London's Calling

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HELLO!

ok so it's been a few weeks since i last emailed everyone... i've been doing so much it's insane... I don't know where to start!!!

(also i figured out a way to email to EVERYONE, coz my inBOX was playing up but it's all good now)

ok so after I met siobhanny in dublin we've done soooo much... we've been to a millioin museums and parks and galleries in dublin clearly they each had a profound effect on me because i remember them all! hahaha one thing we did do was go to the abbey theatre and see the crucible... for those non yr 12 drama nerds, it's a play written in the McCarthy era about the salem witch trials and it draws parellels between the witch hunts and the communist craze in america during the 50's... it was AMAZING... this is probably the first play i've seen all year coz i've been so busy and it didn't let me down at all... I could go on about it for ages but I have a zilllion other things to list so i'll leave it at that!

the most exciting thing was that we went to london last tuesday... that's right LONDON! we only got 4 days there so it was a whirlwind tour but it was fantastic...

on tuesday we went to wimbledon... the first match was between james blake and igor andreev... i didnt really get into this and i actually fell asleep for a bit (shhh) but i did find igor's 'hit the ball grunt' amusing coz he sounded like frankensteins lackie when he hit the ball... like the REAL igor from cheap cheap horror films... after roaming the grounds we saw leyton hewit verse some british guy called richard (or as the brit's liked to yell out in support.. COME ON DICKIE!) i actually really got into this game surprisingly... it was great AND... for the whole match me and siobhan were searching for bec cartwright and couldnt find her... then at the end of the match she stood up and she was like 6 rows directly in front of me... so i got a photo... of the back fo her head... hmm i've had my brush with fame now!

after that match we went to roam around central london and got off at the first station we thought sounded fun (westminster) and when we came out of the tube i looked up and saw some clock and just turned to siobhan and said that's a huge clock... then i finally realised it was big ben... im so daft sometimes! we roamed over to liz's house (aka queen elizabeth) at buckingham palace ... unfortunately they didnt have any of the beefeaters outside of the palace gates so i couldnt go up and annoy one make him move... so i settled for a perspective picture of me squishing one...

when we were in london we stayed with emma, siobhan's GAP partener from India and her family... and they were so nice and they actually knew how to cook vegetarian food... it was fantastic!!!

on the second day we headed to the national gallery which had a bunch of pissaro paintings.. the guy i studied ast year in studio... and it was really cool to see those painting in the flesh and we saw van gough's sunflowers paintings which is fairly famous 😊 we hit a while bunch of other places that day including SOHO which was full of strip clubs, gay book shops, and apparently prostitutes at night fall... but it had a really cool bohemian feel to it... i liked it! also the same is just funny! that night we also went to the globe theater.... the theatre recreated on the spot where shakespear originally perfprmed his plays!!! It was amazing just to be there... especially for a big drama nerd like me! We saw the merchant of venice which was fantastic.. and we were in the standning area right up close to the stage, and although it bucked down and i only had a poncho to protect myself with, it was amazing... we got to laugh and clap and jeer at the actors.... i've never found shakespear so much fun!!! If we had something like that in oz then kids would definately get more into it at school... the audience gets to interact with the actors so much more than in any other play i've ever seen... it was great!!!

day 3: siobhan got up early and went shopping and i had to meet her later at the tube station... i decided to be adventurous and walk instead of taking the bus... I got completely lost and ended up in the black community in brixton.. so i blended in perfectly... i ended up getting speaking to these two lovely old ladies who guided me in the right direction... i was half an hour late... whoops... but it's all good! :P that day we went up to the camden markets in north london... it's possibly the best market ever! I had my first splurge and fot a clockwork orange t-shirt for £5.. that's about a million australian because of the poor exchange rate!... but if i spent longer and had more money i could've bought so much more! they had doc's there... CHEAP doc's... more or less... and the market was thriving with punks and other alternative looking people... it was sooooo good... Bec I thought of you when I was there!!! we also went to hyde park that day which wasn't that exciting and harrods.. this HUGE department store... i spent most of my time in the kid's section which had every toy ever made in it! including the harrods deluxe scrable board for £2,000!!!!! pfft who'd pay that much for scrabble! after galavanting through harrods for a bit me and siobhan made our way to westminster where we got changed into our good clothes, meet emma and made our way to the house of lords for afternoon tea!!!! that's right... i had afternoon tea at the house of lords!!!! we met emma's mum there and her grandfather.. aka lord elton, and his wife who is lady in waiting to the QUEEN!!!! we learnt about all this crazy etiquette like don't talk when you walk on the blue carpet and when you walk through doors the oldest lady goes first followed by all ladies in order of age then the men... crazy! we got to sit in on a debate in the house of lords on national sport or something... that was a snooze fest... but then we got to have afternoon tea... or in my case... iced coffee... i think the best was though when they brang over sweets and this waiter came to my left with a massive tray full of cakes and sweets.. and then i turned to my right and there was another guy with another MASSIVE tray full of cakes and biscuits... my eyes nearly popped out of my head with excitement!!!! after afternoon tea lord elton took us on a quick tour of the house of lords and we saw where the queen does her thing and he showed us the only original bit that wasnt bombed by the nazi's and the roof was built in 1065... thats like 5 times older than AUSTRALIA! it's insane how old everything here is... crazy! after that lord elton rushed us over to the london eye, this giant ferris wheel.. and we went on that... and you can see the WHOLE of england from up there... or something to that effect... it was really cool... even though it was kind of crappy weather you could see sooooo much! although the photos didnt turn out too well because the capsule was a bit dirty and the air was a bit smoggy but oh well... i saw it 😊

on our last day we went to the TATE modern via tower bridge (which everyone mistakes for london bridge) it was impressive but i dont understand the buzz over it! but the TATE was amazing! I got to see soooooo much surrealist art... I love surrealist art! hahaha although because we spent so ong there and didnt realise how far away it was from heathrow we kind fo accidently missed our flight back to dublin... whoops... it's ok though we got back to ireland eventually... but there was soooo many delays because fo storms and people being taken to hospital on previous flights and a bunch of other crap... we were on the runway for about an hour after being delayed for about 2 hours and we didnt get back to dublin until about 7:30... we were supposed to get back at like 4... grrr

and now i'm back in dublin... i kind of wish i was still in london, there was so much i didnt get to see which i wanted too.. like abbey road and madame tusaudes... so i might venture back there one day in the near future.. since we've got back we haven't done a whole lot.. we've done a few day trips to little sea side irish towns which are nice and quaint but other that nothing major... oh except that siobhan's mother joined us yesterday... it's good to have her here... because it's like having another mother... she cares for us and pays for things 😊 thanks mauyra 😊

we're off to the west of ireland on friday which i've been told is beautiful then on the 12th we jet off to madrid which i can't wait for! I'm enjoying ireland and england but being in an english speaking country it's not that challenging.... im ready for something different.. and a bit more difficult.... hazar spain!

well i'm not sure when i'll email again... probably in a while coz im slack! but i miss and love you all and will see ya when i'm looking at you (which will probably be next feburary! unless you're meeting me over here)

so ciao, bonsoir, and all the rest
-Joel

ps. my phone is still being sorted out... i'll let everyone know when i know
pps. thanks for all the updates from home guys.. eve with tv times, sam with random stuff times, and caz sent me some stuff about some sort of news 😊 by the way caz i will come to your party... in spirit!

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Photos

mmm wimbeldon
enjoying maltesers at wimbeldon

james blake
hot! bahahahaha
this ones for tara and esther

big ben
the big ben

houses of parliment
oooo regal

red phone booth
siobhan in a real london phone booth

buckingham palace
liz's house

squish
i squished that guard good

double decker bus
woo hoo

london eye
me, ems and siobhan on the londoneye

london eye view
i can see allll of london

london eye again
woo

DONT JUMP
its just a statue chill out