London calling!

Alright?
A very weird English way of saying hello, how are you in one. As Shady puts it you never quite know whether you’re supposed to reply with ‘hi’, or ‘I’m fine thank you, how are you?’ The done thing seems to be a head nod, but we haven’t quite managed that as of yet!
Since our last update we’ve been very busy and have had three gorgeous and productive days. We’re now looking for places to live and will probably spend a fair chunk of the weekend looking at different options. We’re considering a short term room over the summer (people advertise their room for a month or so while they go travelling), or possibly something longer if we like the people and the place.
I’ll pick up where we left off on the Tuesday as this was our first day in London alone as Shady and Emily obviously don’t have the luxury of being on holiday-mode like us!
This day presented a number of rude awakenings that will be our life for the next two years – queuing and unpredictable weather. You have to queue for absolutely everything – when shopping (dressing rooms and to purchase), at the bank, to use an ATM... I realise there are times you have to queue in NZ as well, but this is on a completely different scale! First off, the queues in one shop were so long it was going to take an hour and a half of waiting just to try on a top! No way could I do that, so we put our prospective purchases back and headed out the door. Since then we’ve spoken to a few Brits who have explained that this isn’t normal and while you have to queue it was particularly bad at this store as it was school holidays, and the shop was the biggest store you’d ever seen (think four stories of the biggest Warehouse you’ve seen, all of which sell great clothes at ridiculous prices).
As we needed to pick up a few things we made the mistake of heading into Oxford and Regent Streets during school holidays and a work lunch time. While the shopping was amazing I didn’t as so much look at anything – it was way too busy and claustrophobic for me! Brad on the other hand got a nice pair of shoes – much needed as his were literally falling apart!
After an entire day of queuing and people (with the only respite being a cosy tapas lunch), we headed back to Shady and Emily’s where Brad resumed our search for a holiday, and I went for a run... Foolish mistake – as we’d been navigating our way around London’s streets for a few days, I thought nothing of venturing off into the unknown. I ended up god knows where in rabbit warren streets in the pouring rain. Two hours later I eventually found my way home, cold, wet and a little shaken! I’ll go for a run later today, but rest assured I will check google maps first!
Wednesday was just lovely. After five hours on the internet in the morning, we finally booked a holiday to Morocco for a week, departing Monday! We’re quite excited – so much so because it was ridiculously cheap. Roughly NZ$1000 for both of us including flights, accommodation (resort), breakfast each morning and transfers. Agadir here we come – one of the most beautiful beaches in the world apparently. We’re really hoping there’ll be a day trip on offer to Marrakesh or somewhere, but as it’s quite far we’re not sure at this stage. If not we’ve heard there’s heaps you can do – camel-riding, quad biking in the desert etc... Given the new Sex and the City film was filmed there I’m quite excited!
After a disgustingly long time on the internet we headed into Covent Garden (which despite the name is not actually a garden – I was quite surprised), rather it’s a boutique style ancient building which houses markets, cute little shops and a lot of street performers. While we were desperate to see Covent Garden our main reason for heading there was that another tour departed from there and we enjoyed the other one so much we were keen to try out the old tour. Thankfully we did as it did not disappoint, and we saw so many sights and learned a heap of info again... A few interesting points are detailed below (move over Hollard’s and Gems, there’s a new teacher in town!):
• London is made up of two cities – the city of Westminster (mainly royal and government districts which our original tour took us around), and the city of London (the old, original city – a little more dark and grisly!).
• The clock which sits on the District Court (also where Paul McCartney and Heather Mills/ Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a divorce) is the clock used in the Harry Potter films – which are actually filmed at Oxford University FYI.
• London Bridge is absolute rubbish – the pretty bridge everyone mistakes it for is called Tower Bridge. When the original London Bridge was for sale a rich American business man brought it via phone auction. When he got it home to Arizona he was shocked to learn that the towers and draw bridge were missing. It was only after a phone call back to London that he was informed that the bridge he was referring to is Tower Bridge and is not for sale. An expensive mistake!
• The great London fire, which burned for five days and wiped out 60 per cent of the city, started in the basement of a baker’s house while he was baking bread. Although many people dies, the official death toll only reads between four and seven, meaning only four to seven rich and ‘important’ people lost their lives.
• The Millennium bridge was commissioned as part of London’s millennium celebrations, although was three months behind schedule so it missed the millennium entirely. When it did eventually open in March, thousands of people flocked to the bridge to see it for themselves, causing the bridge to buckle and sway under its pressure. Needless to say the bridge took another three months to strengthen.
• They do Snickers ice-cream over here and I’m a huge fan. Basically it’s just a snickers bar, with the nougat replaced with ice-cream (which actually tastes like cold, creamy nougat). 10 out of 10!
Yesterday we got up at the crack of dawn to head into town for an interview I had with a recruitment agent. All went well and she seemed to think it wouldn’t be a problem finding work. She even had a few things on the table already... Brad hasn’t started his job search yet and is enjoying taking it easy. We’re in no huge rush and would like to spend about a month exploring the UK and taking cheap holidays while we can!
Then we sussed out mobile phone contracts – so competitive over here- £15 for unlimited internet, 400 minutes and 400 texts. Brilliant!
Given the weather was AMAZING, we decided to spend the day just wandering and exploring, which proved to be a good decision as it was the best day yet. After wandering around Leicester Square, we meandered over to the Thames River where we walked across the famous millennium bridge (also featured in harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for all those HP fans out there) and headed up the Tate Modern. After a quick little wander we went outside, lay on the bank of the river in the sun and dozed with a falafel kebab in hand with the thousands of other Londoners who were determined to make the most of the gorgeous but temporary sun!
We then headed to St Pauls (which we had seen on the tour) and decided to pay and head on inside. Great decision as it was well worth the money. The cathedral has five levels: a crypt which houses the bodies of the Duke of Wellington, Lord Nelson, Florence Nightingale and Winston Churchill to name a few, the actual cathedral, the whispering gallery (where you can whisper against the wall at the other end, only for the person to be able to hear right at the other end, a viewing platform near the top, and the very high balcony which overlooks the city. Needless to say on account of the stairs (which were ridiculously steep and narrow, so much so that Brad and I were literally bent over at throughout) not everyone decides to climb that high. The effort and terror was well worth it though as the views over London were incredible. It really is so such a beautiful city!
After a great day sightseeing we headed home to make Shady, Emily and their flatmates dinner, as well as continue our online search for a place to live.
In terms of a plan for today we have none! Quite keen to check out Greenwich, Notting Hill and maybe climb the monument (erected in honour of the London fire), but also might check out a few places to live...
Love to all and will blog again soon!
Mwa
xx