Ramblin'

Le Tour in London

2007-07-08T11:52:00.001+01:00

The Tour de France Prologue and Grand Depart came to London this weekend along with all the fanfare that goes with it. Despite the event being in a major credibility slum, there was still a massive turn-out in town for the Prologue Time Trial which ran 8kms around the Westminster & the Royal Parks. We took a prime position along the Serpentine in Hyde Park and cheered on Aussies McEwen (on the left), Rogers, Evans and O'Grady (who took a turn too wide and axed himself) and also our favourite Kazakhi pixie Vinokourov (on the right). Cancellara (up top) was the only rider to break the 9 minute mark whilst Kloden (below) took second and came pretty close. The local-Brit Wiggins got the biggest cheer of the day but only managed 4th.

The Grand Depart left town this morning on the way to Canterbury and then onto France for the rest of the 3000km or so. Go Team.

Wimbledon

2007-07-06T21:29:00.000+01:00

The rain didn't let us down too badly. Saw Venus smash through, Nadal psyche up to come back from two down to get over Youzhny and Naidisova give up 2 match points to let Ivanovic through.

Federer and Ferrero had just gotten started but the weather moved in before they could finish the first set. Bummer. Still, we got a taste of Federer's power and accuracy (like every ball within 2 foot of the baseline) and Ferrero was also playing above himself, nailing the two best winners of the set with backhand punishers.

Patrick Watson

2007-07-03T17:14:00.000+01:00

"Celebrate your dreams while you are awake". Charmer.

Check him out. pure voice. nice guy.

Glastonbury

2007-06-29T16:24:00.001+01:00

was good.
Mud was shit.
And everywhere.
But it's Glastonbury.
And it went like this.

Greenfields wander.
Darning and didge lessons.
Pear cider by the litre.
Random conversation.
3-string trance boogie Dog House. Awesome.
Weed brownie offers.
I drank whisky. She Drinks Whisky.
Wellies table dancing.
Song 2 Silent Disco Jump Around. Kwality
Saami Yoik morning.
Mud getting us down. Johnny Marr Floats On.
To what Must be the Moon. Mint.

Felt like the first day of the rest of my life,
until skanky Amy. Just go.
A rare piece of sunshine Magic,
took us to singing spanish techno.

Sister Bloody Muther Fucking Asshole Wainwright.
Brother Rufus Get Happy. Highlight.
Wake Up. Spine tingling yell along.
Venus. Somehow pulled off a pearler.
Brakes' all night disco party breakfast spliff.
Chai Meander.
Support the Sydneysider.
Lily rocked out with the Specials and left us all with a smile.
Jo got hasty with Paolo.
Ask the DJ. We did as the sun went down.
Bibb just held attention. Decent enough.
Fogerty's Woodstock connection.
The Killers suck. Pardon? We bore this as long as we could. Whatever.
Iggy - loose and scary. Crap song - great happenings.
OneTaste for a stellar late night classic dance party kicked off by Scroobius and his Letter from God. Sound.

Happy Birthday Jo! Hope you enjoyed last night's wedges and today's wig dress-ups.
A tired weed-haze Marley morning Exodus singalong.
Cold War Blues.
Kate Couldn't Stand Pete. Boogied though.
Ange fell in the mud after Scott Matthews.Haha!
Beirut were all horned up.
Amp and Corinne worked it like this for us.
We dropped with Fat Freddy after his Maida Vale session.
And skiffled with their generation.
Beth controlled us through another highlight. Really good.
Another onetaste and that's a wrap.
Muddy, tired, blistered, altered, happy. Not as momentous as our 2005 initiation but still rock solid. Bring on next year and may the sun be shining for once!

Pas-de-Calais

2007-06-21T00:01:00.000+01:00

Thought I’d make a guest appearance for this weekend’s trip given it was for my birthday and it was quiet an unconventional trip for us. My initial thoughts, including up until we boarded the ferry, were a little reserved.

Basically we took bikes down to Dover on the train, went over to Calais on the ferry and cycled around France for two days. Now it’s the kind of trip that sounds great as an idea but in practise is a lot of effort and hard work. My general thoughts were why do I let my husband talk me into these things…why, why, why!? And for those that don’t know Ash enthusiastically rides around London day in day out loving every minute of it whereas I on the other hand like riding but the traffic and hussle and bussle puts me off.

Anyway, I got through picking up my bike on the Friday night because Ash meet me and escorted me home via a gig in Camden. Lucky we had chained my bike seat properly to my bike as someone tried to steal it in broad daylight!

So at a bright and early 5.15am we ride down to Charing Cross and board a train for Dover. The weather forecast was thundery showers with a lightning bolt icon so we were a bit worried but we had no rain at all in France. It was windy which is not great on a bike but hot also and we picked our route wisely to avoid heading directly into the wind.

We stayed in a lovely B & B that was an old water mill and it had a wonderful restaurant and great local wine so we happily spent the night there. Rode via the coast on the way home and Ash managed a dip in the sea. I had three hills I couldn’t manage but Ash powered through, pretending to be a cheer squad to help me along and yelling out things like ‘think your on a step machine’ in an attempt to motivate me?!

It was a very enjoyable weekend and one we would do over again in a flash.

Czech

2007-05-29T10:46:00.000+01:00

Another Bank Holiday. Another UK exodus. We headed off to revisit Prague and get out into the Bohemian Czech countryside this time. Leaving the soggy London weather we were greeted by three straight days of sunny skies and high temperatures. Almost enough to burn. Perfect.

It was a lot different strolling around Prague this time in singlets and thongs rather than all rugged up in the mid-winter of January 2001. We just spent the day cruising along the river, up to the castle and indulging in the art nouveau buildings and the visual delights of the Charles Bridge and Stare Mesto. There was a vintage motorbike show on in one of the squares which was bloody loud and slightly entertaining.

We escaped the rest of the tourists after one night and spent the next couple of days in the southern Bohemian town of Cesky Krumlov after taking a meandering train through some relaxing countryside. It's a bit of a picture postcard setting on the bend in the river with the castle sitting up high and we spent a large portion of time just strolling round town, along the river and up in the castle gardens. The town has a wealth of old European architecture, a cobbled main square and overlooking old merchant houses and town hall as well as various weirs, watermills and old churches and spires dotted about.

The castle itself was pretty impressive inside with great views down onto the town and we were also able to extol the virtues of the Eggenberg brew, taking samples direct from the brewery tap in their own pub. Rosta, an old Czech coot with a great storytelling style took showed us through the cellars and mechanics and let us sample the malt and rye grains they use as ingredients too. We also hired a canoe and set off down the very shallow Vltava rivern for a dozen miles or so. The river wound its way through some nice tall Bohemian forest and the other Czechs on the river all greeted us with gutsy Ahoys. After a couple of refreshing dips and a few Pilsners by the river we landed the craft downriver and were driven back to town by our gracious host, bonus.

The food was honest and typically stodgy all weekend but tasty too, and it didn't really matter when the beers were pretty much the main course anyway. Highlight was the half dark half light beer that a Czech dude on our brewery tour recommended. He said it tasted like Caramel and he was pretty darn close. Delightful. We said goodbye to Prague's astronomical clock as the city sent us off with a bit of a thunderstorm and London greeted us home with a cold and drizzly evening. All the better for having left for a few days.

Brighton & Music Overload

2007-05-24T20:21:00.000+01:00

One of the most enjoyable weeks of music of my life came and went last week. It was all lovely. Battles kicked it all off at the Scala. John Stanier is just amazing. Doing pretty much the same as he did for Helmet and the Mark of Cain, he beats the living daylights out of his kit with a precision, focus and effort that makes you feel like he's going to have a seizure. The band celebrate this spectacle of human endeavour and accordingly position and focus their own attentions on the drummer, making him the centrepiece of the show. Within minutes he is soaking wet with sweat and his eyes are downcast, almost hypnotised by his own beats, only raising them to whack his crash cymbal perched a humourous 7ft high. His performance can't help but make you smile and the rest of the crew tweak their own future-bound noodlings and loops around his metronomic chaos.

It was a hard act to follow. Thursday through Sunday saw us head down to Brighton with Ange for the Great Escape series of shows. On Thursday, after a great round of sun-drenched golf, Angus&Julia Stone played a few tunes to remind us of home and then Archie Bronson Outfit swung their blues-soaked rock with another exemplary sticksman. Friday was a night of new stuff for us, cathcing Patrick Watson, the Besnard Lakes and Willy Mason all from the front row. All three were disparate in style but consistent in appeal. Watson especially was in good form, vocally sounding like Chris Martin on a good day but with some jazz-inspired arrangements and fine audience repartee. Definitely one to track. The Lakes were all blissed-out hazey rock with delicate underlying keys melodies. Willy Mason was just an average dude with some above average tunes and great Cash-style growl. Saturday we spent drinking in the sunshine and watched the FA cup with the rest of Britain. The evening saw a slow start with Jamie Woon followed by some Antipodean rock of Sex Panther and Die! Die! Die! Both nothing to elaborate on. The Hilltop Hoods rocked a small venue, providing a strange insight into Australian culture with the contrast of a string quartet complementing the beats whilst the herd of fat pigs in the front row complemented the between-song banter with chants of Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi between tracks. Charming. Rounded off the night with Micah P Hinsons mumbling lyrics and folk blues while the girls popped it up with the Magic Numbers.

We had an awesome pub lunch and watched an over or 2 of village cricket on the way home and all-time top 10 (ish) Wilco kept us entertained in the evening with a faultless set. It was a great show but I think our ears were a bit jaded by this stage. We had a day off on Monday but Tuesday was highly anticipated, rounding off the week with one of the favourites of the last 12 months, Band of Horses. Honest, well-crafted pop-rock songs delivered with passion and finesse, they brought the house down. Check them and the rest of the above out at your leisure. You will not be disappointed.

Kilkenny

2007-05-08T17:59:00.000+01:00

Our favourite town in Ireland called us back after a long absence and we weren't disappointed. She nicely surprised us too by putting on the 10th Annual Rhythm & Roots festival as a coincidence. Magnolia Electric Co. were the highlight although there were plenty of other folky, bluesy shows to keep us amused too. The quality restuarants in town and flowing Kilkenny brews led to a fitness assault this week to get back to fighting weight though. Also spent the days visiting Kells Priory, Jerpoint Abbey to get the insight into the Cistercian Monks strange nomadic life and a couple of strolls around the surrounding county towns of Inistioge, and Graiguenamanagh helped us digest our lunches. We spent a day relaxing in Dublin before flying home, although due to the drizzly skies we only got a brief chance to visit Merrion Square and St Stephens Green before taking in a flick and a fine meal. Oh well, been there done that anyway. Good craic for a long weekend.

Hampton Court

2007-04-16T00:05:00.000+01:00

We headed out to Hampton Court and Gardens today on the finest day of the year to date. 26 degrees and blazing sunshine. Good times. The tulips responded even though some of the trees were bare and we spent a beautiful couple of hours strolling out of Kingston, into Bushy Park and along the Thames. Jo had a thing for these purple flowers, we marvelled at the largest grape vine in the world (Guiness certified) and Ash spooked some deer. Roll on summer.

Maroc

2007-04-11T10:32:00.000+01:00

After a nightmare morning with delays and plane switches we eventually arrived in Fez which was a great introduction to Morocco. Nice descent over the Middle Atlas and then a crazy meander around the souqs of the old medina. Stinky tanneries, donkey-labour and some quality ancient mosques & stucco-covered medersas. Caught the sunset from the fort above town and ate our first original tajines and couscous. Visited the Royal palace, gardens and the old Jewish mellah quarters the next day before getting the last 2 seats on the Rabat-bound bus.

We headed straight to the kasbah which afforded views over Sale beach to the north and Rabat bay and beaches to the south with our over-sweet mint teas going down well with some biscuits and baklava. We struggled to contain our wallets again in the souqs and Jo was accosted by a henna-bearing lady and before she had a chance to refuse her hand was plastered with the stuff. Our run-down old room made up for its dereliction with views over the main street and was the faded glory of being a pretty Art Nouveau building with massive French windows.

The ancient mosque ruin of Chellah was an interesting spot to spend the morning with its over-population of starlings and storks, views over the Bou Regreb river and old retained tombs and zellij tilework. We also visited King Hassan's tomb and the unfinished tower up in town overlooking the river. We briefly stopped in Casablanca and headed up to the summit of the old cathedral with views to the massive new seaside mosque and necked some ice-cream in the Ville Nouvelle before heading onto Marrakech enduring another marathon transport delay on the train.

Our riad in Marrakech was seriously stylish. Typical Moroccan design and furnishings, plunge pool, roof terrace and a beautiful simple breakfast each morning. It was also smack in the middle of the medina and we spent the next couple of days mixing up the tasks of sunbaking, souq-shopping, munching and inspecting the various moorish sights. We acquired some beautiful lamps, Ash got a Djellaba, Jo some spices and ancient Abu Mohamed convinced us to take a hand-wound Berber carpet off his hands. Food highlights were some tasty pastillas, some interesting sheep face, and finally some non-Morroccan fare - French.

Unfortunately we missed the child-boxers in the main square but appreciated the musicians, story-tellers (despite the language barrier), teeth-pullers and kept a cautious distance from the many snake-charming troupes. We also didn't get out into the High Atlas but we got some good visibility (you can just see them on the left) out in the Menara Gardens one lunchtime. The tropical Majorelle gardens were also a relaxing and fragrant place to spend the afternoon before indulging our bellies once again.

Shangheights

2007-03-16T17:41:00.000Z

Shanghai

2007-03-12T23:26:00.000Z

We stopped off in Shanghai on the way back to London for a few days which made the trip back a lot easier to handle. The massive buildings and food were certainly impressive although the city seemed to be lacking something, although certainly no dust or pollution which were abundunt.

We cruised around the Bund, old town and the Yu Yuan Gardens on the first day and scoured the old antique markets and the insect, fish and bird markets for some weirdness. We took a peek from various elevated views all over town, 38th floor, 54th etc and the clarity was a mixed bunch. The Ding-shaped museum was pretty awesome and it was cool strolling around the Frech Concession and through some of the old parks, colonial neighbourhoods and markets. We treated ourselves to a high-end feed at a great Japanese place followed by a massage (given by a blind person) one evening too.

We headed out of town to Suzhou one day to look at the old Chinese gardens which seem a bit over-rated for World Heritage status but when wegot a cab down to Tongli we were really impressed with that old town which didn't seem like it had changed much in centuries. Reminded a bit of Amsterdam with the cute canals and we spent a relaxing couple of hours chilling on and walking around the banks. It was a mission to get back to Shanghai but the burning Sechuan cooking we received on return was well worth the effort. My lips are still singed!

A trip up Jinmao, the highest tower in town rounded off our stopover on the last day but we headed out to the airport via the new Magnetic Elevated train which was an experience in itself. 431km/hour top speed and some serious tilt on the corners. Very impressive.

Dave & Soph

2007-03-08T23:03:00.000Z

Arriving home for a bit of a whirlwind visit and it realy didn't seem like we'd been gone for too long. We had an absolute blast and caught up with nearly everyone we'd hoped to [sorry to those we missed :-)] indulging in the finest BBQ's and spirited reunions. Dave's bucks day/night, or what I remember of it, was a highlight (see picture on left, only incriminating myself) and Dave and Sophie were both great sports given the state he ended up in. Pity the next Buck. Of course, Dave & Sophie's wedding was the main event and as beautiful as we were expecting. We sweltered in 35 degrees in our 3 piece suits but kept smiling throughout. I think Dave was oblivious to everything else he was so loved-up.

So we got some good stuff in: family lunches, RSL dinners, shared stories with mates, Bronte breakfasts, Bondi dinners, Oportos, an Opera House show, a decent round at Kogarah, some great beach sessions and some scorched sunburn to round it off. Meeting some new family was really great and we can't wait to get back for whenever Steph & Ben name a wedding date. No heat there guys!

Here's some more pic's of Dave and Sophie's wedding day and us mucking about with the nieces down in Sydney.

Aarhus & Arsenal

2007-02-18T13:00:00.000Z

We spent a couple of weekends with Toby from Sydney, first in Aarhus, Denmark and then at the new Emirates Stadium in Arsenal watching the Gooners take on the Rovers from Blackburn.

Aarhus was a little sleepy but we had a good time out walking along on the coast and checking out the restored old town and Moesgard museum which holds one of the well-preserved Bog Men from centuries ago. The weather was great, Toby got some free hugs and we had a fun night out sinking Carlsberg's.

The FA Cup fifth round football was a bit disappointing as it was a scoreless draw but there were a few close chances and the stadium itself was pretty good to see too. It was great to see Henry and the Arsenal boys live in action and although Blackburn were jut playing for a draw, Aussie Emerton played really well for the Rovers. We had great seats and the sun was shining on us making it all the more enjoyable.

James Brown...

2007-01-07T18:00:00.000Z

is dead. R.I.P. Respect to the hardest working man in showbusiness.

Here's a couple of photos of him cuttin' loose a couple of months ago at the Roundhouse. He busted out large doses of funk swagger in his collection of hits including Sex Machine, Georgia, and I Feel Good. Lucky we got in when we could.

Christmas, Switzerland & New Year 2007

2007-01-01T22:16:00.000Z

We enjoyed a very cold but relaxing Christmas at home in London and everyone scored some nice presents as you can see from our tree on the left. Jo and Ang did a particularly impressive job on the lunch as you can see too and we were all satisfactorily bloated by the evening.

In the lead up to Christmas we did the usual Oxford St shopping serenaded by Steel Drum Santa and Stella McCartney put on a great light display at her flagship store in Mayfair as you can see.

By the time we got to Switzerland we had to work off the extra kilos but 4 days straight of snowboarding was conducive to that. We stayed at a great Swiss hotel and enjoyed a sauna every night to ease the aching bones and the food was superb.

On the last day we took a stroll around the cute city of Chur and did some ice-skating downtown before boarding the train for the lakeside journey back to Zurich airport.

Back in London just in time for New Years evening we headed to the Thames with a cast of thousands (million?) to see in 2007 with the fireworks around the London Eye. All indications look like this year will be better than the last so we can only be thankful for that. More travel, more friends, at least one trip homeand maybe a return to Africa - bring it on!

Scotland & the Rugby

2006-11-26T13:15:00.000Z

The Autumn Rugby Internationals gave us a chance to educate Andrew and Eunice as to just how the game was meant to be played. Although the home side took an impressive early lead, giving Eunice the brief opportunity to reverse our niggle, it was only a matter of time before Australia's true class shone through and we ran away with an easy win. The result was a great anniversary present from Ash to Jo too.

We'd ridden the train up to Scotland the day earlier and the Harley's had taken us to the Famous Grouse distillery near Crieff to get us a bit merry in the hope that we'd confuse the Australian Gold with the Scots Blue and end up supporting the wrong team. Och aye.

They let us loose on the firearms the next morning too after some instruction and whilst we didn't trouble the cows much, we did some real damage to a nearby bucket. As always, our hosts made us feel like we were at our home away from home. Jimmy joined us for a great meal and conversation the night before too.

After a dazzling meal in the Witchery beneath Edinburgh Castle the night before we visited Holyrood House on a glorious winter morning the next day. Rolf's Queen Liz portrait was in residence so we checked that out along with the abbey and the decadent royal rooms.
We met with Claire for lunch after a stroll along the Royal Terrace up to Carlton Hill and then up the Royal Mile. The Christmas market was in full swing and we warmed up with a mulled wine before getting the train back to London.

South Italy

2006-10-16T14:49:00.000+01:00

Leaving Sicily was a bit sad as we'd had a stellar time there (and avoided the Mafiosi) but substituting one part of Italy for another is never too hard to bear. The boat from Messina to Calabria took us and the Peugot to the tow of the boot where we continued our journey up through some attractive countryside and to the base of the Amalfi coast in Paestum where we visited the Roman and Greek ruins.

We picked up a cute little tour guide to show us around the coastal part of Paestum after we'd made camp. He shouted down all opposition and directed us to a quaint local tavern where we downed some excellent vino and the standard quality (ie. impeccable) pasta.

There was a wedding going down in Amalfi when we arrived so all the tourists (including us) joined the locals in gushing at the bride in the picturesque setting. After a thigh-straining stroll around the nooks and crannies of town we sat down in a little family restaurant down a blind alley and enjoyed possibly the best penne al'arabiata and Lemon Sole to ever come out of the cosmos. An after lunch digestive swim in the shadow of some huge liner cleansed our pores and we then continued around the coast to Positano where we shacked up for the evening. Everyone had told us how beautiful this place was and we were in total agreement within about 5 minutes.

After our hearty Italian host had installed us into our rooms we took a dash down to the beach to take a quick sunset swim before retiring to the terrace for a soothing nightcap. All very civilised. Another inside tip took us to a nearby establishment for a splendid streetside meal capped off with a limoncello whilst being serenaded by another roaming quartet.

Our last day of this trip started much as it had began, swimming in the Med', and we took breakfast on the terrace with the hotel's cats before heading north to Sorrento. This place disappointed big time. Over-run with cruise-liner tourists and with none of the charm of the towns further south we had a quick dash through the centre and a scramble down to the beach (lame-arse pier) to see if it looked any better from there. It didn't, and we couldn't even make out Vesuvius across the Naples bay.

Still, it had been a great trip and a supreme way to end the summer and as we headed up the highway, past Pompeii, Vesuvius and Herculaneum we couldn't but reflect on the truly privileged life we lead. *cough bullshit cough*

Sicily

2006-10-12T11:46:00.000+01:00

Off the freighter we strolled through a peak-hour Catania and immediately set to work on ingesting the renowned Sicilian street food. A few mini-pizzas and pasticceria goodies later we picked up our wheels and headed south to Syracuse. We spent some walking around ancient Ortygia, peeking at old Roman ruins like these and some decrepit but charming residences.

After some more astounding foccacia we drove south and took a swim in the azure blue waters of the Ionian sea with Syracuse as our back drop. In the afternoon we headed to the Roman Villa at Casale to view the awesome mosaics before heading onto Cefalu on the Tyrrhenian coast in the north for a risotto before bed.

After a swim in the campground's gorgeus private bay we headed into Palermo and braved the typical Sicilian traffic chaos to take a Baroque architectural lesson. Breakfast of some strange but exquisite fried ragu-filled rice concoction and a stroll down the market street taking in the smells (fishy) and sounds (nearby traffic). Inspected the inside and outside of the main churches, theatres and ugly Mussolini-built post office and took a break in a posers streetside cafe with an ice-cream coffee and strawberry cake.

Back in Cefalu we enjoyed the view from the church on the hill and then took another swim looking up to the rock above. We really liked this place. It had an honest character, immaculate setting and easy pace. Took the campsite manager's tip for a nice dinner of inky squid, pasta real and a superb calzone just up the road.
After another swim on our private beach and a gourmet Autogrill feed we headed east to Taormina. The potential view of volcanic Mt Etna from the Greek Theatre you can see further down but unfortunately the clouds had come in by the time we got there. Still, it's a wonderful setting with amazing views north and south and wasn't too crowded with package tourists when we were there.

We strolled down to the gardens and through the old town after our lofty views and stocked up on perfect Italian picnic ingredients: Olives, sundried tomatoes, a couple of hams, cheese, bread and vino. A relaxing afternoon was had down on the pebbly beach, eating, interspersed with some paddling in the crescent shaped bay. Glorious.

We set up camp a mile down the road and headed back in to town for a passagieta with the locals before an honest past feed, entertained by some rousing roving muso's. Another superb day.

Malta

2006-10-09T10:01:00.000+01:00

We Squeezed out the last bit of the European summer by heading to Malta and Southern Italy for a week or so. This is the capital of Malta, Valletta, encircled by ramparts and with some Italianate architecture, hanging gardens and some cool churches within. We stayed in a nice hotel in Sliema on the waterfront.

Valletta looks over the Three Cities and some ugly stevedore docks to the south, and trendy Sliema to the East. Being the back end of the season it was pretty quiet which was great. The hot weather was awesome.

We cruised around on the rad old-school buses and got stuck into the local cuisine. Rabbit, steak-wrapped meatballs, quasi-lasagne, all of it quality. Settings in groovy basement bars modeled in the '50s and unchanged since also added to the atmosphere.

The old boys in Qala on Gozo wouldn't let me join their bocce match but I pulled up a beer crate and watched for a while. They were kind enough to point me in the direction of the dive shop though so I took a really warm, if shallow half-decent dive, between Gozo and Comino. Pretty average though for what's meant to be some of the Med's best diving.

We headed out to Mdina on our last day which was really atmospheric. Hardly anyone around, early morning, great weather, cool breeze and ancient buildings and streets everywhere.

We took a walking tour around the three cities on our last day and picked out the old sites of the Maltese Knights. Plenty of interesting history to intake.

The last photo below is taken from the shipping freighter we took overnight from Malta to Catania in Sicily. It was a random way to get between the two but convenient enough.

End Of The Road

2006-09-18T09:40:00.000+01:00

Sofia, a crazy gig-going chick (as crazy as us anyway) who we met at some shows put on her own festival with a mate this year and we went along to support and indulge. The End of the Road was held down near Salisbury in Dorset/Wiltshire and was almost a non-festival, in terms of extravagance. We couldn't have asked for a more chilled out weekend and while the weather didn't treat us kindly, the music and environs were ample succour.

The main stage was set up in the Larmer Tree Gardens which were as lush as you'd expect from a quintessentially English country garden, also having peacocks and macaws flitting about. The big top was on a human scale and the cosy tipi tent was filled with beanbags and quaint lighting. The music was virtually all emerging artists including 2 Mercury nominees with two established headliners in Badly Drawn Boy & Ryan Adams and the intimate nature of the festival meant everyone was interacting together. Ash fell in love with Brakes, a mad band from Brighton who sound a bit like Fugazi and we also enjoyed My Latest Novel, Semifinalists and Guillemots on Saturday.

We missed I'm from Barcelona on Sunday because Ash went for a refreshing swim down in Poole but when we got back we got straight into the Mobile Circus, trying to get the hang of a unicycle which just wasn't happening. Spent a while reading the paper and hanging in the tipi tent. Tilly & the Wall were a bit strange, featuring a amplified tapdancer, but they had solid americana tunes. Jolie Holland and Richard Hawley were both interesting acts, particularly Richard's great songwriting and arrangements but Sunday's highlight was Ryan Adams. Although he brushed virtually everything more than a year old from the set, the new songs are all crackers and the band was really tight. He closed the festival in great style and really summed up the general country, folk feel of the weekend. Bring on next year!

Turkey

2006-09-11T17:42:00.000+01:00

Touching down into Istanbul we were expecting more of a summer welcome than the overcast gloomy skies provided but within a couple of ours we had our first kebab of the week in our bellies and we were content. This is the full crew above hanging out at Reina (L-R: Sean, Ash, Tara, Emily, a ghostly Jo, and Gordon), an over-the-top restaurant bar complex nestled under the Bosphorous Bridge offering a stunning view to the Asian side of Istanbul.
We spent the first afternoon acquainting ourselves with the Sultanahmet area, strolling around the Hippodrome housing the various columns built or plundered from the historic cultures, and also visitng the Basilica Cistern (on the left) which was the water supply for the area in Roman times.

Our first full day we visited the big three drawcards. Starting with the glorious Aya Sofya, we entered through the imperial entrance, flanked by stones where the guards formerly stood and which are now worn away from the centuries of use, and explored the various nooks and crannies of the mosque/cathedral/museum. The main space is attractive in its simplicity whilst enlivened in areas by the amazing Byzantine mosaics, Ottoman motifs and small iznek patterns.

We then crossed the square to the equalling imposing Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii) and the girls donned shawls & scarfs to be allowed entry. Though not as serene inside as Aya Sofya, it again had some marvellous iznek tiles covering most surfaces. I reckon it would be quite difficult to find a spiritual place in a room that has a permeating smell of foot odour!

We stopped for a quick nargileh pipe behind the mosque and then headed up the hill into Topkapi palace exploring the harem, treasury (which housed the infamous Topkapi dagger), gardens, arms stores, kitchens and had a nice lunch overlooking the Bosphorous. After lunch, Ash went for a stroll up to Suleymaniye Mosque to see where chief Ottoman architect Sinan is entombed (in what he considered his finest work) and a downed a fish (bone) sandwich down on the Galata Bridge. Also passed some traditional Ottoman houses which look surprisingly like the Cape Cod/Nantucket style we experience only a couple of months ago. Everyone then enjoyed our big night at Reina and the boys had their first taste of the Efes (rice brewed beer) induced front lobal throb which was just a sample of things to come.

After our breakfast on the roof of our hotel (which had this view over the Blue Mosque and better one of Aya Sofya) we ventured into the Spice Bazaar and loaded up with Lokum (Turkish Delight) and Iranian saffron. Well only a gram of the latter. More shopping was had over the Galata in Beyoglu district. Jo snared herself a flute just of Istidl Cad and we walked all the way up to Taksim admiring the Art Nouveau buildings of Pera. The Grand Bazaar called us back homewards and we picked up a leather jacket, silk shawl and a nice lamp. It was hamam time after that to loosen up our walk-weariness and this was indeed a highlight. I never thought being embraced and pummelled by a fat hairy Turk could be so delightful and relaxing! Had a great fresh Sea Bass and Dorada for dinner and experienced some Turkish folk music to wrap things up.

We all took a day trip up the Bosphorus as far as the Black Sea. That's it behind us. We clambered up the hill at the end of the line to get these views from a former fortress and after some more fish & Efes for lunch we took the home leg and enjoyed some up close views of old yalis (Ottoman summer houses), some more fortresses and the two massive bridges.

Back in town, Jo and I watched the sunset through the Istanbul haze at an awesome beanbag bar under the Galata and were seduced by a restauranter to sample his exquisite pides and kebabs (and they were!). Had an early night as we had to fly down to Dalaman on the coast early the next day.

Arriving in Fethiye for the second cruisier (wah) part of our trip we were all mightily impressed with our gulet and home for the next few days. These days were spent doing various degrees of nothing. A prune-inducing swim, sea-frisbee, snorkelling, walks to visit old ruins and Lycian tombs, reading, eating, drinking, sleeping, sort of nothing. Relaxation was the basic order and it was achieved bearing interest.

The photos below generally show what we got up to on our boat: Biblical mountain views, ruins (Cleopatra's baths specifically,) boat jumping, fishing (only Sean being successful!) etc and we even caught a lunar eclipse. Solid. A really good downtime. We also visited the lagoon spit of Oludeniz on the final day to round off the Mediterranean jaunt.

More Turkey photos

2006-09-10T16:23:00.000+01:00

We flew back to Istanbul for one last evening, Jo and I having a final kofte sandwich for dinner and on our last day we went through the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Culture, inspected the astounding great palace mosaic (fairly recently excavated from under the Blue Mosque) and had a last dash around the bazaar to close drawing the curtain down on a splendid holiday. Can't wait to get back here some day again!

Bristol Balloons

2006-08-14T16:58:00.000+01:00

We recently enjoyed a quick trip over to Bristol to coincide with the annual Balloon Fiesta and while the gusty conditions didn't permit any ballooon launches [just a slight disappointement :-) ] we still had a great afternoon eating sumptuous cheese and bread and necking a couple of great reds. They at least put on a bit of a night glow show in the evening though and the balloons looked pretty impressive all together.

The best event of the weekend was cathing up with Yann and a new mate Robin though. Had a nice lunch with Robin on Saturday and spent the rest of the weekend with Yann who joined us at the Balloon Fiesta, dragged us along to the pub afterwards and put us up at his parents glorious old house. Also visited the Brunel (outstanding British engineer 19th century) Bridge (day view and night view above & below) and the Cabot Tower to take in Bristol and its surrounding countryside. Had a solid lunch on Sunday, stumbled across a Banksy graffiti piece (on the left) and strolled around Yann's old high school (Bristol Cathedral) and the Docks, visiting the Modern Art Museum before heading back to London. Tidy weekend all round and interesting preliminary discussions held with Yann about the potential for a London to Cape Town trip.

Poland

2006-08-08T12:30:00.000+01:00

Touching down in Poland we were greeted with by the Stalinesque skyscraper (on left) and a drizzly, foggy, grey morning which wasn't the best of starts. Our first meal, a quick lunch of pierogi (Polish Ravioli) & dill salad with some charming locals, picked us up though and we spent the afternoon first cruising around the surprisingly modern new town area, followed by the "Old Town". Reading up on the Uprising and other WWII related events we learnt that the old town was only rebuilt after the Nazi's razed it in the 40's but luckily the city council had just conducted a planning survey before the occupation so the town was rebuilt exactly as it was. The buildings are no more than 60 years old but they look like they could be 100's. The main park near town was also a pleasant stroll and we visited the tomb of the unknown soldier and inspected the guards on duty. A minor pub crawl (dirt cheap beer) followed by an A Class meal in one of the exclusive hotels rounded off a quality first day before we spent the night in a houseboat on the river Vistula.

This is the palace in the centre of Warsaw's old town.

We headed south of town the next day to the the Ujazdów Gardens in Lazienki Park. It felt like you well out of the city despite being only a 30 minute walk and the gardens were lush and green, inhabited by peacocks and red squirrels. Visited the Chopin monuments and some of the former summer palaces of the King whilst the walk down there took us past many of the decadent embassy buildings. Returning to town, we jumped a train to Krakow and had a light lunch at a relaxing courtyard cafe on arrival. After a quick acquaintance with the old town we spent most of the afternoon checking out the enormous Rynek, the moody cathedral and Art Nouveau architecture (check out the cathedral and atlantes detail below) and drinking in the cafes whilst watching the folk choral music set up on a stage in the square.

Here's a carriage cruising under one of the National Museum wings which we visited. It housed a cool collection of Egyptian and Greek ornaments, some interesting weaponry, and a lamer collection of Polish nationalist paintings, embroidery and furniture.

We were then treated to a warm sunny day and strolled up to the Wawel Castle to check out the former Royal apartments and the country's main Cathedral within (photo below). A bit spooky in the crypt below but the residences held some cool furniture and a strange collection of detailed wooden heads inset into the bedroom ceiling. Kinky. Down the hill we strolled into the former Jewish ghetto, now quickly becoming trendy and gentrified, and had some sunshine drenched beers and a stodgy meal (borscht, etc). Relaxed with a cup of tea and a strudel in an awesome dusty bookshop in the afternoon. Ended the day with some ice-cream overlooking the Town gardens.

We convinced ourselves to head to Aushwitz the next day and are probably glad we did in hindsight. Really heavy, obviously, but didn't hit us as hard as our first visit to a Concentration Camp in Dachau - probably due to the first time effect. Sampled the Polish public transport through Katowice en route to Wroclaw where we checked in to a seriously distinguished old hotel, overlooking the cathedral. Had another great meal after a quick walk around the old town and sampled some more of the Polish pivo in the glorious Rynek.

Our last day was a bit better weather after a downpour in the morning and we viewed our first ever panorama painting (the Raclovich panorama) which depicts the Polish forces routing the Russians in a battle fought a century and a half ago. Ash was particularly impressed and the commentary was equally interesting.

Spent our final afternoon cruising around the Cathedral and University quarter, north of town, over the Odra river and relaxed in a cosy cafe sampling the placki (Polish pancakes) before we headed home. These are some of the splendid buildings enclosing the Wroclaw Rynek on the left.

Boston

2006-07-09T12:02:00.000+01:00

We wrapped up our US visit in Boston, graciously hosted by former London flatmate Brendan who showed us some great places around his Back Bay apartment and shared a couple of awesome meals with us; the first a solid Italian meal in the traditionally Italian North End, and the second a perfect Sunday morning breakfast in a cafe known as a Beacon Hill Institution. Boston's own Little Italy was a bit more authentic than the NYC version and many of the buildings look like they're out of the movies from decades ago.

We visited the Harvard Campus at Cambridge early in the day and then walked back to town along the river. Wandering around the Back bay neighbourhoods we then headed through the Common and grabbed a piece of Watermelon at the Kids' fair before embarking on a portion of the Freedom trail which led us through the old town (Old State House, Fanueil Hall, etc), downtown and up to the North End.

On our final day we had a walk around the Beacon Hill mansions and squares, eventually ending up in the furnace-like Town Square where the main event was about to begin on a big screen - the World Cup Final. Having been immersed in the heart of American Italian culture in NYC we switched allegiances to support our half-Frog host for the World Cup Final. We set ourselves up with Brendan's crew and thousands of others. Slurpees were downed, Allez Les Bleus was sang but despite our efforts, the result went against our crew. Well against. Adios USA.

New England

2006-07-07T17:30:00.000+01:00

Leaving NYC we had a brief stroll and drive through the Upper West Side before heading up the I-95 through Connecticut. First stop was Mystic and the Seaport where we downed some Clam Chowder, seafood and some ice cream. Then headed through leafy Rhode Island to Newport. Spent the afternoon strolling past some massive mansions on the seafront and had some more ice cream on the main street. Headed out to Cape Cod to spend the night at Provincetown.

Had a relaxing day with strolling the main street enjoying the portugese pastries, more ice cream and the general P-town gayness on display. Kept the American food rolling with some subs for lunch and had a brief swim with the seals off the north coast. Had some sundowners while swatting the mozzies (memories of Sydney) before a really nice exclusive Italian dinner. And more Ben & Jerry's for desert.

Next morning we got the early ferry over to Nantucket and spent the day cycling round the Island. Visited some cool lighthouses and beaches, rode past some classic scenery and impeccable classic-Nantucket housing, and capped the day with a bracing shorey on the south coast which especially reminded of home. Dinner was well-earned after clocking up about 25-30 miles and when we reached Brendan's place in Boston we were asleep on pillowtouch.

NYC

2006-07-04T16:37:00.000+01:00

We left Chicago in high spirits and flew East to hang with the Beast (David) in NYC for a couple of days. We started off heading to midtown to check out the new MoMA. Really stunning gallery, both in its pieces and architecture. Spent probably just as much time looking out the windows as at the masterpieces (and given the quality of the collection that’s saying something!). We cruised around Central Park (Jo on the Bethesda Terrace above) and down 5th Avenue afterwards, reacquainting ourselves with the city of cities and just taking in the buildings (Chrysler on the right) and parks. Had a few Sam Adams’ in the West Village and enjoyed a late meal with Dave at ChaCha’s on Mulberry St in Little Italy.

The Beast lives right on Mulberry in Little Italy which made a trip to watch the World Cup semi-final (Italy v Germany) mandatory. So after a solid neighbourhood breakfast and a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to inspect the Manhattan skyline we watched the match and joined the locals bashing the ceiling down when Italy went threw to the final. Staying local to soak up the craziness we enjoyed a feed with Daisy, Mick and Bols while the Vespa’s did drive-by cheers up the street. Being 4th July we had our evening planned with Jo’s love of fireworks and Dave couldn’t have done better securing us prime roof space to watch the Independence celebrations.

Phil & Anj

2006-07-02T15:18:00.000+01:00

Despite a bit of a candle/lighter mix-up which gave the service some comedy the newlyweds looked radiant following the service. Phil was looking a bit nervous beforehand but as soon as Anj turned up it was smiles all around. Anj and the bridesmaids looked ravishing and Philthy and the boys didn't scrub up too badly either. The weather turned it on, the stretch 4x4's were
polished to a twinkle and everyone was in a celebratory mood.

The reception kicked off in superb fashion with the bridal waltz (actually a funk soul number with the stars strutting moves and Phil ending it on his knees - someone tell me the track name?!) acting as a nice icebreaker. Food was awesome, plenty of drink went down, and the band got us plebs trying to show up the Lyons' on the dancefloor with all the classics.

Some of the men enjoyed half a round on the local golf course the previous day (pulled up stumps due to heat, hacking partners and to mitigate further golf-ball inflicted injury) and the rest of the party indulged in Chicago's cultural delights.

Whilst early on the wedding day the boys had a nice hit-out of b-ball in the suburban humidity.

Phil showed us why he stuck to cricket at school although he did pull a few moves on Bols.

Bols dominated the key though, knocking up a double-double (rebounds and cigars) and the Beast and Daisy clashed in a rare skilful match-up. The Jain side of the crew showed us how they play Stateside with some nice dunk lessons and Charlie held up from injury to distibute well from the point.

All in all, the whole Lyons/Jain wedding shebang was a great few days. The hospitality of the families was amazing, the pre-wedding cocktail party was a treat, the baseball a cultural initiation, and the union itself a great reason to party.

Chicago

2006-06-29T20:20:00.000+01:00

Touchdown into sweatbox Chicago and we headed straight out to Wrigley for the Cubs game against the Brewers. Unfortunately the Cubs went down but it was a great way to catch up with the Lyons/Jain entourage with new friends and old bonding equally and generally getting into the nuptial vibe. Great stuff.

Here’s some photos of Wrigley itself. First is our view toward home plate and then the outfield and bleachers. Jo was particularly impressed with the build-you-own-bleacher club from the businesses and homes across the road from the ballpark seen in the second picture.

Here’s some rough heads after a few too many at Sheffield’s post-game and one of Ash in downtown Chicago the next day where we enjoyed the annual Taste festival in Grant Park.

Western Norway

2006-05-29T23:43:00.000+01:00

We flew into the west coats of Norway late Friday night with our mate Ang for a long weekend taking in the stunning scenery of the fjords and environment surrounding Bergen.

We took a stroll in the drizzle around Bergen on Saturday morning, investigating the old twisted 11th century timber dwellings of Bryggen, the waterfront on the right, and the fish market and shops, before taking the funicular to the top of Mt Floyen where we enjoyed the view above and took a leisurely walk back down to sea-level.

We then boarded the express boat to Sogndal which took us on a picturesque journey through the many islands off the west coast and then into the renowned Sognefjord. Although the weather wasn't the best the trip still lent us some awesome vistas up the various fjord-arms and over the farms and villages lining the water.

On arrival in Sogndal we transferred via some more gorgeous mountain scenery to our village base for the following days, Solvorn. Host Trond gave us the rundown of the place whilst we enjoyed the views across the fjord to Urnes, which houses Norways oldest church - a wooden viking construction known as a stave church. The house where we were staying was formerly the village police station, complete with basement cell, and had an amazing view over the village and fjord as seen to here.

The weather turned good on Sunday and we made the most of it with a (lengthy) mountainbike session up and around the surrounding mountains and upland lakes. Ash left Jo and Ang walking their bikes up the more strenuous slopes to scale nearby snowcapped Molden (1116 asl) and savoured the views over the Lustrafjord and the Jostedalsbreen glacier in the distance. The planned rendez-vous after summitting was missed so Ang and Jo alternated relaxing in the mountaintop greenery with some heavy uphill riding while Ash thundered down the off-road track back to village and enjoyed his well-earned Captain Mogan's kicking back in a hammock.

All our muscles were nursed with the aid of a barbecue on Saturday evening and despite the permanent Nordic twilight we were asleep in seconds. Monday morning was as gorgeous as Sunday evening and we had to drag ourselves away from the Solvorn view to catch our bus to Flam. This journey was just as stunning as the boat ride and we even spied a pair of dolphins on our ferry crossing. We took a quick walk in Flam up to the Brekkefossen (on the left) before boarding the Flamsbana railway which took us up the fjord walls to Myrdal past even more serene landscapes.

The sensual bombardment continued on the Bergenbahn during our final leg back to Bergen where we flew home. The weekend gave us numerous memories and supplied equal amounts of relaxation and exhilaration. Highly recommended.

ATP & the South Coast

2006-05-24T11:09:00.000+01:00

Spent the absolutely miserable weekend holed up at a (thankfully) indoor festival down in Camber Sands on the South Coast. ATP saw Dinosaur Jr, Sleater-Kinney & the Shins each programme a day of music and film. Broken Social Scene (on the right) absolutely nailed Dinosaur Jr's Day with a massive 10 piece unit incorporating violins, horns and three vocalists into their stunning tunes. Teenage Fanclub got the crowd singing and chiselled away while Dino Jr were just too loud.

We headed into quaint little Rye on Saturday to load up on provisions and gorge ourselves on Lemon Meringue Pie. All Olde World timber houses, stone fortifications (over on the left) and churches. Then up to Leeds Castle (right & below) which had some really nice grounds, gardens and a bit of French style interior. Awesome bay windows and staircase details.

Got back to the festival later in the day. Highlights were a wigged out but awesome Dungen (on the right - they're supporting Wolfmother at home in July - check them out), the Fiery Furnaces & Spoon (right at the bottom) who busted out all danceable numbers - great stuff. My discovery of the day was Joanna Newsom, a singer/songwriter who's instrument of choice is the harp. Really engaging storytelling, dexterous musicianship, great tunes and a quirky Bjork-like voice. You'll think I'm mad though as her recorded voice is a lot more of an acquired taste than the live form. If she tours - see her.

Nursed our sore heads with a drive along the coast to Hastings and Battle the following morning. The jellied eels at Hastings tempted but unfortunately we had just eaten. We were treated to some crazies engaging in a medieval games mock-up at the Abbey and on the 1066 field in Battle. Plenty of jousting and sword-wielding all taken much too seriously by those involved, describing their blood-lust and manoeuvres to the minutest detail.

Back to the festival for the last and most anticipated night. The Black Keys (on the left) walloped through their set of bluesy rawk. Big Business were plain scary - ear bleeding stuff. The Decemberists (below) got everyone jumping with great songwriting and showmanship. The New Pornographers had a massive US-following which knew every word and were eminently enjoyable whilst the Shins rounded off a unique festival with a decent set even if it lacked the general impact of their records. New Slang was the unexpected highlight - great vocals with conviction and somehow twisted the delivery just enough to elevate it above the original. Wish I had recorded it.

The festival never came close to equalling the experience I had at Radiohead the night before although that was pretty peerless. Can't say ATP would draw us back either as it had none of the surrounding atmosphere and general shenanigans of the outdoor festival despite the exceptional line-up. We'll see.

Radiohead

2006-05-20T18:29:00.000+01:00

Well - I got in for nothing and if that wasn't amazing enough, Radiohead put down a superlative performance. I missed a cracker three track opening apparently including Nat' Anthem and 2+2 but highlights were abounding anyway. The How to Disappear, Airbag combo was pure joy. There there rocked. The Kid A stuff pulsed, Planet Telex went down a treat and all the new stuff sounded like you knew it already.

2006-05-19T09:05:00.000+01:00

Somehow managed to blag my way into this last night when tickets were exchanging for £150 outside. More pics later. Still in shock.

Autism Art

2006-05-14T18:43:00.000+01:00

and it's creators...

Stockholm

2006-05-01T23:07:00.000+01:00

Stockholm was cold. We should have been expecting it more than we were but we’ve been so anticipating summer that our London based bodies were acclimatizing to the slightest increase in temperature at home. Stockholm whacked us back into a semi-hibernatory mode.

We were a crew of four on this sojourn with Gordon & Tara joining us for their first venture into Scandinavian terrain. Here's us outside our microclimate accommodation for the weekend - the AF Chapman English built vessel.
This is one of the more popular views over Gamla Stan from the north side of the Sodermalm island. We had an awesome dinner in Sodermalm on our first night at the Pelikan. Swedish Meatballs and quality meat all around. We spent much of Day 1 getting a feel for the city, wandering around the squares of Normalm, visiting markets and munching at cafes. We also took a walking tour of the old streets of Gamla Stan (picture below). We couldn't get our heads around the fact that this pretty huge body of water on the left freezes over in the winter. Also took a stroll on Fjallgatan, inspecting the old working class timber houses.
Our second day was quite eventful, being a National Holiday celebrating the King’s Birthday as well as Walpurgis Night, the traditional bonfire night. We viewed the King from afar – although Jo got to within spitting distance and found out afterwards that our countrywoman Princess Mary of Denmark was among the royal throng gathered to toast the king on the steps of the Slottet. We enjoyed a taste of Swedish Design at Selgstorget, almost snapping up banana guard, and at the National Museum where we viewed the full range of recent Swedish Design History. Particularly impressive were the glass pieces – Kosta Boda. Karl Larssen’s murals were also a highlight.

In the afternoon we strolled over to Djurgarden island to visit the old unseaworthy Vasa ship, which was quite impressive despite its uselessness, as well as the open-air Skansen museum which had a few fairly lame concerts on the agenda in celebration of the day. The Nordic animals (bears, elk, seal, lynx) were a highlight of Skansen as were some of the strange architectural pieces gathered from around Sweden. Worn out from the walking, we took a breather in our on-board cabins before heading out to “Shake Banana” and sing karaoke with the locals on their Walpurgis evening. Cursing the 3.5% local brew and its corresponding bloated bladders we called it a night.
Day 3 saw the wind pick up and carry us all the way to the island of Waxholm some 20 miles from the city, care of the Waxholmbolaget’s Saxaren. Whilst not as inviting as expected, we took a stroll around the island, taking in the fortress and some woodland before feasting on fish & pizza, and 7.2% real beer.
Once back in Stockholm we wound down the day with a further stroll before retiring to the Airport for the ride home. The flight into London was stunning and due to air-traffic we got a full two passes down the Thames from East to West. They could have charged us a joyflight fare and we wouldn’t have complained!
The AF Chapman and Skeppsholmen from Fjallgatan on Sodermalm.
Vaxholm fortress.

Recent London Events

2006-04-26T00:24:00.000+01:00

Here are some photos of some of the stuff we've been up to in London recently.

Cousin Hayley from Melbourne came to visit last week as part of her European jaunt and we took her on a tour of Hyde Park and also to the theatre to see Christian Slater in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

We also experienced the might of Wolfmother for a second time and were pleased to see plenty of Brits amongst the Aussies. Also met a few Swedish girls who had flown over especially for the gig which was interesting.

We threw a party at our flat a few weeks ago with the rest of the flatmates which went down pretty well. A lot of our new friends came. Here's Rachel and Jo looking beautiful and flatmate Ange, Jo, Me & Tobes in a lovely backlit kitchen setting. Didn't have to do a lot of cleaning up either which was unexpected!

Latvia & Lithuania

2006-04-17T20:52:00.000+01:00

We spent the Easter holidays in Latvia and Lithuania, flying into Riga on Good Friday and out of Vilnius on Easter Monday. The weather was off and on the whole time, raining, sunny, warm and freezing. Riga was very hospitable and elegant with a range of decadent art nouveau buildings, one of which you can see to the left. There were probably 15 or 20 quality buildings from this period all just outside the old town although many were in various states of decay. Apparently the city is trying to get behind the current owners and support them with maintenance funds so they don’t lose such a big drawcard. We happened upon an Easter procession through the old town and also had a wonderful brew of argentinian tea in a groovy turkish style tea-house. The hearty Latvian cuisine and cheap drinks were much appreciated, althoygh the gloopy black Balsams herbal spirits could have been left out. I just missed out on the opportunity to shoot off a clip from an AK47 and some glocks in the local range too. Spewin'.

We headed into the countryside on Saturday and just across the Lithuanian border we visited the much vaunted Hill of Crosses, one of Lithuania’s national icons. Basically it’s a pilgrimage site where no one really knows how it originated but the Latvians have been coming to place crosses here since at least the early 19th century. Soviet and Nazi occupation had the hill bulldozed dozens of times but the crosses kept popping back up. It had a strange atmosphere being pretty much in the middle of nowhere and fairly deserted. The misty overcast weather helped add to the air of contemplation as the smaller crosses swayed and tinkled in the breeze. Didn’t really know what to make of it. Pope John Paul II visited here in 1993 not long after Lithuanian independenceand he planted the biggest cross which stands a bit apart from the rest.

We continued south and spent the afternoon and evening in Kaunas where we enjoyed Lithuanian fare by the truckload. Big meat-stuffed dumplings, hearty broths, fatty schnitzels and plenty of local ale to wash it down. It was a nice little town with its share of neat bars and cute shacks lining the backstreets.

On Easter Sunday we visited Trakai castle/fortress and while it was good Spring weather, the lakes on which the castle is situated still hadn’t thawed so we got to watch some ice fisherman do their thing. The setting had a very medieval feel about it and many Lithuanians were joining us stroll around the lakeshore with the castle making a superb backdrop to a saunter. We also watched a skittish cat dash across the ice, slipping and sliding about, but it made it across the whole way.

In the evening we passed up the opportunity to dine on kangaroo and crocodile (seriously!) in Vilnius and instead opted for the local standards again. The cosy bar served it up in a stylish interior and the house dj had some nice beats to smooth into for desert – we couldn’t fit it in though.

Our last morning we spent strolling Vilnius old town, appreciating equally, the many places of worship, towering viewpoints and off-beat graffiti partly in sync with "the Corrections" but mostly way off. No real sign of the old Soviet split up so eloquently depicted by Franzen. A trip well spent and we rounded it off with a selection of the nation’s favourite beer-snacks – shredded pig’s ears. Never again. The pig's ears that is.

Guilt

2006-04-10T22:24:00.003+01:00

All these cheap flights are a wonder but how do Governments expect to be able to sustain it? We've been having serious issues with utilising such wasteful means of travel at minimal cost and thought for the environment. Check out climatecare.org. We are hereby starting to offset our unsustainable consumption. Baby steps - we won't be able to wean ourselves entirely from the convenience of cheap flights around Europe but hopefully this might counter some of the crap we push into the atmosphere. I can't believe it is so cheap. We happily pay double, even triple some of the fares available.

Larry - that's the genius' name.

2006-04-10T22:21:00.000+01:00

See below. Got talking to him at the pub last night. He specialises in evolutionary theory and has a fetish about tails and their significance to the world's species. Something about the wonder of testicular cooling. He is missing his two front teeth but can whistle dixie through the gap like a demon.

Tune Diatribe #2

2006-04-10T21:48:00.000+01:00

Hello again.

Music is still secreting from every orifice of us here in London. Soak it up > sweat it out.

So - saw a really special intimate show at the Mermaid Theatre with Richard Ashcroft and the BBC orchestra. He played new stuff but also rolled out all the Verve classics - Sonnet, Velvet Morning, Lucky Man....really great night.

Kanye West was a let down but it was entertaining in parts. His "band" were rubbish. A quarry of elegant ladies playing strings that you couldn't hear at all so were merely ornamental behind the dude on the decks - who may have been rolling the originals without any mixing at all. Still, they are cracking tunes and the he delivered well to an up-for-it crowd.

Wolfmother were a revelation, albeit a late one for us given everyone has been pimping them for at least a year. Seeing them again next week. The crowds they have been getting are purely antipodean but they are getting some airplay and festival performances so could bode well for them.

The Raconteurs were outstanding. Jack White's new band ripped apart the Astoria sounding like a mix of the MC5, Spoon and Ryan Adams in rock mode (imho). Brendan Benson and White shared the vocals pretty much equally and White got some cracking solo's away. First authentic mosh experience I'd had in a long time.

Gogol Bordello would be my favourite band - if I was 15 again.

Sigur Ros were again sublime. They sent me to sleep a couple of times but woke me up when it mattered. Truly unique sound and orchestral proficiency. Pure inspirational art.

Went to the BBC World Music Awards on Friday night. Amadou and Mariam were pretty entertaining with a full band and I reckon they sounded better than their latest CD. Not so heavily Manu Chao'd and a rawer guitar sound. Also saw performances from Nitin Sawhney, the Armenian Navy Band and Konono #1. All very unique and entertaining if a little bit hard work at first.

Some really good stuff on the way too: Iron & Wine with Calexico, Mofro, Phoenix, and in heightened anticipation of the upcoming ATP Festival with the Shins, New Pornographers (new favourite band - or at least flavour of the month), Decemberists, Spoon, Black Keys, Broken Social Scene, Dinosaur Jr, Sleater Kinney, the Boredoms, Dungen et al.

Stuff on the high rotation: Ryan Adams, Feist, New Pornographers, Dungen, Clearlake, Isobel Campbell, Dangerdoom, Stars, Battles and TV on the Radio (still).

I looked at the Enmore's website the other day too. Lot's of really good stuff coming up. Get there.

Adios

Vienna / Bratislava

2006-04-02T18:18:00.000+01:00

We got into Vienna on Saturday morning and stumbled across a Bavarian food and wine fair right next to the parliament (on the right) which was a great start to the weekend. A nice bratwurst and some local wine sculls later we headed about the city in search of culture.

It wasn't really hard to find, particularly around the Ringstrasse, which we reacquainted ourselves with via the trolleybus and the exquisite buildings on display (Seccession Gallery on the left and Hofburg below). I don't know of many cities where such a host of varying architectural styles are in so close proximity to each other. It was a nice balmy Spring day too so it was very pleasant strolling around. We went to a Surrealist exhibition in the Kunstforum and also found the annual Easter markets strewn about the city selling various decorated eggs, candles, chocolates and other gear.

Mozart is being played up more than ever this year too for his 250th birthday so we caught a play on the Saturday night which had a tenuous Mozart connection after a nice early dinner in the Nachsmarkt (Wiener Schnitzel- what else?!).

We were more impressed by the full orchestra they had at the Augustiner Catholic Chruch the next morning who also pumped out some Mozart in the Mass.

Afterwards we went to see where the man himself lived during part of his time in Vienna. His residence was close to Stephansdom (above) and after that we then headed up to Belvedere palace (on the right) for a picnic lunch. We got a nasty old train over to Bratislava for the afternoon and spent some wandering round the old town and the Danube riverbank.

That is Bratislava Castle on the right which overlooks the Danube and we spent some time chilling out watching the river and unfortunately placed motorway below. The river was absolutely caning it down toward Budapest with all the floodwaters streaming down from the Alps. Probably the fastest flowing river we'd seen.

Here's Jo with some pretty cool street art in Bratislava Old Town. They had their share of Easter markets about too and we had a nice cruise around the main market square with beers in hand as everyone had just finished partying at some festival in the morning. We stuffed ourselves with some nice local fare in the evening before catching the red-eye back to London. A relaxing weekend all round.

Sardinia

2006-03-19T00:11:00.000Z

Hey all, just got back from a relaxing 3-days in northern Sardinia. Got a light toasting from the sun on Friday and enjoyed some honest Italian fare. Parma, Cheese & vino - the basics. This is pic is right up north in looking out to Corsica. There were bountiful coves just like it. The water around the island was much as you see here - crystal clear.

This chis' in the van displays our lunch selection of hams, oils, cheeses and breads from one of the nicest viewpoints on the north-east coast. Nice way to earn a living. Grazie, senor. Prego.

This was a pretty nice sunset overlooking the walls of Alghero. We got into the place and thought everyone had left town but it was 3pm so everyone was snoozing. By 6pm it was all back jumping again and we got with the Sard programme by participating in the Saturday night special passagietto. A solid seafood meal was had to round out a relaxing day spent visiting beaches, out-of-the-way hamlets and strolling some old towns.

This is Castelsardo. It's on the north coast and it rocks. We had an awesome room where this was taken and another good homecooked feed from Mama Busetta. The rolling waves were enticing us for a swim in the morning but the overly chilled water got the better of us. Pussies.
The drive across the interior was quite hazardous today with the clouds coming right down onto us and only about 50m visibility. Before we got fogged in we did see some pretty stunning green mountain scenery though. Vegetation reminiscent of
home too with eucalypts and such spread about.

Our last day saw us drive back from West to East after doing a personalised tour of the Neptune Caves. These limestone caves are right on the coast and the entrance is at sea level where swell from the Med crashes over parts of the walk down from the cliffs above. The saltwater has ingressed into the cave and so it's like a strange indoor lake too. No fish though. Good quality stalactites, mites and columns too if that's your bag.

Genius

2006-03-02T17:47:00.000Z

This dude is a genius. Known as the Sea Dog he trumps up to Speakers Corner (which is only 2 minutes from our house) most Sundays and jibbers to whoever wants to listen. Haven't hung around long enough yet to ascertain whether his placarded claim is correct. He can also cut it up on the dancefloor which he demolishes every Sunday night at our local - The Duke of Kendall - while old June busts out the numbers on the upright piano and the rest of us sing along to such classics as "What I did for love" - sentimental crooning, and "Please don't touch me plums" - rambunctious carry-on. Jo has yet to take him up on his offer of a nice waltz but he gets a rambled word in to everyone in the place.

Birthday Boardin'

2006-02-13T12:13:00.000Z

Touchdown in Geneva on a frozen Saturday night to start my 10-day journey. Strolled around a bit and had a nice Ethiopian meal. The weather was pretty average the next day so spent a large portion of the day checking out the Red Cross Museum and the National Gallery. The city's symbol, the Jet D'eau wasn't operating as it was under 2 degrees so I got stuck into a symbolic fondue instead.

Me on my 26th in front of Monte Bianco Berrio preparing to spend another day on the slopes above Courmayeur. I got four days of snowbaording in, each of them with the spectacular weather and scenery you can see here. 2 days spent in Courmayeur with Mont Blanc looming over, a day in Grand Montets in Chamonix and a day in La Thuile/La Rosiere on the French/Italian border where I snared a glimpse of the Matterhorn from afar too. I battered my body a bit but got some really good runs in and plenty of good eating also.

After my days in the mountains I headed east to the Lakes area north of Milan. Spent a really relaxing couple of days in Lugano in Switzerland just eating pasta, drinking vino and strolling around the lake. Belaggio on Lake Como was also a beautiful stopover. As you can see the weather was superb.

I headed down to Turin to soak up the Olympic atmosphere and the city was jumping. Everything was lit up and the streets were heaving. The collonaded terraces of the city felt very Parisian and my new couchsurfing mates, Marzia & Christian, made sure I found all the best places! Ye-Ye! Also got the chance to load up on some quality chocolate and take in some classic Fellini and Rosellini films.

I headed out toward the French border on Olympic Day 3 for the snowboard halfpipe and ski jump events. The crowd was buzzing for both events. Lots of Italians supporting their local contingent and plenty of Finns and Americans for the halfpipe and all the scandinavians out for the ski jump. I made good use of my recently acquired cowbell during the skijumper's hangtime. And the highlight of the day - watching Juventus stick it to Inter at the stazione before getting the train home. That ended a reinvigorating trip and a reminder of the simple joys of Italy.

Loire

2006-01-15T23:30:00.000Z

Just got back from a weekend in the Loire valley southwest of Paris. Weather was perfect, food yum, and cathedrals and chateaux gorgeous. The first couple of pics are St Gatien cathedral in Tours, followed by probably the most spectacular cathedral of them all - Chartres. Absolutely massive, supreme acoustics and fluid style. Amboise by night, the exquisite Chenonceau, over-zealous Chambord, and medieval Chateaudun follow. Plum' place in Tours wraps it up. We had most fun circling the turrets at Chambord whilst trying to spot wild boar and stag in the nearby forests. Chenonceau was also just as beautiful inside as it was from the outside which was pretty amazing. We spent the night in an old converted watermill just outside Tours and had a ravishing feed of rabbit and guinea fowl at one of the local recommendations. Stocked up on some nice Touraine wine for home too! Voila!

Music diatribe #1

2006-01-08T12:55:00.000Z

Hey all,

Thought I'd start up a bit of a spiel to let you know what I've been listening to of late and what gigs I've had the blessing of attending. Will also let you know what's coming up and that which I'm salivating for.

Not really music but we did see Cirque du Soleil's Allegria last night which was pretty special - highlights being the trampoline troupe and some awesome gymnast guy with what seemed like a core of flexible steel. His bread an butter were handstands and invered posturing from the top of some balancing poles but he also did this crazy move on the deck where instead of alking on his hands, he jumped on them - full-on of the ground air and cruised across the stage in a bout 8 jumps - madness.

Anyway music -

Mr Scruff lifted us off into 2006 with an all-nighter at the London Forum, focussing quite heavily on the reggae and dancehall stuff which was different but well received.

Have got an intimate Magic Numbers gig coming up this week - I think it's their warm-up before they hit the Big Days Out so that should be nice.

Coldcut are kicking off a planet-wide tour (barring Australia of course!) the following week at Cargo which should be awesome. Check out their website too (http;//www.coldcut.net) cos it's one of the best i've seen - they've got competitions, podcasts on there and also give details of the album launch show which are progressive to say the least - mobile phone downloads beamed direct to your phone etc - strange stuff! They've got a new single and video for Man In A Garage (http://www.ninjatune.net/qtvideos/man_in_a_garage.mov), the song being great but not sure about the video! Does anyone understand this myspace stuff? Coldcut are on there as well at http://www.myspace.com/coldcut and it looks pretty good but I don't really know why people need more than one website. Maybe I'm getting old.

Magnet, acoustic strummer from Norway is playing here in a couple of weeks and even though he's still very much undiscovered I've been wanting to see him for a while - ever since I heard his cover of Dylan's Lay Lady Lay. Low-key gig it should be too wich are always pleasant.

Headphone-wise I've had all the above on play, Sufjan Stevens spinning regularly and can't really see that going away, a Diplo live set bootleg from somewhere as well as his Fabric mix, Kanye West booming at me in preparation for his live set on March and also Mraz's latest trying to get cosy with it before we see him in February. Mraz is supporting that hideon James Blunt which is amusing. Beth Orton also has a new disc ready to roll so am keenly anticipating that. Annie from Norway has a solid DJ Kicks mix out and she's playing the basement in Sydney on Saturday 14th Jan - I'd recommend if any of you get the chance. Very poppy and soulful at the same time.

So there's a little bit of what's doing music-wise in Ash's world. Please keep me abreast of anything I need to hear (particularly any new Australian stuff).

Christmas 2005- Tenerife

2005-12-31T17:16:00.000Z

We got to almost simulate an Australian Christmas by hightailing it to the closest sub-tropical environment we could find - Tenerife. Just off the southern Morocco coast, the island treated us to mid-twenties weather the whole time we were there and the sea was surprisingly swimmable too. Played a bit of golf, went for a dive, ate a heap and generally relaxed. Interesting fact: Spain's highest mountain - Teide - is on Tenerife and you can see it from almost all over the island and also in one of the snaps above. We arrived on Christmas Eve to see how the locals prepared for the big day and bailed out on NYE to get back to London for the festivities. A sound trip.

Moscow

2005-11-28T00:02:00.000Z

Moscow – bigger, uglier but more Russian than Petersburg gave us 10 minutes of blue sky in 3 days. Still, we didn’t let that disappoint. The overnight train into town was superb and we were again sustained by the filling and tasty Caucasian cuisine as we rid the glorious and efficient metro round and round soaking up the mix of Russian style capitalism. Unfortunately we did succumb to the golden arches but held our nerve knowing we were sticking it right up of old cadaver Lenin who was within view on Red Square as we downed our Macshakes. Highlights were eating, trawling the flea markets with the locals, a couple of well-executed galleries and almost passing out as the old Russian nurse ripped my stitches out.

St Petersburg

2005-11-24T23:11:00.000Z

St Petersburg greeted as with warm hospitality to match it's chilly conditions. We holed up in one of the best cafe finds of the trip for a couple of days to feast on russian bliny and pies fuelling us for the sightseeing. The Hermitage impressed as expected and we rubbed shoulders with the upper class at the Philharmonia. The candy topped church (St Saviours'...) in the centre of town, the kunstkammer across the Neva (Peter the Great's original freakshow containing pickled siamese twins among other things), the hermitage at night and us with the Petersburg bridges are all pictured.

Finland & Estonia

2005-11-20T19:15:00.000Z

A rough night before meant Ash boarded the Helsinki bound Finnair flight with 9 stitches holding his forearm to his elbow. A bit stiff but that was the only complaint. These pics show Jo caroling with the Santa and the Helsinkians as they flick the witch on the town lights, a nice shot looking out from the ramparts of a Swedish built sea-fort built just off the coast about 200 years ago, Ash’s rough head in front of the walled Tallinn old town, Santa’s full-time live-in shack in the middle of Tallin square, and a rooftop view of the old town. Helsinki didn’t seem to have much soul but Tallinn more than made up for that – probably one of the most intimate cities we’ve visited. Lots of winding lanes to get lost in with old bars and restaurants in every nook. The girls were hot and the food was over-tasty. We plan to return.

2005-11-10T19:48:00.000Z

Toons

2005-11-09T22:20:00.000Z

London: music central.

Probably the most enjoyable aspect of living in this stinky town is the plethora of quality music that either resides here or is constantly passing through. It’s not just your bog-standard gig that impresses though. We’ve got an awesome local pub round the corner that specializes in Sunday night sing-alongs where all the old farts get up and recite their favourite war-era numbers. One regular is also a main-man on speakers corner and simply holds a sign that says “I know everything, just ask”. Haven’t asked him yet but he’s definitely the best old groover I’ve seen on a dancefloor when he gets going. Pictures forthcoming.

Anyway here are some pics from various gigs this year (Sigur Ros @ Somerset House, Rilo Kiley, Roy Hargrove, Baaba Maal, MC Solaar). Highlights music-wise have been a MC Solaar/Ty double-bill @ Royal Festival Hall, Beck rockin' out with old & new gear, the Finn Bros @ Royal Albert Hall, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings layin' on the groove, Timmy Rogers in a dusty barnhouse of a venue playing a true greatest hits set and the best of all so far probably being Wilco enthralling a massive crowd for a full 2 hours of perfect sounds. Honourable mentions to a howling Bonnie Prince Billie and Martin Grech pulling off the heaviest set I have seen since Tool.

Notable newcomers to my ears have been the Magic Numbers blowing the Doves off the stage as support band, Medeski, Martin & Wood grooving without a pause in the Jazz Cafe, easily as entertaining as any vocal-led group, Rilo Kiley taking the indie-pop crown and Sufjan Stevens introducing his exquisite compositions with group cheerleading.

I won't even delve into Glastonbury - it outstretches any superlatives I could muster. Maybe another time. Safe to say that The Killers’ All These Things That I’ve Done easily topped anything Coldplay spread out and streaks away with Walton's live song of the year though.

Cotswolds

2005-11-06T15:01:00.000Z

Average weather didn’t stop this mission for a true pleb-controlled firecracker night. Guy Fawkes night – named after the guru who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament a couple of hundred years ago – is owned by the populus as witnessed in the sporadic fireworks seen dotting the sky days before and after the actual date. We spent the weekend in the city of Gloucester, within the Cotswolds and close to the Forest of Dean. Good English standard cuisine and Greek specials were enjoyed and some nice strolls in the countryside. Blenheim Palace was also a stunning detour on the way back to London.

Bruges Crusin'

2005-10-22T22:27:00.000+01:00

A relaxing Eurostar journey dropped us in Bruges from where we spent the weekend riding around the canals and countryside. Indulging in exquisite beer refreshment courtesy of the Trappist monks in the vicinity we eked out the last of the European fair weather. Again, the cuisine kept up its end of the bargain but we earned it after the kilometres we clocked - 50kms on the Saturday alone. Solid - and not a hill in sight. This stuff rocks.

Algarve & Seville

2005-10-01T22:03:00.000+01:00

We got a nice couple of days in Seville (that's the moorish Cathedral facade & giralda behind) after relaxing on the beach south of Lisbon with Foxy & Rachael. Had a great boat trip in Lagos and did some splendid eating.

Portugal

2005-09-30T21:28:00.000+01:00

Recently returned from the Iberian Peninsula after refreshingly hot weather, even cooler atlantic waters and some excellent pastries we present some happy snaps of our week-away.
Pedro showed us a great time and some genuine Portugese hospitality - F.C. Porto tickets, what more could we ask?!

That first pic is Porto at its best from the Ponte Dom Luis, then a german castle presence in relaxing and green Sintra, before Torre de Belem marks the site of Portugals best custard tarts.

Copenhagen, Denmark

2005-09-10T23:25:00.000+01:00

The weather again treated us well in Denmark. Ash spent a day cruising the castle-laden countryside up the Oresund coast, eating pickled herrings, drinking Carlsberg and relaxing at Louisiana. Christiania was not as entertaining as it could have been, with a heavy police presence although there was still the interesting squatter lifestyle prevalent. Jo then hopped over to join up for an arty & cultural weekend in the capital. Tivoli put on her standard fireworks spectacular in time with a Danish rock act playing the town hall square and the Carlsberg "elephant " brew went down a treat.

English beachside - Cornwall

2005-09-04T20:18:00.000+01:00

British Beaches. We took a trip down to Cornwall after an evening with Yann in Bristol and enjoyed supposedly the best beaches England has to offer. Unfortunately there was negligible swell and 13 degree water to contend with so there was little time spent in the sea although the beach was relaxing enough. St Ives was particularly enjoyable providing entertainment by way of the massive gulls laying into each other and assorted chip packets. Newquay was nice enough too when we got away from the centre of town. We detoured via the Eden Project on the way home to inhale the goodness of some the of the planet's better species.

Iceland

2005-08-31T23:11:00.000+01:00

Reykjavik was as cute as expected but the scenery out of town was simply awesome. A supreme air quality and clarity of light which gave the harsh contours of the land even more impact. The three waterfalls we visited in a single day rival any we have seen previously and were pure enough to drink by the lungful. The people also were as inviting as they were rugged and a tiny south coats village included us in a local take on Brazilian Bossa mixed with Icelandic cuisine.

Geysirs & Glaciers

2005-08-31T22:24:00.000+01:00

Jazz Cafe Picnic

2005-08-14T14:15:00.000+01:00

The Jazz Cafe Picnic, held in the grounds of Marble Hill House appeared to be a sophisticated affair but all airs & graces were put to one side as the heavens opened periodically throughout the afternoon. We enjoyed a sumptuous spread washed down with French wine and Belgian Beer with Gordon, Tara & Simon while the days early acts played in the background. Once evening fell everyone likewise fell into a groove, highlights coming from The Herbaliser Band, Royksopp and Quantic Soul Orchetsra. Will be back next year!

Oslo

2005-08-07T22:29:00.000+01:00

Oslo drizzled on us a bit but rewarded with a fine whale steak. Dark red, tasty, and not a smidge of fat. Some random modern art installations in a large green Frog downtown kept us entertained, as did the viking history, nautical architecture and strange but appealling Scandi passion for spooky garden cemetaries.

France

2005-07-25T16:27:00.000+01:00

France turned it on for us well and truly. Intimate villages. Great weather. Best Meal In Memory. Paris. And the country's flagship event.
After the peloton left Le Puy (pic 2) merry-making in its wake and did the rounds in St Etienne (pic 1)we drove up to the capital via the old French cathedral town of Bourges. Spent a nice morning strolling the markets and twisting back streets with the wooden beamed houses and then headed into Orleans to inspect the cathedral and Jean of Arc's stomping grounds.
In Paris we wined and dined with the rest of the summer crowds following the tour, enjoyed a Seine cruise and did some relaxing in the Parisian parks and cafes. Also got time to visit Versailles (pics 3&4) for the grand tour of Louis XIV's estate.

Le Tour

2005-07-24T15:58:00.000+01:00

One of the best sporting events we've had the pleasure of being involved with and one of our trips of the year. We had the chance to see the peloton in a variety of forms. Day one in the guise of a sprint finish through Le Puy En Velay at the end of a long slog throught the massif centrale, drawn well out on day two through the Saint Etienne time trial stage and as a morphing beast along the Champs Elysses as Lance took out his 7th. The time trial was our favourite as it wasn't all over in a flash and we got close enough to feel the wind trail rush past behind them all. Could've spanked them if so inclined. Everyone in the little village community where we holed up were all out partying and screaming at each of the riders as they wizzed past. It was pretty special seeing each of them chase the clock and pretty fitting that Lance won the day, even he's not our favourite - that title going to the elfish Kazakh Vino or the crazy Basque Mayo.

The Open @ St Andrews

2005-07-18T00:24:00.000+01:00

Tiger killed it. That's him and Olazabal setting up on the 11th tee with the 8th and 10th green behind. I had pretty awesome vantage point I gotta say! Could see 3 greens easily and two tee shots - I didn't realize how much St Andrews turns back on itself at the bend.
Tiger was ahead by two at this first shot but a bit over an hour later as he headed up to the clubhouse he was way ahead. I followed the Aussies (Norman & Lonard) earlier in the day but they had nothin'. Els also had nothin although he did sink the above putt. Another memorable event. Bring on Liverpool in 2006!

Parkside

2005-07-17T23:02:00.000+01:00

Hyde Park is our backyard at the moment. We share it with Latin bodybuilders, Arabian mothers' associations, Scouse drunks, as well as plenty of flora and fauna - something we didn't really expect for London. The ducks, rabbits, squirrels and occasional fox roam around as they please amongst the well manicured garden beds of garden-show-quality tulips. Ange joined us in July for a relaxing weekend around Notting Hill and in the park, soaking up the best of the English summer. We're missing these conditions a little bit now though in our 2 degree January misery.

Business

2005-07-05T21:52:00.000+01:00

We haven't just been pitchin' up in all these places without a bit of hard work in between however. We need to fund it somehow so while Jo's been sloggin' it out with Bank of America (ouch), but also raking it in, Ash's been holding fort at the Victoria & Albert museum. Skepticism of working for Lend Lease ended up quite cushy, with a permanent secondment position within the museum. It's certainly a conducive environment to work in and comes with it's perks. We've finished off a major garden overhaul this year already which Prince Charles came to open (I got a brief word in his ear to congratulate his recent nuptials) and I'm also working on the design of the space to house museum's jewellery collection, supposedly the best in the world with all sorts of gear that Napoleon and past English royalty presented their beloved. The Chinese head of state also recently visited with ol' Queen Liz though that one was entirely off limits. All going well though.

Amsterdam

2005-05-30T21:27:00.000+01:00

We holed up in a houseboat on our second visit to the 'dam which was a bit novel although a little rocky too. Ash almost bought his first pair of leather pants in a local fleamarket but restrained himself. Anne Frank house was a learning experience, as were the coffee houses. Found a really nice cubby-house inspired den south of the city where we watched all manner of vagrants sloth down the street. Unfortunately our camera ran out of batteries. We did manage to get some snaps of the local produce thoughand a relaxing churhc square. We got the train out to the coast too and spent a day in old dutch Harlem too, enjoying a solid Dutch lunch in the square.

Gothenburg

2005-05-15T15:32:00.000+01:00

This was our first foray into Scandinavia and the Swedes gave us a great introduction. We only had a couple of days but enjoyed the stylish promenades, decent galleries, manicured gardens and had a great trip around the islands in the archipelago off the coast. The Spring weather was awesome and everyone was out soaking up the rays. We introduced ourselves to the old Viking game of Kubb (like bocce but with brick shaped timbers) and a had an authentic Scandi feed, including the inflated prices! The surrounding countryside looked very inviting - if only we had the time to explore further.

Alhambra

2005-04-30T23:01:00.000+01:00

Andalucia

2005-04-30T21:51:00.000+01:00

Our first visit back to one of our favourite countries proved as enjoyable as expected. Although initial impressions of Almeria were tainted by the dirty greenhouses polluting the landscape in their quest for growing supertomatoes the alcazaba was soothing in its simple style of moorish archiecture and landscaping. Almeria also has the best tapas bars we've witnessed to date and we partook with great zeal. Our trip toward Granada took us through the spectacular and old world feel of the Alpujurras and their honest, quaint and accepting villages. Once their, the Alhambra did not fail to disappoint and the maze of streets making up the moorish quarter of nthe Albaicin was just as entertaining. Plenty of tea and hookah to satisfy.

Easter in the Alps

2005-03-29T01:57:00.000+01:00

Cruisin past Lake Constance on the way to Montafon we munched some bratwurst in Lindau while we admired the view. The little village of Schrunns treated us well with the biggest mixed grill seen to date and some respectable skiing despite the melt below middle station. A crunching debut on the halfpipe in front of the local pubescents when down a treat - as did Jo's altitudinal sun/wind faceburn.

Scotland

2005-03-05T19:45:00.000Z

Our first trip away from London saw us venture up to Glasgow in early March to hang out with Duffy and bling it up at a house party - hence this hideous picture of me & Rob. We also got a chance to visit Pollok House and Park (both pictured). Scotland again drew us back in the summer where we stayed at our Scottish home away from home at Wester Aldie. Our supreme hosts Andrew and Eunice showed off their new house up the road from the old farm and also introduced us to the newest Harley, Tara - seen kipping above. The new Aga brings out the full homestyle flavours of Eunice's cooking even better than the last - if that's possible! Best cook in the world hands down. That nice valley picture is from the Harley's porch. Young Jimmy also took us out on the tiles in Birnam which was treat we are willing to repeat! Ah, the Scots - Aussies in disguise?!

Make Poverty History

2005-02-03T00:48:00.000Z

Madiba & Bob rally us up in in Trafalgar Square.

New Kids in Londontown

2005-02-01T00:10:00.000Z

Chinese NY parade. A bit of a blizzard out the front. The first blossom in The Dell. Our 'hood - Hyde & Arch.

Florida

2005-01-22T23:47:00.000Z

Jo longs for Fidel in Hemingway's backyard. SoBe Deco & Miami class. Key West sunset. This was the last of our warm weather for a while. London bound.

Gators

2005-01-21T23:16:00.000Z

Where Gators go to die. Thibodaux, Louisiana.

New Orleans

2005-01-21T21:00:00.000Z

Roaming the French Quarter then out in swampsville for some local wildlife. 10 points to anyone who knows what that strange creature is. Jabberwocky or something? Jo knows how to embrace a baby gator.

Memphis

2005-01-20T20:39:00.000Z

We joined the king for his 70th Birthday - even got some cake!

Sydney -> Chicago

2005-01-18T19:40:00.000Z

Seems a while ago now but that's Ma & Pop sending us off at the airport on Boxing Day, us with the Chi-town skyline, with our hosts, Grant & Lauren on NYE and then Jo cruisin' on the lounge in Paulina. We had a very relaxing and cultural week in Chicago courtesy of our proximity to local knowledge provided by G&L. Hot dogs were downed, Margharitas slurped, Bulls cheered and Laughs had.

Blog this

2005-01-14T10:09:00.000Z

And so to blog. This looks like a smashing idea to log our travels for those of you we can't catch up with so often. Whatever. We'll se if it works.
That's us on NYE.