Simply The 'Est'...

Well she's here.

Lil Chicky has been ensconced at Gidday HQ since Tuesday and we have been out and about rather a lot showing her the sights and making the most of what's on offer thus the lack of tap-tap-tapping.

I'll share more fun stories and gory details later but in the meantime, I thought I'd give my lovely Gidday-ers a whirlwind tour of our exploits so far.

Are you ready?

We've been to...

...the highest...


The highest steeple in England at Salisbury Cathedral 

...the tallest...

Europe's new tallest skyscraper The Shard overlooks the Thames and City Hall (the weird curved building front left)

...the oldest...

5,000 years of history at Stonehenge 

 

...the swankiest...

 Save your pennies for one of the most expensive apartments available in Knightsbridge

...the greenest...

 Beautiful Green Park (that bright shiny object is the sun)

...the royal-est...

 The gates at Buckingham Palace

 
...and the longest...

The world's longest running play, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap currently at St Martin's Theatre

...as well as celebrating a certain special birthday with a glass of vino or two...

Happy birthday to Lil Chicky...40 is definitely the new 30!

Day 6 looms ahead of us. We are off into town again today so who knows what adventures, stories, photos from Chicky Tours Unlimited will make tonight's Gidday Wine Review.

You'll just have to wait and see...

Hello? I'm All Ears...

With the Australian Labour Party electing yet another leader this week (they're a fickle bunch), it would appear that the powers that be are still trying to get the measure of public opinion Down Under.

But perhaps they could learn a thing or two from the South Korean city of Seoul.

In an effort to encourage communication between the elected and the electorate, Seoul City Council has installed Yobosayo, a giant ear, outside City Hall.

Photo credit: www.lifethings.in

Passers-by can bend this particular ear simply by leaning in and airing their views...

Photo credit: www.lifethings.in

...which are transmitted by microphones inside the ear and broadcast through loudspeakers inside City Hall for all and sundry to hear.

Yobosayo means hello? in Korean and it rather tickled my fancy to think that as each person leant into the 'trumpet', they would utter this self-conscious salutation before embarking on their particular litany. Think about how often this is our 'greeting': to the unknown caller, a potentially unoccupied room and even an obscure fact.

Anyway it rather amused me to think of all of those important councillors being ear-bashed by hundreds of hellos each day.

And speaking of hellos, there's a rather big hello in the offing here with only two sleeps to go until Lil Chicky gets her big gidday hug in the Arrivals Hall at Heathrow Airport from yours truly.

I'm so excited - I do love Arrivals...

Single Figures...

We are down to single figures peeps.

In just 9 sleeps, my little sister (aka Lil Chicky) will step off a very long flight from Down Under and into Old London Town (well Heathrow Airport anyway).

It will be her first ever trip here - hopefully not the last.  And I am ridiculously excited.

It's getting difficult to think about anything else at the moment. I try to remember what my first London Loves were and I find myself wondering what are sorts of things she would like to do and see. Are they the same things that struck me when I first travelled here in 2000? The history, the theatre, the eclectic cultural mix, the architecture? Or is it something else? Perhaps a little high tea or some high kicks at a show? Or shall we take in the Eye, the Abbey, the Shard, the Wall or even the Cock in the Square.

The National Gallery and St Martin in the Fields overlook Trafalgar Square and the latest installation on The Fourth Plinth

The mind boggles.

Lately I have found myself in the midst of my day when I am struck by something I want to show her or share. Like on Friday night when I left the office (my 'new' one - our Head Office - where I am now based) and saw this...

...or the view from Waterloo Bridge at night which, after almost 10 years here, still makes me catch my breath and say to myself 'I really did it. I live here. This is my home.'

So much to do and so little time.

And only 9 sleeps to go.

That's exciting.