Back in sunny London

Simon and I are back in London as of this morning, and yes, it was sunny today (though a bit cold). We flew back into the UK from Brussels on Monday night, and spent two nights in Windsor. We hired a car so we could go driving around, which is what we did yesterday to visit Stonehenge and Bath. Last night we were meant to visit a friend of Simon's who lives in Windsor. We did visit his wife and kids, but the friend wasn't there because his work sent him on an emergency trip to Taiwan. He's an engineer.

After returning the hire car this morning, this afternoon we visited Westminster Abbey. It was pretty interesting, but you'd want it to be when they charge 10 pounds per person for admission! We also made a quick trip to Harrods before going to visit my sister so I could get stuff I had left at her place. Tonight we had a lovely dinner with school friends of mine who live over here. I won't see them again until they make their ways back to Australia.

Rome to Paris

Ok, so I haven't posted for quite a while, but it wasn't for lack of trying. We managed to find an internet cafe in Venice, but I wasn't prepared to pay 4.50 Euro for 30 minutes. Now on our last full day in Paris, we have finally found an internet cafe (1.50 Euro for 30 minutes). Of course, it would take longer than 30 minutes to describe what we've done since we left Rome a week ago, and there are still more things that we want to do in Paris this afternoon. In summary, we prefer Paris to the Italian cities we visited, but coffee is much better value in Italy (and as such Simon hasn't had any coffee since Wednesday).

Once I get home, I'll sort through all the photos we've taken and put together a trip summary complete with pictures.

Roma

We are just about at the end of our second and last full day in Rome. Tomorrow at 7:35am, we catch a train to Pisa, where we will spend a few hours, and then we catch another train to Florence.

Yesterday was devoted to seeing the Vatican. First, we went to the Museum, which houses the Sistine Chapel, as it is only open in the mornings during the low season. There was still a queue of such length that we were almost scared off, but it moved remarkably quickly and we only had to wait about 35 minutes. We spent a couple of hours there as they have quite a lot of art and artefacts besides the Chapel itself.

After that, we went to St Peter's Bascillica. Having developed a taste for queueing, we waited in line again, this time to go up the Capola to see the view of Rome. Quite impressive, but I was disappointed that the Coloseum was too far away to see. The stairs back down led into the Bascillica itself, so we looked around inside for a while before going to see the tombs of the Popes.

We caught the Metro back towards the city centre and wandered through the shopping district before having dinner and heading back to our hostel.

Today we started with the Coleseum. We elected to do a guided tour, which was interesting and valuable as neither Simon nor I knew much at all about it. Having learned during our tour where they used to have the chariot races, we went to see the Circus Maximus, which happened to be near the Mouth of Truth. The line was large and slow for those wanting to be photographed risking their hands, so we just took a photo of the face itself in between the more patient tourists.

Next we returned to the Coleseum to join a tour of the Forum which was thrown in with our first tour. Summary of the forum: lots of bits of buildings from various times in history all in together in a haphazard fashion. Interesting though.

We made our way to the Trevi Fountain. Unlike when I saw it when I was nine, it was not covered in scaffolding and did contain water. I must have been excited about seeing it as it should be, as both Simon and I tossed coins in (only 1 Euro cent each though). As a last point of call for the afternoon, we went to the Spanish steps (partly because of the nearby Metro station). They are probably more attractive when the church at the top is not under repair. We walked up and found that the most interesting thing at the top was a hotel with photographers and cameramen set up out front. Clearly they were on the lookout for a celebrity or celebritries (possibly in relation to the TomKat wedding), and as such there was also a large group of curious onlookers gathered. I have to admit I was curious and we stood waiting for a little while, but soon gave up and went back to our hostel for a rest.

We have just finished dinner, and next we plan to go for one last look at the Coleseum. Supposedly it is lit up at night and looks even more spectacular.

First stop, Dublin

Ok, sorry it's taken me a few days to post that Simon is now over this side of the world. In fact, we've now used up most of our time in Dublin. We've made good use of it though.

We arrived yesterday morning and after making our way from the airport to our hostel, we met up with Cormac for lunch. We had decided that we would wait until the next day to buy a Dublin Pass, so we went to one of the attractions not covered, Trinity College. When I was here in June, I went on a guided tour, but they don't seem to be running them at this time of year, so we walked around and I told Simon what I could remember. We then went and saw the Book of Kells and the Long Room (a library with lots of old books).

In the evening, I took Simon to see the Aussie pub where Cormac and I watched Australia play Italy in the World Cup back in June. I didn't actually notice last time, but they really do have a large selection of Aussie beers, as well as various other beers from around the world. Simon had a Coopers Sparkling Ale. For dinner, we went to and Irish pub and had good Irish pub food, and Guinness (yes, me too).

Today, armed with our Dublin Passes, we went to lots of places: St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Christchurch Cathedral, the Guinness Storehouse and the Old Jameson Distillery. On of the highlights was learning how to pour a "perfect pint" of Guinness, despite the fact that the special exhibit for that was a summer thing and had closed. We asked about it because my sister did it a couple of months ago and they let us do it anyway at one of their bars. It would seem that the pouring of the pint does make a difference as Simon's tasted better than mine. Another highlight was that both Simon and I were selected to be whiskey tasters on the Jameson tour. After our pints of Guinness, the tastes of five whiskeys and our extra serving of Jameson's, we are fairly well liquored up, and shortly we'll be meeting Cormac and Susan at a pub for dinner and pints. Slainte!

Rollerblading in Hyde Park

Simon arrives tomorrow (I just got an sms from him to let me know he's in Singapore) and on Tuesday we fly to Dublin, so if I was ever going to go rollerblading in Hyde Park, it had to be today. So, that's what I did. It would have been nice if Gen and Damo could have come too (I've been staying with them since I moved out of my place on Friday), but they were too busy. Going alone did have the advantage that I didn't have to hire rollerblades because I could borrow Gens's.

Unlike Hampstead Heath, Hyde Park is a suitable rollerblading location, and as such I didn't fall down this time. However, there was one section of slight downhill that I elected to avoid for fear of building up too much speed (I stopped, took off the rollerblades, walked, then put them back on). I like to think of it less as chickening out as knowing my own limitations. Basically, I can't stop, at least not without a long, flat area to gradually slow down or something to grab on to.

After tiring, I decided to go for a bit of a walk in the park. Being Autumn, there are lots of lovely colours around. I also saw several squirrels and a man and a woman out for a walk with their pets: each had a large, colourful parrot on their shoulder and their dog was running around nearby.

Right now, I'm sitting in a pub that has free wifi. Gen and Damo don't have the internet set up at their place yet.

Last day of work

I should be feeling overjoyed now that I never again have to go back to that wholely unsatisfying job. I don't. I feel a bit guilty, having just left my fourth job after less than four years as an engineer. I guess I do feel a bit of relief, but I am trying to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the uncertainty of what lies ahead once I get home.