Joyous Lunar New Year to those who celebrate it! Our family certainly does. No sooner had my flight landed early this morning and I had pulled stuff out of my luggage and showered (ugh, plane hair), then we went to my grandma's place for the usual new year visit. Well, my parents went the day before, but oh well. My little cousins have grown heaps over the past few months. Grandma went with us out to the city as my dad went on an errand and Grandma, Mum, my brother and I went shopping. Then we had Japanese for lunch. And then we went to my uncle's place to visit too.
Had to have a few hours nap, but I woke with a cramp in my leg so I got up for a late dinner. Need to do a lot of laundry though.
Yes, so I'm actually back home, but I should round off the section by completing the tales about our European adventures.
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Bath: We really did do it in a day!
It's quiet and it rained. So we walked around to see the Circus and the Royal Crescent, did some souvenir shopping, then had lunch before going to the Assembly Rooms. Went on a free walking tour - a lot of information about the Georgian architects and architecture. Did a pretty quick trip through the Roman Baths too, which was really good.
Had a fancyish dinner at Sally Lunn's, which is an old Bath institution. The Bath bun is the Sally Lunn bun, a trencher bread (medieval people used it as a bowl) for sweet and savoury things. Early set dinners are very good value.
Although I wanted to go to Bath, I didn't really know what to expect apart from a lot of Georgian buildings, so it was a nice surprise.
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Oxford: a town of academics and students
Well, we kind of fit right in here. Lots of cyclists and stone buildings. L's friend showed us around after treating us to lunch in his college, Balliol. Did the chapel and library of the college, then on to the cathedral at Christ Church. Went to Christ Church Hall after the lunch had ended (it's a lot smaller than it looks in the Harry Potter films) and managed to run into a tour group, so we learnt a bit about the influences on Lewis Carroll from the college. Passed the Narnia door, then went into the Divinity School (also a HP location).
Afterwards, when the friend went to fulfil other commitments, we went to the Oxford University Natural History Museum. It was really good and smelled as all taxidermy rooms.
Again, another place we did in a day, as we took an evening coach to London. They are supposed to have wifi on these coaches, but as soon as I'd sent an email, it cut out and we couldn't get the signal again. Unfortunate. Saw some pretty swanky parts of London as we headed into town.
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London
Wednesday
A pretty gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine, a little cold and some evening rain. Did a lot of walking around (as usual) around the Piccadilly Circus-Trafalgar Square area, passed a lot of large government buildings, including the high security Downing Street (the whole street), horse guards and then saw the Big Ben and the exterior of Westminster Abbey. We liked the statue of Winston Churchill on the square, although crossing the road to get to it proved a little tricky. Had vegetarian Indian for lunch then went walkabout to see a couple of palaces, including Buckingham, where the shop was interesting. Anybody want royal room fragrance?
National Gallery was huge, so we chose to see the new British art and impressionist stuff we hadn't really seen yet. I tracked down a few of the more famous paintings as well.
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Thursday
Tate Modern. I can't say that I really understand much modern or contemporary art, so wandering through the gallery was kind of weird at times. Some interesting pieces though. A massive massive spider dominates the main hall over an installation of bunk beds - some people's worst nightmare, perhaps.
Over the Millennium Bridge to seek some lunch before admiring Christopher Wren's masterpiece St Paul's Cathedral - from the outside. Stickybeaked into the shop as usual. It rained as went over the river again to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (one of the newer buildings in London; it's a recreation). I really like Shakey, so the whole experience was fantastic. Really detailed exhibition, interesting guided tour of the complex. The only think lacking was the chance to see a play. The season basically only runs during summer.
Had an early dinner before going to see the show I wanted to see, Les Misérables. This probably deserves an entire entry to itself, so I'll do that maybe tomorrow. Suffice to say for now, I loved it. One of the best I've seen so far.
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Friday
The British Library exhibition is a treasure trove. Maps, illuminated manuscripts, Elizabethan quartos of plays from Will Shakespeare, Chris Marlowe and Ben Johnson, early scrolls, prints, stamps, and literary and historical texts. Could have spent to whole day there, but L and I went off for lunch, while A went to meet her sister, who is travelling for the next six weeks.
I had a really nice salad wrap with duck and hoisin sauce from a chain called Pret a Manger - it was kind of like Peking duck with meat instead of just the skin (don't get me wrong, I love Peking duck skin).
Afterwards we went to the Tower of London. Unfortunately we missed the last Beefeater (Yeoman Warder) tour, which are apparently quite interesting with tales about who got their heads chopped off, famous and infamous prisoners, etc. There was plenty to see though, from medieval armour, torture devices and battle reenactments, to the Crown Jewels of Britain. The Cullinan Diamond is absolutely beautiful. It's interesting how the Crown Jewels keep being reset into different pieces, leaving the empty shells of their previous occupation.
Met A and sis at the British Museum, another massive building and collection, where only a few rooms were open for the evening. Plenty to see though, with lots of Near Eastern, Egyptian, Classical and more. A truly archaeological museum, famously housing the Rosetta Stone (larger than I imagined) and Lord Elgin's marbles (the Parthenon collection).
On the way back to the hostel, we saw a fox. When it disappeared, a black cat crossed our paths.
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Saturday
Went Paddington Bear hunting at Paddington, which was more difficult than we imagined. I love Paddington, he always gets into so much trouble with his misguided good intentions, marmalade sandwiches and homemade fudge.
Took a walk through Hyde Park, then Kensington Park - open lawns spotted with trees, people walking their dogs, skaters, and plenty of bird life. Saw some little squirrels pretty close up too. One kept coming up to me and looking at me for food.
Harrods is a crazy place - not just expensive, but crawling, this time of year, with January Sales bargain hunters. Found some lunch, then went to the Natural History Museum - huge huge huge - not just the collection but also the size of some of the items, including a blue whale skeleton (and reconstruction). I really liked the ant farm too. Polar bears are very large, so are bison. Fantastic gemstone collections on display. I wonder how much they've been valued at. The whole museum is really interactive, so it's no wonder that there were so many families with young children about. What a crowd!
During our travels, we have noticed lots of pieces of stray clothes articles strewn about the streets - probably estranged from their owners. We noticed a familiar looking glove on a stone fence on the way back and lo and behold, it was L's, which he had dropped at the beginning of the day and had not noticed all day. Well, it's happened before with an Italian guy riding up on his bike to return it to him earlier on this trip. He's been lucky with his gloves.
Had dinner at a local Indian place. The UK is good for Indian food.
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Sunday
Left our luggage and went to the Victoria and Albert Museum - a miscellaneous collection focusing on design and applied art. Beautiful collection, though I barely saw any of it. Sevres ceramics, furniture, early rifles, swords, Asian art, Hindu and Buddhist art, and lots of sculpture. Would have liked to see the textiles though.
Went back to the Natural History Museum to see things I'd just zoomed through the day before and to see the Vault, a room of some of the world's most amazing minerals, gemstones, etc. The display was interesting and the items dazzling.
We picked up our luggage and got to the airport really early, so after check-in and security, we wandered through the largely expensive shops, had a quick meal then boarded our flight home.
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In the Air
Basically, it was two nights in a row, as we left London at about 21:45 and arrived in Singapore at about 18:30 local time. Singapore to Sydney was also in the dark and we arrived at Sydney at 07:00. Managed a decent amount of sleep in the air and watched a few things on the in-flight entertainment system.
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Sydney
Passport control. Baggage claim - took a long time, we were waiting for about 20 minutes. Customs - I declared a few things, so no dramas at all.
That's the round tale really. Talk to me for more details if you're interested. Probably life won't be quite so event-filled for a while, but you never know.
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