Here's a selection of photos from some of my trips
Europe
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/Europe?authkey=Lx5Uw-RdEpI
Stonehenge and Bath
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/StonehengeBath?authkey=rTPxKZU1FiM
Stratford Upon Avon
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/StratfordUponAvon?authkey=vzHHB2yPqok
Oxford
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/Oxford?authkey=vUs4dXn19Js
Windsor & Eton
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/WindsorEton?authkey=ygDS2CtLKM0
Cologne & Bonn (Germany)
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/CologneBonn?authkey=mNKF_8LZXU8
USA
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/USA?authkey=sxmTt_n5Ybk
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sunday, October 7, 2007
USA
Well I'm back from my holiday in the States and had a great time.
I met Katie in Orlando and we did Universal Studios and Disney World, had a great time at the theme parks, really just big kids at heart!
Miami was nice and relaxing, we were staying at South Beach but unfortunately the weather wasn't that great with tropical storms, thunder, lightning and continuous rain so we didn't really get the chance to sit on the beach or soak up the sun! We did however go to see Stomp which was good entertainment - amazing what the can do with household objects :)
Chicago was awesome, really easy place to navigate around and it is a beautiful city at night. We went up the Hancock Observation Tower to get the best view of the city at night. Also went to see the Blue Man Group, this would have to be one of the best interactive performances I've ever been to, really fun and a great laugh. I definitely recommend this to anyone who has the opportunity to see it!
San Francisco provided us with the best weather! We did all the usual tourist attractions such as Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Alamo Square, Lombard Street - The Crookedist Street, Fishermans Wharf and walked up some of the extremely steep streets that San Fran has! And of course we managed to fit in a little bit of shopping when we had spare time!!
I met Katie in Orlando and we did Universal Studios and Disney World, had a great time at the theme parks, really just big kids at heart!
Miami was nice and relaxing, we were staying at South Beach but unfortunately the weather wasn't that great with tropical storms, thunder, lightning and continuous rain so we didn't really get the chance to sit on the beach or soak up the sun! We did however go to see Stomp which was good entertainment - amazing what the can do with household objects :)
Chicago was awesome, really easy place to navigate around and it is a beautiful city at night. We went up the Hancock Observation Tower to get the best view of the city at night. Also went to see the Blue Man Group, this would have to be one of the best interactive performances I've ever been to, really fun and a great laugh. I definitely recommend this to anyone who has the opportunity to see it!
San Francisco provided us with the best weather! We did all the usual tourist attractions such as Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Alamo Square, Lombard Street - The Crookedist Street, Fishermans Wharf and walked up some of the extremely steep streets that San Fran has! And of course we managed to fit in a little bit of shopping when we had spare time!!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon
Yesterday I took a day trip out to Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon.
Stratford Upon Avon is a lovely little town, best known for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. The visit was made even better with a beautiful sunny day! We visited Anne Hathaway's cottage, the home of Shakespeare's wife, this cottage was really cute and surrounded by a beautiful garden. Took a walk along the River Avon and learnt that there is a Harvard House, where John Harvard lived with his parents before he set out to America helping found Harvard University!
Oxford, home to the oldest University in England. Oxford is an old city with quite a few things to see and do, had a look around the city but unfortunately we only had a few hours to look around so I spent most of my time visiting 'New College' one of the 39 colleges in Oxford. Mainly to see the dining room which was used as a basis for designing the dining room at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies!! It does surprisingly resemble what you see in Harry Potter movies, very cool!
Stratford Upon Avon is a lovely little town, best known for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. The visit was made even better with a beautiful sunny day! We visited Anne Hathaway's cottage, the home of Shakespeare's wife, this cottage was really cute and surrounded by a beautiful garden. Took a walk along the River Avon and learnt that there is a Harvard House, where John Harvard lived with his parents before he set out to America helping found Harvard University!
Oxford, home to the oldest University in England. Oxford is an old city with quite a few things to see and do, had a look around the city but unfortunately we only had a few hours to look around so I spent most of my time visiting 'New College' one of the 39 colleges in Oxford. Mainly to see the dining room which was used as a basis for designing the dining room at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies!! It does surprisingly resemble what you see in Harry Potter movies, very cool!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Cologne, Germany
I spent the weekend in Cologne, Germany visiting Natascha who I met in July when we did our Shamrocker tour of Ireland.
Natascha and her boyfriend Sven were my personal tour guides and showed me the sights of Cologne - Cologne Cathedral, Old Town, Beer Halls, Cologne Observation Tower, Shopping district, Rhine River, Cologne Carnival Museum, Chocolate Museum etc.
We took a day trip out to Bonn, nearby University town where we visited Beethoven's birthplace and took a lovely walk along the Rhine River.
A lovely weekend away and a nice chance to experience more of Germany. Sampled the local beer, wine, tried lots of different breads, had a great goulash on Friday night at a local beer hall and Sven's friend Ryann cooked for us on Saturday night his special '13' dish :) I can even say that I have attended a German history lesson in a local German school ... Natascha is a training college teacher so I accompanied her to school on Friday morning and sat in on her teaching her history class. Couldn't understand a word of it but sat at the back of the class room and watched!
Natascha and her boyfriend Sven were my personal tour guides and showed me the sights of Cologne - Cologne Cathedral, Old Town, Beer Halls, Cologne Observation Tower, Shopping district, Rhine River, Cologne Carnival Museum, Chocolate Museum etc.
We took a day trip out to Bonn, nearby University town where we visited Beethoven's birthplace and took a lovely walk along the Rhine River.
A lovely weekend away and a nice chance to experience more of Germany. Sampled the local beer, wine, tried lots of different breads, had a great goulash on Friday night at a local beer hall and Sven's friend Ryann cooked for us on Saturday night his special '13' dish :) I can even say that I have attended a German history lesson in a local German school ... Natascha is a training college teacher so I accompanied her to school on Friday morning and sat in on her teaching her history class. Couldn't understand a word of it but sat at the back of the class room and watched!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Stonehenge and Bath
Yesterday I took a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath.
The visit to Stonehenge was really interesting, learning about its history and surroundings with an audio tour. We were lucky to get reasonably nice weather, windy but not raining :) (apparently it's quite often raining out there and being such an open and exposed site walking around in the rain would not have been fun!)
Bath was really lovely, unfortunately we didn't get a lot of free time to explore the city and see all the attractions that Bath has to offer but did get entry into the Roman Baths which was interesting.
Got to see Bath Abbey from the outside - didn't have time to look through but have seen my fair share of Cathedrals through Europe to last me a while ..
The River Avon and Pulteney Bridge with all the shops and streets around it reminded me a bit of Italy, parts of Florence and Venice.
Bath has some beautiful parks and gardens and a pretty good main street for shopping! It would have been nice if we had spent longer in the city to see it in more depth but the couple of hours we had there was worth it.
The visit to Stonehenge was really interesting, learning about its history and surroundings with an audio tour. We were lucky to get reasonably nice weather, windy but not raining :) (apparently it's quite often raining out there and being such an open and exposed site walking around in the rain would not have been fun!)
Bath was really lovely, unfortunately we didn't get a lot of free time to explore the city and see all the attractions that Bath has to offer but did get entry into the Roman Baths which was interesting.
Got to see Bath Abbey from the outside - didn't have time to look through but have seen my fair share of Cathedrals through Europe to last me a while ..
The River Avon and Pulteney Bridge with all the shops and streets around it reminded me a bit of Italy, parts of Florence and Venice.
Bath has some beautiful parks and gardens and a pretty good main street for shopping! It would have been nice if we had spent longer in the city to see it in more depth but the couple of hours we had there was worth it.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Photos
Various photos taken over the past few months
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/London?authkey=yk-6GEonsTU
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/London?authkey=yk-6GEonsTU
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Europe Unplugged
Spent three weeks travelling Europe and had a great time. My three week Europe tour started in London and took us through Paris, Lyon, Nice, Monaco, Florence, Rome, Vatican, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Liechtenstein, Lauterbrunnen, St Goar and Amsterdam.
Highlights for some of the places we visited -
Paris - The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Arc de Trumph, Eiffel Tower and eating snails
Lyon - A lovely picnic lunch
Nice - Beautiful beaches and a great punch party
Monaco - Casinos
Florence - Stopping at the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and wandering through Florence
Rome - St Peters Bascillica, Colloseum, Roman ruins and the best pizza
Vatican - Sistene Chapel
Venice - Gondola down the canals and an awesome toga party
(I found cobb crunchies, also known as tatties in Italy!!! This was so exciting, even better than finding lays - you can buy them in big bags like chippies oohhhh sooooo good, like pringles - once you pop you can't stop!)
Vienna - Schnapps Museum, Massive theme park and Orchestra concert
Prague - Loved this quaint little city, shops, babuschka dolls and puppets everywhere
Munich - Beer halls, steins, sausages, pork knuckles
Lauterbrunnen - Jungfrau Mountain and Ice Palace - hot chocolate has never tasted so good after being in a complete white out at the top of Jungfrau
Had a great night in Switzerland, for dinner we had massive sausages, they might even beat the size of the sausages that Amy, Rodney and I had in Chch!! And, I found a beer in Switzerland that I actually enjoy and had a few with dinner!! Eve beer, litchi flavour - shame that Dave, Vince and Geoff weren't there to share in this moment with me ;) !!)
St Goar - Cuckoo clocks and Hermie the crazy German who made our stay at the campsite an interesting experience
Amsterdam - Clogs, cheese, red light district, coffee shops
I'm now a little more tanned, maybe a few kg's heavier thanks to all the baguettes, crepes, pasta, pizzas, icecream, strudel, sausages, tatties etc we ate, glad to have a bed to sleep in again and a little over camping for a while but it was all fun :)
Highlights for some of the places we visited -
Paris - The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Arc de Trumph, Eiffel Tower and eating snails
Lyon - A lovely picnic lunch
Nice - Beautiful beaches and a great punch party
Monaco - Casinos
Florence - Stopping at the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and wandering through Florence
Rome - St Peters Bascillica, Colloseum, Roman ruins and the best pizza
Vatican - Sistene Chapel
Venice - Gondola down the canals and an awesome toga party
(I found cobb crunchies, also known as tatties in Italy!!! This was so exciting, even better than finding lays - you can buy them in big bags like chippies oohhhh sooooo good, like pringles - once you pop you can't stop!)
Vienna - Schnapps Museum, Massive theme park and Orchestra concert
Prague - Loved this quaint little city, shops, babuschka dolls and puppets everywhere
Munich - Beer halls, steins, sausages, pork knuckles
Lauterbrunnen - Jungfrau Mountain and Ice Palace - hot chocolate has never tasted so good after being in a complete white out at the top of Jungfrau
Had a great night in Switzerland, for dinner we had massive sausages, they might even beat the size of the sausages that Amy, Rodney and I had in Chch!! And, I found a beer in Switzerland that I actually enjoy and had a few with dinner!! Eve beer, litchi flavour - shame that Dave, Vince and Geoff weren't there to share in this moment with me ;) !!)
St Goar - Cuckoo clocks and Hermie the crazy German who made our stay at the campsite an interesting experience
Amsterdam - Clogs, cheese, red light district, coffee shops
I'm now a little more tanned, maybe a few kg's heavier thanks to all the baguettes, crepes, pasta, pizzas, icecream, strudel, sausages, tatties etc we ate, glad to have a bed to sleep in again and a little over camping for a while but it was all fun :)
Monday, July 30, 2007
Ireland
I spent last week in Ireland doing an 8 day tour of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with Shamrocker Tours. Getting to Gatwick airport for my flight Gatwick - Dublin was a real mission! With all the crazy weather and floods that England had on the day that I left (Friday 20 July) meant that connecting trains and flights were all massively delayed but I won't get started on that!
The Shamrocker Tour started off in Dublin and headed towards Killarney. Stopped off to see the Rock of Cashel, Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone!
Killarney - Dingle: explored the Dingle peninsula home of Fungi the dolphin, seeing stone walls, ruined famine cottages, beehive huts and took a boat out to Blasket Island to experience the scenery.
Dingle - Galway: we visited the Cliffs of Moher, saw loads of Limestone rocks and saw some traditional Irish dancing in Galway city.
Galway - Inis Mor: spent the day and night on Inis Mor (the largest of the Aran Islands). Biked around most of the island, climbed up to the fortress of Dun Aengus a 3000 year old ring fort perched on the edge of a 300 foot cliff. You could walk to the edge of the cliff and look over, check out my photos when I get them uploaded - me at the edge of a cliff looking over, a little freaky but amazing!
Inis Mor - Kilcar: this was a big driving day through Connemara through County Sligo to County Donegal, staying the night on a country farm.
Kilcar - Derry: we visited the Donegal cliffs - as we were leaving the cliffs our bus was stopped by a radio researcher and asked if a few of us would speak to him to give our opinions on the scenery. Our tour group was made up of heaps of Australians, a few Americans, a few Canadians, a German girl and me the only Kiwi. So of course I was roped into representing NZ!! I basically told him that the cliffs and the scenery was nice but I didn't think that they were anything 'spectacular' .... I guess I wasn't as impressed by the scenery as some of the others in the group as we are lucky enough to have amazing places in NZ. It really makes you appreciate how beautiful NZ is! After Donegal cliffs we crossed the border from Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland and into Derry City. We did a walking tour of Derry city to learn about Bloody Sunday and the troubled past of Ireland, checking out political murals around the streets.
Derry - Belfast: we visited Dunluce Castle, Giant's Causeway and got to cross Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge Indiana Jones style.
Belfast - Dublin: we took a black cab tour of Belfast city learning more about the history and troubles, visited a ruined monastery and finished up back in Dublin.
A GRAND week away, definitely learnt more about the history of Ireland and it's troubled past, ate enough potatoes/chips to last me for a year and drunk my first whole pint of Guinness!!
Fan-Feckin-Tastic!
Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/Ireland?authkey=4CP1a4NeCNA
The Shamrocker Tour started off in Dublin and headed towards Killarney. Stopped off to see the Rock of Cashel, Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone!
Killarney - Dingle: explored the Dingle peninsula home of Fungi the dolphin, seeing stone walls, ruined famine cottages, beehive huts and took a boat out to Blasket Island to experience the scenery.
Dingle - Galway: we visited the Cliffs of Moher, saw loads of Limestone rocks and saw some traditional Irish dancing in Galway city.
Galway - Inis Mor: spent the day and night on Inis Mor (the largest of the Aran Islands). Biked around most of the island, climbed up to the fortress of Dun Aengus a 3000 year old ring fort perched on the edge of a 300 foot cliff. You could walk to the edge of the cliff and look over, check out my photos when I get them uploaded - me at the edge of a cliff looking over, a little freaky but amazing!
Inis Mor - Kilcar: this was a big driving day through Connemara through County Sligo to County Donegal, staying the night on a country farm.
Kilcar - Derry: we visited the Donegal cliffs - as we were leaving the cliffs our bus was stopped by a radio researcher and asked if a few of us would speak to him to give our opinions on the scenery. Our tour group was made up of heaps of Australians, a few Americans, a few Canadians, a German girl and me the only Kiwi. So of course I was roped into representing NZ!! I basically told him that the cliffs and the scenery was nice but I didn't think that they were anything 'spectacular' .... I guess I wasn't as impressed by the scenery as some of the others in the group as we are lucky enough to have amazing places in NZ. It really makes you appreciate how beautiful NZ is! After Donegal cliffs we crossed the border from Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland and into Derry City. We did a walking tour of Derry city to learn about Bloody Sunday and the troubled past of Ireland, checking out political murals around the streets.
Derry - Belfast: we visited Dunluce Castle, Giant's Causeway and got to cross Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge Indiana Jones style.
Belfast - Dublin: we took a black cab tour of Belfast city learning more about the history and troubles, visited a ruined monastery and finished up back in Dublin.
A GRAND week away, definitely learnt more about the history of Ireland and it's troubled past, ate enough potatoes/chips to last me for a year and drunk my first whole pint of Guinness!!
Fan-Feckin-Tastic!
Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/Ireland?authkey=4CP1a4NeCNA
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Change of Plans
Last week I was feeling really restless and was unsure if the living and working in London scene was really me so I've cancelled my job search, packing up and going travelling!!
From next weekend I go to Ireland for 8 days, come back to London for a few days to pack up my flat and then head to Europe for 3 weeks!
The change of plans was a little unexpected but very exciting - not really sure what I'm going to do with myself for the next week and a half ... luckily Geoff and Vince are around for another few days before heading home. I might try and use next week to see a bit more of London (on a tight budget now that I'm not looking for work anymore and have paid for my tours without having any more income between now and then!)
Will keep you posted ...
From next weekend I go to Ireland for 8 days, come back to London for a few days to pack up my flat and then head to Europe for 3 weeks!
The change of plans was a little unexpected but very exciting - not really sure what I'm going to do with myself for the next week and a half ... luckily Geoff and Vince are around for another few days before heading home. I might try and use next week to see a bit more of London (on a tight budget now that I'm not looking for work anymore and have paid for my tours without having any more income between now and then!)
Will keep you posted ...
Monday, June 25, 2007
London
Well I've been over here for two months now and have been very slack with updating my blog sorry!!
My contract with Bain finished up a week ago so have spent the last week in Scotland which was awesome, now back in London going through the interview process etc to sort myself out with more work.
I moved into a flat during the weekend, it was soooo good to unpack my suitcase and have my own bed!
The last two months over here has seen me celebrate my birthday, another year older! It was celebrated in style on the Friday night with Flavia and her workmates, drinking Moet out of plastic cups on the Millenium Bridge by St Paul's overlooking London after the bells rung midnight!! The Saturday night I spent out in Clapham with friends, great music, great night.
I can say that I've been up to Brick Lane and had a curry, went to a bar called the Big Chill (for those familiar with the Raumati local, it's nothing like that, just the name!) Saw Les Mis the other week which I really enjoyed but there are still heaps more shows I'd like to see. Went to Taste of London yesterday which was good, unfortunately the weather was horrible so we spent the day walking around Regents Park in the rain!
Will try and update a bit more regularly from now on, and keep you all posted on the job front.
Miss you all. xo
My contract with Bain finished up a week ago so have spent the last week in Scotland which was awesome, now back in London going through the interview process etc to sort myself out with more work.
I moved into a flat during the weekend, it was soooo good to unpack my suitcase and have my own bed!
The last two months over here has seen me celebrate my birthday, another year older! It was celebrated in style on the Friday night with Flavia and her workmates, drinking Moet out of plastic cups on the Millenium Bridge by St Paul's overlooking London after the bells rung midnight!! The Saturday night I spent out in Clapham with friends, great music, great night.
I can say that I've been up to Brick Lane and had a curry, went to a bar called the Big Chill (for those familiar with the Raumati local, it's nothing like that, just the name!) Saw Les Mis the other week which I really enjoyed but there are still heaps more shows I'd like to see. Went to Taste of London yesterday which was good, unfortunately the weather was horrible so we spent the day walking around Regents Park in the rain!
Will try and update a bit more regularly from now on, and keep you all posted on the job front.
Miss you all. xo
Scotland
I spent last week in Scotland, I got the train to Edinburgh and met up with Dave, Vince and Geoff. My contract with Bain finished up the week before so it was a nicely timed break from work and getting out of London for a change.
Scotland was awesome but with minimal darkness hours at night took a bit to get used to - With the sun going down around 10.30-11.00pm and coming up again at 4.00am, you can get heaps done with so many daylight hours but for people like me who enjoy their sleep it stuffs you up a bit!
Saturday night we spent in Glasgow with Dave's cousin Fiona and her boyfriend Keith, checked out the Glasgow nightlife, it was strange going into a bar at 10.30pm and it was still light outside and coming out again around 3.30am and the sun is coming up!
The boys had hired a rental car for their time in Scotland so it was a good way to travel around, they had already been in Scotland for a week before I arrived so they got to see more than I did but while I was there we managed to see St Andrews, St Andrews Castle, checked out the best Fish and Chip shop in Scotland in Anstruther, Edinburgh city, Edinburgh Castle, Dave and I climbed Scott Monument in Edinburgh for a great view of the city, Kirriemuir (birthplace of J M Barrie known as the creator of Peter Pan) and stayed for the majority of the week in For Far with Dave's Aunt and Uncle - Marion and Joe.
We drove back to London, stopping for a night in Liverpool. Big thanks to Dave who did all the driving (while I slept most of the way as I do on most trips!)
Scotland was well worth it and I'd like to get back there soon to see more! (Mark R - unfortunately I didn't get to try a Scotish deep fried Mars bar :( and we didn't quite get round to trying Haggis either - maybe next time ...)
Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/Scotland?authkey=eZigYmYEh1s
Scotland was awesome but with minimal darkness hours at night took a bit to get used to - With the sun going down around 10.30-11.00pm and coming up again at 4.00am, you can get heaps done with so many daylight hours but for people like me who enjoy their sleep it stuffs you up a bit!
Saturday night we spent in Glasgow with Dave's cousin Fiona and her boyfriend Keith, checked out the Glasgow nightlife, it was strange going into a bar at 10.30pm and it was still light outside and coming out again around 3.30am and the sun is coming up!
The boys had hired a rental car for their time in Scotland so it was a good way to travel around, they had already been in Scotland for a week before I arrived so they got to see more than I did but while I was there we managed to see St Andrews, St Andrews Castle, checked out the best Fish and Chip shop in Scotland in Anstruther, Edinburgh city, Edinburgh Castle, Dave and I climbed Scott Monument in Edinburgh for a great view of the city, Kirriemuir (birthplace of J M Barrie known as the creator of Peter Pan) and stayed for the majority of the week in For Far with Dave's Aunt and Uncle - Marion and Joe.
We drove back to London, stopping for a night in Liverpool. Big thanks to Dave who did all the driving (while I slept most of the way as I do on most trips!)
Scotland was well worth it and I'd like to get back there soon to see more! (Mark R - unfortunately I didn't get to try a Scotish deep fried Mars bar :( and we didn't quite get round to trying Haggis either - maybe next time ...)
Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/Scotland?authkey=eZigYmYEh1s
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Barcelona
I spent last weekend in Barcelona, Spain with my cousin Kat and her friends Harsa and Lyril. It was a bank holiday weekend so we got three days away.
We had a really early flight from London Stansted on Saturday morning flying Easyjet and arrived in Barcelona with a full day ahead of us.
We took the train from the airport to our accommodation which was a very eventful trip! We missed our train stop due to our lack of understanding of Spanish and Lyril had her wallet stolen by a pick pocket! We were all warned about pick pockets in Spain but you never think that it will happen to you, luckily we got Lyril's wallet back after some quick thinking by Harsa - that was Harsa's superhero deed for the weekend!
Kat had rented us an apartment for the weekend - fantastic location! We were one block away from one of Barcelona's top tourist atrractions: Sagrada Familia!!
We bought a two day pass for a Barcelona bus tour of the city, it was a great way to see the city as it let us get on and off the bus wherever and whenever we liked to see the sights we wanted to.
Some of the highlights of Barcelona attractions:
Sagrada Familia - (known as Gaudi's dream) this is a work in progress. As it was only partially completed when Gaudi died in 1926 it has had years of added contribution by sculptors and architects with an estimated completion date of 2030!! (not sure when they actually complete work on it though - we didn't see any contruction work been undertaken while we were there during the day and never saw anyone working at night either). This was well worth the visit, it was amazing and is nothing like I've ever seen before. The view from the top was fantastic and the narrow stairs coming down were interesting ...
La Pedrera - an amazing apartment block with its crazy roof, known as one of the most emblematic of Gaudi's work. It also has a museum dedicated to Gaudi's architecture. Recommendation to anyone visiting Barcelona - go here first to learn background info on Gaudi's work. I think this would have been useful for us if we'd been here first before visiting other places.
Park Guell - Gaudi's architecture in garden form. The gingerbread houses and lizard were pretty cool.
Barcelona Cathedral - gothic cathedral which was an interesting experience, even a little freaky ...
La Rambla - of course we had to take a walk down this long street. Had lunch there on Sunday and saw an interesting range of people, not all of them clothed ...
We had set aside a bit of time for 'shopping' seeing as we were a group of girls! Were a bit disappointed with the shops though, I guess Madrid is the place to go for shopping?
We had a full day in Barcelona on Monday before returning to London, we arrived back in London about 11.30pm Monday night and when all we wanted to do was to get home to bed we had to wait in the line at Immigration for AGES! Everyone else in London had gone away for the bank weekend too and it felt like we all arrived back at the same time. Finally got home just after 2am Tuesday and the thought of getting up for work in a few hours wasn't the best (can I remind everyone that I'm NOT a morning person!) Let's just say that I wasn't entirely with it at work on Tuesday but it was a good weekend. Even with the dramas we had with Lyril's wallet, navigating our way around with our very limited knowledge of Spanish, and issues we had with using Spanish locks (there were numerous occasions when we couldn't get back into our apartment because we couldn't get our key to work on the locks, there must be some knack to it that only Spanish people can use?)
I can now say that I've experienced Barcelona, which had good and bad paella, good and bad tapas, good and bad sangria. By the end of the weekend we were even getting used to Spanish eating times (lunch approx 2pm - 4pm and dinner from about 9pm - midnight). The weather was nice other than a few random down pours, temperature was in the 20's and I even got jandal tan lines!
Photos http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/Barcelona02?authkey=6DpQv_r2DE0
We had a really early flight from London Stansted on Saturday morning flying Easyjet and arrived in Barcelona with a full day ahead of us.
We took the train from the airport to our accommodation which was a very eventful trip! We missed our train stop due to our lack of understanding of Spanish and Lyril had her wallet stolen by a pick pocket! We were all warned about pick pockets in Spain but you never think that it will happen to you, luckily we got Lyril's wallet back after some quick thinking by Harsa - that was Harsa's superhero deed for the weekend!
Kat had rented us an apartment for the weekend - fantastic location! We were one block away from one of Barcelona's top tourist atrractions: Sagrada Familia!!
We bought a two day pass for a Barcelona bus tour of the city, it was a great way to see the city as it let us get on and off the bus wherever and whenever we liked to see the sights we wanted to.
Some of the highlights of Barcelona attractions:
Sagrada Familia - (known as Gaudi's dream) this is a work in progress. As it was only partially completed when Gaudi died in 1926 it has had years of added contribution by sculptors and architects with an estimated completion date of 2030!! (not sure when they actually complete work on it though - we didn't see any contruction work been undertaken while we were there during the day and never saw anyone working at night either). This was well worth the visit, it was amazing and is nothing like I've ever seen before. The view from the top was fantastic and the narrow stairs coming down were interesting ...
La Pedrera - an amazing apartment block with its crazy roof, known as one of the most emblematic of Gaudi's work. It also has a museum dedicated to Gaudi's architecture. Recommendation to anyone visiting Barcelona - go here first to learn background info on Gaudi's work. I think this would have been useful for us if we'd been here first before visiting other places.
Park Guell - Gaudi's architecture in garden form. The gingerbread houses and lizard were pretty cool.
Barcelona Cathedral - gothic cathedral which was an interesting experience, even a little freaky ...
La Rambla - of course we had to take a walk down this long street. Had lunch there on Sunday and saw an interesting range of people, not all of them clothed ...
We had set aside a bit of time for 'shopping' seeing as we were a group of girls! Were a bit disappointed with the shops though, I guess Madrid is the place to go for shopping?
We had a full day in Barcelona on Monday before returning to London, we arrived back in London about 11.30pm Monday night and when all we wanted to do was to get home to bed we had to wait in the line at Immigration for AGES! Everyone else in London had gone away for the bank weekend too and it felt like we all arrived back at the same time. Finally got home just after 2am Tuesday and the thought of getting up for work in a few hours wasn't the best (can I remind everyone that I'm NOT a morning person!) Let's just say that I wasn't entirely with it at work on Tuesday but it was a good weekend. Even with the dramas we had with Lyril's wallet, navigating our way around with our very limited knowledge of Spanish, and issues we had with using Spanish locks (there were numerous occasions when we couldn't get back into our apartment because we couldn't get our key to work on the locks, there must be some knack to it that only Spanish people can use?)
I can now say that I've experienced Barcelona, which had good and bad paella, good and bad tapas, good and bad sangria. By the end of the weekend we were even getting used to Spanish eating times (lunch approx 2pm - 4pm and dinner from about 9pm - midnight). The weather was nice other than a few random down pours, temperature was in the 20's and I even got jandal tan lines!
Photos http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/Barcelona02?authkey=6DpQv_r2DE0
Saturday, April 28, 2007
London cont, job update
My latest news is that I've accepted a four week contract with Bain and Company, a global management consulting firm. I start on Monday 30 April working from their London office in their HR section providing support to their professional development and training and development functions. It will be nice to start earning some £'s and it all contributes to my travels!
Off to Barcelona next weekend with Katrina and her friends, really looking forward to my first taste of Europe.
A few photos from London so far ...
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/London?authkey=yk-6GEonsTU
Off to Barcelona next weekend with Katrina and her friends, really looking forward to my first taste of Europe.
A few photos from London so far ...
http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/London?authkey=yk-6GEonsTU
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
London
I arrived in London on Friday 20 April flying British Airways from Hong Kong to Heathrow. The flight wasn't too bad, I was seated next to a mother with two young children, probably aged around 4 and 2. I was dreading that they were going to yell, scream and cry the whole way to London but luckily for me after about an hour into the flight their mother managed to get them to sleep and as a result I also managed to sleep a bit too.
Arriving Heathrow very early morning I managed to get through Immigration and Customs without a worry, surprisingly quickly actually! I had prepared myself for long delays and strict procedures with the bottled liquid policies but I was through the arrival gates in no time :)
I was lucky enough to be picked up from Heathrow by Emm and Nathan and headed back to Emm's in Battersea (Clapham). Emm left for work so I pretty much had the day to myself to settle in and get my bearings. I was feelling a little sleepy that morning but was determined not to sleep. Advice from many people was so stay up as long as you can and try to align yourself with local time - by lunch time this was a struggle, especially for me being someone who likes to sleep (I'm sure Katie knows the feeling!!) but thankfully Emm was onto it and was calling me every hour to check up on me and make sure I wasn't napping! To get myself out and about to avoid the temptation of sleeping I headed into the city, taking my first overland and underground rides to Oxford Circus all by myself! Headed down Regent Street, made a quick visit to HSBC and Top Shop as well as a few shops along the way and then came home. Very proud of myself, didn't get lost!
So far I've been to visit my cousin Katrina in West Hampstead and Geoff and Adam in Tooting Broadway so getting a feel for what the London area is like.
I've registered with a few recruitment agencies in London and have met with them over the past few days. There are a few jobs that they have presented me with and at the moment I'm just taking some time to have a look at different jobs and assess what the market is like. Will keep you all updated with my progress.
Not too much planned for the rest of this week, unless there are jobs that I'm interested in going for and any interviews that may arise out of them. Looking forward to Friday when Dave and Vince arrive in London and hanging out with the boys.
Arriving Heathrow very early morning I managed to get through Immigration and Customs without a worry, surprisingly quickly actually! I had prepared myself for long delays and strict procedures with the bottled liquid policies but I was through the arrival gates in no time :)
I was lucky enough to be picked up from Heathrow by Emm and Nathan and headed back to Emm's in Battersea (Clapham). Emm left for work so I pretty much had the day to myself to settle in and get my bearings. I was feelling a little sleepy that morning but was determined not to sleep. Advice from many people was so stay up as long as you can and try to align yourself with local time - by lunch time this was a struggle, especially for me being someone who likes to sleep (I'm sure Katie knows the feeling!!) but thankfully Emm was onto it and was calling me every hour to check up on me and make sure I wasn't napping! To get myself out and about to avoid the temptation of sleeping I headed into the city, taking my first overland and underground rides to Oxford Circus all by myself! Headed down Regent Street, made a quick visit to HSBC and Top Shop as well as a few shops along the way and then came home. Very proud of myself, didn't get lost!
So far I've been to visit my cousin Katrina in West Hampstead and Geoff and Adam in Tooting Broadway so getting a feel for what the London area is like.
I've registered with a few recruitment agencies in London and have met with them over the past few days. There are a few jobs that they have presented me with and at the moment I'm just taking some time to have a look at different jobs and assess what the market is like. Will keep you all updated with my progress.
Not too much planned for the rest of this week, unless there are jobs that I'm interested in going for and any interviews that may arise out of them. Looking forward to Friday when Dave and Vince arrive in London and hanging out with the boys.
Hong Kong and China
Sorry it's taken me so long to write!! Very slack, but here's the update on Hong Kong and China.
I spent two weeks in Hong Kong and China with family - Me, Mum, Aunty Aileen, Aunty Betty, and my Grandparents Goong Goong and Por Por.
HONG KONG
We left NZ on Wednesday 4 April and flew to Hong Kong going via Sydney on Qantas. As per usual, I slept on the flight from Wellington to Sydney, not a long flight but as everyone knows, I sleep just about anywhere!! The flight Sydney to Hong Kong, I was quite proud of myself and managed to stay up to watch 2 movies - The Devil Wears Prada and Little Miss Sunshine, as well as napping of course :) ha
Arrived in Hong Kong Wednesday afternoon Hong Kong time and after making our way to our hotel in Kowloon, we were met by Edmund, a friend of Aunty Betty's who was our very own personal tour guide.
Thursday 5 April - was spent mostly looking around the shops, we were staying just off Nathan Road so managed to have a look at the shops around the Jordan Street Station area of Kowloon. You can't go far without passing a jewellery, watch or electronic store in Hong Kong so we had a look around, mostly window shopping. It's impossible to say that we saw all the shops because there are just so many of them but did our best. After going into a supermarket for a few things, I found Lays chippies!!! Very excited, sorry Dave I forgot to buy an extra packet to send home but Mum and I thorougly enjoyed the packet we bought - Salt in Vinegar mmm! (Richard G, you will be proud of me for looking around the supermarket but unfortunately I wasn't tempted to buy any cereal!)
Friday 6 April - we went out to Aberdeen for the day with some family. My great grandfather is buried in the cemetery in Aberdeen so we went out there to see his site and pay respects etc. Had our first yum cha in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island, accompanied by Edmund and his family. And a big banquet dinner with family, this was the start of our ongoing eating all day every day!
Saturday 7 April - we spent the day with Edmund and his extended family. Edmund hired a mini bus and took us all out to a temple in the Northern Territories, we were provided with a vegetarian lunch but to make it interesting most of the food had been prepared to make it look like and taste like some meat dishes. Most of the food was cooked using tofu but looked and tasted like duck, chicken etc. Not something that I had experienced before but it was nice. After visiting the temple, we took a walk up to the water reservoir that services Hong Kong, nice for Edmund's family etc to see a bit of the countryside and greenery as they don't often get out of the city, but for us coming from NZ it wasn't anything that special as we are lucky enough to have that kind of landscape and fresh air on our back door step. Seeing local Hong Kong people enjoy the outdoors makes you realise how polluted Hong Kong city really is. I missed the clean fresh air of NZ and normal blue sunny skies.
Sunday 8 April - more shopping! We had a look around the Mongkok area of Kowloon. My big purchase of the day was a handbag ha ha! We had another yummy but big banquet dinner with friends of Aunty Aileen's - Chris, Alice and Aaron.
Monday 9 April - more shopping! This was a very productive shopping day for electronics, presents and personal purchases for everyone.
SHANGHAI TRIP
Tuesday 10 April - we flew to Shanghai on Hong Kong Express airlines arriving in Hangzhou as part of an organised tour group by Miramar Tours, Tour Leader = Jo An. Approx 1 hour, 40 minute flight from Hong Kong airport and a 2 hour bus ride. The evening was spent having dinner at our destination, a river cruise, a night tour of Shanghai and a quick look at the coffee district of the area. Hotel for the night was Chen Yuan Shanghai.
Wednesday 11 April - we went on a day tour of Shanghai, visited the Shanghai Baoshutang Pharmacy Co, went to a historial place of the Xue Family and went to a tea pot museum. Hotel for the night was Tai Hu Pearl International, Wuxi City.
Thursday 12 April - visited Kingdom City, this was like a movie set used for films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. You can imagine them doing fighting scenes etc, they put on a show while we were there using horses, acting out something like they would do for a movie scene. Also went to a Pearl Art Museum, visited a Hanshan Temple, and the Gusu Silk Factory where we learned about the silk production process which was cool. Hotel for the night was Chunshenhu Resort Hotel, Suzhou.
Friday 13 April - we visited a lotus garden, water village, tea factory and went on a boat cruise on the lake. That evening we went to a show called 'Night at Westlake' which was really good, it had a mixture of opera, dance, acrobatics and martial arts. This was our last night on our Shanghai trip and the hotel for the night was Sofitel Xanadu Resort, Hangzhou. Very nice accommodation to finish off the trip :)
HONG KONG
Saturday 14 April - we flew back to Hong Kong from Hangzhou. More shopping that evening and my proud purchase for the day was a pair of shoes. Shopping in Hong Kong is perfect for me as I could find shoes straight off the shelf in my size, it was such a novelty trying on shoes that fit perfectly! And this applied to clothes too, all the sizes in Hong Kong fit me well but unfortunately I found their style in clothing a little strange.
Sunday 15 April - another day of shopping. We had yum cha with Goong Goong's older sister who is doing well for herself as she is in her 90's.
MAINLAND CHINA TRIP TO VILLAGES
Monday 16 April - we headed back to China to look at the village areas that Goong Goong and Por Por grew up in. Headed to Guangzhou, train to the border and approx 2 hour bus ride out to Taishan. We arrived in the evening so spent the night at the Taishan Overseas Chinese Hotel. Dinner, accommodation and breakfast in Taishan was very cheap!
Tuesday 17 April - we hired a van and our very own driver who took us further out of the city to find the village that Por Por grew up in. This was like one of those discovery stories you watch on tv ... driving along the streets of Taishan we stopped some people to ask for directions, it just so happens that one of the woman we talk to recognises my Por Por from previous photos and can name her in person! This led us to find the house that Por Por grew up and we got to meet extended family and see the house and area in which Por Por grew up in until she was the age of 18 and left for NZ. After visiting Taishan we headed to Xinhui which is the area that my Goong Goong is from, we got to see the house that Goong Goong lived in but unfortunately with no family living there anymore the site is ready for demolition and we couldn't look inside as it was all boarded up. On our return back to Hong Kong we went via Macau, had a look around Macau and back to Hong Kong.
Wednesday 18 April - we got a chance to see the central CBD area of Hong Kong and more shopping!
A few observations from our time in Hong Kong - very polluted, i missed seeing clear skies, high rise buildings everywhere, they have bamboo scaffolding which looks scary but they obviously trust it otherwise they wouldn't use it? They have stands all over the place selling juices, their carrots are massive so when you look at my photos I just wanted to express how big they were! There are little bakeries everywhere selling yummy pastries, buns etc. BBQ pork buns, pineapple buns mmm! Lots of little shops that sell dried fruits, meats, soup ingredients, places that have their meat hanging up on the side of the road etc. Because just about everyone lives in apartment buildings, there are lots of people that hang their washing up out their windows, sticking out from the side of the building, not something that I would want to do with the amount of pollution around, it's not exactly like they are getting a good airing ... hmm, just something they do I guess.
A few observations from our time in China - landscape is very different than Hong Kong. No high rise buidlings but in Shanghai there are bicycles, scooters and motorbikes everywhere. With cars driving on the right hand side of the road we had to be careful crossing the street remembering to look both ways!
Thursday 19 April - last day in Hong Kong for myself, Mum, Aunty Aileen and Aunty Betty and probably the most successful shopping day for everyone :) Goong Goong and Por Por stayed on for a little longer. Mum, Aunty Aileen, Aunty Betty and I all headed to the airport, I was stressing a little that my luggage was going to be very overweight but luckily it didn't turn out to be a big issue. My suitcase weighted in at 25kg, that's half of me! The others left 2 hours before I did which was a sad departure, with me heading to London and them returning home.
Kat kindly uploaded all my photos of Hong Kong and China and you can view them at http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/NikkiChungFamilyHongKongChinaTrip?authkey=gLmWaixvN1A
I spent two weeks in Hong Kong and China with family - Me, Mum, Aunty Aileen, Aunty Betty, and my Grandparents Goong Goong and Por Por.
HONG KONG
We left NZ on Wednesday 4 April and flew to Hong Kong going via Sydney on Qantas. As per usual, I slept on the flight from Wellington to Sydney, not a long flight but as everyone knows, I sleep just about anywhere!! The flight Sydney to Hong Kong, I was quite proud of myself and managed to stay up to watch 2 movies - The Devil Wears Prada and Little Miss Sunshine, as well as napping of course :) ha
Arrived in Hong Kong Wednesday afternoon Hong Kong time and after making our way to our hotel in Kowloon, we were met by Edmund, a friend of Aunty Betty's who was our very own personal tour guide.
Thursday 5 April - was spent mostly looking around the shops, we were staying just off Nathan Road so managed to have a look at the shops around the Jordan Street Station area of Kowloon. You can't go far without passing a jewellery, watch or electronic store in Hong Kong so we had a look around, mostly window shopping. It's impossible to say that we saw all the shops because there are just so many of them but did our best. After going into a supermarket for a few things, I found Lays chippies!!! Very excited, sorry Dave I forgot to buy an extra packet to send home but Mum and I thorougly enjoyed the packet we bought - Salt in Vinegar mmm! (Richard G, you will be proud of me for looking around the supermarket but unfortunately I wasn't tempted to buy any cereal!)
Friday 6 April - we went out to Aberdeen for the day with some family. My great grandfather is buried in the cemetery in Aberdeen so we went out there to see his site and pay respects etc. Had our first yum cha in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island, accompanied by Edmund and his family. And a big banquet dinner with family, this was the start of our ongoing eating all day every day!
Saturday 7 April - we spent the day with Edmund and his extended family. Edmund hired a mini bus and took us all out to a temple in the Northern Territories, we were provided with a vegetarian lunch but to make it interesting most of the food had been prepared to make it look like and taste like some meat dishes. Most of the food was cooked using tofu but looked and tasted like duck, chicken etc. Not something that I had experienced before but it was nice. After visiting the temple, we took a walk up to the water reservoir that services Hong Kong, nice for Edmund's family etc to see a bit of the countryside and greenery as they don't often get out of the city, but for us coming from NZ it wasn't anything that special as we are lucky enough to have that kind of landscape and fresh air on our back door step. Seeing local Hong Kong people enjoy the outdoors makes you realise how polluted Hong Kong city really is. I missed the clean fresh air of NZ and normal blue sunny skies.
Sunday 8 April - more shopping! We had a look around the Mongkok area of Kowloon. My big purchase of the day was a handbag ha ha! We had another yummy but big banquet dinner with friends of Aunty Aileen's - Chris, Alice and Aaron.
Monday 9 April - more shopping! This was a very productive shopping day for electronics, presents and personal purchases for everyone.
SHANGHAI TRIP
Tuesday 10 April - we flew to Shanghai on Hong Kong Express airlines arriving in Hangzhou as part of an organised tour group by Miramar Tours, Tour Leader = Jo An. Approx 1 hour, 40 minute flight from Hong Kong airport and a 2 hour bus ride. The evening was spent having dinner at our destination, a river cruise, a night tour of Shanghai and a quick look at the coffee district of the area. Hotel for the night was Chen Yuan Shanghai.
Wednesday 11 April - we went on a day tour of Shanghai, visited the Shanghai Baoshutang Pharmacy Co, went to a historial place of the Xue Family and went to a tea pot museum. Hotel for the night was Tai Hu Pearl International, Wuxi City.
Thursday 12 April - visited Kingdom City, this was like a movie set used for films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. You can imagine them doing fighting scenes etc, they put on a show while we were there using horses, acting out something like they would do for a movie scene. Also went to a Pearl Art Museum, visited a Hanshan Temple, and the Gusu Silk Factory where we learned about the silk production process which was cool. Hotel for the night was Chunshenhu Resort Hotel, Suzhou.
Friday 13 April - we visited a lotus garden, water village, tea factory and went on a boat cruise on the lake. That evening we went to a show called 'Night at Westlake' which was really good, it had a mixture of opera, dance, acrobatics and martial arts. This was our last night on our Shanghai trip and the hotel for the night was Sofitel Xanadu Resort, Hangzhou. Very nice accommodation to finish off the trip :)
HONG KONG
Saturday 14 April - we flew back to Hong Kong from Hangzhou. More shopping that evening and my proud purchase for the day was a pair of shoes. Shopping in Hong Kong is perfect for me as I could find shoes straight off the shelf in my size, it was such a novelty trying on shoes that fit perfectly! And this applied to clothes too, all the sizes in Hong Kong fit me well but unfortunately I found their style in clothing a little strange.
Sunday 15 April - another day of shopping. We had yum cha with Goong Goong's older sister who is doing well for herself as she is in her 90's.
MAINLAND CHINA TRIP TO VILLAGES
Monday 16 April - we headed back to China to look at the village areas that Goong Goong and Por Por grew up in. Headed to Guangzhou, train to the border and approx 2 hour bus ride out to Taishan. We arrived in the evening so spent the night at the Taishan Overseas Chinese Hotel. Dinner, accommodation and breakfast in Taishan was very cheap!
Tuesday 17 April - we hired a van and our very own driver who took us further out of the city to find the village that Por Por grew up in. This was like one of those discovery stories you watch on tv ... driving along the streets of Taishan we stopped some people to ask for directions, it just so happens that one of the woman we talk to recognises my Por Por from previous photos and can name her in person! This led us to find the house that Por Por grew up and we got to meet extended family and see the house and area in which Por Por grew up in until she was the age of 18 and left for NZ. After visiting Taishan we headed to Xinhui which is the area that my Goong Goong is from, we got to see the house that Goong Goong lived in but unfortunately with no family living there anymore the site is ready for demolition and we couldn't look inside as it was all boarded up. On our return back to Hong Kong we went via Macau, had a look around Macau and back to Hong Kong.
Wednesday 18 April - we got a chance to see the central CBD area of Hong Kong and more shopping!
A few observations from our time in Hong Kong - very polluted, i missed seeing clear skies, high rise buildings everywhere, they have bamboo scaffolding which looks scary but they obviously trust it otherwise they wouldn't use it? They have stands all over the place selling juices, their carrots are massive so when you look at my photos I just wanted to express how big they were! There are little bakeries everywhere selling yummy pastries, buns etc. BBQ pork buns, pineapple buns mmm! Lots of little shops that sell dried fruits, meats, soup ingredients, places that have their meat hanging up on the side of the road etc. Because just about everyone lives in apartment buildings, there are lots of people that hang their washing up out their windows, sticking out from the side of the building, not something that I would want to do with the amount of pollution around, it's not exactly like they are getting a good airing ... hmm, just something they do I guess.
A few observations from our time in China - landscape is very different than Hong Kong. No high rise buidlings but in Shanghai there are bicycles, scooters and motorbikes everywhere. With cars driving on the right hand side of the road we had to be careful crossing the street remembering to look both ways!
Thursday 19 April - last day in Hong Kong for myself, Mum, Aunty Aileen and Aunty Betty and probably the most successful shopping day for everyone :) Goong Goong and Por Por stayed on for a little longer. Mum, Aunty Aileen, Aunty Betty and I all headed to the airport, I was stressing a little that my luggage was going to be very overweight but luckily it didn't turn out to be a big issue. My suitcase weighted in at 25kg, that's half of me! The others left 2 hours before I did which was a sad departure, with me heading to London and them returning home.
Kat kindly uploaded all my photos of Hong Kong and China and you can view them at http://picasaweb.google.com/njshew/NikkiChungFamilyHongKongChinaTrip?authkey=gLmWaixvN1A
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Final countdown
The countdown is on - I've finished work and there's only one more week left until I leave for the big OE! Hong Kong, London here I come ;-)
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