London Calling

Our visit to london was nothing short of an education in how to live life in the fast lane. Londoners travel everywhere at breakneck speed, with no time for the niceties in life, such as a please or thank you. Using the underground/tube was surreal, where you have to stand on right hand side of the escalators so people in a hurry can rush past you. People run for the trains like their life depends on it- trains arrive about every 2-5 mins. The kiwi in me asks what the hell is that about?It didn't take too long before Annie & I ventured on the underground alone and it really wasn't that bad.
We took a ride on the London Eye and the views are spectacularwith lots of great photos of London- the security searches to get on the Eye were worse the Heathrow.
The next day we took a less stressful approach and went on the Big Red Bus tour of london which took a couple hours and this was really the way to see London.We finish up at Picadilly Circus- and what a bloody circus it was- traffic was absolute mahem and this was a good day.
Zane & I went to Arsenal to look at the stadium while Annie & Michelle went to Harrods. The Arsenal stadium tour was fantastic and we got to sit in the directors seats where the owners watch the games, went through the tunnel out to the pitch and into the players changeing rooms. There is no expense spared for the comfort of the players and the supporters. Box seats start at £60,000.For a non-soccer player I blown away, this is a club with an intimidating amount of money.
Afterwards the four of us went to a west-end musical we will rock you , written by Ben Elton and featured all Queen music. The singing was fantastic and the humour, very Ben Elton. What a great night.
Tomorrow we catch the train to Plymouth, and leave the stresses and strains of the fast lane behind.

Edinburgh underground and Comedy Club Experience

Our final day/night in Edinburgh provided the highlight of our trip so far.... yeah I know its only been a week but it was a great conclusion to the first part of our trip. We spent much of the day ducking rain but still managed to spend a fair bit of time in old town in Edinburgh. Starting with a tour of the Real Mary Kings Close an underground close (or lane) dating back hundreds of years that has been exposed to show how life was for those living in Edinburgh in the 1600 and 1700s. It was amazing to see the close confines of their living quarters and to have the explanation provided about the poor living conditions and sanitation of the time. It is no wonder so many people perished from disease and illness. There was even a couple of resident ghosts (allegedly) we were not however graced with their presence during our visit back in time.

On our final evening we went to a local Comedy Club called the Stand. We had walked past it over the previous few days and although it looked kind of dodgy we decided that we would go somewhere that the locals seemed to go and see if the humour was something we understood.

After a couple of pints we turned up at the venue only to be informed that the door charge was a whopping £2 per person. So as you can imagine we had no idea what to expect, whats the expression you get what you pay for???? Anyway after buying another drink each we settled ourselves in for the evening about 2 feet away from a tiny stage for the stand up comedians to entertain a crowd of about 70 people jammed into a tiny underground club. We were slightly nervous however I can report that it is the best £2 spent by either of us. Over the next 2 1/2 hours we were entertained by about a dozen comedians of varying degrees of talent. Most however were hilarious even the crap ones who had us in fits when we saw them referring to the notes written on their hands so they remembered their punch lines.....
The final set though had 3 very experienced and obviously seasoned comedians who were amazingly funny. Both of us had tears rolling down our faces and had a terrific night. So I have kept the address and would recommend the club on York Place Edinburgh to anyone visiting who wants a great night out.

The mighty Murrayfield

Arrived back from Glasgow on a train jammed full of scotsman all keen for some serious rugby. From there we joined the mass exodus and waked the 2 miles from the centre of town to the stadium stopping for several pints along the way. This is the tradition- as we wre told and who were we to argue. The atmoshpere was electric and got better and better as we got closer to the park.At one pub we had a "cultural" exchange with a couple of the locals with them teaching us some Scottish phrases and me teaching them some Maori- some being the operative word. End result was that I still can't speak a word of Scots and Tena Katou was more like " tin of cocoa". Their biggest concern was that this was not offensive and a big maori bloke would give him a good smack.
After the game the crowd was very subdued and I suspect the 40-0 score gad something to do with it. It is amazing the effect 64,500 people will have on traffic when they leave the stadium en mass-traffic stopped- end of story.There seemed to be little partying or celebrations going on so we went to a little Sicilian restaurant for dinner where I learnt the hard way how to eat scampi. I was making a complete dogs breakfast of it all when i looked up to see the waiter silently shaking his head. He came over and diplomatically explained how the utensils should be used. Still didn't help though and after lots of hard work & little result I moved on to dessert.
We are half way to getting our bags back- Annie has hers and mine are still probably touring South America.Never mind thanks to travel insurance I have some pretty cool new clothes and the beer is warm & the weather is cold.

Well We're here

We arrived in Edinburgh safe and sound on Friday evening (local time) tired and happy to get some rest- problem was our bags were still in Hong Kong. Or so we eventually discovered. We are still waiting for them though so there is some nervousness!

They say every cloud and for our silver lining our insurance company informed us that we could each spend up to $1000NZ on essential items until our gear arrived. So much to my disgust (yeah right) we got to spend our first morning in Edinburgh wandering up and down Princess Street looking for essentials for us both. Needless to say we both ended up very well dressed.

Then armed with new jeans and for me a Scottish rugby shirt ... well I said essentials, we were finally smelling better and ready to be tourists instead of maniac shoppers.

Day one we went to the castle, well of course we did and I have to say it didn't disappoint. Quite amazing and the most beautiful views of the city spread out before us. Chris took heaps of photos which we would have uploaded if this internet cafe had the facilities which it doesn't so that's something for you all to look forward to for next time.

As well as castle viewing we managed to go to a couple of pubs as you do to sample some of the local hospitality however we must still have been jet lagged because after walking for hours (we were up at 6am) we ended up having a very early night and missing dinner. Bit sad when you have had your 12 hours sleep and its 5am!! So another early start today as well. We ended up at Waverley station and decided on Glasgow for breakfast. Chris and I managed a cheap fry up for 2 which started our morning well.
Went to the famous (or as the sign above it says world famous) Barras - the local market here in Glasgow. It was interesting but impossible to understand a word that was being said. I do know though that a market stall holder made me blush but I'm not telling why!

So we're about to head back to Edinburgh to get warmed up (yeah okay get a a couple of ales in) before the big game this afternoon. Our bags are still awol but at least we have tickets and a rugby shirt each even if mine is the wrong colour. Go the ABs and remember to watch out for us on your TV screens.