It’s a busy last couple of weeks in London. Christine still has a few days left at work but this is all very disrupted by all the public holidays. The first week is Easter Monday, Tuesday is a training day she is not needed at then Friday is the Royal wedding. The second week Monday is May Day, another public holiday and she finishes on Thursday. To make things even busier we have my friend from Mebourne, Amy and her husband Allan coming to London for a week before their tour of Europe.
We arrived back in London on Wednesday afternoon and headed to our friend Chirsty’s that night for a few farewell drinks. Her and her mum are leaving the following morning to visit Italy before flying home to Florida.
Thursday was a bit of a getting settled day. Amy and Allen were due to arrive that night and we were not sure if they wanted to meet or what their plan for the week was so it was easier to have all our house keeping done before then. The first item of the agenda was a doctor’s appointment to make sure we had all the vaccinations we would need for our travels home. We have started to think about what to take traveling and what is being shipped home. It is amazing how much you can accumulate in a short space of time. I’m sure there was a bit of washing done in the afternoon as well. It turned out that Amy and Alan were a bit delayed at the airport and didn’t make it to the hotel until late so we had to wait another day to see them.
In the morning we did get to see Amy and Alan, which was nice. It was their wedding that we went to in China a year and a half ago. After a coffee and giving them a brief tour of the local area (they are staying in the same street) we sent them on their way, sightseeing. We had a very lazy day, went for a walk to Little Venice to look at pubs for our farewell drinks and then chilled in the park with everyone from the hostel in the afternoon. It was Good Friday and a nice sunny day so for dinner the four of us had a vegetarian picnic in Hyde Park.
Saturday marked the 2 week countdown of our time remaining in London. There is still a few things, not too much, but a few things we would like to do. We filled in our Saturday with one of these, Kew Gardens. It was Mel’s day off too so she joined us which was very nice. This place was one of the things that Christine really wanted to do as it has heaps of plants and trees to hug, dang hippie! Its was good, I thought that the Eden Project in Cornwell was better, but a good day out nonetheless. It had gardens from around the world, including Australia. The highlights were the tree top walking path, cactus’ and the water lilies. 
After the gardens the 3 of us embarked on a huge trek from south west London to the north east, on a weekend, meaning much of the public transport is in disarray. We were heading to Peter (Damiens work buddy from Lebara) and Megan’s for dinner. We were only a hour late, which was a pretty good effort. We actually arrived just as 2 of Megan’s friends did so it was all good, and the dinner was amazing. They have a nice apartment in a more English part of outer London. Megan had cooked an amazing roast which everyone enjoyed.
Sunday we were pretty lazy again. Damien went for a run in Hyde Park and then we returned to the park with books to read in the sun. The Whole last month that we have been in England the weather has been amazing, aka no rain and double digit temperatures! Tonight we dined with Amy and Alan at our local, cheap Thai restaurant, Tuk Tuk. They were reasonably impressed, considering they had been disappointed with china town and a Chinese restaurant in the area in the past few days! We caught up with their sightseeing and were amazed to hear how much they had seen and done in 2 days.
Monday 25th April, Easter Monday and Anzac Day! No school today so Hollie, Pinks and Gemma had invited us around to their place for a BBQ lunch. We are still not sure who was happier, Damien got to cook the BBQ and the girls had their lunch cooked for them! What started out as a BBQ lunch turned into a cider session, with several trips to the shop for more drinks, pizza and a short stint playing cards in Hyde Park, all in all a brilliant day!
After an unexpected late night we slept in, again. Christine’s school was having a student free day, so she did not need to work. Christine spent the afternoon shopping, while Damien caught up with Lucy, another friend from work in Melbourne. Lucy arrived today, with a two year visa to work in the UK. She joined us with Amy and Alan for dinner at Cha Cha Moon near Regent Street. After dinner Lucy headed home and the four of us went to see a musical called Million Dollar Quartet. This is the story of when Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins were all in the recording studio together. There is not much of a story but heaps of great music and since we had bought the cheap seats, we were upgraded for free to a much better section.
The previous night Lucy had been asking about the city of London and where it was. Not an easy thing to define in London really, so easier to show her. In the morning, while Christine was back at work, we did the free walking tour starting from Hyde Park corner. This is a tour that we did probably 12 months ago, and while it is essentially the same, I still enjoyed it for the second time. It passes Buckingham Palace and Pall Mall which are looking nice for the bloody wedding. It visits other sights like St James Park, Horse yards, Trafalgar Sq, Big Ben and Westminster.
After the tour we continued on up to Piccadilly, Covent Garden and Leister Square. After a long day walking we headed back to Amy and Alans, met Christine and headed to the Churchill Arms. This is the English pub with a Thai restaurant, Damien’s favourite pub in London. As always it was busy, good cheap food and of course pints. Sadly Amy and Alan are leaving tomorrow, their week in London is up after a great week they head to Paris for the next part of their trip, let’s hope it’s not too much of a disappointment! 
We arrived back in London on Wednesday afternoon and headed to our friend Chirsty’s that night for a few farewell drinks. Her and her mum are leaving the following morning to visit Italy before flying home to Florida.
Thursday was a bit of a getting settled day. Amy and Allen were due to arrive that night and we were not sure if they wanted to meet or what their plan for the week was so it was easier to have all our house keeping done before then. The first item of the agenda was a doctor’s appointment to make sure we had all the vaccinations we would need for our travels home. We have started to think about what to take traveling and what is being shipped home. It is amazing how much you can accumulate in a short space of time. I’m sure there was a bit of washing done in the afternoon as well. It turned out that Amy and Alan were a bit delayed at the airport and didn’t make it to the hotel until late so we had to wait another day to see them.
In the morning we did get to see Amy and Alan, which was nice. It was their wedding that we went to in China a year and a half ago. After a coffee and giving them a brief tour of the local area (they are staying in the same street) we sent them on their way, sightseeing. We had a very lazy day, went for a walk to Little Venice to look at pubs for our farewell drinks and then chilled in the park with everyone from the hostel in the afternoon. It was Good Friday and a nice sunny day so for dinner the four of us had a vegetarian picnic in Hyde Park.
Saturday marked the 2 week countdown of our time remaining in London. There is still a few things, not too much, but a few things we would like to do. We filled in our Saturday with one of these, Kew Gardens. It was Mel’s day off too so she joined us which was very nice. This place was one of the things that Christine really wanted to do as it has heaps of plants and trees to hug, dang hippie! Its was good, I thought that the Eden Project in Cornwell was better, but a good day out nonetheless. It had gardens from around the world, including Australia. The highlights were the tree top walking path, cactus’ and the water lilies. After the gardens the 3 of us embarked on a huge trek from south west London to the north east, on a weekend, meaning much of the public transport is in disarray. We were heading to Peter (Damiens work buddy from Lebara) and Megan’s for dinner. We were only a hour late, which was a pretty good effort. We actually arrived just as 2 of Megan’s friends did so it was all good, and the dinner was amazing. They have a nice apartment in a more English part of outer London. Megan had cooked an amazing roast which everyone enjoyed.Sunday we were pretty lazy again. Damien went for a run in Hyde Park and then we returned to the park with books to read in the sun. The Whole last month that we have been in England the weather has been amazing, aka no rain and double digit temperatures! Tonight we dined with Amy and Alan at our local, cheap Thai restaurant, Tuk Tuk. They were reasonably impressed, considering they had been disappointed with china town and a Chinese restaurant in the area in the past few days! We caught up with their sightseeing and were amazed to hear how much they had seen and done in 2 days.
Monday 25th April, Easter Monday and Anzac Day! No school today so Hollie, Pinks and Gemma had invited us around to their place for a BBQ lunch. We are still not sure who was happier, Damien got to cook the BBQ and the girls had their lunch cooked for them! What started out as a BBQ lunch turned into a cider session, with several trips to the shop for more drinks, pizza and a short stint playing cards in Hyde Park, all in all a brilliant day!
After an unexpected late night we slept in, again. Christine’s school was having a student free day, so she did not need to work. Christine spent the afternoon shopping, while Damien caught up with Lucy, another friend from work in Melbourne. Lucy arrived today, with a two year visa to work in the UK. She joined us with Amy and Alan for dinner at Cha Cha Moon near Regent Street. After dinner Lucy headed home and the four of us went to see a musical called Million Dollar Quartet. This is the story of when Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins were all in the recording studio together. There is not much of a story but heaps of great music and since we had bought the cheap seats, we were upgraded for free to a much better section.
The previous night Lucy had been asking about the city of London and where it was. Not an easy thing to define in London really, so easier to show her. In the morning, while Christine was back at work, we did the free walking tour starting from Hyde Park corner. This is a tour that we did probably 12 months ago, and while it is essentially the same, I still enjoyed it for the second time. It passes Buckingham Palace and Pall Mall which are looking nice for the bloody wedding. It visits other sights like St James Park, Horse yards, Trafalgar Sq, Big Ben and Westminster.
After the tour we continued on up to Piccadilly, Covent Garden and Leister Square. After a long day walking we headed back to Amy and Alans, met Christine and headed to the Churchill Arms. This is the English pub with a Thai restaurant, Damien’s favourite pub in London. As always it was busy, good cheap food and of course pints. Sadly Amy and Alan are leaving tomorrow, their week in London is up after a great week they head to Paris for the next part of their trip, let’s hope it’s not too much of a disappointment! 
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