Long weekend in London

Friday 26 September, 2008

Arrived in from Munich late afternoon after a gorgeous flight over, topped up my Oyster card and rode the Piccadilly line into town just like I’d just come back from a long weekend away not a year! Found my way to Gosia’s place alright and we ended up at the Slug that night, it wasn’t very busy but we enjoyed dancing to the old classics with jugs of snakebites and randomly ran into my old flatmate Adam there too! Finished the night up with a stint at Belushis and Sugar Hut before walking back to West Kensington











Saturday 27 September, 2008

With only three full days in London I had to make the most of them so we were up early to hunt for a bargain at Primark and TK Max in Hammersmith before everyone else woke up and they got crazy busy. It was a gorgeous day so was stoked we had organised yard (standing) tickets to see Timon of Athens at Shakespeare’s Globe – my favourite way to spend 5 pounds in London! Afterwards we sat down on the grass outside Tate Modern to enjoy the sunshine, southbank and to give our feet a bit of a rest : )

Walked all the way down Southbank (not quite as vibrant with street performers as it is on a Sunday but still a lot of fun) some awesome displays around with some huge lounge furniture made out of artificial grass, people competing in a race around London in dress-up, interactive water art and the biggest guitar class you’ve ever seen : ) Walked across the Thames and through Chinatown to have dinner at Misato – my favourite Japanese restaurant in London – even though we had to wait an hour for a seat it was worth it!

Had organised to meet a bunch of people at Waxy O’Conner’s in Soho from 7pm as I’m here for such a little time so it was great to catch up with heaps of people in one place. Unfortunately some couldn’t make it due to other commitments or having had a pretty busy day already but I still had a great time. A few Magners and catching up with old friends on the other side of the world meant it was always going to be a good night – thanks for making the effort to come guys!

Sunday 28 September, 2008

Started a Sunday off the best way I know how to in London with a cheap and cheerful English breakfast at Lloyds in Fulham before heading north to the Church. Interesting that the music never changes but they had some new entertainers and all the usual boat races etc. Went along with a few of Gosia’s flatmates and had a good time – even got up on the stage at the end for a dance

Wandered through Camden to check out the latest fashion, listen to some live music and enjoy some market food for dinner before finishing up the night with a few Snakies at Shepards Bush Walkies (never my fave place but Gosia said Redback isn’t that good on a Sunday anymore and this was closer to home). Glad I also got the chance to catch up with Te Maari, we chatted over ice-cream in the park

Monday 29 September, 2008

Up bright and early again and headed into to the centre to have a very sophisticated tea and cupcake with Katherine at Liberty, a very wholesome lunch at Leon with Natalie and then visited my old and current offices – everyone was doing really well - so stoked to have the opportunity to catch up.

Extra bonus was that because the office here is in New Zealand House in Haymarket I was able to get a spectacular view from the 18th floor function room out over London. Cruised back home to repack and then Hasan cooked us dinner at Cris and Sara’s flat to great to spend my last evening in London just hanging out with my old roomies.

Got a couple of hours sleep on the sofa at their place before my 3am night bus from Hammersmith to Heathrow for the first of three flights to make my way to Chicago.