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We’re leaving today…. Well, tonight – but its sounded good anyways. In a few hours we’ll be at Heathrow checking into our New York (New York) bound flight which is part one of our adventure home. Boy, are we excited!!!! But first, lets catch you up on our last few days in ol’ blimey.

Hansel & Gretel
We recently bought tickets to what we thought would be a good panto for Christmas. Turns out we were wrong (horribly wrong). There was no “Booo! Hisss…. WATCH OUT!! He’s behind you!” to be called out. Instead we were ushered around the woods chasing two obnoxious kids in beanies. But in all fairness it was an interesting concept, which was done well – basically you are part of the show and instead of the scenery moving on and off stage you move from one scene to the next by walking around a large studio. But, in the end we were left feeling a little gutted for the above mentioned reason and the price.

Orphan’s Christmas
The following Saturday we had organised for a group of friends without family here in London, to get together to celebrate Christmas before we all took off in different directions. But London’s weather really turned it on for us! Having been nice all week (that’s London speak for overcast but not rain), a downpour Saturday morning meant our first planned activity of Ice Staking, left us staking around in a swimming pool. No Joke! But I’m proud to say (yet again) no falls occurred and we all left the rink relatively dry. After a sneaky pint (or two) in the festive bar at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland we dashed across the park to Lancaster Gate. We arrived at the pub shortly after 2pm and didn’t leave until midnight which meant we had to make a mad dash for the last tubes. At the pub we exchanged gifts, had Christmas lunch and played a few simple math games. All in all, we had a great day which ended drinking away the early hours of the morning with two good friends.

The Nutcracker
Last night we attended our first ballet production, the Nutcracker, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Although Jarratt was a BIT annoyed that the main performers got less of an applause at the end than the Prima Ballerina, who with her partner performed the grand pas de dux – the most impressive performance of the play, however significantly shorter than the main characters parts. Regardless, all of them got far too many claps in our opinion as they returned to stage time and time again leaving J saying “Get off already!”

Well,… that’s it, I guess we’ll see you all soon, xoxo

Swoosh, swoosh... at the swimming pool at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.

Orphans Christmas Dinner.

Simple Math Game... :)

At a fancy scmancy dinner before the Nutcracker.

Inside the Royal Opera House for the Ballet.

In Brugge

Well its been a wonderfully festive weekend just gone. J and I made the mad dash across the channel and up into Belgium to live the good life of chocolate, sweet beer and waffles, as well as some beautiful Christmas markets. We left ye old London town at around 7am and arrived in Brussels (our first destination) a little after lunch. In Brussels we were treated to some pretty good chocolate, Frittes wrapped in paper (that's hot chips to those playing at home) and a rather cheeky little boy pissing in a fountain. We spent a few hours wandering around the Christmas markets and came away with some pretty ornaments and a major headache! It didn't take us long to deduct that the reason Belgium's created good beer and chocolate was too soothe themselves after a day shopping at their ridiculously stressful and crowded Christmas markets. We boarded our bus shortly after 7pm and headed for Brugge.

Brugge (in short) is AMAZING! We arrived in quite late but quickly dumped bags and made our way into town with 2 fellow couples. No sooner had we arrived in the main market square had J handed me my first (of many) Leffe beers - a traditional Belgium wheat beer. The late night quickly turned into early morning and we fell into bed at around 5am only to be awoken 4 hours later. Sunday was spent roaming the markets for more souvenirs and chocolate, hehe. We passed on the tranquil looking boat ride around Brugge's canals as (quite frankly) my stomach probably wouldn't have handled it well. We ended our day sharing a quiet hot chocolate and waffle before boarding the bus and ferry home.

Other than living it up in Brugge we have also been playing happy tourists here in London. We have done yet another ice-skating extravaganza, this time at the Tower of London. J is finding his feet and all this preparation seems to be paying off. By the time we hit Central Parks ice-rink in New York he should be able to land a triple axle.

We have also visited a number of museums, The London Transport Museum and The Imperial War Museum - both Jarratt's picks! As riveting as it was to find out about the omnibuses and creation of the underground *enter eye roll here* the saving grace was watching J reprimand a 9 year old for pushing in front of me when it was our turn for one of the interactive games.

Finally, London has truly turned on the festive spirit for us. Not only have we been lucky enough to wake to snow falling in the park opposite us one Sunday morning. We have also seen the Christmas lights of the most amazing tree (for 4 obvious reasons) be turned on by the Lord Mayor of Oslo and good old Borris.

Next up we have the Orphan's Christmas kindly organised by yours truly, a Christmas Panto (Hansel and Gretel) at the Barbician, The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House and of course the long awaited trip home!!!! 13 sleeps and counting.... love and kisses, Us.

Bec and her Frittes with Mayo - Did you know Belgium's claim they invented this lovely food?

One of the many window displays advertising their chocolate goods in Brussels.

Us at the Christmas Markets in Brussels.

"This one goes out to all my homies in Brugge"

J driving the train contently after giving a 9 year old a tellin' off...

Angel. ;)

Snow!!!!!!!!!!!!

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Winter's Tale

Hi all, here's a quick catch up on our recent activities here in ye ol' London town.

Jamie Oliver
After arriving back from our 9 day drive around the UK, we celebrated our anniversary in style at Jamie Oliver's restaurant 15. There we were treated to an amazing 7 course meal which included the likes of sweet potato ravioli, Snowdonia lamb ragu and the most amazing duck/meal we've ever had.... SERIOUSLY! Sorry A'sy your Gloucester efforts were beaten.... only slightly ;). It was all capped off with a chocolate cake, coffees and more chocolate!

Lord Mayors Parade
We also braved the cold, rainy weather to get a peak at the new bossman himself, the Honorable Lord Mayor. Planting ourselves just outside the Bank of England we watched as he rolled by in his fancy coach and greeted the military men of various outfits, complete with feathered hats. We ended up calling it quits halfway through the rain drenched parade and in true Aussie style made our way to the closest Walkie for a pint and feed. There we waited until 5:30pm to watch the "most amazing fireworks London had to offer".... not!

Liverpool vs Tottenham
After work one Wednesday, J and a few fellas headed out to Tottenham to watch a Carling cup match between Tottenham (obviously) and Liverpool. Bec opted out since her last trip to a Soccer match had been oh so successful, so Big Blue escorted young JJ to the game. Tottenham won 4-2 with some of Liverpool's biggest players missing.

Wallabies vs England
Late one Thursday I received a message from a friend informing me of 2 tickets to the Wallabies vs England in the rubgy, going cheap. Keen as I quickly snatched them up and the following Saturday J and I found ourselves ringside at Twickenham Stadium cheering on the green and gold. The stadium was chockers (with mainly English supporters) and although we felt slightly out numbered we still came out on top winning 24-12!

Portobello Rd Markets
The following Sunday we headed into Portobello Markets for a bit of a sticky beak. But the slight rain had kept some vendor's away. With a brief look around the stores that were open Bec still managed to come home with a knit dress, pair of boots, ballet slippers and a belt and J came away with a roast lunch (probably the worst ever) to compensate for Bec's impulse buying!

Ice-staking at Somerset House and Canary Wharf.
Well we have officially welcomed the festive season with a spot of ice-staking... so far we have visited Somerset House Ice Rink on opening night and Canary Wharf today, with a few more left to tick off. A little rusty at first and no stacks to report as yet, we can both now spin on demand... well sometimes at least ;).

We will let you know how our adventures continue.

Jamie Oliver 15 logo - so cool! I bought a hemp bag for 4 quid with it on it!

Bossman himself!

Liverpool vs Tottenham.

J, me and Pipes at the rugby.

I have no idea where this photo is taken - but i like it! :P

Us looking happy and wet on Portobello Road.

On the ice at Somerset House.

Watch him go!!!!

Road Trippin...

Alright, so we're slowly and consistently becoming late with our updating of the blog. But life in ye old London town has been busy busy week in week out! I know we're constantly using that as an excuse but shockingly enough its true! So without further a due here is the update from our last trip, a 9 day drive around the better part of the UK.

We started off Saturday morning by heading to Windsor Castle, where we made it by the skin of our teeth to watch the changing of the guards. We then entered the Castle at an extortion price but were relieved to find that the tour guide walkie talkies that we are oh-so-fond of were free! YAY! We buzzed around the castle taking in the inner keep, the royal apartments, St Georges chapel (where King Henry the 8th is buried) and the most amazing dolls house you have ever seen! Afterward we took a very romantic stroll across the river into Eton to have a look at the college only to find that it was exam period and therefore shut to the public! We decided to push on towards Plymouth (our destination) passing through Salisbury, Berkshire and into Devon, whilst listening to our new favourite radio station BBCBerks! Weary from the 5 hour drive we fell into bed after a quick dinner.

Sunday saw us start out by exploring a rainy Plymouth by heading to the Hoe, Barbarican and Mayflower steps. The launch point for the famous ship that left for the Americas, as well as a little less know ship captained by James Cook that went on to discover Australia. We were deeply annoyed by the amount of propaganda in regards to the Mayflower and were even more annoyed to find that had we blinked we would have missed the Endeavour signage altogether! We promptly left Plymouth and made a been line for Lands End (Penzance) via a pub in Falmouth in Cornwell to watch our rival soccer teams play. There we treated ourselves to a Cornish ale and cider respectively. Once in Penzance free from pirates we had one of the most comfortable sleeps ever.

The next morning we made our way to Lands End via St Michael's Mount, to walk along some of the 'most scenic cliff faces in the UK'. Although Bec was more interested in a small Shetland Pony she met along the way and playing silly buggers with numerous photos at the over sized concrete letters that spelt out "LANDS" "END". We then backtracked slightly to visit the Minack theatre, an actual working theatre dating from the 1930s, that is cut into the cliff face and spoilt us with some of the most amazing views we'd seen thus far. We then kicked on in the pursuit of a Cornish pastry for lunch passing some ancient Celtic sights to arrive in Bristol just before dark. We took the opportunity to cross the famous suspension bridge of Bristol that night as it is amazing when lit up with all its fairy lights. We then spent the rest of the night searching out dinner and planning our next move.

Well fed and well rested we head off the next day in pursuit of some artwork by the famous graffiti artist Banksy, as Bristol is his home town. We ended up walking into Banksy Central where we found 4 artworks in 20 minutes, easily satisfied we piled back into the car and had a short drive to Cardiff. In Cardiff our hostel ran along the river bank shared with the Millennium Stadium so after a quick spin around that and a few happy snaps later we wandered up St Marys Street towards Cardiff Castle. At the Castle we were once again spoilt with a walkie talkie guide of the grounds and a real life tour guide for the apartments. From there we headed to the central markets to try some welsh cakes, before pulling into the Prince of Wales pub from some strong Welsh Cider and a steak!

The next morning we headed down to the beautiful Cardiff Bay for a stroll around before chucking a 180 in the car and heading out to Llandaff Cathedral, Castell Coch and Caerphilly. After purchasing some famous cheese at Caerphilly we headed to Liverpool. Once in Liverpool we battled the elements to make our way out to Anfield to watch the red and whites take on Portsmouth. While Liverpool came out on top, Bec did not! Cold and frozen we headed back to the hostel to warm up in a black cab driven by a funny man of which neither of us could fully understand!

Thursday we rose late and headed into town to start our Beatles fiasco! The initial stop was the Beatles story, followed by the Cavern Club and the Grapes for lunch. We then headed out of town to see Penny Lane, John Lennon's childhood home, Strawberry fields (which took) Forever (to find) and Eleanor Rigby's Grave sight. Before a late night dash to Manchester, where upon arrival we were pleasantly shocked at our accommodation we had swindled for the night. Manchester proved to be quite the bore, so we quickly exited (stage right) towards York stopping in at Old Trafford for a sneaky tour.

Once in York we fell in love with it straight away and were happy with our decision to push on despite our weariness instead of heading back to London. Being Halloween we thought we'd make the most of it and join the revellers in a ghost hunt, all 200 of them, with no luck. Our final day we joined a free (however long-winded) tour of York and were sad to discover that the Minster was shut. However, we did manage to stumble across Guy Fawkes birth registry documentation and the most amazingly quintessentially English pub! Happy to call it quits we drove back towards London and upon arriving home fell fast, fast asleep.

And so ends the road trip... but as always a few happy snaps for your perusal.

Us at St Michael's Mount

Playin Silly Buggers.

Minack Theatre.

Cardiff, Millennium Stadium

Cardiff Castle

Caephilly Castle, largest castel in Wales.

J "He'll never walk alone" at Anfield.

....is in my heart

J at Old Trafford.

... and I think that'll do.... otherwise what photos will we inflict on you when we come home?