aaronandleah.info

sold the car

We've wanted a new car for a little while now, our Astra is pretty boring and becoming unreliable- every time it rains its difficult to start the car (which is a bit of a problem in Wales. Not this week though).

Last Sunday night we had a look at a few car yards and found a nice little Ford Fiesta that was exactly what we wanted. However, after taking it for a drive we didn't want it anymore. It drove really bad.

The following day we took the morning off work and test drove another Fiesta and it drove fantastic. It was the same age as the other one but a heap more expensive, we were never going to buy it but just wanted to know Fiesta's are OK after all. So, we were still after a Fiesta

Leah's dad found another great Fiesta that week and it was a Ghia, top of the range, but a 2002 model so 6 months older. It drove fantastic and had low mileage so we thought this was the one.

However, on Friday we found 2005 model Fiesta with air conditioning and remote central locking with 2 years warranty left for £6000- which was £500 more than the Ghia. It really was a fantastic deal and we are very happy. We pick it up on Wednesday and can't wait.

Unfortunately we couldn't trade our current car in with them because they weren't interested. Leah put our car up on the autotrader web site on Saturday morning. Some people had a look this morning (Sunday)...and bought it! Easiest car sale ever!

feels like home

the weather this week has been really hot. There's just no other word for it. It's been over 30 for about 5 days in a row now, which is very unusual for Britain. It really does feel like home.

However, the place is falling apart in all this sunshine. Roads are melting. Train tracks are expanding to much and causing delays. Authorities have labelled it a "level 3" heat wave. Its really funny because when it snows in winter, the same thing happens. The whole country starts to panic and shut down.

We are enjoying it though. I'm not getting home from work until 8:30pm this week because I'm on the 12-8 shift, and we've eaten tea outside because it's so warm still. And we are eating a lot of ice cream ;)

london with nana

My nana arrived in London on Friday afternoon. Yep, my 78 year old Nana has taken a 22 our flight to come and see me.

She missed me so much she just couldn't stand it any longer...and she also happened to be taking a 3 week tour of Britain and Ireland.

The tour starts on Wednesday and doesn't include London, so we spent the weekend playing tour guide.

We decided to take the hop on hop off bus tour because it would mean less walking than catching the tube everywhere, and it took us straight to the major sites. We'd been on the Dublin hop on hop off bus and it was terrific so we knew the London one would be good.

Nan had a really great time and loved seeing London from the top of the open top bus. The weather was great and that made it even better. We saw Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St Paul‘s Cathedral, the London Eye, had a boat cruise on the Thames and even managed to pop into Harrods for a Krispy Kreme donut.

The best part of the weekend though was that Nan got to meet Leah‘s parents. She's the first of my relatives to meet them so it was really special. We all went to Covent Garden together and then out for dinner at a restaurant in that area, followed by a walk around Leicester Square.

On Sunday we went for a walk around Hyde Park and took Nan to Notting Hill. She loved the film and it was only a short bus trip away from where we were staying in Paddington. After that we went back to Hyde Park for a picnic lunch and it was time for us to get back to Cardiff.

We had a fabulous weekend. Hope Nan‘s tour of Britain is just as good.

exciting week ahead

Our holiday to Italy is finally about to begin. I can't really express just how much we are looking forward to this trip. Florence and Venice are places that sound to fantastic, to amazingly beautiful and to think that I'm actually going there blows my mind. I can't believe it.

easter

Hope you had a safe and happy break over Easter. York was fantastic. The 5 and a half hour drive up there went extremely well, we had no troubles at all with Easter traffic. The one problem we had was our own fault- nearly ran out of petrol and had to find a servo in a tiny little town! Yorkshire felt more like home, the ground is really flat and there is a lot of farming and life feels a bit slower up there.

Our hotel was great, just a five minute walk from the city centre and the magnificent Minster. We spent Friday arvo wandering around the tiny medieval streets and also checked out the Minster for free (because it was Good Friday).

On Sunday we drove an hour and half further north to Durham to see the World Heritage Listed Cathedral and Castle. Both were just magnificent. The city of Durham was quite nice too. Next stop was the Angel of the North, which was only 15 minutes drive from Durham. Its right beside the M6 motorway and looks amazing!

On the way back we took a little detour to see the ruins of Fountains Abbey, which is also World Heritage Listed. The ruins were amazing but the park they are located in was beautiful. Had a great time wandering around and seeing all the sites there. We hadn't planned on going there at all, just went on a whim and we are so glad we did.

Sunday morning we went to Jorvick Viking centre, a huge archaeological site. In the 70's they discovered an amazing amount of Viking remains and they've made an attraction out of it. After that we took a 2 mile walk along the city walls. I love city walls, can't get enough of them. Last year we got to walk around Chester's, and York's were just as good. Later that afternoon we visited Castle Howard which was absolutely gorgeous. The huge gardens were fantastic to spend the afternoon in.

On Monday morning we managed to climb up the York Minster tower and also explore the crypt there. The crypt was amazing, there is still walls from the original Roman buildings that were on this same site. After that it was about 12 o'clock and time to hit the road.

Once again we had no trouble at all with traffic. There is heaps more to see in Yorkshire, and we'll definitely be going back there.

oscar's 2006

I always look forward to the Oscar's. As a massive fan of the movies, I enjoy watching the big night of nights. Having said that, I don't place any particular importance on an award winner- if a movie wins best picture I'll definately be interested in seeing it, but I won't automatically be expecting to love it.

Last years Oscar night was a disaster for us, we didn't get to watch it because it was on Pay TV, and the highlights package the following night was one of the worst shows we've ever seen. It was really amature.

This year was a completely different story, thankfully. We do have Pay TV now, and managed to set the new DVD recorder to tape the whole thing successfully (it was on from midnight to 4:30 am here).

Of the best pic nominees, we'd managed to see all but Capote which hasn't come out yet. They all are terrific films and deserve the win, but personally I wanted Crash to win. Fully expected Brokeback to win though.

The whole show was quite good this year, it seemed to go very quickly. They could still cut about 20 mins out easily, though. Who wants to watch the song performances?

Really happy that Seymour Hoffman won, he's deserved one for years. Like almost everybody, we were totally surprised that Crash won, but weren't as angry as most people seem to be. We think it's a terrific film and featured tremendous performances from everybody in it.

back from rome

Yes, we are back from Rome safe and sound. We had a magnificent time there, really loved it. You can read our itinerary here but here are some points worth noting:

• Not many tourists around in November
• Your life is in danger every time you cross the street in Rome
• So many great things to see are within walking distance of each other

beach therapy

Over the last few days Leah hasn't been feeling 100% so she decided to take yesterday off work. As it was a beautiful sunny 30 degree day, I thought it would be best to spend the day at the beach out in the sun. Just so she gets better quickly of course.

Nash Point is a beautiful spot she'd wanted to take me to but we hadn't got the chance yet. Today was that day! It took about an hour to drive there and you really need to know about it to find it, it's very hidden away. A beautiful secret it is though. The rocky cliffs are amazing and the ocean views spectacular.

And Leah's feeling much better now.

guys and dolls

We'd been looking forward to seeing Guys and Dolls for months and months but after the events that took place on Thursday we suddenly weren't sure if we should go. After much discussion and careful observation of the situation in London we decided to stick to our plan and see the show. And we think it was the right choice

What a show it was! We caught the train at 10:45 am Saturday morning and were in Paddington on time at 12:45. Wanting to avoid the tube if possible, we caught a bus to Oxford Circus and walked 10 mins to our hotel! What a spot! We didn't do much during the afternoon, just relaxed in the room before heading out for a strawberries and cream frappucchino at Starbucks- which we highly recommend by the way. It must have been 25 degrees outside, a beautiful summer's day.

We headed out to the theatre at about 5 o'clock in order to have a meal before the show. What a great experience wondering through the West End, past theatre after theatre was. You really wouldn't know anything had happened during the week- the streets were crowded as ever.

We settled on Chinese for dinner at a nice little restaurant round the corner from the Piccadilly Theatre (which we were headed for). The ?11 per person set meal was fantastic- duck pancakes, sweet n sour pork, blackbean beef and chicken and vegetable medley. Very nice, thank you!

By the time we'd finished it was 7:10 and time to get going. Had no trouble finding our seats, apart from the near vertical climb up the stairs! Talk about steep! We had a great view of the stage and absolutely loved the show. Very funny and great performances by all. Neither of us knew anything about the story, so we didn't have any expectations. Of course seeing Ewan McGregor up close was terrific and Leah especially enjoyed his singing- which gave her goose bumps. The show went for about 2 and a half hours so it was good value as well.

After it finished we made our way back out on the streets and had a wonder around Piccadilly Circus and enjoyed watching the buildings change colour with ads being displayed on the huge electronic screens. What a wonderful day

Caught a 10:45 train home on Sunday morning in order to see Leah's cousin Chris's baptism. Unfortunately Leah's parents got a bit lost trying to pick us up from Cardiff Central train station so after some stress and panic we ended up arriving 10 minutes late...which didn't matter as things got off to a late start anyway.

It was a hot day, over 30 degrees and the church had no air conditioning so it was stifling in there. Everybody was glad to get outside when the ceremony finished! Leah's brother Matt and his wife Bianca had come down from London for the weekend so it was great to see them again. Such a shame we already had booked for Guys and Dolls, otherwise we would have spent the whole weekend with them.

That night we spent eating pizza and chips and drinking beer outside in the garden while the sun came down. What a great end to a great weekend.

we are fine

I wanted to let everybody know that we are still in Wales and hence were not affected by the London explosions yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and injured.

i'm at a place called vertigo

Last night a dream finally came true for me- I got to see U2 live (along with 60,000 others!) It truly was an amazing experience and all that I hoped it would be.

The first 4000 GA ticket holders were able to get into 'The Pit', the front section that had a barrier around it. We were lucky enough to get in there, giving us a terrific view of the show. There was a catwalk on each side of the stage, and we were only 5 metres from the left catwalk. Bono, Edge and Larry made their way down during the performance so we got to see them up close- it was amazing! And the screen behind them was awesome, especially during 'City of Blinding Lights' where it turned into a curtain of bright lights.

They played a lot of old stuff which was really special because I haven't seen them live before.

It's depressing that it's all over now, we are both hoping we get a chance to see them again sometime. At least I've been able to seen them once.

car accident

Firstly, nobody is hurt, we are all absolutely fine. The other driver is fine also.

Unfortunately the car was a write-off though. Leah was driving to work when the car in front of the car in front of her slammed on his breaks, the car in front of Leah then slammed on her breaks and then Leah slammed on her breaks...but didn't stop in time.

Our car came off terribly, the whole front was smashed in. Amazingly the other car is fine, hardly a scratch! The mechanic Leah's dad knows had one look at it and said it's just not worth fixing, we'd spend more than a new car.

So, for the time being we don't have a car. We can't afford to buy another one at this stage, but I'm sure we will somewhere down the track.

Leah hates herself for wrecking the car but we all keep telling her that we'd rather the car wrecked than her.

a long time ago...

We saw Revenge of the Sith at the official UK Premiere!

Leicester Square played host to a massive Star Wars celebration on May 16. Naturally I couldn't miss it. The movies were playing in the three cinema's there, orchestra would be playing music from the films live, stars would be interviewed, stormtroopers patrolling etc.

We saw an 11am session of Attack of the Clones basically to get Leah up to speed again of where we are at before seeing episode III later that week. However, as we walked in the usher told us to hang around afterwards as they were raffling tickets to the Premiere after each session! There was less than 10 people in our theatre! So, the movie finishes, they do the raffle..and MY ticket is drawn! Absolutely couldn't believe it. Spent the rest of the day in shock.

So, we walked down the red carpet, spotted Hayden Christiansen and George Lucas while on the carpet only metres away. Rushed into the theatre, took our seats and all the guest stars went up on stage. The producer Rick McCallum and George talked for a bit and then the movie started! Such a wonderful way to conclude the saga. Click here for pictures.

house to ourselves

John and Diane have gone to the United States for three weeks...leaving the house free to us! Two weeks of stress and drama came to a head yesterday when Lynne and Mike, their best friends that were going with them, decided they couldn't go due to their daughter Ester having the baby on Saturday night.

The whole trip to America was based around seeing Lynne and Mike's friends and staying with them so this was a huge blow to John and Diane's holiday. They don't know the people they are staying with! However after we all discussed it they still wanted to get away and not loose any of the money the trip has cost them. They'll be fine once they get there, it will just be a bit scary to begin with. They drove to a friends place right near Gatwick Airport last night and were lucky enough to get a lift with them this morning to the airport.

So right now, they are in the plane and on the way to Florida, where the trip begins. They've taken Leah's digital camera with them so hopefully they manage to take at least a few good pictures. And we thought holiday's were meant to be relaxing!

it's a boy!

Finally, two weeks overdue, Ester has given birth to a beautiful boy. He has been named Luke and his is a big 'un at 9 pound 1. Mother and baby are ok and doing well.

off to London we go...

We are going to London this weekend. Leah's friend Nicola (and her boyfriend Charlie) are dive instructors in Egypt, and they are coming home for a few weeks, so we are catching up with them. We are driving to Louise and Rich's place (Leah's friendship with Louise dates back to Uni) which is in St.Albans(North London) probably on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it, I haven't met Nicola or Charlie and would love to visit Egypt. I'd love to scuba dive to, but asthma prevents me from taking it up :(