Saturday night we didn’t have any plans, and during the afternoon Pam had texted Toni to arrange to come over with Kev and just relax with a few drinks and pizza at our house. It was neat to see them and we always have a laugh – although Niki and Kev get a bit silly and the conversation always ends up rude, in hindsight I think Pamela is usually to blame for that! (tehe) Anyways by the time we’d encouraged the boys to go to the supermarket and we’d cooked and eaten it was around 10pm. Next thing I know the light is switched off and Pam walks in with one of her scrumptious homemade cheesecakes covered in candles and everyone’s singing happy birthday to me!! (No don’t worry you haven’t missed by birthday). Since we are going to be away on my birthday (South of France baby) Pam had decided we could celebrate together exactly 1 month early! I was so surprised and nearly cried, I mean seriously how nice is that!!! Aww I totally love Pam, what an absolute sweetheart and such a brilliant friend! (and yes she reads this so I’m sucking up!) haha I totally mean it though, I just felt so super special…and the cheesecake made the prospect of turning 26 slightly sweeter!!! Thanks so much xx
Kings & Queens
Saturday after a late start Niki, Toni & I headed into town to go
and see Buckingham Palace! Niki and I hadn’t really ever thought about it but Toni mentioned that the state rooms were only open for two months of the year so we thought why not. When we arrived however we were informed that all the tickets for that day had sold out already (poos!) so we had the option to pre-purchase tickets for the following day…which we did. Armed with our tickets for Sunday we decided to have a look around the gift shops since we’d come all the way in...there was a range of stuff from lovely (pricey) china, to chocolates, pens and knick knacks to embroidered slippers and a shower cap!
Unfortunately the weather was pretty crap, so since we were all cold and hungry we went back towards our place and stopped for lunch in the Kings Head Pub just up the road. It’s such a fantastic building which I’d always wanted to go in to.
Sunday we made our way back into town and really enjoyed our visit w
ith the “Queen”. Annually during August and September the Queen goes up to Scotland and the Palace’s 19 state rooms are open to tourists. You get an audio guide which is fantastic and even has royal music which really makes you feel like you’re p
art of it. The Palace is just incredible, lavishly decorated and very spacious… 200+ bedrooms!! Buckingham Palace is one of the few working palaces in the world so it was really interesting hearing information about the residence and the people who work there. This year for the first time ever they had the ballroom setup for a state banquet. This was by far the most impressive room and every detail was perfect. They measure the exact space between napkins and the utensils etc! We weren’t allowed to take photos inside so I’ve copied some from the website. One thing I was surprised about was how small the "throne" was...I must've watched too many movies depicting massive thrones!
and see Buckingham Palace! Niki and I hadn’t really ever thought about it but Toni mentioned that the state rooms were only open for two months of the year so we thought why not. When we arrived however we were informed that all the tickets for that day had sold out already (poos!) so we had the option to pre-purchase tickets for the following day…which we did. Armed with our tickets for Sunday we decided to have a look around the gift shops since we’d come all the way in...there was a range of stuff from lovely (pricey) china, to chocolates, pens and knick knacks to embroidered slippers and a shower cap!Unfortunately the weather was pretty crap, so since we were all cold and hungry we went back towards our place and stopped for lunch in the Kings Head Pub just up the road. It’s such a fantastic building which I’d always wanted to go in to.
Sunday we made our way back into town and really enjoyed our visit w
ith the “Queen”. Annually during August and September the Queen goes up to Scotland and the Palace’s 19 state rooms are open to tourists. You get an audio guide which is fantastic and even has royal music which really makes you feel like you’re p
art of it. The Palace is just incredible, lavishly decorated and very spacious… 200+ bedrooms!! Buckingham Palace is one of the few working palaces in the world so it was really interesting hearing information about the residence and the people who work there. This year for the first time ever they had the ballroom setup for a state banquet. This was by far the most impressive room and every detail was perfect. They measure the exact space between napkins and the utensils etc! We weren’t allowed to take photos inside so I’ve copied some from the website. One thing I was surprised about was how small the "throne" was...I must've watched too many movies depicting massive thrones!
Snakie
Friday night Toni & I headed to the Redback Tavern in Acton to meet up with Michelle and a couple of her friends. We had never been to the Reddie before, it's reputation is rather large amongst the antipodeans in London as a shocker of a place that can get very messy with the comsumption of snakebites a must. A snakebite is a pint glass half filled with cider, half with lager and a couple of dashes of raspberry cordial. Lets just say it's an acquired taste! Many "fresh of the boat" travellers spending a lot of their time and money at such establishments! The Redback is exactly like a student pub you'd go to when you're aged 18 back home, like the Outback or the Grumpy Mole. (Although I know I partied in these places long after I turned 18!)
The place was pretty packed and there was live music and also a DJ in between sets. The first couple of hours were fun and we had a good dance but then we found the music started to go "down hill" so we decided to head off around 1:15am... we had researched (yes we're secretaries!) how to get home to avoid having to pay for a taxi and discovered we needed to take three (!!) different night buses, which, including stopping to pick up KFC and just missing two buses, ended up taking us two hours to get home. We were cold, tired and Toni's oh so beautiful shoes weren't doing anything good for her tootsies. A bonus of that time of the morning was seeing some foxes, a couple right on our street!
There were photos taken, as you would expect, but not on my camera, so I may update some at a later date. I probably wouldn't go again. but mostly just because it's too far away from our house... there's always the Walkabout or the Church if I'm in need of a dose of drunk Aussies & kiwis! And I really really want a night out at my vodka bar girlies... hmmm maybe October at the rate we're going!
Wicked
Thursday Toni & I went to see the musical “Wicked”…. and mate it was impressive! I totally loved it =) Seriously I’m just grinning thinking about it. The sets, special effects, costumes and vocals were just mind blowing and the story was really good too, lots of humour. Our seats were way at the top balcony right at the back but it was still fine (yes I wished I was at the front…) but there are wee binoculars on the back of the seats which came in very handy.Basically it’s a sort of prequel to the Wizard of Oz. The story about the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good and how they became to be… it’s just fantastic. You can’t beat a night out with that kind of entertainment for £15. Oh man I totally love London!
Posh posh
Wednesday night (06/08) I ventured out amongst the filthy rich…well actually I wasn’t amongst them per see, just on t
heir streets, checking out their fandangle chauffeured cars and passing stores such as Chanel, Gucci, Dolce & Gabanna, Gianni Versace, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Oililly, Cartier, Tiffany & Co…I think you get the picture – and these are just the bunch that I recognised (as in name, not goods…having never owned anything remotely designer in my life). It goes without saying that my jandals did not step foot in any of the above shops but it was neat to have a cheeky sneak peak on my way passed, minimal window displays not giving much away, but ladies I can say it looks like a navyish blue seems to be “in” this season.
My main purpose to be on “that side of the tracks” was to visit Harrods – another “must do” on the list in London and as I am getting increasingly worried about the lack of time we have left over
here, week nights are now classed as critical time to be made the most of! Harrods was incredible, so big they hand out maps! There are multiple levels and escalators everywhere, "themed" areas eg. Egyptian, a beautiful Christmas shop, a scrumptious food court and even a memorial to Princess Diana & Dodi (the owner being the father of Dodi). There's a large marble like statue of the pair - which I thought I'd take a picture of "later", but never found again! There was of course lots of expensive stuff but also a Harrods giftshop directed at us tourists where I brought a few goodies including my very own Harrods branded Teddy Bear!
heir streets, checking out their fandangle chauffeured cars and passing stores such as Chanel, Gucci, Dolce & Gabanna, Gianni Versace, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Oililly, Cartier, Tiffany & Co…I think you get the picture – and these are just the bunch that I recognised (as in name, not goods…having never owned anything remotely designer in my life). It goes without saying that my jandals did not step foot in any of the above shops but it was neat to have a cheeky sneak peak on my way passed, minimal window displays not giving much away, but ladies I can say it looks like a navyish blue seems to be “in” this season.My main purpose to be on “that side of the tracks” was to visit Harrods – another “must do” on the list in London and as I am getting increasingly worried about the lack of time we have left over
here, week nights are now classed as critical time to be made the most of! Harrods was incredible, so big they hand out maps! There are multiple levels and escalators everywhere, "themed" areas eg. Egyptian, a beautiful Christmas shop, a scrumptious food court and even a memorial to Princess Diana & Dodi (the owner being the father of Dodi). There's a large marble like statue of the pair - which I thought I'd take a picture of "later", but never found again! There was of course lots of expensive stuff but also a Harrods giftshop directed at us tourists where I brought a few goodies including my very own Harrods branded Teddy Bear! 
We Will Rock You
On Monday we went to see “We Will Rock You” which is a West End musical based on the tunes of the music legends, Queen. We had purchased the tickets ages ago on a 2-for-1 deal and had gotten front row seats!!
It was a fantastic show with impressive vocals and fabulous costumes. The crowd was filled with Queen fans so they really “got going” with the big hits (glow sticks and more clappage, but it worked this time!). It was super
special being up the front as we usually buy the cheapest possible tickets which get us seats somewhere in the vicinity of the back row on the top balcony…At this show we were only about two metres away from the actors and could see all the detail in their facials, the sweat, the toned bods etc. (By the way from which I’ve decided I’m quite happy not having “a six pack” as I didn’t think that defined abs looked the best on the actresses… a flat tummy is still on the wish list of course)
I’ve been warned that once you go front row you’ll never be the same, but as much as I may whinge when watching future shows, there’s no way I’ll fork out for full price front row seats ever…well, unless I become rich of course =) never say never
On Thursday I’m going to see “Wicked” with Toni - I know, two shows in one week…what a life one leads!
It was a fantastic show with impressive vocals and fabulous costumes. The crowd was filled with Queen fans so they really “got going” with the big hits (glow sticks and more clappage, but it worked this time!). It was super
special being up the front as we usually buy the cheapest possible tickets which get us seats somewhere in the vicinity of the back row on the top balcony…At this show we were only about two metres away from the actors and could see all the detail in their facials, the sweat, the toned bods etc. (By the way from which I’ve decided I’m quite happy not having “a six pack” as I didn’t think that defined abs looked the best on the actresses… a flat tummy is still on the wish list of course)I’ve been warned that once you go front row you’ll never be the same, but as much as I may whinge when watching future shows, there’s no way I’ll fork out for full price front row seats ever…well, unless I become rich of course =) never say never
On Thursday I’m going to see “Wicked” with Toni - I know, two shows in one week…what a life one leads!
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