Winter Sunshine in Hyde Park

Today, the sun was out, the skies were blue, the temperature was barely over zero, so I decided to make the most of it. I went into the city to walk through Hyde Park and visit Kensington Palace.


Getting off the tube at Hyde Park Corner, I discovered the toilets there, right near the gates, are very clean, with soap and working hand dryers...which in London deserves a mention on its own! My path through the park was alongside the Serpentine, which looked absolutely gorgeous in the winter sunshine. What I should have been doing though, was watching where I was walking. There had been a bit of snow early this morning and had quickly turned to ice on the path and yes, I slipped. Right in front of a whole crowd of people outside The Boathouse. I'd like to think it was one of my more graceful falls, feet slipping out in front and landing straight down on my bum, but embarrassing enough!


After I brushed the ice off my coat, and hurried away from the scene, I followed The Serpentine, which then became The Long Water, which I guess is called that because it is long! There were a lot of Londoners and tourists out in Hyde Park today, most of whom were immaculately dressed. However, the Best-Dressed-in-the-Park awards have to go to the Chihuahua's. I saw one in a full body, blue jumpsuit, a couple with fur-trimmed white coats and even one in a matching baby pink cardi and hat combo. Well, one does have to look one's best, even in the cold weather!


Following the path around, I ended up at Kensington Palace where, thanks to my lovely friend Hannah, I have membership to, and it didn't cost me a cent to enter. They currently have "The Last Debutantes" exhibition, featuring multi-media displays, gowns, music and even a etiquette room where you could practise your curtsy, balance a book on your head for deportment and even learn to set a table correctly. I hurried through this room so I didn't show myself up!


The tour then leads into a display of some of the gowns worn by Princess Diana, followed by The State Apartments. In this part of the Palace, you can see the Cupola Room where Queen Victoria was christened and the Queens Rooms where Queen Mary entertained her friends. I did see a King wandering around, but no one else seemed to take any notice of him. Oooh, maybe he was a ghost! King George I, perhaps??


As with most places, you leave the tour through the gift shop (no tacky Vincent Van Gogh toys here!), stocking lots of things your nana would love...lace doilies, handkerchiefs, lavender pomanders, that kind of thing. All very nice, though!


On with the coat and back out into the gorgeous London winter sunshine. A great day out, even with a two hour bus trip home. This is London, after all!

Designs of the Heart

Check out this blog: www.designsoftheheart.blogspot.com

My sister, who is always a big fan of my blog, is the author and since she has given my blog some good press lately, it's high time I repaid the favour.

When the talents were given out in our family, my sister got all the artistic ones. Have a look at her page, especially her Etsy shop. She makes all sorts of things that are awesome, unique presents for those people hard to shop for or just to keep all to yourself.

Mention you heard it from me and she may even give you a discount!

Not For Tourists

If you're new to London, you must grab yourself a copy of NFT (Not For Tourists).

It's a comprehensive guide, all in a very handy pocket size, to what to see (and what to avoid) in London. It's written by people who actually live here and some of the stuff in there is hilarious.

You can pick up a copy for under a tenner at most bookshops (I got mine in Foyles on Charing Cross Road - love that store!). Well worth the price!

(Obviously, you'll want one for London if that's where you're living...unlike the one for New York City in the picture, but I guess you worked that out already!)

Happy Australia Day 2010

So last year, I spent Australia Day watching the NFL and thinking that it would be my last Australia Day in Australia for a while. Here I am in London, with my tiny Aussie flag on my wall, set to celebrate the day...very quietly, I guess.

It got me thinking how I have spent Australia Days Past, and the ones that stick in my mind are always the ones spent with family and friends, usually surrounding a BBQ, a swimming pool and then a trip into the city or to the beach to watch the fireworks. With a top temperature estimated to be 3 degrees here in London tomorrow, I can't see me doing the first two things. But fireworks? Surely, with the amount of Aussies that call this city home, there will be some fireworks. You can buy them in the supermarket here so what better excuse than Australia Day.

I made a pit stop at The Australia Shop in Covent Garden last weekend for supplies for the day, but since I have already eaten and drunk them (!), I will need to make do with a packet of Tim Tams...if Tesco still sell them. Please tell me they do!

But what matters most of all is not my location or my lack of all things Aussie, but the fact that I am Australian. Where I live will not change that.

Happy Australia Day, everyone!

(and if you are a fellow Aussie out there, away from home and a whole lot more organised than I am, then have a Vegemite sandwich, a lamington, a lamb chop, a cherry ripe, Anzac biscuit or whatever takes your fancy, for me!)

The National Gallery

As part of my kid-free Sunday (which turned out not to be totally kid-free after all!), I decided to spend the afternoon in quiet contemplation (?) at The National Gallery.

The National Gallery is located in Trafalgar Square and got it's start when the House of Commons paid for 38 paintings belonging to a banker back in 1824, and used his Pall Mall home as the exhibition space. Embarrassed by having their national Gallery based in someones home, the Great British public demanded the Government build a building worthy of a national art collection. The current building was designed by architect William Wilkins and completed in 1838.

I started my self-guided tour in The Sainsbury Wing, the newest addition to The Gallery, opening in 1991. The Gallery is well laid out, with most of the displays on the same floor and you can see most of the paintings in one afternoon.

It didn't hold the same magic for me as The Louvre, but then, I imagine, few places would. It was great to discover some of my old favourites and ones I studied at school - Monet, Rembrandt, Constable, Turner and Van Gogh.

All around the Gallery are seats and benches where you can rest your weary feet and also take in some of the larger portraits from a distance. And in each of the rooms is the ever-present guard / attendant (not sure what to call them!) standing or sitting and looking entirely bored. I'm sure a day in my old office job would seem like too much excitement for them! How they manage not to fall asleep, I'll never know. I did overhear a couple of them talking about whether they preferred gas or electric cookers (I think gas was the winner!), so I guess they have ways of keeping entertained.

The National Gallery is open daily from 10am to 6pm and is free. The usual audio tours, cloakrooms and Gallery Shop are all available. There is a restaurant, but I didn't go in as it looked really expensive.

But my favourite of the whole gallery was discovered in the Gallery Shop on my way out. Among all the prints of the famous portraits, classy stationery and art books was a stuffed Vincent Van Gogh toy, complete with detachable ear and a little tag saying, "I'm Vincent Van Gogh and my ear comes off". Nice.

Sunday Snapshot

Fountain in Trafalgar Square

It's just another Manic Monday...I wish it were Sunday

This has been a very long week. The only thing that has kept me going is Sunday. My one day off each week and the only kid-free day. Aahh, Sunday!

The week started off pretty ordinary, then got progressively worse. One day on the way to school pick up in the afternoon, I stopped off at the supermarket with 4-year-old in tow, and I thought I would be nice and buy him a magazine of his favourite character, Thomas the Tank Engine. He was so excited and even helped me pick one out for his sister. I had a moment of thinking I must be the nicest, most generous nanny in the world...how wrong I was.

The very next day, 4-year-old could not stop asking for another magazine and, after trying to explain that the magazine only comes out once a month and that he couldn't have a magazine every day as it was a special treat, this turned into a full-volume screaming tantrum, complete with tears (mostly of the crocodile kind!).

Meanwhile, 5-year-old girl has been demonstrating an attitude worthy of a Hollywood diva, answering back, hands on hips, "I'm right, you're wrong!" - the whole bit. I have been at the limit of my patience all week, which as you may remember is not that patient at all!

Add to that, there were copious amounts of snot, endless "Why?" questions, playdates, and trains, trains, trains!

So you can see why I may be looking forward to Sunday. It will most likely rain, so I think I'll find some nice, quiet gallery to spend the afternoon in. Sounds like heaven!

On a better note, on Thursday, I was walking back from the library, feeling sad and missing my friends and family, when I bumped into a fellow nanny I know and we had a really nice chat and then, just around the corner, I ran into a lady from the WI (Women's Institute) and she remembered me from the whole two times I had been to the meetings. It honestly made my day. It just felt so nice to see people I knew and have a conversation with someone over the age of 5!

And finally on Friday, I was without a car and had to do the school run on foot, an hour round trip, morning and afternoon, which was fine as I really enjoyed walking along in the rain. I arrived at the school, thinking how nice the rain was and how great it was to be able to be outside for work and not stuck in the office all day, when the first mum to arrive says, "Isn't this weather grim?".

I smiled to myself and thought it's all just how you look at it, I guess.

Sunday Snapshot

Believe it or not, this photo was taken to today. That strange glow on people's coats is the sun. It's true! The sun came out in force today and I spent the afternoon wandering down Charing Cross Road, browsing in the bookshops and in Covent Garden.

Love this city!

And, in case you haven't had enough...

...here are some more snow pictures.

I guess I will get tired of all the white stuff eventually, but not today!

My blog has been chosen as Expat-blog.com's Blog of the Month for January 2010! I am truly honoured. Thank you so much, Expat-blog.com!

And here was I thinking only three people read it!

Sunday Snapshot

I've been a bit slack with the Sunday Snapshots the past few weeks, but this one should make up for it. This shot was taken in the grounds of Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park.

A beautiful snow day!

...and later, the same day...

First Snow of the New Year

Happy New Year!

I know plenty of places have had loads more snow than here, but here is a picture of my first snow of 2010.

The Year That Was...A Year Later

I first posted this list on New Years Eve last year, so here it is again for this year:

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Where do I start? Went to my best friends wedding in Sydney, worked in a call centre, moved to live in London, saw Abu Dhabi and Dubai, worked for a whole week without having to answer the phone once, went to Paris...the list is almost endless!

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't do New Years Resolutions as they are always doomed to failure! I did keep my resolution to save money and finally move to London. I won't be making any this year, but I do have 'plans"...they're different, aren't they?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my friend Chris had a little girl this year

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. What countries did you visit?
Australia, United Arab Emirates, England, France

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Will-power!

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
That would be May 10 - Mothers Day, my friends wedding day and my last day in Australia

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Moving to London and starting my new career

9. What was your biggest failure?
I don't think I have failed. Sometimes, things haven't worked out as planned or have been harder than expected, but that's not failure, that's all part of life and living your dream

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Crocs!

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Hannah, who was my first guest from home. We had a blast!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Can't think of anyone...

14. Where did most of your money go?
Paris...and clothes!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Hannah coming to stay, Paris, the release of New Moon and Christmas

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
"Number One" by Tinchy Strider and N-Dubz (just because it was on the radio ALL THE TIME!!)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder?
Happier, mostly, but sad when I think of home

ii. thinner or fatter?
Hmm...next question!

iii. richer or poorer?
Poorer :-(

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
More trips out of London to see the countryside

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Staying up too late, reading!

20. How did you spend Christmas?
I opened presents and had breakfast with the family I work for, then spent the day with my cousins and auntie and uncle from Australia. Oh, and thanks to Skype, I opened presents with my family in Brisbane too! Great day

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
No

23. How many one-night stands?
None

24. What was your favorite TV program?
One Tree Hill - all the season one oldies!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No. Hating people is never good

26. What was the best book you read this year?
Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda. An old favourite, but it's set in Paris and I read it on the Eurostar on my way there

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Olly from X-Factor!

28. What did you want and get?
A new start as a nanny in London

29. What did you want and not get?
Knee high flat black boots...can't find any I like!

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
That would have to be New Moon (and no, I don't care what you think!), followed closely by Nativity!. So funny

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Spent the day at work in the boring call centre, counting down the days until my escape! And I was 36

32. What's one thing that made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Massive unexpected payout from the Australian Taxation Office!

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Layers...

34. What kept you sane?
Having my room on a seperate level to the kids I look after!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the moment?
I still love Ewan, but would love to run into Jude Law, strolling down Kings Road in Chelsea

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Huh? I don't get to see much news

37. Who did you miss?
I really miss my family and friends in Australia

38. Who was the best new person you met?
My little cousins, Arwen and Zion!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Life is too short - follow your dreams

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb"

So that's all from me. Have a great New Year and all the best for 2010!

Christmas Day

I know it's already past, but I need to tell you about my Christmas Day.

After Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, braving the freezing temperature both outside and inside the church and the dark, muddy lane leading to the church, I got to call my family on Christmas morning (12.30am, my time, 10.30am, their time) and open our presents together, thanks to the wonder that is Skype. It was absolutely amazing! So good to see everyone and even my 84 year old nana could almost hear me!

Made it to bed by about 2.00am, only to wake up at 6.30am to call them again before breakfast and present opening with the family I work for. After wading through mountains of trains and princess costumes, I headed back up to my room to get ready for Christmas with my family. They came to pick me up at lunch time and we drove through Richmond Park, which was now completely devoid of snow and ice, just in time for Christmas, to their house.

Christmas lunch was the whole deal - turkey, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts with bacon, pigs in blankets, pudding, brandy cream, custard, mince pies...and the list goes on. My cousin put on an excellent spread. Then it was time for more presents, Christmas movies and a few "nana naps".

I got home late after a great day spent with family. Good times.

Boxing Day was a day to be spent in my pyjamas (none of this rushing out to Christmas sales for me! Do I look insane? OK, don't answer that!) with a good book, which is exactly what I did. The house was nice and quiet as the family I work for left for Devon for four glorious days.

The day after Boxing Day was very similar, although I did change out of my pyjamas and today, I even got out of the house and went to do some shopping.

So that's how I spent my Christmas, and the days that followed. Only three more days left in the year...in the decade! Wow! But I'll save all that for another post..

Christmas Eve

Last Christmas, I was avoiding snakes and trying to get rid of a bad case of sunburn. This year, things look a little different.

It seems that we will not have a white Christmas here in London since the rain and milder weather has washed away even the ice that, while not being snow, was at least white. This Christmas finds me thousands of miles from home, but thankfully only a few miles from family. I'll be spending Christmas Day with my cousins and auntie and uncle and calling my family in Australia on Skype at midnight tonight (Christmas Eve) so we can all open presents together.

I've found it hard to get into the spirit of Christmas this year and as weird as it sounds to those who have always had a winter Christmas, I think it's because it's just too cold! Christmas to me is a stinking hot day, usually raining, a lunch of cold cuts, salad and copious amounts of seafood. I have tried my best and I've had moments where it feels perfectly normal to be all rugged up singing about a Winter Wonderland. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

But, at the moment, I miss home. I'm sure I'm not alone.

So wherever you find yourself this Christmas, at home with your family or on the other side of the world from the ones you love, I want to wish you all a very, very Happy Christmas!

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

This week there has been a lot of excitement about snow...and mostly just from me! The Brits don't seem to feel the same as I do about snow, they see it as an inconvenience, instead of looking at its beauty. Yes, I understand the travel chaos it can cause, but after all, it's snow, people! There are so many people in the world who've never even seen the stuff. Maybe after I've been here for a few years, my views on snow will change, but for now, I love it and hope there is more to come.

On Wednesday, the first snow began to fall, which coincided with the kids last day at school, so we drove to Richmond Park and had a snowball fight and a bit of a play in the snow. By Thursday, it had all washed away. Oh, well. I have not given up hope of snow for Christmas Day.

Last Sunday I went to a Carols service at church, which was fantastic. It was a very cold night and obviously, we were inside, but it did remind me of the many carols services I have been to back home, outdoors, in your shorts on a hot night, the poor bloke dressed as Santa melting in his suit! It sometimes feels like Christmas, even though it's cold and I've been playing all my corny Christmas albums at every opportunity to get into the spirit.

I am so glad that I finished all my Christmas shopping last week. I really don't want to go near any stores if I can help it! I did have to make another trip to the Post Office though, and was not surprised by the "service"...I have come to expect it. The guy behind the glass (I can't call him "the guy who served me", because there was no service involved!) spent the whole transaction on facebook on his iPhone! There are no more words...

My auntie and uncle arrive from Melbourne tomorrow and I'll be spending Christmas with them at my cousin's house. Not sure how I'll get there yet since there are NO buses or tube trains that run on Christmas Day, and just to make it fun, the taxi's are impossible to find and charge you extra...just another joy of Christmas!

On a festive note, the kids and I made a very cool snowman for the playroom, along with some pretty impressive snowflakes. I love my job!

Well, so far, that is my lead up to Christmas. Tomorrow, I am off to church again for a Christmas family service...with my family (the ones that are here at least!), then it will be a few days of "work" as normal, then Christmas 2009 will be here.

Oh, and it will be white...it will be white...please??

Sunday Snapshot

Today was a perfect wintry day in London and I stumbled across this Christmas Fair in Leicester Square on my way out of the cinema after seeing "Nativity!", one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time!

Christmas is in the air!

Skype and the 'office' Christmas Party

I seem to always be behind the times when it comes to technology.

I bought my first mobile phone in 2002, my first digital camera in 2004, only joined facebook 12 months ago and have finally downloaded Skype...yesterday! Why I waited so long, I'll never know.

So that means this Christmas, I'll be able to open my presents 'with' my family in Brisbane. The wonders of technology.

But that will also mean no more phone calls when I've just gotten out of bed, hair sticking out in all directions!

Today, I am starting my second round of Christmas shopping for the people I know here, since my first lot are winging their way to Australia as we speak...I hope. This round of present shopping is late, I know, with just over two weeks until Christmas, but I am armed with my list and hope to get in, buy everything on my list, within my budget, and get out before the crowds get worse. Yes, I am delusional!

On the work front, the past couple of weeks have been pretty standard, and the kids both finish school for the Christmas holidays next Wednesday at 12noon. Which should be very interesting since their schools are about a half hour drive between them. Then they have just over three weeks of holidays, and it's down to me to entertain them rain, hail, (snow??) and shine.

I was thinking about my past life as a receptionist the other day and this would have been the time of the Christmas Party that was usually down to me to help organise. Oh, how I do not miss the office Christmas Party! No matter what you planned, someone wouldn't be happy, people would never confirm or decide to bring guests at the last minute. There would be the one obnoxious drunk (or seven!) and the person who falls down and seriously injures themselves. The only thing I am organising this year is the making of a snowman out of cardboard and cotton wool. Hmm, let's see...what do I prefer?

The Joy of (sending presents home for) Christmas

Ah, Royal Mail, how I love thee.

Hmmm!

This last week, it seemed I spent most of my life at the Post Office in an attempt to get my Christmas presents sent home to Australia before the cut off date this Friday.

On my first attempt, I purchased a box that was far too large and had to return to buy a smaller one the following day. Having done this, I packed all the presents into the box, a perfect fit and trekked back to the Post Office to send it. After waiting in the queue for just under half an hour, having the box weighed, I was told it would cost over 60 pounds to send home. What? Sixty pounds?? Unfortunately, it was true. I hate to say it, but the gifts did not even cost that much!

Apparently, it was just 300 grams over the 2 kilos that would have made it much less. The guy behind the counter told me that I could split the parcel, that was a perfect fit, into two smaller parcels, it would cost me about half that. Great. Another trip to the Post Office is just what I need at this time of year. So I dragged the parcel home to re-pack it into two smaller ones, which turned out not to be such a perfect fit, and so some presents needed to be "adjusted" (sorry, Caitlin, but you'll get the rest for your birthday!).

Back at the Post Office today, I joined the queue, which was even longer than yesterday, and managed to send the two parcels on their way to Brisbane.

Online shopping next Christmas? What a great idea!

Sunday Snapshot

Anyone who was in London this weekend will know that there is no way this photo was taken this Sunday! I just needed to remind myself what a blue sky looks like...

New Moon

At last, November 20th is here and my tickets are booked for New Moon tonight!

The only downside about seeing the movie tonight is going to be the 100's of screaming, teenage girls. Well, if you can't beat 'em...

Anyway, I am very excited and last night my boss called me "such a teenager", which I choose to take as a compliment!

Now I just have to wait until 8.30pm!

An Australian in Paris

I'm back in London after my weekend in Paris, with some awesome memories...and very sore feet.

Well, after my brief post of our first day in Paris, Hannah and I headed back out to take some pictures of the Arch de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and Eiffel Tower all lit up at night. Just amazing. We eventually found a Franprix supermarket to stock up on some supplies for the following day, as it was going to be a big one.


Saturday morning started with a trip to a local market just around the corner from our hotel, where, after chickening out of buying some "fromage" and a baguette (I was afraid I would say the wrong thing!), we purchased a croissant and then went into Starbucks, where Hannah ordered her coffee in French and I asked for the loo, in French. It has to be said that I was very proud of myself!

The first stop of the day was to the Metro station, where we managed to buy a day ticket for the train with the help of the customer service lady who did not speak a word of English, but we managed to understand each other OK, and we were soon on our way to Montmartre.



Seeing the Sacre Coeur was just like being on the set of Amelie, one of my all-time favourite movies. We climbed up all the steps and had a good look around. The weather was absolutely perfect, but very windy, and the views of Paris were breathtaking. Hannah suggested we take a tour of the crypt, and I agreed. It would be good to see underneath the church. How stupid I was. After attempting to read the sign, written in French, that mentioned something that looked to me like "300 steps" we purchased our tickets and went through the turnstile, of which there was no return. I remember thinking it was strange for there to be 300 steps down under the church. That seemed like a very long way to me.


Once through the turnstile, I was faced with a spiral staircase...leading UP! Oh, yes! We were taking the stairs all the way to the top of the dome and yes indeed, there were 300 steps, if not more! The stairs didn't really bother me, but it was very narrow and winding, smelling very strongly of a toilet, and I began to feel really dizzy. Although the views that I saw when I made it to the top made the whole thing seem worth it. See for yourself:






After Montmartre, we headed out to the cemetery at Pere Lachaise, which is where Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison from The Doors and Marcel Marceau are buried. It was the most beautiful cemetery I have ever been to...and I have been to lots. I love to wander through cemeteries, even though most people I know think that is strange. Hannah, luckily, was not one of those.










After spending the morning in the cemetery, we grabbed some lunch at The Cat Cafe across the road, where the staff did not speak a word of English, but again, with the help of my trusty phrase book, we managed OK.

Back on the Metro, which is a very efficient, if somewhat smelly and hot experience, and off to Notre Dame. This cathedral was incredible.





After Notre Dame, it started to rain, the first and only time over the whole weekend, and we walked along the Seine to Pont Neuf and then back on the Metro to Champs Elysees, to buy our tickets for the Lourve on Sunday. My feet had just about fallen off by this point!







Back at the hotel to put up my feet for a while and then we headed out to a French restaurant for dinner...at 8pm! That may not sound strange to you but as a nanny who eats with the kids at 5.30pm each night, eating at 8pm was a luxury!

Our waiter, thank God, spoke very good English and offered to translate the whole menu for us! At one point, he was explaining a dish and could not think of the word in English, so he pointed to where his kidneys would be on his body, which, if I had liked kidneys, would have made me change my mind about ordering it. There's something just a little disconcerting about being shown a potential menu item on the human body! But the food was delicious and, in case you're wondering, it was Cote Vignes in the 16th Arrondissment. There's a free plug!

The only downside of the evening was we had decided to dress up and I had my high heeled boots on and could barely walk, and we went the wrong way down the street and turned a three minute walk into a 10 minute hike!

Sunday was another beautiful day and we went to the Lourve. I have no words to describe that place. I could have spent days in there and never been bored. We got there early which was great because we got to see the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa without the crowds. After the Lourve, we walked to the Metro through Jardins des Tulieries and sat by the pond in the sunshine. I didn't want to leave.

















But the Eurostar waits for no man (or woman) and I had to say farewell to Paris.



Before I came, I never had any great desire to go there, but now, I know it is a place to which I will definitely return.