gin

Epic fails

Sunday 16th June, 2019

Ahhhh, Sunday mornings, check out planned for 3pm so had a lazy sleep in, watched some Netflix on my phone, things people without kids do on a Sunday morning. What a nice surprise it was when I got a reminder from the Air bob host about 11am checkout. Fark, I had 45 minutes to shower, make beds, wash dishes, tidy, put rubbish out and of course run to the shops for replacement Ferrero’s!! Must have conjured some super powers, I was done and dusted in one hour flat, can’t say I was looking my best at the end of it but I was out the door and that’s what counts!! Well, getting a good Air bob rating is what counts!

So what now? Feeling like a packhorse with a backpack, shopping bag and handbag I decided a chill day with a whole lotta nothing would suit me fine. And since I’d killed all hopes of it being a healthy weekend as soon as I set my eyes on Meatball, I did the unthinkable… cheesecake for breakfast!!! Well, wouldn’t say it was unthinkable… I had thought about it 100 times while trekking down Acland St past all the bakeries! Mmm, polish baked cheesecake and a coffee…. Brrrrr. No, that’s not the sound of yum, rather of disappointment… In another first, I left food on my plate. And not just any food, CHEESECAKE!! Tasted like sugar and lemon had an ugly child. How did they go so wrong? Even my Philadelphia packet cheesecake taste better, maybe I really am sick??? Maybe my expectations were too high, they usually are… but when you see this you expect delicious am I right???

Now in a minor grump on account of the crappy cheesecake, I realised I still had the Myki card in my purse, not returning that to the host would definitely be a -5 star rating. Lugging all my crap back up the road to the Air bob, somehow it felt like it’d multiplied in size and weight. All I bought was one pair of shoes and one jacket, must be a record for Melbourne!! But anyway, Myki returned, now what??? I had thought to ride the roller coaster at Luna Park but with a stomach full of lemon sugar and carrying the weight of a small child I thought probs not, so instead wandered the Esplanade on a sunny splendid morning looking at the pop up markets… trying my best to be in a mood as splendid as the day itself… failed.

What the hell is wrong with me today? Not enjoying the markets either?!? Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning… Mind you, this is always the crappiest day of a trip, not just because it’s home time but rushing to check out, having to lug crap around so not being able to do anything overly useful. Determined not to waste my last hours I found the sure fire thing to make me happy: The Espy, beach views, fried chicken, gin and tunes… did not disappoint, I’m easy to please!! And even better, the toilets at the Espy are next level gorgeous. Still love nice toilets, I’ll add that to the list of interests on my Tinder profile…

So in my chill state at the Espy I had time alone with my thoughts, which can be dangerous but in this case, positive and reflective. I realised that the thing I love about cities, is getting lost in the crowd. Being anonymous. Amongst the hustle and bustle, no one really cares who you are or what pain you carry. You can be anyone and the truth is, no one actually gives a shit because to them, you are no one and not in the cool Arya Stark faceless man kind of way. I like being no one, no expectations, no demands. Hmmm, it started positive…

With time up my sleeve, I did a triple check of the Skybus timetable, all on track to catch the… oh wait, double fark… that’s the weekday timetable… now, take a minute to picture me legging it through St Kilda, in the rain, with three bags, umbrella, in boots, and with a belly of chicken and gin, and that gross cheesecake still lingering… yeah, I’m sure it looked as good as it sounds… managed to get to the Skybus stop with 2 minutes to spare, thank my lucky stars for triple checking. Feeling relieved, I took my seat, dripping in rain and sweat only to watch as the bus spent the next 20 minutes doing the rounds of St Kilda only to end up at a stop just outside The Espy… you have got to be farkin’ kidding me… how I made it around Europe in one piece is beyond me… out of practice… at least the ride is pretty…

The saving grace in all the bus drama and nonsense, USB charging docks on the bus… buzzinga! If only I could plug myself in, exhausted, wet and just kinda over it, charge needed, or gin, or chocolate, or all of the above…

After what seemed like a tour of The Block properties, past The Gatwick and that big black box one, finally at the airport and quite frankly too bloody tired to care about stuffing my pockets with my crap to avoid the 7kg Tiger carry-on limit. In a stroke of luck, Tiger don’t have a mandatory weigh in, rather a harmless looking woman wanders the crowd looking for people that may have been trying to push the 7kg limit with a suitcase the size of a small country. I think she took one look at me with my rain infused poodle hair, running eyeliner and wet boots and either felt sorry for me or saw from the look on my face it wasn’t worth messing with that one!! Little column A, mostly column B…

Finally boarding time, once again the plane is parked in the middle of a runway and Melbourne’s farewell was much like its welcome, wet!! Love you anyway Melbs ❤️

June 18, 2019 0

Bath Spa Pool

So I have a confession… I woke up about 7am, saw Kyles awake doing stuff on her phone and instead of being a good friend and getting up to start the day, I rolled over and went back to sleep. Sleep has a way of trumping EVERYTHING. Must stop saying trump, hate thinking of that orange faced misogynist…

So after deciding to love my friend more than sleep, we were up and at it, doing all the things someone my age needs to look even half decent in the morning then out of our Airbnb with half hour to spare. After our chocolate indulgence the night before, brekkie was far from our minds so we headed for the other thing Bath is famous for, that massive curved building thing, should google the actual name… A little stroll and there it is. Bloody brilliant. Can imagine it’d cost a mint to live there and dealing with pesky tourists like us would be a pain but still, when I win the lotto, have solved world hunger and bought Canava Hall in Brixton, I’ll be buying one of these. Pictures just don’t even show how magnificent these buildings are. And words can’t describe. Cue “tourist” and all the pics and selfies… loser.

After having annoyed the residents long enough and Kyles having followed me on a wild goose chase up a hill, we found the Botanic Gardens. Of course, cute, quaint and beautiful. Much like everything in Bath. Except the groupies.

After a coffee revival, we called/booked/apped an Uber. We don’t call anyone anymore, so what is it really?? Anyhoo, we headed for the nearest entry point for the Bath Skyline walk, what is meant to be an epic loop of castles and beautiful lookouts over the city of Bath. If we could give an Uber 7 stars, this dude would have gotten them! Talked about how 30 or so years ago all the buildings in Bath used to be black, covered in soot from the coal smoke coming out of the beautiful chimneys I love so much. Some bright spark mandated that all heating be changed to gas and all the buildings cleaned and restored back to their pristine white sandstone beauty. Smart person, not sure Bath would be the tourist attraction it is with black sooty buildings. Now it’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. Jumping out of our super duper Uber, his seven star rating dropped to a one. The walk up to the Skyline loop was a muddy staircase from hell. Did the dude not see the shoes we were wearing?? Inappropriate footwear at its finest.

After sliding and yelping our way to the top, with all our belongings strapped to our backs nonetheless, the views were something to behold. Just wish my lame arse iPhone could take a decent picture. The view over Bath and the hills, stunning. Will go back to that memory when I need a happy moment.

Looking at the Skyline path ahead, we conceded defeat knowing our girlie boots were in no way up for the task. Heading in the general direction of the town, it was one of the most beautiful strolls down a hill you could ask for… look, a beautiful house and stream… Look again, another cute house and laneway. And chimneys!! Bath is gorgeous. Sorry for paying out your name. And sorry to Kylie for the trillion “tourist” stops.

Making our way to a bridge with no name, or one I can’t remember, it was again just another moment of wow. You wonder if people that live here ever get sick of all this beauty??

Finally listening to our (mine) moaning tummies we headed for a lunch spot. On the walk, had my boots not been muddy as hell and I looked like an orphan annie, we would have casually popped into the house opens on the way. And I may have mortgaged everything I own to buy one. Too bad I don’t own anywhere near enough…

After nearly a month traveling and drinking and eating all the things, I decided today was the day I’d get back on keto and try eat healthy. Damn my unreasonable thinking. While digging into a healthy omelette, Kyles had the most delicious Hungarian beef stew with dumplings. Didn’t even wanna take a food pic I was so consumed by food envy!! So having booked a 4.30pm train back to London, we tried to plan our visit to the Thermae Pool & Spa perfectly so we could just shower after then jump on the train home. Well, the lineup wasn’t the problem, more so the digital vouchers we’d booked and paid for had to be printed by and picked up at the Bath Tourist Info centre, which was closed on Sundays, I can imagine a Sunday would be the quietest day for tourists?!? And doesn’t all that kinda defeat the purpose of a digital ticket?!?!? After a somewhat standoffish debate, it was pay again or go home! You don’t come all the way to Bath to not jump in a thermal bath. So in we went, changed into our robes and flip flops (know better than calling them thongs!), and finally into the thermal pools. Have to say, after so many weeks of travel and what felt like a trillion steps, the warm water and spa jets were heaven sent. Throw in an epic view over Bath and the place is relaxation personified. Too bad we had to share with a hundred other people… weren’t allowed to take pics so once again Google has come through with the goods, just add those hundred people to each pic… can’t imagine the squishiness of this place in peak season…

With our two hour relaxation window coming to an end, it was time to leave the beautiful Thermae pool and head back to reality. Somehow arriving at the train station early, usually it’s minutes to spare, we had time for a sneaky gin and to find a snacky dinner for our train ride. Waiting on the platform for the train, my lame arse sense of humour kicked in at the name of the train station… Bath Spa? Someone really lacked imagination when it came to naming things at this place!!

Once on the train, my lame arse salad was no competition for Kylie’s almond croissant and the leftover chocolate. Nearly caved but in my sleepy relaxation I couldn’t even be bothered eating chocolate. That has NEVER happened to me in my entire life… need a thermal pool at home… A train, two tubes and a bus later, we’re back in Brixton and another reality set in. It was my last night with my bestie and the last night galavanting around the UK. Uhhh, I don’t wanna, they can’t make me leave can they??

Sunday 20th January 2019.

February 2, 2019 0

Bath crawl

Waking up to Kyles already having put in a couple of hours working from home, it was nice to wander downstairs, make a coffee and know there was nothing urgent to do. Except eat my crappy cheescake and the Tesco chocolate cake for breakfast. For a £2 choccie cake, that was damn good! Today’s plan was to get away for a weekend in Bath. Next to Finland and York, it was the other place on my I Wanna Go To list. Having booked a cute Airbnb some time back when we first conceived the idea, we just needed to get there. Easy as. Download an App, put in times, book, pay, digital tickets. If only everything in life was this easy!! With some time on my hands I did what was supposed to be a quick check of work emails, to date there hadn’t been anything overly urgent or worthy of my attention when I don’t have to. Jeebus. Some shit had hit the fan at work and I spent the next few hours plugging away to try get things in order.

Once I’d calmed down and switched off Australia, it was time to prepare for my last weekend of holidays. Ugh. Yuck. Why do holidays have to end?? But are they actually holidays if you never go back to work? Maybe then it’s just life??

Anyhoo, while I’m flapping around Kyles is ever the professional working her butt off taking work calls, Skype meetings and just getting shit done. Once packed with my weekend kit, I felt the sugar crash and was desperate for anything green. Legging it to Sainsburys around the corner I bought a big bunch of broccoli to add to our dodgy pre-made supermarket salads. Probs the first healthy meal I’ve had since Kylie’s awesome Christmas roast. Not rolling in cash but rolling in other ways!

With a 4.30pm train trip, it was relax time – completely speaking for myself. The dedicated Kyles worked the whole two hour ride while I got my votes in for the Triple J Hottest 100. I really do lack any pics today so my top 10 list will have to do!! #1 Ocean Alley.

Walking out of the train station in Bath and it’s everything I expected, and then some! The 15 minute trek to our Airbnb took us past all the beautiful white sandstone buildings, cobbled streets and the quaint English pubs on every second corner. Once again I was the dork walking along muttering wow! Having gone the cheap room route for our Airbnb, I half expected a broom size closet in a dodgy back alley. Walking into our room at Romany Guest House, one of the gorgeous terrace buildings it was a mixture of relief and wow. Big old style Victorian room, our own beds, lounge chairs, telly and kettle. I think Kyles is getting sick of my sleep talking so happy for her she has her own bed for a change!!

Having already spied the cute pubs on the way through, it was an easy choice to pub crawl our way through Bath. It is after all only 50 meters between each pub and a convenient half circle of pubs surrounding our accommodation.

Our crawl took us from the fancy Green Park Brasserie to the The Bath Brew House where we both had the quintessential English dinner, ham, egg and chips, washed down with a beer. Kind of made having the broccoli for lunch redundant!

Next stop at Trinity Inn saw us pick up some groupies, two young English chaps, not yet of legal drinking age in the US, wanting to tag along on our crawl. One called Joe and the other some J name, they were kinda funny, young Joe had googly eyes for Kylie all night and wanted to take her on a date to the zoo. Oh bless, dates to zoos just don’t happen anymore. After hitting up The Cork, The Canon and The Gin Palace with our groupies, it was time to exit stage left. I think Kyles broke young Joe’s heart!

Friday 18th January 2019.

January 23, 2019 0

Happy birthday!

Being her first birthday away from home, I was so glad to be there for my bestie. Moving to a different country, finding a new job and making new friends is a hell of a brave thing to do, she’s an absolute kick arse human being. So after good morning birthday hugs, unfortunately Kyles did have to go to work so I needed to find something to do to pass time until her birthday celebrations. Having been lucky enough to have visited London a few times before, I’d done all the big attractions like Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Hyde Park etc so today I was looking for something different to do. Someone along the way mentioned going to Greenwich where lives the meridian line. Coolies, I’ll do that.

But first, boring life maintenance like washing and fun life maintenance like popping to Sainsbury’s for a birthday cake. My idea was to buy a cake and decorate it beautifully so we could celebrate tonight when we get home from dinner. Probs should have been better at adulting and found an actual bakery and bought a beautiful cake befitting of the birthday girl. Instead it was a packet cheesecake, biscuit fingers and some crappy icing writing pens. It’s the effort that counts right? Anyways, heading off to Greenwich about midday, onto a bus to Brixton Station then 10 tubes, most in the wrong direction so it took me about double the time to get there. Maybe I still need more sleep.

Finally in Greenwich with insane hunger pangs I found the Greenwich Markets and a Cuban sandwich. My gosh, how have I never had one of these before? Ready to be annoying and take another food photo, I pulled out my phone and crapola. That’s a new record, only 1.5 hours from 100% to flat. Lucky I have my trusty power pack… and no iPhone cable. Seriously sucking at adulting today. So instead of enjoying the beautiful clear blue skies, I spent the next hour searching shop to shop for an iPhone lightning cable. Would have been quicker if I could have googled where to go but that wasn’t an option. So finally all charged up, food and phone, ready to explore.

But first, back to that Cuban sandwich!! Flatbread, pulled pork, ham, cheddar cheese, pickles and mustard. Oh my yum!!! I see many of these in my future. And here’s a nice pic from google to show just what I mean:

Unfortunately being a Thursday the Greenwich markets were only half arsed, most stalls were empty and the few that were open were a bit average. But, the market area itself was quaint and cute so I could imagine on a bustling weekend they would be fabulous.

Not really having a plan for the day except to find the meridian, I wandered around Greenwich and quite literally stumbled onto everything. Turn a corner and whoa, there’s a big damn ship, the Cutty Sark, a British Clipper ship, fastest and one of the last built before steam shops took over (thanks Google!). There was a museum thing underneath but to be honest, I’m all museumed out.

And just behind the Cutty, the River Thames with views of Canary Wharf and over to the London city centre. I was considering visiting Canary Wharf but Kyles said it was like Wall St, suits and ties and not a lot of fun. Unless you’re rolling in cash. Definitely not rolling.

Where to next? I look to the right and there’s the Naval Academy. That’ll work. Gorgeous buildings and lawns, lucky sailors!

What’s that other big building in the background? I’ll mosey over there. It’s the National Maritime Museum. Can’t swing a cat without hitting a beautiful old building. Not that I’m complaining, it makes being a tourist super simple. And with a phone going flat every 2 seconds, it helps to not rely on Google Maps.

I really had no desire to do museums today so I just settled for a couple of pics of the outside then wandered next door to the Queen’s House. Hmmm. No exactly what I expected, I guess it is a house not a palace, kicks the arse of my house I guess.

And then I look behind me, just more gorgeous buildings and views of the city.

It might be possible I’m taking for granted how historic and beautiful London is. I’ll probs get back to Adelaide and be disappointed not to see a beautiful old church or historic monument on every corner. Or I’ll just be happy to stare at the beach?!?

So through the beautiful sandstone archway and I spy up the hill the observatory. Someone up there knows I’m lazy AF today and is making this real easy!!

Just a note, the blue skies and sunshine in the pics does not mean that it’s warm by any means! The leggings, scarf, shirt and blazer I’m wearing to try be a bit fancy for tonight’s birthday celebrations are proving beyond inadequate. Maybe legging it up the hill will warm me up.

Think I really needed to climb Kilimanjaro, or some other mountain in a warm climate to get any sense of warmth, still freezing and starting to think museums will be the go, at least they are warm! At the top of the hill, the views across London are spectacular, distracting me from the cold momentarily, but not enough to have a real smile in selfies, instead the fake gooby smile I do when I’m uncomfortable!!

London is bloody massive, makes Adelaide seem like a little country town. No wait, it is… Into the Observatory and I made a beeline for the meridian line. Can’t say standing with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and the other in the western is on my bucket list but feel like it kinda should have been. So, patiently waiting for my moment on the line, I realised that on my touristy adventures in Greenwich today I’d already crossed the line about 10 times, but being the super tourist and having a new addiction to selfies, I waited like a tool and got a few.

I tried to feign interest in the museums and listen to the audio guide but after 30 seconds I was done. Instead I found a warm room and thawed, planning my next move… Right, Uber to the Emirates Sky Line cable car thingo, scenic ride across the river then a couple of tubes to Camden for birthday dinner. You know what they say about best laid plans! Down the hill to the road and my super awesome phone no longer has an internet connection for Uber. If I’d backed up my phone again since leaving I would have been very tempted to just throw the piece of crap in the river. Instead, I found a Costa Coffee with free WiFi and in my freezing coldness ordered a large mocha. Got this – bigger than the spaghetti bowls I have at home, and tasted like a cross between cheap chocolate and mud.

Luckily their WiFi is booming. Had a choice, try again for an Uber to the Skyline thingo, do that then 2 tubes and an hour and a half to get to dinner, arriving in Camden for our 7.30 dinner date. Or just take the tube to Camden and drink gin while I wait for the others. Gin always wins.

In Camden, a quick zip into Tesco to stash a choccie cake in my bag, kinda thought Kyles would appreciate a birthday cake at dinner, and more than just me singing to her. No one needs to hear that. I then did the google thing cos my phone liked me again, trying to find a pre-dinner drinks destination to meet Kylie. Jazz Cafe, Amy Winehouse frequented, awesome I’ll head there. Walked into a band setting up, not open yet. Some other cool sounding African themed bar, massive place and only one other person in there. Hmmm, I think Google is sick of me and purposely sending me to crapola joints. Ugh. I found the birthday girl and instead we headed to our dinner location, they do gin, it’s warm and 100m from where we were standing.

Although an hour early to The Blues Kitchen, our table was ready and as were we for all the gin!! Cheers and happy birthday Kyles!!

We were only two drinks in when Kyles buds Mel and Pete arrived. Two awesome people, Mel was from Adelaide so it was nice to not have to concentrate so hard on what someone was saying, or be paid out for my Aussie bogan accent. The dinner was beyond delicious, beef brisket with burnt ends, and after a cocktail called a Zombie I was finally warm and content, and probs a little bit tipsy!!

Being in the presence of a birthday girl, the restaurant bought out a plate of deep fried Oreos to celebrate, trumped my pissy cake so that just stayed in the hand bag. They were so good there isn’t even any photo evidence, you don’t wait for pics when deep fried Oreos are a waiting!!

Being a school night, we headed home with full bellies and a nice gin buzz. My gin buzz turned into a different kind of buzz when I got to snuggle up to Jon Snow at the tube station… I’m lucky Kylie is still my friend, my dork level was at an all time high!!

Once back at Kyles, I was excited to get my masterpiece cake out for a final celebration, unfortunately I suck and the cake ended up looking like this:

Sorry Kyles, I tried but anything food related, except eating, is just not my forte!! So instead I did what I do best, ate cake.

Thursday January 17th 2019.

January 23, 2019 0

Home of punk

Even though the previous day was nothing but naps, somehow I still slept in. Well at least a sleep in by Kylie’s standards, I think she was itching for me to get my arse out of bed and kick off our Saturday. When I finally emerged around 10 (I call a sleep in past noon), there was no way we’d get ready and tubed to Notting Hill markets before they closed at 1pm, and actually have enough time to enjoy them. Next best option, Camden Markets.

Arriving with a grumbling stomach was not a good idea. So many delicious food stalls with yummers from all corners of the earth. But there was no going past a Yorkshire Pudding Burrito. Roast beef, stuffing, potatoes, greens and gravy all wrapped in a larger than life Yorkshire pudd. Kid you not, I was making mmmm sounds as I ate. Or at least my stomach was. Soooo good, how do we not have these in Australia? Hmmm, food truck idea…

With appetites satisfied, it was time to wonder aimlessly through the lanes and buy things we didn’t need. The markets themselves are glorious, old red brick buildings, tunnels and open air stalls, so beautiful that Kyles called it – not the next best option after Notting Hill, better than.

Falling in love with a million little things, it was a lesson in restraint. I really didn’t NEED a wooden gin serving tray, a black cape jacket or a 60s style handbag. Just really really really wanted them. But I do prefer to spend my money on experiences rather than material things. And spend $$ on gin, gin makes some experiences bearable. Plus, with still over a week of my trip left, I knew if I shopped up a storm I’d be surviving on a diet of dust for the rest of the trip… but I did come across a Levi’s jean jacket with silver sequin angel wings that I couldn’t walk past… too old for sequins, maybe. Do I care? Not one bit!! Absolutely loved the markets, lots of things I just knew you’d never see in AUS, but of course, a lot of the stock standard things every second stall seems to have.

The highlight and possibly one of the most super cool stores in the entire world, Cyberdog. A raver’s dream, all things neon and glowing, everything you could ever dream of needing for a music festival or rave. Will be back before Glastonbury to stock up on flashing mouth lights, glowing eye lashes and neon fur coats.

After what felt like 50,000 steps, we took a drinks break at the funkiest bar ever. Exposed brick, neon lights, retro posters and arch windows. Would love to teleport that bar to Adelaide.

Having our fix of the markets, it was a leisurely stroll around the streets of Camden. So different to any place you’d find in Australia – well, at least the places I’ve been to. Shops selling everything from pot flavoured lollipops and chocolate to punk rock Doc Martens that’d make any Ramones fan proud. The place has a life of its own, an absolute buzz which explains the hoards of people packing the streets. Loved Camden, it’s added to the shortlist of places I could live if (or when) I move to London. Understandable why the mega superstar Amy Winehouse lived here.

With a 40th birthday to prep and pamper for, we reluctantly headed back to Brixton, having to leg it to a tube station further down the track. The Camden station was so busy they had to close it temporarily. Could you ever imagine that happening in AUS?

Back in Brixton we had the luxury of time to get ready for the 40th birthday of Dylan, a friend of Kylie’s and her house mates Kam and Sean. Wish I’d taken more pics of Kyles and I looking glam for the night, having been a super annoying tourist and taking millions of photos every minute, for some reason, only took one pic the whole night. The photo booth at the party got a good workout but with so many peeps per shot, kinda forgot to grab any evidence for myself.

The party itself was at a gorgeous bar overlooking the city. Once again, no pics. Why oh why. Fabulous night, Dylan’s partner Joe put together the sweetest video of birthday messages from his family and friends in Brissie and of course the music was amazing so we danced the night away. Loved meeting so many new people, felt like maybe, just maybe, I could start a new life here. Or get on with making the current one even more amazing.

Saturday 12th January 2019.

January 17, 2019 0

Bender

A day of semi-rest was planned, with Kyles working from home so a contractor can paint her leaky roof and then only lunch and the theatre. Easy peasey.

It was my favourite kind of morning, a little sleep in then I cranked some tunes and took my time getting ready for a lunch date with my favourite Londoner.

Our lunch date was at Canova Hall… by golly, I want to live here!! Just a short stroll (or quick bus if you’re having a lazy day like us!) then into the coolest, industrial style warehouse/cafe/office. So first up, they cater to people who need to go somewhere and just work, a quiet zone with bottomless coffee and super fast Wi-Fi. Then for the ladies who lunch (that would be us!), booths and amazeballs food. And of course a bar and a small gin distillery, as you do. Had it of been bottomless gin I would never have left.

If I had all the money in the world, I’d buy this place and turn it into a warehouse style apartment and live my best life. Ok, if I had all that money, I’d also want to end poverty and make sure no one was homeless, but anyhoo… and yes, there are pictures of the bathrooms because they are super cool, wasn’t at all awkward taking those pics…

So after one of the best lunches possibly of my life it was a hop skip and a jump over to the West End to see the show I’d heard rave reviews about, Hamilton. I managed to snag a £100 ticket to a matinee show, single seats makes that so much easier. I had wanted to get Kyles and I tickets for her bday present but evening show tickets started at £250 for the time I was here. Wish I was that good a friend that I could have afforded it!!

The show was on at the Victoria Palace Theatre, one of the most beautiful and ornate theaters I’ve ever been to. Absolutely stunning, could have sat there for hours just looking at the ceiling and beautiful stalls.

After a sneaky gin or two while waiting, it was showtime!! It only took 30 seconds to realise this was the best show I’d ever seen in my life, trumping my faves Kinky Boots and Billy Elliot.

The story is about the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s founding fathers and right-hand man to George Washington. Washington being the dude who instigated the American revolution, achieved independence from Britain and became America’s first President. Synopsis sounds yawn worthy but add hip hop and R&B singing and dancing plus a beautiful African American cast and it blows your mind. I laughed, I cried, I got goosebumps multiple times and had a little dance in my seat. Can’t even explain how brilliant the show was, everyone will just have to see for themselves! I know I left there with a massive smile on my face and the feeling that I’d just experienced absolute artistic genius. Of course Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and composer is this brilliant, he is a massive fan of Brooklyn Nine-Nine after all.

So once again with a big goofy smile on my face, I headed over the road to meet Kylie at The Market Hall, two floors of food truck like vendors serving mouth watering food from stalls. I guess with limited space in London, food trucks en mass wouldn’t work so squish them all together, add a bar and you’ve got a bustling market hall. Still full from lunch, we just stared longingly at people’s food, wishing we had enough space in our bellies for more. There was of course space for a few gins…

From there we took the scenic walking route to The Piano Works in Farringdon, an awesome bar with a live band that plays requests from the crowd, well, most requests. My request for Lose Yourself by Eminem went unanswered, maybe because in the tip area on the request form I wrote “Be nice to your mother!”, guess that didn’t go down too well…

It was a bloody brilliant night tho, dancing and singing and proof Kyles is now a London local, running into a couple of friends and producing the only evidence the night ever happened…

So this is where I be honest and disappoint my mother, it was a MASSIVE night. So much so that when we finally got home I set my alarm for 6.30am to get up in time for my tour, too bad it was after 6.30am when I set it…

Thursday 10th January 2019… and into Friday 11th January…

January 16, 2019 0

Sun and snow

For me, the beach is my happy place. I feel myself exhale and relax. Lucky for me, I get to live right by the beach in Adelaide. But having been land locked since Christmas, well last year if I can be so lame and claim that, I felt a longing for the ocean. So today I headed to Brighton, also the namesake of the beach next to where I live so was on my list of places I had to visit.

I feel like getting around London is super easy, thanks to my awesome City Mapper app but also because the tube and trains are always on time and easy to move between… says a foreigner only doing it for two weeks, I’m sure locals have something else to say! So a tube and a train and I’m in Brighton, about an hour and a half travel all up.

And then there it is, the ocean. The locals must have thought I was a looney because before I could help myself, I said out loud, “Hello ocean!”. I actually have a bad habit of saying hello to inanimate objects, usually things I love, hello home, hello bacon…

So after 10 minutes of staring at my beloved ocean, I meandered down the esplanade to my breakfast stop. A long train ride so I knew exactly where I was going and the chorizo and egg goodness that awaited me, the breakfast martini was a welcome surprise!! Hello breakfast…

Having purposely not planned to do much of anything except chill at the beach, I wandered up the esplanade and everywhere I looked, I fell more and more in love with Brighton. So English with the terrace houses and chimneys along the foreshore rather than the modern monstrosities they build in adelaide. And the little shops and bars tucked away under the esplanade. And when the sun peeked through, perfection.

At the gorgeous Brighton Palace Pier I found Zoltar!! Might not mean much to some but I LOVED the movie Big with Tom Hanks growing up and Zoltar has a starring role making dreams come true. While I didn’t technically make a wish, he did tell me my fortune, scarily accurate about the past and hopefully true about the future. Starting to think the big wish is coming true too, that’s probs got more to do with butter beer and pies though…

The one major thing that AUS Brighton has on my new love Brighton… sand!! The pebbles, rocks or whatever they are, surely would not be comfy to sunbake on and how the hell would you even make a sandcastle?? I also once again for the millionth time in my life wore inappropriate footwear….

With time up my sleeve, I had another chance to mess around with my SLR camera and pretend to be a photographer. Would be nice to stop pretending and actually learn when I get back! Here are my faves:

Also had time to sit back at a gorgeous bar called Lucky Beach and enjoy a gin and the sunshine, while getting lost in my own head.

An impending theatre date with Kyles meant I needed to be back in the city pretty soon so I decided to wander through The Lanes, an old shopping area on the way to the train station. As soon as I stumbled onto the first lane, I knew I should have sucked up my gin quicker and spent more time here! Cute little lanes (hence the name!) that looked straight out of Diagon Alley with eclectic shops and market stalls. Could have spent hours, managed to buy a couple of rings and a birthday present then leg it back to the train in time, and by leg it, I mean I ran, in boots and all…

So after the sun came the snow, Jon Snow that is!! The Christmas present from Kyles, tickets to see True West starring Kit Harrington. After a delish dinner at The Port House, a random pick but awesome share plates, it was time to hit the West End. Being the dork that I am, I was ridiculously overexcited and when Mr Harrington just wandered onto the stage while everyone was still taking seats, I nearly lost my shit. Weird way for a play to start, dude sitting at a desk on stage reading, that’s when I realised I knew nothing about the play… other than Jon Snow’s starring role. But before me was not Jon Snow, not that I expected him to be kitted (like that!) up like a crow but he was the exact opposite. Porn star mustache, his glorious hair cut and slicked back, and in shorts and loafers with a 70s style shirt, ahhhh… the play started and all thoughts of my favourite member of the Nights Watch were gone, out came a southern American accent and a struggling play write was before my eyes. Round of applause to Mr Harrington for completely breaking the brooding pretty boy stereotype and doing something completely opposite to GoT. Complete respect. Great theatre, enthralled from start to finish.

Being hump day for Kyles and having had a busy few days myself, neither of us were up for a big night so a quick pop by Somerset House to check out the ice skating, still sore from skiing, we literally looked then left. Sometimes you gotta know when to call it!

Wednesday 9th January 2019.

January 15, 2019 0

Hobbits

Ahhh, the day after auroras, waking up with the thought of “did that really happen?!?” Absolute awe. Now just to wait for the pics because if there aren’t pictures, it didn’t really happen right?!?

Both a bit overwhelmed and tired from a late night we got stuck into some good ol’ Finnish delicacies – well, the version from the local Kioski, heat n eat style from our kitchen with a snowy view…

Salmon soup, chicken & cheese soup and meatballs with mash… surprisingly tasty… or just really damn hungry…

Having not heard back from our 2 star Airbnb host, we had hoped to stay in our accommodation for a few hours longer to avoid the -17 outside, but low and behold Annikki (made that up) arrived to clean so time to leg it, out in -17 at noon with no where to go, luckily the Finnish get the whole drink coffee and veg thing. Their coffee houses are funky as hell and the coffee ain’t too bad either.

So having to wait it out til 3.30pm for our bus to Saariselka, after the coffee house got bored of us we dragged suitcases and all to the local shopping centre where our eyes did not deceive us, a rock n roll Mexican restaurant – never knew those two things belonged together until now! Cue gin… and a trip to supermarket to stock up on snacks for the road trip… and then some more gin… my first taste of the national Finnish drink Lonkero, which just happens to be Gin… knew I belonged here.. and you can buy it in the supermarket aisle… triple points for Finland!!

And in another plus for Finland, their bottle shops are called Alko, for reals… this place has my heart!

So bus station bound with Google leading the way, how the hell people got around before Google maps in this weather without turning into icicles is beyond me, but we trudged, dragging suitcases through the snow to the Linja-Autoasema and after some interesting conversation with a local who thought we needed advice on how to live our best life – we were off to Saariselka. I guess we did look that bad and the dude thought we needed it…

So after a breakfast of microwaveable goodness, second breakfast of coffee, elevenses of gin and I guess a lunch of gin, it was time for random supermarket snacks for luncheon and afternoon tea – Thai Green Curry Pringles, something chocolate, another thing chocolate then this green sugary bundle of yum – still no idea what it was, just tasted like green according to Kyles…

The bus ride was like crossing the Mountains of Moria, snow blizzard outside and Saruman trying to bury us in snow.. luckily takeaway cans of gin took the edge off the fear… somehow on a road we couldn’t see, our frickin amazing bus driver got us to Saariselka, and what do we know, our accommodation is at the local pub where there’s a roaring fire and karaoke!!

No surprises, we took two minutes to drop bags at our room and head to the local. We settled in fireside for a dinner of salami sticks and potato chips while indulging in a supper of Lonkero, which I renamed Loki after my favourite Avenger and then somehow my arm was twisted into singing Karaoke… after a Wonderwall warm up, we struck a chord with Don’t Stop Believing then our final ballad of I Got You Babe… of course we are both amazing singers, we didn’t at all clear the bar, just enjoyed the wild applause from our audience…

Yeah nah. Bedtime.

Thursday 3rd January 2019.

January 7, 2019 0

Straight to Hel

New Year’s in Hel? Why the Hel not.

Nothing like a 4.30am wake up call to get the party started but if you were never asleep, is it really a wake up or a get the Hel up call?

So we legged it to Gatwick in the early hours, with enough time to shove our faces with the only thing that cures the morning grumps, bacon…

So now we’re on a 3 hour flight to Helsinki – hence the Hel references if you’re still a little behind – just licked spilt Gin off my iPhone screen so I think that’s a prelude of the night to come… stay tuned…

Quite literally, landing in Helsinki and still in a bit of a jet lag haze, looking out the window on decent and wondering if the white walker army is close, I swear we just flew over The Wall.. wake up!!!

The first introduction to Finnish people… the dude at Immigration, right out of my Fireman calendar and spoke my language.. “How are you mate?”, his response, “Eh…”, right back at ya.

Getting a little (a lot) lost legging it from the airport to the train to the tram and finally to the Airbnb, host looks like a damn model, where the hell are well? Not my kind of hell…

But yeah nah (they don’t get “yeah nah” in Europe), we got our New Years kits on, apparently us Aussie girls think wearing fancy dresses and heeled boots out in snow and ice for New Years is a fab idea… not so smart, but pretty… through beer goggles maybe…

So I love my white walker contacts and wear them at every loser chance I get. Out in Helsinki, people aren’t fazed, it’s normal to look like an apocalyptic zombie, I like this place…

Without any definite plans, winging it as only us Aussies say, headed to the Nepalese restaurant downstairs for sustenance to meet our gin intake then onto a secret bar that’s so secret it’s a secret you’re standing up outside for a damn hour before they let you in… anyhooo… the gin was good, the secret passage way in was kinda cool and the price of the gin, well, it was gold plated gin after all… (no pics cos it’s a rule that they are just too cool for pics)…

Heading outside to catch New Years in all its glory, we quite literally stumbled into a blizzard…

…its was freakin amazing, I’m mesmerized by snow and probs only known by my nearest and dearest, I LOVE fairy lights… Helsinki is the capital of fairy lights. Snow + fairy lights = happy holly. Proof is in the picture fail that turned into a video, was actually smiling with teeth, I never show teeth unless I’m 200, no wait, 500% happy… can’t recall last time that happened. Check my pics on FB, when was the last time I showed teeth?? (Please don’t check, that’d be kinda weird…)

So anyway, the point of the long winded tail is that when the clock struck 12 and 2019 kicked off, I was in a bar, drinking gin with my bestie, looking out through a massive window at snow, fairy light and fireworks… and I’ll never be able to wipe that smile off my face!! And would never want to.

BTW, the bar forgot the tail bit of the menu but the window and snow and gin… that was really the point of this pic… liar…

Monday 31st December 2018.

December 31, 2018 0

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