London

So today we decided to take the train into the heart of London.

With no real agenda and plenty of time on our hands we walked along the Thames for a bit, taking in the sights and I (evidently partial to Big Ben) tooke plenty of photos. We were not restricted to the Thames however and crossed over more than once to explore beyond the buildings.



After a bit of walking we were getting hungry, so, after stopping to look at the menus of at least a half dozen restaurants, we finally found something we could all agree on: meat pies. Charl had made a ruling last night that we would all have meat pies for lunch today and we did - they were delicious.

From there we walked about a bit more until we stumbled upon The Sherlock Holmes Pub - complete with a museum dedicated to Sir Arthur and Holmes on the second level, for further refreshment.



The next stop we made was at Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. I particularly enjoyed the square's fountains and giant lions. We went into the gallery and saw some (in my opinion) great paintings. While some were a bit dry, often in the portrait genre with the black background, others were simply stunning; including what I believe is my favourite of the lot, a painting of two merchants with a skull at the bottom between their feet. The skull however, does not present itself as a skull from straight on. Only once you move to the right of the painting do you see it as a skull at all. After that, all the paintings seemed mundane and ordinary, and we quickly lost interest.

From the gallery we went on a road which housed many of the embassies; we saw the South African, Canadian and Texan (What?) embassies. Then we proceeded towards Buckingham palace.

I was a bit disappointed with the palace honestly. The guards did not wear redcoats or have fuzzy hats! Charl assures me they’re elsewhere in London, I do hope he’s right. Other than that though, the palace is still an impressive sight. The fence is plenty large enough to be imposing yet the gates are painted with gold and seem almost delicate in places.



The palace was our final sight of the day, unless you count Piccadilly Circus and all of its stores. Lillywhites was the death of me. I walk in and immediately I know- I’ve found my happy place. It’s like Niketown on steroids. At the end of the day though, I’d narrowed my selection down to only a jersey and a training jacket for just £28.48! Charl did the same, while Jonah, never one to be outdone, sniffed out the best deal and walked out five pounds lighter. Though he only had one shirt!

Filled with a desire for football we made our way to the nearest pub not on Piccadilly Circus and found a seat in front of the TV to watch a game. And that just about wraps up our first day in London.

-Stephen