Wales

Before I mention my foray into Wales, I went with Ariane to the Scissor Sisters concert at the O2 centre at North Greenwich (conveniently just down the road from Ariane). I'm not a dedicated fan but they know how to put on a good show. At the end everyone was up on their feet, except the people next to us, who must have forgotten to switch on their fun genes that day. I mean c'mon! It's the Scissor Sisters!


I decided that after almost two years it was high time I actually ventured into Wales and headed off to Cardiff for the day, amidst warnings to 'be careful' and promises to 'not wander into the dodgy parts'. Ok, so it's a bit rough around the edges but the city centre is charming. Lots of Victorian arcades, wide streets, and it's FULL of pro-Wales shops selling you all manner of Welsh-related paraphenalia. I resisted the temptation to come home with lovespoons, the welsh rugby team home and away kits, teatowels with welsh poems emblazoned on them and fridge magnets with welsh lasses frolicking amongst the lambs and daffodils. Alright, so I bought something with the dragon on it...

The Millenium Stadium & Welsh Tartan

I strolled past the Millenium Stadium - very impressive - and the animal wall that leads to Cardiff Castle. It was such a beautiful day I didn't want to waste a second of that precious sunshine by taking a tour of the interior, as I figure I'll come back. I did wander around the grounds, up to the old Keep and watched the medieval activities - archery, juggling, falconry, sword-fighting, and a wonderful puppet show about the bold Sir Gawain. It was great fun, full of audience participation (booing, hissing and hurraying).


Even Goths like puppet shows!



Afterwards I strolled through some of the arcades (Castle St Arcade is one of the best) and the Cardiff Market, and marvelled at the large teenage goth population bravely wearing black in the intense heat, before making my way to the National Museum and Gallery. I had read in the trusty Lonely Planet that Cardiff had the best collection of Impressionist art in the UK. I must confess, this amazed me, so I thought I'd check it out. I had the good fortune to go there while there was an exhibit on why Cardiff had such a collection. Basically two Welsh sisters inherited pots of cash, and were the first people in the UK to begin collecting French Impressionist art. Their governess was deeply passionate about art, and her brother was an art buyer and advised them on most of their purchases.

Lonely Planet does not lie. The collection was amazing. I was literally squealing (my apologies to the other people there) everytime I went into a new room. These sisters had major pieces of impressionist art - and I'm talking about pieces that most people who know nothing about art would have seen before. 3 Monet 'Waterlillies' and 'Westminster', Pissaros, Renoirs, Turner's 'The Storm' series, and Rodin's sculpture 'The Kiss'. And many, many other priceless paintings and sculptures. The sisters served as nurses in France during WW1, and were understandably disturbed by their experiences. When they came home they set up a community where people could recuperate - sort of art therapy I suppose. They were great patrons of just about everything cultural in Wales - choirs, education, writing etc. Their brother was an inexhaustible campaigner for world peace. Neither sister married, so when they died their collection was gifted to the Welsh people.

Did I mention that the museum, gallery and all the special exhibits were free? I love Wales.

Althorpe

In July we finally made it to Althorpe, ancestral home of the Spencer Family, and resting place of Diana, Princess of Wales. As you can see, it is quite a beautiful home, and the family have an amazing collection of art and books. There isn't a great deal of landscaped gardens, but that somehow made it seem much more of a real home, and you could tell that people do in fact live in that house. All the couches were arranged for maximum conversation, and in amongst the objects d'art were board games and leafed through magazines.

There was an excellent exhibit on Diana's life - complete with THAT wedding dress - which had all kinds of letters, and school reports, and keepsakes that give you a feel for what a typical young girl she must have been. And there was a lot about the various charities she supported. I hadn't realised but during the last year of her life, she completely scaled down her involvement to 6 charities so she could devote her time and attention to them. My favourite bit was her dress collection - from 80's tragic Sloane Ranger to 90's chic designer muse. Ah, Versace. Genius.

Live Earth Concert

My friend Yvonne was able to lay her hands on tickets to the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium for herself, Neil, Fiona and I. Man it was awesome! Well over 70,000 people, and top bands like Genesis, Duran Duran, The Black Eyed Peas, Metallica, The Beastie Boys...
I'm sure I will never go to anything like it again.

The standouts for me were Snow Patrol - who completely rocked the place, despite their slow ballady-type songs, and the Foo Fighters. Just brilliant. Paolo Nuttini was a disappoinment, as I love him, but he was quite incomprehensible (ok, so he is scottish, but that's no excuse) and he didn't sing my favourite song of his, New Shoes. The only person I didn't see was James Blunt, who is the musical equivalent of nails on a blackboard to me. The only thing I would suggest is that next time, have less artists so they can perform for longer. You'd just start to get into it and they'd finish.
Ah, the usual beer cup chain...


Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters rocks Wembley


Fiona takes a power nap

Me with Fiona and Yvonne

Bank of England/City of London

I recently went on a tour of The Bank of England with Dave & Cuffy. For obvious reasons you can't take photos, but the chap in pink in the photo is the doorman. Apparently the servants of one of the governors of the bank wore this uniform, and it's stuck. Hmm. Pink. Those poor servants.
Naturally the Bank is wonderful inside, and even has a courtyard garden. It's not as old as it looks though. As the Bank grew they realised they needed bigger premises, but by this time they were surrounded by other lovely buildings. So they deomlished the inside, leaving the outerwalls intact, and built upwards instead of outwards. It was only finished in the 1940's, but still has many of the original fixtures and features.

These next pictures are of the area surrounding the Bank.

Statue for James Greathead who inventing the machine that made cutting tunnels for the tube possible.
The 'Old Lady of Threadneedle Street': the Bank of England

Hawaii

I was sure I would get to Hawaii and just wilt like a lettuce in the humidity, so it was a surprise to find Hawaii not very humid at all. In fact, being quite a sun-worshipper, it was bliss!

It was absolutely fantastic to see my friend Jen again. I met Jennifer at High School in Augusta, Kansas, when I was an exchange student, so we tend to only see each other every six yearson average, but time and distance has very little effect on our friendship. I know this is a very rare thing, so her friendship is very treasured by me.

Jen moved to Hawaii a few years back to do a short stint as a guide at the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour, where she met her husband Billy, so she's still there four years later. Billy is in the US Navy and is away on deployment for 7 months, so unfortunately I didn't get to meet him. Next time Billy! But I got Jen all to myself, and she always is the best host. Jen now teaches History at several of the Universities on Hawaii, and as a fellow history buff, she knew the sorts of things I'd be interested in seeing.

Because I got to see Oahu with a local - and one with access to the Military bases, I got to see the REAL Hawaii, the one that doesn't make it on the glossy tourist brochures. We drove almost every inch of the island, which was way bigger than I thought. The scenery is breathtaking and dramatic and the beaches are stunning. But there are also places that look like shantytowns in Africa and tons of homeless people that live in tents on the beach. I think it's hard to find jobs that pay ok and Hawaii is an expensive place to live. I am in awe of Jen's driving. Now I hate to stereotype, but as a witness to near-accidents almost every day on my way to school in Korea I feel qualified to make sweeping generalisations about asian drivers. There is a huge asian population in Hawaii and driving there would leave me both enraged and terrified if I had to do it endure it on a daily basis as rules and road markings are largely ignored.

On my first day we went out quickly to the Arizona memorial so that I could meet Everett, a friend of Jen's who is a Pearl Harbour survivor. That was a real honour, and it's nice that some of these (now very elderly) men give their time to meet with the tourists that visit the Arizona every day.

We also went for a bit of a drive - Waikiki, the beach where From Here to Eternity was filmed, and went out for dinner to La Bamba, a great Mexican restaurant. I can also heartily endorse a restaurant called Pyramids where we had the best Eygptian meal of my life.

I first saw the Arizona Memorial as a 7 year old, and was surprised at how well I remembered it, although it obviously has more meaning for me now. You view a film about the attack before you board a boat that takes you to the memorial over the wreck of the Arizona. Even now, you can still see patches of oil on the surface of the water around the wreck.

I went to the USS Missouri, the battleshipship where the Japanese officially surrender to the United States and ended WWII. It's massive and very impressive considering what an old vessel she is. I also went to the newly built Pacfic Aviation museum where you can view the planes that were involved in WWII and to the USS Bowfin, a submarine. I've always wanted to go on a sub. It was so cool! We went to Bellows Beach which Jen rates as the best beach on Oahu. It was stunning - soft golden sand, and hardly anyone in sight. the water was lovely and warm. Seems almost wrong doesn't it kiwis? We went to most of the bases on Oahu like Hickham, Fort Shafter and Ford Island, so I got to see things that tourists can't get to, like the wreck of the Utah, plus I had Jen's vast knowledge of where things were, such as Japanese bulletholes still visible in the concrete, and we even found the mast of the Arizona which has just been removed from the water.
The wreck of the Utah

On Wednesday I hit the mall in Aiea, where Jen lives, and I was reminded why I love Americans so much. Their service is incredible, and they really are some of the friendliest people you can meet. Jen finds it frustrating that while the Japanese tourists can get every comfort of home, there are many things she can't get in Hawaii that are easy to get on the mainland. Still, I am always floored by the sheer choice offered in American stores and had great fun shopping at places like Macy's and even the local supermarket - Jen, I forgot my American Flag jello mold! (It was only 40 cents, a bargain.) My best buy is my 'Derek Zoolander Centre for Kids Who Can't Read Good' t-shirt. You have to have seen the movie Zoolander to appreciate it...

On Thursday it was time to soak up some Hawaiian history so I went to the Mission Houses museum to learn about the first Christian missionairies who went to Hawaii. The scope of their mission was awesome, and not only did they attempt to write down the Hawaiian language, but thanks to the missionary schools, within 40 years most Hawaiians could read and write in their native tongue. I strolled past the famous statue of King Kamehameha at the court house and did a tour of Iolani Palace, home of the Hawaiian Royal Family before they were overthrown. While small, it is lovely and a testament to what an educated and sophisticated man King Kalakaua must have been. Built in 1882 it contained all the modern conveniences of the time, like indoor plumbing and telephones, and it had electricity long before the White House. You can see the quilt that Queen Liliuokalani made while she was imprisoned in 1895 after an attempt to restore the monarchy was made. For the record, I did not go to a luau. They are cheesy and besides, being from New Zealand and having exposure to polynesian cultures I think we find such things less exotic than Japanese or American tourists.

The best bit was simply getting to hang out with Jen. I had a ball. Thanks for such a great time!

If you ever overnight in LA and stay near the airport, I recommend the free trolley bus that takes you to Manhattan Beach and the Manhattan Beach shopping mall (it looked huge). I had a day to kill, so I hung out at the beach. Much better than being stuck in a hotel room, or worse, at LAX.

Wellington

My week in Wanganui was over all too quickly. The weather packed it in as I predicted, so it was a very cold and blustery day when I got to Wellington.

My week at work was great, although I did wonder what on earth I was going to do to occupy an entire week at first. When I arrived nothing very comprehensive had been set up, and the whole training took a mere hour and a half. So the rest of the week was spent taking the training one more time, just for good measure, and then having meetings to catch up on what was happening with the various projects. Fortunately most of the people I had meetings with were friends of mine, so it wasn't an arduous week at all.

It was a very stimulating time actually and it made me realise how much I miss having a job where I am actually require to use my little grey cells, so finding a decent job will be high on my list of priorities from now on.

I got to catch up with all my old workmates and even with some of the ones who don't work for DIA anymore such as Robyn, Gareth and Troy. I also ran into loads of old friends on the street on my way to work every morning, so that was very cool. Wellington is such a village. Love it!

I got to hang out with Monique, Kara, Cameron and Rebecca (thanks for a great dinner Cameron! He's a good cook, all you single ladies out there...)and also with my brother. Mum and Dad came down to Wellington for my last weekend, and we had a very successful day of shopping, although I am still horrified at the prices we pay for things in NZ even when I convert it to NZ dollars. Rebecca also showed Mum her fantastic classroom, which is done up in true Rebecca-style, and shows off the classwork to perfection. As a visual person, I want to be a kid in her class! There's all sorts of cool things on the walls. Dad and I of course, were relegated to outsider status as Mum and Rebecca spoke in their teacher jargon. So many acronyms....

I had a fun night out dancing at Electric Avenue with Kara, Cameron and Maria to 80's cheese. Lots of Madonna, Whitney Houston, Billy Ocean, Tiffany and Wham. I was sorry at call it a night at 2am, but I had to be up early to go shopping. A girl must have priorities.

On my last night I went with friends and family to The Black harp for dinner where we watched the All Blacks v Canada, which was not quite the walk-over that was expected, but was hardly a nailbiter either. And how glad am I that Dan Carter has decent hair again!

Wellington has chaged quite a bit since I was last there. Developments seem to be going on all over the show, especially along the waterfront, and Queens Wharf looks like it won't be such a White Elephant afterall. I still love Wellington more than anywhere else in the world - even on a cold, wet, blustery day.

Wanga-Vegas or Bust!

Rebecca and I got into Wanganui in the afternoon, after throwing my mother off the scent by calling her that morning to wish her a Happy Birthday and to give her a reminder to please take lots of photos of her party to email me in London. Mwahaha! We whiled away the hours doing the shops of Wanganui - doesn't take long - and by going to see Pirates of the Carribbean 3 (a bit disappointing, but Depp & Bloom more than make up for the stupid plot).

We went off to my Mum's school, as she was having the party in the school hall, where my brother was waiting eagerly for our arrival. We hadn't even gotten out of the cab when he was off! Julian announced that he had gotten Mum a special present for her 60th, and that someone had brought it all the way from Wellington. In walked Rebecca, much to my Mum's delight. She is always referred to adopted daughter No. 1 by my parents who caused great confusion at Rebecca's wedding by claiming to all and sundry that they were her REAL parents. Rebecca is definitely my Mum's spiritual daughter - they have been known to give me the exact same card and presents, and they read the same books at the same time. Spooky really...

Anyway, Julian announced me, and I walked in. Mum was so stunned she just stared at me for a good 5 or 6 seconds until it dawned on her that I was real, and then she was off like a rocket to give me a hug. Everybody was cheering or crying or both. It was a very, very special moment, and the look on Mum's face was worth all the planning and those lies. The cool thing was I got to catch up with all my family and family friends at the party. As you can see from the photos I was one of the folks leading the charge to use the karaoke machine. I did a particulary rocking version of Pat Benetar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot :- ) I don't have any photos of Mum's face when I walked in, but lots of other people do, so I'll post one when I get it. By the way, when my brother announced a special guest was coming, Mum thought she was getting a strippergram!

Dad of course, being the smart man that he is, had deduced that I was coming after his chat with Jack, but kept it to himself. My brother is terribly pleased with himself that he was the only one who knew I was coming and managed to keep it secret for months. FYI, the walking stick Mum is holding is a birthday present from Cheeky Cousin Graham. Couldn't have done better myself.

This week in Wanga-Vegas has been great. Mum took Thursday and Friday off work, and has taken me to almost every cafe! I've caught up with the rellies and friends, and even Ann-Marie was able to stop by on her way from Wgtn to Auckland. It was lovely to see her as she was the one person I thought I'd miss seeing this trip.

I've had lots of doggie-cuddles and taken them on nice long walks. Mostly I've just relaxed, and read books and watched DVDs (I thoroughly recommend Nanny McPhee and My House in Umbria). Wanganui is actually looking quite good. The UCol is building a massive complex by the riverfront, and a tram is almost up and running. There are cool boutique shops and galleries everywhere, as Wangas is getting very arty.

It's been quite yuck weather - lots of wind and rain, but I don't mind, it's so nice to be home. I've missed those green hills and the forests and the Nu Zild accent on TV (I still have a crush on John Campbell. He has such marvellous hair). Craig Parker and Angela Bloomfield are back on Shortie Street. Suzannne Paul has won the latest Dancing with the Stars. April Iremia is still in the Woman's Weekly. Dan Carter is still flogging Jockeys, long may it last. Things seem outrageously expensive - $4 for a piece of slice in a cafe, and these are Wanganui prices. I'm not even going to mention the house prices for fear of depressing myself. The story of that poor women who's oxygen was turned off by the power company has absolutely outraged the nation, and rightly so. My Mum and her colleagues are having to deal with the gang problems stirred up even more by the shooting of that little girl, as many of the children at her school have family members who are in the Mongrel Mob or Black Power. And yet, also one of the main stories in the Wanganui Chronicle the other day, was to announce the retirement of a chap who has campaigned vigorously for more public loos in Wanganui, alongside ads for the local Market Day. So all is not lost.

Off to Wellington next week for work, and am really looking forward to catching up with my friends and cousins and just soaking up the atmosphere of Wellington. And then to Hawaii. Life is rough, isn't it.

Sydney

I got into Sydney a couple of hours before Rebecca, and I was soooo excited to see her. Our holiday there was fantastic - it was awesome to be able to catch up on almost 2 years worth of conversations, and just hang out and have fun. I think Rebecca was also pleased to have holidays when everyone else was working and the kids were in school.

The week was, shall we say, shopping-centric. We didn't get up to much in the evenings - we discovered a great Tapas place down the road from our apartment - it's charm was added to by the adorable waiter, so we went there twice. We also saw Spider-man 3 at the IMAX, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to see a movie with Rebecca. I'm sure our poor neighbours found all our inappropriate snickering and laughter very annoying! We did lots of dedcadent things, like have cherry ripes and coke for breakfast, and stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing music and chatting.

We did squeeze in some touristy stuff too - the Opera House, Cockle Bay, Darling Horbour, Taronga Zoo, the ANZAC memorial, St Mary's Cathedral, and a recital at St Andrews by the Town Hall. And as you can see by the photos, the weather was incredibly sunny and warm.

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It was one of those blissful holidays where everything goes according to plan. We were both struck by the friendliness of the Sydneysiders, and Rebecca was also struck by the less frentic pace of life, compared with Wellington. I thought Sydney was beautiful, and took a zillion photos of the harbour. We were left in a quandry on our last day though. As the apartments we were staying in are privately owned there was no reception where we could leave our luggage. But there was one in the place next door, so I cheekily asked if we could leave it with them for the day. The lovely man behind the counter only wanted a bottle of coke in return, and it turned out that not only was he from Rebecca's hometown of Carterton, but he was the cousin of her Dad's best mate. Ah, small world.

Singapore

As many of you London folk will know cause I've been waffling on aobut it for months to anyone who will listen, I'm away on a month-long 'working holiday'. The main reason for the trip was to surprise my Mum for her 60th birthday. Mum is awaiting an operation and can't travel. She's dying to come over to visit me so I figured well if Mohammad can't go the the mountain, the mountain must go to Mohammad. Or something like that.

My trip started out with me sitting at the airport enjoying a leisurely breakfast when my phone rings with a frantic Renee, my workmate, saying "Ange, we think Jack has let the cat out of the bag. Your Dad called here at work, and Jack yelled out to ask us what time your flight was. We're not sure if he heard though". I thought to myself, 'If you've ruined my surprise I'll blimmin' kill you Jack Harris!!!' My poor workmates were left with strict instructions to tell my parents I was in a meeting if they called, and Renee would text me and then I would call them back. It was just my bad fortune that Jack is a terrible ditz sometimes. I'm sure my workmates must have given him hell for it. So I called Dad and did damage control saying Jack was mistaken, I was off to the Flower Show but Jack thought I was going on holiday for the Bank Holiday weekend. Dad seemed to buy that. Oh the lies! I tell you, this surprise lark has made me into a terrible liar.

When I got on the plane I was almost struck dumb by the British guy sitting in front of me actually making conversation with me and offering everyone sweets. I swiftly deduced he was not from London. Wayne was in fact from Manchester, and it was his first time on a plane. His girlfriend had gone home to the middle of nowhere, Australia, to have their baby girl (born the previous day) and he was off to see them. So he was flying non-stop to Sydney, then flying to Brisbane where he would then take a five-hour bus ride. Yeah. Rather him than me. I also quickly made friends with the young man next to me, Li from Singapore, who had been on holiday in London. He gave me some good tips on what to do in Singapore, bless him.

I got into Singapore at 8am and sprang into action right away. I chucked my main luggage into storage and trundled off to Pasir Ris station where I met Simon, who was taking a guided tour of Changi, the site of the POW camp in WWII. Now I was raised watching Tenko and such things, so I was very interested in it. The beauty of the tour was that much of it was on a lovely air-conditioned coach, as Singapore was stinking hot.

What makes Changi interesting to me is that unlike most of the other Japanese-run POW camps, women and children were also interred there. There were huge ex-Pat populations in Singapore and Malaya when the war broke out, and that the Japanese invasion of South-East Asia would not be stopped by the might of the British Empire was unthinkable. So by the time everyone realised that they were in serious trouble, it was too late for many of the civilians. The Japanese sank many of the evacuation ships, so many of the women and children kept in these camps had already survived sinking ships and near-drowning. They also interred many native Singaporeans and people of Chinese descent, as many Chinese-Singaporeans had funded the effort to get rid of the Japanese when they invaded Manchuria. Simon's grandparents were among them.

The Japanese were merciless and all those who were at Changi suffered terrible hardships, even the children. But there are many stories of heroism, self-sacrifice, and especially of sisterhood amongst the women. There is little left of Changi Prison now - just a watchtower and a wall, but the Changi museum depicts all too well what life must have been like. When they weren't working, both the men and women ran 'universities' - if you had any knowledge about anything at all, you would run classes for your fellow prisoners. One man after the war applied for an engineering job and put down under 'Education', "Changi University". He got the job. Whether his employer had heard of Changi and sympathised with him, or just had no idea where Changi University was, we'll never know. Anyway, if you want to learn more - especially about what happened to the women I suggest watching the excellent movie "Paradise Road" which came out about 5 years ago.

After a quick nap at my hotel, I ventured forth to the Night Safari at Singapore Zoo. I'd seen it featured on a travel show a few years ago and thought 'If I ever get to Singapore I'm gonna do that'. It was excellent, made more so by the woman who hosted the show. After greeting the audience at length in six languages, she was off on her one-woman stand-up comedy routine. I got to see all sorts of nocturnal animals, some native to Singapore and some from all around the world, like wolves and owls. They even got a 'macho' guy up out of the audience. wrapped a boa constrictor around him, and pretended to run off. If that was me I think I would have died on the spot as I have a ridiculous fear of snakes.

The next day I went to Raffles, Clarke Quay, Chinatown and Little India which were great. I'm calling Singapore Asia 101: Asia for Beginners. It's so easy to find your way around as everyone speaks English and the signs are in English. Anyone who's never been to Asia before would love it, as it has the asian vibe without the obvious poverty or language difficulties. Public transport is amazing and the food is incredible. The most I paid for a meal was $6 Singapore dollars (about $4nz or 1pound 50 p)

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The Chelsea Flower Show

I recently had the good fortune to attend the Chelsea Flower Show with Fiona, Neil & Debbie. It was a lifelong dream to go - my Dad went as a child and met the Queen there - and it was well worth it. They'd been showing highlights of it on tv which helped me, as the creators of each garden went around explaining what they were trying to achieve with each garden and what things symbolised.

We went for the cheapest option, from 5:30pm - 8pm, which gave us enough time to have a good look around. Apparently it's a bit of a bun fight during the day. It's held in the grounds of the Chelsea Hospital, where the old veterans still wander about in their uniforms looking dashing. Well, as dashing as you can be when you're a geriatric. Around the outsides are stalls selling all manner of things garden-related: ornaments, furniture, gloves, wellies, and even art. Then the gardens themselves are clustered around the main pavillion. They were all supremely well-designed and must have taken loads of time to plan, and put together. The majority of them were in aid of some kind of charity like Cancer Trust or Amnesty International. In the main pavilion they had smaller gardens and the plants or blooms which I guess were judged individually. There was also flower-arranging (lots more men do this than you'd think...). I don't know how they could possibly judge the gardens as they were all spectacular.

England's Green & Pleasant Land

On Saturday, Debbie and I went on an 'Original London Walks' Tour to the Peak District. London Walks, as their name cleverly implies, do walking tours around London. Apart from being awesome value at £6, they are great because of the calibre of the guides, who are all 'qualified' and many of whom are actors or historians, so they know their stuff and how to spin a good yarn. At certain times of the year they do day trips out of London as well.

We left St Pancras (which should look amazing once the Eurostar renovations are complete) at 8:20am - knowing that Monday was a Bank Holiday so I could have a sleep-in was a comfort! Debbie & I quickly got chatting with Caralee, a very nice American who is here on a 6 month secondment with CNN. The shared interest of travel always proves to be a great ice-breaker. Our guides were Hilary and her husband David. Hilary used to teach in the Peak District and her enthusiasm for the area was very evident.

After a 2 hour train trip we got out at Chesterfield and hopped onto a coach, where we were driven through the countryside to the village of Eyam. We were very lucky, as due to the usually warm weather the bluebells were out in force. After the craziness of London it's always good for the soul to get out into the countryside, and this area of England is breathtaking. Lots of rolling hills, stone walls, picture-postcard villages, gamboling lambs. You get the picture. Bliss.

Here cometh the history lesson. The story of Eyam (pronounced eem) though not a nice one, is quite inspirational. During the 17th century the plague came to Britain, and was for the large part, mostly contained to that glorious den of iniquity, London. In September of 1665 the plague was brought to Eyam by fleas festering in a cart full of linens for the village tailor. When several people started succumbing to the disease, the village Rector William Mompesson, called the villagers to a meeting in a nearby dell that was a natural amphitheatre.

As the people of the time were all pretty clueless as to what was spreading the plague, the Rector asked the 800 villagers to make several important decisions. The first was that in order to avoid contamination or bad air, they would no longer meet in the church, but there in the dell. The second was to bury the dead not in the sacred ground of the church, but in their gardens and farms as yet another measure to avoid contamination. Such a thing was unheard of and I imagine had implications for your immortal soul back when only suicides were buried outside of the churchyard. You can still find these graves around Eyam on private property.

The third decision is the most amazing, and that was to quarantine themselves to stop the plague from spreading any further. By doing this the villagers knew that there was a good chance they would die. With the financial backing of a neighbouring aristocrat the villagers cut themselves off completely. We walked through some fields out to the boundary stone where provisions were left by the neighbouring villages, and you can still see the stone and it's holes where they would leave coins doused in vinegar as payment.

Hilary told us the story of a young girl who was in love with a man from a neighbouring village. Once a week she would sneak off to the dell to see him. They would simply stand about a field apart, and just wave at each other, to let him know that she was still alive and well. In April he turned up, and she was not there. He returned again and again, but she did not. When the quarantine was finally lifted a few months later, this young man was one of the first to enter Eyam. He found out that she and her entire family had died. Around 250, or roughly a third of the villagers died. I think that in our world where we humans do such terrible things to each other it's nice to be reminded that we are also capable of doing heroic and incredible acts of selflessness too.

On a bright note, Debbie and I had the best fish and chips we've had yet in England for lunch :- )

The reason we know so much about the plague in Eyam is interesting too. A few decades later there was a young new Rector and for some unknown reason, a baby was christened in the local pub. The Rector had a good time partying with the locals, and as a bit of a joke, was 'married' off to the pretty barmaid. Unfortunately for this chap, the Bishop found out and was furious. He told the Rector that he had made a mockery of the sancitity of marriage and had better now honour the marriage. The Rector can't have been too bothered by this as he and the barmaid went on to have 9 kids, but he was engaged to another young lady, and she was bothered! She sued him for breach of promise and won, and was therefore entitled to take all his things. To stop this, the Rector hit upon the cunning plan of moving into the church - as the baliffs couldn't take things from sacred ground - and lived there with his family for the rest of his life. As he couldn't leave the church much for fear of being arrested, he had a lot of time on his hands, and it was suggested to him that he write the history of what had happened in Eyam.

In the afternoon we headed off to Chatsworth, the ancestral home of the Duke of Devonshire (even though it's in Derbyshire...), whose resident Dowager Duchess is Deborah Mitford, perhaps one of the less controversial Mitford Girls. Even though she's in her nineties, she still sounds like a right character, and was known to serve people in the souvenir shop. Chatsworth was used as the location of Pemberly in the Keira Knightley version of Pride & Prejuidce. I kept my eyes peeled for Mr Darcy lookalikes, but they must have been away on holiday or something...

The estate is gob-smackingly awesome, with the gardens lanscaped by that genius Capability Brown. The gardens fell into disrepair over the centuries and so Joseph Paxton (called the busiest man in England) was hired to transform it. He was only a young man of 23, and his diary of his first day at Chatsworth goes something like this: "Arrived at Chatsworth at 4am, and finding no one about, immediately set out to inspect the grounds. Put the men to work at 6am. Breakfasted at 9am with the housekeeper and her niece. Fell in love with the niece and she with me. Began plans for the greenhouse. Thus ended my first morning at Chatsworth". Clearly an efficient young man!

The house is stunning and home to many priceless treasures, such as an original Rembrandt, and the coronation thrones of William and Mary. I have decided to move there, when I am not in my other home of Sandringham. As there's about 900 rooms at Chatsworth, I figure they won't notice me.

We ate London

Debbie, Skippy and I went to Eat London on Saturday. Various charities around London represented the city using food eg. the London Eye was a pizza, the Oxo tower was made of waffles. Then they gave everyone bits of it for free. Not too sure what bit of London we ate but it was pretty tasty.

Then we went to the Finchley Road Walkabout pub to watch the Aussies demolish Sri Lanka. I tried not to be bitter and twisted about it. Skippy made a bit of a spectacle of himself flirting with the laydees, and hi-fiving the guys.

Debbie & Skippy outside the National Gallery