Hello there,
It has been all of 24 hours since my last post, and a very boring 24 hours at that really!
I had my second part of my museum course today, except that it was postponed due to electrical engineering work in the room where we have it. So it will be one again in two weeks time.
I am unhappy to announce that i do not have work for this week. I feel a bit rejected, but that is the way of temping. Such is the life of a temporary worker, hey?
But, on the upside, i have two more stamps in my passport. Yay!!
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Where do I begin?
I have just arrived back from my four days in Belgium. I had a lovely time, finally meeting my elderly uncle who is 85. He is just gorgeous. I think he is losing his memory, but for 85, that's quite ok!
Some of you may know that the 27th of January is Holocaust Memorial Day. I spent the day with my uncle, who, like too many others, lost family members at Auschwitz. Sixty years has passed, and still not a day goes past that Armand does not think of his mother, his father and his two very young sisters, who were all killed at Auschwitz. My grandmother was there, as were her parents and brother, and husband. There are too many lives in my family tree cut so horribly short. It makes me physically ill to think about what happened to these people, my people. Yes, sixty years has passed, but that does not mean that the pain is not still real. It pains the survivors every minute of every day to think of what they went through, of who they lost. I cannot fathom that such an awful event in human history can have occured, but it did, and six million lives were destroyed.
It is hard to be happy after that paragraph, but it had to be said.
I am glad to be home. The Eurostar was such a nice trip. It took just under two hours to get to Lille, shorted than to get to Paris, where I will be spending my 25th birthday in 5 weeks time. I will be OLD!!! :-)
I have an interview at one of the museums on tuesday. I have no idea about what is going on for work for me next week, but i have an interview so things are looking up. I currently have 7 job applications out at the moment, so I am sure there will be something for me soon!
:-)
Some of you may know that the 27th of January is Holocaust Memorial Day. I spent the day with my uncle, who, like too many others, lost family members at Auschwitz. Sixty years has passed, and still not a day goes past that Armand does not think of his mother, his father and his two very young sisters, who were all killed at Auschwitz. My grandmother was there, as were her parents and brother, and husband. There are too many lives in my family tree cut so horribly short. It makes me physically ill to think about what happened to these people, my people. Yes, sixty years has passed, but that does not mean that the pain is not still real. It pains the survivors every minute of every day to think of what they went through, of who they lost. I cannot fathom that such an awful event in human history can have occured, but it did, and six million lives were destroyed.
It is hard to be happy after that paragraph, but it had to be said.
I am glad to be home. The Eurostar was such a nice trip. It took just under two hours to get to Lille, shorted than to get to Paris, where I will be spending my 25th birthday in 5 weeks time. I will be OLD!!! :-)
I have an interview at one of the museums on tuesday. I have no idea about what is going on for work for me next week, but i have an interview so things are looking up. I currently have 7 job applications out at the moment, so I am sure there will be something for me soon!
:-)
Sunday, January 23, 2005
So... another day, another city
Hello!! Well, our plans for Saturday were changed, as the person we were supposed to be meeting, a friend of a friend, was sick. Pity, but it worked out well. Scott and I got on the tube in the morning with one thing in mind - getting on a train and getting out of London for the day! And we decided where to go when we arrived at the station. We decided on Norwich.
So, on the train we consulted the travellers' bible - the Lonely Planet Guide.
We arrived, grabbed some food and a map and set off. We found the castle, which was built by the Normans. It was great, the architecture was like the Tower of London. Inside there was a museum, which was really well done. There was information that described the different uses the castle had had over the years. It was used as a prison for some years as well. And in WWII, it resumed its defensive role.
Then we wandered around a bit more, and jumped on the train. Oh, I forgot to mention something. When we had lunch, we had it in a pub. I mention this because, it was there that I borrowed a phone book. Why, you may ask? Well, in 1829 a man by the name of Thomas Dyball was convicted of house robbery and was sentenced to tranportation. Hence us being in Norwich in the first place. I looked up the phone book just out of curiosity to see how many Dyballs were in there. There were a total of 20-25 entries.
So yes, there you have it. Our day yesterday.
Today we met up with my fourth cousins. How many of you reading this know your fourth cousins? Not many I dare say! But when going overseas, all kinds of wonderful relatives are found. :-)
I am off to Belgium on Wednesday. I have no work this week, so I decided to go and visit another wonderful relative. His name is Armand and he is 85ish. He is lovely I am told, so I want to meet him as soon as possible. I will be planning a trip to Hungary soon too. There is a new airline called Wizz Air. It's such a great name, because I can take a Wizz all the way from London to Budapest!! :-D hehe
xxxxxx
So, on the train we consulted the travellers' bible - the Lonely Planet Guide.
We arrived, grabbed some food and a map and set off. We found the castle, which was built by the Normans. It was great, the architecture was like the Tower of London. Inside there was a museum, which was really well done. There was information that described the different uses the castle had had over the years. It was used as a prison for some years as well. And in WWII, it resumed its defensive role.
Then we wandered around a bit more, and jumped on the train. Oh, I forgot to mention something. When we had lunch, we had it in a pub. I mention this because, it was there that I borrowed a phone book. Why, you may ask? Well, in 1829 a man by the name of Thomas Dyball was convicted of house robbery and was sentenced to tranportation. Hence us being in Norwich in the first place. I looked up the phone book just out of curiosity to see how many Dyballs were in there. There were a total of 20-25 entries.
So yes, there you have it. Our day yesterday.
Today we met up with my fourth cousins. How many of you reading this know your fourth cousins? Not many I dare say! But when going overseas, all kinds of wonderful relatives are found. :-)
I am off to Belgium on Wednesday. I have no work this week, so I decided to go and visit another wonderful relative. His name is Armand and he is 85ish. He is lovely I am told, so I want to meet him as soon as possible. I will be planning a trip to Hungary soon too. There is a new airline called Wizz Air. It's such a great name, because I can take a Wizz all the way from London to Budapest!! :-D hehe
xxxxxx
Thursday, January 20, 2005
helloo
Hi. I have been thinking. This journal is more of a dear diary than anything else. I am no longer using my paper journal as I did at the beginning of my adventure, so I guess I am treating this as such. I have decided, however, to make this journal more interesting. If i can of course!!
Observation of the day - London is all about atmosphere. It is not only about the sights to see, places to go, things to see. But it about the sounds, the smells that I am finding wonderful about London, and I guess that appreciation comes from watching the people of London and not just looking at the buildings. For example, when I leave my current job at the end of the day and wander down The Strand to Charing Cross tube station, I hear an odd sound, repeated over and over again. This happens every night, as I get closer to the station. There are about 5 different newspaper sellers, all selling the Evening Standard (a truly terrible paper). Each of them yells out a version of "Evening Standard" at the top of their lungs. I am sure that at least two of them are not speaking English, but merely grunting loudly in the hope of selling some papers!!
I sent off two more job applications today, to join one I sent off two days ago. So I now have four in limbo. I have found another two to apply for on the internet today, which is great. I am finding that there are quite a few positions advertised in Scotland, and in country England. I have decided that I will try my luck in London, and if I am not successful, then I will apply to other areas. Working in a museum in Ireland sounds pretty good to me!!
I am in the mood to send post cards. Please email me or comment if you would like me to send you one. I sent two yesterday, and I will send three today. So, if you are hankering for a post card from the UK, then I will send ya one!
We met the landlord last night. He was younger than I thought. We are having problems with our bathroom, and we are currently using the shower downstairs. In other words, the SEVEN people who live in our house, are all using the one bathroom!! It will be fixed on Monday apparently, but I am hoping that they do a good job. I have been told that the landlord favours a certain builder, who obvioulsy does things to a price.
I am thinking more about travel plans. I want to travel, I want to meet relatives, stay in new countries, practice my French and my German, maybe learn more Hungarian than the 6 words I know (well, 6 plus the names of my favourite foods of course!!. SO I will be calling an uncle in Belgium this week to find out when is the best time to go and visit him. Then I can take the Eurostar to go and see him. As for everyone else, I promise I will be there soon!!!
:-)
Observation of the day - London is all about atmosphere. It is not only about the sights to see, places to go, things to see. But it about the sounds, the smells that I am finding wonderful about London, and I guess that appreciation comes from watching the people of London and not just looking at the buildings. For example, when I leave my current job at the end of the day and wander down The Strand to Charing Cross tube station, I hear an odd sound, repeated over and over again. This happens every night, as I get closer to the station. There are about 5 different newspaper sellers, all selling the Evening Standard (a truly terrible paper). Each of them yells out a version of "Evening Standard" at the top of their lungs. I am sure that at least two of them are not speaking English, but merely grunting loudly in the hope of selling some papers!!
I sent off two more job applications today, to join one I sent off two days ago. So I now have four in limbo. I have found another two to apply for on the internet today, which is great. I am finding that there are quite a few positions advertised in Scotland, and in country England. I have decided that I will try my luck in London, and if I am not successful, then I will apply to other areas. Working in a museum in Ireland sounds pretty good to me!!
I am in the mood to send post cards. Please email me or comment if you would like me to send you one. I sent two yesterday, and I will send three today. So, if you are hankering for a post card from the UK, then I will send ya one!
We met the landlord last night. He was younger than I thought. We are having problems with our bathroom, and we are currently using the shower downstairs. In other words, the SEVEN people who live in our house, are all using the one bathroom!! It will be fixed on Monday apparently, but I am hoping that they do a good job. I have been told that the landlord favours a certain builder, who obvioulsy does things to a price.
I am thinking more about travel plans. I want to travel, I want to meet relatives, stay in new countries, practice my French and my German, maybe learn more Hungarian than the 6 words I know (well, 6 plus the names of my favourite foods of course!!. SO I will be calling an uncle in Belgium this week to find out when is the best time to go and visit him. Then I can take the Eurostar to go and see him. As for everyone else, I promise I will be there soon!!!
:-)
Sunday, January 16, 2005
an update - at last!!
Hello! It has been a few too many days since I have updated this thing. But, never fear, an update is here!!
Work this week has been boring. But I have one more week as a PA, then who knows... I am sick of temping. Yes, I have only done two placements, but I want a job where I can talk to people, get to know the people I am working with!! I have three job applications due in this week. One for the British Museum, one for somewhere in Richmond, and one for the Museum in Dockalnds. Wish me luck!!
So my weekend has been quite full. Friday night we had a work mate of Scott's over for dvds. It was nice to be social with someone other than flat mates etc. Saturday morning I cleaned the house as it was my turn. Scott helped me, which was great. It is always easier for two! Then Saturday afternoon we met Judy for coffee (she is mum's cousin we stayed with for a while). We hadn't seen her in 4 weeks or so, so it was great to catch up. From there (we met her in Covent Garden), we wandered all over the place, and ended up in China Town. I had been wanting to find it for ages, so I thought it was a good time. We had a nice meal at a buffet place. As cheap as we could find, which is sometimes tough in London!!
I wanted to do something spontaneous, so we wandered through the West End (where all the theatres were), trying to find something that started at 8pm. We ended up near Piccadilly Circus, at a theatre called the Criterion. They had a show on at 8pm, by a group called the Reduced Shakespeare Company. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a while! They basically combine a shortened version of the complete works of shakespeare and comedy.
Today was another busy day. We got up early and headed to Camden Town to go to the Jewish Museum. A very interesting place I tells ya. Then from there we headed back to the British Museum, as my course started today. It was basically a lecture/guided tour combination if that makes sense. Quite interesting, but tough on the feet for standing for 1.5 hours!!
And that is my life up til now!! Not all that exciting, but busy. It's back to work tomorrow. This week I have the three applications to put in. I will be registering with an employment agency that specialises in museums. Should be good.
Until next time people.... :-)
Work this week has been boring. But I have one more week as a PA, then who knows... I am sick of temping. Yes, I have only done two placements, but I want a job where I can talk to people, get to know the people I am working with!! I have three job applications due in this week. One for the British Museum, one for somewhere in Richmond, and one for the Museum in Dockalnds. Wish me luck!!
So my weekend has been quite full. Friday night we had a work mate of Scott's over for dvds. It was nice to be social with someone other than flat mates etc. Saturday morning I cleaned the house as it was my turn. Scott helped me, which was great. It is always easier for two! Then Saturday afternoon we met Judy for coffee (she is mum's cousin we stayed with for a while). We hadn't seen her in 4 weeks or so, so it was great to catch up. From there (we met her in Covent Garden), we wandered all over the place, and ended up in China Town. I had been wanting to find it for ages, so I thought it was a good time. We had a nice meal at a buffet place. As cheap as we could find, which is sometimes tough in London!!
I wanted to do something spontaneous, so we wandered through the West End (where all the theatres were), trying to find something that started at 8pm. We ended up near Piccadilly Circus, at a theatre called the Criterion. They had a show on at 8pm, by a group called the Reduced Shakespeare Company. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a while! They basically combine a shortened version of the complete works of shakespeare and comedy.
Today was another busy day. We got up early and headed to Camden Town to go to the Jewish Museum. A very interesting place I tells ya. Then from there we headed back to the British Museum, as my course started today. It was basically a lecture/guided tour combination if that makes sense. Quite interesting, but tough on the feet for standing for 1.5 hours!!
And that is my life up til now!! Not all that exciting, but busy. It's back to work tomorrow. This week I have the three applications to put in. I will be registering with an employment agency that specialises in museums. Should be good.
Until next time people.... :-)
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
a lunch time post
Hello! Well, it is, surprise surprise, raining outside. I ducked out briefly to grab some food, and now I am back at my desk. I haven't updated in a few days, so I thought it was about time! I think Friday was the last time, so I must fill you in one what we did on the weekend.
Saturday, we had a late start, but that's ok. :-) We headed off to Ikea. It took forever, as the Jubilee line was not in operation, so there were rail replacement buses for us to use. Joy. We did finally find it. And there were so many people there. We wandered around. We did have a purpose of course. We were there to buy bedside lamps. I had seen some funky ones in the ikea cattle dog at the Schmidts' in Germany, so I was keen to have a look at them. We found them, and many other things too. We bought a vegie steamer, an ice cube tray that makes heart-shaped ice cubes (yay!), a doona (called a duvet in England), a cover for it, and a throw rug. I think that's it. Anyway, things to make the room a little bit more ours is always good. And we needed a doona, after using sleeping bags for a month now!!
Saturday night was dvd night. I only watched one, as I fell asleep. I can't even remember the titles ow. Oh well!!
Sunday was library finding day. We found one in Ealing Broadway. (Actually I think it is quite amusing that we live in the Borough of Ealing, given my connection with the word!!) They had a large selection, and we joined up. I borrowed a book of society in prehistory (like a text book, so it should be interesting). I was disappointed they didn't have any more magazines than they did, but they may at another branch. We also went to the library to find out about groups/courses/etc to try and meet more people. Will read the pamphlets we got, and see what is on offer.
Sunday arvo we went to the Walkabout. Let me explain. The Walkabout is a chain of pubs that are themed and appeal to aussies/kiwis in England etc. They are supposed to be a great meeting place for people etc. Well, the pub was ok, but it would be better with a group of people I think. And so noisy too!! So, you can't really meet anyone there at all!!
This Sunday I start a course run by the British Museum. Sounds good to me! It's on art in the Late Middle Ages. Yay! I think it runs for three Sundays. I get all the info today. Hopefully I will meet some museum-nerds there...
It's funny how I go through periods of homesickness. I don't want to go home, it's just that I miss certain things about home. It's inevitable I guess. I miss working in a job I look forward to going to, I miss family, friends, being able to drive. Things like that. It's hard to explain. Sometimes I feel quite lonely. Lonely for friends really. I miss being able to call friends up, see friends for coffee/movie etc. I know that making friends is tough, especially in a whole other country. I just have to give myself time, but doing that is quite tough too!!
Anyway, enough moping! Back to work. :-(
Saturday, we had a late start, but that's ok. :-) We headed off to Ikea. It took forever, as the Jubilee line was not in operation, so there were rail replacement buses for us to use. Joy. We did finally find it. And there were so many people there. We wandered around. We did have a purpose of course. We were there to buy bedside lamps. I had seen some funky ones in the ikea cattle dog at the Schmidts' in Germany, so I was keen to have a look at them. We found them, and many other things too. We bought a vegie steamer, an ice cube tray that makes heart-shaped ice cubes (yay!), a doona (called a duvet in England), a cover for it, and a throw rug. I think that's it. Anyway, things to make the room a little bit more ours is always good. And we needed a doona, after using sleeping bags for a month now!!
Saturday night was dvd night. I only watched one, as I fell asleep. I can't even remember the titles ow. Oh well!!
Sunday was library finding day. We found one in Ealing Broadway. (Actually I think it is quite amusing that we live in the Borough of Ealing, given my connection with the word!!) They had a large selection, and we joined up. I borrowed a book of society in prehistory (like a text book, so it should be interesting). I was disappointed they didn't have any more magazines than they did, but they may at another branch. We also went to the library to find out about groups/courses/etc to try and meet more people. Will read the pamphlets we got, and see what is on offer.
Sunday arvo we went to the Walkabout. Let me explain. The Walkabout is a chain of pubs that are themed and appeal to aussies/kiwis in England etc. They are supposed to be a great meeting place for people etc. Well, the pub was ok, but it would be better with a group of people I think. And so noisy too!! So, you can't really meet anyone there at all!!
This Sunday I start a course run by the British Museum. Sounds good to me! It's on art in the Late Middle Ages. Yay! I think it runs for three Sundays. I get all the info today. Hopefully I will meet some museum-nerds there...
It's funny how I go through periods of homesickness. I don't want to go home, it's just that I miss certain things about home. It's inevitable I guess. I miss working in a job I look forward to going to, I miss family, friends, being able to drive. Things like that. It's hard to explain. Sometimes I feel quite lonely. Lonely for friends really. I miss being able to call friends up, see friends for coffee/movie etc. I know that making friends is tough, especially in a whole other country. I just have to give myself time, but doing that is quite tough too!!
Anyway, enough moping! Back to work. :-(
Friday, January 07, 2005
not sure what to call this post
Hello out there. Another boring day had by me, but I did have things to do today which was better. I am not sure I like the whole secretary thing to be honest. I admire people who do it, and keep offices running smoothly, but man, I have no desire to do it! I can't complain too loudly at home, or bad mouth the life of a PA, as one of my flatmates, Nat, is a PA in the city. And she's lovely. So I can't really hold it against her!!
I want to say thank you to all of the people who have ever commented on my journal. I love reading what you have to say. :-)
I am not sure if I have all that much to write tonight. I was thinking of investigating the idea of doing a short course or two. I would meet people, and I may even get to use my brain! So, after thinking something along the lines of "where am I going to find out about courses?" I was handed a free newspaper today. And what does it contain? It is a newspaper dedicated to courses all over London. Hello! So I went through the entire thing this evening with Scott, and I found about 10 that I would like to do. Obviously, I cannot do them all, but there are several that make the shortlist. There are two related directly to specific museums, Tate Britain and the Victoria and Albert. And there are two run by the British Museum. So I will do them, depending on when they are etc. Sounds good to me!!
We had a pint with a guy from Scott's work the other night which was great. It was nice to be social with someone other than the people we live with. We checked out the pub in the main street of our suburb. I met them there after work, and we spent two hours there. It was fab. And it turns out he knows Henrike in Germany (my host sister Vera from 8 years ago's sister). Small world I tell ya! Anyway, the upshot of what I am trying to say is that he has been in London for a month or so now, and he has found it difficult to meet people. And the same rings true for other people at Scott's work too. But, I think we will make the effort and meet these people outside of work. One of the people who started with Scott is a girl called Lucy. She has done museum temping, so I am keen to pick her brains. We certainly have something in common!!
I have been writing this journal entry for what seems like ever. I have been multi-tasking. I have been chatting on MSN, Yahoo and checking my mail Oh my brain hurts!!
Toodles
I want to say thank you to all of the people who have ever commented on my journal. I love reading what you have to say. :-)
I am not sure if I have all that much to write tonight. I was thinking of investigating the idea of doing a short course or two. I would meet people, and I may even get to use my brain! So, after thinking something along the lines of "where am I going to find out about courses?" I was handed a free newspaper today. And what does it contain? It is a newspaper dedicated to courses all over London. Hello! So I went through the entire thing this evening with Scott, and I found about 10 that I would like to do. Obviously, I cannot do them all, but there are several that make the shortlist. There are two related directly to specific museums, Tate Britain and the Victoria and Albert. And there are two run by the British Museum. So I will do them, depending on when they are etc. Sounds good to me!!
We had a pint with a guy from Scott's work the other night which was great. It was nice to be social with someone other than the people we live with. We checked out the pub in the main street of our suburb. I met them there after work, and we spent two hours there. It was fab. And it turns out he knows Henrike in Germany (my host sister Vera from 8 years ago's sister). Small world I tell ya! Anyway, the upshot of what I am trying to say is that he has been in London for a month or so now, and he has found it difficult to meet people. And the same rings true for other people at Scott's work too. But, I think we will make the effort and meet these people outside of work. One of the people who started with Scott is a girl called Lucy. She has done museum temping, so I am keen to pick her brains. We certainly have something in common!!
I have been writing this journal entry for what seems like ever. I have been multi-tasking. I have been chatting on MSN, Yahoo and checking my mail Oh my brain hurts!!
Toodles
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Another boring day at the office
Yes, indeed, another boring day at the lovely temp job. But, I am getting paid. And I got to spend a lot of time on an application I am submitting to one of the museums here. I won't say much more than that, as I do not want to jinx myself!!
We had a power failure in the office today, so for three hours or so, I quite literally couldn't do any work. My computer died, as did most of them in the office. The lifts didn't work, so when I came back from lunch I had to climb 96 stairs to reach the office on the fourth floor!! And the heating won't be on in the morning either which is lovely.
So I am sitting in the inernet cafe now, staring at the screen with sore eyes. I think I got eye strain from being in the dark most of the day!
My brain hurts, but I wanted to say hello to everybody. :-)
Toodles
We had a power failure in the office today, so for three hours or so, I quite literally couldn't do any work. My computer died, as did most of them in the office. The lifts didn't work, so when I came back from lunch I had to climb 96 stairs to reach the office on the fourth floor!! And the heating won't be on in the morning either which is lovely.
So I am sitting in the inernet cafe now, staring at the screen with sore eyes. I think I got eye strain from being in the dark most of the day!
My brain hurts, but I wanted to say hello to everybody. :-)
Toodles
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
A new job
Hello there. I am sitting at my new job at the moment. A new temping assignment that is, not my dream museum job that I shall get shortly (keep your fingers crossed anyway!). Today, the bos was not in, which was kind of silly. No one knew what I was supposed to do. So all day, the only things I have done are open the post, sort out the post, and do a mailout. Boring! But, this job is a PA position, and I have never done anything like that before! So I am sure I will bugger it up along the way, I am nervous about meeting the boss tomorrow too.
I really want to meet people here in London. It is hard to meet people. Scott is becoming mates with people at work, but temping really doesn't give me many opportunities to make friends. I miss my friends at home a great deal. I miss being able to talk to people on the phone or in person, going out shopping/for coffee, etc. I know I am moping a bit at the moment, and I apologise, but it's the way I am feeling. But at the same time, I am determined to meet people, Australians and otherwise, and to make friends. It is my New Years resolution! Yay.
I have another hour to go until I get to go home. I could go home early, but I will get paid more if I stay. Make sense?
I hope everyone is well. I am very curious just how many people read this, and yes I have said it before. But I am!! Please tell me, either comment or email me, or esp is ok too. :-)
I really want to meet people here in London. It is hard to meet people. Scott is becoming mates with people at work, but temping really doesn't give me many opportunities to make friends. I miss my friends at home a great deal. I miss being able to talk to people on the phone or in person, going out shopping/for coffee, etc. I know I am moping a bit at the moment, and I apologise, but it's the way I am feeling. But at the same time, I am determined to meet people, Australians and otherwise, and to make friends. It is my New Years resolution! Yay.
I have another hour to go until I get to go home. I could go home early, but I will get paid more if I stay. Make sense?
I hope everyone is well. I am very curious just how many people read this, and yes I have said it before. But I am!! Please tell me, either comment or email me, or esp is ok too. :-)
Monday, January 03, 2005
A day out in Greenwich
Today was a bank holiday (the English term for public holiday) so I didn't have to work. In fact I start a new job tomorrow, in The Strand, which will be nice. Hopefully! It will be good to work in a different part of town at least. So, seeing as though I did not have to be anywhere today, I decided to head off to Greenwich. Scott had to work today, but that's ok, because we will have to go back!
I caught the tube to Bank, and changed to the Docklands Light Railway, which is the scarey tram-like service with no drivers!! Anyway, got off at Greenwich and found the Cutty Sark, a large ship from the 1600s sometime. I took a few photos and found the information centre and got a map and a whole bunch of pamphlets. I decided to go to the Royal Observatory first up. It was a bit of a hike, through Greenwich Park and up the top of a hill. But it was worth it. The view from the top of the hill was great. I could see the Millenium Dome, most of greenwich itself and the River Thames.
The Royal Observatory is free to get in, which made it even better! I saw the Greenwich Meridian Line, where all longitudes are measured from. I wandered through the museum they have set up there. It's really very good. There were many astronomical instruments on display, as well as information panels, models, etc. There was a camera obscura as well, which is a lens and a mirror set up at the top of one of the towers. It projects the image of Greenwich (what it can "see")
onto a white painted table in a blackened room. It was really interesting.
From there I wandered back into the main street, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed off to another museum. This one was the Fan Museum. A museum dedicated entirely to the art of the fan. Quite well done, but could do with more of it's collection on show. There was a certificate in the ladies', congratulating the museum for the "Best Loo". Hmmmm.....
It was starting to get dark at this point, so I wandered down to the ferry, and bought my ticket. I caught a ferry back along the Thames into Embankment, where we were yesterday, and then two tubes home. And here I am!
There are so many great places to see and things to do in this city. I am determined to do as many of them as I can. It's what I am here for, right? I really enjoy wandering around, and I really enjoyed my day today. I went where I wanted to go, did what I wanted to do. It was a great day. It is kind of a shame that I have to go out and earn money! But if I want to travel around, then I have to earn the cash to be able to spend it!!
I caught the tube to Bank, and changed to the Docklands Light Railway, which is the scarey tram-like service with no drivers!! Anyway, got off at Greenwich and found the Cutty Sark, a large ship from the 1600s sometime. I took a few photos and found the information centre and got a map and a whole bunch of pamphlets. I decided to go to the Royal Observatory first up. It was a bit of a hike, through Greenwich Park and up the top of a hill. But it was worth it. The view from the top of the hill was great. I could see the Millenium Dome, most of greenwich itself and the River Thames.
The Royal Observatory is free to get in, which made it even better! I saw the Greenwich Meridian Line, where all longitudes are measured from. I wandered through the museum they have set up there. It's really very good. There were many astronomical instruments on display, as well as information panels, models, etc. There was a camera obscura as well, which is a lens and a mirror set up at the top of one of the towers. It projects the image of Greenwich (what it can "see")
onto a white painted table in a blackened room. It was really interesting.
From there I wandered back into the main street, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed off to another museum. This one was the Fan Museum. A museum dedicated entirely to the art of the fan. Quite well done, but could do with more of it's collection on show. There was a certificate in the ladies', congratulating the museum for the "Best Loo". Hmmmm.....
It was starting to get dark at this point, so I wandered down to the ferry, and bought my ticket. I caught a ferry back along the Thames into Embankment, where we were yesterday, and then two tubes home. And here I am!
There are so many great places to see and things to do in this city. I am determined to do as many of them as I can. It's what I am here for, right? I really enjoy wandering around, and I really enjoyed my day today. I went where I wanted to go, did what I wanted to do. It was a great day. It is kind of a shame that I have to go out and earn money! But if I want to travel around, then I have to earn the cash to be able to spend it!!
Sunday, January 02, 2005
A touristy day in London
Before I tell you about what I did today, I must wish everybody a Happy New Year!! I can't believe it's 2005 already! For New Years, Scott and I had a reasonably quiet one. We caught the tube into central London, to Green Park which is close to Piccadilly Circus. So we wandered down Piccadilly towards Trafalgar Square, where they had big screens set up for people to watch the fireworks on. An odd idea to me really. Trafalgar Square is a big hangout for people on New Years, but we wanted to avoid that. We walked down Whitehall (are you all seeing a Monopoly connection here??) down to the Thames. We shuffled our way through the crowd and found ourselves on Westminster Bridge, with a perfect view of the London Eye. Excellent. We were about 70 metres away from Big Ben. The fireworks were amazing. Absolutely brilliant. There were so many people out there though. It took us an hour and a half to walk two kilometres because of all the people!! We walked down to a tube station away from the centre of town to avoid the crush! A great New Years though. I hope everybody had a great one...
Yesterday was a lazy day, as all New Years Days should be. We hired a couple of DVDs and watched them. We are the only ones in our house at the moment which is nice, but quiet too. I miss people. It is my new years resolution to meet more people. It has been difficult so far as we were travelling then it was Xmas etc, but I am determined to meet people! Any ideas?
Today was fun. We headed off to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. It was so much fun. They had many old trams and buses that we could climb in, touch screens for information, and a giant ticket that you could punch at 14 different points in the museum. I had so much fun, and I learnt a lot about London's transport, which was great. I was interested in the tube particularly, as I was told that it started quite early. In the second half of the 19th century actually, which impressed me.
From there we had a look at the Covent Gardens market. Not a great deal there, but good to look at. Had lunch there too. From there we headed down to near Trafalgar Square to the Sherlock Holmes pub. That reminds me, someone commented on Scott's jounral and said they were Sherlock Holmes, I am very curious to see who they were!! The pub was nice, and we had a drink there. From there we walked to near Embankment tube station to see Cleopatra's Needle. This is an obelisk from Egypt from 1500BC given to London in the 19th century.
We jumped on the tube at Embankment and went to Angel. The reason for this? We had learnt at the Museum that Angel station has the longest escalator in the London Underground system. So, of course we had to check it out!! It was fun, and I got to take some photos too. What a dork. :-)
Anyway, I think's that's all for now. Take care people. :-)
Yesterday was a lazy day, as all New Years Days should be. We hired a couple of DVDs and watched them. We are the only ones in our house at the moment which is nice, but quiet too. I miss people. It is my new years resolution to meet more people. It has been difficult so far as we were travelling then it was Xmas etc, but I am determined to meet people! Any ideas?
Today was fun. We headed off to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. It was so much fun. They had many old trams and buses that we could climb in, touch screens for information, and a giant ticket that you could punch at 14 different points in the museum. I had so much fun, and I learnt a lot about London's transport, which was great. I was interested in the tube particularly, as I was told that it started quite early. In the second half of the 19th century actually, which impressed me.
From there we had a look at the Covent Gardens market. Not a great deal there, but good to look at. Had lunch there too. From there we headed down to near Trafalgar Square to the Sherlock Holmes pub. That reminds me, someone commented on Scott's jounral and said they were Sherlock Holmes, I am very curious to see who they were!! The pub was nice, and we had a drink there. From there we walked to near Embankment tube station to see Cleopatra's Needle. This is an obelisk from Egypt from 1500BC given to London in the 19th century.
We jumped on the tube at Embankment and went to Angel. The reason for this? We had learnt at the Museum that Angel station has the longest escalator in the London Underground system. So, of course we had to check it out!! It was fun, and I got to take some photos too. What a dork. :-)
Anyway, I think's that's all for now. Take care people. :-)
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