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We left Adelaide on sunny Sunday 3rd April and arrived uneventfully in Melbourne. Quick transfer through gates and we boarded our Etihad flight for the long, long trip to Abu Dhabi.
Rather, should I say we endured it!
Matt says "at least I got to watch Top Gear and Star Wars!" Very little sleep, then arrived in Abu Dhabi near midnight local time.
Most of the airport seemed either closed or uninteresting to us, maybe we were just not looking hard enough for something to do. Waiting in the lounge area for our boarding gate to open, an unexpected thing happened though - we were all freezing cold!!! Never thought that would be our experience of the warm UAE.
Finally onto our A380 for the last hop to Heathrow. Now as seasoned travellers, we all coped a bit better and managed a small nap or two.
Luckily for us, our bags managed this whole journey with no help from us, and arrived before we did at the luggage collection area!
Onto the Underground after kind assistance by a Transit Officer with plenty of advice regarding our Oyster Cards (thanks Simone!). Our perfect-timed trip began now, as the train pulled in within moments of us arriving on the platform. Felt more like we were on Sydney trains, except for the surreal names of very familiar stations. Although the UK seem to have used a lot of ours - couldn't they think of any of their own? So unimaginative.
Hotel quickly discovered (thanks to Google Earth streetview it was all very familiar). Bags dropped then off we went on a big cream and red double decker bus to explore.
London is a surprisingly friendly city. Seeking some lunch, we were wandering a small back street, when we spotted through a window a large group of early teen boys who must have been waiting for us for quite a while. With enthusiastic, joyous waving they gained our attention, and received laugh-making waves back in reply. Their joking fun kind of backfired though, when we entered the Fish and Chip shop and approached with "hello, fancy seeing all you here, how nice" comments.
Leaving our new friends, we ate our fish and chips on the steps of St Pauls where we were surrounded by pigeons (and people!) and the strains of a poignant tune from Mary Poppins were running through our heads. Then we headed in to the awe-inspiring space - craning our necks to gaze in amazement at the ceiling and the height of the dome and be humbled by all the memorials to fallen soldiers etc.
Then back on the bus again for a looping trip past many sights:
Big Ben - fancy house for a bell
Houses of Parliament - very obvious were all the taxes are spent in this country
Buckingham Palace -we waved, but the royals are not as friendly as the boys in the fish and chip shop, nice garden though
Trafalgar Square - here be lions
Piccadilly Circus - strangely no lions, clowns or big tops…
The Tower- threats of beheading or imprisonment brother-to-brother, nothing unusual
London Bridge - thankfully NOT falling down today!
Other things which made us gasp - firstly a grey squirrel in a park, black cabs by the dozen (mostly empty) nine red double-decker London buses in a row, a red Postman Pat van and round red post boxes with black tops. London likes the colour red (maybe they got a deal on a bulk purchase).
Unfortunately, it began to rain quite heavily, and we amateurs had unthinkingly left our hotel without any of our wet weather gear - well, the sun was shining! Lesson learnt.
Matt was feeling the effects of the long flight quite badly - or maybe he was just moaning about it the loudest? After an early tea of pizza, and a quick pop into Sainsburys for lunch supplies, we were all soundly asleep by 9.30. Day 1 done and dusted.
- comments
Jo Would have loved to hear the conversation between you and your fish 'n chip shop welcoming party! I too found London to be strangely familiar yet unfamiliar - no doubt in part due to books and tv - and monopoly games