Saturday, June 17, 2006

I am in LONDON!!!!Maybe I should start at the beginning for you -after blubbering like a fool through customs at Perth airport, I found myself on a plane bound for Hong Kong! The flight was great and upon arrival at Hong Kong, I easily managed to get myself to my next gate for theHong Kong to Zurich leg. I really wanted to do some shopping at Hong Kong but found the shopping wasnt actually that great and they didnt have ANY rolling tobacco!!! So i found myself the smokers lounge which is really disgusting, as soon as you walk in you are surrounded by cigarette smoke - ok i know i am a smoker - but even i have limits!!The Zurich leg was great as i managed to sleep 9 hours out of the twelve andawoke to discover i had only two hours to go! My next challenge was to catch my connecting flight to Heathrow which was departing at 7:05am and by 7am I was still in a massive queue to get through security screening! Freaking out and wondering whether pushing through everyone would seem a little rude, I managed to get to my gate only to be told that Hong Kong airport should have given me a boarding pass, that the flight was full and iwould need to wait till they could get me on another flight!Luckily they got me on a flight an hour later and gave me 120 Euros as "compensation"!! Woohoo!I was so tired that I managed to be asleep flying into Heathrow - so missed the bird's eye view!Next thing i find out is they have LOST my luggage - which was actually a blessing cause they delivered it ro my door later that night so i didnt haveto lug it around with me on the tube!Si i'm thinking Europe is very civilised in giving me money and hand delivering my luggage - what service!Thanks to the friendship of Fi and one of her extremely generous spirited friends David - I am now staying at a gorgeous modern apartment (with an elevator!) in the heart of the london bridge district - 1 minute's walk fromthe famous Borough Markets where all the restuaranters come to buy the freshest produce you can imagine! Imported cheeses from France, Foie Grais,fish shops, mushroom shops etc!And just to make you all even more jealous - I spent my first afternoon at agreat little local pub drinking and watching Australia beat Japan in the football! After that - David and I went to a cool little restuarant and satout in the street drinking more wine and eating THE stilton cheese you've all heard about - mmm delicious!The weather has been gorgeous - brilliant blue sunny skies and hot! And is doesnt get dark til 10pm! Fabulous!!So it well and truly seems that i have not just landed on my feet, but have hit the ground running! London reminds me of Melbourne alot - only much groovier! So i will have to love you and leave you as i am off to do some more exploring!

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