London

Well I have now been in London for over a week. I know I haven't blogged much lately but the house is (has been) getting the internet connected any day now. There have been a few problems with BT (British Telecom) and the current situation is that there is no phone at all (and hasn't been for 3 days now !!)

Staying with Charissa, Laura, James and Monica. Pretty good place they have. It has definitely helped me enjoy my time in London to date. I am unsure if I was staying on my own whether I would be coping as well. The weather here is quite depressing at times. For most of the time it has been either overcast, windy, cold, or a combination of the three. Think there has only been one full day of sun, though there have been a few mornings with sun, which has disappeared by lunch. I do not think I could live here. Hope I am not overstaying my welcome.

Haven't done much sight-seeing as yet. Well, I have been wandering around and seeing stuff but haven't taken many fotos. Have just been settling into the London way of life I guess. Plan to start doing the 'tourist' thing tomorrow, weather permitting, so hopefully there will be some fotos for you guys soon.

I did make it to Buckingham Palace. Quite a let down actually. Just a big building. I will probably try to make it back there when the changing of the guard occurs to see if that increases my interest. Have wandered most of the streets of the city and am pretty sure I have seen all streets and railway stations on the Monopoly board !! Will try to get a foto of everything during my time here.

It is quite expensive here though. I have had to stop myself doing the conversion to Australian dollars - if I were to continue I would not buy anything at all !! Some things are cheaper, but mostly it is dearer. Currently it is 1:2.17 for GBP to the AUD. So using this and an example of a steak at an Angus House Restaurant - cost almost £21 which is just over $45 !!! It would want to be a damn good steak !! Needless to say I have not had one. I did have a steak in Berlin - it was Argentinian rump. Wasn't cooked how I asked for it to be and wasn't that good - Australians can't be the only ones who know how to cook a steak properly, can they ?

Have been to a few pubs and a club at the moment. There are pubs absolutely everywhere here. One would definitely never go thirsty. I have also had quite a few pints of Cider (I know this will shock quite a few people !!). It's ok and is usually cheaper than spirits, so I gave it a try. Good for drinking at trivia nights, of which I am now involved in two. Love my trivia. Monday night is music trivia and Tuesday night is a bit more general. Didn't do that well on the first music triv night - questions are a little UK centric but I think we should have done better - will try to improve tonight. Tuesday nights wasn't a bad effort - 10 pts off the winning score. Not bad for three dumb Aussies in a foreign country.

Anyways, internet time almost up. Will blog again when the house gets the net.

Bye for now from London.