Off to London to visit the Queen

The last few days have seen a young(ish) kiwi lass trapsing around London town, admiring the vistas, buildings and people, as well as marveling at the extremely changeable weather (from 30 degrees plus to thunderstorms).

On Monday I ventured to the city alone, fortunately skilled in the art of UK public transport by Lisa. After hitting the info centre, I decided to wander down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, and wondering what the hords of people hanging around the perimeter were doing, managed to see the changing of the guards! Continuing on my ramble, I took in the sites of St James Park, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben (the clock tower anyway), the Thames and the London Eye. By this time I was famished, so wandered into a pub to watch some of the aussie - japan game and grab a bit to eat.

I met a fellow solo wander from the States so we decided to head to the Tate Modern together, rather than watch the game (little was I to know that after Japans first dodgy goal, aussie would win 3-1). The Tate was interesting, with some very cool exhibits. However, I hope they didn't pay too much for the stack of bricks on the floor... theres enought brick buildings in London let alone more in a gallery!). We headed for the Globe Theatre, a replica of the famous Shakespearian playhouse. The tour was interesting, although seeing a show there definitely would be the way to do it.

Afterwards, I headed home past St Pauls and managed to get the right bus home, just in time for a fantastic wee bbq followed by some cultural education (ie watching a few episodes of Little Britain on dvd).

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to get a guided tour from Nigel, so we met up in Picadilly Circus, by the imp statue. We made our way to Covant Garden and Leister Square, taking in the sites frequented by Nige and friends on lazy Sunday meanders. Later we made our way to the British Museum to check out the Egyptian artifacts and mummies, and ended bumping into the american guy as well.

Then it was time for a boatride down the Thames, which apparently you can drink from (haven't actually seen anyone do this however), which was a good way to see many of the main architectual feats, good and bad. Greenwich was our destination for lunch and we tucked into some good food and lager at a pub (showing the football of course!). Then it was up the hill to check out the observatory, which we ended up seeing a bit more of than planned due to the horrendous thunderstorm that poured down about five minutes after we got there... Monsoons in London! Global warming eh? It eventually cleared and we made our way back to Kilburn to see Nige's humble abode (quite nice actually) and head out for dinner. A great end to a great day!

Yesterday was a lot more lazy, with a late start and a visit to the National Portrait Gallery. Then I headed to Balham to catch up with Garrett and Stella. It was great to catch up and see pics from some of their travels, especially to Slovenia where Stella is from. Looks like Garrett had a lot of fun shovelling snow!

Today, Liz and Phil are apparently at St Pauls Cathedral, so I thought I might try and catch up with them there... so am about to head off and join the union jack waving mobs.