Catchup with Kumuka people in London

Today we met up with some people from our Kumuka tour. We caught the bus to Trafalgar Square and had a look around there (Nelson's Column, National Gallery). We were supposed to meet them in Charing Cross tube station just underneath the square. Unfortunately there are two parts to the station so we were all in different places! It's also very hard to find out where other people are when you are underground and mobile phones don't work!.
But we found them eventually.












We headed to Leicester Square to grab some lunch at an Italian place and caught up with everyone's news.

After that one of the girls wanted to check out the New Zealand store in Covent Garden (its actually a combined NZ, Aus. South African and Canadian store). There we found all the things we can't get in a normal supermarket, like L&P, Tim Tams, Marmite etc etc. We'll definitely be going back there when we are craving for some NZ things.



From there we headed back to Embankment Pier. We split up at this point as a couple wanted to do the Tower of London and the rest of us decided on a circular cruise on the Thames. It was a beautiful day for a cruise though very cold as we sat on the open top deck to see all the sights.
The cruise went down the river past Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, past the Tower of London, under Tower Bridge and many many more (too many to remember).











After the cruise we walked from Westminster pier to Whitehall and walked past the Banqueting House which one of the girls wanted to go into, so we checked it out. It was built by Inigo Jones in the early 17th-century, after a commission from James I. It has an amazing ceiling, painted by Peter Paul Rubens.
(not allowed to take photos, or steal them, so here's a link)

We wanted to watch the new James Bond movie but couldn't seem to find a theatre which was showing it! So in the end, we got some dinner at an Indonesian place and headed home.

We have internet at home!!!

WE GOT INTERNET INSTALLED TODAY. YAY!!!

It's been so long and is really frustrating not being able to look things up, send emails and update the blog!!

Allyson & Paul's whirlwind visit

Allyson and Paul were at our place when we got back from Berlin. Since we had work we hardly saw them and they only stayed two nights before they had to go again. Won't be long before we are back in NZ and will see everyone again.

Back to Berlin

The alarm went at 1:45am, after not much sleep. We were out the door by 2:25 for a 2:41 train to Victoria. From there we walked to the coach station and had a 1hr15 coach trip to Stansted airport. The joys of cheap airfares at silly times of the day! The airport was busy and security checks very tight. Our backpack was searched and tested for explosives (there were a few gadgets in there :-). We just made it to the plane on time, although got delayed by other passengers.

Once in Berlin (Shonefeld) we caught the S-bahn (suburban rail) but had to change to catch a bus for one stop because a section of track was down for planned maintenance. In total it took 9 hours in total to get to hostel in Berlin!

Dan and Beck's gave up waiting for us at the hostel (understandably!) so we wandered down the road looking for lunch. We found a shopping centre with a cafeteria but they didn't speak english so there was a lot of pointing and nodding!

Back at the hostel we met Dan & Becks & Dan's school friend Sascha. Sascha was new to Berlin (from Barvaria) so we were all keen to have a look around. It was good having German translator too!

We went to the flash new Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and tried to get cheap train tickets to Wolfsburg to visit Autostadt (VW museum and factory). We were too late for cheap tickets so decided not to go.




From there we walked to the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, a long walk down to the Siegesaule and back, then back to the Reichstag where we caught the elevator and spiral walkway up to the very top. It was dark (and cold) by this stage but had a great view over Berlin beautifully lit.
















We went back to Sascha's flat for dinner which was a couple of HUGE (50cm) pizzas, gluhwein, chocolate, Lebkucken (like gingerbread) and other junk food! We played cards and learnt our German numbers as we tried scoring ourselves (good excuse when we got the numbers wrong).

We caught bus and U-bahn (underground train) back to hostel. The buses are very punctual and have a display so that you know what the next stop is, so you know when to get off!

We had a late start on Sunday, after quite a late night. We met Dan, Becks & Sascha at Holocaust memorial to go through museum underneath the ground. It was a good museum though fairly intense with lots of information (as is common to museums like these). It was still raining once we got out, and decided that it was time to have some lunch. So we had some German food in a nearby cafe - Andrew tried Weisswurst, a white veal and pork sausage that is boiled which you have to peel the skin (made of pork guts) off to eat. (which Grace thought was a bit strange).

Following lunch we headed to Warschauer Str to see the East Side Gallery and walked the entire length to Ostbahnhof which isn't too long but when you're in the rain, it can feel like forever! So needless to say we were rather wet at the end of it.





So it was the perfect time to then get along to Fassbender & Rausch (the chocolate shop with large chocolate sculptures of famous Berlin landmarks) for some hot chocolate! And cake. They had some interesting flavoured hot chocolates, Grace tried a hot chocolate with chilli in it, she didn't like it very much.









After purchasing some chocolates for later consumption we headed back to Sascha's for dinner again, and cards. Then it was time to say goodbye to Dan & Becks as they were going to Autostadt the next day.

On Monday, we checked out Potsdamer Platz, and did some shopping! Soon it was time to head back to London, and the 9 hours it took us to get home. We caught the Stansted Express back to Liverpool St and then bus home.