Ultimate Sports

We live in the era of all things “ultimate” – ultimate frisbee & ultimate football to name a few. On the weekend, while wandering through Greenwich markets, I watched the ultimate of crafting activities – Ultimate Knitting! I will leave it to the photo to give you a visual of what I’m talking about.

Also included in our Saturday walking around Greenwich, Sarah, Fee & I visited the Old Royal Naval College, the Queen’s house & the National Maritime Museum. With too many things to do & see in Greenwich in one day, I'll certainly be back there another weekend.

Calling all academics

With beautiful autumn weather, Ivan, Belle & I travelled 90km north-west of London to see the spire covered skyline of the 30+ colleges in Oxford. Oxford is delightful with a genuine small town feel. Initially we were quite surprised to see many of the students wearing their full gown including bow ties & caps. Apparently they have to wear the full gown for their exams. I could not imagine having to wearing that uncomfortable outfit during exams!!

There were many points of interest in Oxford including:

• Christ Church College – We wandered through the grounds of the college including the quadrangle, the Cathedral, Tom Tower & the dining hall (one of the locations for the filming of Harry Potter);
  
• The University Church of St Mary’s Virgin – On route to climb the tower of the church with magnificent 360 degree views of the spire skyline (a must for anyone going to Oxford!), we stopped to listen to a practice session of Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi, an all-female ensemble of singers and players of instruments from the violin family. The music was beautiful, almost spine-tingling.
  
• Radcliffe Camera – Built in 1737, the circular building is a grand library and apparently one of the most photographed buildings in the UK.
• The Bear – A weekend in an English town is not complete without some local pub grub. A cider & steak & ale pie filled the hole for us after walking around town all day.

On Sunday, we headed out of Oxford to Blenheim Palace, home to the Dukes of Marlborough (currently the 11th Duke lives there) & the birth place of Winston Churchill. Set in 2100 acres, the palace is surrounded by sweeping lawns, formal gardens and a lake. The grand palace entrance follows a path over a bridge to the victory column on the opposing hillside. Inside, the Palace is full of historical artifacts of the Churchill-Spencer family. The long library was my favourite room with the floor to ceiling books and its view over the water terrace gardens.

Talent

“Everybody has talent, it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is.” George Lucas

Here is a little snippet of some of the talent I have seen over the past few weeks…

• With the Rugby World Cup on at the moment, there has been plenty of sporting talent flooding my TV over the past month. While it has been great to see Australia convincingly conquer the competition in the pool matches, it was certainly a disappointing weekend to see the poms climb over the Aussies in the super eight. Yes, being in London and surrounded by poms has added extra salt to my wound.


• Packed into Wembley Arena with 12,299 other people last weekend, I watched Gwen Stefani and her ensemble as part of The Sweet Escape tour. Although some of her songs are not my flavour, I certainly admired the talent and energy shown by Gwen, the dancers and the band. They definitely rocked the arena.
  
• On Saturday evening, I watched the stage play of “The Woman in Black”. The small English town ghost story was acted by two talented actors, with a third silent actor appearing occasionally… or was that just my imagination? The novel was simply portrayed but absolutely thrilling. I’m proud that I only jumped once!

What's on in London?

Over the summer months there are several activities and festivals on within London. Here are just a few photos of what I have been able to participate in:

• The Mayor's Thames Festival, including a brilliant performance by a 300+ choir raising funds for Water Aid, a charity providing safe water to third world countries;


• Open House London, where over 600 buildings in London open their doors allowing the locals to explore the different architecture and design of buildings; and


• A Knights Tale, a recreation of a medieval jousting tournament appropriately located directly outside the Tower of London.

Still a tourist...

This past week has been my last official week of being a tourist of London. While it will take awhile to become a true local, I will now start the 'localisation' process as I start working.

I have been quite fortunate to do many of the tourist activities with many friends who have coincidently been travelling in London. This week has been no different as I spent some time with Cathy & Toby, two of my school friends who are on their first stop of their four week honeymoon of Europe. Included in our activities were St Paul's Cathedral (with 500+ steps), the London Eye and Madame Tussauds. (Yes - I found myself a prince!)

To finish of the week, I headed out of London on a 4 hour bus trip north to Rotherham, close to Sheffield - the home of "The Full Monty". Rotherham is currently home to Nick & Em, as Nick is completing a 6 month stint at the local hospital. As expected the English countryside is lovely... with plenty of green rolling hills, quaint towns and classic English houses.