Day 1 Friday, June 18, 2004We arrived at Heathrow to what was going to be our (Sean and me) first serious holiday in a while. Boy, were we happy to be in London to see Karl and get into his swank BMW 3-series M3. After getting to his home and settling in, we sat in the backyard, popped open a couple of pints and the holiday was underway. Later that evening we headed off with Karl for his badminton game followed by pints of John Smiths at WOOLPACK (hmmmm-Interesting name. Wonder what happens in there)

Day 2 Saturday, June 19, 2004
Took our time getting out of bed and then drove up north for Karl's weekly game of cricket. To my good luck, the opposite team was a player short and I fielded in 3rd man boundary for the entire match. That made a damn sore shoulder the next day. My first sight of sunlight at 9:30 p.m.Karl & Denise then took out for a great meal at Shaolin's where the Peaking Duck in pancakes was the highlight.

Day 3 Sunday, June 20, 2004
Started the day with 8 o'clock mass (good boy's eh) at St. Lawrence's chapel opposite the lake. We had a packed day after that with Karl driving us around Central to give us a taste of what we were in for. Stopped over at China town for lunch and then went to Hyde Park where Red Hot Chilli Peppers were performing that evening.

Day 4 Monday, June 21, 2004
The tourists are on the LOOSE. Took our travel card and we were set. Hopped on the train at Feltham to Waterloo and were familiar with the tubes in no time. Lords Cricket ground was destination 1. Smaller ground than we anticipated, but an amazing spectacle. Then headed off to Madame Tousauds on Baker Street that was a WOW. The chamber of horror freaked the living daylight out of us and Sean got the worst of it (he deserved it after feeling J-LO's ass at Tousauds). Headed to Oxfords Street and after a bit of shopping met with Junelia at a pub in Hampstead for the Euro 2004 England - Croatia match. ROOOO mania in full effect. Missed the last train home that night. Finally got home by tube, bus, cab at 2:00 a.m. That night I pissed at Richmond station like never before.

Day 5 Tuesday, June 22, 2004
We head straight to SW19 (Wimbledon) in anticipation of seeing something BIG. What ended up big (rather snake long) was the endless queque that seemed unreal. We asked the stewarts where the lines started and he pointed up the hill and that we would get tickets. What he never told was that people had started queuing up for the next day. We then left W'don and headed to Kent to meet Rodney, Shyam and Jai. We were deadbeat tired it was the perfect place to unwind for the day. What a beautiful home. Shiraz joined us for dinner that nite where Rodney cooked us a great meal. I never slept that night thanks to the black coffee.

Day 6 Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Leave Kent for Buckingham Palace. The only rainy day on the trip. After spending 2 hrs at the Palace we headed to the Science Museum. We were destined to get our site seeing out of the way and so headed to the Tower of London. The years 1620, 1412, 1580 seemed like a few days ago. Those Beefeaters never failed in school history. After taking some snaps on London Bridge we headed for a few drinks in Central. Got home by around 6 in the evening and spent the evening with Denise and Keenan.

Day 7 Thursday, June 24, 2004
THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET. Left the house at 9.30a.m. Got in a queque at 11.00 and by 1.30 my dream came true. I entered the gates at Wimbledon and stood there for a few minutes stunned. I could not believe what I was seeing.I spent very little time watching the matches, as I was more interested in soaking up the atmosphere. Talked my way into allowing the security to get into Center Court and Court 1 for a few minutes. The courts I saw all my life on TV growing up were in front of my eyes. Later that night Sean, Junelia and myself partied like teenagers at Leicester Square. Jewel was a very classy bar we dropped into first and then headed for some serious RnB till 3 am at Club NYT.

Day 8 Friday, June 25, 2004
Our last day in London started with breakfast in Leicester Square followed by some serious shopping at Lillywhites and H&M's in Piccadilly and Regent street respectively. Its been 7 full hectic days in London and by around 2pm were decided to head home early enough to pack for the second leg of our holiday to Ireland (to think that this was not enough!!!). We spent the evening with Denise and Sean and Keenan had their sword fight session. We headed to the pub to watch the Greece - France match.We left for Dublin early next morning with enough memories that we wont forget in a hurry.