Haylee and I headed down to London on 23
December for a couple of weeks away from rugby & Inverurie. We got
our first taste of the famous London Underground tube on the 24th as we
had to get to West Brompton before Christmas day (as all tubes were
closed this day). I remember it was all a bit overwhelming at first,
with so many different tube lines and so many people at the tube
stations. We managed to find our way in the end and were quite amazed by
the whole experience.
We caught up with Brendan and Scotty Wils for Christmas, along with a bunch of other kiwis (15 in total). It was quite a coincidence how I knew them both from different rugby teams, and they had since met while in London - shows how it is such a small world. It was my first Christmas away from the family, but had a good time in London with a good crowd. We had a proper kiwi meal with 3 chickens, 2 legs of NZ lamb and a 10kg ham, and pavlova for dessert. After the secret santa it ended up being a big night drinking, and got to know the group pretty well by the end of the night. We spent boxing day chilling out at Scotty Wils’s place and helped him clean up a solid mess from the night before.
We started to properly check out London on the 27th, firstly picking
up our London Passes (giving us 3 days of access to all of the sights
for £66 each) then visiting the Buckingham Palace, Winter Wonderland
& the Tate Modern Museum (which are all free to visit). After this
we caught up for dinner with Gareth (Fonterra workmate) and his wife for
dinner at the West End before heading to see the Wicked show at a
theatre. This was something Haylee really wanted to do so I tagged along and ended up
being better than I thought it would be.
Our first day using the London pass started on the 28th. We had quite a big day and were able to; see Big Ben, go into the Westminster Abbey, go on a Thames river cruise, visit the Tower of London, go up the Tower Bridge and see the Design Museum. I have always wanted to see Big Ben and it did not disappoint. The Thames River Cruise (with good commentary on the way) and views from the Tower Bridge were other highlights of the day.
We headed to Wimbledon the next day where we went on a guided tour around the Tennis Grounds, before catching up with another mate Joe for a beer at Shoreditch.
The final day using the London Pass saw us head to the Lords Cricket Ground for a guided tour around the Museum (with ’The Ashes’) and grounds which I really enjoyed. The guide was right into his cricket and took us through the pavilion, changing rooms and media centre - telling us stories throughout. I also picked up a pair of cricket pants from the Lords shop which I can proudly wear for Wellsford when we get home.
On New Years eve we spent the morning in busy town of Camden, checking out the markets and having some of the famous street food. We were back later that night to celebrate New Years at Koko with a few of Haylees friends, where a band and DJ’s welcomed in the new year.
Although we didn’t get up to much on New Years day, we were able to visit a few of places we hadn’t seen on the 2nd. We started off at St Pauls Cathedral, which was much bigger than I expected but just another cathedral really from the outside. From here we headed to Covent Garden, an area with lots of street performers and markets. We visited a pub once run by Haylee’s Uncle & Aunty (the Marquess of Anglesey) for a beer, before getting lunch in Trafalgar Square. After lunch we went to see Harrod’s (the famous luxury shopping centre) where there were things like signed Mohummad Ali boxing gloves on sale for £90,000
Although it was well worth a visit, I don’t think I could ever live in London as it is far too busy. By the end of our time here I was starting to get sick of the crowded underground tubes and engineering works which made our trips take quite a bit longer than planned.
We caught up with Brendan and Scotty Wils for Christmas, along with a bunch of other kiwis (15 in total). It was quite a coincidence how I knew them both from different rugby teams, and they had since met while in London - shows how it is such a small world. It was my first Christmas away from the family, but had a good time in London with a good crowd. We had a proper kiwi meal with 3 chickens, 2 legs of NZ lamb and a 10kg ham, and pavlova for dessert. After the secret santa it ended up being a big night drinking, and got to know the group pretty well by the end of the night. We spent boxing day chilling out at Scotty Wils’s place and helped him clean up a solid mess from the night before.
 |
| Christmas in West Brompton |
Our first day using the London pass started on the 28th. We had quite a big day and were able to; see Big Ben, go into the Westminster Abbey, go on a Thames river cruise, visit the Tower of London, go up the Tower Bridge and see the Design Museum. I have always wanted to see Big Ben and it did not disappoint. The Thames River Cruise (with good commentary on the way) and views from the Tower Bridge were other highlights of the day.
 |
| Big Ross, Little Ben |
We headed to Wimbledon the next day where we went on a guided tour around the Tennis Grounds, before catching up with another mate Joe for a beer at Shoreditch.
The final day using the London Pass saw us head to the Lords Cricket Ground for a guided tour around the Museum (with ’The Ashes’) and grounds which I really enjoyed. The guide was right into his cricket and took us through the pavilion, changing rooms and media centre - telling us stories throughout. I also picked up a pair of cricket pants from the Lords shop which I can proudly wear for Wellsford when we get home.
On New Years eve we spent the morning in busy town of Camden, checking out the markets and having some of the famous street food. We were back later that night to celebrate New Years at Koko with a few of Haylees friends, where a band and DJ’s welcomed in the new year.
Although we didn’t get up to much on New Years day, we were able to visit a few of places we hadn’t seen on the 2nd. We started off at St Pauls Cathedral, which was much bigger than I expected but just another cathedral really from the outside. From here we headed to Covent Garden, an area with lots of street performers and markets. We visited a pub once run by Haylee’s Uncle & Aunty (the Marquess of Anglesey) for a beer, before getting lunch in Trafalgar Square. After lunch we went to see Harrod’s (the famous luxury shopping centre) where there were things like signed Mohummad Ali boxing gloves on sale for £90,000
Although it was well worth a visit, I don’t think I could ever live in London as it is far too busy. By the end of our time here I was starting to get sick of the crowded underground tubes and engineering works which made our trips take quite a bit longer than planned.
No comments:
Post a Comment