[jim501]

So as you will know, the bride and I have left the sunny shore of down under to the cloudy and cold of old London town. Things are going well, the cold is no where near as bad as everyone makes out, enjoying the weather actually a bit of a change.

Quite an interesting life really, still getting used to not having a car. So much so we decided to go and stay a night outside Stratford upon Avon (birthplace of Shakespeare, for those playing at home), and I used it as a great excuse to hire a car and drive up and see some of the countryside. I figured we'd get something a little fun so hired a Fiat 500. It was only the 1.2 Pop, but did the job. It took a little while to get used to, the first two times I stopped at lights I didn't realise that the car has stop/start! I was trying to work out why the car sounded like it was stalling whenever I put the clutch in, then I realised it was the engine starting lol. Also after driving a large car for so long, a little car was so much lighter, it kind of felt like the steering wheel wasn't really connected to the front wheels.

So we headed straight up on Wednesday but on Thursday we took the scenic route back to London. Stopping in at Silverstone and fanging down the pit straight, ok not really, couldn't find a way on to the track. Pretty sure we'll make the trip up in July. Then we went down via Milton Keynes (with a short interlude to see if we could stumble across the Red Bull F1 factory but no luck. Then we headed to Mentmore, where Mark Webber owns a pub, The Stag. Unfortunately he didn't make a show, but we contributed to his retirement fund. We chatted to the locals, who all seem to like MW, then we had a feed. It was really good actually. Might head back up at the start of July when MW hosts a charity bike race, see if we can meet the man.

Then we headed back to the capital, and as we thought we should take advantage of the wheels we drove through the city without working out the route first. Not recommendable, but we got home in the end.

So here a few pics from the adventure. Also learn the road signs before you drive as there are quite a few, and then there are none when you want them. They don't use speed signs on all roads, there is just the underlying assumption that if there is no sign you do the national standard. You just need to learn what these standards are!

Also the last picture is of a 500 we found in Notting Hill!

[mhh]

Great stuff. 

[Last_Ride]

Looks like you had fun there ... Congrats to you and your misus once again

[S4Simon]

The UK is a lot of fun - for a holiday.  Even thoughs there's 10x more traffic and pretty much the whole population of Oz resides within the M25, the average road speed seems to be a lot higher.  Quite often I'd find myself hitting over 200 on the M3.  Excuse was that I was only trying to keep up with the guy in front. 

And the history of the place is unbelievable.  Just around the corner from where I use to work was a little 2 bedroom apartment and the sign near the front door stated - Vincent Van Gogh lived here in 1876.  Then there's other houses down the road built in the 14 & 1500s.  Makes you realise that we have no real history in Oz.

[cel]

Looks like you are having a great time! Any plans of visiting other countries while you are there?

[jim501]

Yeah we're going to hit the continent when we can. Been eyeing off a trip to Iceland to go and see the northern lights. Figured we should probably get some jobs before we go spending all our money.

[cel]

I've just booked my flights to Europe, will be there all of July. Planning to go to London for four or five days as well.

[AussieSpotter]

I've just booked my flights to Europe, will be there all of July. Planning to go to London for four or five days as well.

Cel, you are a lucky man. Take lots of pics!