U.K.
30th October
31st October from a cold London!
5th November
10th November
12th November, leaving for Italy.
20 December, Moira's notes of London
Back to Brazil
On to Italy
30 October
We do not fly out of London until 13th November.
Moira will be staying in Balham too. She’ll be at 159 Ramsden road that must be somewhere close to where I am.
I am supposed to be staying with my friend Derek from this Thursday that is out in the far suburbs.
We went to the Italian tourist office and the Cultural Centre today.
We’ll probably go to Perugia from Roma (only 2 hours by bus) and try to organise cooking and language from there. It is also only 2 and 1/2 hours from Florence so should be central for a 6-week stint. We’ll try to find something with 3 beds for when Marcia joins us!!!!!!
I’ve had real trouble trying to find an Internet cafe here. We are in a music store right on Piccadilly Circus at the moment that amongst other things has Internet! We wandered through Liberty this arvo but it’s incredibly expensive. Who can afford it????????
I have two jumpers and some thermals and will have enormous trouble working out which wardrobe to wear each day!!! I had forgotten how everywhere is heated but it is freezing outside meaning that you are constantly putting on and taking off jackets and jumpers; it’s a real pain. Roll on warm weather!!!
Love to all - I'm jealous of your Coburg trip. It will not be the same without me tho!!!!
Index...
Tuesday, 31 Oct
It is FREEZING here and wet and grey!!!!!!!!!!! We did not really expect anything else but the storm that raged yesterday and last night was apparently severe!!!!!!!!
We had an uneventful flight across although it did feel like a very long evening and the plane was full. We left Rio at 2100 hours and arrived at Heathrow midday the next day just having had breakfast on the plane!!
We had more difficulty getting ourselves around Heathrow and to Moira's friend Annie's, at Clapham, than we have had in any other non-English speaking country!!!!!
We managed the underground eventually and then at Kensington South Moira fell into the London taxi and crawled in on her knees. That was something to do with the weight of the pack and the low level of the cab!!!!
Because we had a few hours to fill in Rio we decided on a hair cut for me, well it turned into a trim for Moira and both of us had a henna tint too. WELL, it surely is hennaed even tho I specifically requested a little less red and more brown!!! When we escaped the salon we looked as tho we had had an accident with an orange stain. They managed to get it over half our faces as well!!!! We did not notice it in the subdued lighting of the salon but when we hit daylight!!!!!!!! And it was VERY EXPENSIVE to add insult to injury.
We raced back to the hotel trying to look as though nothing had happened, raced upstairs and started scrubbing. Alas, alack, we had to go to the airport in the same state of disrepair. I do hope it looks a little more sedate by the time we see Marcia!!!!
Out of time, it is even MORE expensive here.
Love to everyone Jane
Index...
5 November
Hard to find Internet sites here.
I am now staying out in the suburbs. It’s oh so dreary, just like parts of Canberra!!!
Moira's phone no in Balham is 02086754485. I am in Piccadilly now awaiting her. We have been separated for a week now.
I am not sure whether I will be able to meet up with Marcia in London but I am sure Moira will be able to. We are probably meeting at the airport at this stage.
All we know we are doing at this stage is going to Perugia and then looking t see what s available. We’ll include Marcia in the cooking bit if is timely. I think a cooking course will be expensive judging from what we have seen.
Glad you had a good time in Coburg. I am sure it was wonderful.
It has been very wet and cold here, with extensive flooding in some parts too.
Must go and see if Moira is outside waiting.
Index...
10 November London
Book me up for Coburg the first weekend I'm home in mid-March!!!!
We sent another 7 rolls of film when we first arrived here, so you will probably receive them in the next week or two.
Mail from England only seems to take about 5 days to Australia; a slight change from the other places??!!
I have not had the chance to write for a while. There are not many Internet places obvious here in London. We have used one at Piccadilly Circus but the keyboard was dreadful and it was expensive too. I am now out in Hainult at the moment. It is Derek’s place in the suburbs on the border of greater London.
I’m in Ilford now, filling in some time until I go home. I hunted high and low and found this Internet shop and I am the only customer!
I came to Ilford to get a new pair of multi-focals to replace the ones I lost or had stolen in Brazil. Fortunately I was not carrying around old glasses for nothing!! This place is incredibly expensive and the glasses cost equivalent of $750. For that price I did not get the same quality lenses, or anti-reflection coating that I had on my old ones which I thought expensive at $500. Hopefully insurance will cough up for it all.
I have had to visit a dentist as I've been nursing a broken tooth for the last 5 months that has progressively crumbled away on me. That’s another bit of pain in the pocket as well as the mouth!!! The tooth requires a crown when I get home and I just hope the temporary filling lasts the time.
Moira and I have been separated for a week now. She is still in Balham with Annie having her morning cappuccinos and almond croissants at the cafe just around the corner from Annie and Steve’s place.
In Hainult I have suburbia minus a nice cappuccino joint!!!
Derek has taken a few days off work so we have been playing tourists. Unfortunately the weather has been cold and wet.
I have not managed to catch up with everyone this trip.
I have taken yet another series of bridge photos for you George. We visited the Tate Modern gallery on the Southside last Sunday. One of the millennium projects here was the Millennium Bridge, a footbridge over the Thames to the Tate Modern. Apparently it was only open for a week when it was closed as being too dangerous due to the swing!!! It cost some millions and they still haven't solved the problem as it remains closed! I find the aesthetics of the design most pleasing!!!
We walked along the Southbank past the reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe theatre and also visited Camden markets. It was very crowded. I think it must be where all the weirdos hang out these days. Punks, Gothics and S&Mers. The people alone were interesting apart from all the Gothic and SM shops and food stalls!!
I have discovered that clothing and music from our youth is called "resurrection" as opposed to "flashback" in Brazil.
I have had a few walks in the countryside and they invariably end up in a visit to the pub. English pubs are much more interesting than Aussie pubs!
Had a great afternoon with Liz's Aunt Elizabeth at Russel Square. Although 88 she is mentally alert although a little restricted physically. She took me out to lunch and it was great to catch up. I am going in to visit her again tomorrow.
The First stop after meeting up with Moira yesterday was cappuccino at the St Martins-in-the-Field crypt coffee shop. That was followed by an exhibition at the National Gallery called "Telling Time". It was all about the way people view paintings and see in general; very interesting. Of course Moira and I could have told them all about this anyway as we never "see" the same thing even when we are looking at the same scene!!!!
After this we wandered over to the South bank and looked at another of their millennium projects, the London Eye, an enormous Ferris wheel. We did not go on it because I was respecting Moira's fear of heights!!!
Further along was the Tate art Gallery and a quick viewing. The following movie cost $24 for one ticket!!!!! The film was “In the Mood for Love (???)” It was a Chinese production, with Spanish music!! Far too deep for me, I could not follow it. It was also very slow. It was one of those highly recommended type movies that Dad would have said to avoid just because the critics gave a recommendation. He would have been right this time!
The cinema was in Soho so we decided on a meal in China town. It has become very up-market since I was last there. There are no more of those funny little places with formica tables.
I don't think we have said much about Brazil have we? Moira has written something but not sent it to you yet. We didn’t do justice to the country the way we visited it but the guide books all seemed to say that 3 weeks was not enough and choose a few places only.
Next time it will be very different. I keep saying that I was disappointed but I guess that so many people visit Rio, and Brazil that the people are suffering from tourist fatigue. They were not very friendly, but I can't say they were unfriendly. They were just not interested in talking to you.
The smog and polluted water were disappointing because the place must be quite spectacular when weather and water permits.
It appeared that personal presentation is very important and people dress well and indulge in all the beauty aids available. We have been told that liposuction is the way to go to have those beautiful figures!!!
Nearly every street corner has a fruit juice shop which sells all manner of concoctions for health and beauty. We did not get to try anything other than the usual fruit juices, and avoided the additives that are available!! We’re beautiful enough I say!!
The beaches all have designated football, volleyball and fitness training areas and there were plenty of cyclists and joggers around.
In Salvador we saw the most beautiful and fit bodies out there on the beach. In comparison we were a bit like dirty old women!!!!! Interestingly we didn’t see any topless bathing and the bathers were not particularly brief (not real g-strings) as we had expected. Mind you, there were not many exciting one-piece bathers in sight, so Moira and I won that one!!!!
The hairdresser was an adventure too. Apart from orange hair episodes, when the women go they seem to be attacked from all sides. There would be someone on their fingers, another doing their feet, and another their hair, and all at the same time!! There‘s barely room to move around in the salon! When your hair has been washed, cut and blow-dried for hours on end, they might put a bit of mascara on your lashes and send you on your way!!! All at great expense from our experience.
Moira has been having a good think about our Brazil bit so think I will let her write it up for the site!!! lazy bugger I am!
It is time to be off home to cook Derek his dinner!!!!!
Lots of love Jane
Index...
12 November
We are off to Rome tomorrow.
I haven't spoken to Marcia yet, but will try this arvo. I haven't heard whether she and Moira caught up at all.
Will write again soon from italy.
love to everyone
Index...
20 December, Moira's notes of London
Jane and I arrived and caught the tube to Clapham Central and then tried to catch a London taxi to Annie’s place. We tried hailing down a few with little success and finally managed to stop a taxi that would give us a ride.
I had some difficulty in trying to take off the pack and enter the cab. Thinking that the cab was big enough to take us both (the pack and myself) I soon found myself on my knees in the back of the cab trying to gain some dignity, to Jane’s embarrassment.
London is still the same old London except there are many foreigners speaking differently languages including the English.
It was great to catch up with Annie and her family, Steve, young William, and little Emma. It brought back a lot of memories of not only our times in Darwin but also the mayhem of having children who have a busy life.
They have a beautiful flat that is currently undergoing great renovations.
Most mornings began with a cappuccino and an almond croissant at a coffee shop around the corner.
As Annie worked a couple days we spent her "free" days visiting the art galleries and shopping both in town and at Portebello Road.
One of the weekends, we went to watch young William learning to play rugby. He obviously has some talent that has come from dad.
I spent one day catching up with Jane who was staying with her friend Derek, walking the canals from Camden Town to Little Venice and visiting the markets of Camden Town.
The boats on the canals were not working through the week in winter or was it their autumn. It certainly felt like winter and I was grateful for the woollen pants that I had made in Peru and the alpaca jumper. You certainly get sick of wearing the one pair of pants and jumper.
We had an early celebration of Annie's birthday at an Italian Osteria, Antia Bologna. The food was fantastic and the company great. The waiters were talking to us in either Italian or French or was it English.
I also had the opportunity to catch up with some long lost cousins from Fiji, Gwen, her husband Don, son Peter and Elsey and Noel. Gwen told me to catch the train to Romford. When I rang British Rail they told me that it would take 5 hrs to get there. I needed to catch the plane the next day. After trying to apologise to Don that I could not make it, he told me to catch the tube and would pick me up at the local station. This only took 1.5 hrs.
I caught the tube to the airport only to find that it was not going all the way through to Heathrow. Passengers had to get off and wait for the Heathrow train. I had 1 hr before my flight was due to leave. When I arrived I did not know where I was suppose to meet Jane but soon found her in the toilets with 15 mins to board.
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