Eurotrip 2009 - Day 2

---

London

10/05/2009

We woke up at about an hour and a half before landing, and after the eventful flight we had we actually felt great! Leon is fresh as a daisy and looks as great as always, Melinda on the other hand decided that the “after 10 hours of flight” is not her best look and after trying to tame her hair and washing her face, she looked presentable enough not to be mistaken for the missing link!

It was wonderful seeing a friendly face when we landed and having Jaco (Leon’s brother) as tour guide made day one of the trip unforgettable. We saw everything worth seeing and got to know the underground transport in record time!

Our first stop was the National Gallery. Seeing paintings by the greats like Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Da Vinchi, Raphael, Picasso and Rembrandt (to name but a few) was awe inspiring. The National Gallery is on Trafalgar Square, and was our first true London experience! You truly feel like you’re in London when standing on the famous square with the statues of huge lions by a man that had probably never seen a real lion as the statues all look like panting dogs! We behaved like real tourists and took photos in places where it was not allowed, we had no idea that it was prohibited until a lady in a funny little hat and granny outfit reprimanded us!! Oops…my bad!

After the awesome art exhibition we decide that 11h45 on a Sunday morning is the perfect time for our first pub in London! We also just heard that Jaco & Sarah (Leon’s brother & Sister-in-law) is expecting baby number 3, and we have to celebrate! We went to The Old Shade Pub where Leon had a Guinness, Jaco a Heineken and Melinda a Fosters, she had no idea that you also get this in South Africa, not being a beer drinker, the Fosters was a new experience no matter where in the world she drinks it! This round was 10 pounds, that’s about R130.00.

After that it was time for more touristy things and we were back on our walking tour to see sights like Palace of Westminster, House of Parliament, Big Ben and The Thames with the London Eye in the background. Walking down Embankment road we reached The Tattershall Castle, “..toe word ons dors” . We ended up drinking the best cider we EVER tasted, Bulmers Cider, if I could I would import the stuff and sell it, we’d make millions!

After our ciders we went in search on the famous fish & chips and mushy peas, we were not disappointed! Even Leon ate his peas!

From there it’s off to what Melinda aptly named “a taste of heaven” better known as Camden Market! Melinda saw more punk / goth / metal gear after 10 minutes in Camden that in her previous 27 years on this planet! She now has lots of ideas and will have to get some nice stuff made back home. The only thing we will NEVER be able to find was a black pair of limited addition made in England
Dr. Martins with rose embroidery, she wanted to settle for a black pair of 16 ups, but the Minty brothers teamed up and persuaded her to take the rosy pair.

It was home time and after stopping at the famous Burger King, we went home to shower and catch up on some sleep. It was still not dark by 23h30, that’s going to take some getting used to!

---

Photos

Huge Lion statue
Also in Trafalgar Square

Big Ben
One of the thousands of photos taken daily of this building

Phone booth
A brightly coloured cubicle used for make phone calls or taking a leak.

London Eye
For those who like standing in line

Camden Market
Where goths do their shopping

Rosy Doc Martins
By popular demand

Comments

[Ferdi and Talita]

Rosy Doc's
Where's the pic yo? Bly die beursie het nie so erg geknyp dat jul nie die bier kon geniet nie!

[Steven]

Interesting
Yeah that's screwed up, by 3:30am, it already gets light again! Did you guys try some of the Thai places? At least you had some Burger King:)