Advertisement
LONDON TIME
I finally arrived in London after such a long 23hr flight...cramped up in economy class seats - not much to talk about there (maybe business class next time). Seeking assistance and directions from the lovely accented English pom's I found my way to Balham, a suburb south of London central. To stay with Melina a Melbournien who recently completed her 9 month travels through South-America to come and work in London. As i suspected (being the early hours of Sunday morning) she was not home, still partying hard from the night before (is this what is to be expected of my stay??). Never the less i was greeted by her house mates, Mercedes - a young Spanish woman who is currently studying and working in London as a civil engineer and Sienne - South African woman who has made London her home for the past four or so years and works for a Cancer research charity organisation. They both made me feel welcomed despite the early morning wake up call of the door bell.
Later that day after finally catching up with Mel and settling in (in my very large bed room - the lounge) we were
off to a picnic for a get together and a chance to meet new friends at the local park 'Clapham Common' to celebrate London's fine weather of the last few days - apparently as i have been informed, London had experienced a very cold and wet winter (nothing unusual here) however after such a wet and miserable summer of the season before, this was most welcomed, by the many Londoner's who turned out in there droves to soak up the sun which is typical all over London. Never seen so many white bodies before (i fit in here) lapping up the sun for that great tan. This sounds very promising...planned this trip to hit the summer months - whats Melbourne like at this time i wonder?...hmm.
I filled my week stay by doing the touristy thingy...sight seeing as a tourist might do, Buckingham Palace - changing of the guards, House of parliament, Westminister Abbey, No. 10 Downing Street (Gordon wasn't home), Tower Bridge, stroll along the Thames and how could you not miss the London Eye. It seems to be a trend to have these large Ferris wheels in a popular city...Melbourne coming soon! I didn't quite get the
chance to hop on for a ride, the ques seemed to be longer in waiting time than the 30 to 40min ride of one revolution. I opted to see London on foot...boy are my legs aking.
Could not believe how busy London central is, combined with tourists and working Londoner's the pavement on the sidewalks are barley visible. You can quite easily spot a tourist here in London, there the ones with guide books open in hand and maps wrapped around their faces as the wind is quite blowy here, as for the locals they have their mobile phones strapped to their ear whilst hastily heading towards their destinations. Myself on the other hand, throw away the map and just wing it...as i plan to do for the rest of my travels. Also London being a very old city, the streets a quite narrow (single lane in either directions) leaving the Monash freeway for dead, cars and double decker buses bumper to bumper tooting there hornes and stopping frequently, pedestrian lights...no-one uses pedestrian lights, just cross when there is a break in the traffic. You also become very accustom and after a while its just a another city sound
of the blaring sirens of police cars and ambulances, constantly non stop. Headlines of late read a spate of killings (10 in all) since the start of the year and most recently on Monday during day light hours on Oxford Street a busy shopping street - gang related. As Mel explained to me she felt quite safe in travelling through South-America than travelling the streets on London. That noted, does not pay to be complacient at anytime when travelling.
Which brings me to, when in London you shop to you drop, Oxford, Regent, Bond Street and Brompton Road (Harrods) are very popular shopping streets, i managed to spend a whole £10.00, that was on lunch, so i can now say I've shopped. Glad i did not have a female companion with me at the time, i dread shopping.....but if there was a Bunning store, well different story there. I also wanted to see some open park spaces and headed into Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens...not very far apart..a lake separates the two, Kensington Palace was nearby so a quick geeza around the palace was a pleasant afternoon well spent in the glorious sun. One thing I've noticed not seen
at home is deck chairs littered around the parks for hire to promote people coming into the parks.
Exhibitions are an abundant not to mention museums and galleries....one that took my fancy was over at the THE 02 (formerly the Millenium Dome) exhibiting Tutankhamun - The Golden Ages of The Pharaohs, everything Egypt fascinates me (this may very well set a scene for later in my travels) and £15.00 well spent - photo's were not allowed to be taken the only disappointment.
Londoners love their pubs and Wednesday nights is a popular night to go out Pubbing and drink. We travelled to Kensington South via the tube to meet up with Mercedes friends for a celebration and boy did they celebrate, quite a diverse bunch of people, Greek, Spanish, Cuban, Maltease and yes a Pom or two, just to add to that English mix. Pints of beer went down well until someone suggest Tequila slammers and they went down even faster (I'm getting to old for this). As it happens the pubs shut early (12:00am) and off to another venue we go, from Pubbing over to clubbing, a short taxi ride and where at a single door entrance
to the left of a single fronted building walking down stairs into the basement, greeted to loud music and people every where and as soon as you get your bearings a drink lands in your palms.....it starts all over again. Cannot remember the last time i rocked up back at home (Mel's place at least) 4:00am in the morning and especially on a week night and i did not have to go to work the next day like some. I have being paying for it ever since (I'm getting to old for this).
Anyway gotta go Mel's cooking dinner now and then where off to another popular drinking strip.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0249s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Janet
non-member comment
Hello UK
Hey Nick Glad you made it one piece, although sounds like you may not leave in the same state :) London hasn't changed at all - you described it exactly as I remember it! Tequila hasnt changed either, it always keeps you out very very late!! ENJOY :) J x