Prague!

Last Saturday morning we got up before dawn, caught a cab to the airport and began our trip to Prague. We took two planes to get there, from City airport. A long way to get there, but novel! And in small planes. 100 seaters this time, not like the 50 seater we took to Amsterdam.

We arrived at Prague airport, after our stopover in Geneva. We changed our money, bought travelcards and hopped on a bus to the centre of town. We changed to the metro (very similar to the Budapest metro, but the escalators were not as fast!) then to a tram, and waked 100 metres or so to our hotel. Our hotel was almost touching the Charles Bridge, which was a great location. This is the view from the end of the Charles Bridge:



Then it was time to explore the town!




We had dinner in a restaurant and sat outside to enjoy the warmth. This is what we ate:
Pork Knuckle for me, duck for Scott.
Sunday we did a tour of the Jewish Quarter. We sadly chose the wrong tour to be on, as our guide gave only basic information, and we were the only ones on the tour! Anyway, here are some photos from the Jewish Quarter. The area itself is fascinating, and we did learn a little from the tour (and the tours passing us as well!!). The old Jewish Cemetery was an amazing place. There was limited space for burials, as it was within the ghetto walls, so the bodies were buried up to 12 deep. And the headstone are all squished in together.

This is the Old-New Synagogue.

This is the Spanish Synagogue.


After looking in the Old-New Synagogue, we meandered towards Petrin Hill, which is a lovely large park overlooking the city. We took the funicular railway up the side of the hill to the top. We wandered through the rose gardens, and generally mooched about. Ate ice creams while sitting under some lovely trees, and enjoyed the sunshine.
That night there was a fantastic tropical storm. A huge downpour with lots of lightening and rain. I really miss storms form home, so a proper storm made me very happy!! Here is a photo I took as we left the hotel, just before the rain began.

Monday we headed to the Castle. We took the tram to the top of the hill. Prague castle is the oldest continuous castle in the world. And very impressive. Great views of the city below and heaps and heaps of tourists!!



And now, to bed! :-)

We have concrete chunks falling off our building. Yep. Great huh? We had scaffolding put into our yard yesterday and I spoke to the scaffolders this morning as I was really annoyed that they did not ask our permission to come into our yard. Apparently they do not need permission as it is a health and safety thing. Fix away, boys! I don't want any lumps o' concrete a falling on my noggin! :-)

My computer is clever. It remembers the fact that I changed the keyboard from Australian to British just to get the pound sign. Now when I press shift 3 I automatically get the pound sign. Good computer!

The girls went home yesterday. I was sad to see them go. It was great to have them in London, and although we didn't really spent a huge amount of time together, I enjoyed getting to know them better. We did a lot of fun stuff and Scott and I were able o how them our London - mudlarking, Brick Lane, Canary Wharf, etc. Photos soon!

Oh, and there was a correction I had to put in here, from Zsuzsi. She does not like punk music. I had said that BOTH the girls like punk music in a previous entry. A thousand apologies.

I am back to studying. Currently looking at objects of interpretation and material culture.

Work goes well. The designers of the exhibition are annoying me though. I found out today that they need to save money, so they are ditching a couple of the panels. Fine. But they are also ditching images that don't fit, but that we have already paid for! Hello? We have paid a vast sum for them, can't ya squeeze them in somewhere? It's not like I can get a refund...

That's about it really. :-D Hope everyone is doing well. Comment to say hi!

Had a lovely dinner cooked by Eszter and Zsuzsi last night. We went to their flat in Barons Court. We all got along very well, and it was nice to get to know the girls a bit better.

Tomorrow night the four of us are off to Brick Lane, the home of fabulous curry houses! The girls also want to look at all the spice shops. The shops have some amazing things to buy, and they smell fantastic.

I saw a girl on the tube who I swear I went to St Margaret's with, although she was a year ahead. She did glance a me several times on the journey, but I'm not sure if that's because she recognised me, or if it was because I was knitting a sock!

My deadline for all the images to be with the designers is Friday. I will spend Friday chasing images and generally phoning people about the images. I had a three and a hlaf hour meeting today. Torturous, but helpful.

That's it really!

Ok. Yep it's been a while again between updates, so here goes!

Two of my Hungarian cousins are in London. I organised for them to do a work experience placement at my museum, which they are really enjoying. :-) They are honorary Visitor Assistants for two weeks, basically doing everything that VA's do, but without the responsibility - ie no money handling, and not being on their own in galleries for the purposes of evacuation. As part of the placement, they will be doing a project, which they started today - an exhibition type project on London and Budapest 1939-1945 (all their idea by the way!!). I am looking forward to Friday when they show everyone what they have done.

Last weekend we went mudlarking. I think it was completely alien to the girls, but they had fun - even found a live crab! They found some pottery, Georgian glass, and lots and lots of oyster shells.

On Saturday the girls, Eszter and Zsuzsi, and Scott and I headed to Camden market. I love Camden market, there is so much to see, and there are all kinds of people there. I bought a funky bag with huge strawberries on it. the girls were in heaven as well, I guess there is nothing like it in Budapest - either that or it was all that punk wear that they love!! Doc Marten's galore!!! ;-)

Scott and I went to see the Transformers (better than I thought). Last night we met the girls in Leicester Square and saw the Simpson's movie. Very funny, well worth it. The girls enjoyed it too. Their English has improved a lot, as has their confidence. Being forced into an English speaking environment has been worth it for them. :-) And, they are cooking us dinner tomorrow night. YUM! I am looking forward to it. Thursday night we will go to Brick Lane for dinner (where all the Indian/Bengali restaurants are). Sunday there is a country fete on in one of the parks which we shall go along to.

And now for some pictures!

An update, and some pics thrown in from Stonehenge

The pub we stayed in in Salisbury. 15th Century, with crooked floors and low doorways.
Dickens World in Chatham, photo thrown in for good measure.
Me at Stonehenge.
Stonehenge.
Today I had a fun day. I was a volunteer steward with an organisation called Thames21. Each year, for one weekend only, they, along with COLAS (the City of London Archaeological Society) and the Tower of London, open up the beach in front of the Tower to the public. The beach is not normally open to anyone, so it's a great opportunity. The main activity on this beach is not sunbathing. It is mudlarking. I have mentioned mudlarking before I'm sure.

I wore a fluorescent vest, so I was visible to everyone. There were 10 stewards or so I think. We were there to primarily answer questions and point out where people could go for more information. there was also plenty of time for me to wander about, talk to people, as well as find a few things as well.

Last night Scott and I met two of my Hungarian cousins, Eszter and Zsuzsi at Victoria Station. They are here for three weeks, and will spend 10 days doing work experience at my museum. Zsuzsi's suitcase was picked up by someone else. Hopefully by early next week we will be able to get hers back. I am meeting the girls tomorrow for a spot of shopping (mainly for clothes for Zsuzsi), then mudlarking again (well again for me anyway!) and I will show them the museum. The girls will need to get there by themselves on Monday morning, so we will do a trial run so they are familiar with the route.

Bought Harry Potter very early this morning. It was released at midnight, I had my copy by 1am.

Catch up

Hello! Yes it's been a while, so perhaps a few bullet points will help.

1. Spent the weekend just gone in Salisbury. It is a lovely town with clean streets and a lot of history. We stayed in a 15th century pub, with low doorways and wonky floors. Took a trip to Stonehenge. We had a bus tour of Salisbury with live commentary from a very entertaining guide. Part of the bus tour was a tour around Stonehenge itself. The site is smaller than I imagined and quite close to the road, but it was quite exciting to be there. Due to the age of the site, there is quite a sense of achievement in the placement of the stones and the sheer weight of them. All in all an amazing place. The guide had dousing rods which he held out and walked over the east-west axis of the site. As soon as he crossed the axis, the rods crossed over (they started out pointing directly in front of him). When he moved away from the axis they went back to straight out again. I am a skeptic, so I gave it a go. I had no idea where exactly the axis lay, as it was not marked and I could not see it as I walked. The same thing happened. The rods crossed then uncrossed. Weird.

2. Work goes well, but busy. I have made some good progress with the images for the new gallery. Including the two free images I have managed to acquire. Yay me! Duty managering also goes well. I had my first weekend by myself the other week. I had to cope with a study day, counterfeit notes, a birthday party and we had a child carried off in an ambulance! All in a days work!! :-)

3. We are heading to Prague for our next holiday. It will be our four year anniversary. And coincidentally some friends of ours will be there at the same time so we will be able to catch up for some Czech beer.

4. Essay 1 for the MA is handed in and I guess I will find out my mark one day! The next unit for study starts on August 1.

5. Two of my Hungarian cousins arrive on Friday. They will be doing a work experience placement at my museum, as well as general touristy stuff. It has been about 18 months since I have seen them, so it will be lovely to see them again.

6. Had a facebook reunion with someone I went to school with in Melbourne. It was really great to meet up and chat non-stop for three and a half hours! Hopefully we will see each other again soon

7. That's all folks!! :-)

Training at work - Special Education needs training. I can say Hello, Good Morning, and My name is Alex, in Makaton, which is based on British sign language.

I am busily writing a 4000 word essay on social inclusion in museums.

Facebook is addictive! I have found quite a few people from school/home/contiki tour and it has been great to catch up and find out what people are up to.

The weather is not great in London. It is cool, and has been windy and rainy. Where is summer??

Work goes well. The curator thinks I am a star! :-) Duty managering is fun too, the days go quickly. Next Wednesday I get training on how to rescue people out of lifts (if they are trapped).

A weekend in Great Yarmouth

Scott and I had a lovely weekend. We left early on Saturday morning to catch the 8:30am train to Norwich. At Norwich we changed trains to take one to our destination. A total of 2.5 hours on the train, but we arrived in Great Yarmouth at 11:13am. Not bad!

Walked through the town and found the hotel. We booked this all very last minute, but it was cheap and had no ensuite. But it was a block from the beach and pretty okay otherwise. We checked in, dumped the suitcase, then we were off again to explore. We walked along the sea side to the miniature village. It has been ages since I have seen one of these, and it didn't disappoint. It was a bit tired in places, but to make up for that they had a streaker in the football game scene (see pics below). The village also had penny machines (ie old fashioned amusement machines that used the old kind of pennies!!).

From there we headed back towards the pier, having a look in the shops and generally taking in the atmosphere. People-watching is a great past time. There seemed to be a very high percentage of "oldies" around (they even had beach wheelchairs you could hire - they had huge wide tyres so the chair did not sink into the sand) and a few young parents. And us. That seemed t be the demographic of the area. Great Yarmouth was a booming fishing town up until the 1960s when the industry died. Many people used to go to Yarmouth as kids for a yearly holiday. I got the impression that all the "oldies" who were hanging around were probably the same people who had been going to Yarmouth for holidays for years and years.

Sunday we headed to the Time and Tide Museum. It was a really great museum (I had read about it as one of my readings for uni incidentally) and the local community had a lot to do with the information presented. I learnt a great deal about the fishing trade! The museum is situated in a former herring smoke house, so a lot of the building still smells like smoked fish. It is in the very fabric of the building - much like the industry was to the town.

From there we went to see some old Row houses. Rows were narrow streets, and these houses are unique in that they are the last of their kind. They were bombed during WWII but were restored by English Heritage. Compared to the Time and Tide Museum, the Row Houses lacked interpretation and warmth. It was a shame, but I have noticed that with a few other English Heritage properties. Must be a policy of some kind.

We caught the train back to London via Norwich, and were home by 10pm. A busy, but very relaxing weekend. :-)

A weekend in Great Yarmouth - Piccies!

For some reason, the pics I have selected to put in just come up in html code. In other words, I don't know which is which! But... they are a selection of our trip to the miniature world, the beach, and the main street of Great Yarmouth.

Just a quick one.

Went on a replica East Indiaman sailing ship on Monday night with people from work. Had a guided tour with a nice Swedish lass (it's a Swedish ship). www.soic.se

I have made shiny gallery trails for kiddies tomorrow. They are focussed on Chinatown in London. We have a China-based family activity on tomorrow so these will keep them amused (quiet maybe??).

Spent time chasing images for the new gallery.

I know someone in the new Big Brother 8 which started tonight. We don't have a tv, but it is times like these I would really love one. I don't even like Big Brother!

I have discovered Facebook. I have found all sorts of people I went to school with, including a girl who I remember fondly but had not seen since I walked out the gates nearly 10 years ago. Thank you internet!

That is all. ;-)