I arrived in London 2 calender days after I left New Zealand but because of the wonders of the date line, I was able to push back time and I literarlly got about 24 extra hours which was REALLY cool. It's like large chunks of that plane journey don't really exist. So, how did I pass the time on the Air New Zealand flights? Well for starters, I watched A LOT of movies. 5 in total. Then, a bunch of tv shows and finally, I played a lot of Tetris. I really can't imagine a long hall flight without your own tv and on demand movies and shows. It just helps the time pass by so much.

 

The weather here is nuts! And definitely a stark contrast from the winter I was experiencing in the Southern hemisphere. Some people were saying it's probably the first time someone has flown from New Zealand to London and exclaimed that the weather in London was nicer than in New Zealand. I went from 5 degrees and sunsets at 5:00 pm to 33 degrees and sunsets at 10:00 pm. I'm not a big fan of the heat and humidity but I'll take the ~16 hours of daylight anyday!

 

I've been in London now for a week and it's been cool cause I've absolutely just been chilling out. Each day, I don't get up till about 9:00 or 10:00 am and then I eat some breakfast, watch some tv, read a bit and get planning on my day. My days have been pretty good and relatively busy. Last week, I finally saw the Lion King musical which was such an amazing show! The colours, costumes, music were all wonderful. I also went to Wimbledon and got some amazing court 1 action where I saw Rafael Nadal beat Jarko Niemenan. Wimbledon is full of so much tradition and it's just such an amazing event - I'm really glad I went and got to experience that. And honestly, live tennis is quite exciting to watch. Oh yeah, did I mention I was sitting in the 5th row as well? Yeah, I did all right with that.

 

On the weekend, Raj, Pari and I went to Edinburgh in Scotland. It's a cheap flight we bought back in January for like £19 or somethign. (As an aside, air travel in Europe is AWESOME). Edinburgh is a charming city with amazing architecture, cool night spots, friendly people and yummy food. You honestly can't ask for much more (other than slightly warmer weather). Over the 2 days, I did a tonne of walking and exploring the castles, parliament buildings, gardens and galleries. We also did a nightime Edinburgh Ghost and Torture tour which was entertaining. Edinburgh actually has quite a dark past from a couple centuries ago with an entire "underground city" below the bowels of the main city core. In the past, all of the homeless and less fortunate souls had to live down there in very undesireable conditions. Most died of disease and famine and if they managed to survive, they were probably murdered by others. It was really a scary past that we learned about. I defintely enjoyed Edinburgh and would love to go back as I just got a taste of it. We stayed in a cosy b&b within walking distance of the city core. I also tried haggis. I won't describe what's inside but if you are extra interested, just click here to be grossed out.

 

Seeing as we bought this flight back in January, we obviously weren't thinking about the World Cup at the time. And it cost us because our flight was at 7:30 pm Edinburgh time. So, we saw the first 25 minutes of the game (both goals actually) at the airport before boarding our flight. Then, once we landed in London - we RAN to the bar on the departures lounge to catch the game (if it was in extra time). Luckily we got there just as Extra Time was starting and we managed to see eveything (including the very unfortunate Zizo/Matarazzi clash). I don't excuse Zidane at all for what he did because he is a captain and a professional athlete and should know better and if he was being insulted, berrated, etc - he should have risen above it. I guess it is easier said than done though. What really sucks though is that a lot of people will only remember this incident when they think of his career. They aren't true fans though and don't totally understand what he has done for the game of football. The sad image of him walking past the World Cup with his head bowed in shame will appear in mind for a long long time.

 

I've had a good couple of days in London since getting back from Edinburgh. On Monday, Sam and I met up for some yummy turkish food for lunch and yesterday, Clara and I met for a fun picnic/siteseeing expedition in the park. I got to see Suhas last night as well so that was GREAT and then a bunch of Raj's mates came over for dinner so all in all, it's been good times with friends and feasts.