Venezia!

21AUG08-25AUG08
Over the August bank holiday, we managed to get away for our first European, weekend getaway!! … Venice!

For those that aren't too sure where Venice is or what it's all about - it's a beautiful (but very touristy) city in Italy that does not have any roads or cars. It has rivers and canals as their streets and lovely old buildings and churches. Everyone either walks the cute little alleys (and get lost!!!) or travel by boat, water taxi or water bus.

We had such a great time. The weather was great - sunny and cloudless majority of the time. It was a good temperature and not too humid. We walked everywhere and pretty much saw all of Venice just by walking around and getting lost.

A couple of the great touristy sites were St Mark's Square - or shall I say San Marco - great cathedral with it's full massive ceiling made of mosaic images. We climbed the stairs to see great views over the square and out to the Grand Canal. And then Rialto Bridge - a bridge with shops lined along both sides that crosses the Grand Canal.

Of course we couldn't go to Venice and not ride a gondola, or eat pizza, pasta and GELATO! Yum! … And the joys of getting by in a country with no English or no one to show us the ropes! Love ordering off menus that are in all Italian!!?! Lucky I know my spaghetti, lasagne, tortalini, pollo, funghi, bistecca, gelato and dolce! hehe

All in all - a fantasic first trip away. We experienced the lovely journey times to and from the airports(!) getting back late to go to work the next day!! The joys of London and weekend getaways :) - It was good to get away from the London "summer" which is getting cold and cloudy. I managed to get some lovely permanent jandels! :P

As always - more pics on my FaceBook.

Diamond in the news! Wohoo :)

Good to see the family business getting good PR on TV1 6pm news few weeks back - yes it's taken me a little while to get this online!

Check out the article and it's related video online on TVNZ.

Yaye!! :)

The unemployment days are over!

After 4 months of unemployment, I got a job offer on Friday and start on Monday! :) Yaye! Took a little while coming, but should be good.

The role is an Online Coordinator for a entertainment company called Jetix. They are owned mostly by Disney and network a number of famous cartoons in UK & Europe. This includes Power Rangers, Pokemon, Pucca, Naruto, Ninja Turtles, Totally Spies - to name a few. I will be updating and manageing their websites and competitions for the Central & Eastern European countries.

Looking forward to starting work on Monday in a whole new environment and new industry! Should be exciting and looking forward to the experience.

Stonehenge & Bath

Martin was in the UK for work and suggested a sightseeing trip that was on our list of things to do, so why not do it with our good mate from home.

Good times catching up with Martin & Jamie at the same time as seeing some of the historical sites in UK. Although just some big as stones in a field, bit of myth and history behind them made them all worthwhile checking out.

Bath - very cool little Roman city and of course, famous for it's yummy Sally Lunn buns!!! Not like you get back home, so many different varieties! Set up in what looked like an old house, jam packed with tables and had a bit of queue, these buns are in demand! ... Sweet tooth that I have, I opted for the Cinnamon Butter Sally Lunn bun with clotted cream! YUM YUM YUMM!! Gotta check it out if you ever go to Bath.


More pics on my FaceBook.

To finish off the day, and kill time that we didn't end up needing to kill(!), we all had a good laugh that we'll never forget. Papaya Pearl Tea at Cafe De Hong Kong... the substitute for not having Taro Pearl Tea... let's just say... not a good experience!!!

"HAP-PY NEEEW FLAT!!"

Yaye! Matt & I have found our own 1 bedroom flat in Paddington/Bayswater, so why not celebrate and open a bottle of champers! :P - Thanks Warrick & Mo! Can't move in until 5th September, but still glad we found somewhere nice that matches our criteria!

I'll post some pics once we move in and get settled! Yaye - can't wait!