Stephen & Jen

Well, its actually been a while since we went to Wales the last time but we thought it necessary to upload our entry for this awesome weekend adventure anyway...

We headed off in mid May for a weekend on the road and some exploring of the rolling green hills and castles on offer in Wales.

We started by driving out from London direct to Tintern Abbey, one of the greatest monastic ruins in Wales. There were very few people around, with the exception of a few kids on a school trip, so we were able to explore and take photos at our leisure.

After getting our fill of the Abbey we hopped back into the car and headed for Chepstow, not far down the road from the Abbey, to Raglan Castle.... a fantastically beautiful castle in South Wales...

The evening was closing in and the cloud settling in low so we took a drive up through the [Brecon Beacons National Park],

to Brecon Town where we found an Inn for the night and got a good sleep before heading out early again the next morning...

We took a long drive out to Carreg Cennen Castle, an amazing Castle sitting atop a hill amongst rolling green hills and farms. Carreg Cennen goes back to the 13th Century and it is amazing that it is still in such a magificennt state after such a long time.... and the best views we have seen yet....

We then moved down and towards Cardigan Bay to visit the Devils Bridge.... whose most famous feature is probably its three bridges - which are built one on top of the other. The original bridge was believed to have been built either by the Cistercian monks of Strata Florida abbey or by Knights Templar. The latest bridge was built by the County Council during this century. Walking through the area, we got to see some amazing waterfalls of the River Mynach...

We loved Wales... and look forward to more weekend roadtrips over the next year or so - maybe next time it will be warm enough to camp!!

On Monday I read an article about a piano player/singer named Frank McComb. He was playing one show only in London that night. I had not heard of him previously but I read who his influences were and thought it may well be a set that we would enjoy. I also thought it would be nice for Jen and I to get out and treat ourselves to dinner and a show. I got online and reserved a table at the Pigalle Club in Piccadilly. We had been to the club before but, having been to the Moulin Rouge in the Pigalle region of Paris, we had an idea of the sort of club it might be. We arrived and our waiter met us at the door upstairs. He led us down several flights of stairs and showed us to our table. We were staggered to find ourselves at front of the stage about three tables back. The club was a very authentic Paris supper club, the type of place you could imagine Dexter Gordon or Miles playing back in the day. We were feeling very special, but trying not to be too obvious in our excitement. We ordered a bottle of French red and chose our courses.
The lights were dimmed as we ate to the sounds of Monk, Bird, miles and Trane. By desert the DJ had started his set and we had moved to George Benson and Barry White. It was all very romantic and we were feeling pampered and relaxed.

Shortly after our meal Patrick, who hosts the Monday music night, took to the mike to introduce the evenings guest, Frank McComb. Frank sat at the Rhodes and the band followed. Drums, bass, percussion, sax and trombone. From the first 4 bars we were pretty sure we had made the right choice. When the vocal came in we were certain. The man has a voice, the quality of which I have only heard a couple of times before. Frank McComb gave us a combination of the smooth, soulful styles of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway but with the clever scat lines of a be bop horn player. He is the personification of everything I love about music. Jen and I were blown away. The band was a group of London guys who were doing just this one night and they nailed it! The set was fantastic. A brilliant fusion of jazz, soul and R&B. Add some funk and Gospel overtones, present it with a dynamic honesty and vocal fearlessness, what you get is Frank McComb.

Hello folks,

Much has transpired since our last blog entry. We have left our maximum security residential unit in the picturesque White City Estate. We were sad to say farewell to our lovely nieghbours. We will miss the warm smiles and occasional items of food that Aunty Sha brought over to us. We won't miss the police sirens, loud parties on a sunday night, screaming teenagers, screaming couple downstairs or the subtle fragrance of the lift. We also said farewell to our Australian housemates Lou and Dave. They are heading home to NSW in August to get married before returning to London. We thought it might be more appropriatefor them to spend the beginning of married life on thier own. They are living in South London now and planning for the big event.

We decided to head a bit further out of the city and found a beautiful part of North London called East Finchley. It was the iron lady, Maggie Thatcher's, old constituency. It has a small independant cinema, The Phoenix, and a great pub with jazz and trivia... heaven! We have found ourselves in a really nice, quiet street and have Cherry Tree Woods within minutes, which makes for a wonderful start to Saturdays. We take an occasional amble through the greenery first thing in the morning. We get to wake up to the sounds of birds again! It sounds strange to anyone living in Australia but we had no birdlife in White City.

Our flat is a real contrast to the last place. It is a very modern remodelled victorian house. We have the very top flat comprising a laundry, loungeroom, modern kitchen and upstairs bedroom & Bathroom. We are feeling enormous benefits from being on our own as a couple. We are able to really relax, which is the essential antidote to working life in London. We have had a couple of trips away since moving in but I will leave those for the coming entries.

Here are some photos taken around our neighbourhood.

I've never met anyone who came back from Prague without raving about it, and we are no exception.

The city looks just like the sort of places I imagined when I read fantasy books as a kid - huge cathedral spires, gothic statues and gargoyles reaching out from the tops of buildings ready to pounce. Add menacing grey skies and you have a very pretty, quite unique, almost spooky city.

We arrived in Prague in the afternoon. Dave had planned our journey to the Hotel by way of public transport. 1 bus, 2 trains and 60 minutes later we were checked in. The rooms were very nice and the staff were pleasant. We fuelled up each morning with the hot complimentary breakfast and it kept us running well into the afternoon.

As is the case with most of the cities we have visited in Europe, the transport network is very good. We were able to get around very easily. Our hotel was located close to Florenc Metro station and our well set out transport map made it easy to plot a course, each day, to see the various sights.

We have had a great run of luck with regard to weather on our travels almost no rain in more than 12 months. Suffice it to say, the run came to an end in Prague. Severe storms swept through Europe and the Czech Republic was not spared. We took the finicular up a steep hill to visit the replica Eifel Tower only to be met at the top by howling winds and a massive hail storm. We managed to get around, between rainy periods, and see just about everything on our list. The sun even showed it's face for a couple of hours!

Prague is a truly beautiful city, even dressed in hues of grey. Here are some of the sights.

Statue of Jan Hus in the Old Town Square

King Wenceslas watches over Wenceslas Square

Statue of St Augustine on Charles IV Bridge

The lamenting of Christ, Charles IV Bridge

17th Century statue of the Crucifixion

Charles IV Bridge

Memorial to the victims of communism

Night view towards Prague Castle

Gargoyle at St Vitius Basilica

St Vitius Basilica

This trip we decided to spare ourselves the 4am taxi ride to Luton airport for an Easyjet flight. Instead we got the Heathrow express straight to terminal 2. After about 2 hours in the air we were landing at Leonardo Di Vinci airport in Rome.

We took the express train from the airport to Rome's main station, Termini. It was about 8pm and dark so we hailed a cab and headed for our hotel. We arrived at the address. Only one problem... no hotel. Our driver lokked confused for a while and then jumped out of the cab and started racing down the road searching for the hotel. A guy came out from his business and explained, in charades, that the numbers were all out of whack and that our hotel was actually a block down the road behind us. We found it, checked in and laughed with relief.

Day one we jumped on the metro and headed for the Colosseum. We figured why not start with the big guns of sightseeing. There is a metro stop located there so we emerged from the station to the awesome sight of this huge structure. It is genuinely staggering to see something so enormous and so old. It had a capacity of over 55000 and was built in the first century AD.

The Colosseum

To be able to walk the interior gave just a hint of what it may have been like in all its glory.

The rising stands of the Colosseum

Just beside the Colosseum stands the Arco di Constantino.

A short walk SW took us to the Palantino, a hilly area scattered with the ruins of temples built for the Emperors. There is an orange grove at the top and several terraces from which we could view the remains of the Roman Forum.

We Grabbed some pizza sandwiches for lunch and ate seated in the shadows of the Coloseum.

After a pit stop we headed out for a veiw of the city at night. We had our guide book, a metro map and an illustrated map provided by the hotel. Now... as we have found previously in European cities, it is easy to get a bit mixed up with similar sounding place names. We devised a foolproof Aussie system to plot our course around Rome. We determined that if we got onto the metro and Boyzone station (Manzoni) and travelled past Colin See 'em and continue as far as Vinnie Barbarino station (Barbarini) we could walk to Trevor the fountain. It was illuminated beautifully and, as is customary for visitors, we tossed coins into the water to ensure we would return.

Trevi Fountain is so impressive and beautiful at night, we took a heap of photos before getting completely lost on the walk back. We did, however, manage to get a look at the Colosseum on the way home.

On Monday we headed out to the Vatican. We arrived at about 10.30am but the line to get in wound around corner after corner for blocks. We decided to give it a miss and, instead, jumped on the first tram we saw and went exploring. Here's what we found...

View along the Tiber towards St Peters

Parliament house

Entrance to Piazza del Popolo

Piazza del Popolo

Central fountain in Popolo

Fontana detarughe

On our anniversary we got up really early and took the first train to St Peter's Basilica. The piazza was almost completely deserted and we were able to watch the sunrise from within.

We went inside the Basilica and it was astonishing.

Next stop was the Vatican museum, home of the Sistine Chapel

Parts of it reminded us of the bathroom in our old place in Coburg!

It was still really early so we went and explored the ruins of the Roman Forum.

We returned to Central Rome and climbed the Spanish Steps.

We walked to the Pantheon and had lunch at a cafe out front.

... before taking a romantic ride around the city in a horse drawn carriage.

We finished the day off with dinner at a great restaurant near our hotel. The food was fantastic and the service was outstanding.
We had a beautiful day filled with amazing experiences and, most importantly, spent it together. We thought it was going to be tough to capture the romance of Paris but Rome delivered us a perfect day.

Wednesday was our last day in Rome. We spent a lazy morning in Piazza Della Repubblica

So that was Rome. The amazing city where the ancient word meets the modern world

With Dave and Liz in town for a while, we decided to head off to Hungary for a few days. We landed early on Thursday and checked into the Ambra hotel. It is located on the Pest side of the Danube, close to transport and some of the main tourist sights. We basically spent our five days trying to get around to most of the must see spots. We were struck by the beauty of Budapest. The architecture is impressive, the river setting is beautiful and we were able to view the city from many aspects as we travelled from one vantage point to another.

We managed to visit almost everything onour list and discovered an amazingly affordable Budapest buffet which provided dinner on our final three days. It's a great city for a short break, plenty to see and some beautiful statues and structures. Check some of them out below

Standing on the Chain Bridge between Buda and Pest

View from the Chain Bridge

Budapest on the Danube River

Statues in Pest

Buskers at Fisherman's Bastion

Hawk at Fishermans Bastion

Statue of Imre Nagy looking towards parliament

Liz and Dave view Pest from Royal Castle

St Stephen's Basilica

The dome of St Stephen's

Budapest at night

Pest from Fisherman's Bastion

Gellert Hill Statues

The view of the city from Gellert Hill

Budapest from Margit Bridge

Parliament House

'Hello London. Are you ready for the greatest fireworks show on the planet?' That was the question booming out of the loudspeakers around Big Ben and Westminster Bridge. It was met with a resounding 'Yeah' from the crowd. We were... and it was!

The crowd gathers as the New Year approaches

I've seen my share of impressive fireworks displays from the Sydney Harbour Bridge but the show we witnessed at the London Eye was unmatched. It was an amazing feeling to stand at the feet of Big Ben as the bells tolled midnight. Then to be treated to an unbelievable display of colour and light, with the booming sound of the charges echoing off the banks of the Thames, made this a truly memorable night.

Fireworks shoot from the London Eye

Fireworks show in London

London Eye fireworks

More fireworks

Fireworks shoot from the London Eye

London Eye bathed in red

We welcomed our second year in England with tremendous excitement and anticipation.
We hope it is our best yet. We hope it is your best also.

Happy New Year everyone.

T'was the night before Christmas
all pudding and nog
whilst around us, in London,
a pea soup thick fog
had decended and ended
all feel in our limbs
We left midnight mass
saying "Bugger the Hymns".

Despite our brave plans to enjoy some traditional Christmas carolling. We spent only a short time in town tonight before retreating to the warmth of home and the burning of frostbitten digits. Jen met me after work and we made our way to Trafalgar Square. It looks beautiful at night and the large Norwegian Christmas tree in the center of the square looked a treat. We took a few pics before walking along Whitechapel to Big Ben and then on home.

Let us take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy festive season and lets all work on making 2008 the best year yet. To our dear families, we miss you and love you enormously. We will drink a toast, and eat our bodyweight in chocolate, in your honour. Talk to you all soon. See some of you before long. Until then, throw another turkey on the barbie!!

Love Stephen and Jen xxx

Istanbul was the perfect city for our first Eastern experience. We saw some amazing architecture, met some great people, met some very weird people, survived an exciting but terrifying Galatasaray football match, encountered a fortune telling rabbit, indulged ourselves in great food and smoked some very tasty nagileh. Add a traditional Turkish bath into the bargain and you have a recipe for a fantastic birthday.

This trip, for the first time, we flew out of London City Airport. It was a breeze and far preferrable to the Mad taxi dash to Luton. We flew Swissair to Attaturk Airport in Istanbul via Zurich.

We arrived late on Friday afternoon and met our transfer to the hotel. We had a reasonable run through peak hour traffic and had a good view of the city and its prominent sights. We checked in without any problems. The room was small but more than adequate and the constant noise of the toilet cistern was easily fixed by turning off the main tap. We received email instructions from Adam as to where we would meet he and Megs. They had done some recon the previous week and so we were provided with very detailed steps.

Go out of your hotel. Turn right. Follow the road to the tram tracks. Follow the tracks uphill to the tram station. Take a tram to the bottom of the hill. Get off at Eminonu station. Cross the road to the Ferry terminal. Get on the ferry to a place called Kadikoy. We had been given a map when we checked in. We followed the instructions out of the hotel and up the hill. We took a quick pit stop and had a Turkish coffee and some very tasty pastries. We located Kadikoy on our map. So we knew where we were going. We jumped on a tram and headed down to the ferry terminal. We looked across the river towards Kadikoy. It was hardly any distance at all. We assumed that the ferry instruction was there because of cultural aspects or something but it seemed a bit lazy so we decided to stay on the tram and simply get off at the stop where we were to meet A & M. We got off and took a short walk through the underground path network before finding ourselves at the riverside.

We called Adam, excited to see them again. He asked us what we could see. None of the things he described, it turned out. Oooops... slight typographical error on our part. As we would find out along the trip, many places have only one letter differing them. This was the case for us. The 'lazy' ferry trip should have taken about 45 mins to 1 hour and was across a totally different part of the river system. Disappointed, we resolved to catching up the next day instead.

Jen and I walked along under the Galata bridge. There are a variety of restaraunts there and we were feeling pretty hungry. We settled on a place with tables outside, a nice view of the water and a backgammon set into the bargain. We enjoyed local beer and a very good curry.

The kid who served us was very attentive. He spent much of his time standing near us and grinning. He was very nice and keen to offer his services. In fact, when the band inside started playing, he even asked me if I wanted to dance. I'm still not sure if he meant with him or on my own. I spared Istanbul the embarrassment of seeing me dance.

After dinner we walked back across the bridge towards our hotel. The bridge was lined with fishermen pulling large numbers of small fish from the water on long blank lines. The town had a nice energy and we were looking forward to the coming days.

Fishermen on the Galata bridge

Saturday Adam and Megs came and met us at our hotel. It was a fantastic feeling to hug family again. Jen was beaming. We spent the day wandering around Sultanahmet. After breakfast we visited the Basilica Cistern - originally constructed for water storage for the Great Palace of Byzantium. Its an expansive structure with a boardwalk winding through tall romanesque columns. They are individually lit and create a beautiful effect as they reflect off the water. Of particular interest are the twin medusa heads deep within the cistern.

Medusa Head at the Basilica Cistern

The Basilica Cistern

Next we walked to the Blue Mosque. It is an amazing structure with a large, busy square and gardens outside.

Exterior of the Blue Mosque

Courtyard of the Blue Mosque

We removed our footwear and stepped inside. The interior was beautiful, with large round candle chandeliers suspended by long cables from the ornate ceiling. It was a unique opportunity to see people quietly exercising their faith.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque

We left the Mosque and walked down towards the ferry terminal at Eminonu. On the way we met a man with a fortune telling rabbit with the mystical name of rabbit number one. Jen got bullied into having her fortune told. It entailed the rabbit picking up one of many small pieces of folded paper from a tray. The paper was unfolded to reveal a message. It said she had to watch her health. Amazing! how could rabbit number one have known that. We paid the man and walked to the ferry terminal. We boarded the ferry to Kadikoy, on the Asian side of Istanbul, and enjoyed a spectacular view of the Mosques as the day slowly turned to evening.

View of the Mosques from the Asia side of Istanbul

Adam and I were sporting moustaches as part of the Movember charity event. As per the guidelines, the tash comes off when November ends. We had a small gathering of friends at Adam and Meaghan's place for some party snacks and the ceremonial shave. It was so very good to say goodbye to the endless itching of a, decidedly inadequate in Turkey, charity tash. I was also celebrating a birthday so we were all able to enjoy some cake into the bargain.

Movember Finale - pre shave-off

With the party over we jumped on a bus and headed into town for a taste of local food and local music. We found a bar with a live band. We had a great time, the music was fantastic and Paul even joined the locals for some dancing.

Sunday morning Jen and I visited Hagia Sophia. It is a magnificent building with marble floor and a huge dome above. The interior is adorned with symbols of the faiths which have predominated historically. In 1935, after 1400 years as a place of worship, both a Cathederal and a Mosque, Ataturk turned Hagia Sofia into a museum. Today Christian mosaics share the interior with large wooden medallions inscribed with Arabic caligraphy. It is a beautiful, peaceful space.

Hagia Sophia

Inside Hagia Sophia

Interior

Women on their way to prayer

Next activity for us was to be the antithisis of the peaceful morning. We had tickets to the football match between Galatasaray and Istanbul F.C. We knew very little about the teams involved but as it was a Galatasaray home game, in the stadium known simply as 'Hell', we knew we were going to be fervently supporting the red and yellow!

Adam, Megs, Jen and I made our way to the ground and after a couple of security searches were inside and finding our section. We met up with Josh and Jessica, from the previous night, and we secured seats for ourselves on the lower section near one of the goals. The atmosphere was electric. The crowd was a sea of red and yellow with large drums to keep the endless chants and songs in sync.

There was a small caged area for Istanbul F.C supporters. Suffice it to say... there were none. The crowd belted out a variety of songs with real gusto and when the teams ran onto the pitch they were welcomed with whistles (the Turkish equivilent of booing) or cheering and wild applause. Just before kick off a hush fell over the crowd. There was an eerie silence and then it was game on. The first taste of excitement was when the visitors scored early in the first half. We heard the collective moan of the crowd followed by the sound of chairs being broken all around us.
It was a little intimidating. We made sure everyone understood we shared the dissappointment. We wanted to make it clear we were not supporting the opposition. Oh well... only one down and the majority of the game still to be played. Not too dire, we thought. Then Istanbul scored again. The cracking of seats echoed around the stadium. We were very relieved to hear the half-time whistle. In the break we chatted with a few of the locals about some of the Australian players doing well overseas. I assured the gentleman next to me that we were still in the game and he looked to the heavens for assistance.

The Second half started with a couple of scares as Istanbul dominated play again. Then the unbelievable happened against the run of play Galatasaray scored! The crowd went crazy and the guys around us hugged each other and us! One more we screamed. Just one more goal and we might just survive to write the blog. My new friend looked up at the clock and said it was crunch time. He vowed that if we scored again he would give me his Galatasaray scarf. With only minutes left, an obvious penalty was ignored by the ref. The crowd screamed at him and our hearts sank. My new friend suggested it would be best if we all left with he and his friends for safety reasons. That sounded like a good idea to us. In the dying moments of the game we scored again. High fives and hugs all around, and a new scarf around my neck.

Our Galatasaray friends

A two all draw meant that everyone got home alive. Josh even managed to take a large section of broken seat home as a souvenier. We celebrated our survival with a meal and some nagileh (nah-ga-lar) we decided on cappucino flavoured in one and double red apple in the second. I over did it, felt a bit sick and turned white for a while.

Last big activity for the trip was a traditional Turkish bath. We decided on Cemberlitas. It is a segregated bath but the facilities are identical in both the mens and womens sections. In some of the baths the womens facilities are much less grand than the mens. Adam and I said goodbye to our wives at the reception area and headed off to get changed.

We donned our peptemals, which are printed cotton body wraps, and walked into the steamroom. It didn't seem too hot at first, but after dousing ourselves with the very hot tap water and lying on the large marble platform in the middle of the room, we were feeling the heat. Adam had purchased a massage and I could hear the slapping and thumping behind me. I had decided not to risk my back and chose to simply enjoy the heat. After about 45 minutes we were done. We got dressed and waited for the girls in the bar area.

Cemberlitas Hamami (image from official website. http://www.cemberlitashamami.com.tr)

When they joined us we all agreed that we felt relaxed and had enjoyed the experienced. We had a final meal together, again enjoying the pita platter of tiny meat, and called it a night.

Tuesday we were heading home again, so it was time to shop. We hit the spice market and the Grand Bazaar. We purchased tea, spices, carpet, cushion covers, ornaments and a backpack to put it all in. We could easily have spent a lot more time and money in there.

The spice market

Looking out from the bazaar

Glass lights at the bazaar

It was tough to say goodbye. Christmas was only weeks away and Adam and Megs were going back home to spend it with family. We had a really wonderful time in Istanbul. Adam and Meaghan were fantastic hosts and had arranged the activities perfectly. We will definately visit again.

A few weeks back Jen, Lou and myself toddled down to the Riverside studios in Hammersmith to be part of the live audience for Jerry Springer's new show 'Nothing but the truth'. In spite of the fact that this show didn't feature a crack addicted secretly cross dressing bi-sexual out of control teen hillbilly deadbeat dad secretly been sleeping with the now pregnant mother of his long term girlfriend... his midget stripper cousin, We did have a lot of fun and even got to chant "Jerry...Jerry...Jerry".

The format of the show is this: Contestants subject themselves to a polygraph and answer increasingly personal and challenging questions in an attempt to win up to £50,000. Pretty straightforward wouldn't you say?

We arrived a little late and, once inside with our tickets, found ourselves at the end of the line. When we entered the studio there were only a few scattered seats left and it looked like we were to be separated. Dame fortune smiled upon us as we were ushered to 3 reserved seats. They were in the front row directly behind the area onstage where the contestants family members and friends are seated. Nice... happy with that.

We were feeling excited because we figured we were positioned in an area of the audience where we would get our heads on TV quite a bit. It then dawned on me that, as it was mid November, I was sporting a very Village People moustache as part of the Movember charity event. Not really the way I wanted to present myself to the viewing public.

After a bit of applause practice and some jokes from the warm up guy, we were ready to roll. "Ladies and gentlemen would you please welcome... Jerry Springer" we clap like crazy and all start chanting "Jerry...Jerry...Jerry". It is then explained to us that this is a DIFFERENT show and, whilst we are encouraged to get involved, we can leave the Jerry chanting alone. So we did. Jerry had a bit of a chat to us and then taping started.

The first contestant was a self important London tour operator in his 50s named Peter. He was a total tool. He starting trying to do gags from the first question. He had his ex wife, step son, elderly father, and current young Russian girlfriend sitting onstage with him on the family and friends couch. The first round of questions were a walk in the park...

"Do you lie about your age ?"
"Yes"
A long pause followed by a Hal 9000 style voice saying "That answer is .... correct"

"Could you be considered a Bull##itter?"
"Yes"
"Do you use your job to pick up women?"
"Yes"

After two rounds of questions, we had learned that he joined clubs to network for his business, Said he gave to charities without doing so, thinks his divorce was the best thing that could have happened because now his friends are envious of all the women he gets. Peter had picked up £5000 and the audience was turning on him. He was revealing himself as a sleazy, over confident pratt who had little regard for anyone else. Jerry asked if he wished to continue and answer another four questions to get to £10000? Peter played on. The questions got more personal and more challenging.

"Did you pick up your current girlfriend on one of your tours?"
"yes"
"Are you currently cheating on her?" At this point the camera zooms in for a close up of his girlfriend smiling and laughing nervously. Peter pauses before telling her that they will have a long chat after the show. She is still smiling but now her eyes are filled with tears.
"Yes" he answers. "That answer is ...correct" says the computer voice. We all hoot and boo. "Dump him" we all shout. At this point we realise that we are not being told off for yelling out... so we all compete to try and get our voices heard on the telly.

The next question made us hate him even more. "Have you ever had a sexual relationship with one of your step son,Carl's, girlfiends?" asked Jerry. "We will need to have a talk about this after the show" Peter says "Yes I have". This time the tears are Carls. "They had split up" Peter protested. "NO we were together" replied Carl.
Jerry then tells Peter that Carl would like to ask the next question. "Have you ever had a homosexual experience?" the crowd starts to cat call and waits with baited breath for the answer. "It's a long story" he says, "I was tricked at a job interview when I was younger" he says, "It was supposed to be a massage" he says, "Yes". The audience takes to him mercilessly. Jerry explains that there is nothing wrong with having a homosexual experience bat does wonder how you can go for a job interview and wind up 'accidently' having sex with a man! We now have only one question to go in order for Peter to reach £10000. "Are you satisfied with the size of your penis?" asks Jerry. "I didn't realise until I left my wife just how above average I am... she kept it a secret for 18 years of marriage" he replies. His ex wife laughs at him and shakes her head. "Since the divorce", says Peter, "I have had the chance to actually ask a lot of partners that very question". He pauses. "What did he say?" I yell out. The audience roars with laughter, Jerry starts laughing and Peter looks embarrassed. "For those of you at home, our audience member asked what did he say" says Jerry. He tells Peter that he needs a final answer and notes that if the item inquestion is anywhere near as long as his answers so far that he would clearly have no issue. "I'm very satisfied with the size" says Peter. The room is hushed. "That answer is... FALSE" says the computer. The audience erupts in laughter and the jibes start. A great many pinky fingers are waved at Peter and his family can't help but share a laugh too.
The rules of the show are clearly stated at the outset. A false answer results in the contestant going home empty handed. So Peter had revealed himself as a total pratt, probably lost his girlfriend, ruined his relationship with his step son, all on television. And gone home without a single pence. Now that's entertainment!

Stephen.

(Cue Barry White's 'My first, my last, my everything')

Ladies...

Movember Day 8

I ask you, is there anything sexier than a man with a moustache? Hell no (I hear you say). One need only remember the unabated sex appeal of Magnum P.I or Jason King or any number of international cricketers in the 1970s. The evidence is clear, a man simply looks like a heavy set woman with a gut unless he is sporting a mo. That's what makes Movember the sexiest charity event on the calendar. How could I resist then when the cause of mens health issues came knocking on my bathroom door. I stood tall, put my razor down and put my hair where my mouth is!

I am now proud to be one of the members of the 'Fantashtics', growing a 'Village People' mo for charity. Mind you, it's a little easier for my team mate, Adam, he is currently living in Turkey. Now everybody knows that Istanbul is Motown. Everyone over the age of 8 has a moustache there. I, on the other hand, am subject to quizzical and envious looks from strangers on the London underground as I commute to work each day. I have explained to the people at my workplace that I am growing this bad boy to raise awareness about mens health, and that they must now refer to me only as 'Cougar':

"Stephen can you fix a paper jam in the 6th floor copier?"
"Who?"
"Sorry, Cougar can you fix a paper jam in the 6th floor copier?"

I should point out here that I was originally to be known as 'The Cougar' but after lengthy discussion with my boss, Craig, I decided to drop the 'The'. A good decision I think you will agree. I mean... they don't call him 'The Prince' or 'The Skippy' do they?

The rules for participants are easy. Be clean shaven on Movember 1st and get growing for the month. Along the way, encountering the perils of in-grown hairs to unwanted advances from women in the street. It's a dirty job alright. Especially after soup!

So next year, why don't YOU consider becoming hirsute for health. Get onboard and grow a mo for charity!

Stephen.

Well one of the enjoyable things about life here in London is the flagrant disregard for public safety. This weekend that disregard came in the form of Guy Fawkes night. It brought back memories of childhood in Australia as the neighbourhood flashed and echoed as hundreds of fireworks were set off. Never ones to shirk our responsibility to embrace local culture we hit the local Tesco supermarket and purchased a modest supply of fireworks.

We thought the safest location would be a large park, located next to a hospital and a prison. The plan was to brighten lives and get the blood pumping for the heart patients, and bring memories of violent crime and life or death gun battles flooding back to prison inmates, through the use of loud bangs, flashes and smoke. Job done!

We were armed to the eyeballs with all manner of fountains, catherine wheels, rockets, bigger rockets and assorted other stuff. Apart from an over ambitious multi rocket thumb burn, everything went off with a bang. The sky was filled with colour and the grass oozed smoke for ages. We could feel the patients and prisoners joy increasing with every explosion. We were so inspired that we raced home and employed a long piece of pvc pipe to launch several of the big rockets from our balcony, over the primary school next door and into air space over the BBC garden.

We had a lot of fun this weekend. Next year we will be better prepared and go even bigger!

Stephen.

Guten Tag!
Last friday we braved the infamous Easyjet experience and headed, by cab, for a 5am check-in at Luton airport. Destination... Schonefeld airport in Berlin.

We had heard all manner of horror stories about Easyjet. Our housemates had been in Spanish meltdown after their flight was delayed for hours on the return leg of a holiday. We had left ourselves plenty of time and arrived early. Happily we had no problems and the flight boarded and left on time. At 10.30am, local time, we were in Berlin.
We stayed at a hotel in a place called Schoneweide. It is a town about 20 mins by train from the heart of Berlin and the station was only 2 blocks from the hotel.

Shoneweide railway station

The nice surprise was that our room overlooked the Spree river. The room was nice and the mattress didn’t drive springs into our backs… which made a nice change from home.

The Spree from our room

We arrived on a day of about 11 degrees with some light rain at times. It was a lot colder than London and, as we had not done our homework well enough, we had neglected to bring our winter coats. To remedy the situation, to Jens eternal pleasure, we went shopping for warm jackets. We found a shopping centre only a block away and we were able to find some very affordable coats. Whilst there we also sampled our first German currywurst. It is a somewhat traditional street food essentially bratwurst, knackwurst, bockwurst or some other variety of wurst which is then cut up and served on a small cardboard tray, smothered in tomato sauce and sprinkled with plenty of curry powder. Mmmmm… somethingwurst. The culinary tone for the trip had been set.

Currywurst

Everything had been great - the trip over, the hotel room, the food. Ideal!… well it would have been if there was no train strike or rail maintainence scheduled from Friday evening until Monday afternoon. There were, however, plenty of buses and a tram network to compensate. So after about 4 hours of waiting, studying timetables, hopping on the wrong tram, dragging ourselves from tram stop to bus stop, taking one of the trains still in service in the opposite direction we wanted… twice! we found ourselves, almost inadvertently, heading for the heart of Berlin. Easy!

Now the only antidote for a frustrating start like that is a city which really grabs you from the outset. Berlin was just that. The city looks amazing. A beautiful marriage of old and new with some of the most modern architecture we have seen in our travels so far. The people are relaxed and polite, unlike the inhabitants of London. We were struck by the amount of space we had and we felt very safe. Berlin is an incredibly clean place, everything looks new. Mind you, when you consider the extent of the damage sustained during allied bombing in WW2, almost everything is relatively new.

We took the train to Alexanderplatz. It has a large central railway station and meets both tram and bus routes. There is an open town square with shops and restaurants in all directions. After a quick bratwurst from a street stall we headed to Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg gate. During the years of division by the wall this was actually inaccessible to both the East and West sides of Berlin as it lay within the grounds of the border. It was restored after the wall came down and today is an extremely impressive structure.

Brandenberg Gate

Dusk was closing as we walked along the autumn coloured, tree lined path from the gate towards the Reichstag. Huge German flags punctuate this massive building and the words ’Dem Deutschen Volke’ (The German People) stand boldly on the facade. Within the old building a huge glass dome has been built. Visitors are able to take the spiral climb around the inside of it and enjoy a panoramic view of the city and the Spree. However, the prospect of standing in the massive queue for hours prevented us from doing so.

The Reichstag

We ambled back to Alexanderplatz and had dinner at a nearby restaurant. I was hoping for a traditional German offering. In saying that, my idea of traditional fare is most probably nothing more than an Octoberfest driven characature based on broad stereotypes. Apron clad plaited bar wenches with a fist full of beir steines. Loud ‘all singing, all slapping’ men in Leiderhosen wearing small peaked hats with a feather on the side. Maybe some midgets to carry oversized trays laiden with huge somethingwursts and every kind of pig based product known to man. Not unreasonable is it? I realise that the midgets may just be a ploy to make the food look bigger, but I wouldn’t let that diminish my enthusiasm. The food was modern international so Jen had a pizza and I had parmesan encrusted pork medallions. We managed to get through the whole process speaking Deutsch, so we headed back to the hotel feeling satisfied that the day had ended far better than it had begun.

Saturday we headed to Alexanderplatz. We wanted to see Berlins tallest structure, the Fernsehturm.

Fernsehturm

We were surprised to see only a very small number of people in line to take the elevator to the observation deck. We jumped in the line. Once through the doors and inside we realised the line snaked along the large entrance and up two flights if stairs before reaching the lift lobby. We decided it would be worth the wait. We used this tower throughout the remainder of our trip to find our way back to the train station as it stands 368 meters tall and the steel sphere which houses the observation deck reflects the sunlight on a bright day, making it unmissable. Once up on the deck, we had a 360 degree view of Berlin. It was a perfect way to see the way the historic buildings bedded into the modern city and helped us make sense of our map too.

The view of the city

We walked to Marienkirche, which is a old brick church built in the 1200s. Outside is an amazing fountain, the Neptunbrunnen (Neptune fountain). We spent a lot of time studying the detail of the work and trying to get some photographs without people climbing all over it.

The Neptunbrunnen

By this time we were running dangerously low on pork product! (having used so much energy standing in line and taking photographs) Thankfully, there was a small market nearby so we were able to refuel with a currywurst.

MMMM... somethingwurst!

Next stop was the Lustgarten (Pleasure garden)

Lustgarten

Standing adjacent to the garden is the 1905 Berliner Dom. The former church of the royal Hohenzollern family.

Berliner Dom

We wandered through the garden towards the river and discovered a boat tour about to embark, so we quickly climbed on board. It took us along the Spree which winds through the heart of Berlin.

Music academy and Fernsehturm from the boat

Kayaks on the Spree

Figures in a sculpture on the wall running alongside the river Spree

The balance of our time in Berlin was divided between ingesting wurst and checking out the tourist sights.

Checkpoint Charlie

The memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe

Tiergarten

Grosser Stern

Monday we headed to one of the places we had been most eager to see, the Eastside gallery. It is the longest remaining piece of the Berlin wall. It is home to graffiti which is deserving of the term 'Wall Art'. Some very famous images have been born on this stretch of concrete. It has, unfortunately, become littered with tags and pointless scribblings by tourists. However, it remains clear evidence of the division of the people of Berlin and cuts an imposing, somewhat depressing, line along the river.

East Side Gallery

All in all, we really liked Berlin. It is the antithesis of London - lots of personal space, very polite and relaxed people - it is a clean and affordable city. We look forward to visiting again in the future.

Stephen

Greetings all,

The story starts like this... On friday morning my boss, Craig, came into work boasting about how he had got tickets for Prince the previous night. He had managed to hook up some tickets via the drummer in his band, CC Dunham. He described in detail all the aspects of the show. I was really jealous but happy for him. He also mentioned that a little bird had told him that unclaimed tickets were resold at aroumd 8.30pm, shortly after his purpleness hit the stage. At a little before lunchtime Jen called me and told me she was in central London and was meeting a girl who was selling 2 tickets for the show that night, the LAST show of his 21 night run. The tickets were selling for £160, which is about £100 over face value... I was concerned about them being the real thing. I told Jen that we should give them a miss but suggested we head to the O2 arena and hang out in the hope that some tickets are released late. So we did.

When we arrived, I spoke to the girl at the ticket counter and she indicated, in a very subtle manner, that if tickets were to become available we were in the right place. We waited for some time and then... the unbelievable happened... WE GOT TICKETS!! Now let me put this in some perspective for you, we got tickets on the final night, we got the new CD included in the price, and the price was £31.20 each! We headed into the arena and were ushered towards our seats. We walked from the top section down, further and further...5 rows back in the middle. Amazing seats, we were behind the VIP floor section and were close... very close to the stage. We had also each been given a purple glow stick, so when the lights came down everyone cracked them and the audience was a sea of purple, it looked fantastic. The band started up and the crowd lept to its feet. Under a single spot and through the smoke Prince rose on an elevated piece of staging. The music stopped and he stood there, the crowd screamed. He leaned into the mike and said "London... what you feel for me, I feel for you" and they belted out 'I feel for you' as the opening number. They kept the music going as they went into 'Contraversy' and Jen and I, along with the rest of the packed arena, were jumping up and down at Prince's command. Awesome!

This has been a particularly significant tour because he has been showcasing all his huge hits. He has also disallowed any media coverage and has vowed never to play them again. As a result, we feel especially lucky to have attended. The gig went for ages and the songs kept coming. We were presented with '1999', 'Let's go crazy', 'Purple rain', 'U got the look', 'Cream', 'Little red corvette', 'Take me with U', 'Sign of the times' and a heap more. I tried to remember them but it is all a blur now. About halfway through the gig the band stopped and he startedchanting "Pass the peas, like we used to say" and Jen and I looked at each other in suprise. We had seen posters for Maceo Parker's upcoming tour and here was Prince singing one of his signature tunes. Suddenly out of the smoke came Maceo. He belted out an incredible sax solo as Prince gyrated around the stage in James Brown fashion. The set also saw Prince take to the stage alone with a keyboard and play a selection of tunes stripped back and very personal. It is a truly amazing thing to see one man stand at a keyboard and, before playing a note, have the entire stadium applaud and scream thier appreciation. The band came back on and when he said goodnight, we had heard one of musics great artists perform some of his greatest hits. We all stayed in our seats and chanted, whistled, clapped and cheered in the hope that we would get more. As we did, a group of latecomers arrived and squeezed past to a group of empty seat along from us. Let me tell you, it is pleasing enough to be in great seats at Prince let alone has Naomi Campbell five seats along from you. We looked around and noticed that Sadie Frost was dancing in the VIP seats, and One of the Jagger daughters behind us too. Very surreal.

The lights went to black again and Prince took to the stage again. "If you ain't going home London... neither am I" he said. And away he went. We got 'When you were mine' and 'Nothing compares to you' and others I can't remember now before he again thanked London for having him and said goodnight. We stayed in our seats and after about 20 mins we got one more, final, encore. "You're not ready for me" he said, "I've got more hits than you have time". We got purple rain again, this time with the full band and small purple and gold hearts rained down from the top of the arena and fell amongst us. I can't even remember what he closed with now, but it was an unbelievable gig.

This year continues to be the most amazing of our lives and, at times, we have to pinch ourselves to make sure it's all real.

peace.

On Friday 14th September, I did something that I never thought I would do in a million years. I picked up a brand new hire car from Waterloo (Central London) and drove it back to our good old flat in the Western Suburbs of London.

Well, after not having driven in nine months - I think I did pretty well - particularly in a big city in the middle of the day. Though the car was equipped with Sat Nav and was telling me where to turn - I still managed to miss my turn a few times and ended up driving past Buckingham Palace, Royal Albert Hall, Big Ben/Houses of Parliament and a few other sights. Quite an enjoyable drive (however what takes around 20 minutes by train took over an hour driving thanks to missed turns and London Traffic!). Anyway, already running late - Stephen and I packed our little blue hire Vauxhall (Holden) Astra with our Australian Scarves and clothes and drove in the direction of Cardiff, Wales.

Along the way - we stopped to take a look at Stonehenge and managed to see it in various lights thanks to the quickly setting sun. Stonehenge was quite amazing, it is wierd to see something in person that you have seen so may times in print or on film - the same feeling I got when I saw the Mona Lisa (but this was as big as I thought it would be - unlike the Mona Lisa). Stonehenge is really quite cool, and I can recommend the free audio guide that you can utilise when visiting as it is really fascinating to hear different theories about the purpose or history of such a bizarre structure (and though they did not mention it - I am sure that the Scientologists may also have a theory about Stonhenge that relates somehow to their master plan).

As it was getting dark, we drove through Salisbury (singing Peter Gabriels song Solsbury Hill. We since realised that this is not where he was singing about - hence the different spelling) then, Bath and Bristol. Adam and Meaghan were driving towards Cardiff in their own little Silver Citroen at the same time, though they managed to cover few more km's than us and managed to get run off the road by other drivers! It was getting late, we were tired and had nowhere to sleep. We found a cool little coach-inn called The Three Salmon which had a room for us, and there we stayed for the night (and the complimentary brekfast) until it was again time to hit the road.

We arrived in Cardiff at around mid-morning and after driving down a closed street and being "cautioned" by the police, managed to find a car park quite close to Millenium Stadium where we would be in a few hours time. We saw the Wallabies leaving their hotel as we were coming into town, and started to get excited about the prospect of watching them beat Wales in the Rugby surrounded by other Aussies who had travelled from various places to see it. Cardiff was FULL of Aussies. There is nothing quite like being surrounded by so much green and gold miles from home and all there to cheer on fellow Aussies at a huge stadium. We donned green and gold, Aussie & Boxing Kangaroo Flags and even some face paint before heading to the stadium.

What can I say about the Game? There was so much green and gold, so many people, so much good singing (okay... that was the Welsh, not us.....) and it was a very cool game to see. During the half time break - it was interesting to note that the sound system belted out "Delilah" by Tom Jones to lift the Welsh Spirits and what did we get?...... AC/DC "Long Way to The Top. Noice.

Australia beat Wales by a decent margin however there were some real edge of the seat moments, and the Welsh played with some fierce determination. It was a great feeling to see the Wallabies doing a lap of victory and wave to all of the Aussies that had come out to see them win. This was AWESOME and it was great to have been part of it.

So, the game was over and we came to the very quick realisation that none of us (Adam & Megs or Stephen and I) had anywhere to sleep. We called around hotels/motels/campsites/hostels, drove to Bath, called around again - with no luck). We ended up out in the sticks eating fish and chips and eventually found a cheap hotel that furnish us with two rooms. Nice.

The next morning we headed back to Bath for breakfast and to have a look around. Bath is a very pretty city with a lot to look at, however we stayed only a few hours after Adam and Meaghan said goodbye (again.... which was hard) and headed off again to continue their adventure. Stephen and I looked at the Roman Baths, purchased some tasty-but-expensive toffee and headed back towards London. It took us under 1.5 Hours to drive in total from Cardiff to London (excluding stops) which we were amazed at! What a trip.

NB: I did return the car to the Europcar Office on a Monday morning before work - driving in Central London in Peak Hour - without a scratch, dent or a missed turn! Not a bad effort!?

Jen xxx