The past week, my first in London, has been quite uneventful and a bit of a blur. I've been sleeping maybe 4 hours a night because for some reason I cant stay asleep! Mainly its the constant shaking of the bunk bed, but the bed itself is quite uncomfortable. Feeling like a complete zombie I havent been bothered to do much at all. However....

 

On thursday I caught up with Matt at Victoria station. We had planned to meet at 2 but changed it to 3 because Matt didnt realise his train would be 2 hours not 1. I was expecting him to be late anyhow so arrived at Victoria just on 3 and of course Matt wasnt there. I found a Vodafone store at the station and bought myself a sim then gave him a call.

 

Figuring I had about an hour until his train arrived I went for a walk. Leaving the station I had a look about to figure out where to go. The street sign said Buckingham Palace road, 'Hey I havent been there before!'. I walked down the road which ran along the side of buckingham palace. Its not what I thought it would be like but infact I didnt really know what to expect. But for a palace it's pretty dull.

 

Reaching the front of the palace I took some pictures and checked out the famous guards that hardly move. There were a heap of tourists as you would expect but really not that much to see. I headed back to the station and caught up with my brother.

 

We met up with one of Matt's old Uni friends Jess and headed to a pub for a drink or three. We were joined by one of Jess's friends whose name I cant remember, and later one of his friends joined us too, again I cant remember the names. We ended up at 'On Anon' which is a multilevel bar, restaurant and club. We shared a food platter that had some mmmm tasty chicken and some wedges! I havent had wedges since I left Aus.

 

Jess told us about a spare of the moment ski trip that she had booked and encouraged us to join her. I was very interested in the offer but because she was leaving the next day or so it made it a bit difficult. And in the end we discovered you can only leave on a saturday, so it was not possible. Bugger!

 

That night Matt and I caught the train to Hastings where he has been living with his two Mates Nick and Irj, whom I met when I stayed in Cambridge a few years ago. The train ride was a bit of a struggle. We were both a bit jet lagged and struggling to keep our eyes open. I think we passed out briefly.

 

It was about midnight when we arrived and the lot of us crashed in the lounge and watched Rambo. I had the option of sleeping on a blow up mattress or on the recliner. I went for the recliner expecting to be able lay right back and not have to worry about inflating the air bed. But of course the recliner was a bit dodgy so I slept sitting up, which im kinda used to from all the planes busses and trains, but of course I got minimal sleep.

 

In the morning we caught up with Irj and Nick at their store 'Vision Express' before heading out for breakfast. It was a decent sized breakfast and I was filled to the brim! Yummo. The train ride back to London was just as painful as the night before and I struggled to keep awake.

 

I got to my destination right on the dot, I had an appointment with Barcleys to open up a bank account. So now all I need is to earn some money to put into it!

 

Getting back to the hostel around 330 I passed out for a few hours.

Linda gave me a call and we met up at China Town in Leicter Square for dinner with her work collegue Michelle and Michelle's bf ummmm I cant remember his name either!

Dinner was great. We had Taiwonese. After dinner we went for a beer and a packed out pub that was full of brass pipes and a plethora of different beers. It's good to see Linda after about 2 years or more, she hasnt changed that much at all! Still such a lively and lovely person.

 

Returning to the hostel around 1230 I stayed up watching movies and chatting on the net to Leire, the crazy Canadian I met in Miami. Another night of little sleep....