Piccadilly Circus; Tower Bridge

Warwick Castle; On the large in Brummy

Jim reaches the holy land aka Anfield

Day 22

We caught an early train from Brummy to London, but due to work on the tracks or something the 70 minute journey turned into a 3 hour one on bus and train, the bus ride did take us through a more scenic route via Coventry and Rugby (so Ruth said, I was sleeping). After we hit London we headed to Clapham Common with Rach and AD to the Get Loaded in the Park music festival, featuring all those acts that don't get invited to the Reading such as De La Soul, Badly Drawn Boy and Baby Shambles. It was still quite big with 4 different stages. It was a pretty cruisy afternoon and evening hanging out and drinking. The last thing I remember was drinking one of AD's dodgy liqueur milk shakes.

Day 21

Everyone has a list of things they want to see and do in their life and today I ticked one of those off my list, Grundy had secured tickets to Anfield for Liverpool's first home game of the premiership season against West Ham, a replay of last years F.A. Cup final. Being the early kick off we had an early start to get there on time -on the road by 8am - though Grundy knows how to drive these roads better and quicker than I do and we were up at Anfield by 10ish...and there hundreds of people there already. As I was walking to the ground it had the feeling of a big test match, probably because it will be the first and last time I might be here. So we wandered through the Shankly gates, past the Hillsborough memorial and into the museum. The trophy cabinet is packed, the 5 European Cups taking up heaps of room, Liverpool may not have won the league for many a year but this club is trophy collecting machine, having already won the Charity Shield this year beating Chelsea two weeks ago. We came out of the museum at about 11:30 and there were now thousands of people around, the queue for the club shop about 100m long...so we popped into a pub for quick pint and back to our seats. We were opposite the Kop and behind the goal, and the view from the seats was fantastic. The stands go high instead of back so everyone has a good view. Then the singing and the chanting started, I'm always said that the kiwi fans could learn alot from the Brits, 45,000 punters screaming out 'You'll never walk alone' was spine tingling. Then the game kicked off, the singing from the Pool fans stopped around the 11 minute mark when West Ham scored, but when Liverpool scored twice in the 5 minutes before half time (one a 30 yard screamer from centre back Dan Agger) the crowd found their voice again. My fave chant being the 'one nil and you fu*ked it up' chant directed at the Wast Ham fans. The second half had no goals but both teams have an attacking approach so it was still open. But Liverpool held on for their first win of the season. There are a lot of comments to assist the linesman, the ref and some real passion in the stands from these scouse nutters, but it all adds to the experience and was the highlight of the trip for me so far (sorry Zak, Rome and London!). I tried to get into the store to buy the liverpool duvet cover I promised Ruth, but again the queue was too long, but I was not worried I had my programme and souvenir ticket, to me the ground and the game was enough. Anyways I've crapped on long enough about this day... a big thanks to Grundy and Becky for hosting us this weekend

Day 20

Grundy lent us his car today, a rather peppy VW golf, though I didn't open it up on the motorways as I was unsure of the speed limit! Anyways after 40 minutes we were in Stratford-upon-Avon, a cute small town thats main claim to fame is that it's where Shakespeare was from, he was a famous playwrite or something, never heard of him myself. Besides all that it was a really nice place to hang out for a couple of hours in the sunshine. The best pub feed we've had in the UK was consumed at the oldest pub in this town too (the Garrick Inn for those who are interested). After dragging Ruth out of a shop we were off to the town of Warwick, and the Warwick Castle. The castle was first built in 914 and was lived in right up to 1978, when it was turned into a sort of medievil theme park.It's a really good place for kids, so was right up my alley. They have all sorts of shows, bowman shooting arrows, jousting, birds of prey, fighting knights and the shooting of some giant catapault thing. Then there is the castle itself which has tours of the various towers, armoury, dungeons, and state rooms. We really enjoyed this place, the highlights being the castle itself, my form with the bow and arrow (5 out of 5), and a cheap thrill ghost experience where people just scare the shit out of you, in the dark, in one of the towers. Well worth a visit. We left here just as it started to rain and had the quitessential big city experience, sitting in rush hour traffic. That night we hit the piss in Birmingham at an area called the Mailbox, right on their re-vamped waterfront and seems to be the flasher type pubs, a large one was had drinking the giant beers they have over here, but not too late as had a big day tomorrow.

Day 19

Today's tourist stop was The Tower of London, this is the old school castle thing built by William the Conquerer 900 odd years ago and was a prison through the years, King Henry 8 also knocked off a few of his wives here, a pretty harsh history here actually. Though it gives you a real insight into how rich and respected the British monarchy has been when you see a 530 carat diamond was used in their royal sceptre and the amount of bling on their crowns. Yes, the tower also houses the crown jewels, impressive really and the vault door is rather thick, they must be worth a bit! After a good look around and guided tour of the Tower we walked back along the Thames and then caught a train to Birmingham to catch up with Grundy and Becky. The old fast train was pretty sweet, only a 70 minute train ride. Did a fair amount of catching up into the night...

Day 18

Another relaxed start ... in town by mid-morning ... and skipped to the front of the fast track queue at Madame Tussauds with our pre-purchased tickets that we'd picked up at the London eye yesterday. If you're visiting any of these big attractions you can usually skip the long queues by booking on-line or buying tickets from other sources ... which rocks! Doesn't save you from the crowds inside but. Spent about an hour and a half checking out the various wax movie/pop stars, sports heros, royals, politicians and historical figures, as well as a few what we assumed we're B grade UK celebs we didn't recognise - the old reality TV show type stars.

Then headed our seperate ways for the afternoon - Jim off to do the Wimbledon tour while I decided to stay in town and check out some more of the shops. London definitely has more range at the Glassons-end of the fashion market but if you're spending NZ dollars I think you have to be bit more discerning with your purchases. That said I've now officially brought more shoes than I left NZ with - as well as my boots in Roma, a couple of pairs of flats (including the all impt metallic pair required for summer) and some nice peep-toes with a low heel from Shelleys. A couple of tops, a summer skirt and a new handbag also helping to bulk out the suitcase.

After a rest we headed back out to catch up with Neil and Robyn, ex work buddies from Wellie who have come over to make the big bucks for a couple of years, (for those who don't know) for dinner and drinks. Our second London pub with a Thai menu ... cool old pub though ... and good company so we had an enjoyable few hours catching up on the goss.

Day 17

Being the fairly relaxed tourists that we are, today was quite a busy day for us, up quite early and out of the house by 930! We did a bus tour round London today. This is a double decker thing that does a tour of the sights, you get a commentary too which is quite useful. Saw all the big ones Piccadilly Circus, Buck Palace, Westmintser Abbey, Parliament and the big clock, Tower Bridge etc. Though today we did tick off one of the few things I wanted to see in London, the London Eye. It's the massive ferris wheel built in 2000. It takes 30 minutes to do one revolution and is 135 metres high at the top, damn good view of the city too, get a better idea of where stuff is rather than just via a tube map or the A-Z map book. Getting real security conscious at these tourist places too, paranoid is some cases, as the day before some whanau had been kicked off the eye cos one of them spoke Arabic in the queue! We also took a leisurely boat trip down the Thames too, so for our busy sightseeing day we spent lots of time on our arses, just the way I like it! Ruth did a touch of shopping down Kilburn High Road before we went home (Ruth' s shoe status: 5 pairs) then I went over to Ealing to catch up with Justin over a pub feed, few pints and a Liverpol draw, rolled home on the tube late.

Day 16

Was a slow start in London today, and for the record the 'real' London weather is back, reminded me of home today, wet and breezy. Today was a chance for Ruth to check out the shops down Oxford and Regent streets in Town (Topshop, Shelleys shoes etc) a few purchases were made, luckily not too many. If you are walking around here at lunchtime it is packed, most of these shops are as busy on a Monday as shops are in NZ on Xmas eve, big city life I suppose. We basically did a lap, round to Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square then back up to Oxford Street via Soho. I take the blame foe leading us through Soho, not knowing that it was the nudey bar part of town, honest and they were all searching for business at 3 o'clock in the afternoon too, Ruth wasn't keen. As the rain started to come a touch heavier we headed back home, where Ruth cooked us all a nice roast chicken for tea.

Day 15

Having discovered the complete Series 1 & 2 of Family Guy on TV Jim was fairly reluctant to get out of bed. But after cooking us a slap-up feed of pancakes for brunch AD took us off to Windsor via the tube/train to have a look at the castle. The Queen wasn't home this weekend but we went in and had a look around anyway. Some more amazing history, fantastic art works and interior decor. Incredible to think the royals live there on the weekends. Wandered down across the Thames and checked out Eton, had a pub feed and then headed back home.

Day 14

After Ruth got 'busted' for trying to smuggle lip gloss onto the plane (she wasn't to happy about getting dry lips in the plane air con) we finally got on our plane to London and back to AD and Rach's at about 3am Saturday morning. With the Bledisloe test kicking off at 6:30am over here, I didn't get too much sleep, but hey it is a test! Another good result even though we are yet to hit our straps this year. AD and I also indulged in vigorous debate about who would be our side for WC 2007. So our respective 1st XV's are posted here for bragging rights next year:

Jim's XV: Mils, Sivivatu, Conrad, Mauger, Roks, DC, Piri, Rodney, Richie, Jerry, Jack, Williams, Hayman, Mealamu and Woodcock.

AD's XV: MacD (his gay little pet name for Leon), Rico, Laulala, Mauger, Roks, DC, Byron, Rodney, Richie, Jerry, Jack, Mullet, Hayman, Mealamu and Woodcock.

The rest of the day consisted of R & R (recovery and rehabilitation), followed by a thai feed and a few too many quiets at a pub in Maida Vale.

Holiday Pics

Thanks for the comments from those who have and as requested here are some pics...


Jim and the Ashes; Kouros Villa in Zak.

Ruth, Rach and AD in Zak; Us by the Parthenon, Athens.

Us by the Grand Canal, Venice; Us by the Colloseum, Roma.

Day 13

Early start today to get into the Vatican, and believe you me this place opens about 9am and the queue at 8am was already hundreds of metres long, by the time 9am rolled around it was probably over a kilometre long! This place is popular. It actually didn't take too long to get in once the queue started moving. Our guide made a good choice by stopping at the cafe to fuel up first as there are no places to eat/drink once you're in. Anyways the tour started with the Vatican museums through to the Sistine Chapel. We were told no talking and not to take any photos or video in the Sistine chapel, but I tell you the place was packed, noisy and the cameras were clicking like it was the red carpet at the Oscars...lot of respect there, even so the chapel walls and roof were impressive, even more so when you consider that Mike Angelo was a fresco rookie when he started doing the roof. Personally I found 'The Last Judgement' altar freso (and some of the stories behind it) more interesting than the roof. The tour continued onto St Peters, which was not as obviously packed since it's so huge (apparently 218m long and the top of the dome is 40 stories high). The biggest church in the world is a sight to behold, mainly due to the size of the place, combined with the history, gold everywhere, art, sculptures, and dead popes lying there! In spite of the crowds again it was well worth the visit. A total of 5+ hours from the time we started queuing to the time we exited St Peter's out into the square. Today was hottest day in Roma yet tipping over 33 degrees, so was decided against queueing to a) visit more dead popes under St Peter's and b) climbing the 750 steps up to the dome and the best view and highest point in Roma. So we stopped for a bite to eat and then went for a look inside the Pantheon which looked fairly average after being to St Peter's! Definitely recommend going with a guide for the Vatican tour ... shortcuts, queue jumping and lots of interesting facts and figures. Then our final and most important task in Roma was completed with Ruth finally purchasing those elusive Italian shoes...i'll pass onto Ruth... Well girls although it was sale season in Roma I think with all the Italian locals on annual holidays much of what was open was tourist junk ... the best looking shops and eateries, especially those off the beaten track were closed up. Factor in the heat combined with some long days sightseeing and trying on shoes was a fairly unattractive proposition!! Still had to be done :) so with a couple of hours to spare before we headed to the airport we found a promising looking shoe store and I brought some boots - mid calf, black, cowboy style, pointed toe, sort of snake skin effect leather. Not exactly the sexy summer sandals I was looking for but still have London and New York for those ... and as we all know you can never have too many pairs of black boots. Roma is a great city and even though we didn't throw a coin into the Trevi fountain, I think we'll be back. Back to London then...

Day 12

We planned on going to the Vatican today but being quite jaded we called Benny to postpone the confession and he was quite understanding, danke. So after a decent sleep in we crossed the Tevere River for the first time and took a wander around Trastavere and discovered a gem of a church St Maria in Trastavere. It was another hot one in Roma today so to take advantage of the air condtioned shops visited the main shopping drag...Via Del Corso, all the way up from Piazza Venezia to Piazza Del Popolo. We took a rest on the grass outside the Capitol Hill to let our feet recover then looked around the Capitoline Museum...some really old artifacts in this place, the tomb of the unknown soldier and the most important fire in Roma, the eternal flame. Had another rest at our B&B then went around Roma on self-guided night walking tour taking in the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain (again) and seeing some new sights in the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. A couple of tired tourists crashed late, starting to feel the effects of the combination of heat, crowds and sightseeing.

Day 11

Up before 6 to catch the Ryan Air flight from Treviso to Roma, ok these budget airlines do fly out of different towns but the drive through the Italian countryside was quite good viewing. We almost had to bust out our jackets for the first time on tour too as it started raining in Venezia just as we left. Ryan Air fly into Ciampino in Roma, which is not much of a scenic drive, but once again my accommodation location was superb, a literal 2 minute walk from the Termini (bus/train station). First point of notice was that Roma was more Greece hot than Venezia hot, banging close to 30 degrees. Anyways we we dumped our stuff and headed straight out at 10:30. After deciding not to do the bus tour thing we invested in a Roma Pass - which for 18e gives you three days on the Metro, buses and trams as well as free entry to the first two archelogical sites/museums you visit and reduced entry to the rest. Just makes things easier really. So first we jumped on a bus and headed down the Via Nazionale to gawk at the Fontana Di Trevi (Trevi fountain) and the Spanish steps. More gelato for Ruth then back to the B&B for a nap - early start and heat catching up with us. First impressions of Rome...hot, bumpy as cobbled roads, and impressive huge ancient buildings and fountains and monuments. These things need to be seen to be believed as photos do not do justice to the sheer size of these things.....anyways Day 11 TO BE CONTINUED have to go pick up our laundry then head out to see some of the above by night as well as the Pantheon, Piazza Novona and Campo De Fiori...laters.

So where was I? ok yeah, the Trevi Fountain is fairly impressive once again like most of Rome, and packed with people chucking coins over their shoulder (google it). The Spanish Steps are basically where tourists fading in the heat have a rest, they are also taken over by dudes selling knock off bags and sunnies, but apperently underneath all these people there are some steps. After we dragged our asses out off bed for the second time today that evening we caught the Metro to the Colosseum, this was big city underground at it's best, stinking hot and packed...mmm gotta love that close proximity to complete stranger's underarms! Luckily two stops down was the Colosseum, where we hooked up with a guided tour hawking out the front. It was brilliant too, not being exactly an expert on Roman history this tour and the guides really set the scene, instead of just walking around a big arena. Which brings me to the fun fact of the day, arena is the latin word for sand, and the fights etc took part on the wooden floor of the Colosseum, covered in sand, hence the word arena! Anyways this tour and that of the Palatino and Roman Forum cost 9e extra on top of entry and was well worth it. Funny thing too, the dude who took the Palatino and Roman Forum tour was a kiwi, but he knew his shizzle. Another tip, photos of the Colosseum are best at dusk, it looks cooler then.

Day 10

Our hotel had complimentary breakfast so being cheap I ate my fill and made sure Ruth did as well. It was also a public holiday in Italy, Ferragasto, the feast of the assumption. This just meant a few shops and restaurants were shut. Ruth continued as navigator around the narrow and confusing streets of Venezia and did a great job at this. Being a city packed with galleries and churches we thought we'd indulge in a bit of culture. We walked through the Gallerie dell'Accademia, which contains the largest collection of Venetian art, was good for about an hour then we got art overload so..left, basically lots of gold leaf and religious themes. The hearty breakfast just increased our appetite so we dropped into a hole in the wall tavernetta (San Maurizio) for a feed of pasta and beverages. Our next major stop was the Piazza San Marco, housing such Ventian icons as the Basillica, Campanile, Doges Palace and thousands of camera snapping tourists queueing to get into these places. Whilst it was an impressive sight we pretty much scurried through here. Being at the other end of Venice to where we were staying we then caught the vaporetti (ferry) back through the Canal Grande for an afternoon sleep. Awakening refreshed my tour guide took me on a walk through the streets of San Polo and Santa Croce, where we discovered the Jewish Ghetto, some Murano glass jewellery and the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari a 550 year old church, so I left Ruth to it and dropped in for mass. It was the biggest and most impressive church I've ever been into and even had a tomb in there, and some massive art works (Titian, Bellini and Donatello). The mass was all in Italian too so the padre's sermon did not do much for me. I found it an unexpectedly enjoyable experience! The thing about Venice is that it is overrun by tourists and this can be a bit overwhelming but even so you can still find some peace and quiet in this place, so Ruth and I bought the best pizza we've ever eaten from our local trattiore, ducked down a side alley and found a pew on the grand canal hanging out for an hour or so. A great finish to a visit to a great city.

Extra update from Ruth

So far this holiday has been mostly about food and sun. Began with strawberries and cream by the lake in Regents Park while Jim was at Lords and moved on to watermelon and greek yoghurt in Zak. Now that we're in Italy no more yummy yoghurt so I've moved on to gelato ... mmmmm!!! In between eating I've been soaking up some rays either beachside or poolside with Rach while the boys play silly games and drink beer. Have finished 2.5 books and got a good start on my tan. Serious tan envy in Greece followed closely by kaftan envy ... I'll be buying myself one for the kiwi summer (in the meantime my loaner has been working well ... thanks Sue :)). Sadly I have yet to start the shopping ... the beaches were more attractive than the shops in Greece and although Rach and I had a bit of a browse in stores when we went to Zante it was mostly junk and soft toy turtles! Now that we're in Venice am planning to rectify the shopping deficit ... did a bit of a dry run on our wander last night and the murano glass jewellery is looking pretty good. Figure I have to purchase at least one pair of Italian shoes so that will be my focus over the next few days (in between sightseeing of course) ... will report back soon. P.S. Although you might think from my food descriptions above that I'd lost a few pounds ... unfortunately Greece also had copious amounts of two of my other food staples i.e. potato chips and diet coke ... ah well thats what holidays are for ... eating!

Day 8 and 9

Day 8 - Our last day in Zakynthos dawned the hottest yet and what better to do on a hot day on a Greek island than head to the beach. We found a gem too, just down the road was Porto Zorro beach and it was as we all agreed the best beach we had found in Zak. So we stayed all day, lounging, swimming, sleeping and eating. The girls even found time to have a spa treatment which consisted of digging in the sand till they discovered some clay then slapping it on their bodies...all the Greeks were doing it and they looked great so there must be something in it. Watch this space for photos, if Ruth lets me! After finding the world's least signposted airport (the Greeks like to mess with the tourists with bad/no road signs) we flew off to Athens, leaving AD and Rach to conclude their holiday in peace! Arrived in Athens and you know it wouldn't be an overseas trip if you didn't get ripped off by a cabbie, so we thought we'd try it. 20 euro for a 5 minute cab ride pretty much did it! We wandered down the road for a night view of the Acropolis then hit the sack after midnight...early start tomorrow.

Day 9 - With an international flight out of Athens at 1 we had to get up early to see the sites, it was another scorcher in Athens too and after a half hour walk up a hill we were blowing a bit, however we timed our run perfectly as the Acropolis opened at 8 so our photos pretty much have no tourists in them....well apart from ourselves. There were stunning views of Athens up there and not being much of a history buff I was still pretty impressed by the structures like the Parthenon et al. I didn't realise that the ancient Greeks used so much titanium in their buildings either. Athens did seem overrun by stray dogs too and they just hung out in places like the Acropolis, not a bad kennel I say! Anyways we bid farewell to bins full of poo paper and flew to Venezia via Roma. Venezia looked great from the air and was even better walking around. It is a really tranquil place late at night and the small streets and old buildings are full of character and history. We just wandered the streets for a couple of hours (got a bit lost), spoke as much bad Italian as I could, indulged in a classic Italian meal of beer (Beera Moretto) and pizza, and soaked it all up. This place is pretty sweet. Oh yeah our little hotel the Alloggi Agli Artisti is perfect too, highly recommended. This was a great day for the sights and check this out, we had breakfast in Athens, lunch in Roma and dinner in Venezia, it doesn't get much better than that. Ciao from Venice.

Days 6 and 7

Day 6 - Today was a road trip day, we went up the other side of Zak, past Zante and into some more beaches the likes of Tsilivi and where we stopped for the day to chill on the beach again, Alykes, this was a nice sandy beach but quite windy (by Greece standards not Welly). We had also invested in some patter tennis bats snce this is a common pastime for the holiday makers in Zak, but our investment lasted all of about 20 minutes as one of the bats broke, obviously not meant to be played in the sea...it was a stink game anyway. So AD and I then tried to introduce the favourite kiwi pastime of diving catches in the sea, it was fair to say that I was the less consistent catcher but took more stunners funnily enough this game did not catch on. So after another lazy day on the beach we headed up into the hills and over to the other side of the island in search of a shipwreck and a traditional Greek village (you know white houses with blue roofs). We never found the village but after Ruth staging a coup to dump me as team naviagator we eventually found Shipwreck Cove. There were stunning views on this side of the island and we concluded the evening with a dinner in a small village called Maries whilst the sun set, over yet another dinner served with chips (apparently a traditional serving with Greek food). The night concluded with the girls fading and AD giving me a real lesson in euchre whilst drinking cheap red wine...the score will remain unsaid.

Day 7 - Today consisted of lazing in and by the pool all day...and having more fun with a tennis ball. I have recently jumped on the Dan Brown bandwagon too, reading one of his books, kills the time but now I know why I don't read novels. So after another hard day we polished of some Mythos and the rest of the red wine and popped down to Argassi for a big night out but we missed the boat some what as they all head out to clubs here, so we had another feed instead! IMPORTANT UPDATE: Rach and Jim dominated the euchre tonight smashing the Ruth and AD combination over three sets.

Day 5

Today we started a bit of a tiki tour of the Vasilikos peninsula (where we are staying), this tour really consisted of lazing at the biggest beach in Vasilikos, Ag. Nikolaos, the worst thing being that they charged you for the sun loungers and umbrellas here! There were supposed to be thunderstorms all day today but whilst there were big black clouds, lightning and thunder all around it never seemed to hit Zakynthos. We also went to the Gerakas beach but sadly there were none of the endangered Loggerhead turtles to be seen. We then headed over to the 'English' part of Zakynthos, i.e. Laganas. This is where all the poms congregate drinking in English pubs and hanging out with other Brits, was good to look around, catch a feed and it had a great beach even though it was blowing a gale due to the dodgy weather around. Today was also my first experience of right hand side of the road driving which I handled with aplomb, though I am unsre if my passengers will agree. Anyways I didn't crash, the Greeks do have a rep as the worst drivers in Europe. Finally we wandered through the capital of Zak, Zante, a town of 11,000, it was cool to walkdown all the old streetsthough when we turned up it was during the 2-6 pm period when all the shops are shut, ah well. More Mythos was drunk and crap talked into the night.

Days 2-4

Day 2 - A sleep in was in order after the long trip, but we did manage a look round the local suburb of Kilburn, up Kilburn High Street, a collection of pound stores (i.e. $2 shop), pubs and bookies being the standard, the highlight of the walk being some bloke offering me a laptop on the street...welcome to the big smoke.

I also took in the Lords Tour (that's Lords cricket ground for the ignorant). It was a great tour of the whole place including the vistors dressing room, the long room (where all the members drink gin), the stands and the monstrosity at the end of the ground that is the media centre. Well worth the 8 bucks. Whilst I was doing this Ruth wandered up to Regent's Park, I also missed my first opportunity for the famous person photo too Joe, as Ruth was waiting for me outside Lords, Warnie walked past not once but twice, but she didn't have the camera and all he wanted was her phone number!

Later that night me, Ruth, AD and Rach flew to our Greek Island, Zakynthos, via Athens, arriving at the Kouros villa at 7am Greece time. The worst thing about this part of the day was my first experience of an English ale at the airport, served at room temperature it is not an experience I will be repeating.

Day 3 - The first part of the day consisted of flying to the island, we got to our villa and it was a perfect day in Zakynthos, so what better to do than to go have a sleep. After we woke up in the avo the rest of the day consisted of sleeping/drinking/swimming/reading by the villa pool. Now this is a holiday...Though me and AD did manage to make it to the shop to pick up a crate of Mythos ("Greek for beer") to keep us hydrated. With the temperatures hitting the 30's it's important to keep hydrated.

We also started busting out our Greek language skills with the locals too, they were sometimes impressed and many times amused/confused as to what we were saying. My unbiased opinion is that my speedos seem very popular amongst the toursits and locals alike.

Day 4 - After rising late morning in accordance with Greek tradition, we went for a walk to Kaminia beach, it is a pretty sweet set up at these beaches with beach bars and sun loungers and umbrellas for the punters to use, so we hung here all day lapping up the sun and getting sunburnt on top of yesterdays sunburn. Whilst the beach as fairly skinny and rocky, the Med was warm as, as for the Mythos it was nice and cold. The day concluded with more Mythos getting drunk, sitting on the villa deck (with primo views of the Med), talking shit into the early hours.

Oh yeah some terrorists got busted in London too, apparently targeting London to US flights (us on the 30th...) hopefully that means lots of people will cancel flights and we can stretch out on the empty seats. Anyways we don't see any point in worrying about it to be honest.

Day 1

After a 24 plane trip we have hit London safe and sound. We were on one of the newly kitted out 747-400 with personal video screens and the like so it was pretty sweet. There were plenty of kids on both flights so sleep was at a premium, anyways I caught a lot more than Ruth. My combating jet lag plan of staying awake as long as possible to get straight onto UK time fell away too due to the fact as soon as I get on a plane I want to sleep.

So, we were picked up at Heathrow by AD, Lawrence and his kids in a green school bus and transported to our first abode, AD and Rach's pad in Kilburn, a converted pub now a bunch of flats.

It's at least late 20's in London today and due to the heat what better way to rehydrate and get into the British way of life than sitting outside the Salusbury Pub in Queens Park, supping on pints for a few hours...so we did.

Vital statistics:
Luggage weight: 22kg
Ruth's Shoe Status: 3 pairs