Spring in London

Spring arrived properly yesterday. No more than three weeks since the heaviest snow fall in 20 years we had 20+ degrees and beautiful blue skies. It was the first day that our forecast has been Better than Auckland's!

We had been hanging out for an opportunity to go to Kew Gardens so we went there yesterday. Below are some photos. Please note the shorts and t'shirts!




Sam doing her best Bluebell impression.




The Palm House




Shorts and T'shirts for the first time this year!












When Kiwis go to London they.....
Go to Kew Gardens
Go to the Carphone Warehouse Ball and watch Mika play
Go to the Boathouse pub in Putney and reckon there were more Kiwis there than British.
Stop needing the heating and start opening the window.
Look forward to friends and family arriving/visiting over the next few months.

The best meal we've had since our last update was.....
Some burgers at GBK (Gourmet Burger Kitchen - a kiwi owned chain selling good burgers). It was a Friday night, slightly hung over type situation where a good fresh burger hit just the right spot.

Underground countdown
Our total so far is 61/321 and new entries include:
Kew Gardens.

Dublin

One of the nice things about being here is that you can do things like fly to another country for a weekend. So that's what we did. Last weekend we flew to Dublin for a night and found it refreshing (and not only because of the rain).

Most of the cities we have been to have clearly had a period on wealth in their history. They have a sense of grandeur about them. They might have a large civic space or series of buildings built by a king or emperor or other such dictator. Dublin doesn't feel like that. Its Georgian buildings feel modest and pared back. There's nothing too flashy. Instead of going to the cathedral or palace you go to the (decommissioned) jail.

Our usual plan when we go to new places is to walk around a bit on the first day and get our bearings. Saturday was pretty wet so there was less walking and more....striding between various highlights on the Dublin City visitor's map. Sunday was spent out at a little seas side town called Malahide and polishing off a few things in town that we didn't manage to get to on Saturday.

Lowlights included:
- The price of getting into a church,
- The rain
- The Dublin castle which doesn't look like a castle,
- The rain,
- The lack of 'Irishness' outside the pubs and,
- The rain.

Highlights included:
- The jail; the history of which gave us a real insight into the history of Ireland,
- Malahide; a nice little town not too far away with its very own castle in a big park,
- The Guinness factory; a very well designed installation explaining the history and manufacture of....well, Guinness.
- Irish pubs; really nice atmosphere with lovely people and did we mention the Guinness?

We had a really good time in the short time we had available. Staying in a hostel was interesting and so were the accents. The locals do say 'tirty tree' and 'pertaytoes' very well! It's hard not to laugh when you're being told all about the pertaytoe famine.

Meanwhile we're both well. We have three trips booked for May so the next few weekends are going to be spent enjoying London.

M+S

When Kiwis go to London they.....
Get much happier when spring arrives.

The best meal we've had since our last update was.....
Gunniess

Underground countdown
Our total so far is 60/321 and new entries include:
Acton Town for Laura's birthday!

Snow!

After the disappointment of missing the snow in London over Easter we woke up this morning to look out the window and see a good bunch of the white stuff falling!

Here's some pickies as proof!

M+S