Travels

First of all we started off at Aberdeen where I gave a research talk. Next was off to Cardiff for my talk at IEEE FMN '08.

While in Cardiff we had a look at Cardiff Castle which was impressive and also at Cardiff Bay. The historic Cardiff markets also had a wonderful atmosphere. Cardiff Bay is a new area at Cardiff which was on their old coal ports, that was decaying. It is a very modern area now and includes things like the Doctor Who exhibition. Our only thing that we didn't like so much was that our room at the Park Inn was unbearably hot even though it was cold outside!

We came over to London and are staying at a lovely place in Kensington called the Rydges Kensington Plaza. It is amazing to see so many expensive cars such as the latest Ferraris, Aston Martins, Porsches and even a Bugatti Veryon.

We did a tour of the Kensington Palace where Diana lived and spent some times in the surrounding parks including watching squirrels run around.

Jayne's brother Andy came over from Switzerland which was really awesome and we had dinner with him and hit the town. We ended up in Soho and after that spent nearly an hour trying to get a cab home as the tube had shut down.

Amongst all this we've been enjoying going to the British shops such as Boots, WH Smiths, and of course Marks and Sparks which has nice fresh food. Going on the tube has been fun although it seems to be getting even more packed than what it used to be and this has been at off peak time.

Last night we met up with Jayne's friend Nessie who she used to flat with in London and then we went out with them. First stop was a tied up boat near the embankment looking directly out to the London Eye and Big Ben. We also went into Trafalgar Square and enjoyed the view. We then went around a few more bars before having dinner in a Greek restaurant in Covent Garden.

Today we went to the Natual History Museum, the Science Museum (including Babbage's Analytical Engine, Stephenson's Rocket) and then off to Harrods.

Photos to follow