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Published: June 18th 2005
Trafalgar Sqare
Trafalgar SquareAndrew and I have both celebrated our fair share of birthdays overseas. My 21st birthday was spent in Hawaii as Andrew prepared to compete in the Hawaiian Ironman Triathon, as was my 24th birthday. My 25th birthday was spent in Granada, in the midst of our six months travelling around the world. This trip, as on our last big adventure, we have had to leave Australia before the 25th of May, to avoid paying peak fares so this is the second time Andrew has left Australia and been celebrating his birthday on the other side of the world a few days later. Four years ago it was in Santiago Chile, this time London.
Unsure of what to do or where to go to celebrate Andrew's birthday in an unfamiliar country we caught a train into the city and followed our noses to the place most visitors find themselves when in London, Piccadilly Circus. Enjoying an icecream whilst watching the world go past seemed a fitting way to start proceedings. Next we wandered through the streets to Trafalgar Square, which looks infinitely more swanking since our last visit. The new Mayor of London has made it illegal to feed the pigeons (and there is a security guard on-guard to enforce the rule) and done a general clean-up of the area and it looks fab. We had read about a nice restaurant at Southbank with a view of the Thames so we thought we'd have dinner there, but of course when we arrived it was no longer there. So, plan b we headed back to Soho to a place called the Atlantic Bar and Grill. It is hard to imagine what a place is like when you read about it in a guide book and luckily for us, this place far exceeded our expectations. As we entered the dimly lit building we headed down a huge staircase, and on the way down an enormous and elaborate chandelier came into view. We entered a reception area and were ushered into a huge dining room, complete with a beautiful bar in the middle and a towering and highly decorated ceiling with funky jazz playing in the background. I felt a bit under-dressed, but decided that we were here now so we might as well enjoy it! Whilst perusing the menu we noticed that the head chef's name was Ben O'Donoghue ... I wondered if it was the Australian chef who has worked with Jamie Oliver and starred in a cooking show on the ABC in Australia called 'Surfing the Menu' when he appeared at the door to talk to one of his staff. Star-spotting in London is fun! We had a gorgeous dinner of tuna with roasted vegies and a tahini sauce for main and Andrew had an apricot souffle for dessert, and me an apple and berry crumble, washed down with a couple of glasses of wine. We tried not to spoil the night by converting the prices to Australian dollars ... convincing ourselves that we would soon be earning pounds so there was no point!
As we left the restaurant about 11pm we emerged into a warm London night buzzing with tourists and locals alike heading for a fun night out. We certainly knew that we were not in Kanzas anymore! So, where to for your birthay next year?
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Peter & Mariza
non-member comment
didn't know
Hi - Mariza and I have only just read your 1st two Tblogs...Mariza has been in NZ and didn't realise the Tblogs had been recieved into her "Junkmail" file...which of course she never thinks to check! Keep them coming. Cheers.