So last night Jamie came over for a bit. Had dinner and watched some TV and had a good night! About 9pm I headed off to Victoria station to meet Brendon. After about 15-20 minutes of not being able to find each other we finally figured out that platform 13 (the Gatwick express platform) had multiple exits and we were each at different ones!!! We eventually found each other. I cannot believe it's June and Brendon is here to see me. I remember walking through the gate at Melbourne airport and everyone saying 'bye and when they would see me, feels like last week!
Had a very chilled out night eating ice cream and watching part of a movie. Brendon got tired really quick due to the huge trip from Aus so we went to sleep and got a good 8 hours of sleep! Also so excited to have him here as he brought me a bag of goodies including: pizza shapes, Vegemite, Vegemite chocolate, my favourite skirt and my science and education degree papers!!
Today we got up, got ready and then got the bus to Waterloo station. Was able to point out some landmarks to Brendon along the way!! Then we had a bit of a walk near the Eye and Big Ben and I took some photos for Brendon. At 10am we went into the London Dungeons - something that was on my London list but I wanted to do with a friend! It was £23 (and that was student price!) but it was great and we had a lot of fun. It's hard to describe but they call it a live action tour. Basically actors take you through various rooms with props and sound effects. You learn about London's creepy past along the way including Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd's Fleet Street Barber Shop/Mrs Lovett's pie shop, Guy Fawkes and his plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament, the great plague of 1665 and heaps more. It was interesting learning lots about it and adding it to my knowledge that I've gained from teaching the year 2s about the plague, great fire etc!! I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to scary things. I hate horror movies and refuse to watch them. So a boat ride and giant drop ride in the dark creeped me out a little but I was ok! The creepiest room was Sweeney Todd's barber shop where the chairs we sat in blew air and poked us as Todd said various things in the pitch black! We both agreed it was lots of fun anyway - would recommend! Random fact too - there used to be 222 crimes you could be executed for here!
Then we crossed Westminster bridge, passed Big Ben and saw Westminster Abbey. Found a pub and had a pub lunch, we each had a steak and ale pie - yummmm!
Then we walked through St James' Park to Buckingham Palace. There was a concert going on but in typical English fashion the "summer" weather London has put on for Brendon was grey and rainy. We walked down the Mall and saw some flash cars and then ended up at the palace. Then we continued on and got to Wellington arch. Had a look at the Australian war memorial which I had seen before but it was interesting reading the names of all the places from the war it listed and having been to so many of them now (see Anzac tour posts 19-28 April).
We headed into Hyde Park and walked around leisurely. For some bloody weird reason they had the sprinklers on when it was raining and it doesn't even get hot here! Got to the Albert memorial and then had a look in Harrod's! We bought some delicious fudge. Apparently I'm doing a good job as playing tour guide haha. We got the tube back home and are having a bit of a rest. At the moment we are watching 'Sweeney Todd' due to our dungeons experience! Later we are heading out for a Jack the Ripper tour and to walk the city by night.
This afternoon due to Brendon bringing my degree papers over for me I had a mini graduation ceremony. On May 18 I missed my real ceremony at home. I knew I would miss things by living over here but it kind of felt like I hadn't actually finished uni properly because I didn't have my papers or any kind of 'finale' I guess. So I put on my prettiest dress, some nice makeup and we went outside the flat to take s picture of me with my papers. Mark and Cecilie gave me a round of applause and Brendon shook my hand hahaha. So there you go, I'm officially a science and education graduate now ;) There are two certificates because I did a double degree.
So a great day with one of my best friends and looking forward to another one tmro!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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