London's calling...

I'm sitting in the basement of my German friend Maike's house in Welzeim, a little town South of Stuttgart.

I'm quite apprehensive about writing this as I've done SO MUCH since I started my trip, also because the Z and the Y are reversed, which means, inevitably, a lot of zous.

London was great, had such a great time being a tourist and citizen all in one.At the risk of writing a list of being one of those writers that lists everything I've done; instead I'll write out some highlights.

Some of the best stuff to do in London is 

A) drink a lot of goooood coffee, 

B) walk and enjoy all the sights and 

C) shop!

  Zac told me about an app that shared all of the places with really great coffee and it was right every time. Sometimes the coffees were okay, but usually they were amazing. Erin and Thomas live in an amazing area in the centre of the city where you can walk anywhere easily, or hop on a train and go everywhere else. MY favourite thing to do was to walk around areas trying different coffees and enjoying the sights and shops in between. There is so much stuff that you just can't get in OZ or NZ, including a lot of cool independent designers from tiny shops, or, in the case of Shoreditch- in a little box city made up of freight containers built up into a box of shops.  Apparently these guys tried to sue Christchurch when they did the same- even knowing that Chch were doing it because they didn't have shops anymore. Pricks. The markets in Camden were amazing, as were the Spitfields and pretty much everything else.

Sightseeing was great, even if you get lost you still have a great time because there are always museums, statues, art, shops and parks to wander past. There was one glorious day of Sunshine, were I walked around all of the parks and avoided Buckingham Palace wehich was surrounded by the crowds that were as excited as I was by the weather.  Such wonderful parks. Hyde Park was great- some Princess of something (can't keep up) got someone to made a lake in the middle which now has paddle boats. Good story. I lay in the sun and walked all day. Beautiful.

Went to see Singing in the rain which was pretty good- they used real rain and during some of the dances they had choreographed the dance to splash the audience in front, it was a good show. Going to see Wicked again and prob Jersey boys as everyone I know that's seen it won't stop talking about how great it is. Also went to a piano bar where we gathered around the table and sang for ages, making requests and generally being made fun of because we were NZers.  Erin got her dance on and kept being hit on by drunk girls; a good night.

I also did a Jack the Ripper tour which I wasn't so sure about, but it has been recommended so went along with Erin and Thomas, a short walk from their house to the site of the murders.  We had a beer in the pub where the murder victims were last seen, saw real photos from the time,, walked to to the houses and squares where the ladies were murdered, saw were clues were left, everything- it was like a murder mystery night.  The guy who ran it was clearly a huge fan and said he's been interested in Jack the Ripper since he was 12- i'd say about 40 years so knew all of the conspiracy theories and had his own ideas. So interesting_ it's strange how fascinating I found it all; i expected to be quite scared but it was more a little creepy, especially as all of the houses are still much the same, one street was all brick walls and old streetlamps.  Also, he showed us Diagon Alley and I exclaimed that I love Harry Potter a little too loudly when he asked. I also saw platform 9 3/4's and plan to walk around all of the spots where the movies were filmed on my return to London in a couple months.

It was bloody cold, though and rained a lot.  I still walked a lot, trying to dash in and out between showers but had a couple of grumpy days where i felt sorry for myself because it was raining. Funny thing is; most people tell me that London isn't cold and rainy all of the time like people think.  When I was there it was the wettest April in 100 years and coldest start to May in 70 years. Dumb.

Erin, Thomas and I took a weekend trip to Brighton in their campervan which was great fun. Despite the cold (6 degrees much of the time)  we had a great time and i got some super hot dresses. We walked along the pier and found this arcade where you used 2p coins to try and push other coins along at tray and down the chute.  Waste of money but with 1 pound worth, you felt super rich. It was super fun and so addictive, though 'Catherine Classic' came along.  I ran around finding money on the floor and became super competitive.  We did the same thing in Eastbourne (sp?) on the pier, except this time just used money we found.  It was such a fun game but sounds totally lame written down. E and T will back me up. Best. Holiday. Ever. Really. We slept by a gate in the middle of the countryside, enjoyed a local pub and Jamie's Italian, again. Seriously, that place is pucker. I love Jamie Oliver. On the way back we went to Battle, where the Battle of Hastings was fought- the town was so cute and used for Pilgrims for years.  My favourite was that everything was named with the place name, so Battle Abbey was common, Abbey being the last name of one of my best friends, Sarah, who has a kid that stands up for herself. BATTLE ABBEY.


Went along to see Phillip Yancey speak at Holy Trinity Brampton, which made the Christian nerd in me jump around a little.  I've been involved in a Christian course called the Alpha course for a while and this was the church were it started.  It's basically a run down of christian beliefs with free food and a discussion afterwards.  Anyone can come along and you're invited to share your opinion, even if your opinion is that it's a load of crap. I love the discussions and that it's a sort of bullshit free course on Christianity- no pressure, just chilled. Anyway, I saw the guy who is the face of Alpha, Nicky Gumbel, as well as this author, Phillip Yancey, who has written some pretty good books. He wrote one called 'what's so amazing about grace?' which was a great read about what grace really looks like.  Anyway, I was excited and Erin laughed at me.  A great church, though, I'd go there If I lived in the UK i think.


Saw some real life Chavs, heard the real voice of a scouser and laughed at the dickhead's who are real life versions of the people in this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_5uVdy5YmA Loved the graffiti through Shoreditch, the blooming tulips, lovely food and the dinosaur exhibits.

I also did a lot of relaxing, read some great books (I LOVE THE HUNGER GAMES) and had some great time with Erin and Thomas. It was so great to hang out without the pressure of me leaving in a few days. I'm heading Back to London end of June so look forward to some more time then. I wonder how it'll be going back to OZ now that i'm used to so much contact with her. I worked at a little place called 'Look Mum, No Hands!' which was fun, a good team, learning on naked handles which was new for me, plus cash in hand.  The boss said he should be able to give me some work during the tour de France as well, in May. It's a bike themed cafe were they sell and repair bikes as well, like, bicycle bikes. Awesome vibe. Yew.


Could live in London I think, except the cold but I would just buy super hot coats anyway. An amazing place with so much to see and do, plus now I can steal Erin's friends as well as the ones I know there. Reckon I'll move there one day.  The coffee scene is so good, especially being a NZer who was trained in Australia- places actually advertise on their signs that they have Australian trained baristas, so i'm already in. Yus.

Since then I've been to Paris, Berlin and through Eastern Germany (well, a little)....to be continued.