Things I've Done Lately

ST LUKE'S: Sorry it seems like a decade or so since I last updated this page and I've probably lost every reader I've ever had, but what can I say, I've been busy. Most of my downtime in work is spent researching visas for places like Ukraine, China and Moldova, looking up obscure bus connections and generally wondering how we're going to get from one continent to another.

When I haven't been doing that I've been watching a live stream of the Tour de France complemented by four seperate live commentaries. Wonderful. It's a shame Cadel couldn't bring it home but there's always next year. And Michael Rogers. I've also been working stupid hours this month and on the weekends after work I've been rushing home to catch the finish of the Tour so I haven't exactly done a lot of sightseeing. But I have seen some things:

* The London Aquarium - Overpriced, but including some good turtles and a chance to visit one of the locations of "Closer".

* The Tate Modern - I was showing Kate around. It was her first visit. I said come and look at this it's one of my favourite pieces. I drag her upstairs to visit Susan Hillier's installation. It's been rotated. And so it goes with the four or five "must sees" I wanted to show Kate.

* Emirates Stadium - Got to see Valencia v. Inter Milan and Arsenal v. Paris St-Germain at Arsenal's new home ground on Saturday. Having visited Australia's best stadia I wasn't expecting to be impressed but I was. In addition to great views of the pitch, an excellent screen and the progressive architecture, the seats were the softest and widest I've ever sat on. Afterwards we met this guy at a Gooner Pub and had beers with him.

* The Wallace Collection - Did I blog this? It was interesting.

Before the Scandals

ST LUKE'S: Crowds of gabbering Germans, grunting French, boastful and annoying Americans, patriotic flag waving Aussies and a handful of bemused Brits. No I wasn't hanging around the London Eye, instead the world's most famous bike race, the Tour de France, had come to town bringing with it a cavalcade that included the riders, their various entourages, eccentric supporters (including the devil)and fans from all across the continent.

It was a day I'd been looking forward to since I first discovered the Tour was kicking off in London. So after finishing off an OT stint at work I boarded a variety of trains to make my way across town. I'm still sans phone so my plans to meet up with Kate, Nick and Shannon where scuppered but I did do my best to walk a loop of the course in the vain hope of spotting them amongst the million or so spectators. Eventually I just gave up and began to enjoy making my way around Hyde Park looking at the spectators, watching various teams whizz around the track during warm up.

For almost the first time this summer, certainly since mid-May, the sun came out to do it's part and the Serpentine was glistening in response. The food stalls had queues lined up for twenty or thirty people while crowds lounged around in front of the various big screens scattered across the park. There were spectators from all the major cycling nations, very few Brits, and that lent the whole thing a Continental carnival feeling.

As for the racing, I got to see all the riders I wanted to see whizz past. Robbie, Stuart, Cadel, Vino, Boonan, Micky Rogers, etc. etc. I divided my time up between watching snatches of it on a straight where the riders flew past suddenly, watching parts on the big screen which allowed you to follow the entire time trial and, as the icing, I managed to snag a spot on a bend at the edge of the chicane by Hyde Park Corner at the end of the race where I could watch all the biggest names for about 15 seconds. The day definitely exceeded my expectations.

To crown it I walked home through the quietly beautiful streets of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea and across the Chelsea Bridge before catching a bus home from Battersea.

PS. This is a month old, probably needs a draft but if I don't post it now I never will.