Happy birthday Mary!!! We hope you had a great day....
For us it was time to leave Cyprus and begin the next part of our trip. We were up early - 5.15am and Chris kindly drove us to the airport for our 8.15am flight to London.
It was sad leaving Cyprus, we had a fantastic time there and Chris and Mary the perfect hosts. After bidding our farewells to Chris at the airport, we checked in without any hassles and were London bound.
It was a about a 5 hour flight and we touched down in London around 11am local time - we had gained 2 hours....
After 38 degrees in Cyprus, we were welcomed to the London summer of 14 degrees and rain!!! Typical London weather - what can I say? Still it didnt dampen our enthusiasm and after clearing customs and picking up our luggage, it was time to navigate our way into the city and to find our hotel.
To our surprise, we managed both successfully - we got some local currency, purchased an Oyster Card - which is the equivalent of the Miiki card back home, and caught the underground train - thank God for the Lonely Planet book! We hopped off at one station, then boarded another train on a different platform and arrived at Waterloo station. It was a quick 5 minute walk and we found our hotel - which is great, perfect location - right near the London Eye and walking distance to most of the tourist locations.
After unpacking it was time to play tourist. We walked along the Thames River and took in the sites - the first thing that hits you about London is how old everything is and the architecture of the buildings - I am not a fan of the English, however, it is hard not to be impressed by their City. We then walked back up Fleet St and Nadeen and I both felt we were playing Monopoly!!! We took in sites such as Fleet St, Bond St,, Trafalgar Square, The Strand, Picadily Circus etc.....
Following our walk, we managed to catch up with Nige and had a few beers with him. It was great catching up with Nige - he hasnt changed a bit - and our time together went very quickly. He is going away for the weekend - it is a long weekend over here for the Bank Holiday - but we will catch up with him again on Monday night.
F0llowing drinks with Nige it was time for more site seeing and as we were strolling along, Brett called and invited us to join him and Lizzie for a drink - so we did!!!
What a fun night it was - again, great to catch up with Brett and Lizzie in their home town. After walking the streets - going past the various theatres with shows such as Les Miserables, We will Rock You, Jersey Boys etc, we met them at a pub in Soho called the Sun and Thirteen and Cantons.
Lizzie was there with her work mates and we had a great time in their company - plenty of drinks had by all.....
Brett even has managed to pick up a local accent - which I told him was very disturbing!!!
We finished at the pub and caught a London cab back to our hotel with Brett and Lizzie and invited them in for a drink at our hotel - unfortunately for all concerned, Brett and Lizzie were refused service.....what a change that makes - normally it is me that is refused service!!!! Anyway, it was no point arguing so Brett and Lizzie caught a cab home - it turns out they are only a 20 minute walk away from us.
A great first day/night in London.
Tomorrow, Brett and I are off to the English Premier League to see Chelsea play - cant wait for that!!!!!
Nadeen is off shopping at Harrods - so the credit card will get a belting!!!