One looooooong blog post coming up :) But instead of starting on Saturday 18/10, my blog post will start on Thursday evening 16/10 when my cousin arrived.
But first enjoy this video of her stay in London and us being total tourists!
Thursday 16/10
Eventhough Thursday started very well (saw the cutest squirrel in Green Park) it wasn't the best day. Being tired, thinking too much,... The usual. And to make it even 'better', some dude just slipped through the gates right after me so I basically paid for his train ride. It's not the first time this has happened to me and it makes me feel so angry. If you know me, I don't get angry very easily (Annoyed, yes. Angry, no) So on my walk home I was constantly thinking of what I should have said or what I should have done. You know, completely Kathleen Kelly from You've got mail. But none of it would have helped or make an imprecision on the guy who prefers to let a girl half his age pay for his train ride. So the only thing I can hope for is that Karma gives him and everyone who do the same thing a HUGE fine.
But anyway, by the time I got home I still had an hour and a half or so to unwind and relax before I had to walk back to the train station. Lies, my cousin, was to arrive at 9pm at Thornton Heath station. Her journey was kind of "bumpy" (giant airport, huge queues at ticket machines and a missed train) so she arrived about 30 minutes later than planned. We were both exhausted so after the first 3 hours of catching up, we went to sleep.
Exploring vs working
Unfortunately I still had to go to work on Friday so Lies was on her own for the day. Not that that was a problem. She went to Camden town, saw the gherkin up close and saw some art in Tate Modern. In one day she did what I wouldn't even do in a weekend x)
After work we met at Oxford Circus and we walked down Regent Street to Leicester Square becaaauuuuse... We wanted to see what the prices were for a last minute ticket for a musical^^ Luckily there were only two people in front of us, so we didn't had to wait that long. But by the time it was our turn, there was a pretty long queue...
Next challenge was to find food. Pretty quickly we decided to go to Covent Garden to eat at the Jamie Oliver Union Jack restaurant. After witnessing a dude performing a show on a unicycle we made our way to the restaurant. Again, we hardly had to wait longer than 5 min to be seated. By the time our food arrived, a queue had formed again.
I loved walking around West End in the evening. The city looks so different when the sun sets. It's something I don't do simply because I hate the thought of walking from Thornton Heath to my house at 10pm by myself. I am actually really excited about the fact that winter is coming and therefore the days will be shorter :D
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| Jamie Oliver Union Jack in Covent Garden |
Saturday morning started a bit difficult. Eventhough I travel by Oyster card for about 6 months now, I still have no idea who it works. The guy working in the ticket booth at Thornton Heath station tried to explain with all his power how it works. He even closed his booth for a while to get out and help us and explain again. Unfortunately, I still have no clue. But Lies could travel all day for £8.9 with public transport as much as she liked. Bingo!
Saturday morning was Tower of London day to see the poppies. After purchasing a delicious breakfast at Krispy Kreme, off we went to the East End.
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| Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast |
Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red is an art installation at the Tower of London marking the 100 years since WW I started. If you're interested please clic here for more information :)
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| Blood Swepts Lands and Seas of Red at Tower of London marking the 100years since WW I by poppies. |
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| There was a lot of people |
The Breakfast Club, Canary Wharf and Science museum
Sunday started quite early. We really wanted to be on time at the Breakfast Club for breakfast. I had heard quite a bit about it and I was curious to what the fuzz was all about. Lies did some research and we learned that is not unusual to have a queue at 10am.When Lies and I arrived at the Breakfast Club near Liverpool Street, we could just walk in, didn't have to wait longer than a minute to be seated and were served in an instance. By the time we walked out, a queue had formed all the way out on the street. That was at 10:10am...
The Breakfast Club met my expections big time. Awesome interior, delicious food and man, the coffee. I was sold.
After breakfast we went to Canary Wharf, the 2nd financial borough in London. Perhaps you recognize some of the buildings in the London skyline?
Against all odds, we walked around for quite a while. We sat on a bench enjoying the view on the Thames and West London and the group of Sunday crazy morning people who choose to exercise so early.
After Canary Wharf we went back all the way to West End to Victoria station so Lies could buy her Gatwick express train ticket. When we arrived: no queue. When we left: queue.
Next thing on the agenda: the Science museum. We only got around the ground floor. Again it was HUGE. But there was a room called "Exploring space". My little heart exploded. It was so interesting! And the amount of children running around was also pretty cool.
A little guy was hugging the picture of Yuri Gagarin and kept saying: "Astronaut, astronaut, astronaut,..." I guess he has ambitions :)
3:30pm came around pretty quickly and before I knew it Lies was on her way home again and I was alone in Victoria station. I literally had to sit down for a minute because I had no idea what to do next. After a little "pep talk" from my sister (not really a pep talk, she just said to get on with things and do something from my to do list that was the nearest) on I went.
I took the tube to Monument to the monument that represents the Great Fire of London in 1666. I also went to Pudding lane, the street where the bakery was situated where it all began. I didn't know you can actually visit the Monument, so that might be something I do next :)
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| the Monument |
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| St Paul's cathedral |
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| If you are familiar with Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, you'll know what this is ;) |
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| Beautiful view to end my tour |
Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara
