London 2005 - Site Seeing/Live 8 + Milan 2005

6th July 2004

Hello again all,

Not sure how to begin this email really. There is one word that I have been using over and over again on this trip and it truly does sum up my experiences so far - AMAZING! Those of you in London will probably say that I have been over using that word but honestly I think it is apt given the time I had there. I didn't think it could get any better after my 3 month adventure last year but so far this holiday is going close....

Last time I left you I had been to Wimbledon and been catching up with friends. Thursday last week was great as I got to catch up with Denyse and then at night I saw my schoolmate Pete and his wife Sandra, Pete's mum and nephew and another school mate Sean. Was a great night. We went to dinner at a French restaurant in Angel and had some good laughs. Was ace to see everyone and hopefully I will get to see them all again back in London in a few weeks.

Friday was pretty much spent hanging out with Colin in London as it was his last day off work and pretty much my last free day before heading to Italy. We had a great day. We checked out Camden Markets, went to Primrose Hill (which has great views overlooking London) and then we went for a wander around the Hyde Park area in the afternoon. Basically we went for a sticky beak in Hyde Park to see them setting up for Live8 on the Saturday. It was around 4pm Friday afternoon and people had their tents up and were setting up camp for the night in the hope of getting a good position on the Saturday. We pretty much got to see them setting up the stage and we got to hear Mariah Carey rehearse - whoo hoo! Anyway, that was fun to wander around and get in the spirit the day before the big event but really it just got me more excited as we were going to Hyde Park on the Saturday for the event
anyway so I was getting very excited about the whole thing.

Friday night we went to watch Tom Cruise's new film War of the Worlds. Bit of a dud to be honest. Good special effects but crap story line....think the whole disaster film thing has been done better....wait for the DVD people!

Anyway, Saturday was Live8 day and what a day that was....I couldn't believe we got tickets. I should explain. On the Wednesday there was an announcement that there were 55,000 extra tickets being released on a first come first served basis. It wasn't for the main area of the concert itself but another area in Hyde Park next door to the concert site where they were putting up big screens for crowds to gather and watch....they had to control the flow of people to the Hyde Park area that day so decided to make it all a ticketed event....no ticket no entry....the upshot....Colin and I lined up 3 times and got 12 tickets for us and friends....and this made us part of the official crowd of 205,000 on the day.....yay!

What a day it was though. Pretty much half of us going had been to Glastonbury the week before so that made it great to carry on the musical tradition. We got sorted early in the morning and made our way to Hyde Park for when the gates opened at midday and got ourselves a good position right in front of the screen. The crowd built steadily and before we knew it we were surrounded by 55,000 people really pumped for a great day. I cannot begin to explain what it was like to be a part of that. It was AMAZING!!! I can only imagine what it must have been like to be in the 150,000 strong crowd that actually got into the main site. What an awesome day....the
music, the crowd, the atmosphere, the cause...it was all perfect....I truly hope it has the desired impact...guess we will see tomorrow when the G8 meet in Scotland...

The music and day itself was fantastic. Not sure who got to see the concert in Australia as I hear it was only on Fox and the Channel 9 highlights coverage was apparently dismal but get the DVD when it comes out as it was truly spectacular. What better start than Paul McCartney and U2 doing Sargeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club and then U2 doing their thing before Coldplay came on....what a start....in fact the day was just one non stop uplifting moment. I cannot believe who we got to see.... Bob Geldof, R.E.M, Keane, the Killers, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Annie Lennox and Robbie Williams to name but a few but everyone who played was great. For me Madonna was definitely the highlight. I remember talking to Frix afterwards and we basically agreed that it was a privilege to witness her performance....truly awesome...

Not sure what else I can say about Live8. Usually I would go on and on but to be honest I am still overwhelmed that we all got to be a part of it. I doubt that something like that will ever happen again in my lifetime so to be a part of it certainly makes it extra special. That day will stay with me forever...

So what else. I am in Milan at the moment. Flew here on Sunday and have spent the last 2 days here at Coke in Milan meeting my equivalents here and comparing notes about the way we do things compared to them. In some ways we certainly seem more advanced in Australia given our systems so that is good for me in terms of career possibilities here as it means I have loads to offer if an opportunity were available. I met with their HR department today so who knows....fingers crossed for the future.

Apart from my time with Coke I have been enjoying the sales on offer at the many designer stores here in Milan....I certainly have come here at the right time for sales. Tomorrow I have another day at Coke and then Thursday I head to Switzerland to meet my cousins (who I have never met before) before heading to Zurich hopefully Friday to meet my mate Daniel from Australia. We are going to hang out for a few days which should be nice to see a familiar face from Oz. Should be fun.

So that's about it I guess. Not much else to report. I'm still riding the Live8 high from Saturday and am just loving being on holiday....wish it could last forever but I know that coming back to Oz will be great as I can then bore you all with my adventures....and I can earn the money to pay for this holiday!!!

Anyway, hope you are all well wherever you are. Drop me a line if you get a chance and let me know what is the goss with you!

Love to you all,

Ciao!

Dave
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