Scotland - Bank Holiday Weekend

Chris and I hired a car for the weekend to take a road trip to Scotland (about 7.5hrs from Surrey). We left Friday night to start part of the driving and avoid me getting too car sick. We spent the night in a hotel in Birmingham and completed the drive to Glasgow the following morning. There isn't much to do in Glasgow, we looked around at the main shopping strips, visited George Square and Merchant City. After enquiring everywhere for accommodation we were unsuccessful as everywhere was booked out for the football, a concert and the bank holiday weekend. We started our drive to Edinburgh (about 40min from Glasgow) with the idea of finding accommodation on the outskirts. This was proving to be a challenge too. By 11pm we were left with the Caravan Park option as Chris had borrowed a tent from a work mate. Trying to erect it with just the headlights of the car and no instruction was a challenge. After an hour we were too tired and decided to just sleep in the car for the night. Probably lucky as there was torrential rain most of the night. We spent the whole day Sunday in Edinburgh, we did the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus. Spent a few hours at the Edinburgh Castle, looked in a few souvenir shops and experienced a Scottish pub and beer. Chris and I love Scotland, especially Edinburgh. It is beautiful. If only we could send home all this rain we are having and all this greenery!!!

Big Ben

Last Friday I had the opportunity to climb the clock tower (Big Ben). A small group of us were guided up the narrow stair case, all 343 steps, to be able to view the clock mechanisms (installed in 1859!) and the bells. This tour can only be done by residents through your local MP and it is free. I was lucky enough for my friend's housemate to tee it up. I wasn't sure I would make it up all the stairs but what a great experience to be at the top of Big Ben next to the bells when the clock struck 3pm - boy it was loud!!!

The West End...

Chris and I went to the West End last night (Saturday) to see one of my favourite musicals of all time, Cabaret! I have had a passion for this show since studying it at school. Since then I have had numerous Cabaret CD's, the video, then the DVD and I saw the show in Melbourne. I must say this production was amazing and much better than the Melb show with Tina Arena. The set was very simplistic but very effective. The music was amazing, the character Sally Bowles was played incredibly well and she had an amazing voice. Surprisingly, there was a lot of full nudity (mostly during the dances) and innuendos....much more than the film or Melb stage show! Chris and I had a fab night, an enjoyable chinese dinner beforehand and a walk to Piccadilly Circus to watch the buzzing night life.

PARKINSON - The TV Show!

Chris and I were lucky enough to get production tickets to the taping of Parkinson. We were in the second row, just to the left of Parkinson himself! The guests on the show were Patrick Stewart (Star Trek), Ian Hislop, Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka!!) and Joe Cocker did 2 songs (his famous 'Unchain my heart...'), they did two runs of the songs for taping purposes....it was awesome! Chris and I had a great time, I know Chris particularly enjoyed Parkinson as he has fond memories of watching the show with his dad as a wee boy.

To Bath we go...

Karen, Chris and I ventured to Bath on Saturday after hiring a car for the Bank Holiday weekend. We managed to negotiate the map to exit London onto the Motorway. After about 2 hours driving we arrived into bustling Bath, with it's French market, tea houses, tourist buses, beautiful architecture and an amazing history. We visited the Roman Baths, after enjoying another good pub lunch. The Baths are a must see! Chris even drank a glass of the 'Bath Water' which was warm.....good for the digestion!! Chris and I were feeling adventurous, so we subjected ourselves to a caricature for 5 minutes. It felt like the longest 5 minutes with the spectators around and the smiles on peoples faces.