Day 5 - London

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We didn't sleep much on the plane for this overnight flight. We arrived at 5am or there abouts on what I later discovered was a Sunday morning. The thing I love about travelling is that days really become irrelevant - they are all perfect 😊 I was just so excited to be in England, so after we got through customs and stumbled through the airport trying to work out where the train station was, I saw the doors to the outside world! Had to go outside and see what these cold winters were all about. It was so dark outside, and the terminal looked so pretty and deserted. Little did I realise exactly how deserted it was til a touch later.

We eventually bumbled down to the train station, to find the gates locked. Apparently arriving at 5am wasn't the best time as trains didn't run that early. It meant sitting around for a while til it was really morning and the rest of the world caught up. Finding out which train to catch was very scary. I think the guy must have thought I was mental, because I think all the trains went to Kings Cross anyway. It was a very different ride. We tried to soak in England on the way to the city and our hotel, but everything was still dark, and the sun didn't believe in getting up early either I guess. Making our way out of Kings Cross having gotten there in one piece, we decided it must be too early to dump ourselves off at the hotel, so walked into the McDonalds for an early breakfast.

I guess McDonalds was a kind of home base for us. It was familiar and secure, so how wrong can you go? After sitting out at maccas, for I dont know how long, I decided enough was enough, London was ready for us to explore it! We wandered around the corner to the little accommodation place that I booked. It was called the Alhambra hotel. Luckily it was open, and they allowed us to dump our bags at their mercy to return later on it the day to properly check in.

We went back into the train station and tried to understand the whole tube thing. It wasn't long before I learnt to love it. I dont know, the whole joy of jumping on and off trains zipping through the city appealed to me. Now as dumb luck would have it, we caught the train to Piccadilly Circus. We wandered a little bit up Regent Street and then, I guess we must have had a map, but we followed the road down, and I stumbled across The Mall. I was kind of OMG! Look at where we are! I got excitable, Joel didn't have a clue. This was the procession road that I watched the wedding of Charles and Di go down. It was also at this point, that I was still so very confused as to where on earth all the people were. I mean, ok the weather wasn't the greatest, but I was sure people lived in London! It was then it dawned on me that it was Sunday, and they were all sleeping in!

We wandered down the road towards Buckingham Palace. There were some guards in uniform on the side of the road every so often in front of whatever buildings they were. The Palace then came into view. All the shiny gates were very impressive, the weather however wasn't. It was upon reaching the gates the heavens opened, and it completely bucketed down. Now the one major thing to note regarding England is they dont believe in shelter???? Um the place is forever raining, and there is no where to stand to stay dry? I dont get that. We raced off down the side of the road hoping any homes would offer a porch to hide beneath. We weren't in luck. There was a little store open, and I was able to buy Joel an "I love England" umbrella that I believe broke that same day ...

We were somewhat drowned and dishearted, and I stumbled across a The Big Bus Company bus. I had planned on doing this, as they had a winter special on at that time where you pay for one day and get a second for free. It was a very informative way of seeing the city. We eventually jumped up on the top of the double decker, under the sheltered part though. Listening to the history of the city was fascinating, and I would highly recommend others to do the same trip. We didn't want to get off, and just did nearly the full circuit. The sun eventually came out, but we were freezing, wet and hungry. Jumping off near big Ben, and the London Eye, we made our way to the Sherlock pub. It wasn't open for lunch when we arrived, but we decided to wait. As part of the deal, lunch was included at this pub.

The pub was a typical English pub. Very dark, but it was warm which was a blessing. After lunch we walked up and had a look at Trafalgar square but the day had completely taken it toll on us, and even though it was only 2pm, we headed back to the hotel to check in.

The little hotel, was kind of cute. It was extremely basic, but we weren't planning on spending a great deal of time in the place, so it didn't matter. The beds were nice to sleep in, the rooms were warm and having free internet and breakfast suited us. On getting to the hotel, Joel taking his soaked shoes off revealed a multitude of blisters 😞 That is what happens when you buy "cheaper" hiking books that aren't properly waterproof! Lesson learnt. My shoes were awesome though 😊 We crashed on the beds and slept through (when I say slept through with the jet lag and all, I think we were both wide awake at about 4am, but thats where internet comes in 😊

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