We arrive in London
We were met at Heathrow by a Walkabout Club member Philip an
Australian who gave us a description of each suburb on our way into Paddington
W2 to Royal Eagle Hotel at Craven
Place.
Our bedroom was not ready so we settled into one room with
all our baggage and then went down to breakfast where for five days the poor
little Spanish waiter trembled each time he saw us advance. Then after refreshments we went to find our
way into London. Our first ride in the tube - took the Bakerloo
line into Oxford Circus where John left us to
inquire about the van and we just wandered through Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus,
Leicester Square - names I had heard of but couldn't believe really existed but
here we were in the midst of the throbbing pulsating streets of London.
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| Piccadilly Circus 1981 |
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| Piccadilly Circus - at night 1981 |
It is August and what with school holidays and holidaymakers from the
royal wedding, London is crowded. The streets are lined
with remnants of bunting, photos of the wedding couple and every window is
decorated. Souvenirs line every shop
window and every vendors stall. Can't
grasp the cosmopolitan population of London. Punk groups rub shoulders with white garbed people from the Middle East. Black taxis drive side by side
with the black limousine. Shop names
known for years are now for real - Tiffany, Hamblin’s, Liberty.
After lunch we headed for home as overtired bodies pleaded for
rest. All laid down at 1 p.m. and slept
till 1 a.m. next morning, awakening starved and bright. San and I dozed on till 5 a.m. but now all
three bright sparks Rae, Sean and John stayed awake and went walking in Hyde Park at 4:30 a.m.
An early breakfast with our little Spanish waiter. Did he get our order right? Not yet!
Breakfast is inclusive. Bacon, eggs, cereal, tea and toast - then off for a tour of London by Walkabout bus - a
double-decker yellow and green (Aussie colours) providing a good tour to places where we
may never get to, like the tower, dungeon, lots of places we will revisit later
at leisure like St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London,
Wellington's Palace which has the smallest police station in the world. London
fascinates me with its cultural population its buses, cars, Christopher Wren's
architecture standing out to fascinate the visitors. It's streets are very grotty but that could be
the holidaymakers.
After lunch went for a walk through Hyde
Park to stroll through Harrods - its food stalls are terrific.
Every country is represented, grapes from Spain, oranges from Italy,
tomatoes from America,
cheese from every country in the world.
Marvellous! Browsed through shops
looking at crockery and antiques.
Tomorrow
we are off to inspect the van. Have
hardly seen John since we arrived, poor darling has to find us a good van to
last us 12 months to get us safely through Europe. To bed very tired.
I love the names of pubs. The lanes are so clean -Pudding Lane, the
Bald Head, such musical names. Also the
streets are so well -kept, main roads and side streets and lowly, narrow lanes are
all beautifully paved. A lesson Australia!
