Windsor

And with that it’s over… it is arguable whether it actually began, but there is no doubt that it has now well and truly finished. You may be wondering – “What on earth is she talking about” – well I’m referring to the British summer or lack there of... In any case, the fact I found the need to don my scarf for the first time this season signalled the end of the summer for me.



With the folks in town for a last blast of Europe before heading home, we headed to west of London to Windsor Castle. Whilst the castle is one of the official royal residences, the Queen was unfortunately out of town for the day. As one would expect, the property is grand with the Round Tower prominent in the centre of the fortress. We wandered around the castle, including the state apartments (which have been meticulously restored to their former glory following the devastating fire in 1992), Queen Mary’s miniature doll house and St George’s chapel.

To continue on with our Windsor theme, on Sunday we headed into town for brunch and a matinee performance of Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor”. The Shakespearian re-enactment at the authentic playhouse was fantastic – certainly a must for anyone visiting London. Although my father didn’t realise, it was also Fathers day back in oz. It was good to be able to celebrate the day with him and we topped off the day with a chocolate cookies & cream cake (thanks Lonni for the inspiration!).

May the 'fort' be with you

For the last remaining bank long weekend before Christmas, I headed to Plymouth (in the county of Devon, south west England). With six fellow comrades, we prepared ourselves, ready to face to enemy… We stayed at the Crownhill Fort, built in the late 19th century to protect the Plymouth naval base. In the late 20th century the Fort was acquired by the Landmark Trust and restored to its former glory. Sadly, the site is no longer open to the public, but can be hired for corporate occasions, weddings & other events.

Our Fort experience started when we arrived on Friday night. We crossed the moat of the fortress and entered through the grand red gates. The accommodation was fabulous – all of the rooms were immaculately restored and luxurious in size, with the added benefits of modern comforts (including a fantastic kitchen).

As with most old haunts, there were many ‘stories’ about ghost activity within the Fort. Although we didn’t see any activity of the little drummer boy, there were many unexplainable mysterious sounds over the weekend – enough to make all of us twenty-something’s jump at some stage. During the days we explored the port area of Plymouth including the Plymouth Gin distillery. Back at the fort we pulled out the deck chairs to soak in the 23 minutes of sunshine that the weekend offered. In the evenings we dined with some hearty home-cooked meals followed by a few rounds of Balderdash – I was impressed by the quality of deceit we could all come up with.

In addition to the various cannons on the open perimeter, we were able to explore the various passages, tunnels and hidden cannons underground. The previous guests had left a treasure hunt for us in the guest journal, so an expedition was coordinated with six eager explorers heading underground. Without the aid of illumination devises, the number of explorers dwindled. With the help of our cameras, the two remaining explorers (Anne & I) carried on with the expedition. After being lead down some diversions, we eventually found the room – No. 10 Equipment Magazine – which apparently held the treasure. Unfortunately, the treasure was no longer there! We figured the site caretaker may have had a head start on us… or was it the little drummer boy???

All in all, it was a great weekend. We will certainly be looking to enjoy the use of other Landmark Trust sites in the future!

Blog – Bruges or Brugge??

This past week I have been sleeping on the floor… well, on a blow up mattress on the floor to be exact. The reason for this was that my folks have been in town. In addition to touristing around London, they spent some quality time with their youngest child (aka me!).

There is no doubt that the highlight of the week for my dad (who is a train driver) was travelling on the Eurostar, the train that travels under the English Channel to main land Europe. We decided to travel to where we had never been before – the quaint little town of Bruges, in western Belgium.

There were plenty of sights to see in our two days there and plenty of local delicacies to enjoy along the way. One of the highlights was walking up the 366 stairs of the Belfry medieval bell tower and listening to the 47 bells chime at 10am. Without spoiling the plot of the movie “In Bruges”, this tower was a significant feature in the movie along with the various canals that weaved through and around Bruges.










In addition to the chocolate, waffles, nougat, mussels and chocolate, we also tried a local Belgium treat – the Cuberdon - a hard sugar coated cone with a raspberry jelly in the middle. It was slightly bizarre, but tasty all the same!





Unbeknown to me until the weekend, Belgium is also famous for its lace. Every second shop in Bruges sells lace. As we wandered along the cobbled lined streets we observed plenty of guys & girls showing the art of lace making. Another great weekend mini-break - folk style!

Part II - Spanish sun, culture & art

With the organised part of our trip over, we were on our own to tackle Spain. We spent three days in Barcelona exploring the sites in the hot 35 degree weather! Barcelona is bursting with culture and plenty of modern architecture, much of which is inspired by Gaudi. I’m pretty much confident to say that we covered the majority of the sites which Barcelona has on offer, including:

• Barri Gothic – the gothical part of town, with buildings dated from the medieval times.
  
• Park Guell – A comprehensive architectural garden designed by Gaudi, which has stunning views over the city.
  
• La Barceloneta – the beach lining the warm Mediterranian Sea.

  

• Art & museums galore including the Picasso museum & National Art Museum of Catalonia, with plenty of intricate handiwork from the Romanesque period (10-13th century) as well as modern art.

• The famous Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, designed by Gaudi which has been in construction since 1882 and is expected to be finished in another 20 years.


• The site of the 1992 Olympic games, including the main stadium where an archer lit the Olympic flame from the centre of the stadium into the caldron.
  
• Arc de Triomf - built in the 19th century.

From Barcelona, we took an overnight train to Granada which in itself was an interesting experience! Granada is home of the famous Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex built in the 13th century. The amazing site surrounded by massive outer walls exhibits the country’s most famous Islamic architecture, together with Christian 16th century influences. The centre piece is the Palacio Norcaries, the intricately designed Islamic building with moulded stucco walls, beautiful tiling and fine carved wooden ceilings worked together in geometrical style. Other impressive buildings include the Palace de Carlos, a huge Renaissance square palace with a circular, two-tiered courtyard in the middle and the watchtower (Torre de la Vela) with panoramic views over Granada. The main site is overlooked by the Generalife, an exquisite summer palace and gardens.

With only a few days of our trip remaining, we headed two hours south to Malaga on the south coast. We relaxed and chilled out at a little hotel in the hills of Malaga – it was great to be away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. Our two days consisted of a little hiking in the national park, swimming in the pool, reading, writing postcards and sleeping. It was a great way to end the trip.

For our final afternoon, we headed back to town and relaxed on the beach. I’m happy to report that my pale English skin has now seen some light & [arguably] has a little colour. I’m sure it won’t last long as I now head back to reality. It’s a shame holidays have to end, but it won’t be long till I’m off again… :)

Part I - Summer vacation, Viking style

I have just returned from my summer vacation – ahhh… I love summer time. It was a fantastic few weeks of unwinding from a busy few months at work, socialising with new friends and exploring a few new countries. We (a friend from the US & I)headed to both Scandinavia & Spain.

In northern Europe, we joined a Contiki tour to explore the cities of Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen, and some of the smaller towns of Norway. To put it simply, Scandinavia is gorgeous. We explored each of the cities by foot, soaking in the atmosphere and the culture along the way. We experienced so many sites, but here are just an overview of our trip:

• In Stockholm (Sweden), we visited a maritime museum built around the salvaged 17th century Vasa ship which sank on her maiden voyage, watched the changing of the guards and walked around the beautiful harbour rich city. We also watched various hot air balloons enjoying a magnificent sunset over the city.
  
  
• We spent the majority of the time in Norway, weaving around the Norwegian coastline including a cruise along the Geiranger fjord. One of the hotels had a sensational outdoor spa (the size of a normal swimming pool), which overlooked the fjord. The grand landscape reminded me of Milford Sound crossed with the Canadian Rockies, just on a much bigger scale. We also had fun with the numerous trolls along the way…

• Inland, we spent two days at Norway’s adventure capital Voss, after travelling to it by the Flam railway. While most on tour relaxed, Tyler & I took the more energetic option and hiked up the top of a mountain where many extreme sport enthusiasts were hand-gliding over the lake.

  

  

• Norway held the winter Olympics in 1994, so we visited the ski jumps at both Oslo & Lillehammer. Although it is summer, the Norwegians can still manage to practice their ski jumps on the grass turf. We watched a few crazy people taking the plunge – it is certainly quite a drop from the top!
  


• In Oslo, we managed to see plenty of art & history, from the Viking era (8-11th century) to the more recent sculpture work of Gustav Vigeland and expressionist art of Edvard Munch (inc. the famous “Scream” and “Madonna”), both in 18-19th century.

  

  In typical “Alison style”, I also managed to score a whopper bruise from a cannon – mental note to self to not climb cannons! From Oslo, we took an overnight ferry to Copenhagen. It was a great warm night on the back deck with a stunning sunset as we cruised down to Denmark.

• Although we missed catching up with Mary & Fred in the capital, we did manage to squeeze a fair bit into our Danish experience including Amalienborg Palace (where M&F are currently renovating a little shack for a mere est. A$24m); the Little Mermaid; Nyhaven (a colourful lined street of bars & restaurants overlooking a picturesque harbour); Christiania (a hippy-like, squatter and self-governing part of town); and the Carlsberg brewery (inc. a few tasters of their finest)!