Loving London

After experiencing the NHS in London and £115 poorer we left Michelle's flat early Monday afternoon to head for Camden Markets, a very easy trip on the underground with no changing of trains required. The markets are vibrant and alternative where anything goes but a lot of fun.  Michelle and I had already decided before we left home that we were going to have a gara rufa fish pedicure.  This is where you plunge your feet into a tank of these little fish and they nibble away at the skin on your feet. After 15 minutes and £10 your feet are lovely and smooth.  A really weird feeling which had us squealing and laughing.  To go with my nice smooth feet I bought a pair of shoes (not at the markets) which made Mich pretty peeved as she was the one after them, they were on sale but not in her size.



The Gara Rufa's nibble Michelle's feet



Cool babes

Tuesday we set off mid morning and ventured futher into town to London Bridge. Michelle shouted Pete and I for a tour of HMS Belfast, an old Navy ship that has been set up as a tourist attraction.  This was Pete's choice for his birthday present and was really interesting.  We spent around 2 hours exploring life below the decks.  After this we walked down to Tower Bridge and crossed over to the North Bank with the intention of getting ourselves down to Leicester Square.  After detouring to walk up the 311 steps of 'The Monument' erected to commemorate the rebuilding of London after the great fire and stopping at a pub for a much needed drink, we arrived at Leicester Square where we booked our tickets for Lion King which we will go to next Tuesday night.  We had arranged to meet Nathan B (Biggs) and Chloe at Leicester Square so where better to wait than yet another pub.  Both Nath and Chloe finally arrived, both looking extremely well, it was great to see them. It seems strange but with both our first meeting with Michelle and Nathan, after the first emotions of seeing them for the first time in 18 months, you very quickly feel as if you're with them in NZ after only not having seen them for a few weeks.  By the time we got home it was around 10.30pm so a long day.

Nathan B arranged to have Wednesday off work and we met him at an underground station late morning where we caught a DLR train out to Greenwich.  We explored the Royal Navy College, the Maritime Museum, The Painted Hall (which took 19 years to complete and is the largest painted ceiling in Europe), The Royal Greenwich Observatory where Greenwich mean time starts and the Greenwich Markets (far more conservative and smaller than Camden).  This area is where the Equestrian Sports at the 2012 Olympics will be held and lots of work was being carried out. It is exactly 12 months today until the Olympic Games start.  From Greenwich we got the boat back into London Bridge and after a full day we went our separate ways home.





Nathan and I in agreeance, he had just told me he wanted a coffee



Part of the Painted Hall



We haven't shrunk, Nath is on a step