Ba-bars Vs Aus: on the 3 December 2008 the Barbarians played Australia at Wembly (which was amazing). It was a pretty scrappy game, ba-bars couldn't really get their shit sorted (obviously due to not playing together long) at one stage there was a it of a punch up which went trough one of the advertising boards and involved half the team!! George Gregan played for the Ba-Bars which was an interesting turn of events.
Work Christmas Party: On the 5th December the BSC took to the Thames and had their Christmas Party on a boat which left from Putney to well past the O2 then back again. it was a great night, too much drink and lots of dancing!
Ice Skating is a great winter past time in the capital city, Bek, Mez and I went to the Natural History Museum where a rink was set up outside under floodlights and fairy light covered trees. although only skating for and hour or so (and paying £14 to do so!!) it was quiet enough, especially dodging the the people trying to fly/not fall over and those that were confident but lacking the skill not to take anyone else out!!!
Christmas eve was spent at the walkie drinking lots of Redbull and Vodkas and dancing the night away. Christmas Day we had an Orphans Christmas at Hotel Bracewell Road while trying to recover from the night before I cooked Christmas Dinner with the help from Abby and Andre... turned out not too bad ... apart from Crispy potatoes it wasn't too bad!!!
The morning after the night before...
New Years 2008/2009 was spent at a pub on Embankment, and even though we were so close we ended up watching the fireworks on the telly in the pub!! it was a great night spent with Erica and Beks, they even got me in a dress for the James Bond Themed Ball. Lots of drink was had and a free trip home thanks to TfL!!
The Tower of London is a must see/do of London. Its great to see where Ann Boelyn was beheaded, and buried, to see ancient graffiti of people who are about to be put to death or imprisoned in the Tower of London and to hear of all the blood gory stories that are associated with this historic building. it is also where the Crown Jewels are kept, although we didn't get a chance to see them, no doubt I will be back to see it again!
On the 2nd February we had a snow day which literally shut down the entire city of London. all tubes and buses were stopped making getting anywhere virtually impossible. After it was clear we had a day off work we all headed down to the park at the end of our street and built mammoth snowmen and had snow ball fights.
Waitangi day in London is a big deal... it starts at 11 am at Paddington Station where usually traveling on the Circle line to Westminster we walked most of the way due to it being down for 'works'. From Paddington, we walked to Bayswater.. Nottinghill Gate (where some cricket took place) onto Kensington High Street, where it was time to get a feed to soak up some of the Alcohol...from there we walked onto Gloucester Road... caught the District line to St James Park and walked to Parliament Square. The Square looked green before and a mud pit after!! there were several Hakas and then the mud bath began with everyone being tackled to the ground. Aftwards we made our way to Hammersmith for a feed then to the She Bu walkie to finish off the night. I managed to get my drink spiked... which took a couple of days to recover from. But apart from that it was an awesome day out and surprisingly with the number of people, there were no reported incidents, all the cops that we met along the way were in pretty good spirits and would stop and have a chat every now and again.
Lindsay, my brother, left at the end of February to move back to Melbourne with his girlfriend Dani. We spent an awesome day together doing stuff he had yet to cover in London, we saw the Rosetta stone, went via Big Ben and found the Speights Pub called the Southerner.
Alena, Abby, Jade, Kristy and I all piled into a hire car, then exited the car and piled into a less funny smelling car, and headed off on our road trip to Stone Henge, Salisbury and (literally) a flying visit to Windsor. After a few wrong turns, and riding a few curbs (thanks Alena) we found Stone Henge, walked around a while taking in the rocks and the possibility of their meaning... piling back into the car and headed to Salisbury a town which has a Cathedral which holds an excellent copy of the Magna Carta. the Magna Carta is a document written by nobles o force the King at the time (I forget which one) to obey some form of rules so he couldn't treat his subjects like crap. we thought we would visit Windsor on the way home, but unfortunately couldn't find the turn off, so only got as far as the motorway!!
St Paddy's Day in London, is a pretty low key affair, there is a parade on the weekend prior, and it consisted of a few vintage vehicles, some flatbed trucks with Irish Dancers on them, Pipe and Brass bands. Most exciting part was Borris Johnson at the front!!
St Paddy's Day in Dublin was much more exciting... although, there was more alcohol involved!! we started at about 11am and placed ourselves in prime parade viewing spot in a pub called The Citi. after having breakfast we got stuck into the doubles which were over 6 Euro!!! Guinness wasn't that much better at 4.90 a Euro. but it was a great day out and the parade was amazing, with massive float and performers and bands from all over the world. after a feed of pizza we jumped on the train and headed back to Sams wee town to the bar called the Roost. after a long day we were all in bed relatively early... not as young as I used to be!!! went into town the next day and met up with Erica and spent the afternoon sitting next to the river Liffy in the sun.
Every year a boat race is held on the Thames between Putney Bridge and Cheswick Bridge, between the rowing teams of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Lot of people head to the river with blankets, champagne, wine, cheese, crackers etc!!! these people sure know how to watch a boat race... then you could pick the kiwis and aussies with their jandles, cider and funnels!!! the race was pretty intense with is being quiet close most of the way, until Oxford pulled away and Cambridge crashed into them on purpose, hoping to throw out the rowers, it didn't work and Oxford won by quiet a large lead in the end. a good day out and even the sun made a short appearance!
