Didn't make it to Milan...

Well, I guess it had to happen some time...

Fiona and I were up at the crack of dawn this morning, heading to Gatwick and really looking forward to our trip to Milan, only for our flight to be cancelled! The worst part if it, was we got all the way to the airport, the flight was listed on the departure board, had our boarding passes scanned and went through security, went into the departure area (after security), looked on the board and the flight was cancelled.

There were no more flights to Milan today, and since we were only going for the weekend it wasn't worth going just for one night. The "useful" Easyjet person escorted us back through security etc and told us we could either re-book for Saturday or to get a full refund. But, we had to stand in a que. So, after over an hour of standing in a seemingly endless que, we finally got to the front, only to be told....(wait for it) that they couldn't give refunds - we had to phone customer services!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

So, there goes our weekend of pizza, pasta, art and red wine. Thankfully, we'll get a refund on our flights and our insurance will cover most of the hotel and other costs we'd already spent.

So, sadly, I don't have anything exiting about our weekend to say. It's Friday afternoon, and Fiona and I are sitting here watching the NZ cricket team actually perform for a change. Not too much else planned for the weekend, probably just a bit of Xmas shopping etc. On the bright side, its only 3 weeks until we go to Spain! :-)

The Western Front

Hi everyone.
It's been ages since I last blog, so I'm not sure where to start...and I'll try not to make it too long.

Back in September, I had my friend Lauren visit from Canada. We had a really nice weekend, including going to the show "Wicked," about the Witches of Oz. Its a very 'raz-a-mataz' show, with amazing stage and lights. It is also very cleverly inter-twined with the original story of Oz, and is certainly well worth seeing. We also went to the opening night of an exhibition at the British Museum of the Terracotta Warriors. Although there were only a dozen or so, they are simply amazing! The sight in China is something like 50 kilometers square and archeologists have barely scratched the surface.

We had a good weekend in Scotland, and not just because the ABs won. Edinburgh, we thought, was a really nice, small city. A tour of the Scottish Parliament and the game at Murrayfield were real highlights. Late in September I went to NHL ice hockey in London, Ducks v Kings, and both Fiona and I went to a play at Shakespear's Globe called "We the People," about writing of the American Constitution. It was an excellent play, and gave a very good insight into the personalities, egos, beliefs and philosophies of some of the great men.

The rugby world cup quarter final in Cardiff was quite the experience. Sitting at my uncle's house in Oxford before the game, having grown more nervous by the day during the week, I watched as England played the game of their lives in beating Australia. I had commented, earlier that morning, that I was worried about the referee for the NZ game. Even though he was seen as a bright young thing, he had very little experience in comparison with someone like Jonathan Kaplan or Alan Roland...enough said.

Thankfully, my sporting scars were soon healed (somewhat) by going to see the Boston Celtics play basketball against the T/wolves at the O2 (or the Dome for those who know it like that). The Celtics made some huge signings in the off season...anyway, they won easily and have had a great start to the season.

I had a really nice birthday. On the night, I had a few drinks at a wine bar at London Bridge with loads of friends, which was really nice, and Friday night we went out to dinner and to the Sound of Music, on stage. Last year the BBC had a reality show where they selected (with Andrew Lloyd Webber) who would play Maria. Having got addicted to that series, it was to actually see the full show on stage. The kids and Maria were the real stars of an outstanding show.

Our most recent trip was to northern France and Belgium for remembrance day. It was a totally different trip to anything we've done yet in many ways. Not only did we spend a lot of time driving around the region, we really only visited small towns and saw graves and memorials to NZ, Canadian, British and Australian soldiers. It was quite an emotional trip at times, particularly at Le Quesnoy. Our friend Ethan, who came with us, has written a brilliant (short) article on it, which I really recommend you read, so I won't bore you with the details:

From the uttermost ends of the earth
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0711/S00266.htm

The other place which blew me away was Vimy Ridge, a place liberated by Canadian soldiers, and where thousands lost their lives. As well as a stunning, huge memorial, the whole area is still surrounded by trenches and tunnels, most of which is out of bounds because of man traps and barbed wire. I learned a lot about Vimy when I went to High School in Canada, so it was nice to see it and pay respects in person.

Next weekend, we're off to Milan for 3 days to see the last supper and enjoy a whole lot of fine Italian wine and food.

The job is going well. I am really busy, which is good, and enjoying social policy. If you haven't heard, I was contracting at Greenwich Council for three months and then got a permanent job at a senior level, in the same team. It is certainly interesting and a huge challenge. As well as being a beautiful area, Greenwich has some of the highest unemployment and the most deprived wards in the UK. I work with really nice people and its only 20 minutes from home.

Apologies for not blogging for so long, but will try to do better.