London - The exploration begins!

Well, what was technically our second day in London was a very exciting one!

We started off the day by heading over to Covent Gardens via the underground. We were suprised to find that the underground railroad system in London was actually rather easy to figure out! I even found it easier to navigate ourselves around than I do on the public transport system at home. Below is a map of the undergound. Click on it to enlarge it.

Finding your way to your train and knowing which one goes where is really easy with the underground map and all the signs around the station. I want an underground back in Brissy! It's all so easy! We bought 3 day tickets, as Sam got in for free (yay!) and took the Picadilly Line (the dark blue one) from King's Cross Station to Covent Gardens, just a few stops away. We navigated our way from the station exit, to Pineapple Dance Studios, which was just a short walk around the corner. It's a very famous dance school that is involved heavily in the performance industry in the UK, we've seen a reality show based on the studio on Fox 8 back at home and therefore wanted to pay it a visit.

As we walked down the cobble stoned road to the studio we saw a man standing directly accross from the entrance of Pineapple. He looked a bit odd just standing there staring (with no coat on by the way! ...crazy person), but oh well. We took a few photos in front of the entrance, but then Dad and Sam insisted that they go inside. Not wanting to be extremely embarrassed, Mum and I headed down the street to have a look at the Pineapple clothes shop just on the end corner of the same road, while the boys ventured inside. The clothes store was closed as it was a Sunday, which was expected, but we had a good peek in the window.

When we returned to the studio entrance, Dad and Sam were outside again talking to the guy who was previously standing opposite the studio. He was explaining to them that he was a stage manager for one of the Christmas pantomimes that were being produced by Pineapple and talked to us about some of the people we had seen on the reality TV show about the studio. It was really cool being able to speak to him :) But just as he was telling us about his family or something, he suddenly interrupted his story by saying "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to get you to move to the right a bit, I have a VIP coming through.".....a VIP. Awesome! We were all in awe as to who it could be, as many celebrities are involved with the studio. The guy opened the door of the car, only to reveal....drum roll........

........

David Hasselhoff. That's right, the Hoff. Of all people... the Hoff. I have to be honest, I was a tad dissapointed. I was secretly hoping that Emma Watson or Keira Knightley (my favourite actress) would be said VIP, but no. It was David Hasselhoff.
Dad politely asked him for a photo, to which he obliged and quickly shook Dad's hand and said "Hello kids!". Yes, that's right, sadly at almost 18 I'm still being reffered to as a kid(strangely enough when I'm with my hairy-faced boyfriend, we get offered alcoholic drink menus...hmmm). Oh well, I was still content with my greeting :)

Well after that exciting celebrity encounter, we started to explore Covent Gardens. We headed over to the very croweded markets, which was really nice. Although the markets are now mainly fashion, art and craft places, years ago this used to be where all the local groceries were sold. Back in the day little carts used to deliver all the foods to the market place, but when things started to become more industrialised the trucks became too big to fit through the area. They considered knocking the whole thing down and putting some modern building there instead, but the locals prostested, so although losing its original purpose, the markets of Covent Gardens are still present :) And they are lovely. It was very crowded and cold, but it was very nice and the decorations were amazing. There were massive christmas tree decorations above our heads! It was also good to seesome different things to the usual market products that we're used to seeing in Australia.

We then just casually walked around the area, looking through the windows of various stores and checking out the various topiary figures (e.g. ballet dancer, reindeer). It was a lovely area :)

We then went for a walk to the British Museum. On the way there we got to have a look around and check out the buildings and the general atmosphere of London, we also went past the theatre on Drury Lane that is showing the official production of Oliver. We took a few photos outside the theatre and had a bit of a look around the street, but unfortunately, despite my investigative efforts, no muffin man was found. Very disappointing.

The walk to the museum was rather long and by this point my back, ridden with scoliosis, was yelling at me and Mum and Dad had a few aches and pains as well, but we pushed on. The museum was huge! Mum very efficiently suggested that we decide what we want to see and stick to the plan, as we would be in the museum for days if we went around and saw everything. We chose to focus on the greeks and the egyptians. The exibits were very extravagent and very grand. It made the Brisbane Museum look an extremely pitiful wannabe. Here a few pictures.... just so you catch my drift.

Pretty self explanitory. We then ventured back over the road to a little cafe, where we each had crepes for lunch and hot chocolates. £25. It's pretty expensive in London, but what can you do, we've got to eat. And the crepes were very nice! Crepes are very popular here, especially with nutella. I don't know why but they're almost everywhere you go. I'm not complaining haha.


We then went for a walk along Fleet St., I requested this especially, as Dave is a big fan of Sweeney Todd and I just couldn't pass up the novelty. The street was very interesting, so many different styles of buildings, a mix of traditional and modern. We also came across an old church that was bombed in the war and inspired the first tiered wedding cake. We thought that was a pretty special find :)

We then found our way to St. Pauls Church. It was extremely beautiful, but as it was a Sunday it wasn't open to tourists, however, we were allowed to walk inside briefly and have a look around, as long as we weren't talking. Mum and Sam went inside first and had a peek. Meanwhile Dad and I waited on the steps. While waiting we were approached by two men who asked both Dad and I to send a Christmas message to the troups overseas. We told them that we were Australian, but our messages were still much appreciated. So we each filmed about a 10 secound message and in return recieved a little badge. I was very honoured :) Dad and I then went inside the church. It was honestly so beautiful. We couldn't go too far in, but we still very much appreciated what we did see :)

After a long day of mostly walking we walked to the Holbourn Station and took the tube to King's Cross. Full from the crepes Mum and I didn't want any dinner, but Dad and Sam got something from the Burger King below the hotel. An overall lovely day, but a cold one! It was nice to just casually take in the atmosphere of London :)

More blogs coming soon! Hoping to have internet at our next few stops!

xx

London - The Arrival

Well, we arrived in France today guys, and I'm only blogging about London now. We've just had such a busy past week in London that's it's been hard to find the energy and time to write, but don't worry, you'll get to read about it all :) Starting now!

On the afternoon of our arrival in London (after the whole driver drama at Heathrow) we checked into our hotel, which is really nice :) It was a rather modern hotel and has very nice clean and attractive rooms. The room we were in had a double bed that Mum and Sam slept in, and two single beds (those ones that fold up into part of the wall) Dad on one and I on the other. The bathroom is very nice and the room is warm, which is lovely :) And a lovely treat was the free wifi! I especially loved that!

Once we'd settled into our room, we set off to have a look at the two stations across the road. We literally only have to walk about 3 metres to the right of our hotel door until we reach the stairs to the underground railroad. Mum got a great spot :)

We managed to find our way to the main area at King's Cross through all the hussel and bussel of the station. It's so busy all over the city. You don't even know what a city is until you have been here, it's manic, and that applies to the stations too. It's crazy, but rather exciting. We managed to navigate our way over to St. Pancreas Station. There was actually shops throughout a large portion of the station, which was suprising. It had things like wine tasting bars, cafes, clothes stores, gift wrapping stores, restaurants and almost a whole market lined up a long one long wall. I've never seen anything like it in a train station! We also had a peak at the entrance to the Eurostar (the international train that goes from England to France).

We travelled up the escalator, onto the next level up from the shops and was suprised to see a wedding occuring! They had the full orchestra and all. We were lucky enough to see the happy couple walking down the ailse, the first time as a married couple :) I personally would not have my wedding in a massive train station, but it was still pretty awesome haha.

On the same level we saw a very large statue of a man and women kissing. We assumed it was to signify some kind of cliche fairwell or coming home, at a train station (you know, all hollywood style...) but we spoke to a lovely elderly couple who explained to us that it was to signify the soldiers of WWII saying goodbye to their wives and families at the train station when they were being sent to country areas. You know, like at the beginning Narnia? I thought it was rather nice :)

That same couple got chatting to Dad and before we knew it we were being lead across the road, through busy crowds, all the way back to King's Cross. The man told us about an old steam train they had seen come in only about 20 minutes earlier. He explained that it this wasn't a usually occurence and it wouldn't be too long until it came back again and that it was worth waiting for. Mum and I weren't too fussed, but Dad and Sam were very keen on seeing the train. So we waited... and waited. A train pulled in... but Dad said it wasn't the one we wanted to see. So to pass the time Mum and I went for a walk and located a special Harry Potter platform 9 & 3/4 thing that they had put in a random place on platform 8 (I know right.. you at least would have though that they could have put it somewhere on platform 9). When we returned to the boys, no steam train was in sight, just the one that was there before. So we showed the boys the Harry Potter thing, but decided to come back and take photos another time due to the massive cue.

On our way back to the platform, that the steam train was apparenly going to arrive at, Dad talked to a railway employee and found out the train that "wasn't the right train" turned out to be the back of the steam train! So we had waited for all that time for no reason haha. Oh well, we found the fake platform 9 & 3/4 :)

We all walked down the very slippery and long platform and stood down right at the very front of the train, along with many train enthusiests. Many cameras were flashing away and video cameras were out too, but unfortunately we hadn't bought our cameras as we were just going to check out the stations, we didn't expect this! But oh well we have the memories :) It was very loud and busy, but was pretty cool and the boys especially enjoyed it. My level of enthusiasm however was not even close to the fanatics around me. I made the mistake of saying to Mum (quite loudly by the way, due to the noise of the train) "We better move back a bit and let the people who actually like trains get a good view." ....I recieved a fair few dirty looks from the people around us because of that. My bad.

Once the train left, we decided that we would just use the Maccas down the road from our hotel for dinner. I'm not a big fan of the whole Maccas thing and neither is Mum, but it was a quick, easy and cheap solution to feeling hungry and tired.

We had had a long day by that point and just wanted to get rested and start a new and better day, exploring the beautiful city of London :) Which you will hear about over the next few days when I get everything back up to date :)

Goodnight my Australian friends & family! I must be getting to sleep, I have a big day in Paris tomorrow!

Love you all

x

Nottingham, Family and getting to London - My catch up blog!!

Well guys, it's been a fair few days since my last blog. So sorry for that, but we've all just been so tired that I haven't found the energy or time to blog before I fall asleep! But the next few blogs will get you all up to date :)

So, the night of my last blog, when we were staying in Nottingham turned out to be more exciting then we thought! It was a bout 10pm and I had been asleep for about half an hour, (Mum, Dad and Sam however had been asleep for longer) when the hotel fire alarm went off! I woke up feeling rather startled, but soon realised what was going on and was happy to see that the fire wasn't in our room. Meanwhile Dad was trying to turn off what he thought was his phone alarm lol (he tends to be a bit loopy after just waking up), Mum was getting herself out of bed and Sam was still in a deep sleep! (I have no idea how, as the alarm was extremely loud!). When Dad finally came to his senses he grabbed the passports, Mum grabbed her purse and I grabbed my phone whilst shaking Sam yelling "Sam wake up! It's a fire alarm! We have to get out! Sam there's a fire! SAM!!!" ....he still slept lol.
Mum and I quickly grabbed our coats as Dad finally managed to drag Sam out of bed and we all ran downstairs and out the front door... with no shoes on. Now I'm not sure of the exact temperature at this point in time, but the maximum for that day was somewhere around 3 degrees. So, we were standing on cement in our PJs and coats, in negative degree weather along with the rest of the hotel guests feeling like we were in the arctic. Then 2 minutes later the hotel officials say, "It's safe to go back in now. It was a false alarm... probably just another person smoking in the rooms." .....did I mention that I hate smoking? lol.
We promptly returned to our rooms feeling very cold, a bit shaken and rather tired, Sam on the other hand still had barely any idea of what was happening haha. Thankfully we all managed to get back to sleep fairly quickly :) As unpleasant as this experience may have been, it's one that we will  definitely remember!

The next day we up bright and early and got some breakfast at Starbucks. As per usual it was really cold so we warmed ourselves up with a nice hot chocolate and coffee :) The mugs were huge! Mum and I got a small and it was about the equivalent of a large in most places. As I don't go to Starbucks back in Australia, I'm not sure if this is a global thing or not, but I like it :) There are Starbucks' everywhere here! I swear sometimes I see 3 or more on the one street! Very different to at home.

We quickly popped down to a local store that we had seen the night before called 'schuh' which is, as you might have guessed, a shoe store. We saw this amazing brand in this shop called 'Irregular Choice' which is pretty much exactly what the brand is like. The shoes are like nothing I've ever seen before! They all looked very Marie Antoinette inspired and were very beautiful. As I am a shoeaholic I ended up getting a pair of nice white shoes with a gold decorative pattern on them and flowers on the front. So lovely :) While shopping, we also got Sam a new coat and checked out some of the Christmas decorations in the shopping mall. This same day we went to visit family in suburban Nottingham :) We met Nan's sister Connie, her daughters and their family and had really nice lunch at their home, which was just overall a really lovely experience :) We spent the afternoon their too and then just drove back to the hotel.
We then went looking for a place to have dinner and came across a place called T.G.I. Fridays (check them out here http://www.tgifridays.co.uk/), which is a restaurant kind of similar to Hog's Breathe in Australia.... but better :) It was lovely and warm inside which is always nice in this kind of weather. The place was buzzing! The restaurant was American themed and had heaps of decorations up, music and videos around the place.The bar tenders were doing all that flippy bottle stuff and the whole place just looked fantastic!  The service was great! We had this waiter named Kurt, who was a blast. He was not only our waiter but was making us laugh all night :) And the food was amazing, such a large variety of different foods, yummy foods and lots of it! The plates were huge! If you're ever going to the UK, keep an eye out for one of these joints, it was the kind of place that could suit a family, a couple or a group of mates. It really made our night!

Heathrow.

Our travel agent had arranged for us to meet a transfer car(the people who hold up the cards with your name on it) at the airport so that we could drop off our hire car near the airport and get a lift to our hotel in London. However the only way to get a transfer car was to say that we had travelled in on a flight. The travel agent chose a Manchester to London flight that arrived at 12:30pm. We arrived at Heathrow at around 10:30am and had to wait for 2 hours before our driver was scheduled to pick us up. I read to make the time pass, Mum just waited and Dad & Sam walked around the airport, checking that our driver hadn't arrived early. It hit 12:30, so we got our baggage and stood over at the arranged meeting place, after an hour of waiting and reading every single driver's sign in the airport and even putting a call out for our driver over the PA system, no driver had arrived. (by the way, we have already payed for the transfer car). A very annoyed Dad then called up a taxi service to take us to our hotel in London. Our hotel is located directly across the road from both St. Pancras and King Cross Station :)

We had a very nice couple of days, although not much sight seeing took place, it was still rather eventful! My London blog will be up soon... plenty of sightseeing there! :)

Hope you're all well!

Mia
xx