Tootle Pip

25 June 2007

In London we headed to Islington and our hotel, then more exploring - London has a new surprise around every corner and I like it more every time I visit. It's shocking to think that the population of London equals all of Australia's! A trip on a bus lands us in Soho – very bohemian! We wander through the theatre district and try for afternoon tea in the Ritz but don't get past first base since Ric isn't wearing a jacket and I have jeans on.

Natt comes to stay to bid us farewell and we enjoy dinner at an organic produce pub on the back streets of Angel. A guy from Cambridge and his daughter sit next to us and chat about Scotland. The Camden Markets are a happening place, so after Laura - Natt's friend arrives on Friday we all head down into the underground to check them out. Camden is very much an alternative scene - with punk shops, goth shops and everything in between as well as great markets. We wander around for a while then have a drink in this amazing bar/restaurant called Gilgamesh. It is the biggest restaurant in London and is extravagantly decorated and furnished in Babylonian style. Every inch of the walls is covered with elaborate carvings and the centre piece is a pair of gilded statues of some sort of man-beasts.

We enjoy our last drink in London together, say our farewells and head off to the airport. I won't bore you with the trip home except to say that we had a near-disaster in Hong Kong where we suddenly realised we were booked on separate flights home; Ric a couple of hours after we arrived and me the next day. A very kind man from Cathay Pacific fixed it all up and we had a night and a day in HK to change our body clocks closer to home time. We landed in Sydney this morning and the Aussie accents and colour of the banknotes tickled us as we moved through the airport. What a holiday! I hope you enjoyed coming along for the ride. Ric's already planning our next adventure - but that's another story. 'Til the next travelogue...Cathy & Ric