Hanging out with the flatmates
Reunited with Caren
Seeing the Sights
Weak attempt at Abbey Road crosswalk picture
The Changing of the Guards
The three of us got into London around 9 in the evening and took the tube to our Marriott. When we got out, we discovered that we had gone to the wrong stop but opted to walk instead of get back on the tube, thinking it would be very close. We thought wrong. We walked in circles for a short while until some locals offered their assistance and called the Marriott on their phones for us and gave us directions. Friendly place. By the time we checked in and cleaned up, it was nearing 10 o'clock and Brad only had a short time to see the city, so we hit the town. We got dinner at a kebab place (what are we going to do without these?) on Great Portland Street! and followed local's advice to go to Picadilly Circus for a beer. After beer and some dancing, we went to see the sights in the wee hours of the morning. Some local people who had missed their bus offered to show us around. In a matter of hours, we saw Trafalger Square, Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and some other tourist destinations. When we got back to our hotel, we were exhausted and slept in nearly until checkout the next day. When we checked out, Brad hopped in a cab to Heathrow to catch his flight home. Rachel and I went to Abbey Road and tried to recreate the Beatles album cover, however, it is much harder than you would imagine, because not only were there only two of us, but you have to have a random take the picture across the street and mind the cars that are speeding by. Needless to say, we didn't get the best shot off. That night, we took our huge bags and went to Clapham Common to meet up with a friend from New Zealand whom we had met in Greece, but was now living in London named Sam. He was very hospitable and let us stay with his flatmates (all from NZ) and him for most of our week in London. It was great to have a group of people to hang out with. We played rugby in the park, attended birthday parties and watched big rugby games at the local pub, rooting for the All Blacks (NZ team). We managed to see sights during the days, taking a river cruise and riding one of the double deckers through the city. Whilst on the double decker, riding by Big Ben, we saw Caren (a friend from middle school) out the window. We hadn't planned to get out at this stop, but our plans quickly changed as we hopped from our seats and ran for the door screaming her name. It was crazy to run into her in such a big city. That night, we all met up at Hyde Park to catch up, and ended the night in Camden town. The rest of our trip was spent viewing museums, parks and popular neighborhoods and markets and catching up with friends. Steph gets into town today, so we will continue discovering this great city. Molly leaves tomorrow for the good old USA and Rachel heads on to Lagos for round two with Steph. It's hard to believe that it is all coming to an end, but neither of us predict this being our last big global exploration in the coming years.
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