Entries from December 2005 ↓

Update: Work Christmas party photos

Hi Kids. Things are hectic leading up to Christmas, trying to cram as much work in before the quiet period. That is my excuse for still not having bought my family any christmas presents, written any cards or bought Mum a birthday present which is on Christmas Eve! Sorry Mum! We have had a few big weekends, Christmas parties with friends and with work, far too much excessive consumption. They start christmas parties at lunchtime over here and given that it gets dark at 4pm it is quite strange when you feel the urge to go home and pass out at 8pm. It has all conspired to make the working week drag on a bit, but it’s very exciting to be in London for Christmas for our second year. It’s a unique atmosphere and one we appreciate more every day, except for the fact that it is bloody cold. There are lots of markets in all the streets selling beautiful food, handmade gifts and christmas trees. Heaps of skating rinks have popped up around London, we went skating a couple of weeks back at Tower of London which was fun, not so much fun for the ankles. We’re headed to Scotland for Christmas with Fiona’s family on Friday night, as someone famous once sang: ‘i’m dreaming of a white christmas’. We went to Hamleys last weekend to buy a few presents. Pretty amazing place, very similar to FAO Schwarz in New York - think about the story from the movie ‘Big’. Five stories of very cool toys and lots of little tykes running around the place like crazy.
Post-christmas i’m heading to Berlin for a few days on my lonesome (couple of work mates pulled out, bastards, yes you). I’ve paid for an awesome apartment in Charlottenburg (West Berlin) and can’t wait to see the sights. Everyone tells me it is amazing, I can even speak a bit of German, don’t know how to order a beer yet, but i’ll touch up on that phrase before I go. Oh wait, I have no one to drink with, oh well. I’ve been applying frantically for World Cup Germany 2006 tickets over the last couple of weeks. Highly doubtful we will get any, but I have been a good boy and am hopeful Santa will deliver.
More travel in the pipeline. Fi and I are off to Paris for my birthday on the first weekend of January (hint hint), catching the Eurostar rail across the channel. We’ve also booked a trip to Amsterdam in February with Sarah, Sam and a group of their mates. Now when I come home and you ask me where I have been in Europe, I will actually have a response. New years eve about 20-30 of us are headed to a bar in Putney, on the Thames, to boogie all night long. Ow, ow and ow.
Happy Christmas and New Year. Remember it is not about the presents (thats what people who haven’t bought presents say).

Hey guys,

I don’t want to tell my parents, but I stopped telling everyone about our time together in London because quite frankly it was boring the hell out of everyone, especially me. But because they are my parents and will buy anything I want and let me stay at home saving for a house until I am 35, I thought I had better oblige.

So we travelled to Hawick amidst claims of major flooding and broken river banks. No doubt, we were scared shitless about the drive especially given that it was a windy downhill drive like driving through the black spire on the way to Alexandra (no, i don’t know where that is either, well sort’ve, ok i know where it is, BUT IM NOT PROUD). So here we are trying to act civil like we are not about to die, but in reality thinking that we are and then another radio broadcast comes over the stereo proclaiming this as the worst storms in Scotland for 80 years or something. Hey, i’m trying to build up the suspense, but lets be honest, we made it and we drove through a couple of puddles and thats it. Our accomodation was an amazing farm 10 minutes outside of Hawick, with a raging river beside it, it sounded like Niagra. We had a few drinks at the pub later that night, essentially to calm Dad’s nerves from a days worth of driving.

We awoke to a breakfast splendour. Mum and Dad were due in Ireland the next day, so we made our way back toward London. We passed the English border and I failed to take a picture of the “Welcome to England” sign post. Thankfully I did grab a shot of the “Sorry your leaving Scotland to rejoin those scum” sign post which I will cherish forever. That’s a stab at the English who read this page, if you didn’t notice.

We made our way to Hadrian’s wall. Pretty cool place, lots of brick walls and history and stuff and you learn about how they used to go to the toilet and yeah I wouldn’t recommend it. But I got pictures, so I never have to go their again, sorry Fi. We then made our way through the Lakes District. This place is pretty amazing, no officers latrines and stupendously loong brick walls, but beautiful hilly scenery. Have marked it up for a return. We arrived to London not long after, a respite from my parents for a week, I love them so much, in doses.