Our trip started last friday, with a tearful goodbye at Belfast City Airport. After months (perhaps years?) of preparation, of wishing, of hoping...it finally began. Slight drama just before we got on the plane - I lost my passport, luckily Stevie had it in his hand! Nerves and excitement had gotten the better of me I think as I consequently lost my purse on the plane - the girl beside me was sitting on it...
Anyways, the flight was fine and we landed at Heathrow within an hour - a short flight compared to the flight we were about to take on the Sunday! We took the undergrond to our Hotel near the Tower of London, and like proper backpackers we waltzed in and threw our bags down at reception - those bags are heavy! (Although I can very proudly say that my bag is 5 KG lighter than Stevies :) )
The Apex hotel was a pretty special place to stay on our first night - not exactly slumming it but our last night of luxury before we embarked upon our journey (or so we thought!)We strolled along London's Tower bridge - it as beautifully lit up, and the full moon made it all the more special..after a quick dinner we took the underground on up to Leicester Square and walked up to piccadilly circus, Soho and Chinatown - London truly is a great place with so much happening - such an atmosphere!
The next day we took the underground to Roseanna's house (girl from school in Holland) in Putney (lovely wee place) where we were to stay that night, it was great to see her again - hadn't seen her in about 4 years, we went for a nice Italian lunch and caught up. That night we met up with Stephen's friend from home Niall for some drinks in Notting Hill (Portabello road to be exact!), also great to see him again and to hear his stories about his experiences when he was in Vietnam. An earlyish night followed as we had a biiiggg flight to catch the next morning!
