Tag: tash (clear tag)
Part 2: Ta-ta Tash
Finally, I can write about this! Our second farewell event for Miss Tash was the Monopoly Pub Crawl. The aim of the pub crawl is to have a drink in pubs that are on the streets, avenues, roads and stations on the Monopoly Board (the British version of course). There are 26 streets and stations on the board. Even when obeying the instructions to only drink half pints, this is a tall order.
Tash has very fond (albeit a little hazy) memories of her two previous attempts at the Monopoly Pub Crawl. As the crawl traverses many famous streets in London; she thought it would be the perfect way to say goodbye to the city. (She also was helping me try to complete one of my 43things goals.)
The crawl started at 12pm at the halfway mark of the route, Lord Moon of the Mall (Whitehall). Tash and I were the initial starters and we started in style with a half-pint accompanied by bangers and mash. Over the next 9 hours, we visited 11 pubs (one pub on the route no longer exists), and along the way we were joined by many of Tash's friends. Some of them even managed to stick around until the very end (Yay me, Andrew, Nat and Scott! and Tash of course!). We also ran into at least three other groups completing the same pub crawl. Obviously the pubs get a fair bit of business from this event. Five and a half pints is a big night for me and by the end of the evening I was falling asleep on Andrew's shoulder. It was only 9pm but it felt like it was 2am.
The reason I'm only writing about this now, a week and half later, is because of the time it took to put together my pub crawl report. Ta-da, read about our adventures on the Monopoly Pub Crawl here. It's my Monopoly Pub Crawl site. (Place your mouse over a property with a photo to see a review.) This site will be updated on our next attempt. We have to start at the beginning and see how far we get. Thanks for showing me the ropes Teshie! We'll do the next one in your honour.
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Ta-ta Tash: Part 1
Miss "I like to leave things to the last minute" Reid has not yet managed to do St Paul's or the Tower of London "properly" while living in London. So, a few weeks ago we decided that both of these tourist attractions should be on her agenda before she heads home.
On Saturday morning, our plan was to meet at St Paul's Cathedral tube station at 10.30am and then spend an hour or so exploring St Paul's before heading off to the pub crawl. Saturday was also Armistice Day and the Lord Mayor's Show, but our brief research had not shown any disruptions to our plans. How wrong we were!
Every November, the Lord Mayor makes his or her way to the Royal Courts of Justice where he or she takes an oath of allegiance to the Sovereign before the Lord Chief Justice and the Judges of the Queen's Bench Division. This is known as the Lord Mayor's Show and it is tradition which is almost 800 years old.
For the journey the Lord Mayor is accompanied by a parade. This year it was a parade of almost 6000 people which stretched over 3 miles. The parade route passes St Paul's Cathedral and the Lord Mayor actually stops at St Paul's for 10 minutes or so to perform official duties. This was the day that we picked to visit St Paul's.
The St Paul's saga... Engineering works on my local tube line meant that I was running half an hour late to meet Tash at St Paul's tube station. When I finally arrived at our planned rendezvous spot, I was surprised to see, not Tash, but a parade, the Lord Mayor's Parade, across the road. A quick phone call (after two minutes silence to commemorate Armistice Day and a flyover by Royal Air Force jets) and Tash informed me that she was stuck on the other side of the parade. We rearranged to meet outside the front of St Paul's cathedral in 10 minutes. When I arrived at St Paul's cathedral, I was surprised to see, not Tash, but a barricade preventing entrance to the Cathedral and officers in regimental dress on the steps of St Paul's. A quick phone call and Tash informed me that she was still stuck on the other side of the parade. We decided to forego our St Paul's plans and head directly to the pub.
In the spirit of adventure, I took it all in my stride and found the whole morning highly amusing. I did manage to take a few photos here and there too, and I've now actually seen St Paul's Cathedral, so all was not lost. I guess I will have to visit St Paul's and climb the dome another day. (photos)
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Tash heads back to Australia in a couple of weeks. She's off to see the Ashes, spend Christmas at home with the fam, New Years Eve at Phillip Island with her sisters and summer in Melbourne with her friends. Then it's D-Day for Miss Tash; it's time to settle down, buy a house, get married and have babies. (Just like I predicted Tash!)
We just had to farewell Tash in style so we planned the last hurrah to end all last hurrahs for the weekend of the 11th / 12th (last weekend). Our original schedule looked a little like this: Saturday Morning - St Paul's Cathedral, Saturday Arvo / Evening - Monopoly Pub Crawl, Sunday Morning - Brunch, Sunday Arvo - Tower of London.
Maybe that was a little ambitious as the actual weekend turned out a little like this: Saturday Morning - failed attempt at St Paul's Cathedral, Saturday Arvo / Evening - Monopoly Pub Crawl, Sunday Morning - Sleep in, Sunday Arvo - Brunch. Notice how the two events that involved drinking and eating were the only two that we managed to do?
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Even though we didn't stick to our schedule, the review of the weekend is still way too much for just one post. I think I can manage to spread it over at least 3 posts (or more). My endeavour to post every day of November has nothing to do with this of course *G*. So stay tuned for Part 1 of Ta-ta Tash! It's kinda funny that I was at Tash's farewell from Oz and at her farewell from the UK. Apparently I like to wave goodbye to Tash (aw, just kidding Tasharoo, you know we love you.)
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More exciting news! Tash has a blog! Apparently, we all read each other's blogs, so now you can add Tash to your daily must-reads (and leave comments too). I think Michelle needs a blog too. She was very helpful on the weekend, pointing out photo opportunities for FuShMuSh...
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I think I'm almost a Melbourne local. I was back in Mexico last weekend, this time for Tash's farewell. Tash is moving to Manchester (of all places) for a year or so. She plans to use it as a base so she can explore Europe properly. Afterwards, she'll come home to Australia, buy a house, get married and have babies. Personally, I think Tash has a chronic case of the travel bug; I can't see her staying in one place for very long!
I had a whirlwind trip to Victoria... it went sydneyairportballaratlunchcoffeedinnermelbournesleepairportsydney... phew! I had to have several caffeinated beverages to make it through the day. Unfortunately, this post might reflect the nature of my trip. So many things to write about, so hard to put them coherently together. Let's revert to point form:
- Apparently I have weather bad luck... On Saturday, I left a beautiful day in Sydney to arrive in a very wet and cold Melbourne. On our trip to Ballarat, Michelle had to negotiate slippery roads and heavy fog. Ballarat, only reached a top of 18 degrees... it was freezing. On Sunday, I left a beautiful day in Melbourne to be met with a horrible, overcast day in Sydney. Andrew and I are in the middle of formulating our wet weather / contingency plan for the wedding. Is somebody trying to tell me something?
- Lunch was at Oscar's, one of Ballarat's newer bar/cafe/restaurants. Highly recommended and well worth a visit next time you're in Ballarat.
- After lunch I snuck out to have coffee with Jane, Tara, Tim and Bodhi... my new cousins (well, they will be after March). I finally got to see Bodhi again, it's been over a year since I saw him last. So grown up now and just a little bit shy. I've turned into that weird relative that parents always foist on their children... "give Auntie Jessie a kiss!" (he didn't...)
- Dinner was at the Royal Oak Hotel... very dodgy, not recommended. The boys told us the Oak did a respectable counter meal. They were wrong... Not very hungry, we settled on calamari (although, we were tempted by the ham steak and pineapple... mmmmm, sounds delicious!). I'm not sure what it was we ate, but I don't think it ever lived in the ocean. Suffice to say, my tummy wasn't very happy at 2am.
- Tash has 3 younger sisters! Three! Count them! I was intrigued and asked lots of questions about what it was like while they were growing up. Annie and I had a few arguments when we were growing up. Can you imagine that multiplied by four? (I'm sure my Mum and Dad are reading this and shuddering). The girls assured me they didn't fight much when they were growing up. Maybe they've just erased the painful memories from their mind... like women do with child birth *G*.
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