London Life
July 23rd, 2007 by Zofia
Well, after a VERY long time travelling (from Hong Kong to London via Frankfurt) Rachel and I finally landed in London, our final destination for a while, at about 10.30pm on, what was in London, Tuesday 10 July. Surprisingly, customs at Heathrow airport went really smoothly. My body clock was all mixed up and I was feeling a bit sick (I really didn’t enjoy the flight from Hong Kong to Frankfurt) so it was wonderful to be greeted by Rachel’s aunt and uncle who took us back to their house where we were going to be staying for the next little while.
The next day we had a bit of a sleep in and then decided to venture out of the house, but only as far as the local shopping mall in Woking, Surrey. I think the jet-lag was apparent because it was truly mindless wandering followed by a lunch stop in the food court (which had a NZ Natural Ice Cream store!) then a walk back to the house. Thank goodness for visitor information centres with free maps of the area otherwise I am not sure we would have found our way home very easily! Actually, after nearly two weeks of walking between the train station and home or vice versa we have managed to find all sorts of shortcuts and got really familiar with the area!
On Thursday we made our way into London city for the first time! We had to catch a train which took just over half an hour and then Rachel and I had to go our separate ways on different underground trains to our different destinations where we each had meetings! We had arranged a place that we found on a map that looked about half way between the two of us to meet up at later. We actually managed to meet up here so there was a great sense of achievement having navigated my way to my meeting and then to my meeting point with Rachel! Yahoo!! We also met up with Josie on this first day, it was great to see another face from home. We then went for a wander from St Paul’s cathedral, over the Millennium Bridge, past the impressive looking Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, past the London Eye, and got a lovely view of the parliament buildings and Big Ben. Wow, who would have thought, we really are in London!!!
Friday was a good day for me. I had no other appointments arranged other than on the previous day but both Rachel and Josie did, so when Rach and I made the mission into London again on Friday morning we wandered around the Trafalgar Square area this time. We found NZ House and a little NZ shop called ‘Kiwifruits’ which had all sorts of treasures from home should we desperately need them! We had lunch at the cafe in the National Gallery and then Rach went off to her meeting while I had my first European art experience! I am lost for words really. This side of the world is so lucky to have Rembrandt’s and Bellini’s and Turner’s, and Mantegna’s and della Francesca works all here in front of them! I didn’t even get very far in this gallery as it is so huge so I can’t wait to come back and see the da Vinci’s and so on!
I then met up with Marcel. It was great to see him as he has now been in London for over a month, so it had been a while since we last caught up. We wandered around the National Portrait Gallery and later met up with Rachel and also with Marcel’s sister for a Friday evening drink. We then found ourselves in Chinatown for a lovely Chinese meal. Then it was on the underground then the train and then the walk home.
The weekend offered a nice surprise too. I got the opportunity to meet some of Rachel’s cousins who were lovely. Rachel’s aunt and uncle were also kind enough to take time out of their weekend to help us with some sightseeing. First on the list was a visit to Mercedes-Benz World. Yes you did read that right! One of Rachel’s cousins had just started working there so we went along to see what the place was all about. Well, what a place it was! Alongside purchasing your very own Mecedes-Benz you could shop in the gift store, eat at one of about three different cafes/restaurants, purchase other types of car like Smart Cars, visit the museum area for a history of both Mercedes and also of the site the building is on, watch a movie in a proper theatre about the history of Mercedes-Benz, and most impressive of all was the supersized test track for all your driving needs!! Talk about another world, very cool.
So next up was a drive out to see more of the area we were in. We headed for Guildford and got a tour around the school where Rachel’s aunt teaches. Very interesting to see inside a UK school, it was very nice. We then got driven out to Windsor and saw Windsor castle and the surrounding area. We also saw Eton and Eton College where Prince William and Harry went to school I think. All these places are very big and very impressive! We didn’t actually get out of the car and explore these places in depth but I definitely plan to go back and have a closer look now that I know where they are. We also saw the site where the Magna Carta was signed (we had tea and scones here!) and went to look at a war memorial with amazing views over London.
On Monday I explored the area near Waterloo Bridge. I had a few movie moments like seeing the Royal Courts of Justice with all the lawyers wandering by. I remember this building from the Bridget Jones movie. Then as I walked down The Strand I saw the Savoy hotel which featured in the Notting Hill movie! I also saw some of those monopoly streets like The Strand and Fleet Street!
The weather here has been interesting as well. The Friday just been we had the most torrential downpour. There was flooding everywhere, many of the underground stations were closed and the whole city was just wet and dark! Felt like it should be the middle of winter only it is supposed to be summer. Then eventually the sun came out and the coats came off while the sunglasses came on! Reminded me a bit of Auckland actually with its four seasons in one day!
Well, enough for now, talk to you all soon. Zof 