Friday 31 August 2012
Malaga
We have had a truly wonderful day in Malaga, we travelled to a small village called Mijas and wandered around, had a lovely lunch and a couple of nice cold San Miguel Beers! The history of this area 'Costa Del sol' is mind blowing we talk of Roman times, here they speak of Phoenician times ! We are so young (not just on this ship) but obviously us Australians - speaking of the place is full of eucalypts (no sign of koalas) and jacarandas ! Off to the balcony now for a backing out drink (any excuse)!
Hasta la vista, Michelle & Wayne x
Wednesday 29 August 2012
Wayne's Wardrobe
Our first full day at sea, this ship is absolutely lovely. We had a quite day of reading, a little bit of wandering but the highlight was definitely high tea, complete with cucumber sandwiches, scones and cream and a harpist ! We are quite possibly the youngest couple on board, having said that everyone is very nice, well dressed and seemingly don't seem to notice how much of our dance lessons we have forgotten. There is a lot of getting dressed up, which our Wayne is loving (particularly in his new threads)!
The weather has been a bit ordinary and the sea has had quite big swells. We have a female Norwegian Captain and she assures us things are on the improve !! Tomorrow is another full day at sea, before we arrive in Malaga, Spain.
Tuesday 28 August 2012
Monday 27 August 2012
Coat Hangers
A bank holiday in Britain had some advantages for the hire car driver, navigating the streets of London was bliss, no traffic, few pedestrians and no congestion tax! However the motorways and the services (my favourite UK driving pastime), a different story! We made our way to Southampton without too much trouble or heated driving discussion - but once we got here things became difficult. Southampton is quite tricky and busy - I credit this to the holiday but also to the IKEA store - always frantic shoppers within 400 metres of IKEA. Southampton also boasts a giant Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, all housed in a massive shopping centre which I have no doubt would be clearly visible from the moon ! We offloaded our now 6 pieces of luggage at the hotel, parked the SEAT Ibiza hertz car and set off in search of cost hangers (there is never enough on the ship). Coat hangers are an easy shoppers conquest at home, but not quite so easy here, finally success in Tesco ! We are now ready to board the Queen Victoria tomorrow, after we sort the 6 suitcases and 2 boxes of wine !
Sunday 26 August 2012
Farewell old friend
While London slept, my family farewelled an old friend - our first cat 'Sophie' passed away. Sophie came to us to fill a void in Fraser's world - the time from 8.45 till 3.30 when New Gisborne Primary School in his eyes, kept his big sister hostage!
One particularly bad day at swimming lessons he bubbled away in the water, only to reach the side and cry "I want Emi", I survived these lessons by reading the local paper and this day one add jumped out of the page at me "kittens free to a good home" - a solution to Fraser's despair - and so began a friendship that lasted him from infancy to manhood. Sleeping on 'duck', a stuffed toy from Fraser's first Easter or in the crook of his arm, Sophie was a constant.
So farewell old girl, you will be missed xxxx
Pints over Paintings
We started the day at the morning service in Westminster Abbey, just amazing! Even better the usual choir was absent and since we were there SO early (thanks Wayne) we were able to sit in the choir seats - very lucky ! Even for an atheist and a Presbyterian it was very impressive, you can't help but get swept up in the ceremony and history.
After a thorough spiritual cleansing and a cup of tea, we jumped on the ferry and set sail for Greenwich, where we had great plans of visiting a Canaletto painting at the Royal River Exhibition on display at the Maritime Museum, instead we wandered into a pub next to the newly reopened (following it's restoration) Cutty Sark Exhibition and had a fantastic lunch and several drinks and promptly dismissed visiting the museum. We did however recover our sightseeing credibility by travelling further up the river to the Thames Barrier, built 20 years ago to prevent London flooding - a very impressive piece of engineering. Another Lovely Day x
Alan Turing vs Ice Cream
We had a 9.15am tour of the Houses of Parliament, which was amazing. Westminster Hall is incredible, 1000 years old and the place where the Queen Mother et al have laid in state. We were thinking it - but it took a pommy chap to say it out loud - "wonder how long until Phillip's here"!!!!!
After breakfast (after the tour of the Houses of Parliament) we headed off to Kensington - a quick visit to the Science Museum (disappointing except for the Alan Turing special exhibition - must read the book about him that I own but have never found the time to read, so sad - now I definitely want to visit Bletchley Park...). A quick stop at Harrods for a fix to a previous purchase (albeit twelve months earlier) and we nipped around the corner to wave to Julian (Assange). The Ecuadorian Embassy is right next door to Harrods, he must be able to arrange some pretty amazing hampers!!
Then, sheltering from the rain - a lovely Knightsbridge afternoon tea and home to prepare for dinner at Em's favourite Brick Lane restaurant - Cinnamon. On a normal Saturday the whole area would be packed out but the thunderstorms had kept many many people at home - so Michelle and I each had four waiters looking after us!!! Yum!!! (The food, not the waiters, OK?).
Tattoos and Tailors
An interesting morning spent at the Camden markets, where punk rock is alive and well, and every second stall was offering tattoos, piercings and tattoo removal - something for everyone!
We were in search of a famous tea cart, but failed - we think, perhaps that he took the bank holiday weekend off! Michelle however, did manage to find a new fish restaurant open on their first day of trading where we enjoyed a lovely "cod and chips" - boy they must be big fish!
We had a lovely wander, then back to Oxford street to collect alterations from the tailor. Wayne (me) - who does not normally spend a lot on clothes had managed to buy a dinner suit, 3 dinner shirts, 2 silk bow toes, a silk cummerbund, 1 beige linen suit, 1 navy jacket, a couple of shirts, one pair of linen pants, and a couple of silk pocket squares. Of course Wayne, being shaped like Wayne, required a considerable amount of "shortening" (legs, sleeves), which was ably accomplished by Pino the Italian tailor (aka ripoff merchant).
The weather has developed monsoonal qualities, raining each afternoon, and quite heavily at that. So after long days of trooping around London, on and off the tube we have wandered home with wet tired feet and fallen into bed. The studio we are staying in is lovely, perfectly equipped for the two of us
Thursday 23 August 2012
The Dinner Suit
Our first day in London, was as expected just plain exhausting ! Expected, because arriving at 6.00am you can embrace the day with enthusiasm because you are feeling eager & excited (and foolishly haven't anticipated how absolutely knackered you will feel in a few short hours), also because we had planned to spend the day having Wayne's dinner suit (for the cruise), fitted, altered etc. (I consider that exhausting - even though for me it meant sitting, while he was pinned and tucked - I studied the guardian newspaper 'entertainment pages', which I conveniently collected from the tube, no doubt left behind by a satisfied commuter, and later shared tit bits of info with Wayne, in an attempt to appear well informed ! )
After locating the studio apartment in Bloomsbury and cloaking all 5 cases (yes - excessive) we set off, made it about 400 metres before we stopped for coffee, convincing each other a good brew was exactly what we needed to put a spring in our step !
We did our Oxford Street suit business and had a lovely pub lunch in an establishment once frequented by George Orwell. A few beers and a fraction too much Sav Blanc for me, off we tottered down Regent Street which is currently adorned with flags from every Olympic nation, looks amazing!
Wayne insisted on visiting Hamley's toy shop. While he drooled over the model trains, I smiled and nodded on the outside but on the inside I'm pleading 'NO' we cant manage any more luggage ! Fortunately he was satisfied with the nostalgia of the Hornby display and we hobbled back to the tube and to Bloomsbury.
Where I promptly showered and fell into bed, all by 7pm !
Rookie move - should have pushed on a bit longer so that I wouldn't be awake typing a blog, drinking tea and eating a Tesco prawn sandwich (yes Sharon, our favourite) at 4.00 am !!!!
Tuesday 21 August 2012
Leaving on a jet plane ........
Well, after months of planning it is really hard to believe that we've pulled it off! What could possibly go wrong now....
I'm really looking forward to being back in London (this time WITH Michelle). Maybe, just maybe I'll be able to show HER some really interesting places, rather than have to play second fiddle because she's always been where ever we go together before (usually twice)!
Right now, if I had to pick a potential highlight for me, it would be spending seventeen days on a beautiful ship THAT SERVES HIGH TEA EVERY DAY (with Michelle of course)! Let's hope no one will notice those extra kilos....
Second highlight, being backin Paris with Michelle and visiting some of the spots that we enjoyed so much with Emily and Fraser (look out Musee Rodin, Amorino...).
But I'm sure that it will just generally be a fun and RELAXING time, and our great celebration of our 25th anniversary (thanks M). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (yep, 25...)...
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