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Published: July 11th 2006
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Lord Sebastian Coe
Well, he looks disinterested, I look goofy but at least I have photograghic evidence of meeting one of the world's most successful 800m/1500m runners. Well at least that is what I was singing for much of my time in London (It is a song by a Western Australian band called 'The Waifs'). I had initially intended to stay only for about 3 days, take my trip down to South West England for 5 days and then head off to Scotland. Best laid plans and all.....
Most importantly, I don't think Peter Donnelly (aka "The Silver Fox") really meant 2 and a half weeks when he said I could stay as long as I liked!
Anyway, London was a great city for me.
Highlights included:
London orientation in an open double-decker bus. Unfortunately there was a little too much "this is Elton John's penthouse" and "Sean Connery lives in this street" but the non-gossip stuff was very interesting.
Going to 3 West End shows - Blood Brothers (starring Maureen Nolan of "The Nolans" - anyone else remember the 1980 hit "Gotta pull myself together"??), Guys and Dolls and Evita (starring Australia's Philip Quast as Peron). My favourite was definitely Blood Brothers but each was very slick and most enjoyable.
Tour of Lord’s cricket ground. It was great but I missed
2012 Olympic bus
Much fanfare for the unveiling.... out on the Committee room because there was an ICC meeting in progress. Had a peek but did not recognise any of the members. Also stopped by Abbey Road studios on the way there to get in some great people watching. I have never seen so many tourists trying to get themselves run over on a pedestrian crossing before! Some of them even took their shoes off to try and impersonate John Lennon!
Celebration of the first anniversary of London getting the nod for the 2012 Olympics in Trafalgar Square. A big buzz. Lots of activities and the unveiling of a new 2012 double-decker bus to tour the country promoting the games. And I saw Tony Blair, Lord Sebastian Coe, and Dame Kellie Holmes.
All the usual tourist stuff - changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the Royal Mews (checking out the treatment of the horses and carriages of her majesty), the National Gallery (annoyed because the “Monet” room was closed), National Portrait Gallery (very impressive), St Paul’s Cathedral, wandering past the Parliament buildings, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street, Hyde Park, Kensington gardens, Portobello Road…….
The British Museum. A fantastic museum provided that you
Dominic Jarman
The new baby of Oxfordshire. keep your blood pressure in check. I got a wee bit angry when considering that I am going to miss out on seeing parts of the Parthenon in Athens due to excessive English pilfering (ie the Elgin marbles). The same of course goes for the collections from Egypt, China…..etc.
A trip to Oxfordshire to visit Simon Jarman, Jane, Julian and new baby, Dominic. I worked with Simon in Melbourne before he moved to London and it was great to catch up for a BBQ with the whole family (including Simon’s mother and mother-in-law) after more than a year. And wetting the baby’s head with a few glasses of Bollinger was lovely too.
Staying in Turnham Green. When I first arrived at Peter’s, his friends Valda and Joe from Wodonga were already there so it was a full house but definitely a fun one. We all had dinner at the local one night with Peter’s daughter, Nicole, and her fiancé, Boyd too. Peter also has 5 foxes hanging out in his inner-London back yard. Until I actually saw them, I thought everyone was pulling my leg. Amazing!
Peter is in his usual fine form. He had tagged along
Watching the match....
Peter, Simon and Brett watching a world cup match in Oxfordshire after a great BBQ lunch and a few beverages! to some drinks at the House of Lords, and apparently within 15 minutes of arriving, managed to get an invite to lunch there in a few weeks time with the Baroness Gould to talk health policy! Add to that a few great job offers and an invite to take a team to Egypt to talk patient costing and casemix etc, and I can honestly say that it is great to see that, at least in this part of the world, his skills are being recognised!
Next stop Edinburgh.
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Rubbing shoulders with the Upper Class
Not surprised at all to see you sucking up to Lord Coe. Thought you may have been trying to seduce him into taking the Bombers job after Sheedy is sacked at the end of the year. Would love to see Coe at Windy Hill addressing the boys before another loss "Tally ho chaps, can't you convicts kick straight"