Week 14 (21/5 - 28/5)

This week's entry is extended to include the 28th as it was yet another Bank Holiday weekend! They love their holidays in May here... Mind you, the next one isn't until August, and then there's nothing until Christmas (kinda like home - wonder why the latter part of the year is sparse of public holidays...hmm).

This week I only took a packed lunch to work once... Was at the pub for the rest of the week. The sad thing is, I don't actually have a local as we go to different ones (depending on who I go out with!). Four pub lunches this week and three nights out after work. I have come to the conclusion that I now have a drinking problem. Actually, no. I have a problem drinking. Yeah, that sounds better - and is more factually correct. My problem is I can't afford to keep it up - haha! :) Thursday night was different - Sam, the Aussie bloke, finished that day (off to bigger & better things), so we had leaving drinks for him. T'was a good night. Nice day and we went, of all places, to the student bar and sat out in the sun. Talk about cheap drinks! I bought a pint, and RTD, a soft drink and a couple of packets of crisps for just over a fiver! Not too shabby. Funniest thing was watching them poor a glass of red wine...then pouring the wine from the wine glass into a plastic cup. Class all the way! ;)

It's been really good, though. Almost every day has been with a different group. One of the girls in the office said that I was whoring myself around the different cliques in the office - LOL.

This weekend has been fairly relaxed. Finished the three books I had on the go. Was telling the Sisters that I was reading one, kind of must of dozed a bit and dropped it, picked it up again and was a few pages in when I realised I was all confused about the appearance of Arab terrorists, Israeli athletes/hostages, German snipers, and Munich airport when last I remembered I was in an American courtroom... Turns out I'd picked up the wrong book (maybe dozing is too generous - sleeping is more apt). Anyhow, enjoyed all three - but only remember one (as is normal).

Found my pamphlet about London Walks that I'd lost. For about 5 pounds, you can go on all sorts of interesting walks around London (plus additional extras such as ferry rides etc, depending on the walk you choose). Might start looking at doing them during weekends. There are some really, really cool sounding ones - like the Jack the Ripper one (in the evening) or the Harry Potter one, or more historical based ones - even really appealing pub walks. I'm really enjoying my walking around, so something like this will mean I get some history AND a walk (with a purpose). All good!

David & Alison arrived back from their Europe tour and they popped around to use the Internet and then we went off for dinner. Was an enjoyable night, but they were very naughty and paid for my meal. Grr (in the nicest possible way, of course). Arrived back home to find that I had a wicked-good leak above the stove - right through the rangehood. This is being looked at in the morrow. Told the agent that it wasn't safe/healthy to live somewhere where water leaked through/onto electrical appliances. Apart a couple of leaks in the ceiling, I really do like my wee box.

What else? Oh, yes. I'm now making the most of the dry cleaners cleaning and pressing my shirts. I am more than happy to pay them to do a proper job - so long as I don't have to iron ;) How could I forget? I made a big fuck up at work on Friday. Emailing a couple of hundred important people around the university and had a silly typo in the message. Must remember that in the UK, university email addresses end .ac.uk - not .ac.nz - oops! Sadly, a temp was sacked earlier in the week for not having an eye for detail...wonder if I go the same way (hopefully not, but I do have a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach about it...) - we shall see...

On a more positive note, I think I've come to the conclusion that, seeing as I've got sort of semi-secured work until I leave, I'm really here to focus on my career and not so much on travel. I do want to do travelling - but it's not a big deal. I'm most likely going to work until the end of September (when the last rent payment is due) and spend about 20-odd days travelling before I come back home. 10 days around Europe and the 10-day tour of Egypt. It would be good to do more, but places will still be here in years to come. Who knows - I might end up living over here on a more permanent basis one day? Who knows what I'll be doing come November!? (If YOU know, could you let ME know? Please?) ;)

That is all.

Seeyabye

Week 13 (14/5-20/5)

Seriously, I think it's about time someone volunteered to be my personal secretary/PA. I am not doing very well at keeping track of things. As a result, I'm late posting this entry. I'm guessing that no one's surprised about this, are they?

So, what happened this week? A very uneventful week. Oh, that's right. After going out for drinks last week I made a deal with one of the girls in the office that I'd 'brown bag' it from now on... ARRGH. Talk about being a stupid idiot. Making lunches every day! What was I thinking?

Actually, turns out it only takes a couple of minutes in the morning...and is actually much less hassle than trying to decide what I want to buy, then standing in a long queue etc. I'm yet to concede this though ;) So, for ALL of this week, I've been very good (and healthy, I might add) and taken my lunch to work. Same thing every day, but I'm enjoying it and that's all that matters (that, and the fact that I have successfully fulfilled a challenge - well, started to).

Evenings, however, have not been so good. Went to the pub with people after work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Two nights ended up going out for dinner after the pub. This is a very costly process (even though it seems cheap at the time ;) ). Must remember not to make a habit of this - haha.

Friday was spent in another office at a different campus. I had agreed to sit in an office at Hammersmith Hospital (which, as it turns out, is not in Hammersmith but in Acton...weird). The 4th Year BSc students were submitting their theses (theses - HA! Max 5,000 words ;) ). I was all looking forward to 3pm as this was the submission time and had been told that students get really stressed and become very abusive. I'd psyched myself up for a good argument with some of them...but it didn't happen. Only one girl was late :( And she was very lovely about it all :( So disappointed. I was planning on getting out of there at 4.30pm, but the last academic to come and pick up his pile of theses, despite coming in about three times to tell me he would come at 4.30pm, forgot. I waited and waited. At 5pm I called his office, only to be told he was in a meeting and couldn't be interrupted. I said who I was and why I was calling - his meeting was interrupted and he came down and collected them. Didn't leave until about 5.20pm...then had to walk to the tube and get home. Luckily it was a nice day (not that I was aware how nice it really was because the office I was in felt like it was a basement, not 1st floor, office!).

Over the weekend I just chilled out. Had a bit of a fight with the flat, coming off second-best (bit of a lump to the noggin' and a wicked-big bruise on my back). Moral: don't fight with inanimate objects...they will win ;)

Still loving my time over here and have no regrets about coming over. Best thing I could've done. For many reasons...

Seeyabye

Week 12 (8/5 - 13/5)

Bloody hell! Another week's just flown by. I'm gonna have to start trying to pay more attention to what's happening to them. Mind you, when you're just getting up and going into work day in, day out, there's not really a lot to be paying attention to.

I think, for the most part, it was a fairly non-eventful week (especially after getting out of town for a couple of days). Haven't yet decided what I'll do this next Bank Holiday weekend (end of the month). Contemplating either another couple of day trips - or just one, since David & Alison will be back in town - or maybe heading down to see Kirsty for the weekend (though, it's exam season coming up, so she might be a bit busy). Really have no idea at this point. Maybe Cardiff could be on the cards? Your guess is as good as mine!

The weather's kind of packed in a wee bit. Not in a major way - temps are still supposedly (though I don't believe it) still in the mid- to high teens. There's most likely been more rain in the last week that what I've seen the whole time I've been here. Okay - not quite true. I forgot about the day I got soaked through walking around Hyde Park. Curse you weather!

Work's been ho-hum again. I opened my big mouth the other day and think that I'm walking into a massive task come next month! I happened to pass comment about the Faculty website being absolute shite - impossible to find anything; no real structure; too many clicks; too many out of date pages. I'm going (providing it's remembered) to be asked to overhaul the damned thing. Okay, it'll be a bit of fun...but really, do I want to do it? No! Things have quietened down on the marketing side - everything's going smoothly. Just about ready for the formal launch of the new programme etc. Looking forward to that.

Oh, the boss called me into his office again the other day. "I've got a big favour to ask you", he says. Now, first thing that crossed my mind was: "to ask me" - that means I can say no - sweet. Second thing was: "a big favour" - that means he'll be in my debt - sweeter! It was only asking if I wouldn't mind sitting in an office on a different campus for a day, collecting student projects. I liked the idea...until he mentioned that there would be a computer there so I could still continue working. I was planning on taking a book and reading... Bugger, huh.

My hair has been royally pissing me off of late. Haven't had a haircut since before I left Dunedin in January (so it was longer than I've had it for a hell of a long time!). Booked in at a hairdressers that I walk past on my way to/from work each day. Never thought to ask about the cost. In the end it cost 135 quid. I guess it could've been worse. Besides. I feel so much better for having a tidy mop of hair again.

Had another leaving do for someone at work on Friday night. That's two in the last month. Another one to come this week (though, from all accounts it's more a 'by invitation' one than a 'whole office' - lol).

Started off with drinks over in the...well, I guess it's the equivalent of the Staff Club at home...the staff bar? We'd booked a couple of tables, but there weren't any free when we got there. Apparently, we're supposed to book through one bloke in particular, not whoever's in charge at the time. We weren't to know. No complaints though. We found a possie and made ourselves at home (right in front of the pokies - bet that didn't go down well!). Also got a free bottle of bubbly out of it so again, no complaints. We ended up getting a table and able to be a bit more comfy. So much laughs were had - mainly gutter-level ones (so I was right at home - lol). By about 6.30pm a few of us were hanging out for dinner... The booking was for later... Just had another drink - all was good. Come 7.30pm we buggered off for dinner. Laughs galore on the tube there. Even more on the walk...it was pissing down and no one really knew where we were going. We finally got there. Most of us feeling the twangs of hunger...especially when we smelt the aromas...

Went to a curry place that was rated highly on some site...and one of the girls had heard good things about it. Despite a booking, we stood in this mother f**king queue (seriously, it snaked around the restaurant, and at one stage was out the door!) for an eternity - okay, about 20mins - before we were seated.

By the time we pissed around trying to decipher the types of curries, and the sizes we'd need, and what starters we wanted, etc, we were all in hysterics about almost anything! Food arrived (quickly, I might add) and we chowed down. Seriously, it's gotta be about the best Indian meal I've ever had! The whole time we were there, the queue didn't get shorter; if anything, it got longer and longer!

It must be an OK-ish place. We even recognised one of the other diners as Noel Gallagher...there was someone else that was known by some of the group - most likely some footballer or the like. I didn't know who they were on about.

After we'd finished, the waiter came up to see if we wanted anything else. One of the girls started to ask for the bill and, quick as a flash, it was on the table! Again, more laughter. It was so cheap! 15 quid each for starters, mains, dessert and the tip. Well, more like 15 quid each because no one had change, but we could all put in 15 ;)

By the time we got out, it was something like 11ish (give or take) and we were all so absolutely knackered... Walked back to the tube and all got off at our various stops. The group getting smaller and smaller as the tube progressed.

The second part of the evening has been postponed until sometime this week (hopefully before the next leaving do!).

One of the girls has encouraged me to 'brown bag' it at work. Making a lunch...seems like such an effort, but I'll do it (just to prove to her that I can...not that I really want to...). This means getting stuff for lunches in the grocery shop. I did learn that going to get groceries at 4pm on a Sunday's not a flash idea. The dumbass supermarket closes at 5pm and, as a result, there was next to nothing available in terms of fruit & veges. Dumb store. Actually, getting the groceries was about the highlight of my weekend. Short of curling up on the couch and reading a few books, I didn't do anything. Too cold to (by this I'm meaning more that I was too lazy).

Haven't heard from a number of people for a while. Makes me wonder whether they're still on the face of the planet...or just snobbing me ;) How rude :P

Seeyabye

Brighton (7/5)

Monday was a Bank Holiday here (the first of two this month). I went down, up, or across (I still have no idea - I had faith in the bus driver... I almost started singing "the wheels on the bus...", but managed to stop myself in time) to Brighton (I think it's down...). The weather was poxy. Well, it wasn't that bad. There was no sun, but there was a bitterly cold and strong wind (think: Wellington strong; or even after 10 cans of beans (but without the smell) strong). Kind of made it annoying to do anything, but I can say I've been and wandered around for the day (any longer and I'd consider suicide. Don't get me wrong, it's an OK place...just not really my cup of tea. I think 'cos the buildings are quite drab). Actually, just as Cambridge was "quaint", I think "drab" is the best word for Brighton. I don't have anything against the place, but it wasn't really that exciting. There's not that much to do - or it could be just 'cos I went on my own; but I was in Cambridge on my own. Maybe it was the weather then?

^ Brighton, from the pier. Getting a feel for the weather then?

^ Brighton beach...well, I guess a beach doesn't *have* to have sand...

I went and had a look around the art gallery/museum they have there. Nothing spectacular, though I was very interested in footage they had from WWII, and people recalling their experiences as kids during the blitz - that was well worth going in for alone. Art wasn't really that appealing. The museum part was of more interest to me.

After that I went into the Royal Pavilion. This was the home of George IV. It's kind of Indian/Asian style. Very...erm, disgusting. Like, it was just too overdone for me. Bits and pieces impressed me, but generally speaking, it was just tacky. I guess in it's day it would've been luxurious. Some of the rooms were amazing (even if I did think tacky). There was quite a lot of illusion in the place. For example, when you walked into the 'long room' (a hallway with two fireplaces!), it looked like there was a lot of bamboo used...but it wasn't really bamboo. It was just the way the wood was coloured/painted. Very effective. The kitchen, too, was quite amazing. Granted, it's a wee bit dated now, but for the times... I never realised that the building actually belongs to the Brighton & Hove Council - not to Lizzie. Queen Vic sold it off in 1850 or so (after taking something like 150 carts of furniture etc). Much of the furnishings in the place are on loan from Lizzie. She's a good sport is our Lizzie.

^ Royal Pavilion - you can see the Indian/Asian influence already!

The Brighton Pier was rather OTT in terms of the arcades...and the number of food stalls. But all were very busy! I bought some chips from one place and they were disgusting! Okay, could be because my body's not used to such food these days, but they just tasted yuk! Could also be because they were more like wedges than chips. Dunno. But you could get all sorts of junk food there - chips, donuts, candy, ice cream (and the number of people eating ice cream on a cold day!!!).

^ Brighton Pier - the flags were really cracking in the wind

I was leaning over the pier watching the waves crash up against this other pier-type thing. Was quite fun. Enjoyed being out in the sea-air again :-) There were these kids (teens, actually) at the far end running to avoid the spray from the crashing waves. It was fun; they were having fun. Then attention wandered, as it always does, to some chicks that were on the beach (if you can call stones - not pebbles; stones - a beach). They too were avoiding the water, but as it came up the beach. I play this game sometimes - y'know, just avoiding getting your feet wet by running back as the water approaches (please don't look at me in that tone of voice...you used to/still do it, too!). Now, these chicks would've been about 15-16, in stylish clothes and carrying their silly little handbag things that no doubt had money, make-up, mobile etc in them. All of a sudden, this wave came up from out of nowhere (okay, I admit, I know where it came from, and yes, like many others on the pier and the boys on the other pier, saw it coming). The girls were too dumb to realise until it hit them. And it hit hard; knocked two of them down. You should've heard the laughter around (and the shrieking from the girls)!

^ Kids avoiding the waves (not always successfully)

Then another wave came - bigger than that the previous one and from a different angle. Mother-f**king thing went up through the boards on the pier right by where I was. Needles to say, there were (including me!) a lot of soaked bodies on the pier.

Not. Impressed. At. All.

Maybe this was Karma's way of letting me know that I got let off lightly in Cambridge! Haha

All I can say is how much I love Kathmandu clothes! My jacket kept my top fairly dry; and the quick-dry material of my pan...erm, trousers (pants over here refer to undies - or something being bad/crap), coupled with the wind (no, not from me!) meant I was dry in about 10-15 minutes.

It was all good though - I say this because at the time I was not holding my camera! ;-)

While I was walking around, drying off, I wandered along the beach and nosed into a lot of little shops that line the beach front - quite well done, actually. There were some good wee art galleries. I was tempted to buy a couple of pieces - but quickly realised that I had to pay on my NZ Amex, therefore they would be too pricey at this point in time! No there was some will power!

Also went and had a nose in their Aquarium. Even though it's really old, it was quite good. The last Aquarium I went to was in Sydney, so making comparisons to the old and the new was interesting. Brighton's one had lots of little tanks, including ones in the middle of the room (rather than just along the walls). They also had lots of steps in front of them so that wee kids could get up close & personal too. I think, for wee kids, anyway, the setup here was much better than Sydney. But Sydney's main attractions were better. But that's just my opinion. The entrance fee I thought was a bit steep - 12.50 for an adult! Mind you, I paid it as I figured it was a once-r going to it...and it was warmer in there than in the wind - lol

That was Brighton. Definitely a tourist town - but I doubt it would survive in NZ. Seemed to be a place for old people and young families. I can say I have been. I am contented (now I am home and have the salt water washed off my face).

At work, I was told that apparently Brighton's quite popular with young people, and is the poof capital of Britain. Maybe it was too cold for both groups yesterday? Who knows?

Overall, another 8 quid well spent (oops - my bad - 9 quid) on a return ticket. May never return there, but at least I've been to be able to say I don't fancy the odds of returning :)

Seeyabye

Cambridge (6/5)

Another early start. I'm really not sure why I'm complaining about today's early start - it's not like I'm not up at this time on a normal Sunday (having to be up to get the damned laundry done)...I guess it's because, while I'm up, I don't normally have a shower until around 10ish - not 7am! Arrgh. Can anything please me? (Rhetorical question, thank you!)

So, wandered down to the coach station (yay for it being a few minutes down the road) only to find out there was some delay and it wouldn't be leaving until 8.45 (instead of 8.30). What was the delay? I really don't know, but I do think it had something to do with our bus driver sitting in the bus chatting to another bus driver...then them going out for a smoke (but that's just my take on things).

I took a pile of articles to read with me (and a couple of books for when I got bored with thinking) - only to find that my brain was telling my stomach that it wanted to give back the breakfast I'd not long eaten. I managed to trick my brain by stopping reading (it's not that clever, really). So, a boring coach ride. I'd tell you about all the amazing scenery, but I kept nodding off. I did see several paddocks of yellow...I think they were turnips gone to seed - that's what they looked like, anyway.

We got to Cambridge and I realised that I hadn't picked up my Lonely Planet guide (thanks Karen & Nick!) before I left so had no idea where I was headed. So I walked around town for a bit - eventually stumbling across this looooong queue of people. Instead of jumping on the queue, I walked alongside it to see where they were all headed (obviously for a long queue of people, there would have to be something good at the end). No such luck. They wanted tickets to a folk festival or something equally unexciting (to me). As luck would have it, right next door was the info centre...which was what I kinda wanted anyway. Went in, signed up for a walking tour and then waited for it to start (only about 5 or 10 minutes - do you know how lost I could get in that time!? Much safer to stay put and look at the junk on sale). It was well worth the £9 to take the tour. There wasn't as much walking as I would've thought, and the woman wasn't the best guide on the planet (but I also bet she wasn't anywhere near the worst either!), but it was really enjoyable (and she was quite pleasant and even linked, where possible, Cambridge with where we were from). I swear that there must be a lot of energy being saved in Melbourne at the moment! Almost every Aussie I've met over here has been from Melbourne. Of the 16 in our group, 11 were from Melbourne and two were from Brisbane (and there were Melbournites in the other group too). I do hope the last one out switched off the lights!

We had a good look around the wee back streets of the town (the 'old town') and around Kings College Chapel (and poked our noses in Trinity College). It was a shame it was only a two-hour tour...and more a shame that Jane has moved back to NZ - I could've popped in for a cuppa ;-) King's College Chapel was amazing! The craftmanship that went into it! You'd never see anything like it these days (mind you, you wouldn't expect a building to take 90 years to go up, either!). The ceiling is truly a sight to see! I think I have a pic of that to pop up... I knew that stained glass windows in a church usually told a story, but here they told both the old and new testaments (I think the top windows told the old, and the bottom told the new). The guide was telling us that in many churches around the time of Cromwell, stained glass windows got smashed in as they were too 'showy'. These ones weren't. The guide wondered if it had something to do with Cromwell using the chapel as his stables. Then she was telling us that during the blitz, every single pane was carefully removed and photographed, then all the panes were buried in several locations. Given there must be a billion panes, that's quite a hefty feat! They weren't replaced until the 1960s! Wicked stuff! I love stories like that.

^ Trinity College grounds (L-R: dining hall (ending at the big bay window); Master's residence (the ivy-clad bit); student rooms (from the corner around, I believe))

^ Front entrance to Kings College

^ The amazing ceiling (the dark wooden thing in the middle houses the Church's organ; it's 1/2 way along the hall - it's f'king huge!)

^ The some of the stained glass windows - there were quite a few like this - they go right around the entire building!

^ This is quite a good shot of the ceiling and the stained glass windows...

The highlight of the tour, though, was when we were standing behind Trinity College and the guide was explaining about how easy it was to punt down the river when there was this almighty splash - one of the punters ended up in the drink! I think I found it funnier than most, as my sides were aching...more from laughing internally, as people started to give me funny looks. I can't help laughing at other people's misfortunes. It's hard-wired into me. I swear ;-) Naturally, later on when I was approached by one of 10,000 people trying to pull tourists into the punts, I declined the offer - not wanting to end up as the other bloke!

^ People punting along the River Cam

After the tour I went into a small pub and had some lunch, then proceeded to walk around the town. By around 3.30pm I had done enough walking for the day, so decided it was time to go and sit in the park to wait for the bus. On the way, I ended up doing a spot of umpiring in a cricket match. But that was only 'cos the ball just about hit me and I was by the boundary line (it was a four, not a six - half the blokes were happy with my call; the other half happier ;-) ). It felt quite civilised sitting out in the sun (and damned wind) on a Sunday afternoon watching a cricket match. In between overs I did pick up my book and perused it for a bit.

I was chatting to Kirsty about Cambridge before I went and she described it as "quaint". She couldn't elaborate on it any more than that. As much as I do like that word, it doesn't really tell you much, does it? Anyhow, when we were talking on Sunday night, she asked me to describe Cambridge. The only thing I could come up with was, you guessed it, "quaint". Seriously! It is! Especially the 'old town'. So...quaint. It's what I expected old England to be like. I would've loved to have popped my nose into some of the private residences to see what they're like on the inside...but I think people frown at strangers doing that...

^ A 'quaint' little street

Not sure if I could've seen myself studying there though, like straight from high school. But I guess that's hard to say retrospectively. Also, it would depend on how one was brought up, too. Bluff to Cambridge, yeah right!

Anyhoo, the bus arrived and oddly, there were too many people for it. No one was checking the tickets and a few of us who did have tickets found there wasn't room for us...so they had to chuck people off. So very funny (in my head, as I wasn't being chucked off!). When we finally left, I did my snoozy thing again. I reckon that makes me even more sleepy when I get off the silly bus. Got off and thought I'd pick up some groceries on the way home. Nope. Not a happening thing. Bloody Sainsburys close at 5pm on a Sunday. I ask you! Do they not realise how inconvenienced I was? It meant I had to cook dinner (could've just gone to a restaurant, but that thought didn't occur until I was sulking about having to clean up my mess after cooking!). Then I did the dreaded ironing. Arrrgh. My thoughts, however, were that if I did it then, I wouldn't have to do it when I got home from Brighton! Clever, huh?

Overall, a good 8 quid spent on the return ticket to Cambridge.

Seeyabye

Week 11 (30/4 - 5/5)

Another typically boring week at work. So much so, I can't remember most of it. I do remember, however, the day the temperature plummeted to about 16! Hasn't improved greatly from that, I'm sad to report. Seriously - I have really acclimatised to the sunshine and warmth!

I'm still enjoying work. My poor supervisor must want to kill me though. He gave me a shite load of work on Friday and said it should keep me occupied until mid-next week. Yeah. It really didn't. By the time I finished for the day an hour and a half later, I'd done it all. His reaction was along the lines of, "By golly gosh! Have you really? Goodness, that was supposed to keep you going until the end of next week. I just didn't have the heart to tell you". Needles to say, I rolled my eyes. It was only cutting up Excel files and putting them in different orders and different files etc, then emailing them out to about 20 odd staff. Easy and not at all time consuming.

Oh, I know what I must remember to say...more for my own head than yours, but hey. Funniest thing I have seen here (maybe not really the funniest, but up there) was walking to work on e day and there was this priest came by on this old-fashioned black bike with a cane basket on front. He was in his full garb - collar and long black robes (robes? Is that what they're called). He even had on wee wire-rimmed specs. Looked like something from the ol' tele shows set in the long distant past (you know 1940 and before ;-) ). The funniest thing was that it was on Thurloe Place (Place? Street. Road - whatever) - in the heart of Knightsbridge. Not where I'd have expected to seen such a sight. I was still chuckling when I got to work (granted, only about 2 minutes away...).

On Saturday I had a great, relaxing day out with David & Alison. Started a bit earlier than I would've really liked, but I wasn't going to say anything - they were only in town for a short time! Went and had coffee at 9am, then we did some touristy things - things I most likely wouldn't have done on my own, so that was good. We went to an exhibition at the British Library - 'Sacred Texts' (see, really not something I would've gone to otherwise). It was actually rather interesting. It was sort of a comparison of Judaism, Muslim and Christian religions and texts etc. Admittingly, not all of it was my cup of tea, but just seeing some of the amazing texts - I'd never seen the Qur'an before and it's rather intricate - well, the writing, anyhow.

After this we went and had a look around Southwark Cathedral. They must've known we were coming - there was a choir practice happening there, and while I'm not into religion/choirs etc, I can and do appreciate the acoustics of the voices in the church. We then went and had a look at the Globe Theatre - didn't do the tour (but that's down on my list of 'must dos' for later on in the piece) and then up to St Paul's (another thing now on my 'must do' list - they charge to go in, but I reckon it'll be well worth it to go up to the roof and have a gander from there). Where to next? Oh, coffee at a little coffee shop, followed by a walk along the streets due to St Paul's station being closed and a certain someone (this time I'll remain nameless...d'oh) not knowing the area...but all was good. We went up to Hyde Park Corner so that David & Alison could have a look at the NZ war memorial there. Luckily, by this stage, the weather had improved and it wasn't as cold as it was at the start of the day (some idiot was wearing a t-shirt - no prizes for guessing who, either!). Then it was home time (about 6pm). Poor David & Alison had to be up early to get a cab to Marble Arch to meet their tour group around 5 or 5.30am! Luckily I didn't have to be up until about 7am!!! But that's for the next entry...

The next two entries will be about my exciting days - leaving London! - over the Bank Holiday Weekend.

Seeyabye