Starting off straight away, it was off to the Paralympics to watch Adam play in wheelchair tennis. Having not seen him play for a few years, it was so great to watch him in action, especially at such a fantastic competition level! For a few hours, it was like being at home- surrounded by other Aussies as we cheered our fave player on- go Team AUS! Surprisingly enough, I am able to say that I became one of those victims of the English sun... Yes, I actually got sunburnt on the surprisingly sunny day, and my face-decorations left me with a bit of a wonky tan!
After the excitement of the Paralympics, it was back to normal tourist-ville, as I completed the circuits of the museums, galleries and parks throughout the city. I even made an out-of-character trek to the Vogue Fashion Night Out event, where I managed to snag quite a few free goodies!!! Not being much a fan of museums or art, I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed all these places. After staying past closing in the British Museum, I was one of those people who had to be escorted out by security as they came to clear the exhibits. Thank goodness that the museums are all free in London as I was able to rush back another afternoon to check out what I had missed my first time round!
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| British Museum- take me back! |
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| 221b Baker Street... |
With so much to do, I don't know how I managed to fit so much in- it often felt like I was running (or hopping on the tube) all over town. For anyone planning a visit, one thing you can miss, and I can attest that after a 7 year wait to see it, the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace- IT IS NOT WORTH IT! How disappointed I was after waiting so long to see it. I guess to make up for it I was lucky to visit the Harry Potter Studio and get my nerd on- heading there with Abby and Dan to have a highly entertaining morning making idiots of ourselves and wondering where our Hogwarts letters went when we turned 11... Still waiting for it!
Speaking of running around, standing by the Abbey Road crossing provides a lot of entertainment as you watch people trying to recreate the famous album cover while trying not to get hit by cars- anyone wanting to observe this for themselves can google the Abbey Road webcam and have 24hours of entertainment. So funny!
In-between my London explorations, I spent about a week travelling up and down England. From Brighton to check out the pebble beach and pier, to Bristol for some Banksy originals and other amazing graffiti works. Stonehenge (which is actually a lot smaller than expected) and Stratford-upon-Avon to catch the Royal Shakespeare Company in action. Manchester and the Old Trafford stadium tour to my final stop up in the Lakes District. A beautiful country which I am so lucky to have been able to see so much of. Everyone kept telling me how beautiful the Lakes were, and even in the pouring rain during my short trip there it was so true. While I wasn't able to stay in all the places I visited, being able to (attempt to) punt down the river in Cambridge and walk in the Royal Family's footsteps at Windsor was pretty cool too.
With plenty of time to kill, I wanted to try and see as much of the country as I could. I think I did pretty well, seeing 9 different cities/towns while I was there! While I did not get to all the places on my list, that is what return trips are for. Whose up for joining me in England next time?
