still in London, I ventured to Borough market to meet Adam and taste the paella made in gigantic pans, we ate while the heavens opened as we sat in relative comfort under shelter in the little spanish stall. From there we wandered about and had a coffee near St Paul's and headed to Oxford St in the rain to meet the cousins for lunch, via an apple shop where i booked in for an ipad check up as my tablet has a few hiccups wot needs sorting! Apparently the genius will sort me out! I made an appointment for the next day.
Lunch was at a rather large Italian restaurant and then the goodbyes! Adam and I wandered up to Covent Garden where he was directing me to a pastie shop, but alas it had been replaced with a patisserie! We got an ice cream at a boutique ice cream shop, chilli and ginger was an acquired taste with chunks of chilli mixed in! Then we walked towards Tower Bridge along the Thames, which took some time. The sun peeped out from behind clouds but the wind picked up. We finally got to the freshly painted Tower Bridge and said our goodbyes. I headed to the Design Museum but was too late to go in, oh well! Met friends from Inca tail and had a home-cooked meal and some red, and recalled our trip as well as talked about Iceland which they loved last year. Then home James, exhausted!
The final day in London had me visiting the apple store genius bar and met Bev for lunch and found a sushi train where we had an awesome dessert of glutinous rice parcels filled with green tea ice cream and one with rich chocolate....mmmmm. After dinner which i cooked for my host, i went to covent garden and had a final farewell London drink and back home to pack.
The next morning I left for Heathrow and allowed 1.5 hours which was perfect to check into my Icelandair flight for Rekyjevic. The flight did not supply meals, you had to buy them, but i was too excited to eat and arrived in sunny Rekyjevic (vic meaning harbour), and took the transfer bus to the Hilton, just out of town. I checked in and after a shower walked into town to explore. I stopped by at the 4th floor hotel on the way in as it was my supposed Intrepid meeting point the next day. The staff had no group booking and had not heard of Intrepid. maybe i got it wrong? Ate fish and chips for dinner near the old harbour and wound my way back up the hill to the hotel, checked my trip notes, yup, the hotel was correct for tomorrow.
So after a most yummy continental buffet breakfast and a long chat to a trez handsome French tourist who spoke perfect english, I checked out and wheeled my luggage to the 4th floor hotel. Alas, the drama unfolded! No booking, no idea, where was I to go now? I tried their internet to contact Intrepid but the message sending failed! Australia was still asleep so no one I could contact there! My phone had little credit left. I logged on to recharge my phone but there was an error! Looked up the London office, finally topped up my sim card via the phone which decided to work, and called. Oh, apparently the hotel had been changed and I should have been informed! FANTASTIC! Got my new details from the London office, thanked the helpful staff of the hotel who were Filipino, trotted off to the new guesthouse with stress levels falling rapidly. Finally got to the correct hotel, checked in and felt relieved and ready to tackle another day of exploring.
I saw a busker attract a huge crowd, juggling on a ladder, Wally from Australia, (can you believe it?) entertained the crowd and made more than a few kroner that day with his antics and witty banter - bizarre! I booked a snorkling trip in a fjord which is between the tectonic plates of North America and Europe on my last day in Iceland. Met up with the new group and took off the next day. Our leader Jens is our guide, historian, geologist, bus driver and local Icelander. We have seen massive waterfalls, walked behind one even! and lava flows, black sand, ash from the Grimsvotn recent eruption, volcanoes everywhere you look, steaming geothermal pools, fjords, geysers which are fun to watch, massive glaciers which are retreating every year due to global warming, white, blue and black lcebergs on a glacial lake which break off from the tongue and drift out to sea to be lost forever in the ocean, twisted metal which were once bridges buckled under the force of post volcanic flooding, daylight which goes on and on and midnight is still bright as midday and i took a photo to prove it!
Every day we drive amongst picturesque, perfect postcard landscapes, one side ice-capped mountains, on the other side beach or fjord, no native forests as the trees were chopped down for wood in the early days of settlement. Houses are made of timber or colourful corrugated iron with bright iron roofs of red, blue and green. We drove through a 6km tunnel and it was the first darkness i have seen here, i do miss the night time. Food is basic and expensive and even more expensive if eating at more gourmet places.
All the placenames are unprounceable, the language is very hard to foreign ears, luckily everyone speaks perfect english! We even stayed at a farm at the base of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano that erupted last year and caused chaos. Iceland is born of volcanoes as not only is it above the tectonic plates between Europe and Nth America, but is a volcanic hotspot and islands are born from underwater volcanoes and the shape of the island can change with each eruption. It is a paradise for geologists. The weather even if 8c - 10c during the day is mild if there is no wind, and you can wear a jacket and feel hot if walking uphill, not like back home!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
London calling
I got home from a late shift at work via the Melbourne Wine Room. Then the packing began In earnest as I dillied and dallied as to what I should take seeing it was summer in old Blighty after all! I finished up at around 2am and tried to sleep.
Well the day finally arrived and lucky I looked at the long range weather forecast for London and promptly undid my bag and pulled out the summer clothes and added more temperate climate clothes; rain, showers, heavy rain, cloudy and a max of 19 degrees all week! So I will see London in all its grey glory, all week!
After a cycle along the beach where there was a long grey band of ash along the entire horizon, i checked my flight was still going to take off as scheduled. so far so good! Breakky at lil ox filled my insides with a warm burst of vanilla porridge with mapel syrup and a decaf coffee. The day was filled with this and that and before i knew it Hop was at the door ready to ferry me into town to catch skybus to Melbourne Airport. On arrival at the airport there was no long queues so my check in was super quick and so was customs clearance. I bought my Christmas brandy at duty free to pick up on my arrival home, so i better remember!
So after a long but dozey 14 hour flight to Doha in Qatar, i continued my journey after a 2 hour stopover and a long busride to the departure terminal, a big airport under construction. We continued our flight in a smaller plane with an Indian man sprawled out next to me snoozing using both arm rests so i could not retrieve my remote for the entertainment hub and had to sit on an angle as he took up half my leg room as well, bloody hell! Arrived in London a little late and got held up at immigration as there were only a couple of people checking passports while some abruptly shut shop for a break as the queue of passengers snaked around and around. A few people were detained like border patrol. Finally outa there and took the Heathrow xpress to Paddington as i thought it would be quicker than the tube, but in hindsight my £18 could have been put to better use. Got to Tooting Broadway on the Northern Line and settled into my new abode for the week, snoozed for an hour, showered and headed into Covent Garden, tired and Jetlagged to meet up with some friends i met in Japan last year. We ate at Wagamama which is still big here and after a couple of hours, felt like crap so wound my way home on the tube in a daze. Next day went to Clapham junction to meet some Galapagos friends for lunch. The station was invaded by girls dressed to the nines in their racing regalia and hats with feathers, and boys with champagne in both hands in top hats and tails, off to Ascot for some action, i guess on and off the track! I felt under dressed in my jeans and tshirt, but got over it and we had a 5 hour lunch with wine and then some more wine at a pub in waterloo station whilst the heavens opened and dumped buckets of rain onto the unfortunate commuters who actually ventured outside, then back home, and out again to wagamaga for dinner and home. Up and down, back and forth on the tube!
The following day was spent in Essex with my extended family meeting up for an all day lunch and i washed it all down with a glass or more of Bulmers pear cider, my new fave drink!
On my return to London i looked up what was on at the Tate Modern and there was a massive Miro exhibition, so out i headed again and indulged my senses and my little heart leapt for joy surrounded by many diverse and some massive Miro works, awesome! Then onto South kensington for dinner with Bev and Tony, old friends from Melb, and we had Thai which was so hot, i had to drink a lot of wine to compensate!!!! The next day I decided to take a ride on the London Eye like a real tourist and headed to Waterloo to queue up with the rest of the sheep who were herded towards the giant white wheel in 2 corralles. It took 30 mins to reach the entrance and i boarded the big white capsule. We went up and around very slowly taking in the sights of London and the bird's eye view was quite fascinating. The weather had cleared and blue sky and puffy cloud replaced the grey blanket which has covered the sky since I arrived. I met my friend Adam from my Galapagos trip and he decided to surprise me by trying to find me as i exited the eye instead of waiting for me on the steps of St Pauls. I heard my name called and it was surreal as i did not expect it. We headed off towards chinatown where he introduced me to Waxy O'Connor, a whimisical pub right out of a Harry Potter movie with several bars on several levels interconnected by a maze of stairs and passages, a tree in the centre and some random antique pieces like a confessional and old church seats etc. After a few drinks we took off to Borough where i discovered there is a big gourmet food market, but it was closed when we got there. I am going to check it out tomorrow. We then went on and after a couple more pubs ended up in an Indian restaurant walking thru hospital grounds somewhere in the back streets near London Bridge and a group of us had very nice meal, quite spicy and more authentic than the indian food back home. great to discover new places around town!
Well the day finally arrived and lucky I looked at the long range weather forecast for London and promptly undid my bag and pulled out the summer clothes and added more temperate climate clothes; rain, showers, heavy rain, cloudy and a max of 19 degrees all week! So I will see London in all its grey glory, all week!
After a cycle along the beach where there was a long grey band of ash along the entire horizon, i checked my flight was still going to take off as scheduled. so far so good! Breakky at lil ox filled my insides with a warm burst of vanilla porridge with mapel syrup and a decaf coffee. The day was filled with this and that and before i knew it Hop was at the door ready to ferry me into town to catch skybus to Melbourne Airport. On arrival at the airport there was no long queues so my check in was super quick and so was customs clearance. I bought my Christmas brandy at duty free to pick up on my arrival home, so i better remember!
So after a long but dozey 14 hour flight to Doha in Qatar, i continued my journey after a 2 hour stopover and a long busride to the departure terminal, a big airport under construction. We continued our flight in a smaller plane with an Indian man sprawled out next to me snoozing using both arm rests so i could not retrieve my remote for the entertainment hub and had to sit on an angle as he took up half my leg room as well, bloody hell! Arrived in London a little late and got held up at immigration as there were only a couple of people checking passports while some abruptly shut shop for a break as the queue of passengers snaked around and around. A few people were detained like border patrol. Finally outa there and took the Heathrow xpress to Paddington as i thought it would be quicker than the tube, but in hindsight my £18 could have been put to better use. Got to Tooting Broadway on the Northern Line and settled into my new abode for the week, snoozed for an hour, showered and headed into Covent Garden, tired and Jetlagged to meet up with some friends i met in Japan last year. We ate at Wagamama which is still big here and after a couple of hours, felt like crap so wound my way home on the tube in a daze. Next day went to Clapham junction to meet some Galapagos friends for lunch. The station was invaded by girls dressed to the nines in their racing regalia and hats with feathers, and boys with champagne in both hands in top hats and tails, off to Ascot for some action, i guess on and off the track! I felt under dressed in my jeans and tshirt, but got over it and we had a 5 hour lunch with wine and then some more wine at a pub in waterloo station whilst the heavens opened and dumped buckets of rain onto the unfortunate commuters who actually ventured outside, then back home, and out again to wagamaga for dinner and home. Up and down, back and forth on the tube!
The following day was spent in Essex with my extended family meeting up for an all day lunch and i washed it all down with a glass or more of Bulmers pear cider, my new fave drink!
On my return to London i looked up what was on at the Tate Modern and there was a massive Miro exhibition, so out i headed again and indulged my senses and my little heart leapt for joy surrounded by many diverse and some massive Miro works, awesome! Then onto South kensington for dinner with Bev and Tony, old friends from Melb, and we had Thai which was so hot, i had to drink a lot of wine to compensate!!!! The next day I decided to take a ride on the London Eye like a real tourist and headed to Waterloo to queue up with the rest of the sheep who were herded towards the giant white wheel in 2 corralles. It took 30 mins to reach the entrance and i boarded the big white capsule. We went up and around very slowly taking in the sights of London and the bird's eye view was quite fascinating. The weather had cleared and blue sky and puffy cloud replaced the grey blanket which has covered the sky since I arrived. I met my friend Adam from my Galapagos trip and he decided to surprise me by trying to find me as i exited the eye instead of waiting for me on the steps of St Pauls. I heard my name called and it was surreal as i did not expect it. We headed off towards chinatown where he introduced me to Waxy O'Connor, a whimisical pub right out of a Harry Potter movie with several bars on several levels interconnected by a maze of stairs and passages, a tree in the centre and some random antique pieces like a confessional and old church seats etc. After a few drinks we took off to Borough where i discovered there is a big gourmet food market, but it was closed when we got there. I am going to check it out tomorrow. We then went on and after a couple more pubs ended up in an Indian restaurant walking thru hospital grounds somewhere in the back streets near London Bridge and a group of us had very nice meal, quite spicy and more authentic than the indian food back home. great to discover new places around town!
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