Robin at England's HQ!

Hello again. Here is a picture of Robin outside the headquarters of the Football Association, who run football in England (that's the Three Lions badge of the team over Robin's shoulder). I was down there just as Sven-Goran Eriksson announced England's squad for the 2006 World Cup (for those of you in the US, that tournament is a MASSIVE deal). He wasn't actually announcing it at the FA HQ, but I could see it happening on a TV above the reception. Bizarrely, Sven chose to include a 17-year-old striker called Theo Walcott who hasn't even played for his club side yet, let alone the national team. Only time will tell if Sven's a genius, a madman, or a bit of both...

Oh, and I've worked out how to block spam comments - you just have to type in a word thingy now.

A post about not much!

Hello, hello, hello.

Apologies for not having posted in weeks - the problem is that I've been so busy I haven't really done anything all that interesting. In the end, I thought I'd post you a boring picture of Robin, as that's better than posting nothing at all. Right?

So, here he is, in the middle of the road! In an area of London called Bounds Green! Just near a very good Greek restaurant called Vrisaki, which is down that street on the right! Note how I've worked out how to do the picture slighter bigger than usual! With the text sitting next to it like an old friend! Note the Greek flag on the left, proving that Vrisaki isn't the only Greek establishmeny on that street! Note the white van pulling out and moving ominously towards Robin!

See, it wasn't that dull after all...

Robin at England's national stadium

robin at wembley stadium
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey folks.

So, here's Robin at the world famous Wembley Stadium, the home of football/soccer in England and an ongoing national farce.

The original stadium opened on the site in 1923, but they closed it to build a new one in October 2000. It was supposed to re-open in May 2006 with the FA Cup Final, but they've had a whole load of problems with it and it's now not going to be finished until 2007 (which means lots of sport and music events have had to be cancelled).

Still, when me and Robin were in the carpark the other night (we went to a gig at the venue next to the stadium) it did look very impressive. Here's hoping that when it's finally finished, it'll have been worth all the trouble!

This is what it used to look like - http://www.britac.ac.uk/news/reports/archaeology/wembley.jpg
And this is what it should look like when it's finished - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/graphics/2005/03/08/sfnwin08.jpg (note the huge arch which you can see above Robin's head)

Life's a blur for me and Robin!

robin goes to the dogs
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey folks

Sorry not to have posted in such a long time, but I've been super, super, super busy with work. Hope you're all keeping well and thanks for still coming to look at the site - it's appreciated.

So, this is Robin at the Nottingham Greyhound Stadium, where we went a couple of weeks ago - as I'd sponsored a race for my mum and stepdad as their 60th birthday present. They got to present the trophy to the winning dog's owner and everything. Top night had by all. Although as you can probably tell from the picture, the dogs run jolly fast and, thus, don't photograph too well!

Right. Lots of updates coming soon. Promise.

Robin in Bergamo

robin and the old city
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey folks - hope you're all well.

This is a picture of Robin taken this weekend in Bergamo, a beautiful town near Milan, Italy.

The picture was taken on the site of Bergamo castle, and it looks out over the old city of Bergamo, which is set up on a hill above the new city. It's a stunning view from up there - round to the other side you can see right over to the Swiss alps (will post a picture of that later).

I thoroughly recommend that if anyone's ever in Italy and near Milan, they go over to Bergamo. Me and Lex have been twice now, it's just a gorgeous, relaxing place to spend a couple of days wandering the windy streets and taking in the feel of old Italy. It's amazing how few tourists you get there too - especially considering one of the Milan airports is a 15 minute bus ride from the centre of Bergamo.

Robin at the League Cup Final

robinatcardiff
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey folks

Here's Robin at the League Cup Final (aka Carling Cup Final) at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff at the weekend, as the players line up before the game.

The chaps on the right in blue and white are Wigan Athletic, while the chaps on the left in red are the world famous Manchester United, arguably the biggest football (soccer) club in the world. Given that, you probably won't be surprised to learn that United beat Wigan 4-0 (Robin was pleased - as he's clearly more red than blue).

Robin figure skating!

robin the ice dancer
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes folks, as voted for by you - here's Robin being a figure skater, in honour of the Winter Olympics.

They seem to have changed the judging/scoring this time around, but in the old days I reckon his performance would warrant a

6 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 etc...

Hope you like!

Dress Robin as a Winter Olympian!

Robin - an Olympic bird
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Now, obviously the Winter Olympics are on at the moment in Italy and this site was *born* to talk about the Olympics, so we thought we ought to do something to celebrate. (The Games have been ace so far - sadly we won't make it out to them, but I've been following it online and on TV).

So, I've decided to dress Robin up in the costume of a Winter OIympics sport. But which one? Well, that's up to you. Post using the comments link below this post (you don't need to register or anything) and choose your favourite from the list of sports below. Then, on Friday, I'll make him a costume and you'll get to see him in all his Winter Olympic glory! Be nice to hear from some first-time posters too.

The sports you've got to choose from are...

Alpine Skiing | Biathlon | Bobsleigh | Cross-country Skiing | Curling | Figure Skating | Freestyle Skiing | Ice Hockey | Luge | Nordic Combined | Short Track Speed Skating | Skeleton | Ski Jumping | Snowboard | Speed Skating

Remember, I'll dress Robin up as the one that gets most votes...

In the Beatles' footsteps!

Robin at Abbey Road
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

This is a picture of Robin in front of the zebra crossing on Abbey Road, north London - as made famous by The Beatles on their album cover (which you can see if you click here)

We were there to see Robin's old pal Chris Martin and his Coldplay boys play a special gig in the Abbey Road studios - cameras weren't allowed inside though.

Happy anniversary to us!

Robin at the beach
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Yes, today is exactly one year since me and the missus got married in Athens. Top, top memories.

To celebrate, we stayed last night at a lovely hotel in Whitstable, a little seaside town in Kent where we went on our first date almost six years ago.

The hotel overlooked the sea - in fact, this picture was taken by me leaning out of bed and holding Robin precariously out of the window! You could hear the waves crashing from the bed - utterly relaxing way to go to sleep.

While we were down in Kent, we also got my Grampa hooked up to the internet (wireless broadband and everything!). So hopefully he'll be reading this at some point. If so, then HELLO GRAMPA!!

So near, so far...

Well, Panionios gave it their best shot last night against top of the league Olympiacos. We went 2-0 up inside 20 minutes, but, sadly, the mighty Olympiacos came back and eventually beat the Panthers 3-2. Still, it was a mighty effort from our boys. You can read a little report if you click here.

C'mon Panionios!

robin at panionios
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

This is another picture from our trip to Athens last weekend. This is Robin at the Nea Smyrni stadium, the home of the football team I support in Athens, Panionios (that's what it says - in Greek script - on the seats behind Robin). The number says 1890, which is when they formed - making them the oldest club in Greece.

Anyway, we popped down to buy a shirt from the club shop and managed to wander into the stdium through an open door to take this picture.

Tonight, Panionios play Olympiacos - the big guns of Greek football - in this very ground. Panionios really need a win (they're having a terrible season). So let's all wish the Panthers (as they're known) our best.

I'll let you know how they get on...

Robin and a wonder of the world...

Robin at the Acropolis
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Yes, we're just back from a couple of days in Athens, where we thought it was about time we got a picture of Robin at the Acropolis (or Parthenon) which was built about 500 years before Christ was born and which still stands over modern Athens.

Nice to be back in Athens almost a year after we got married there. What with the Olympics too, we've got so many happy memories in that city.

:)

Happy birthday mum!

birthday bird
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

A very happy 60th birthday to my mum (and to her husband Peter, who also turned 60 a week ago today).

Hope your seventh decades treat you both very well!

Robin visits Platform 9 and 3/4

robin potter
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Yes, the very weekend it was announced that the latest Harry Potter was the best selling book in the US last year (shifting over 7 million copies) me and Robin happened to be walking to get a train from Platform 11 at Kings Cross station in London, when we came across the famous Platform 9 and 3/4 (note the trolley disappearing through the wall) which, I believe, is where young Potter catches the train to his school from.

Nice touch by the folks that run the station, we thought.

Happy 2006!

Happy new year!
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

To all of you reading this from me, Robin and my missus - we'd like to wish you an absolutely marvellous 2006!

We celebrated it in Helsinki where thousands of people came out onto the harbour outside our appartment and fired fireworks randomly all over the place. Then, by about 12.15am, most people seemed to have gone home!

By the way, Robin is sporting a little 2006 necklace that was sent to my wife by the jeweller in Athens who made our wedding rings. If you think it looks nice on Robin, you should see it on my missus...!

:)

Robin and the Jokerit jester

Robin and the Jokerit badge
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

To make up for the slightly dodgy picture below, here's a picture of Robin with the Jokerit badge (Jokerit means jester in Finnish).

Jokerit were bought by a rich owner in the mid 90s which has made them a little unpopular with other Finns who don't agree with the way he's injected money to make money (modelling the club on the razzmatazz of the NHL). There are even anti-Jokerit websites online. But the rich owner's money obviously isn't working this year - as the team lie fourth from bottom of the league (having finished second last season). Apparently they got quite a few players from the NHL last season when there was a shut-out in America, and lots of them went back to the US when ice hockey started again, leaving Jokerit with a much weakened side (their star goalkeeper, for instance, joined Boston one day before the Finnish season started).

Robin at Jokerit!

Robin at ice hockey
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Apologies for the slightly dodgy quality of this picture, I took it on my phone cos they don't really allow cameras into the ice hockey games - but here's Robin at our first Finnish ice hockey game, featuring Jokerit (the home side, from Helsinki) against SaiPa. Sadly, despite my purchase of an over-priced woolly Jokerit hat, they lost 3-1 (didn't take their chances and the SaiPa goalkeeper played very well). But, despite the score, there were 8,400 very passionate Finns there and it was an enjoyable evening out.

The sea is frozen!

Robin In Helsinki
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up

So here's a picture taken in Helsinki, just near my wife's parents' flat. This is a harbour that would be filled with boats in the summer, but, at the moment, the sea is frozen! It's been very, very cold here in the past few days and weeks, getting as cold as minus 15 Celsius (about 20F). It's very odd to see a frozen sea, but very beautiful too. Literally all the ice you can see in the background would be normal sea in the summer.

This evening we're off to see ice hockey - a massive sport in Finland. Naturally, I shall take Robin along to document it...

Robin in frozen Finland!

Brrr! Robin in Finland
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Yes, we're out here in Finland for a few days, visiting my wife's parents who moved to Helsinki in August.

This picture was taken in a beautiful little town called Porvoo, about 50 minutes' drive from Helsinki. We're actually standing on a bridge and that long white thing behind Robin is the frozen river! A few minutes before the picture was taken we saw a cross country skier skiing along it!

It's a very pretty town - in the background you can see some of the wooden houses the town is famous for. It wasn't actually as blue as it looks in the picture - but for some reason all my pictures came out blue. Must've been something to do with all the snow and my camera not being used to it!

Hope you all had a good Christmas. We're off into Helsinki itself in a few minutes, so I'll try to take another picture there...

Happy Christmas!

Robin the wrap star
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, it's Christmas Eve and me and the missus and Robin will be offline for a few days now. So, before we go, we wanted to wish you a very, *very* happy Christmas.

Hope you all have a great one.

Christmas in London #2

Robin and a tree
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Here's another picture of Christmas in London for you. This is Robin in Trafalgar Square, standing in front of the 25 foot Norwegian Spruce just next to Nelson's Column.

Every year since 1947, the people of Norway have given a Christmas tree to the people of London to show gratitude for Britain's support of Norway during the Second World War. A nice tradition and a very nice tree.

Hope you're all having a nice build-up to Christmas.

Robin parties with Dave Grohl!

robin and dave grohl
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, last night Robin bumped into rock legend Dave Grohl - former drummer with Nirvana and current frontman of the Foo Fighters - at a party in London.

As you'll see, they were partying rather hard and Robin woke up with quite a hangover this morning.

Christmas in London #1

Robin and a bow
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up

So, as promised, this is a picture of Robing with some of London's Christmas decorations. This is a building around the corner from where I work and they always seem to go to town decorating their building. This year, as you'll see, it's a giant holly wreath. And very nice it looks too. Not exactly sure what they do in the building, but I'm guessing they're not short of a few quid.

More to follow...

Caution!

beware the squirrels!
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Sorry it's been a while, but me and the missus (and Robin!) have been away for a lovely relaxing week in the Lake District, in the north of England. No mobile phones, no internet, just lots of relaxation and walking and good food. And now back in London and back to work tomorrow. Sigh...

Anyway, thought you might like this sign, which we saw just outside the village of Patterdale. The Lake District is one of the very few places left in England that still have red squirrels - as, sadly, their grey cousins have taken over. As Wikipedia puts it:-

"Although not thought to be under any threat worldwide, the Red Squirrel has drastically reduced in numbers in the United Kingdom. Under 200,000 individuals are thought to be left, approximately 70 to 75% of which are in Scotland. This population decrease is likely to be due to the introduction of the Eastern Grey Squirrel from North America as well as the loss and fragmentation of its native woodland habitat."

If that above stat is right, and most of them are in Scotland, then there are less than 50,000 of them in England - so naturally we have to look after them, hence the crossing! We saw two of the little cuties outside our cottage, so it seems to be working.

So, onto your 'off-topic' questions. At the moment, no, it doesn't look like we are going to the Winter Olympics. We were toying with it for a while, but now we've got my wife's 14 year old sister coming to stay with us in London for one of the two weeks, so it doesn't look like we'll make it. We will though, be going to the World Cup in Germany (the soccer tournament) so Robin will definitely be there.

As for pictures of Robin with Christmas trees and lights - yes, we go pretty big on that here too. I shall get onto it when I'm back in central London tomorrow...

Hope you're all well and that you've managed to get most of your Christmas shopping done.

Don't worry, it's only a drill...

Robin takes shelter
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Hope you chaps in America had a lovely Thanksgiving - I tried to remember to post something on the day, but we don't celebrate it over here and, um, I forgot. But I hope you all had a nice one.

I took this picture this morning down by London Bridge (breaking news: it isn't falling down). The sign is on the side of a WWII museum that commemorates the air raids that London had to put up with during the war. I didn't actually know the museum existed until I walked past it. Might have to visit sometime...

Shakira bites Robin!

Shakira and Robin
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes folks, today Robin met Shakira, the bona fide pop superstar whose last English-language album sold 13 million copies around the world (and her current Spanish language one is the biggest selling Spanish record in US history!).

Although the fact she's biting Robin;s wing might make it appear she didn't like him, she was actually very fond of the wee bird and seemed quite reluctant to give him back. Lovely woman. Me and Robin were very impressed by her niceness.

1of4: In York

robin and a minster
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks.

As ever, sorry not to have posted in a while - but I've been busy. I know, I know, I always say that. But it's true. Honest.

So, here are four pics of Robin from the past couple of week - three in York, where my dad lives, and one in Cologne in Germany (see below for the rest, obviously).

This first picture was taken of Robin last Saturday night in front of York Minster, which has been on the site since the year 627AD when a wooden structure built was hurriedly built to provide a place to baptise Edwin, King of Northumbria. Edwin wouldn't have lived to see it blossom into the structure you can see today. Well, not unless he lived to be 802, which seems unlikely (let's face it, the health care back then wasn't anything like as good as it is today. Chances are Edwin didn't make it much past, um, 500).

2of4: At the Castle

Clifford's Tower
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

This is Robin at the bottom of York Castle - which is known as Clifford's Tower. This structure was built between 1245 and 1265 replacing a wooden castle built by William the Conquerer in the previous century.

That castle was burnt down in 1190 when the following tragic story unfurled (taken from Wikipedia).com:

Richard de Malbis of York was a debtor of Aaron of Lincoln, an influential Jewish banker of the late 12th century. When a fire broke out in the city of York, De Malbis used the opportunity to incite a mob to attack the home of a recently deceased agent of Aaron of Lincoln named Benedict of York, killing his widow and children and burning the house. Joce (Joseph) the leader of the Jewish community of York obtained the permission of the warden of York Castle to remove his wife and children and the rest of the Jews into the castle, where they were probably placed in Clifford's Tower. This was surrounded by the mob, and when the warden left the castle the Jews in fear would not readmit him. He appealed to the sheriff, who called out the county militia; and Clifford's Tower was surrounded for several days. On 16 March 1190 the Tower was set on fire, and many Jews either perished in the flames or took their own lives rather than be attacked by the mob, those who did surrender were killed. In all around 150 Jews died.

Quite a chilling history. They still have memorial services to this day and Jewish groups have fiercely opposed redevelopment of the site.

3of4: Minster from the city wall

York Minster in the distance
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

So this is York minster again, taken on a glorious late Sunday afternoon from the York city walls.

York has been protected by a city wall since back in the Roman times, with most of the surviving walls built in the 12th to 14th centuries. There's still a couple of miles of walls more or less circling the city - it makes a lovely walk. And, as you can tell, you get some great views.

4of4: Robin in Germany

robin in cologne
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

So this is a picture of Robin in Cologne, Germany taken by my wife when she went there with work a couple of weeks ago.

This is outside the sprawling cathedral (known to locals as Kölner Dom) in the centre of the city. Apparently it took over 600 years to finish (they started it in the 13th century and frankly didn't work as hard as they could have). When it was finished, the spires were the highest structures in the world. That was until 1884 when some Americans went and built the Washington monument in DC.

My wife describes the cathedral as 'vast, absolutely huge, you can't get an idea of how huge it is.'

So how come Robin is about half as big as it?

Robin in NYC #1 of 3

Robin at the Empire State Building
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Sorry I've not posted for a while - I've been a busy bee - but here are three pictures I took of Robin when I was in New York this week.

You might remember that he's been before - there was a picture of him at Time Square - but we had a little bit longer to look around this time (although it was still only a Monday to Wednesday trip). I've been quite a few times now, and developed a real fondness for the city.

This one is Robin at the base of the Empire State Building, which I've been up before, but which we didn't have time to go up this time around. But I did get plenty of time to wander the streets and visit some friends.

Actually, talking of wandering, about 3 weeks ago I was brushing my teeth at our flat in London and walked out into the hallway and felt a massive pain in my foot. I'd obviously stood on something sharp - it felt like a nail or something - and, sure enough, whatever it was had gone through my sock and punctured my foot, which started to bleed.

So, my good lady wife had a look at it, said it looked like whatever it was had just made a hole, cleaned it up and that was that. We had a look on the carpet to see what might've done it, but there was nothing to be found.

For the next couple of weeks, it was still hurting, but it didn't look like there was a splinter in there or anything, so I just assumed it was healing.

But then, after walking from Time Sq to E65th and 2nd (about a 40 minute walk) the other day, my foot was numb with pain! It clearly wasn't healing.

So, the next morning, in my hotel room, I resolved to investigate what was happening in there. So I managed to pick away at the skin, dig around a bit and soon managed to push out...... a jagged shard of glass!

Ah, so that would be why it was hurting! (Mum, if you're reading, no, it didn't cause an infection and, yes, it feels much better now thanks!)

Hope all you folks are well and that you're managing to ignore the spam comments that have been appearing recently. I actually got a spam email from one of them offering me the chance to spam the comments of other people's blogs for a fee! I'm hoping the folks at Blogger.com will be sorting out a way of preventing it before too long.

Right, now check out the other two NYC pictures, below...

Robin in NYC #2`

Robin looking over upper Manhattan
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

This one was taken from the roof of my friend Bernadette's appartment block - quite a view!

In the distance you can see the trees of Central Park spreading from left to right. Really shows how you've got a park right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle.

Robin in NYC #3

Robin in Central Park
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

This last picture shows Robin in Central Park, one of my favourite places in New York, where I went for a lovely walk with my friend Bernadette and her gorgeous 6 month old baby Andrew.

I love that there's such a beautiful park in the middle of such a massive city. You feel like you're lost in greenery and lakes, and then you look up and see the skycrapers towering over it all, reminding you where you are!

Robin at Stonehenge

Robin at Stonehenge
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, here's Robin at Stonehenge - the ancient stone monument in the south west of England which is thought to have been used for some sort of religious ceremony and was built 2,800 years ago!

We took the picture as we drove past it (hence the fence) on the way down to visit some friends who live not far away. But I'm sure nobody minded that we didn't stop to look properly - the site gets over a million visitors each year!

(Doesn't the phrase 'hence the fence' just trip off the tongue?)

Robin at Bristol City FC

Robin at the Robins
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

This is Robin at Ashton Gate - home of Bristol City Football Club, where we went yesterday. There are 92 professional football (soccer) teams in the four major leagues in England and I'm gradually trying to get around to all of them - this was my 74th out of 92, so I'm getting there....

Bristol City's nickname is The Robins (nobody seems too sure why) and they had a giant Robin mascot wandering about on the pitch. Sadly he didn't come near us, or I would've got him to pose with his namesake!

Naturally, with all those Robin mascots in the ground, Bristol City got a much needed 1-0 victory to climb out of the relegation zone...

Robin at the British Museum!

Robin checks out the Great Court's roof
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Sorry it's been so long between postings, I've been - as ever - quite busy. And although I did go to Italy last weekend with my best pal for his 30th birthday present, I forgot to take Robin with me (I'm blaming the 4am alarm call!)

So, today I thought I'd head over to the British Museum at lunch time to take a couple of pictures.

The British Museum has been open for 251 years and holds a huge collection of Roman, Egyptian and Greek treasures (notably the Elgin marbles, which the Greek government *really* want back).

This picture was taken inside the Great Court which used to be open air (and not open to visitors) but which they roofed at the turn of the millennium. It's made up of hundreds of glass panels and was opened by the Queen in December 2000.

As I can see the British Museum from my desk, I watched them building the roof from the very first day that surveyors came to look in cranes at how they were going to build it. I'm quite attached to it now and it's a lovely place to go and relax in one of the cafes there.

It's also Europe's biggest covered square (or something like that) which makes it very handy for days like today - when it's absolutely chucking it down with rain.

Hope you folks are good.

Robin arriving the British Museum!

Robin at the British Museum
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, here's Robin arriving at the British Museum (see post above). Although it may appear that Robin has grown a human arm, I can categorically deny that that is the case. He still just has two little furry wings.

Six of the best: Alton Towers Air

Robin and Alton Towers' Air
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

This is the last of my mammoth six posts today - another ride at Alton Towers. This is one of the newest rides and is meant to replicate the feeling of flying, so you sort of lie forward in your seat, facing down, and then go whizzing off.

And, sure enough, as you hurtle around the loops at a ridiculous speed, facing down, with nothing beneath you except the ground, it feels a) rather like you're flying and b) rather scary!

This was one of our favourite rides of the day. After all the rides, you can buy a picture that they've taken of you on it, and on this one both me and wife had massive grins on our faces.

A top day out, to end a top week of top days out.

Six of the best: Alton Towers Nemesis

Robin and Alton Towers' Nemesis
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

This is another of the rides we went on at Alton Towers. You hang down in your seat, dangling below a rail above you. This is a loop-the-loop and you'll see that people's feet are towards the sky and their heads near the tracks.

This is one of the park's most famous, popular rides - but happily, because the kids are all at school now, it wasn't very busy at all. In fact, we only had to queue for about ten minutes to get on this ride (it could easily be two hours in the peak time of summer). It's a fun ride, but you do come off feeling rather dizzy!

Six of the best: Alton Towers

Robin and Alton Towers' Oblivion
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

So, having been to the New Forest for my wife's secret day out (see below), on Thursday I took her to Alton Towers, a massive theme park in the middle of England (not far from where my mum lives, actually). My wife had always wanted to go and was very pleased with her surprise.

Alton Towers has some of the world's best roller coasters. This one is called Oblivion and features an enormous vertical drop into a black, smoke-filled hole. When you get to the top of the drop, they pause the car just over the edge and then - whoooosh - you hurtle down into the hole. Quite scary, but very good fun.

Six of the best: wild horses

Robin and New Forest wild horses
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

This is a second picture from our New Forest trip. The New Forest has literally thousands of wild horses roaming throughout it and this picture captures a bunch of them. It's amazing to be cycling along and just come across seven or eight horses grazing or galloping about. They're obviously used to having people about too, so they didn't run a mile at the sight of us.

Six of the best: biking the forest

Robin on his bike at the New Forest
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

So, the morning after our trip to Tamworth, it was the first of our secret days out - whereby, on Wednesday, my wife planned a secret day out for me and, on Thursday, I planned a secret day out for her.

Her day was a trip to go cycling in the New Forest, which is down towards the south coast of England. We had a tremendous day, cycling about, sitting in cafes in cute little towns and enjoying the fresh air.

Six of the best: at Tamworth FC

Robin at Tamworth FC
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

This is the first of six - yes six! - Robin pics I'm posting this morning. Myself and my lovely wife have had a few days off work, so we've been going on some day trips.

This one, on Tuesday, was up to Tamworth to watch my boys York City play. Happily, we won 3-0 - the third of which you can see being scored in the background of this picture. Moments after the picture was taken the ball flashed into the bottom corner for a goal. Hurrah!

Big chair! Big desk!

Robin and giant furniture
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

If you look to the right of Robin on the kite-flying picture below, you might be able to see this giant table and chair, which is currently situated on Parliament Fields on Hampstead Heath.

It's a work of sculpture called The Writer by Italian sculptor Giancarlo Neri. It's an impressive piece of work, like something out of Alice in Wonderland or Lilliput, just sitting there in the middle of the field.

You can read all about the sculpture on The Guardian's website here.

Robin goes up to Parliament Hill

Robin goes fly a kite
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

'Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height,' sings Mary Poppins at the end of the film. And that highest kite flying height in London, as Poppins was no doubt aware, is Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath where you'll always find plenty of kite flyers on a Sunday afternoon.

We went up there with Robin yesterday afternoon to watch the pros with their huge parachute-like kites, while joining in with our little foldaway pocket one (you can see it at the very top of this picture).

We offered to tie Robin to the kite before we got it going, but he didn't seem keen on the idea.

Robin at Aldershot FC

Robin at Aldershot FC
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

On Saturday Robin went down to Aldershot's Recreation Ground to see the game between Aldershot Town (in red) and York City (in blue). Sadly Aldershot won 2-1. Still, at least it was a lovely day and there was autumn sun to be caught.

Robin towers over London!

Robin up BT Tower
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Yesterday evening, Robin, the wife and I were invited to a party up at the top of the BT Tower in London. It's a huge tower that stands head and shoulders above London - 189 metres high - and isn't normally open to visitors (they closed it as a tourist attraction after a bomb was placed in the toilets in 1971).

There's an amazing view from up there, as you can probably tell. The most obvious landmark behind Robin is the London Eye - the big wheel that was built on the banks of the Thames to celebrate the millennium and is now one of the most popular attractions here.

Hope you folks have good weekends.

Robin watches England win the Ashes!

Robin at the Oval
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, Robin was at the Oval cricket ground yesterday to watch England win the Ashes cricket series against Australia for the first time since December 1986.

This is massive, front-page news here in England and, as I write, a victory parade is beginning to make its way past tens of thousands of people to Trafalgar Square. Sadly, me and Robin can't go cos I've got a meeting at work.

Still, I was one of the lucky 23,000 who got to see us win it. An amazing day. Well done England.

Robin and the singing dogs...

robin and dogs
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hello folks - hope you've had good weeks.

Here's Robin with a couple of singing dogs on a pillow. They were given to me by my mother last week when she came to visit us in London. On taking them out of the box, I wasn't quite sure why she'd bought us such a schmaltzy gift - but then she showed us a button to press which brought them to life singing 'I Got You Babe' to each other in full-on Sonny-dog and Cher-god animatronics fashion.

That was the song myself and my lovely wife sang in front of all our guests at the party on the night we got married (in truth, the dogs are probably more tuneful - but it's a lovely reminder).

Robin takes tea with the chap from OutKast!

Robin meets Andre 3000
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes folks, Robin's been rubbing shoulders with the stars again. Today he bumped into Andre 3000 (or Andre Benjamin) from the band OutKast, Atlanta's finest hip hop duo whose last album featured the hit song 'Hey Ya' (the one about shaking it like a Polaroid) and sold over 11 million copies!

Mr Benjamin was so pleased to meet Robin that he offered him a nice cup of English tea and then helped him to drink it. What a lovely man.