London (chapter 3)

We spent another fun and activity packed long weekend in London last week - leaving here on Thursday evening and returning Monday evening. Ostensibly our trip was to visit our lovely Sudanese friend, Ali, but we always seem to manage to squeeze in a few touristy things too ;-)

This time round we had a guided tour of Stamford Bridge, the football stadium of local London team Chelsea. Why Chelsea you may ask? It was within walking distance of where we were staying in Kensington, and Ali is a Chelsea fan. Actually Ali is a fan of ANY team that plays in blue LOL The tour was pretty much as you'd expect - an insight into the dressing rooms of both the home and away teams (with those of the home team deliberately much more "luxurious" than those of the away team, but still not really all that over the top!); a glimpse of the press room (see photo here of Ali & Jeroen); a walk down the players' tunnel and out into the "dugout"; and a visit to the musuem. All in all, an entertaining Friday afternoon.

We followed that closely by a visit to a chilly and grey Tower of London. After having to physically fight the hordes of seagulls away from our obligatory fish & chips, we spent a couple of hours wandering the grounds and various "towers" of the complex (much bigger than I expected) and emerged just that little bit wiser about a large slice of English history. Built way back in 1066 by Willliam the Conqueror, it has been used as a royal palace by, amongst others, King Henry VIII, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I (who, as a princess, was also actually imprisoned within the Tower by her sister Queen Mary I). Other famous prisoners included Guy Fawkes, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Anne Boleyn & Catherine Howard, both wives of Henry VIII and both executed within the tower complex. A memorial now marks the spot where the executions took place :-/ Today the Tower houses the English crown jewels and is carefully guarded by 35 Yeoman Warders (the guys in red more commonly known as Beefeaters), who have become a tourist attraction in themselves. And yes, the ravens were also still there (mainly thanks to their clipped wings!). Legend has it that if these huge black birds were ever to leave the Tower, England would collapse - no wonder they clip their wings!

The Churchill Museum & War Cabinet Rooms were also a lesson in history. The War Rooms are actually a bunker complex deep beneath 10 Downing St and the Houses of Parliament. And it was here that Churchill led the war efforts against the Germans during the bombing raids of WWII, and where over 100 cabinet meetings were held. It was quite bizarre (and fascinating) to wander the narrow corridors and peer into rooms (including bedrooms) that were pretty much exactly as they were left at the end of the war - right down to the secret stashes of sugarcubes, the files on the various desks and the secret phone room (once a broom closet) cleverly disguised as a toilet from where Churchill spent hours on the "hot line" discussing strategy with the American president!

We also managed to find time to wander through China Town; see Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Chelsea Bridge, & Battersea Park; have a couple of beers in an Earl's Court pub; go shopping at the newly opened, and massive Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush; have a cup of tea at Harrods; and finally get to meet Ali's family. Ali's sister Sulava cooked up a storm for Sunday lunch whilst we were entertained by the two kids and their Nintendo Wii :-))

Oh, and I am also now fully stocked up on crumpets and Crunchy Nut cornflakes :-)

I must admit though, it was really quite surreal walking the cold, grey and wet streets of London on Monday whilst at the same time Victoria was burning :-( After getting the full story from Dad of the horror of the bushfires I felt REALLY far away and a bit detached from my homeland - a weird and sad feeling. Hope all is under control again by now and my thoughts are with everyone who has been so deeply affected by the disaster.

Alli xxx