It has been almost a year now since I left home and began the greatest adventure of my life. I have seen and done so much in this time, and am so happy that I get to spend another whole year in this great part of the world. Being the London Pro that I am, I have started to show some people from back home who have just moved over here this wonderful city. Jamie and Andrea have both arrived in the last month and it has been so good to see some familiar faces again.
Kayla and I took a day trip to Windor Castle, a royal residence in Windsor and is located an hour and a half west of London by train. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by succeeding monarchs and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe.
The Queen choses to live here during her time away from Buckingham Palace. The whole place is ginormous! There is a massive wall running around the whole ouside of the property which consists of the Castle Tower, the Chapel, the Gardens and Grounds, and The State Apartments. They have their own version of the Changing of the Guard and we were able to get pictures with real palace guards!
Another day trip was North to Alexandra Palace AKA the Peoples Palace. It was designed as a public centre of recreation, education and entertainment for the city of London. It is used for exhibitions, music concerts and conferences with a large atrium with palm trees, used as a function room. At one stage the BBC operated their TV services from Ally Pally and its radio and television mast is still in use today. The grounds are huge and have several cafes, resturants and even an ice skating rink. There are a few childrens playgrounds and a lake you can go paddle boating on. It is situated on top of a mssive hill, with great views out over London in the distance.
One day while the kids were at school, a Canadian nanny and I went out to Greenwich to check out the Official Time Point. The prime meridian which is based at the Royal Observatory, was established in 1851. It was so cool to go here and there was even a line on the ground showing the exact marker that time is measured from. While we were there we saw the Cutty Sark Sailing Ship which holds the travel record time from Australia to Britain for ten years.
The Old Royal Naval College is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has some amazing architecture. There is a tunnel that goes under the River Thames that workers used to use to get between the docks and their homes. This tunnel is 370.2 m long and 15.2 m deep and absolutly terrifying! I was so scared going through it as it was so damp and old and rusty!
I finally went to my first ever concert! S Club 7 announced a reunion tour about 6 months ago and I managed to get tickets. Jamie ended up coming with me and even brought me a super cool foam finger! It was unbelievable, why had I not been to a concert before that! We sung and danced to all the songs and I still remembered all the words.
Katie also finally hit the big 21, and I decided we had to have the perfect night to celebrate. Firstly I surprised her by going to see Pitch Perfect 2, a movie she had been talking about wanting to see for ages. Afterwards we went to her favourite rooftop bar where we were met by some of her friends and family. I was impressed that I had managed to organise it all in secret!
The rooftop bar was quite expensive though and we ended the night at the Slug - the perfect place to end any night! It is a Kiwi and Aussie Bar in Fulham offering 2 pound Strongbows and Jagerbombs, probably the cheapest place in London. I have had a fair few drunken nights there!
"Anything's possible, if you’ve got enough nerve." - J.K Rowling
I hope this has inspired you.
LARISSAJODEE x