Kiwi in Konstanz: La la la la London

I had the best time in London! Thanks so much to Caroline for letting me stay with her for 6 whole nights! So just over 2 weeks ago on Tuesday 12th May I caught the train to Stuttgart. I had 4 hours to wait at the airport but I just read my book, had a coffee and cake, and then a beer and eventually the time was killed. I arrived in London very excited but nervous cause I had no battery left in my phone. And oh dear when I walked through my gate Caroline who was kindly coming to meet me wasn't there! It was horrible cause I had no way of contacting her. I waited for nearly an hour before asking a stranger to use his phone so I could log in to Facebook to message her (I was desperate and there were no internet cafes or help around). Luckily the guy was very nice and lent me his phone, but just as I was about to send the message Carrie arrived hooray! Just running a bit late.

Hey Big Ben!

So all was good and we took a train and tube back to Tooting where she is staying. We had a nice dinner at The Castle, an awesome pub. I had cod, chips and mushy peas as my first English meal (I like to go all out when I visit another country) and of course we had a wine. Whilst walking back to her place I saw my first ever fox! Actually I saw six of them! I was so excited! I had no idea they ran around wild in the streets! They're so adorable. Last time I was in London I stayed right in Trafalgar Square which was super awesome but I'm glad this time I got to venture out further to see more of the authentic side of London. I loved Carrie's street for example as it was a picture straight out of Corro (not that I've ever watched that show- but you know what I mean). Perfectly aligned suburban houses that look exactly the same as each other all the way down the street. So English. I could smell the crumpets and jam... okay I might be exaggerating. I was so lucky to have a nice room all to myself even.

Trafalgar Square

My first full day in London was a nice and sunny one. We started off with brunch and then took the tube to Southbank and had an enjoyable walk along the river Thames. We went into Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in hope of tickets sometime that week while I was there, but alas they were all sold out. We stopped and got an ice cream as it was a surprisingly hot day. We eventually crossed the bridge across from St Paul's Cathedral and started heading towards the main centre of town. After all that walking we stopped and had a pick-me-up cider at a pub. Then we were in the mood for a spot of shopping! We went to Covent Garden and browsed around a few shops. I bought awesome black zip jeans from Zara and Carrie got a pair of jeans too. Then I bought my very first lipstick from MAC (I know- about time right!). C.G is known for its great buskers so we sat and watched a guy for a while who was so good at singing and playing guitar, I'm surprised he isn't famous yet.
We went on to Trafalgar square to soak in the atmosphere and then I showed Carrie the Sherlock Holmes pub which was just around the corner, and we had another cider. Dinner was a very delicious (but expensive) Indian feast. It was a most enjoyable day. Just to top the whole day off on the way home on the tube there was the most hi-la-rious guy who had earphones on and was singing to himself with dramatic gestures. He made two whole carriages stare and crack up at him, it was so funny! Everyone that was sitting opposite him was recording him on their phones so I'm pretty sure he's on YouTube by now... I also did a small recording but it's so shaky as I was laughing so hard!

Fav Museum!

Thursday in contrast was a rainy and cold day. But luckily we were doing mostly indoor activities. We started with crepes at Kensington before going to the Natural History Museum for the afternoon. It was great seeing my old friends again! (I'm talking about the skeletons there.. ha ha)... But I also met up with my real friend- Sarah from New Zealand who just so happened to be there as well! We stayed until closing and then the three of us walked to Harrods which was in the neighbourhood for a quick look around. Sooo many gorgeous bags and shoes, I can't even. We spent the most time admiring the chocolate department. Yay things I could actually afford! They had multiple cabinets full of so many different kinds of homemade chocolates it was absolute heaven!
After buying a few, Caroline and I had to rush off as we had a show to catch! We had tickets to see Wicked, and due to technological errors (app sent us to the wrong stop)- we had to sprint crazily for 15 minutes (sometimes in the middle of the road- stupid roadworks) and we only just got there in time with 2 minutes to spare- looking dishevelled and quite sweaty. But we made it! I snuck in a can of beer and a chicken wrap for dinner which was genius of me as there was no time to buy food. At half time though I got a red wine and an eton mess ice cream which was awesome. The show was really enjoyable and we finished the night with a pint at a pub afterwards before heading home.

On the gondola!

On Friday we met up with a friend of ours Wanja at 12 pm for lunch and a catch up. We got together and first went on the gondolas for a ride over the river and over to the O2 arena. It had a great view and it was nice to go to another area of London I hadn't seen before. Inside the O2 we walked around deciding what to have for lunch- that place is enormous! So many options. We eventually settled on a large restaurant with a lunch special buffet of all you can eat for 9 pounds. Boy did we get our moneys worth. I think we sat in there for 3 hours! Not eating the whole time of course... But I definitely left very very full. I had two plates of delicious food from a large variety of choices and then a massive plate of dessert and bowl of ice cream that I only ate half of, cause by then I felt sick! It was so much fun though chatting and laughing so hard we were crying. I love when girls get together and we can just be ourselves and have fun. I haven't had such a good laugh in a long time.
After that Wanja had to go to work and Carrie and I went home to freshen up before heading out again to King's Cross. We were meeting up with some of Gareth's friends who live in London and I invited to get together for some catch up drinks. Matt, Katie and Cam came and we all had a few pints and had dinner (Carrie and I shared one as were still pretty full, even hours later). We had a steak and ale pie and wow it was so good! So that was a nice evening and it was great catching up with everyone.

The Painted Hall

On Saturday Caroline slept in as she wasn't feeling the best, so I headed to town for more shopping. I first had a traditional Cornish pasty for breakfast (which certainly helped after all those beers the last night). I bought a couple of cool items from a store and hung around Leicester Square for a while before meeting Caroline at about 3 pm to go to Greenwich. Our first stop was the markets where we tried some Asian street food and Italian desserts. I got two awesome T-shirts- one with a fox on it (!), and the other had a blurry unicorn. I love unique things. Next we went to the grand Painted Hall to see it just before it closed at 5 pm. Unfortunately so did the main Meridian timeline section, but we still got to stand on the actual line for a picture, just a bit further down. Greenwich was such a lovely area with big open parks and one of the Queen's old houses was even there. I swear I saw Robert Pattinson go past me on a bike. He was wearing sunnies and a backwards cap, but I'm 90% sure it was him! I do have a knack for spotting celebrities...
We stopped for a bite at a Spanish/Mexican restaurant and shared a jug of sangria.We then had a quick look at the Cutty Sark ship before tubing back to Tooting to once again freshen up before venturing off to a cocktail party. No rest for the wicked!
It took us over an hour to get there though and so by then they had moved on to a club which was super loud. I'm not just being old- we were sitting next to each other and couldn't even talk to each other- yelling was not even enough! It was a cool unique club though, so nice to experience and we had a couple of wines and I met some new people. We stayed until it was time to rush and get the last tube back to Tooting. We were hungry by the time we got back so we stopped and had chips and a battered sausage which was funny as it reminded me of New Zealand. As there were no pubs open in that area at 2 am we then called it a night.

We're all mad here

On Sunday we went to Camden Markets and met up with Sarah there. We got a fun picture with the Mad Hatter's tea party. I love Camden because it's so alternative. We had awesome seafood paella for lunch at the markets and then spent hours wandering around looking at all of the cool stalls and shops. One special mention goes to Cyber Dog which is by far the weirdest store I've ever been in (in a cool way). Everything glowed in the dark, they sold funky and really random merchandise, had pumping electro music and their staff dressed in quite skanky silver space suits. And if you looked up there were stages around the top of the walls with people dancing hard out in them. Not to mention the giant 12 foot robots outside the front doors. I walked out feeling quite dazzled and sad I didn't have enough luggage space to buy everything in the shop... After our market fix we headed to the World's End pub where we had a couple of pints and a nice sit down. I loved the tip jars, it's the first time I've actually wanted to tip a pub! (pics below). Then as it was a Sunday I was determined to have an obligatory Sunday roast, so we went off to the centre of town to the Sherlock Holmes pub and had one there. I was happy I got my Yorkshire pudding.

Ran into my hero!

After dinner Carrie and I had another date with Wanja and a friend of hers who picked us up from Canary Wharf in her car. She drove us around for a fun sightseeing evening which was full of laughter, bags of sweets, chocolate, chips, everything! We got on quite a sugar high. We drove up Greenwich hill that had an amazing view over London. When it got dark we went to a good spot where we could see the green Meridian timeline laser light I didn't know was there every night! We drove past the Tower of London and went across the Tower Bridge. It was such a great night and we didn't get dropped off until midnight. The next day I had to go home :( I was very very sad to leave. London has a huge place in my heart, I really wish to live there one day. We had one last brunch and coffee together and then Caroline was off to an interview and I was off to the airport. I got home safe and sound by 11pm, so it was a long day but worth it to have such a good time.

Some crazy gals and a view

I had to spend the whole next day making up for my fun by finishing off my first psychology essay that was due at midnight. But I finished it with no sweat, I only needed about 4 more hours or so to polish it off, as I made sure I did most of the work before I went.
The rest of the week I just spent going to classes and catching up on readings. On Friday I was invited around to Terese's for some drinks and she had a friend over from Norway. We spent a few hours at her place hanging out before heading to town for more drinks. That was about it for my weekend. Up until now I've just been studying, going to the mall, watching my TV shows, going for walks etc.
That's about it! But this Sunday I'm going to Munich for Rockavaria to see Faith No More and METALLICA! I can't wait!!!!

P.s I got my results back for my psychology essay- and I got an A+! I can't believe it! I was panicking that I wouldn't even pass... Now if only I keep that streak going. (ha!)

More London pics below. Bis später!