16 - 22 October 2013
Day 14: Bus ride
This bus ride was cheap so I had pretty low expectations and it started out living up (or down) to those expectations. The driver that we had at the start wasn't a very smooth driver and because I can't sleep on buses, it was going to be a long night. Immigration gave me quite a few questions but this is probably because Aussie backpackers are the biggest visa overstayers in the UK (or so I've heard).
Everyone has to get off the bus while it's on the ferry and it's a mad rush to get upstairs first to get a couch to sleep on. I didn't realise this until I got up there as one of the last but I still scored a chair to (try to) sleep in. Back on the bus and after navigating some early morning traffic, a very sleep deprived Tom got off the bus.
I caught the train to my cousin's house and had a lazy day. After a nap the two of us went to the pub for lunch and it was good; beer and burgers. As a bonus even the weather was nice so we could sit in the beer garden.
Day 15: Greenwich
Today I was meeting my friend at Victoria station so we could catch the ferry down to the Greenwich museum. The plan was to meet at the Burger King in the station but, wouldn't you know it, there were two Burger Kings *facepalm*. We both went to different ones but we eventually both had the same idea and went wandering and bumped into each other. Life is a lot harder without mobile phones you know.
We caught the tube over to the river and jumped aboard the ferry. It was a pleasant ride and it's good to see things from a different perspective. The petrol head readers will like that the ferries are turbo diesel and they make awesome turbo spool noise.
We went to the museum with the timeline and observatory first and here I learnt about why they use knots for speed, how pendulum clocks work, saw a 28" telescope (it's the size of a shed) and of course took a photo on the timeline. Afterwards we went to the planetarium to see a show called Undiscovered Worlds. It was narrated by an American and aimed at kids but it was still good.
Next stop was a late lunch and we found a TexMex place near the museums; I'd recommend it (but I forgot the name). Afterwards we wanted to find the fan museum that was mentioned on the map and we did eventually find it but it was a) closed, and b) not the type of fans we expected. I pictured a museum full of electric axial fans but, and this makes more sense, it was all the fold out, handheld style of fans.
Comedy Club
We caught the ferry back and then jumped on the tube to Convent Garden to try and find something night-lifey to do. One of the dudes on the street sold us on a stand-up comedy show so we headed off to that and it was really good.
Day 16: White Bear
My cousin, his partner and I headed out into the Kent countryside for lunch today. We went to a pub called the White Bear and I guess it was a pretty standard English style pub; cosy, exposed wooden beams and all that other stuff. They also do great food so I can recommend it.
Day 17: Catching up with friends
I was meeting up with two friends (separately) in London today, the first was my tour leader from the Intrepid tour that I did (the tour not the leader) earlier this trip. It would've been quite easy to get there if the trains were running but the Northern tube line was suspended and that made things very difficult so I ended up catching lots of other trains to go around the suspended section of line. I eventually made it and found my friend but once again; life is much easier with mobile phones. We went to a pub, talked crap, drank beer and had a Sunday carvery for lunch. HOLY CRAP, this roast was the ultimate pub food, it taste soooo good.
Time to meet my other friend now and once again, the suspended train line threw a spanner in the works. I had to catch a bus but it was terrible because we had to wait in the rain and then when we got onto the bus, it was ridiculously packed. I eventually made it to the meeting spot and, cue sense of deja vu, my mate took me to another pub where we talked crap, drank beers and ordered a Sunday carvery. This one was half the price and about half the quality but still quite good. I don't know if the English are known for good food but I'd nominate these roasts as a candidate.
Day 18: Hampton Court Palace
My friend (the first one, not either of the two from yesterday.. maybe they need codenames?) and I caught the train out to this palace that's been turned into a museum of sorts. We wandered around and saw the bed chambers (there were a lot of them), the guest apartments and the kitchen. In the kitchen I learnt that pies were used as a way to serve the food in it's own dish (the crust) but you were only meant to eat the inside, not the lid or the crust base.
There was a role play with a queen and some other characters but it was horribly boring so we bailed on that and went to have a look at the gardens. They weren't nearly as nice as the ones at Versailles, France but then the whole palace here was much smaller and I think French gardens are known for their absolutely order. We also went through a hedge maze and had a race but *cough* I lost. Anyway, onto other topics.
Dinner
Back in Beckenham I went out for dinner with my cousin and his partner to a buffet place down the road called Chom Chom. All the food is really good but between crappy self control and wanting to get the most for our money, I ate way too much. The highlights were a Thai green curry and chicken braha.
Day 19: Legoland, no Surgeon's Museum
The initial plan was to go out to Legoland but we decided that we didn't have time so instead we went to the Hunterian or Surgeon's Museum. The museum is about the history of the surgeon profession and how medical practices have changed over the years. There is also a huge collection of samples of all sorts from human body parts to animals in glass jars.
Ice Bar
The map had an Ice Bar on it and we eventually found the place but it was't open yet. When you go to an Ice Bar, you expect it to be expensive but when we looked at the prices we decided that we didn't want it that badly so we didn't bother planning to coming back and instead went to relax in deck chairs in the park.
Flying out
It was time to leave Europe so I packed my bag, ducked to the pub with my cousin for one last beer and then started the super long tube ride to the airport. There's a gotcha at the airport station because it's in a different zone, you need to pay 90p extra so it's lucky I still had some money left.
Check in went smoothly and I remembered to empty my water bottle before security so I could fill it up before the flight and have my own water rather than having to pester the flight attendants. It's the small things.
Day 14: Bus ride
This bus ride was cheap so I had pretty low expectations and it started out living up (or down) to those expectations. The driver that we had at the start wasn't a very smooth driver and because I can't sleep on buses, it was going to be a long night. Immigration gave me quite a few questions but this is probably because Aussie backpackers are the biggest visa overstayers in the UK (or so I've heard).
Everyone has to get off the bus while it's on the ferry and it's a mad rush to get upstairs first to get a couch to sleep on. I didn't realise this until I got up there as one of the last but I still scored a chair to (try to) sleep in. Back on the bus and after navigating some early morning traffic, a very sleep deprived Tom got off the bus.
I caught the train to my cousin's house and had a lazy day. After a nap the two of us went to the pub for lunch and it was good; beer and burgers. As a bonus even the weather was nice so we could sit in the beer garden.
Day 15: Greenwich
Today I was meeting my friend at Victoria station so we could catch the ferry down to the Greenwich museum. The plan was to meet at the Burger King in the station but, wouldn't you know it, there were two Burger Kings *facepalm*. We both went to different ones but we eventually both had the same idea and went wandering and bumped into each other. Life is a lot harder without mobile phones you know.
We caught the tube over to the river and jumped aboard the ferry. It was a pleasant ride and it's good to see things from a different perspective. The petrol head readers will like that the ferries are turbo diesel and they make awesome turbo spool noise.
We went to the museum with the timeline and observatory first and here I learnt about why they use knots for speed, how pendulum clocks work, saw a 28" telescope (it's the size of a shed) and of course took a photo on the timeline. Afterwards we went to the planetarium to see a show called Undiscovered Worlds. It was narrated by an American and aimed at kids but it was still good.
Next stop was a late lunch and we found a TexMex place near the museums; I'd recommend it (but I forgot the name). Afterwards we wanted to find the fan museum that was mentioned on the map and we did eventually find it but it was a) closed, and b) not the type of fans we expected. I pictured a museum full of electric axial fans but, and this makes more sense, it was all the fold out, handheld style of fans.
Comedy Club
We caught the ferry back and then jumped on the tube to Convent Garden to try and find something night-lifey to do. One of the dudes on the street sold us on a stand-up comedy show so we headed off to that and it was really good.
Day 16: White Bear
My cousin, his partner and I headed out into the Kent countryside for lunch today. We went to a pub called the White Bear and I guess it was a pretty standard English style pub; cosy, exposed wooden beams and all that other stuff. They also do great food so I can recommend it.
Day 17: Catching up with friends
I was meeting up with two friends (separately) in London today, the first was my tour leader from the Intrepid tour that I did (the tour not the leader) earlier this trip. It would've been quite easy to get there if the trains were running but the Northern tube line was suspended and that made things very difficult so I ended up catching lots of other trains to go around the suspended section of line. I eventually made it and found my friend but once again; life is much easier with mobile phones. We went to a pub, talked crap, drank beer and had a Sunday carvery for lunch. HOLY CRAP, this roast was the ultimate pub food, it taste soooo good.
Time to meet my other friend now and once again, the suspended train line threw a spanner in the works. I had to catch a bus but it was terrible because we had to wait in the rain and then when we got onto the bus, it was ridiculously packed. I eventually made it to the meeting spot and, cue sense of deja vu, my mate took me to another pub where we talked crap, drank beers and ordered a Sunday carvery. This one was half the price and about half the quality but still quite good. I don't know if the English are known for good food but I'd nominate these roasts as a candidate.
Day 18: Hampton Court Palace
My friend (the first one, not either of the two from yesterday.. maybe they need codenames?) and I caught the train out to this palace that's been turned into a museum of sorts. We wandered around and saw the bed chambers (there were a lot of them), the guest apartments and the kitchen. In the kitchen I learnt that pies were used as a way to serve the food in it's own dish (the crust) but you were only meant to eat the inside, not the lid or the crust base.
There was a role play with a queen and some other characters but it was horribly boring so we bailed on that and went to have a look at the gardens. They weren't nearly as nice as the ones at Versailles, France but then the whole palace here was much smaller and I think French gardens are known for their absolutely order. We also went through a hedge maze and had a race but *cough* I lost. Anyway, onto other topics.
Dinner
Back in Beckenham I went out for dinner with my cousin and his partner to a buffet place down the road called Chom Chom. All the food is really good but between crappy self control and wanting to get the most for our money, I ate way too much. The highlights were a Thai green curry and chicken braha.
Day 19: Legoland, no Surgeon's Museum
The initial plan was to go out to Legoland but we decided that we didn't have time so instead we went to the Hunterian or Surgeon's Museum. The museum is about the history of the surgeon profession and how medical practices have changed over the years. There is also a huge collection of samples of all sorts from human body parts to animals in glass jars.
Ice Bar
The map had an Ice Bar on it and we eventually found the place but it was't open yet. When you go to an Ice Bar, you expect it to be expensive but when we looked at the prices we decided that we didn't want it that badly so we didn't bother planning to coming back and instead went to relax in deck chairs in the park.
Flying out
It was time to leave Europe so I packed my bag, ducked to the pub with my cousin for one last beer and then started the super long tube ride to the airport. There's a gotcha at the airport station because it's in a different zone, you need to pay 90p extra so it's lucky I still had some money left.
Check in went smoothly and I remembered to empty my water bottle before security so I could fill it up before the flight and have my own water rather than having to pester the flight attendants. It's the small things.
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| Tower bridge from the ferry |
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| Funny looking buildings |
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| A giant ship in a bottle |
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| Cool clock at the Greenwich museum (can't remember what it's for) |
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| Panorama of Greenwich |
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| Tower Bridge at night |
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| The first roast. Yorkshire puddings are really nice |
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| The second roast |
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| Hampton Court Palace entry |
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| We didn't learn much |
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| *giggles* |
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| Nice display in part of the palace |
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| Royal toilet |
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| Statue in the palace |
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| Weird statue at the palace #1 |
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| #2 |
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| #3 |
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| #4 |
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| #5 |
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| #6 |
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| An old soft close mechanism that works really well |
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| Courtyard of the palace |
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| Why does England have sundials? They never get any sun. |
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| I eventually made it. |
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| Leaving the palace |
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| There's no pictures allowed in the Hunterian Museum but this is what it may look like |
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| Hello? |
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| Standing on the Greewich timeline. My feet are in different time zones |
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| Posing outside the Greenwich museum |
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| Um, not really sure what humped pelicans look like |
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| I was gonna bring it back but it was took big for my bag |
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| *giggles* |
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