London: The Finale
Monday July 31, 2017
This is it. The final few minutes in London.
I managed to catch up with Jono and Charlotte before I left, which was good, considering Charlotte's based in Oxford. We had a barbeque in the rain out at Jono's flat, which I'm told is a very British thing to do. I admire the British resilience when it comes to weather, but I suppose they do have to make the most of summer while it lasts.
On Sunday, I went for a bike ride with Aaron around Teddington and up to Ham House, where we stopped at the cafe for tea and scones with clotted cream and jam. Clotted cream is exactly that - cream so thick that it will clot your arteries. I found it quite sweet and perhaps a bit sickening.
My final dinner was spent with Theo in Hammersmith at a random Italian restaurant. We walked down to the Thames and followed it back to Chiswick where we parted ways.
It's strange. I'm excited and nervous, moreso that when I left New Zealand. I'm actually going for work now, as opposed to going for a holiday. It's getting real. I'll have to find a place to rent, sort out utilities, get a SIM card, pay tax - all those adult things. I'm going to work for an amazing company at what is only my second job. It's a big life-changing moment for me but I'm looking forward to it.
Posted by Jeremy at 1:23pm on Monday July 31, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 
London: The Countdown
Friday July 28, 2017
I arrived back in London on Monday and took the train from Stansted Airport to Liverpool Station. I did something I hadn't done in a while - I went out and played Pokemon Go. Legendary raids have been released, meaning Lugia and Articuno can be found in boss raids in gyms all around the city. There was one near Liverpool Station, so I wandered down to see if anyone would show up. Sure enough, even though it was Monday, a small group had gathered to fight the Articuno, but I was unsuccessful in catching it. There were a couple close by, so I followed them around, dragging my luggage with me like an idiot, but neither raid was successful. The District line was in chaos due to maintenance and closures leftover from the weekend, but I managed to make it home for a haircut and quick shower before heading back out to Chelsea, where I met Alice for an incredible dining experience at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. Full writeup in my food blog!
I was more prepared on Tuesday. I joined the PoGo London Discord chat and met with some fellow players near Notting Hill. I followed them around for a good 6 hours during the day, going from the west of Hyde Park and finishing near Marylebone Station. Of the ten or so raids we did, I managed to catch one Articuno and one Lugia exactly, so it was at least a fruitful day. I decided to call it a day and met Theo for dinner at Victoria Station. Afterwards, we saw Wicked the musical at the Apollo Theatre. I really enjoyed it! It was a slow start but quickly got better; Defying Gravity sent chills down my spine. The actors were all incredibly talented - magnificent voices - and the costumes and set design was equally as amazing. I'm so glad I got to see a West End show before I left London.
I met Mash for lunch out in Aldgate East, and then tried to find a quiet place so I could do some work on my laptop. I wandered over to the Barbican Centre in the hopes I could find a spot to sit down, but it turns out Kings College London were having their graduation celebrations there. I snuck in to the basement and swiped a glass of juice and some canapés before leaving. It was getting late, so I took the gross unairconditioned Central line over to Queensway and got some delicious char siu and roast duck rice from Four Seasons.
I met with Daniela and Sean for dinner at Putney Bridge yesterday and Jono for lunch at Strutton Ground Market; the rest of the week will just be catching up with people. It's all happened so fast, but I will be leaving London to work in Toronto, Canada with the team at Ubisoft Toronto. My work permit was approved last Friday and my flights were booked today, so it's all official now.
It's strange how curve balls can completely derail your plans; last year I had applied to a dozen or so companies all around the UK and Canada in the hopes someone would employ me and sponsor a visa for me. Both Ubisoft Toronto and Montreal were interested in me, but had a recruitment freeze on, so couldn't complete the hire. That was when I decided I would try for the UK youth migrant visa, but that meant I needed to get to the UK before I turned 31. Thus, I booked all my flights, sorted my life out and secured my visa for departure in January, when literally a week before I left, Ubisoft Toronto called me up to say they wanted to hire me.
Of course, I took the job. It meant that I'd have to wait 6 months for the work permit to be approved by the Canadian government, but it meant that I was free to travel around Europe while waiting. It's been an incredible time, and I couldn't have asked for a better situation. I've seen so much of Europe, but there is still so much more. I've met cool people and caught up with long lost friends as well. It will be hard to go back to working after such a long time, but I'm honestly so thankful that the job materialised when it did; it means that I don't have to sort out a bank account and social security number for the UK, I don't have to find a flat or contend with the ludicrous bureaucracy here. Ubisoft's relocation team have really taken care of me, and it will make my move quite smooth.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:56pm on Friday July 28, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Edinburgh
Monday July 24, 2017
In true Scottish hospitality, I was greeted at Edinburgh Airport with cold and rain. I didn't have long in Edinburgh, so regardless of whether it was raining, sunny, windy or tornado, I had to get out and see the city. I had a very quick run through of Edinburgh Castle, perhaps the city's most famous attraction; I was thankful for the many indoor exhibits, even if it was super busy that day. I enjoyed some whisky tasting on the castle grounds, saw the Scottish Crown Jewels, walked through the War Memorial and some of the military prisons, and visited the various batteries for some great views of the rain clouds covering the city.
The next day, I took a full day tour of the Scottish highlands; from Edinburgh to Callander, Glencoe, Fort Augustus and Blair Atholl. Our tour bus driver was an amazingly interesting person - he came dressed in his kilt, and sang to us on the bus. He'd been a soldier and had done many mountain treks and kayaking trips across the country, and I couldn't help but admire all his knowledge and talents.
The Scottish countryside reminds me very much of New Zealand. The lowlands resemble the farms around the Waikato, flat and expansive, each growing their own type of crops. As you head towards the highlands, it becomes more like the South Island, with its beautiful mountains, valleys, rivers and waterfalls. The forces that shaped Scotland are of course very similar to those that shaped New Zealand, and as long as we continue to have good conservation laws, we can enjoy this natural beauty of many years to come. At the start of the day, the clouds were low and misty, but towards lunch, a few spots of blue began to peek through the grey.
We reached Fort Augustus by Loch Ness just after 1pm, and I got some delicious fried fish, onion rings and the Scottish national soda Irn Bru from a nearby takeaway before hot-tailing it to the cruise boat. The boat floated on the water for a good hour or so, and we learned about the mysteries of the lake, as well as the sonar system they use to map the topography. The area around Loch Ness is full of peat, and as the rains fall and water runs into the lake, it takes with it this dark sediment and deposits it into the lake, making it dark coloured. Visibility is almost nil in the water; water hovers around 4C or 5C throughout the year. All these factors make it difficult to look for any large animals that may be lurking in the water.
It was late by the time we got back to Edinburgh, and after dinner, I wandered around the Old Town, admiring the sunset hitting the castle and various buildings. I wish I could have stayed longer; there's more of Edinburgh to see, and today, as I sit at Edinburgh Airport, it's brilliantly sunny and finally a proper summer here (go figure). Edinburgh Fringe would have been really fun to attend next month, especially if it's bigger and better than Wellington's Fringe Festival. Next time!
Posted by Jeremy at 9:05am on Monday July 24, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
On the move again
Tuesday June 20, 2017
I'm at Luton Airport with Theo, ready for a big five week tour of Eastern Europe. It's stinking hot in London today, and made worse by the lack of any airflow whatsoever on the bus from London Victoria to Luton. So many people were completely miserable, myself included, just frustrated at how badly this country handles weather like this.
The past few days have been uneventful, save for a barbeque out in Teddington on Saturday. As I said, the weather has been extremely hot, which is very good for barbeques and certain outdoor activities, but horrible for sleeping and sitting in buses. I spent most of my time finalising my plans for this next holiday, and also indulging in a bit of Starcraft II when I got bored. I've also introduced a new feature to my blog called Scribbles, which is kind of like an antisocial version of Twitter where I can dump all my random thoughts and observations as I'm on the road, as opposed to sitting down and writing a more formalised blog.
It was good to catch up with Aaron and Louise out at their place in Teddington. Aaron had purchased a massive gas cooker and paella dish, and was busy getting that to work when I arrived. A massive paella hot plate filled with stock, herbs, spices, chicken, and chorizo bubbled away; he later added rice, squid and peas for some colour. The result was a delicious but perhaps slightly inauthentic paella that was enjoyed by all there. There was also a charcoal barbeque working, and lots of salads and drinks to go around.
I'm excited to cover this last leg, but also somewhat nervous about my next moves. Nervous in the sense I'm going to be in unknown territory again, a kind of excited nervous as opposed to anxious nervous. It's not 100% official but very close to it, and I'll write more about this once I get some certainty around dates and timing.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:39am on Tuesday June 20, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Wales
Thursday June 15, 2017
After coming back from Amsterdam, I spent the weekend in London vegetating and catching up on sleep. It was good to just do nothing, and it helped that the weather had been every permutation of cold, windy and rainy for a few days. I managed to do some work on my blog as well, hammering out all the writing I did for the food in France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, as well as working on a new feature which should be ready soon.
My mate Theodore has finally arrived too, so we met up for dinner for a few nights. Theo will be accompanying me on my final leg around Europe - we hope to cover the east and northern side this time: Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. It's scary to think how little time I have left here...!
On Tuesday, Theo and Beth, another of my friends from New Zealand, met me on a bus to Cardiff for a three day excursion around western Wales. We had one objective: see puffins on Skomer Island. We rented a car and drove out of Cardiff towards Pembrokeshire, stopping by a cute little castle called Carew along the way. We based ourselves at the YHA in Broad Haven and explored the peninsula around Saint David, then retired for the night.
We got to Marloes around 9am to try and get tickets for the ferry to Skomer Island. Being a weekday, we didn't think it would be that busy; we were shocked to find that tickets to land on the island had sold out an hour ago. We went through a small period of grief before decided that the only viable option was to take a boat trip around the island without landing. They said we'd still be able to see the puffins, and that's all we really wanted.
The boat trip turned out to be surprisingly good. We did see our puffins; we saw hundreds bobbing about on the water. As we approached, they would flap their wings awkwardly and hop along the surface of the sea before taking flight, it was such an awesome sight. There were tons of other waterfowl as well, including gulls, gannets and even a peregrine falcon!
We had a quick picnic lunch at Dale before heading back to Carew Castle. We visited the mill there, as we ran out of time the day before. We also took a detour north to visit the National Woollen Museum. It would have been around 6pm that we got to YHA Cardiff; we had dinner in town and wandered around Bute Park and the central city before heading back to the hostel.
We took it slow today. We had a good sleep in and then got some coffee at a small hipster cafe in one of the city's shopping lanes, then wandered around Cardiff Castle for an hour. It's quite a remarkable structure; they used the walls as air raid shelters during World War II, and the keep in the middle of the castle green has a fantastic view of the city in all directions. After lunch, we returned the rental car and said our goodbyes to Beth, and now Theo and I are en route back to London.
I think despite being unable to land on the island, we still had a really good time. We got to see a particular aspect of the birds that you wouldn't have been able to get from land, and more importantly, we achieved our one objective. We stumbled upon lots of cool interesting sites along the way as we aimlessly drove through the Welsh countryside. We even managed to pick up a bit of Welsh - they say, anyone can cuddle but only the Welsh can cwtch. Good times.
Posted by Jeremy at 3:28pm on Thursday June 15, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
The Next Adventure
Sunday April 30, 2017
It sits inconspicuously in many places. Wellington brings one out on a good day in Frank Kitts Park. There's one in the Melbourne Airport departure lounge. There's another in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. I saw them in three different train stations in Italy. Whenever I see one, it brings such a big smile to my face. I am of course talking about the humble public piano, its ebony and ivory melodies filling the atmosphere with glorious music. I make it a mission to play as many public pianos as I can, but am often constrained by time.
I rarely voice strong opinions on the Internet. But today has pushed me to the edge. It is the second time it has happened to me. I was in St Pancras International train station in London, waiting for my train to Gatwick Airport, when I chanced upon a public piano. I played Let it Go with gusto, attracting a few people who had pulled out their phones and others with kids who danced gleefully at the famous tune. With a smile on my face, I left to grab some food and head to the train.
As I walked to the platform, I found another piano. It blew my mind. I had to play this one too. But someone else was on there. And she remained on there, hammering the same two songs. She played a little while, then stumbled and mashed the keys in frustration. She repeated this for 20 minutes. It was painful to watch and hear. I get that we all have different levels of talent, and that it's difficult playing in public. But this is a piano available to all people and you shouldn't be monopolising this for more than 10 minutes; others have a right (and a want!) to play and if you're just repeating the same thing over and over again, then you should probably invest in your own piano to practice in your own time.
There. I said it.
I'm off on my next big adventure today, heading away for a total of 40 days, covering six countries in West Europe and even Africa! It's going to be wild and crazy but I'm going to love it.
Edit: I have arrived. The train station at the airport has a piano but someone has parked themselves on the seat with a massive book of sheet music. Screw you, selfish wench. Nobody got time to wait for that.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:47am on Sunday April 30, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Brighton
Thursday April 27, 2017
I spent the weekend in Brighton, catching up with Dale and Becca. It reminded me of Wellington to some extent, it's a small, cozy town with a great cafe culture and a good vibe. There's lots of little art murals everywhere, and I can imagine the beach getting super busy during summer when it's warm and sunny.
We walked down the waterfront on Saturday after having brunch. Dale and Becca are also big Pokemon Go players, so there was plenty to discuss and share and gripe; unfortunately they're on a different team to me, so we couldn't go on gym runs. We ended up at Brighton Pier, where we went on some of the rollercoasters there - not too shabby! We went biking in the afternoon past the white cliffs when suddenly we got an alert for an Ampharos that had spawned about 13 minutes bike ride away. We had 15 minutes to get there.
There began an awful uphill bike ride for 13 minutes. It has been a long time since I have ridden a bike, and even then, I've never used a bike with gears before, nor have I ridden on the road, so all of that was new to me. It wasn't easy but we made it, the last stretch I ended up getting off the bike and pushing it up the hill because I was so sick of pedalling. There marks the last Pokemon that I can catch for this region - my remaining two are Steelix and Scizor, which require an immense amount of luck to get their items to drop from a PokeStop.
We returned to the white cliffs for a few photos and then went home, via a Dragonite that was also slightly up the hill. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the balcony with some other expats, enjoying cheese, tomatoes, crackers, cider and truffle oil, because we are grown adults and we are fancy. Dinner was at the pub nearby, and I ordered a massive platter of delicious things.
We went up to Devil's Dyke on Sunday. It's a valley carved out by an immense water flow into the chalk rocks during the Cretaceous period, and it's a short bus ride north of Brighton. Though it was a bit cold, the scenery from the cliffs was amazing, and we trekked down one side of the hill to the Shepherd and Dog for an awesome traditional Sunday roast lunch.
I left Brighton on Monday, stopping by Choccywoccydoodah, an eccentric chocolate shop with the most stunning displays of chocolate and cakes I've ever seen. I got a white hot chocolate from there, very reminiscent of the hot chocolate that Ned Flanders serves Bart Simpson in the Simpsons Movie.
I'm off on my next big adventure on Sunday. It's been horribly cold back in London, with rain, wind, hail and thunderstorms hitting yesterday. I barely left the warmth of my bed, venturing out only to get food. This trip will take almost 6 weeks, and I'll be covering France, Switzerland, Spain, Morocco and Portugal!
Posted by Jeremy at 7:15pm on Thursday April 27, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Naples
Thursday April 20, 2017
It was a short time in Naples, but my departure also marks the end of my Italian journey. What a time I've had here - so memorable for so many different reasons. I've enjoyed it immensely, despite some of the hiccups along the way.
I took the ferry from Sorrento to Naples without a problem, and checked in to the hostel. The friendly guy at the reception recommended some sights for me to see, as I hadn't planned on visiting anywhere specific. Down from the port is Castel dell'Ovo, which overlooks the Gulf of Naples, so that was the first stop. I continued down to a park by the waterfront before heading back to the center of town. If there was one thing I needed to do, it was visit L'Antico Pizzeria da Michele, a Michelin star pizza restaurant in Naples.
I got my pizza takeaway as the restaurant was full, and although the ambience wasn't quite right, the pizza was pretty good, and only €4. I wandered around some more but retired to the hostel soon after. I was a little miffed at the poor quality wifi and couldn't even get 3G reception, so it was a pretty boring night.
Today was pretty relaxed. I wandered around the block, stumbling upon a few churches and whatnot. I got some takeaway pizza from nearby and took the bus to the airport, and caught my flight to Milan, then to Heathrow without a problem. The view of Italy from the plane is stunning. As we left Naples, the sight of Vesuvius overlooking the gulf was so pretty. As we neared Milan, you could see fields of green and gold stretching to the horizon. We flew over Switzerland and its snow-capped mountains, and over France's green pastures. We neared the English Channel... and suddenly all this cloud covered the land.
It rained as I left Heathrow and took the Underground back home. I picked up some microwave food from Sainsburys on the way. A pretty sad welcome after four weeks of adventure!
Posted by Jeremy at 8:40pm on Thursday April 20, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
London II
Saturday March 25, 2017
My second week in London has come to a close, and what a dramatic one it was.
On Saturday I was wandering around Richmond and Kew Gardens on a moderate but overcast day, which apparently is "perfect weather" to be outside for the Brits. There were quite a few people out at the pubs watching the last few games of the Six Nations, and of course, because it was St Patrick's Day the day before. Green celebrations spilled over onto the next day when Ireland beat England, and I joined the festivities at the St Patrick's Day parade in Central London. Thousands of people lined the streets around Trafalgar Square as streams of pipe bands, dancers, trucks and Irish representative groups walked by.
The weather on Monday took a sharp turn for the cold, so it was a museum day at the National History Museum. I underestimated the amount of time I was going to spend there, and ended up wandering around for close to four hours. Tuesday however was much sunnier, and after meeting Mash for lunch, I went on a tour of Highgate Cemetery, one of London's poshest burial grounds, and where Karl Marx is buried. There are so many stories about the people buried there; our guide was fantastic and spoke about the Victorian times, where the rich and famous would have tombstones and monuments made in their everlasting memory, often in whatever was fashionable for those times - Greek columns, Roman wreaths, Egyptian obelisks. Occupational symbolism was also important, as people wanted to be remembered for their jobs, and the inversion of a particular symbol was a sign of respect for the dead.
On Wednesday, I went out to Hampton Court Palace, far from the city center. There I learned about Henry VIII's lavish lifestyle, and was most fascinated about the kitchen and logistics required to feed 600 people with the most extravagant food for the day. Meat of course was a luxury and roasts required much time and skill to make, and often needing constant watch and turning on the spit by an open fire. Afterwards, I met Aaron for lunch and he took me around Richmond and Richmond Park.
As we were heading home, I got wind of the terrible incident that had happened on Westminster Bridge. It's scary to think I was only there three days ago for the St Patrick's Day parade, and to see the images of the area deserted on the news was quite harrowing. The entire place was cordoned off, and what is normally filled with tourists visiting Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament was empty save for the emergency vehicles and personnel attending the scene. I visited the area on Thursday after meeting Daniela, Sean and Hayden for lunch, just to get a feel of the atmosphere. The area was still cordoned off, but the bridge was open to pedestrians and traffic, and the police presence was definitely more noticeable with regular boat patrols up and down the river. People had already begun laying flowers at the accident site, and reporters had lined the footpaths to broadcast news from the ground. I walked past New Scotland Yard as well, just as a wreath-laying ceremony was taking place, which I assume was in honour of the slain policeman.
Yesterday was super cold and windy, but Aaron took me out to Stonehenge. I was surprised at how large they were, and you can get within about five metres of them at the tourist site. Many of the images I saw online looked like they were from far away. I spent a while walking around and listening to the audio guide (and catching Pokemon as well.) We stopped by the Wheatsheaf Pub near Salisbury for lunch, which was an award winning Steak and Tanglefoot Pie, then visited Old Sarum and the Salisbury Cathedral before heading home for a Chinese meal in Bayswater.
Today - I'm heading off for another adventure! Stay tuned for my next update.
Posted by Jeremy at 1:05pm on Saturday March 25, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
London
Saturday March 18, 2017
I've been in London a week and have covered most of the major attractions. It's been overcast most of the time, and yesterday was super cold, but there were a couple of stunning days where it was definitely shorts weather and it truly felt like spring. The vibe here is way different to Oxford, there's definitely that big city feel. There's so much to see and do, and I love it. It is quite expensive though.
There's so many well-known landmarks that it's not worth listing out all the ones I've seen. Most days, I catch the tube into town and wander the streets. Soho is especially interesting at night, with all its alleyways filled with bars and eateries. I was out at Greenwich yesterday, visiting the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian (which is not exactly at 0 longitude these days, but oh well.) The area by the Tower of London, St Katherine Docks, has tons of hip restaurants and cafes, and the area by the London Eye, Southbank, has some cool food markets and occasionally, free performances inside the Royal Festival Hall.
My wanderings for Pokemon have also taken me to pretty crazy places too. There was a Slugma nest at Stave Hill near Canada Water, a Cyndaquil nest at South Park near Parson's Green and at Golder's Green, and a Houndour nest at Whittlington Park near Archway. There was an Unown spawn in the middle of nowhere where I had to train for 30 minutes, bus for 10 minutes and run for 5 minutes to get there. After dinner last night, I got off the train going home to catch two different lines and run on a full stomach for 200 metres to catch a Hitmontop in Bayswater. There's no doubt I'm getting exercise, but many times I wonder if this game is worth so much of my time. Maybe I'll talk about this in another post.
Things haven't been all peachy though. On Thursday, I slammed my thumb in the stupid door and decided to cancel my day, but felt miserable for staying at home, so ended up heading out and doing a bit of shoe shopping because my hiking shoes are getting a bit worn. Yesterday, I was looking for food in Soho and had a bit of a sad eating by myself. Eating out to me is an inherently social activity, designed to be enjoyed with other people instead of alone. I really wanted to go to this Brazilian Churrascaria where they serve you unlimited meat, but it would have been so pitiful by myself. I'm usually okay being solitary when I'm travelling, but when I'm eating... I could use a bit of company.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:49am on Saturday March 18, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Blenheim Palace and Bath
Thursday March 9, 2017
There's a couple of places that are easier to reach from Oxford than London, so while I'm here, I thought I might as well get those out of the way. Charlotte recommended Blenheim Palace, just a short bus ride north of Oxford, so as the sun was out on Monday, I decided to head there.
Blenheim Palace is massive. It's a little unfortunate that at this time of year, the gardens aren't in bloom yet, but it does mean there aren't as many tourists wandering around. Blenheim Palace has been home to the various Dukes of Malborough, but is more famous for being the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. The front steps were under renovation when I was there, but there was still a lot to see and learn about this residence and the various people who have been involved with this building.
On Tuesday, I took the train to Bath, famous for its Roman baths, built on top naturally occurring hot springs. Again, it's stunning to see structures that are hundreds of years old and so well preserved, and even though it may not be perfectly intact, the remnants themselves have their own stories of how they came to be in that state. I walked from the train station to Pulteney Bridge, then walked around Bath Abbey before spending a solid hour walking around the Roman Baths. The tour is very well thought out, taking you through the background, architecture and features of the bath in a linear fashion. You get to taste some of the spa water at the end - I would not recommend this. It does not taste pleasant.
I also covered the Assembly Rooms, the Circus, Royal Crescent and the Botanical Gardens. All in all, I would have spent close to six hours wandering around; a lot of the tours from Oxford and London also include Stonehenge in the day trip but only give you four hours to explore Bath, which is doable but quite rushed, especially if you are walking around everywhere.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:10pm on Thursday March 9, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
The Cotswolds and Stratford-upon-Avon
Sunday March 5, 2017
On Saturday, I took a day trip to the Cotswolds and Stratford-upon-Avon, famous of course for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. The English countryside, on a good day, shows a vibrant green that I haven't seen since leaving New Zealand, but mainly because every place I've been to has been covered in snow (or Malaysia.) I can finally see why people talk about these rolling hills too. It's very picturesque and full of buildings and structures that are hundreds of years old. There are so many small churches around here. There are houses with thatched roofs made from dried straw. There are dry walls - walls made without cement or mortar because it was too expensive. It's interesting because there's so much story behind all these things, and that simply doesn't exist in New Zealand.
The first stop was to Minster Lowell, a village that had popped up to take advantage of wool production. It was named after the Lovells, who were the land holding family of the area. The ruins of the manor house remain today, and this is where we spent most of our time here.
Second on the list was Burford, home of the church where mutineers of the New Model Army were held captive by Oliver Cromwell. Again, the buildings are rich with history and beautiful architecture. Etched graffiti on the stone of the font in the church still remains, scratched out by one of the prisoners in the church during the mutiny. It's amazing to think it has been there for 400 years and that it can still be seen today.
We continued north to the Rollright Stones, a formation of rocks in three distinct groups: the King Stone, the Whispering Knights and the King's Men, all named after the characters in one of the local myths of the area. A king was met by a witch at this area, who said that if the king could see Long Compton from this position, then the King of England he shall be. Of course, the king could not see Long Compton, and was turned to stone by the witch (the King Stone) who then proceeded to turn the circle of men into stone (the King's Men) as well as a group of mutineering knights (Whispering Knights).
The last stop of the day was Stratford-upon-Avon. We had a few hours to walk around and join any tours of the various important houses in Shakespeare's life. I wandered down to the riverside and admired the gardens and some of the monuments and statues erected in Shakespeare's honour, and then had a quick lunch before wandering further into town. I ended up at the Holy Trinity Church, which is the site of Shakespeare's grave, and for £3, it wasn't too expensive to wander in. Again, magnificent architecture with all sorts of arches and columns adorning the main church area, and some fantastic stained glass windows in the fore and rear.
I was back in Oxford in the evening for a pizza and wine tasting session with Jono and Charlotte's friends, who take their wine tasting very seriously (and competitively!) Of course I had to self-moderate my consumption, and wasn't feeling too bad by the end of the night. We continued to Wolfson student bar and played some darts before retiring for the night.
Posted by Jeremy at 8:27pm on Sunday March 5, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Still in Oxford
Friday March 3, 2017
I've pretty much covered most of Oxford's main sights - the Bodleian Library, the Ashmolean Museum and the various colleges around town like Christ Church, Trinity and Magdalen (pronounced Mawd-lin for some very odd reason). I walked the length of Port Meadow where I found some horses roaming around with no fence separating me and them, and I ambled around the Oxford University Parks and Christ Church Meadow, admiring the spring flowers starting to bloom along the riverside. And Oxford is a nice place, but I'm rapidly exhausting the to-do list. Next week, I'll visit the Natural History museum and take a day trip to Blenheim Castle, but that's basically all I have planned.
I spent the first day of March in London, picking up my biometrics residents permit, which allows me to go in and out of the UK freely, and I also met up with Alice, who took me to various places. We had a traditional English pub lunch of fish and chips, and wandered around Borough Market where I got a Baileys chocolate cheesecake. We walked to St Paul's Cathedral (via a few Pokemon spawns) and went inside briefly to attend mass, as it was Ash Wednesday. Normally £18, entry was free as long as you actually sat down for the service. Night fell as we got to Soho and Alice left to meet another friend. I continued wandering as I wasn't quite hungry yet, catching more Pokemon, because I just wanted to pass time, and then got an average steak dinner before taking the bus back to Oxford. It would have been close to midnight when I arrived, just in time for all the drunk people to be wandering the streets, and let me tell you, drunk English people are not fun.
Walking around London was interesting, because there's a lot to see. The landmarks are all so well known and to see them in real life is quite gratifying. But I have to say, if the Japanese are extremely orderly people, and the Canadians walk on the right side of the footpath religiously, then the English are chaotic and haphazardly wander down the street on all sides of the path. It's certainly a different place.
My blog has been having a few issues too. For some reason, the comments query suddenly spiked in memory usage, causing the database to return an empty set due to overallocation. Furthermore, I finally managed to install working versions of Apache, MySQL and PHP on my laptop thanks to WAMP, but it wasn't all smooth sailing and I'd rather not have to do anything like that again.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:21pm on Friday March 3, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Oxford
Sunday February 26, 2017
I've finally made it to the United Kingdom, where I'm boarding temporarily in Oxford until I figure out what I want to do. It seems there is a high administrative overhead in opening a bank account, getting a tax number and finding a flat, and of course London is one of the most expensive cities in the world. The weather is exactly as I've expected it to be - cloudy and wet - but it is winter after all, and I expect it to warm up over the next couple of months.
It was a very early start in Reykjavik - 5am to be precise - to get to Keflavik Airport on Saturday, but the flight was short and I arrived in Gatwick just before noon with no problems at immigration. The bus to Oxford took two hours but at least it had free wifi. The first thing I noticed upon arriving is how gorgeous the buildings are; so full of character and rich with history. The food scene is apparently quite lacking here, but I'll be exploring the city tomorrow and will give you a proper opinion after I have experienced it myself.
I have at least managed to obtain a local SIM card for myself, and fortunately this deal allows me to roam around Europe with 12GB of data each month at no additional cost. Again, obtaining this was not a trivial exercise and reinforced the notion that bureaucracy is rife here. The app for managing my account and usage was only available in the UK App Store, so I had to create a new account in order to download it, and honestly I was rolling my eyes so hard at just how unnecessarily complicated things can be. Despite all this, it's all sorted now, and I've even managed to catch the fourth regional Pokemon, Mr Mime. That leaves Heracross (South America) and Corsola (equatorial countries), thanks to Generation II dropping a week ago.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:28pm on Sunday February 26, 2017 :: 0 comments ::