"Which Way to the Mona Lisa?"

A couple of Andy's mates (Joe and Greg) are travelling around Europe and Amsterdam was the perfect stop for Annabel, Andy, Marg and I to catch up with them. So off we went last weekend to cause some havoc.

Marg and I were last to arrive in the Dam and didn't get off the train until 12am but this didn't stop us from meeting up with the rest of the crew and hitting the town until 4am! (jeez we're hard core!)

Our hotel was an amazing Dutch house converted into a trendy hotel. Our room overlooked the canal and one entire wall was a giant Dutch master print.

Once we all woke up on Saturday the trip began in earnest. The girls and I went straight to the Yellow Bike Company to hire some bikes and the others, after a brief communications malfunction, caught up and then we were off.

After a ride around and a fair bit of getting lost (thanks to me this time) we decided to have a look at the Van Gogh Museum and then get some lunch.

A lunch venue big enough for a group of 6 hungry Aussies was eventually found and we set about drinking local beer (it was the season for Bok) and eating great heaps of meat on beautiful fresh bread, YUM!

Next came more drinks at a local beer connoisseur bar where Andy without thinking ordered a Heineken and was handed a glass of dish water... after they had finished laughing. Then it was on to dinner of amazing steak and chips.

Next we all wandered into the red light district for a look (not allowed to take photos there understandably) and then a few more bars until Margie and I piked and went to bed (2am ish).

Blue Elephant Goodbye

Sadly Mikey's time in London came to an end today and he flew back to New York. As a last hoorah we all went out for dinner at the Blue Elephant (the BEST Thai in London).

It was Mikey, Damien, Nicole, Andy, Annabel, Margie and I all sitting in amongst the rainforest setting eating fantastic food and r=drinking amazing wine.

We had a brilliant time with him and can't wait to see him again at christmas.

Eating

So a bit of back story of the last two weeks. Mikey has been here working in London (thus we were at his Big art auction the other night). Annabel and Andy have just arrived in the country (WOOO HOOOO!!!) and they'll be here for at least the next 3 months which suits us just fine!

Since we have all gotten together all we have done is eat as you can see below.

Phillips Auction

The day Margie got back from Aus she was such a trooper that she came out for Mikey's big auction night in London.

There were plenty of big stars there including Sting and Sir Anthony Hopkins... oh and 'the Human League' played all their... um... hit.

The Rest of the Parmasan Adventure

Well Marg's back and Mikey's still here so life is pretty great right now and it's a good time to show the rest of the photos of Parma!

As you can see Marg was in heaven.
the next night we went out and had a(nother) amazing meal in the town square. we picked a restaurant based on the menu out the front and wandered in.
when we got in there no one was eating, they were just sipping cocktails and talking. When the menu arrived it was only for drinks, As you can imagine Marg was pretty keen to eat (for a change) and we sat waiting for everyone else to start eating.

Eventually we used the little phrasebook to get us a food menu after we saw other people finally start to eat (only after 8 apparently) and ordered some more incredible food.

The next day was home time but we had a wander around did a bit of shopping. Marg picked up a cool Italian leather jacket and I got some great shoes.

Italy - Day 1

-UPDATED BELOW-
On Friday we took the day off work and flew to Parma Italy for the weekend - the home of Parma Ham and Parmasen Cheese. Needless to say we were both in heaven!

-UPDATE 12th October 2006-
Sorry it's been so long but Marg is in Aus at her grandfathers funeral

OK so here are some more pics of Parma. We had the most awesome weekend (if a little expensive) and the food was incredible!

We flew in on Friday morning with Ryan Air (A.K.A. tightarse airways) and arrived at the tiny country airport of Parma. Marg called the local taxi number (after we finally realised we were never going to get one at the airport) and in broken Italianglish managed to get us a taxi (I was so proud).

The hotel we stayed at was incredible, four stars with one of the best restaurants in Parma which made it VERY good.

We spent the day hanging out in the old part of town and eating their famous ham and cheese (Hmm why did Marg pick Parma I wonder?). I got Margie brand new pink iPod Nano as well that she loves, we'll have to post a pic on the blog.

Poker Night

Last Saturday the crew came over for the much anticpated 'Poker Night'.


Everyone threw in a fiver and by the end of the night Fyn and Wes walked away with all the cash. The girls got over it after the first few hands so belted out some classic Bangles hits - much to the dismay of the lads... But it was a great night had by all and we are now planning Poker Night - The Sequel.