Destination Unknown: London

Once again, thanks to general slackness and the lack of computer access, I write this after the fact. But for all intents and purposes, Ill write it as though its present tense. I digress...

WAHHH!!!!! Off I go to London town!! Tobi, the lovely guy he is, dropped me at the airport with enough time for me to check in, grab a latte and have a sammie :) The flight was OK and took about an hour and a half, the landing (as we've had some dodgy ones in the past) was fine, and I met this lovely lady in the elevator while i was confused to buggery while trying to find the train station. She was Polish, and when on the train, she showed me where I needed to go (Stansted Express to Tottenham Hale, then tube to Finsbury Park) Sweeg, no worries there... She even happened to be going my way so I got on the right tube!

Then we parted ways, and my first journey to an unknown land turned from looking promising to looking like a disaster. No shit, I caught the W3 bus. It said on the timetable it went via Crouch End!!

Apparently not. Because I ended up, 45 minutes later, and at the suggestion of this old dude next to me, getting off at Tottenham Cemetry. WAH!!! Dammit. I crossed the road, looked totally befuddled, and this lovely woman told me the way to get to Crouch End from my current predicament/location. Catch the 261 to Turnpike Lane, then the 41 to Green Park (?) then the somethingelse to Crouch End. Poor Debs got a blow-by-blow account of my journey via text, as I slowly made my way to her side of town...

3 hours and 45 minutes after getting off the plane in Stansted, I got off the whateveritscalled bus in Crouch End. And, about to wet my pants after holding on from SALZBURG!! I ran into the local KFC, where Debs came and found me to avoid any further directional disasters. YAY!!

We got to her and Charley's darling flat, drank red wine and ate yummy asian cuisine, and chatted about jobs and travels and studies and such... Then we all collapsed into our respective beds and I was honestly out like a light...

Oh, did I mention this journey (after the Stansted express) cost me £11? When i could have, and was going to, get a daily travel ticket for £6... Dammmmmmiiiiiiitttttt! I also asked 9 different people for directions during my epic journey through London suburbia :P

So! My first big adventure through London was, by all accounts, a failure. However, i made my way into London central the next day with very few "argh!" moments :) and once there, AHHHH! SO HAPPY!!!!! I was so excited about seeing places I recognised... from the Monopoly board!! hahaha... So, I got off at Leicester Square and walked down Coventry Street to Piccadilly Circus. What a let down. Its like its trying to be Times Square, with these huge animated billboards. But its so lame, and really only McDonalds and Coke were advertising their wares...

Continuing on, (snapping photos constantly) I walked down Regent Street to St James Park. This is where I had my first and hopefully only encounter with a squirrel, which had no tail. It was cute and reminded me of those books I used to read by Beatrix Potter... So i was taking all these photos of Stumpy (the tailless Squirrel) and crouched down... Then he came closer and I was so excited (it made a great photo!) Then I finished taking photos and got up to walk away, and Stumpy followed me down the path. When I realised, i turned around, and then Stumpy climbed up my leg!!!! ARGHH!! I didnt want to be rude to my little friend, but it was quite awkward!! But once he realised I had nothing for him to eat, he buggered off pretty promtly. Then I saw Stumpy's fuller-tailed friend do the same to some old guy, and took a photo. Hahaha.

Anyway, on I walked, and eventually came back onto The Mall, which leads to Buckingham Palace. Which was a let down so im not gonna go on about it. I walked up Victoria Street and saw Westminster Abbey. I was so excited (as most know, I have a weird fixation with churches) but it was 12 quid to get in. FLAG!!!!!! Ohh, but I could pretend I was a worshipper and get in for free, because the sign clearly stated that they cant charge people to worship. Pfffft. What if i was a worshipping tourist? However, from here I did get to see the Houses of Parliament (fancy pants!) and Big Ben, which was shorter but more beautiful than I had expected.

I got on the Westminster tube to Blackfriars, walked over the Millenium Bridge, and went to the TATE MODERN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could go on and on and on (and on, probably) about how fantastic the Tate was. I saw some of my favourite artists work (Picasso, Joan Miro, Anselm Kiefer, Pollock...) And for the first time, i really got to experience Minimalism, which I found really intriguing. And it made a nice change from seeing lots of old artwork... My favourite minimalist one was just four cubes, made out of mirrors. It had that endless effect and when you stood in the middle of all four, there were feet EVERYWHERE! hahaha...

By the time I left the Tate, it was freekin cold and thus I decided to boost it home, as Ky and Anna were also in town and we were planning on going out to celebrate Waitangi Day (apparently its the thing to do if your an expat. Even the Aussies join in!!) So I got dolled up (washed my hair and then realised my hairdryer didnt have the right adaptor, so i dried my hair on the heating rail in the lounge) caught the bus to the tube, (met a lovely lady at the bus stop, too!) then eventually made it to Charing Cross to meet the girls. From there we walked all the way back to Leicester Square (where I had changed tubes to get to Charing Cross anyway) and we found this bar called.... Walkabout? I dunno, something lame, but it was in a church, and it was apparently where all the Kiwi and Aussies hang out! So we went in and got cheap drinks and I saw they had Steinlager!! Which made me laugh...

We dance dance danced the night away, and I got attention from a cute yet severely drunken Brazillian whos name consisted of an R and a few L's... we left about 4? I dunno, but it was cold and I was so happy to get home (at the right place, just the wrong stop, and walked for ages!) But oh well, not too shabby :)

And thus, I go to Manchester tomorrow at 11am on the bus to see Charley's mom Annie, her stepdad Richard, and sister Jenny. They live in Macclesfield, in a really old house that I visited when I was about 6ish years old. And apparenlty all I did was have a bath and fall asleep. So! Im excited :P