Good times in Greenwich (nb: pun intended)

Yesterday, myself and the always-up-for-something-touristy Luke decided to head out. After considering our choices, we went with a boat trip up to Greenwich. London had put on another spectacularly mediocre day which had us both periodically reaching for our umbrellas (but not actually needing them). After hopping off the boat, we headed up to the Royal Observatory which is where good old, GMT is based. After doing a couple of the tacky shots standing on the line (see above for mine... nb: the over the top coat for a summer's day).

After leaving the observatory, we stalked a squirrel around the park before going for a wander through Greenwich village. We somehow stumbled in a really cute little antiques market where I managed to find (well, Luke found).... U2's Joshua Tree album on vinyl! I immediately snapped it up for the bargain price of 5 pound. Not long afterwards, I spotted a gorgeous fur coat - a steal at 40 pounds. I resisted out of fear for my life should the animal lovers of london society spot me.

Afterwards, we stumbled upon a curiously named restaurant called 'Spread Eagle'. Enough said. We then wandered through some more markets and marvelled at the gorgeous breads, cakes and fruit and vegies on sale at the market. Having had enough shopping, we hit the pub for some fish n chips and a beer before heading home.

A very cool time (PUN AGAIN!) was had by all (errr both). More to come soon.

Poor Peru

The main square and the church where a man was pulled from the rubble 24 hours post earthquake.

Gorgeous family playing some gorgeous tunes for us in Pisco.

The view from our hotel room. It looked a little Beiruit like then, I can't imagine it now.

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I'm sure it's made the headlines (albeit very briefly) at home but Peru has been hit by a devastating earthquake. For some reason, this particular freakish act of nature has hit home. Having only been in Lima and Pisco (one of the worst affected cities) six months ago, you realise how unjust life can be sometimes. While Lima is a capital city (although, a third world one), Pisco is a poor town which was already struggling. Why is it that the poor just seem to be dealt one blow after another? Pisco had some beautiful people... including our very generous waitress at the karaoke bar who kept the Mango Pisco Sours coming while we soaked up the George Michael on the karaoke, as well as a sweet father and his two sons who dropped by in traditional costume (over the top of their soccer jerseys!) to play some of the local Peruvian tunes on the pan pipes...(for a small fee of course) and the dog who managed to find his way onto a roof with no immediate signs of making it back inside.

Anyway, keep these guys in mind.

Tacky touristy days...

Well, it was decided that some tacky tourist shots were well overdue for young Pip (actually, she's a month older than me) and I. So, we hit the tourist capital of this great city: Buckingham Palace. I thought I was going to get the greatest laugh of my life, when Pip announced that she thought she could be sick at any point. Bringing up your dinner (and drinks) from the night before on Lizzy's doorstep could have been amusing. Fortunately for her, this wasn't to be the case.

Anyway, as we approached the front of the palace, we noticed a sign saying "There will be no changing of the guard ceremony today". This didn't particularly bother Pip and I as weren't planning on hanging around until lunchtime to see it, but it did leave us feeling VERY sorry for the poor guard on duty who would have another 24 hours ahead of him in his little black box. He's going to be one very tired (and dare I say, grumpy) little guard by the time he gets off work tomorrow.

So, after snapping away at Buckingham Palace, we continued on and managed to snap a few more in silly places. Enjoy.

London - the loves and the hates...

In a couple of weeks, I'll hit the three month mark in England. So, here are my top three loves and hates of life in London.

LOVES

Parks
There's hundreds, they are green and it's the perfect place to take yourself to chill out. And everyone does it. There's nothing better. I'm also now a picnic convert.

Pubs
If you don't feel like hitting the park to relax, hit the pub. They have good music, aren't full of drunks (depending on the time of day)... and are smoke free. I am starting to now understand why it seems that 1 in every 2 patients at work are alcoholics (unofficial statistic and probably grossly inaccurate).

Public transport
The London'ers might not think it's all that crash hot... but public transport here is fantastic. Trains come through every two minutes (well, every five minutes maybe) and you can get EVERYWHERE on the tube. I love it. And even when you're waiting for the occasional late train... you can just sit and stare at the underground sign and ponder the fact you're in London. I'm not as big a fan of the buses (too easy to get lost with my sense of direction).

DISLIKES

Packing your own groceries
Yes, I'm lazy and being forced into grocery speed packing every time I drop by Sainsbury's stresses me out! As they scan your groceries... they throw it straight down a conveyer belt and you're forced to pack them at a rate of 30 items per 10 seconds if you don't want them to back up and overflow. It's nuts.

English beer
It's not great. In fact, the best I have found is... wait for it... Fosters. And given that Bundaberg rum isn't available... I have had to move onto vino. My liver isn't appreciating it.

Having to pay for bathrooms
It's just not cool. End of (that's one of my recent English phrase pick up's).