Day 2: London
After a comfortable night, well as comfortable as one can be on a plane, we landed at 7:30. Again customs and baggage collection went smoothly. We caught 2 cabs to our hotel in Earls Court. Gareth, Robs and I were fortunate to get the friendly cab driver, while Gray, Kirst and Jono landed up with a grumpy bugger.
Our hotel is in a pretty street of London’s, Earl Court. Unfortunately because it was so early, we were unable to check in, but they kindly kept our bags for us, so we were able to set off to explore the sight of London.
Robs says we are allowed one tourist error a day and we managed this immediately by taking the tube in the wrong direction. We got off at the next station, crossed the bridge and set off in the right direction. Our destination was Big Ben, where we were told we could find a tour guide who does walks. After a night on the plane we were all keen to stretch our legs.
Despite reading about these guides and getting info from the hotel, they were no where to be seen. Not deterred, we set off on our own walk. 10km later, we had seen many of Central London’s wonderful sites: the Big Eye, we crossed the Thames and saw Westminster and Big Ben, unfortunately under construction for cleaning. We wondered around the magisterial district, passed Scotland Yard and 10 Downing Street. Then onto South Africa House and Nelson’s Column. We were fortunate to see the the Royal Horse cavalry doing maneuvers and the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
Then it was time for a well earned pub lunch.
We returned to the hotel to check in. By this stage we were all desperate for a shower and clean clothes. We had a drink at one of the local pubs before heading off to dinner at a wonderful restaurant, Gojk, every dish from the wagyu beef burgers to the butternut risotto was delicious. London summer is extremely pleasant and we sat outside in the courtyard of the restaurant.
After dinner we wondered around Earls Court, stopping for coffee and cake, then exploring the beautiful little private gardens and buildings in the area. We ended the evening as the sun was setting, around 10pm with a ‘tightener’ at the local pub.
The evening wasn’t over for some, Robs went out with some of her Stellenbosch University friends and Ga went to visit a friend, now living in London.
Pandas in Africa 