Wednesday, June 28, 2006

hot dam

amsterdam. such a beautiful city with cobblestones, canals, long boats, and helpful dutchys everywhere. spent most of week wandering around getting to know the streets, and finding nice places to eat. we were fortunate enough to have rented an apartment as a base, which meant we didn't have to up and rush like we would if we were in a hostel. this left us free explore the city at our own leisure. elise had told us about these great pancakes that they have over here, and boy was she right. massive pancakes filled with all types of deliciousness. yumm. as our trip has coincided nicely with the world cup, we got to watch a couple of australian games in a football mad atmosphere. we were robbed, the dutchy's were robbed. we understood each other. it was a very relaxed place to visit, and no doubt an extremely nice place to live.
the bubble really burst for me this week though. i went to see some people about job options when i got here, and learned some home truths. i found out that not only would it take about six weeks to get paid from working here, but that i didn't have enough money to get a place to stay, which i would need in order get said papers. needless to say, it was all just a bit too much for me, so i'm coming home. my trip really relied on me working for a few months earning some healthy euros, but without that, i'm left only with the internationally lame australian dollars to travel with. i have a about a week left in london now, before i head home. elise is in portugal at the moment, after that she’s staying to see if she can make a go of working and living in amsterdam. i really hope she can. nj is heading to spain for a week or so, to kick back and take it easy. well, as easy as the running of the bulls will let him... i hate to get sentimental, but this whole trip wouldn't have been the same without those two, so i have to say that it was really sad seeing them go. they've been backbone, and my bouncing board. i've had so much fun, i'll miss them a lot, but wish them well. i'll post again just before i go, let all you guys know about my last week of travels. til then, bye bye.



our bathtub in amsterdam, was in the loft, and overlooked some beautiful museums.


nj and elise chillaxing in our apartment. transfixed on something...


walking around the parks in amsterdam can be dangerous. so many bicycles to avoid. it's worth it though...


the calm before the storm of our pancakes arriving.


elise enjoying some oversized novelty clogs.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

a wee stop off in glasgow

some firends of mine called bec and bob, were so kind and said they'd put me up for a few days, and show me some sights in glasgow too. bobby waved me off, and i caught the bus from wishaw into glasgow. thought i'd let my natural compass guide me to where bec worked, and in true style i went the opposite direction instead. i can never remember if i'm supposed to do the exact oppposite of that little voice or not, so after an hour or so, i decided to go and buy a map. found my way soon enough, and met up with bec at her work. i went back to their place and caught up with bob, and we all went out for some dinner. bec had organised for us to meet some of her friends to go and see wa smiths cover band on the anniversary of the release of the queen is dead album. we got searched for knives on the way into the venue, but passed the test with flying colours. they were fantastic. the leader singer was trying his best to look and act like morrisey, which was pretty special to watch. had way too many drinks, and stumbled home at what i remember as a reasonable hour, and went to bed.
the next day i walked around one of the artists districts that has lots of galleries and studios. it seems that i got there just a wee bit too early though, as only one of the galleries was open before twelve. so i had some coffees to kill time, and then just pottered around. glasgow is really beautiful. nice old buildings, and lots to look at. saw a few street pipers as well, which is always a treat. walked up and down teh malls, adn tried to get lost, but failed. i ended up right near where i was staying. i'll have to do somethign abotu that internal compass of mine...
i'd timed my trip well, as the end of year glasgow school of fine art street party was on, and they close off a whole street and have a greaet big party. there were thousand of peopel just millign about, enjoying the late sunsets, adn the warm weather, as well as a few beverages. the arts scence in glasgow is huge. they seem to have a real appreciation for artists, and their contributions towards the culture of the town. had a great time, and rolled my drunken body into bed again.
bec and bob drove me out to the airport through the fog, in the morning which again, was too kind. they really looked after me in glasgow, and i've got grand plans of going back some day. glasgow is indeed a beautifull city. until then, i'm off to london again, for a few days, then over to amsterdam to check out how easy this working visa thing is going to be. i'm really low on cash so, i hope it's not too hard. we'll see my friends, we'll see...



up a windy street, towards the school of fine art


this is an area of glasgow where most of the artists have their studios, and galleries. not a soul to be seen before twelve o'clock.


inside the glasgow school of fine art show. it's really an amazing old building.


a piper, taking his trade to the streets and the ears of the people.


bec and bobs apartment. a cool old building just outta the centre of town. twas my home.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

oched and ayed for noo

probably a week has passed since i last bored you all with tales of my travels, but i've been having a great time bumming around as usual. i caught the bus up from the mid-lands to glasgow, to meet with my mother's uncle, robert, who'd come out on a visit to australia about 12 years ago. he lives in the same are where my mum and gran grew up before migrating to australia, many moons ago. the bus ride took longer than i thought, although it said direct, i sat on my arse for about nine hours. upon arrival robert informed me that you could in fact do the same trip in a car, in roughly five hours, so i'm not sure whose direct route we were travelling on, but it seemed to duck and weave the motorway, like a bantam weight boxer. robert had not changed a bit, and spotted me immediately out of a crowd of tired fellow bus travellers. we rode the local bus out to wishaw, which is thirty minutes from the centre of glasgow, out to where robert lives. i was welcomed straight away by alice and my cousin gary, and i must admit i felt right a home. we sat up for while that night, me polishing off their beer supply, and robert matching me on the whiskeys and vodkas. since i've been gone from australia, i've discovered just how weird it is to travel for these long stretches, and how it leaves you neither tired, nor awake, but in some weird kind of lethargic limbo. late in the night, after crawling up onto gary's top bunk, sleep found me, just where i left it.
the next day we did a family tour around the areas where my mum and gran grew up. we went to mum's school, gran's school, houses that they lived, up to beautiful town called lanark, and then followed the clyde back down to wishaw. the houses and buildings in scotland are really beautiful, and the majority of them seem unchanged on the outside from the ye olde days, giving a really warm and comfortable feeling. i had a really nice day driving around with robert, and came away with a greater understanding of where my mum and gran have come from. as he rattled on about the history of the area, he afterwards admitted that some it might not be true, as his history knowledge was rubbish. after reassuring him that i was really in no position to dispute any of these facts either way, he was happy enough and decided to take me down to his golf club, for a quick pint or two at the 19th hole. i meet a few colourful locals, who wasted no time in taking the piss out of robert, in a traditional scottish manner. robert checked his watch more than once, just to make sure we wouldn't get in trouble from alice back home, and we left the club, promising to return for a quick 18 the next day. again, robert and i sat up watching football that night (three games a day. sheesh), and sharing a few drinks until the wee hours. i think i found myself a brand new best friend. i went to sleep wishing that i was retired, spending my days and nights hanging out with robert in wishaw.
my name is a traditional family name, and there isn't too many hugh's left in the blood line. the one other hugh i know of, lives in canada, and is actually robert's best friend. they go over to canada once every couple of years and spend time over there. i found out that i was lucky enough to have my trip at the same time that the other hugh was in scotland. a whiff of a game of golf was all the motivation he needed to come over early the morning, and the three of us set out for the course. it was weird because for the first time in my life, i had to understand that when someone said hugh, that it didn't always mean me, but i got the hang of it. 18 holes of golf later, and i couldn't help thinking that perhaps they'd invited me along, just to make both there golfing games look good. i'm rubbish at golf, and always have been, but i hacked my way around, and had a really good time. then came the pints afterwards. both hugh and i being visitors, almost everyone in the clubhouse wanted to shout us pints. we were more than happy, but had to decline the offer of a few more, to get back to robert's, and have some dinner with the rest of the family. i got to meet and hang out with some other relatives of mine, which i can't work out in words, how to explain the bloodline relationship of. there was me, robert, alice, hugh, his wife nan, and his daughter julie, and her wee daughter kylie, as well as robert and alice's boy gary. we had a great time, trying to explain where we all fit. so nice to be meeting all this family. i'm a lucky boy.
next stop is glasgow for a couple of days. i'm staying with some friends doon (sic) there, and they've promised me a good time or two. i'll keep you posted.


the main street of wishaw, with robert running away from me


me and the boys playing a few holes at robert's local


the 19th hole, and the most refreshing by far, in my opinion


me and bobby at his place in wishaw


bobby entranced by my stimulating conversation

Thursday, June 08, 2006

not too shabby

i've been in london now for roughly two weeks, and i like it. there's heaps to see and do, plenty of great parks to go and stretch out in, and we've had many great couches to curl up at night on. if i was a religious man, i'd say we'd been blessed, but i'm not, so i'll just say that we've had a great time.
yesterday we got the last of the touristness out of our systems by taking a trip on the london eye. it's a great big ferris wheel structure, with glass bubbles, that goes up so you can have a great 360 degree view of the city. we've had such good weather in london, it really felt like home. a beautiful blue skyline opened out in front of us, as we were lifted into the air to have a look. now i'm a little afraid of heights, and my next phobia i have, is that i'm a little afraid of enclosed spaces. got the sweats on the way up, but i managed to control myself enough to enjoy it.
i'm heading up to the mid-lands again tomorrow, for a world cup party in carlton, with elise's sister, husband and nephew. should be a corker. then on monday i'm going to catch us a bus up to bonny scotland for a week to visit my relatives. i've also got some friends in glasgow, who hopefully will put me up for a couple of days. then after that, it's off to amsterdam to start my working visa.
i emailed the design agency i was with in sydney, who have an office in amsterdam also, yesteday, and a lady called me on my mobile within about five minutes. she seems to think that i'll have no trouble finding work whilst i'm there. dangerously low on funds, so i hope she's right. going to meet with her on the 21st to see what she thinks, and then i'll take amsterdam from there. i've also got a friend of marcus' on board too, who seems to have a few contacts in the publishing industry over there. i'll get something i'm sure. all the photos i have seen of the streets look beautiful and leafy, so i'm looking forward to it. things are afoot...


one of the skyline views from the london eye.


a large plug i found in the alleyways of soho. good luck getting a universal adapter for it though. sheesh.


mexican stand off between elise and a local duck. the duck decided to come over and check out what she was doing. elise sat her ground and won.


a view from the other side of our bubble on the london eye. they called a trip on this a "flight", but it's not actually flying.


here's what the neighbours in the next bubble over from ours looked like.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

steak, egg and chips

well, i've spent a little over a week in london now. marcus has been kind enough to let me stay at his place, showing me some sights. he and christie went to barcelona this week, and let me stay in their room, so i've been flying solo for the last few days. i've spent alot of my time just wandering around, trying to get a feel for the place. i caught up with a friend (stalker) of mine called ben, who i went to university with. he's also been showing me around this big city in his own special way. went to the design museum with him on thursday, then we checked out the portrait gallery, and then some of london's landmarks. topped it all off with a weekend full of sunshine and relaxing which was really great.
i know this might make me sound like a bit of a wanker, but i'm trying to work out what do with myself next. i've got a working visa for the netherlands, which allows me to live there for up to a year, and work for three months. not sure if i want to go and work over there yet, but i'm going to go over in the next few weeks, and activate my visa, so i at least have the option. never been before, and the design community is supposed to be interesting, so maybe just going and having a look will get me motivated. besides, i'm running quite low on funds, so i think if i want to stay much longer, i'll have to get off my arse and get some work. decisions, decisions... can't complain really.


lisey's shoes are discarded, as she streches out in the beautiful regent park. just a short walk from campden markets.


a scooter parked out the front of a tres fancy building near brick lane. i like the light.


a view of the tower bridge, from london bridge. it was a beautiful morning, and turned into a beautiful day.


inspecting a small electric car, at a small electric car convention, in middle of regents park. we walked past purely by chance, and had some free champagne. not too shabby.


enjoying a beverage, whilst waiting for dad out the front of a pub somewhere that i can't remember.