London Visit

LONDON - 10TH MAY 2009
After a week of staying in bed and taking it easy last week, I decided I was bored out of my mind and needed to go out and do something!
Sunday came around and I decided that was the day. It was Mothers Day back home and since I couldn't spend the day with my family as usual, I chose to be a tourist for the day in London!



I am really lucky in that where I live is only a short distance from London. 19 minutes on the train and I was at London Paddington. I decided I was going to win the battle against the Underground this time, not the other way around (I am terrified of getting lost on the tube, sooo many lines, stations, people!!). After arriving I took a stroll down by the river Thames and was watching the "street" performers. Your everyday 'pedestrians' doing things they enjoy. There was a mimming clown, a dancing wizard, a Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean wannabe, Kings & Queens with no heads, acrobats and much much more. Some of these performers are really passionate about what they do, I love it. I think I spent over an hour on this stretch of pavement which led down to the World Famous London Eye!


London is a big scary place when your this girl, alone, from the suburbs of Sydney. It's massive, there are people everywhere, intense protests going, millions of streets, buses, cars & taxis... it blows me away. Amoungst the chaos though, are some of the citys most famous landmarks. I walked down to the London Eye, took photos of 'Big Ben', saw Houses of Parliment, had my photo taken with an English Police officier who was more than happy to pose, went down to the Horse Guard Parade I think it is called. I feel for the poor horses who have to stand there for something like 8 hours straight. One of the Guards was fast asleep on horseback. His head kept nodding forward as he dozed off. It was quite funny! I got talking to a family who were from northern England, a gentleman from I think it was Austria & a couple from America. Never met these people before, and will never see them again for for 5 minutes it was just me and them. It's amazing how much you can learn about a person in 5 minutes.
I also walked down to Buckingham Palace, which really isn't that pretty from the outside. I do know from taking the tour of inside the Palace last year, that it's GORGEOUS on the inside though.
Went and sat in the park for a little while, admiring the beautifully nourished green trees and endless grass. I watched a few month old baby giggling with his parents, children playing soccer, couples enjoying a picnic together. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own little world that we miss seeing other beautiful moments in life. Although being a tourist alone sucks, it gives you the opportunity to really take in whats going on around you.
After Buckingham Palace and the park, I was feeling exhausted (a little too much, too soon) so took the tube back up to Trafalgar Square. I was most disappointed to see the beautiful water fountains, waterless!!! Walked around the streets for a little bit, taking photos of Underground signs, red telephone boxes, black taxis & double decker open top buses before attempting to get home. Have I mentioned how much I hate the tube?!? Took a while and alot of overheating but I figured out my way back to Paddington. Got onto the train with seconds to spare, literally. The driver saw me coming so waved at me to run. Apart from the trains it was a nice, peaceful, stress-free day. I really enjoyed it. Next time I am in London I want to go to Convent Garden!

Time to sleep soon. I finally found a way to watch the Season 6 One Tree Hill episodes, so stayed up til 3am catching up. I was determind to finish Episode 23 before I went to sleep, and did.
Having less then 2 hours sleep is not agreeing with me, however. I fell asleep on the couch watching 'Beyonce Vs Rhianna' on some music channel with L @ 7pm tonight. I feel way beyond my 21 years these days!

Oh and some fantastic news for my family. My cousin Tim & his wife welcomed their second baby boy 3 weeks early on Monday. Ethan James weighed 6lbs 9ozs and is soo tiny. I can't wait to go back to Aus to meet the little guy!

Eli xx