Springtime in London

Westminster Cathedral Service

After the tragedy in Christchurch we were really at a loss as to what we should do. It was so surreal seeing your own country like that and being half a world away and helpless. Almost immediately there were fundraisers and charity balls popping up on Facebook, it was through Facebook that we decided to go to the Remembrance service at Westminster Cathedral.

On the Facebook invitation there were over 3000 people attending so we knew it was going to be rammed. We decided to get there almost an hour early to ensure we got a seat, London got down to minus 1 that night and the option of standing outside in the cold was not very appealing. We rocked up and saw about a 100 people we knew from uni and around the place, a bit of a weird time to see people as we were really excited to see them but everyone was still a bit down as well.

We raced in when the doors opened and found a seat near the back. After what seemed like forever the service started. They had a Maori choir who sang How Great Thou Art and then there were readings from the NZ ambassador to England, a NZ serviceman and a Christchurch city councillor. Hayley Westernra also sang the national anthem and Pokarekare Ana which was really nice.

As you would have seen, Hamish and I made the news looking suitably forlorn. In the end, we were glad we went. There were a lot of upset people that made us feel even luckier that all our family and friends were ok. 

 

Highlight: Feeling part of the London Kiwi community  

Lowlight: Obviously the earthquake  

Interesting fact: They had Red Cross people collecting outside and they were actually struggling to keep all the notes in the buckets, when they are used to just collecting coins.



Oxford Cambridge Boat Race

As traditional as Wimbledon or a test at Lords, the Oxford Cambridge boat race has taken place every year since 1829. The story goes that two friends - Charles Merivale, a student at Cambridge, and his school friend Charles Wordsworth who was at Oxford came up with the idea of a boat race between the two universities. And it has proven to remain a tight contest to this day; Cambridge is currently leading the series since 1829 by 80-75.

So we were all excited to be one of the 250,000 odd spectators that line the banks of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake to catch a glimpse of the action. 

We rocked up to Putney with some of our flatmates and hangers on, and were confronted by a HEAP of people. No one really seemed to know what was going on or where to go but they had closed off a lot of the roads and the policeman and horses were out in full force which adds a certain aroma to the air.

One of the first things we saw was a little collection of food stalls. Hamish was hungry (no surprises there) so he went off to buy something. A minute late he returns with a big bag full of pork scratching’s. For those of you who don’t know what they are, basically its crackling. Just crackling. The first one was nice, but by the time we had had about 3 or 4 we were feeling mighty sick. A lesson learned but still awesome.

To get a good view we walked round to Bishops Park and found a riverside spot. We hung round here for ages and then saw the start of the race. The bit we saw lasted about 30 seconds and then it was all over and we couldn’t see any more. So we thought we might check out some of Putney’s finest pubs and found they were rammed and gross so like an old mature couple we packed ourselves off home for a good night at home.

 

Hamish had his official birthday dinner at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant the night before (which was really really amazing) but he wanted caramel apple puffs instead of a cake so he got those when we got home.

Highlight: To be honest, probably the caramel apple puffs (and maybe also getting our hot water back) 

Lowlight: Trying to work out what was going on (you would think after running a boat race for 182 years, they would have been more organised)  

Interesting fact: There are no sporting scholarships at Oxford or Cambridge, so in theory every student must obtain a place at their university on their academic merits, but there have been unproven accusations that these students are admitted to the universities for their rowing skill without meeting the normal academic standards.

Crusaders vs. Sharks

To continue in the vein of our sporting weekend we joined thousands of other Kiwis at Twickenham to watch the Crusaders home game against the Sharks.

Twickenham stadium is the second largest stadium in England (after Wembley) and can hold a massive 82,000 people. The total number of people there on Sunday was just over 35,000 and the stadium felt rather empty!

 We had arranged to go to the game with our friends that we stayed with in Cardiff where we saw the All Blacks play. We headed down on the train and got there early to pick up our tickets. The organisation and the police presence were just massive. Even for a ‘small’ exhibition game like this, they had closed roads and had barriers up everywhere. Not like AMI Stadium!

There were so many South Africans there, I am sure they outnumbered us 2 to 1. They also had South African BBQ stalls set up in the front gardens of some of the house right outside the stadium so there were a lot of people tucking into biltong and Boerwurst. 

We got to our seats, which were right behind the goal posts at the North End of the stadium. Before the game they had some random singers and then the army guys came out with a massive NZ and South African flag. It definitely had a test match feel to it. They had a minute’s silence for the earthquake victims and Hayley Westernra (getting a bit sick of seeing her) sang Pokarekare Ana (again). 

The man himself

The game itself was awesome, it was a beautiful London spring day and in the sun it was super warm. The Crusaders were so quick and up front on defence, Sonny Bill Williams played outstandingly, and it was good to see rugby where they actually score tries after watching all the Six Nations.

After the game we headed back into Victoria with the hordes of people and had dinner with Ned and family before they got on a bus back to Cardiff.

Highlight#1: Seeing Twickenham and the best rugby I have seen for ages.  

Highlight #2: Little Zinzan what a crack up kids can be when high on Coke (the drink). 

Lowlight: It takes sooo long to get anywhere in London  

Interesting fact: Twickenham came into existence as a stadium when Rugby Football Union Committee member William Williams purchased a 10 and 1/4 acre market garden in Twickenham in 1907 for £5,572 12s and 6d.

Adventures in Amsterdam

Hamish was turning 28, what to do? Go and experience the place where you can do pretty much whatever you want...Amsterdam.  
As it was Kelley's birthday as well we decided to overlap our trip with the Battersea Park girls for one of the days.

We landed late Friday night, after Hamish getting tested for explosives once again (you would think in his old age he would be out of the profile). After figuring out the train system (which we found to be the most complicated out of all the places we have been to in Europe), we arrived at Centraal Station. The best way to describe Amsterdam geographically is like half an onion, the core is Centraal Station, and the roads and canals spread out from there.

As accommodation in the city centre is relatively expensive we opted to stay about 15 mins out of the centre by bus. Again finding the right travel ticket and the right bus proved to be quite challenging. But we eventually found our hotel. We then came close to death walking from the bus stop as they have cycle lanes on the regular footpath, and we didn't notice a scooter flying towards us, why not have cycle lanes on the road? why?

We checked in and were promptly told that due to a "glitch" in the system, the hotel had overbooked the rooms and were now full. But not too worry, they have arranged a room in their sister hotel which happened to be right in the city centre, and it is "very nice", and we will get you a taxi. Ok, we said. "Oh and also, because the other hotel is booked out tomorrow, you have to come back here tomorrow night".
Half an hour later we were still waiting in the hotel lobby before the 15 min journey back to the other hotel. Fair to say the hotel was rubbish.
By this stage it was past midnight and we were dog tired, and not really enjoying Amsterdam.

Saturday morning dawned a bright sunny day and we were determined to start afresh. We sampled the hotels complimentary breakfast - typical carbo-o-rific and got a taxi back to our original hotel where we dumped our bags and headed back into the city to our first destination - Anne Frank House.  
We met Kelley there, and we joined the queue before it opened at 9am. The museum itself is set up in the actual office and apartment block that Anne and her family were hidden away in for over 2 years.

Me and Anne

The rooms are kept as they were and it was very humbling to see the space where 8 people were hiding and trying to live normal lives, never being able to go outside. The original copies of Anne's diaries were on exhibiton as well as a video of her father after the war (he was the only family member to survive the prision camps after they were betrayed by an unknown person), and interviews with people that knew her before she died of typhus, just one month before the liberation.

It was a very good and detailed museum and like the prison camp we saw in Berlin, it really hit home that these terrible things were only happening 60 years ago. They also had on display the actual Oscar that Shelley Winters won for her protrayal in the movie "The Diary of Anne Frank".

After the museum, we wandered back to Dam Square, which is like the hub of the city. We grabbed a coffee and sat in the sunshine watching the thousands of British tourists walk by in their football shirts and loud voices. The one thing we really didn't like about Amsterdam was the loutish British tourists.

First of many canal shots

By the National Monument

Clog central

Green cheese

We joined the free walking tour at about 11am, along with Krystal and Kate. We explored the red light district first up, where there are girls of all shapes and sizes that rent out windows for about 800 euros a day. Interestingly prostitution only became legal about 10 years ago in Holland. Our guide showed us the Oude Kerk ("old church"), Amsterdam’s oldest parish church (built in 1306) which is in the middle of the red light district. The story goes that Catholic sailors who docked in Amsterdam and took part in the sex trade needed to repent their sins in a hurry before getting back to their ships, so this church was in a handy location.

Next up was the Nieuwmarkt square, which is dominated by a building known as De Waag, originally a gate in the Medieval city walls but converted into a weighing house after the walls were demolished in the 17th century.

The square was created when the canals around the Waag were filled in 1614, and was used as a marketplace (hence the name). In World War II the square was used by the Nazis as a collection point for Jews who had been rounded up to be sent to the concentration camps.

The Jewish quarter was basically destroyed during the war, not from bombs but from poor Dutch people raiding the houses for any wood they could find - the winter of 1944-1945 was the coldest winter on record in Europe (bad timing ay). The area was pretty much left as a ghetto until the 60's when the Dutch government gave the rebuild project to a group of pot smoking hippy architects. Which means the area's buildings are all heinous and bright yellow....


The next wee gem we found was the Hofjes garden, a collection of inner courtyards and beautiful little houses that used to be occupied by women who were Dutch reformed, either belonging to the Mennonite, Lutheran or Catholic churches. Even today only single women with no children over the age of 35 can live in these houses. The gardens themselves were extremely well kept and as we were just about in springtime, you could see all the new flowers popping up all over the place. 
 

Our final interesting spot was the monument to the homosexuals. Clearly, Amsterdam is one of the most liberal places in the world and their attitude towards homosexuality is the same. The Homomonument is a memorial to all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their homosexuality. It takes the form of three large pink triangles made of granite, set into the ground so as to form a larger triangle, on the bank of the Keizersgracht canal, near the historic Westerkerk church.

Starving, we thought we would do as the locals do and try out their version of fast food from a chain called 'Febo". This random shop has bascially vending machines for hot food, their main speciality were these potato and beef croquette things, they looked foul but surprisingly delicious.

 Feet thoroughly sore, we were determined to keep moving. We hopped on a tram to the southern part of the city - Museumplein which is where the Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum (Dutch National Museum) amongst others are housed.

We chose the Van Gogh museum and waited in the short queue before waiting in the even longer queue to hand our bags over, as security was tight. The museum itself isn’t that big, but it is nicely separated into different areas including artists that influenced Van Gogh, his own work and artists influenced by Van Gogh himself. The museum was opened in 1973 and averages about 1.5 million visitors a year. The highlights were the sunflower painting, but not a lot else to be honest.

Cultured out we decided to have a bit of a break in the sun and sat in the park full with locals taking advantage of the spring sunshine.

After that we went back to the girls hostels to have a few drinks at the hostel bar before heading back into the city to a local bar to meet some of Krystal’s Dutch friends. We had a nice meal (nothing amazing) and sampled the local brews, it was so nice not having to drink out of pint glasses for a change! Our intention to head out and party the night away quickly disintegrated and we ended the night eating caramel waffle mcflurries at Mcdonalds. Quite possibly the best thing I have ever eaten.

We made our way slowly back to the hotel and collapsed.

Highlight #1: The weather, the beautiful canals and the lovely old buildings.
Highlight #2: The Dutch people, their attitude to life is we don’t care what you do to yourself, but they care when it affects other people.
Lowlight: Being too tired to fully experience Amsterdam’s nightlife.

Day 2
We allowed ourselves a sleep in on the Sunday morning (which is very unusual for our trips away) and tried the hotel breakfast which was much better than the previous hotel.

We set off to the Heineken Experience museum, we managed to get a little lost on the way but happily we found the monument for Rembrandt and the flower market instead. Rembrandt was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and print makers in European art history where his contributions to art came in a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age.

 

 The flower market was awesome, it was about 20 stalls right on the edge of a canal, obviously the Dutch are famous for their tulips and you can see why, the number of colours and varieties and they are so cheap! A bunch of 50 for 7 euros ($14NZD). We also found a Kiwi fruit plant for sale called ‘Jenny’. 
 

Anyway, we found the Heineken Experience museum. I initially had my doubts as it was quite expensive, but I soon changed my mind. The museum took you right through the history as a family company, their brewing techniques and their marketing. One of the best bits was where you got to go on this ‘ride’, where you watch this film and your seats move around, essentially we were the barley and then it went through the whole process of brewing beer. Then we got a drink with a specialist beer taster who suggested that the best way to drink Heineken was in big long swallows, (how convenient) but I have to admit it does taste better that way!
They did such a good job of marketing, I was quite inspired! Obviously they are involved with a lot of sport sponsorship, and they had special exhibitions on the Rugby World cup and the UFEA Champions League. They also had an area where you could record a music video and send it to friends (which I think you have all received, fair to say that I am the one with the best rhythm in this relationship).

We then got to cash in our 2 free beers, the bar was awesome, they had TV screens running around the whole perimeter of the room that were showing 360 degree views of a city, so it felt like you were in a roof top bar in a different city in the world, and they also had these touch screens on the bar leaners so wherever you put your beer down a Heineken beer mat would appear. We ended up buying a selection of old Heineken ads on postcards but we could have bought a lot more, they had a very cool gift shop.

Keen for some fuel, we headed back to Museumplein and had a filled roll in the sun, and also tried to get a good photo of the Iamsterdam sign (pictured) which was quite challenging.

Amsterdam has 2 parts, the nice happy culture side and the seedy side. In order to say we experienced all of Amsterdam we thought we better check out the Sex museum as well. Fair to say I walked out of there feeling very weird. It basically did what it said on the tin, enough said.

Whilst we were in the red light district we thought we better visit the namesake of Hamish’s rugby team – Susie’s Saloon. We found the bar on the edge of the red light district on the banks of a canal. It was a very western (like cowboys and Indians type western) and a very cool pub to enjoy a Heineken in, or a coffee in Louise’s case who was very very tired at this stage.

After the pub we realised we didn’t have much money left and we needed to get to the airport so we had a nice cheap meal at an Argentinean steakhouse and began the journey back to the airport where we hung out before getting on a very late 9.30pm plane.

We finally got back home about midnight and found that once again the boiler had packed it in and there was no hot water. Welcome back to Fulham.

Highlight #1: The Heineken museum was a very pleasant surprise – just shows you, you should try to do everything!
Lowlight: Very very sore feet and the boiler.