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Adventure Time

septembre - décembre 2017
Une aventure de 111 jours par NZtoWherever En savoir plus
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  • 110empreintes
  • 13pays
  • 111jours
  • 597photos
  • 0vidéos
  • 47,9kkilomètres
  • 42,2kkilomètres
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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 27

    Camden Market

    30 septembre 2017, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Walked to Camden market (30min walk). Was a large market. So many people and shops. Lots of the same kind of things, but there were a few cool unique shops. Had Dutch pancakes (yum) and pondered some cute prints and a lovely coat.

    Wandered further through Camden then decided to call it a day as rain loomed.    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 29

    Les Musées and Les Misérables

    2 octobre 2017, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Big day. Natural History Museum in the morning and Science Museum in the afternoon. Both were really good. Only saw parts of each as they're both massive so hopefully will get back later.

    Natural History was great - saw dinosaurs (including lifelike moving roaring T-rex). Saw mammals as well and some human biology exhibits. Some were a bit dated but still very good.

    Science Museum was also great. Steam engine exhibit surprisingly interesting! Never knew it was so important to Britain and that James Watt was revered as a hero so much. Enjoyed the exhibits on space and the exhibit on the changing relationship between humans and technology through time. There was also an interesting if rather sobering exhibition on medical advances that developed from World Wars 1 and 2. Mini documentary at the end of the War Wounds exhibition was moving.

    Then a stroll to Harrods to make us feel poor. Success. Most stuff pretty pricey and fancy but got some nice donuts (typical us). Then upstairs to the Christmas shop - Radi was pretty happy. Walked away with a little ornament. Stopped through the toy store part - not as magical as I remember but probably more enjoyable when you're 7. Still good though (note their board game selection was poor - can't win em all I suppose).

    From Harrods a quick trot to West End. Ate at C & R Malaysian restaurant (thanks to Em for that suggestion). Yum. Then a short stroll around the district and into the M & M store. Pretty cool but out of our pay bracket.

    But then, wandering to the show, who did we see but Samwell Tarly of Game of Thrones in the flesh! (Or at least the actor who plays that character). Very cool.

    Then Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. Old theatre and not amazing seats (back of dress circle so top of stage cut off, but not too bad - although for future, closer seats better as you can see the emotion more). But the show was fantastic!

    Valjean was great, as was Gavroche and Marius. Javert good but not perfect. Eponine OK but not quite right (though Radi ended up liking her)? Cosette didn't quite get it - one of those weird warbling opera voices that just jarred with the other voices. But overall very very very good show. Rotating set and barricades were really well done and music of course great.

    Then home to bed and ready for another day of adventuring!    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 30

    The Tower, Skygarden and Book of Mormon

    3 octobre 2017, Angleterre ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Late start and tube to the Tower of London. Similar to Edinburgh Castle in a way. Lots of history - good displays and plenty to see.

    Saw the crown jewels. Sparkly, but we're probably not distinguished enough to appreciate that all the gems are diamonds and rubies etc. (rather than fake gems which look just as sparkly to us).

    Few school groups there but not too crowded. Cool displays and learnt some history. Battlements were nice. White tower in the middle was good - 3 levels of displays. Store for armaments so had lots of guns and swords and armour.

    Learnt about two daring escapes. One ended in a drop from the tower and a heavy, fatal impact (beheading from the fall). One ended in him getting clean away thanks to his canny Scottish wife, her hand maidens and some cross dressing.

    Ate our packed lunch at the Tower. Then headed onwards, pausing to enjoy the sun and view of the River Thames and Tower Bridge, then on to Sky Garden to see Em and TK (and Em's cousin).

    Sky Garden was cool - free but you book online in advance and then line up for 10 or 20min or so. Very tall building (with a curve that used to melt cars - slight design flaw) with a garden (and cafes) on top. Really great views over London.

    After that, tube to Leicester Square to get more show tickets - settled on Aladdin for the two of us on Wednesday.

    Em and TK (and Debbie) had put their names in a lottery draw for cheaper Book of Mormon tickets for tonight (the show does a draw for every show). So we went along to watch the draw at 5.30PM. Arrived early so Debbie said we should put our names in. And a stroke of luck as we both got our names drawn out for two tickets each! Radi was very excited as she never wins anything.

    Very lucky for us so all four of us got to go. Tickets were normally around £50 at least for single seats way up the back - good seats would've been £100 or more. We got ours through the lottery for £20 each. A steal.

    Off to dinner at the popular Bao London (place that normally has a line outside going down the street). Another stroke of luck with the only table available when we arrived was for 5 people. Had delicious bao buns and a taro white Russian (prompting Radi to loudly exclaim "I don't usually like white Russians!").

    Then some delicious small fancy desserts from Yauatcha Soho (and a frozen Snickers bar from a dairy - we introduced TK to them and he concurs that they are delicious).

    Off to Book of Mormon and where are our seats? Front row in stalls - almost close enough to touch the actors. Fantastic. And the show itself fantastic. Very crass at times, but without crossing the line. Really well done and lots of laughs (and good songs, dancing and acting).

    Overall a really great day!    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 31

    A Day of Magic

    4 octobre 2017, Angleterre ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    After a bit of confusion at Euston, we managed to get on the right train to Watford junction, where we met up with Em and TK. Finally got to go on a double decker bus (our ride to the Warner Bros Harry Potter studios).

    What an amazing amazing tour (with lots of interesting extra info through audio guides). Gave us a real appreciation of the sheer magnitude of people, talent and work involved in creating the movies. Very very impressive.

    Real props, sets and costumes. Photo opportunities galore. Took part in a battle with death eaters (hilarious and fun). Wandered through the Forbidden Forest and jumped on the Hogwarts Express. Of course we tried some Butterbeer too (yum but very sweet, one glass too much for one person).

    Giant and overwhelming gift shop at the end. Got a souvenir guidebook (freebie). 

    Overall a magical experience!

    Then headed home, for a quick rest and an early dinner before heading into town for Aladdin.

    Went to Aladdin at the Prince Edward theatre. Cheap seats but glad we didn't pay more. A good show and nothing wrong with it, but not up to the level of the other shows.

    They wouldn't even give us a booster seat as apparently they're for "children only" - note: Radi is still shorter than me on a booster seat. Speaking of children, two delightful kids behind us (under 5?) - talked through a lot of it (kind of understandable with them being kids). One kept coughing and kicked us once or twice which was delightful. Parents sadly weren't much better and were shushed by the usher. Thankfully got better towards the end (after some firm but polite words from Wade).

    Overall was OK - quite old school Disney and American. Genie was really really good though - Aladdin and Jasmine were average. Story was a bit simplistic, with average dancing and acting and cheesy humour. Kids seemed to really enjoy it though so that was good. Genie's main number definitely improved things. As did "A Whole New World"; it was stunning with the flying carpet and stars (still unsure how it was suspended) - looked real!

    Overall enjoyable (especially once the people behind us became a bit more considerate of others), and was good for making us appreciate the depth and talent of other shows more.    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 32

    British Museum & Wicked

    5 octobre 2017, Angleterre ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Late start today (again) but managed to squeeze in some British museum viewing. It's so massive. Quite good though. Only scratched the surface but enjoyed the Roman, Greek and Vikings exhibits (lots of information and weapons and armour). Japan section also interesting (with some intriguing artworks).

    They have random objects on a LGBTQ trail where they look at things from that lens - bit different and quite interesting (didn't know that the Emperor Hadrian a.k.a "Wally" had a male lover).

    Saw the Rosetta stone - pretty cool. Oh yeah, pretty sure most of the exhibits and artefacts were probably stolen (not explicitly mentioned but you can connect the dots).

    Even had some Maori items in there. Overall a really good museum.

    A bubble tea then Thai with Em, TK et al. Rosa's near the Apollo Victoria. Quite a nice meal.

    Then off to Wicked with Em and TK (our final musical of this trip). Very good! Loved the story/plot (might be not as good if you already know the story?). Seats were good and relatively cheap. Few good songs (our favourite was Defying Gravity) - though no real punchy finale. Would make a good movie.

    Our final musical ranking based on ones we've seen:

    1) Les Miserables
    2) Book of Mormon
    3) Matilda = Wicked
    4) Phantom of the Opera (seen in Wellington)
    5) Lion King

    6) Aladdin    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 33

    Friday Fun and Farewells

    6 octobre 2017, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Later start, did some laundry in the morning (exciting times). Met Em and TK at the Science Museum. Walked to Hyde Park and had picnic lunch. Then saw the Serpentine Pavilion and gallery. The pavilion changes each year and is designed by famous architects (TK explained more about each). Quite cool!

    The gallery had an exhibition by some Wade guy and it was about the level of my art. Sounded really cool but went over our heads. Had some laughs though - though perhaps uncontrollable fits of laughter at a fancy art museum not quite appropriate.

    Also saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain which was nice. Saw squirrels and birds and stuff. More laughs.

    Round 2 of Science Museum - wanted to try the milkshake bar but it was closed. We wanted to try one of the flight simulators (including a 360° flipping one) but lines were big and then when we came back, they were sold out. Flight exhibition interesting but no mention of Richard Pearse sadly. Interesting to note that the development of flight was so slow starting due to humankind's obsession with a 'flapping technique' for so long.

    Wrapped up there, had dinner at a "natural" fast food place (Leon) - nice enough. Then cookies from Ben's cookies. Radi dropped one and it was tragic and hilarious. We ate the rest thankfully.

    Got TK's luggage (him and Em were nice enough to take some stuff home for us ☺). Said goodbye (😢) and home early (for a change) to get organised packing.    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 34

    Borough Markets, Sightseeing and More

    7 octobre 2017, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Borough markets for lunch. Cool but intimidating and so so many people. Had nice scallops though. Had a roast pork roll (really good), juices to quench thirst following pork, followed by Paris Brest (creme doughnut thing) for dessert. All yum - bit pricey but not too bad.

    Tube to Westminster. Saw Big Ben (under construction but still plenty of gold on it) and some other buildings from outside.

    Went to Namco Funscape (arcade like Timezone). Not as large as I remember? Played basketball game and then left (too many people).

    Then tube to Hampstead and wandered around. Browsed through little antique markets.

    Then tired so went home. Time to pack properly!    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 35

    Bonjour Paris!

    8 octobre 2017, France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Flew to Paris (as the Chunnel is closed for maintenance on one day per year and that day was today). Lounge at Heathrow was nice for lunch and drinks (although had a small wait as was packed). Also had another go at playing one of the tiny board games we got in Frankfurt (Orc). Flight was 50min long so nice and quick.

    Customs etc in France was quick. Train in to Paris took a bit longer (ages to leave station and confusion around which train we were meant to be on). Eventually arrived and greeted by our host, who was lovely and gave us some recommendations of restaurants etc.

    Then had pizza for tea at one of the recommendations, La Massara. Really good pizza and wine and dessert in a lovely romantic setting. Then back home to do some planning for our short stay here, and an early ish night.

    Two full days in Paris so will need to get cracking tomorrow!    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 36

    The Louvre

    9 octobre 2017, France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Croissants and coffee for breakfast. Yum. Half hour walk to the Louvre and then saw the massive line. So bought tickets online to save heaps of time for about 4 dollars extra (yay for smart phone and data - 1.25GB per month working out so far).

    Then skipped the queue and we were in. Went in the secondary entrance which was a happy mistake as saw sculptures and paintings without huge crowds who go in directly to see Mona Lisa.

    Saw some Northern European painters and quite liked some. Balthasar Denner and someone else did these super lifelike portraits (almost like photos) - very cool. Lots of sculptures - really interesting.

    Then moved through other parts of the museum which weren't as captivating. Lots of Egyptian stuff (yeah, mostly stolen probably). Some interesting art objects and other random things. They had some good placards in multilevel languages that were really useful - learnt about a series of old tapestries (or old copies of them) about Scipio and his defeat of Hannibal and life etc. Cool.

    Got lost a little but eventually made our way to the obligatory Mona Lisa visit (were almost going to buck the trend and not see it at all). But never fear, we saw the mass of people shuffling in to see it. As expected and forewarned, we were suitably underwhelmed.

    After that, stomachs rumbling we moved off through the Jardín des Tulieres (cursing ourselves for forgetting our sunglasses - the sun was blazing), and then strolled to Latin Quarter to find lunch.

    Overall impression of the Louvre? Great. Worth exploring off the beaten track - more enjoyable crowd wise and you see some gems. Didn't see the need for audioguides - lots in English and our basic French reading helped in other parts. Beautiful building - at times it outdid the artworks and artefacts on display.    En savoir plus

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  • NZtoWhereverAdventure Time
    Jour 36

    Museum of Shoah & Ober Mamma

    9 octobre 2017, France ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After the Louvre (and lunch), we strolled around the Latin Quarter some more. Then went onwards to the museum, saw outside of Notre Dame on the way. Beautiful. Then had a crepe, continued walking and window shopping.

    Ended up at the Museum of the Shoah (Holocaust). Great museum. A brass monument outside with names of camps on it representing a chimney stack. And a wall of names of the 76,000 Jews from France who were sent to Germany (most of whom died). Lots of details and personal stories - quite sobering and touching exhibits. Also had a special exhibition of how the Holocaust was dealt with in comic books which was very interesting.

    After the museum, went to the host-recommended Ober Mamma. Opens at 7pm with no reservations so we turned up at about 6.35pm ... to a line of about 25? And 25 more joined after - a very popular one... and for good reason. A very delicious meal of truffle pasta and ham, mozzarella, mushroom and truffle pizza. With wine and cocktail, and two desserts to follow - a tiramisù and a lemonemisu  (very hard to say while trying to speak French!). So good!

    A great night out and home to bed.    En savoir plus

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