London, Luton and black snot

Punting along the Avon river in Cambridge
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Day One

Arrived at Heathrow Airport at 4.30pm on Monday and then caught a bus to Luton which is half an hour from London on the train. However the bus seemed to take ages! I could hardly keep my eyes open and we didn't get to Luton until after 8pm so by then we had been awake for more than 24 hours. It was possibly the longest day ever!

English muffins are just called muffins!

Caro's friend Becca and her fiance Alan picked us up from the station and drove us back to their place, passed the hookers on the corner, to Clarendon Rd which looks a lot like Coro St! The flat is really cool and Becca is a great cook! We crashed out early as we felt like zombies and had the best sleep ever.

Beautiful Cambridge
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Day Two

Next morning we got up early and had English muffins for brekkie, which are actually just called muffins here! We decided to catch the train into London for the day and explore the sights. Riding on the tube was pretty exciting and I felt reasonably safe, there were a few "bobbies" walking around with machine guns. We got out at Westminster and the Big Ben (or Big Len! haha) was right there! It is much smaller than I imagined and the architecture is amazing. We had a look around Westminster Abbey and walked along to Trafalgar Square and walked straight past 10 Downing St without knowing it and wondered why there was a guard holding a machine gun! We carried on to Piccadilly Circus, once again much smaller than I had imagined and had lunch and a cider at a traditional pub. We then tubed it to Covent Garden and had a look around the shops, we each bought a tshirt. The humidity and extreme heat was getting too much and I was slowly starting to lose the plot and ability to function properly so we called it a day and caught the train back to Luton. I got my first experience of black snot today as well. Total steps for the day: 18,600

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Day Three

Today we caught the train into London again and tubed it to Green Park station to see Buckingham Palace. We arrived at just the right time as it was the changing of the guard so we got a good poz and took some photos. We then walked down through Hyde Park and saw Marble Arch, such a gorgeous day lots of sunshine! More black snot though.

We then walked to Oxford St and had KFC for lunch. Man their KFC is totally different. I had an xtreme zinger meal and I had a choice of bbq beans, coleslaw, gravy (minus the potato) or corn for one of my sides. I got the gravy and it was the bomb actually especially when you dip chips into it.  Wicked wings are great.

Cambridge university
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Then it was shopping time! The shops are amazing in London, the coolest clothes at really cheap prices and in a grand scale. I bought some shorts and a pokka dot singlet, (take note girls: dots are in). I could have spent all day on Oxford St, we checked out Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, Evans, my fave was Mexx which had absolutely everything and stuff for like 5 quid.

After a totally indulgent shopping stint we high-tailed it to Tower Bridge to check out the Tower of London and the crown jewels. A really fascinating little place, full of history and so old. We walked over the bridge in what we thought was in the direction of St Pauls Cathedral but was completely in the wrong direction. So we walked to the nearest tube station and cruised on out of London for the day. We got back to Becca and Alans about 8pm so went out for a curry and a pint at the local curry place. Mmmm curry in England is the best. Total steps for today: 36,312

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Day Four

Today we got up early and cruised to the local mall in Luton. I bought some slip on shoes, man I love the sizing here, I go down about 2 or 3 sizes. I also got a sim card and started texting like mad to people back home trying to catch up on the goss I've missed over the last few days. Caro and I then trained to Brighton which took about 1.5 to 2 hours. It was so unbelievably hot there and I immediately regretted wearing a long sleeved top. We walked down to the pier and had fish n chips which was delish! Then we checked out the carnival rides and decided against the Booster ride as it didn't appear to be moving and had four people stuck 130 feet in the air waiting to be brought down.

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We walked around the little alleyways around Brighton and checked out the Royal Pavillion. It was unbearably hot at this stage so we ducked into the mall to escape the heat and wandered around the shops. We then decided to call it a day and jumped back on a train to Luton. Becca made us tacos for dinner and we crashed early, it had been a long day. Total steps for today: 21,367

Day Five

Today we caught the train to Bedford to visit some family of Caro's, Bob and Anne. Bedford is a gorgeous little town and Bob took us out for lunch to the local pub and I had a steak which they cut from a huge piece of beef and chucked on a grill. The beer kept on coming and we sat out in the garden of the pub in the hot sun.  Bob later drove us around the countryside and it looked just like it did on tv, the buildings are all really old, like really old, I'm talking 12th century! We even went to an old Viking site where they used to wash and build their boats. It was all really interesting. We went back to Ann and Bob's for dinner later and then caught the train home to Luton. It was a nice relaxing day, a change from the hustle and bustle of London. Total steps for today: 4,972 (we got driven everywhere)

Catching the train for the first time
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Day Six

Today we were chauffered around to the historic Cambridge. We drove through more amazing English countryside today and the old buildings are so cool. It was another scorching day, but the sun is not as hot as in NZ, you can pretty much stay out all day (as long as you keep applying sunscreen) and not get that burnt. Cambridge was awesome, full of really old churchs and universities. In the middle of the square was a market full of fruit and veges and more souvineery places. We had lunch at a pub, Caro ordered chips with curry sauce and they were really good! I had a mixed entree thing with too much deep fried things, man this holiday is not going to be a healthy one. It's hard to avoid drinking beer too as pubs have the cheapest and best meals! Another thing I have noticed is that everyone smokes inside pubs and restaurants, it's really gross when you're trying to eat your meal.  And they smoke out on the street as they are walking along, it's really hard to escape it.

English muffins are just called muffins
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We carried on walking through the streets of Cambridge and watched the punting on the river, we thought about jumping in a gondola but they wanted to charge us 10 quid each! There was a fair on in the middle of Cambridge so we checked that out for a bit. On the drive home there were so many festivals and events going on, and millions of people everywhere. We pulled into a lovely old pub on the way home with an amazing view across the countryside and had a quick drink. It was nice and refreshing after a blazing hot day. We got home about 6pm and watched some Brit TV. My god their TV is so crap. There are so many reality shows on at one time, Big Brother consumes most of channel 4 and after having done dancing with the stars they now have show-jumping with the stars?!! It's pretty ridiculous, and the worst is one is Love Island, a sort of Temptation Island for celebrities. I miss Grey's Anatomy and Prison Break and those American shows!

The Big Ben
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Later on we thought about going down to the local pub but was so knackered that we called it a day. We had an early start the next day and had to pick up our rental car so we could drive up to Scotland! Total steps for today: estimated at 19,000 (Caro forgot to wear her pedometer)