Visit to the Motherland

Hey there, just got back from a wicked, but tiring weekend in London. I think most people from Commonwealth countries have to make a pilgrimage to the motherland once in their lifetimes but I went because Ellie and Marc after fours years of being together had decided to take the plunge and get married, and I somehow wrangled my way into getting an invite. So I sussed out some super cheap flights and someone to look after the boys and I was off. I left on Friday morning, after getting stuck at security for having too many liquids in my hand luggage (what the!!!) I sat next to a very chatty German student from Essen and again got stuck for over an hour in the ‘Alien’ queue at Stansted Airport passport control, I jumped on the express train into the City where I met Luis, a gorgeous Spaniard. Off to a random start, I stored my luggage at Liverpool St Station and walked down to the Monument and along the Thames. Got a little camera happy with the Tower Bridge (aka London Bridge) and ventured down to the Tower of London. I didn’t go in, but sat and watched all the tourists, while munching on some (very often dreamed about) Fish and Chips. I decided pretty early on that this trip was more observational, rather than going in and exploring all the sights and sounds, I’ll leave that to when I have more time and money.

Tower Bridge

So I jumped on one of the cliché red double-decker buses, with its obligatory crazy tour guide. Saw most of the famous sights, i.e. London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. As it was getting late in the afternoon the route we were on finished, and we got told to switch buses and the next one would be no more than 15 minutes away. But 45 minutes later the Canadians that I’d met and I gave up hope, and I had no choice but to join rush hour traffic on the underground. Wasn’t too bad really, everyone in a hurry, dressed and moving like robots, no room to breathe, an unspoken rule that nobodies allowed to talk (excuse the pun), all iPod clad, everyone avoiding eye contact, you get the gist. But it was still pretty easy to navigate, and you never had to wait for long.

Big Ben

I met up with Hamish, one of my old flatmates who moved there a few weeks ago and he let me crash at his place for the night. It was so good catching up with him again, and seeing him all grown up in his business suit. It was great hearing a kiwi accent again as well, and hanging out with his flatmate, who was also a kiwi.

Westminster Abbey

The boys were off on a Waitangi Day (NZ National Day) Pub crawl across London, nice and early on Saturday morning, and so for convenience sake I splashed out and checked into the hotel that all the other wedding guest were staying at, thankfully they let me check in early, so I didn't have to cart around my luggage. Since it was such a beautiful day and realising my ticket for the tour bus from the day before was still valid, I thought I would use up the rest of the day seeing the other sights.

Parliment Buildings

So (as well as the same sights from the day before) I glimpsed the London Dungeon, Harrods, Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Palace. What I hadn’t realised is that the map is rather deceptive and what I thought would take maybe 90 minutes max, was well over 3 hours and I needed to get back to the hotel pronto to get ready for the Wedding (which was the whole reason I was in London, in the first place) so I jumped out at the freakishly crowded for a Saturday, Piccadilly Circus, zoomed on the underground back to the hotel. Frantically got ready, then raced down the street, where I found one of the Grooms best friends on the street corner waiting for his wife, so we all got to the town hall mere seconds before the service was about to start.

Ellie looked absolutely gorgeous, Marc wasn’t too bad either, and the room was decorated with lots of white candles. Neither of them wanted the very traditional wedding, and it suited them perfectly. I already knew Ellie’s family, from when they came to stay around New Years, and I finally got to meet Ellie’s friends whom I had been hearing about for the past few months. The ceremony, and reception were all thankfully within walking distance of the hotel. The reception was held at a Gastro-Bar, and although there wasn’t a sit down meal, nibbles and goodies were put out through out the night. I thought I would feel like a duck out of water, with all the ‘London’ crowd, but they were all very warm and welcoming. I had a fantastic night, and it was so good to be a part of their special day. Next day I cringed at the hotel bill, not realising breakfast wasn’t included and the tiny bit of scrambled eggs and hash brown I’d had was £14, coming to around $NZ40! Ahh well, lesson learned. Marc’s parents kindly offered to drop me off at the airport, as it was on their way home, and now I’m back in Germany ready for my next adventure, where ever that may be.