Mar 4, 2009

New Year In London

Just a quick up date. So far the New Year is going well. Chris is enjoying work and I'm, well, I'm enjoying not working. Purely due to lack of visa not lack of motivation. We have settled into our new place in Islington and it has everything that we need. Our flat is above a shoe store, and sandwiched between Starbucks and a 24 hour deli. All bases are covered.
We are slowly getting use to the London lifestyle, we even experienced a snow day. So amazing!





Lately Chris has grown accustom to riding the front seat of the red double decker, arms spread wide announcing he is "King of the world" No kidding! 3% for enjoyment and 97% for the enjoyment of watching me squirm with embarrassment.
We had some very welcome Aussie visitors, Kylie and Sara who graced us with their presence. Was great to shop, sight see and even disco tec it up with some familiar faces.
We have just returned from 2 weeks in Brussels which was as outstanding as the first time. We hung out with Chris's dad who was there on business and had a beautiful dinner out for our one year anniversary. Can't believe it has been a whole year.
Of course we also revisited L'achiduc again which I can say is easily our favorite bar in Europe. We met some great German guys, drank champagne and stayed out way to long. The next day was a total waste.
Matt and Andrea our friends from Germany arrive tomorrow for the week and then we head to Barcelona for two weeks for Chris's work. Things are getting pretty busy! That's my excuse for the slack blogs.

Dec 23, 2008

Back in London

Well yes I understand we have been in London for some time now and I am not going to make excuses why this is so behind I am just going to get on with it.
As most of you have heard when we arrived in London back on about the 26th Oct our apartment we were going to rent was still occupied and was to remain that way for three weeks so we shacked up in a hotel situated in the depths of Hell. Did not know till this point that mice and mold were sinners. It was in Harlesden, FYI: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1169598.stm
We have crawled out of the depths and our now in the apartment in Hampstead which is just perfect. It has heating which is already one up on our previous abode and is situated on the edge of the Heath. There are even trees outside the windows which is a rarity in London.






Around our Neighbourhood






Cafe Mozart where we have breakfast



Chris has a great job for a company called RjDj. Check it out http://rjdj.me/ and I am at the moment a lady of leisure. Only because I do not have my visa yet. We have been into the tourist scene a little with trips to the Science Museum again, The Museum of London and both Brick lane and Portabello markets which host some fantastic local art talent well worth a look www.tomlewis.co.uk, www.danhillier.com, www.candidarts.com, www.worldofmoosecom
We have also been spending quite a bit of time with old friends who are now locals that we have not seen in a long time wining and dining, mainly wining. There are some fantastic restaurant around and having friends that know the place well is a great help.
With Christmas just around the corner London is in full spirit! We have been out after dark, which can be as early as four, to see the Christmas lights that line all the high streets and every where you go there are carol singers. Some actually got into our building the other night when I was home alone so I turned off the television and lights and hid from them.











I was home alone as Chris had to fly to Berlin for work which was quite unexpected, so I stayed home and joined the gym which was also very unexpected as those who know me well would agree.
Back to Christmas. In Hyde Park there is a Winter Wonder Land which is so beautiful. Full of rides, lights and Christmas trees. It is huge and has hundreds of stalls full of hot chocolate, mulled wine and German sausages? We plan on going back there for some dinner, drinks and rides on Christmas Eve. We are going to go to the Cinema in Islington to watch It's a Wonderful Life. This should be watched by all at Christmas so run out and grab a copy.
Our Christmas tree has long been up and I decided to go with a white one, as if this is not going to be a white Christmas I will fake it. Although we have had two days of light snow which is amazing as I have never seen it before.
We don't have any real plans for Christmas as little did we know that all public transport comes to a stand still on Christmas day so instead we have ordered some bean bags and Midsommer Murders dvds and will live it up in the warmth of the house with lots of mulled wine, good food and our new bean bags. New years eve is another story though, we plan on a big night out. But that's a story for another time.
Today we are off to the Highgate cemetery. This may sound odd but it is actually an amazing beautiful place. It's huge, run down and over grown with old angels and tombstones amongst the growth. It's 3 pounds to go exploring, we might even run into the Highgate Vampire!
An old legend, I think people still have sightings but they crazy.

Been and gone now




Hope you all have an amazing Christmas and a fantastic New Year. We wish you all the best and a safe and happy holiday. We miss you all! Much love always, Michelle and Chris



P.S To the Bridgetown crew, don't have to much fun without us. See you there next year!

Dec 1, 2008

The Cinque Terre 21-23 Oct

The Cinque Terre "The Five Lands" is a rugged portion of coast of the Riviera to the west of the city of La Spezia. The Cinque Terre includes: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
I had been looking forward to this part of our trip the whole way. I wanted to walk the five villages in one day!
It was a fantastic experience but quite difficult in places, especially the 440 stairs to Corniglia. Lake made the walk in a skirt and creepers, Jessee did it with a beer in one hand and a smoke in the other and I nearly died!
The veiws were amazing. We did only make it to four of the villages as it was getting dark and we did not want to miss the last train. Well worth it.










Nov 27, 2008

Perugia 16-21 Oct

Next was Perugia but on the way we stopped in San Marino for pizza and icecream and of course a tourists view of the city, which was absolutely beautiful.





Well we pretty much ate our way through Perugia! Pizza at every possible oportunity, our mission was to find the best malenzane Pizza in the city, which we did. Every other meal consisted of three courses which were, meat, pasta and finally cake. We stayed with Lakes host parents Anna and Malro just outside of Perugia in their beautiful house. Anna was our unofficial cook. Muchly appreciated by the way.




Perugia is so beautiful!





We stayed for over a week and we picked grapes,





walked to Corciano,






visited Assisi,(not impressed)




and spent a Saturday night out in the Town square of Perugia which was a crowded amazing experience.