Ordinary fool

Ivy's first holiday was up to Northumbria. A week beside Hadrian's Wall, returning via the Lake District. Joined the National Trust: a family membership of course. Lovely.

Photos here.

On the way home from New Zealand we spent three nights in Hong Kong. A fantastic experience that I can't believe I put off this long.

In the middle of a frantic couple of weeks of socialising and conferencing back home in Wellington, Nicola and I took two days out out at Cape Palliser, the southernmost tip of the North Island.

We took a week on the Isle of Wight, in Portsmouth, Southampton and the New Forest for Nicola's birthday. Osbourne House and three castles later, we're finally making on our English Heritage membership.

Nicola and I fled to the Christmas markets in Heidelberg. We found glühwein (mit Schuss: Rum, Amaretto, Cointreau...), würstchen with sauerkraut, and postcard views of the Neckar river overlooked by the shell of the Heidelberg Schloß.

Thirty five. 

Nicola and I visited Woburn, Loughborough, Towcester and Wrest Park this long Bank Holiday weekend. Coincidentally, Nicola comes from the other Woburn in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. I don't want to start a war of comparisons... but this Woburn has its own deer park, wildlife safari, oyster festival (despite being miles from the sea), and resident duke (the Duke of Bedford). The pubs weren't too bad either.

Next day it was good to catch up with the old man in Loughborough. As you can see my Dad doesn't get a lot of visitors these days. The Loughborough region is scattered with fascinating relics of the industrial revolution. The landscape can be quite striking too, as you can see from the heather laden, volcanic crags of Warren Hill.

Surely Towcester should be pronouced "Towster", as Leicester is pronounced "Lester". Instead it's pronounced "Tossiter". After a night in the Saracen's Head, Towcester, we rounded off the weekend at an arts and crafts fair in the lovely grounds of Wrest Park. Pork pies, lemonade and lashings of ginger beer for lunch. Bank holidays are great. Hopefully this nonsense won't catch on.

Last weekend, Nicola and I took a rental car to Bristol, with Danielle and her new guy Mike, whom she met at The Church (that's another story better told by Danielle).

On the way down the M4 we stopped off in the village of Bray to read the menu of The Fat Duck. Michelin voted The Fat Duck the world's best restaurant in 2001. The waiting list is four months long. The set lunch menu, without wine, sets you back £97.50 per person (written out "ninety seven pounds fifty" as if to underline its extravagance). Maybe on my birthday. Needless to say we ate scampi and chips at the local pub instead.

All I really knew about Bristol was that it sported a fabulous old suspension bridge designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I had no idea it was such a gorgeous town. We had a great night out in the regenerated dockside, a blissful breakfast of fish 'n' chips with Cornish caviar (mushy peas) beside the Severn, followed by a lovely Sunday walking over the bridge and through the parks of Clifton. It was beautifully sunny. All this confirmed Bristol as a place to return to with a bit more time.

Unfortunately, that weekend, I left what any photographic talent I have back in London; here are the results anyway.

Nicola and I spent a week and a half in Rome, Florence and Pisa. In theory, the four nights accomodation in Rome were a honeymoon present from my father Nigel and his wife Melitta. When we booked back in the middle of last year we were pretty sure we'd be married by now but... we aren't. Anyhow, thanks guys!

We managed to arrive in Rome just after the funeral, and we left for Florence just before the elections. Good timing, with the only drawback being that the Sistine Chapel was full of cardinals and off limits to tourists like ourselves. No matter; it's a great excuse to return to Rome, the sun, the piazzas, the food, the wine...

Update: I've posted slideshows for Florence and Pisa too.

Brussels was a lot of fun. Believe it or not, DrupalCon 2005, part of FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Developers European Meeting), was my first ever conference. I've long neglected my inner geek. It was all there: scraggy beards, long flowing hair, pasty complexions... My favourite T-shirt read "There are 10 types people. Those who understand binary, and those who don't."

Once that was over we went out in Brussels itself, to celebrate our good news. At the Mannequin Pis (peeing boy), we bumped into a couple we had already met, first on the Eurostar, and then at the conference itself. Fate was clearly determined that the four of us should meet. We stayed out drinking Kwak, Kriek, Orvel and Duvel until 4:30am.

Edinburgh Castle

Nicola and I lived in Edinburgh from February through to September of 2003. We were there for an Edinburgh Festival, but not for a Hogmanay. This year we made up for it and you can see some photos here.