London (again)

My last stop in Europe! I was back in London for four nights; I stayed one night with my cousin Jenny, one night with Fiona, and two nights with Lisa (from UMass).

I spent most of my time in London catching up with people and organising the remainder of my trip. I also attempted to do a few things I'd never done before, on my numerous trips to London. One of them was Abbey Road. Fiona Mel and I went to Abbey Road and attempted to take a picture resembling that of the Beatles Album cover. Each of us must have crossed that road (and held up traffic) at least 4 or 5 times! Not perfect, but we tried! This crossing is right next to the Abbey Road studios, which is covered in quotes and messages from fans.

I made time to head over to Camden Market- something I say I’m going to do each time I’m in London & never seem to get around to.. It’s a really cool area, completely covered in shops and market stalls. The vast majority of the stalls are either clothing or tourist things but there were also a few jewellery and artsy stalls. I saw some really nice dresses but there was nowhere to try them on..so I came away with nothing

I went ice skating at Somerset House with Lisa and her friend Hannah. I’m not exactly a pro ice-skater, but after a few laps I can eventually drag my hands away from the rail. There were little penguins to be used as “teaching aids” for kids, but we got in trouble trying to use them.. Cos apparently we’re not children! Afterwards I went to a very nice little old pub with Fiona. It was re-built in the 17^th Century (after the fire) and remains fairly untouched since then. All the stairways were very low- even I had to duck down! We had a cider (yum!) and enjoyed the very British-pub atmosphere.  

On my last day in London I went shopping on Oxford St with Lisa,Hannah and two other English girls from UMass- Kate & Kenzie. Sooo lovely to see them again, and I got some good bargains! Two new dresses to get me geared up for the oncoming Summer in Asia!! In the evening we went to see Shrek the Musical. SO GOOD! I really really enjoyed it! The highlight by far was Lord Farquaad, played by a man who walked around on his knees, with little fake legs bopping around. He played it so well, it was hilarious. In the film they make fun of a lot of fairytales, and this is done in the musical too. However they also make fun of a bunch of musicals..Les Mis, Wicked, Lion King. Brilliantly funny. It was quite clearly aimed at families, so it felt a bit like a pantomime. I loved it.

Being in Europe these last few weeks has made me remember just how much I love it. I love how close everything is and that it’s so easy to get from one place to the next! My uncle Robin (in Budapest) was telling me that from where they live they can get to seven different countries in less than four hours of driving. Four hours of driving, from Melbourne? You probably won’t make it out of the state, let alone the country. I definitely want to live in somewhere in Europe at some stage.

Now for some (slightly) warmer weather.... ASIA :) First stop: India.