Since I sent my last [blog entry] I spent first week working in the city and settling into the apartment in London's outer northern suburbs.
The highlight of that week was Friday night, when work shouted us to excellent cocktails at a nearby bar.
That weekend, I decided to get out of London and see some other parts of England, after all, it would be a shame to leave England only having been to London. So on Saturday morning (quite hung over after said cocktails), I made my way to Waterloo Station and jumped on a train to the city of Southampton, a port city on the South coast of England.
The train ride (about £30 return) was pleasant and comfortable. The views were nice (very green lush forests and fields, small towns, creeks and rivers and towards the end some harbours) and the ride was generally relaxing, until at the time I thought the train was due to arrive at Southampton we were still in the middle of nowhere. I spotted a station and found a route map and realised we were somewhere completely different to where I believe the train went via and panicked, thinking I was on the wrong train. Eventually I worked out that the train was indeed heading to Southampton, but taking the 2 hour out-of-the-way route instead of the one hour fast route I thought I was on. So I was comforted but at the same time feeling quite guilty because my friend Mel who was picking me up at the station had to wait an hour for me to get there!
Mel is a friend I had met in San Diego earlier in my journey. She lives in Southampton and was kind enough to let me stay the weekend with her and show me around the region. Unfortunately on the way home from the train station an old couple decided they didn't have to give way to their right at a roundabout and crashed their car directly into the side of Mel's car, without even slowing down. Luckily no-one was hurt, but when the man drove the car away from the accident, he made maneuvers on road which unfortunately showed he should no longer be driving. Sad, but true. Anyway, it was an interesting welcome to the city.
On Saturday night we decided to catch the bus instead, and head into town where we hit the bars and clubs so that I could experience the Southampton nightlife, which was actually really good and quite a bit of fun.
On Sunday Mel took me to the nearby city of Winchester. It is an old city that was the centre of William the Conqueror's kingdom after he invaded in 1066 and was the capital for a few hundred years before everything moved to London. We walked around town in the pouring rain, and visited the famous Winchester Cathedral, the biggest in all of Europe. Many of the cathedral scenes in the new Da Vinci Code movie were filmed there. Upon returning to Southampton in the afternoon we were inspired to go see the movie on the very same day, and did so to get away from the rain. It was cool seeing the places I'd been to just a few hours earlier on the big screen. After that, we went to the harbourside and fantasized about how great it would be to own one of the big boats there. I was then dropped off at the train station and made my way back to London, arriving home at about midnight, just in time to retire to bed and prepare for another week of work in the city.
my first flat in England
It was a fairly non-eventful week just going to work, applying for longer term and better paying jobs, and doing all sorts of homely stuff I'm not used to doing, like laundry, ironing, cooking and washing dishes! (What is this world coming to?)
On Friday I went to work with all my things packed for the weekend. After work I had some drinks with colleagues and headed to Paddington Station to check in to my Spring Bank Holiday long-weekend tour to Amsterdam!
I enjoyed the coach drive from London to Dover, having some beers along the way and chatting to the the other travellers (again mainly Aussies). Once we arrived at Dover the bus boarded a ferry and we sailed across the English channel in pitch dark, to the port of Calais in France. Once on the European continent I slept all the way to Amsterdam, ready to start enjoying it bright and early in the morning.
Most of the tourist attractions weren't open so I headed to a local market with some of the people in my group. It has everything from a wide range of fresh flowers, to cheese, fish and even chocolate bottoms, breasts, penises, vaginas! [the Dutch are very liberated] One of the girls bought one and we nibbled on her vagina all afternoon long.
Breakfast and many meals after that were at some of the city's many gourmet bakeries selling beautiful pastries and cakes. The rest of the morning was spent visiting some of the city's coffee shops and then going on a long canal cruise (complete with picnic lunch) along some of the city's many old Canals, which criss cross throughout the whole city like a large spider-web.... until we were eventually let into our hostel to check in and have an afternoon nap to recover from the long overnight drive and busy morning.
On Saturday night our group visited the famous Red Light District, walking around doing some "window shopping", seeing a live show and then partying in some of the areas nightclubs.
But Sunday was the highlight of the weekend. We went on a big bike ride around Amsterdam, weaving trams, cars and other bikes on the city streets, and riding along beautiful parks and canals and even the odd windmill. Riding a bike seems to be the standard method of transportation in Holland, and it was good fun riding along the mainly flat terrain, when I wasn't being yelled at by locals for fatal mistakes like riding on the left, not giving way or stopping suddenly. I got sworn at in Dutch several times!
But when they weren't yelling at me from their bike seat, I found the Dutch to be very pleasant and helpful people. I really enjoyed it in their country.
We hit a few bars on Sunday night and headed home early on Monday morning. I enjoyed the drive home, staring out of the window at the Dutch, Belgian and French scenery.
We again caught the ferry from Calais to Dover, this time in the rain. But just as we approached British coastline, the sun came out and we watched the famous White Cliffs of Dover glisten in the sun as they grew nearer.
Then back to London and back to work the next day (a bit of an anticlimax but gotta earn the money to support these weekend trips somehow).
Since coming back to London I have been enjoying fantastic summer weather. It has been in the mid 20s and sunny just about every day. My aunty is visiting me from the Czech Republic at the moment, so I spent the weekend with her sightseeing, shopping and doing a ferry cruise down the Thames.
I hope all is well back in Australia. I think of you guys in Melbourne as I frolic out in the warm European London sun. Oh, and go the Socceroos! I have become very patriotic since leaving down under. Unfortunately I won't be able to watch them play Japan as that is 2pm on Monday, London time and work calls.
[Edit: it turns out the English are very understanding of the need to watch world cup football, so I worked through lunch and then went down to the pub next to work to watch it during work time!]
Cheerio!
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