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Oh goodness, I'm such a lazy blogger. I got back from London over 2 weeks ago and I'm only sitting down to write this now. Plus I've also been to Amsterdam, and if my sister wasn't coming in 22 days I would probably put it off even longer! But here it is, my London blog.
So as we know, it was my second time in London since I've been here. And it won't be my last; not only do I LOVE this city, but I'll be going back there to do my Oktoberfest contiki. Why London, when I live in Germany and that's where Oktoberfest is held? Because a) everything was booked out so I chose to do a Contiki and b) because it's actually a LOT cheaper and easier to go from London, especially during Oktoberfest time when every man and his dog wants to go to Munich. Anyway, that's not the point. This trip was extra special because I got to see my best friend Lauren, her Mum Carolyn (who is also like a second Mum to me), Lauren's fiancé Scott and his Mum Tracey. I'd been looking forward to exploring London with them since before I left Australia!
I flew in on Friday night and took the express train to a tube stop then changed trains there to get to Euston Square, smack bang in the middle of London. Traveling on the tube with 10kgs of luggage and a laptop in warm clothes is NOT fun, for those of you playing along at home. Neither is being pushed and shoved out of the way by other commuters because you're a little slower than them. I spent most of my time on the way saying things like 'Nah you're right, don't worry about me I'm nobody important,' or 'Oh sorry, was I in your way?'
London is a city of organised chaos, which is one of the things I love so much about it. But the people know where they need to be and sometimes they aren't the friendliest. I nearly died when, on my 5th day there, a seat became free and a guy OFFERED it to me before he sat down. I only had 2 stops so I remained standing, but still, it was the most romantic thing that's happened to me thus far.
Anyway, so I got to the hotel around 7ish and asked at the lobby for the Costa's room number. I lugged myself and my crap up the elevator. My heart was racing, I was so excited to see them and hug the crap out of them. I ran up the hallway to room 305, knocked on the door and...
Nothing.
I knocked again. Still nothing.
Well, if you looked up anti-climax on Google images, you might just see me standing in a hotel hallway wearing a Roosters jersey and carrying a pet Kookaburra, with a slightly disheartened look on my face. I went back down to the lobby and asked old mate behind the desk if he was sure the room number was right. He said 'I'm sure they're here, I saw them 5 minutes ago.' Then he poked his head into the dining room and said 'Oh, they're in there.' So I waddled on in and stood at the top of the stairs and shouted 'OI! Special delivery.'
I wanted to show Mrs. Costa how grown up I had become in the past 6 months so she could go back and tell my Mum; I think I succeeded quite well. And with that reunion it was as if I'd never left the country! They were all understandably jetlagged, but we squeezed in some dinner and a few drinks before making our way up to bed. Carolyn offered that I stay with her a few months ago, which was so nice of her and lucky for me because I was almost broke! But as it turned out, there was a mix-up with the bookings and between 5 of us there were only 4 beds. I had to 'sneak' into the room - not an easy thing to do given all the crap I was carrying, but lucky the hotel staff weren't the brightest and I wedged myself between the bed and the wall. I'm not gonna lie, it was the worst sleep of my life that night! But the next nights I had Carolyn's doona as a mattress because she didn't want it, so that was much better.
On Saturday we visited the Portobello markets at Notting Hill. There were all kinds of souvenirs, clothes, food, pubs and drinks. And let's not forget the token Eastern-European men who told me how very beautiful I am.
The next day we went to Camden markets which were even better; I bought some really cool T-shirts for some special people back home and my very own Justin Bieber jumper for 15 quid (yes I know what you're all thinking, and no I don't care). Then we went to M+M world which was a good novelty, but for those of you playing along at home, don't waste your money on a bag of mixed M+Ms - I paid 8 pounds for a few handfuls!
Monday was our hop on/hop off bus tour, which was fun but extremely cold. I enjoy seeing the cities by bus because it means I get to sit down, which suits me fine. But I do not enjoy being on the top of an open bus in 10 degree wind. We hopped off at a few places including Harrods, which was slightly out of my price range but I managed to afford a couple of notebooks! Go me. That night I caught up with Todd, a friend from home. Actually he's my sister's friend (hey Al!) but I stole him, we had a few beers and exchanged our travel stories. He even offered me a couch for the weekend because at that point I was homeless from Saturday on. Another great thing about London, everyone has a friend who lives there.
The rest of the week went so fast! Everyone but me went to Oxford on Tuesday, so I indulged in a bit of Op Shopping and some alone time in the big city; the only thing better than London shopping is London Op-Shopping! That night they all went to a musical so I went to visit another friend Dan who I met in Berlin.
Wednesday we familiarised ourselves with Primark. Oh who am I kidding, my bank account and I are WELL familiarised with Primark. But for the rest of them it was a bit of a novelty and we all bought some things we didn't even realise we needed. That night, Carolyn, Lauren and I went to the Spice Girls musical which was hilarious; I'm not a huge Spice Girls fan but I can appreciate a good musical! On Thursday they went to Paris so I was alone again, this time I went on a Harry Potter muggle walking tour, which was up there with the coolest things ever! I was easily the biggest nerd there, I answered all the questions right and did my Harry Potter obsessed family proud. We were taken to parts of London where the films were shot and told some really cool facts. If possible I fell even more in love with Harry.
I took myself to the Queen musical on Thursday night, and as a diehard fan I was in heaven. I pretty much had the whole row to myself and was making a right fool of myself singing and dancing along.
Friday it was already time to say goodbye; we had a pretty lazy day just doing some shopping and packing. Lauren and Scott were ready to start their Contiki trip, and Carolyn and Tracey already had to head back to Australia! I squeezed a few things into Carolyn's suitcase for her to send back, and when I say a few things I mean 3.5 kilos worth. Don't ask me how I'm getting all my s*** back to Australia in 6 months because your guess is as good as mine. As I was getting ready to leave, Lauren gave me a tiny box and said 'I got you a present!' I felt so bad because I hadn't gotten her anything, so when I unwrapped it and found a beautiful sterling silver ring with a pearl encased in it I felt even worse! Then before I could finish saying 'it's beautiful! Thank you!' she said to me 'will you be my bridesmaid?' I was and still am so over the moon that she chose me to represent her on her special day J I just can't wait. And with that my time with them was already up! It was perfect timing though, right around the 6 month mark and that means only 6 months til I see them again. I can deal with that. I can't thank you guys enough for letting me crash on your hotel room floor and saving me a tonne of money!
So, once again I dragged myself and all my crap onto the tube to meet Todd. He cooked us a feed then invited me to tag along with him and his friends to the Walkabout, an Aussie pub chain in London more commonly known as 'the walkie.' We had some 'snakebites,' and I have no idea what was in them but it was probably the worst drink I've ever had! It was a fun night though with a cool group. Saturday was pretty lazy, I had to head back to the hotel I was staying at before to pick up Kenny (SORRY KENNY!) and then I wandered around the city a bit before meeting up with Mel and Daise for a night out in Camden. Todd came along too which was quite handy because there's no way I would have known how to get back home again if he wasn't there. Sunday was another lazy one, and I decided to try and cook dinner to say 'thanks for having me.' But that didn't go very well, luckily Todd contributed his culinary skills to save the lasagne. It ended up tasting pretty damn good, and Todd if you're reading this; I might not be able to cook, but I can and will give you a special mention in my blog to say thank you for saving me a s*** load of money, helping me find my way around London and giving me a couch to sleep on; it was a slight upgrade from the floor
I was more than ready after 10 days in London to get back and see the kiddies again. I managed to get all the way back to Luxembourg to the stop where my bus would pick me up and take me to my home town. Little did I realise that my bus doesn't come on a public holiday; I could have sworn the website said it would. I already knew I had the best host parents in the world, but when my host Dad came to pick me up from a city, no sorry, COUNTRY 40 minutes away, it reinforced it all over again. I hope the next Au Pair they hire can read a bus timetable properly!
London, I love you! And I will see you again in September
Kate
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