A different kind of Royal encounter

Yesterday i met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Queen and witnessed the theft of the Crown Jewels.

I was walking along along Regent Street and found myself outside number 188-196 where a soldier in a red uniform complete with sword was filling the air with bubbles. I had never been to Hamleys before. Walking in i was instantly 8 years old again, my eyes open wide in wonder. It is what a toystore should be. Fun, interactive, filled with all sorts of toys and its own candy counter, not to mention that it covers five floors!

Hamleys on Regent St

The ground floor, by far the busiest, is filled with all sorts of stuffed animals. Staff here and there were playing demonstrating toys on sale and even putting on shows at the in-house puppet theatre. Yep, they get paid to play with toys all day...i totally want that job! The fifth floor, as it turned out, was the favourite haunt of Royalty...and toy royalty...Lego has an incredible display of members of the Royal Family including the the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Queen and her faithful corgie.

Lego Royalty - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Lego Royalty - The Queen and her corgi

I did notice that a Mission Impossible style theft of the Crown Jewels brazenly being carried out in broad daylight...

Brazen daylight robbery of the Royal Jewels!

But i suspected that the gold toothed thief wouldnt get too far...

Lego Thief

As Londons most famous detective was hot on the trail.

Lego Sherlock Holmes

Its days like that that make me love London. The day had started out simply as a lunchtime catch up with a friend (we thought we'd try the "traditional British dish - fish and chips") near Covent Garden and ended in a toystore evoking Mr Magoriums Wonderful Emporium. Oh, did i mention the largest gumball machine ive ever seen tucked away in a nondescript lolly shop? It was bigger than me! No one could see that machine and not smile unless they had really forgotten what it was like to be a kid. Seriously, massive gumball machine! Need i say more?

The humongous gumball machine!

 

Love London!

VP

Moving in...thoughts on my new London home

Its an odd thing moving into a house share. If you think about it, you are sharing a home, a set space with people who are perfect strangers. How often do you walk up to a random person on the street and see if they will let you use their shower? Or when was the last time you let a perfect strange sleep in your house? But that is essentially what happens when you move into a flatshare or have someone move in with you. It is the oddest thing yet completely acceptable. What happened to the "stranger danger" concept you were taught when you were little? It gets thrown right out the window...here are 2, 3 or 4 random strangers, move in with them and share your daily life with them why dont you? Heck, even people in relationships think things through before they move in together, they want to get to know the person before they take that step. And yes while i realise that its not quite the same thing, you have to allow for some similarities.

I have moved into my new home in London. I am sharing with 2 girls and im sure they are lovely but for all i know they could be axe murderers or serial killers. I spent all of half an hour with each of them before moving in. Call me uptight but i dont give perfect strangers my home address or phone number after only speaking with them for half an hour and i certainly dont move in with them! But thats the thing, put in the persepective of sharing a house, it no longer seems strange, odd or even slightly daring or crazy, it becomes normal. Move in with perfect strangers? Dont know a thing about them? Well if the house is near a tube stop and the rent is affordable, you better snap it up before someone else does!

Of course my flatmates are lovely and very sweet. I have settled into my new home and im thoroughly enjoying the novelty of not being in a hostel anymore. But i just wanted to illustrate how crazy the whole house share social schema is. It is not the first time i have shared a house but its the first time i have viewed it from such a perspective and the laughable notion just had to be shared. Come to that, writing about my life on the internet where an innumerable number of strangers can read about it is just another example of an "accepted" thing to do that, seen in the same light, is just as crazy, but i digress.

Finding a place to live in London is not easy, as anyone will tell you. It is as serious as applying for a job...if not more so! Places are listed on flat sharing sites and within hours they are gone. If you manage to get a response to your enquiry you are invited to attend an interview, yes, an interview. Well its an interview masquerading as a house viewing. Anyway, you can rock up to the "interview" which is usually in the evenings, meet all the flatmates, get a tour of the house, be asked what you do, where your from, how long you staying in London and all sorts of other questions and think everything went well but never hear from them again. You do not get to choose where you live, it chooses you. If you do hear from them, you attend a second round of interviews and/or get a reference check. And you thought i was kidding about it being like applying for a job...

So 6 weeks after landing at Heathrow, luck chose to smile on me and, finally, i was able to say goodbye to the hostel and hello my new home :) And it is lovely. It is a terrace house on a quiet street but only a few minutes walk to the tube, local shops, bars and cafes. The biggest bonus is it has a roof terrace!!  Come summer time it is going to be brilliant! While living in the hostel was one heck of an experiance and allowed me to meet and befriend some people, i can honestly say that i will not miss sharing a room with 3 to 13 other girls, being woken up at odd hours because someone is either coming in late/leaving early/snoring/having night terrors/turning on their hair dryer or not being able to make myself dinner.

And now that i am settled (and have a stable internet connection!), i will be able to post a lot more about my adventures in London and other travels. I have a couple of posts already planned and of course there is my upcoming trip to Japan that you simply cannot miss.

VP

Snow in London and other updates

Hearing: Chatter of people on their lunch break

I am at Pret on Queen Victoria St in London enjoying a hot soup with crusty bread to fight off the cold! But i  find that im adjusting to the weather better than i expected here.

A coupe of days ago it snowed! Boy was that a treat! I went for a walk and got covered in the white stuff but it was so much fun! While everyone else was rushing to get out of it, there i was smiling from ear to ear like some lunatic, but i didnt care. It was just bloody awesome!!! Getting back to my hostel i found some boys out the front having a snowball fight...i was so tempted to join in!

The next day i was off to Clapham Common for a flat viewing and couldnt resist taking a photo of me and the white sea of the normally very green Clapham Common. As i walked past i noticed that there were several half-built snowmen that it made the common look like some snowmen monster had gone around decapitating all his enemies.

So ive been here two weeks and whats happened in that time?

• I have trawled thorugh hundreds of flatshare ads-roommates who like to wear pleather for nights out anyone? Ive been to a number of flat viewings and coming back from one evening i found that i had a boyfriend, a brother that lived on Elgin avenue and that i already had a flat and lived in Clapham - i was trying to avoid a random guy picking me up on as i walked to the tube! LOL!
• A good hostel is a rare thing that when you find one you'll be willing to change rooms no less that 7 times to stay in it.
• Attended a couple of meetings with Ümbrella companies (kind of agencies)
• Walked. A LOT.
• Primark Oxford St! Thank you for my 10pound boots just before it snowed! Ballet flats are not snow-worthy shoes!
• Long-distance planning of my long postponed trip to Japan with my friend A.
• Tried (and failed) not to smile on the tube...but more about that later...

Vanishing Point

Brunch in a little London cafe

Hearing: People chatting, kids running around and the occasional clatter of crockery

I’m in a little café just a couple of minutes from my hostel. I was a little late for breakfast this morning so here I am. And im glad too. This place is pretty cute and I’ve managed to score a window seat so can watch people go by on the street.

Since my last post, it seems as though someone hit fast forward on my life. Before I knew it, it was my last day at work, my farewell, my last day in Sydney, the flight to London, arriving at the hostel and now it’s been almost a week!

It’s been a little weird being here to be honest. I can’t quite figure out what I’m feeling. I don’t know if it’s really sunk in that I’m here long-term, that this isn’t just another layover or holiday. And this is despite my spending hours every day on Gumtree trying to find a place to stay. A new place to call home.

Gumtree – as my friend L put it – is a type of torture. I must have looked at a hundred ads already and sent queries to about 20. I’ve only gotten a handful of responses and so far have only been to see one place. It’s a full time job looking for a place I must say. Of course it doesn’t help that im being picky. 

Yes, I will admit it, I am being very picky. I see the right place as being a huge factor in how happy I am with my move here. I want a home, not just a place to crash or party. My wish list (and lets face it, it is a wish list) includes:

• Nice looking house from the outside – not modern and not a flat/apartment block – preferably Victorian or Georgian, a place with character
• Located on a leafy street
• Nice flatmates, preferably 2 or 3, who I can occasionally hang out with
• A place that has a living room!
• Close to a tube stop!!! A huge must! I do not want to be walking endlessly to a tube station (especially not in the cold) or taking a bus in peak hour London traffic. And I would prefer to be in zone 2 or 3
• A small number of cafés within walking distance – I don’t want nor need hundreds of cafes/restaurants/shops or to be close to a high street, I just want a place I can go have coffee or brunch on a Sunday.
• AFFORDABLE! LOL! Well its my wish list so I can have what I want even if it isn’t realistic and quite possibly ridiculous right?

My rational side knows that my wish list is close to impossible and I’ll have to face reality and become more realistic to find a decent place. I do have a budget and that will dictate what items on my wish list will have to take priority but till Gumtree kills my day-dreaming, my wishlist is here for a bit longer…

Speaking of Gumtree, now that I’m fed and watered, it’s back to the search…wish me luck!

Vanishing Point

My Last Sydney Commute

There is faint chatter, some not-so-muted music and of course that one person who is on the phone the entire trip. From the train window i see the sun slowly rising against a faint haze and a few scattered clouds. Its going to be a hot day. Perfect beach weather. The houses I've seen countless times slip by still unremarkable as ever.

My thoughts drift to my almost-last day at work. I will no longer be commuting to my job in the city. I'll be working from home - wherever that ends up being - in London.

Its time for a change. Those two years as a flight attendant have changed me. I am no longer content with 'the norm'. I have seen what can be done in 2 years, what can be done in 10 days, 32hrs, 12hrs, or even 4hrs. Besides, who decided what would be the norm anyway? Surely the norm should be what you make it? But i digress...

Ever since my first London layover, no, ever since Disney made Mary Poppins and i read the books, I've always felt London held a kind of magic. My first layover just cemented the fact that i love the city and it felt like home. And it will be my home for the next 2 years. It will also be my base for travelling around Europe ;)

I am excited and nervous. Actually, terrified might be a more honest description. I love Sydney, it has been my home for over 25years and i will miss it. Moving to London is the next adventure and i hope you will all keep reading and join me in exploring this new chapter.

Vanishing Point

Photo Tour - Cesky Krumlov

As a final installment to the posts on my Czech Republic adventures, i thought i would share with you something quite beautiful - Cesky Krumlov.

Purely by accident, it turned out to be another town that had received a UNESCO World Heritage listing (if you read my post on Bath, UK you'll know what i mean). Cesky Krumlov is a very well preserved Medieval Town on the Vltava river and it is a gorgeous place. It is a few hours outside Prague but well worth a visit. By joining a tour i got to sit back, relax, enjoy the views of the country go by and meet a few people.

Below are some photos from the grounds of the Castle and around town. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the castle (you should have seen our guide go nuts at one tourist who tried to take photos - scary!) But the Castle is well preserved and they have gone to a lot of effort to keep it in a state as you would have seen it many moons ago. One of my favourite sites is the Masquerade Hall.

Anyway - without further ado, enjoy the photos!

A view of Cesky Krumlov, The Castle Tower and The Town

The interesting thing is that all those bricks you see are actually painted on.

Castle Tower and the 2nd Courtyard

A view of the castle, Vltava and town.

The other side of the river - the town and riverside pub

A view of the town and the Castle Tower

A very yummy sweet pastry...

Wait for it...

There it is! Mmmm...YUM!

A view of the Castle Tower from the Vltava

Cesky Krumolv Town Square

Maybe I'm not worldly enough but Ive never seen a cone this shape before...oh and the ice-cream was delicious too!

A cute pub overlooking the Vltava river

People canoeing on the Vltava

And that rounds out my Prague/Czech Republic trip. I hope you enjoyed my posts.

Till next time - keep travelling!

VP

Photo Tour - Prague by Night

Prague by Night!

For Prague by Day click here.

Prague is a very safe city. I was out at around 10pm at night taking the photos included in this photo tour and i didn't feel unsafe for a moment. I even to the metro home with no drama whatsoever!

I really enjoyed my walk around the city. For most of the night it was raining, but i think it gave my photos a little something extra. Plus, not many people go out when its raining so you have all the touristy spots to yourself :)

Charles Bridge/Karluv Most

Charles Bridge/Karluv Most

Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral

Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral...and a lamp on Charles Bridge. You can actually see the rain captured in this one.

Old Town Square - Astronomical Clock on the left and the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

Old Town Square - Church of St Nicholas

Old Town Square - Old Town Hall. I love the effect here with the people fuzzy in the foreground.

A view f Powder Gate

Municipal House

Short and sweet - I hope you enjoyed this photo tour and my small attempt at taking more artistic photos.

VP