Easter weekend in London, Tower, Lords and Church!

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Apologises to our dedicated followers about our lack of publishing.. no excuses but things should improve!!


What possessed us to go to London for a long weekend I'm not sure, the hoards of tourists (unlike us), the mulitple line closures on the tube meaning it took twice as long to get any where and like a long weekend in any capital city.. chaos!
Day 366
We headed down Friday morning checked into our Hostel at the Clink in Kings Cross, formally a prison into our room shared with two others (but would have accomodated only two prisoners hence was a little on the squishy side!). We dumped our gear and headed to the Body Worlds exhibition at the O2 arena on the other side on London on a bus (not a wise move!).Over an hour later we arrived at the O2 arena and to the Body Works exhibition a very impressive exhibition of cadaviers aimed at educating the general public of health and wellbeing. The exhibition included the progression of a foetus (did you know at 4weeks the fetus has a heart, head and fingers!!), a full actual horse and jockey and a full size giraffe.
We completed the how long will you live for test on the way out Carly max 98 and Jez 101!!
We caught the ferry back into the city along the Thames and made our back to the hostel for a quick change and then back into the city to met with some of our African Oasis crew for dinner. We met Vicky, Jen, Sean, Katrin and Ed at the Living Room and a few more drinks at before calling it a night. Great night revisting the stories of Africa!!

Day 367
We battled the morning breakfast line and headed to the Tower of London, little did we know it was the busiest weekend of the year. We got our tickets and joined a Yeoman Warder tour taking us through the gates, past the local ravens (who are kept as request of who stated that without three ravens the tower would crumble, they kept 5 to be on the safe side) and concluding in the church which holds many of the executed. Once the tour finished we joined the 500m cue to visit the Crown Jewels, but after not moving for over half an hour we decided to save it for another day and visited the King Henry VIII exhibition in White Palace building an impressive display of his armoury, weapons and sporting goods.
We made our way up the Tower to view the complex. Frustrated with the crowds we left the rest for next time and met Terry (from Australia) for a late lunch.
We headed back to Terry's sisters who had kindly offered to put us up for the night and to Shepherds Bush to met up with Shaun (another Aussie) for beers and dinner.


Day 368
Easter Sunday and what a more appropriate day to go to The Church. Unfortunately not the one my Nan would imagine, the famous London Bar. After a slow start we made it to Kentish Town where we met with Shaun and Addy and Jen and their mates for a packed afternoon of dancing, photos, comedy, drinking and strippers. Not exactly classy, the drinks are served three at a time in a plastic bag which is typically tied to your jeans!
Following the crazy crowd we headed back to Shepherds Bush for a bite to eat then met up with the gang hours for hours of dancing!
We finished the evening we a hot hot curry!

Day 369
After a reviving bacon and eggs for breaky we made our way to Lord Cricket ground for the official tour. The tour took us through the Long Room (no pictures allowed!), the Long Room bar, up into the Investic media centre and into the grand stand unfortunately not too close to the pitch, , Dressing Rooms including honours boards, real tennis court ( played by King Henry the VIII) and the MCC museum home of the Ashes. Other then the constant attack of the Aussie (we were in England after all) it was a very informative tour.
We had lunch at a little Italian place and then made our way to Victoria Station for our Bus back to Birmingham... exhausted!

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Photos

At the church for easter
With Terry and Sean