London England and area...

OK gang...I'm struggling to get through the last few postings and you're not helping with the lack of comments. Remember...tis the season for giving comments. You're still my favourite Sash!

After heading through the Chunnel (the tunnel under the English Channel) I found myself in jolly old England...and not just in the airport this time.


And after the shock of seeing the hordes of people pushing themselves through the crowds of St. Pancras and King's Cross stations...I successfully managed to navigate 'the Tube'...London's subway system. I felt that was a crowning achievement to how far I had come as a veteran traveller. Trust me...it's no small feat to find your way on the Tube and not piss too many people off by hitting them with your backpack.

But like usual...it was a fleeting moment as I soon found myself lost looking for my hostel. I asked several locals who weren't able to help and with sheer dumb luck I found it on my own. Why would a street just change names and then continue on with the old name on what looked like a totally different street.

But all the hassle was definitely worth it as within the hour, my good buddy Gus (from the Magic Bus) was there to commence our reunion and to get the drinks started.

Then it was down to Waterloo station to meet up with Claire (Magic Bus) and off for a night of drinking.

But then something very strange and very scary happened. I was told that many bars/pubs in London close at 11:00pm. What sort of 'twilight zone' did I find myself in? I still have nightmares!

The next day Gus and I went sightseeing and took in the usual suspects like London Tower, Big Ben, parliament etc.

The walk along the water was nice, but I wasn't too impressed with the sights. That was until we reached Camden Town. This place would make the 'twilight zone' look tame. Here you find all the eclectic people from Grunge to Punk to Gothic to I don't know what they were. But the market and the pubs were a 'people watcher's' dream and even I was captivated.


It was then on to the big 'Groovy Grape' reunion with a few 'Magic Bus' people thrown into the mix. The great thing about it...it was like we hadn't been apart and the alcohol flowed freely like it had when we were in Australia and New Zealand. It also didn't hurt that this bar specialized in flights of different types of vodkas.

There were a few casulties of war that night, but luckily I wasn't one of them.

Once again, the first bar closed at 11:00, the next at 12:00, but Gus and I finally stumbled across a bar that stayed open to the wee hours. You can always count on an Aussie bar to be the last one standing.

The next day had us at Covent Gardens watching the street performers and hitting the pubs in the Theatre District.

It was then off to Reading to where Gus lives and then out to see Stonehenge. I wasn't planning to see the strange rock structure as it was out in the boonies, but I was glad I did. It was very eerie to think about the pagan history behind it.

I'm not sure if it would have been worth the money to enter the Stonehenge grounds rather than just taking photos from the highway, but somehow Gus got us in for free. I think the attendant girl succumbed to his charms. I guess he's still got it.


My last day in London found me hitting a few more sights like Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Square and a few of the parks.

London certainly wasn't my favourite city, but seeing the old gang again made it perfect.

Now it's back to Ireland and Belgium for the second time each just to hit a few of the places I missed on the first go-around and to continue the reunions.

See you back in Ireland...