Living the travellers dream!

BRISTOL

Wednesday took us to Bristol. With it's harbour filled with old fashioned ships and sailing boats, restaurants and cafés scattered on either side, impressive old fashioned architecture, including two enormous gothic styled cathedrals it had the best of everything. Also being the home of some of Banky's most impressive works (he's a world renowned graffiti artist), it was quite a hip and cool place, buzzing with street markets and tourists. We spent the morning strolling along the waterfront before eating our homemade sushi for lunch..... Delish! After scoping out some more of the town we decided to check out the city museum, which was packed with lots of delightful surprises. A section filled with ancient Egyptian artefacts, another with Roman treasures, French English and more gorgeous paintings from everywhere in between, even dinosaurs and a stuffed sloth. Anything that you ever imagined to find in a museum was inside this city gem. A quick latte later it was time to jump back on the train for the 3 hour journey back to Portsmouth!

LONDON

Its ridiculous to think that after nearly five months of being here a trip to London didn't register on my travel itinerary..... We were missing out! I don't think you can ever see enough in London.... Which is why I'm going twice this week! The purpose of this visit was to catch up with my favourite English woman, a forever friend and spend the day roaming around and soaking up the craziness that is London! We were just in time for crazy, as we got to Buckingham Palace just in time for the changing of the guard. It is impossible to explain just how many people were there, but it would have easily been in the late hundreds. Roads were closed and police were monitoring the crazy tourists desperate to get a glimpse of those red coats and furry black hats. You could hear the guards before you could see them as the band came marching up the road, shortly followed by a horse procession. Just casually. We didn't even get near the gates for fear of being crushed, so we decided to head back towards the city centre and grab some lunch at Ed's Diner. A stereotypical American eatery, we had burgers and shakes (of course) as we relaxed in the red leather booths, black and white tiled floors included. 

To MnM WOOOOOOOOOOORLD. Quite possibly one of the greatest places on earth, you could smell the mnm's before you could see them! Every colour imaginable..... You name it, it was there, by the billion. I don't know how..... But somehow I resisted and opted for more strolling through the city (gotta think of that bikini body..... Dear god). Covent Garden was next on the list which involved peeking at the markets, indulging in a delicious Italian mocha and watching an Aussie magician attempt to make the English population laugh...... Sometimes a VERY difficult task. 

Next stop was Soho for a glass of rose at a delightful Italian cafe before dinner at a French restaurant across the street. Steak, French fries and Creme Caramel were on the menu and topped off what was a brilliant day in the city. Finally, walking through the door at 11pm meant that a sleep in this morning was ESSENTIAL. 

SOUTHAMPTON 

Today Southampton was on the agenda, the Titanic museum being the draw card..... Oh as well as WestQuay..... A 100 shop clad retail paradise. I spent £9.50 they call me the ultimate bargain hunter. Cough cough PRIMARK cough cough. Now back to the important stuff, the Titanic museum was both beautiful and emotionally draining at the same time. Just seeing the wall with the hundreds of faces upon it, the majority of these people being Southampton residents, and recognising that so many of these people didn't make it home really put the event into perspective. It seems it was not all Kate and Leonardo.... I got a lot more out of the experience than I expected and would recommend the visit to anyone close to the area. Soz Aussie dwellers.....

We missed our train home due to WestQuays charms so we filled in some time eating gelato and looking through ASDA (England's answer to Woolies). 

After a MASSIVE five days it's safe to say, my little legs are feeling the pressure and a cup of tea whilst watching Death Comes to Pemberley (a Jane Austen inspired drama that features Chatsworth House) is a very welcome end to the day. 

Tomorrow it's back to London to see a familiar face from home and experience the delightfulness that is Camden Markets! With so much adventuring this week it's almost time to go back to school, with just 6 weeks until Summer. 

How grateful I am to be seeing the world and sharing it with all of you xx

Winchester & Oxford

Winchester

An amazing 'typically' British town.

Leafy green trees, sandstone and all kinds of other stone houses covered in ivy with impeccable rose gardens, cobbled streets, a weekend market selling roast pork rolls (with an actual pig roasting in the background) + fresh bread and pastries + olives with all kinds of marinade + yummy baked treats galore and even a stand dedicated to venison..... Steered clear of that one (sorry dad). 

Jordan and I worked up quite an appetite after getting off the train on the opposite side of the city centre (we realised this after a 40 minute walk up and down hills.... Mostly up) but we found our way soon enough thanks to google maps. Finding the city centre was exciting, but not as exciting as feasting our eyes upon Winchester cathedral, it was seriously impressive and absolutely massive. Unfortunately we didn't take the full tour inside as there was a fee (we are stingy) and you couldn't take photos, so we settled for lunch on the grass with the cathedral as our background. Winchester does have quite the historical background, it was the last home of Jane Austen who is buried inside the cathedral, has a very impressive statue of King Alfred the great, the ruins of Wolvesey Castle give it a semi haunting vibe as you wander through what used to be great dining halls and ladies chambers, King Arthur's round table made for King Henry VIII in 1522 and Queen Elenors gardens give it that fairytale magic.... Although there is no way the knights could have played footsies underneath that thing it is seriously ENORMOUS. 

Overall Winchester was a beautiful city to spend the day exploring and wandering through, stopping here and there to take photos of houses (no I'm not creepy) or just staring at the ancient architecture. I did nearly fall on my face at one point as I admired the Guild Hall aaaaaand the S word may have slipped out which granted me a few dirty looks from some older residents. What can I say, I'm an Aussie! We express our emotions! 

After the trip home we stopped off at pound land (did I mention we are stingy) and stocked up on all the essentials, honey roasted cashews and maltesers ARE essential items. 

Sunday was rest day ready for......

Oxford

Google images did not disappoint and I was in awe for the whole four hours we were in Oxford, even inside Pizza Hut, where I devoured my first pizza since we got here (4 and a half months is a long time). After treating ourselves and helping each other waddle outside we began to experience the beauty that is Oxford. The university was the most impressive part, with it's spires, pillars and mass of sandstone I didn't know where to look first. Camera at the ready, it's safe to say I didn't stop snapping for most of the day. You can see why parts of Harry Potter and Downton Abbey were filmed there, it is a place where history and magic work together to come alive. In some ways, it didn't even feel real, it was almost too perfect. Despite the rain holding steady for most of the day we hardly noticed. By five we took refuge in a toasty cafe and warmed up before the three hour bus ride back home. 
We even got pugged on the walk back to our little home...... Yes you read correctly, PUGGED. (Chased by a pug in the park) it was both intimidating (there was a lot of grunting) and hilarious at the same time. A great way to finish a great day!

Tuesday (today) is another rest day before we venture to Bristol tomorrow. 

Although the day has been quite productive, we wandered to ASDA this morning and stocked up on sushi ingredients..... Mission SUCCESSFUL and yes we are very proud of ourselves. 

Is seems today is a day of firsts as we checked out the Icelandic cafe a few doors down from us and tonight we are going all out and hitting up Jamie's Italian for a feast and a half. We figure we will need all the energy we can get for another adventure tomorrow :) 

Exploring is a lot of work...... Which means sweets are DEFINITELY on the menu. 

Hello half term

Half term is almost here, which means....... MORE EXPLORING!!

The plan is.....

Winchester on Saturday- for King Arthur's round table and Jane Austen's house

Oxford on Monday- for the University and beautiful old English buildings 

Bristol on Wednesday- for it's quirky shops and bustling streets 

Southampton on Friday- for the Titanic Museum and old Tudor house

& 

Windsor and Eton the following weekend- to check out another one of the Queens cribs and do some stealthy stalking.....

With only 6 weeks left until summer holidays I am trying to pack as much as I can into the next few weeks! Every weekend is going to see me in a new part of England #noregrets

My week started off with one of the girls asking me how old I am, I replied by asking how old she thought I was, hmmm I dug myself a hole there as she replied 61.

Self confidence at an all time low.

But I managed to pick my sobbing crumpled up self off the pavement.... Semi restored

Until today, when I received a portrait from one of the girls of Miss Cragg (that's me), not sure what's going on with my mirror but it looks like I need to get myself a new one..... It's clearly playing tricks on me. Is my neck really that long..... 

This week has been a blast

Wednesday saw me spending the day out and about in Southsea with the year 1/2's 

A visit to a mini museum, which included a massive plastic dinosaur (arm bandage included), an abundance of stuffed animals..... Dead little squirrels, foxes, badgers and rabbits with their beady little eyes popping out was slightly disturbing for the girls. But educational, as was the butterfly house, with it's 3 butterflies. Bit tricky explaining why the butterfly half out of its cocoon doesn't seem to be moving..... I think it's already seen a different kind of light..... We didn't want to crush the girls souls so we just said it was sleeping.The rest of the day involved a picnic lunch on the grass in the sunshine, some spontaneous rolley polleys down the hill (all of the girls were covered in bird poo or some kind of other poo....) but they were loving life as per usual. Beach art was next on the list, making pictures out of rocks, seaweed and bits of dead crab. I caught one of the girls stuffing some seaweed into her backpack and made her promise me to take it out when she got home, her poor mother will be searching for the smell for months. 

Some beans, stuck in the mud, splat and a cheeky choc ice later (choc wedge) marked the end of our adventure and we headed back to school with a spring in out step..... Well I did, the girls complained that their legs were almost falling off. 

I guess that's what happens when you go from here to there and anywhere in a sports car. 

Today the 5/6's invited me to the law courts to watch them role play a very important case involving a motorist hitting a cyclist..... The cyclist was found GUILTY. It was all very dramatic, wigs and gowns included, but no crying. Hallelujah! 

The Moscow Circus is in town and a date night at Jamie's Italian is penciled in the diary

& that's another week down of living the English life :) 

Blogging along

10 days until May holidays.

60 days until the end of Term.

68 days until I get to spend 32 days in Europe.

129 days since I left Australia.

Finally I am beginning to see the brighter parts of England, the sun is shining, the leaves are green, the squirrels, the bees, the snails and the neighbourhood cats are all enjoying the school garden and everyone is in brighter spirits. Well..... Mostly everyone. And warm weather means that it's the perfect season for ice cream..... Conveniently a new shop has just opened outside the hovercraft terminal, might have to 'accidentally' trip over and have a hazelnut/brownie and white chocolate cone just fall into my mouth every once in a while. Whoops, however did that happen??!

The sunshine also means that the hour I spend walking around the playground with the girls each day is positively glorious, the scooters are in action, the skipping still being practiced and the tennis nets now in full use. Causing a few more injuries than one would like, patting girls on the shoulders, sitting them on stools, wiping knees/arms/fingers/heads with an antiseptic wipe and applying a 'plaster' FYI it's called a BANDAID, has become so much of a routine that I'm confident I could do it with my eyes closed. It's reassuring them that they will not wake up with a limb missing or bleed to death in their sleep that is the challenging part. 

This week has been fairly quiet so far, just the standard junior school routine. Today was p.e day for the reception girls which involved lots of running, skipping, jumping, hopping, throwing, stiggy scarecrow (stuck in the mud) and beans.... My favourite game of all!!! Basically, it involves the teacher yelling out various types of beans and the girls have to do the actions.... 

Baked bean- the girls crouch down in a ball

Running bean- the girls run around 

String bean- the girls stretch right up with their arms above their heads

French bean- the girls say 'ooouuuuh lala' whilst waving their hands in that 'French' way

Mexican bean- the girls do the Mexican wave whilst saying arrrrrrrriiiiiiiibaaaaaa

Chilli bean- the girls pretend they are freezing to death 

This game is guaranteed to make me giggle every single time, the expressions on their faces during French bean are HILARIOUS. These girls have attitude at 4-5 years old. 

P.e usually involves re-doing a lot of ponytails, plaits, buns and clips, who knew I would aquire skills in hairdressing??

I also got to listen to the girls read today which was seriously impressive, they are so clever, but also, it has made me realise just how far ahead the education system is over here..... That kindergarten girls who are younger than the average kindergarten child in Australia can already pick up a simple book and read it. It proves just how important it is for parents to read to their children, as it truly plays such a crucial role in their development. 

As a new week begins and ends I tick off another section of time that separates me from the ones that I love. Although I have longer to wait to be reunited with some, it's getting closer and closer until I'm finally with the one. It takes an incredibly special person to follow you to the other side of the world, the kind of person that I know I will be more than happy to follow for the rest of my life. 

68 days. Xx. 

A walk in the park.....

Today I had the pleasure of accompanying the year 3 class to Paultons Park, basically an English version of a QLD theme world. Featuring Peppa Pig World it was every small child's dream, there were rollercoasters, a dinosaur section with life size models, monster slides, tropical birds, penguins, meerkats, jumping castles and go carts to name a few. Although the most exciting part was testing all the rides, the girls were there to learn about sustainability, as one of the buildings in Peppa Pig World is built entirely from sustainable resources. The tour also included looking at the tropical birds (most of which originated from rainforest across the world) and determining where in the rainforest they could be found, their food sources and how they contributed to a sustainable world. 

After all the educational stuff it was time to let our hair down.

As a few of the girls were a bit distressed about the rides being too 'scary' we thought it was best to start with some mild choices..... Mild was not what they were. The seemingly innocent dangling chair ride was not so tame in windy weather. The mini rollercoaster had two girls in tears, the 'dragon'....of death made me want to throw up my egg mayo sandwich and deeply regret my kitkat. However the slide had no complaints whatsoever, probably because it was designed for 4 year olds. 

The girls at this age are completely charming most of the time.... 

Not so charming when they discuss amongst each other whether or not I used to have a beard 

Or if I can handle going on the rollercoaster because it may not be challenging enough 

But super adorable when I become the most popular person to sit next to on the bus

Or the teacher they want to sit next to on the scary rides.

As the year goes on I am beginning to become more confident that I am cut out for this whole teacher thing. Although I have to take more than one deep breath at times it's the rewards that make it all worthwhile. Knowing that your are responsible for educating a child and helping them to understand why and how the world works. 

Only two more weeks until May holidays and a whole lot more exploring!!!! 

More goss from England

The 6.30 alarm did not feel so good this week on my return to school, but seeing the smiles I was greeted with at the school gate, as well as the very enthusiastic outpours of 'Goodmorning Miss Cragg' made it all worth it. It's funny how easy it is to get back into a routine, two weeks off and one day back was all it took to get me into the swing of things. 

This weeks dramas included

- a kindergarten student locking two of her classmates in a cubby house because they wouldn't play with her and when nobody played with her it made her feel 'sad and alone'.... I passed that little issue off to another member of staff....

- there was a cat on the loose in the carpark and the school ground, causing absolute distress in one of the smaller girls who is terrified of cats and refuses to move when she sees them.

- another two adorable girls approached me quite upset that some kind of disruption had been made to their fairy garden..... This disruption was a tiny trail of slug slime across one of the stones. The girls actually asked me to clean the rock.... Seriously only in England (Aussie kids probably would have licked it) I told them that really wasn't necessary and that the slime would dry and go away in a few hours time.

- children running and not watching where they are going= head on collisions and two crying students.

- the naming of year 2's dinosaur caused quite the stir, however he is now known as Tommy the Triceratops. 

- there seems to be quite an accumulation of snails on a particular bush in the school garden which has resulted in several girls making it their personal missions to transfer the snails via brick or leaf to a 'safer' home because the mosquitos were eating them....heaven forbid. 

It's quite hilarious to watch the girls in their own little worlds at play time, some enjoy skipping, others play chasings, fairy or princess games are quite popular but zombies are also in this season, some just like to stand in a corner and sing to themselves whilst others boss each other around in American accents. It's a nice feeling to observe them and know that a their age, they don't have a care in the world, they can just laugh and play and be. 

With a bank holiday today the Southsea Heavy Horse festival has come to town. Starting on Friday with a gigantic fun fair, jumping castles, dodgem cars, haunted houses and all the other usual rides that you would expect to see at any show at home. The aroma of doughnuts and fairy floss filling the night air, although there was not a Dagwood dog in sight and I was quite frankly ashamed.... Poor effort England. Saturday saw the arrival of all the local market stalls, more food vans and ferret racing..... Still not 100% sure about that one. Today the horses came to town and boy could you smell them. If you caught the wind in the right direction the smell of horse manure was sure to singe those nostril hairs. 

The rest of this week is looking as though it will be fairly quiet, I'm off to Portsmouth museum on Thursday with the year fours and may try to get away somewhere new this weekend for the day. 

At the moment the list of 'must see' destinations consists of.....

Eastbourne

Winchester

Oxford

Windsor and Eton

Canterbury

Dover

The Isle of Wight 

Salisbury (Stonehenge)

Bristol 

Totnes

Just to name a few ;)