London
Well I arrived at Heathrow airport safe and sound even if a little bit late, UK time 06hr30 on Tuesday 6th January 2009 after a very long time in the air and at various airports. Spending so much time in a plane was not actually as bad as I had expected and I have not been as affected by jet lag as one might expect. I think the worst part was the swollen ankles and still feeling like I was on the plane for a couple of days.
Tim and Louisa were both at work so I negotiated my way onto the tube, changing lines once I landed exactly where I should have, at their flat. It was 10.00am so I dumped all my stuff and went down the road to the Camden markets to explore. I did not feel like travelling anywhere else so going to London on the tube was out of the question. It was great wandering around the camera has already had a pretty severe work out!! All the buildings and houses are e
xactly like the English television programs. With sore feet I headed home mid afternoon for a bit of a relax and snooze and waited for Louisa and Tim to get home from work.
It is so weird that even though we are on the other side of the world to home it did not seem unusual to see them. We went to the pub for a drink where it was lovely and warm. I can now see why there is such a strong pub culture over here!!
Day two saw me heading into the big city to explore on a hop on hop off bus tour which works out really well because as a special winter rate the ticket is valid for 48hrs. The tube let me off right in Trafalgar square where once again the camera got busy. All the fountains had completely frozen solid so were not as spectacular as one might expect however it was special to see them this way as any of the locals I asked don’t recall it happening before. It is the coldest week London has on record for a decade, great timing!! Amongst other things I also saw the Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral, Shakespeare’s Theatre, Wellington Marble Archway, the guards at Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and loads of double decker buses. I visited Hyde Park at lunch time to see all the squirrels but they obviously think it is too cold also and were not about, however I did come across one very lonely squirrel that kindly obliged and sat at my feet to have his photo taken.
Day three was the second day of the bus tour. Today I went on a walking tour which went past the her majesty’s gates the only time the gate in the middle ever opens is when the queen herself is in the car and she and anyone else inside her car at the time are the only ones to ever pass through it. The tour also included the changing of the guards. It was great being on the tour because instead of waiting at Buckingham Palace with all the hoards of people we started at St James Palace where the guards are actually coming from. I spent alot of time today at Westminster Abbey/Big Ben the architecture is just amazing in alot of London’s old buildings. Unfortunately there was a gas leak and I could not get down the road to pass the royal gardens and whatever else was down that road, I had been fortunate to drive past the previous day on the bus thought which is some consolation I suppose.
Tim and Louisa had very kindly organised a surprise for me for my last night which turned out to be a dinner with Toni, Nicola and Pam before going to Greese the stage show, it was absolutely fantastic!! The understudy was playing Danny but other than that the casting were very close in looks to the film.
Well I arrived at Heathrow airport safe and sound even if a little bit late, UK time 06hr30 on Tuesday 6th January 2009 after a very long time in the air and at various airports. Spending so much time in a plane was not actually as bad as I had expected and I have not been as affected by jet lag as one might expect. I think the worst part was the swollen ankles and still feeling like I was on the plane for a couple of days.
Tim and Louisa were both at work so I negotiated my way onto the tube, changing lines once I landed exactly where I should have, at their flat. It was 10.00am so I dumped all my stuff and went down the road to the Camden markets to explore. I did not feel like travelling anywhere else so going to London on the tube was out of the question. It was great wandering around the camera has already had a pretty severe work out!! All the buildings and houses are e
xactly like the English television programs. With sore feet I headed home mid afternoon for a bit of a relax and snooze and waited for Louisa and Tim to get home from work.It is so weird that even though we are on the other side of the world to home it did not seem unusual to see them. We went to the pub for a drink where it was lovely and warm. I can now see why there is such a strong pub culture over here!!
Day two saw me heading into the big city to explore on a hop on hop off bus tour which works out really well because as a special winter rate the ticket is valid for 48hrs. The tube let me off right in Trafalgar square where once again the camera got busy. All the fountains had completely frozen solid so were not as spectacular as one might expect however it was special to see them this way as any of the locals I asked don’t recall it happening before. It is the coldest week London has on record for a decade, great timing!! Amongst other things I also saw the Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral, Shakespeare’s Theatre, Wellington Marble Archway, the guards at Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and loads of double decker buses. I visited Hyde Park at lunch time to see all the squirrels but they obviously think it is too cold also and were not about, however I did come across one very lonely squirrel that kindly obliged and sat at my feet to have his photo taken.
Day three was the second day of the bus tour. Today I went on a walking tour which went past the her majesty’s gates the only time the gate in the middle ever opens is when the queen herself is in the car and she and anyone else inside her car at the time are the only ones to ever pass through it. The tour also included the changing of the guards. It was great being on the tour because instead of waiting at Buckingham Palace with all the hoards of people we started at St James Palace where the guards are actually coming from. I spent alot of time today at Westminster Abbey/Big Ben the architecture is just amazing in alot of London’s old buildings. Unfortunately there was a gas leak and I could not get down the road to pass the royal gardens and whatever else was down that road, I had been fortunate to drive past the previous day on the bus thought which is some consolation I suppose.
Tim and Louisa had very kindly organised a surprise for me for my last night which turned out to be a dinner with Toni, Nicola and Pam before going to Greese the stage show, it was absolutely fantastic!! The understudy was playing Danny but other than that the casting were very close in looks to the film.
1 comment:
Hey Chick
So glad you got there and things are going well! Been thinking about you lots wondering how you were doing. So sorry our last convo was rushed, but guess its how you wanted it. Not a big mushy goodbye just a see ya soon! ;) luv L&L xx
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