London living

Hi there

For those of you who are catching up with us, here is the possibly only London blog. We have been crazy busy since we got here, except for one day when we had a domestic day - with a slight cold brewing. Even then we managed to get out and about...just not all day!
Well it's 9.33am and I am in an internet cafe just around the corner from where we are staying which is just across the road from Kensington Park, and the Palace where Diana lived. The day is 12 degrees, grey and overcast, slightly damp-feeling but though it has been raining there is no rain currently.We have been really fortunate with the weather on this trip. The cold weather was quite easy to cope with - dry snow. During this whole nearly four weeks now, we have had about 15 minutes of light rain while we have been getting around - not bad for winter!

So with time against me, here are some editted highlights.No pictures - will add those into the mix later.

1. Trains.
Having taken the Thalys from Amsterdam to Paris, we took the Eurostar from Paris to London. It was really weird thinking about the fact that we were zooming along at nearly 100 metres under the sea - at times. They show you a diagram to make it clear in their in-train booklet! It is really easy to get from tube to train to tube to our accommodation. These services are noticeably improving with better escalators and lifts. Being able to shift from one country to another in a train was a bit strange - but they had customs for the UK in Paris!

2.People.
We had dimsum just off Oxford Street (in a cafe called Ping Pong in James street!)with Jaime, Reena and J's grooms Nathan and Flash. Then the boys went off to measure John up for the kilt he is to wear at the wedding. We are to be parent-substitutes at the double ceremony. The photos should be good!
We also met up with my colleague from Hillcrest High, Linda Hood, who is teaching at a posh girls' school here. She also chose a pub, The Zetland Arms. because her grandmother had worked there in 1916. It was good to find out her news and she had just got back from NZ following her mother's illness which necessitated a shift into Matariki in Te Awamutu.
We met up with Barry's brother, Alex, in The Zetland Arms (again!)in South Kensington and had a meal and catchup with with hm in an Italian restaurant, of which there are about three on every side of every block in London it seems. He was in good form and was pleased to hear how all the people in Auckland were doing.

3. Places.
We have seen a lot of these as you can imagine. On Saturday we did a "London Walk" around Notting Hill which took us around the older parts of this )used-to-be) village.We also met up with a woman who had just moved from Waikato Hospital and whose daughter was at Waikato Uni.We now know where Robbie Williams used to live; where Annie Lennox does live and where Prince Charles's Highgrove meat can be bought. Organic meat, this will cost you NZ$97 per kg for rack of lamb. Yes we did find the bookshop from "Notting Hill" and shopped at Portobello Market. That night we did a "London Walk" around Hampstead - more famous people's places and more strange histories. This included the house where JM Barrie wrote "Peter Pan" and about three pubs - they were part of the walk too. The ales were interesting! We also did another walk, around the City this time - on Sunday - which enabled us to be taken to some places that would have been tricky on a working day. The Gherkin close up is quie an amazing building. We were taken down some medieval passages and shown some of the original Saxon buildings and places of London - including the original Roman wall.

4. Performances.
We have seen "Totem" (Cirque du Soleil) in the Royal Albert Hall - the building almost as amazing as the show.We walked around Covent Garden yesterday and then happened past a matinee of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" at the Vaudeville Theatre and went to it. This was a very clever and timely commentary on politics and social morality.Then last night we went to "We Will Rock You" the story by Ben Elton, based on the music of Queen, was also a social commentary - if you wanted to read it that way - about the perils of plastic music. It was a HUGE show with lights and sound effects which were very overwhelming at times. One surprise character was played by the actor who used to be Curly Watts on Coro Street - and he was a real rager. Nigel and many other would really like this one!

Tomorrow we head up to The Wedding and if I can I will post a blog to you from there. Home on Sunday....our beds will be good!!

Love to all J&J