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