Everyday Life in Zone 4.
By Bryce.
Although we are living in Zone 4 we are only 15 minute from Baker St Station which means travelling throughout London to different places isn’t too much of an issue. Behind our flat (complex of about 10 two bedroom flats) is a large franchised pub so it’s a bit more expensive than the pubs down the road near our tube stop (Wembley park) but has a huge beer garden which has a good view of the new Wembley Stadium arch and just see the London eye in the distance. From the front of our flat you can see the whole stadium about 150 meters away. Travelling on the tube is ok with plenty of trains mostly all on time. The biggest issue is peoples BO, not just men.
I’ve worked at the stadium a bit doing electrical maintenance work (if you can call it work) at the live earth concert (chilly pepper, foo fighters from about 20 meters away), metallica concert (which was an eye opener) and Man Utd vs Chelsea (at times no more than two meters from the pitch), I’ve also worked in Beckham’s box (with large football pictures of himself on the walls) and the Chelsea box but no one was there at the time. The Chelsea box is quite grand with a giant glass dinning table and letter couches.
There seems to be a lot of electrical work in the city with 90% of the work force foreign, I’ve worked with Poles(many early 20’s couples who are here for the pound and don’t seem to want to mix in English culture. One guy said there was no culture in England but when I asked if he knew anything about the country he had no idea of even the obvious things), Portuguese (laid back and cool), Australians, Kiwis, South Africans (black and white), many African nations you only hear of at the Olympic opening ceremony, Indians, Moroccans, Kenyans, West Indians (lots of cool handshakes and slang), Zimbabweans, one Ex Nepalese Ghurker and a couple of devout British Muslims who after a few conversations seemed a bit out there, one said he cant wait for the war in Iraq to finish so they can start a jihad in Britain. One guy was white and well educated and even the other Muslims on the jobsite said he had a problem. After a week they kicked him off site even though the foreman was shitting himself and for a day or so we all were a bit concerned. The other Muslims I’ve meet are lovely caring people who are so open to explain there religion and lifestyles without forcing it down your neck, compared to some of the black African Christians on the jobsites. The way the white South Africans talk about the state of there country is very interesting compared to the way the black South Africans see it. A lot of the whites I’ve meet between 20-30 say they will never go back because a lot of them are losing there jobs to blacks who are a long way from qualified for there position because of ‘Affirmative Action’. They believe this is happening in every field of employment over the country. But on the other side one black guy told me of some of the atrocities that his family and friends experienced in the dark times of there country. Now members of his family can become anything they want to be and go to university and study what they want and not be told what occupation they will do. The whites believe there economy cannot sustain the financial loses from the down turn in qualified labour and will soon be on its knees, many say they want to move to Australia.
Over the past few months I’ve been working at a financial estate next to Liverpool st station which is becoming a bit of a drag compared to the jobsite l was on for the first three months. Working with an Italian and a Pole who have poor English is becoming frustrating and in the electrical field that can be a little dangerous. I’ve done some night shift work at Sky TV (Foxtel) studios which consists of watching full sky on a Lcd TV until about eleven o’clock then they pull out giant mats and sleep till six o’clock, then off to my normal day job. I work most weekends coz the money is good. I miss working on the large jobsite I was on only because of the different cultures and people I meet, but I’ve caught up with a couple of guys since. All the work I do is through an agency which is perfect for when we travel but you only get paid for the days you work, but the money is good so it all works out pretty well.
Outside of work we have been to Lords a couple of times to a test match and a county 20/20, done a tour of the pavilion, good mushroom and chicken pies. Went to the tennis at Wimbledon had strawberries and cream, didn’t realise how close to the court you can get. Sight seen all the London stuff big names and did a tour of the tower and went up the wheel on the weekend just gone. On Katrina’s (my cousin) birthday we did a jack the ripper tour which was great. I’m working right near some of the murder scene at the moment and it’s pretty cool to walk the streets on my lunch break. Spending probably to much time in the London cafés, but fried eggs on toast loaded with butter with red sauce and a cup of tea is a growing man fuel(just side ways not up). Most nights are spent watching Eastenders (fantastic soap) or at the pub watching cricket/footy. Our memberships to Arsenal have finally come through and since we became members they sold Henry (my reason to follow them) and Freddie Ljungberg (Caitlin’s reason for following them), but are flying at the moment. We went to watch them in a pre-season comp at the Emirates (new home ground) against Paris St Germaine and on Wednesday night we are off to see them play Sevilla in the Champions League. Tickets to the footy here are hard to get, you can’t get a ticket without a membership and Arsenal have 180,000 members with a ground capacity of 60,000, making them the second richest club in Europe behind Real Madrid. Off to a Xavier Rudd concert next week, but refuse to go to a Walkabout pub (Australia theme pub) ever again after we went to one with Lockie Grace and his girlfriend Anna to watch Geelong play the Kangaroos and heard someone say “oh, Lamby’s would be going off tonight”. The concert is next to a walkabout.
The weather has been great over the past few months but the nights are just starting to get colder and its getting dark by 7.30 pm, winters on its way. Hope every ones births, pregnancies, engagements, jobs, new houses, footy/netball finals and lives are all well.
Oh, here they don’t have cruisers so I drink cider or shandies!
Cheers Bryce.
Text or email if you care. (+44 7 94 232 6012.)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Stockholm, Amsterdam to Normandy
Mont Saint Michel
Poffertjies
Normandy
Brugge and Bryce at the Ice Bar
Brugge and Bryce at the Ice Bar
Poffertjies
We have been back from our last trip about two weeks now and have found it hard to find the time to update the blog, but here goes. Four weeks ago we flew to Stockholm in Sweden which was a lovely city and the capital of Scandinavia. We spent three days there enjoying the city. The slower pace to the city compared to London was a welcome change. The city was similar to a few places in Europe where there is a newer post war side of town compared to the old preserved medieval side of town with peaceful cobble stone undulating streets, featuring quaint cafes, restaurants and shops. Quite happy with that sentence. The highlight of the trip was a night at the Vodka ice bar which consisted of a choice of seventeen Absolut vodka cocktails served in frozen iceblock glasses. We had to dress in silver cloaks with white furry hoods and black snow gloves, quite attractive. The drinks were fantastic, but it was bloody cold. You could only spend about 30 minutes in there, before it became to cold.
After Sweden we flew back to London and connected to Amsterdam after a night at the airport. Sleeping over night in an airport is crap!!!!!!!!!! Once in Amsterdam we spent some entertaining times in the areas you spend when in Amsterdam. Watching blokes come and go and trying to look incognito is just funny. We hired some push bikes and road around the city along the canals which we’d earlier taken a relaxing river cruise along, and found some great local places in the city. Good pofferjies. Leaving Amsterdam by hire car we drove through Holland down to Belgium to stay in Brugge for the night. Once there we meet a guy at the hostel who was keen to show us the sights of the city, so we headed into town. Once there we watched a parade which only occurs every five years and we knew nothing about. The costumes and performances of the people were amazing. The city was fantastic so we decided to stay for an extra night. Although it was a city so close to the front line in both world wars it has been untouched for centuries and a real step back in history, great chocolates and Belgian waffles. At night the city was illuminated and we walked the old streets scoffing chocolates.
Leaving Brugge we travelled to many of the WW1 battlefields and cemeteries where Australian soldiers fought and died. Places such as Tyne Cot, Ieper’s, Paschendale and Polygon Wood. Beautiful, peaceful and fitting locations for such amazing people. The pictures of the battlefields and the stories of what the people endured during the war compared to county side we travelled through was an unbelievable contrast. From this point on the trip turned into a WW1 and WW2 education. Leaving Belgium we headed to Normandy in France. We stayed in a small seaside town (Bayeux) central to all five D-Day beaches. We drove down to Saint Mont Michel; an old Abbey built on an island with fantastic views of the Normandy country side and Atlantic Ocean.
Back in Bayeux we visited all the landing beaches and several museums. We spent time at the large American cemetery overlooking Omaha beach and saw the most amazing sunset over Point Du Hoc surrounded by destroyed German gun batteries and giant craters in the earth as a resolute of massive allied bombing runs on the morning of d-day. We spent time in many of the locations from ‘Band of Brothers’ following many of the soldiers stories from a book to actually being there for Bryce was a dream come true, and felt like we were living history. Knowing that we were standing on the locations (beaches) were such horrendous events occurred was not just eerie but thrilling (for Bryce anyway). Caitlin just like seeing a beach again and smelling sea air.
Driving ourselves through these countries was an experience in itself, giving us the choice to go our own direction at our own pace instead of a tour. Driving on the other side of the road was at times comical but so frustrating particularly in Belgium. We rarely noticed the change in the quality of the roads and lack of signage compared to Holland and France, although we got so lost in Versailles (grant palace and gardens) we some how got from the middle of the city into real slums then the countryside, some how we ended up on a motorway not knowing where we were until all of a sudden there was the Eiffel tower and a five lane double highway to the airport (About three times the size of Melbourne airport). As we approached the airport we missed all the signs to Budget hire car drop off and ended up in the basement of some car park when all of a sudden there is signs everywhere for Budget car drop offs. Just plan dumb luck. The stress of it was horrible and just as things seemed too deep; the light at the end of tunnel comes through. The beauty of travel.
It was a great trip with fantastic food, cheap french wine, experiences and history. Our next trip is to Berlin and Prague via Dresden from October 20th for a week, and will be looking forward to have some else drive us this time.
After Sweden we flew back to London and connected to Amsterdam after a night at the airport. Sleeping over night in an airport is crap!!!!!!!!!! Once in Amsterdam we spent some entertaining times in the areas you spend when in Amsterdam. Watching blokes come and go and trying to look incognito is just funny. We hired some push bikes and road around the city along the canals which we’d earlier taken a relaxing river cruise along, and found some great local places in the city. Good pofferjies. Leaving Amsterdam by hire car we drove through Holland down to Belgium to stay in Brugge for the night. Once there we meet a guy at the hostel who was keen to show us the sights of the city, so we headed into town. Once there we watched a parade which only occurs every five years and we knew nothing about. The costumes and performances of the people were amazing. The city was fantastic so we decided to stay for an extra night. Although it was a city so close to the front line in both world wars it has been untouched for centuries and a real step back in history, great chocolates and Belgian waffles. At night the city was illuminated and we walked the old streets scoffing chocolates.
Leaving Brugge we travelled to many of the WW1 battlefields and cemeteries where Australian soldiers fought and died. Places such as Tyne Cot, Ieper’s, Paschendale and Polygon Wood. Beautiful, peaceful and fitting locations for such amazing people. The pictures of the battlefields and the stories of what the people endured during the war compared to county side we travelled through was an unbelievable contrast. From this point on the trip turned into a WW1 and WW2 education. Leaving Belgium we headed to Normandy in France. We stayed in a small seaside town (Bayeux) central to all five D-Day beaches. We drove down to Saint Mont Michel; an old Abbey built on an island with fantastic views of the Normandy country side and Atlantic Ocean.
Back in Bayeux we visited all the landing beaches and several museums. We spent time at the large American cemetery overlooking Omaha beach and saw the most amazing sunset over Point Du Hoc surrounded by destroyed German gun batteries and giant craters in the earth as a resolute of massive allied bombing runs on the morning of d-day. We spent time in many of the locations from ‘Band of Brothers’ following many of the soldiers stories from a book to actually being there for Bryce was a dream come true, and felt like we were living history. Knowing that we were standing on the locations (beaches) were such horrendous events occurred was not just eerie but thrilling (for Bryce anyway). Caitlin just like seeing a beach again and smelling sea air.
Driving ourselves through these countries was an experience in itself, giving us the choice to go our own direction at our own pace instead of a tour. Driving on the other side of the road was at times comical but so frustrating particularly in Belgium. We rarely noticed the change in the quality of the roads and lack of signage compared to Holland and France, although we got so lost in Versailles (grant palace and gardens) we some how got from the middle of the city into real slums then the countryside, some how we ended up on a motorway not knowing where we were until all of a sudden there was the Eiffel tower and a five lane double highway to the airport (About three times the size of Melbourne airport). As we approached the airport we missed all the signs to Budget hire car drop off and ended up in the basement of some car park when all of a sudden there is signs everywhere for Budget car drop offs. Just plan dumb luck. The stress of it was horrible and just as things seemed too deep; the light at the end of tunnel comes through. The beauty of travel.
It was a great trip with fantastic food, cheap french wine, experiences and history. Our next trip is to Berlin and Prague via Dresden from October 20th for a week, and will be looking forward to have some else drive us this time.
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