Seafood, Sangria, Sunshine...

Our week in Portugal and Spain was fan-bloody-tastic!! One of the best trips we have done since we have been overseas. Our first stop was Lisbon, Portugal's capital. Hopping on a packed bus from the airport, we managed by a combination of luck and skill to get off at the right stop, pretty much right outside our hostel, which was located just off the lovely-named Avenida de Liberdade, smack bang in the middle of the city. So off to a good start. After dumping our stuff and changing into shorts (the weather was glorious) we headed out. As we were strolling, there seemed to us to be an unusually large number of football jersey-clad people about, so we decided to ask at the tourist office if there might be a game on. Turns out there was a World Cup qualifier that very night - Portugal v Denmark, and there were still tickets available!! For 10 euro!! So after snapping up a couple and stopping for coffee and a Portuguese custard tart each (the best pastries I've ever eaten in my life), we headed up to the Alfama district, the old part of Lisbon, crowned by the Castelo de Sao Jorge. 'Headed up' is no exaggeration, but we were rewarded with some great views. That night, we attended the game. Denmark ended up winning 3-2 in the last minute of injury time, so it was a very entertaining game with lots of world class players (but no Ronaldo, to my eternal disappointment).
Most of the following day was spent walking! After a bit of a sleep in, we took a massive walk down to the beautiful Belem district, via the waterfront and the Alcantara, where we were planning to have lunch but all the restaurants looked WAY too posh and expensive (I think all the Beamers parked outside gave us the clue.) Instead, we had a lovely seafood meal in Belem (for me - mixed grill for Dave), and later on visited the shop with the best Portuguese tarts in the city (so they say - we're not about to disagree though.)
Our last day in Portugal we took a day trip out to Cascais, a seaside town. We had been tossing up between Cascais and Sintra; we SO made the right decision! It was another gorgeous day, and Cascais was just glorious and beautiful. Among the sights to see were the Santa Marta lighthouse and the Boca de Inferno (Hell's Mouth). Back in Lisbon we had dinner up in Alfama and watched the sun set over the city.
Saturday we had an 8 hour bus ride to Seville in Spain. We arrived at 5; the sun was shining still and it was 32 degrees! Again, we had a lovely hostel in a great location. We headed out across the river to check out the bars, and found one with a great position overlooking the water. Later, we headed back across to check out Barrio de Santa Cruz, where we ate dinner at a few tapas bars.
The following day we mainly just spent walking around Seville. We had planned the cathedral because it is free on Sundays, but turns out it was closed because of an event on that night (the start of our bad luck with Seville's sights). But we had a lovely tapas lunch, and saw the bullring and the beautiful Plaza de Espana. That night, by a very happy coincidence, Garcy came to town!! So the three of us spent the evening drinking and eating yummy tapas at another great little bar by the water.
Our last full day in Seville we visited the cathedral and climbed the tower, then headed across to the Alcazar, only to get there and find that it is closed on Mondays! And we were leaving tomorrow morning! So we went souvenir shopping instead, before meeting up again with Garcy, and MY GOD, what a massive night that was. Great fun though, as he took us to a great little sandwich bar (a regular haunt for him in Seville), we went to yet another great tapas bar, and a free flamenco show.
The next day, both of us feeling more than a little sore and sorry, we headed back to ol' London Town.
What an amazing week!!! We are back at work now, but Friday we head to Munich for 4 days for Oktoberfest with Jarratt and Bec. Will update again soon, hope everyone is well!

On the beach in Cascais
Cascais
The Santa Marta lighthouse
The Boca de Inferno
The Boca de Inferno
Someone's happy about the football
At the top of the Alfama District in Lisbon
At the football, in our complimentary Portugal shirts
The Belem District in Lisbon
Sunset over Lisbon

Sunset in Seville
The cathedral in Seville
Plaza de Espana
With Michael, this one is taken at the awesome sandwich bar
At the free flamenco

Summertime...and the Livin' Is Easy

Well September has arrived marking the official start of autumn. Now it starts getting colder and colder and we have to dig our winter clothes out of storage. However, the final week or so of summer was pretty eventful, culminating on the 30th (we'll ignore the grey skies and drizzle on the 31st) with a glorious, hot (for London) day. Here's a rundown of what we've been up to.
Notting Hill Carnival
The carnival runs on the Sunday and Monday of the August bank holiday weekend, incidentally the first long weekend that we haven't been away. We decided to go down and check it out on the Sunday, and had ourselves a great day walking around, eating Jamaican food and drinking Jamaican beer, and watching the colourful parades.
Day trip to Oxford
On the bank holiday Monday we took a train to Oxford (I got us really cheap tickets and was incredibly pleased with myself). We took a tour of the town, going in to some of the colleges of the University and learning some interesting history. A greyish morning turned into a lovely afternoon, so we headed down to a riverside pub to while away the time till we had to get the train back to London.
Pimms Summerfest
On a Wednesday night a week ago we made our way to Holland Park for this event. A whole area of the park was sectioned off, and there were a few bars, a BBQ serving hamburgers and sausages, and lots of space to sit, have a drink and relax. The main event was comedy in the outdoor theatre - we saw 4 comedians. It was a lovely evening - warm but with a nice cool breeze - and we were left regretting that we hadn't taken advantage of more of our summer evenings by picnicking in London's parks.
London Eye and Thames cruise
We had booked, through last minute, a 40 minute Thames cruise and flight on the iconic London Eye. Saturday was, as mentioned, absolutely glorious, and as a lot of August has been grey and overcast, we couldn't believe our luck. We started with the cruise, complete with commentary, followed by the Eye. The whole day was fantastic, I would highly recommend the cruise especially to any visitor to London. It was the kind of day that really makes you love London. Afterwards, we paid a quick visit to the second hand book market on the South Bank (where Dave even let me buy a couple of books), before meeting up with Jarratt and Bec in Clapham for a few quiet ones...well a few anyway.
We are now looking forward to our trip to Lisbon and Seville in a week, where we plan to relax and fill ourselves with tapas, paella, sangria, seafood, and Portuguese custard tarts. Hope everyone is well.

On the Thames cruise with Tower Bridge in the background


On the Eye
Notting Hill Carnival
Dave with the Jamaican beer
At Jesus College in Oxford
Oxford
One of the bars at the Summerfest

Living On The Fringe

Well, we have returned from a fab week in Scotland and are, needless to say, finding it a drag being back at work (bring on Portugal!) Thankfully, we do have a few other things coming up to look forward to in the meantime, starting Friday with drinks with an old workmate of Dave's we ran into in Pamplona (of all places), and continuing with the Pimms Summerfest, London Eye and Thames cruise, a day trip to either Brighton or Oxford, and the infamous Notting Hill carnival (very much looking forward to that.) However, I am here to update you on our week in the land of the Scots, so here 'tis.
Our Easyjet flight to Inverness took off at half six last Sunday morning. We had booked a cruise of Loch Ness beforehand, so after a leisurely breakfast and a bit of a stroll around the town, we hopped on the bus to take us to our boat. The three hour cruise was great; the weather alternated between sunny blue skies and brooding rain clouds - with the occasional soaking - but the stormy skies added to the atmosphere of Loch Ness. And I am disappointed to say no, we didn't see the monster.
Next up was Stirling, which was a tiny slip up, as we had to go through Perth to get there, but never mind. We visited Stirling Castle, and then took a walk from there to the William Wallace Monument on the top of a hill looking down on Stirling Bridge, where Wallace and his followers had a significant victory over the English.
In the morning we hopped on a train to Perth, a charming, picturesque little town that reminded me of Katoomba or Leura with its cute little shops and cafes. We decided to go out to Scone Palace, about 10 mins out of the city centre. We toured the staterooms of the palace, strolled the lovely gardens (despite a little rain), and ventured into the maze, returning to Perth for a nice dinner, followed the next morning by a great breakfast at our B&B.
The next day we hit Edinburgh!! August in Edinburgh is full on festival time, and we were there for the Fringe Festival. The city was bursting at the seams. The Royal Mile was absolutely chockers with buskers, street performers and people were everywhere all the time; it was full on and fantastic. We arrived on a Wednesday and set off down the Mile and were immediately offered tickets to a play for a pound each! It was called 'The Open Couple' and a good way to start our Fringe experience. Next up we went to a free comedy gig in a bar, and that night we saw Danny Bhoy and a guy called Matt Kirshen (who is cute and very funny - highly recommended).
Thursday morning saw us up at Edinburgh Castle when the gates opened, thankfully managing to avoid the worst of the crowds. Next up we decided to jump on an Auld Reekie tour of the underground vaults, where I may have been a little scared (I wish I could say 'we', but I'm on my own with that one). Our first show in the afternoon was a comedy production called 'The Americans' - a little ho-hum. Then Bill Bailey! (who was BRILLIANT), followed by a girl called Danielle Ward.
Friday was our busiest (and best) day. We kicked it off with a free show (always good) by two American comedians, followed by another free gig (in one of the vaults no less - not so scary with lights and music!) by a guy called Andrew O'Neill, another comedian I can now highly recommend. After a quick trip back to the hostel to freshen up, we saw Justin Moorhouse, Fiona O'Loughlin, and to top it all off, a show called 'Adam, Jason and Friends', featuring Adam Hills, Irish comedian Jason Byrne, and aforementioned friends. The friends bit was ho-hum, but Adam and Jason were HILARIOUS and easily up there in the top two or three shows we saw over the four days.
Saturday we took it a bit easier with a trip out to Home of Golf St Andrews, and just the one show in the evening - Andrew Lawrence (very funny man). Sunday morning we flew home exhausted.
Wow, if you're still with us after all that here are some happy snaps. We took about 500 photos over the week, and I've tried to not put too many up. Till next time, enjoy!

The Royal Mile

Waiting for Danny Bhoy

In the grounds of Edinburgh Castle

Bill Bailey!

On the course at St Andrews

At Scone Palace outside of Perth

Scone Palace

Clowning around in the maze

In the grounds of Stirling Castle



Overlooking Stirling

The view from the top of the Wallace Monument

On Loch Ness

Loch Ness



The Caledonian Canal - this led us into the loch

Movin' On Up, Movin' On Out

Well, a new phase of our London existence has begun in a flat down at Earl's Court, sans our lovely (ex) housemates. Although we will have the pleasure of their company for a few nights before they go gallivanting around Spain and Portugal (no I'm not jealous at all...) It is a bit further away from work for both of us, although Dave is putting out feelers for something local. It is a nice, safe area, with a library just up the road that will be counting me as a member! The flat itself is a fair size for London, it's actually quite cosy and plenty big enough for the two of us. No washing machine though, so we will be losing a lot of change to self serve laundries, of which there are a few around. Some pics of the place are below.
Since the last post, we have also enjoyed a Cuban dinner with Brendan and Jess, and Bec, J, Dave and I have partaken of a Sunday roast at the Bull (a very satisfying experience).
Next trip is Scotland in a couple of weeks for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which I'm more excited about than anything so far. (Blue just plays along). In August we will also try to squeeze in a few day trips to see a little more of England, which always seems to get neglected with the rest of the UK and Europe on our doorstep. Brighton is on the list so far. Then it is our turn to be off to Spain and Portugal, if only for a week, followed by the carnage of Oktoberfest! Can't wait for that one!!
How are things in the land of Oz?

The view from our small balcony - to get to it you have to climb out the window. Seriously.

The hallway(term used loosely)

The bedroom

The living area - I hesitate to call it a living 'room'

Happy to be here anyways!

The boys at dinner

The girls at dinner

Running Of The Bulls

Last Saturday we took off to Spain for four days for the San Fermin festival. We stayed at a campsite just outside of Pamplona. We arrived at 7pm Saturday in bright sunshine. After checking in with the tour leaders, we had a picnic on the grass in the sun. We met four hilarious British lads and had a great night.

The next day was the opening ceremony of the festival, followed the next morning by what we had come to see - the bull run, which was (insert expletive) AWESOME. Dave, Bec, a friend Yvette and I had front row seats in the arena and, despite some nerves for J who was running, Dave and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. The second rocket is let off to signal that they have released the bulls, and it seems like seconds later the runners pour into the arena, the bulls galloping after them. As a spectacle, it is SO cool. That afternoon we lazed around the campsite, before heading back in to town and to Bilbao airport, where we spent the night so as not to miss our morning flight. (After warmth and sunshine we returned to gray skies and rain - that's London for ya). Some photos are below - for more click on the link.

We are currently packing up our room at Theberton Street, and are (hopefully) signing a lease on a place at Earl's Court today - a lovely spacious studio apartment. I am also now on a 6 month contract at work (with a pay rise!) and have started a yoga class. We will also get Brendan and Jess back for a few days this week, before they head home to Oz.

Hope everyone is well, much love.