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.