Freezing England

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Another day another country.

The first thing that I noticed about England is that it is really bloody cold. Especially since I had just come from Thailand in summer and live in Sydney. I also realized that I should have bought a few more warmer cloths while they were cheap in Thailand. But being like my mum I was still prepared.

The second thing I noticed is that everything in London and England as a whole is ridiculously expensive. Pretty much if a bottle of water cost one dollar a home it cost one pound here. The only problem is that one pound is $2.50 so you may as well halve your money (and not that I had that much money in the first place).

Well, I found my hostel quite easily, there not that bad actually. They all provide a decent bed (even though you share the room with 7 other strangers), and some of them even include breaky in the price. And from the get go I started the pattern that I still haven’t lost of moving to new digs every three or so days. It’s made me realize that I am ridiculously over packed, even though I use everything in my bag, I could use to loose a few kilos.

I saw all the main places; Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, No.10 Downing street (which is stupid cause you can’t even see it due to the huge gate that blocks the end of the street), Museums and plenty of streets that I could take a photo of cause they all appear on the English version of monopoly. On two of the days it got so cold that I woke up in the morning to find a city that was covered in snow. I was surprised to hear that the entire of London had taken the days of work due to flimsy excuses of the trains not working in the snow. It was beautiful non the less, and I had a great day building snowmen and site seeing (Windsor Castle looks great in the snow).

Even though I spent the days on my own it was quite nice since I could do whatever I wanted and go my own pace. I saw some great artworks and did some good hikes in the surrounding forests in Southern England. During the nights I had to build up the courage (it got easier every time) to go downstairs and just say hi to random backpackers. If anyone thinks that’s easy, you should try doing it a couple of times. In the end I had some awesome pub nights 9no throwing up though I didn’t have the money) and met some awesome people. On the nights that I could find anyone I bit the bullet and went out clubbing. Even hard to do by yourself. But once I had a couple of beers in me and found my way to the dance floor there was no end of what I could do (in my head anyway). Those steel doors in a dodgy street with a bouncer out the front look a lot better inside let me tell you. And night life is definitely alive and well in London.

I made my way around the southern part of England by seeing some of mum and dads friends. Marg and Greg (some work buddies of dads) took me out to Stonehenge which was totally unimpressive and freezing. I also think I saw every castle (including Windsor) that South England had to offer. After seeing Jan and Anthea (see picture) in Birchington near Dover I was getting closer and closer to my next destination of France.

Another day, another country.

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Photos

Snowman
My snowman in Hyde park made with a friend (Rebecca) that i met in Central Hostel

Jump in the snow
Its suprising how good you can get at self timing photos

Stonehenge
The cold and remote Stonehenge

Anthea
Me corupting others (Anthea) as usual. I can't help if the Phil vibe is catchy.