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Europe 2015
  • Edward Small
  • Edward Small

Europe 2015

A 24-day adventure by Edward Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 23, 2015
    Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    1 week to go

    August 23, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    As I sit on Wellingtons ''s waterfront in New Zealand 1 week exactly before departing for Europe by myself, eating baklava, drinking gingerbread and indulging; I can't help but already miss the friends I will be leaving, the job I enjoy and the places with which I am familiar.
    Yes, I have been away for extended periods before, months even, but never with the trepidation and apprahension with which I am currently held with. The places I will go, the things I will see and the people I will meet are but a distant notch in my mind. I am excited yet scared, longing but wary, and a little bit wishing it wasn't so soon or for so long.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    About to depart

    August 29, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Patience is already wearing thin with my oh so likely travelling companions.. yet I'm taking in the almost familiar world of the sights , sounds - and not to mention island kiosks of Heineken - that international travel has to offer. While I don't resent the fact that I am leaving I can't help but think how arduous the next 6 weeks could possibly be. There will be amazing experience and things to do and see.. I will try with all of my will power to enjoy it.
    Joy has just returned with chocolate bars and the valuable information that there is a place "just over there" (somewhere in the depths of the international lounge) that sells $7 sake. Next report will most likely be in Singapore. Out.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Singapore arrival!

    August 30, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Well after my first proper long haul flight we are in Singapore! I managed to sleep a little om the plane and the 10 hours wasn't as awful as it could have been. (Flying in over a Malaysian sunrise was also quite cool). The taxi ride from the airport to our Intercontinental hotel was interesting: streets lined with beautiful plants, flowers and garden arrangements; contrasting cultures, people, accents and buildings zooming past and the unbelivable sticky hot humid air that sems to be forever present in Singapore, like walking into a massive sauna. I was surprised by the contrast between the obviously affuent and bustling city and the poorer areas that still lines the streets on the way to the city, an ever present reminder that every country has its social issues, as was also outlined by our charming, loud, friendly and mildly xenophobic taxi driver.
    Our hotel is gorgeous and I have 2 double beds to myself separate from the rentals with a beautiful bathroom, massive TV and stunning views. The famous Bugis is connected to our hotel so I imagine that will be our first stop of many today. We have already been recommended a place to get amazing spices wholesale, and a place that does wonderful Sardine Murtabaks. That aside I'm sure we will eat well and sample a plethora of different cultures in our next 36 hours here. I am looking forward to walking along the river and taking in more of my first proper - although decidedly western - foreign city.
    My tablet and phone say it's 12:15 yet my bedroom clock says 8:15. Must be breakfast time... Intercontinental style.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Halfway through Singapore

    August 30, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    I feel as if I should be writing a food blog as well or instead as one as most of the things I note generally revolve around eating.
    But yesterday we went for a walk through to Raffles place and the waterfront. Was amazingly muggy and hot - although I fear today will be worse - through the afternoon and evening. Instead of walking down streets we tended to jump from airconditioned building to airconditioned building just to excape the heat!
    We got fantastic ice blocks full of real lychee and mango pulp and fibres, which were delicious, before continuing down past the Merlion and along the waterfront restaurants. We past tall skyscrapers and banks down town, before coming to a more formal Hawker market for lunch. We had fresh spring rolls, dumpling noodles, dim sum, siew Mae, bok choy and fresh fruit smoothies.
    Upon returning mid afternoon to our hotel room, we decided to go for another walk through the shops at the next door Bugis markets building. I bough mangosteins, salak fruit and rambutan which we quickly took home and devoured - all but the either awful, underripe or both salak fruit.

    After spending another hour or two relaxing at the hotel and skyping home we left for an evening in the treetop lights by the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, light shows in Marina Bay and dinner at a rediculously overpriced and very very average Thai streetside restaurant. The home for a well needed sleep!    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Chinatown & predeparture from Singapore.

    August 31, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Forgot to mention the High Tea we had at the Intercontinental yesterday afternoon. Was lovely! A 3 tiered platter of sweet and savoured started of with a truffle cottage pie. There were 2 different scones - both served with cream and jam - of fruit and lemon flavours; a bagette slice with smoked salmon, caramelised onion and hummus; bagette with sundries tomato, salami and olive; and a small pastry. The sweet tier consisted of a chocolate boat with berries in it; a raspberry cream pastry (mille feuallies? ?), a chocolate tiramisu square; a caramel slice and the most delicious macaron. All served with tea or coffee.

    Today after recovering from last night, our first stop was the buffet breakfast at the hotel. Fair to say I gorged myself severely and have been full ever since. There were - most of which I sampled - 3 different dumplings, a pork bun, braised spicy pork ribs, a meaty stew type thing like a Chinese ragout, congee, rice, an assortment of mise en plais for a diy Asian soup, a full table of a man doing eggs any way you like them to order (including omelettes) a table of roast tomatoes, sausages, baked beans, potato rosti, bacon; another table with a chef preparing to order noodle soups with another array of seafood, meat and vegetables mise en plais; a table full of pain au chocolate, berry Danish, croissant and 5 different breads with a toaster, and 3 different muffins. Another table had a pile of waffles with a pick your own of 3 different compote, honey, maple syrup and whipped cream, followed but 7 different fresh fruit cut up, cereals, muesli and milk. Phew. Also tea and coffee by table service to order.

    After the event that was breakfast we went opto China town. Caught the underground metro through the city and emerged on a bus sling street full of bolshy sales people, colours, trinkets, brands, perfumes, Taylors and food as far as the eye could see. Once through the first main street there was another and another and another. We settled on just some cold drinks after our breakfast and had lime juice and a mango pudding with frozen coconut ice. Very weird but very nice. Bought a few post cards and trinkets but nothing too exciting. Did however find a kind of sweet cured bbqed pork jerry. . Very weird but excellent. From Chinatown we came back to the city and our hotel to relax a little before our next outing: a sojern to a tapas bar that I pointed out on our arrival. Had wonderful food, really top notch: garlic oil sashimi with goats cheese, sumac veal pork balls in a potatoey puree, truffled parmesan fries; eggplant, dried tomato, basil and halloumi salad; fois gas parfait with brioche; alongside drinks: I had sangria yum yum yum. From Salt (the tapas bar) we crossed the road to the famous Raffles Hotel and the Long Bar where the Singapore sling was invented and peanuts are endless and available in shell in bags on the table and patrons are encouraged to through the shells on the floor: tradition, apparently.
    After all of that, interspersed with various underground rides and checking out of our hotel, we have returned to the Intercontinentals pool to soak up the sun and heat before leaving for our flight to Zurich later tonight.
    May post again from the airport but not sure. After Zurich is Athens, and a Island in Greece: our home for the next week.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Singapore to Athens via Zurich.

    September 1, 2015 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    So we departed Singapore late last night after an hour or two in the international lounge admiring more of Singapores aesthetic craziness and general interesting people and shops. Our Swiss Air flight departed on time and we spent the full flight in darkness as we crossed Asia, the middle east and Europe. Managed to sleep on the flight and watch Ghandi the movie to pass the time. Food was a decent beef stew with polenta and a mango mouse for dessert. Swiss beer was awful and coffee was OK.
    We landed in Zurich to a gorgeous Swiss morning. The airport was crisp and clean but not over the top. Food and drink was expensive even by airport standards - Switzerland is meant to be one of the most expensive countries and it's easy to see why!
    Zurich airport made for a nice change in interesting people and accents, definitely a distinct culture change from Singapore and after a croissant, coffee, juice and a few rounds of 500, we caught our plane to Athens.

    As I write this I am gazing at the stunning Swiss Alps with their towering sharp peaks and beautiful river laden valleys. Snow and small villages dot the mountainsides and they disappear beneath us.
    To my left at the moment is Austria and Hungary, soon to be Croatia, Bosnia and Albania; all viewable on this stunning morning. To my right lies Italy and the Mediterranean and ahead the Adriatic sea.

    Touchdown in Athens should be in an hour or so, should be interesting.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Athens Day one

    September 3, 2015 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    I'm a little late in writing up this entry as a lot happened in the space of 1 day.

    We flew in over the sea and many Greek Islands before approaching Athens over Aegina, the island 30 miles off the coast where we will be spending most of our time in Greece. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky even from 36000 feet up and a crystal blue water without the fainted ripple on it's surface. The city of Athens stretched out like a blanket over the Greek countryside encompassing all but the highest mountains and most sparse plains with beautiful terraced white houses as far as the eye could see.
    Navigating the airport was quick and simple; customs was as much a joke as it was non existant .. same with Singpore: not even a security guard to be seen.

    The taxi ride was long through the city and to our hotel, including stopping for "gazolini", but we weaved our way through the tight compact little Greek streets with no trouble. Checking into our hotel was easy and our rooms are lovely: top floor looking over the pool area and - although at a stretch on the balcony - the Acropolis and Parthenon. We also have long view across Athens with houses piled one behind the other seemingly endlessly. We were greeted with iced water and plesent air conditioning, which we quite some relief from the 35 - 40 degree heat.

    We left our hotel to wander around the markets and find a bite to eat. After a long peruse over many shoe, clothing, spice, souvenir, incense and bead shops we found ourselves in a large Greek taverna. We ordered food, a simple moussaka and some stuffed vine leaves, and proceeded to have a near hour long raised and heated argument about how much money we were spending and how everyone was contributing.. it ended very badly and I nearly walked out, packed my bags and booked the first flight home no matter the cost. It was awful. Everyone was left with a sour taste and a foul mood afterwards. It was hard to admire the stunning Byzantine churches that we explored and the bustling city afterwards whilst everyone was fuming and forcing bitter conversation.
    The obvious answer to this of course was to find the most expensive and beautiful bar in the most expensive and beautiful hotel looking over the whole of Athens from the highest vantage point, excepting the Acropolis, and order the strongest and most expensive cocktails I've had in my life. The mood after that - coupled with jetlag - made everyone just have to go straight home and to bed but after half an our or so of stewing in my room, I decided to leave the hotel and have an evening to myself.

    I wandered down the road and found the first taverna I could, immediately went through the menu, ordered food and beer and indulged. It was glorious. Just myself with lovely service, lovely food in a lovely place.
    I had deep fried squash balls, filled with flavour and aromatic herbs, beautifully seasoned with a generous portion of tzatziki on the side, followed by a prawn dish (which I cannot recall but with try and locate) in a kind of thin stew with capsicum and tomatoes, garnished with delicious feta and with a perfect Greek feel to it. This was accompanied by delicious complimentary bread, and finished off with a free palate cleansing plate of watermelon. BELLISIMO (or the Greek equivalent). The food as excellent, just what I had imagined and desired the food to be: nothing tacky, nothing over or under done, nothing just to appeal to tourists and nothing over priced. Less than 13 euros for a very filling and delicious meal with drinks was perfect. I could live here very happily.
    From there the night ended, I returned to my room and slept, waiting for a new - and hopefully better - day.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Sorry!

    September 3, 2015 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Internet where we are is not great, will upload when I can next but am still writing every day up so it will come.. just all at once.

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Exploring Athens

    September 4, 2015 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    Our second day dawned bright, hot and cloudless as the day before, yet with a heightened anticipation of fun and exploring. We left our lodgings after a quick shower and plan and headed down the road to find the closest coffee and breakfast we could. We came across a small roadside cafe where Dmitri brew up 3 of the finest, shortest espressos we are sure to have all trip. As we sipped our coffee we chatted with the locals and firmed up our plan for the coming few days.
    We moved on to breakfast which turned out to be just a few minutes up the road and another few away from the Acropolis. Through a mixture of pointing and sign language we managed to order 3 servings of cheese and spinach crepes and 3 orange juices. The juice was freshly squeezed and delicious while the crepes we gentle, filling and lightly flavoured; rustic and satisfying. It was thoroughly enjoyable just watching Greece go past, with basil bushes lining the roads, trucks and bicycles zooming by and friendly people muttering "calimera" (good morning) on their way past.

    Onwards we went up to the Acropolis, baking our way up the few hundred metres to the summit where the Parthenon and other temples, ruins and ancient artifacts reside. It was HOT, and with no shade and nowhere to rest there were many complaints from my traveling companions. I tried to block it out and take in and admire the incredible history of what I was looking at, and the incredible views over the whole of Athens, Pireaus and out to sea.
    From the Acropolis we had lunch at it's accompanying museum just down the hill and viewed more historical artifacts and reconstructions of the ancient Parthenon - all of course within the safety of air conditioning. It was both interesting and enjoyable, while lunch was another authentic and odd experiece. I had wonderful little pikelet pancakes with thyme honey, tahini and grape molasses, Joy had a sesame bagel type bread roll with cheese, and Vernon had strange donuts covered in honey and pistachios: nice but cleaner frying oil and some contrasting fruit wouldn't have gone amiss. Afterwards we descended the streets into normal Athens and took the tube again back to our hotel.

     (Unfortunately my phone died up the acropolis so the centre part of this day I failed to document. However I may steal some pics from v and j and upload them later)

    Next stop on our day was the markets, which are deserving of their own entry in this blog, but which took up the majority of the afternoon and ended us up back at Syntagma Square (Parliament in Athens) and at yesterday's hotel for another cocktail. This one was not nearly as strong and harsh, but a floral and beautifully scented Lychee Martini, one of the nicest things I have ever drunk.
    From Syntagma we again took the tube home and went out to dinnner: my choice as I so highly recommended the small taverna I visited the night before. We were not let down and consumed the following: cheese, bread, fava bean dip, bread, prawn saganaki, meatballs, sausage with red beer stew, mustard chicken, bread, beer, sangria and some strange deep fried salty chocolate covered pancakes. Weird but excellent.
    From dinner we went to our hotel again for a final nightcap of hot chocolate whilst looking up at the illuminated Parthenon from the hotel's garden roof top restaurant and went onto bed. A decidedly better day than the one before.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Athens to Aegina

    September 5, 2015 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Another day of travel and sorting out began again hot and dry. We descended the streets down to Dmitris for a coffee and some more friendly discussion, mostly political, with one of our friends from the previous day.
    From Dmitris, a quick tube ride with and interchange followed by another tube ride arrived us at Pireaus, the port town of Athens. Pireaus is a bustling port full of cargo, passenger and fast ships and ferries. We stopped for a cold drink as the temperature rose and I explored the various maritime shops that lined the streets. I managed to pick up a small folding knife both because it's handy to carry one round and also because one cannot have too many knives!
    From our coffees we went in search of the ferry office; a 15 minute walk left us sitting in the shade with homeless immigrants - we assume recently arrived from North Africa - begging around us. The first real sign of the huge social issues surrounding Greece and the immigrant problems of Europe.

    We boarded the ferry to take us to Aegina: a hydrofoiling high speed "flying dolphin" which was a fun, if a little bumpy, quick ride to the island. We disembarked and waited in whatever shade we could find for George to drop our hire care off to us. George was friendly and certainly perked up once learning that we were not from the UK but rather New Zealand "ahh good place!". George had seen much of NZ from his time as an engineer on big ocean going cargo ships.
    We drove (on the right) along the coastline to our little apartment motel in Perdika, a small town on the Western end of Island full of restaurants and fishing boats. We lunched on the waterfront in a small taverna. We had excellent baked mushrooms, baked peppers, stuffed peppers and tomatoes, souvalaki, and fried little fish. The baked mushrooms and peppers were roasted in a dish with heaps of different cheese, both halloumi and melty delicious stringy tangy cheese. The stuffed toms and peppers looked good but I didn't taste them, with the souvalaki nice and highlighted with an excellent garlicy tzatziki. My little fried fish were just what the menu said: fried little fish. To be eaten heads and all, slightly crispy and fried with just a dusting of flour, very nice. All washed down with beer, Coke and Fanta.
    From our restaurant we meandered along the waterfront gazing at the water, rocks, distant islands, churches and general passers by. I got once again more and more frustrated at the argumentative, put downy, arrogant manner in which conversation is often had these days so I decided to walk ahead of the others and sit on the waterfront by our car for 10 minutes while I waited for them to catch up. We went from there to a supermarket to quickly pick up some general groceries and returned home. The night was spent relaxing, eating melon and drinking pomegranate juice in my room. Another grumpy and not all together happy end to what should've been a lovely day.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Day 1 Aegina

    September 5, 2015 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Our first full day on Aegina started with our first in home breakfast of muesli, yoghurt, figs and fruit juice, followed by a coffee after our drive from Perdika to Aegina town. In Aegina we took in the Greek people and culture by exploring backstreets and shopping. We bought new shoes and light weight hot Greek weather shirts from a crazy Greek shop owner who greeted us with "hello there! Thank you for coming and saving my country!!" And old but effective means of luring unsuspecting tourists into his shop. The clothes and shoes we bought were nice and comfy, perfect for the 35-40 degree sweltering temperatures. From the clothes shop we found a bakery and bought some lovely bread, sesame bagel type buns and Baklava... sold by the kilogram. After the bakery came delicious figs, fresh feta cheese - firmer and less salty sharp than we are used to in New Zealand - and gelaato to sustain us for our walk back to the car.
    As we,  as food we bought some local newspapers and small presents to take back home. We returned home and ate the food we had bought, along with some wonderful honey from the day before, and had a swim in our motel's pool; a welcome event during the brightest and hottest part of the day.

    After our swim and siesta time we went for a drive along the hill tops to try and find a so-called picturesque mountain side village. The "village" of a few houses and not even a taverna turned out to be a bit of a let down, accompanied with the supposedly wonderful beach at the bottom of the steeply sloping hills and valley... also a let down.
    Dinner was had at one of the little restarts on the quay in Perdika. We had taramasalata, boiled greens, bread, little grilled sardines, grilled swordfish and moussaka, with Mythos beer and a little cake and watermelon complimentary. It was all nice but nothing spectacular. Again my phone died for some of this day so I may have to steal a few photos from someone else. Also generally feeling pretty down, tired and grumpy hasn't inspired me to take many photos but this will hopefully change (or like I say, steal someone else's photos). In fact it seems as if I took none this day.. oh well tomorrow will be more!!    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Day 2 Aegina

    September 6, 2015 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    The second day day here on Aegina followed similarly to the first. We had breakfast at the motel and went out for a couple of coffees. Our day was spent winding our way around the island and looking at the sights to see.
    We stopped in a small town on the north end of the island for some cheese and calamari for a snack before continues on trying to find our way up to the top of the island. After half an hour or so we realised we were very lost and very low on petrol. The next hour was of course spent trying to find  an open petrol station in a Sunday on a Greek island.. not easy but we did it in time.
    Upmwe drove to the top of Aegina, past ancient churchs, monasteries,  olive trees, fig trees and pistachio plantations for which the island is famous.
    At the top of our drive was an ancient stone temple like a baby Parthenon.  Apparently built prior to and the inspiration for the afore mentioned monument. However this one was in far better condition and virtually empty of tourists and sightseers, so a marked improvement. Accompanying it was an excellent museum full of artifacts and reconstruction. A real hidden secret of Aegina.
    Of course there was an accompanying cafe where we had cold drinks and ice cream - again much needed as for the mid-late 30s degree heat with little shade.
    Our descent back towards the comparitive civilization was quick and easy and didn't stop until back in Perdika. We did a supermarket and afternoon tea run, just some bread and tzatziki with some Greek pine needle wine, not as nice as it sounds.
    Dinner was just simple bread, cheese, figs, jam, honey and fruit juice. A late night game of 500 and a quick swim finished off the evening nicely. All in all an OK day.. full,  of the same, frustration but managed to get away from the antagonist enough for it to be bearable.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Day 3 Aegina

    September 7, 2015 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Our third and final full day o  the Island was very chilled. I had a late night Skype session the night before so slept in till 10 or so before walking by myself down to the cafes and taverns in Perdika. I had a cheese, bacon and tomato crepe which was a little thick and filling, but nice nonetheless. Accompanied of course by a few short espressos. A short wander around the town led to some good sanity reclamation in the growing heat before going back to the Antzi Studios (our lodgings). I chose to lay around and not do much for most of the afternoon before facing the parents again. A quiet afternoon tea of melon, pistachios and Baklava followed by copious 500 games was very enjoyable. Also a drink by the pool was nice, despite the overwhelming heat.
    The olds have gone down to the beach for one last swim in the Aegean before our final dinner on Aegina.  .ate than I would like but oh well.
    Tonight will be packing and sorting out what our plans tomorrow are. Boat, train and aeroplane from Aegina, through Athens and ending up in ... LONDON. Familiar languages and culture will be nice, but Greece has been an excellent country

    A late night dinner turned out to be the best Greek food we have had: boiled octopus, boiled greens, bread with a creamy chese dip + tapenade, lamb souvlaki, slow roasted lemon lamb, grilled red mullet, stuffed vine leave (brown rice made a welcome change and nuttiness), beer, and more French pastries for dessert.. all, for 30 euros.. the waiter undercharged us but when we tried to pay more he just kept saying "THANKYOUUUU" and shooed us away.. he must've like us.
    Straight to bed with a little packing and off to sleep.

    P.s. oh and I found a pomegranate tree!!    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Aegina to London

    September 8, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    I'm writing this a little late so hope I do t miss anything. We had a full day of travel, leaving Perdika early and dropping off our car in Aegina. A quick coffee and croissant before getting on the hydrofoiling fast ferry was a little much needed sustenance get us through the long hot day ahead of us. We stopped off in Syntagma on our way through Athens between Pireaus and the airport and had yoghurt with honey and fruit, with a very rich, thick, sweet and strong iced coffee milkshake to accompany it. The railway delivered us to he airport in good time and we dropped of our bags and sat around waiting for our Ryan Air flight to London.
    The flight took about 4 hours but was very pretty over Italy, France and the English Channel. A long train ride followed by a few tube rides through the London underground spat us out at Earl's Court Station. We wandered down the road, fumbled with some keys to get into our flat, wandered upstairs and collapsed from such a long and exhausting day in our lovely little apartment.

    Oh and forgot to mention the Chinese we got quickly for dinner.. it was just excellent! Highlight being blackpepper and honey duck, but black been beef and sautéed prawns were also nice.. not to mention the excellent dumplings!    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    London Day 1

    September 9, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Our first day in London! What a cool city this is. I was expecting to hate the built up metropolis and for it to be overcrowded, noisy, smelly and generally pretty unpleasant. Boy was a wrong. The countryside coming in from the airport was beautiful: canals with boats, forests, rolling grassy hillsides and pretty buildings.
    Our first day here was busy and interesting. We began with finding a supposedly very good Lebanese cafe down the road in Earl's Court. It was as good as I we had heard: fantastic little Lebanese coffee shots, tapas-like platters for the olds, and smoked salmon, mushroom scrambled eggs with fresh made pita bread for me. All accompanied with some sweet croissants.
    The first stop on our day's itinerary was getting deep downtown on various tubes and taking the light railway to see the Cutty Sark. The beautifully restored vessel was just as awe inspiring as I had heard, and we all thoroughly enjoyed looking around her. The size and quality of everything from hull to rigging was just excellent, with plenty of accompanying information.
    Up the road from Cutty Sark was the national maritime museum. We went in looking for information on longitude (it being situated in Greenwich, 0 degrees longitude) and information on Captain Cook. Alas we found neither.. so just took advantage of the cafe for a quick refreshing drink before carrying on down the the Thames waterfront. From the Greenwich ferry berth we caught a fast cat down the river, past tall ship Tenacious, HMS Belfast, various Thames barges and the city in general. We got off the ferry near Borough Market (see tomorrow) and went to the tube station.
    Zoom zoom zoom.
    Up we popped in Picadilly Circus and Regent street. We had afternoon tea of salads, cakes and tea at the Hotel Royale Cafe which was.. interesting and not amazing but an enjoyable borgouis experience.
    From the Royal we went to Hamleys. . The most amazing toy shop.. 6 floors of childhood delights from Lego to soft toys were seemingly never ending. Just had a god look around before leaving as it was CHAOTIC. But very cool.

    I'm writing this a little late so admittedly may be missing details or not remembering as much as I'd like. . IL try to keep more on top of it in future.
    ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM
    Dinner this day came in the form of another multicultural Earl's Court experience. This time a wonderful Japanese place with great dumplings, tempura soba noodle soup, sweet chilli beef and teppenyaki noodles. Very nice and very enjoyable. But definitely was time for bed back in our little apadtment.

    P.s. SQUIRRELS!! SO MANY WILD SQUIRRELS!!!    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Athens Markets

    September 10, 2015 in England ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Just a quick post about the markets back in Athens. They were incredible! All of the foodie stuff I wanted and was waiting for. Buckets upon buckets of endless olives, feta, fruit and vegetables. Not to mention mountains of amazing figs costing just a few euros per kilo!!!?
    Bread stalls and ready to eats were spotted but mainly the ready to eat sustanence came from roadside cafes and a bag of figs. Yum yum yum.

    The meat markets were something else also.. any New Zealand health inspector would've shut the whole thing down in an instant. But still it was fantastic: piles of liver, kidneys and general offal beside whole skinned goats and sheep hanging it the 30+ degree heat on the roadside.cut and optioned meats were mostly already snapped up by local restaurants but some still remained.
    The fresh fish market was coming to a close when we arrived but still had mountains of sardines, squid, octopus, bass, mullets and a variety of Mediterranean fish.. all sitting on a far too warm bed of almost fully melted ice. The smell was, understandably, strong and it's fair to say we rushed through.

    Finally come the endless buckets of spices, nuts, grains, seeds, flours, dried fruits and everything inaginable filling them to the brim!

    Altogether it was a fantastic market and a wonderful place to wander and taste.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    London Day 2

    September 11, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Day 2 of London was as busy and hectic as the first! It's getting hard to explain, in everything in as much detail as I'd like so I may do a follow up entry summing up England later on. Also only being able to squeeze in 6 photos is difficult!

    Just a little note that yesterday we also went to St Pauls Cathedral. Amazing! I've included a photo as I couldn't fit it in yesterday.

    Today we had coffee at a different Lebanese cafe in Earl's Court before rushing to catch the opening of Borough Market. Yet another market that will get its own post.

    From Borough we caught a tube to Parliment buildings, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. All impressive and incredible sights in their own right. It was quite something sitting in a field staring at these 3 amazing antiquity buildings. It's quote something to be surrounded by architecture that has been around long before the discovery of New Zealand.. a very awe inspiring thought and place to be. Westminster was truly incredible inside, no pictures would do the inside justice so it's fortunate that none are allowed to be taken inside.
    From the inner city buildings we went home in preparation for dinner as it was Joy's (shh) 50th birthday.
    A long hassle of trying to find a taxi, then bus to Marble Arch in peak rush hour traffic left us rushed, grumpy and late for our dinner with my cousin Bella at Le Gavroche... and what a dinner it was. It deserves it's own post but I have few photos - until I can steal some off Bella - so will leave it at this: an 8+ course degustation in one of the world's top restaurants. The first in England and one of only a few in the world to be award 3 Michelin Stars. Run by Michel Roux, it was a truly incredible experience. Highlights were an excellent beef carpacio, a 30+ choose your own cheese trolley, hilarious twin Austrian maitre d's, and the experience of having one of the best meals and services in the world. No exaggeration.
    Nothing else needs to be said.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    London to Oxford

    September 11, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Well today went by in another blur of travel. It never seems to take a short amount of time to get anywhere.. always a decent day full of main and sorting things out.
    Anyway.. we caught to train early to Paddington station where we had a quick sandwich and a coffee before boarding our train up to Oxford. The train journey wwpas less than an hour of taking in the stunning Neglish countryside., what a beautiful place it is.

    Getting our hire car and getting to our apartment was.. diabolical.. 4 hours to get about 2 kilometres from the train station, a huge detour through the city and around a ring road before coming back into the city, dropping our bags and slightly injured-foot Joy off near our apartment, proceeding to find a car park in the almost entirely padestrianised Oxford city was a mission in itself, then walking back to the flat through an unknown town. What should've taken us a small part of a day had us at 6pm scratching our heads about what we were doing here.. but a quick walk down the road to the oldest pub in England for dinner was reason enough. Oxford is completely beautiful. Looming towers, Castle spires, libraries and university buildings dotting every street corner, bookshops, gardens, beautiful houses, cobblestoned streets, pubs, cafes, the river and every manner of student, businessman, teacher and sophisticate walking past makes for a truly perfect little village. Pretentious? Yes. But when you live or study in a town like this it's okay to be a bit retentious because that's what it's all about, and noone should try and stop it.

    A wander through the streets was highlighted by finding an original Dali print, hand signed off course, for only £5,500. Bargain.

    Also, our apartment is pretty cool too. It's a creaky old renovated little flat upstairs in the old Oxford town hall, next to the museum of modern art in the main street. It involves going through 4 locked doors, through some of the meseum, up two spiral stair cases and down some very dark corridors. The flat itself is lovely, everything decorated to the Oxford period style and the floorboard and beds creaking in a somewhat ominous am menacing way. But it's home and it's pretty great.
    Sleep now as a big couple of days ahead.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Oxford Day 1

    September 12, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Late writing this one up again, apologies!
    Today we went for a walk around Oxford in the morning, including going through a great underground market for a very average coffee and full English breakfast. We then walked around the various libraries and museums, the highlight of which was a library exhibition featuring original Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Magna Carta, Dante Aligherie, Cppernicus and many more. It was incredible to see such ancient pieces of famous literature as they would've come off the press - speaking of which there was an original Gutenberg Bible also!!

    From the museum we jumped in our hire car and drove off into the countryside, visiting various little towns and villages which were always mentioned by my grandparents when I was growing up. They were all tiny, cute and beautiful with quaint English architecture, duck ponds, rolling green hills and great little pubs. We visited my distant family, again which I have heard much about throughout my childhood, in the small village of Princes Risborough. We had tea in their great little backyard and chatted and chatted all afternoon, eventually settling on Chinese takeaways which were. . Or course very average from a cheap little village takeaway place down the road.

    Our drive back through to Oxford was lovely again and we returned with hot chocolates in hand to settle down for the night. All in all not a terrible day, but with the standard frustrations that seem to be a regular occurrence.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Oxford Day 2

    September 13, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Our second full day I Oxford was full of family time and socializing. It was really nice getting to know my extended family which, like I say, I have heard so much about but never met. They were all such kind, welcoming, hospitable, fun, generous people like others I've known that it was yard to say good bye.
    We breakfasted with just a takeaway pie from yesterday's little street market while walking around the Oxford University buildings on our way to the car. A nice drive through the English Countryside brought us back to our cousins house in Princes Risborough. Today was the day we had brought my deceased grandparents ashes from New Zealand for. We were to scatter the at various locations around the Buckinghamshire countryside. Alf of Grandads went on his parents grave. Half of my grandmother's went on her brothers grave, in the came cemetery and her parents but as we weren't sure where they were buried it didn't seem right to guess. The other half of both grandma and grandad went together under a tree outside the house they had built 60 or so years ago in Princes Risborough. They were together again.
    It was a very emotional experience - especially for my dad as they were his parents - but was wonderful to do it not as a big event, just with a few relatives present making a little pilgrimage across the countryside together.
    After a few more stops around the places to see where people grew up or went to school, as well as a drive to the top of White Leaf Cross to see the countryside view, we went back to my cousins houses before dinner at an Italian restaurant. Dinner was nice and standard Italian fare while the drive back to Oxford after saying goodbye to the relatives was a little more sad, knowing we won't be seeing them for a long time after having never even met them before.
    Tomorrow we leave for Paris which should be another interesting day full of travel.
    There has been a little relief from the frustrations of a certain co-traveller whilst in the Oxford and Buckinghamshire area and we have been so busy doing Small-family stuff, which has been good.    Read more

  • Edward SmallEurope 2015Edward Small

    Oxford Town

    September 13, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Oxford Town, Oxford Town
    Ev'rybody's got their hats bowed down
    The sun don't shine above the ground
    Ain't a-goin' down to Oxford Town.

    He went down to Oxford Town
    Guns and clubs followed him down
    All because his face was brown
    Better get away from Oxford Town.

    Oxford Town around the bend
    He comes to the door, he couln't get in
    All because of the color of his skin
    What do you think about that, my frien' ?

    Me and my gal, my gal's son
    We got met with a tear gas bomb
    I don't even know why we come
    Goin' back where we come from.

    Oxford Town in the afternoon
    Ev'rybody singin' a sorrowful tune
    Two men died 'neath the Mississippi moon
    Somebody better investigate soon.

    -Bob Dylan

    Different Oxford than the song but still...    Read more

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