Olympia Estates London

... bombs in them. So even without them they have people always cleaning and it’s super clean, it’s a paradox. Did I also mention how extremely friendly everyone is? I’m completely blown away at the hospitality of this city. After we got off the train we ended up on Bank exit and started walking around. We stopped at a local pub called ONeils and I had fish and chips with a Guinness… so now I can say I ate fish and ...

... suppose to try and make laugh). Well, it turns out, not so random. It was time for the changing of the guard and that is what they were doing. But the palace tour was really cool. It took us through all of the "state rooms" which is basically the rooms that the world leaders that come and visit the Queen see when they first arrive. The rooms were decorated very lavishly (duh! it's a castle) lots of gold trim and high ceilings, huge chandeliers, old ...

... our first taste of London life. I was impressed by the fast pace. Streams of smartly-dressed people flowed in and out the doors; everybody in such a hurry! I suppose that is to be expected in a train station in a big city. People don’t exactly go there to linger and enjoy the ambience.

We ate quickly and started looking around for a place to dispose of our trash. There were no rubbish bins to be seen anywhere nearby. Having had the message that it ...

... the Horse Guards, and then walked to the craziness of Piccadilly Circus.

After a brief rest back at the hotel, we headed out for a walking tour called The Blood and Tears Walk. Luckily this time we only had about 15 others and it was a very nice, brisk, 2 hour tour about the less than respectable London citizens, Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd and a few other serial killers. It was fascinating and ...

... out of the Sherlock Holmes Museum and decided to take on London the following day instead. This was after running into money issues. Several vendors refused to take the bills she received from Travelex. Apparently, bills from 1990 are still considered legal tender, but you need to go to banks to exchange them for "circulating currency." I had never heard of such a thing before. I wonder if the U.S. has this policy.

... and so was I. Considering that and Preston station, I've actually shed quite a few tears today. And we're back to the world of sore feet. After arriving at Euston Station today, we walked the kilometre (or a bit more) to our hotel. I must check names tomorrow, but we're staying in a hotel in Gower Street, in the same street as (I think) University College, London. Certainly a university and a school of dramatic arts. We're also in the ...

... London. Amsterdam, there are so many ethnic restaurant, and not Dutch. Indian, Mexican, Italian, you name it. I usally stated off with the basic Bagle, muffin and coffee for breafast (never been much for breakfast guy anyways) it was close to the hostel and the lady was really nice. Ate lunch on the fly usually pizza or something quick. Dinner ate at pubs, but it was all western food. Burgers, salads, you know pub food. I hasn't changed ...

I left LAX with Air New Zealand, and arrived in London 10 mins early! The flight was ok. My back hurt and i couldn't find a comfortable position so I didn't sleep the whole flight.. Plus they had those personal screens with on demand movies/tv shows/music/and ...

This is our last day away. Mum decided to go shopping in Oxford street. I took the Underground to the Tower of London to see the Ravens, the Crown Jewels, the armoury and to get a feel for the history of the place. Definitly worth the time spent. Next I decided to have a closer look St Paul's ...

... my second time there (the first time was only for a day), and I had not seen a lot of it like this. And, we hung out with our friends. It was like home. COMING TO THE WEST...AND JOINING FRIENDS One reaction I remember was, not only were we excited to stay in this sparkling clean apartment with our friend, but we were overly excited when Kathy handed us plush, white, amazing smelling towels! We almost got a high off of the detergent smell when we stuck our ...