The Tour

A Quick Pit Stop in Athens, Greece

sarah_moulds — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:52:00 GMT

So i was on the train heading to luton airport, and i was stressed i was running late and was maybe going to get there just in time. I couldn't see my destination on any of the easy jet counters, so i ran up to the women with paris, france and asked if i was to late. Lucky she told me i had it wrong and check in hadn't open yet it was still another half an hour away. Phew Thank god, might i add though the police in the airport had the biggest guns i have ever seen in my life! they were holding them in front of themseleves and they went from one hip up to the shoulder. I took my 3 n a half flight to Athens Greece, sleeping most of the way. We landed at about 9 o'clock, customs was a breaze i think it took all of 1minute. Got my bag and headed down to the train station, thank god i meet this old australian women as they have added new lines but not thought to add new maps. so together with both our maps one being english names the other map being in greek names, we finally got to the right station. I went my way to find a hostel, well i was walking for about an hour or so. In circles might i add till i finally asked the right person and he said he was staying at the hostel and would take me there!!! (had passed it a few times) Got to the hostel and they didnt get my booking, they were full(great). It was 11o'clock and no other hostels around. Lucky the man still had a place for a mattress on the floor in the hallway, i would take anything!. So here me and this american girl were on these papper thin maattreses no pillow on the floor in the hallway. Can't say i slept much that night. Next morning being a sunday, nothing was open so i had to go all the way to the ferry port to buy a ticket to Ios on Monday. Like i said nothing opens had the poorest selection of food, because they don't go to the supermarket on sunday it seeems. My last night in Athens, thankfully i got a bed in a room called the dungen. Yep u heard that right, it takes 10 years to get through lil stair cases wraping around i often get lost trying to find it. A few hours till i get on on ferries and then the island adventure begins!

The Rest of London n into the Village

sarah_moulds — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:19:00 GMT

So after being in london central for 2weeks I wasn't loving it. I meet a really nice french girl who was over for 4months to imporove her english. I was teaching her a lil bit, it was fun knowing more english then someone for a change. The hardest part was she could wriite better, but we alll know my spelling!!!!

So the nicest day was when we went to camden market, they are pretty cool you kind of get lost in them. We had lunch there and the asian women abused me, it was great when kafia should up to her. I clearly said chicken black bean but she was trying to rush us not that anyone else was there. She thought i said chili beef?????? maybe beef and bean kind of sound alike. MAYBE. Anyways i said no i didn't say that they she started scooping the chili beef out to put the other one on top. I said no i don't want chili she said no no it fine, i said NO it s not forget it i don't want it. Then she said abusing me kafia stood up to her! she was saying that i own her money cause she had to throw the rice out. hahahaha crazy!!! but you sit on these rounds of scootors that are cut in half with a table in front of them (way cool). Later that day we walked along the thamas river all the way passed the zoo (we saw pumba) and then onto regents park which was gorgeous!!!

So as i was saying i got tried of london and got on a 2hour train to Wollaston. Lianne who i meet once in england and her partner and son took me in as there own daughter. i stayed at there house and they showed me around town and introduced me to lots of new ppl. I played trains with Ashton and lianne showed me britians got talent(great). Max lives and works in this village so i got to hang out with him alot and we dined at the asian takeaway which is a former ambulance that they drive around and cokk asian food in we got the dish Happy Family. (might i add the women semi abused me as well!!!!) The village was nearly as beautiful as the people but it was in spring so my hayfever was loving it. I had a sad goodbye with aston at the train station before i left with the promise to come back!

The Part In-Between

sarah_moulds — Fri, 8 May 2009 04:58:00 GMT

After some time in Piccadilly I decided it was a little too much and moved on to a quieter venue. I packed my bags and got that port back down those stairs all the way to kings cross-station. I was now checking into Anna House hostel, the ppl that signed me in were crazy, but nice. It was to be my first night in a 16-bed dorm, thank gosh it was just me and another guy (German of course). The rest came in Late in the night. I checked out into a 4bed dorm the next day where I still am. The first day I walked around wasn’t great. They are in spring and have itchy bomb trees. You know the trees back in school that drop those ball you break open and put down ppls shirts so they get all itchy. So over here they are broken apart and will that relentless wind fly around in the air. It was horrible I felt like someone was rubbing them in my eyes, it was like god was getting me back from all the times I had put them down someone’s shirt. Not to mention they got in all your clothes so I was itching everywhere, I had to come home and have a shower. Another thing I still haven’t figured out is the traffic lights, they go green but don’t make any noise so Im always standing there for ages till I figure it out. Stupid tourist but man what about the blind.

But now I have used the tube abit so I can give my first thoughts on the subject, they are pretty amazing on time, frequent, and fast. They are placed out very logically into different coloured and named lines. They are just a little on the small side (defo London isn’t made for the tall) and very bumpy but that’s kind of fun.

A week in and I'm still at the hostel, the only thing to complain about is the showers trying to find the best one as some of them are to hot and other’s to cold. Not to mention I don’t really have a towel, I've been use the virgin Atlantic blanket as my towel. (thank you Mr. Bansion) That just might be contributing to my bad experience with the shower but hey I’ve been making Mandy proud and not having to many! To my defence it’s just to hard you have to bring all your stuff with you, its cold and just better with out it.

Food food food hmmmmm not so great, I mean there is enough Indian around to feed the whole of India but the only problem is no butter chicken (I know) the only curry I like and they don’t have it disappointing!. Other then that they have this place called MnS everywhere, basically its like a little supermarket full of already made food. So sandwiches, nuke them meals, bases like prawns meat etc then salad or rice or pasta, then sauce. (combine it and vola a meal) Its all right as I get this pasta which is 2pounds for a meal pretty good.

Went to a supermarket yesterday, to be honest that was my second one the first salsbury or something was massive and packed I quickly got something and left. But the second one Tesco, not as big but still big enough like an express Coles I would say. Anyhow I really felt like some beef or chicken 2min noodles, didn’t have any in the convenience stores so I walked to the supermarket to get some. Well what do you know no 2min noodles, should I say that again none. Well there was like this tiny shelf of 2min noodles and just guess what flavour they all were CURRY. Alcohol different story shelves of it in the middle of the store, and you wouldn’t guess but yes sprits way cheaper then wine. Oh and barcadi breezes big bottles like a long neck only fatter. Not wonder why they are all drunks cheap and easy to get.

The Next Frontier

sarah_moulds — Wed, 6 May 2009 04:56:00 GMT

So it was time to move on from my motel and go central, I decided to take the leap and go central central being Piccadilly circus. Now to get my large and defiantly overweight bag on the tube. It was mission and a half especially when there were only steps and no lift (poor disabled ppl) but I found it checked in and was about to experience my first hostel. It was the Piccadilly backpacker a 600-bed hostel right in the heart of the city just near the big coke sign. Lucky I got a 4-bed room don’t think I was ready for 16bed dorm. I was shacked up with three German folks. (Very proper) Well it wasn’t terrible but I didn’t have a blanket, fortunate I kept the one I got of the virgin Atlantic flight.

So now I was settled in I decided to attempt to take a look around, woe it was overwhelming, so chaotic and disorganised. I pretty much went around in circles not knowing where to start. I finally found this little shopping centre that had a few little Asian shops a cinema and three floors of a time zone like place. I went to have a look and got lost, the escalators only went up into more time zone. After a while and asking a few ppl (boy did I feel dumb) I found these little spiral steps tucked away in the cnr, they really knew how to herd ppl around to stay in the place.

I decided to see a movie on my own for the first time in my life, and have a hot dog and coke. The movies cost 5pound Sixty but you could pay 16.50 and see as many movies as you want in a month. YES that’s right as many! Ah I was in heaven now that’s my kind of deal. So I got o try out my new glasses and I realise I didn’t need them unless there was writing, not as blind as I first thought!. It felt librating seeing a movie on my own so I decided to follow it up with another two I saw star trek, wolverine (bit of a aussie fix) and ghosts of a girlfriends past. All of them good movies.

Touchdown and the First 72 hours

sarah_moulds — Tue, 5 May 2009 04:42:00 GMT

24hours since take off from Sydney. One stop over in Hong Kong filled with facemasks. I’ve finally TOUCHDOWN in London, England, what a flight it has been.

Virgin Atlantic flight 201 was summed up in one word llllllllooooooonnnngggggg, the chairs were slightly disappointing in size and comfort, very hard to get any sleep. But the entertainment system made up for that a lot, and the fact a 19-year-old girl from Adelaide sat next to me. It was her first international flight and she was obsessed with Japan, so the lay over in Hong Kong made her sooo excited. We played a lot of in-flight games against each other and when she was watching some Chinese and Japanese movies I was watching mine. I had a pick of over 30 movies, I think I watched four or five. It was amay!!!! Now what about planes infamous meals, I sadly can’t say virgin Atlantic did any thing to dis-spell these rumours. The meals were nothing amazing; they came in little boxes and never seem to fill you up. (maybe cuz I never ate all the veg’s etc) I found I was constantly hungry even though I was doing nothing. I think the highlight was the baby coke cans that were in fact not coke but Virgin coke, to my surprise they tasted exactly the same. (none of this cola tasting ones) I was left wondering just how virgin stole the recipe from coke??????

TOUCHDOWN, finally got out of that metal box only to wait in a long customs line, got up to the counter and I was through London here I come….

I then took those first few steps through the sliding doors out onto London soil, first thoughts WOW the chill in that breeze is strong and the air was definitely not fresh. I got picked up and taken to my little dodgy motel, London was a lot greener then I thought and a heck of a lot of brick houses. Over the next two days I didn’t venture to far but I did notice a few differences one being they park facing the wrong way, I hate to think how some of them get in the places they are, I felt like running up to them and telling them its illegal and they are going to get fined. Second the doors to the house are tiny, they are made for ppl like me no joke (max just wouldn’t work here)

Feasted on my first London McDonalds, didn’t really have a lot of the stuff we have could only see the big Mac and cheese burger. They had chicken and that burgers but they were all on like turkish bread they took the approach and called them a sandwich burger. Now I’m at macca's I want a burger if I wanted a sandwich I would get one form a sandwich store. (not that they have any of them around) So I settled on a cheeseburger meal for 2pounds stoked I think the best thing is that tomato and BBQ sauce were free nice!