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 4: Messing About in London

Returning from the splendour of Budapest to the grey of London was a bit of a letdown but we soon got past that as we had tickets to the longest running play in the world, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap at St. Martin's Theatre, which we were obviously excited about.

Pictures are just banned everywhere these days but we did manage this

Prior to that I collected some bookporn for fans of old books:

One of the most historically fascinating yet visually unimpressive sights on our trip around Europe has to be The London Stone. Leah discovered it when reading the Peter Ackroyd biography of London and the history surrounding it was enough to make us take a trip to the wall of a WHSmith newsagents. Here's your history lesson: Thought to have originally been much larger it is thought to be of Druidic or Roman origin it is located very close to the centre of the east-west diameter of the City of London, as defined by the Roman walls. Legends and myths surround it, most fun of which might be that it is linked to the safety of London (and therefore the never say die spirit of its inhabitants?) "So long as the Stone of Brutus is safe, so long shall London flourish". This relates to the myth that the stone was part of an altar built by Brutus of Troy.

And here's part of the traditional London Wall built by the Romans around Londinium and maintained in to the 18th Century:

Relatively nearby we paid a visit to Whitehaven Mansions, the home of the famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. The wonderful Art Deco building used in the David Suchet TV series is somehow less impressive in reality, possibly something to do with the swathe of flashy cars parked in the pay and display car park outside. Located at Florin Court, Charterhouse Square it still overshadows every other building on the square.

BBBG Goes To Europe Part 3.3: Budapest in Pictures

A selection of just some of the many, many statues we found around Budapest:

The architecture was equally as impressive, with buildings of different styles living in seemingly perfect harmony with each other, in contrast to other cities where the differences are jarring and hard to look at:

And some of the artistic and architectural flair we noticed on them:

Just some of the many photographs from the MUST SEE Memento Park:

And some artefacts from the Art Nouveau Bedo-Haz:

BBBG Goes To Europe Part 3.2: Budapest

Continuing this series of catch up posts you'll find us in Budapest fresh from a near drowning thanks to a good old fashion British Summer rain. The trip from Brockwell Lido to Gatwick Airport was not exactly pleasant, it rained. And rained. And rained.



And then our first experience of budget European airline Easyjet happened. Everything was going smoothly, we taxied to the runway, ignored the air hostesses inflight safety announcement and waited for takeoff. Then we were informed that we were returning to the gate for an unknown reason. Two hours later we are ready to takeoff after the first officer was replaced due to his wife being heavily pregnant and the plane refueled. Yes, we have asked the obvious question several times. just why did he go to work that day if she was so pregnant that he couldn't fly away for 5 hours or so? Anyway it enabled me to read a book and our socks to dry out.

From the moment we arrived in Budapest we were quite taken with the place. If I'm honest I was quite taken with the place before we even left Perth, but the reality didn't disappoint and the two days went far too quickly.



Budapest is the capital city of Hungary, a country that was once a major part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and sided with Hitler in the early part of the 20th Century. Post WWII it was left in the hands of Uncle Joe Stalin and his merry band of Communists (very well handled by the capitalist Allies don't you think?) Situated on the banks of the River Danube it has been voted Most Livable City in Central & Eastern Europe, 7th Most Idyllic European City and 9th Most Beautiful City in the world.

If there are 8 more beautiful cities than Budapest I'd be surprised. We wandered around in constant awe to the point where the thesaurus was empty of superlatives and throats were sore from making non-verbal exclamations of pleasure.



Vistas, statuary and architecture all amaze the artistic eye, museums were fascinating and extremely well curated, the weather was beautiful and the people pleasant. As a speaker of only one language we got on very well thanks to large majority of educated Hungarians willing to ignore our ignorance of their language and we were very impressed by the youthful vibrance of the place. Sure there was a homeless problem, I witnessed one man using an empty tuna tin as a cushion whilst he slept on a vent from the world's second oldest metro system at 11am but then all cities have a homeless problem and none of the Hungarians seemed to have sunk low enough to beg tourists for change.


Leah loves to take photos, we have just looked through 500 pictures taken from 3 cameras over 2 days in Budapest. In most situations with digital photography you might take many more photos than necessary because it's all so easy but even if we'd had film we might have spent a fortune on taking pictures of the beauty of Budapest. This is some pictures of us in Budapest:

We ended up running out of time, with so many things we wanted to see and do on our pre-trip itinerary fighting with things we discovered upon arrival for our attention we could easily have spent a week of 14 hour days sightseeing. Instead we took it easy, relaxed in to it and spent some quality time in some very interesting places.

The Hospital in the Rock was initially a hospital built in a natural cave system and only saw use during WWII and for a short period during the 1956 Hungarian anti-Communist Revolution. During the Cold War it was turned in to a classified military nuclear bunker and despite the death of Communism in 1989 remained classified in to the 21st Century. Incredibly a husband and wife team  remained on staff, changing the bed sheets et al fortnightly for nearly 50 years despite the hospital/bunker never being used. The guided tour was in English and both fascinating and a little disturbing, and the rooms are all displayed to best effect with a morbidly humorous collection of wax figures playing doctors, soldiers, nurses, and patients - a fun game to play was 'spot the horrifying injury'. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures but there are a few official snaps to show off and if you're ever in the area it is a tour well worth taking, not least because it is the only non-government funded museum in the city.

Memento Park is a purpose built tourist destination/education centre designed to promote free thinking about the legacy of Communism in Hungary without the need for irony or attempting to turn it all in to a joke. The use of statues as symbolism and propoganda was prevalent during the Communist era and the design of the park uses the same tactics reflected back on them to show the fallacy of Stalin-era Communism. Our tour guide was a very entertaining woman with a fine grasp of the English language and a playful sense of humour. That we were the only two people laughing along was quite surprising. I guess for some Americans it's still not OK to laugh at Communism.

Quite by accident we discovered that the Museum of Applied Arts had a special Art Deco inspired exhibition and so we wandered around the city taking pictures of beautiful things until we found the right building. Again photography wasn't really allowed in the gallery but the building itself was worth the time, the interior of the entrance hall particularly amazing.

One of the final places we visited was the Bedo-Haz, a quite wonderful piece of Art Nouveau whimsy turned in to a cafe/museum. This was one place where photography was allowed so we went a little crazy, touching was not frowned upon either but I think we largely managed to resist and there were a fair few items that were on sale too, which was easy to avoid thanks to heavy shipping costs to Australia.

One last major site ended up being squeezed in at the end of the trip before dashing to the airport. It deserved more time but with the large quantity of noisy schoolkids everywhere we turned The House of Terror probably wouldn't have been something we could have coped with for much longer than we did anyway. The site used by both the Nazis and Communists to interrogate and torture pretty much anyone they felt like and turned in to a museum/commemorative site this is one place that has the power to haunt you if you let it. A selection of exhibitions curated and presented with great skill you do not even need the information sheets provided at the start of each room to feel the desired effect or understand what the intended statement was.

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.

BBBG Goes To Europe: Part 2.2 - Sparkly Fiend

Friday and Saturday were much better thank you very much. A large portion of the responsibility for this upturn in mood must be placed at the very sore feet of our friend Kat AKA Sparklyfiend who arrived like a Tasmanian Devil in a whirlwind of vulgarity and hilariousness to cheer us up no end, not to mention the ability to receive an instant bank transfer and pass the cold hard cash on to us.

This is Kat, she tells us she's regularly cunted on jelly

After a morning of general relaxation and book shopping we spent the better part of the day indulging in alcohol therapy before heading to Camden for the much anticipated Pierce The Veil gig (my review of Collide With The Sky.) At Camden tube station there was a very heavy police presence with many dogs sniffing at passengers legs and multiple vans outside. The vans contained many more dogs from the sound of it. There was nothing subtle about it, nothing surreptitious and yet still we witnessed half a dozen idiots try to get past the cops and the dogs whilst carrying drugs in the pockets in the matter of minutes it took Kat to buy her train ticket. If I had been allowed to take a photo I would be showing you a shot of the station ticket hall half full of men waiting to be taken in to a back room for what might have ended up as cavity searches for all we knew. Listen up kids, if you're too stupid and lazy to change your travel plans when faced with police cavity searches then it might be best to give up on that drug dealing career you're embarking on.

But on to the show, the Underworld in Camden is a strange little venue that I had actually once been involved in organising some shitty concert for an internet TV company at. I didn't remember this fact until I'd walked us a mile in the wrong direction from the pub we were drinking at. Yes well played Toby. The stage is in a pit with a small dancefloor whilst the rest of the venue is up some steps, in theory to allow people to see I'd guess but that never happens. Bizarrely the stage does not actually face the majority of the crowd, it is rotated at 45 degrees to face a corner instead. That aside there's low ceilings and dark walls and it allows for a really good sound in the right circumstances. Pierce The Veil rocked hard, after two albums packed with incredible songs they had a lot to choose from and put on a show that didn't suffer from attempts to play tracks that they had written on tour, album filler or the obligitory slow song, it was all balls to the wall, hispanic influences post-hardcore singalongs from start to finish. That I had a voice at the end of the show after attempting high notes and growling throughout was a miracle. Negatives on the night mainly feature all of the young girls that somehow had tickets to the show and seemingly had never been to a gig before as they all seemed to just run around for an hour, in to the "moshpit" for twenty seconds until they couldn't take it anymore, back to their boyfriends/parents, off to the bar, time for an excited wee, lets mosh some more, oh wow this song is so good I need to tell my other friends about it. Maybe we're all getting old but seriously WTF. This did not make for a good crowd, with their numbers in constant flux they seemed unable even to clap on demand. Small things really and it was over way too soon. I looked amazing in my new Breakfast Club sweater as you'll see and I have provided you with the obligitory shit and pointless photo of a band on stage.

Yes that is a Breakfast Club sweater and yes, Kat dresses like this everyday

Saturday followed very quickly on the heels of Friday, getting in to bed at 1am we required a 6am wakeup call to head out on our first day trip. Brighton is famous for being the gay capital of England, a hive of student activity and as such has an alternative vibe to the city (in the case of England meaning at least a quarter of the shops are not massive chain stores) plus it was traditionally a great summer holiday spot for the Brits in times when global travel was prohibitively costly.

Kat demanded breakfast/coffee on the beach, something I was incredibly hesitant to do. The beach in Brighton is all rocks, there's no sand at all, and walking through Brighton from the train station it was bloody freezing, to use a local term. But with coffee in hand we braved the elements only to find it was the opposite of going to the beach in Perth, the wind dropped off and we just sat in the sun waking up to the day. Great call Kat, you justified your existence with that one.

Brighton is filled with incredible architecture, everywhere you look up you find yourself looking at beautiful old buildings. Here take a look at some examples:

A postcard from Brighton Beach

Princes House, North Street - one of many fantastic buildings in the city of Brighton

The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. It was built in three campaigns, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, from 1811 Prince Regent. As the first major piece of touristy behaviour on our part we were very excited by our visit. What the hell is with audio guides in museums these days? Not a single person looked like they were enjoying their visit as the wandered around with these mobile phones from the mid 90s attached to their ears. Brighton Pavillion provide them free to everybody who buys an entry ticket, but we refused to accept them. Taking our time we wandered around in awe of the ridiculous frivolity engaged in by the Prince Regent.

There was a no photography rule in place so I cannot share the mind boggling size or decor with you but I did manage a sneaky photo of the smallest item on display instead.



This miniature Bhagavad Gita is over 100 years old and was found in the "Indian Military Hospital" display room. This room commemorates the palace being turned in to a hospital solely for Indian soldiers injured whilst fighting for Britain during The Great War.

For all you film fans here's an interesting artefact found in the old fashioned penny palace arcade; a crank handle operated flicker card magnifier giving the effect of watching films of two burlesque performances. I tried in vain to get a decent picture of the image seen in the viewfinder but those semi naked women will have to remain a secret until you visit for yourself.



There was a large amount of book shops visited and naturally books purchased, here's some images for all you book lovers:

Books, you're doing them right

Colin Page Antiquarian Books in Brighton is exactly what you imagine a secondhand bookshop to be like, I stepped through the front door and let out an involuntary gasp at how pretty it was.

Books, you're doing it wrong

Rainbow Books in Brighton seems to function at the opposite end of the market, here was a man who seems to have become overwhelmed by the volume of books he couldn't resist buying and was now paying the price in terms of collapsing shelves. This one very much reminded me of the Philip K. Dick descriptions of the world in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Crystal Palace Public Library and their traditional English Pub style sign

Finally I shall leave you with something wonderful found in an English newspaper; we complain bitterly about the lack of actual news found in The West Australian newspaper but I'm not sure even that rag would publish this headline:

Is this the best headline ever?

Now then, now then, it's time to coffee, pastries and The Sunday Times so I bid you farewell. Tomorrow we fly to Budapest.

BBBG Goes To Europe: Part 2 Arriving

A quick post just to check in I think.

Some uninteresting facts about our flight:

• Qatar Airways (voted Airline of the year for the past two years) give the impression of being a social climbing third rate provider. Having previously taken this trip with Qantas, British Airways, Virgin and Emirates I can safely say that the gulf in quality of service is astronomical. For a start they didn't provide the special dietary meals we requested and I got the distinct impression that all of the hostesses hated their job and were quite willing to take it out on the passengers. After this trip I will never use them again to fly anywhere.
• Doha airport requires a 20 minute bus ride from the tarmac to the terminal. Bizarre planning for a busy international hub. They also go to great lengths to tell economy class passengers that those lucky business and premium users were provided with luxury limousines.
• I watched Safety Not Guaranteed - Cute and charming, quirky indie comic drama featuring Julie from Scott pilgrim. Just lacked a certain edge to make me want to watch it again - and the always wonderful to watch Wall.E during the flights, everything else was so uninspiring. Whilst Leah embraced the trashy action of Battleship.
• I read Money Shot by Christa Faust and The Peddler by Richard S. Prather.

  Some uninteresting facts about our first two days in London:

• Our apartment is very nice, by English standards its positively luxurious and tasteful. We haven't taken any photos for the family I'm afraid. Sorry Robin & Steve.
• We've had an absolute nightmare trying to use our British bank account and at the time of writing there is no guarantee that it's going to get any better. So far Santander have changed my ATM PIN without telling me, a replacement will take 7 to 10 woking days. As I have changed my English mobile telephone number they have refused to allow me to withdraw more than 300 pounds over the counter until I receive my PIN. 7 to 10 working days. Using internet banking I transferred money to a friend and Santander blocked it and my internet banking access without informing me because it was an unusual transaction on my account. That's the major bullet points in 48 hours of Santander related nonsense. Thank you Santander for helping my holiday get off to a fun filled start!

Some highlights so far:

• Clothes shopping is incredibly cheap. Food shopping is incredibly cheap. There's so much choice, Perth shall be ruined for us forever.
• New book shops are all incredible compared to Australian book shops, we were a little overwhelmed by seeing so many books that we wanted just sitting on the shelves and wandering through crime fiction alone I could have spent hundreds of pounds. It stopped being fun quite quickly and rapidly turned in to torture.
• Finding the BFI digitally remastered Blu-Ray of Tokyo Story in HMV for only 10 pounds, was one of those few moments when I knew I had to buy a DVD without hesitation.
• Crystal Palace is a really nice area, from what we've seen and experienced of it so far it's definitely the kind of place we would be happy to live if some disaster fell upon us and we could no longer live in beautiful, sunny Perth.

With all the doom and gloom surrounding our finances we've not exactly had a huge amount of fun or enthusiasm for taking pictures so far, hopefully we can bring you something much more interesting over the weekend but for now let me leave you with a picture taken in the Perth Airport newsagent.

The science of using the little grey cells mon ami

And one more of the greatest road name in the history of the world: