A busy September

I can't believe September is almost over. It has been an emotional month. We started off the month with my usually week long celebrations of my birthday. After my birthday celebrations were over Benny got me into line to focus on packing up our flat. Who knew we could accumulate so many things after two years. We lived in a fully furnished and ended up with too many boxes across two of our friends's basements. We spent two solid weekends packing up and cleaning the flat. Saturday night was our last night there. It was so sad, an end of place very special to us. It is where Benny and I shared so many special moments together such as planning our trips, having many visitors on our couch, dinner parties and dancing in the living room. It was such a tiny flat, more than half the size of our Taringa place. By the end of two years, it felt like home with all our pictures on the wall. I am already missing our walk down Clarendon Drive, the view from our kitchen window, the quirks of the flat, and the amazing deep bath. I am though so excited about our next adventure living with Em and Sam only four minutes down the road. We have found a lovely two bedroom, two bath flat only a few metres from my favourite Putney coffee shop. We move in the day we get back to London.

We only have one more week and a day of work before flying a non-direct route back home.  Our jobs have kindly given us extended leave for our wedding celebrations. All the plans are coming together for one of the biggest day's of our lives. It will be a year this Sunday since we got engaged.  I'm very much looking forward to marrying my best friend. He is the love of my life and our time in London has only made us stronger as a couple. When we arrived here, two years ago we had never spent so much time together. We moved here not knowing more than ten people. Our time here has tested the strength of our relationship. I couldn't imagine not sharing the moments over here without Benny. Travelling together, seeing new parts of the world  and meeting some amazing people along the way. We have discovered little things about each other which we had never known. I am very much looking forward to the rest of our lives together as Mr and Mrs Holtam.

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting the minister who is marrying us. He was over here visiting his son. We met at one of the local pubs and on arrival we were introduced to his wife, son, son's girlfriend and the flat mates. It was such a good evening. We had a couple of drinks and really got to know Philip. We are both are so happy we found him. He is retired from the church across the road from the venue so he has granted our wish to marry us in the garden.

Not long now until we are back in Australia, for five weeks and we return back to London as husband and wife.

A quick update from us

So the Brits gave us a Bank holiday weekend which was very kind of them. Luckily we only had one day of rain on Saturday before we headed out of London for Sunday night. We decided late last week to book something as the weather was looking promising and work has been so busy we needed a break. A few people at work at recommended Great Malvern which is in the Cotswolds. It gorgeous out there. We had yet another disagreement with Enterprise in trying to hire a car to get out of London. Luckily the kind people at Europcar gave us a really nice Polo. After two years living in our flat, five copies of address proof and a UK driver's licence we didn't have enough proof for Enterprise and we failed in their checks. I think we will be staying away from them going forward. I enjoyed driving down the tiniest of country lanes, it felt like driving up people's driveways in Australia. Benny did a brilliant job of navigating and detouring round the many country festivals to celebrate the end of summer. We had a little wander round Malvern, went to a very good local pub that was recommended to us. We wouldn't have been able to find it if we did get the suggestion. The food was served between strict times in a room just off from the pub. It was so tasty and it seemed there wasn't a tourist in site except for us. We left Malvern mid morning, before leisurely driving back to London through some nice towns. I only made Benny stop off a couple of times to have peaks in the antique stores.

The weekend before last started with Benny watching the first game of Liverpool for this year's season plus a load of sport from Australia. We then had the pleasure of going to our friend's surprise 30th. It is scary how time has flown by. It felt like yesterday when we were invited to 21st birthday parties. Instead now we are invited to weddings and 30th celebrations. The 30th was for our friend Josie and it was themed 1920s. I borrowed a dress from my boss and Benny was kitted out by our friend who had way too much fun at the dress-up store. Benny looked very handsome in his bow tie and I had made a nice head piece. We celebrated in a fancy bar in Mayfair to begin before heading out on a night bus to Putney. We ended the night with our friends in a new bar until the lights were turned on and it closed. Sunday, Benny and I shared sore heads and achieved not a lot before heading back to work on Monday. It was a very fun weekend.

This weekend flew by too fast sadly. Benny and I went out for a few drinks after work at a wine bar we discovered a few weeks ago. It is a great concept for a wine bar only stocking British produce and drinks. They have a wide selection of gins, ales and wines. My favourite on the menu is a sparkling chilled red. It is really yummy and a little bit different from what I usually would go for. After drinks we crossed the road for a cheap and cheerful dinner of Thai. It was so yummy and spicy.

On Saturday morning we were up reasonably early and headed out to Em & Sam's place for the night. We were meeting a few friends to spend the day out there. We visited the castle again and had a nice picnic in the Great Park. The night concluded with Indian at one of the best places we have found to date over here.

On Sunday, we headed back to Putney for the afternoon. I baked my first loaf of gluten free bread since my lesson. I still need more practise as I added way too much yeast. It is though very tasty and very filling compared to the disgusting white stuff they sell over here.

A busy three weeks

It's been a while since an update from us here in London. Work has been so busy, I don't remember ever working this hard and such long hours in Brisbane.  Sadly, last Sunday I spend a few too many hours at work. Sigh.

We have tried to relax over the weekends and enjoy this amazing weather. It has been a much better summer than last year. I have successfully worn summer dresses most of the time. Much better than last years attempts of I think five times only. We have been cycling a bit more, playing the odd game of tennis and spending quite a lot of time in Richmond. It took  three attempts to pick up our wedding bands. The jewellery store decided to close due to the fantastic weather.  We have also got to enjoy the British spirit with the birth of Duchess Kate & Prince William's first baby. The news coverage was hilarious as they waited for the birth. The press spent weeks camped outside the hospital.

Last weekend our dear friends in London hosted ladies day/night (a tiny Hen's party) and a boy's night for Benny. We had one early as it had always been assumed we were moving back home in a week or two. My three close girl friends and Emily had a lovely day. My friend Claire hosted a lovely lunch and we had a gluten free baking lesson in her garden. We learnt to make bread, brownies and cookies. It was supposedly Em's first time in an apron. I would like to add, it was mine that Benny had snuck into my bag.  After a few hours at Claire's we headed to the theatre to watch the recently awarded best new production called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It was based on a book I had read last year, one of my favourites. The play was incredible. Hopefully one day it might cross the seas and head downunder. The night ended with cocktails at a great bar and rushing for the last tube which we missed. Thank you London for night buses.

Ben's friends also gave him a good day. Benny started at a local pub renowned for it's ales. They had a really busy day with a lunch in Chelsea, watching rugby at the Walkabout, playing simulated golf, a bit of pool and then finally dinner of ribs at Big Easy. Much to Benny's surprise us girls were out longer than the boys.

On Friday night our friend's Loic and Kristin hosted a dinner party. We had loads of yummy food and fun and we arrived home too late and had slightly sore heads the next day. After sleeping in we went to Richmond to pick up our wedding bands and go for a walk through the park to Petersham Nursery. I have been wanting to go to the nursery for a really long time. It has a Michelin Star restaurant and a tea house all set in the grounds of a nursery. You can sit in the green houses and outside amongst the plants. It is so relaxing and the food was so fresh. We opted for the tea house and enjoyed fresh salads. After lunch we wandered around and I took too many pictures of flowers.

This week Emily is visiting us for a few nights while Sam is working in Greece. I'm starting back at tennis lessons and Benny is busy studying for IT exams. Next weekend we are off to have a weekend in Windsor.

A busy June

So it has been a while between posts we have been busy with work, more visitors and even a wedding. A few weeks back we had a Thursday wedding for two of our very close friends. I worked with the groom in Brisbane many years ago. It was held at a manor house in Surrey and it was absolutely beautiful. The sun came out just in time for the garden ceremony. 

The day after the wedding we treated ourselves to a weekend at the British coastal town of Whitstable. It is about 2 hours by train from central London. We had originally planned to drive their but on arriving at the rental place they declined as we had been here too long without a British licence. Today is actually arrived. Whitstable was lovely and sweet. We stayed in a cute little one bedroom flat just on the high street. Our weekend was spent wandering around the beach front and sampling very yummy food. On our first night we had an amazing meal at Samphire. We tried a recently opened wine bar as well as gastro pub. We made sure we had seafood at every meal as the area is famous for it and oysters especially. 

Our past few weekends have involved a lot of rugby watching and enjoying this amazing weather. I have taken up touch football again which is nice. We play in Regents Park. I never thought on my first visit to London ten years ago that I would be saying that I play sport in Regents Park. It is so lovely especially now the flowers are out. We went cycling on the weekend to Richmond and got to discover beautiful parts of the riverside. 

We have also made the big decision to stay in London for another year. It was really tough and one we debated for many months. We will be home just before the wedding and leave soon after. It will be nice to catch up with family and friends. 

High season on our Putney couch

So it is definitely high-season at our flat at the moment. Two days after Jutta and Sebastian left Dianne and Rick from Perth turned up for just about two weeks. They arrived on Thursday and the very next day we were off to Paris for the bank holiday weekend. I returned on Monday afternoon to Benny waiting for me in the station. Paris was great fun. We stayed a friend who is currently working there. We squished into his one bedroom flat just a 5 minute walk to the Champs Elysees. We were shown a few places only the locals would know. On Sunday we headed to the castle Versailles. Our friend had kindly pre-booked tickets thinking we would skip the queue. How wrong were we. We lined up in the chilly breeze for over an hour watching all the sneaky tourists trying to cut the line. The tricks they use such as taking group photos continuously along the line, skipping a few spots each time. It was quite entertaining. Once in the castle we were like a tin of sardines. The French really don't know how to manage crowds. As we entered each room we could hardly see anything due to the number of people. The best move we made was leaving the castle and exploring the grounds. While we were exploring we came across Marie Antoinette Summer House and a quaint little village designed in 1700s.

On Di and Rick's return on Wednesday we had a night at home and enjoyed a home cook meal and a game of Settler of Catan. As nice as French food is it is very rich. We made a tasty stir fry and I perfected my bread and butter pudding. I would like to add that I am spending a bit more time in the kitchen. On Saturday we hopped on a train out to Windsor to see Em and Sam plus take a wander around Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle was very impressive in comparison to Versailles. It wasn't over crowded and each room had a friendly person to answer any of our questions. It is such a beautiful castle. Sadly we didn't get a glimpse of her Royal Highness.  Em booked the best Indian we have tasted since living here. It is only four doors up from Em and Sam's flat in a very, very old Tudor building. I wouldn't be surprised if the building is older than Australia. On the Sunday, Dianne and I snuck in some lady time and we walked around the shops and had a lovely lunch in my favourite store, Liberty of London. That night we had a picnic in Putney Common with another friend of Rick's from Perth.

On Dianne & Rick's last night we went to one of our favourite little places, Ben's Canteen on St Johns Hill. It was two for one cocktail night. The food was yummy and the cocktails very tasty. Ben's new favourite drink is a Bloody Mary. It was very sad saying goodbye the next morning. It was so nice to have them stay with us. It was also nice of Dianne to top up my gluten free supplies I'm missing from Australia like gluten free version of oyster sauce, vegemite, and corn tortillas.

The Germans are in town

So after a very hectic week of work with a very fun two-day photo shoot it was nice to see the weekend. Jutta and Sebastian flew in on Thursday night as they had a long weekend. Saturday we met up with Jutta's childhood friend who we met at their wedding last year. We had the morning and lunch in Richmond.  We showed Jutta and Sebastian the famous deers in Richmond Park and then lunch by the river. We made the most of the long sunshine and headed to Hampton Court. We had a forecast for rain this weekend and thankfully it held off.

On Sunday we woke up bright and early and headed out to visit Em and Sam in Windsor. We went for a walk around Eton and the grounds of beautiful Eton College. Some of our other friends came to join us a bit later for lunch. Em selected the most perfect pub, the oldest one in Windsor for lunch. It was so delicious. After lunch we went for another walk and stopped in a different pub. Sebastian was very keen to see a 'traditional' English pub so we had to sample a few over the weekend. Another special treat over the weekend was meeting Cuba the very cute Dachshund.  I wish we could get one. We had so many cuddles with him. It was sad to say goodbye to him.

This week Dianne and Rick arrive from Australia and I head off to Paris for the Bank holiday weekend. Benny is staying in London to go to a concert and the rugby.

A long weekend in Amsterdam

So apologies for the delay in updating you on our little adventure. Life has been very busy. It is now feeling more like proper life and not a big long holiday.

We are loving having Em and Sam so close by. We took the opportunity on the bank holiday weekend to go to Amsterdam after work on Friday. We didn't arrive too late and we were met by Chris who let us into his gorgeous apartment called Kiki's apartment just inside the centre of town.  We were really close to great bars, restaurants and shops. After arriving so late we found a great bar with tasty snacks.

We were up the next morning to a good cooked breaky by the boys. We walked around getting used to the many cyclists. We visited the local market, and then into the centre were we had a yummy lunch and saw all the main sights. It was nice exploring the canals and spotting the odd building on a tilt.  We had the most perfect weather. We finished the day at dinner at a Dutch pub. There was not a tourist or English menu in sight. It was so yummy.

On the second day the city was full of football fans as the final day of the season was on. It was perfect timing as we decided to go cycling just out of Amsterdam. We cycled about 25 kilometres. With the long days in Europe it is so great to cycle into the early evening. It is also a bonus that there is not a hill to be seen, so it was super easy. Em and I did suffer from very sore behinds for a few days. We stopped on the way and had a yummy lunch and a few sneaky beers and tinto de verano (maybe Em's favourite new drink) at a B&B.

On last day we made the most of the full day as we had a flight late on Monday night. Em, Sam and Ben lined up for an hour to see Ann Frank's house. This was my third time to Amsterdam so I decided to miss it. We stopped for a quick lunch break before the boys headed to the Heineken tour and I squeezed in a bit of shopping. It was such a lovely weekend. The weather was perfect. We even managed to flash a bit of leg and remove our jackets for a bit. We can't wait for a next holiday with Em and Sam.