Letter # 17 - Fat Tyre Bikes

Dear G-or-gina.

Fat bike tours.

A bumpy, death defying 3 hour bike trip is a great way to see the city. (Seriously!) Even better with a crazy American guide. Seth had some great stories. Full of confidence and praise, stressing the importance of dominating the roads as a pack. (This is as scary as it sounds) Reminding us that one beep actually means welcome to Paris and two beeps really means nice bike, we set out to see Paris.

The Ecole Militaire – Military School.

Created in 1750 for cadet officers of poor families. AKA Napoleon Bonaparte’s high school.

L’hotel National des Invalides

War vets were injured and homeless. This didn’t sit right in Louis XIV’s stomach. These men had fought for France and now they were living on the street. No no no this won't do. So he created des invilades, the national residence of invalids. A hospital and a retirement home for war vets – nice guy I guess

This building is also famous for another reason.

14^th July 1789, a mob forced their way in stealing 28,000 rifles before the storming of the Bastille prison. Technically you could argue that this was the starting point for the French revolution.

On the other side of the building is the

Eglise du dome

Originally a chapel built for the royal family. It is now a burial site for war heroes including Napoleon Bonaparte. You can visit his tomb, designed by Napoleon himself. From the bottom level you have to look up to see his tomb and from the upper lever you have to bow down to see it. Even in death he is commanding respect.

Another fun fact about the church is the dome. After it was completed, Louis XIV decided that the roof was too high. To solve this problem another dome was created exactly the same and put underneath. During WW2 the French resistance hid weapons in gap between the two domes. The Germans never found out about it. - Hardy Ha!

Pontre Alexandre III Bridge

(This image above is taken from google)

The most extravagant bridge in Paris.

Named after the tsar Alexander III, who concluded the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892.

The Eiffel tower.

Everyone has heard of the Eiffel Tower. One story I hadn’t heard before was that of a guy named Lustig (con man) and guy named Poisson. (gullible) Lustig made Poisson belive that he worked for the government and they were selling the Eiffel Tower. But it was top secret. Poisson paid Lustig funds for the Eiffel tower and Lustig took off. Realising some time later that he had been scammed. He apparently never said anything. He was too embarrassed. I don't blame him. I would hate to be that gullible.

The whole story is on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Lustig

Letter # 16 - London in a nutshell

Dear G-or-gina,

Hope you are missing me lots.

Noodles, Camden, Covent Garden, Pub, Pub, Sleep, Noodles, Pub, Abby Road and a yummy curry, Oh and Toovey our Guide… = 4 days in London well spent.

The Happy couple.

Camden Markets.

Starting off as craft markets by the canal in 1974. Over the years it has exploded into a million tiny little stalls scattering all over Camden Town.

Surrounded by people, food vendors yelling “darling eat here, darling, try this, darling, please”, home made brownies, (the chocolate kind) the weird, (foot eating fish) wonderfully cute, (cupcake stall) arts, crafts, clothing and German tourists. Camden town is a colourful way to spend your weekend in London.

Wanda/Doctor Fish

If I have any regrets on my trip so far it would be that I didn't let these little fellas "kiss" my feet! There is a stall at Camden with about 10 tubs of fish for people to put their feet in. Long story short people pay for the fish to eat away the dead skin on their feet.

Known as the Gurra Rufa, the inch long fish "migrated" from the hot springs of Turkey. They developed an appetite for the only food around - HUMAN FLESH!

Except they don't have teeth. They suck your skin off. I regret not letting fish pash my feet.

http://doctorfishmassage.com/

Cutest cupcake stall!

Cute little duckie! Nom Nom Nom..

I would give the icing a 6 out of 10 and the base about a 5.

Sam your cupcakes are much nicer! Post me some.

Some many pastries.. (Carbs) haha

T-shirts

Banksy, a mischievous guerilla graffiti artist/political activist. Said to be from Bristol but the minor details (name, age, hometown etc) are still a mystery. He travels the globe stenciling the streets, mixing satire with his dark humour. You have to be quick to see an original Banksy, they are usually painted over or destroyed by other graffiti artists. When someone told me there was an original up the Camden canal I got a little bit excited.

It looks like something Banksy would do but I have a feeling the ‘Team Robbo’ (losers) have ruined it, as they apparently always do, although I wouldn’t really know I’m just going from what Google told me. What kind of a name is ‘Team Robbo’ anyway?

Check out some of his work here

http://www.banksy.co.uk/

Iced Tea, was so delicious.

Abbey Road.

Home to the most famous recording studio in the world.

The crossing where everyone want's to be the Beatles.

Tourists hold up traffic here all day, it's a shame Londoners have no patience for it.

I didn't feel like being the victim of someone's road rage. We just casually walked across.

Curry!! = The best Indian I have ever eaten. The chicken was lovely.

Oh yeah! I forgot we went to Chelsea (the SOCCER club's) home ground!

Soccer, soccer, soccer, soccer, soccer, socecr...

Letter # 15 Newww York

OK so I have fallen a little behind in my blogging so I am going to try and just fit the rest of New York in one!

Wednesday the girls declared a girl’s only shopping day. We headed up fifth avenue, (I was not rich enough to be walking up this street) I took Laura and Cole back to Henri Bendel for some more head bands, that shop is depressing I don’t know why I did it t myself, it is far too expensive but so pretty. So Ho was next on our shopping day map. We found some awesome little shops selling dresses, all super cheap. For someone who wasn’t supposed to be spending any money I couldn’t help myself. It was cheap. (I have a bad habit of telling myself it's OK to buy something because it is cheap.)

I had a realisation today that maybe G-or-gina is a shopaholic??

This is the email she sent me.

My List

Greetings Liviosarrrr

Please see below:

Lipstick - cyber	$14.00
Lipstick - Lady Danger	$14.00
Lipstick - Girl about town	$14.00
Mascara - Opulash	$14.00
Impeccable brow pencil - blonde	$15.00
Powder blush - full fuchsia	$18.50
Powder blush - raisin	$18.50
Bronzing Powder	$22.00
Powder mineralised skinfinish natural – light medium	$22.00

Note:

I am still unsure as to which eye shadow I want. I am entrusting you with this extremely important task and the fate of my eyes rests with you. I am leaning towards the paint pots – HOWEVER they do not seem to have any nice colours (what are they thinking??) So your first task is to source wether or not they have more colours in the shop. IF THEY DO NOT I would like the pigment pots (I think) in the following colours

· A bright blue

· A fuchsia

· A purple

Please also note that if by some chance they do have a variety of colours in the paint pots, please stick to the above list of colours.

Total = 172.00 USD + (potential paint pots) $58.50

= 230.50

Which really = 260.674 AUD yeeeooowww

That is a total saving of

$186.32

Thanks chump…

Any questions please email immediately.

haha

Mac was so much fun, our girl was a very good sales lady or am I a sucker? Noo I needed EVERYTHING that I bought that day, it will last for ages and IT IS CHEAP! Maybe I have shopping problem too. I’m not sure what do you think?

We were lucky enough to see two musicals in New York.

Green Day and Avenue Q.

It was cool to see a rock show as a Musical and I enjoyed the first few minutes buuut I got over it. I’m not musically in tune. I either like it or I don't, I cannot determine the difference between a good production and a bad one. All the boys ripped it in half, so I am assuming it was bad. I am not a fan of monologues and that’s what this was. It opened with a bang, the middle was OK, then closed with the whole cast doing time of your life, which was probably my favourite part, but wasn’t on American Idiot. Loads of sex drugs and rock n' roll but maybe American Idiot as musical wasn’t such a good idea?

This was my second time seeing Avenue Q. It was still funny but, I knew what was going to happen so the shock value was lost. Sex, sexuality, sluts, love, life, purpose, racism, Avenue Q is muppets/puppets gone MA15+.

Garry Coleman was played by a girl, which was different, not that there is anything wrong with that, she just annoyed me. Seeing Avenue Q redeemed Lachie’s faith in musicals after Green Day. I think anyone that isn't offended easily or uptight would love this.

Last day in New York (Sobs) we climbed the Empire State Building. (Climbed, caught the lift, same thing!) I have never suffered from claustrophobia in my life but in this lift all I could think about was if it broke. I would be stuck in it with about 50 other people and no room to even sit. How would I get out? How long would it to take for them to fix the lift? It's ok I have water in my bag at least! And then an image of me freaking out entered my mind until the doors finally opened.

We got the double pass for about $50. An imax experience plus a ticket to the viewing platform. They tell you that if you buy the double pass you don’t have to line up. This is a lie. I hate lines AND liars.

The view was SO LOVELY! all the way up there on floor 96!

My advice is stuff the imax eperience, it's crap. Pay the extra $20 for an express pass instead, where you actually don’t have to line up! Dooo it!

Last Night snap shots.

New York is now one of my favourite places in the world. You can sit at a pub any night of the night week until 2, 3, 4 am no dramas, eat after 8pm at a restaurant, drink traditional lemonade whenever you want, eat delicious candy, get drunk off 2 drinks because they have no RSA and free pour. So much to see, do, drink and eat! I want, I want.

Oh and I have one question for America and New York. What do you do with all the good bit's of bacon? Why does everyone only serve the rind? eww! Do you send it to Australia? Or maybe there is a fat New Yorker hogging all the good bits? I want to know!

Ohhh I forgot to introduce everyone else.

Warning - The bottom image may cause vomiting from 2 people being too happy.

This is Sarah in the floral, she likes to wave at everyone.

and Laura and Brendan, the happy couple.

Letter # 14 Yankee Stadium.

Dear G-or-gina, Poophie and Rach

We bought tickets to see the Yankees play the Angels. Don't ask me who, what, why or how about the game or the Yankees because I don't know.

I had been told that even if you are not into baseball the atmosphere of a game is well worth the three or so hours. So I went. Our seats were great and cushiony!

Some player.

The first few minutes and a home run for the Yankees the atmosphere really was awesome. (or so I could hear from the bathroom) I rushed back to my seat but as the game progressed and the chance of the Yankees winning was none their so called fans showed their team support by leaving!

By the end of the game more than half of the stadium was empty. What kind of fans are they ? "Fickle" said Lachlan.

Simon's facebook status update summed it up nicely

"Yankees Schmankees...... The merch prices must pay their salaries coz their baseball playing is a wee bit ordinary!!!! Spanked by the Angels 10-2"

After eating these fries I never want to eat garlic again.

The guys that came out to give the ground a wipe (or whatever it's called) did so dancing to the YMCA, prob the highlight of my night.

Letter #13 The tour guide takes us out.

Monday evening…. Our tour guide took us out for a night on the town in Brooklyn starting at the Keloggs diner, Williamsburg.

I found this quote on their website.

"Used to be the absolute shittiest diner in the United States of America until Kellogg’s underwent a transformation last year and re-vamped their menu (they even serve lobster now)! The Greek Salad, Chicken Fingers, and Fries are pretty good."

If you ask me it still is pretty shit. But we all enjoyed the fact that we were at a Keloggs diner in Brooklyn! The reviewer has one thing right though the fries were delicious and if I had read this before we went I would have just got a plate of fries and chicken fingers.

A couple of blocks away is a place called Barcade. A bar that combines beer and video games!

Rampage, Paper boy, Donkey Kong, Tetris, they have it all. Lachie and Joel dominated the games while Simon, Cole and I got a table in the corner and draaank and giggled.

I love loved this place. It's decked out with wooden floors and tables, paper bag lamps (it is cooler than it sounds) and plays great music. Simple yet filled with personality. It is exactly how a Barcade should be and don’t let the sign in the girls toilet put you off.

Paper bag lamp.

Barcade is also puppy dog friendly, I vaguely remember playing with a fluffy black dog. We left our mark on the table, drank some more, played Mr. Squiggle on the table, drank and to my disappointment left! ( I think I almost cried haha)

Nicole and Simon drawing on the table.

I did the squiggle and Nicole turned it into a masterpiece.

Toilet shot!

Finally I would like to add that if girls go to the bathroom together they usually always get chatting and lose track of time, this is normal so deal with it chumps.