Excelsior Hotel London

... realised this is to keep the birds off...so the pigeons don't nest or poo everywhere. Smart idea, but not very appealing. Even on the front of Buckingham Palace there is mesh over the main stone carving.

From the Tower, i headed across to the Great Fire of London (1666) Monument designed by Sir Christopher Wren and commissioned by King Charles II. It was £1 extra with the Tower Bridge tour, otherwise i probably wouldn't have bothered. Not that exciting, but very ...

... Buenos Aires

· Expenditure 3 days in Hospital, Nashville

· Wine Malbec in Mendoza, Argentina

... of eating 2 minute noodles in a hostel we made tracks for Lake Taupo.

For those that don’t know Taupo, it’s actually a lake on an extinct volcano. It was a hell of a volcano in its day – when it did kick off way back when, the explosion was 100 times greater than that of Krakatoa.

It’s also the skydiving capital of the world. Enter Mike.

What do you get if you cross Cadbury’s chocolate with the movie Point Break?

A skydiving ...

Up early for breakfast and then out the door, off to Hampton Court to meet Henry. Easy train ride however Jims mother was a little concerned she would have to make one of those Loy forced marches, she didn't. They have really changed touring making it a bit interactive with characters and move at your own speed etc. What was to be a three or four hour stay concluded around 5 pm, oops. We have a show date for 7:30 and must get back the train station in London then ...

... to the overcautious security screening of my credit card company, when presented with 3 different payment requests (Trailfinders, British Airways and the local airlines).  OK - that sorted, I now have payments scattered across more than one credit card and don't have the full insurance cover offered by my primary card!! More later

... headliners to be AMERICAN EATS BRITISH PERSON! The United States already has a bad enough foreign image as it is. Once we exited the Tower of London, we walked along the Thames to the Tower Bridge. Of course, we absolutely had to walk over it; but that was okay because we needed to get across the river anyway. Only afterwards did I realize that we could have gone up and walked on the higher part. That mad me sad =( but I decided that I ought to leave stuff for my ...

Thanks to those that came for a drink before I left. I managed 3 hours sleep and think I was still drunk when I hoped on the plane. So the trip to London felt like it took twice as long. Jet lag and hang over is not a good way to start a holiday. We boarded our Contiki bus in ...

... welcome to stop by. so after linda was ready her and i headed two doors down and we were all chatting and laughing. the gal taht is on my tour her name is kahli. i thought it was hallie or something but i was mistaken. so than they invited kahli nad i down to the london pub for a drink. we had cokes and chips but still it was fun. later on, a few of their mates that were coming for dinner stopped by,. than there was about 11 of us, b ...

This is my space, I will be who I am whether you like it or not. I have never thought that it is so hard to write a blog. I do not really know exactly how to start, or what to put in here. o_O. When I was just about to write this journal, and to think who I can share this blog with, I realised that I do not really have many friends whom I have truly opened myself to. I feel sad to say this, but I haven't been ...