Time Difference: -10 hours (from Brisbane)
Soundtrack: Do I need to say the Beatles? And some barbershop. Getting excited about Portland, even though it's a little early!
Currently Inspired by: Pick a figure, any figure. For the size of this country they have produced a disproportionate number of extraordinary people: statesmen, thinkers, writers, poets, artists, musicians, actors. The benefits of crappy weather and indoor pursuits... do you think discipline may have something to do with it? I hate to to think so, but it probably does. Ugh.
Words written: 59,631. Haven't even opened it this week, so it's still on that incredibly frustrating number!
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| Seville in Jan. Add 500 people for Feb. |
Once back on the Spanish mainland I stayed one horrid day
and night in Cadiz. I was devastated
about Marius and while attempting to find shops in which to replace my stolen /
lost items of clothing, suffered several setbacks and attitude problems from
people I encountered which were no doubt in part due to my own foul mood. After much palaver and swearing under my
breath I managed to find the items that were required and did a bit of
splurging on some unnecessary things as well, after which I went and ate myself
sick at Taco Bell, a franchise I have never before seen in real life. For grief gorging it was perfectly acceptable
but I don’t really see what all the fuss was about. The next day I caught a bus back to lovely
Seville. Unfortunately the place I
booked was not lovely in the slightest.
In my dazed and disorganised state the previous day I had booked
accommodation without really paying attention and ended up at a (incredibly
overpriced) hostel rather than a hotel.
Fortunately I did not have to share a room, but the bathroom was shared,
and my room was right next to the reception desk which was run by a no doubt
well intentioned but nosy elderly couple who kept poking their head out of the
service window every time I opened my door, just to see what was going on. They also didn’t speak a single word of
English. Not one.
I took a couple of extra photos of Tenerife from the last
link I sent through. If you want to see
the extras, you can click here and just go to the end of the album and work back.
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| Wisely walking past the bull museum in Jan |
I didn’t take any additional photos of Seville but I
probably should have, because the place was completely altered. What a difference a month makes! It was packed to the brim with tourists and
locals, was warm (26 degrees) and sunny, the wind had disappeared and a bunch
of previously closed cafes had opened up and spilled their laughing and
chatting patrons out in cheerful scatters all over the pavements. Folks lined the banks of the river with their
shoes off and trousers pulled up to get a tan, and everyone was in such a carefree
mood, it was easy to get swept up in it every now and again. I was very glad that I got to see Seville
that way, and it made me feel a little bit better. Unfortunately I was still not completely
compis mentis, and another consequence of not thinking clearly meant that I
made an impulsive decision to take a tour through the bullfighting museum on a
particularly lovely afternoon. Well. I have always understood that bull fighting and
the running of the bulls is very culturally significant to the Spanish, even
though I have always personally hated the concept. Now, I feel very strongly that it needs to
end. There is no excuse for allowing
such barbaric practices in 2012. Many important
cultural practices that helped to develop a nation’s identity have been stopped
as humans evolved and developed in sensitivity, intelligence and global
awareness, so why is it OK for anyone, for any reason, in any country, to
torture and slaughter innocent animals for the entertainment of humans in this
day and age? It can still remain historically
significant without being currently relevant. Time to stop.
I can’t even talk about some of the artwork and items I saw on that tour
without feeling sick. It really put me
in a “humans suck” mood for the rest of the day, not that I required much
encouragement at that point!
I don’t think I have linked to the food album for a whole,
so it may have some new ones for you.
Click here to have a look.
It was with no small amount of excitement that I went to the
airport to await my flight to London.
When I first planned to come to London on this trip for my friend’s
wedding I thought that I might have to miss the hen’s weekend and just come for
the wedding because six weeks was too long to spend in a country that I’ve
already lived in for two years when there are so many other countries I want to
see. Now I feel as though the time is too
short! I have something on most of the
weekends that I am here and am just so incredibly happy to be back somewhere
where I can understand the signage, the transport system, menus, TV, what
everyone is saying to me and can actually have conversations with people that
don’t involve ordering lemonade or asking when the bus is arriving. We boarded the plane, sat there for quite a
while, and then an announcement came over that there were technical
difficulties and it may be an hour, so we had to go back into the
terminal. Once in the terminal, a second
announcement advised that we wouldn’t be flying out til 8.30pm (supposed to
leave at 1.50pm). I can’t really
complain because of all the types of transport I have caught over the last five
months this was the first problem like this I had encountered. Others may have been smelly, ancient, dangerous
or taken too long, but none were delayed by more than six hours! I feel I have been quite lucky on that
score. I proceeded to get roaringly
drunk in the airport bar and rock out to the Australian cast recording of JC
Superstar on my iPod, much to the amusement of my fellow patrons. There was a beer bottle microphone, awkward
chair dancing and cutlery air drumming going on. It was quite the spectacle I am sure. I fell asleep on the plane and kept waking
myself up snoring for pretty much the entire trip and then landed in Gatwick
with a cracking hangover and for the second time since December received the
third degree from passport control before they’d let me in. They are getting much tougher! I finally arrived at my hotel at midnight,
happy as a clam.
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| I think I'm in London... |
Now I have obviously done most of the touristy stuff in
London, but as I am staying centrally I thought it might be good to get some
photos of some of the main areas and monuments before I head out to the burbs
and stay with my friends. When I lived
here I took thousands of photos of the UK and Europe with a film camera, and
unfortunately my only copy of all of those photographs were in storage with the
rest of my stuff when it burnt down, so I figure it’s high time I restarted my
collection, although nothing can be done about my childhood photos! A result of saying “I’ll scan them next
weekend” for seven years. Although I visited,
and actually went inside, Buckingham Palace last time, I never actually saw the
changing of the guard. The palace is about
a twenty minute walk from where I am staying so I headed there the first day to
check the time it would be happening the next day and then went back. Central London is incredibly compact, with all
the main attractions within comfortable walking distance of each other.
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| The Phaaaaantom of the Opera is there |
I don’t really know how else to say this without just coming
out and stating it. The changing of the
guard is really boring. Now, I don’t
know much of the correct terminology so bear with me. The two different types
of soldiers (one lot with the tall black hats – beefeaters I think , and another
lot with helmets with gold spikes) march through the streets, some playing
instruments, go in through the main gates and line up opposite the guys who are
already standing in there, there is a bit of shouting and rifle twirling, and
then a whole heap of standing around doing absolutely nothing, which seems to
be the main job description of the beefeaters.
“How much experience do you have standing around and doing nothing? Two
years at the department of transport service counters? Excellent, you’re hired.” After the excitement from ten minutes of
nothing has worn off, the guys with instruments then play, incredibly randomly,
a medley from Phantom of the Opera, and then the band and the soldiers who were
standing there waiting march out again.
I didn’t really see the point.
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| National Gallery |
Day One was pretty much spent walking around, chatting and
reminiscing about good old London with a friend of mine who lives in Yorkshire
and, like me, hasn’t done the touristy things for a while. Good old fashioned pub meals were had, drinks
were consumed, and merriment abounded. I
really could just walk around Central London all day looking at the
buildings. Some of them are incredibly impressive
and look like they must be serious and historically important, and then you get
to the front and it’s an insurance company headquarters or something. I hope those people appreciate the amazing
places they get to come and work in every day.
Day Two contained the changing of the guard, National Gallery and photo
walking tour followed by delicious duck and dumplings in Chinatown and shots in
my favourite Soho bar with an Australian friend. The national gallery has a massive free
permanent collection and it was fantastic to revisit, and the actual building
itself it none too shabby. The bar is
called “Garlic and Shots” and has a restaurant upstairs in which every single
item on the menu is packed with garlic (including the garlic and honey
icecream) and downstairs is little dingy gothic type bar that plays loud metal
and has a shot menu with a hundred different types on it. I just love the place.
Today has been fabulously lazy because of the rain. “It’s
raining in England??? I hear you gasp.”
Yes, folks, sometimes it rains a little bit here. I only ventured out about ten metres from the
hotel’s front door to the local pub for a gigantic Sunday roast lunch with the
biggest mutant Yorkshire pudding I have ever seen. As I am currently within walking distance to
the West End theatres and tomorrow I head out to stay in London’s south west, I
am hoping to get some last minute cheap show tickets for tonight. We shall see.
I did intend to get photos of St Paul’s, Tower of London, St James Park,
Hyde Park today and also visit Ripley’s Believe it Or Not Museum , however
those plans have been scuppered, so hopefully tomorrow it shall fine up, and I
will have more wonderful London photos for you in next week’s blog! In the meantime, you can click here to see
the ones I’ve already taken.
Til Next We Speak
*LOVE*
N
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