We are in London – and the first beer is a Peroni – go figure! After a 4.00am wake up call at Stansted airport (to the call of “thanks ladies and gents, time to move on. I know it’s early” (damn right it is). The 6.40am bus took us right in to the heart of London, peak hour. Hmmm. We found our accommodation at The Green Man hostel, and let us tell you we are definitely not ‘green with envy”! Shoebox size room, 45C sweltering heat and 9 dorm beds.... but the beer was great! We were also reminded of how small the world actually was as we met a colleague of Gerard’s cousin Amanda, who works in Singapore! He is obviously scouting for more teachers....
What better way to start a visit to London than the very touristy Buckingham Palace to witness the changing of the guard. Little action but lots of people! This was followed by a walk to visit Hyde Park, Wellington Arch, Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly and several other Monopoly sites. Bee was very starry eyed...
The main aim of the first week was to attend some teaching agency meetings and start setting up bank accounts etc (quickly reminding us that we actually will need to do some work at some stage in the future), however we were still able to put the walking shoes on and take in some sites. It was also great to catch up with some Aussie mates in Hyde Park and relax with a drink or two...
• Public displays of affection, whilst common, are not the main form of public display. The other PDA (public display of abuse) is the main form, whereby females will yell uncontrollably into their mobiles on a busy street.
• The lack of skyscrapers in London is obviously attributed to the Londoners inability to stack a decent burger.
• We thought Wardy was great at singing in the shower, you should hear some of the guys singing in the park while riding their bikes!
After moving hostels a few times in four days, our last few nights before jetting off to France were spent in the famous Notting Hill with cousin Rita and Tim. Here we were introduced to Portobello Road, Market Thai and Moroccan fish. YUMMY!
