So the last week has been absolutely crazy. My mom and 10 yr old nephew came over to visit, I was finishing up at work and trying to plan/book my Africa and South America trip. So after 6 yrs with the same company in NC, Sydney and London, I walked out of the office for the last time. It was a good run, got loads of good experiences and good friends from it.
The slightly more interesting bit was with my visitors. I met them at the airport (waaay too early in the morning) and we started the journey to their hotel. One thing to remember in London, you will be on crowded trains and walking - a lot, so pack light as you can. Needless to say after surviving the trains and tube with the bags I was already sore and tired. We got them into their hotel, with a bit of cajoling as they were in the morning and the hotel was slightly uppity. But it ended well. I figured the best thing to do was to hit the tourist trails early, especially as it would tire them out and help them sleep and adjust to the time change. So we walked across Hyde park to the Albert Memorial, Royal Albert Hall, Science Museum and Natural History Museum. All very interesting but the Natural History Museum was a very cool building - they also filmed the Mummy there.
Day 2 I took them up to Camden markets. I have written about Camden earlier, its an eclectic, crazy sort of place with big open air markets, international food and loads of different people. It was an interesting time. We took the tube down to Charing Cross and walked across the bridge to the South Bank, where the buskers were out in full force. We got some tickets to the Eye and Dungeons. We rode the Eye and headed to the Dungeon via the tube. We waited in the que for the Dungeon but the line was sooo long and it was sooo cold, we eventually gave up.
Day 3 we went for a walk. They came up the tube to near where I live - actually walked right by it but didn't want to take them up there. Plus I didn't have time to clean up after the party and there were still some girls hanging around. We walked down Oxford St and then to Regents St. We were going to take Jackson to Hamleys as it is their 200 or 250 anniversary (its a huge toy store). We also walked down Carnaby St, through Leicester Square, SOHO (trying to avoid the "educational" areas!!), Seven Dials and over to Covent Garden. They went into the Transport Museum while I had an errand to two to run.
Monday they were on their own as I had to head to Birmingham for work. Tuesday was similar but I was in my office for the last day. They had booked tickets on the Big Bus tours around London, so they got the guided tours and hop on/off service all around town. They saw St Pauls, the British Museum and all around town. Wednesday I meet them around noon (after getting my malarone anti malarial tables and looking at flight options) outside of the Tower of London. We walked over the Tower Bridge (the one most people think is the London Bridge) to the Dungeons. The Dungeons were ok but a bit too much for a 10 yr old. Thursday it was up early and braving the tube/trains with the bags again. Got them to the airport and checked in.
Afterwards I went to the travel agent I have been dealing with and booked my trip (flights, Africa tour, insurance and a few odds and ends). So the following is what I have planned:
March 16 - fly to Cape Town (few days to explore - shark dive or sand boarding maybe??)
March 20 - overland trip to Kenya (41 days and a few spare days in Nairobi)
May 5 - fly back to London (arrive May 6 6am....) few days to recover, repack my kit and head off
May 10 - fly to Buenos Aires (might book a week or 2 at a Spanish language school)
September 30 - fly from Cartagena, Colombia to Panama (inbetween BA and Cartagena is open, no plans...)
November 6 - fly from Panama to NY (have some friends running in the NY marathon so thought I'd go hang out)
November 9 - fly from NY to RDU
December 5 - RDU to London!
bit crazy but should be good!!
No comments:
Post a Comment