Typical tourists. Wednesday 6th May.

We began our day with our English breakfast and headed out for a spot of sightseeing. After a 1/2 hour delay between stops in the bowels of the London underground we emerged at St Paul's Cathedral. I walked down the aisle Lady Diana walked on her wedding day - I have always been a bit of a sucker for Lady Di.


The cathedral was so beautiful and I think it even pips the Sienna cathedral as my all time favourite. It is filled with light and beauty. AJ and I walked up the hundreds of steps to the famed whispering gallery and after some experimenting, we were able to hear eachother talking softly from one side to the other as our words travelled around the expanse of the majestic dome.

AJ was so excited to visit the Tower of London. The highlight for me was to see the crown jewels and the ravens who live there and have done so since long ago. It is said that if they ever fly away the tower will fall and so will the kingdom. Thank goodness the ravens have their wings clipped!

The tour of the Tower Bridge was great. We walked along both of the suspended walkways high above the Thames, it was great. I have always loved the Tower Bridge and it was special to be inside it and to see it from a new perspective.


London was putting on some great weather for us for our days of sightseeing so we made the most of the sunshine and sat beside the river Thames with a full view of Tower bridge and had an ice-cream.

The underground took us back to Kensington where we popped into Harrods. Wow! We had a look at the food hall but AJ was a bit over it so we only stayed a little while.

Tonight we were in for a real treat at Ambassade de L'Ile, a London Michelin Starred restaurant belonging to Chef Jean-Chrostophe who I met and interviewed in Lyon were he has a two Michelin starred auberge and the restaurant at I-Way. I was rather taken with him when I met him in Lyon and asked him if it was possible to meet up in London to experience the restaurant there. Jean-Christophe had prepared Alex and I a extraordinary menu showcasing Ambassade de L'Ile's brilliance. Every course was matched to a wine and it was a lovely surprise to finish with an Australian Jacob's Creek. Chef popped out to the table for a chat as did the Sous Chef. It was a night I will never forget.

On the way home AJ and I stopped at the Ferrari, Maserati and Alpha Romeo dealer for an oogle.

Lovely London. Tuesday 5th May

My deepest apologies for not posting earlier. You know what it is like when you have 5 days in a big city like London, it's go go go with no time for stuff like blogging. Anyway, here I am...

We checked out of the lovely County Hall hotel, one we will definitely visit again while in London. We jumped in a cab and Alex had his first London cab ride over to our new hotel in the elegant Kensington, the hotel was called The Park City. We only had time to dump our bags and run as we were booked on the London Duck Tour at 11.30, we just made it with not a second to spare. The tour was great passing all the sights on land and then our amphibious vehicle launched into the Thames for a chug up and down the river. Alex thought it was great and so did I.



After the Duck Tour we hopped on the Original Bus Tour and sat on the open deck up top. The sun was shining so it was lovely to just sit and rest while seeing the sights of London and listening to the commentary.



Home to The Park City we went at the end of a busy day. Waiting for us in our room was a lovely chocolate hamper from Artisan du Chocolat. It was filled with all sorts of delectable goodies. The chocolate was smooth and shiny and the combinations of flavours were so interesting and unique. We have a big job ahead of us to discover the wonderful delights that Artisan du Chocolat have to offer.

London bound. Monday 4th May 2009.

It was sad to say goodbye to Michelle this morning, we left her at the train station, our last memory of her was the view through the glass window of the train as she waved us goodbye.

The train sped us to London and we checked into our hotel in the historic County Hall beside the London Eye. We hit the streets and walked down Whitehall, past Downing Street and to Buckingham Palace to see the pomp and ceremony of the Changing of the Guard. It rained a little but not enough to worry us. I took AJ to Piccadilly Circus where we had a quick pizza lunch overlooking the busy streets. We wandered to Fortnum and Mason, St James Palace, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and back down Whitehall to Westminster Abbey for a tour, it was so beautiful.

In the afternoon we were booked for a flight on the London Eye. The view is great to get one's perspective on this vast city. Straight after the London Eye we cruised up and down the Thames, past the HMS Belfast and Tate Modern, all the way to Tower Bridge, surely the most beautiful bridge in the world.

Alex was agog at all the cars he was seeing, Porches, Aston Martin's, Lambo's etc, they are literaly everywhere.

8pm arrived and saw us walking Park Lane, as the night lights twinkled, to The Dorchester Hotel...WOW. We were treated to an amazing night's dining, Scottish lobster no less, a tour of the kitchen and a great interview with the chef Brian Hughson who has recently taken over the hotel kitchen - lucky Londoners I say.

We stopped by Piccadilly Circus on our way home to see the night lights.

A day in Wiltshire. Saturday 2nd May 2009.

The padocks lining the pretty backroads we drove today were alive with spring colour. Some wore a carpet of tiny white flowers, others were a deep sea-green and many were blanketed with a burst of sunshine yellow from the crops of rape seed in full bloom. The bright sunshine made everything sparkle and shine after being washed clean with the rain from days before. The world looked new again.

On arrival in Marlborough, AJ spotted a Porche Boxster in the carpark and asked the lovely owners if he could snap a photo. 'Why don't you sit inside and take the top down' they guy said. AJ didn't need any encouragement and was in the drivers seat in a shot. The man told him all the buttons to press and told him to press the accelerator, vroom, vroom. AJ's face let up as bright as the sun, he beamed pure happiness and joy. 'Press it harder', the man said and AJ did making the car shake and growl. If this kind stranger only knew how much joy his five minutes of generosity had given a little boy from the other side of the world.

Marlborough has the widest main street of any English town. The street was filled with market umbrellas and the hustle and bustle of market day was all around. Marlborough is lovely and oh so English. We found a fabulous little place for coffee called 'The Food Gallery'. The owner, Bob, is a raving coffee fan and lives by the motto, 'If it isn't good, we shouldn't put it in our mouths'. I had a rich mocha on Bob's recomendation, Michelle had a cappuccino with dark Belgian chocolate shaved on top, and AJ had a refreshing mixed berry frappe. Bob gave us a brownie to try, 'They are legendary he says'. He arrived tableside again with a small cup of chilli hot chocolate which was rich and smooth and gave a little burst of fire on the palate, it was very good. We all decided we loved 'The Food Gallery'.

More country lanes took us to the 'Dog and Gun Inn' for our first English country pub meal. Michelle and I had scampi (we are so similar in so many ways it scares us) while AJ found his traditional side and went for the bangers, mash, onions and gravy. This place is loaded with charm and the best part was listening to the chat emanating from the characters at the bar. Alex was giggling at the funny things they were saying. The sevice was warm and friendly so I forgave them for serving frozen scampi, we had a ball.

The next stop on our journey was Stonehenge. Wow. You literally drive along the road and there it is, sitting in the middle of a paddock. We were surprised to be able to view it from the road as we are so used to any kind of tourist attraction being hidden away behind tall fences enabling only paying customers to view the attraction - not here. The stones sit as they have done for so many years. Grass, stone and sky posed for pictures as our camera shutters clicked away relentlessly, capturing this historic place to remember for many years to come.

We returned home happy after a wonderful day together. Thanks Michelle, it has been so special for us to spend this time with you and today was just sooper dooper!

Newbury Town. Friday 1st May, 2009.

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month!

We picked up Michelle's friend Jackie (gorgeous girl) and drove to Newbury. We took the narrow back roads through the lush countryside, with picture postcard views in every direction. The blue sky and green grass came together in the far distance.

Newbury is a busy town, bigger than Hungerford with not even half the charm. Michelle pointed us in the direction of the pie and pasty shop. I had to try a traditional cornish pasty - so scrummy, and Alex, again feeling untraditional, tried a mozarella, tomato and basil one. Perfect golden pastry kept the filling together. The man behind us in the line was from Brisbane - funny hey.

We all wandered the streets, laughing and joking all the way. For dinner tonight we had pies Michelle bought in Newbury. We had chicken and ham and steak and kidney which was the best one. The pastry was golden and flaky. Jess's friend Ollie joined us for dinner and we made everyone do good thing, bad thing, funny thing to share the stories of their day.

Hungerford Village. Thursday 30th April 2009.

Today is the only day we are here that Michelle has to work, we all wish she didn't have to go but she does. AJ and i walked the narrow wee roads into the village. Hungerford is an antique village attracting visitors from all over the world.

I shopped around to get the best rate to buy some British pounds and with a few bills in our pockets, we headed off to explore. AJ had a trim at the barbers to try to tame his mane of hair, we will have to wait and see if we were successful with that mission. We lunched at the Three Swans Hotel in the main street oposite the town hall. AJ broke with tradition and ordered a very unenglish carbonara while I did the country proud with a serve of fish and chips served with a gorgeous house made tartare - it was just the trick. The rain came down and we watched from the comfort of the dining room as the village folk scurried about, doing the business they had travelled into town to do.

The rain cleared and we walked along the street adoring all the quaint little shops. We had a chat to the man in the sweetie shop and bought a bag of bon bons to take home to share. The canal runs under the main street and is as pretty as a picture with white swans and ducks paddling about.

While Alex browsed in the book shop (it is very exciting to see English books again after three months) I met a few locals and listened as they told stories about the haunted house at number 84 with the red door and thatched roof. They were a gorgeous old couple and I got the impression that if I had of wound them up I may never have gotten away.

AJ and I met up again at the coffee shop where Michelle was meeting us after work. We all had a coffee and a chat.

England here we come! Wednesday 29th April 2009

Aj and I had a seemless day of travel. We flew Easyjet for the first time and managed to manipulate their baggage restriction rules to accomodate all of our stuff without having to pay €12 per kilogram for anything over 20kg. We were 3.6 kg over between us at check in so off we went to repack from suitcase into hand luggage. There's no weight restriction for hand luggage so we ended up with all kinds of things in there - shoes, computer leads, laptops etc, etc.

Even though our plane departed Lyon a little late we were able to connect with the train we had booked from London's Gatwick to Reading and then onto Hungerford.

Michelle drove into the train station carpark all smiles. Wow, it has been so long since we saw eachother last, 6 years have passed. We came home to Michelles and it was not long before Jess was home from school. It is great to be surrounded by family again and you know how much I love family. We all talked the legs off the tables and then we began on the chairs, a cup of tea in hand of course. The mobile fish and chip van was a giggle for us, such an English thing to see.

Michelle cooked a lovely baked dinner of roast chicken with stuffing, gravy, potatoes, and loads of vegies for dinner.

It's lovely to be in England and the sun is shining!