A brick lane curry

Mick and Adam near Brick Lane

Well Mum and Dad have swept through again. They got back from Ireland yesterday in the afternoon and off to Paris on the Eurostar (train that goes under the English channel) early this morning. You might have heard people say 'if you want to get the best Indian curry in the world, go to London'. Brick lane is famous in London for having heaps of curry houses, all 'very good quality' and good price.

Margaret, Mick and Adam - ready to drive a hard bargain!

So we went over there on the tube (it is in East London and I live in West London) and did a lap of the street. We were assured by touts out the front of nearly every door that their chef had won a brick lane chef competition and that we could have 20 or 30% off with a free pint of Cobra (Indian beer) each.

Margaret and Mick in London? Looks more like India!

The curry was excellent although it was very very mild. I think they cater for people with bland tastes. But if I go back, I'll ask for just a little bit more hot...

Visas all round

Well finally it has come through - the new UK visa has been approved. So now all I have to do is go home and get it in my passport and collect Melinda. I also just got another visa - an Indian visa! It looks like I might be off to India for a month for work. However, as is the nature of the work that I do, I'll believe it when I'm on the plane and taking off!!

Mum and Dad in London

My (Adam’s) Mum and Dad have been in the UK now for nearly 2 weeks. So far I have taken them on a trip through Wales, shown them around London (as well as seeing some sights myself!) and they have done a trip to the lake district and around Kent.

Today they have left for a week in Ireland complete with my sat nav which should guide them nicely around the island of Ireland. I am still waiting to hear about a visa which will allow Melinda to come back to the UK and unfortunately there is nothing you can do to make them hurry up. It’s ironic because I, probably like the majority of other people who have never had to deal with immigration officials, used to see people on TV winging about visas etc and think ‘oh well, who cares that’s their problem!’. Now when we are in that situation its really quite annoying!!

Nevermind, I have settled back in to London life and managed to get tickets to the Guiness Premiership Final (which is like the AFL or NRL Grand Final of English Rugby). Even better, my team Gloucester was playing! But they lost to Leicester and never really put on much of a show. The day wasn't lost though as I went to my rugby club's dinner and dance at the Queens Club where they have the Stella Artois tennis comp just before Wimbeldon. A bit of fun wearing a tux and some flash food...

Heineken Cup Final at Twickenham

Danni Minogue and cops on the plane

I (Adam) am back in London now and Melinda is staying in Australia until the new visa comes through for her. The flight back was as boring as you would expect with a couple of exceptions.

I was walking through Melbourne airport and I looked at this tiny little woman and though 'Gee you look like Kylie Minogue.....oh, you're Danni Minogue!!' Naturally I immediately phoned Melinda who is a massive Kylie fan to brag. I saw her again in the airport in Hong Kong and I must say she looks better in person than she does in her photos!!

Just in case you forgot what Danni looks like...

Anyhow, when we got to London everyone was instructed to remain in their seats as police were going to board the plane to 'conduct a search'. They came on and went straight towards to blokes who were escorted off the plane with their hand luggage.

Its now the morning after and I will be out to the airport again shortly to meet my Mum and Dad who are coming over for a visit.

Knackered after a month on the sauce in Australia

Well I have been very slack and not updated the blog for a month now. I am sitting at Melbourne airport waiting for my flight which has been delayed and trying not to fall asleep. It has been a month of solid socialising, eating, drinking, eating and drinking.

On the trip I managed to:
- Attend a bucks day,
- Take my mum out for dinner for her birthday,
- Go camping in the bush with my Dad,
- Spend a couple of days wake boarding and beers with an old mate,
- Attend a wedding
- Look at and choose a venue for our own upcoming wedding,
- Meet people for a quick beer only to finish 8 or 9 hours later (several times),
- Go out for dinner a few times with friends,
- Go to Darwin to see my sister,
- Meet some old mates for a large Anzac day back in Melbourne

And after all that I still missed out on seeing a couple of people. But my liver has given me a stern talking to and I hope to stay off the grog for at least 2 or 3 days. (Does the 24 hours on the plane count??!!)

My mum and dad are leaving to come and visit and arrive in London 24 hours after I do. So I don't know that I'll be getting much of a break...

Adam

Marisa and Adam out Darwin

Visitors in London

We have just had our friends Mark and Lisa over for a visit for a week. So it has been a week of going out for beers, dinner, beers followed by dinner and then a day trip to the Cotswolds. Its only a couple of days until we are heading back home for a month!

A feast fit for a king

Fashion doyens, the Pope's house and Roman Emperors

Can you tell which one isn't the statue?

3 days in Milan (working during the day) and 2 days in Rome has been a great trip.

We checked out some of the designer fashion stores in Milan and I (Adam) have decided that even if those shirts were €49.00 instead of €490, I still wouldn't buy them. I guess I'm just not that stylish. But for those of you who know me, you would know that anyway!!

Rome was fantastic, walking around all that history kept us entertained with plenty to spare. We even managed to find an Irish pub (it was St Patrick's day) and drank Guinness while we watched Ireland defeat Italy in the six nations rugby!

The Pope's backyard

Finally some more plane tickets booked!!!

Its been a while since we went any where outside of the UK (almost 6 weeks!!) so I am pleased to report that we have tickets booked. I have to go to Milan in the north of Italy tomorrow evening on business until the end of the week. So to make the most of it, Melinda is coming over to Milan on Thursday. Then on Friday after work, we will travel down to Rome on the train and spend the weekend there! It will be good to check out the pizza and lasagna and I'll send a text to the pope to see if he wants to meet up for an espresso. I think he has some other things on though...

Also, as I mentioned earlier this year on my blog, we have a wedding to attend back in Australia in April. So we are travelling home on the 2nd of April and spending a month there.

Stay tuned for a report from Italy!!!

A trip to the west country for some Gloucester Rugby

Last weekend I went with some rugby mates to Gloucester which is a couple of hours west of London on the train to watch Gloucester play Leicester in English Premiership Rugby.

Breakfast on the train

It was a top day out with the train trip going pretty quick with some breakfast beers! We watched the match in 'The Shed' at Gloucester, a standing room only stand along one side of the pitch. It was chockers and fantastic atmosphere. After a little bit a nail biter, Gloucester won the match, so it was off to the pub to watch England play France in the 6 nations.

View from the shed

Well you wouldn't believe it but England won! (They haven't been performing too well lately). So all the English guys were stoked. We called in to the pizza shop on the way back to the train to get some pizzas for tea on the way home. Well they took their time and next thing you know me and 2 other blokes (one of whom broke his leg about 3 and a half months ago and cant run too well) are running through Gloucester with 6 pizzas, 24 chicken wings and 12 garlic breads. The rest of the guys had gone ahead to the station and to get refreshments for the journey home.

The crowd in the shed

We made it with about 45 seconds to spare and then discovered we were in 1st class!! A top end to a top day.

Concentration from the fans...

A month and a half in the dark London winter...

Well the dates on my blog dont lie, I have been very slack in updating the blog. The weather has been getting better and better and today people seem to be coming alive as the weather warms up and the blossom comes out.

So here is an update since my last blog which was just after we went to Morocco:
- we went and watched the Socceroos (Aussie Soccer/football team) play against Denmark at the Queens Park Rangers ground in Shepherds bush
- played rugby every weekend
- watching rugby nearly every weekend
- being 'forced' to meet with friends every weekend and go out in London
- work
- visited my mate in Cambridge
- Sunday morning fry up breakfasts at my local 'greasy spoon'

So it has been a reasonably quiet time just enjoying London life.

A birthday weekend in Morocco!

Out of work at midday, off to Heathrow and on to our plane to Marrakech in Morocco. Interesting events started when we got on the plane and there was a group of young English blokes on a boys week to Morocco. They had had a few bevvies prior to getting on the plane (as you do on a blokes trip) and they were quite chatty on the plane. I should point out that they look like they maybe of Moroccan decent. Anyhow, an American chap sitting opposite me was getting a bit agro about the noise and turned around and told them to shut up (a few times). In what I would describe as a typical response from young blokes, they told him to shut up and turn around. The American kept staring at them (turned around) and started complaining to the flight attendants that they were 'up to no good' and that he was going to have them arrested when we landed etc, and was telling me that if they started to take over the plane, we have to do something about it!!

To cut a long story short, he calmed down and started talking to me (I was trying not to make eye contact). I told him that they were just typical British guys. 'You think they are British??' he says?
'Yeah, they are and they are just being typical British guys' I tell him.
He says 'But do you really think they are British? They don't look British?'
'Mate they are British, I know they are because I saw their passports at check in! They are just behaving like young British guys - if you try and threaten them, they are definitely not going to cop that without telling you what they think'.
'So you think maybe they are more like hooligans or something?' (he starts to relax a bit)
'Yeah mate, something like that! You would probably get a better response by going and having a beer with them!!'
'Oh wow, I never really thought about it like that...'

So off the plane and in to our taxi and in to the old part of Marrakech. To get to our 'Riad' we had to duck and weave through some tiny little laneways. The room is beautiful and has a nice big bath that looks like its carved out of marble or something.

Melinda's birthday was the next day with shopping, getting lost, horse and cart ride around the town followed up with a luxury dinner complete with rose petals scattered on the table, a couple of bottles of wine and some soft live music by the pool!!

The next couple of days we spent cruising around town until all too soon it was time to go home. Fortunately the plane ride home was uneventful!!

Finally added some pics...

Finally added a couple of pics to my Nice and Monaco entry!! Click on the link below to check it out.

http://adsandmel.blogspot.com/2006/11/french-riviera-nice-and-monaco.html

Snow in London!!

Woke up this morning, looked outside and there was about 2cm of snow covering everything!!!!

I have been slack with updating the blog but there hasn't been too much to report so far this year since New Years Eve. Just work and playing rugby on the weekends. Any how, we are about to depart the British Isles again for a few days in Morocco!!

Since its Melinda's birthday on Australia day - 26th Jan, and my (Adam's) birthday on 1st of Feb, we decided to go on a trip as our birthday presents. We are off to Marrakesh staying in the old part of town where apparently you need a guide to find your hotel as the streets are small and unnamed.

So stay tuned and there should be another entry and some pics next week!!

Happy New Year!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Who knows where this years travels will take us? The only things planned are a trip home in April for a mate's wedding and talk of a boys mission to Austria for snowboarding - possibly in February.

I have a few other ideas for trips to Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Italy, Greece and the Balkans, Egypt, Morocco, Central Asia and Scandinavia. And thats just the begining!

I hope you have a fantastic 2007 wherever you are and whatever you are doing and that all your travels are good whether they are to the shop for a litre of milk, or the the ends of the earth.

Adam

White Christmas in the French Alps

We departed the flat at 4.30am with a heap of packs, presents, food, 4 sleepy people and a snowboard. With the fog creating chaos at Heathrow I was very pleased that we had decided long ago to go in the Wagen to France. We cruised through the early morning London fog and got to Dover with loads of time to spare.

Gabe, Melinda and Adam at Les Arcs

A ferry trip and about 10 hours driving time later we arrived at Sainte Foy, a small ski resort in the same area as more famous resorts such as Val D'Isere, Tignes and Les Arcs. We stayed in nice 4BR Chalet about 5 mins walk to the bottom of the lift. We also did a day at Val D'Isere and Tigne, about 30 mins drive away and another day we went for a drive up to the Italian border. Unfortunately the road to Italy was closed because the ski run goes on to the road!!

Gabe, Adam, Gary and Tim

It was a nice white Christmas and all too soon the week was over and it was time to go home. We stayed a night in Reims (the Champagne town) on the way back (Melinda and I stayed there earlier in the year with other friends on our WW1 battlefield tour trip)

The last day threw up some problems at us when as I was pulling in to a petrol station, a component in the accelerator linkages broke!!! So after managing to whip out some old schoolboy French, I got it towed to a local garage and fixed. However, this meant we had missed our ferry. Not to worry, the next ferry had spots available! However due to very rough weather, Dover (UK side) was temporarily closed and the ferry departed 3 hours late!!

We ended up getting home at 2am, when we should have been home by 7.30pm!! Despite the breakdown and missed ferry, it was still a great trip and a fun Christmas!!

Intense dealings in Monopoly in the Chalet

'Tis the season to attend work do's

With nothing planned holiday wise until Christmas (yes it will be 1 whole month without leaving the UK!!), there is not much else to do other than to attend work Christmas parties. This is one thing the English seem to excel at - inventing 3 or 4 different reasons (and dates) to get the company to pay for everyone to get stuck in the Christmas cheer. I for one am happy with this local custom, and being the seasoned traveller that I am, I have embraced the local culture and by Christmas day will have attended at least 4 Christmas do's.

Only other thing occurring other than work and rugby and do's is getting the Wagen ready for our Christmas holiday to the French Alps!! We are going to Sainte Foy for a week of snowboarding and presents!! So it is now at the mechanics getting a service.

Mid-season Rugby tour to Amsterdam

In mid November I went on a weekend tour with my rugby club to Amsterdam. Here is a summary of our trip:

- 30 blokes
- 1 lost bag (lost by the airline)
- Several beers consumed
- 1 game lost and played poorly by 15 very hung over players
- Watched 1 international match between Netherlands and Ukraine (Ukraine won both the game and the huge brawl in the 2nd half)
- A few more beers consumed
- Fly home

End of report.

Back to merry old England

After cruising around the French Riviera with all the rich people, we spent about €60 on tolls and drove from Nice back to Calais. We stayed overnight and got a ferry in the morning back to Dover.

Just as I dreamed, it was cloudy and rainy when we arrived back in England. Would you believe it, after about 10,000 kms (6,000 miles), driving in Portuguese sand dunes and rough tracks, over the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain and up ski fields in Andorra the car started to play up about 10 miles from home! It was only a small thing but I was glad that the car had got us all that way!!

That flat looked just the same as when we left and we dragged all the gear inside and I got ready to go back to work!

The French Riviera, Nice and Monaco

As we were driving out of Andorra I commented to Melinda 'hey there's no border patrol here!'

Melinda: 'Oh no i wanted to get a stamp in my passport!'
Adam: 'Nah not that silly, we should have bought a heap of cheap cigarettes and then sold them!!!'
Melinda: 'you reckon? You hardly know anyone that smokes?!'
Adam: 'No but I reckon we could sell them somewhere?!! There must be a market for them!!'

40 mins later (still on the same road with no possibility to have turned off) we were pulled over by French customs police! Car briefly searched and we were on our way.

Adam: 'Gee luckily we didn't try and stock up on smokes'

Top criminal I would make...

Any way, it took quite a long time to get through the Pyrenees and to a small town on the French Mediterranean coast. When we got there we got a cheap room that happened to have a balcony with a sea view (uninterrupted) with the Pyrenees in the distance at sunset!! To top it off, in the morning we received our breakfast of croissants and coffee on the balcony!!

The next day we drove to Nice, which happens to be quite nice. The only thing I didn't like was the pebbly beach, but the water colour was almost unreal (very bright blue).

We also made a day trip to Monaco, where I declared that I should change my career path from Engineer to 'Rich Prick'. You see there are lots of rich pricks in Monaco, they drive rich prick cars, have massive rich prick boats and eat expensive rich prick food.

Some rich pricks boats...

Some slightly less rich pricks boats parked next to the Grand Prix circuit

I had some trouble finding the local job centre, so I will have to try again later...

Future rich prick???

Andorra - my new favourite smallest country

We drove for about 7 hours from Mar Menor up to Tarragona, a small town on the coast south of Barcelona. We had been there once before on a trip to Spain in July 2005. Everything was fairly dead because it was the off season for tourists and alot of camping places were closed.

So we made the call (checked the GPS) and headed for Andorra. It took a couple of hours to get there winding along the steep walls of a river, through tunnels and finally the border. They didn't seem particularly interested in us, but people coming out of Andorra were being thoroughly searched for cheap duty free!!

We got a camp site in Andorra La Vella (the capital of Andorra). It was the coldest weather we had felt in quite a while! We stayed for a couple of nights and did some driving around. Being in the Wagen I felt invincible and drove straight up a ski field (no snow) past all the ski lifts! (It seemed ok and there was a track there?!!). Melinda on the other hand was not so hot on the idea and I think there are some permanent fingernail marks in the 'Jesus bar' and on the dashboard!

Its a beautiful country with loads of duty free shops, but if you get out of Andorra la Vella its really beautiful. After a couple of nights there, we thought we better get moving so that we could see the French Riviera and Monaco! (Although I could have stayed there for a lot longer!)