'Ole London Town

London

September 8 – September 12

Day One

 We were on the Eurostar bound for London; after waking up early and after a little bit of panic that we were going to miss our train, because apparently using your British passport rather than your Australian passport is more of a pain in the arse.

J and I were looking forward to our last leg of our adventure in London.

We arrived at St.Pancras, where we walked out to find Euston Road (first Monopoly board stop) and walked along till we found the Clink 261 Hostel.

After checking in, the first stop was to the (almost cringe-worthy) Walkabout* pub in Convent Garden to watch the NRL Broncos vs. Cowboys game.

 After sadly watching my favourite team the Broncos get defeated, J and I had lunch at a café in the Convent Garden market building, before heading back to the hostel to chill out before meeting a family friend.

We met Shonel* outside her work at the Natural History Museum.

Not having seen Shonel for nearly two years since her partner Dave and her left Brisbane, we had lots to catch up on.

Shonel lead the way to a cocktail bar first, where we sat on the back deck and enjoyed the benefits of happy hour and there the travel stories began.

After a couple of cocktails we then followed Shonel to Brick Lane where it is known, that you can barter for meal prices at the delicious smelling curry houses, though we were sold on the first restaurant we came to.

Day Two

 The next day we were ready for Shonel’s grand tour of the Natural History Museum, such a dream job for some. We met Shonel in the central hall, where a magnificent specimen of a dinosaur skeleton towered over us.

We started with the taxidermy displays – rooms and rooms of stuffed animals and then we went into the minerals gallery. And lucky us, because of Shonel working there, we were able to see the Animal Inside Out exhibit in the Waterhouse Gallery, which was quite gruesome, because you see exactly what the title of the exhibit says.

Though gruesome, the same team behind Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds did a spectacular job, and where else are you going to be able to learn about the insides of some of Earth’s giants in the safety of a museum.

This turned out to be quite the busy day for J and I – after walking around the museum – it was time to take J to Harrods.

Harrods is definitely one of those places I can go back to again and again, I can just get lost in the luxury and looking at the people shopping around me.

After somehow getting a little lost inside, I decided to show J what a cushion-cut diamond ring looks like.

We were wandering around the fine jewellery and fine watches department on the first floor; surrounded by Tiffany & Co., Bvlgari etc. etc. We decided it wouldn’t hurt to go into one shop; I picked Harry Winston’s.

Greeted with quite frankly some of the best customer service I’ve ever witnessed - the men in the store were quite friendly (especially since J and I thought we would be kicked out for ‘just looking’ in a store like that).

Looking at the beautiful jewels, and talking to one of the sales advisors about the diamond industry in Australia, one of them overheard that l liked the look of one and asked for the Assistant Manager to come and talk to me.

The Assistant Manager greeted us with a smile, and immediately ushered us into the ‘room’ where we sat down opposite the manager* (who was immediately pulling-on white gloves) and next to a £GB500,000 pendant.

I tell you what J and I both nearly fainted there and then. That day is now known as ‘the day I tried on a £GB63,450 diamond-ring.’

After that excitement, J and I quickly hustled out of there like criminals and decided on having lunch down the road at the Bunch of Grapes, where I inhaled a delicious beef pie.

Having bought tickets for the Big Bus tour, J and I decided to hop-on and go and see the Tower of London. Unfortunately due to a change in bus routes because of the Olympic marathon, we didn’t get there in time to see it that day.

We instead hopped on the Thames River boat cruise and got off to walk to Westminster Abbey, so J could have a look at the beautiful building.

Our night then finished with dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Piccadilly Circus and lots of fun photo snaps at the M&M world.

Day Three

Having not been to the Tower of London last time I came to London, J and I were both keen to visit, after J’s parents gave it rave reviews for touristy things to see and do.

We arrived just in time to join in on a tour, lead by one of the famous ‘beefeaters.’

Our tour guide was hilarious and J and I found the tour quite enjoyable, especially with all the convict jokes made about Australians.

After the tour ended, we went to the see the crown jewels and the king’s armoury collections.

Then it was a slow walk over Tower Bridge to the Borough Markets, where J had a pulled-pork roll and I had an organic chicken pie for lunch.

And because we were trying to pack-in as much as possible, we were off to the Imperial War Museum next.

Where we spent a good few hours looking around the Gestapo and Espionage exhibits and experiencing what it was like during the London bombings. We also paid to look at Cecil Beaton’s Theatre of War photography exhibition.

As far as I’m concerned you can never factor in enough time in that museum, it has to be one of my favourites, and that was after my third visit.

Later on we took the tube to Wimbledon and met Shonel for sushi (something I had craved on our travels). After dinner we then had a cup of tea at her house, where we said our goodbyes.

Day Four

Today was the day J and I did one of my favourite things; wander around Hyde Park and Green Park.

We decided to hire or ‘try’ and hire the Barclays’ rental bikes; with some great difficulty we eventually found some that weren’t stuck in their lock-ups (thanks to the previous idiot who didn’t put it back properly).

We rode our bikes through Hyde Park, trying to navigate our way to Buckingham Palace, after just missing the traditional ‘changing of the guard’ ceremony, we found it of course.

We then saw lots of swans and ducks in the streams flowing through Green Park and watched the infamous squirrels whizzing past.

After we headed to Convent Garden again for lunch, before heading back to the hostel to pack for our next day’s train ride to Edinburgh (our last train trip for awhile).

After packing our backpacks (again – the last time for awhile) we hired out the Barclays bikes again, down the road from the hostel, and rode with the traffic to Camden Town.

After putting the bikes back in a station, we walked around the Camden Town Markets, looking at all the clothes and the food.

J and I then chilled out with a beer at Lockside Lounge before grabbing dinner from an Indian street vendor, followed by nutella crepes and fresh cinnamon doughnuts (from the opposite vendor) for dessert.

Though I had fun in London (and we still didn’t see everything we wanted to see), we were happy to see goodbye to that part of our adventure. Edinburgh.


*Shonel and David have now returned home to Brisbane, Australia after two years in the UK and a few months travelling around the United States and South America.

*After I tried on that beautiful ring, the Assistant Manager gave J his business card and told him he could email him if he needed any help in the future looking for an engagement ring.

*The Walkabout in Convent Garden sadly closed in March after serving Australian expats for 18 years.

An example of the Animal Inside Out exhibit on display in Natural History Museums' central hall.

Big Ben

Our Beefeater tour guide

Camden Lock

*Shonel and David have now returned home to Brisbane, Australia after two years in the UK and a few months travelling around the United States and South America.

*After I tried on that beautiful ring, the Assistant Manager gave J his business card and told him he could email him if he needed any help in the future looking for an engagement ring.

*The Walkabout in Convent Garden sadly closed in March after serving Australian expats for 18 years.