Blog

Nice bloke who's staying at the same hostel as me, here in Bath — St. Christopher's. Tom's also on ye 'ol round-the-world trip, although (like most Aussies) he's spending considerably longer in the UK than I am.

St. Christopher's Inn is a great little hostel in the pub-infested centre of Bath. The bottom floor of the place is a regular pub, actually — open to the public every evening, and it gets just as many locals as it goes guests coming for a drink. It's not the greatest value for money (but nothing is in Bath), and it does have a few eccentric little annoyances; but it's good fun, and a nice place to crash for a few nights.

London's been good, but I can't stay there for all my time in England. It's time to scoot. The place is crowded, it's impersonal, and it's jaw-droppingly, nose-bleedingly, gut-pukingly expensive. So I've headed west to the town of Bath, where I'll stay and base myself for a few days. Bath itself is a lovely town with plenty to see and do; and Bath is also a good place from which to head out to nearby places, such as Bristol and Salisbury. Got the bus over here this afternoon, and I'm liking the return to a small-town atmosphere already.

For my first sojourn into out-of-London England, today I went on a day trip to Oxford: lovely medieval town, and home of the world's most famous and most prestigious university. I was fortunate enough to be guided around the uni (and the town — they're virtually one-and-the-same) by my mate Garth, who showed me several areas that are generally off-limits to the public, and that are well worth seeing if you have the opportunity.

Garth is a colleague of my Uncle Paul, who's just started doing a Master's in Economic and Social History at Oxford. Paul was kind enough to let Garth know about me, and Garth was kind enough to take me on a tour around Oxford university today. Garth's a great guy, and he has a lot of ambition — I guess that makes Oxford the perfect place for him to be.

Ran into the Dutch couple here at The Generator this evening, so I went to the bar and shared a few drinks with them. Now, I've been to plenty of hostel bars on my trip, so I kinda know what to expect these days — but the Generator bar surprised and disappointed me. Not your usual friendly crowd at all. Unlike all the "gringo bars" down in South America, this place is more like being back home in Sydney: that is, clicky and unfriendly. None of the usual "hey dude, where you from" greetings — in this place, you stick with your little group, or you get out. Plus, the music and the DJ'ing were up s$%# creek. And the drinks were hardly the cheapest I've ever slurped on this trip. I hope that this isn't how all hostels in Europe are: if it is, then Europe is going to really, seriously suck.

I'd just finished my tour of London this evening, and I was wandering around Leicester Square, when I noticed a big throng of people near one of the cinemas. I went to investigate, and it turned out that the red carpet was rolled out, in anticipation of no lesser stars than Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush (two of the biggest Aussie names in the world): they were coming here, for the UK premiere of their new movie, Elizabeth: The Golden Age! Cate didn't come very close to the crowds; but Geoffrey came right up to where I was standing, and signed autographs — so I got some good shots of him. Check it out.

This young couple from Holland were two of the people that tried to come on the tour this morning — they ended up bailing out, and doing a bus tour instead. They're staying here at The Generator, on a short trip from home for a week. Very strange set-up that they have: they're best friends, but strictly not boyfriend and girlfriend; they have a private room here in the hostel, but with two single beds! Anyway, they're very friendly, and wish they could be travelling longer.

My hostel, The Generator, advertises a free tour of London, that's meant to leave from the hostel's reception at 10am daily. This morning, seven of us (including myself) turned up at 10am for the tour: we waited for about 45 minutes, but no tourguide showed up! Kwap. Apparently, the tour actually leaves from Monument tube station, further downtown; but someone is meant to come to the hostel, and take the daily Generator group down to this station. Whoever was meant to do this today, they clearly shirked out on their responsibility. We finally gave up, and went to Monument station ourselves — but by the time we arrived, the tour groups had already left. So it was time for a day's guide-yer-bloody-self tour of London.

This lovely Canadian couple are, they claim, from the French-speaking park of Ottawa. They've just finished a few weeks down in Portugal (which they report as being cheap and sunny — not a bad combo), and are now on their way back home. I did some touring around London with them today, to enjoy the sights and the sun of the city while they lasted.