'Borough In The 'Burgh

A couple of weekends ago we had our first Whanau (Kiwi for family) holiday up to Edinburgh and I've got to say after a weekend of drinking, laughing and wild shenanigans I hope there is another one soon and many more to come.

I don't know how we decided on Edinburgh but I am glad I had a second chance to check out this a-maaaz-innnng city. Note to all you readers - come.visit.the.uk.and.go.to.Edinburgh. Ok? Deal. I can't really tell you why I love it so much but I just do. Its got something to do with how its so open with not many tall buildings and lots of peaks where you get amazing views and just the fresh air. But then again that may be because I am used to London's fresh air being the tail smoke of a double decker bus. Last time I was there we were really lucky with the weather and I must be a lucky charm myself because we had a couple of lovely spring days.

Let me back track a bit to our journey up to Eddy (yes I am getting too lazy to write the whole name). We all met at Kings Cross Station at about 5.30pm and jumped on a train. I was pretty excited about this because I didn't do much train travel in my adventures across europe and hadn't spent any longer then a couple of hours on a train so I know its a weird thing to be excited about but I was! It was a pity that it was dark because it would have been great to look out the window but its ok we amused ourselves easily. We had all stocked up on wine and snacks and got stuck into them straight away. We then started to play cards and that killed a few hours and before we knew it we were arriving in Edinburgh and after five hours of drinking and many bottles of wine we were pretty pissed when we got there.






After we managed to find our hostel after me and Siobhan went the wrong way after taking wrong directions off the hottest policeman I have ever seen (I was just caught up in his accent) we were pretty chuffed to find it was right off the Royal Mile (the main strip in Edinburgh). We checked in and dumped our stuff in the room before heading back out to the closest bar. It turned out to be a heavy metal/alternative bar but that didn't really matter because they sold 2 pound Jagerbombs and 7 pound fishbowls. Needless to say we had a sample of the cheap drinks menu while we listened to Papa Roach - "She Loves Me Not" which was then stuck in our head and our trip theme song for the rest of our time there.







After a couple of hours it was getting pretty late and we came to a vote that we would be better off going home now and sleeping it off, enjoying tomorrow and having another fun night out the next night so we headed off to the nearest boozy food store. At the corner of the street our hostel was on there was a chip shop where we found the most amazing midnight munchies EVER. Hot chips with gravy and cheese. Drooooooool. We bought a couple of serves and they got inhaled. We loved them so much we made some random backpackers take a group photo of us with the chips because it was such a hugh occasion.



The next morning we got up and surprisingly we were feeling pretty good but still in need of a good feed before our adventures so we asked at the hostel and they led us to Snax Cafe. Which was basically a greasy spoon/diner type cafe thing that gave us a 'Big Breakfast' (and let me tell you it was aptly names) and a coffee for 3 pounds. Oh yeah all that grease hit the spot and we were ready and raring to go. We wandered up the Royal Mile and had a peek at a few market stalls and shops along the way before heading to Mary Kings Close for a tour of the underground city.

The Real Mary Kings Close is a guided tour of the underground city that was left behind when they built over it. We got shown through the tiny little rooms where they lived and got told all the history of the close's and even got told a ghost story - which was actually scary!! The whole place was so old and amazing it was hard to imagine hundreds of people living in these closes back when there was no running water or heating or electricity. Yuck. Interesting but I am SO glad I don't have to live that way!



After the tour we headed further up the Royal Mile to have a quick look at the castle. We realised it was 14 pounds to get in and as none of us were very keen to part with that kind of money for a castle we decided to wander around the other parts of the city and then make our way to Arthurs Seat. We wandered through the GreenMarket and checked out lots of their shops before doing to the Elephant Cafe for a cup of tea and a bite to eat. The Elephant Cafe is where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter and it is filled with pictures of her writing at the tables and other memorabilia. I went into the loo and the toilet seat was covered in pictures of Harry Potter characters and the toilet door was covered in the funniest writing ever. There were things like "Ministry of Magic This way" with an arrow to the flusher and quotes from the series including one about a bathroom ( I know I am a fan but I'm not that good at remembering exactly what it was) as well as lots of letters and quotes to JK Rowling thanking her for such a wonderful series of books.



Arthurs seat was one of the things I wanted to do last time but did not get the chance and my desire to climb it was fuelled by the book One Day. For those of you who haven't read it (YOU TOTALLY SHOULD) basically these two characters take a climb up to Arthurs Seat and it is one of the main parts of the book. Sort of. Anyways just another reason why I wanted to do it. Although the downside was that Arthurs Seat was quite far away from the Castle so after walking for 40 minutes to get there we then had to spend another 40 minutes doing the very steep climb up to the top. And I can tell you now it was well worth it. As the photos show the view was phenomenal.






The funniest part of the climb was that as there were two peaks to the hill/mountain/ridge whatever it is and we weren't sure what one to climb (you could do both) and Matt looked at the steps and then looked back at the hill and was like 'I can go straight up the hill without going up the steps' so he managed to climb straight up the side of an almost vertical hill which was quiet an effort. We had planned to meet him up there but on our way up to the path we asked some locals which one was which and he pointed to the opposite hill. So we had to call Matt and get him to come down the path and then climb up to the top of the other peak. Hahahaha

After a very tiring climb, a good long admire at the view (ok it was a rest) and a tentative climb down the peak we wandered back to the nearest pub closest to our hotel and treated ourselves to some food (we were ravenous by then) and a well deserved drinks. We then slowly wondered up to the hostel and had a few lazy ciders while we chatted to our hostel room mates and got ready for another night out. We found a thai restaurant not too far away and had a really yummy meal and a few drinks before heading out to a pub.

We headed over to Rose Street as we knew there was a strip of pubs along there and we hit up a few pubs along the strip. After we couldn't really find one with a good vibe - you know good music and good atmosphere we decided to head back along to the Royal Mile and see what we could find. I was actually convinced that I knew the way to a club I had been to when I was there before but after walking 10 minutes in the wrong direction (whoops!) I got vetoed as head of directions for the night and we stopped at a couple more pubs before making our way back to the hostel in the wee hours of the morning.

The next day we just spent wandering around the city and chilling out in the park and a sort of tired and hungover mood. We had gotten to the point where none of us had much money left to do any more of the sights and the weather hadn't let us sit outside without freezing to death so we basically just bummed around until the time for the train. It was still fun checking out the sights of another city but I was happy to get on the train for a bit of a rest and home for an early(ish) night. This was my third weekend away in a row and it had started to take his toll and I was wrecked.

It was such a great time away and like I said previously it is one of my favourite cities I have visited. We have semi-scheduled in another trip for sometime later in the year to somewhere like Liverpool or something. Exploring the UK is unfortunately often put to the bottom of the list because Europe is so tempting but after this weekend I am determined to see a bit more!

The Weekend Starts On Thursday Nights

Lately that seems to be the case - its almost as if Fridays at work were meant for hangovers! With bingo the week before followed by a drinking sesh in Dublin I was wrecked by Sunday night but that didn't stop me going out again on a Thursday before a big weekend.

This time I was at a Jaguar Skills gig in Camden Town. I hadn't really heard of Jaguar Skills but when Sammy invited me and told me that he dressed up as a ninja I was sold. I was also pretty keen to go because I had never been out in Camden before (as it is on the complete opposite side of London to where I live) and it is famous for its gigs and nightlife. We met at a bar in Mornington Cresent just before the gig and had a few drinks there before we went to KoKo the club where it was held. After an intense bag search and coat check we headed straight to the bar for another drink before dancing to the support DJ.

The support DJ were called Mode Step and they were pretty good. As we were mucking around and dancing Lance's beer got knocked out of his hands and the floor became really slippery. I was trying to show Lance how slippery the floor was by sliding my feet around and then of course I demonstrated it in the best way and I completely stacked it. While I stacked it I then knocked my own drink out of his hands and it went all down my hair and face while I was sitting in a puddle of beer. All this and the main set hadn't even started. It was a pretty spectacular stack resulting in a very spectacular bruise on my leg. It is bigger then my hand! The positive side of things is a new dance craze has started. Its called 'The Bronnie Stack' and it will be seen across dancefloors in Europe. Watch out for it!

After that debacle it was straight to the bar and up for a bit of a sit-down before more dancing. Jagur Skills set was great and I have a new found love of the drum and bass DJ. It ended up being a pretty big night with lots of drinks and a late night trip home involving two night buses and a 20 minute walk. Getting in the door at 5am is unideal when you have to get up early for work because you need to leave early but I somehow managed to survive the day on 2 hours sleep.

The reason I was heading off early was so I could jump on a bus down to Bristol so I could go to Hawkesbury Upton to celebrate Sara's birthday. Due to Friday afternoon traffic the bus journey took about three hours which was a great chance for me to have a bit of a kip and perk up before meeting Sara and going straight to the pub to see some of her friends. I tried to back it up but after one drink I just hit the cokes so I could try and stay awake.

On Saturday I was treated to a sleep in before a yummy home cooked breakfast to line our stomachs before heading into Bristol about 2pm for the beginning of a long day of drinking. We had a few drinks down by the river front before heading to a nice little pub to watch the Man U match. This was not exactly my idea of fun but a few drinks and chatting with the girls passed the time ok. We then went into the city centre where more of Sara's friends met us and we headed to a club called Syndicate. It was nice to actually be out clubbing because apart from the previous thursday I hadn't been out for a dance in a club in a while. The day seemed to go so quickly and before I know it we were back at the house and up drinking in the conservatory until 5am.



The next day I barely made it out of bed (worst guest ever) before heading back into London on the bus. Note to self: Don't ever do another hungover bus ride. They are NOT fun. Once again at the end of a Sunday eve I was wrecked and in need of a week in bed. It makes the work week hard but then again I'm here to have fun and party so thats exactly what I am going to do!

Whats The Craic?

I think a may have mentioned in a previous post that Caitriona one of my work girls is Irish? Anyways if I haven't she is and she very kindly invited us to go visit her friends and family next time she went to Dublin. We scored a cheap air fare (9 pounds! oh how I love living a stones throw from Europe) so me Caitriona (Cat), Claire, MacLinden (another Claire but we just call her by her last name), Kate and I took a day off work and jumped across the pond for a long weekend.

After a bumpy landing into Dublin and a very slow bus ride into the centre of town we finally made it to Cats friends house. Lorraine and Finnula were kind enough to have us to stay and give us a bit of a tour of Dublin. We had a cup of tea and chat before heading into the city centre to grab a bite to eat. Before long we were wandering along Temple Barr trying to find a place to grab a pint. So it was only about 2pm before the drinking for the weekend started. We went to a pub called 'The Palace' just outside Temple Barr on Fleet Street which was a bit quieter so we could all chat away. It was fun meeting Cats friends and hearing stories about her when she lived in Ireland. We actually got a fair bit of ammo for teasing her a bit later on which I dont think that she was too happy about haha.







We headed back to Lorraine and Finnula's to get ready and a few more drinks before heading out into Dublin city for a night out on the town. The girls took us to a place called Copan which they deemed 'good Craic' which is basically Irish for 'good fun, good chat, good banter' where we met up with more of Cats friends and had a few (ok... lots Five pound long island ice teas). The night was spent on and off the dance floor and chatting away. It was fun to be out and about in a new city in a good club with good mates and new friends. After heaps of good craic at the pub we headed back to the flat and kept drinking and listening to the girls singing irish tunes and lots more laughing and chatting.

The next day we were surprisingly not very hungover so after a breakfast with the girls we headed off to check out more of downtown Dublin (minus the pubs). First stop was Trinity College which was a lovely campus and home to the Book of Kells. I didn't go in to check out the old library and the Book of Kells as it was around 10 euro but Kate went and checked it out while we explored the rest of the campus. Next stop was Grafton Street which is the main shopping district which leads up to St Stephens Park. It was a nice sunny afternoon so wandering through the gardens in spring was a good way to end our time in Dublin before jumping on the bus to Navan. The smaller town outside of Dublin where Cats parents live.







After an hour on the bus we arrive in Navan and head to Cats beautiful home. It was so nice to be in a family home and see where she grew up. Her parents Betty and Joe had been out that day but we had been left a yummy lasagne and salad for dinner and it wasn't long before we devoured that and got back into the drinks. Before long we Betty and Joe were home and we go to meet Cats parents which is always fun. We then decided to check out Navans nightlife and head into a pub in the town. We had planned to go to a pub and have a pint but they were all closed by the time we got in there so we ended up going to a pub/club time of place which was a bit seedy but still heaps of fun. We listened to live music before heading up stairs to the night club for a bit of a dance. We totally owned that dance floor by the way. Downtown Navan didn't know what hit them.





The next day we were treated to a full irish breakfast before heading off to Tara Hill which is about a 20 minute drive from Cats house. We were lucky with the weather again and it was a beautiful day to be walking around the countryside. Unfortunately Cat didn't really know much about the area but it was good to check out the scenery and get a whiff of the fresh air. Sadly our time in Dublin had to end so we went back to Cats place for a afternoon tea of homemade baileys cheese cake and tea before heading to the airport.






It was such a good break away and a great chance to see where Cat came from and where she used to live. I dont think I have laughed so hard and for so long in ages. The best thing is that I dont think it will be the last of our trips to Navan as Betty and Joe said we were welcome anytime and Lorraine and Finn said they would love to go out with us all again. Hopefully we can keep getting a few cheap flights here and there and pop over again during the summer. I wish we could just pop home so the work girls could meet all my friends and family and see what my life was like at home. Sadly though the 24 plane ride just doesn't stretch to a long weekend.

The Underground Rebel Bingo Club

When you hear the word bingo you usually associate it with old grey haired pensioners down at the local RSL but in London, like many things, Bingo has a whole new meaning. The Underground Rebel Bingo Club is a "secret" society that puts on club and bingo nights all around the UK and the states.

My housemate had heard of the Underground Rebel Bingo Club and it sounded heaps fun so we all bought tickets (a bargain at 7 quid) and waited until we found out the secret venue and went along for a night of shenanigans. A few days before the event we got the and email via facebook telling us the address and a few ground rules - no costumes, no cameras, no telling anyone where it is and no acting suspicious.

So we headed of to a secret venue and once we arrived we were given a Crayola Texta and our bingo score cards. About five seconds after we got our textas we were all covered in writing and pictures all over our faces, chests and hands. Not exactly mature but it was so much fun!! God knows what we ended up with on our arms but a few things were pretty funny. There were a few people with amazing artwork on their faces while other people around us had incomprehensible scribble.







A few drinks on the bingo started and it was definitely the most interesting bingo I had ever seen. The prizes were pretty interestig being a stuffed panda, umbrella with lights on and a cat dress up suit. The way they yelled out numbers is not to be repeated in writing. Lets say it was crude at best - although it certainly raised a chuckle or two. In between the four games there was a bit of a DJ set and we danced around to lots of good old school music and grabbed a few more drinks.

The last game's prize was a pretty good one - 100 bottles of Kroppenburg cider. Che one of our crew was lucky enough to win! He was lucky too because some girl had previously got up on stage to claim the prize but she was a bit of a dick and didn't have all the right numbers. She got booed off the stage (and ok I admit it I was caught up in the crowd and booed too) and Che was really disappointed because he only had a couple of numbers to go. After the girl finally got off stage and the numbers kept coming the next two were the one's on Che's sheet and he won. He had to race up to the front of the stage and hug the host to claim his prize. We were all cheering and screaming and pretty chuffed that we knew the winner. It made it a pretty good end to a really fun night. We stayed on after the bingo was finished for a bit of a dance before grabbing the last tube home.

It was one of the best nights I've had out in London and would be keen to do it again although hopefully the next time it would be on a weekend so the partying can continue into the night. Who would have thought such a simple idea could be turned into one of the craziest nights ever. If your a Londoner I recommend it is something you check out!

Monday Night Running Club

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take on a bit of a challenge and signed up for a 10K charity run- Race for Life to raise money for cancer. I have several friends who's have been affected by cancer either directly or through family members and if I can raise a bit of money and awareness while getting fitter and healthier then thats the least I can do.

For those of you know me you all know that I am not the fittest person alive and the thought of running for any distance is something I am not familiar with. I thought training for this run will be a good chance for me to get fitter, see more of London while I train in different areas and basically just have a bit of fun. Its not until the end of July so i have a good six months to train myself up, stay fit and work on my running time.

As my housemate Sam is also training for a charity run in May so we decided to do a bit of training together. The other girls in the flat Siobhan and Jules decided to come too so we scheduled in regular runs on a Monday night which is a good motivator and a good start to the week.

The first time we went we ran (with a few walking breaks) 3.5k and the second week we ran 3.8k. Which is a pretty good effort for the first couple of weeks. Sammy and I have also done a few other runs in the morning and i've hit the gym and did a 5k run there. So far the training is going pretty well but I will keep you updated as I go along and of course closer to the time there will be a shameless plug for donations! Also if I tell everyone about it there is no way I can back out!

Porto

Well I know its been a little while since I've posted anything but thats because my laptop is out of action and my Mummy is in town! So we have been off being busy running around London and fitting HEAPS of stuff in for her visit. We have done the usual touristy sort of things - checking out the markets, introducing her to the local pub, meeting all my friends, catching up with rellies for dinners and going to a theatre show. I've even been very lucky to get a couple of home cooked Mum meals including her famous (and DELICIOUS) lasagne. One of the highlights of her trip has been our weekend getaway to Porto, Portugal.

London really is the gateway to Europe with cheap fares popping up quite often. As it is winter and not peak tourist season me and mum got three nights in Porto on the cheap. We flew out on Friday afternoon and arrived to torrential rain which wasn't a good start to our trip. Nevertheless we managed to find our way to our hotel and get sorted out. We asked the lady at the front desk what we should eat and where should we go so we set off on a mission to find something Portugese and yummy. I am a little ashamed to say that we ended up at Maccas. I know... i know... its awful! But in our defence we looked around at a restaurant which was waaaayyyy to out of our price range and looked at another one that had homeless men going through the bins out the front. Which you know... is a put of a put off. So after a delayed flight, torrential rain and grumbly tummies we opted for the cheap an easy option.

The next day thankfully was clear and sunny so we were up bright and early to explore the city. We grabbed a hop-on-hop-off bus tour deal and jumped on the first bus of the day. We had an hour and a half tour of all the historical sites around Porto. It was a really good way to see the city as Porto is full of hills which makes it hard to do on foot. We saw heaps of different types of architecture and some beautiful old buildings and lots of cute brightly coloured or tiled houses with their washing hanging out the window. The bus tour took us along the beach front which was thrashing with waves and along the river and across several of Portos bridges. It really is a stunning setting and we were very lucky to have such good weather after the downpour of the day before.



The bus tour dropped us off at the south side of the river and we jumped aboard a river cruise that too us along the river so we could check out the scenery and head under the bridges. It was pretty chilly cruising along the river but was probably one of my highlights.





Porto is famous for making Port so it was only fitting we headed to a winery for a tour and taste testing. There are heaps of wineries on the south side of the river and if you were a connoisseur I could imagine you could spend the whole day wandering from one to the other sampling many different types. The one we went to was called Calem and was founded before Australia was discovered. So when they have been making Port for a zillion years you sort of expect it to be pretty good. The tour was great - short and sweet and we got to see the huge oak barrels they use and pictures of the district they plant their grapes in. At the end of the tour we got to taste two different types of port. Now I didn't know that they made white port (to be honest this was my first time drinking port EVER so what I knew about Port was very little) so I was pretty keen to try that. It was really sweet and thick - almost like a syrup and they suggested serving it in summer with tonic, lime and mint. I totally want to try that out! We also got to try a tawny Port which is your sort of standard port but as it was only midday it was a bit too much for me and I passed mine on to Mum. I would also like to proudly add that these taste tests were my first alcoholic beverages in over 3 weeks which is definitely a record for London and probably the past five years.




After the winery we wandered across the bridge to the other side of the river that was filled with lots of little shops and cafes and sat and had lunch. We tried the local bear (Super Bock - very tasty) and some weird bean things that I expected to be soft but instead were hard and salty. Still it wasn't so bad and good to taste a local specialty.






That afternoon we spent the time on another bus loop that showed the castles but it was so er... thrilling that I fell asleep on the bus. So it after that little snooze we got off and had a bit of a relax at the hotel before going out to dinner. We finally found a restaurant that had been recommended by the hotel which was tucked away up a side street. It looked a bit dodgy from the outside - all fluorescent lighting and locals standing at the benches waiting for their food almost like a take away. We snuck past and headed up stairs to a restaurant that was actually really nice. We tried the most Portuguese meal I could think of - chicken and chips. While it was really good - it was nothing like Nando's!

The next day we had a bit of a sleep in before heading out for a walk around the city. We wandered up the hill (by the way all of Porto is hilly) to the cathedral to get a good view of the city and check out one of their landmarks. After that we wandered down closer to the river to check out the Church of San Francisco. We looked through the museum and catacombs (ewwwww) before walking through the church. I wasn't able to take photos but I sort of wish I could as it was beautiful inside. It had wooden carving that had been painted with gold and it was so pretty.




By this time we were sick of wandering up and down these hills and it had begun pouring with rain so we decided to jump on the tram out to the seaside. We couldn't see much out the windows but I was pretty chuffed with the ride because it was so cute!! I love trams! Out at the seaside we too refuge at a coffee shop until a break in the rain before we had a wander along the esplanade. We caught the train back to the city and wandered up back up to near where we were staying in the city centre.







Before heading back to the room for the day we went to another church and walked up a tower. It was pretty tiring as we had been walking up and down hills all day but it was worth it for the view once we go to the top. Porto is such a pretty city with so many different things to look at. Different types of architecture, eclectic little houses, interesting people and everyones washing hanging out their windows.





That night we tried another different type of food - STEAK! It was delicious and by far my favourite meal I had in Porto. It came with rice and beans and spinach and was just perfection!



We got home Monday evening after a great weekend away to more rainy cold weather and I decided that I am ready for Spring and hanging out for Summer. The day in the sun we got in Porto was just a taste of what is to come! Since then Mum has done a Jamie Oliver cooking class and visiting family friends and I have been resting up after a hectic 10 days. Its now the weekend and I am sad to say Mum is off tomorrow. I can already tell I'm going to be a sad little girl but it has been great having her here. Luckily for me she isn't the last of my visitors for the year or my last trip for the year so I have lots to keep me busy!