Emigrating to the UK, what is that like?

Always something happening in London

No matter where you go in London, there always seems to be something going on. The sight here leaves only speculation as to what may have happend inside the underground, but the newspaper advertisement next to it is promising ..... "world cup pub drinking" - lol.

markobosgra on 05.31.06 @ 12:26 PM CST [link]

Chelmsford is beautiful!

Okay, so this is the town where we live. Not the part with all the houses, shops and factories, but the part down by the river. We went here last sunday to have a nice walk in nature and - of course - for a sunday lunch.

The area around the River Chelmer:

Chelmsford River Mill:

The River Chelmer:

My beauty sitting on a waterlock:

This is where we had a wonderful sunday lunch, roast turkey for her and roast beef for me, the Fox and Raven:

And yes, I like these types of views (next time I might even bring a real camera, the quality of these is not too good):

markobosgra on 05.30.06 @ 10:06 AM CST [link]

On friday we will have a few pints!

What else would I need to add to that message?

markobosgra on 05.30.06 @ 09:02 AM CST [link]

London pubs when the weather is nice

British people and their beers. Once the weather gets better, they all need beer. And, there are not enough pubs to fit all the people in! Even though there is at least two pubs at every streetcorner and probably several half way every street. Anyway, that will not stop them, they will simply extend the pub on the street!

This is just off of Oxford street last night .......

markobosgra on 05.26.06 @ 08:00 AM CST [link]

I found the Charles Dickens Museam!

On one of my daily walks I just happened to stumble upon the "Charles Dickens Museam". I should pay it a visit some day!

markobosgra on 05.26.06 @ 07:41 AM CST [link]

Why you need to pay the rent in time

I guess some company went bankrupt or did not pay the rent ..... funny sight though!

markobosgra on 05.26.06 @ 05:57 AM CST [link]

Visit to Norwich last wednesday

A quiet nice looking town in the north of Essex (I believe) almost a two hour train ride from Chelmsford. This here is the train station:

And this is Norwich Castle (in the background):

markobosgra on 05.26.06 @ 05:25 AM CST [link]

Amsterdam - first day

I had only been back in Holland for a day when I witnessed the first crime to take place ..... Some idiot threw a brick through a window as I was passing by and ran inside the house. As the neighbours started to shout all kinds of things in arabic, 10 seconds later he stormed out and ran off. What is happening in this country?

Anyway, here is a nice one: "The Rijksmuseum"

markobosgra on 05.19.06 @ 06:18 AM CST [link]

A few days back to Holland

Spending another few days in Holland. Fun to be here for a short while, meet old colleagues again and visit my parents of course. Unfortunately I do need to work for most of the trip, but the weather is nice at least.

This is close to work, near Amsterdam in a place called "Diemen Zuid".

markobosgra on 05.18.06 @ 10:57 AM CST [link]

Thames Thames Thames

Just a lunchwalk around the Thames. Lots of churches to see on the way there from inside "The City" but my cam cant really capture that that well.

London Bridge:

Thames Walkway:

Tower Bridge from Thames Walkway:

Tower Bridge from London Bridge:

Where?

markobosgra on 05.17.06 @ 10:32 AM CST [link]

Customer Visit - Tower Hill

This is Tower Hill during evening rush hour. My camera is not good enough to actually capture the enormity of the masses of people that flow in the direction of Fenchurch Station to go home, but the area is nice enough.

markobosgra on 05.17.06 @ 10:15 AM CST [link]

Daily lunchwalk: Visit to Barbican

Taking a random left turn I was suddenly made to realize that there is a much newer and more impressive side to Barbican than what I had already known until now. Please see the image of the "London Museun at Barbican" and its surrounding areas.

markobosgra on 05.16.06 @ 06:54 AM CST [link]

Daily lunch walk - summertime

Whenever the weather is reasonable I like to go for a walk through the city. I like to see new things so many times I just take a turn I have never taken before and will see where I end up. Last week I ended up close to Angel Station. Else I would never have had a reason to visit that area.

In the background you can see the towers of Barbican.

markobosgra on 05.15.06 @ 08:35 AM CST [link]

The daily morning walk in Chelmsford

These are two places that I pass each morning on the way to the station.

A neigbourhood in Springfield, Chelmsford on a sunny day. Not too much to say about this, except that it is a quiet neighbourhood.

The second one is the nice one, the river chelmer ......

markobosgra on 05.15.06 @ 07:51 AM CST [link]

Life in Southend On Sea

Saturday night and a great X30 bus service between Chelmsford and Southend made for a fun night out.

As the night progressed so did we ......

And who is the weirdo below here with the funny hat?

markobosgra on 05.08.06 @ 08:25 AM CST [link]

Integration after immigration - not all aspects are difficult

In Holland this is a major issue: immigrants need to integrate into the society, but to what level .......

Here in the UK the papers are not writing about it, but being aware of the complexities involved, I try to pay attention to the habits and the odds and evens of the british people. So, the one thing I noticed is: you won't be considered british until you finish your lunch with a bag of potato crisps.

So, reluctantly, I mingle in with the crowds. I even try the nice and the horrible flavours they have here. This is one of the nice ones that I have not seen in Holland yet:

markobosgra on 05.04.06 @ 10:10 AM CST [link]

We immediately thought it was another bombing!

Yesterday, just before noon, we (our entire office) suddenly saw this enormous plume of smoke rising above the city, from the Liverpool Street / Moorgate area. We all thought it might be another bomb, something big anyway because so much smoke is not created by any small thing.

We searched and searched the internet and in the end we found one link to a site that made a reference to it:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=akPBpc2BBvLE&refer=uk

This is what appeared in the newspaper last night, while nobody in Holland ever knew this happened:

markobosgra on 05.04.06 @ 09:57 AM CST [link]

I have now renamed it to Liverpool Delay Station

Yesterday another case of "fatality" causing hours of delay. That was the second one in less than a week. The rest of the time we only suffer from signalling failures, either on the tube or on the train - and many times both ..... I had hoped that with the arrival of spring we would be having less delays, but we seem to be having more.

Anyway, I hope these will be the last of its kind for a while:

markobosgra on 05.03.06 @ 12:34 PM CST [link]

We did not move far enough yet!

Minispace, while moving back to Holland (too bad for him ....)
pointed out a small test to me, to see
what city I would belong in. Oddly enough it was ........

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions.
You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

markobosgra on 05.02.06 @ 11:58 AM CST [link]

Commuter nightmare

Coming to London Liverpool Street station after work and seeing the following:

Makes it immediately evident that something serious must have happened.

This time, last thursday evening, it was "a fatality", "a person under a train" or - as they will not say here, somebody jumping in front of a train in order to commit suicide. So sad. And it means no trains for hours and hours since the train is really the only way for me to get home .......

markobosgra on 05.02.06 @ 09:28 AM CST [link]

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