Given that my Christmas markets trip was cancelled I planned a couple of things to keep me entertained. The first item on the agenda was a visit to the Victoria and Albert museum which Brian had been raving about. This was certainly an amazing place. There are just so many artefacts from all over Europe including a room full of casts taken from monuments. There were carved columns from Rome, Celtic crosses from Ireland, Nordic doorways, whole cathedral doorways, it was quite amazing! I was also impressed with the collection of mosaics, some of these looked like oil painting until you got close enough to see the individual pieces of coloured stone inlayed together. There was a huge collection of cloth samples centuries old from all corners of the Earth. A display following the history of jewellery design and much more. It is a place you could visit many times and find something new and amazing again and again.
I also planned a day trip to Hampton Court Palace with Angela, one of our housemates. This is where Henry the VII spent most of his time. There was still snow and ice around so we were unable to visit the gardens and the hedge maze which was disappointing. The buildings were very interesting and gave a bit of an insight to how the monarchy must have lived centuries ago. I loved the star studded ceiling of the church and the grandeur of the formal rooms.
Christmas was spent at Deans Court with all the other ‘London orphans’. The owner supplies masses of food which is always appreciated. We had turkey, pork and heaps of veggies followed by fruit mince tarts and Christmas pudding. Much of the food had to be thrown out as it was not cooked properly by the managers, meaning a week’s worth of leftovers was nonexistent. The managers had organised a ‘Secret Santa’ which added to the fun. We got Casey a beer helmet which reduced her to tears of joy, she really likes her cinder. Damien received a cool beanie and I got some stuff from the body shop. The day began very civilised but due to the crowd, everyone was pretty drunk by about 6pm. Casey had to got to bed after enjoying her new helmet too much and Chris was subjected to nail painting after falling asleep on the couch. It was a fun day but we are both looking forward to next Christmas back in Melbourne with our families.
On Boxing Day we avoided the shops and instead headed to a couple of galleries. The first was for an exhibit called ‘the art of the Album’ which Damien had wanted to see for a while. It was a retrospective on the album covers made by one photographer and was quite interesting. Next stop was the National Portrait Gallery for the ‘National Gallery Photo Portrait Prize’. This was a wonderful, diverse collection of portrait photography from posed dramatic compositions to very informal candid shots.
Damien spent New Years eve back at work but met me and a few of the girls in the city. Us girls were late so Damien spent some time in a pub waiting for us. We headed to ‘Jamie Oliver’s Italian’ restaurant for dinner then planned to watch the firework display on the Thames. Dinner was ok but not as good as when we last went. The city was very crowded, in fact too crowded and the Police had started to block off streets so there would not be too many people on the river banks. It was all a bit confusing and eventually we were all separated. I had an Ok view of the fireworks but it never is the same when you’re alone. I think next year it will be a quiet house party without all the fuss.
So it is now 2011, the year we head home to Melbourne. We are both defiantly looking forward to seeing everyone and settling down to grown up lives with clean kitchens and bathrooms. New Years day was spent in our room. Damien wasn’t feeling very well for some reason and I wasn’t very impressed with the mud he bought home from Hyde Park on his shoes, which ended up in our bed. The 2nd of January was more active with us catching a train to Hampstead Heath and having a long walk. This is a lovely area where the rich people lived back in the days before effective sewage as it is on a hill above the once festering London and has it’s own water source. There are a couple of nice view points in the park that give views of the city, but again we were more impressed with all the dogs out and about. Getting a dog when we get home is defiantly a priority for both of us. We had coffee to warm up then headed into the Manor House. This was nice and warm so it was a bit of a shock to the system when we emerged from the house and felt like the temperature had dropped about 5 degrees. This made the decision to go home very easy.
I also planned a day trip to Hampton Court Palace with Angela, one of our housemates. This is where Henry the VII spent most of his time. There was still snow and ice around so we were unable to visit the gardens and the hedge maze which was disappointing. The buildings were very interesting and gave a bit of an insight to how the monarchy must have lived centuries ago. I loved the star studded ceiling of the church and the grandeur of the formal rooms.
Christmas was spent at Deans Court with all the other ‘London orphans’. The owner supplies masses of food which is always appreciated. We had turkey, pork and heaps of veggies followed by fruit mince tarts and Christmas pudding. Much of the food had to be thrown out as it was not cooked properly by the managers, meaning a week’s worth of leftovers was nonexistent. The managers had organised a ‘Secret Santa’ which added to the fun. We got Casey a beer helmet which reduced her to tears of joy, she really likes her cinder. Damien received a cool beanie and I got some stuff from the body shop. The day began very civilised but due to the crowd, everyone was pretty drunk by about 6pm. Casey had to got to bed after enjoying her new helmet too much and Chris was subjected to nail painting after falling asleep on the couch. It was a fun day but we are both looking forward to next Christmas back in Melbourne with our families.
On Boxing Day we avoided the shops and instead headed to a couple of galleries. The first was for an exhibit called ‘the art of the Album’ which Damien had wanted to see for a while. It was a retrospective on the album covers made by one photographer and was quite interesting. Next stop was the National Portrait Gallery for the ‘National Gallery Photo Portrait Prize’. This was a wonderful, diverse collection of portrait photography from posed dramatic compositions to very informal candid shots.
Damien spent New Years eve back at work but met me and a few of the girls in the city. Us girls were late so Damien spent some time in a pub waiting for us. We headed to ‘Jamie Oliver’s Italian’ restaurant for dinner then planned to watch the firework display on the Thames. Dinner was ok but not as good as when we last went. The city was very crowded, in fact too crowded and the Police had started to block off streets so there would not be too many people on the river banks. It was all a bit confusing and eventually we were all separated. I had an Ok view of the fireworks but it never is the same when you’re alone. I think next year it will be a quiet house party without all the fuss.
So it is now 2011, the year we head home to Melbourne. We are both defiantly looking forward to seeing everyone and settling down to grown up lives with clean kitchens and bathrooms. New Years day was spent in our room. Damien wasn’t feeling very well for some reason and I wasn’t very impressed with the mud he bought home from Hyde Park on his shoes, which ended up in our bed. The 2nd of January was more active with us catching a train to Hampstead Heath and having a long walk. This is a lovely area where the rich people lived back in the days before effective sewage as it is on a hill above the once festering London and has it’s own water source. There are a couple of nice view points in the park that give views of the city, but again we were more impressed with all the dogs out and about. Getting a dog when we get home is defiantly a priority for both of us. We had coffee to warm up then headed into the Manor House. This was nice and warm so it was a bit of a shock to the system when we emerged from the house and felt like the temperature had dropped about 5 degrees. This made the decision to go home very easy.
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