London town

Genevieve here

*Welcome To Nightvale voice* Hello, readers.

Gene here. Sorry for the long pause in the blog. I’ve been kinda busy. But know, we are in London! The land of tea, suits and cute actors. Honestly, I’m more excited about London that Turkey. 

We had trouble using the Underground and the buses. Once we got that figured out, we went and saw 221B Baker Street, which was very cool! Then we were on our way to see the Wallace Collection, but ended up seeing Avenger’s: Age Of Ultron!!!  No spoilers, but I recommend it to anybody who can get to it!!

Finding a cup of tea was surprisingly hard in the land of tea. But we found some eventually. It tasted of SITTING UP STRAIGHT AND THE QUEEN AND TARDIS BLUE, RED WHITE AND BTTHGFENERDICT CRUSPBITSH’S TEARS AND I AM KING ARTHUR KING OF THE BRITONS. So you’re not really missing out on much.

Today we went and saw the Wallace Collection. It was extraordinary! There was lots of art along with some weapons are amour from hundreds of years ago. I’m glad I went to see it. Now, the weather.

IT RAINED BECAUSE IT’S LONDON WHAT DO YOU EXPECT.

That’s all for today. Rest well, readers. And goodnight.

Anzac Day

The Anzac Day event started late on the 24^th. After visiting the ruins of Assos we only had a few hours to rest up, shower, prep our day bags, pack up our belongings, have dinner and maybe get some sleep before checking out of the hotel at 10pm to leave at 11am for the dawn service down the road.

As in a military operation, we experienced the normal ‘hurry up and wait’ as it only takes 5 minutes to check out of your room in the hour allocated. Gene showed her true talent by sleeping on one of the more uncomfortable chairs in the foyer.

The 10-minute bus trip to the dawn service was uneventful event even when you realise it took half an hour with the obligationary wrong turn.

After clearing security, we found a good spot in the specially built bleacher stands and settled ourselves in to wait for the next 4 and a half hours. Even with our great coats, sleeping bags, thermals and multiple layers it was still cold when sitting and not roaming around.

Luckily, we had Ray Martin as MC keeping us entertained with videos, music and other commentary during the long wait. Why wait so long? No idea. I think it was due to the enforced security options at Fort Daranos but it was never explained.

Unfortunately, Gene picked up a bug which made her nauseous for the second half of the night and had frequent vomiting spells. She was better by the morning but was fairly worn out for the rest of the day.

The entertainment was more emotionally evocative than the service that the tour provided or the telecast viewing of the service at the beach.

Once it was all wrapped up, we moved to the buses but were told to wait until the buses could be brought up in order once they could contact them. With a quick ‘Bugger that’ we walked down to the buses and the warmth.

I don’t recall the first 1 ½ hours of the drive back to Istanbul because I was asleep but was woken by a large explosion and Dee swearing. The airbag of the front right wheel’s shock absorber ruptured when we were on the ferry crossing to the town of Gallipoli. We then spend 1 ½ hours, then 3 and finally 5 hours in the town waiting for the bus to be repaired. We filled in the time looking at a 17^th century fortification that was converted into a museum, eating and talking. Dee also spent a few hours flirting with old Turkish men.

We didn’t get back to the hotel in Istanbul until 8.30 at night. The other people on the tour were really good about the delay and took it all in their stride. The tour company even gave us a free dinner to compensate us which was appreciated.

Time for a shower and sleep and the final full day in Turkey tomorrow. We may wander around tomorrow but we’ll see how we go.

Istanbul!

Hey readers, Genevieve here.

So I guess I had better tell you all about our first day in Europe. After about 24 hours on three different planes and bus’s we finial got to our hotel and collapsed, our body clocks screaming at us to sleep. We did so. The next day was fantastic then cold then annoying. We were picked up by our tour guide wearing a blue jacket, in a crowd of people wearing blue jackets. We started the tour by going to the Blue Mosque. A gigantic building with huge, domed roof that was capable of making a giant feel small. But it smelt slightly of musty feet, as your weren’t allowed to wear shoes. Men were required to wear long pants, and women to cover their hair (Good thing too, it was freezing.)

After that we went and wandered around the Sultan’s palace. Every wall covered in blue tiles, all floors lavishly carpeted. Most rooms equipped with a huge fireplace, which would have once roared with flames, heating the chosen room. After we walked around all the rooms, we went and saw an exhibition on clocks that dated back to the18th century. And after that, a showcase on some of the Sultan’s gold and jewelry, It you would like some imagery, imagine glittery sheriff badges from old western movies. (But it would cost around the price of your new born baby)

Second to last we went and saw the Haiga Sosia. It was basically a Catholic Church built around 1600 years ago. The roof was multiple domes, all falling onto each other like god-sized scoops of ice-cream.   And this building was massive! The second floor went only half the way up, and the ceiling was still hundreds of feet above your head. And if you’re still having trouble picturing its size, there was scaffolding the height and width of a sky scraper. And it only took up a quarter of the room.

After we had gawked at some amazing mosaics and paintings, we realized we had lost dad. So we freaked out a little bit, but we found him again, and went off. We stood in the rain, looking at some wet sculptures, and then finished up for the day.

It was all very exciting and cold.

Alea iacta est

Things are organised as much as we can. Last minute panicking from the girls about hairbrushes and shampoo is all to be expected.

I think it's a bit disturbing that we're more concerned about being considered terrorists or bombers than bringing the wrong articles on a plane (aerosols, lighters, etc).

I did bring my shemagh though.
:)

Of course after a beautiful day yesterday, it rained this morning and we forgot to take in the laundry. We have our fold up drying rack set up and getting the clothes dry. They should be dry by the time we come back.....

Our real estate manager was supposed to inspect the house earlier this week but was sick and so she have re-booked for an hour after we leave home.

Anyway, the die is cast and we now are playing the waiting game before we start the first leg of our journey, the bus ride to Sydney airport.

The rattling of the die in the cup

Alex Here:
The last weekend before we leave, Gene has started holidays and I have 2 days of work to go!

This morning I packed up all the Napoleonic gear we're taking and took it to the Post Office to see how much it would cost to mail it. At $274 to post 12kg of gear, I'm going to talk to Qantas to confirm what the baggage limits are for Frequent Flyers and the charge for excess baggage. If anything, it's only an extra 4kg for each of us.

After multiple trips to JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith's, we're finally thrust into the 21st century with a MP3 player, FM transmitter, a double USB car charger and another mobile. I haven't done anything with them yet, so I guess I'm still in the year of the Fruitbat.

I've handed over my sword bayonet and flintlock so they can be in turn handed to a Rifleman coming over closer to the event.

Things are rapidly being ticked off the list and few last minute things are being added.

It feels like things are actually happening..........

It's all looking good. Soon, iacta alea est!

The Initial Post

Alex here:With 5 working (or 10 calendar) days to go, the final preparations are being made.

Scanning and making copies of important documents,
chasing up Qantas on some stuff,
packaging and mailing our Napoleonic gear,
redirecting our mail,
handing over my Baker rifle so it can make it to Waterloo with me, and
finalising what we have to homeschool Gene with while we're away.

So, what drew us on this adventure? I blame Napoleon. About 7 years ago, I was reading something and they mentioned the Battle of Waterloo and I thought, 'Holy shit, the 200 year anniversary is happening soon! Best I get myself squared away and join a Napoleonic re-enactment group!' I wasn't really into that time period, mainly because I didn't know anyone who was active in it.

Then I realised the 100-year anniversary of ANZAC Cove, the 600-year of Agincort and the 800-year of the signing of the Magna Carta was on in 2015 which sealed the deal.

Dee was up for it and Gene was only about 7 at the time, so she didn't have a say in the matter. I dragged out an excel spreadsheet and did the number crunching. Bugger going on a trip for just one event, lets make it worthwhile. I figured I'll have 4 1/2 months of Long Service Leave by then and I could save 1 1/2 months (30 working days) of normal leave, leaving us with about 180 days to travel.

Lots of hard saving occurred with a good balance of 'having a life' during the lead-up time.

Even now we only have a vague plan which is only locked in for dates where we Have To Be. ANZAC Cove, Waterloo, flying out of Europe to New York. Outside of that we're playing it fairly fast and loose with some basic time lines like 'time to start travelling back to the UK NOW'. I've learnt the hard way not to lock Dee down in for dates.

Anyway, this is where we stand at this point. Things are falling into place and Dee is not totally wigging out yet but that will be coming soon.
:)

I'm hoping that all 3 of us will be contributing to the blog, especially Gene as she's the one missing out on 2 terms of school.