HELLO LONDON!! Wow! What a trip it has been since Prague! Non-stop! All I was hoping for was reprieve from study and a chance to just chill, sight see and play tourist but heck! It has been crazy! London is great…sometimes I feel like I am in Aus and sometimes I feel like I am in a completely other world and sometimes it's just hardcore UK! But all in all I have had a fantastic time so far and still more to come!
I arrived Saturday! A bit worse for wear (I was asleep before takeoff from Prague) after our crazy couple of last nights in Prague but ready for what London had to offer! I was so sad to leave Prague and all the crew and memories but excited for London! Still speaking Czech, I made my way around saying "dekuji" , "proseem vas" and "nasledanou" before realising I am now in an English speaking country…it took me a while though! One of Anna's flatmates aussie friends even mistook me for American….wow! That's what I get for hanging around them 24/7 for 4 1/2 weeks!! Haha!
UK Border….what can I say? Hardcore! After the very long wait in line in what I thought must have been the wrong country as I was the only Caucasian in sight….I was intently interrogated by the border control officer about my intentions in London…unfortunately he was far too attractive to take seriously and thus the questions continued. Lucky for me I am freakishly organised and have my entire itinerary mapped out in my head so I was able to reel off all my dates of departure. Unfortunately, that did sound a tad rehearsed….anyway it got me my stamp of entry…that's all I needed to continue on with my journey!
I immediately began my mastery of the London underground system with my venture from the airport to Clapham North to meet Anna, my housie and bestie from Bris…of course she had no intention for me other than to go out and experience a bit of London nightlife…so off we went! Exhausted as I was I was determined to not let London down! Although the earliesh night home at 2ish was fair indication of how tired I was! Lucky for me in a house of 6 or so I managed to score a bed for the night…and an extra visitor in the form of Terese….one of Anna's friends and now an active part of my London discovery!!
Sunday we had the grand idea of hitting the Borough markets for some food and more food! Apparently the most amazing markets in town…unfortunately closed!! It was Sunday, clearly a day of rest for the foodies! Not for us though! I was looking for some good English tucker….so along came the English pub! The best of England in a meal and a meal fit for a king and his men! It was huge!!! I filled the void til overflowing and still hadn't dented the beef, mushroom and beer pie that came with a tree of broccoli and vege patch of carrots! Probably the cheese before hand hadn't helped the situation! That cheese was amazing! If that wasn't enough we needed to sample something sweet! Oh, and I needed my COFFEE!!! Prague left me with a sour taste in my mouth when it came to coffee and I needed a fix real bad! So we found a cute and quirky little teahouse to munch on cupcakes and cheesecake and gulp down my first decent coffee in 5 weeks!
Needless to say, dinner was a light omelette and a cup of tea to aid the digestion of such a ridiculous amount of food!
Monday called for a sleep in! I landed myself a mattress out the back of Anna's so I had a little space to sleep the morning away…and that I did! I was intending to get up early and run some long overdue errands…like wash clothes….but sleep was far too enticing and very much needed! So 12:30 came and went and I finally decided to crawl from out of the covers and into the cold reality of England! I had clothes to wash, new boots to find (Prague cobblestones, although beautiful and quaint reek havoc on your shoes…my boots were destroyed), shoes to take back for An and postcards to post which didn't quite make it in Prague. I hit Oxford St for some very tempting window shopping….fortunately for me I have no choice but to NOT buy clothes….so I was good and just returned Anna's shoes and had a few glimpses at the alluring fashion of London! Although I must say….so preppy! It's amazing what climate can do for fashion! Then I was off to Westfields London…awesome! I found my boots first thing so I was a happy little vegemite!! (Awwwww….I miss vegemite!)
It was then time to head home where I was requested to put on a feast of meatballs! I cooked them once for Anna and I was reminded to make them again! So after tackling Sainsburys…so much easier than Billa in Prague…I found what I needed and whipped up a feast! Yum!!
Tuesday brought another sleep in….but not too long cause I needed to DRY the clothes I had washed and get into the city in time to meet some friends from Prague! I was so excited to see them even though it had been only a couple of days! But gees….it's amazing what a couple of days can bring…so much happened since my departure! I raced into town to meet Chelsea and Lindsay and start the day off at an English pub right in the heart of Westminster square! A burger and a cider (such a nice change from beer) and a big catch up and laugh over the events of the days prior to leaving later and we were on our way for some sightseeing and being shameless tourists…Big Ben…The London Eye…and Westminster Abbey were the attractions of the day! We even got into the abbey for Evensong (pretty much a church service) and shamefully needed to leave (be escorted out) in the middle of it - with the whole Abbey staring at us disapprovingly. So embarrassing!
Anyway, I had a dinner date with Anna to get to! Indian!! And the best Indian in town! OMG! I was blown away at how amazing it was and CHEAP!!! Australia is such a rip when it comes to Indian food! So far two countries and two very much cheaper prices!!
Wednesday brought yet another big sleep in! I have become a sleeping machine now I have left Prague! So tired but feeling ok now I have gotten the extra shut eye! I was desperate to get accommodation organised for when sarah came so I hung around for that and finalised it after some stressing out. Then packed up my stuff and headed off to the British Museum for a day of nerdy history lessons! I LOVE that kind of stuff! It was overwhelming and made you feel so insignificant but at the same time empowered to make a difference in the world! Corny I know…but it's my deal and I love it! The night brought Anna's nachos, Jodie's place……and PENIS man! Yep…the guy across the way was determined to continue to flash us all night! Crazy but hilarious!! Attempts to get photo evidence were unsuccessful however at least Jodie was proved sane in her rants about penis man!! Haha!
Thursday - ST PADDIES DAY!!! It was time to celebrate with the Irish….I happened to find out later from a friend that went to Dublin itself for St Paddies that the Irish reckon the Aussies know how to celebrate St Paddies better than anyone else….followed by New York and THEN Dublin! Unbelievable!
I took my time getting ready to go meet SARAH @ the planned tube station but got there early so that we could get down to an Irish bar and save seats for the rest of the crew attending….unfortunately UK border took their precious time getting sarah through customs. After a few hours of people watching on the tube, I finally caught a glimpse of my bestie! I couldn't be more excited. We lugged our huge suitcases all the way to the accommodation (surprisingly clean, friendly and altogether awesome) and spent the night trying to find the best St Paddies Day celebrations with my new and old friends….quite unsuccessfully I might add!! But hey, at least we had glitter badges! Thanks Anna!!
That was week 1!!
HJ xx
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