We arrived to a patient Wendy and Will at a crisp white table with big buds of blushing pink roses in the centre. The waiters buzzed around us, attentive and efficient as we indulged in our courses of food with conversation swirling between life in England, budding careers (and study), cars and expensive watches.
Fashionable Londoners began to disappear from the tables and the busy restaurant began to quieten down. We polished off dessert and a couple of strong coffees (the strongest I’ve had in England) and parted ways. Pete and I walked back to his apartment in the cool night, past the young drunks, music and chatter spilling onto the sidewalks of the city.
Saturday morning I was awoken by sun streaming into Pete’s apartment. I couldn’t believe it- clear blue skies and sun! I have been tiring quickly of the rain everyday, so it was refreshing to finally see a change in the weather!
Due to our long chat till the early hours of the morning and strong coffee from night before Pete and I stumbled to get ourselves together for a light breakfast and talk on the phone to Geoff in Sydney. We headed out to a local café to get coffee, watching the world pass us by at the big bay windows.
I headed to the Hilton Metropole to meet my cousins who were on holiday in Europe from Sydney. It was great to see the familiar faces of my family so soon.
We had a great day out beginning with a cruise down the Thames passing the sights of Big Ben, Tower Bridge and the finance district down the river called Canary Wharf.
The ferry pulled into the village-y, vibrant hub called Greenwich, full of market stalls, boutique shops and a big park where at the very top, the Prime Meridian is located.
The Prime Meridian Line is an imaginary line that runs from the North to South Pole, marking the separation of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. It is the location where longitude is 0 degrees and all other longitude lines align to it. It is also most well known as the place that set a standard for times all around the world.
The Prime Meridian Line is located at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and it a popular attraction with its free entry to its little museums on the history and development of time and astronomy. We spent most of our day wondering around the site, setting our watches to Greenwich Mean Time, checking out the interactive museums and listening to a free local tour around the cobbled courtyard. Christopher even picked up a certificate to say the exact time he was at the Prime Meridian.
We took the ferry back into the city and hit some shops along the busy Oxford Street. It is the height of summer now and the locals and tourists flock to the stores for the big, big sales. We popped into the Gap to pick up some bargains and then spent the rest of the afternoon in Selfridges.
Starving from our sight-seeing, walking and shopping, we headed to SoHo for dinner. We randomly selected Burger Shack and were pleasantly surprised to find great burgers at great prices, though I surrendered to a pasta fix of Penne Chicken.
I had a bit of a sleepover with Gerard and Christopher at their hotel seeing as their room was a triple. A unique and lucky coincidence for my visit!
Sunday morning didn’t work out as well as we had planned. We took the Tube to Buckingham Place to see the Changing of the Guard and the Tour de France, which was to be happening around London city that weekend (just a note also that unless you are living under a rock, the Wimbledon finals were on over the weekend too. It really was a sports persons dream city last weekend!). We waited for hours in the crowds and hot sun and saw the red and black marching band, but no Tour de France. It was a bit of a disappointment, but we popped into the cooler Royal Mews to check out the Royal stables, carriages and a display of a royal limousine. It was nicer to be in a less crowded and cooler place, and absorb some of the Royal heritage and tradition at the same time.
My afternoon departure was creeping up on me, so Gerard, Christopher and I headed back to the hotel so I could pick up my stuff while Peggy and Garry headed off for more excitement at Wimbledon.
Accompanied with a magazine and my iPod, I fell into my seat on the train, exhausted from the sun, sightseeing and fun, of a sunny London weekend!
