Collect-o-mania

I've always had the unfortunate tendency, perhaps inherited from my grandfather, to collect things a bit manically. This is usually inhibited by a couple of factors; finances, and the practicalities of living in different parts of the world. My answer is to collect things which don't take up much space. On the one hand I've got a pack of cards from every country I've been to (except Bolivia... dammit). On the other, I take photos of things to make a "virtual collection".

This works out quite well in the instance of the collections I have started here in England; as can be seen above, one is of pubs with interesting names; and, below, another of cool-looking clocks. These were both taken in Surrey on a trip down to the coast (through some magnificent, Dandenongs-esqe countryside) to see the famously terrible pebble beaches with their carnival atmosphere. They did not disappoint. Nor did the dodgem cars that Lara, Susan and I had a spin in!

Home sweet home

Well, here it is - the photo of chez moi in London. Wandsworth to be precise - I'm in the 3rd window from the left.

Alright, actually my street is pictured below - number 7 is halfway along the left hand side of this little cul-de-sac. What I will say is that the building pictured above was directly behind me when I was taking this shot - it is a 30 second walk to the thing, which is ostensibly the Royal Victorian Patriotic Building, but in practice is mainly recognised for the fact that it houses "Le Gothique" a French bar and bistro. Could be worse!

At last - just the thing to finish off the garden

Thought it was worth showing another aspect of the delightful little water feature in the back yard of Castle Howard.

A little cottage in the country somewhere - the perfect English dream

After the medieval quaintness of York, it was time to get stuck into some serious 18th Century splendour - no better place than Castle Howard, which remained in the hands of the Howard family (who held the hereditary title Earl of Carlisle until the death of the 10th Earl) since it was built.

The place almost rivals Versailles for pure opulance, and is one of the finest stately homes in Britain. So it would be almost as good as Werribee Mansion if they had rhinos.

One of the best things about the house is the focus on the history of the family; for example there are on display watercolours painted by one of the Earls who, when he wasn't off Earling, liked to decorate the envelopes of the letters he sent to his sons while they were in boarding school.

Time to get medieval on you

York was the next port of call, courtesy again of my travel agent and chauffer, Lara. This time we were joined by some friends of hers from back in Melbourne, who had joined the parade of Australians staying with her at her home in Guildford.

York is the town for anyone whose buttons get pushed by medieval architecture such as crumbling town walls, ancient keeps perched on hilltops, giant cathedrals and rambling tumble-down streets with half-timbered houses leaning in so far as to almost rest against one another.

I'm not sure I know anyone like that unfortunately.

Like sand through the hourglass

On the day we were there, this unique timepiece in Cambridge's Queen's College would have indicated the date to have been the 15th day of July, 2006. 26 and 3 quarter years prior to this moment, it would have been amiably going about its business without any inkling of the fact that, not far away, a chain of events would be set in motion with the result being, among one or two other things, the creation of this very blog.

Haunting, no?

Smashing

The ultimate English countryside experience - being driven in a convertible British Racing Green sportscar between hedge-lined fields by a perfect gentleman, in this case one DJB Law Esq.

Hitting the ground running

I hadn't been in the UK long before I was lucky enough to see a few familiar faces. The first of these was my completely awesome friend and ex-flattie Lara, who not only picked me up from Heathrow, but put me up for more than a week at her place in Guildford (courtesy also of her flatmates Mark and Siobhan, who are legendary). I imagine she'll feature pretty heavily here for the next little while, as her powers of generosity are matched only by her skills in filling my weekends with interesting and exciting outings, the first of which I will mention in a moment.

Once my bags had been dropped, it was into London to meet up with a few friends from old Melbourne town - Ben, Ange, Tris, Dog and Alex; a veritable reunion. Arranging to catch up with them over a few beers and grabbing some dinner was an almost surreal experience given the lack of contact with your normal life travelling holds. Safe to say it was something else to see them all there on the other side of the world - meeting people from home in far-off places has to be one of my favourite things. This we managed to couple with another of my favourite things - garlic! Everything on the menu at our chosen venue was garlic-themed. The jury is still out on the garlic beer...

The next call of business was to head to Dublin for a weekend music festival, which Lara and I flew to the next day. It was a blast. I won't go through the line up, but there were some brilliant acts. The weather was terrible the first day, but somehow this only managed to add to the fun that 80,002 people (70,000 of whom were our next-door neighbours for 2 nights in the campsite) can have at a showground with 7 stages going simultaneously. And the amount of rubbish they can produce - see above.

Dublin itself was lovely, and we were probably not there long enough to do it justice. We were there long enough to visit the Long Room, in Trinity College, where they house an amazing collection of old books. This includes the Book of Kells and several other gospel books which were on display in a fascinating exchibition. One thing I won't forget is the musty-old-book smell, bottles of which I wouldn't be surprised to hear they export from this room to be released in second-hand bookshops around the world just to add authenticity.

7th Heaven

They really know how to do retail in Times Square - here is an example; 5 stories of toys & games, and in the middle of it all: a ferris wheel. Definitely the spot to get in touch with that inner child.

Do you like apples?

Some long overdue pictures of New York. I found it to be a city with a great feel to it, lively and interesting. The layout is superb too, very hard to get lost when every street is numbered! It's a very difficult city not to have preconceptions of, due to the absolute saturation it gets in popular culture - one way or another, I found many of the sights, sounds and addresses familiar whether I had been aware of it previously or not. I felt it necessary therefore to live up to a few stereotypes - the cream-filled bagel (so good toasted!), the cawfee (I love the Queens accent!), the hawt dawg, the pretzel. I will admit straying a little outside the city's official culinary range to try some late-night buffalo wings. No soup for me!

Teaming up with my sister, whose 11th hour arrival was timed precisely for a Broadway show, we covered most of the NYC must-dos; the afore-mentioned show, a stroll through Central Park, a dizzying spell at the Guggenheim, scaling the Empire State (on the inside), a sobering visit to the world's most famous urban hole in the ground, a ferry ride out to the Statue of Liberty and, luckily enough, the chance to watch the July 4th fireworks display over the Hudson (brought to you by Macy's).

Just the thing for these vagabond shoes.

And Em, here's a few shots of us at what would have to be described as a cosmic ballet - don't you think?