| From: "Kate McMullin" <kate@brong.net> Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 20:13:58 +1000 (EST) |
Sunday morning had us up early (it's light from about 4am, so it's not hard to get up), and off to the Spitalfields Market. We knew that someone we met on the plane would be there, so we went to see her. Met some of her friends too; nice bunch, if a bit crazy! The markets had lots of nice stuff, but we didn't get anything, as we'd have to carry it for the next 4.5 months. After that Market, we walked up to the Columbia St Flower Market - very busy and hectic - then down through Brick Lane Market to the Tower Bridge and Tower of London. We didn't actually go in (hopefully tomorrow), as we were there after 4pm, and it was going to cost £11.50 to enter - we'll go earlier to make the most of the time there. Then we walked up through Petticoat Lane market (closing up by then) to Liverpool St station, to catch the train back out to Romford where we're staying. We intended to go to Sainsbury's (= Safeway or Coles) on the way home, but it was already closed. It only opens from 10am to 4pm on Sundays. We're very spoilt by the opening hours in Aus. So we had dinner at a pub on the way home, along with a taste of a local beer. It was a very nice beer, and it was cool (not warm) as it was on tap. They also had Fosters on tap, but we certainly avoided that. For all the scoffing Aussies do about the English weather, it's quite warm here. We even managed to get sunburnt yesterday (oops). So there is sun in Britain, and it can be just as vicious. It's also quite odd that it's sunny from 4am to 10pm or so - it feels so much later than it is when it's bright and sunny when you wake at 5am. |
| From: brong@zebkrahn.brong.net (Bron Gondwana) Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 19:07:33 +1000 |
Back issues of diary here we come... We knew Juliet would be at the Spitalfield markets - but that was the only contact information we had. At least we knew the coffee house to look in. I got up early and walked to Sainsburys, only to discover that the opening hours on Sunday are 10am to 4pm. Doh! We caught the train in, wandered the markets for a bit, and found Juliet. It turned out that she had actually gone back to the baggage area to wait for us, but we thought we'd seen her leave already. Doh! At least she met someone interesting in the taxi on the way back, and we met Amy and found a good place to stay. A friend of Juliet's, Jane, showed us to the flower markets - lots of people selling flowers! It was very hot and sunny, so we spent a while in parks. Kate has covered most of the rest of the details... Oh yes, Ingvar. We finally met our host when we got home - he had been away for the weekend, so we had only had our fellow Aussie (David) wandering floor sleeper to let us in. Ingvar has the typical sysadmin beard, a lot of very good whiskey, almost every gaming console known to man, and a set of fencing swords. Well, there's probably more to him than that, but it's a start. |
| Calendar | Diary | Places | Photos | Home | [last update Tue Apr 22 01:15:00 2003] |