I finally made it over, after promising myself this trip for many years. Europe, starting with the UK. I'm still not exactly sure why I wanted to come. A chance to delve into history, an opportunity to be myself and the options of meeting different people.

I laughed out loud when I left the airport, and saw the black cabs lined up. I still find it funny to see things that previously I had only seen on telly.

I usually plan things to the last detail, but this trip was not going to be like that. So, when I left Heathrow, I had no idea where I was going, or what I was doing. On the bus to Hatton Cross and then... Zone 1. Piccadilly Circus? Or Green Park? I chose to go with the familiar, Monopoly-wise: Piccadilly. I then realised, I wanted to store the backpack, so I thought King's Cross would be more suitable. With all those lines crossing at that point, it must be a sizable station (I checked later, Piccadilly did not have storage capabilities). Some of the station names made me chuckle quietly: Turnham Green, Cockfosters. The train on the Piccadilly line was disturbingly, bouncy. Overall though, I thought the tube worked quite well.

I dropped the bag off, then started walking. I like to walk when I'm new to a place, it gives me an idea of the scale and orientation of each city. So From King's Cross, off I go down Euston Road, which changed into Marylebone Road. A quick croissant and coffee at Baker Street then on to Edware Road Station. Now I knew which way was roughly west. South now, past Park Lane! And Hyde Park. Well, there's Buckingham Palace:

I was very surprised by the weather. I was expecting it to be totally shit. I was told to expect overcast and wet. But you can see you yourself, the wonderful blue sky that accompanied my on my walk. The walk was part of my strategy to combat any jetlag effects. I arrived at local time of about 5:00am, after nearly 24 hours on a plane, with approximately 4 hours of near-sleep. I managed to last until 9:00pm, which I was happy with, but did I hit the wall then?

Throughout my travels I failed to find a shopping centre. I've now been told that I needed to find the "High Streets". Streets dispersed (seemingly randomly) throughout each section. Apparently shopping centres are not yet popular here. Strange, in a good way. I did manage to sort out a mobile phone account, so now I can apply for work. Information was not very visible, so by lunchtime I had meandered past the Thames and into Earl's Court. I had heard that the place was thick with Aussies, and I had planned to avoid it. However, I also needed to find a good place to stay for the evening and I thought some local knowledge would go along way.

I mentioned earlier that I wanted this opportunity to be myself. One aspect of that is trying not to hit the booze. Sometimes, I want to, and that's fine. Sometimes I want to for the wrong reasons, (note to self) must try to avoid. The problem was, public toilets are pretty scarce, so when I arrived in Earls Court, I was busting and there was a pub to be had. The Blackbird.

After sweet relief, I sat down for a cigarette. On cue, two girls sit down nearby and order some lunch. A Canterbury top, and is that an Aussie accent I can hear? Yes, yes it was. Laura and Rachel, it turns out. Laura uncovered the "High Street" mystery and pointed me in the right direction for the O2 network. Sorted. Rachel helped out with TNT (which were very hard to find).

After the shopping, we headed back to the pub while Rachel finished work. I bought my first beer, pint sized and warm. For the record it was a "Fuller's London Bridge". As the barman asked for the money, I said

S:"Hey, where are you from from?"
Barman:"Tasmania."

Typical, my first British beer was poured by an Aussie. I guess it was Earl's Court. And it was pumped with the beer handle, rather than poured. Laura and Rachel were off to Edinburgh in the evening, so we all caught the Tube to King's Cross and said our goodbyes.

Having a phone, I was able to call Denise. Denise has been here since last December and is well settled in. We headed off for Indian and then I was able to crash on the lounge room floor. I dreamt of Monopoly.