Bath - 1st June 2007

The best white chocolate cheesecake in the world!!! - What more can I say!!! (Sorry no pictures... but if you ever go to Bath you must visit http://www.raphaelrestaurant.co.uk/ and pray they have it on the menu)

Okay...now I will tell you all about our weekend... we left for Bath on the Friday night after work.. we experienced our first delays with the Tube... but surprisingly still got there on time after sitting on the platform for ages not moving. We took the train down or is it up.. never been good at Geography to Bath (I think its up!!) and arrived around 8.30pm at night, we have been to Bath before so we sort of have an idea on where we were going, but we took the punt and started walking to our hotel... 15 mins later we were there. It was the most gorgeous little hotel and the most perfect location - right in the centre of Bath and so close to everything. It was called Harringtons Hotel (http://www.haringtonshotel.co.uk/) and definitely worth staying if in Bath. We checked in quickly and were taken up to our room by the very lovely staff - it felt like you were staying at your grandmothers it was very homely, the room was really nice as the hotel was recently refurbished.

Dinner was next on the cards, so we headed off into the gorgeous city of Bath and it was alive, busy and aloud - this town is obviously the place to spend the weekend for all Stags and Hens... they were everywhere... all dressed up in large groups partying away - it was scary!! (Stags and Hens are not as nice in England to each other as they are in Oz). We found a really nice little restaurant away from it all and enjoyed a bottle of our favourite champagne 'Bollinger' and a nice quiet meal before heading home for a quiet night and much needed sleep after a busy week!

Next morning we were up bright and early to head down for breakfast, we were given a great front table where we enjoyed the best poached eggs we have found in England/Europe to date.... (I don't believe they were on the agenda at chef school...), but these were edible completely and we thoroughly enjoyed them... this is when we miss Brunswick Street and especially Don's!!!

After Breakfast we got out for some fresh air and strolled around Bath - the weather was absolutely stunning at 24 degrees, so it was blissful walking through the streets. Bath is the most beautiful city and the buildings are again just amazing... some of them were 600 years old and still standing! There is a stunning river running through, so we just walked along and enjoyed the scenery...

Next up was a relaxing river cruise, we cruised the River Avon on this gorgeous day and took in all in beautiful sites and basically just relaxed - it was very romantic!! After our cruise it was time for lunch so this is when we stumbled across Raphaels and found the worlds best cheesecake... it was a lovely lunch and then back to the room for an afternoon nap and then off to dinner. We made reservations at a highly recommended restaurant in town - The Olive Tree that we had found in the local mag, it looked great so off we went (www.thequeensberry.co.uk/olivetree/index.html), more great food and wine... after dinner we took off to a cocktail bar we also found in the mag, which was a nice quiet night on Mohito's and back in bed by midnight.

Sunday saw us rise just before 10am.... and then again off for our poached eggs and the weather was on our side again for yet another stroll around Bath. We had a realxing day seeing more wonderful buildings. We ventured past the Roman Baths, but as we visited them nearly 2 years ago we didn't feel the need to go back in there, but they are definitely worth a visit. Here is a picture from our first trip to Bath.

We decided to head back to London around 4pm, so we could get home and relax some before the week commences yet again.... and as usual another busy one on the cards!

Paris - 27th April 2007

We finally got to Paris - the city of love!! We boarded the Eurostar straight after work and relaxed for the next 2 and half hours to Paris. It was a great way to travel and much easier than the plane. As soon as it departed London we headed for the bar and enjoyed a little bottle of champagne each while watching the gorgeous English scenery as we headed towards France via underneath the English Channel.... this was alittle weird when we hit the tunnel and the scenery disappeared, but 20 minutes later we were in the land of France!!

We got to Paris around 9pm so headed straight to the hotel and were lucky enough to land a room where you could actually move - if you have ever been to Paris you will understand! We quickly freshened up and took to the streets to find somewhere for our first meal in Paris, it was around 10pm so quite late, but we finally found a place where we could sit outside (the weather was absolutely gorgeous - 19 degrees at this time), anyway we sat down attempted to read the menu of which had no idea it was all in French!!! This is when I realised I should have taken more notice in French class in High School... The only words I remembered were the obvious 'Oui', 'Bonjour', 'Merci', 'Auvoir', 'J'adore', 'J'aime', of which were not going to help me order dinner.... fortunately the waiter was in no hurry to deliver service to us so up we got and escaped! We then found a lovely place on the corner which spoke English and had the best Champagne list in town... well we were in France!! We ordered a gorgeous bottle of Billecart Salmon Rose.... beautiful and enjoyed a great dinner!

Saturday morning we rose and went on the hunt for Breakfast... which shouldn't be too difficult, we ended up down at Champes Elysees - which is where every other Tourist was too... so we took some back streets and found a great little local cafe (yes another French menu...) but we worked it out and ended up with Pancakes... cannot complain;-) We sat there for an hour or so watching the world pass us by and the other customers who would come and go... many with their dogs - the french love their pets... they even dress them up and they not only wear collars and leashes.. but get scarves too - to match their owners - quite cute really! We ended up ordering a champagne after Breakfast and enjoyed the sunshine!

We finally dragged ourselves out of there and went walking to discover Paris and the Eiffel Tower... which is lovely but the tourists do really take the glory from it.... you could hardly move - so a couple of snapshots and we continued along our way. We then came across another great little cafe... so down we sat and yes another bottle of champagne was enjoyed along with some magnificent food - I swear all you do is drink and eat....!


We wasted the afternoon there and then went back to relax in our hotel for an hour or so before dinner was due.... we had made a reservation at a place on the river overlooking Paris and the Eiffel Tower so would of been lovely... but the taxi never arrived on time and our reservation was cancelled - not happy... but we got over that and remembered of another restaurant we saw during the day at The Westin and thought we would try our luck there.... fortunately they had some spare tables and again we enjoyed another fabulous evening of service, food and champagne... we even found a chardonnay from France we enjoyed:-) As we left our waitress provided us with some bars we should visit, so off we went to hit the town.

First up was Buddha Bar - quite a cool bar, but after waiting 30 minutes for a bottle of wine we thought best we should move onto the next one - jumped in a cab and ended up at a club called 'Le Cab', this was awesome landed the best table in the house and mingled with the crowd and met many people throughout the night. We ended up calling it a night around 3am! and it was supposed to be a quiet night!!











Sunday was spent strolling through Paris and seeing more of what it has to offer along with more food.... it was really warm around 27 degrees so we were taking it easy and just relaxed. Our train was leaving around 5pm, so that afternoon we headed to the station and caught our ride back to London!!


We had a lovely time in Paris and will definitely go back soon:-) As there is so much more to experience!!

PS. We saw the most bizarre thing while walking around the Paris... refer to the picture to the left!! We are so used to seeing sccaffolding all over buildings when they are refurbishing, but in Paris they actually put up an image of the building on a massive canvas so it still appears normal - every building being renovated had the same thing - looks very odd when you first see it... especially if its windy as in the pic!!

Dirty Dancing - 24th April 2007

I've had the time of my life..... Oh my god!!! We absolutely loved it!! Want to go and see it again already.

It was time to catch up with Bill again, so we decided we would all go see Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre in the Westend - the theatre district together. We were lucky enough to score some tickets (as they were booked out until September) - thank you so much Bill:-)

We took Mel along too, as she was wanting to see it and we had a spare ticket so it was great to have another girl who appreciates it all... although the boys did pretty well!

We all met in the city after work, I was at a training course so was already there early so Bill and I dropped in at the Hilton Waldorf for a quick champagne (okay 2...) before dinner. We then all had a quick bite at a little italian restaurant and then raced to the show... very excited we were!

We got into theatre and our seats were in the Upper circle but in row 3, so they were good and we could see the whole stage which was awesome.

The show started and we were mesmerized until interval... it was more a play than a musical, but still thoroughly enjoyable... yes (even when he took his shirt off.. to show his 8 pack) - sorry Baby!! The cast did a great job - Johnny also did the Australian performance - I did feel he could of been alittle stronger in his acting - but definitely made up for it in his dancing!

It finished up with the amazing scene at the end... although by now we were all buzzing so had to head off for a nightcap... so headed to a nearby bar called 'Dirty Martini', although it was a gorgeous little bar and we enjoyed another bottle of Moet... we ended up leaving there about 1am - I think!!

It was a school night, so we were behaving - yes our heads were alittle sore the next day - but Dirty Dancing was worth every second!!! Anyone coming across let me know and will be happy to come along with you again:-)

Breakfast in Chelsea - 22nd April 2007

I really, really want to live in Chelsea!! You have to see this place - it is gorgeous! But so of course is the price tag on all the property!! But doesn't mean we can't go there for breakfast and check it out.

My friend from Rotterdam - The Netherlands was staying in Chelsea for the night and we hadn't really been to Chelsea (in the daytime.. found ourselves there one morning at 5am - ChinaWhite night) so we thought we would meet up there. We jumped on the Tube and 20 minutes later we were there - which was great!

Chelsea is where the likes of Kylie Minogue and other celebrities tend to live, along with all the other well-to-do people in London, the cars driving up and down the streets are Ferraris, Bentleys, RollsRoyce and so on... but it is great for people watching and of course shopping (where isn't in London!)

Martine (dutch friend), we had not seen her since our world trip in 2005 when we stayed with her in Rotterdam, so it was great to see her and also met up with one of her friends, so we all sat around catching up all afternoon in a lovely organic... (even had organic waiters) cafe in the sunshine - 23 degrees - cannot complain about the weather.

We didn't have our camera so couldn't take pics, but have found one - although it doesn't do it justice...

Girls Night Out - 21st April 2007

It had been decided it was time for a Girl's night out!! A friend from work Mel, who is also from Melbourne organised for us all to go out for dinner and then off for drinks to a cool bar in London!!

The night began in Soho at a place called 'The Boardwalk', where we all enjoyed a great (cheap too...) dinner and of course a bottle of Champers! There was 5 of us and 4 were from Australia... I swear we are taking over the world! Anyway we finished dinner and we all wanted to check out the latest 'Prince William or was it Harry' (I just can't keep up) club called 'Mahiki' in Mayfair.

We jumped on the Tube as it was going to be easier we thought as the streets were jam packed with people at 11pm (London is definitely a city that doesn't sleep!) We missed our station so ended up jumping in a cab and finally arrived to find out the line was around the corner - oh my god!! Were we that keen.... well we did some fancy manoeuvring and ended up in the members line... which was only a wait of 1 hour... Yes I am not lying, but much better than 2 or 3 that all the others had to wait!

We finally got into this bar and thankfully found a table and enjoyed our first Mahiki cocktail... first of many!! We sat there and continued going through the menu and were impressed with the quality of the cocktails and the service was fantastic - no going to the bar... the waitress was all ours:-) We really enjoyed ourselves and met 2 american girls who recently moved across too... then met a Danish and Swedish girl - so it was a girls night out all round! The bar is a tikki lounge: those Polynesian-inspired rattan beach cabins that were all the rage in 1950s California and the music was 90's wedding songs... which was perfect for the girls!!

The night ended up around 3.30am (yes the lights came on....) and we all headed home to annoy our better halves.... surprisingly sober (I was!!!) It was a great night and we are now busy planning our next one!

Prague - 5th April 2007

What a wonderful place:-) Absolutely stunning, all the buildings were gorgeous and all the streets were cobblestones.. (yes.. best take shoes without 4 inch heels).

We had a gorgeous time in Prague over Easter, we flew out on Thursday night and arrived back on Monday night - so had a relaxing 4 nights in this wonderful city. All we did was walk around and around... everywhere you walked you would end up in a beautiful street full of wonderful shops or buildings or clocks... never seen a place with so many clocks... you definitely do not need a watch and no excuse for ever being late!!

The meals we enjoyed in Prague were of amazing quality and we had some very beautiful dinners and of course wines... Australian nonetheless - it was nice to get hold of a great red!! (these french and italian wines... I might be biased, but definitely not near the Oz quality... okay I can be proven wrong!!)

Everywhere you looked in Prague there was either a view (of a beautiful husband...) or bridges, waters, churches, buildings and so on... We were blessed with the most amazing weather each day, on the last day it even got to 20 degrees, as you can see in the picture they are all full of sunshine and the sunnies even got to come out and play:-)

The things you would see while strolling around.... this picture below of was a tiny alley way down to a restaurant - it had a green man to tell you when to go... The next picture was a sculpture in a square - odd.... and the third was the most bizarra thing I have ever seen, if you receive a parking fine and then did not return to your car within a short timeframe the police would take care of your car for you... within 5 minutes they would arrive and then disappear with your car... (no it wasn't ours!)

It was time to go home after our 4 days in paradise (well at times the tourists didn't help the peace...) they were everywhere!! But then I guess we were one too... so can't complain too much! We had a wonderful time met lots of amazing people, we were out one night clubbing and ran into yet again more Aussies, but amazingly enough one of them was from Rochester - where I went to school and knew my brother - what a small world? We had a blast and if the chance arises we will definitely visit Prague again!

The Gym Begins - 27th March 2007

It has been a slow start, but we are trying to get there and visit the gym. Fortunately we have a gorgeous gym living in our building (although you do need to walk through the bar (below) ... to get there) hence why we try to go at 6am as it is less enticing to stop for a drink!

We have had our induction and have a program so have been able to hit it all on our own. There is lots of equipment and a great pool along with heaps of classes (if you like that thing...) but we are yet to venture in there ... yes especially with my co-ordination!!




We have decided to go in the mornings as we feel much better and more inclined to go, otherwise you get home at night and it's usually late and by the time you cook dinner you end up giving it a miss - so we need to be strong and get up at 6am... luckily the weather is improving. We are having 19 - 25 degree days - just gorgeous:-)