This is my third attempt at writing a blog, and hopefully this one will stay around for a while longer. I thought I’d write a bit of a travel journal/guide, documenting my experiences and adventures and recommendations of different places to visit.
I’ve travelled for most of this year, leaving Australia in early February to stay in Thailand for two months, and then back to the mother land in Sweden from April onwards. I might write something later on about Thailand and/or Sweden but I thought I’d start with my awesome weekend in London. I had two reasons for my trip to London. Firstly I wanted to visit my friends Dan and Pascal who just moved there from Brisbane; and secondly I wanted to check out the city to see if I really wanted to live there in the future.
I arrived on Thursday evening (2008-Jun-26) at Gatwick Airport. First up I recommend getting an Oyster Card as it will get you around most of London without having to think about public transport costs too much. I took the train and tube to Bermondsey station where I was greeted by Dan. I was at a loss for words at first, both because it was surreal seeing Dan in London but also because my brain had switched over to Swedish lately so I had trouble getting words out ha ha. Once we arrived at the apartment Pascal had just arrived home from work so we decided to start cooking up some dinner and open up a bottle of wine. After much catching up and some more wine it was time to call it a night, early in the morning.
A couple of hours later it was already time to get up as both Dan and Pascal had to work that Friday. I decided to do a big sightseeing trek around London, but not before having a cup of coffee. I started my walk from Southwark Park road and made my way across to the Tower Bridge. I quite like the Tower Bridge so I spent a bit of time there photographing the bridge itself as well as some of the London skyline. Walking across the Tower Bridge and looking at the rest of the city gave me a familiar feeling of being home in Brisbane. It was quite odd, but as soon as I set foot in London I felt comfortable at once.
I continued over the bridge and stopped at the Tower of London. I only briefly read the information signs as I’ll do a more in-depth history tour next time. My walk continued through the inner city and along the river. I passed the St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tate Modern Collection, Battle of Britain monument, before sitting down on a bench to have a cheeseburger lunch looking at the London Eye and pondering how much I had covered in my walk already and yet seen so little of massive London!
Onwards I went and walked across Westminster Bridge and got some photos of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. I thought it would be bigger… get it? Ha ha, yeah ok. When I got across to the London Eye I noticed some sculptures of Salvador Dali, they are hard to miss and Salvador Dali being my favourite artist I had to look around to see why the sculptures had been placed there. In the County Hall Gallery which is next to the London Eye there is a permanent exhibition known as the Dali Universe. I spent a couple of hours walking through there and I think it is well worth the £12 entry fee.
It had been a beautiful day so far in London with only a bit of overcast. I walked across the next bridge and made my way towards Buckingham Palace. I had to stop to take cover in front of a bank because it started pouring down rain. Can you believe it? Raining in London, who would have thought? He he. The rain didn’t last for too long and I eventually made it all the way to Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Monument. My final stop on my sightseeing trek was to walk to Picadilly Circus. I have to say that the actual centre of Picadilly Circus didn’t impress me too much, but I guess it’s a good starting point or meeting place as there are heaps of shops and other interesting places to find if you walk around the area. There are some great bargains at Picadilly Circus for getting cheap or two for one tickets to shows though.
It was time for my tired feet to get a bit of a rest so I caught the Tube from Picadilly Circus back to Bermondsey. Dan finished earlier than Pascal so we caught the bus to Oxford Street where both of them work in retail stores. We had a quick wander around the shops and street while waiting for Pascal to finish work. If you’re looking to spend a bit of money on shopping then Oxford Street is a good place to be. The Friday ended with an early night to catch up on sleep from the night before.
I woke up on Saturday morning well rested from a good night’s sleep. Dan was off to work, but Pascal had the day off. Pascal and I had planned to head to the markets and show me some other areas of London. We caught the Tube and headed to the Portobello markets. The funniest thing happened on the Tube, a pigeon flew in and just stood there. I’m guessing it’s been for a ride before as it calmly waited for the next stop. When the doors opened it looked up at the doors, as if to make sure it was the right stop and then it just walked out. I just had to get a photo of the cute little pigeon! The markets were one of the many highlights of my trip to London. There is so much to find here I ended up with some new sunnies, mini-wallet, antique portable binoculars, and had my eyes on heaps more but will definitely come back here for some future shopping.
After the markets we caught the Tube to Liverpool Street station and wandered to Brick Lane. So far this is my favourite place for shopping. There is awesome fashion here and great little cafés to eat at. Pascal and I spent the afternoon walking through some of the shops and had a haloumi and aubergine burger, which was very tasty. A friend of Dan and Pascal’s met up with us as well, Jemima, who is another Brisbane girl living in London, and who I’ve met a couple of times previously in Brisbane. Having a group of Australians living in London made it all feel closer to home. I’m not sure how we can ship the weather over though; I’ll just have to settle for weekends away down the Mediterranean until I’ve figured that one out.
The three of us now walked around Brick Lane and stopped for a snack at Café 1001, which has delicious frappes and a nice atmosphere, definitely worth checking out. Another place I recommend in Brick Lane is Illustrated People, which make really cool t-shirts, or All Saints which has the fashion I love at a price slightly above my weekend budget, NEXT TIME I TELL YOU!
Saturday evening we decided to order in some Thai food. There is a cool little website called Just-Eat.co.uk which has a selection of different types of food from local places that deliver right to your door. I’m quite used to eating “westernised” Thai food that has slightly richer sauces and a more mild taste but I was surprised that the Thai food we got was very authentic and nearly burned our heads off. Good food is always a good start to a Saturday night as we started getting ready to head out.
Dan and Pascal had already organised tickets to Ministry of Sound Club where Roger Sanchez was playing for the night. Ministry of Sound is a good club but if you have been to the Family I think you feel a bit spoilt, having such a world class club in Brisbane. I’ll try to explain my view of Ministry of Sound. The main room where Roger Sanchez was playing is a big open space slightly familiar to a warehouse, and neon signs/lights hanging from the rooftop. The other main room, which is what you see when you first enter the club through metal detectors, has a bit of a Monastery feel to it with a long bar alongside the dancefloor, but there are also some stairs to walk up where you can overlook the dance floor and bar. Once up on the balcony there are two areas, one VIP room with couches and a second lounge area that has seats and a bar for a quieter atmosphere. Finally there is also a third dance floor which is tiny and has a third bar, reminded me a bit of the smaller bar room that can be found at the Met, close to where you walk up the stairs towards the smoking area.
After a night of dancing and the morning light starting to show itself by the horizon we decided to take a walk down to the river. London seems to be full of eerie places that remind you of Brisbane as we were sitting by the river watching the sunrise it has a very similar feel to sitting by the Brisbane River at Teneriffe. It was a lovely way to end the night/morning.
A Sunday is usually best spent not doing too much with some close friends after a night of partying. How perfect was the timing of this weekend when we could grab a six pack of beers and walk to Southwark Park and sit on the grass enjoying the sounds of the Cuban Music Festival on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Monday had arrived and it was my last day in London. I hadn’t spent too much of my allocated budget to my surprise. So what does a person do when you have a wad of cash, it’s the last day of your holiday, and you’re in a vibrant city like London? You go shopping of course! Where? Brick Lane! No time to waste, jumped on the Tube to first head to London Bridge station so I could store my suitcase somewhere. Now I didn’t think this would be a big mission but turns out the nearest station that has “Left Luggage” facilities, what I would call a suitcase locker, is at Waterloo Rail Station. Finally got rid of my suitcase and headed to Liverpool Street. Stopped for some Gelato while doing some people watching and then spent the afternoon acquiring some new items for my wardrobe and also went into Rough Trade Music where I got my hands on some new music.
Getting to the airport for my flight and the actual flight home was pretty standard. I flew Sterling, which I can recommend, not a bad airline at all. I have friends that have recommended Ryan Air because of their super cheap flights but I have yet to fly them. If you’ve been on a flight with them let me know how it is.
In short, what did I learn from my London weekend? It’s all the hype everyone says it is and worth the holiday or plans to work/live there. Next step, I need to find a place to live…
“You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” – Samuel Johnson
