Iberia bed egg

Life is plodding along over here. The days keep getting longer and warmer. And as Adam and I get into our lab work, we are spending increasing amounts of time at work, missing out on the good weather. We ventured into London on Thursday for the Oz v NZ football friendly. We knew what tube station to get off at, but that was about it. Luckily there was a stream of yellow shirts and antipodean accents to follow as we strolled through a park on the edge of the Thames on a beautiful warm spring evening.
We arrived at kick off, and headed straight in to our seats in disappointingly empty stands. Most other had been distracted by the pubs on the way or trapped by the no alcohol in the stands policy, and had to wait until they had downed all their alcohol. There was even a bbq set up in the park, sending out meat smells and selling beer. There was the suggestion that it was a trap set up by the NZs to distract Aussies, and it was working very effectively. There were no sheep, so the Beige Brigade made it safely.
The stands did fill up to near capacity eventually, but then Craven Cottage is a very small ground. It took us a while to get use to no screens for instant replays. Poor little Fulham can't even afford a clock with seconds. We were seated in the Cynics, 5 rows back on the half way line, because it isn't often we can afford such seats (the Fanatics sit behind the goals). So we were treated to the disparaging comments of wannabe coaches and managers (blah blah blah world cup next year... blah blah no chance... blah blah how will we beat the fifth place south american team if we play like this...), and to some heckling from young drunk Aussie boys, followed by the obligatory high-pitch drunken giggle (from the boys).
The game was mostly frustrating . The NZ keeper did well, with some help from the cross bar, which kept the crowd on their feet many times before a goal actually did go in the 86th minute. And that made it all worth it. Finally, at my third football game in England, someone scored (I'm not counting the Reading game in 2001 because I didn't have a vested interest). It was fantastic. The whole Aussie crowd jumped up and cheered, except for the girl in front of me who leaned over and covered her head (because she was scared of the crowd rather than kiwi I think).
But apart from that, life plods on... to Germany next weekend. For more football. And a bit of sightseeing in Nuremberg. There was more house hunting this morning - we now have a short list of two 3.5 bedroom, well maintained/presented houses, both with large living areas and lovely conservatories and kitchens. One is close to the station, with a loft conversion and huge windows but a small garden which is west facing (only gets afternoon sun). The other is close to the main street, with a few irregularities due to renovations (no window in the main bathroom, low headroom in the second), with a huge south facing yard (gets all the sun). So now we have a few weeks to think it over...