Hey Guys,
It has been about a month since my last update, I hope
you are all well! Its now been about 7 months in London and I think its
fair to say that things have settled pretty much into a routine now,
especially when we aren't travelling. Over the last 4 weeks we have only
travelled once, to Madrid - which is not as bad as some people would
make out. People always say that Madrid is a bit of a letdown after
Barcelona but I actually don't mind Madrid at all. I think it comes down
to the fact that Barcelona is very much a party town, so if you want to
have a bucks weekend or go somewhere just to party, Barcelona is
probably your best bet. However, you also get the downsides of a
touristy, party town - the crowds, the tourists, a lot of rip-off
touristy food on las ramblas, multi language menus, more pick pockets
etc. The other big advantage of Barcelona is that it has the beach,
which Madrid doesn't have. The Gaudi stuff is pretty interesting but I
was unimpressed by the park, and the other gaudi houses are super
expensive.
Madrid on the other hand is more of a local's city. There is very
little English around, and although there is still a lot of tourists, it
doesn't feel overwhelming like it does in Barcelona. I actually found
the food in Madrid to actually be better on average than my experience
in Barcelona, in particular the Pinxos (small pieces of bread with
various toppings - ranging from olives and pickles to seafood to black
pudding and quails eggs) was really good. I also enjoyed the royal
palace, which was actually an amazing example of the decadence that the
royal family lived in. Amazing furniture, painted ceilings in every
room, beautiful golden chandeliers. I have been to other palaces before
but for some reason I don't remember them being as over the top as this
one was. The throne room in particular as quite impressive, with carved
lions on the sides of the thrones, and the dining room which had a long
table which seats 100 also a highlight. The other cool thing was the
armoury, where they had about 50 sets of armour. As some of you may
know, i read a lot of fantasy, and it was pretty interesting to see what
'knights' would be wearing. The armour has a LOT of pieces and i
imagine that it would have been pretty damn heavy and uncomfortable. Not
sure that it would be the best thing to fight in. The length of a
lance was also suprising, they were like 5m long.. which was a lot
longer than i expected. Also, the suits of armour were really small
which meant the spanish kings must have been quite short... (i just
re-read that and realised how nerdy that sounded... but oh well ;P)
Anyway, so I ate a LOT in Madrid, every few hours in fact. The kind
of went like this - Churros and hot chocolate in the morning, Jamon
Boccadillo (Spanish Sandwich) for morning tea, markets for pinxos for
lunch, pinxos for afternoon tea, and then restaurant for tapas/dishes
for dinner. Yeah. So pretty intense food intake. Which brings me to my
next point.. weight gain. Over the last 7 months, I've gained about 5
kgs. The slim fit shirts I bought when I first arrived - which fit
perfectly are now too tight around the stomach, and on the weekend Nancy
said I was too fat for my trenchcoat... I think the reason for this is
twofold. Firstly, when I travel, I eat. A lot. I make the excuse that I
need to try all the food in a certain place because if I don't have it
then and there, i'll probably never have it again, so i just figure,
screw it i'll just eat it. Secondly, the weekends used to by my exercise
days, in Sydney, i'd play basketball twice on the weekend but here i'm
travelling so it compounds the issue. so for the record, I am officially
going on a diet - until New York. The plan is lose 2-3kg before i get
to new york so I can gain it back in the week I'm there so at least i'll
have a net gain of 0... amazing aspirations i know ...
The other things I wanted to cover quickly, the weather has been
surprisingly (and unexpected i'm told) not freezing. This week, the
weather is about 15 in the day, not unlike a sydney winter. Usually,the
weather is in single digits in the day already so it has been
unseasonably warm. This has meant a few things. I've been able to find
some people to play basketball with, and play outdoors (this will have
to move indoors soon im sure), and all the money i've spent on winter
clothes so far has been a bit wasted.. which segways nicely into my
final point for this update... shopping.
I've spent a LOT of money of clothes since I got here. I think since
I've got here I've spent way too much on clothing. For those who know
about my budgeting spreadsheets i can see that since being in London,
I've spent WAY more on clothes than the last 2 years. Which links back
to my weight loss point - I have to lose weight so that these clothes
still fit. I think my sense of fashion has changed as well. Overall I
think people in London arebetter dressed thanin Sydney and i guess
subconciously you want to dress better to fit in. Also I think you have
access to much better clothing here than in Sydney, i mean people went
nuts at Zara, which is just a very average brand here as you guys know.
Work wise - things are bearable, i'm still basically in cruise
control mode, just treating work as something I have to do to fund my
travel and life in London. I admit that I'm not hating it as much as I
was a few months ago though so thats something.
Other interesting things I did this month - go karting last weekend,
first korean meal since i got to London and finally going to Bicester
village (outlet shopping).
Next update will be post New York! I
have literally 30 places to eat at while I'm there, i'm really looking
forward to that, and seeing Lee, Alex, Dush and my family of course :)
Will and Anny drop in this month as well...
So what have you guys been up to?
My life does revolve around food doesnt it. 3/4 of this email is about food... haha but i guess thats just me..
Write back!
Miles
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