, Glasgow green, the Glasgow Cathedral and the main shopping street, Buchanan St.

After finally getting Ange out of the shops, we got the underground to the west-end, for a walk around the University, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and finally making our way to our hotel about 5pm through Kelvingrove Park.


Saturday night we went to a comedy show, which had four stand up comics. They were all hilarious, even if it was just their accent!

Sunday we went out to Loch Lamond, about 45 minutes north east of Glasgow. We walked through the small farmers markets, then sat in some lovely castle gardens all afternoon and soaked up some sun before making our way back to Glasgow for our 8pm flight.

London sightseeing weekend - 27th to 29th June 2008

Ange had entered a competition for Bon Jovi tickets earlier in the week and won (twice no less, once as Angela Reid and once as Angela Butler) so we took Warren's sister Carolyn and her fiance Glenn along to Twickenham for an excellent concert on the Friday night. Great music and a great start to the weekend!

Saturday we went out to Hampton Court Palace with Carolyn and Glenn, about 45 minutes south west by car. Hampton Court Palace is a former royal palace and dates back to the 11th century, although underwent significant alterations under King Henry VIII in 1540 and was lived in by royalty in 1737. We walked through the Kings apartments, kitchens and had a good wander through the magnificent gardens.

Sunday we went into the Tower of London with friends of Warrens. The Tower of London was built from 1080 by William the Conqueror and used as a prison and place of execution, most recently during WW1. We checked out the armour displays, crown jewels, and torture chamber before heading out to Hyde park for a picnic in the sun. Overall a very interesting but busy weekend!

Settled in London - June 2008

So after 3 months on the go, we are now settled in London. We are both back working again (unfortunately) and have a flat of our own, just around the corner from Warren's sister and close to lots of our friends that are over here. We are currently investigating our next holiday, so keep checking back for updates!

Milton Keynes - 31st May to 1st June 2008

One of our friends from New Zealand, Sarah, was over to England (where she is from originally) for her 40th, so we caught up with her and her friends and family for a get together in Milton Keynes, about 40 minutes north of London by train. Milton Keynes is known for its roundabouts and its concrete cows, so we made sure we checked them out! Overall a fun weekend and good to catch up with Sarah and see where she grew up.

Devon (England) - 25th to 26th May 2008

We flew into London on the 23rd of May, the Friday before a long weekend. My sister and her fiance were making the most of the long weekend by doing a roadie west, to Devon, so we tagged along. Devon is true English countryside with small lanes and thatched cottages everywhere! We had a real pub lunch on Sunday before heading out to "the English Reviera" - Torquay, Paignton & Brixham for a walk along the beach and along the pier on our way to Exeter where we stayed the night. Unfortunately (perhaps not surprisingly) the weather caved in on us on the Monday, so we were stuck inside the car for most of the day, getting back to London around 6.