Please!! Don't piss off the driver!!

So. Friday morning, my last day of school before the summer holidays, I boarded the Number 2 bus for the last time to get to work. It was about 7:33am when the bus arrived - for a journey which usually takes about 10 minutes in the morning. We arrived at Brixton station at 7:50am. So somehow we added a fair whack of extra time to our journey. 17 minutes. How? You may ask... Well...

The stop after the one I got on at, the driver let about 10 people onto- despite the bus being rather full. Imagine a crowded lift, where people are jammed shoulder to shoulder, except the short people (like me) who are pretty well buried in strangers armpits- and then imagine more people pushing their way in. The driver then refused to move the bus, to the point where the engine was switched off, until people would "Move down the bus!!!".
Where to? I looked around... Into the bosom of a "woman" who I am certain was a man... the huge hands and hairy knuckles seemed to be a dead give away. There was nowhere to go- people were getting angry, shouting how they had paid for this journey, shift the effing bus, what kind of a driver are you?... You get the idea. I was just standing there thinking how happy I was that I won't have to do this anymore after today. People started to move down, being the bus officially didn't seem to be going anywhere. I ended up pressed up against the "woman" I mentioned previously... Now certain it was a lady-man. 

I don't like small spaces. I don't like other people breathing my air - or me having to breathe theirs... I do not like having my body pressed up against strangers.... but there I was, face pretty much buried in the lady-mans chest. Finally the bus moved. Sighs of relief all round. 

Next stop. Rear doors open, a few people get off and I'm relieved of my duties of lady-man bosom sniffer. Doors about to close. Girl barges her way on with two travel sized suitcases on wheels- cracking me in the shin with one of them. Bus driver starts shouting. Fellow passengers getting distressed. Driver shouts "Get off the bus you can't get on in the rear and you haven't bloody well paid!"
Girl shouts back "Please! I'll pay at Brixton! I have to go to work and I have all this luggage's (hmmm... Luggage perhaps?) so I can't walk!! Please!!!"

Silence. 

Grumbles from fellow passengers. 

Driver shouts again; "GET. OFF. THE. BUS. NOW!!"

"Please, please driver let me ride - you're making everybody late!!" Engine cuts out. Again. 
Other passengers now visibly distressed. Me? Laughing on the inside and smiling to myself thinking how I will not miss London public transport dramas when I go!
Fellow passenger, old man, calmly said to the girl;
"Hey - we have all paid for our journey. By you refusing to get off, we are delayed -which is unfair. Please hop off..." Nice. 
Girl start shouting in Spanish at the driver as she stepped off the bus and let her "luggage's" fall to the curb after her, getting a camera out of her handbag and running to the front of the bus, photographing the driver. I'm sure I heard some foreign swearing... Engine starts again. 

On the way to the next stop- an African man said really loudly "You're not a driver. You have no compassion. You are a wicked man. Wicked." He actualy sounded a lot like Rafiki from The Lion King. Read it again, in Rafiki's accent. 
Driver cuts the engine. Again. But started again rather promptly... driver perhaps thought better of pissing off a bus that was clearly overcrowded.

Fellow passengers begin making vocal sounds of distaste and some of great anger...tutting,
huffing and puffing. I still smile. 

Driver tells the man if he doesn't like it he can get off. Passengers start panicking that the engine is going to be cut once again... But thankfully the driver continues on to Brixton station- where people are pleased to alight!!! 

What a fantastic final journey to work before the holidays. Love it! 


Go on... have a LOL!
Cheery bye :) 

Warhorse - A Feat of Engineering.

This evening I went and saw "Warhorse", which is based on the award winning book by Michael Morpurgo. 

It tells the story of a boy named Albert, whose horse, Joey is sold to the cavalry at the outbreak of World War One and shipped to France. Joey, the horse, is soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before 

finding himself alone in no man’s land. Meanwhile,  Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to the trenches to find him and bring him home.

As Kylie and I were waiting for lights down, I was perusing the programme. It cost just £4 but was in full colour, A4 sized and included the history of the book, information about the war and cast bios. Why do we get so ripped off on souvenir programmes back home? I have a programme for every show I have seen in London. It is quite a stack! But it is because they are so affordable!

A man in uniform walked on stage, clutching a sketch book and looked up as the auditorium lights dimmed. Then he began to sing a most haunting tune and the audience fell silent. Birds on long, thin sticks were "flying" about the stage by the control of two men. This still gets me, even now. Ideas which are so, so simple- can bring things to life. 

Then on came the foal. Joey. It was the cutest little thing, controlled by three people; head, heart and hind. I did feel a little sorry for the heart... A lady, bent over for about 30 minutes! It moved and looked like a foal- it was "breathing" the entire time, it's ears twitched, tail swatted, head moved in a horse-like fashion, and it's wee legs even looked so horse-like. Incredible. The way it moved about the stage was so real looking I actually hardly noticed the three people controlling it. 

The cast were consistently involved with the "set" and "props". The set was hardly anything, a door pretty much, but being this got moved about it was more of a prop! The cast were in control of the rest of the "set"- fences to contain the horse and so on. The way in which they used props was outstanding, things came on stage which changed the setting, e.g. rolls of barbed wire, held onto by 'invisible' cast members  - it was all so smooth and clever. 

The man who was on stage at the start kept coming back on stage at poignant moments to sing another tale- sometimes acapella and sometimes he accompanied himself on an old accordion, which made it even more haunting. Occassionally, he was joined by a violist. The music was superb - a small army band of five. The usual brass, plus clarinet. It was nice that they were quite involved and often seen playing, wearing costumes too. 

The leads were excellent, there was not one weak cast member. The man who played Albert, Joey's owner- was really the lead for the most part. He was brilliant, he had he audience eating out of the palm of his hand! Albert's parents, Uncle and cousin were all equally excellent. His uncle and cousin were easy to dislike, which was the idea. 

It was about 20 minutes or so into the show, and in from the rear of the stage burst Joey as a stallion. My jaw dropped. It wasn't until my mouth felt dry that I realised it was still hanging open! It was a real WOW moment, Joey galloped about the stage, his hooves tilted like a real horse- he whinnied and sounded like the real deal. These puppets are just incredible, not to forget about the puppeteers! What a job they have. No down time- these horses must be alive 100% of the time, and they well and truly were! I was watching out for that. 

Did I cry? Oh yes I did... It is such a moving story, and one I was not familiar with as I've not read it, but would now like to. Should you see it? Definitely. This is a DO NOT MISS production of beautiful simplicity and storytelling at it's best. I wonder if the up and coming movie will do it any justice? I'm not going to say anything more... because I think you need to see it :)

Warhorse. In a word? aMaZiNg!!! 

And Mum ... this is theatre magic at its best xxx

Cheery bye :)

PS) I will leave you with some reviews... the last one is quite true!

FIVE STARS: ‘Genius isn’t too strong a word to describe this astonishing production. Daily Telegraph

FIVE STARS: ‘Be sure not to miss this stunning show.’ The Times

FIVE STARS:  ‘A uniquely moving spectacle.’ Daily Mail

FIVE STARS: ‘I wept like a baby through War Horse at the National, and again all through this transfer.’ Sunday Times

FIVE STARS: ‘The most moving and spectacular play in London.’ Sunday Express

‘If ever a piece of theatre worked magic then it must be War Horse.’ Evening Standard

‘War Horse has galloped from the Olivier to the welcoming expanses of the New London Theatre. It’s a perfect fit. Brilliantly inventive.’ Independent

‘Theatrical magic… puppetry that has to be seen to be believed.’ Metro

Official London Warhorse Trailer

Warhorse in Rehearsals...

Official London Warhorse Website: http://warhorselondon.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

Top o' the mornin' to ya...

My Irish weekend began when I caught the number 42 bus from outside school all the way to Liverpool Street Station. It was here that I thought perhaps my only option to get a Stanstead express train ticket was to buy online and pick up from all the machines dotted around, as there didn't seem to be an option for buying at the station - which I thought strange. I went online on my iPhone to buy a ticket, thinking how ever so clever I was. Fail. It said you had to allow at least three hours for pickup. I needed it NOW! 

I ended up joining a queue at the National Express ticketing office, thinking I could ask one of them for the next fastest way to Stanstead Airport. As I waited in the queue, I observed a mother and teenage son having an argument which was not very pretty- and then a woman at one of the ticket desks started screaming "Well call f**king security then! They can drag me away!!!". My turn in the queue couldn't come quickly enough. 

Finally it was my turn, and as luck would have it I mentioned that I really wanted a Stanstead express return ticket- and much to my delight the woman serving me said "No problem." Sorted. Whew. Tragedy averted!! 

When I boarded the train (which is only two weeks old- so amazingly clean and nice inside) I walked carriage to carriage looking for a window seat. No such luck. Then I had the problem of having to decide who I wanted to sit next to for the next 45 minutes. Luckily, I had options. 
• The overweight lady who was eating BK which was dribbling down her front. 
• The Asian man who was already sleeping and rather sprawled across both seats. 
• The business woman who had her suitcase on her seat and clearly didn't want company. 
• The cute guy who, as I got closer, stunk of B.O (bummer)
• The older gentleman with the white hair and red nose. Harmless. Probably wouldn't even talk to me. Perfect. 

"Excuse me, would you mind if I sat here?"
...."I'd mind more if you didn't" he replied in the thickest Irish accent. Outstanding! I was off to Ireland, and was sitting next to an Irishman on the train for the next 45 minutes. I decided to make friends after he asked if I was going on holiday, or going home. He was friendly. I managed to pick his brains about Belfast and he recommended some things to not miss- he even wrote these places down on the back cover of my TNT magazine. Hoorah! 

When we arrived at the airport, he invited me to join him for a pint, but as I was waiting for Kylie, I didn't. He said I was the loveliest girl he'd met, and that I had a beautiful smile and sparkly eyes. I thanked him and told him that I got that from my mother. Did you hear that mum? Winning!! He then offered to give me his number so we could catch up again in London some time. Hmmm. I wasn't sure about that and didn't know what to say, so just said "That's kind of you" and then his check in desk was closing, so he had to go- much to his disappointment. Not so much to mine! Bless. I even seem to get picked up by Irishman who are older than my father. To be sure, to be sure. 

And so my weekend began...

As the plane was descending in preparation for landing at George Best Airport, the city could not be seen through the thick fog. Welcome to Ireland... You can't see it, but it's green as green can be! We found our way out of the airport and eventually to our hostel. If you come to Belfast, I can recommend Global Village Hostel. An easy walk to the city with nice and clean rooms and bathrooms (highly important on my list!!!). We made up our beds and then ventured out into "town" (it isn't a big place!) and found a "wee" cocktail bar. After a couple of cocktails and nutting out a weekend itinerary, including booking a day trip to The Giants Causeway, we found our way back to the hostel and hit the hay. 

We woke early on Saturday morning to find our way to Donnegal Road (tee hee)- the girl at our hostel was not too sure how we would walk there, so called us a taxi. The meeting place for the tour bus bound for The Giants Causeway was literally three minutes by taxi. That was a little embarrassing! By 10am, after waiting for other passengers to arrive, we finally left. We stopped off at several locations along the way, and Ian, our friendly wee Irish bus driver, was hugely knowledgable and talked away about different locations as he drove the bus. He also used the word "wee" a lot. A lot, a lot!

Places we visited included Glenarm- made famous for salmon fishing, Carnlough which was a quaint seaside village, Carrick A Rede- which means "Rock in the Road" where Kylie and I braved the death defying rope bridge, strung 30m above the sea- and notably the best place to catch salmon from. I was stoked that for the first (but certainly not last! time I could use my National Trust membership and get in for *free* thanks to Dave and Anne Nellist- (best farewell gift ever!!) The bridge wasn't really death defying- Kylie and I walked across easily... And Kylie was being a true Australian wearing thongs. I mean jandals! 

Outside Carrickfergus Castle in Glenarm

Carrickfergus Castle, Glenarm 

Carrick A Rede, with 'Sheep Island' in the background

From there we had a quick visit to the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery which has distilled whiskey since 1608 (mad - isn't it?!) then onwards to the whole point of the trip; The Giants Causeway. I was only aware of the Causeway as I had heard David speak of it on a few occasions, and he had a poster in his bedroom back in the day, it was somewhere he was always keen to visit. Kylie had not heard of it before, but we both can now safely say that it was well worth the trip. The Giants Causeway is a world heritage sight, ranked alongside Mt Everest for it's importance to humankind. 

At Bushmills Distillery. Shame I'm not a whiskey fan. I thought of Vincent Lipanovic when here, though!

The Giants Causeway, Antrim

An impressive natural phenomenon!

There are two possibilities which explain the phenomenon that is The Giants Causeway. One is that is was caused 65 million years ago by a shift in the earths plates, which caused cracks that lava poured through, hardened and formed layers of basalt rock. Apparently hardly any volcanic eruptions occurred for 2 million years. The warm and wet climate of the time weathered out the rocks, and formed a deep red soil. The cracks then opened up again and allowed more lava to flow out. 

Some of the lava poured into a river valley where it cooled really slowly, shrinking and cracking quite evenly. This, evidently, is where the Causeway columns were created. Approximately 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, the shoreline of the Giants Causeway was exposed, and this is what we see today. And it is impressive. Whew. Long-winded explanation. There may be a pop quiz at the end of this blog so I hope you absorbed some of this information. 

The second option? 'Tis a story about Finn MacCool, an Irish giant, who wanted to battle with a rival in Scotland. Think Australia Vs. New Zealand. Or Murrays Bay Intermediate Vs. Northcross Intermediate. The Scottish giant was called Benandonner. The two giants had never met- so Finn decided to build enormous stepping stones across the sea so that the Scottish giant could cross to Ireland and face him in battle. 

It gets funnier... because Finn, upon seeing how gargantuan Benandonner was, fled home in fear and asked his wife to hide him. His wife did hide him, by disguising him as a baby and placing him in a huge cradle. When Benandonner saw how large the baby was- he decided that the baby's father, Finn, must be very giant indeed and fled home to Scotland in terror, ripping up the Causeway - just in case Finn followed him. This is why the causeway is not linked- there is some on the coast of Ireland and some on the Scottish coast... The surviving ends of the Causeway built by Finn MacCool- with the clever-clogs wife! 

Once we were back in Belfast after a fabulous day of learning and sight-seeing, we were utterly exhausted. We climbed off the bus, and decided that to go back to the hostel at 7pm would be a mistake- we were so tired that we were afraid we wouldn't come out again! On venturing out, we went into Lavery's Pub, a famous family owned pub in Belfast, where I enjoyed a Guinness (it had to be done) and a meal. We had another secret agenda... Kylie's surname is Lavery... We were hoping for a discount or a free pint but no such luck! We finished up there (after being stared out by ugly, balding and fat Irishman smacking their lips) and went back to the hostel, stopping along the way to try our hand at "planking". We enjoyed a 12 minute powernap before getting dressed to go out for a drink- and a spot more planking. We weren't out for long and were tucked up in bed shortly after midnight. 

Kylie is a fast mover. She opened a pub on her first day in Belfast. Not bad... not bad...

To be sure, to be sure... have a pint 'o Guinness!

Kylie and I at her pub.

Kylie planking inside the University grounds...

Kylie planking on a couch...

Me planking outside The University...

...and on a brick column... this was hard... and I was holding on (cheating!)

On Sunday morning, we got up, packed our things and checked out. We walked towards the city in order to find a hop on/hop off bus tour and saw a man in a "blue coat" who worked for Allen's tours, the same company we went to The Causeway with, standing across the road shouting "Day trips, hop on bus tours", so we crossed the road and said "Yes please"- and were incredibly stoked to hear that it was only £5- usually £12.50! We were picked up within 10 minutes and started the tour, which was incredibly informative, but a little annoyed at the weather as it made the sights difficult to see. 

Highlights included Falls Road, where there are incredible murals, the Titanic Quarter, where the great lady Titanic was built, and the East and West sides of Belfast. I didn't realise that the city was still divided to this day, and as the tour guide was explaining to us all about it, I felt tears burning in the back of my eyes and a lump in my throat- it just seems so very sad all that has gone on, and continues to go on. It is far more peaceful here now compared to 15 years ago, but the Catholics and Protestants still don't really communicate and the walls are fully closed and locked by nightfall. The stories we heard were gut wrenchingly sad- it seems that too many innocents were caught up in it and lost their lives. 

These murals are quite incredible

The tour ended and we hopped off, deciding that we wanted to go back to the Titanic Quarter, so we grabbed the nearest taxi and made our way there. When we got closer, Lee, our driver told us that there wasn't much to see- and that he would wait for us. We thought this was really kind, so hopped out. It looked like we hopped out to nothing but a dockyard. Which was exactly what we did.... There was a hole in the ground which we thought *might* have been where the Titanic was built... We were quickly approached by a man in a fluro yellow jacket who told us that we weren't allowed to be in there. Oops. We just followed our taxi man under the barrier- we thought it was ok! He then said we could ask any questions of him and he would be happy to answer, so we asked him a few questions which he kindly answered (this was not the location Titanic was built!) and went on our merry way- back to the taxi and onwards up the road to where the Titanic was *really* built. 

The taxi driver offered to wait for us again as we had a look at the visitor centre, so we took him up on his offer, left our backpacks in the taxi and wandered into the Titanic Pump house and visitor centre. The pit, or slipway, where the ship was built is *huge*, but then, it had to be to build a monstrosity of a ship that was 11 stories high! The visitor centre itself was disappointing, not much to see or read. Even now I am surprised that there is no purpose built museum for the Titanic, being it was built here and all! Good news, though- in March 2012 an interactive Titanic museum is opening, in time for the centenary- complete with artifacts and interactive displays. It sounds really impressive and the building looks like a star from above, to symbolise the White Star Line. It also looks a little like an iceberg... But sounds fabulous. I would like to come back when it is finished- Saxon! What do you think?!!!!! Anyway, we were out of the visitor centre within ten minutes and hoping that the taxi, with our backpacks on board, was still waiting for us. It wasn't. 

So very cool!! Such a surreal experience to be on the very location that Titanic was constructed.

The slipway that Titanic was built in... surreal!

I called the Taxi driver (thank goodness we had his number!!) and he said that he had to drop some people off and that he would be back in five minutes. My faith in humanity was restored. Briefly. 

Fifteen minutes later, after starting to think about the hassle to report our bags stolen (hmmm.... Is it stealing if you leave your bags on a taxi? Or did we *give* them away??) at long last the taxi came back. Our faith in humanity was restored. We then had Lee, the taxi man, drive us back to the East and West walls so that we could take some photos, which due to the bad weather, we were unable to do on the bus tour! We even wrote our names on the East wall which is something most people who visit do, even Bill Clinton, supposedly. 

Leaving my mark....

The Beatles were really onto something...

The murals on Falls Road

We finished off our day with lunch at The Kitchen Bar, which came recommended by Lee, then phoned him up again to come collect us and deliver us to George Best airport. We were so fortunate to have our very own taxi driver at our beck and call- so we left him with a tip and a Bushmills Whiskey chocolate bar and headed into the airport to end our Emerald Isle weekend. And that is how far we made it... Hours later we are still delayed and bored of waiting... But we have enjoyed our time here and I for one, would love to come back- to be sure, to be sure! And with that, I shall leave you with an old Irish blessing...


May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Cheery bye :)

I'm going to the Zoo, Wicked and Greenwich...how about you??

On Friday evening I met up with Kylie and Anna who I met when in Turkey/Egypt. We met in Camden Town and walked to London Zoo, which was open from 6-10pm as a special 'Zoo Lates' for 18 years +. I managed to get vouchers online for it, so it cost us just £9 for entry instead of the usualy £22.50 - so I was quite pleased about that! On arrival it was relatively quiet, the animals were all settling down for their night-time routines - whilst there were many people who were staring at them and taking photos as they were trying to get ready for bed... it can't be easy being an animal at the Zoo! It was quite cool being there at night time, and so strange to be at the zoo when there were no children! 

Yeah, it's a bear alright!

That's right, children. If you feed the monkeys, your eye will pop out.

There was entertainment all over the zoo, some nice music which we were able to sit and chill to as we drank a jug of Pimm's.

Yep, that's me, chillin' - drinking Pimm's.

 There was a silent disco which was *hillarious* to watch. Basically you pay £5 which is refundable and are given a set of headphones, and you dance to the music. For people on the outside, looking in, this of course is rather entertaining. It was PACKED by about 9pm. 

The silent disco... it's heating up now!

We were enjoying the entertainment, and saw a large crowd gathering so went to check it out. Imagine our surprise when we saw this image below... 

Umm? Despite it being an R18 event... it felt wrong to see a stripper at the Zoo!

HAHAHAH! It is an 18+ evening for a reason. It just seemed *wrong* to have a stripper in the Zoo?! We laughed -and I took a photo (for the blog) much to Kylie's embarrassment. 

There were numerous food stalls, (some with rather funny names...) 

Tee hee

Although - once we went in search of food, we were all so hungry that we basically chose the first thing we saw. This worked out well for Kylie and I, who had Chorizo/Hummus and Holloumi/Hummus wraps respectively. It didn't work out so well for Anna, who felt like 'a dirty old burger'. Not only did the chicken burger that she chose hardly had any meat, but she was basically handed a bun with a chicken patty in it and told to assemble it herself with the salad/sauces. And she didn't enjoy it one little bit. In fact, she very quickly had 'wrap envy'. It got worse... because we ended up walking around some more after we had eaten and saw there were about 15 other food stalls we could have chosen to eat from. We did manage a cupcake for desert which made Anna's night. That, and the Pimm's. All in all, we can approve of the Zoo at night time. 

Om Nom Nom! And they were pretty too!

But make sure that if you go - to check out ALL the food stalls. We were all disappointed that the 'Penguin Disco' that was advertised was not in fact a bunch of penguins dancing to techno music. Just penguins. Hanging out together on some land. Good company that night, though :)

Myself, Kylie and Anna :) Anna didn't list to the instructions and lost a finger. Sad. 

On Saturday morning, Seun and I queued up at Victoria's Apollo Theatre to get front row seats to see "Wicked". I went and saw this show when I was really sick, back in February. It was at the time I had lost my voice completely, and Mum suggested that being I couldn't work, I might as well make the most of my days off. I remember not enjoying Wicked very much at all, and feeling disappointed. I felt at the time it was too long and I wasn't sure about the story. I also recall that I spent most of the time trying to suppress my coughing fits... so now I think about it I can appreciate why I didn't enjoy the show the first time. Last night? It was AMAZING. Awesome effects, great costuming and set - and a fantastic story of values throughout.  I loved the clever references to "The Wizard of Oz" which were there- but not too in your face. Gar-linda was awesome... so very funny, such a great role she gets to play. We had the understudy to Rachel Tucker, Nikki Davis-Jones, as Elphaba, who was fab! Great stage presence and voice. I also decided I love the songs - very cleverly written lyrics. I did buy the soundtrack last time I went as I felt disturbed that only two songs were memorable, so this time I knew most of the lyrics which helped. It was frustrating that Hannah (who was sitting with me, Seun got the last ticket for the front row so was down below!) and I were sitting in front of a row of teenage girls who clearly were not overly interested in the show. They talked their way through it, and at half time leaned over and asked one of the theatre staff 'How much longer is this play going for?'. Hic hmmm? Play?? Oh dear. Kill me now. She's lucky she didn't get a thick lip!


After the show, Seun and I waited by the stage door so that Seun could get the autographs of the leads. What baffled me was how *lovely* they all were, even though they had done two shows that day and must have just wanted to go home, they were all smiley and actually taking the time to stop and have conversations with people which I was quite impressed with. I am in love with Fieyero - hot much?? And boy, can he dance. He was nice to look at up close too. Seun wasn't impressed when I said I could easily follow him home - I saw which way he went haha! The girl who understudied for Rachel Tucker as Elphaba was really lovely, she talked to us a fair bit and even told us that she wasn't sure if 'the lift' would work (she raises up and flies during Defying Gravity - naturally!) so she was quite nervous. It was quite cool to see the cast 'in the flesh' after the show, very cool indeed. 

Hello Mark Evans. (Fiyero)

Oh, that's just me and Nikki (Elphaba)

WiCkEd!

Today I decided to make the most of the day and hopped on the train, destined for Greenwich. I have wanted to go for a while as I have heard there is heaps to see and do, and it is a really nice area. I arrived at about 1pm and walked around the Greenwich Market, which was fantastic - a little like Spitalfields near Liverpool Street, but a bit smaller. The foods on offer were fantastic and the little stalls had heaps of really nice trinkets. It is hard now, as I am no longer buying anything unless it is a necessity (theatre tickets, if you are wondering, are considered a necessity!) so I didn't buy anything from there, but it has to be said that London Markets are quite fun to just wander around. Even by yourself! 


I read in my little London book that a student, Lucy, got me for Christmas last year and saw that Greenwich has the 'Cutty Sark' ship, so I thought I'd check it out. When I got there - I saw this. 

A sad sight, indeed :(

Disappointment. Apparently there was a fire in 2007 and they have been restoring it ever since - it reopens in Spring 2012. Some random facts about the Cutty Sark include the fact that she is the epitome of the great age of sail, she is the only surviving clipper, and the only tea clipper in existence (that's pretty cool!), 15 million people have come on board to learn about her (wow!) and she was preserved in Greenwich, partly as a memorial to the men of the merchant Navy, especially those who lost their lives in both World Wars. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to go on board, but never mind... I will be back here at some point. I missioned onwards and walked around the Painted Hall, which, as I found out today, was a film location for one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies!  

Weeeeee! That's Captain Jacks outfit!

What an incredible building, so beautifully painted and so well preserved! I can imaging a huge banquet taking place back in the day. I loved the paintings on the ceiling and the walls, just incredible. It is known to be one of the finest dining halls in the Western world, and the paintings are by James Thornhill which took 19 years to finish, starting in 1709. The painted hall stood empty until 1806, (insane!) when the body of Admiral Lord Nelson was brought there to lie. He had been killed at the moment of his victory over Napoleon's fleet at Cape Trafalgar on the 21st of October, 1805. From there I walked across the grass to the Painted Chapel, which was also stunningly beautiful. Greenwich would be a beautiful place for a wedding. 

One of the ceiling friezes

The entrance to the Painted Hall.

I knew that the thing I wanted to see most in Greenwich, was the East/West Meridian line. You know - Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), so I continued on up the hill to the Royal Observatory. I paid my £7.50 (the first time I had to pay for something all day, except the donations I gave for the other places) and entered the grounds of the Observatory which were really pretty, well-kept gardens. I only had 40 minutes before closing time so walked around until I found the meridian line... only to find that about 50 people also had the same idea. So I spent the rest of my time queuing up to get my classic photo, feet astride the line. I'm pleased I did this, even though it was a 30 minute wait in the queue. 

Tee hee. This isn't it. But I thought it was funny. 

And here it is, the east/west Meridian line. It says WELLINGTON by my right toe!

Straddling.

When I was coming back on the train I was standing at the station with two other African men - who started talking to me. I had my iPhone out and was facebook surfing, and one of them asked me if I was texting him. I was like, 'No??' and he said 'Would you like to'. Laugh out loud. Great. I was now being picked up on a Sunday afternoon by an African man.  The train arrived, much to my delight, and I boarded. An they followed. And despite the train carriage being empty except for us, they decided to sit with me. Of *course* they did! He was friendly enough and asked me what I was doing out this way today and why I was in London when NZ was such a beautiful country (ooh - good question??) and then asked if I had a boyfriend, or was married. My quick reaction was 'Yes, I have a boyfriend, sorry.' He was clearly disappointed, but then proceeded to say 'Sorry, I just had to ask because you are just so beautiful, such a beautiful face you have' and blah blah blah. I continued to smile and not make a fuss, and just wanted to arrive at my stop already. I decided for novelty sake to have a photo with him, so here he is - meet Richard. From Africa - he is a chef at an African Restaurant in Deptford. It made for an eventful trip home, if nothing else.

Richard... the latest guy to hit on me on public transport.

I had an awesome day - and was absolutely shattered on getting home... it is always a busy day when you're out being a tourist! I have two weeks of work to go and then I go on my mammoth 8 week trip. I have now booked all my trains and planes (except my flight to wherever Erin and Thomas will be when I am back from my UK trip), and I have even booked my ticket to see "Sunday in the Park with George" as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. How lucky I am that this is on when I am in town! This Thursday I am seeing Dylan Moran (Bernard from 'Black Books') and on Friday Kylie and I fly to Belfast for the weekend. As you do! Can't wait, as I've not been to Ireland. I will drink one pint of Guinness... but only because I feel it is my duty to whilst in Ireland for the first time. Hopefully the protest which happens on the 12th of July is all over and done with by Friday... and that there are no riots! Until more adventures (which you just *know* there will be....)


Cheery bye :)