Sitting @ Starbucks in the Plaka in Athens.... Free wifi of course.
Athens is awesome!

Still 7 more sleeps for me before departure but who's counting!!

Was contemplating taking my laptop to maintain some form of communication back home but is it worth it?

We have free wi-fi access in most of our accomodation but I gather if I try using the company aircard it will cost squilleons.

Is there a better way?

Slo

Stephen -we have just been travelling around Europe the last 5 weeks, and I used wifi where I could. Strangely the most expensive hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Novaltel Blue, Sheraton, charged for wifi while the ones in Asia on the way back had it free.

Many of the European places contract their wifi out to third party companies and they all charge day rates. I found that there were several companies providing euro-wide sims for the iPad at cheap rates (O2, Orange, etc). You can use such a card in your phone and set up a hotspot connection to your laptop, if their plan allows data/file transmission.

Some small places had laid in wifi for the whole town with free access. Lots of variation.

My iPhone is my only Internet access. I dropped into a Telstra shop to look at options. They suggested just buying a prepaid sim over there, and making the most of free wifi.

If you do it this way, make sure you phone is unlocked by your carrier as it's a drama to unlock it once you're outside of Australia.

It just keeps getting better.

Bluebird K3 debut at Revival

I am laying in bed in my Hotel room, it is 1.15pm Thursday 23rd, weather is about 25 and sunny.

Managed some quality sleep at the right times on the plane, so feeling pretty good, although I think I will be snoring before 6pm.

Silly me forgot to notify Telstra, so I have just done it through Telstra live chat on face book through my iPad and Hotel free WiFi, all sorted and should be up and running by the time I wak up tomorrow.
We are staying in South Kensington, so I have just been for a walk around and bought some Oyster cards.

The Natural History Museum is in South Kensington and is well worth a visit while you're there and the Science Museum is just around the corner. All the major museums are free and the NHM is worth a visit for the architecture alone.

Getting close. :)

Paul

Cheers Paul, my wife's brown ankle is a little sore today, so things to do close by are handy.

If like most women, she appreciates a good shop, you should take her to Harrods, which is about 0.7 mile up the same road towards central London. Easily walkable, notwithstanding a bad ankle of course.

Paul

At Olympia tonight, going to see the archaeological site in the morning.... Yes it is getting closer!

Geez, I knew things were tough in Europe, but didn't think it was that bad !
Imagine not being able to get REAL OYSTERS just having to but cards of ém to look at !! :p:LOL::D

Agree - Natural History museum is excellent. The V&A is also worth a look. Sorry to say the science museum is terrible, since they gave it a make over.

In case you havent already seen this in South Kenn, if you like art deco:

Bibendum | Restaurant – "The most consistently excellent restaurant"

and a tube hop away (bit too pricey for my liking now), but truly excellent food with superb views of London by night:

OXO Tower London

Cheers Kevin, had lunch at Orangery at Kensington Palace yesterday, hn dinner at a place called Ballans, vry nice.

Folks might want to keep an eye out for these on the Oz Speed channel.

SPEED TV to Broadcast 2012
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
Shelby Cobra Activities to be Showcased
MONTEREY, Calif., August 30, 2012 – For automobile enthusiasts not fortunate enough to be among the more than 50,000 in attendance at the 2012 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (Aug. 17-19), SPEED TV will provide an in depth broadcast of all the action on September 28 at 7 p.m. PT.

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra and its namesake Carroll Shelby, who passed away earlier this year. Hundreds of Shelby Cobras descended on Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, making it the largest single gathering of the iconic sports car. The event is a cornerstone of the Monterey Classic Car Week, which draws thousands of auto aficionados to the Monterey Peninsula annually. It is where fans can enjoy historic race cars where they were meant to be, on the race track.

The Shelby Cobra, represented with an unprecedented grid of 43, making for a thunderous start to their highly anticipated race. A special 30 minute highlight show entitled “Shelby Cobra 50th Monterey Race” featuring this group will also be aired on SPEED TV.

“We felt this was the finest Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion we have ever held,” said Gill Campbell, CEO/general manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “There is no doubt SPEED TV’s broadcasts will capture the magic of this memorable event.”

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will air on SPEED TV on Friday, Sept. 28, 7 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m.; and Saturday, Oct. 13, 5 p.m. (all times are PT).

The Shelby Cobra 50th Monterey Race will air on SPEED TV on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 6 p.m.; Wednesday, Sept. 19, 9 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 23, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 29, 6:30 a.m.; Friday, Oct. 12, 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 14, 12 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 28, 1:30 p.m. (all times are PT).

For more information on the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion or Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca call 800-327-7322 or visit Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

With a 20 hour flight behind us we've now set up in Harlington Hayes for the next 6 days. The "Pheasant Inn" is a 1 minute walk from our door and I got restarted on beer sampling yesterday arvo with a couple of pints.

Last time I did this trip and the beer sampling I put on a kilo a week for the 6 weeks we were there.

Asked the owner how old the pub was and at about 300 years it's older than most Aussie pubs and the Pheasant is just a quaint local - had to laugh - but the beer was good - hmmmmm!

Buck house this morning and a 90th birthday this arvo, the fun begins!

Oh and the Garmin worked a treat too!

Wife's mobile is 0417 758 983 or pm me to make contact guys.

Steve

Jeez, I still have a week of work to get through before Dad and I jump on a plane. Sounds like you'll know all the tricks by the time we arrive.

I'm going to get a Tesco prepaid sim when I arrive, so I'll get in touch with you all once I have the new number.

Craig

No mate we'll still be learning I'm sure about why have you specified a tesco pre-paid sim?

Steve

Is it a bad option? I'm happy to be told of a better option, but Telstra charge about $3.00 per minute for calls from UK to Aust, and $15 per meg (yep, meg not gig) for Internet data with their international roaming.

Tesco use the O2 network and charge £10/month for effectively unlimited local voice calls and sms, 1 gig of data and unlimited BT wifi. UK to Aust calls are 30p/min.

Sounds like a great option just that I didn't know what to go for cheers

I have a Greek sim until 11th September +30 697 809 4182, I'll prob get a Tesco sim also..