20050327 Day 6

Hi All,

Well, we are now almost past our first week over here in London, it has been one of discovery. Like dutiful tourists we have already seen an abundance of sights, The London Eye, Big Ben, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Leichester Square, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Madam Taussauds, all the parks with their spectacular daffodil spread, all the tubes stations, Harrods (wow), London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Tower of London….I have probably missed out a couple but to sum it all up we have been busy and our feet are in shock.

Tonight we are turning our clocks back an hour (we think, might be forward), summer is here and the days are getting longer, Gwyn and I are still feeling the cold, even though the locals are now down to t-shirts…. We will be going to be spectators at the epic Oxford vs Cambridge boat race tomorrow, it starts at Putney bridge, just down the road from where we are staying and ends in the Chiswick area, I think it is going to be quite something to witness. www.theboatrace.org

Some of the interesting things which I have noticed so far, is that Londeners are much calmer than the people back in SA, probably because they don’t need to sit in traffic, but rather on public transport….People read a whole lot more here, book shops are booming…and Gwyn is smiling. People are always wiling to help and a lot friendlier, streets are relatively clean despite the fact that there are hardly any dustbins around, street names are placed halfway up the side of buildings, daffodils grow out of the middle of a well manicured lawn and not in flower beads, squirrels are everywhere and Easter eggs are personalised (but avoid the Harrods Eggs if you still want to eat for the rest of the month)….

Gwyn’s Mom came down from Manchester to pick up Bronwyn and they are staying in a guest house in Wimbeldon at the moment, we got to the airport at the crack of dawn, and waited for a couple hours before she come through, but Bronny has taken to the streets and seems to be fine with the new UK life she is going to embark on. It was good to see Gwyn’s Mom and gave us a chance to catch up on the couple months that she has been in the UK. Tomorrow the two of them will be Mega Bussing it back to Manchester…. We will probably see them and my grand parents in May with the next bank holiday.

Cheers for now…thinking about you all and hope you have a great Easter!!!

Lawrence & Gwyneth