Jule's Hikoi: London let me count the ways....

I fell in love with London on my first ever visit. An impromptu visit when Lisa asked us to come and see her. I suspect she was a little homesick having not long arrived and we were in Calais with a rental car wondering what next. We is my now ex husband and I, on our 'we're really too broke to do this trip' adventure to Europe in 2004. We were on the tightest budget, one that saw us camping in odd spots while following the Tour de France and eating cheap with our small camping stove. Wine rule was if it's over 3 Euro its a no - that worked most of the time!

It was the best trip. One where we woke one morning to find ourselves in the midst of a Gypsy encampment. I did wonder why the women in the loos seemed to know each other and looked a bit oddly at me, and why the water was so cold. The kids on the other hand enjoyed the novelty I was and we made friends, which of course led to the mums knowing I was okay. So many stories from that time untold here, pre blogging and no proper camera.

So, Calais. The ferry was not too expensive so off we headed with no accommodation prebooked, an esky full of camping stuff, a tent, two packs and whatever else we could carry. Two grubby hobos. The customs guys on one side were okay, pleased I suspect to be handing us over to the UK. The UK ones had 20 questions, 19.5 of which we couldn't answer. A very last minute plan, and no we don't know where we're staying in England. That big place called London might have a bed or two?

I expected the journey to be longer, it wasn't and soon we were in Dover. There was a bus to the station, it cost 2 pound. We didn't have 2 pound. We didn't have 2 Euro not that it counted. And there was nowhere to get said 2 pound. A lovely young American man spotted us our fare and we were off to the station to get the train to London, which I think took longer than the ferry journey. Still loaded up with camping stuff and looking more and more like we were heading to Hyde Park to set up our tent.

Arriving in Paddington later in the evening saw us wandering and wondering where we'd stay. We asked a friendly looking person. Did I say we still looked like grubby hobos? Turns out he was Scottish and laughed at our dilemmas, thinking typical bloody kiwis I suspect. He pointed us to a cheaper part of town and we found a dodgy room in a place with a shower in the room and a loo down the corridor. Interesting place really.

The next day dawned hot and sunny and off we went to see the sights and have lunch with Lisa. Wow, all of the places I'd seen and read about over the years, from the historic times and the Romans to the current times right there. It was so exciting. I couldn't get enough. The Tower was out of our budget, it was that or food, so we wandered around it and walked over the bridge and along the South Bank. As I said I fell in love with London those days. We had a picnic lunch in Hyde Park with Lisa, bought from a shop more fancy than we'd been to before.

That was the start. My next visit was in 2010 then as often as possible since. And it never gets old. Now it's just a short train ride away and I get to wander when I please. It was my birthday wish to go to the British Museum and Greenwich. What a treat of a day with lots of wandering, eating, Pimms on the Thames, sightseeing and people watching. I've also caught up with Jenny from the Cayman days, Kate my niece and Kate from those Al Ain days there. Finding new spots to eat and drink, soaking in the pub culture.

Some of the other visits have been included in previous posts so here's a couple of pics from my happy birthday to me trip where Jules gave me a treat of a day out in my favorite city. And 22,647 steps, also typical of my London wanders!

So why did this post evolve? I was writing about our time in Antalya and my brain side tracked to comparing the British Museum to the Antalya Archeological Museum. While it was smaller the one in Antalya was much better laid out, showing the pieces that actually came from the area rather then ones taken from the places they belong. I don't have too much of an opinion on that, except that human remains should not be disturbed. Plus when we were there we discovered a place called Perge and I found links with my favorite book Birds without wings which I knew was set in the Antalya region. Perge had been discovered before of course. We decided we would visit, booking an Airbnb experience for the next day. The next post is about Perge.