London 4 months on....and Christmas

So we have now been in London for a little over 4 months and have just had our first Christmas as husband and wife, in a foreign city, in the Winter! Perhaps a time for some reflection....a few things that still puzzle us about London!

Mystery jackets –these are winter jackets that come to the bottom of a girls butt cheeks and we are never too sure if she has anything on under the jacket or not...a mystery!

The highlight of a British Christmas is apparently the TV that is on over the festive season. There are in fact TV ads highlighting the programmes that will be on over Christmas (they are all rubbish). Because it rains a lot here and is so cold, all you are expected to do after you have stuff your tummy on Christmas Day is hit the couch
and tune into some really bad British TV!

Yes the winner of Britain's latest reality TV singing programme (The X Factor) made it to #1 in the Christmas music charts (I think there would have been riots had this not been the case!). I trust that Simon Cowell thinks he has done his job and this will be the last we see of singer Leon!


Still slightly confused over the British past time of tea drinking –in NZ we think that people waste time at work by going outside for a smoke, well here I think you could kill an hour or 2 each day by making tea! Everyone is very friendly and always ask if anyone else wants a cuppa, but 6 times a day?? Mat isn't a tea drinker (he prefers the REALLY bad English coffee), and I am a one cup a day kind of person....the variety of tea commonly known here as "builders" (milk and one!).

Changing of the Guards is a world famous 'ceremony' taking place a Buckingham Palace every second day in the Winter. This supposedly includes lots of pomp and ceremony with marching bands and horses and swords and big black fluffy hats! We decided that the Sunday before Xmas was a good time to do this London must, so we assumed a position in near freezing conditions and strained to see the action through the fog! I was looking forward to the brass band the most, until they broke out a set of Disney classics while the guards stood in the grounds of Buckingham Palace like statues probably freezing their extremities off like us! What kind of Welsh Military band breaks out Disney tunes during the Changing of the Guards? Just one more thing that puzzles me!

On a more serious note, yesterday was Christmas Day –it bought cool temperatures and a lot of rain. We were lucky enough to enjoy a traditional Kiwi lunch at a friend's house with about 13 other orphaned Kiwis. We had a feast of beef, ham, chicken AND lamb! This was followed by fruit salad and ice cream (kiwi fruit included but no Hockey Pokey ice cream unfortunately) as well as my traditional strawberries dipped in chocolate (but this year the strawberries were from Egypt!). Thankfully Mat remembered to send a change of address to Santa so we were also lucky enough to have a pile of presents to open again this year.

Deliveries from Santa and NZ!

Presents in bed!

We are heading off to Switzerland until the New Year tomorrow, so look forward to sharing some pics of the snow with you afterwards. Until then, have fun in the sun if you are in NZ!!

Mat and Sam


When Kiwis go to London they.....
Go and see Crowded House at Wembley!
Eat Pineapple lumps and jet planes sent from home!

The best meal we've had since our last update was.....
Indian on Brick Lane. Not because of the food (which we're not quite sure if we've recovered from yet) but because of the pre-dinner bartering. Four free bottles of wine, beers for the boys, pompadoms and 35% off the bill! Not bad!

Underground countdown
Our total so far is 54/320 and new entries include:
Wembley Park
Southwark
Old Street
Marble Arch
Picadilly Circus
Liverpool Street
Green Park

We made good progress on this recently. Not only did we knock off another 7 stations but the entire East London line has been shut down so our target has been reduced by 4 stations!

Soho

So when we ventured off around the world to see and experience new things, no-one told us that good coffee would be so hard to come by!

Correct me if I'm wrong but if you spend a month or so buying the odd coffee from a cafe you might expect the staff to recognise you. You might even get lucky and they might remember what sort of coffee you drink. When you get your coffee there's a pretty good chance it will be .....well....good.

I'm afraid to report however that this isn't the case in London. Not only can you go the same cafe every day for a week and still not be recognised (there's only three staff) but the chance of them remembering the type of coffee you ordered two minutes ago is slim. The chance of them giving you what you ordered seems even slimmer. No sugar means NO SUGAR!

All of this might be OK if the coffee was any good but it's not. It's enough to make you do what the rest of the population does – revert to tea or beer.

So, just when almost all was lost we acted on a good tip. We visited Flat White, a cafe in Soho established and staffed by similarly desperate Kiwis. Apparently flat whites (the ones we all know and love) are a Kiwi/Aussie thing. You can't buy them here. Not that this really matters because the Flat White is far more than just a place where they serve coffee differently.

First of all, when you walk in, there is a bit of Ponsonby about it. It's one of those little narrow cafes with one too many tables pushed into it. You know, you have to climb over someone's lap to get to the bathroom out the back, past the F+P fridge and through the beaded curtain. OK I might be exaggerating slightly but you get the drift.

Secondly, you walk into the Flat White with your accent on your sleeve and there is an assumption that the people behind the counter know you already. You order, they look up, try to figure out which part of Auckland you come from and then, when they can't place you they get back to making coffees. If you don't know them you'll probably know someone else in the cafe. It's chocker full of kiwis.

Finally the coffee is good. It's real coffee. None of this "single shot of espresso watered down with gallons of milk" stuff. The flat whites are prepared with a silver fern 'drawn' in the froth (you know how it's done). It's a shame to spoil them by drinking them really.

Needless to say, we will be going back.

In a strange way, the best thing about Flat White and its presence here, is that even though we're half a world away and enjoying the adventures that we are being presented with, it's nice to know that there is a touch of home just a few tube stops away.

I do like to be beside the seaside......in Exeter!

We managed to spend our first weekend out of London in a while by heading to Exeter to stay with Mat's Auntie and Uncle and to see his Granny. Being on a budget, we decided to catch the bus down (5 hours in total), but the BEST bit was taking 2 hours to travel the 13 miles from the Victoria Coach Station to Heathrow to pick up the next bunch of passengers!


Mat and Granny (the photo of all all of us is a bit blurry to post)

Jenny and Gordon made us feel very welcome and it was really cool to see some farm land and hear the cows mooing in the neighbouring paddock! We also didn't realise how much we missed the smell of the sea air! We were lucky enough to enjoy a bit of a ticki tour around the area and saw where Mat's Dad learnt to sail and where he used to sink a few pints! We also spent a few hours with Grannny and heard a few stories about the good old days, before being taken out for dinner (Granny's treat!). It rained for most of Sunday, but we managed to do a bit of shopping and visit the Exeter Cathedral (it has the biggest uninterrupted naive in the UK!). Unfortunately we couldn't take photos inside. I (Sam) did manage to buy my first pair of boots for the winter and they even have warm fluffy bits on the inside!



Outside the Exeter Cathedral...in the cold!

We got the bus home on Sunday afternoon which was a very stop/start trip as it rained all the way and there were plenty of accidents on the M4. Back to London where it has pretty much rained non-stop since.
We have enjoyed a couple of early morning damp, dark and cold walks through Hyde Park this week. The rain has kept the temperatures at a respectable 5 degrees in the morning (high of 10 during the day), but it is it now dark by about 4.15pm. I didn't manage to get out of the office until 4pm yesterday for lunch, and on my way back from the 'High Street' with my sandwich from Marks and Spencer, all the cars had their headlights on! The novelty of taking an extra 5 minutes to get ready to go outside each time has not warn off yet (we are enjoying our scarves and hats and gloves), but I am sure that it won't take long.

M+S

When Kiwis go to London they.....
Go and see their family!

The best meal we've had since our last update was.....
The 'Knickerboker Sundae' at the Lord Nelson in Exeter. Complete with raspberry ice cream and raspberries (for sharing!).

Underground countdown
Our total so far is 47/324 and new entries include:
Victoria Station

P.S. You'll notice that she (Sam) has written this and therefore she (Sam) has written it in first person. I (Mathew) therefore, take no responsibility for those opinions expressed here within.

London in Autumn

If it wasn't for the weather getting colder and the sun setting around 4:30 in the afternoon, we wouldn't have anything to complain about living in London in Autumn. Sam now has a job working for WDMP Communications (an advertising agency), Mat is enjoying his job and the role he is being given and we have been doing lots around London.

It is amazing how much you can do here for free. There is always something happening. Each weekend brings something new to go and be part of. Yesterday we went to see the Lord Mayor's Parade near St Pauls. It has been happening since the 1200's and there are six thousand participants. We managed to miss the RAF fly-by but other than that it was an enjoyable morning's activities. Afterwards we went to the Borough Markets on the South Bank where we have ended up having lunch a few times now. We then spent an hour in the bank trying to add Sam's name to our account (now that she is a productive member of society). We think it is because the English are so polite but they seem to have no difficulties with standing in line FOREVER to get anything done. They don't complain so no-one does anything about it. It's not uncommon to walk past an ATM and see 10-12 people standing waiting to get their own money!

The city is quite pretty in autumn. The leaves have been dropping for a while now and the streets are lined with brown and red. Everyone is wrapped up with scarves and gloves and the heating is on everywhere you go. It might be the novelty of it all and it might be because it hasn't started raining too much yet but it is quite nice.

The markets here are the best we have been to on our trip so far. Instead of the cheap plastic Chinese trinkets they have antique sections, some half decent clothes (although Sam's jacket is the exception to the rule) and some great food. They're well worth a look if you're in London. The nice thing too is that each market has its own flavour – Borough Markets for food, Camden Markets for art and Portobello Road for antiques and clothes. We look forward to checking out some more soon.

Now that we've settled in we have begun to allow ourselves to think about doing some travel. We'll be starting off by going to Exeter as soon as we can (to see some of Mat's family) but we plan to find some snow for Christmas (Switzerland/Austria?) and hopefully some sun and windsurfing for our first anniversary in February. We are also looking forward to sailing in Turkey with Mat's parents and uncle and aunty in summer next year. The holiday entitlements here are.....generous.

That's pretty much all for now. Things are action packed with Sam having a major launch for a client this week. Mat has a couple of projects on the go and Christmas is coming!

We hope all is well wherever you are.

M+S

When Kiwis go to London they.....
Go to see the Exponents at the Shepherds Bush Walkabout!
Run into Katie Newell in the pub.
Start to miss the sea and think that walking over a Thames River Bridge is getting pretty close to going to the beach.
Fly to New Zealand for a wedding.
Get very drunk in Cardiff without seeing the rest of the city.
Buy hats, scarves and gloves.
Go to Oxford Street for the Christmas light turning on ceremony...thing....

The best meal we've had since our last update was.....
At the Borough Markets – fresh produce, made on the spot!

Underground countdown
Our total so far is 46/324 and new entries include:
South Kensington, Willesden Green, Camden Town, Lancaster Gate, Holburn, St Pauls, Chancery Lane, Waterloo, Monument, London Bridge and Heathrow 1,2&3.

P.S Sam writes....this whole writing in the 3rd person thing is quite weird but Mat likes it this way!
P.P.S. Mat says that if we were to write in the first person it wouldn't be something that "we" wrote and we would have to start everything with something like "Sam writes" this and "Mat says" that.

London 2 months on...

Hi again. Here is an update that I wrote over a week ago! Not sure we will ever catch up at this rate but here we go....



The view to Hyde Park from the corner of our street, and the entrance to our apartment

So we have now been in London for a little over 2 months and are enjoying living in central London -our apartment seems to be working out really well. Today is Mat's 31st birthday and we are off to a pub tonight to celebrate with a few friends. He got a new bag (some may call it a man bag) and some tickets for the London Eye for his birthday (I wonder who he might take with him??). Meanwhile, I am still at home on the hunt for a job. I have now had plenty of interviews and am wishing that doing interviews could be a full time paying job! At time of writing, I am still waiting to hear from 3 prospective employers (fingers crossed).

We have been spending our weekends being tourists. A few weekends ago we caught the train to Canary Wharf and then walked all the way back into town (a good 3 hours). We walked along the Thames River path on the edge of the Thames and enjoyed some London sunshine (it is quite rare!). Both Mat and I have been sick in the past month with colds so we have also had a few quiet weekends. We were both fighting fit last weekend though and we checked out the architecture at the British Museum (and its new glass dome designed by Fosters) and the Barbican. We then walked down to the river and enjoyed some lunch at the Borough Markets. It's quite amazing and you can buy almost anything that is edible! The markets have featured in such movies as Bridget Jones. We bought some awesome crumbly chocolate fudge! We also spent some time on Oxford Street shopping for Mat's birthday (has anyone ever been shopping with Mat....we still do not have a new pair of shoes for him).


Mat with his new 'man bag' birthday present (very London!)

Mat is due back in NZ this weekend for Kate and Itchy's wedding (woohoo!). It's a fleeting visit as he is only in town for a week. I am sure he would like to apologise now if he can't get round to see everyone. Meanwhile, I will keep the home fires burning in London and have a girl's weekend to Cardiff planned.

Watch this space as we will update the blog again when Mat is back from NZ.


Mat and Sam

When Kiwis go to London they.....
See Dame Judy Dench checking out cashmere sweaters at Marks and Spencer
Celebrate their birthday at a local English pub

The best meal we've had since our last update was.....
Tapas at a local Spanish restaurant in Farringdon with some of the Harper Downie crew

Underground countdown
We plan, during out stay here, to visit and use as many London Underground stations as we can together. There are 324 of them (according to the back of the underground map) and we hope that this will be a good way to see as much of London as we can.
Our total so far is 35/324 and new entries include:
Tottenham Court Road, Hammersmith, Westminster, Farrington, East Putney, Canary Wharf, West Kensington, Baker Street

London

Hi everyone,

It has been a long time since we updated our blog but we've now got internet at home!

Here's a little update we wrote a few weeks ago. Some things have changed and some things have stayed the same and we'll let you know which ones when update again really soon!

Mat and Sam
















So we have entered a new phase of our trip away. After bumming around for the last three months we are starting to settle into London. It seemed to us that our past blog format probably wasn't appropriate any more so we've made a few changes. Hopefully they still give you an insight into what we've been up to.

This is the end of our second week in London. The first was the week before we headed to Europe. We've had a good look around and we're starting to feel familiar with things. We've got the underground system under control and we're enjoying cheap, regular and reliable transport to almost anywhere in the city. The staff of Metronet managed to throw a spanner in the works last week however with a three day strike. Getting to job interviews at 8:30 on Monday morning isn't so easy without the tube.

We've both been actively chasing work. It seems that the Architecture industry here is frantic and there is no shortage of jobs. The marketing industry however is in a position where they can pick and choose staff pretty easily. They also don't seem to be in any rush. Despite that Sam has had an interview and is quite keen to work with the company. She should hear back later this week. Mat has had a number of interviews and will have decided where to work by Tuesday.

We have also found somewhere to live! We were keen to live quite central and take advantage of the opportunity of living in a big city. After a bit of looking we found a basement level studio in Bayswater only a minute or so from Hyde Park, shops and the tube (it's only about 30 Mat paces from the local pub – The Leinster Arms). Our couch even folds out into a bed so we're taking bookings for anyone who wants to come and stay! Sam was a bit worried about living at the basement level (because of a lack of light) but the flat is in really good knick and, as the landlord said, "it's always dark in London anyway!" We move in next weekend and will post some photos next time.

That's all for now. More interviews this week and Mat will hopefully start work on Wednesday. We'll have more news soon.

Mat and Sam

When Kiwis go to London they.....
Mind the gap!
Watch the All Blacks thump the Italians at the Shepherd's Bush Walkabout.
Watch the Eels scrape by over the Warriors at the Temple Walkabout.
Find themselves walking next to Peter Waring on Putney High Street.
Visit the New Zealand Memorial at Hyde Park corner and think it's pretty cool that there is a collection of Kiwiana sitting in the middle of London.
Go out to a pub one night only to run into Dave Healy and see Mark Ellis having a pint downstairs.

The best meal we've had since our last update was.....
The Thai meal we sought out the night we flew back in from Barcelona. It wasn't Sawadee but it was the best Thai we have had in the last three months!

Underground countdown
We plan, during out stay here, to visit and use as many London Underground stations as we can together. There are 324 of them (according to the back of the underground map) and we hope that this will be a good way to see as much of London as we can.

Our total so far is 27/324 including:
Wimbledon, Southfields, East Putney, Heathrow 4, North Ealing, Ealing Broadway, Shepherd's Bush, Queensway, Bayswater, Paddington, Covent Garden, Leister Square, Embankment, Hyde Park Corner, Bank, High Street Kensington, West Acton, Ealing Broadway, Charing Cross, Temple, Tower Hill, Oxford St, Bond St, Holland Park, Edgware Rd, Knotting Hill Gate, Clapham South

Barcelona, Spain

The great thing about the increased security measures at airports and the requirement to turn up two hours before your flight leaves is that somehow you end up with a whole pile of time sitting at your gate waiting for your plane to turn up. Having been scared into getting to Barcelona airport nice and early and being told that the bus ride would take an hour, we are sitting here, having cleared 'security', with an hour and a half to wait and plenty of time to update our little blog.

So, the city of Barcelona. It's funny in that when you are going to Barcelona everyone associates it with the architect Antoni Gaudi. The maps have Gaudi tours on them, the typical souvenirs are Gaudiesque and in a funny way the city feels more Gaudi than it does Spanish. Needless to say Gaudi's work provided some of the highlights on our three day stop here.

The Sagrada Familia is the crown jewel here. It is a wee way away from the rest of the city and it is unfinished (it has been for the last 100+ years) but it is well worth the visit. You are able to go inside pats of the building that are semi-complete. The crypt has a little museum and exhibition showing the ongoing construction of the building and some pretty impressive information about Gaudi's work in general (mostly in Spanish). Park Guell was also worth a visit and wasn't what was expected. It's on quite a steep slope, bigger and more remote than had been imagined. Other highlights include the Barcelona Pavilion, the Olympic stadium, the waterfront area and some great shopping (not that we bought much).

The city revolves around a road called Las Ramblas. It is the main drag between the harbour and the city's main square. It cuts through the city's oldest parts and has a lot of shopping. You can whittle the time away watching some of the best street ....... performers that either of us have ever seen or sit in one of the cafes/restaurants that line the street (more on that later). We say "performers" but they are a bit difficult to describe. Essentially they all stand still and only perform when you give them money (a bit like the guy on Queen St with the prosthetic arm but on a whole different level). The effort that these guys go to in their costumes is incredible. They are quite simply amazing and they all bring their own sense of humour to the 'job'.

On our last night here we went to see the "magic fountain". It was suggested to us by Victor the hotel guy and it was very good. There is a very large fountain near the city's art museum which was lit and 'manipulated' to music. Here were thousands of people there, it was warm and it was a great way to wrap up what has been a hectic three months. Over the last four weeks we have been to Boston, New York City, London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona. We have slept in 22 different beds now, caught who knows how many planes, buses and trains and seen a lot. It's time now to get back to reality (even if it is a British version of it).

Our first week back will be action packed. We both have a number of interviews (and a few old interviews to chase) and we have to find somewhere to live permanently although, with thanks to some friends, we have our first two weeks covered. As strange as it sounds we are looking forward to settling into some real work and starting to plan our next trip. We will post an update as things come together in London.

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
If it's ok to choose two, it would be the Sagrada Familliar and the Barcelona Pavillion. Both very different but both executed to a very high level (even if Sam keeps saying the Sagrada Familliar is "butt ugly").
Total museum and gallery visits = 8 (The Sagrada Familiar's crypt).

Shopping highlight (and total black strappy shoe purchases):
It would be nice to say that the long and difficult search for just the right (red) ceramic bull was the highlight as it took all of our three days here and we actually have something to show for it. However, the thing that sits at the front of our mind at present is the 17 euro we paid for a beer and coke on Las Ramblas. Admittedly they were big glasses but given that 17 euro equals about 34 New Zealand dollars and that you could buy a couple of trays of beer for the same amount, we felt a bit ripped off.
Total number of black strappy shoe purchases = 2 (this total has remained static for some time now despite the amount of research undertaken into increasing it)

Lessons learnt:
If the pickpockets don’t get you, the bastards selling drinks on Las Ramblas will.
If the road markings in Italy were a rough guide only, traffic lights in Barcelona should be ignored entirely.
Yes, you can have blisters on top of blisters.
Street performers can be entertaining.
Make sure you read the WHOLE name of the hotel you think you booked at before sauntering into their expansive and clearly far too expensive reception with your backpacks thrown over one shoulder.
When you book a double room, don’t be surprised when you find two single beds and don't be afraid of flashing your wedding ring and yelling "we're on our honeymoon" in order to rectify the situation.

Fear Factor:
4/10 This time we saw people chasing the pickpocket that just stole their bag on the underground. We also saw, on two separate occasions, two grown men (and we use that term with some trepidation) walking down very busy streets at about six in the evening, completely naked (including all body hair.....but excluding 'special' jewellery.....) as if they were on a Sunday walk. It's amazing how quickly a gap in the crowd can form if you're wearing the right outfit.

Funniest moment:
No, not the naked guys, not receiving the bill for our two drinks and not watching the male acrobat jumping onto Mat, wrapping his legs around his waist and posing for a photo as part of his act. In fact the funniest moment was again the round of applause that erupted upon landing at Barcelona airport. We're still not sure if it's in celebration, surprise or relief that we arrived safely.

Total number of Thai meals so far:

It has been more than three months now since we had a Thai meal. We're going to make it one of our things to do this week.

Rome, Italy

Phew, four full days (five nights) in a very hot Rome. Temperatures were edging towards 40C (104F for our American viewers) and the days were clear. We got a real sense of how harsh the sun is at home with no reported sunburn despite not using sunscreen.

Where do you start with Rome? We began and ended with the Trevi Fountain. We figure it must be the most photographed fountain in the world. It collects quite a crowd, most of whom are probably wondering what all the fuss is about without realising it's just the fact that so many people are there that makes it special. It was interesting that on the last night the water was turned off and the crowd was considerably smaller than it had been all the other times. Perhaps staring at running cold water is what people are looking for after a day in 40C?

Other highlights include our hotel room (quite a step up from the Parisian cupboard of last week), the PANTHEON, Coliseum, Trastavere Markets, the Meridian line in a church (the name of which we have forgotten) and of course the Vatican. Lowlights include the queue at the Sistine Chapel (2kms long by some estimations!) and 'salespeople' at the Trevi Fountain selling roses (their favourite trick is to say to the woman that the flower is free, give it to her and then tell the guy to cough up the cash).

The PANTHEON was incredible. It is such a complete space. Its scale is comfortable without being overbearing and then there is the very delicate aperture letting just enough light in to make it feel like it's about to float away. Quite different is the Coliseum which is much larger and much less complete. It takes quite a bit of imagination to make sense of it but that which is left is very interesting from a structural point of view. It was apparently built in five years (construction was carried out 24 hours a day) and for something that seems so pure in form, its construction is very varied. Different materials are used for similar structural elements in different locations. We figured it was probably due to poor documentation by the architect. Can you tell that Mat wrote this???

A lot of our time was spent walking again (more blisters). On Sundays there is a large flea market in the Trastavere area. It is the largest market either of us had ever seen. It took us about an hour to walk through it, non-stop. You could buy everything there. Not that you would want to though. Bad souvenirs, naked barbies, gramophones, dodgy electronics, bad music etc. It was still worth the visit though. It was impressively large and we got to see someone arrested!

So we're pretty exhausted now. As I write this we're sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to Barcelona where we have four nights. We then return to London where we are yet to secure jobs or accommodation so we should have an exciting few weeks ahead of us! We will keep everyone up to date by way of blog updates as things happen.

M+S

P.S. we're glad to see New Zealand making the international news here. First there was boy racers in Dunedin throwing bottles at the cops and then there was some guy stuck down a cave for four days. Sounds like all good news! Bring on the World Cup!

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
The PANTHEON. "Butt ugly" from the outside according to Sam but pretty cool on the inside. Graeme McConchie's Place Marking/Place Making lectures came flooding back.
Total museum and gallery visits = 7 (It's hard to determine what is a gallery or museum here and strictly speaking we didn't go into any so we're gonna call Rome one big museum)

Shopping highlight (and total black strappy shoe purchases):
The only things we bought was a book on Rome's sights and an adaptor plug. The shopping highlight however was Louis Vuitton's shop window near the Spanish Steps. It sort of has to be seen to be understood but basically they had used the front of each step in a stair case as a big LCD screen with what was essentially a big screen saver on it. OK it doesn't sound as cool when you write down but it was.
Total number of black strappy shoe purchases = 2 (we got close to buying some white strappy ones though!)

Lessons learnt:
The collapse of the Roman Empire was probably due to a complete lack of information about the public transport system.
Instead of queuing to buy a ticket for the Coliseum at the Coliseum, go to Palatine Hill (close by) and buy a combined ticket for about 2 euro more. You miss the queue entirely (except for the x-ray machine) and you get to go up Palatine hill too, which is well worth the visit.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do – have a siesta. It's annoying and you feel like you are wasting the day but it means you can enjoy the city at night (when everything is open) and avoid the hottest parts of the day.
Don't sell stuff at the Trastavere market without a licence.
Italian road markings are a rough guide only.

Fear Factor:
3/10 You always have the feeling that someone is either trying to rip you off or steal your wallet.

Funniest moment:
The applause as we landed here. We had a bumpy flight here and either our fellow passengers were glad that we made it alive or they were happy to be home. Either way, we're looking forward to joining in on our flight to Barcelona.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Nil. We're sure you can find Thai food here but it's probably on a Pizza.

Paris, France

After a rather frantic week in London visiting friends, recruitment agencies and potential jobs, we flew to Paris on Saturday the 18th.

When they talk about Paris as being the city of love and you see all those romantic shots of little alley ways with Frenchmen in berets painting on the side of the street, you'll notice that it isn't pouring with rain. Well, it seems that it does in fact rain in Paris and we have the photos to prove it. Out of the four full days we had there, three of them were pretty damp. Much of our time was spent dodging the showers while the last day was just plain wet.

Now, we didn't let this stop us. We saw a lot including The Louvre, Notre Dame, The Champs Elyse and the Eiffel tower (well sort of). One day (the sunny one) was spent at Disneyland and a lot of time was spent walking (Sam has the blisters to prove it). We didn't however finish everything we wanted to do. The weather was so poor that we never went up the tower. There didn't seem much point in going all the way up there when we could hardly see the other end of the Champs Elyse!

The real highlight was Sacre Coeur. It's the little artists area on the highest hill in Paris. You get a great view of most of the city (all of it if you go for a wander), there are great little restaurants, street stalls and the church rocks! It's a great little spot and when we go back to knock off the tower we will be sure to spend a bit of time up there again.

Disneyland was pretty cool too. It is very well done with some serious structures built in and around the rides. Although everything is made to look plasticy it's all done in serious materials and is as 'authentic' as you can imagine. Now the rides! Space mountain rates highly. We've never done the ride in L.A. but we imagine it's the same. Completely black and you can't tell whether you're going up, down or somewhere in between. Indiana Jones provides a briefer experience but at least you can see where you're going! Disney Parade, ice cream, hotdogs, french fries (that's right in their country of origin!) and lots of small kids at various stages of exhaustion all played their part in the experience.

Finally, just a note that on Thursday the 16th, Sam's grandmother, Joan Fickling, passed away. For those of you at our wedding you will remember her as the incredibly strong and wonderful woman who read a small piece during the ceremony and later joined us on the dance floor! She will be sorely missed and our thoughts have been at home for the last week or so.

We are currently in Rome and will post another update soon.

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
The Eiffel Tower. Even though we didn't get to go up it, it is a great structure, landmark and urban space all at the same time.
Total museum and gallery visits = 6 (Just The Louvre! It probably counts for more than one)

Shopping highlight (and total black strappy shoe purchases):
Spending 30 Euro (NZ$60) on a light lunch and a snack at Disneyland.
Total number of black strappy shoe purchases = 2

Lessons learnt:
It rains in Paris.
Don't have an ice cream just before queuing for Space Mountain – you will feel sick.
Despite all the warnings on their website, it would be very easy to smuggle your own (and therefore much cheaper) food into Disneyland.
Yes, someone does think it's a good idea to put built-in 'his and hers' ashtrays in hotel bathrooms.
Stopping smoking in public places is one of the best things New Zealand has ever done.

Fear Factor:
2/10 The language challenges were numerous but the Parisians were actually really good at putting up with our very limited French and then speaking to you in English. There's nothing better than feeling completely ignorant to remind you that you are a long way from home.

Funniest moment:
So often this section refers to Sam in some way or another. This time is no different. Sam is making notes about little cultural differences she picks up on our travels. It's a great idea and it will be a great resource to look back on and remind us of things we noticed at the time. A little gem however is the one that says – "McDonalds is the same, M&Ms are different". You can tell we have been immersing ourselves into the culture here.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
None. We are looking at living in Bayswater in London and that's chocker with Thai restaurants. Along with Chinese, Russian, Turkish and Indian. We hope to report a Thai meal soon!

New York City

We leave New York City today (friday) but we have had the chance to go and visit New York City over the last few days. We have both been here before so we had a few things we wanted to have a look at and tended to concentrate our efforts on those. By the end of the three days though we both had difficulty walking any further.

The first day was cut a bit short as we had dinner with the Rossbach's that night (we still ran late!). Most of it was sent around Times Square. Yes, there are enough shops and sights to keep you busy for the whole day. We did go to the biggest Build-a-Bear shop in the world on 5th Ave though and Sam was able to cash in her birthday present before departure. Basically at Build-a-Bear you get to choose what sort of bear you want, stuff him/her, cloth him/her, name him/her etc. It's done very well and the 5-10 year olds have a great time and get very excited (so do the 28 year olds).






















Day two was spent at the Museum of Modern Art and the Frick Collection. MoMA was very good but its architectural section was a bit disappointing (read almost non-existent). Here was a Richards Sierra exhibition on which was great. Interestingly you can take photos at MoMA. It's a shame no-one told us that before standing in the que for 30minutes to check our bag. The Frick was good. It's pretty impressive for what was a private collection. Day two was wrapped up by wandering past Yoko Ono's place and down to Foster's new building just south of Central Park.


Day three was spent wandering again but this time through Greenwich Village, SoHo, China Town and the Seaport area on the lower east side. These areas are a bit smaller in scale and it's almost easy to forget that you're in one of the biggest cities in the world. One weird thing that happened was that we saw the same people twice in one day. We saw them in SoHo at around 12:00 and again at about 4:30 a few miles away on 5th Ave. Considering that there must be millions of people in this city at any one point in time, the chances of seeing the same people twice EVER is pretty slim. Perhaps we're being followed?





















So, that's all from us in the USA. Our next update will be from London. We've both got interviews there and should have plenty of news to report after our week there. On the 18th we start a whistle stop tour of Paris, Rome and Barcelona over two weeks.

A few facts an figure from our two month USA tour:
We drove 7600 miles (approx 12,000 kilometres)
We stayed in 17 different places.

M+S

















Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
MoMA's 40yrs of Richard Sierra exhibition. The rest of MoMA was a bit disappointing. Total museum and gallery visits = 5 (including the Frick collection on 5th Ave)

Shopping highlight (and total black strappy shoe purchases):
Build a Bear!
Total number of black strappy shoe purchases = 2

Lessons learnt:
Bras are optional in New York City.

Fear Factor:
2/10 people, people, people, people, people........

Funniest moment:
You know how when you're at a party and the music stops and everyone goes quiet except you and YOU SOUND LIKE YOU'RE YELLING? Well, we're in Foot Locker (a sports shoe shop) and we've noticed that all of the staff are African Americans. We figure that they probably choose the music because it's all sung by fellow African Americans and they are both singing and dancing to it (and having a lot of fun). Anyway, so we're talking about this as a song is coming to an end and Sam says "Yeah, I reckon I could work here all day with all these BLACK DUDES!" Hasty retreat.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Zero still but we did find a restaurant just down the road!

Boston, Massachusetts

Our coaching has now finished and with about ten days spare before we fly to England we have taken the opportunity to borrow the 'A' Team van and see some of the parts of the country we would have otherwise missed.

The little snippets of the New England area we got (Newport and Roger Williams) suggested that it was perhaps a good idea to come back and have a look. On top of that we have some family friends living in Boston who had offered a bed to sleep in if we were ever in the area. With the promise of free accommodation and some beautiful surroundings we were hardly in a position to say no. So, we're now sitting in John and Travis's holiday home in Marion having spent the last two days walking and shopping our way around Boston.



















Boston was cool. It feels small in comparison to other cities we have been to but it might just be a case of it being so easy to get around. It is of course home to Harvard, Boston College, Tufts, MIT and a handful of other colleges so it is pretty user friendly for those who are too poor, lazy or drunk to use a car. We had a very brief wander around the Harvard Campus. It's slightly different to the Unitec campus......there are no public tours of the grounds at Unitec for a start.

The city itself has a couple of centres. The older part of the city is in the East and has a lot of very good old buildings. They are interspersed with a number of new buildings however. There is a real mixture of scale and material. Having said that, the older buildings are typically adapted and form an important part of the city. The Western centre has its fair share of older buildings too but there are far more newer buildings and developments.



















Tomorrow (Monday) we drive back to New Jersey and we are staying at a house near New York City until we leave. We have a lot to do with booking our European tour and generally setting ourselves up in England but we will be travelling into NYC as much as we can. We fly out on Friday (that's right, this week!) and will be in England for at least a week before we head to Europe. We're very much looking forward to catching up with our long lost friends and Sam is almost gagging for a "snakebite" at the local Walkabout pub.

We're really glad that a lot of you are checking out the site (it would make all this typing a great waste of time if no one was reading it). One of the down sides is that it's not so easy to hit "reply" and fill us in on your news. So, if you haven't been in touch for a while, drop us an e-mail and tell us what's happening. We've been keeping up to date on NZL news through websites but none of you have featured!

Catch you later from a safe and happy,

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
There were a number here! We got a tour through Liberty Jail which is being turned into a 4 star hotel (through Travis'office). The Institute for Contemporary Arts and Boston Library also ranked highly. Total museum and gallery visits = 3 (phew – I thought I might have forgotten how to do it!)














Shopping highlight (and total black strappy shoe purchases):
A new suitcase to carry all our shopping........
Total number of black strappy shoe purchases = 2 ...... well it's still one but only because Sam's newest pair of shoes don't have any straps.

Lessons learnt:
Driving 6 hours to get somewhere is nothing (as long as where you're going is worth going to).
New England is called New England because it's just like a new England.

Fear Factor:
1/10 We're slightly concerned that it might be OK to live somewhere like Boston.

Funniest moment:
It's always hard picking one out but a recent subway trip with a lady who was clearly hearing voices (and talking back to them) brought a smile to our faces when she came out with "I don't care if you are a doctor, the answer is still NO! Now go back to your wife".

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Still zero but we've decided it's a case of there being a lack of availability. The only place you can buy Thai is at a Japanese restaurant.

Wayzata, Minnesotta

Time for another update as we have just got back from another cross country trip. This time we headed to the mighty Mid West –Minnesota. It was another 24 hour drive but we are getting pretty good at entertaining ourselves. We considered ourselves lucky this time as we got to see some of the countryside along the way. Instead of there being huge tall trees lining the roads, there were corn fields, and corn fields...and more corn fields!

There were multiple highlights of the trip, but the biggies have to be the regatta results, the Mall of America and my birthday (bias I know). The kids did really well in the regatta placing 1st (woohoo), 5th, 9th, 10th and 11th. An excellent all around result!
















The MOA is the largest indoor mall in the US and has an amusement park in the middle of it. Mat definitely out shopped me –I think I am saving myself for the Top Shop in London! I am happy to report that there we no further purchases of black strappy shoes though :-)



















I celebrated my 28th birthday during the regatta. We spent 8 hours on the water that day, and then the team organised a cake complete with candles and they sang the appropriate birthday song for me too which was an awesome surprise. Mat and I then went out for dinner together –finally found a restaurant that would serve us alcohol! Our NZ Drivers Licenses just wouldn't cut it (even ON my birthday!).

We were fortunate to have the biggest architectural experience of the trip so far this past week when we headed to Falling Water. This is an amazing house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930's. I think that I would kill this moment if I try to write more about it, so I will leave this part up to Mat (see the 'Architectural Highlight' section below).















So we now have another week in our house here in NJ before we have to move out. We are done with the coaching next Tuesday and will then pack up and head to Boston for the weekend, before stopping at Cape Cod on the way back to New Jersey where we will stay at the Williams house and make day trips into New York City. We then fly to London on August 10th to start a new chapter.

Will update the blog again in a week or so.

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
Fallingwater was pretty impressive. There is a full review at www.aaa.org.nz/story/453

If it wasn't for Fallingwater, the Mall of America was the highlight. It was hmmmm, yuck and yee haa! all at the same time

Total museum and gallery visits = 3

Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
With two trips to the Mall of America, there were too many purchases to count.

Pairs of black strappy shoes = 1 (still)

Lessons learnt:
If you exit a motorway and do a 270 degree turn, you end up in the same place as if you did a 90 degree turn the other way! If someone could pass this onto the traffic engineers in Minnesota, it would be much easier to navigate around Minneapolis and we would be far less dizzy.

Fear Factor:
2/10 – bad motorway planning in Minneapolis and Chicago drivers.

Funniest moment:
Watching "Flight of the Conchords" on HBO (Free to download from iTunes by the way) and this little conversation.

Waitress: Would you like a drink?
Mat: Yes please, I'll have a Corona.
Waitress: Can I see your ID please?
Mat: SURE!'Here's my driver's licence.
Waitress: I'm sorry, we don't accept international IDs. Do you have your passport?
Mat: Hang on, you won't accept my driver's licence because it's from New Zealand but you'll accept my passport?
Waitress: Yeah, because it will be an American passport.
Mat: .................?!

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Total Thai count still 0

Bay Head, New Jersey

So, after a month of tripping around the country side we have been able to slow down a bit and base ourselves in Point Pleasant, New Jersey for the last week or so.

We are sailing out of a yacht club called Bayhead Yacht Cub which, funnily enough, sits at the head of a bay called Barnegat Bay. The bay is shallow and is landlocked with a thin strip of land separating it from the Atlantic. This area is pretty much populated in the summer by people coming to stay at their holiday houses. In the winter the place is apparently pretty empty. The houses aren’t your typical bach however. The bay is lined with beautiful houses that back onto the water front. Most houses have a wharf (or dock if you’re from the USA) where you keep your early 1900’s timber motor boat. Bicycles are the preferred mode of transport because it is so flat. Today we saw an opti sailor riding his bike with his lifejacket on, a centreboard thrown over one shoulder and a long roll of sails over the other.

Everyone seems to know everyone else. The two kiwis stick out a bit here and we’re pretty sure everyone knows who we are and that we have been introduced to everyone else. The only problem is that we can’t remember who we have been introduced to or what any of their names are.
The Atlantic coast is a bit strange as there are no islands to see (the UK is a bit far away) so it feels a bit foreign (which it is). We have been for a swim but it was the coldest swim we have had for a while. Barnegat Bay is nice and warm.... but then it’s more of a shallow puddle than it is a bay. The beach also has a boardwalk. It was described to us a “honky tonk” and we’d probably have to agree. Games, ferris-wheels and stuffed toys. It was fun but given that you have to pay to get onto the beach, can’t take any food with you and the exorbitant cost of food at the seaside shops, it’s probably not a place you need to spend much time at.

4th of July is of course a rather big holiday here. Simon and Andrea Cooke were here for a week or so and we took the opportunity to go with them to New York City and check out the fireworks. Yee Ha! Not much bigger than other fireworks we’ve seen but boy were they loud. The sound was amplified by the high rises behind us and you could feel your clothes shake. Apparently there were 3 million people watching those fireworks. Standing on a motorway over-bridge in the rain has never been so much fun. Nor has eating at a Japanese Restaurant before hand (with a few Cosmopolitans and Martinis).

We did have a quick adventure up to a college in Rhode Island (very near Newport) to check out a potential coaching job there. In the end we have opted to stick with Plan A and we will be heading to London early August.

The next trip is to Minnesota for the National Championships. It’s not treated as a very serious regatta but it will be a good opportunity for the sailors to put everything we have taught them together at one time. It also means a bunch of driving (20+ hours). We’re getting used to it now.

Here is a picure of most of the team that have been training in Bay Head this week. We had a mini regatta yesterday and presented the inaugural Barnegate Bay Trophy...the 'gold'plastic bucket complete with red spades! Now, just to make sure that we have mentioned them all, they are (from left to right) Margaret, Molly, Ellie, Bianca, Bernie and Sam the king of zinc.

We’ll be in touch when we get back from there.

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
Sailing Quest, a Herreshof design 20+ft boat around Barnegat Bay with Simon and Andrea. Some beautiful houses and a beautiful setting. Total museum and gallery visits = 2 (withdrawal symptoms have set in but NYC is on the horizon)

Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
Mat bought a jacket and is desperate to wear it but given the temperatures around 30C° he hasn’t had much opportunity.
Total clothes purchases = This is starting to get difficult so we’re going to simplify it by counting pairs of black strappy shoes. Therefore the total is 1

Lessons learnt:
The college sailing scene is pretty cool her. Great resources and support. We don’t know how the students actually study though.

Fear Factor:
0/10 We keep getting told off for locking the car doors.

Funniest moment:
Buying a hamburger, cheeseburger, fries and drinks at a boardwalk cafe only to discover that it was going to cost us $20 and then finding out that the burgers were....well....meat and bread. There was DIY sauces though. "Tips for good service"....yeah right.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
1. We were right. Simon and Andrea turn up and we find ourselves eating some Thai. We’re pretty sure it’s their influence.

It’s Sam here and I dispute that the restaurant was Thai –note that earlier Mat mentioned the ‘Japanese’ restaurant!!! I didn’t have satay chicken or chicken with cashews so it wasn’t Thai! Total Thai count still 0

New Orleans, Louisianna

We have now been in the deep south for a week. The temperature has consistently been in the mid-30s , and that combined with massive humidity has made for one heck of a hot week! It is 30 degrees at 7am and 7pm! Hydration has been a major part of the week with constant trips to the supermarket to get cases of water. No one in the US drinks tap water, but when you can get 24 bottles for $6 we can understand why!

We are here for the National Youth Championships. All the kids have done extremely well just to be here as you have to submit a sailing resume to be selected to compete. Final results aren’t in yet but it has been a great experience for everyone.












We have been having some fun with the team teaching them some “Kiwi-isms”. They just crack up at words like singlet, togs, jandals, heaps, and we have taught them the ‘bags not’ move of putting your thumb on your forehead (another one that get s constant laugh!). We too have been practising our ‘American’ including the varying accents. We have decided that you should really spell New Orleans as Nu Oleins if you were to write it phonetically.

We managed to get into the French Quarter on Monday night. The Southern Yacht Club organised a dinner for all the competitors in a restaurant near Bourbon St. I then managed to find my way back there in the A-Team van yesterday but it was all a little disappointing. I can only assume that Bourbon St goes off at night, because during the day it was just full of hicks with missing teeth and homeless people. All the real estate is occupied by establishments such as the Hustler Club, or bars selling the local cocktail “The Hurricane” by the litre in fluro green plastic yard glasses!

There are not too many visible signs of Katrina in the French Quarter so the city must have done a great job to get the area back up and running again. However, the suburbs still offer some pretty sad sights. There are many many vacant damaged houses in every neighbourhood, most with visible high tide lines and spray paint from the rescue teams which include info on pets and a body count. There are a few houses with ‘trailers’ parked in front that families are living in. The hold up seems to be with the insurance companies paying out (surprised???).

M+S
















Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):

Near the yacht club there are a bunch of waterside ‘sheds/houses’ that have room to park your boat and a living area. A bit worse for wear following Katrina but nice.


Total museum and gallery visits = 2 (Rather stable. We must do something about that)





















Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
There is a mall right across the street from the hotel and as I wasn’t allowed on the water what else is a girl expected to do!? I managed to just buy 3 singlets (to combat the heat) and a pair of shoes (and yes they are black and strappy!!!). The biggest purchase of the trip so far has been a pair of new sunglasses for Mat. The purchase process has been very long and has spanned multiple States. Glad we got there eventually!

Total clothes purchases = 8 (including one pair of black strappy shoes)

Lessons learnt:
When you order a Vodka, Lemonade and Lime, make sure you ask for Sprite instead of Lemonade or else you get REAL American Lemonade!!! Gross!!!!


It is very easy to run a regatta very badly.

Fear Factor:
3/10 The woman/staff member using the toilet with the door open in the Mississippi visitors centre or the guy trying to sell Mat not one, but two “brand new” laptops from the trunk of his car at the gas station in Alabama??? “Hey big guy!” Also, we’re kind of scared of hurricanes. Two years later and New Orleans is still in a pretty bad state.

Funniest moment:
After we had both hung out with Dave Perry (the guy responsible for the bowsprit issues in 1992 – on the Italian side) for a week, Mat was presented with two of his books for his help during a coaching clinic. Dave had personally signed both books “to Mat and Sarah”. He had been doing it all week but he’s such a nice guy we couldn’t bring ourselves to set him straight.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
till zero! Don’t think the locals know what Thai food is :-) Simon and Andrea are in Bay Head this week though so if we are ever to find a Thai restaurant, it will be this week!

Newport, Rhode Island

So we are sitting in the van at the moment with 3 boats of the trailer behind us. We are heading from Newport back to New Jersey and are in a traffic jam. Currently the onboard navigation unit tells us that our next move is to bear left in 110 miles (that’s how boring these road trips are). Apparently there has been an accident hence the stop/start traffic. Only 5 hours to go if there was no traffic! Did I mention that it is 7.30pm now?














We have had a great 4 days in Newport –the home of the America’s Cup. They even have a road and a pub named after it! The town is sailing mad –everyone has a crew shirt or cap on (quite cool really). We were here for a 3 day coaching clinic –kids from all over the New England area were here as well as coaches from the nearby colleges (Yale, Brown, MIT etc). We have had some interesting weather –massive temperature and wind changes, but happy to report that we are back in boardies and jandals today with some sunburn. Mat has just proved his new tan by taking his watch off –what a glow under there!!


We managed to find some time to take in the sights including a walk along a cliff top past all the world famous mansions. Some are still lived in today but most are now historic visitor sights. They are totally huge and normally only something you would see in a movie –make a cool wedding venue Kate and Zoe J Most of the sailing was done inside the harbour but we managed to find our way to a pretty cool surf beach on the southern coast. We were also lucky enough to go to a movie preview about the history of the America’s Cup that was produced by a world famous sailor and commentator –Gary Jobson. We were amongst the rich and the famous –past AC skippers and yacht designers. It was only at the end that we learned that everyone else had paid $75 to be there (all the kids and coaches from the clinic got to go free) but we felt quite cool in our boardies and jandals!


We will hopefully get back to our house in Bay Head (NJ) tonight in time to re-group tomorrow and then head on the mother of all road trips to New Orleans on Tuesday (it takes 20 hours without taking stops!).

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
The mansions! Some BIG houses built in a beautiful spot by some of USA’s rich and famous.
Total museum and gallery visits = 2 (still)

Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
Sam’s canary yellow Newport cap and buy one get one free shorts!
Total clothes purchases = 4-1 for the loss of a fag neck jumper (sorry Itchy!) =3

Lessons learnt:
The US has some good sailing coaches (but their coaching style is quite different), and the coffee here is crap!

Fear Factor:
1/10 Peanut Butter and Cheese!
So far we have come across the following food items available in a peanut butter flavour: biscuits (cookies), cereal, fudge, ice cream, and muesli bars. You could probably also get any of these in a cheese flavour!

Funniest moment:
Using some local lingo mainly from our friend Molly! If you are winning a race you “own” it, and if you get hit on the head by the boom, you got “wailed” (thanks VC). A close second was watching the main sail fall down on a boat just after the start of the transatlantic race - I think you'd be asking to get off the boat.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Still zero! (although we drove past a Thai restaurant each day of the way to the yacht club). If we did have Thai, it would probably have included cheese and peanut butter.

King's Point, Long Island, NY

So, in order to volunteer to help US Sailing at a regatta later this month first we had to pay to attend a four day, learn to coach, US sailing course. This was held on the US Merchant Marine College. An impressive campus right on the water’s edge near a small town.

Hyped up as an intense 40hr course, it was far from it. There was a lot of fill and delay. We reckon we could have done it in two days. Anyway, it was a nice way to meet a few sailors/instructors and get to know Sam Williams and Bernie Rosler (two of our team members) a bit better. Charlotte Williams came along as well as she is instructing at a local club over the summer. Charlotte was in the team I was involved with last time I was here so it was nice to catch up with her.

The town and hotel were great and we got to go and see Ocean’s Thirteen (which was quite good). Needless to say, the quality of the hotel room made up for the hostel in San Fran.















The four days were pretty tiring and we’re now back in Summit and might go down to Bay Head tonight. If not we will go down there tomorrow and set ourselves up in our accommodation for the summer. On Wednesday we drive to Newport, Rhode Island (the home of the America’s Cup for 140+ years) for a sailing clinic. Apparently the town is sailing crazy so we’re looking forward to it.

We’ll be back on line after that to update everyone.

M+S (please note the matching uniforms again)

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
The USMMA campus. Quite well done and a nice place to be. Sailing/boating facilities we would all dream of (and the 20+ students were pretty much the only ones there).
Total museum and gallery visits = 2 (still)

Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
Oceans Thirteen tickets. Same price as NZL but money well spent.
Total clothes purchases = 0 (still)

Lessons learnt:
Dark chocolate M+M’s aren’t as good as they sound. That’s right, four days of learning and that little fact is pretty much the only thing that will stay with us.

Fear Factor:
2/10 Other than driving a very large ‘car’ on the right hand side of the road through some pretty average roading systems relying on a GPS navigation unit , it would be pretty hard to get into trouble in Great Neck.

Funniest moment:
After four days of ‘learning’ to coach, Sam was asked if she wanted to take the course that would let her teach other instructors! Sam was the teacher’s pet by the way.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Still zero! (although we came close)

San Francisco

Well here we are in San Francisco. We arrived safe and sound after an average flight. No issues at immigration but our fingerprints and photos are now permanently on record.

It’s a pretty city but it doesn’t really have a centre. It’s spread out over the hills and has lots of little quarters. Cable cars are a godsend for getting from A to B (ding-ding!). Fisherman’s Wharf is the sort of small scaled touristy streets that you might be looking for.

The first half day was spent familiarising ourselves with the city and getting some fresh air, yesterday was museums, China Town, Lombard St (the crookedest street) and lots of walking. Today we cycled over the Golden Gate Bridge and down to Sausalito. Very pretty and quite a good ride. We caught the ferry home though... It’s been blowing like stink since we got here.

We’re off to the East Coast tomorrow and straight up to our learn to coach course the day after! We plan to post something here after each city/town we visit so stay tuned and we hope you enjoy the photos. In the mean time, here’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to.

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art by Mario Botta. Very PoMo and perhaps showing its age but a good gallery space. A close second would be the villas here (so many bay windows). Missed Herzog and DeMeuron’s new building (too far out of town).

Total museum and gallery visits = 2

Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
The prices. One dress spotted at Niemen Marcus was US$14,000. We didn’t buy one. There are so many black strappy shoes and yet none of them seem to be quite right.

Total clothes purchases = 0

Lessons learnt:
Never trust the photos that hostels put on their websites. They don’t show the fact that you’re down the end of a grotty alleyway past the knock shop.

Fear Factor:
7/10 We haven’t got much to compare it with yet but there are dodgy parts of town and some desperate looking people. Otherwise the locals have been really friendly.

Funniest moment:
The guy who hides behind some broken off branches down near Fisherman’s Wharf and scares people walking by. No matter how many times he does it, it’s still funny.

Close runners up are sitting in a 350+ seat movie theatre with 12 other people watching Shrek the Third and running into Rob the 420 sailor from Wellington (from the young ones for those who know them) riding a bike over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Zero!