London
Trip Start
Jan 05, 2008
1
53
61
Trip End
Jun 20, 2008
London,
England,
United Kingdom
Thursday, May 1, 2008
We arrived in London pretty late. The plan was to leave Paris around 11:30 am and after 8 hours drive (including the ferry) we were supposed to arrived at the Victoria Station in London. Well, it didnt quite happened that way. Our bus left on time, and after passing thru immigration and all that stuff, we arrived 20 minutes earlier at the deck where the ferry was supposed to be, but there was no ferry. Our ferry was delayed due to the strong winds, and worse was that it was delayed by 2 hours. So us and the other 60 people in the bus had to wait for the ferry in the parking lot of the deck where there was nothing but other buses, cars, and a small building with toilets and food. The food was a joke...outside the building there was a sign with a hamburguer, a drink and a coffee cup designed in it meaning "food", but inside the building we only had vending machines
We spot these from the highway
.Anyway, after two hours waitting we finally got in the ferry and the ride from Calais to Dover was fairly fast, one and a half hours. Then it took another two hours until the bus arrived where it should, at Victoria Station. It was about 10:45 pm.... not a big deal, except for the fact that the Victoria Metro Line is under repairs and on Mondays and Thursdays it only runs until 11pm. Well if you go back to a calendar you will see that May 1 was a Thursday...yeah.. so there we were again, inside the Victoria Train station, trying to make our way to the tube (thats how they call subways here) to catch the victoria line to get to the picadilly line, carrying all our luggage and listening to a man announcing in the speakers: "the last train (metro) at Victoria line is approaching the platform...be advised, this is the last train for the picadilly line, please make your way to the platform now".. stop laughing, because that was not funny! In the end we made it all right, and even got surprised with the amount of people in the tube... it was past 11 pm and it was like if it was rush hour... terribly packed. We arrived in the Oakwood station in Enfield and shortly after our friends were there to pick us up.
Day 2 and 3
We spent the day at home..yeah, at a home
We spot these from the highway
. After so long that was much deserved and we were so glad that we were doing so! We kept ourselves busy with four loads of laundry, updating the travelpod, eating well and resting. The day passed fairly fast actually. After dinner Jarrett went for a walk with Carmen (one of our hosts) and got to see a little of Enfield. Next day we spent the morning at home and then went for lunch at a local Thai restaurant where we had a really good Thai meal. Then we all sat in front of the TV and finished the day resting.
Day 4
We went to a nearby city, where Mariana, our friend's daugther lives and goes to college. We visited and had lunch at a local restaurant. Then on the way back we stopped at Windsor to check the castle out. We arrived there after the gates were already closed so we could only appreciate from the outside..not that I think we would have gone in anyway, since it cost £15 each (US$30 per person), but it made us feel better that it wasnt really because of the entrance fee :) So we walked around Windsor. The castle is really nice and the town as well.
Day 5
Holiday monday - since May 1 was on a Thursday, in London they push the middle week holiday to the following Monday so today was "holiday" here
We spot these from the highway
. So our friends had the day off and we all went to the town of Cambridge. The town was a surprise for me because I thought it was only the colleges, but I was very wrong. The town is quite big and the college feeling is all around, however it is a very picturesque town.. The town is surrounded by the Thames river and they have several parks...they do punting in the river, which is like a boat ride (like in the would in Venice), and since the weather was so good there were many people punting on the river! It was a very pleasant day.Day 6
Back to normal, our friends had to keep going with their busy lives and we enjoyed our time by taking our time in Enfield and then going to London later. We went to meet with some friends, Kate - a girl Jarrett went to collee with, and Brad - our new friend we met in Peru. We met with them in Picadilly Circus, and it was already getting a little dark so it was nice to see the place with the lights on. We went to a pub called Waxy O'Connors and then later to the Punch and Judy's pub. Being in London at night was a totally new and different feeling to me. It was very nice to spend some time with our friends. Kate and Brad - thanks again!!!
Day 7
Today we visited London for the first time
We spot these from the highway
. We started at Harrod's the famous department store in town. Then we visited the city walking again, enjoying the hot weather. This is the first time I have been in London and had sunny days, and this is the first time we have had so many sunny days in a row in this trip! So we walked thru Hyde and Wellignton Parks, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye and the Tower Bridge. Day 8
We were to meet friends again in London tonight, so we decided to spend the day around Enfield. We walked thru downtown and not much has changed since the last time I was here, but this little town is still a very nice place to visit! Then we were off to London and met with Brad only, because the other guys couldnt make it. The first thing we did was to ride a true London black cab! That was something!!! Then we had some drinks and dinner along the Thames river, watching London getting dark and having all lights lit up, finishing our visit in London in style, thanks to our friend Brad.
Day 9
One more load of laundry before head off. Lunch with Allan, a friend from SMR days, and dinner with our hosts. Our hosts are gracious enough to drive us 2 hours to our hotel tonight so we dont have to wake up the next morning at 4 AM to make our train to the airport.
