England: London, Aylesbury
Neither of us had been to London for some time so we thought it was time to catch up with old friends we had met while diving and see some more of London. We found a hotel on Russell square, close to the tube station, which suited us very well as we used the tube a lot to get around. As we arrived late in the afternoon we relaxed in our room and took a stroll before we went out to an Indian restaurant called Quinlon which had been recommended to us by friends, they were right too this was an excellencet restaurant with good food, good service and good prices (compared to Norway). After the meal we walked around a bit before returning to the hotel.
The next day we took the tube to Waterloo station and a short walk to the London Eye but the weather wasn't so great, so we walked down the Thames to the Tate Modern, a very large museum with lot's of great things to see but it was a lot of walking. When we finished at Tate Modern we walked over the Millennium bridge and on to find some lunch, after lunch we walked around the hotel area where we found a nice shopping area with some good places to eat. Later that afternoon we met two friends (Robin and Jane) at a restaurant. We had met in Sharm el Sheikh while diving, this was great fun as we had not seen them in a few years and there was a lot to catch up on.
Sadly it was raining the next day so we headed to a shopping mall (it's very expensive in Norway so it's nice to shop a bit with some normal prices). It had almost stop raining by the time we were done so we headed to Chinatown to have a look around and had a great lunch at a Taiwanese restaurant. We decided to walk a bit so we headed to Leicester square and on to Covent Garden, the streets were crowded with tourists and Londoners, the tourists were taking pictures and shopping, while the locals were just trying to get on with their everyday life. After walking around Covent Garden it was time to head back to the hotel. That evening we took the tube out to Brixton where there is a really good restaurant called Saté, this is a little bit of a ruff area but the police were out and about so things were under control for the most part. We walked down the to very full and lively bar restaurant with great food and low prices. After the meal we decided to try one of the local pubs so we stopped at one that looked all right, Jorunn found a seat while I got some drinks. When I got back with the drinks Jorunn told me this, while I was at the bar a guy had come up to her and asked her if she wanted to shag (sex), she said she was with someone so he left, later to come back apologise. I was a bit shocked in the beginning but soon thought it to be very funny, and I guess quite a few women go to Brixton to get a shag...
We were off to visit with Lance and Crissy who live outside of London at Aylesbury, we had met Lance in Indonesia a few years back and had kept in contact over the years so a visit was in order so we could meet Crissy and catch up a bit. The train ride took a bit over an hour through the rolling green and rainy country side, we were met at the station by Lance and Crissy and the first stop was the local pub. We headed back for lunch at Lance and Crissy's house where we had an excellent meal.
Our next stop was Waddesdon Manor, this is owned by the Rothschild (same as the famous wine), the Manor sits on a hill with beautiful gardens and fountain, the Manor itself is in an old world in England style favored by the upper class. There were a lot's of people there so we could not go in the house but we did get to visit the wine cellar which held hundreds of magnum bottles of wine from the Rothschild vineyards in France, some dating back to the late 1800's and on to present times. Sadly the time went very quickly and we were soon on our way back to London.
In the morning (after yet another terrible breakfast at the hotel, people were shopping first at the store to supplement their breakfast) we were off to the London Eye and were hoping for a little good weather, so we could get a good view of the city. The London Eye was well worth a visit but sadly we were unlucky with the weather, after this we headed off to the Saatchi gallery which was also a very interesting exhibition. The sun had come out when we came out so we found a little outdoor cafe in the area where we could eat and enjoy the sunshine. Time to leave jolly old London so we headed for the hotel to get ready for the flight home.
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