London

WARNING: this is a extremely long blog, a cup of tea might be in order.

Its been a little while since i've posted anything, i've spent the last couple of weeks recuperating. when i got to here i was exhausted, i can't get over how much traveling has really taken it out of me.
first things first, i got into London and called my friend Sarah to let her know i was in and made my way to her place in Tooting. i got there a little bit early and so i waited in an internet cafe for a while until Sarah finished work. lucky for me her boss saw how excited she was to hear i was here and let her finish work early. before i knew it, Sarah was knocking people out of the way (i'm not kidding) to give me a hug. it was so nice to see Sarah, i think when i worked it out i hadn't seen her for over a year! so it was really nice to spend a solid week together just chilling out, come to think of it i probably wasn't much fun, i slept most of the time! It was actually really handy having Sarah too, because she's lived here for a while she showed me how to get to places and got me an Oyster card which is the card, that looks a little bit like a credit card, you get to use the public transport system here, its pretty nifty, you put money on it and you touch on and off at stations and it will automatically take the cost of your trip off it, then you just top it up when you run out of money. its so handy having it here in London, its busy all of the time, it would be a nightmare to get around any other way. i was interested to know why they called it 'oyster', you have to admit its a pretty strange name, there were a few reasons it was chosen, the first is supposidly its a metaphor, the shell is the plastic card and the concealed pearl is the money on it. the second reason also at one stage the Thames had oyster beds but also and third is the because of the phrase 'the world is your oyster'. i have to say, i kind of like the name. the tube itself is quite easy to use. something i found a interesting were some of the stations. one of them has Sherlock Holmes tiles through it, another has the side profile of her majesty on some of the tiles and the tunnels that link you between the lines make you feel like your going through a portal, like something from out of space. the carriages on the tube are smaller than i thought too, i thought they might be about the size of a train, not so. but, enough about public transport.

Sarah, myself and sarah's house mate Deanna did a day trip down to Brighton, which is a cute little seaside town. i really liked it, the town wasn't that big and had some nice little houses, shops and small lane ways. the beach had pebbles instead of sand which was strange, because i always associate sand with beaches. there is a really beautiful old pier in Brighton, at the end of it they have rides and stuff which was kinda cool. i liked Brighton, but i think a day trip was enough.
Something nice was i caught up a few people while i was here. Steve, who is a friend sarah and I from Melbourne. Steves been living here for a couple of years now and has even got married. it was great to catch up with him and meet his wife, Jo. its kind of strange me saying that, i can't get it around my head that i've hit that point in my life where some of my friends are getting married or having children. anyway, Steve looked really well, he was telling me he's given up a few of his vices and has taken up gym and swimming, for everyone back home that knows Steve, he's never looked so good!
i also saw Maddie, her boyfriend Mike and her brother Sam. Maddie and Mike arrived a couple of days after i did. they are planning on living and working over here. i caught up with them before i left but i hadn't seen Maddies brother in ages, last time i saw him he was about 16, now he's a man and he was massive! infact he has a better beard than me, and he kept reminded me of it.

Of course it was Christmas, but unfortuately not a white one, infact since i've been here the weather has been amazing, it hasn't rained once, which i think is a bit of a feat for London. Sarah and I did the grocery shopping for christmas. i love the fear in everyones eyes around this kind of year, people that were in Sainsbury's were losing there shit left, right and centre. so of course it was hellish buying stuff, but i think we succeeded in getting in and out in under half and hour! GO US! christmas lunch was brilliant, roast chicken & lamb as well as veggies and mulled wine, and for desert Sarah made chocolate moose, it was topped off by watching the christmas episode of 'the office' and a couple of phone calls from home. i've never eaten so much food the whole time i've been here in europe. it was a really enjoyable day, but probably not for Josh (one of sarah's house mates) he caught the flu and would spend the next 6 days looking like death warmed up, i have seriously never seen anyone look so sick, thank god my immune system held it together. As a bit of a thank you for letting me stay with them, for christmas i brought the house a toasted sandwich maker, lets face it, a share house isn't complete without one, am i right? I brought it from Argos which is pretty crazy, you go in there and choose things from a catalogue and then type in the code of the thing you want then they go out the back and get it, its a bit like a lucky dip! anyway, on boxing day Sarah and her housemates went off to Austria to go skiing for a week, so i pretty much got the place to myself, except for josh who was meant to go with them but got the flu, it did my best to play nurse.

while i was here i did pretty much all the touristy things, i'm going to do this in a list because i think its going to be easier for everyone:
- Buckingham palace, it wasn't was cool as you might think but still crazy to think Queenie lives there, its supposidly the most protected house in the United Kingdom but a few years back some German backpackers jumped the fence thinking that it was Hyde Park and camped over night, the funny part is they only got caught in the morning when they asked how to get out! up the road is the house where Charlie, Camilla and the boys live. CHECK!
- the Royal Albert hall, did you know it takes 4,000 hole in blackburn, lancashire to fill the Albert hall? CHECK!
- Abbey Road, i walked across the zebra crossing, it was so much smaller than i thought it was going to be, i've noticed that a lot since i've been traveling CHECK!
- Paul McCartney's London home, it was down the road from Abbey road, the light was on, but i din't see him, oh by the way, i'm not one of those crazy stalker people that visit the homes of celebrities 10 times a day... i only visted 7 times. kidding! actually considering Paul is one of the richest men alive, his home was quite modest compared to his neighbours, but the area was very nice. CHECK!
- Trafalgar square, something interesting i found out about Trafalgar square was that the statues of lions were actually made from melted down french cannons, and the guy that designed them had never seen a lion so he modelled it on his pet dog! CHECK!
- Oxford Circus, christ! circus is an understatement, i have never seen so many people at once, it was mental, it actually made shopping more of a nightmare, stopping and starting and getting blocked in a crowd wasn't really much fun. funny story, Sarah was doing a bit of shopping in Topshop (good store by the way) and when she went into the change room i just waited for her out the front, this guy came up to me and started chatting to me, when Sarah came out he looked at her and said while pointing at me 'I'm a really big Russell Brand fan, see ya mate have a good christmas' this guy thought i was comedian Russell Brand, Sarah thought it was hilarious. its not the first time i've been told i look like him, i've got it quite a bit, some people even double take. its pretty funny, but i honestly don't see the resemblance.
- Carnaby Street, i kind of knew that carnaby street wasn't was cool as it was in the swinging 60's but i still wanted to check it out, i personally think that the area around Covent Garden was pretty cool and not as busy. CHECK!
- Hyde Park, is was massive but quite nice and there are heaps of little squirels, at the end of it they have Kensington Palace which is where the late Pricess Diana lived. i didn't see all the crazy people that exersise there right to free speech, but i'll see it when i come back. there are a few parks in the area, i think it might have been St James's Park that was originally the royal zoo, the only animals that remain are the Pelicans, and they have been up to some strange behaviour of late, they've been eating PIGEONS! i'm not kidding either (check it out here its not for the faint hearted) CHECK!
- Big Ben, it was big, its called ben, its big ben! its attach to the house of lords and the house of commons. it was pretty cool, i thought the gothic architecture was quite amazing CHECK!
- 10 Downing street, whenever you see it on the TV it looks like anyone can walk down there and see it, this is so far from the truth, i couldn't get over how much security there was, it was so far away from the public, understandable come to think of it!
- Westminster Abbey, where most of the Kings and Queens of England have had there coronations and most are buried here too as well as a few other lucky buggers. it was also the home of the 'stone of destiny' for a while too (see my Edinburgh blog)
- Harrods, i couldn't get over how over the top it was, and the price of clothing was out of control. the food court was pretty impressive, especially the chocolate section. i was there during a sale and i still couldn't come close to buying anything, but its true what they say, 'money doesn't buy taste', i can't say i saw many well dressed people there. CHECK!
- Tower Bridge, probably the coolest of the bridges along the Thames, CHECK!
- Tower of London, i thought was pretty good, the crowds were crazy i had to wait in a line for about half an hour in the cold to see the crown jewels. the place is pretty packed full of history, so many people have lost there heads here and most of them are buried under the church, without there heads. something strange is they keep 6 ravens on the premises at all times because of an old tale that if they leave, the monarchy will fall. something else that was funny is before people had there head cut off they used to do a painting of them, well there was one time they forgot to paint a guy, so they stiched his head back on, threw a scarf around his neck, and quickly painted him before they buried him! The painting is still hanging up in the National Gallery, funnily enough he's not smiling...
- Notting Hill, its where the rich and famous live and also the name of a movie, i saw the book store Hugh Grants character work in, which was kinda cool. portobello road wasn't bad either, they had a few good shops there. CHECK!
- Brick Lane, i think was probably the coolest area, during the day its pretty good, great vintage clothing shops and cool bars, but at night is where it gets fun, Brick lane is known for its currys and people stand out the front practically begging you to come inside, i went into one called 'Aladins' and it boasted that Prince Charles ate there once. i have to say it was pretty good.
- Camden Markets, there are some good vintage shops and other bits and pieces, i thought was ok but i think it would've been better about 10 years ago before everybody found out about it, heres somethig for the trivia bank, supposidly its Amy Winehouse's part of town.
- The Ritz, believe it or not they wouldn't let me go passed the foyer! it was because i didn't realise there was a dress code and i was wearing jeans. it didn't really worry me but it did make me think about class. i understand why they have a dress code, its a nice place and it wouldn't be as nice if joe blow of the street came in for morning tea. but i thought the gentlemens clubs are a big wank, i was talking to someone about it, and supposidly the english are really into find out what class you fall under, really, who gives a shit? if your a idiot your still a idiot if you've got a money in the bank or from a privilaged back ground, the only difference is your a rich idiot.
i checked out both the tate modern and tate britian museums, which were pretty good, but if i had to choose i think the tate in liverpool was better. something that i did like at the tate were the different programs you could get, they guided you to different areas of the collection depending on what mood you were in, heres the name of a couple:
- the i like yellow collection
- the happily depressed collection
- the first date collection
- the rainy day collection
- the i want to be swept off my feet collection
i thought it was a cool idea, especially here in europe where there galleries are generally quite big and you just want to see the main stuff.

something interesting i found out about London is there is a hell of a lot of security cameras, infact there is 1 camera for every 13 Londoners, which is pretty crazy, you couldn't get away with scratching your bum without being caught. it actually reminded me that i heard of a movie that was made entirely out of CCTV footage, becuase (i dunno if this is true or not) after a while it becomes public demain. pretty cool concept for a film i think. speaking of security, its really hard finding a bin to throw your rubbish in, which is a real pain, i can't stand littering, i wonder if mass littering was part of the terrorists plan?

i really liked london, history is just bursting at the seams, but i think its one of those places you probably need to live in to fully grasp it. even though i was here for a little over 2 weeks it wasn't enough, but it won't be my last time here during my trip i'm going to do a few stop-off's here. but the main thing is my batteries are charged again which is great, i really needed a break for a bit, and spend some time with some old friends. just wanted to send a big thanks out to Sarah and her house mates for letting me crash with them for a while i hope i wasn't too much of a pain.
anyway off to Paris again for a few days to see Maddie, Mike and Sam again, then to the South of France! See ya!