Stepped off the train from London at Edinburgh’s Waverly Station, and started pissing it down. Welcome home I thought. It feels great to be home. Forgot how much I missed the place.
Braved the rain and went for something to eat. Wanted to go back to the old haunt of The Elephant. It’s changed. Only because it is now widely known that JK Rowling went there to write her first Harry Potter book. There is a great view of the castle from one of the back windows. It’s over-run with tourists now.
Took a reccomendation from the Lonely Planet guide and went over the road to Monster Mash. Great place. Serves up sausage and mash. Had a couple of pints to go with it…brilliant. The bill wasn’t that flash though. 30 quid…Ouch!
Went to see Greyfriers Bobby at the cemetry. True story of a dog that stated by his masters grave for about 12 years. There is a statue and information in the area. Photo below.
Off to Stirling tomorrow. It’s only an hour away from Kirkcaldy where we will be staying. Should be a great day.

In Stirling, just west of Fife for the night. It is one of the places where William Wallace (Braveheart) won one of his famous battles. The battle of Stirling Bridge. Amazing place but a bitch to park your car though. Already been up the Wallace Monument. Wallace was executed in 1305. The monument was built in the late 19th century. It makes you wonder what took them so long. There is an amazing viewfrom the top. They also have this movie telling the story of Wallaces’ trial (or lack there of). A face of an actor was projected onto a manaquin. Very creepy.
Off to the castle tomorrow. Should be great. All this touring around Scotland is making me very home sick. Probobly because I’m a tourist in my homeland. I don’t think there is enough pull to bring me back here perminantly.
Sorry that I havn’t been updating the blog. The amount of WIFI connections that I have access to have been very slim. I spotted a cafe this morning while looking around Stirling that had one. Should check it out and get this published.
Mark C. Spotted a convertable Ford Ka yesterday, something to aspire to eh? photo below. I’ve included another couple of photos from Stirling. It’s mosly famous for it’s castle and Wallace. It’s also a great university town like St Andrews. That means cheap food and beer. Maybe off to Glamis Castle tomorrow.

Havnt has much of a chance to update the blog recently. The access to the Internet, especially WIFI have been few and far between. I’m typing this from a train travelling from London to Edinburgh. They have free Internet.
Prague took a lot of getting used to for Kerry and I. The scenery and architecture was amazing. Gothic, renaissnce and baroqe in abundance. The churches are amazing. Heavy baroqe in design. There is a huge difference in the Christian and Catholic churches. The amount of opulence In the Catholic churches was amazing and disturbing at the same time. I’m not a religious man, and can’t understand how having the most amount of opulence in your church gets you closer to God or heaven. There are a couple that I have included below.
We found Prague very expensive when eating out. We self catered and found the prices reasonable.
Best thing about it is that the beer is incredibly cheap. We are talking NZ$2.50 for a pint of very nice beer. Food is very expensive, especially in the tourist areas.

Just arrived in Venice. What an amazing city. Didn’t take long to reach our apartment. The place we are stating is totally beyond our expectations so far. A huge room with a canal view. Can’t believe we are here for three nights. There is a pik below to give you an idea. We have already been out for a late lunch. Taking a lot of recxomendarions from the lonely planet. We have already shared a plate of meats and cheese over a bottle of wine wine with crusty bread. Fantastic. We are off out again exploring. I think I’ll leave the tourist stuff till tomorrow.

Got into Verona in the early afternoon. The area around the train station is a bit drab, but oh my god, the city is just amazing. The place is still full of tourists, but down’t seem as overwhelming as Florence. We are going on a sight seeing tour in the morning, and doing some more touisty things in the afternoon. There are amphietheatres, Romeo and Juliets balcony, amazing architecture, and some incredible wine to sample. Have a look at some of the photos that I’ve taken so far.

I don’t know how it happened, but we came across a square, and all of a sudden we start hearing bagpipes. Being Scottish (not English Mark) this felt sereal. Then a mass of people appears following the pipers. We ended up following them around half the city. That is why there is so many people in some of the photos.

I think Florence has been a mixed bag so far. All be it for the worst. Got into Florence yesterday from Pisa. After dragging the cases for half an hour, it was reasuring to hear that the hotel that we were booked into (and had printed confirmation for) had screwed up our booking, and was not expecting us until next month.

After about 3 hours of referals and slogging around central Florence, we finally found a place to settle. Quite a nice place. Clean, tidy and quiet. all be it the décor was a bit drab. I find Florence is a bit of a show price. Trying too hard to be some many things to all people.

At least on the last day before we escaped, we managed to do our washing.

A had the day to basically get away and do our own thing. I’ve always wanted to go to the Natural History Museum here in Knightsbridge. The place blew me away. Seeing the dinosaurs, mammels etc. Is just fantastic. It’s a great place to take kids. The great hall with the statue of Charles Darwin at the top of the stairs takes your breath away. To imagine that the museum has been going for over 100 years…

Sitting in another pub now. My feet are killing me. We are off to Pisa tomorrow, so this will be our last full day in London. I must admit. Before we came out I had the opinion that London was a bit of a toilet. A very dirty city. Like every city, there are good areas and bad areas. To live in one of the food areas you need an obsene amount of money.

I don’t think I could live in London. The sheer amount of people has been a bit overwhelming at times. Maybe it’s beause I have only just got over my jetlag. I’m looking foeward to Italy. Never been there before. Gives me a really good operrunity to start using my camera.

It’s great that we’re in London, you pretty much have everything on your doorstep? Ive spent a couple of days at Camden market looking for a new pair of docs. I remember when I was a kid at school in Scotland. I went through about three pairs of Doc Martin shoes. Ithey just didn’t wear out. I only had to get rid of them because I grew out of them. I finally decided to get another pair a few months ago but felt cheated when I found out they arn’t making them in Emgland any more. Did some research. And just happened to be staying in London near the original shop that sold them (and still do). They are called Brit Boot. Look them up. Bought a couple if pairs. A black pair ( that are currently on my feet being worn in). The other pair, green. Aparently very rare. I thought about the green. It was either that or the red. Tried the green pair on when I got back to the hotel room. Talk about rock solid. Man these things are going to take some breaking in. Anyway. Below is a pick of them.

Spent a few hours walking around Soho last night. Saturday on Soho is an incredible experience. The amount of people is amazing. The nightlife beats dreary old Auckland any day. Not that you could compare them in the first place. Found the cork and bottle in Leister square. A great wine bar and restaurant in the heart of tourist town. Might go there tonight for dinner if I can keep awake. Didn’t sleep well last night. Anyway, thanks PH for the tip on The Intrepid Fox pub in Soho. Shame it’s closed. Below is a pikl for your viewing pleasure. Shame we never got a chance to experience it.

Just had Japanese takoyaki at the Camden Market. Fantastic. Camden is a huge contrast to strolling around Mayfair.