3 Weddings and a Birthday

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So August was a nice and relaxing month where the B&B was closed which meant we had some time to ourselves. We took advantage of this and managed to fit in a few nice days out. We thought we'd head back to Windsor to go to Legoland. It was a fun day, although we didn't expect it to be quite so children focused. We almost hired a buggy to push around just to fit in! But there were some great rides, probably the water rides were the most memorable. But the highlight was definitely the lego exhibitions with famous buildings from around the world on show. Nothing from Australia sorry, but the England (particularly London) contingent was amazing with Big Ben and the Houses of parliament, Tower Bridge, the gerkin, Buckingham palace, Piccadilly circus complete with the bat mobile (for the batman premier of course), and the underground running to schedule. They also had Stone Henge, and Edinburgh Castle was amazing. Then they had international highlights including the Moulin Rouge, NASA complete with rockets and centrifuge for G force training, Holland with the canals with boats and all, the mafia were in the Italian markets, and there was of course a rugby match in the Cardiff. There was also an indoors exhibition where there was a life size cock pit of a Boeing 737, with flashing lights and seats. Unbelievable!

We really like Windsor, the castle was a great place to visit and we had fun at Legoland, but there are some great little eating spots too. It is a very relaxing place and easy to walk around. There - that's the tour guide to Windsor - over and out.

Of course London was a buzz during the Olympics and especially when they finished and there was the handover to London. The city of London put up a big screen in Trafalgar Square for people to watch the closing ceremony (in which Boris slightly embarrassed us) and for the big concert they put on in the Mall directly after to continue with all f the celebrations. They started an official count down to the 2012 Olympics and had lots of athletes and families there to interview. They of course had lots of UK bands playing and Michael Phelps even made an appearance. It was a great atmosphere with thousands of people in the city all celebrating together. It was nice to see some Chinese flags flying next to the union jack in the crowd. But another highlight was having the red arrow jets fly over the centre of London in an arrow formation with red, white and blue smoke covering the sky. Pretty special (although not very eco friendly).

Then it was the time for the bank holiday weekend and the annual Notting Hill festival. Having been last year we went better prepared and we decided to go on our own so as not having to worry about losing our friends and getting lost. So this year we were much more relaxed and just enjoyed wandering the streets and trying all of the international food in the stalls. There was plenty of music as always and again we payed £1 to use a toilet in someones house! There was no way either of us were going to risk catching anything from the public toilets, let alone have to cue for ages. We did make a boo boo tough, the house we went into was nice and clean, but we didn't realise the toilet was downstairs and so the cue went all the way down the stairs, so we had to wait about 45mins, and oh the pain. But it was worth every pence! So each being £1 lighter and confident of being clean we hit the streets again. We just love the vibe, people let their hair down and just be themselves. There was a huge police presence as always, just to keep the peace, and although plenty of people are quite drunk and that it's one of the biggest street parties in the world, there really isn't that many problems, and we certainly don't get involved. But the parade and the costumes were great again his year.

Then along came September which brought along the first 2 celebrations all rolled into one great holiday. We had our first experience on the Eurostar and took off with the wind in our hair (from running to the station - pushing the boundaries as always) and headed to Paris. And it was love at first sight! What a beautiful city. We had no problems with snobbish French people and just thoroughly spending a few days on our own exploring a lot of the usual touristy spots as well as a few backstreets we just stumbled along. We stayed in a great hostel right behind the Louvre so we managed to see a lot by foot, so in the 3 days we had there we managed to fit in the beautiful walk along the Avenue des Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral including the walk to the top to see the gargoyles up close and personal, a visit to the catacombes - one of the eeriest places to be - underground with millions of skeletons, half a day in the Louvre, Sacre Coeur and Montmartre - Kate's personal favourite. But the icing on the cake was the surprise Mark made for Kate's birthday, dinner at Altitude 95, the restaurant up the Eiffel tower. Despite Mark's well known fear of exposed heights, he pushed on through the sweaty palms and climbed the stairs and enjoyed the wonderful food and the magnificent view. We were on the tower while the sun was still up while we ate at a seat right by the window, and we watched the sun set and the lights come on over the vast expanse that is Paris. Of course at a few other times over the days we saw the Eiffel tower from a distance, and no mater where you are it always looks amazing, although especially so when the lights are flashing like fireworks in the evening. So we conquered the must-do's of Paris and are very inspired to go back. But it was time to move on. We caught an overnight train to Munich and then connecting trains and buses to Ellmau, a beautiful Austrian town almost half way between Salzburg and Innsbruck in the Tyrol Mountain range. This was where we were to stay for the next 4 nights as this was the stunning location for Kate's best friend Tania's Wedding to her lovely Miles. Ellmau was unbelievable - the fresh mountain air, snow caps on the surrounding mountains, such a tiny town for walking and climbing during the summer months and for snowing in the winter. We could actually hear birds singing and cow bells up the mountains - not regularly heard in London! But here we met the other people attending this unique wedding. There were only 17people there, us included, and it was amazing that not one person there knew everyone else, and yet very quickly we all got on like a house on fire. We certainly brought little Ellmau to life, we were the talk of the town - the people here for the wedding of the Australians! It was even posted in the local newsletter so on the big day there were quite a few other guests. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather with sunny warm days and so the days were passed with gentle walks, hours in the spa and drinks in the open air bar. Kaiser-spritzers were the specialty drinks and the locals were kind enough to share their special recipe - so those of you who make it to London to visit, I can introduce you to this marvelous Austrian cocktail. And then there was the wedding. A magical day with the perfect back drop. Again, beautiful weather, actually quite hot, but perfect for Tania and Mile's wedding. Kate was the matron of honour and Mark was the camera man! It was truly one of the nicest weddings anyone there had ever ever been to. It was intimate, funny and extremely special. We danced the night away in our frocks and made best friends with the staff at the hotel. Congratulations Tania and Miles!

It was sad to leave quaint little Ellmau but we then traveled on through Austria for the next week, picking up a stray along the way. No, only joking, one of Kate's old friends Richard from Golden Key was at the wedding too and we had arranged to travel together for a few days. We went to Innsbruck first. Tania had ordered all of the right weather for her wedding so by the time it came to leave, in fact on that very day, the heavens opened and the skies turned dark grey, so it was a rough start to the journey. We arrived in Innsbruck, found our nice hostel in the middle of the old town and then were convinced to go to the Swarovski Crystal Palace - BIG MISTAKE. We won't go into details, but one of the worst mistakes of any trip. I wouldn't even recommend you take kids. It was impossible to follow what it was all about, nothing spectacular to see from a crystal point of view, and quite the entry price. So moving right along, we spent as much time as possible up in the mountains and seeing the winter Olympic stadiums. We saw the bob sled, even jumped into the concrete track, and we went to the ski jump - an amazing piece of architecture and science in one. There was a video about the sport, with images of how dangerous it can really be - OUCH!!!

We then traveled to Salzburg to be overwhelmed by the touristic nature of the little Sound of Music and Mozart city. We had a day wandering in the town, went into the fort, saw the Abbey that Maria was from and enjoyed a day at the Steigel Brewery on Kate's actual birthday. Richard left us at this point to travel into Italy and we had an extra day to travel into the mountains from Salzburg to go to the largest Ice Caves. It was well below 0 degrees so we wore all of the warm clothes we had. We traveled by bus into the mountains then took the steepest cable car in Europe up, swinging in the breeze, and then walked for a further 30mins to get to the entrance of the caves. There's a huge gush of air that hits you like a baseball bat to the face as the door is opened. It's just the exchange of hot and cold air but boy is it a surprise. Every 3rd or 4th person had a lantern to carry as there's no lighting inside the caves. There are 700 steps inside as you make your way deeper into the cave, and tourists only see the entrance! There are masses of ice which over time form sculptures. It was back to kindergarten, using your imagination to see the figures and shapes. The guide used magnesium to light up the sculptures and tell us all about how the caves were discovered and how they change every season with pieces braking away and new ice being formed. Because of the light it was hard to take photos with any clarity, but the experience was amazing.

It was back on the train to Munich where we had the day. We went to the BMW Welt, basically a futuristic car yard where they have F1's, hydrogen engines, the various materials and technology all on show. It's almost a whole museum. It's right next to the Olympic park too, so we walked around the parks, saw the olympic pool and diving centre and went into the main open air stadium where they hosted athletics and football. Not a bad way to spend a day before being back on an overnight train to Paris and back on the Eurostar back home to London. And that was the end of that little adventure.

So back in London Richard came to stay, with a few highlights in the short few days. We saw Spamalot, a Monty Python west end show - no nightmares from the giant bunnies thankfully! But more importantly it was the AFL grand final. We had tickets to the Walkabout at Temple and were cuing outside in the fresh morning air at 4am, to be let in 3 mins before the first bounce at 5:30am! It was a great atmosphere, even though we weren't barracking for a particular team. There were footy pies, VB and guys and gals all around wearing Guernseys. But if you can imagine 400 Aussies crammed in a pub which opened at 5am and with most not having been to bed and are on an all night bender, when we were leaving at 11am it was pretty messy. We had never seen more people asleep on couches with drinks in hand in one pub before tho!

We had a short amount of time in London on our own and we tried to spend it relaxing. We took ourselves to Hampstead Heath for a picnic and we managed to fall asleep in the warm sun - yep it occasionally happens in London.

So it wasn't long before our next trip, and it was for wedding number 2. Kate's friend Caroline married Geert in Mechelen in Belguim. We enjoyed the eurostar again which was able to take us all the way to Brussels and then to Mechelen. It was a wonderful day, there was the official ceremony at the local town hall, which was only for close family and friends, then the traditional church service in what was similar to a cathedral! Then a fun reception with dancing well into the night. Although we couldn't follow the Flemish during the ceremonies Caroline's friends translated for us! So a big congratulations to Caroline, Geert!

So that was the last of the traveling abroad for a little while and we got down and bogeyed with our London friends (although they too are travelers from Australia). We went to the big super clubs Fabric and Ministry of Sound, we went to see Underworld live in concert at the Brixton Academy. October was also a very special month as it was the first snow of the winter season, and it was the first time it had snowed in London in October since the 1930's. The snow settled and in areas where it stayed shady the snow turned to ice and stayed around for 3 days. Then it was time for bonfire night again, and they do fireworks here in London well!

Mark, a second cousin (or at least that's almost the easiest way of describing the relation) and his girlfriend Becca came to London for a weekend as they had kindly managed to get 4 tickets to see the rugby, Australia vs England at Twickenham. It was a fantastic day. We started early and had plenty of time at the ground to visit the bars, buy rugby shirts and watch the players arrive through the crowds. It was a brilliant atmosphere. Very different from the football. After the game, which Australia won, they kept all of the bars open on the ground levels around the stadium and everyone went there and it was like mass karaoke. Everyone joined in and there was lots of handshaking and friendly banter between the English and the Aussies. There was not a bad vibe in the place. It's rugby over football for sure, and from a crowd point of view Mark even agrees. We made it back into town quite late and sobered up with a warming curry at brick lane.

We made it to another concert, the Sneaky Sound System, an Aussie band who played at Koko in Camden. This time it was just the 2 of us and it was like being out on a date! We got there early and had a nice drink at the bar before staking out our spot, 4 people from the front! We danced and sang the night away!

Then of course there were always more football games to go to, but no need to dwell on this...

Then at the beginning of December we had a trip to Berlin with our good friends Swift and Rhys, and we met up with their friend Roxy who lives there. We spent the days wandering around the city, amazed at the amazing monuments and huge buildings, seeing Checkpoint Charlie, Brandeberg Gate and the DDR museum, and being surprised that there was no hustling and bustling with masses of people. But what we loved the most were the Christmas Markets. Egg nog wasn't the best, but the mulled wine, wurst in bread, crepes, mmmmm came back a stone heavier! And then of course there was the local night life. The bars and pubs were not at all pretentious, infant they were the opposite - all kinds of people all together in the same venues with no gymics, just there to have a god time. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we were much more nocturnal, and with limited day light, it was like being in twilight all weekend! But it was also a sad weekend as it was a farewell tour for Swift and Rhys who left for home the following weekend. So there was another pub crawl in London the following weekend as our final toodaloo. And that same weekend was Kate's cousins wedding, yep that makes number 3! Henry and Ashleigh tied the knot in Adelaide and although we couldn't be there we were very happy for them both and Kate even managed to get the timing right for a quick phone call on the day! We were sad not to have been able to be there, but we have plans to have our own belated celebration when we are home next. Congratulations Henry and Ash!

So that brings us to Christmas, and again London doesn't do a half bad job. The lights and decorations make it feel like it's Christmas time again. It also reminds us of how quickly yet another year has passed and it makes us reflect on all we have managed to do.

So while we are away from our family and friends back home, know that while it's Christmas morning for you there ar home, we are thinking of you and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and all the very best for another exciting year ahead.

We miss you and look forward to seeing you when we are back home for a visit in February/March.

Merry Christmas
Love Kate and Mark

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