London Calling

After travelling around for 5 weeks with Mum, we said our farewells. I had 1 night to myself before Josh was due to arrive at 7am , i got there at 6:45am after taking the first train of the day to Heathrow. Waiting, waiting and more waiting for Josh to walk out. Finally 2 hours later, exhausted after waiting in the customs line for 2 hours he made it out. We jumped on the underground, an hours trip to Kings Cross station where our hotel was and we were both exhausted, Josh from the flight and me from the little amount of sleep i got the night before and the waiting around. We soldiered on and i took Josh to Big Ben and can you believe it, the sun was out! Hallelujah! We had heard about a Film Museum on the river so we went in there and saw some Star Wars costumes and props from many other films including Terminator, Harry Potter and The Borrowers. After spending about an hour or so in there, we had a look at the outside of Westminster Abbey and made our way to Buckingham Palace although we were starting to get weary so after saying hello to Queenie, we made our way back to the hotel where Josh fell asleep basically straight away. I went and got us some take away Nando's for dinner and bought it back to the room, an easy dinner tonight as once we got back to the room we didn’t feel much like going out for a proper dinner.

The next day didn’t consist of too much apart from a trip out to Shepards Bush Westfield Shopping Centre, mainly to see the movie 'The Hunger Games' because i can't put the books down. We decided to get off at Camden and have a look around (Josh had to experience this unique market) and although it wasn’t the weekend it was still quite busy and the rain basically held off for us. Lucky! We had dinner at this little quirky pub which mum and I went to twice, they make gourmet burgers which are delish!

A few months ago I had found out that the Warner Brothers Studio would be opening when I came back over, so i got Josh to come along with me, and let me tell you I was in my element. I absolutely love the Harry Potter books and Movies! We spent about 2 ½ hours there and drank Butterbeer. We had a great time, yes even Josh did! I think he liked all the behind the scenes things! We had dinner at a nearby pub, I had fish and chips and and the end of the dinner a man was looking suspicious walking back and forth looking at the 1 piece of fish I had left as it was a huge serving. He then came up and asked if I was done and I said yes, and then he took the plate away and grabbed the piece of fish before walking out the door! Josh and I were just dumbfounded wondering what in the world had just happened! That homeless man must go to that pub quite often.

The rain was still holding off for us the next day so we ventured to the Borough Markets where we feasted on a delicious Cornish Pasty and wandered around with all the locals taking in the delicious smells of fresh cheese, bread and fresh flowers. A short walk had us at the London Bridge on our way over to the Tower of London. We spent a couple of hours soaking up the history of this important place. The time got away from us and we had to head off to get some dinner before seeing the musical Stomp. Wow, what an amazing experience! They prove you can make awesome sounds out of any object.

I got a call my Mum the next morning, that my Grandpa had passed away. He had suffered from a heart attack and went into hospital where his organs decided to give up, so it was expected although I guess I didn’t really believe it would happen. I was hoping he would hold on until I got home, but he is in a better place not it pain and with Grandma. I wanted to go out and get some fresh air and try to take my mind off it, so we went to some museums on our last full day in London so we walked to the British Museum and checked out the Egyptian section including some mummies. I have now visited the Egypt section 3 times, can you tell how much I loved Egypt? Haha We then caught the underground to the Imperial War Museum. This is one of my favourite museums, this also being the 3^rd time I have been there, but I could never get sick of it. The way things are set out are fantastic. We spent an hour and a half in the Holocaust section alone and before we knew it we had to leave as Mum had bought Josh and I a ticket on the London Eye. I had never been on it before and obviously neither had Josh so we went on at 8:15pm, so we had day light for half of the trip and dusk with lights on all the buildings for the end half. It was fantastic and although I have a fear of heights, I did survive and really enjoyed myself.

We left around lunch time for Bedworth in Coventry to spend 2 nights with some of Josh’s family Kath and Terry. They welcomed us with open arms and made us feel at home. We arrived to their lovely cosy home, relaxed to a nice cup of tea and went for a walk around the town with a visit to the church. We filled our stomachs with a lovely roast beef with veggies and yorkshire pudding and a lemon meringue which were absolutely delicious!!

A light drizzle of rain the next day, but that didn’t stop us from going to Stratford Upon Avon. We spent two hours here wandering the main street and visiting Shakespear’s birthplace (Josh and I also managed to squeeze in a Butterbeer) After this, we drove into Coventry and went to the Transport Museum. A fantastic place to go if you love cars and seeing cars throughout history, I know Josh was in his element. We had a nice big feed again of lasagne and left over lemon meringue (yes, there was some left over)

After two nights with Kath and Terry, we travelled on two trains down to Brighton. I had been there when I was young with mum and dad and remember it being very pretty and thought it would be nice by the water. We arrived in Brighton to some lovely sun so we dropped off the bags and lucky for us, our hotel was only 1 block from the ocean, we hurried down to the water before the sun was gone and had some nachos and a cider which was so lovely! AND it was warm enough for t-shirts!! Although I must admit that it didn’t take too long for the clouds to come over.

Our 1 full day in Brighton saw us wandering around ‘the lanes’. They are lovely but the rain had come to visit again and it was quite cold and miserable. We ended up walking to the Brighton Peer. A peer with some rides on it and indoor games areas. We decided to be kids and play a couple which was fun. A nice walk back to the room before going to the movies to see the Avengers and a nice pub dinner.

We left mid-morning to get on a train for Gatwick Airport, only a half an hour ride which was easy before our first flight together to Copenhagen, Denmark which was a 2 hour flight.

I know this blog is more of a diary this time, but am hoping to up my game next one which will be from Budapest!

Hope you are all well. Thinking of you! Love Nicole