Spoilt Rotten!

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Well September certainly has been a month to remember! I'm not sure whether it was because we were away from home, or because we are newly married, or just a series of amazing coincidences, or just because... but I was spoilt rotten for my Birthday!

When we were camping (as we mentioned in our last blog), Lisa organised a Birthday cake for me, and in the fresh air of the countryside I got to blow out my first overseas birthday candles. A very sweet gesture! So we arrived home on the Sunday, it was work as usual on the Monday and Tuesday it was my day, so we had organised to take the day off work! After phonecalls home we went to meet Tania and Miles who had arrived in London the day before. I was so excited to see friends from home on my Birthday, and in fact it was Miles' Birthday on the same day - so yes this was well planned and well executed! Tania had (6 months ago) booked us in for lunch at Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen for lunch. The food was just to die for. Whilst I had not seen the series on TV, Tania and Miles had and were pointing out where certain meetings took place and how the restaurant was decorated and how it has now changed. I think it was quite surreal for them. But we were certainly not let down by the food. Mark and I ordered the same -a fresh pasta for entree with really wide flat pasta and a tomatoe and pork sauce - mmmmm, and Macrel for mains. The Mackrel was a whole fish which was scored and baked in a U shape and served on a bed of flavoursome potatoes, onions and vegies. It was just like in the cartoons where we could hold onto the tail and all the meat fell off - leaving a perfect set of fish bones in one piece! It was just so amazing. Then Mark had been on the phone to them before and organised Birthday cake. Now not one - but 4! Yep, we got our own personal Birthday cakes. Miles and I of course had candles and we all tucked in to this most amazing chocolate brownie cake with thick mouse cream, and crusted with nuts and merange. Tania, being the sweet tooth amongst us was the only one able to finish her cake, not because it wasn't just the most amazingly delectable cake in the whole wile world, but because it was so rich. Gold star to her!

We sat and savoured our lunch while our tastebuds tried to catch up with what had just bombarded them before we went for a walk to stretch our legs and overcome the overindulgence! We walked along the Thames at Waterloo to the Star Wars Exhibition - yep, Mark's dream came true. Whilst I was the only person not a Star Wars fan I still enjoyed looking at the costumes and props and 'the making of' clips. But the highlight was probably the interactive side of the exhibition. There were a few of the characters hanging around and we got to have a light-saber leson from a Jedi Master. We learnt some pretty slick moves and stopped Darth Vader from killing us all! The force was certainly with us.

There was also a green room where Mark and Miles learnt a full routine with a Jedi. They wore Jedi capes and had light sabers and sood infront of a green screen and had a dvd made of their fight. It was pretty funny and they jumped, ducked, blocked and swung - trying to remember the order of the routine! I'm sure you can imagine the hilarity of the boys playing with their glowing sticks!

That night I was further spoilt as Trina came up from Southampton to have dinner with us. Yep more food. It was a good thing that they didn't arrive in London till 9:30pm so we didn't eat till 10pm - a well needed long break after our lunch. But it was great to share a bottle of wine and really savour the day.

The following weekend we took up Trina's offer and visited her in Southampton. We went to the pub to catch the second half of the rugby (I can't recal who was playing) and then she showed us through her home town. We saw the old walls - very similar to the walls at York. There aren't too many sections left still standing, but it's something different. There was the annual Southampton Boat show on that week so there were some AMAZING boats! Yes James, you would be mighty jealous! We didn't pay to go in, but seing the huge boats over the walls just gives you an idea of their size. There were all sorts of boats, from fishing o sailing, to comercial to the nice luxurious boats the likes of Mr Harrod would have floating on his private ocean. Yep, one of the biggest boat shows in the world that people from all over come to.

We cooked up a storm in Trina's kitchen - the largest room in her house! Honestly, the ktchen is almost as large as her lounge room - oh how much I dream of having a kitchen larger than a suitcase again. Anyhow, we whiped up about 5 different asian dishes and we had a lovely dinner at Trina's place with some of her friends. The next morning we went for a drive into the New Forrest and went mushroom picking. We had a small book with us about the different varieties of mushrooms but it didn't really help us. We still couldn't really tell what types they all were, whether they were poisonous or not, so there was no tastings. The new forrest was really beautiful. The weather was a little fresh, but the wild ponies were very interested in our mushroom adventures. There weren't too many mushies around, but we persisted, looking in trees, on rocks, and on the ground. We actually found quite a few different types of mushies but we didn't really find any any more than one of the same type. We took a bbq with us for a nice lunch in the forrest and we sat around enjoying the fresh air. The boys enjoyed playing with a plastic boomerang and spent most of their time trying to get it out of the tree .But of course that kept them occupied most of the afternoon. When the rain started it signalled the end of our afternoon out and it was then time to pack up and start thinking about headding back to London. But it was such a great weekend to go and see Trina and meet the friends she talks so much about.

Then came my special treat. For my birthday Mark had organised a weekend away to Dublin. We caught the plane on Friday after work and flew into Dublin. He booked us into this gorgeous little b&b one street away from the main shopping street. We both gave the full irish breakfast a go in the morning - not so sure about having black and white pudding again tho... I think I'm more of a vegetarian in the mornings.

Mark had booked us onto a tour on Saturday. We went on a small coack and drove through Dublin a little, with the tour guide telling us lots of interesting facts about the city, including the population, the economic standing, issues with crime, prices of houses and of course interesting info about the history of the country. We drove to the coast which was just beautiful. The water was so calm and very warm. Apparently because of the positioning of the bays the water remains warm all year round so locals swim all year round. I guess they have to think about the wind in the winter tho. As we drove through the country side I could see how the Irish national colour is green - the brightness of the green grass and the endless fields of grass, trees lining the hills. It was just beautiful. We stopped at one lookout in particular which has a beach like end to it with sand linig the edge. The water at this lake issuch a dark red-black colour, and with the shape of the lake and the beack end it is called guinness lake for the obvious reason that it looks just like a pint of guiness. Unfortunately our camera lens couldn't quite capture it in one shot, but it was certainly very recognisable. And we were so very fortunate that we had glorious weather for the whole day. We spent the day removing layer by layer while we travelled around the countryside with a bright blue sky overhead and the sun beaming down on us. We stopped at a quaint little Irish pub for luch, and we just couldn't go past the stew! Mmmm it was good.

The highlight of the afternoon was certainly the visit to Glendaloch. We had 2 hours to walk through a beautiful path to the place where 2 loch's meet in a great valley. There was a very old and picturesque cemetary with stoneheads dating back centuries, and there were ruins of a chapel and a huge tower - reminded u sof Rapunzel - there was no door or entry at the bottom, only windows at the very top. We took our time taking in the beautiful surroundings and we explored the forrests through the valley to the lochs. We just felt so far away from the hussle and bustle of ordinary life, it was such an oasis.

We got chatting with the tour guide when we arrived back in Dublin and he gave us some pointers on a few pubs to go to in the evening, apparantly not so touristy - until we compared his reccommendations with what our Dublin Lonely Planet guide was telling us. But we did go to the oldest pub in Ireland, a pub that has been thre since 1178! Now that's a pretty good record!Apparently viking used to go there for a pint. Whilst it was obvious that the place had been renovated more than a few times since it opened, it had a great atomsphere, that was until a group of Aussie guys sat next to us and all we could hear was bellowing Australian twang! It was probably time for us to try another pub anyway - yep we were going to sample Guinness in as many pubs as we could. We stopped in on another pub on our way to Temple Bar, which is the nightlife hub of Dublin. It's primarily one main street lined with pubs and eateries with buskers in the streets, and FULL of tourists! But as we went into the pubs we stayed for a w while at a few which had live irish bands and duo's playing and singing. It was always fun to have a sing-a-long! And there were a couple of good cover bands in a few places too. It was pretty funny when the lead singer in a group was asked by the crowd to play a song he didn't know the words to, but he made up the tune on his guitar and just let the crowd sing the whole song! The place was booming with people screaming out the song - greenday if I remember righltly. Of course we were many-a guinness along by the end of the night. Quite proud of myself since I'm not even a beer drinker - although the secret for the ladies is to add a little blackcurrent to the guinness to make it very easy to drink!

Another full breakfast (minus the meat) was a great start to Sunday, and very pleased that we did not have hangovers, we hit the town. We went to Kilmainham Gaol in the morning and had a tour of the cells, exercise yard, the execution yard and the various wings, built at different times in very different designs. The history of it is very unique and we could quite easilly have stayed for longer, but to save on time in the museum we bought a book on it and travelled on to go to the Guinness Storehouse - yep, the brewery.

The Guinness Storehouse was a great way to spend a few hours. Of course we learnt about the brewing process and the history of the family, or rather the man who started the making of this unique stout. But of course the highlight was definitely the tastings. The guinness had a true burgondy colour and a creamy head like melted marshmallow. We had a great time making faces in our froth! The best view in Dublin city is also at the Storehouse with the top floor being a bar with 365 degrees windows - the highest view point in Dublin. It was great to get a birds eye view of the city, but to be honest I don't think it's the most beautiful city. It certainly has a lot to offer with it's history, culture and very interesting sights to see, but it wouldn't do well in a beauty contest. But I guess thats where the rest of the country side makes up for it. But we enjoyed a guinness looking down on the city as we contemplated the wonderful but brief time we had in Ireland.

And that brings me to this last weekend just passed which we spent at home with a very strong sports theme. We tried to have an early night on Firday night because we were up at 4am and went to the pub 3 doors down to watch the Cats annihilate Port! It was an awesone game to watch but the most awful part of the morning was being in a pub ful of twangy Aussie accents! I always find it horrible to be aroundnow. But the game was great to watch - especially since there was no hope of Port winning! We were home by 9am and had Trina and Joel come over for lunch before we went back to the pub to watch the Rugby - Canada vs Australia which was a pretty average match,. But the real excitement started with the Fiji vs Wales game with Fiji coming through. It's always special to see the underdog pull through and everyone in the pub was cheering for them!

And on Sunday Mark played his first football match in London! He has joined a local team FC London. I went along to watch and when we arrived it took some time to find his team amongst the 8 or more pitches and of course plenty of players. There was a bit of an interesting situation with the referee not turning up and there being a history between Mark's team and the opponent - apparently 2 years ago a massive fight broke out and there were broken ribs, broken arms and concusions galore as a result. So you can only imagine the discussions that the teams had trying to organise the morning's match. But eventually they had a guy from the other team ref the match and it was obvious that neither team were putting in their all in order to prevent a fight. Unforunately Mark's team went down 3-0, but Mark was still pleased to have had the run, that was until he woke up on Monday and Tuesday in agony!

So that's us up to date. We're having a ball and looking after each other.

Let us know how you're doing! We do love updates from home.

All the best for now

Kate XXX

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Comments

[Alexa Telfer]

Heya Kate, a belated happy birthday to you!! Sounds like you husband went all out to ensure that your birthday was special and memorable. I must say on first glance your mackeral fish looks like a roasted blue tongue lizard on a bed of fried potato rounds or something. You both sound like you are having a fantastic adventure over there and are making the most of all your opportunities. Take care... Lex.