Day 3 - London

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Once again I didn’t get to write this last night as promised because I was out of the town (As normal!) This edition is coming to you from Paddington station whilst I wait for my train to depart for Devon.
Yesterday was another action packed day in London town, which really started the night before. I headed into the trendy inner London suburb of Shoreditch with Cass (rally friend from way back) and some of her mates. We went to a cool little pub called roadtrip and workshop, then onto a cocktail bar where we played cocktail roulette.(pick a cocktail at random out of the book!) I don’t really remember too much after that!

I woke up early the next morning (and still a bit drunk!) with sun streaming in the window. Sun??? I haven’t seen sun the whole time I have been here! I jammed all my stuff back into my bags and headed for Shepard’s Bush (famous London hang out for Aussies).
Lesson of London number 1 – do not get on to the tube at peak hour with a hangover – especially with luggage! It’s like a roller coaster – not cool!

Found shepherds bush ok and dumped all my stuff at Leigh’s place. Turns out shepherds bush isn’t the Aussie hang out it used to be. Whilst I am sure there are some still there it’s now over run with a load of less desirable people and it was a crazy experience walking down the main road!

I caught the tube back to London and headed for st Pauls, sun was still shining but there was a bishop meeting or something on so the church was closed until 2, so I headed for the church hill war rooms. These were pretty cool, not the best attraction in London but deff worth a look. It was so eerie walking around the same rooms that

Churchill and co controlled the entire war effort from. The war rooms are right next to St James Park so i went for a lunch time walk around which was nice. There are so many people in the park at lunch (tourists and locals) but somehow no one gets in anyone’s way, or annoys anyone.

Next on the tour was the Churchill war experience, which is meant to show you how life was during the war in London, it was pretty shit to be honest. I got in free with my London pass but if I had to pay the 12.95 pound entry price I wouldn’t have been happy! And on that note I just want to say wow … this train is hammering along, even thru the stations. You can understand why rail travel has been so big over here for so long!!

After the war thing I headed back to St Pauls which, like Westminster, blows you away. The building appears huge from the outside, but once you walk through the incredibly large doors the size and detail of the place blows you away. Westminster was cool for the for its scale and history, but St Pauls has to be the most beautiful amazing builds I have ever had the pleasure of stepping foot in. it is hard to imagine how they painted those ceilings over 300 years ago, the tallest being about 70 meters off the ground! Although it involved over 500 steps, one of the best things I did in London was climb to the top. You end up at one of the highest points in the city (in a 300 year old building) and the views are spectacular!

Next on the to do list was Kensington Place / Hyde Park and a little road behind the palace called Kensington Palace Garden. Houses in this street are some of the most expensive in the world, so much so that the police have the street permanently guarded with little watch towers at the end and you are not allowed to take photos!

Kensington Palace was undergoing renovations so I didn’t get to see much of that but Hyde Park was cool …. You can walk for miles in that place!! Royal Albert hall is also on the edge of the park along with the Albert memorial. The scale that the poms build monuments and grand builds is ridiculous.

Anyway that’s enough for now … I’m going to watch some more of the English countryside go past!

Peace out,

Nate

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