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ALL the details on our trip to London - United Kingdom
by Jessica & Jago | Date >
2004-09-03 | Country : United Kingdom | City : London
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| Well, we are here! Now I know that some of you have heard some of this
before, and I know some have been here and know stuff, so if there is
anything that you are already aware of – TOUGH! Read it again! ;) We landed and made our way to my aunt’s most stunning little cottage in Merstham, Surrey. It is a converted stable which has been done up really nicely into a one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and lounge. We got the lounge floor, on two blow-up mattresses! We dropped off all our stuff and then decided to go to the bustling metropolis (oozing sarcasm!) of Redhill. We caught the train into London. Well, my first impression of London – NOISY. My second, “little boxes..” There is no space anywhere, although to give the poms their due, they do allocate green spaces, where there are parks and benches which allow you to
sit outside, eat your lunch (quickly before the pigeons grab hold of it), and inhale the wonderful scents of the big city – smoke, diesel, dust and the wonderful aroma of the Thames River!! We went on the London Eye, which is this huge Ferris wheel thing. From it you can see most of London and the surrounding areas. It is bloody high, and
it seems jumping off the Gouritz bridge (Western Cape, South Africa) has done little to allay my fear of heights. It was quite spectacular though. We also walked to Buckingham Palace, and a whole bunch of other places within London. Harrods is an awakening. Sandton City (Johannesburg, South Africa) eat my shorts!! This is (I think) 6 odd floors of wonderment. Again, I was well behaved and kept my purse well out of reach. But what an experience. They have 4 different cosmetic and perfume sections, 3 different toy areas, and a whole bunch more that I just couldn't bear to see. We also got a crash course in bussing and tubing around. The next day we packed up padkos and headed out reasonably early. Our first stop – Stonehenge. Well, I can only say that I was disappointed. I expected it to be much bigger, and to ooze energy. It is fenced off, you can’t get within about 10m of it. It is a lot smaller than I had pictured, and there is no “aura” about it at all. The history of the stones and where some of the rock comes from
is fascinating, and the crosspiece section is very attractive, but that is about it. Oh, an aside – it rained – all day!! Welcome to England…
We then went off to Salisbury Cathedral – one word – WOW!! To think that this was built all that time ago, that people knew how to do such intricate carving at such huge (and I mean HUGE) heights, and the whole lot is still standing today. It amazes me how much knowledge we seem to have lost in our “progression”. Then we headed off to a tiny, and unimpressive little one-street village called Marlborough. The only reason it features is they have this faerie shop. They have everything to do with faeries – crystals, pendants, statues, costumes for kids, t-shirts, books, etc. Next, the highlight of my day – Avebury. Now Avebury is nowhere near as famous as Stonehenge but is way more impressive in my mind. It is circles within circles within circles of standing stones. They don’t have the crosspiece, but are singularly more impressive for the feeling they give off. These you can walk straight up and touch (dodging the sheep, their offspring, and their other “offerings”). There is a far stronger sense of peace and age about these, and I personally felt they outshine Stonehenge. There is also this SHOP!! No, I didn’t spend a fortune! They have everything esoteric you can imagine, as well as books on history, art, poetry, etc. They have Celtic design jewellery, crystals, decorations,
and stuff. Lotsa stuff. Next it was onto Bath. Yuck! The only thing remotely impressive (well two actually) was: - a) The roads are reasonably straight – I have never seen so many twisty
windy roads in my life – not even our mountain passes are as bad as the
roads through the gentle rolling hillocks that they call England. b) There was an Italian wind instrument group practising in the Bath Abbey. The acoustics are phenomenal!! That’s it, all that impressed me. Bath is just like any other big town and the baths themselves cost a fortune to go in and see, so we just didn’t bother. Then it was home for the “tired little teddy bears!” The next day we went to stay in a tiny village called Limpsfield Village, next a slightly less tiny town called Oxted. This is in Surrey, near the border with Kent, to the
South East of London. We walk just over a mile to the (it feel like 6), catch the train into London Bridge, and bus out. I think I have walked more since I got to England than ever before, so hikers watch out when I get to SA. I could catch the tube, but my experience of
that is that each & every time I wind up next to some continental
“gentleman” (in the loosest sense of the word) who insists on raising his arm to hold onto the rail of the tube and subjecting me to the unbathed, sweaty aroma of his armpit. Blugghhh….. We went to a braai (another unknown word here) with a whole bunch of ex-South Africans, and ex-Rhodesians on Saturday and that was really great. The weather was – wait for it – bliksems warm! The sun was shining, I was in shorts and t-shirt and we sat outside and ate braaivleis. It was great to come home feeling like there was nothing changed in the world. So life is trundling on!
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