BBBG Goes To Europe Part 5.2: Simon & Charlene

After Rochester it was time to catch up with my oldest friend Simon and his wife Charlene. When you have two people in your life as important and as close to you as these two it's hard being on the other side of the world but happily at our three year reunion it was like we'd never left. We spent three days with them, mostly drinking, and had a great time (aside from the trip to watch Arsenal lose to Chelsea.) Then we went to Crystal Palace Park, of which there will be more later.

Crystal Palace Park is the parkland that surround the former site of The Crystal Palace, a cast-iron & plate glass building originally built for The Great Exhibition of 1851, moved to Penge in 1854 (yes taken apart and rebuilt somewhere else) and destroyed by fire in 1936.

Post-fire the grounds seem to have been largely abandoned, without even a monument or plaque commemorating the fallen icon of the idustrial revolution. It does however still feature the Victorian stone dinosaurs (again there's very little information on display, the local council are really missing a trick with this stuff,) a maze built to commemorate the Society of Girl Guides and an urban farm.

And so ends this series of catch up posts, thank you for being so boring Vienna.

BBBG Goes To Europe Part 3.1: Brockwell Lido

So I'm playing catch up. The trip to Budapest and the immediate days after were hectic and filled with interesting things from dawn til dusk and we are happy yet exhausted. Well until we find ourselves in Vienna today that is. Part 3.1 is from last Monday, 24th September, the morning before we flew to Budapest.

Leah had applied for a graduate position before we left Perth and was lucky/talented enough to be shortlisted for interview, thanks to the marvels of modern technology it was arranged via Skype for 6am British Summer (what a joke!) Time. As we have just the one room in our vacation apartment I found myself walking the cold unwelcoming streets of Crystal Palace from just before 6am. With my overcoat and my hardboiled internal monologue it was just like being in a noir movie. In my mind.

6am: The perfect time to film noir scenes

The interview seemed to go well and so we packed our travel bags. To Budapest via the Brockwell Lido.

The Brockwell Lido is a large traditional British outdoor swimming pool situated in Herne Hill, London. Opened in 1937, it was awarded Grade II listed status in 2003. No longer a public building due to cost cutting measures by the local council it was saved by a users group and is now privately operated. Featuring a modern gym and a cafe in addition to the traditional pool.

Sadly it was raining and the doors to the viewing deck were shut but we still managed to capture quite a large portion of its beauty from the relaxing (aside from the noise of yummy mummies and their children) new cafe.