A Jubilee

A Jubilee

The truly British way to celebrate the Queen's 60 year reign - with rain. 

A rooftop BBQ

I"m slowly catching up to the present weekend - but this instalment fills in the 4 day long weekend we had for the Queen's diamond jubilee celebrations.

The weekend before had been gloriously sunny - and all Londoners were outside enjoying it. The jubilee weekend was not. It was 4 days of miserable cold and wet - but really - if it had been sunny it wouldn't have been a truly British celebration.

We had - inspired by the previous weekend's glorious sun - bought a BBQ and invited the few people we know here around for dinner. This included Caitlin who used to work as a journalist at Parliament House with Tony, an ex-housemate of Tony's (Jonno) and his wife Emily. To go with our BBQ we had also bought an outdoor table and chairs. Both came from Argos - a revolution in shopping as far as I am concerned. The way Argos works is you go into their shop and look at their catalogue - they don't have anything really on display in their shops - they are basically a warehouse with a small customer facing bit - and an extremely efficient pick and pack system. You pick the items out of the catalogue, write down the numbers on a little docket, take it to the counter. After about 5 minutes you order is ready for collection. Most things come in plain brown boxes - no real branding or fancy photos on the outside. I think this all means that they can sell things cheaper - and they do. The BBQ (weber style) and outdoor setting totalled about ￡120.  We had discovered Argos the week before by actually going down to the shop and struggling home with our purchases on the bus. Then we realised - if all we're going to do is look at a catalogue - we might as well do it online - and given we don't have a car here - get it delivered! So this time I put in an order on the Thursday - and it arrived THE NEXT DAY - in time for us to have our BBQ on the Saturday. Amazing.

So we had gone to our fabulous local shops for all the bits we needed for the BBQ.  The butcher - Godferys has the most amazing range of quality meat - we are really spoiled. I particularly love their fresh stock - chicken and beef - which saves me from having to make my own - or carry litres of it home on the bus (I used the chicken to make delicious rustic chicken soup with barley the other day). We are also spoiled by a delightful Italian delicatessen called 'Di Mario' and my favourite of all - La Fromagerie. The cheese room at La Fromagerie is twice the size of any of the ones I had found in Australia - and the staff are lovely. I go in at least once a week and ask them what is eating well. They offer you a taste of the things they suggest before you pick - which really helps in putting together a well balanced cheese plate. They also have a great range of handcrafted breads and 'bits' - duck rillets, caper berries, olives, cornichon, chorizo and smoked salmon. Their cake range also looks delicious - but with the egg allergy all I can do is look and admire. Tony is always very restrained when we go in - he doesn't generally buy anything that I can't eat.

One of the things I have enjoyed the most is getting Tony into the cheese as well. He has long been a cheese eater - but has never really engaged with the process - or the variety available. The cheese here (even the basic ￡1.25 rounds from Sainsburys) is so much better than the cheese available in Australia we have really been opening our eyes (and mouths) and trying some interesting things. At first Tony refused to come into the cheese room - leaving me to do all the tasting and deciding. He now comes in, jokes with the staff, and gets involved in the tasting - and is becoming quite decided about the subtleties of the cheese and what he likes and dislikes. I can't wait til we actually to France! We have a trip planned to Paris in 2 weeks and I can't wait!

Loaded up with fresh produce we walked the block home to prepare it all. The weather had turned pretty nasty - and the christening of our BBQ was not looking like it would happen. The wind got up and it was cold! After all that effort we ended up cooking the BBQ in coats, scarves and gloves (outfitting our guests as they arrived as well) and scurrying inside as soon as it was cooked. However - mission accomplished - our first BBQ in the UK. 

A Garden Party indoors

The garden party invitation

 The bad weather continued to Monday when Julian and Sarah had invited us to a garden party. They live on a square with a locked, walled garden (think Notting Hill - the movie) to which they have a key. Sarah had sent out a very enticing invitation (all photos in this section are courtesy of her) and we were hoping for at least a few hours of sun to enjoy the garden.

Sarah had really gone all out in preparing the food - there were jellies, ribbon sandwiches, chicken drumsticks, cupcakes, scones, a sponge - you name it. She had also prepared jugs of Pimms and there were buckets of cider and beers. We were set.

It was a small party in the end - about 10 of us - crowded into their little flat (the same one we had stayed in when we first arrived). Not only was the weather pretty awful - but their key to the garden wasn't working!

The feast Sarah prepared

 We ended up turning it into a rooftop party - scurrying up every time the sun shone - and then hurrying back inside when the showers re-appeared.

The party - on the roof. 

The Jubilee - how the rest of London celebrated

The rest of the London were far more active than us over the 4 days - despite the weather. The Sunday involved the Queen's flotilla down the Thames - with the royal family braving the wind and rain to staunchly stand and wave to the masses the whole way down the river.

The crowds

The tube

The merc

The crowds had turn out - their spirits not to be dampened. I have borrowed these photos from Sarah. She and Julian ventured into the city to see the celebration - but didn't last very long. The streets and tube stations were like carparks - no one moving - didn't bode well for the Olympic crowds to come.

I have to admit - I am glad the Jubilee is over - the merchandise produced for the Jubilee - and decorating the front windows of every shop - was a little twee. I was pleased to see the city return (mostly) to normal - with only a little bit of bunting remaining here and there - not surprising given the Euro 2012 and the Olympics to come.

Next instalment - the Tower of London, Mexican Pro-wrestling and Ascot!

Columbia Road Flower Market

Columbia Road Flower Market and the delight of English pubs

The most Hipster and Melbourne thing we've done since we arrived

Forbidden flowers

One of the first markets I hear about when I got to London was the Columbia Road flower market. Once a week a street in East London is turned into something straight out of My Fair Lady - minus Audrey Hepburn. Men shout at you from both sides 'a fiver a bunch' as they thrust bouquets of blooms at you. About a third of the market is made up of potted plants - herbs, trees, shrubs - you name it. The rest are cut flowers for next to nothing. I have made a rule - i'm not allowed to buy flowers that I can get easily in Australia. This basically means no lillium, warratahs or plain roses. What is allowed however is peonies in every colour you can imagine and beautiful hyacinths. My grandmother used to have bushes of it at her house in Canberra - but only in blue and purple and I don't ever remember it being cut and in vases in the house.

Flowers at the market

At Columbia Road however they come in every colour - beautiful and bushy - at the same time as the individual blooms in each head being delicate and soft.

The flowers that took my fancy this visit however war the peonies - beautiful colours all bunched together. Tony - the gentleman he is - bought me a mixed bunch wrapped in brown paper. What more could a girl ask for really.

My peonies

Sadly I learned in the following week that the reason they were going so cheap is that they were really at the end of their life. They didn't last more than 5 days.

At the end of the flower market is a collection of little shops serving breakfast on the street. Literally. Not on tables - but in the form of a coffee and a pastry to eat whilst sitting on the curb. One place was also selling bloody marys (the hair of the dog for some on a Sunday).

We grabbed a coffee from a bustling shop that was once a stable - and wandered back through East London to do a bit of vintage shopping.

The kerbside breakfast

Vintage in the East

East London is really where the best vintage is in London. Everywhere else is expensive however in the east you can still find proper bargains on real vintage - not retro - vintage. Tony picked up a brown tweed jacket for £20 and I found a lovely short brown cape lined in orange silk form the 1950s for £45. It will be perfect for wearing mid season with slacks and something warm underneath.

Backgammon at the Highbury Tavern

On our way out of this particular vintage shop we were accosted by some protesters (who I have to admit we had dodged on the way in). At first we couldn't work out what they were protesting against - they had something about dead animals - and so strode into the shop. On the way out we were met by shouts of 'fashion over morals - nice one' but the protestors and it dawned on us what they were on about. It seems they object to people wearing animal fur. I understand this objection and I too object to people slaughtering animals for their turn. However I wasn't sure what good their protest was going to to for the vintage fur on sale at this shop. Evidently the protesters felt strongly enough about the issue that even wearing vintage fur was a crime. I'm not sure I agree - I love my grandmother's vintage furs - but would never buy or support new fur - and so can't see how a shop promoting the recycling and reusing of vintage furs - amongst a huge selection of other vintage and recycled clothing. I replied to the retort with a throw away line of 'no - we don't support fashion over morals - we support recycled clothing' - however I think it was lost on them.

English Pubs - boardgames and football

The only game I can ever win against him it seems

We finished up our hipster Sunday at our local. Highbury Tavern is a lovely independent low ceiling'd pub with great food (using the local butcher and green grocer's produce). There seems to be a blight on English pubs being taken over by chains offering a standard menu offering - bland and stodgy. Highbury Tavern is thankfully not one of these and we have happily eaten our way through the menu a couple of times by now. It also has boardgames for whiling away long afternoons. We chose backgammon and settled in with a pint each. Like any pub game it was missing half the pieces which we substituted with 5p pieces - being the smallest.  

It seems this is one of the few games I can beat Tony at - and we spent a happy few hours playing whilst keeping an eye on the football (Euro 2012) match. I look forward to many more cosy afternoons in pubs with a fire in the winter. 

White swans, Palaces and Parks 

Wandering through Hyde Park in the middle of the London Marathon

On our first weekend - before I started work - we though we had better tick at least one of the tourist activities off our list. Julian and Sarah's flat - where we were staying for our first 10 days - is about 10 minutes walk from Kensington Gardens - and Kensington Palace - currently famous for being the residence of Kate and Wills - or so says the Daily Mail - source of all truth.

Kensington Gardens

Hyde Park ponds 

 If you walk from the top end of Kensington Gardens you can walk all the way through to Hyde Park and beyond to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. This is exactly the route we took - winding our way along pretty paths lined with trees just recognising it was spring and sprouting.

The parks are full of dogs - all running around off the leash with their owners casually following behind. England seems to have a completely different attitude to dogs than Australia. People live with dogs in flats you wouldn't consider keeping animals in in Australia - and they escape to the Parks to stretch their legs - both the owners and the dogs.
Its not like Paris where dogs sit up at the table and share in cream puffs - but dogs are just an accepted part of life. I walked past a church in Dursley when we were there that had a sign out the front - 'No dogs except on a leash' - of course dogs were allowed in the church - they just had to wear their leashes.  In the pubs not only does the owners' dog wander the place - knowing all the regulars and requesting the odd scratch behind the ear - but all the patrons bring their dogs with them. To my surprise the dogs have behaved far better in the pubs than the people - they don't have one to many and get a bit rowdy - they simply ask for the odd pat - and in one case - for the (rather soggy) ball to be tossed up and down the pub between our feet.

The boys

 I remember visiting Hyde Park with mum and dad when we came through London in 1998. It was April and cold, and we defied the cross looks of the Londoners whilst playing bocce on their soft lawns. This visit was quite different. Whilst cold, the air was fresh and it felt like spring. The walk through the park was really delightful with bluebells and other flowers springing through the garden beds, people paddling little boats around the lake, and a feeling of a people who really know how to make the most of a find day outdoors. The parks run a deck chair hire business - where you don't have to own a smart stripy deck chair - or lug it from your little flat (which in our case would have been down 100 stairs and 10 minutes walk) to the park. They are provided for you and a little man comes around to ask you for your deck chair ticket. It is the outrageous price of $1.50 per hour (that's 1.50 pounds but my Australian laptop doesn't have a pound sign) - or $7 for the day. We didn't stop to sit on this trip - but it will make for an easy way to picnic on some future sunny day.

White swans

Another memory from the1998 triggered by this meander was seeing bluebells and deer in the wild for the first time. Mum and Dad had taken us for a walk somewhere in the English countryside - it could have been the Lake District but I can't remember exactly - and we has spied a patch of bluebells off the path with a deer in it. We broke the No 1 rule of walking in the UK and *gasp* left the path to get closer. We didn't get very close before a group came walking along the path behind us - catching us breaking the rules. Like good rule breakers we felt it wouldn't matter if we didn't get caught - so the whole family - all 5 of us - hid. We scattered and stood behind trees and shrubs until the walkers passed by and we could safely get back on the path and pretend we never left.

Bluebells

On this walk the bluebells were clearly visible from the path so there was no need for straying.

The marathon

It so happened that the weekend of this walk was the London marathon - it was going to be impossible to get public transport anywhere in the city - hence the long walk! We watched the runners - some in fancy dress - run the last kilometre past the glorious frontage of Buckingham Palace. 

The last leg of the marathon

From there we continued our walk to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster. I didn't realise they were so close  - my memories of London from 1998 don't include a sense of space.

We didn't go into Westminster Abbey on this visit - too hard in the midst of the marathon wending its way through the city. We did however admire the flying  buttresses (after a quick lesson on what they were for the boys) and the juxta position of the two seats of power together.

Westminster and the Houses of Parliament

The Flying Buttresses of Westminster

The Arrival: finding our house - and our feet

The first 10 days

We got off to a rocky start. We had arranged over the internet to rent a flat for the first 2 weeks - to give me time to start work without having to look for houses at the same time, and to give us some space and time to get over the jetlag. Unfortunately it turned out to be an internet fraud. 


We turned up at the advertised office of the place to pick up the keys and they had never heard of us. Another scam website was borrowing their details (office address, phone number and properties) to make their site look legitimate, whilst stealing people's deposits. Unfortunately for us we had paid in full online and so lost about $1600. Lesson learned - check Trip Advisor before booking any accommodation over the internet. We learned after the fact that in fact the site had been flagged on Trip Advisor before hand.

Luckily for us Tony's brother Julian and his girlfriend Sarah live in a flat in Kensington and offered us room on their floor (they live in a 1 bedroom flat...)  So we spent the first few weeks in London sleeping on an air mattress on the floor.  




Kensington is very pretty - close to Kensington gardens where Kate and Wills live, and close to Hyde Park, Buckingham palace etc. Its not a bad commute to work - but was hard. The flat was tiny. Smaller even than the flat Lizzie and Cam had in Curtin. The kitchen was a curvy bench in the lounge room - with one 2 seater sofa and one 1 seater chair. This means that not everyone can sit at any one time. Then we had to wait til they are ready to go to bed before we caould blow up our air mattress (luckily its an aero bed l so its electric and we didn't have to blow it up with out lungs) and go to bed on the lounge room floor. We didn't sleep very well because you don't on air mattresses, and also because the mattress suctions itself onto the floorboards, and when you roll over it noisily suctions itself off the floor and sucks on again in a different spot. Not very restful. In addition to that Sarah works from home - she is setting up a little business online making necklaces with messages in a bottle. So the fact she had two extra people, their luggage, and 3 shipping boxes in her flat is very noticeable.  

We spent the weekend down in Dursely in Gloucestershire at Mum and Dad's friends Rose and Nick's. It was a merciful break from the claustrophobic little Kensington flat.  We caught the train down on Friday night - £20 each each way - and Nick picked us up from the train station. They had put out an amazing spread of cheese, dips and nibbly things - including a baked Camembert with fresh bread - amazing.  We then fell gratefully into a real bed, up at the top of the house in our own room with our own bathroom - the first bit of privacy we'd had since we left Australia - and slept until midday. I don't think we were over our jetlag until then.

We wandered down to the local pub on the Saturday and entertained the barmaid by wanting to try all the different beers - and by not knowing what pork scratchings were. It turned out they are crackling - but put in a little packet so you don't have to wait until you have a roast pork to enjoy them. They were so wickedly good. There was a lovely fire and all the locals brought their dogs down with them. We sat there all afternoon with our pints and some books we'd picked up for £1 at the local charity store, reading and patting dogs. It was bliss and made us want to bring Scout over so she could sit with us in the little pubs. 

NIck and Rose took us out to a lovely pub for roast lunch on Sunday - it was horrible weather - sleety rain and windy - so we couldn't really appreciate the view from the pub over the valley below. We got back to London late Sunday night - back to the air mattress. 

Luckily for us friends of some good friends of ours (who we had met for the first time on Thursday night) were going away for the week - and offered us their flat in Putney to stay in while they are away. We of course jumped at the chance - and so spent the second week in a real bed in a flat to ourselves. 

Finding our Flat 

Tony standing outside waiting to be let in

We also have finally found a place to live. We had found one initially in a East London which is these days the very trendy part of town. However the flat was  a tired little place and it needed new floors and furnishings. We said to the agent we would take it anyway because the location was amazing. To secure a flat here you have to pay a deposit to take it off the market while your reference checks are completed etc. Once the checks are complete then you pay the bond and first month's rent (and the deposit is taken out of the rent). So we paid the deposit on the understanding that the flat was empty - but that the landlord was going to redo the floors and give it a clean and we could move in on the following Saturday. We then called the agent on the Monday before we were supposed to move in to confirm the references had gone through etc and he told us the move in date would have to be delayed by another week. We queried why (not wanting another week back on the air-mattress) - and if there was work being done couldn't we move in in the meantime etc They never got back to us. Tony did some searching and found a bunch of bad reviews of the agency - saying that this was a common tactic for this agency - get the deposit - then delay the move in date until the tenants 'changed their mind' and found another place. If you 'change your mind' you don't get the deposit back. Luckily for us the Agent did agree to return our deposit.

Our threshold

So we were back at square one - with at least a week of not sleeping on the air mattress - but with the prospect of being back on it as of the following Sunday if we couldn't find something quick. Tony did a search of the most reputable agents we could find - and found one with 250 good reviews and only 5 negative ones. A lovely agent showed him around 3 places in Highbury/Islington. I joined him at lunchtime and looked at 2 ordinary places in Whitechapel, but Tony wanted me to see the nice ones he'd seen in the morning. So we made time in the evening to go back. The 3 flats were each lovely - all in old buildings but newly furnished and finished. I could have lived in any of them - although one was on the high street and would have been very noisy (although right in the middle of everything). The one that we decided on was on 2 levels - with the master bedroom upstairs, a lovely living space with bay windows looking over the street (from the first floor), and a private rooftop balcony with a BBQ looking over the city. It opens up right from the master bedroom so you have views of the city from the bed.  Having any outside space is unusual in London so we were very excited at the prospect of a rooftop garden of our own. There's also a second bedroom for visitors. We said yes on the spot.  

Let!

The old Arsenal Stadium

 Highbury is a lovely suburb - close to Islington which is really bustling - but has its own parks, little strips of local shops and charm. There is a a local independent butcher (everything in the UK seems to be part of a chain so independent stores are rare), independent fish monger, grocer, wine shop and cheese shop. There are also lovely little cafes and a local pub - all only 1 block from our flat! We can also see the old Arsenal stadium from our rooftop - so I guess that's our choice of football team done. 

Two sunny days in London

A walking adventure and a rooftop picnic

Highbury Fields - where the picnickers were. 

This weekend was the first real weekend of summer in London. When we arrived there had been tops of 14 degrees if we were lucky. We had packed our proper winter clothes in boxes to arrive by sea - reasoning that it was going to be spring when we arrived in London and we would be fine with trench coats and summer scarves. Instead I wished that I had my warm scarves and gloves for the first 3 weeks of our London Adventure.

However to our delight, the last 10 days have been glorious sun and I was amazed at how fast London was transformed. On my commute home through the parks even during the week, I walked past parks filled with picnicking families and groups of friends. No time wasted -  it was like they had their picnic baskets and little camp stoves all packed and waiting by the front door - not needing to hunt around the cupboard, dust them off after 9 months of hiding away only to discover that there is only 1 fork and no plates left in the set.  

Tony with his morning coffee and the Brumbies score

We took our first opportunity to embrace the summer by deciding to explore our new neighbourhood on foot. We started from Highbury Hill (just out our front door), and wandered down the high street, following Upper Street all the way down one side to Angel station then up the other side of the street home. I think our meandering must have taken us about a mile each way - and took over 4 hours.  We poked our noses into every shop and lane that looked interesting, taking mental notes of cafes and restaurants to try in the future, and shops to be visited for birthday presents, kitchen supplies and furniture. 

My favourite section is Camden Passage - a parallel street to upper street near Angel Station. On Saturdays the vintage shops that are there full time put tables out on the street to create a street market. The first weekend we were in Highbury after moving in we noticed the market by accident while looking for a $2 shop to buy house basics. On our first poke around the markets we picked up silver plates serving spoons and a carving knife, fork and sharpener - bone handled and very sharp. 

This visit yielded a lovely set of 6 bone handled steak knives and a set of 8 silver spoons. Maybe by the time we head home to Australia we'll have a whole set. 

Tony, the sunshine, the rooftop and our feast. 

Some London rooftop symmetry

Having walked until our feet were sore, we turned around with our purchases, and made for home. I have to admit we examined the homeward side of Upper Street far less closely. We stopped at La Fromagerie (my favourite shop in Highbury Barn), and the luscious delicatessen next door to pick up the makings for a picnic lunch. 

The things you see from a rooftop - I think the bear had been through the wash, 

Our rooftop proved  to be a perfect place to enjoy the clear skys and warm breeze. We ensconced ourselves on the roof with a bottle of wine and a feast, and chatted and read aloud to each other from Kim Stanley Robinson's Antarctica until we ran out of wine. This was the stopping point - rather than the sun going down - because it doesn't get dark until about 10pm at the moment. We were amazingly not sunburned - thank heavens for the ozone layer!

Playing in the park, a picnic and drinks on water

Sunday morning started we were off to meet up with some relatives - my aunt's husband's niece and her husband. Emma, Ben, Oscar and Pheobe live just around the corner from us in Highbury and we had arranged to meet for coffee and a play in the park.

Tony and Oscar and the 'football'

Oscar had saved up questions about Australia to ask the Australians - including what sound does a Kookaburra make - a sound I imitated for him (can't every Australian do a Kookaburra sound?). 

We kicked the football (think soccer ball) around for a good hour or so whilst chatting to Emma and Ben - retelling the tale of the Australia Day Riot - we will be dining out on that story for years. 

Wanting to make the most of the glorious day, we then decided to check out another of the parks close to our place.

In true English style we marched into Marks and Spencers and purchased a ready made picnic. It seems everything came in just the right amount for two people to take it and sit under the trees without so much effort as having to dress a salad.

We took our picnic to Finsbury Park - a park large enough to have a lake with boats people can hire and row around in. Its not a very big lake - however I think given the level of experience of most of the rowers - the 30 min hire time would have been more than enough to explore the pond and tire of the exertion.

Other people's bunting

We found a shady spot - near enough to a very sophisticated picnic that we could enjoy their bunting without the effort of bringing it and putting it up ourselves. A lazy afternoon was spent in the shade - watching the rest of the park sunbathe.

I have discovered that, at the first hint of sunshine, people (men and women) take off their clothes and lie in their swimmers in the sunshine in the middle of parks trying to get a tan. I keep wanting to tell them that they will sunburn - not to mention that they look a little odd in their swimsuits in the middle of London.

The bar...

We joined Julian and Sarah for drinks in the evening on a boat cunningly called 'Tattershall Castle' and drank ginger beer in the sun. Having a boat as a bar has one interesting side effect - you feel very drunk even before your first drink - because the floor keeps moving under you. Heaven help you if you had been there all afternoon. 

Julian, Tony and Sarah

The view from the boat/bar