Lazy in London

We were picked up in style by Paul in a VW in a bit of a tired blur. We were lucky enough to commandeer Trudy's room for the first few days while we slept for 12 hour nights. So slack. A few days later Jen and Dave arrived in London so we caught up with them and James in various pubs. The first being the The White Swan in Richmond on the Thames which gave us our first impression of what a summer in London could be like, sunny and warm. To be part of the 'in' crowd we bought ourselves some Pimms jugs and they were divine. What more could you ask for?

On the Friday we already had plans for Rups birthday BBQ at the Barbers London residence. We first caught up with Nat who showed us to a few pubs in search of a good wine (which I had been craving since Thailand) and caught up on all the news. We met up with rest of the mob and headed for Rup and Bec's gorgeous London flat.

Over the various weekends Paul took us around the Camden Markets and we ate some fine food over looking the Thames locks in the sun again (I know its starting to become expected). We also visited the Borough Market where Jamie Oliver does his shopping - didn't see him though. We had our first 'real' coffee from the Coffee Company where they filter the coffee right before your eyes.

We decided before Jen and Dave headed off on their bus tour we would take a short trip away with them to Brighton!
The sun kept on shining and Brighton seemed like it was something out of a 1960s film with an old theme park on the Pier. We eat yummy mussels, drunk raspberry beer and lots of Rock lollies. Yum. We checked out the pier both nights and Dave won a few cute penguins challenging Tom to prove his manhood and win one too. We strolled about the town centre and visited the shops which was generally jewellery related - Tom and Dave started to sweat a little under the collar.

Not to worry we also absorbed a bit of history with King George IV's Pavillion Palace which was a highlight with its culture shocking Asian interior decorating and architecture (for its time).
Before we headed back to the train station Dave and Tom showed off that they were true Kiwi boys and had a nice cool and refreshing swim at the pebbly Brighton beach.

Once we got back we showered and dressed for a night at the 30th British Beer Festival in Earls Court. The beer was warm and there was lots of men with big bellies but we all managed to have a good night. We caught up with Jo & Woody and Jen & Dave made it back out too.

In between seeing friends and doing the odd tourist thing we went shopping for Graham's Wedding suits for all the boys and ended the day with GBK which was the BEST burger I have ever had, Thankfully it was Kiwi Made.

Once we found out our date for Grape picking we made plans to join Paul and a few of his friends at the V Festival. We travelled in style in a pink limo with cheap bubbles. The weather turned England style but that didn't seem to matter as we got to see The Killers and Lilly Allan for the first time. Unforgettable.

We finished off London with a visit to James' flash club work place followed by a fine dining experience with a delicious fillet of Beef with Paul and James. Thanks for having us everyone at the flat in Kilburn!

G