Home Sweet Home

It has been a couple of weeks now since we got home. Back to reality, or at least a different kind of reality.

How does travelling around having holidays become reality and working and doing dishes become a holiday?
Answers on a postcard, (preferably from a holiday spot), to Nicola and Allan want another holiday, C/O the cat wot thinks he owns our house.

Thes cats missed us, apparently they did not miss Peter, our house sitter. In fact Max Cat (the most cat you can get in a cat), hit Peter regularly. Poor Max, love lorn and alone with nothing but tormenting Peter to keep him happy.

Yeah, he looks cute now but beneath those paws hide steely eyes and in that furry chest beats the heart of a demon. That is he cat that Peter was so afraid of. I say afraid to build the melodrama, I think he was just pissed off what with him being allergic to cats.



DONKEY ALERT!!!
You may have noticed that there is a new section to the blog, videos. I have uploaded a few and you should be able to click on them and they will play for you. If you find yourself watching some random YouTube video just refresh the blog and you should get our videos. If that doesn't work then there is always tolong way around.  Holiday Vids


All the best for now .

Al and Nic

Keep Calm and Carry On

Last day blues, London is gorgeous in the sun, long days and light late into the evening. Dusk at 9pm and drinking tea in covent garden until late listening to one of the many street artists.

The flight home is tonight, still, keep calm and carry on.

Friday night Soho is a buzz, loads happening and so many people adorning the street with their pint glasses in hand. Nicola never dissapoints when she sees this and treats me to her regular cry of "I can't believe they are drinking on the streets". It has been the small things that are the most obvious differences.

Late night food, cafes that are open beyond 8pm, a constant buzz on the streets and always something to do around the next corner. The flight to Brisbane will take two days and it won't be pleasent.

Still, keep calm and carry on.

After a month of travelling around Europe we have both learnt some things about whay we like Australia and also what we would do if we came to live in the UK. There is something very pleasent about the rugged country side of Derbyshire, the buzz of London, the history and culture of the place.

Brisbane, friends, family, jobs, future, work, fun, great weather and not being able to get a coffee on Sunday afternoon anywhere out of the city. There has been so mush to take in while we have been away.

This isn't the end of the blog but it is a farewell to the UK . I will be posting pictures in the next few days of our trip to Blackpool beach where Nicola saw the donkeys  plus other tasty treats from around London and the UK. So , thank you all for reading and to those of you who hhave been kind enough to drink a pint with me and have a laugh or two, I thank you all very much. It has been great seeing everyone and I hope to see you all again soon. To all of you back in OZ, perhaps we can have that pint and share some stories.

But , in the mean while...

Training Montage

It's when the ex-cop, has been boxer, washed up space pilot has to get fit and kick ass but the film can't afford the time so they squish all the training into a 2 - 5 minute training montage

So Nicola and I have the morning off. That is to say that we are not visiting historic monumnets, travelling around the country or takingb guided tours of stately homes. A couple of hours to do nothing.This afternoon there will be a BBQ with family and hopefully a donkey on the beach but right now there is a movie, The Holiday. Star cast, Kate Winslet , Jack Black, Jude Law and Cameron Diaz. The movie is 18 hours long, should probably have gone straight to the bin, bypassing both movies and dvds. It is cute, sentimental and lovey dovey to the nth degree but about 3/4 through the movie it turns from mearly bad to so bad it is almost good.

How does it do this? That's right, training montage! The 80yo infirm ex hollywood movie writer needs to get on stage for his big award night. How can he do it? How can he walk with out the zimmer frame? Will he get up the three red carpeted stairs un aided? Training Montage. Simply brilliant. The movie quickly dropped off again , still what can you expect.

Well , the morning is nearly over and we will be heading out for the beach, Blackpool, hopefully a donkey. There isn't muchtime left on The Holiday ,see, just like the movie we watched. A few days in London then back to Australia.

This isn't the ned of the blog though, keep tuned , there will be pictures, The Family Do, York, Leeds Armoury and of course the videos.

The great British pub crawl

Pubs, brilliant. You just don't get them in Australia. I do miss them and tonight we went in a few. In fact , over the last few nights, weeks, we have been in a few.

Nicola has fallen in love with them, it is safe to say she likes pubs. Let me just ask her.
Yes, she likes pubs. Brilliant.

Tonight I drank real ale. Last night I drank real ale, in fact, the night before that I also drank real ale. Flat, not cold, not warm, just right, tasty , real ale. Dizzy Blonde, Robinsons best bitter, Tale Wagger, Hyde's Joeys. Gorgeous.

We went to the Cheadle Hulme pub and The Church. Not really a pub crawl but it would do us for the night. You can't start too big.

What do I miss about England apart from family, pubs.

Pubs, brilliant.

Hard graft, an arm and a leg and having your card marked.

Let's see, Tatton Hall.

Once again we opted for the guided tour. I can safely say that the guided tours at the heritage sites we have visited have all been worth while. Free or otherwise. The Tatton Hall one was particularly good. An old chap of suitably British demeanor and deportment lead us around the old Georgian mansion in a timely manner.

The house was built by a commoner who rose to fortune and fame after winning a case in court against Queen Elizabeth the first. The queen was heard to say of Samuel Egerton, "I do not wish to meet this man under these circumstances again". She then gave him a job as the Queens counsel and he continued to be her lawyer for many years.

The place is great and we wandered the stat rooms , family residences and servents quarters for a few hours soaking up the differences between them crying out on occasion, "oh, ów the uvva árf live"

We did learn the origins of three phrases though.

"Cost an arm and a leg" this comes from commisioning portraits. Should you wish to have a full length portrait which included arms and legs it would cost considerably more than just the top half. Hence , costing an arm and a leg.

"Your card has been marked"  Upon arriving at a stately home you would present yourself to the butler and proffer up your caling card on his platter. The card would be taken to the Lord or Lady in residence who would decide if they wanted to receive you. If they didn't they would put a little mark on your card and the butler would return it to you and without a word you would leave. Woe unto you if your card was marked three times.

My favorite originated during the building of the Manchester Ship Canal. The workers spent much of their time digging with a grafting tool. This was hard work. Hence the term Hard Graft. You can see a picture of a graft in the image below. It looks like a shovel , but you can see it obviously isn't. The graft is the one in the middle with the long blade.

I never took much notice of Tatton hall during school trips , perhaps that's for the best really. Had I misspent myyouth by learning things Tatton Hall wouldn't be the interesting place it is today. Well that's my excuse and I'm clinging to it.

I am a fair bit behind in my blogging so here is a quick catch up.

Monday - Pick up car and drive to Banbury to see a fine lady upon a white horse and Nicola's Grandma Beryl. More of that later. We stopped at Warwick castle and had a pint in a pub.

Tuesday - Drive to Stone Henge then Bath to see the Roman Baths and then back to Banbury with rings on my fingers and bells on her toes.

Wednesday - Blenheim palace in the morning and then back oop north to Blackpool for more donkey hunting.

Thursday - Nottingham, Robin Hood? Sherwood Forest? NOPE , Warhammer World :) Exciting. Yay, Bugmans Brewery and nerdiness. Nicola went to Hardwick Manor and then back up to Blackpool.

Friday - Back down to Manchester after visiting the John Ditchfield glass blowing foundry, to visit the Museum of Science and Industry.

I will endeavor to get up to date as soon as possible.
Meanwhile , I have updated the slideshow for your delectation.

Ok, it is time to go to the pub, again, Nicola seems to have taken a shine to going to the pub.

Here is a picture especially for Peter :)

Red Dragon

Not known for it's weather. Sorry let me start that again.

Not known for it's nice weather, Wales is often grey and overcast. Sometimes it is much worse though. Someone once said "you can't stop the music". In Wales you can't stop the rain. Wales = rain.

What you see above is the Welsh flag. A big red dragon. Really I should be writing each sentence in this portion of the blog in both English and Welsh. That is what they do in Wales on all the signs.

If you think I am going to you arre kidding yourself. Os ydych yn meddwl fy mod i'n mynd i chi arre kidding eich hun.

The Welsh language requires some amazing feets of linguistic acrobatics, or a very bad and phflegmy cold.

The drive to Wales was pleasent and wet and we were all excited to try out our new Welsh summer wear. Raincoat, fleece and hood. To quote my sister-in-law. "Here you are Nicola, you can wear this coat. It has a fleece in the lining and is water proof. But if it gets warm you can zip the fleece out"

Note she didn't say you can take your coat off. Wales just isn't that kind of place. 


What Wales lacks in good weather though it more than makes up for in castles. Take Conwy castle for instance. It took only 5000 builders and artisans 5 years to build a castle. WOW
It is a top place too.

Look at the place. It's amazing. You can't feel the stone, or indeed the biting wind from the battlements by looking at this picture but it is a real experiance. Gripping and very inspiring. Looking out over the ocean. Hundreds of years of weathering, history and of course people.

We didn't stop there though. We went the extra 20 miles, (31km) to the next and even bigger castle. That's right. In the time it takes some people to go to the shops there is another huge castle.

Caernarfon ,(what did I tell you abou the Welsh language?). This place took decades to build but it was completely solid. Never taken in all the years people tried and at one point an invasion was seen off by 28 people inside. 

You just aren't getting in this place. Unless you pay for your National Trust ticket , then it's ok.

My nephew, David, spotted this as we entered Wales, look closely and see if you can spot when a clever person has written on the wall.

Ironic really as Wales is so cold. Just for being so clever here is a picture of him . Cheeky little chap isn't he.


I am now several days behind my blogging. So much to do , so little time to sit on the net and waste my time drinking coffee and tip tapping away. As much as I would like to.

After Wales we went to Tatton Hall.

I have frequented this place over the years many times. Not far from where I grew up I had many a school trip here.

I just realised I have run out of time. I will continue later when I am back sat down not pushed . Meanwhile the clock ticks on my parking ticket. I will be back...

OK, Italy isn't rubbish

Yeah, I had my rant, that's ok. It was well deserved and I meant every word.

But.

Here are some things I like about Italy.

The coffee, well at least the coffee at Tazza D'oro, was very nice. Any country that regulates the price of coffee must be heading in the right direction. I had some very tasty espresso in Rome ranging from average to very good indeed. Good enough for me to buy a kilo of it. Monmouth Coffee in London still takes top slot though.

When in Rome try this cafe for a nice quiet coffee where you won't be harrassed by the people who run it.

Very close to the Colleseum too.

Gelati, yum, my tummy got bigger and I ate a heap of the stuff. Love it. Amereno and Chocolat, by the litre.


Italian drivers, yes, they do try to get 4 lanes of traffic where there should be 3 but. Oh hang on, no buts, they are rubbish.

Not much there really is there. Best we move on.

Next stop , Blackpool. This is it, the big day, donkeys on the beach. The night before and a few beers we have made the decision. Come rain or shine. Most likely rain. We are going to Blackpool.

Then disaster. My niece informs me via Facebook that Friday is Donky Day Off. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

I doesn't matter, we can still see the family, perhaps the wether will be ok, perhaps we will see the beach? So we did. We set off in the pooring rain having packed out cagoule and weather beating cream, (the equivilent of sun tan lotion in Blackpool). Off we went.

It rained and rained and rained all the way there and as we pulled up to the house of my sister the grey clouds rolled over. Welcome to Blackpool.

That didn't stop the smiles though, all the kids, neices, great neices and great nephews, my sister and brother in law. It was, as Tracy would say, ACE.

Without being there I have no nway of conveying the atmosphere. It was great. I loved every moment and then something strange happened. The clouds parted, the sun shone and the blue skies appeared. This last happened in Blackpool in 1958 and was recorded as the longest summer in history which lasted for 6 hours.

I jumped on the chance and immediately called, "Beach, prom, ice cream NOW!!!" We left for the Golden Mile straight away and 30 minutes later everyone was out of the door and in the car. That's what happens when you have 8 kids in tow apparently.

What you have to realise about Blackpool is that the charm is in the kitchness. With the sun shining we hit the prom front and stopped for ice cream.

7 kids, each one wants a different ice cream. They all got pink and white. A very very cluey ice cream seller saw my pain and announced to the children that he only had pink and white left. LOVE HIM!

The pier is calling me now, the rides, the flashing lights, the carnies. Yes, the carnies. "try your hand, win a toy, give me all your money"

So we head up the pier, the kids go MENTAL and I mean MENTAL. The screams the running around, the wide eyes. 

What could I do after feeding them all sugary treats. I had to over stimulate them on rides before handing them back to their mums and leaving. 

Harry and I went on the helter skelter and everyone went on the ferris wheel. I probably shouldn't have told Ellie that if you make the ferris wheel cage spin round enough it unscrews and falls off. Still , I enjoyed it.

This is now officially and epic blog post. Still we have done a lot lately. 

Next stop, WALES!!!!!  I love my exclamation marks.

I think I will stop blogging now and have my beer and maybe go to bed early. This brings us almost up to date. We did go to Wales today. Wales basically equates to rain and castles, in that order. Possibly Fish and chips and seagulls.

You will find out in the next thrilling installment what happened in Wales.