Hi All,
London
Arrived in London after a bus then ferry then bus journey. So we saw the white (grey) cliffs of Dover as we sailed into the UK from France. It was a surprise as we expected to be travelling through the channel tunnel but it made sense considering the trip was 7hrs and we only had to cover about 350km.
The British Immigration officer was less than friendly telling us that we would only be given a 6mth visas if he was satisfied that we were not intending on staying in UK like 10000s of other Australians who have outstayed their visas. We were rather irritated when he gave us a hard time and after presenting a reasonable argument I said to him ´why would I want to stay in Britain any longer than our visa anyway as the place doesn’t get any sun´. We are not afraid of petty pen pushing officials now days. Ridiculous that we have travelled the world without having many problems with immigration and then we have trouble trying to entry Britain and we are from the Commonwealth. Not amused!!!!
Arrived in London and walked to our accommodation in Paddington. It was a long walk from Victoria station to Paddington with our packs. We were expecting a dump after reviews that we had read online but either our standards have slipped or the people that were reviewing these rooms need to have a reality check -The room overlooks Norfolk square which is lined with lush looking oak trees and the surroundings streets are filled with sporty BMWs ,Rolls Royce’s and other pricey looking cars.
This is the first predominantly English speaking country that we are been to in almost 12mths. Now the noise of foreign chatter has been replaced with just noise. It was better when we couldn’t eavesdrop on other peoples conversations.
It was overcast and drizzling in the morning so we just found a supermarket and took it easy. Then after lunch we decided to walk to the river which was only a few km away. 15km later we got back to the hotel a little worn out. We walked through Hyde park with all it´s swans and their goslings, ducks and their duckling and squirrels everywhere. The squirrels really are just like cute tree rats with fluffy tails. A man feeding them peanuts informed us that they were introduced American squirrels and had driven the native squirrels out. Once out of Hyde park we walked to Buckingham palace then onto Big Ben before crossing the river and walking along the waterfront with its crazy street performers to tower bridge which was raised for a while to allow a sailing ship past. Then it was a walk back along oxford street via a supermarket for some energy food (strawberries, donuts and caramel slice) and onto the hotel. Not just a walk to the river.
We found that there is a free magazine in London for young Australian and NZ backpackers called In London (www.inlondon.com) which is pretty informative about the party/music scene. Think it was written by people who would like to write for People magazine. The article about being sick on the tube after a big night out was quite detailed. Shocking.
So that is it. We have done London. Well not quite yet but we have at least scratched the surface
Bye,
David and Vanessa
