San Jose - Sunday

We decided not to go to the amusement park as it turned out to be miles away. Instead we decided to just hang out in downtown San Jose instead. The jazz festival is on so lots of people , closed roads, stalls and of course jazz.

First stop was the San Jose Museum of Art. Some very nice stuff here. The big exhibit was by Martin Ramirez but that didn't appeal to me so much. The stuff by Camille Rose Garcia was fantastic, pop surrealism with Goth overtures. Also a nice piece by Vik Muniz who makes images using everyday objects in a mosaic-like effect.

After the museum we had lunch at Gordon Biersch, we sat in the sun, drinking beer and listening to jazz.

From lunch we headed over to the Children's Discovery Museum. This is an amazing place full of interactive displays. The water area with the whirlpools and the soap bubble displays were very cool. Full of kids so we didn't get to play with too many of the things :)

All sunned out we headed back to the hotel. Got our meeting with Sun tomorrow before heading back to Auckland. Supposed to be meteor showers tonight will see if we can see em thru the light pollution.

Saturday in San Fransisco

Up at 7:30, quick breakfast on paper plates (classy joint this) and then hopped in a cab downtown to get the Greyhound bus. Unfortunately the bus was going be an hour late so we hi-tailed it down to the train station and just managed to get the 9:00 train to San Fransisco.

The train was one of those Amtrack style double-decker ones. It got really packed out because there was a big Giants game on in San Fransisco.

The weather was looking a little overcast but it did clear up although it was quite windy. The train station was in a rougher part of time but once we made our way to the center of town things started to look up.

We got onto one of those hop-on-hop-off buses and did the first half of the tour and then got off at fisherman's pier. The place was packed with lots of attractions, shops and restaurants. We went onto Hyde Street pier. It is a museum with heaps of restored ships and people in period costumes. It also had good views of the bridge and Alcatraz.

From the pier we wondered around a bit more taking in the sights, eventually landing up at the musee mecanique. It has tons of antique penny arcade machines and heaps of classic (and original) arcade games such as Pong, Star Wars, Moon Patrol and Millipede.

Outside of the museum alongside the pier was a WWII sub, the "USS Pampanito" and a WWII Liberty ship called the "Jeremiah O'Brien". These ships only took 60 days to build. Apparently they built them faster then the Germans could sink them !

Got back on the bus for the second half of the tour. It took about an hour. We had a quick look at the Disney store near Union Square and then headed back to the train station to get the train to back to San Jose. The trip took about 1hr and 45 minutes.

We had dinner at the "Old Spaghetti House", the food was pretty good and three courses for only 10bucks ! Then back to the hotel. Might go to the amusement park tomorrow..

Friday in San Jose

With SIGGRAPH over we have flown up to San Jose. US airport security sucks you even have to take your shoes off and put them thru the x-ray machine !

San Jose is big and our hotel is little out of the way. The gift basket was a bag of lollies and microwave popcorn. Excellent. I really get the feeling you need a car to get around this place. It is also very very hot here I think I even got a bit sunburnt.

Our first stop after checking in was the flea market. Its supposed to be the biggest in the world only about 400 of the stalls are open on a Friday so it wasn't to busy. Apparently 2000 stalls are open on Saturday and Sundays !

After that we caught a cab into the downtown area of San Jose and went to TheTech museum of innovation. This is a create place with almost all the displays being interactive in a way and all to do with technology. We only had a hour before they closed so rushed from one place to another.

From there we wandered around the downtown area for a bit and had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. The food was very good.

Headed home for an quite night as we are planning a day trip to San Fransisco tomorrow. Gonna try get a Greyhound bus, how American is that :)

Last day of SIGGRAPH

I'm absolutely knacked, was awoken by a trains horn at 4:30am it just kept going and going for about 10 minutes !

First session of the day was a set of paper presentations all on "Image Based Modelling". Some very cool ideas here.

The first was videograph which allows a user to extract a 3D model from video. It very easy to use, basically the user just draws rectangles (and other shapes) to define areas they want to extract (say the bonnet, doors, wheels etc of a car) and then in each frame of video they adjust the points to their correct positions or add new points as more of the object becomes visible. A simple click later and the software creates a textured 3D model that can be used in games or to add into other video clips.

The second paper covered the building of a 3D model of a building just from a picture of its facade. It also was able to generate a grammar describing the building so a procedural engine could be used to build new buildings in the same style. This was done by some of the guys who did the urban design and procedural modelling course, on day 2, that I attended.

The last two papers both covered the generation of accurate tree models from photographs. It was interesting to see the different approaches taken and how they affected the final tools.

The last session of the day was a "sketches" session in which quick overviews of technologies or techniques are given. The one I went to was titled "Drat more rats" and was given by the Pixar guys about all the new technology they used to do their new Ratatouille movie. Some very interesting soft body dynamics and fluid simulations going on here. Hopefully this movie's story line is good because the visuals are fantastic.

It was really interesting to see how much simulation is used to generate today's 3D animations but how the holy grail seems to be to still give artists control of the process so that the simulations can be direct for arts sake.

Another dinner

Trying to cut down on our overeating Young and I shared a pizza... big mistake. Turns out a Chicago style pizza is actually more like a pizza cake...


I'm so full I'm gonna explode !

Day four of SIGGRAPH

We headed back to the convention center at 8:00 for our first session. This one titled "Digital Art Techniques". It discussed the merging of computer science and art. The first part was present by Kenneth Huff, an artist who uses digital tools to create super high quality prints and animations. Some fantastic images and a good overview of his approach and techniques.

The second and third parts covered VJaying and the technical and artistic issues with live performances. Some very nice visuals in this one. I particularly liked the visualizations generated as a backdrop, as a concert pianist gave a performance, by using data from his EEG.

The last part was all about interactive art installations some very interesting ideas there.

The second session for the day was on interactive technologies. Lots of discussion on touch technologies (like Microsoft's surface) and the issues with gesture based devices, accuracy and user interfaces.

Some very interesting demos by a Microsoft researcher. I really liked the one that projected a game screen onto a table top. In the game you got to drive little micro-machine dune buggies around. Also above the table was a 3D camera. If you added things to the table (like hills made out of folded cardboard or your hand) the3D camera would add them as terrain to the game and your buggies would then drive over them or ramp off them. Very cool demo.

There was also a presentation by a guy from the company that makes interactive whiteboards on some of their technology and some of the giant wall sized installations they have done.

Tonight is the SIGGRAPH reception. Should be good.

Dinner in the USA

Last night we had dinner at the Kansas City Barbeque. Food on paper plates, beer by the jugful , half a cow on the plate and everthing covered in BBQ sauce :)

Turns out the place was the location for the "sleezy bar" bar scene in Top Gun. All the staff had Top Gun t-shirts and pictures of F-14s were painted on the wall.

Here some pics....

Some SIGGRAPH videos

Found these video clips on YouTube. Hopefully will give you an idea of some of the things we are seeing:

Some imagery from the papers that are being presented:


Here is another clip showing some of the things from the emerging technologies part of the conference:

Day three of SIGGRAPH

My morning session was the best on so far. It was on the "Morphology of Digital Creatures" and was given by a guy from ILM, Tim McLaughlin and a biologist, Stuart Sumida.

Both were excellent speakers. The session was broken down into three sections: form, articulation and movement. In each case the subject would first be covered by Stuart from a reality/biological point of view and then Tim from a digital creature point of view.

The premise was that digital creatures should behave in ways that people recognize otherwise their suspension of disbelief is lost. Even fantastic creatures which, are often made up of real animal parts, should behave in a similar way to real animals.

For instance with regards to the form of quadrupeds, what they eat tends to drive how they are formed. A herbivore will:

• Have a barrel shaped body to hold its large digestive system since plants are hard to break down due to their thick cell walls
• They typically have a rigid spine to support this
• They walk differently from carnivores because they have a different center of balance
• Their jaw hinge is above their teeth because they grind their food
• Their eyes look to the side because they need to see the predators coming whereas a carnivore's eyes are to the front because they need to see in 3D to catch their prey
  

For birds and fish the fact that they move thru water drives their form and for bipeds (e.g. humans) their gender drives their form: leg length, hips, skull shape etc.

The articulation section covered skeletons , muscle, fat and organs how they work for different types of creatures and how these can be rigged in 3D applications. The last section on movement discussed how form and articulation affected movement.

It was a really great session.

Most of the day was taken up wandering thru the exhibitors hall (which opened today). Lots of interesting products and displays. I was a bit disappointed that there was much in they way of free goodies or heavy discounts on software :)

Some highlights:

• Massive demos which was the software used in LOTR for the armies
• The cybercam which has pro-sports camera type controls but is design to "film" 3D games during big tournaments
• nVidia and ATI technology displays
• Tons of motion capture setups some only costing $5000 !
• Lots of VR, 3D and interactive displays including a massive globe display and a neat minority report type interface
  
• Seeing the stands from Hash and Pixologic whose software I own

The last part of the day was spent back in the animation theaters. I watched the "music" and "madness" segments. Some very neat animations I especially liked Codehunters and Versus. I also discovered that they have DVDs of the electronic and animation theaters, I will have to buy these I think.

Finished off the day early to rest up for the two big sessions tomorrow. Here is a video clip of Young in a VR rig (just so I'm not the only one wearing a silly helmet in a Youtube clip):

Day two of SIGGRAPH

Up at 7:30 and off too the first session of the day, which for me which was on "urban design and procedural modelling". This was very cool, using L-System like grammars to generate building geometry and agents to build city layouts. One of the presenters covered the cityscapes and techniques they use for the need for speed games. The Pompeii and Mayan city recreations were spectacular.

After that we watched most of the "games & FX" segment in the animation gallery. It had a bunch of game intro animations, some good clips out of 300. One of shorts for an animated film called "Arthur and the invisibles" was amazing.

After that we did the keynote speech during which they gave out some awards. The keynote was given by Glenn Entis who is Chief Visual and Tech Officer for EA games. It was a pretty interesting look at CG, how far it has come in the last 30 years and how good real-time graphics have become. He then talked about the problems and some of the solutions when one has characters that look human but don't quite behave human, so we don't bond with them (kinda the problem with Final Fantasy: he Spirits Within). He also showed lots of nice clips from Spore and the Crytech engine.

The rest of the afternoon we spent in the emerging technology area. Some very cool things here such as 3D LCD displays, telepresence helmets (see video below) and tactile feedback devices.

I really liked the soap pointing device. Basically a wireless mouse put inside a bag of cloth in a shaped piece of plastic. It becomes a mouse that you don't need a surface to use, you just hold it in your hand.

One of the best ones was a big green box into which you can put your hand. The system then generates a 3d model of your hand(s) and arm(s) and you can then interact with virtual objects in a 3D scene. If is very cool and can build models of anything the 6 cameras see so if you hold a coke bottle or your mobile phone in thebox, it becomes part of the simulation. Check out the video below.

The electronic theater was a 2 hour showcase of animation, game graphics and special effects. Basically the best CG of the last year. Some amazing FX and some very funny short animations too.

Ok off to bed for another early start :) Here are some videos for you...

First day of SIGGRAPH

Got up at 7am, had breakfast and then dashed down to the conference center. Our first session was and introduction to SIGGRAPH and computer graphics. We did the intro bit but bailed on the computer graphics part and joined into the last part of the special session for Ratatouille which is Pixar's newest film.

This session covered all the work and techniques for the animations of food being chopped and dough being rolled (Ratatouille is all about a bunch of rats helping out a young chef). It also covered the fluid dynamics for the soup and other things like the work flow between the different departments. Very interesting.

We then went to check out the student art gallery whilst waiting for the main art gallery to open. There were some very cool bits of art and a number of great interactive pieces.

For instance there was a piece in which you filled up two jars with corn. Based on the level of corn in each jar the display selected two countries based on their annual corn production. It then displayed various economic stats comparing the two countries. If you rotated the jars then different stats were displayed. Another pieces was a table top that was an interactive book. It had a camera so video of you became part of the book as you "flipped" through the virtual book.

Had a quick peek at the art gallery area before having to go to my afternoon session on OpenGL programming. Some very cool things here:

• An interactive table top on which you placed a "formula" tile. The big screen then started to plot out the function in 3D. Then on the table you put a camera model, depending on where you poistioned the camera or which way the camera was pointed the view of the plotted formula changed. You could then put a model of a surfer on the table and the view changed to the surfer's point of view as he surfed along the 3D model. They also had one which was a 3D model of a car that you could look around by moving the camera model.
• A display that had three sensors that you clipped to your fingers. Based on your biometric readings it created animations and music.
• A 360 display. Kinda like a Star Wars hologram. Its pretty awesome you can walk around the display and see the picture from any angle. Resolution was very good but it did seem to be limited to shades of grey.
• Another interactive table onto which you could place different objects which would be interacted with by different animations. For instances bits of rope were treated as train tracks for an animated train. The tea cup saucer would become the center for a garden of animated flowers and forks the starting point for little cars to zoom from. I discovered that if you formed a loop with one of the bits of rope it would fill in, in blue and little ducks would pop up and swim in the newly formed pond.

I only had half and hour so will have to go back later.

My afternoon session on OpenGL was a good refresher and they covered some of the new things like shaders and GPU programming. Was good to get a concise (4 hours) overview.

The last session of the day was the "Fast Forward" presentation. This gave each presenter of a paper a minute to give a brief summary of their paper to help people decide what they wanted to see. Some of the highlights:

• Photo clipart which uses big image databases (such as Flickr) to add elements such as people and cars or merges images to take away things in images such as buildings. Pretty amazing results.
• Seam carving which is a technique to resize images without any stretching or squishing. It uses the data in the image to add more detail to the image !
• A new technique to do lighting which means a scene with 100,000 lights renders in 15 seconds.
• Antiradiance so that global illumination can be calculated on scenes in "real-time".
• Videotrace which lets you build 3D models out of video footage you take with any old video camera

Definitely going to have to replan the schedule after seeing this.

The "Fast Forward" finished up at 8pm and we had dinner at an Italian place in the gaslight quarter.

Back at the hotel there seems to be a pool party going on. Its very loud so hopefully we will get some sleep. Gotta be up at 7:00 again :)

Getting to San Diego and our first day

Well I'm in the USA for work (honest) going to a conference (SIGGRAPH) in San Diego. The trip up was great, premium economy on Air New Zealand rocks; leg room, service and on demand movies. I even managed to sleep on the plane which is not something I often do.

Security at the US airports is a bit crazy and very slow going so finally getting to San Diego was a relief. The hotel we are staying in (I'm travelling with my colleague Young) is massive but right next to the conference center and near the "gaslight quarter" which is where all the restaurants and bars are.

In addition to being Friday, there was a big baseball game on (Padres Vs. Giants) so the quarter was packed with people. We watched the crowd go by and struck up conversions with heaps of people. Chris and Troy would love it, most of the places use scantily clad girls as maitre ds.

I had to help Young home at around midnight and then foolishly decided to go back into town by myself. I found a nice bar to hang out in and worked my way thru their bourbon selection and then crawled back to the hotel at 3am.

Considering our night out, Young and I still managed to get up relatively early for breakfast down on the waterfront.

We then spent the rest of morning on the Midway which is an old aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum. They have a ton of planes in the hanger and up on the deck. The ship is pretty big but across the bay at the naval yards is a modern carrier that is really massive.

It is really hot at the moment(high twenties), so we are regrouped at the hotel before heading off to register for the conference which starts tomorrow. Registration was quick and painless so we headed back into the gaslight quarter for lunch at the Rockin' Baja Lobster bar. I had a burger and Young had seafood in a bucket (check out the picture). We then headed back to the hotel to finish off planning which sessions we want to see at the conference (we are only going to be able to see a small percentage of what is on) and to go thru all the goodies we got when we registered.

Reckon we will have a quite night tonight as we have an 8:30am start and sessions till 8pm !

Europe threesixty

360 degree pans of European cities we visited in 2007. Watch the backgrounds not me :)

The Last Post - Amsterdam to Home

Our first night in Amsterdam we did a walking tour of the Red Light District finishing with a live sex show. After the show we split into smaller groups to check out the 'coffee shops' and have a look around. We were glad to head back to the bus as there was a weird vibe with lots of drunken tourists giving all the girls the eye.

Next day was our free day in Amsterdam. We walked around the city and went to Anne Franks House. Dinner that night was in a small fishing village called Valendam. Cool to see icons of Holland like the dykes and even a windmill. for our last night as a group we had an open bar booze cruise back in Amsterdam and ended up at a pub playing pool and drinking.

After a full days drive through Belgium, across the channel back to London we said tearful goodbyes to everyone and checked into our hotel. Met up with Simon, Toby and Anthony for dinner.

Next day went to The Royal Mews looking for Ponies but found carriages instead. Had a look at the front of Buckingham Palace, tubed to Marble Arch and Hyde Park for a wonder then tubed to the airport were Toby met us to say goodbye.

Couldn't imagine a better holiday or a better group to spend it with. Now we just have to get back into the real world...

Germany - Rhine Valley

Currently in the Rhine Valley. Did wine tasting last night then somehow got involved in a drinking game lead by our tour manager. Not sure how this happened as we were going to have a night off from drinking!!

Off on a river cruise up the valley this morning then on to Amsterdam.

Only 2 days left to go now, boohoo!

Lucerne - Party at 7000ft

Well spent my birthday at the top of a mountain top disco. Was a dress up party at the "swissco". Was lots of fun.

Spent the day in lucerne wearing the birthday hat (a big cat in the hat hat) got some really odd looks. At the lunch and show we did I kept getting pulled onto stage so I had to yodal, play the alpine horns and scull a beer. Heaps of fun.

Gotta go off to breakfast we are going to the Rhine valley today

AUSTRIAN ALPS - COMPUTER CRAZY

This computer is totally screwed up so cant post much but we are in the Austrian Alps in the Tyrol.

Venice and munich were awesome. Vienna is the best so far - the people are hilarious. Will post again soon!

On the High Seas

Actually the sea is pretty calm. We are currently on the 24hr ferry from Corfu to Venice. We are about halfway there or so. This ferry is a million times better then the last one. No truckers, fresh air, big cabins and Internet access... ahhhh civilisation.

Only problem is it is a bit boring. Amelia is currently playing cards so I thought I'd get my computer fix and do a post. Its via a satellite link and on a Greek keyboard so things are a little laggy and odd.

Our last day in Corfu was a blast. We spent the entire day on George's Boat. George is a somewhat dodgy old Greek guy who has been running scenic boat trips for Contiki for something like 30 years. He is hilarious and flirts with all the girls and tries to get everyone naked !

First stop on the trip is at a beachfront hotel where you get to try out all sorts of water sports. Lots of the group did paragliding but Amelia and I hired the Jet ski. Boy do those things go. Amelia got it up past 90km/hr with me clinging on to the back. She didn't trust my driving so I only pushed it to 75Km/hr. I did however get her to let me do donuts at 50km/hr.

After the water sports we had a simple but tasty lunch and then went up the coast for the first of two swimming stops. The water was pretty warm and very clear. Diving off the boat was fun too. The Mediterranean sea is very salty so it was easy to just bob about in the water.

Next we headed off to Hanky Panky Island. On the way George made everyone sing their national anthem. So that meant just Amelia and I doing the NZ one (I don't know the words, the shame of it) and only me doing the South African one !

More swimming at Hanky Panky Island with George desperately trying to get everyone to skinny dip (with only mild success) and then back to the harbour and the hotel for dinner.

All in all a great day.

So our next stop is Venice which should be fantastic. On the way we will hopefully get to stop at Verona too.

We'll post another update as soon as we can.

Corfu - It's All Greek To Me

Yassou, (phonetically speaking) from Greece.

Wow Greek is certainly different from any other language we have come across. To start with shaking your head means yes and nodding means no, the word for no sounds like okay and the written words are slightly less readable to me than Arabic.

However everyone has been lovely and friendly with random strangers saying "good morning" to us in the streets. Corfu is beautiful with crystal clear water and dramatic rocky beaches. I (Amelia) am feeling very rough this morning as we had a toga party last night at another Contiki hotel then went to this awesome bar right on the beach called Edem. We drank hollowed out watermelons into which was poured an entire bottle of vodka!

We are currently taking part in "Corfu Dares" which meant that at the toga party Jonathan had to act like a chicken every time someone introduced themselves. So of course we rounded up everyone we could drag over. At one point a guy from one of the other Contiki groups went outside and yelled "Hey everybody, theres a guy inside who acts like a chicken... just go introduce yourself to the guy who looks like Jesus!" Good times, good times.

The last few days in brief:

Rome - So much history, thank god for the TV series that made it easier to visualise everything. Unfortunately we missed out on the Sistine Chapel as it was closed for the day we were there. Went inside St Peters Cathedral, all I can say is wow, so much detail, gold and marble, in the biggest church in the world. Also saw the Spanish Steps, The Pantheon (one of the worlds oldest buildings), did a tour through the Imperial Ruins and the Colosseum, threw coins in the Trevi Fountain and had dinner in the Piazza Navona.

Pompeii - Just massive. Had a quick guided tour through the city ruins. Very cool to see the original plaster and paint on some of the walls. Very original street signs such as a giant penis carved into the road to show the way to the brothel. Hard to believe all the mafia stories are true. When in Pompeii which is in Napoli we had to eat in a certain cafe as it is owned by the "family" Contiki is associated with. All tour operators have to get affiliated with a family to operate in Italy as it is completely controlled by the mafia.

Overnight Ferry from Bari to Corfu - definitely an experience, this Greek ferry was full of truckers and thick with cigarette smoke. Got to relive our childhoods by sleeping in bunk beds in a tiny cabin. Very rough seas not fun. Something no one mentioned till we got here is that you can't put toilet paper down the toilet as the pipes are too small so you have to wipe then try to remember to put it in the bin beside the toilet. This is not just on the ferry but throughout Greece so also applies in our four star hotel, The Divani Palace.

Right off to lie very still for a while to prepare for a Greek dinner tonight and maybe have a swim in the pool. Not looking forward to the 24 hour ferry but definitely looking forward to Venice in 2 days time.

Europe - Long Lost Post

Buongiorno from Italy!

Its now day 9 and we have finally got a spare 20 minutes to say Hi.

The trip so far is pretty hectic with not enough time in each city to get to an internet cafe. Usually we get from around 10am - 4pm free time but thats to take in a whole city like Paris or Barcelona so pretty crazy!

So far we have been to Paris, Bordeaux, Barcelllona, Nice, Monaco, Pisa and we are now in Florence. Off to Rome tomorrow.

The group we are with is great, a big range of ages from 19 - 37. Mostly Canadians and Aussies with 2 Americans, 3 Philipinos, and we were surprised to find ourselves as the only 2 kiwis.

Argh! only 12 minutes left so, highlights... (excuse spelling)

Paris - VE day, big parade down main street, Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower by night, great views from the Arc.

Bordeaux - 1 night, nice dinner at sunset in a square with a canadian couple, Josie and Reed.

Barcellona - Awesome flamenco show, lots of shopping, good nightlife.

Nice - Walk along the promenade, climbed the mountain to look down on the harbour.

Monaco - lost 50 euro at The Grande Casino on Roulette. Nice dinner by the Palace.

Pisa - Dirty and depressing, overrun by hawkers and stalls. Got obligitory photo holding up the tower.

Florence - Beautiful architecture, great food, lots of leather stalls, great night of dancing and karaoke for Josies birthday.

Got to run,

Ciao!

London - Tower of London

We had a pretty easy going day today. It started off a little cold but fined up by the end of the day.

We headed to Oxford Street and did some shopping as Amelia needed a light jumper. Was a little tricky because all of the stores have put out their summer stock!

After finding a jersey at GAP (the third shop we looked) we stopped for a pint at "The Argyle Arms" before meeting Simon at the Baker St tube station.

From Baker St we headed to Tower Hill and had lunch at "The Minories" they had a two meals for £7.95 deal. Nice.

Simon had to head off to a stag do at the Spearmint Rhino so Amelia and I went to the Tower of London. It is really huge and we spent several hours wondering around the castle and the all the buildings contained in its walls. We saw the Crown Jewels (sparkly), Traitors Gate, the White Tower, the prisons and the humongous ravens. Lots of weaponry and armour too :)

After the tower we tubed back to our hotel so we could fill out this blog with what we have been up to over the last few days... so keep on reading!

Bath and Stonehenge Tour

Today we did a tour to Bath and a special access tour to Stonehenge that lets you into the stone circle in the evening, (usually you can only walk around the outside).

We met the tour at the Thistle Victoria in London which is a very swanky place with a beautiful 3 storey lobby. Our driver, John, took us out to Bath with the motormouth tour guide, James, giving us a running commentary on the areas of London and the countryside we passed though.

Our first stop Bath had beautiful honey coloured stone on all the buildings. Our tour included going through the Roman Baths. They are huge with lots of areas excavated and some parts still functioning after 2000 years. We tried the spa water to make us young and healthy but I'm in trouble because while Jon finished his I couldn't drink it. It was like trying to drink hot toilet water!

After a walk around Bath we had a VERY late lunch (5pm) at Lacock. Over lunch we met a lady called Rachel and her mum from America as they shared our table. They have given us their email and kindly offered us a place to stay if we are ever over there. Lacock is a medieval village bought by the National Trust who rent out the houses to caretakers. It has only 4 streets but 4 pubs as it used to be a market town.

Then it was back on the bus past a White Horse carved into the chalky hillside and lots of burial barrows to Stonehenge. We arrived at just before sunset and got to walk around the henge and touch the stones in the setting sun. It was very nice and we got some awesome photos and film.
The earliest parts of the henge are around 5000 years old and the stones are massive some weighing around 50 tonnes and moved from 25 miles away with no wheels!

After getting dropped off back in London, we walked back to our hotel as it was such a nice night.

Edinburgh - Things That Go BANG In The Night

Jonathan's journal entry for today states simply: "last night was noisy and bad".

A construction crew was working all through the night in the Mall that adjoins the hotel. They got really noisy around 2am and just as I had my hand on the phone to yell at reception... the fire alarm went off. We trooped outside with the other guests and if I thought Edinburgh was cold during the day it had nothing on the temperature at night! After the fire department cleared the building we headed back to bed and about 30 minutes later just as we were dropping off the construction crew started back up. But hey, enough of the wah wahs and anyway it gave me an reason to try out my earplugs :)

The next morning we caught a taxi to the airport and had our first chatty taxi driver experience.
We flew BMI who do a use a very painless self check in system using kiosks. This meant there were no queues unlike the other airlines. After a 2 hour flight to Heathrow we landed 25 minutes early and took the tube to our hotel in Earls Court, The Mayflower. We had booked this on a last minute hotel website after we sensed some tension with Simons flatties.

By this time our clothes had got a bit smelly so we spent the afternoon at the local laudrette watching clothes go round and round.

Later we met Simon and Toby at Leicester Square and had a pint in a pub before having a quick dinner in an Itallian Restaurant in Old Compton Road.

After dinner it was time for the long awaited 'Spamalot'! It was hilarious, a mix of the Holy Grail and lot's of new bits with catchy songs like 'Find Your Grail'. We had balcony seats which were up in the clouds and on a steep angle above the stage, it didn't matter though as the show was designed really well to be visable from above.

After the show we headed back to our hotel. Our room has very lavish furnishings but is so tiny was can't actually open out suitcases, we have to take turns opening them on the bed! It does have a nice view however and a cute little balcony. The last two hotels are both 4 star but the one in Edinburgh was more like a 6 star in comparison to The Mayflower.

Edinburgh - Britannia and Holyrood

We awoke to a freezing cold but sunny day in Edinburgh. Went searching for some gloves for my poor frozen hands. Bypassed the fancy stores and eventually found some at 'Pound Mania' at 2 pairs for a quid - nice eh?!

We then caught 'The Majestic' bus out to the port area of Leith to where the royal yacht Britannia is moored. It was tricky to find as you had to go through a large mall and the signage was crappy! The Britannia tour was included in our bus ticket.

The tour was interesting, the royal areas were quite spacious but some of the crew areas were very cramped. We were given some very weird audio guide devices that looked like mobile phones circa 1980 or large plastic beating devices.

From the Britannia we jumped back on the bus to Holyrood Palace. The audio guides here were much better with lots of good info. The Palace is very cool as it is still in use by the queen during summer. Jonathan's favourite spot was the beautiful ruins of the Abbey at the back of the palace. Amelia's favourite part was the hall where the Queen knighted Sean Connery.

From Holyrood we walked back up the Royal Mile stopping at the Museum Of Childhood. This is full of cool old toys and best of all is free, as most of the museums and galleries in Edinburgh seem to be.

We finished the day with dinner at a cute little Thai restaurant in Craig's Close (not very Scottish but hey :)

Edinburgh - Whiskey and Wine

Our second day in Edinburgh started with a nice sleep in to take advantage of no flatties! After a extensive breakfast in the hotel we went to the information centre and purchased a Royal Edinburgh ticket which covers 48 hours of travel on the 4 hop-on hop-off buses plus entry to the Castle, Holyrood Palace and The Royal Britannia.

We started from Waverly Station with the Edinburgh Tour bus on a 1 hour circuit of the city with live commentary. Our guide, Kay, was a very knowledgeable if slightly crazy Scotswoman. We stayed on the bus for part of a second circuit to get to Edinburgh Castle.

The Castle is awesome with panoramic views over the city. The weather was so clear we could see out past the city to the Firth of Fourth. The oldest surviving part of the castle is from the twelfth century with lots of additions over the years like new walls and cannon batteries. We spent around 2 hours wandering around the castle taking in the Scottish Crown Jewels (The Honours) , the Great Hall and going deep into the castle to the old prisons.

Our bodies have by this time eased into a pattern of eating just breakfast and dinner with an afternoon pot of tea. So we stopped for nice hot tea, which is served in the UK in litre sized mugs, and lemon shortbread. After this we headed off to The Scotch Whiskey Experience.

It was pretty cheesy but started well with a free dram of whiskey in a souvenir glass. The Experience ends with a ride that traces the history of whiskey and then it's time to hit the whiskey bar! We told the barman that we were Bourbon drinkers so were recommended 3 whiskeys to try - Monkey Shoulder (a 3 malt blend), Cameron Brig ( a single grain) and The Balvene (a single malt matured in port barrels).

After heading home for a change of clothes we decided to treat ourselves to a traditional Scottish meal at Dubh Prais (pronounced 'Doo Prash'), a lovely romantic restaurant in a cellar off the Royal Mile. The food was really fantastic, you'd be proud of me Mum as I had the haggis! It was served fried in oatmeal with a whiskey and leek sauce and I was surprised to find it was absolutely delicious. Jonathan had the potato and leek soup. For our mains Amelia had chicken and Jonathan had Angus beef. The food was so good, and encouraged by a bottle of Spanish wine, we went into the kitchen to thank the chef who seemed genuinely delighted.

We staggered home in the cold across the North Bridge, half pissed but feeling warm and content inside.

Edinburgh - And In Transit

After packing up or stuff we said goodbye to Simon and his flatmates and headed to the King's Cross Station to catch our train to Edinburgh. The GNER was impressively quiet and fast. The only drawback being this made taking photos extremely tricky! You'll just have to take our word that the scenery was lovely! It felt good to get a glimpse of the sea once we got into Scotland. There was some exciting moments when we passed an oncoming train as there would be a sudden slam of pressure and a rush of air for the few seconds it took the other train to pass.

Four and a half hours later we arrived in Edinburgh at Waverly Station and made our way to The Thistle in Leith Street. This was quite a hike as Edinburgh has a lot of ups and downs especially compared to London.

We checked in around 3pm and headed off for a walk along Princes Street, cutting across into the Old Town by the National Gallery. Edinburgh is quite breathtaking with its beautiful old buildings and streets. There are lots of tiny narrow alleys, called Closes, running up and down the hills between the main streets with great names like 'Fleshmarket Close'. A big park sits in the gully between the Old and New Town areas which is also where the trains run into the huge Waverly Station.

Although the sun was shining in the clear blue sky, the wind was bone chillingly cold! But we braved the chill and wandered down the Royal Mile looking for a place to eat. We knew it was a sign when we spotted a pub called The Tass, (Amelia's Grandpa's name) and sure enough they had the best prices we had seen with £6 Monday night dinners. We both chose the steak mince pies with chips, beans and gravy ( and you were worried we'd eat at McDonalds Megan!). Even better the pubs in Scotland are smoke-free so the meal was undisturbed by smoke.

After dinner we walked back up the Royal mile and over the North Bridge back to our hotel for an early night.

London - Sunny Sunday (Day 6)

Today we went to Camden Markets with Toby and Katie. The markets are truly massive and maze-like with stalls selling everything imaginable but lot's of the same thing in each one. The streets are so completely crowded with people that you have to be carefull not to be pushed onto the road!

We started with aFull English Breakfast in 'The Elephants Head'. This was a much nicer then the one we had yesterday at a small greasy spoon off Trafalgar Square. Eating in pubs is a bit hard to get used to because people are allowed to smoke; restaurants also have smoking areas. Apparently all smoking in pubs and restaurant is going to be banned in June or July this year.

The good thing with the pub was that we got a window seat so we could watch the crowd go past. Lots of goths and alternative fashions worn in Camden so quite interesting to watch.

After brunch we spent the rest of the day walking through the markets.

One of the best stores we went into was called Cyberdog. It supports the dance/rave culture and sells all sorts of glow-in-the-dark outfits, some with changing LED displays. They have a DJ playing thumping dance music, dancers up on podiums and black lights everywhere so it almost feels more like a club then a store. It was hilarious to watch people buying clothes like tight day-glo pants with enormous puffy bottoms.

That morning we had stopped at King's Cross Station to pick up out tickets for our train trip to Edinburgh tomorrow. This was pretty cool since we ordered out tickets on the web back in New Zealand, then to get the tickets we found a Fastticket booth, put in our credit card and it printed out the tickets !

So tonight is our last night at Simon's as we are off to Edinburgh tomorrow. Apart from not seeing Simon for a week or so we are also going to lose access to his nice high speed broadband and his laptop. Oh the manatee! So our posts may become a little less frequent and less likely to have pictures for the next wee while :(

Anyway off to dinner with Simon now at Shish, Turkish restaurant with yummy tapas style mezze dishes and Baklava ice cream!

London - What we did on day 5

What a fantastic day. The weather was brilliant really hot and sunny. We met up with some friends Jonathan went to school with that he hadn't seen for 10 - 15 years, Chris and Kirsteen, at the National Gallery inTrafalgar Square. The gallery has some awesome paintings dating back hundreds of years but its not really my (Jonathan) kind of art.

After that we wandered down to Carnaby Street and had a look at the shops there, then we nipped round the corner to Hamleys which is a giant toy store with six floors of toys !

We then walked back down to Covent Gardens and met up with another friend, Sean. We had lunch there and had a really good catch up.

Sean had to go, but the rest of us went off to the London Dungeon. It was a little pricey at £20 each but it did last 2 hours and had some pretty neat things. I really liked the free fall during the simulated hanging ride.

Chris and Kirsteen had to head back to Milton Keynes (about an hour and half out of London) so we went to dinner with Simon, Toby and Katie to Suzie Wong's in Soho. This is a fantastic restaurant and does a Thai/Asian tapas style menu. The decor, service and food was great with the five of us sharing six or seven dishes.

After a hard day of walking and with me feeling fluey, Amelia and I headed home whilst the others went out to party (until 5am apparently).

London - Day 4

Today was a day of more exploring by foot. After a late start due to updating this blog and doing some research on Simon's computer we headed to Covent garden. The markets are a busy place filled with shops, stalls, street performers and lots of good smelling food. Lunch today was traditional Cornish Pasties which were delicious!

We then explored the streets nearby, ending up at Leicester Square where we bought some tickets for next Thursday to the Monty Python musical 'Spamalot'. There are a bunch of booths in Leicester Square where you can get discounted tickets for many of the shows especially for that night's performance. The queues are not long but it takes ages to get through each person so can be a long wait. Unfortunately there are no discounts for Spamalot as it is generally sold out on the night but our tickets were still much cheaper than seeing a major show in NZ at £25 ($67NZD) per person.

We continued walking to Picadilly Circus which was packed with people and then to Trafalgar Square. The buildings are all so incredibly beautiful and ornate it's hard not to take a photo of every one! Everything is also on such a grand scale with the buildings towering over you and the roads crowded with people.

London - Coverage of Day 3

Our third day in London started with a frantic rush to get out of the house in time for a walking tour of the changing of the guard with 'The Big Bus Company'. The tour departed at 10am from Trafalgar Square and after 2 tube changes we made it there at 10.02!

Luckily there was still time so we greeted our guide Richard and his Umbrella of Pointing and we were off. We walked down the Mall, seeing the changing of the cavalry, to St Jame's Palace to meet up with the retiring regiment, The Coldstream Guards. We were right in front of the palace when they came out with a full brass band and burst unexpectedly into 'Downtown' by Petula Clark. Despite knowing all the words I resisted the urge to sing along, (damn you singstar!). Then we were off in a foot race with the quick marching Guards, our eyes firmly fixed on the Umbrella so we didn't get lost in the crowds, to catch the new regiment, The Blues and Royals as they came out of their barracks on the other side of Green Park. Richard was excellent getting us prime positions and we saw so much more than we would have trying to cram up to the gates at Buckingham Palace with the 5000 other people who were there.

Ater the tour the went and had a traditional pub lunch at a The Albert on Victoria Street which was recommended by Richard. Amelia had good ole fish and chips and Jonathan had chicken kiev with a nice pint of Strongbow cider.

As well as 3 walking tours the Big Bus Company's ticket gives you access to a hop-on-hop-off bus service and a river cruise up the Thames. So after The Albert we jumped onto the "red line" big bus (which has live commentary) at Westminster. The bus tour takes about 2 and a half hours and wanders all around the central part of London.

Patsy our tour guide was excellent and it was very cool to see London from the top of the open double deaker bus. It's amazing how old parts of the city are (1000 to 2000 years) and how many old buildings still stand, often housing the same business for several hundred years.

Unfortuantely the weather closed in so we were forced to go to the lower level of the bus for the last 30 minutes of the tour.

Feeling pretty much wiped out and with the weather going to pot we decided not to do the river cruise and headed home.

When Simon came home we went out to West Hampstead and had dinner at GBK a gourmet burger joint.

We're in London !

Well it's our third day in London and we are having a great time. Currently we are staying with Simon (Moss) because Toby's place got packed out.

Spent most of yesterday walking around London. We started the day wondering around town looking for the information centre only to find, after walking around the same block about 20 times, that it had been demolished. Not to worry there will be a better shiny new one... in 2008. We ended up at St Pauls Cathedral, then walked over the Millennium Bridge and down south bank and went up in the London Eye. The view was great but being London it started raining halfway up so our photos are a little blury. We had lunch in Westminster opposite the treasury and then went to Harrods and played with the toys. My favourite was this display of ultra realistic puppys curled up in a basket whose tummys went up and down like they were really breathing. Creepy.

We then caught up with Toby and some of his workmates in a pub in Tower Hill then went and had dinner in Brick Lane.

Brick Lane is really odd! Tons of Indian restaurants with guys outside trying to get you to come to their restaurant. They offer all sorts of discounts, free drinks etc. and talk smack about each other :) Its all a con because you land up paying about the same everywhere but still fun to do.

I, (Amelia) have become addicted to 'Daim' bars (just 35p!) and may require therapy for withdrawl if I can't find a way to import them to NZ!

Gotta dash to make the Changing of the Guard :)

Trip Map

Using the new My Maps feature of Google Maps I've created a map of our Trip (yes I'm a geek).

It pinpoints all the places we are staying. Click here to view the map.

If you have Google Earth installed (and are super-geeky) then click on the KML link (top left of the screen) when you are viewing the map and it will display the map in Google Earth !

The Big Europe trip

So on Monday (23/4) we fly out from NZ to London (via Melbourne and Dubai). We then spend a couple of weeks in the UK, mostly in London except for three days in Edinburgh.

After that we take off on a 28 day Contiki tour of Europe. This takes us all over Europe via Bus and staying in hotels (we're a bit too soft to do the camping tours).

Trip Itinerary

Day 1: London to Paris: A warm welcome from your Contiki Crew as we head for the White Cliffs of Dover and Channel crossing to France. We drive past World War I battlefields to the splendour of Paris. What better way to begin than with an evening tour of the "City of Lights" and a first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower?

Day 2: Paris Sightseeing: Today's sightseeing includes some of the most celebrated icons of Europe. Perhaps take the opportunity to visit the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe or the Champs Elysées. Tonight, why not complete your Parisian experience with a French meal and a famous Parisian cabaret?

Day 3: Paris to Bordeaux: Our journey south today takes us through the Loire Valley, home to over 3000 Châteaux. See magnificent Château Chambord and the vineyards which produce many of France's finest wines.

Day 4: Bordeaux to Barcelona: This morning we visit Carcassone, a medieval walled city. We continue south, skim past the Pyrenées and catch our first glimpse of the world-famous Mediterranean before arriving in vibrant Barcelona.

Day 5: Barcelona. Our included sightseeing tour is a great introduction to this celebrated city. See Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral, the 1992 Olympic Complex and the Gothic district. A chance to experience Barcelona's famed shopping street La Ramblas and discover some of Spain's specialties. Tonight why not experience the passion of Flamenco dancing?

Day 6: Barcelona to French Riviera: Today we follow the Mediterranean coast back into France to arrive on the elegant French Riviera. We stay in Nice, the 'Queen of the Riviera'.

Day 7: French Riviera at Leisure: Rub shoulders with the rich and famous on the Nice promenade, shop for French fashion or laze the day away on the sun-drenched beaches – the choice is yours!

Day 8: French Riviera to Florence: Today we visit a French perfumery before arriving in Italy to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We travel past the vineyards and olive groves of Tuscany to the most spectacular of Renaissance cities, Florence.

Day 9: Florence Sightseeing: Your day includes a walking tour seeing the Piazza della Signoria, the Duomo and Santa Croce and a chance to shop for leather, gold and silver. In your free time maybe visit one of the city’s many museums or galleries and this evening enjoy the colourful Florentine nightlife.

Day 10: Florence to Rome: All roads lead to Rome where our included sightseeing tour is the perfect introduction to the Eternal City. Do as the Romans do and stroll past the Trevi Fountain, the amazing Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Take the time to discover Roman cuisine in a trattoria for a delicious meal with some local wine.

Day 11: Rome. Ancient and modern Rome await your discovery. Why not take a guided tour of the Imperial Forum and walk in the footsteps of Gladiators? In your free time explore the Vatican City and Sistine Chapel, snap up Italian fashions or just watch the world go by with a gelato (or two).

Day 12: Rome to Corfu: A chance to take a guided tour of the ancient city of Pompeii as we travel across Italy to board our overnight ferry to Greece.

Days 13 - 15: Corfu at Leisure: Spend your days on this fabulous Greek Island relaxing beside the hotel pool, working on your tan or cruising along the coast on a traditional Greek boat. At night, visit a local taverna, try some Greek specialties and maybe dance to the sound of Zorba!

Day 16: Corfu to Italy - Mini Cruise: A full day and night cruise across the Adriatic back to Italy. Relax and enjoy the boat's facilities.

Day 17: Arrival Italy: Our spectacular morning arrival into the port of Venice is one of Europe's most impressive sights. After docking we make our way to Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet. Time to wander through this beautiful town before we make our way to our hotel near the fabled city of Venice.

Day 18: Venice Sightseeing: A short boat ride takes us into the historical centre of Venice to see St Mark's Square, the Bridge of Sighs and the Doges' Palace. Ample time to wander the bustling streets, see the skill required to create local crafts such as Venetian glass and fine lace and visit one of the many amazing musuems. Why not treat yourself to a gondola ride and evening meal with your fellow travellers as a perfect end to your Venetian experience?

Day 19: Venice to Vienna: We drive through gently rolling countryside, past picture-postcard villages and majestic mountains into the home of Mozart and Strauss. A chance to relax in a special resort before an evening experiencing the classical tastes and sounds of this opulent city.

Day 20: Vienna Sightseeing: Our sightseeing tour takes in the grandeur of the Palace of the Hapsburgs, the fame of the State Opera House and fashionable Kartnerstrasse. Take time to wander at leisure and why not try some local schnaps, strudel and another schnitzel?

Day 21: Vienna to Munich: On to Bavaria's lively capital Munich, home to the Oktoberfest. View sights such as the animated Glockenspiel, stroll through the shopping streets and maybe take the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of a local beerhall.

Day 22: Munich to Austrian Tyrol: A scenic drive through the Bavarian Alps takes us into the heart of the Austrian Tyrol. Take the opportunity to go white water rafting in the Austrian Alps before relaxing in this idyllic region.

Day 23: Austrian Tyrol to Lucerne: We stop for lunch in the tiny Principality of Liechtenstein before crossing into Switzerland, the home of chocolate! A very special treat as we take the cable car or cog railway for breathtaking views from our resort on top of Mt Pilatus, the highest hotel in Europe.

Day 24: Lucerne Sightseeing: Spend the day exploring this beautiful lakeside town. See the Lion Monument, walk across the Chapel Bridge and wander the cobbled streets shopping for watches, chocolate and Swiss Army knives. The best way to appreciate the spectacular scenery is on a lake cruise - why not join us on one this afternoon?

Day 25: Lucerne to Rhine Valley: We follow the mighty Rhine River north into Germany. Take in the picturesque Rhine Valley on our included river cruise before learning how beersteins are crafted in the village of St Goar.

Day 26: Rhine Valley to Amsterdam: We continue north along the Rhine River and cross the border into The Netherlands. Enjoy a visit to a cheese farm and see clogs being made before we check in to our hotel. Tonight your first taste of Amsterdam's famous nightlife.

Day 27: Amsterdam. Visit the cheese village of Edam on a bicycle tour of the Dutch countryside. Spend your free time wandering along the canals, shopping or visiting famous museums such as the Van Gogh Musuem and Anne Frank's House.

Day 28: Amsterdam to London: Travelling south through the Dutch and Belgian countryside to France, we catch the ferry from Calais to Dover and reach London early evening.

Almost time to go !

Wow only 2 days before we leave. Haven't started to pack yet but I think we have everything we need.

We'll try and keep this blog updated regularly so please visit it regularly.