Travelog for: Natt Noy

Hi Mum,

Sorry for the delay in writting to you, Julie hasn't been very well so we have been at home with her & helping look after her!  But now she is feeling much better has managed to get you our latest update

I went to see 'Banksy' Gallery at the Bristol Museum. It was amazing - he is so cleaver .... here is a little bit about him to explain about his gallery & his work:

He is a anonymous graffiti artist from Bristol and has been around since the early 90's, although it was since 2000 when he hit the big time with galleries accross the UK & USA, getting caught up in contoversy & media wondering who he is!

His art is often about politics, culture, and ethics, and combine graffiti writing with a distinctive stencilling technique!

Here are some of his highlights:

2002 - Gallery in Los Angeles

2003 - a show called "Turf War", held in a warehouse in USA

2005 - he had a display of his own oil paintings for a twelve day exhibition in Westbourne Grove, London

2004 - i think this is the best thing he has done so far ...... he produced a quantity of spoof British £10 notes substituting the picture of the Queen's head with Princess Diana's head and changing the text "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England." The individual notes have since been selling on eBay for about £200 each.

2006 - held an exhibition called Barely Legal, billed as a "three day vandalised warehouse extravaganza" in Los Angeles. After this famous people like Christina Aguilera bought some of his work for over £25,000 - WOW!!!!

2007 - At Sotheby's auction house in London they auctioned three works, reaching the highest ever price for a Banksy work at auction: over £102,000!!

Banksy funnily updated his website with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a picture that said, "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Sh$$."! I thought that was very funny, Julie said it was very much what Banksy is about & stands for!!

Later in the same year a new record high for the sale of Banksy's work was set with the auction of the work 'Space Girl & Bird' fetching £288,000 (US$576,000), around 20 times the estimate at Bonhams of London!!!! Can you believe how much money people pay for his work? It's amazxing considering no-one know's what he looks like, he he he 

Also later in 2007 Banksy gained the award for Art's Greatest living Briton. Banksy, as expected, did not turn up to collect his award, and continued with his notoriously anonymous status - very cool guy indeed 

And another major thing for 2007 was that he made a replica of 'Stonehenge' from portable toilets for Glastonbury festival - it looked really funny, and they had some of the toilets at the gallery we went to see too!!

2008 - in London, Banksy hosted an exhibition called The Cans Festival.

2009 On June 13, 2009, the Banksy UK Summer show opened at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery - this is the gallery we went too!!

It features more than 100 works of art, including animatronics, paintings, drawings & him adding his own work to art that already exists - adding a 'Banksy' effect .... you will see what i mean in the pictures!! 

He had over 8,500 visitors to the show on the first weekend!!! People from all over the world have trvaelled to see his gallery!!!

Banksy himself states, on his website:

“I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as being 'good at drawing' doesn't sound like Banksy to me.”

I am so glad i got to see his gallery while i was staying here, very Brittish & very Bristolian too The pictures will be uploaded soon for you to see

Then after that Julie took me to a little Sweet Shop which is based in St Nicholas Market, it's a really old market area in the city centre full of quaint little shops & stalls - it's been around since 1943!!! It's been open since 2005 & is very traditional with sweets in there that Julie hasn't seen since she was little, very yummy!!

Only a day left to the weekend!! We are all off to see Julie's family in Tauton, taking her little brother to the cinema to see Transformers, cant wait!! Last time i was in Taunton i was in an envelope being sent off to Tatty Teddy factory so will be good to be out & about to see it all for myself!!

Lots of love, Natt Noy xxxx

Hi Mum,

Here are my pictures from Banksy Gallery - hope you like them?

The last picture was an actual piece of his work we got to see on side of a building in Bristol - some horrible people decided to ruin it by paintballing over it so it doesn't look as good as it used too 

Hope you are ok & have a nice weekend, Lots of Love, Natt Noy  xxx

Hi Mum,

I had a very busy day on Sunday, me & the other toys went with Julie on the train to Taunton ... when there we met up with Julie's Granddad & went out for some lunch in a local pub, it was lovely!

Then we went off to see Julie's brother Charlie - we chilled & hung around Julie's house while we waited for everyone to get ready! We played with Charlie in the arcades - i went on this space-ship ride with him, it was so cool - the whole seat moved as if we were really flying!! Then I relaxed with a glass of wine before heading off to the cinema to watch Transformers!

Julie bought us a big tub of popcorn & drink that we shared with her brother ... we couldn't wait to tuck in, we were starving!

The film was amazing - i cant wait for the next one to come out, sure we will have a long wait though!

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the train station & head home to Bristol 

I am resting up this week as we have a really busy weekend this weekend - Julie's friend Jo is down & we are staying in hotel for 2 nights, we off to see some local sights around Bristol - Pisoni who has been here the longest is going to show us around as he has been to these places before!

Then off to a concert on a beach on Sunday called T4 on the Beach, it's in Weston Super Mare, which isn't very far from Bristol! It looks amazing .... the main stage, and then 2 other smaller tents! Pop music mainly - Calvin Harris, Dizzeee Rascal, Basement Jaxx, The Saturdays & Metro Station to name a few! Hopefully the weather will stay nice for us!

Have a great week, Lots of Love Natt Noy  xxx

Hi Mum,

Wow - what a weekend, busy non stop & not even the horrible English weather kept me from having fun! Me, Pisoni & Chance had what must be the best weekend in England so far .....

On Saturday Julie & her friend Jo, with the help of Pisoni, got shown around few sights of Bristol & learnt lots as we went round too ..... Bristol dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, and was started by a small settlement, Bristol was formally known as  ‘Brigstow’! First stop was the Avon Gorge - this used to be the route ships followed to get in to the harbour in the centre of Bristol, but as ships got bigger there wasn't enough room & they had to close it back in the 1800's! They moved to docks to where the Bristol Channel meets the Severn Estuary - now called Avonmouth / Royal Portbury Docks - it is way in the distance on the pictures, and if you look really carefully you can even see the country Wales!!!

Accross the Gorge we could see the Clifton Suspension Bridge. We were so high up though - nearly thought i was going to fall off! In 1753 a Bristol wine merchant, William Vick, left £1,000 in trust in order that when the fund had grown to £10,000 it should be used to build a bridge. It was won by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1830. He was only 24! He died in 1859 and the bridge was completed and opened five years later in 1864. The bridge is 1352 foot long, the span between the piers is 702 feet long and it is three feet lower on the far side to counteract an optical illusion. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, did more than anyone to shape the face of modern Bristol today, his legacy also includes the boat SS Great Britain, and Temple Meads Old Railway Station.

And behind us was  'The Downs' - it was beautiful - 400 acres of grassland stretching from the very cliffs of the Avon Gorge to the edges of the Victorian-built suburbs & it is just at the top of area called Clifton in Bristol - it's a very posh area of the city!!

We walked around Millenium Square, and by the river & the harbour side in the centre of Bristol - all very odd that we are in the centre of a city, yet it can be so quiet & peaceful at the same time! Then finally went to 'Blaise Castle' - it's a beautiful 650 acre Grade II listed parkland and, with over 5000 years of history - that's old!!! With a deep wooded limestone gorge, great scenery, and ancient monuments all around the ground on little trails & walk ways, it is almost  magical! It gets very busy in the summer months with people playing games in the grass, picnics & BBQ's, and lots of dog walkers too!
On Sunday we got up early & walked to the train station - we stopped of quickly though& relaxed by 'Bristol Bridge' - it goes over the River Frome .... we even spotted some swans there ... they are known as the 'Queen's' animal & are even a protected animal! After a short train journey to Weston-Super-Mare we made our way to T4 On The Beach, we had to queue for quite some time, but they had 'Red bull' planes doing stunts in the sky while we waited.

Once in we had the best day ..... it was very Busy & very wet in places so trying to take pictures was quite hard but managed to get a few of us through the day .... the Tour Bus where they were doing interviews, around the festival & in the crowd for the last set & with our Poncho to keep us dry! We saw so many music acts .... not sure how many you will of heard of, but you should look them up - JLS, Peter Andre, N-Dubs, Ironik, The Gossip, Metro Station, Daniel Merrywhether, Florence & the Machine, The Saturdays, Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris, there were celebs around too - Gok Wan who does girls TV Programmes - 'Fashion Fix' & 'How to Look Good Naked', saw some of the cast of teen / young adult shows - Holyoaks & Skins! I am sure i have missed some people off, ha ha!!

But, the best thing was going to the signing tent & got autographs off to JLS - they were runners up in 'X-Factor' TV programme last year - they were amazing - the last pic is the best pic as it shows off the autographs, tickets & memorabilia from the day

On the way back to the train station we even found some nice Policeman & Police Women to have some pictures taken with ....  thought that was very British!! The queue was huge for the train, I was very tired at this point so had quick nap before we made it back to the hotel to get one last picture of the view from our hotel, and then relax & get some proper sleep!

Pictures will be up very soon for you to see!

Hope you are doing ok, lots of Love, Natt Noy    xxxx

Here are my pictures form the weekend .... 

Hi Mum,

Well, the weather has been horrible in England all weekend 

We managed to pop out down the pub for a few drinks on Saturday but we stayed in for the rest of the weekend as Julie had a great idea to keep us entertained, she explained to me & the other toys all about English money!

We learnt a lot today .....

The 'Royal Mint of the United Kingdom' is the body who manufacture coins in the UK.  It began its operations in 'Tower Hill' London,  but moved to 'Llantrisant' South Wales in 1968, and has operated there since 1980!

Coins were originally hand-hammered, which is an ancient technique consisting of stricking two dies together with a blank coin in between them  - can you imagine how many people it took to make all the coins needed for a whole country? Luckily, since 1662 have been ' milled ' - which means machine made.

Prior to decimalisation (15 February 1971)  the British coins were:
                half crown (2s 6d)     
                two shillings or florin
                shilling, sixpence (6d)
                threepence (3d)
                penny (1d) 
                halfpenny (½d) 
                farthing (¼d)
 
Current British coins are:

                1p
                2p
                5p
                10p
                20p
                50p
                £1
                £2

In the years since decimalisation a number of changes have been made to the coinage:

                * 20p coin was introduced in 1982
                * £1 was introduced in 1983 to replace the Bank of
                * England £1 banknote which was discontinued in 1984 
                * 1990s the Royal Mint reduced the sizes of the 5p,
                    10p and 50p coins
                * £2 coin was introduced in 1998
               
In 2008, all coins aprt from £2 were redesigned - they introduced reverse designs that each depict a part of the Royal Shield of Arms, aoprt from the £1 which had the whole Shield of Arms on it!

Also, all current coins carry a Latin inscription 'ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSOR' meaning "Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith"

And finally, all modern coins feature a profile of the current monarch's head - currently Queen Victoria II . The direction in which they face changes with each successive monarch!

Now on to the notes ..... Banks first made banknotes in 1694 - that was years ago  !!! And, until the middle of the nineteenth century  - weirdly, privately owned banks in Great Britain and Ireland were free to issue their own banknotes! But, 'The Bank Charter Act 1844'  gave exclusive note-issuing powers to the central Bank of England.

The first coloured banknotes were issued in 1928, these were also the first notes to be printed on both sides.

Like the coins all current notes have Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse side, as well as hidden watermark. On the reverse though, there are different people dependant on the note:

Current British Notes:

                £5 - has Elizabeth Fry on the reveres
                £10 - has Charles Darwin on the reverse
                £20 - has Adam Smith on the reverse
                £50 - has John Houblon on the reverse

There are no Welsh banknotes in circulation - Bank of England notes are used throughout Wales as the last Welsh banknotes were withdrawn way back in 1908!

Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes are very unusual, firstly because the notes are issued by retail banks, not central banks! And secondly, as they are not legal tender anywhere in the UK – not even in Scotland or Northern Ireland! Both use Bank of England, £ sterling as their currency.

Julie had some notes that we had pictures with, but the rest we had to look up on the internet ..... we even found some pictures of the really old coins too!

With all that learning we built up an appitite, and Julie thought it would be great idea to make her some tortilla wraps for tea ... wraps, chicken, lettuce, cucumber, sour cream & salsa dip, and lots of cheese, between the 3 of us it was done in no time - we defrosted the chicken and cut it up into little pieces! We heated up the pan with oil in it & let the chicken cook!

We sliced up all the veg, grated a huge pile of cheese, popped the wraps in the mircowave for a minute, de-greased the chicken & 'voila' - food ready - it was yummy 

The pictures will be up in no time for you to see 

Have a good day! Lots of Love, Natt Noy    xxxx

Here are my pics for you 

Hi Mum,

Well as you know it was my birthday last week, i had a very nice surprise from Julie & the other toys, they took me downstairs, Chance covered my eyes & told me to keep them closed until he said to open them .... i was very excited!

When i was able to open my eyes i was greeted with a birthday banner, and a cake with some candles on it .... Happy Birthday To me!!

Lot's of Love, Natt Noy xxx

Hi Mum,

I had a busy weekend this weekend - Saturday was out last day with Chance, he is off to Fife in Scotland .... it was sad to see him go, we will miss him lot! We gave him one last hug & away he went

Me & Pisoni though made the most of what turned out to be a lovely weekend .... the sun was shining & in Bristol they have a yearly festival called 'Bristol Harbour Festival' - it takes place around the city centre harbour, it’s a showcase of performing arts of different kinds - dance, music, art etc! It attracts more than 200,000 visitors over the 3 days!!! Not just that that have the streets lined with food & drink stalls from across the globe - there was so much there to see & do!

On our walk into the city centre we went past a massive church - St Mary Redcliffe Church - It was built in the early 14th century, but parts of it date back to the 12 century! It is very medieval / gothic in design, and inside is a superb collection of carved bosses, elegant eighteenth century ironwork, beautiful stained glass and a world famous organ.

Way back in 1574 Queen Elizabeth even said to have proclaimed the Parish Church of St Mary Redcliffe to be the "fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England." The oldest part of the church, the inner porch, dates from the 12th century with its black Purbeck marble columns!

We wondered through the streets at the festival & had a look around the different stages, then walked along the river back home - Julie pointed out a boat called 'The Thekla' - the boat stays docked & is used as a nightclub, venue for small bands to play in!

For once the sunshine was out & we enjoyed our day out in it!

After all that walking we were pooped, home to watch a DVD then bed for me

Lots of Love, Natt Noy    xxxx

Hi Mum!

Well it has been a quiet week, it was time to say goodbye to Pisoni on Saturday ..... was quite sad time

Over the weekend when i was at home we noticed something outside - it was lots of hot air baloons .... there was the 'Balloon Fiesta' this weekend, it happens every year in Bristol over 4 days, lots of balloons get released to the skies twice a day, and they do night glow - it's where the balloons light up in time to music - pretty cool!

Anyways, Julie set up a new toy - Mr Happy, and we also had 2 new toys arrive too - Etwas & Rob! Me & other toys gathered round to give them a warm welcome, and Rob even bought us some sweets over!!

This weekend Julie tells us we are off to Birmingham ..... off to see a show of some kind, but she wants to keep it a suprise 

Hope all if well with you!

Lots of Love, Natt Noy  xxxx

Hi Mum,

What a great weekend - me & the other toys got a train & went to Birmingham, which is city in the middle area of England! It was great to go & see a new place! Julie say's it's a surprise why we are going there .....

Here is some info on the history of Birmingham that you may find of interest:

BIRMINGHAM
Anglo-Saxon tribes started to settle in the region around 700 A.D. Tribes such as the Hwicce and Anglian Mercian's started to make the area their permanent home. Evidence of Saxon settlement is apparent from the name endings of some of Birmingham's well known localities. The suffix -ley means clearing in a forest. The town of Birmingham was a hamlet hence ending in ham. In 1166 when Peter de Birmingham bought the right to hold a weekly market in his castle. The market prospered and Peter laid the foundations of the town of Birmingham. 

By mid 1300's the town was listed as third town in size in the county of Warwickshire. Coventry and Warwick were larger. Aston, once the larger settlement now became Aston beside Birmingham. The Birmingham market grew from strength to strength with traders selling their cloth ware and metal goods. In 1511 the Clerk of Ordinance placed an order for horseshoes and weaponry for the Royal Army. Trade links were being forged with East Anglia and Bristol.

In the 1700 James Brindley pioneered in building the canal system in Birmingham - which now runs for over 110 miles in & out of the city! An area called Brindley Place is the heart of the canal system in the centre of Birmingham with shops, bars, restaurants, and events venues - the ICC (International Convention Centre), Royal Symphony Hall, & The NIA (National Indoor Arena ) - these venues hold thousands of people for many different shows & performances - from dance events, to concerts, to comedy etc ...!

In the mid 1600's, with a population of some 7000 inhabitants, William Westley by 1700 drew up a town plan and calculated the population of Birmingham as 15,000. In 1801, at the time of the first census Birmingham had a population of 73,670, which meant it was one of Britain’s largest and most important towns.

In the 19th century industry in Birmingham was still dominated by metalworking. The workers of the town still made nails, brass goods (such as bedsteads), nuts and bolts, screws and buttons. They also made pen nibs and toys. There were also jewellers and gunsmiths in Birmingham. In the late 19th century railway carriages were made in Birmingham. So were bicycles. Glass making was also an important industry. From the end of the 19th century there was also a cocoa and chocolate industry at Bourneville.

Interesting Events in History Time Line:
1832 The Botanical Gardens opened
1852 The first public baths opened
1856 The first public park in Birmingham opened
1879 The Council House was built
1885 Museum and Art Gallery opened in
1889 Birmingham was made a city
1837 A railway from Birmingham to Manchester and Liverpool was opened
1838 Birmingham was connected to London by rail.
1861 The first public library in Birmingham opened 
1873 horse drawn trams ran in Birmingham.
1874 The first modern fire brigade in Birmingham was formed
1879 The first telephone exchange opened in
1882 The town gained its first electricity supply
1890 The first electric trams ran
1885 A Municipal School of Art opened
1891 Municipal Technical School opened
1909 Birmingham University was founded in
1913 Birmingham Repertory Theatre was built 
1960-1971 An inner ring road was built
1971 New Street Station was rebuilt
1973 a shopping centre was built over the station
1980s it was refurbished and renamed the Pallasades
1987 The Pavilions Shopping Centre opened
1987 the City Council unveiled a new City Centre Strategy, the city centre was to be rebuilt and refurbished
1991 The International Conference Centre and Indoor Arena opened in 1991.
2000 Mailbox Shopping Centre opened
The Bull Ring shopping centre was built in 1964 & the re-developed & re-built in 2001
Today industries in Birmingham include car manufacture, engineering, finance and also tourism.
Today the population of Birmingham is 1,025,000.


We had a few pictures taken when we arrived - one of the ICC & Symphony Hall i told you about earlier, then we walked to The NIA! Today there was a show on called 'Walking with Dinosaurs Live'! The idea was taking from a TV show on BBC channel, it was like a documentary, with lots of CGI to make really life dinosaurs - they have put that into a live show with real size dinosaurs. We weren't allowed to use our flash when the show has started - but there are lots of pictures of the dinaurs to show you!

It was great! So realistic, cant believe how big they are 

As we were walking back to the train station we found a few things to take pictures of - the most random of all was the beach that had been set up in the middle of the city for the summer!!! Apparently a few cities have been doing it this year - English weather hasn't been so good so they need some kind of beach holiday i guess! It was called 'The Monarch Beach' - it has different theme & location each week, and will us over 110 tonnes of sand throughout the summer!! There is a stage presenting plenty of live music and entertainments and the Beach Bar and Cafe to get drinks & snacks from! What a great idea 

We are off to Julie's work today, i am showing the new toys around as i have been there a few times now! Then tomorrow Julie has managed to get tickets to see Radio 1 dj Chris Moyles, who does the breakfast show, will be great night 

I will be sure to update you with the news & pictures as soon as i can - Julie's home computer not letting pictures upload at the moment 

Lots of Love, Natt Noy  xxxx

Hi Mum!

I had such a great weekend - Julie took me & the other toys to London on Saturday! It was amazing .... there are so many great pictures to show you - Julie has assured me the lead for her laptop will be here in a few days, so i can upload pictures for you then 

We went on a coach to London, then when we got there we went straight on the tube to start our mission .... first stop was the BBC Television Studios, and the International Media Head Office. We wondered around there & found a 'Starbucks' to stop & have a coffee in, be were going to need it as Julie showed us on the map all the places we had to go - it was going to be a long day!

Next stop was Wembley Stadium - it was massive!!! Saturday was the day England were playing a friendly football match against Slovenia! Wembley Stadium hosts all kind of events from sports to concerts. It is owned by the FA (Football Association) and is the main venue for football Cup Finals & international games! Wembley dates back to 1923, famous for it's twin towers at the main entrance to the stadium - but it was re-built & re-opened in March 2007 - it cost as massive £798million to build!!!

Nearly lunch time now, what better place to have our picnic then at The Princess Diana Memorial in Hyde Park. It was lovely water fountain, very relaxing & calm, lots of families & kids playing in the fountain, nice to find spots like that amongst the busy city centre & hot tubes!

From there we caught tube straight to Westminster - there is so much there to see - we saw Big Ben - did you know the clock tower was built way back in 1288?

Then we saw The London Eye - Julie told me it is the largest ferris wheel in Europe!

Next was Downing Street, we couldn't get past the barriers & the police - highly protected area, but we got to see the sign, no Prime Minister Gordon Brown today!

Then Nelsons Colum - the column was built between 1840 and 1843 to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805!

Then we took a long walk down 'The Mall' - it;s the street that leads to Buckingham Palace. Down there we saw The Queens Guards, then walked a little further down to Buckingham Palace!

Last stop was the coach station to go home, a well deserved rest was needed after that day 

Julei says i am going home soon - she said another of her toys Mr Happy is coming with me to keep me company on the long journy home - we shold be on our way this weekend, looking forward to seeing you again

Lots of Love, Natt Noy 

Here are my pics from london

HI Mum!

Julie has kept me busy for my last bif of my stay with her in Bristol - went on road trip with the other toys  ........ we have been out clubbing with her & her boyfriend Damien who dj's - one night out in club in Bristol called the O2 Arena, and at one day out at a festival in Poole, which is town near the south coast .... it was so much fun 

They all dj dance music .... it was very fast & very happy 

At the festival we got to meet some of the other dj's - the 1st one is of Julie & Marc Smith, the 2nd one is with Julie, Damien & DJ Dougal, and the group on on the stage is with Dougal, DJ Sy & the MC Whizzkid .... amazing 

And now for my final update as me & Mr Smiley are packed & ready to come home & see you!!!

We had a new toy arrive - Florentine, so we quickly said hello & our final goodbyes before we jumped in the envelope ..... cant wait to be home & to see you 

Lots of Love Natt Noy