Blogs from United Kingdom, Europe

Yesterday evening we met Kate and John for a walk at the racecourse. Bluebells eveywhere! Still very warm despite going later- maybe Ros and Rick brought the Aussie weather with them, its certainly been like summer since they got here. finished at the pub for fish and chips. And yes, lots of eggs laid already, probably the shock of being free. AND the lone ranger has only escaped once so far!... read more

We had planned visiting Wroxeter Roman City, one of the English Heritage sites on 22 May. Mark suggested buying snacks before going there, as there wouldn’t be any shops in the little village. We had read through the English Heritage guidebook and said that Wroxeter Roman City does not have the picnic tables. I therefore suggested visiting Shrewsbury Abbey in the morning, have lunch along the riverside walk, and go to Wroxeter in the afternoon. Shrewsbury Abbey is one of the most distinctive historic buildings in Shrewsbury. It was originally found in 1083, and it was the setting of the famous Cadfael novels written by Ells Peters. Like all of the abbeys in the UK, much of the original structural buildings together with furnishing and treasures dating before the Dissolution, i.e. 1540 have disappeared. Nevertheless, the ... read more

We caught the No.96 bus from Shrewsbury Abbey. Wroxeter Roman City wasn’t far from Attingham Park, which we visited a few years ago. The bus drove past there on the way to Wroxeter village. The bus driver kindly stopped at the bus stop and gave us the direction to Wroxeter Roman City. We showed our English Heritage Membership cards and were offered audio guides. Wroxeter Roman City contained the impressive remains of a Roman bath house in the middle of the countryside. As soon as we set foot on the site, a sizeable freestanding masonry wall came into our sight. We firstly walked on the site of the Basilica where the people would wait for their turn for bathing, and approached the big masonry wall, i.e. the Old Work of the original south wall of the ... read more

(Sidenote: 116 views in 24 hours for the Cardiff entry where I met Susan Boyle. Uhm. Who are these people and how did they find my blog? It wasn’t even in the title ahaha.) Very slow paced day today, but that’s ok. London is the time to be busy, Cardiff is not. I woke up much earlier than I planned... my roomies were... less than quiet. I lazed in bed for a good hour though, I honestly couldn’t be bothered to move haha. Once I did get up, I packed all my stuff up and headed out to the City Centre again. I walked around Cardiff Castle and Bute Park, or at least around the parts that were free. After than I spent a good hour and a bit just sitting in Alexandria Gardens reading my ... read more

Hi everyone! Seeing as I didn't want you all snooping around on my facebook and there's a very annoying time difference between London and Melbourne that makes Skyping almost impossible I thought I'd create a blog and let you all be updated on how everything is going and what I'm up to here in Londontown. I've just hit 5 weeks here and time has gone incredibly quickly! I'm still staying with the boys I met in Asia and have been spoilt rotten by them. I've only just had to start sleeping on the couch as they've been kind enough to share beds so that I had my own for over a month. They cook me dinner a lot and make me cups of teas. I just have to put up with all the farting! There's also ... read more

spent the day being educated about being an underpaid waitress in overpriced hotels. wilhelm scream. we wandered around lescter square for an hour or so before training today. so many theatres. got a little lost in chinatown and bought a pork bun for 1p90. i'm struggling to see why i thought this was a good idea ... met a couple of nice people but am still very much alone. and still no one accepts my manopoly money so its two eggs and a timtam for dinner. maybe three timtams.... read more

Right, so another brilliant day – honestly, Wales is running neck and neck with Iceland for my favourite destination. Full day today – started off by going to Caerphilly Castle, about 20min north of Cardiff. (I do love their transit system here – it’s crazy easy to get everywhere) The castle is over 700 years old and is one of the best restored ones I’ve seen... and it’s huge!! The castle is surrounded by a moat, so I walked around the edge of that first and then into the castle itself. One of the towers has becoming a “leaning tower” so to speak – it looks quite sharp. Other than that, it was just nice to walk around the different empty rooms and climb up the tower for a nice view of the land. They also ... read more