Bonfire night

For this years bonfire night, we asked some friends up from the South to our Staffordshire house. We booked tickets for everyone at Shugborough Hall fireworks display. They all arrived around midday, and we then went for a wander (with buggy) over the Chase before we got ready and went out to Shugborough. The night was freezing but the fire did manage to keep everyone warm. It was uprising just how much heat it gave off, especially considering the distance everyone was kept from it.

The fireworks went on for quite some time and I reckon they must have essential a fair amount of money on them...it was certainly worth the entrance fee...

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Blackpool redux

Our second visit to Blackpool this year...strange really, not been in years and then two visits in one year. This time we went with Jyoti and Phil and this was to attend the Feet First Charity Ball - this was the charity SJ and I did the marathon walk for earlier in the year.

It was held at the Imperial Hotel...very nice place with lots of history and character, however if I'm honest the night itself was a little disappointing. It's a shame as the charity could really make a name for itself...it's so worthwhile, but I found it "cliquey" and uninviting. I won't say that I wouldn't raise more money for it but it would be nice to get some feedback, appreciation and some general feedback. I did meet with Steve Mannion who is the main Surgeon. He was actually flying to Papua New Guinea the next day and did say if I wanted to ever accompany him, I could...maybe...maybe...

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Somerset House

We took advantage of an AMEX offer to see an open air screening of The Big Blue. We went with some friends and none of us had seen it before. Great film but even better location! Simply a great way to see a movie...as long as it doesn't rain!

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Gilgamesh

Got back from India and then went straight out for...an Indian! Well, to be fair, we thought it was an Indian but it actually turned out to be Thai! We went to Gilgamesh, a well-recommended restaurant in Camden. We had the best table in the house - a circular one, up on a plinth...fantastic! We had some friends over from Phoenix and also met up with J & P. interestingly enough, the "Fonz" was in there as well!

Shoreditch House

Spent the afternoon at Shoreditch House...great place but very busy. Lots of famous people knocking around as well...

Wills & Kate - The Royal Wedding

Today was a Bank Holiday here in the UK due to the Royal Wedding. We dcided to head into London because to be honest, when are we ever going ot have the chance to be part of such a spectacle. Of course, we knew that the chances of us actually seeing anything were really quite remote, however we thought we'd give it a go anyway.


Sure enough it was absolutely ramjam packed. We could not get a space on the Mall at all, and so we laid out our picnic table in St James Park with a (fairly) decent view of the Royal Balcony. We set the iPad and 3G connection up and hey presto, we had a great view! We even had an audience at one point!

The Stag Do!!

So - reason I've not been updating this so regularly is because we've been planning our wedding! The venue is in Waiuku, New Zealand...we spent a lot of time finding the venue, but seriously underestimated the whole planning process - trying to find a cake maker, photographer, venue, etc, etc when you're halfway around the worls is not easy!

Today was my Stag Do - we went rage buggying at a place near Rugeley. It was absolutely brilliant...they feel really fast and incredible fun. I came third (I think)...!

London at Christmas

Teppanyaki!!

For R's birthday, J & R came down to London to spend the weekend with us. We went out into London for some Teppanyaki at Benihana's. Was really good. Excellent food and great entertainment...

Vienna

Last weekend we flew to Vienna for a long weekend. We left Heathrow on Friday morning and landed in Vienna in the afternoon. A quick taxi ride later and we arrived at our hotel - the König von Ungarn right in the city centre. This was one we'd found on Tripadvisor and it was excellent. Staff were very friendly, rooms were exceptionally clean and you could not ask for a better location.

The Friday afternoon we had a wander round St Stephens cathedral (right outside the hotel) and then we booked in for a Strauss/Mozart concert held later in the evening. We had something to eat at Figlmüller, again recommended and that was magnificent. The schnitzel was bigger than the plate! It ws a good job we booked as it was exceedingly busy as well. After that we walked down to Stadtpark where we saw the Strauss statue and then headed into the venue for the performance. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I must admit I really quite enjoyed the concert. It was expertly played and they also had singers and dancers so overall I think it was good value.





The next day we got up and took a horse and cart ride around the city. We'd seen quite a lot the day before but thought we just had to do the whole horse and cart trip. It was not bad value and it took us to the Imperial palace, around the city, St Stephens' etc...


We then met up with my work colleage CH and his wife Wal. They both live just outside the city and had offered to act as our chaperone's for the next couple of days. The first stop was at Schonbrunn Palace. This was originally the Royal family's garden retreat but what a retreat it is! Fabulous palace and huge gardens. What was interesting though was that whilst the Palace itself was enormous, the individual room where the Royal family lived were relatively small. The weather was baking - around 35 degrees so the cool of the house was most welcome.


On the way back we went for something to eat at a local winery. These places make the wine on the site and are only allowed to open when they have wine to sell. They signify this by the bush being displayed outside the place. We ate at one in Probusstrasse and apparently there was a famous Austrian actor there as well. We did not recognise him unfortunately.


The next day, CH and Wal picked us up and we travelled out of the city towards Lake Neusiedl. This is a huge expanse of water which is located two thirds in Austria, with a third in Hungary. We ate in the town of Rust, famous for its Stork population which are welcomed with their nests on the tops of most of the buildings chimneys.

We took a boat across the lake and the scenery was stunning. All around the lake there is an enormous amount of reeds which are harvested, dried and then used as thatch roofing.

We headed back through Slovakia, running through Bratislava before crossing back into Austria on a tiny ferry over a river. We then went into a wine cellar of CH and Wal's friends. This was a pretty big wine cellar which had effectively been two cellars made into one. We had some great wine and he showed us around. I was struck by the amount of black mould there was in the cellar. Apparently this is very good for the air as it filters it. We then went round to CH's and Wal's cellar which they have completely restored...amazing work...

Finally we ate at a local restaurant on which we feasted on meats, cheeses and pickles, and of course, wine...

The last day we got up late and just headed down to the Museums Quarter. It's a very pretty par of Vienns, but with the heat, we didn't linger outside too much. We ate again at the Italian restaurant and then slowly wandered back to the hotel where we sat with a beatiful bottle of red and watched the world go by.

We had a lift back to the hotel from a friendly US tourist and then it was back on the plance for the flight back to Blighty...all in all, a very pleasant experience and one which I am very grateful to CH and Wal for the time they extended to us...