After Oxford we caught a morning train to London. Before we knew it we had arrived at Waterloo Station where Mike met us and took us to his apartment. Mike was kind enough to let us stay at his apartment whichwas just awesome. OVerlooking the London Eye & Big Ben, this place was one of the best locations in the city!
Once we'd had a shower & put on some clean clothes we got taken on a personal guided tour of London. We saw the changing of the horse-guard, Trafalgar Square, Bond Street, Picadilly. I was loving being able to cross off so many Monopoly board positions.
The tour had a strict timeline as we all wanted to watch the Aus vs Wales Rugby World Cup match. No tries scored by a good game overall that Australia probably won purely by luck.
That's where Mike left us for the day & we retired to the apartment with some fast-food chinese & a few beers while watching Jason STatham & Tropic Thunder on the telly.
11th: We were meeting Mike & Viv at 12 today so they could take us to Greenwich, so had a little time to kill in the morning which we filled by going for a swim in the apartments pool & then walking down the Thames to get a closer look & The Eye, Big Ben & Government House.
Mike & Viv met us @ the apartment and then proceeded to take us back down to the Eye where the ferry, The Thames Clipper, leaves from. It's worth noting that from Friday to Sdnday there is a great food market open alday just down the steps from Festival Hall in Waterloo. The ferry was sweet, we flew along the Thames seeing clear views of all the famous London skypscrapers & buildings while Mike * Viv argued over which version of history was correct for each building! Between the two of them I reckon we may have gotten the equivalant of a paid guided tour! Whether the information provided was accurate is yet to be determined.
In Greenwich we were treated to some cheap Pie & Mash before walking up to the Royal Observatory. I'd told Mike previously about my interest in seeing some of the chronometers designed by John Harrison, in particular the H4 which won the Longitude Challenge many hundreds of years ago. Laura& I spent a few hours in there looking at all the watches & clocks & the prime meridian *where time begins!) while Mike & Viv chilled out somewhere.
Had a beer at a bar called 'Meantime' (great), while Mike smoked out a family of children with his stinky pipe. Luckily Mike had just recieved an e-pipe in the mail which he was quite reluctant to advise me of the price while Viv was around!
Finished our beers then Mike & Viv showed us their true Londoner colours by pushing past a queue of people to catch the ferry back to the eye! We slow Australains have a lot to learn about jumping queues apparently. Early night again, this time with homemade pizza's @ the apartment.
12th: Today was our museum day, a time to spend all our day in some of the larger museums, mainly the Natural History Museum & the Science Museum. We decided we would walk the 3 miles rather than take the tube, which was exhausting! After 1.5 hours walking and a detour around Buck Palace due to some massive parade we finally made it to the Natural History museum.
We a bit too lethargic after the walk so had to make a quick stop in the French Quarter for a baguette first. Delightful sangas @ $14 pound all up!
The best part about the natural history museum was the building, cool patterned bricks with individual animal sculptures everywhere. Unfortunately the museum itself did not live up to expectations. Dusty displays, faded animals and generally run-down interior made it a very sorry sight. You coudln't even see the stripes on the Tazzie tiger anymore! I'm sure the kids still enjoy it but the realitry definitely paled (get it!?_ in comparison to what my imagination had initially conjured up. We did find some things we liked; for Laura it was the technical drawings of plants & animals. For me it was a room full of some of their most precious gemstones. Of no use of course but so very very pretty!
That place tired us again so we went for a coffee @ Le Pain Quotidian. What a shit experience. Jerk waiter treated us with disdain, coffees were uber expensive, then he had the nerve to add a 70c Service Charge ($2 AUD). What I should have said is 'Do you get paid extra for being a prick?', but we just paid and got out.
The science museum asked for a %5 pound donation before entry, didn't pay, still feeling ripped from coffee! this museum was in much better condition than the last. We raced through teh seam engines & space room & headed up to the area designed for kids to learn about science. Was pretty cool, nothing like interactive science displays.
On our way home picked up some AWESOME milkshakes from a place called MEATMarket in Covent Square. Cooked more pizzas at home & headed out to Soho to see some blues jamming at a bar called 'Aint nothing but blues'. We got there a little late though and there was a slow line in so went to a bar called 'Red Lion' for the cheapest pint in London (sub $3 pound!).
Managed to get into the blues bar afterwards and had a ball. random musicians getting up and jamming together in a tiny little bar that everyone squashed into.
13th: Spent most of the early day planning for Portugal before going to meet Mike & Tom at the Tate Modern. I was sad & angry half the afternoon coz I felt battered by all the things that annoy my travelling companions; deaf, lack of confidence, walking style, driving style, etc. Get it, but had enough of it that day. Times like that made me ready to go home.
Met Mike, no Tom. Raced around Tate Modern as we wanted to make it to St. Pauls for Evensong to get inside for free. The Tate was alright, would have liked to have spent a little longer there but ah well! Walked across Millenium bridge for a good view of the Cathedral & went in. Gorgeous. Huge. Cavernous.
I then went to meet Craig Smith while Laura met Jen from her work. Met Craig at Garlic & Shots in Soho and smashed some beers & garlicky food with him & Sophie his GF. Laura caught up with us a bit later after some struggle getting in contact with each other. Lauras session with Jen went for longer than thought, and she was unsure I would still be at Garlic & Shots.
Meatmarket was so good for Milkshakes we returned for a burger & chips. Delicious but super unhealthy.
14th: Pretty slow start again today because be could! Picked up a bottle of Jura 10yo & prepared a few e-cig juices for Mike as a thank you for having us gift. Hopefully appreciated & used in times of need!
Laura had an interview for a compay that was based in Aus, so I left her to concentrate on that and visited the NAtional Gallery & Portrait museum. The great thing about these museums is they're all free, so if you're not enjoying it you don't have to stay and get your monies worth! I surprised myself by quite enjoying the National Gallery but had had a little much of paintings by the time I reached the Portrait Gallary so didn't stay there long.
I liked the look of Soho after spending some time there yesterday so went that way looking for a place to chill & drink a coffee. A lovely young lady approached me on the street to enquire if I was looking for 'Business', only $20 Pound! I politely declined & found a coffee. No sooner had I got my wifi & coffee, Ryan *who was by chance in London @ the time) was wondering how long til I could meet him at a pub I'd chosen earlier (Bunch of Grapes). It wasn't exactly around the corner so I picked up my coffee & double-timed it to The Shard.
3 miles & an hour later I made it, looking very sweaty mind you! Spent the night drinking with Ryan, Adam, Adams dad (roberto) & Laura. Went to Jamie's kitchen for dinner, we were all a bit haggard so departed. I started to get a blocked nose & flu.
Once we'd had a shower & put on some clean clothes we got taken on a personal guided tour of London. We saw the changing of the horse-guard, Trafalgar Square, Bond Street, Picadilly. I was loving being able to cross off so many Monopoly board positions.
The tour had a strict timeline as we all wanted to watch the Aus vs Wales Rugby World Cup match. No tries scored by a good game overall that Australia probably won purely by luck.
That's where Mike left us for the day & we retired to the apartment with some fast-food chinese & a few beers while watching Jason STatham & Tropic Thunder on the telly.
11th: We were meeting Mike & Viv at 12 today so they could take us to Greenwich, so had a little time to kill in the morning which we filled by going for a swim in the apartments pool & then walking down the Thames to get a closer look & The Eye, Big Ben & Government House.
Mike & Viv met us @ the apartment and then proceeded to take us back down to the Eye where the ferry, The Thames Clipper, leaves from. It's worth noting that from Friday to Sdnday there is a great food market open alday just down the steps from Festival Hall in Waterloo. The ferry was sweet, we flew along the Thames seeing clear views of all the famous London skypscrapers & buildings while Mike * Viv argued over which version of history was correct for each building! Between the two of them I reckon we may have gotten the equivalant of a paid guided tour! Whether the information provided was accurate is yet to be determined.
In Greenwich we were treated to some cheap Pie & Mash before walking up to the Royal Observatory. I'd told Mike previously about my interest in seeing some of the chronometers designed by John Harrison, in particular the H4 which won the Longitude Challenge many hundreds of years ago. Laura& I spent a few hours in there looking at all the watches & clocks & the prime meridian *where time begins!) while Mike & Viv chilled out somewhere.
Had a beer at a bar called 'Meantime' (great), while Mike smoked out a family of children with his stinky pipe. Luckily Mike had just recieved an e-pipe in the mail which he was quite reluctant to advise me of the price while Viv was around!
Finished our beers then Mike & Viv showed us their true Londoner colours by pushing past a queue of people to catch the ferry back to the eye! We slow Australains have a lot to learn about jumping queues apparently. Early night again, this time with homemade pizza's @ the apartment.
12th: Today was our museum day, a time to spend all our day in some of the larger museums, mainly the Natural History Museum & the Science Museum. We decided we would walk the 3 miles rather than take the tube, which was exhausting! After 1.5 hours walking and a detour around Buck Palace due to some massive parade we finally made it to the Natural History museum.
We a bit too lethargic after the walk so had to make a quick stop in the French Quarter for a baguette first. Delightful sangas @ $14 pound all up!
The best part about the natural history museum was the building, cool patterned bricks with individual animal sculptures everywhere. Unfortunately the museum itself did not live up to expectations. Dusty displays, faded animals and generally run-down interior made it a very sorry sight. You coudln't even see the stripes on the Tazzie tiger anymore! I'm sure the kids still enjoy it but the realitry definitely paled (get it!?_ in comparison to what my imagination had initially conjured up. We did find some things we liked; for Laura it was the technical drawings of plants & animals. For me it was a room full of some of their most precious gemstones. Of no use of course but so very very pretty!
That place tired us again so we went for a coffee @ Le Pain Quotidian. What a shit experience. Jerk waiter treated us with disdain, coffees were uber expensive, then he had the nerve to add a 70c Service Charge ($2 AUD). What I should have said is 'Do you get paid extra for being a prick?', but we just paid and got out.
The science museum asked for a %5 pound donation before entry, didn't pay, still feeling ripped from coffee! this museum was in much better condition than the last. We raced through teh seam engines & space room & headed up to the area designed for kids to learn about science. Was pretty cool, nothing like interactive science displays.
On our way home picked up some AWESOME milkshakes from a place called MEATMarket in Covent Square. Cooked more pizzas at home & headed out to Soho to see some blues jamming at a bar called 'Aint nothing but blues'. We got there a little late though and there was a slow line in so went to a bar called 'Red Lion' for the cheapest pint in London (sub $3 pound!).
Managed to get into the blues bar afterwards and had a ball. random musicians getting up and jamming together in a tiny little bar that everyone squashed into.
13th: Spent most of the early day planning for Portugal before going to meet Mike & Tom at the Tate Modern. I was sad & angry half the afternoon coz I felt battered by all the things that annoy my travelling companions; deaf, lack of confidence, walking style, driving style, etc. Get it, but had enough of it that day. Times like that made me ready to go home.
Met Mike, no Tom. Raced around Tate Modern as we wanted to make it to St. Pauls for Evensong to get inside for free. The Tate was alright, would have liked to have spent a little longer there but ah well! Walked across Millenium bridge for a good view of the Cathedral & went in. Gorgeous. Huge. Cavernous.
I then went to meet Craig Smith while Laura met Jen from her work. Met Craig at Garlic & Shots in Soho and smashed some beers & garlicky food with him & Sophie his GF. Laura caught up with us a bit later after some struggle getting in contact with each other. Lauras session with Jen went for longer than thought, and she was unsure I would still be at Garlic & Shots.
Meatmarket was so good for Milkshakes we returned for a burger & chips. Delicious but super unhealthy.
14th: Pretty slow start again today because be could! Picked up a bottle of Jura 10yo & prepared a few e-cig juices for Mike as a thank you for having us gift. Hopefully appreciated & used in times of need!
Laura had an interview for a compay that was based in Aus, so I left her to concentrate on that and visited the NAtional Gallery & Portrait museum. The great thing about these museums is they're all free, so if you're not enjoying it you don't have to stay and get your monies worth! I surprised myself by quite enjoying the National Gallery but had had a little much of paintings by the time I reached the Portrait Gallary so didn't stay there long.
I liked the look of Soho after spending some time there yesterday so went that way looking for a place to chill & drink a coffee. A lovely young lady approached me on the street to enquire if I was looking for 'Business', only $20 Pound! I politely declined & found a coffee. No sooner had I got my wifi & coffee, Ryan *who was by chance in London @ the time) was wondering how long til I could meet him at a pub I'd chosen earlier (Bunch of Grapes). It wasn't exactly around the corner so I picked up my coffee & double-timed it to The Shard.
3 miles & an hour later I made it, looking very sweaty mind you! Spent the night drinking with Ryan, Adam, Adams dad (roberto) & Laura. Went to Jamie's kitchen for dinner, we were all a bit haggard so departed. I started to get a blocked nose & flu.
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