LONDON CALLING !!!!!

hello from the motherland :o)
i thought i'd try a bit of remote blogging from the northern hemisphere...
i can't believe we're here.. we arrived 36 hours after leaving behind the winter in NZ, had a sleepover in hong kong, very luxurious.

we were so excited to see greg and em at their gorgeous flat. it reminds me of the house we lived in when we were first married, in ngauruhoe st in mount eden, two doors down from the metro college. lovely high ceilings and a big old fireplace. it was so good to see greg and em again, *polar bears* all round, and a lovely walk for grapefuit-and-lemonades by the thames, right beside mick jagger's house !!!

that was the first evening. since then it's been a three-day-blur of exquisite buildings, ornate architecture, overwhelming bigness, and a feeling of connection with the whole of history. i'm really struggling for words to describe the spiritual and emotional experience of being here..

Big Ben and parliament buildings, from the Thames River, photo taken on the boat cruise.

Big Ben. I didn't realise how t-a-l-l this clock is.

Westminster Abbey. WOW. This ornate sculpturing is above the front entrance.

F and me, standing east-sides and west-sides of the Meridian Line at Greenwich.

Sitting outside Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

some highlights so far: a river boat trip up the thames with my cousin and her girlfriend, greenwich and the naval museum, st paul's cathedral, big ben, the british museum, walking across the millenium bridge, and shakespeare's globe theatre where we sat in on actors rehearsing of a play.. amazing, and the tate modern art museum, where we discovered edgar degas la petite danceuse a quatorze ans
we'll see the original at the musee d'orsay when we go to paris, but even seeing this bronze cast was overwhelming: i just stood and basked in her aura.

we have come home to babich's 'the patriarch' 1998 cabernet sauvignon and a wonderful pork-and-beef bolognese sauce on top of organic spelt flour pasta. the boys have gone down the local pub to watch the football: germany/italy. hubby is so excited to be watching football at an english pub :o)
oh, and it's such gorgeous summer weather here, humid and sunny.. (it's 32 degrees today, mel!!!)