Snail on the Road: Sunset in London

Well, I am alone again after bringing my friends to the airport. The last 4 days were just great, having four of my best friends staying with me in London.

Vanessa, Hildegard, Tobias, Nadja, Christian

Everyvery year we meet once a year to see the sunrise at the Wasserkuppe near my home village in Germany. We even signed a contract 6 years ago that 'binds' us to be there, otherwise we have to invite the others to a dinner. There are still 2 meals we are looking forward to, as Christian and Vanessa already missed one meeting each :-)

The contract

Well, as two of our selected group are in London anyway - Vanessa is doing an internship at a company in the city centre and me being at RMS - we thought it might be a good idea to meet in London instead. So on Friday night I picked up Christian, Tobias and Hildgard from Heathrow Airport and brought them to the B&B here in Rickmansworth.

As Tobias and Hildegard had never been to London, we spent the Saturday with a trip to Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill, where we met up with Vanessa, and of course we also did some sightseeing (St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Traffalgar Square, Leicester Square, Covent Garden,...) The weather was just perfect, sunny and very warm for this time of the year.

In the evening we went to a nice pub near Covent Garden, had a bit of good old Pubfood and I had my first pint of Cider, to which I became quite attached to during my time in Ireland.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliaments

The Thames with St. Paul's and the National Theatre

As it is tricky to see the sunrise in London, we decided to make it a sunset this year. Therefore we walked down to the Thames and watched it from there, which was pretty nice. I love London at night because it gives me a very special feeling and it is worth walking for an hour along the Thames, even though it got quite cold in the end.

We also became witness to a very nice fireworks display near St. Pauls. I know the picture is not too good, but I like it anyway!

On Sunday we wanted to see the change of the guards, which unfortunately did not take place that day! So we went to the Oxford Street and to Camden Town which is one of my favourite places here in the city. We had a good meal and hunted for some of the nice goods on offer there. I did not buy anything, as I am on a tight budget, but I can always come back when there is a bit left over at the end of my stay :-)

In the evening I gave them a tour of RMS and I cooked dinner for us in my flat in the Prep. Dept. I immensly enjoyed this evening and even though we were only playing ONE card game, it was nearly half past 2 when they left. I still do not know about RMS policy with friends visiting and so we were quite shocked when I wanted to let them out that one of the security guys was sitting on a bench right outside the Prep. Dept.! Okay, we waited until he was gone and everything was alright. It seems that we were a bit too loud and he heard us from outside.

Vanessa and I had to work on Monday, so Christian, Tobias and Hildegard were on their own in the city. They first went to the Tower, which I have not visited yet myself and later on the Tobias and Hilde visited Mdm. T. It is ridiculous because now the ticket for Mdm T. cost £25! I am so glad that I have been there twice already and did not have to go again. Anyway, we spent the last evening in the good old Pennsilvanian in Ricky and I had my beloved Reef Passionfruit! Surprisingly they are open till midnight now and they also serve food till 11, so good to know for all the others who are coming over!

To cut a long story short we went to the Aquadrome this morning and then I got them on the bus to the airport. The question that remains to be seen now is this:

WHERE DO WE MEET NEXT YEAR?