The Land of Scots

ah yes! scotland!

we went to edinburgh for the weekend and had an absolute BLAST!

like my dad said 'we are creating wonderful memories'

well...with all the alcohol consumption i'm not sure how many actual memories we'll have but we are pretty sure we had a fantastic time!!

we flew there on saturday morning. dumped our bags, had a big pub lunch and walked to the footy stadium for the big match between Australia and Scotland.

for those of you who don't already know...we absolutely kicked scotland in the back side! something like 37-15!

such great atmosphere with all the scottish men in their kilts and bagpipes and those little purses they wear in the front with their hip flasks of whisky to keep their 'nether regions' warm. it was FREEEEZING cold!

turns out we were sitting right next to a guy lachie went to school with Oliver (and his girlfriend mel)! massive co-incidence!

so we ended up spending the rest of the arvo and night with them and meeting a few of the wallabies players. won't go into details as...they are a bit fuzzy. but the photos are fun!

the next night, after a day of wandering around german and french christmas markets, hanging out with our new/old found friends, we went for dinner with an old friend of the Love family-Pam. we learnt that the history between Pam's family and the Love family goes back 5 generations and 150years! we ended up meeting her whole family and extended family and dogs. we had the best roast-ever. eating good beef these days is like swimming in fresh water. BEAUTIFUL!

we were lucky enough to stay till monday and do the 'sites' like the castle and the underground streets. lachie had black pudding (LovED it!) for lunch and then we flew home.

we had a 'unforgettable' experience with our CRANKYass taxi driver from the airport-home.

finally tumbled into bed around 11pm so happy with our fantastic weekend! we really loved what we saw of scotland and will for sure go back with our car and explore properly. it's so wild, rugged and the people are absolute characters.

yay! life is good!

ohmygoodness! the 'non-kids' kiddie swing. it went sooo high and so fast! i had tears running down my face from fear, wind and laughter. so much fun!

lachie and lovely pam

the magnificent edinburgh castle. it's built on volcanic rock and there used to be glaciers going through the valleys so you can imagine how rugged, wild and beautiful it is.

edinburgh-there was christmas markets, rides and ice skating

that's about as high as the sun got all day! it was COLD!

with the man of the match-stephan larkham

he was a bit of 'alright!' robbo is the no.1 prop for the australian team(between us) went to the same school as lachie.

i was pulling this face because i didn't really dig the young, arrogant, wanker.

no offence! before the game- bagpipes and a big marching band!
a beautiful building we later found out is now apartments but used to be a school

big fun weekend

lachie going a bit crazy with some blue lights in some trees by the london eye! Ahhh...big ben and westminster abbey
NOW you can properly see st pauls cathedral, the gerkin and oxo tower
london eye and westminster abbey (awesome pics by lachie, the night pic pro)
(i love) richmond park

more big fun weekend!

richmond park

(can you spot the deer?)

on the wharf at brighton
Anna, Jen and me at WINDY brighton

wild sea at brighton
autumn trees in richmond park

what a big fun weekend!!

Back in Ye ol' London town

Straight back into the swing of things. I arrived back into London at 6.30am on Monday and was in at work by 9am. Dedication. I managed to get 4 seats from Bangkok to London and rested all the way. I'm very use to flying so 24hrs on a plane these days is no big deal. I brought the London weather home with me and brought the Sydney weather back, its so warm, 15+deg.
I had such a great time at home catching up with everybody, seeing my family and friends and doggies :) I even managed to do white horse cup and marathon board a Palmy. Thanks everyone for such a great time!

Some great friends - Anna, Heather, Dave (Glaso) and me

This was at the pub while we were waiting for a table at Phamish (Sal's and my favourite restaurant in Surry Hills) I love going there as its the whole experience. You can't pre-book tables so you go early, put your name down, head up to the pub for an hour and then they call you when the tables ready. Perfect night out!

Down at Collaroy with the friendly life saver Brent

Cherry, Brent & little ScoutScout and IScoutMum and I at U2

Sally's cousins Carla and Corey (they were a bit freaked out when they saw me as I sold them our tickets after U2 cancelled the first time and didn't know i was home)

U2 on stage - The concert rocked!

While i was waiting in the massive Qantas check in line I spotted this. There is actually a section in the airport dedicated to my great grand father Nigel Love, but I'm always in a rush and never can find it.

I think I packed a whole years worth of stuff into 10 days at home!

So back to the grind. We have Edinburgh on the weekend of 25th Nov for 3 days to watch the wallabies smash Scotland. Our great friend Jenny is arriving tomorrow from Germany for the weekend. Camilla's friend Griff coming for a few days early Dec. Skiing in France over Christmas. Hopefully Switzerland in Jan, Skiing in Aspen late Feb and about a million other things in between. So much to do, so little time!

canal walk

pretty swan surrounded by autumn leaves

yellow tree in hyde park mcmansions in primrose hill
going under the bridge

little venice!

ali and i about to embark on our walk through the canals

this is our colourful wall with photos that mum sent over

we love lying in bed and talking about all the fun places we've been
this is our room with steamed up/frosty windows on a brrr saturday morning.
did you know there is a little venice in london!? i didn't! over the weekend ali and i explored a little bit of north london. we did a walk from 'little venice' to camden markets (about 5kms), it was fantastic! i'd definitely recommend going there. all these quaint old barges made into restaurants and homes. and camden markets are always a crazy feast for the eyes, tummy and wallets (well no feast, but famine definitely for the wallets!)
lachie is home now. i picked him up for the airport safely yesterday morning. i kept warning him while he was in aus that it was getting REALLY cold here and it really was but he's finding it hard to believe because it seems to have warmed up again. i

won't speak too soon...

tonight lachie and i are off to see a play called 'a moon for the misbegotten' it's directed by kevin spacey who is also in the play. it's playing at the old vic (for those of you who know) apparently it's meant to be a FANTASTIC play, perfect for 'date night'.

our favorite german pal jenny is coming into london on thursday night and we've got a massive weekend planned! so excited! there is always something going on and something to do in this wonderful town.

a day in the life of...

we live at the top of this street and walk down it to get the train into waterloo every morning. yesterday was a beautiful morning with the sun rising (around 7:45). not a cloud in the sky and VERY crisp!i walk through this archway and down the driveway every morning.

i work in a magnificent old building area called 'the charter house' i think it was built in around the 1400's.

Love autumn!this is walking through the meatpacking district of london (barbican) where i work

yes i see and smell stinky dead meat on my way to work every morning. but at night this place really lights up and gets a pumping!i catch the bus to and from waterloo,

lucky me gets to go over waterloo bridge every day TWICE a day!

it's my favorite view in london, in this picture you can sort of make out

'the london eye' a big ferris wheel, big ben, the westminster abbey (probably my favorite building in london!). this part of town is so well lit up! looking the other side of waterloo bridge you can see st pauls cathedral, the gerkin and the OXO tower.
this is a gallery with the london eye behind it.

love all the blue lights!
i took my camera to work on the perfect day!! not a cloud in the sky yesterday which meant it was 'brisk' to say the least. it's for sure cooled down in london town. but i tell you now...i am so in love with this city! it's so vibrant, alive and inspiring. i was a little bit sad to leave london last weekend for brussels as it was guy fawkes weekend which means LOTS of fireworks in england. now i am so happy i left for that weekend because when we flew out of london and flew back in it was just after 8:30pm and especially on sunday night i saw the WHOLE of england putting on the most incredible display of fireworks i've ever seen! i could see all these little towns all over england with fireworks coming out of them. i had goosebumps! (although maybe that was the airconditioning). i love london!

this weekend, with lachie still in aus, ali and i going into oxford circus to view the christmas lights that were turned on last night by the oh so sexy peter andre and his even sexier wife 'jordon'. tomorrow we are going for a big walk through the canals of north london and finishing off at camden markets for a bit of christmas shopping. on sunday we always have a 'family meal' which is generally a roast (yum). this sunday it might include a family friend of lachies Andrew Hutchinson.

happy days in this wonderful town they call LONDON!

i love belgium ya!

oh my goodness hot chips and duvel...candles!!

what could be more appropriate for lachie and i!?

beautiful bruggeyeah man, peace out and stuff sun setting over the tower in the main square of brugge
ahhh...chocolate boobies! just what we all need...

i like brussels ya?ya?

yes we saw the mannequin pisss LOOK AT ALL THE BEER MAANNN!

this was just in a 'touristy/7-11' type shop
we found brussels soo eclectic

lots of gothic buildings which are my favorite style
did you know tin tin comes from belgium?

he was EVERYWHERE!
our token FAVORITE beer.

we tried this first in amsterdam and

this beer was the main reason for wanting to go to belgium in the first place.

ahhh...LOVE la chouffe!

Royal place in brussels. very eclectic and very beautiful!

this photo was specifically taken for lachie to drooool over the high alcohol content.

12%! nasty!
feeling the love after a few...to many!