Snow

So Anni and I have been caught up in this massive kuffufle that is London and snow... Seriously inadequate response to what simply just frozen water falling from the sky.

Anni's friends Maria and Indy were suppposed to fly in from Australia on Sunday morning and then we were going to fly to Munich, but Heathrow decided to close and so they finally arrived yesterday after being deposited in Athens for two days (I wouldn't complain too much about free 5* accommodation and food in Athens...)

So instead of wasting away, Anni's friend Tam generously took us in and made us feel so at home, keeping us warm and fed and having lots of fun. We made snowmen! And the cats are really cool.

Now that Maria and Indy are here, our attempts of getting the trip back on schedule has massively failed; instead of flying to Munich we fly to Frankfurt on Christmas Eve, arriving in Chemintz Christmas day... At least our awesome Berlin New Years plans are still looking awesome!

Will keep you updated!

Magical Tours BusOrama to Bath!

Lazy Anni, she totally forgot to update my blog...

Yis, we went on the Magical Tours BusOrama trip to Bath! Mr Adrian Carter is one funny man, and his team of spirited workers made this trip awesomely fun-filled and actioned packed!

The first part was actually getting on the bus. Getting to Shepherds Bush on a Saturday morning is no mean feat! Once on the phenomenally huge double-decker coach we engaged ourselves into a pub-style quiz with questions that we a bit tricky, but mostly glancing out the window and dreaming of a white Christmas.

Our first stop was in the historical town of Avebury. Avebury, according to Wikipedia, is the site of several stone circles, a large henge, some stone avenues and burrows, all with the town of Avebury in the midst of it, nestled in the Wilstshire countryside.

Whilst there, the ever annoying Cam stole me and tried to make Anni sad, but instead she took a photo of snow covered poo and said it was him. They are funny funny.

Then on to Bath, where we savoured in the glories that were the town Christmas markets, sang Christmas carols in the impressive Bath Abbey and ate some great pub-grub, and overall had a lovely time.

Back onto the super-bus back to London, watching one of Anni's favourite movies, the Holiday and back to bed. All in a days work.

Where's Wally?

Through the miracles of facebook, Anni and I were invited to a friend of a friends birthday party which involved dressing up as Wally from "Where's Wally" and traipsing our way around London following a set of somewhat redundant instructions that partially resembled the Monopoly board. That's right, we went on the famous Monopoly Pub Crawl.

Starting at Elephant and Castle tube station at 10.45am, we hit our first pub, The George, near Old Kent Road by 11.15. No, it shouldn't take 30mins to get from A to B, however, relying upon London Public Transport is like relying upon a 450 year old termite infested house to continue to stand upright.

Despite the slow start, the day went along well. We went across Tower Bridge, collecting a few stares from the brave tourists in the rain seeing a bus full of Wally's and wondering what on earth was going on. Then meandering around Tower Hill, we passed Vine Street on our way to Fenchurch Street Station. Due to a myriad of things, including the fact that there was an ever increasing amount of Wally's, the slow start continued throughout the day. By 5pm, we had only hit 8 out of the possible 26 pubs. Yes, the Duke was closed at King's Cross station; Yes, there was a large group of us so being served was somewhat difficult, however, I believe that we should have been more organised and disciplined. 30 mins at each pub is a long time.

However, the day was a success; people got drunk, looked silly, had a great time, tried out new places and overall attempted the Monopoly Pub Crawl.

And the most exciting part? Anni bought me a new jumper.

Munich

MUNCHEN! The capital of Bavaria, home of Oktoberfest and a place where Anni and I spent three glorious days eating and drinking and generally being merry. This was the first city we went to during our summer trip without Cam, which was fairly awesome (ner ner Cam!)

But before we reached Munich, we stopped over in Lauterbrunnen, a cute little camping village at the base of the Jungfrau. Awesome rosti, very cold, we saw snow!

Then from there, we went through the Black Forest to Neuschwanstein, where the tragic castle stands, the basis of the Disney castle. Amazing, unfortunately covered in tourists, but still amazing.

I got to drive the bus! Jimmy dressed me up and it was awesome fun!

So then we finally made it to Munich. Every night was a different beer hall, starting with the Augustiner Brau, then the Loweinstein restaurant, finally ending in the world famous Hofbrau house. In totally Anni drank 6 litres of bier! I had a few, as well as a pretzel, and some awesome fried pork. Yum yum yum.

So that was Munich this time. I say this time because Anni and I are venturing back in December!

London-Town

The other weekend Anni and her friend dragged me along around London in order to complete this "list of things you should do before you leave London"... This weekend it included a delightful coffee breakfast in Putney, a foodie-haven Borough Markets, a ride in the old-school Routemaster bus, and then a trek up to Abbey Road... pha-yew!

So here's some pictures of my antics. Anni is hilarious, I ended up getting some strange looks from a few of the market stall owners... But the pictures are awesome. Feel free to suggest some more places for Anni to go! November is looking pretty bleak, in fact there's no real trips before Christmas. Oh, and check out my awesome hat!

Belgium and Beer!

Last weekend Anni, her friend Amy and I went to Belgium, specifically to go to the Diksmuide Beer Festival, but of course, for the chocolate and the waffles and the fries, and more beer.... mmm.

So it all started on early Saturday morning, which was disgustingly cold and wet, and basically was the same the whole weekend. The ferry over from Dover to Calais left everyone's stomachs quite weak, and the rain in Belgium turned to hail so heavy it looked like snow when it had settled. But who ever let rain, hail or weak stomachs stop them from trying as many different types of beer?!

In Belgium there are over 800 different types of beer (according to our tour guide and wikipedia)! I am glad to say that Anni made it to six, where as I tried about ten (I kept sneaking other peoples). In the end I turned into a beer! (hahaha, the picture tells it all)

So Oostende was a lovely seaside town, but Brugge was even prettier! Chocolate shops, fries, waffles, chocolate shops, Christmas decorations, tourist shops, beer shops, chocolate shops... Anni ended up buying 1kg of chocolate for 12 Euro!

The weekend was great, the tour company was a good choice and overall, the Diksmuide Beer Festival and Belgium weekend trip was a success!

Not sure when the next trip is, possibly Bristol? But Anni still needs to catch you up on some of the summer trip, so keep posted!

Varese

Varese is a region north of Milano and south of the Swiss border, near Lago di Lugano (Lake Lugano). This is where Anni, Cam and I went off the Busabout track and spent a week with Anni's relatives. Anni's Grandfather came from Varese to Australia and that's where he met Anni's Oma, who migrated to Australia from Holland.

So during our time in Varese we went up Sacre Monte, across to Lugano, to Lago di Como, into actual Milano where we did a tour of the San Siro (for Cam's benefit), around Varese itself and up to Venegono Superiore.

We had a great time! So much FOOD! Zia Carla spoilt us rotten, and Zio Luigi was a great tour guide. Anni's Biz Nonna (Great-Grandma) is still as mucha crazy Italian grandma as always.

Every day we had fresh panne, and each meal was at least two courses. Zia Carla's cooking is simple, only a few ingredients in each dish, but incredibly indescribable.

The San Siro was amazing. I got to sit in the chair in the changing rooms of AC Milan where David Beckham sat when he was playing for them. The stadium was pretty big too. Milan itself was pretty, but not somewhere I would plan on staying for too long. We spent a day there and that was enough.

It was mine and Cam's birthdays whilst we were in Varese! Zia Carla made Cam this really yummy apricot tart, and I got to have some delicious dark chocolate gelato, which managed to go through my shirt and stain my tummy.

OH! The nasty Sydney boys I told you about from Cseky Krumlov? Well they managed to split my bum open, and so in Varese Anni got to stitch my back up. That was not cool. What was cool is that Anni stole Cam's signed football guernsey...

So from Milano we got back on the Busabout track to Lauterbrunnen. Will tell you all about it later!

Train to Milan

So I don't know if you heard about Cam, Anni's friend that she went travelling with this summer... He is this funny Aussie guy who likes to drink beer and doesn't really like me, but hey, you can't be friends with everyone, can you?

Anyways, Anni and Cam caught the overnight train from Salzburg to Milan. You would think being a chivalrous gentlemen Cam would over to sleep on the top bunk, but alas no, Anni had to risk falling out of bed everytime the train stopped.

At least I had a sweet ride in the backpack. Or so you would think... CAM TRIED TO ATTACK ME! But don't worry, later on Anni gets him back! Stay tuned for more adventures, next stop, Varese!

Salzburg

I don't know about you, but when I think of Salzburg I automatically think of the "Sound of Music". So does Anni. So of course, when in Salzburg we went on the Sound of Music tour! It was hmmm. I guess because I got really wet in the ran, or insulted by the weird tour guide who was atleast 60 and tried to flirt with Anni, or just because it was such an anticlimax, especially to the amount of money she paid. But, in saying that, it was well worth it, and you couldn't go to Salzburg without doing it.

Salzburg in itself is an amazing city. So many windy roads and amazing views and fantastic food! And the tricky water place? Well, Anni and Cam decided they weren't going to pay for the entrance, so they snuck into the gardens out the back instead. OH MY! I would recommend this place. So big, so amazing. Definitely a must. If it's nice and sunny take a bike too.

Hillsong Conference Europe

My life has been a bit quite full of staying at home time of late, and Anni has been very lazy in updating my blog, so you will have to forgive her and allow her to backdate with the blog entries of the fantastic cities we've visited.

But to keep this current, I just got back from attending the Hillsong Conference Europe at the 02 arena here in London. It was huge!

Anni was volunteering at the conference this year (our home church is Hillsong London, which meets at the Dominion Theatre every Sunday and I have actually been to a few services!). Her team of "welcomers" were really friendly people and willing to go that extra step to make people feel... welcome! It was amazing to have my photo taken with people from so many different countries and see so many people in love with God.

So keep coming back, Anni will get around to posting some blogs about the rest of our Europe jaunts post Vienna, and in two weeks we're going to the Diksmuide Beer Festival... mmmm, beer!

Vienna

Hallo people! Love from the land of the golden deep-fried schnitzel!
For the last few days I have been relaxing (and drying out) in Vienna, whilst Anni has been hitting up the sights and going on a coffee tour. Not much to report on, just taking it easy. But am loving my nice clean clothes. I am not, however, liking all the nakedness in this hostel room! ahhh... fun times. Tomorrow we go to Salzburg! Sound of Music tour here I come!

Busabout Stop 3 - Cesky Krumlov

Sorry about the lack of updates; the regular access to free internet is not easy to come by in Europe.
So far Anni and I have been to Berlin, Prague and now we're in Cesky Krumlov, about to climb on a bus for Vienna.
Berlin was grand. The stories and the history was so incredible, and the way in which they have overcome that and instead of being ashamed they are open and honest is an amazing testament to the awesomeness that is Berlin. I really hope Anni wants to go back cause we didn't get to see much at all. I really want to see the East Side Gallery.
Then Prague... hmmm. It was cool, like being in a large disneyland castle, but yeah. It was cool. Our tour guide for this one wasn't that convincing.
And then... Cesky Krumlov! It has been the BOMB. Absolutely relaxing. No large amounts of sightseeing, but the sights are worth seeing and are incredibly breathtaking. Anni, myself and several others took a raft down the River Vltava and went "Pub cruising"... basically you get in a raft and row in between different pubs along the banks. We got absolutely drenched! I am so soaked, hopefully there's a drier in Vienna. I think I soaked up half of the river in my body. hahaha, kinda funny but.
Also, sorry about the lack of pictures but we haven't been able to upload them. Keep checking to see if we can get pics up, they are very very funny.

Athens

Athens was HOT! All this time in London has made me forget what awesome heat is like! Good thing that the room we stayed in had airconditioning or I could've melted.
So we stayed in the renowned "Athens Backpackers", or actually, the studios around the corner. However, we did manage to climb up to the rooftop on the backpackers and saw the sunset (as was highly recommended by several people!).
I wasn't supposed to have my photo taken at the Acropolis, however, I wasn't told this till we were on the way back down, so I have had my photo taken. Why can't I have my photo taken, you ask? Because apparently I am a toy. No toys or flags allowed to be photographed up there.
The tourist train was lots of fun, just going around in circles around Athens. Very lazy but lovely.
And the ice cream was always yummy.
So now we are in Mykonos, because tomorrow we go on an 8-day tour around the Cyclades. 'twill be brill!

Lyme Park

Anni finally took me home.

Home?

Ah, Pemberley!

Lyme Park was the setting for Pemberley in the 1995 BBC mini-series adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" (My surname also being inspired by the talented author).

It was a 605km round trip from London, but overall the M1 is very scenic and the drive through the Derbyshire Dales was incredibly spectacular. The camera does no justice to the beauty that is the English countryside, nor does it provide the refreshing smell.

Also, it was great to get out of London for a change! Sometimes it feels like you get cabin fever staying inside the M25 too long.

So now it's a bit of a wait until our big European adventure! So far we've got a Greek odyssey and an Italian jaunt, with a big gap in the middle for spontaneous adventures... I am very looking forward to it!

Turkey

So eventually Anni and I got to Turkey. The weather was amazing (I think I even got a bit sunburnt)!

Gallipoli was incredible, beyond words. Anzac cove, The Nek, Lone Pine and Chanauk Bair are so close to each other, and yet so much blood was shed over the land. It was weird how we were walking along and suddenly there was an open trench in which the men were fighting from.

I think the most somber moment was reading the headstones at Lone Pine.

This trip has made me remember how blessed I am to be an Australian.

Volcano Cloud

Why yes, Anni and I have been, like basically everyone else here in Europe, affected by the Volcano cloud. We were supposed to be (and hopefully still will be) travelling to Istanbul, around Turkey, and then to Gallipoli for the Anzac Day dawn service. Fingers crossed...

I think it's hilarious that a volcano cloud rules over Europe, stopping all air traffic. Although it's not funny because there are thousands upon thousands of people who depend on the movement of air traffic through Europe, but still, it is kinda funny.

So we've been just chillaxing. Had a picnic in the park on Saturday afternoon, slept all day Sunday in the backyard. Anni's ankle and foot is huge, so it's probably a good thing we didn't fly on Saturday because now it's had time to settle down and hopefully get better.

So here's to hoping the next update will be about Anzac Day Dawn Service in Gallipoli. Otherwise, Anni has flight credit with Swiss Air and we will be travelling somewhere for a week because we can.

Budapest and Bratislava

Holidays have been far between for me and Anni... The long cold London winter has taken its toll.

However, Easter came upon us, and in celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ dying and rising again for us, we went to Budapest!

The beautiful split city has so much interesting history with an interesting mix of modern and upcoming futuristic displays, you never want to leave! I wish Anni didn't have to go to work...

I got my feet wet in the Danube, and saw some amazing buildings (as is usual in Europe). Anni went to a party in the baths, and came in very late (or early, depends...).

Easter Monday we went to Bratislava as that was where we flew back to London from. It was wet and rainy, but that didn't stop us having a little bit of fun.

So the next trip is Turkey in about twelve days...!

John Mayer in Wolverhampton

Anni and Jay snuck me into the John Mayer concert up in Wolverhampton and it was amazing! We waited for-ev-er and her handbag was squashy but eventually we got in there and we met some crazy kids and wow! TJ randomly held me up every now and then.

The support act was Codeine Velvet Club... very awesome. But of course we were there for John. Ahhh. So good. He opened with "Heartbreak Warfare" which was incredible live. I think my favourite song was "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room". I liked that he played heaps of old stuff too.

The best part was when he said "I see some girl holding a cabbage patch doll up... Have I mentioned that at some stage or do you just carry him around everywhere?!" He was talking about ME!!! John Mayer noticed ME! WOO.

And now I've got some more friends on Facebook, so overall, this has been amazing!

Poole

Poole is cool! Well, the temperature was. We didn't actually do much sightseeing other than walk around the Upton Park Nature reserve, however, it was lovely just to get out of London and have a great relaxing weekend. Thanks to Bethy for having us both!