Jess
Jessica Joined: March 22nd 2005
Logged in: December 15th 2006
Logged in: December 15th 2006
Travel Blog Posts
The Tower
It rained. And rained. And rained. So we ate. And ate. And ate. In between stomach filling epidsodes we went up the Eiffel Tower in the rain, walked the Champs Elysée in the rain and ran between coffee shops in the rain. The smartest thing we did was to buy tickets to the Musée D’Orsay from the reception at our hotel. When we arrived the line was long, long, long - I think people must have been standing in the rain for a couple of hours just to buy ticket. We were able to just walked on in at a different entrance. SMART. I am no art buff so the fact that I could recognise a) the names of many of the artists, and b) many of the paintings, shows the degree of fame that the ... read more
Drinks at the Cutty Sark
I swear the home office has some sort of control over the weather. 35 degrees at the moment! If it was like this for a few more months of the year the population of the UK would swell! I’m sure they’re just keeping the Aussies at bay. Yes, summertime is here… *sigh* …finally. Fully charged with Vitamin D and with the memories of the unavoidable gloom and desperation that accompany the months October through April relegated to the back of my mind, I have been enjoying the sun and the summer with lots of cool things: Summer hockey Greenwich Film Festival Taste of Australia food festival Hanging out in beer gardens Sitting outside generally Training for the London 10km (yes, really!) Sean’s birthday Meeting Dana’s mum Eating in the yard Taste London food festival Beach trip ... read more
The School House
Farewell Woolwich. Goodbye to the walk from the station, the rubbish on the streets and the high police presence. Goodbye to the nice Indian lady in the shop who had my train ticket ready for me before I came in each day. Goodbye to evenings on the couch drinking too much red wine with Julia. Goodbye to the most quality power shower ever experienced. Hello Greenwich! Greenwich has been the area of choice for beer consumption and dining since I've been here in London due to its closeness to Woolwich, the fact it is full of nice restaurants and bars and that it is a nice central meeting point for the hockey girls. With the closing of the Woolwich Arsenal station for a few months to allow for DLR extension works I decided it was time ... read more
The gathering crowd
Sometimes things just work out well without planning. Being in Italy for the World Cup final while Italy playing was once such time. After the debacle that saw Italy knock Australia out of the tournament (dubious refereeing, but I won’t harp) I didn’t think I’d support the Azzuri; in fact I started out the match with a distinct pro-French feeling, though this was silently acknowledged only to myself! Amalfi beach started filling up about an hour before the game started. There was a big screen at one end of the beach, green tarpaulins draped on either side in an attempt to block out some of the glare of the setting sun. The dons of the beach chair rental let the crowds take their beach lounges for free and so we reclined in style on the beach ... read more
Amalfi Beach
Happy birthday Cathy! This was the theme of my weekend in Amalfi. Planned months ago, the 30th of Squeezy was always going to be celebrated in style. The thunder and lightning that welcomed me didn’t start the weekend as planned, nor did the one and a half hour late bus to the train station, the two cancelled trains to Salerno and the just-missed bus to Amalfi. Fifteen and a half hours later I made it. We should have picked Bangkok; it probably would have been quicker! My mood was quickly reversed when I saw Cathy and Co. (Aideen and Antonio) and the enormous and tasty pasta, salad, bread, olives and cake meal that Cath had prepared for my arrival. Despite tiredness from a long day of travel I made it out for a wander and gelati ... read more
Ben, Craig and Alice
Although I think I’m a pretty sports savvy kinda girl, since living in London I have learned two key sporting facts: 1. It is my patriotic duty as an Australian to love the Wallabies (even if I have never watched more than about four matches of rugby in my life living in Victoria). 2. The mechanics of the offside rule. Armed with a ever growing understanding of football (soccer to those at home), I have been caught up in the frenzy of the World Cup that has taken over this country as it has much of the world. It’s a bit of a novelty for me to have a national team to get behind. In Melbourne life is Aussie Rules and there is never a chance for a national team to be supported (in a genuine, ... read more
Otter
If it hadn’t been apparent from my enthusing about the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC or even from the fact that I keep a travelblog (!!) then I advise you this: I am a geek. I have learned this over the years but I have come to terms with the fact that I am a dork. OBVIOUSLY a very attractive and socially hip COOL dork, but yes, a dork nonetheless. This is why I was super excited about visiting the Lisbon Oceanarium, the biggest aquarium in Europe, the second biggest in the world, a fantastic place to spend a few hours on a hot Lisbon afternoon and a place worthy of it’s own blog entry. Cathy had left that morning back for Dubs and we’d had to check out of our hotel so poor Manuela, with ... read more
Cow Art
Manuela graciously allowed me to select somewhere for five days away as part of her fleeting European adventure. I chose Lisbon - cheap, close and most importantly WARM. Sod’s law though that the five days I chose to go away London had the most spectacular weather in a year! At least I wasn’t at work though. Cathy joined us from Dublin and the construction girls from Bovis were reunited. Lisbon is a hilly, oceanside city with a small central area which made a nice change from the sprawling city of London. Being so close to the ocean there was beautiful seafood in every restaurant and as a result our tour of Lisbon was more a culinary one than cultural. All we seemed to do was roll from meal to meal with a spot of shopping or ... read more
Cutty Sark
Oh the bliss of the three seconds of sun that is the London summer. It is truly a fantastic place to be when the sun is out and briefly makes you forget about the dismal rest of the year. Summer Weekend #1 was truly a magnificent one: the first weekend in my new house in Greenwich, hanging out with Manuela who is visiting from Melbourne, sun, barbecues, and food, food and food. All I seemed to do all weekend was sit and eat. The weekend of gluttony began with Food Event #1 on Friday night at one of my fave pubs, The Gypsy Moth in downtown Greenwich. Shane joined Mans and I for a bangers and mash dinner and beer consumption in the big beer garden out the back. Food Event #2 closely followed when we ... read more
Dana's Cake Bearers
Warning: Rant in Progress Maybe I'm a prude, maybe I'm a snob, but I still feel uncomfortable when I see someone staring at a page three lovely. For those of you not familiar with this concept, many of the tabloids in the UK provide for your reading pleasure a full page photo of a woman in just undies. Turn to page 3 of The Sun and you'll ecounter Sarah, 19, from Bristol (and her boobs), who says she thinks war is sad and that George Bush should pull out the troops. To pull up a photo on your computer like that seen on page three while at work could probably get you sacked but to pay your 70p and read it on the train is no problem. Not only is The Sun is the biggest selling ... read more
