So we've been hanging out in cold London. However, the silver lining was the fact that we had a great night on the Thames to see in the New Year.
It was awesome - we climbed on the boat at 8.15ish and found a seat at a table next to the window. We met some lovely english people at our table and got started on the free alcohol - well not really free. Adele & Chris had already paid quite a bit for the tickets! There were tonnes of boats doing the same as us. We had a cruise down the river, taking in the sights lit up by night - Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Eye, and Westminster to name a few, looked awesome.
We had a rather cheap meal (considering the price) but were warm, had some great music and awesome company (and some wine) leading up to midnight. As we heading towards our stop for midnight, you could see the paths and bridges lining the Thames were packed with people! From before 11pm people were lining up to get a view of the fireworks - it was crazy in those cold temperatures! Just prior to midnight our boat, along with around 30 other vessels, lined up opposite Big Ben, in order to see the awesome fireworks being sent up out of, and beside, the London Eye. It was hard to see, but I managed to stick my head out of a window to get some fantastic views & photos as we saw in the New Year. We hit the dance floor after that and had a good old boogey!
New Year's Day was a quiet one at home - watching movies and chilling out. On the 2nd, Adele & I went shopping on Oxford Street. I was reminded why I didn't do a lot of shopping on Oxford Street and, why I could not live in London again - WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE!!! It was MAD! Some of the sales were great - if you could get to the racks through the throng of people - but in one shop, we'd only been in there literally 5 mins and I was ready to get out! However, I did manage to stick around in Oxford Street long enough to buy a few clothes.
On Saturday 3rd Adele, Chris & Kirsten took me to the Borough Markets. What an awesome place! Such glorious smells and tastings, it was hard to know what to look at and buy. I can't believe that I didn't find them when I was living here - considering how much I love food! Anyway, I'm hoping to get there another day when it's not quite so busy I hope.
Today we checked out a church that Adele & Chris may go to and then I caught up with some old friends from here for lunch. We went to a pub for lunch - I had 'A Toad in the Hole' - going for a good/traditional English pub meal! It was really delicious. I loved it.
Finally finished my day by wandering around Covent Garden - I wasn't sure if I'll make it back to there before I leave, so spending a bit of time there today was the best time. However, it was FREEZING today so I did a bit of jumping in and out of the shops and tried to do a bit of shopping.
Tomorrow I head to Inverness at the top of the British Isles.
