Visit From Home

I've been really lucky in my time away from Oz that I've had visits from my family every year since I have been away and this year was no different when my Dad made it over to visit. My Dad is where I get my travel genes from as in his youth he spent a lot of time in London and Europe exploring new cities so he was a bit of an old hat when it came to London.

Thankfully for me (who has seen them all a million times) we didn't have to hit the tourist hot spots and instead got to do a few things in London I had been meaning to do for ages. First of all we visited the Imperial War Museum that was on my Top 100 list and that had been recommended by friends. I found it interesting to see some of the big planes and tanks that were used and listen to lots of moving stories however I found much of it quite confronting and gruesome. Overall it was worth the visit but definitely made me think and be very thankful to come from a free country.

To perk ourselves up after a bit of a depressing start we headed over to one of my favorite riverside pubs for a few pints in the sun while we tucked into some typical English food. Even though I say I have seen the sights a million times it is still pretty amazing to be sitting on the river with a view of St Pauls across from you. After our meal we went and visited the oldest pub in London - The Cheshire Cheese. Its tucked away down a tiny alley in Fleet Street and is so dark and dingy it seemed a shame to waste a sunny day.

We had plans that evening to visit the Making of Harry Potter exhibit but with a few hours to kill before we got there we thought we would take advantage of the Barclays Bika hire scheme and ride through London. I have to say after a couple of pints I wasn't the most athletic as I could have been but it was still nice to mosey around the quiet back streets of London and check out the city that is normally hustling with workers. We docked our bikes at the tube station and made our way out to Harry Potter.

By this time poor Dad was exhausted with jet lag and even I was getting tired after a busy day but we powered through and headed into the exhibit. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans - it is so worth it. Seeing the sets and costumes was amazing and we spent hours walking through and reading all the background facts about how the movie was made. We even got to stand in the Knight Bus and drink Butter Beer (it was gross)It just made me want to sit down and read all the books and watch all the movies all over again - and trust me. I don't need to do that! The final part of the exhibit was a model of Hogwarts and it was pretty breathtaking to even see the small one.

After such a big day its hard to imagine that we would have the energy to back it up but we did! Our Sunday was spent ticking off another Top 100 adventure but also something I've been wanting to do for ages and that was visit Lords Cricket Ground for a tour and a game. We were up bright and early for a tour of the grounds and we spent a couple of hours with a fantastic and enthusiastic guide learning all about the history of Lords and the traditions that go on there. We got to visit the away teams change room and got to see the names of many Aussies who have got centuries up on the honor boards. We also got to (sadly) see the Ashes trophy currently being held in their museum. We got to go up into the media centre and see the view from the pitch as well as even see the slope from a little back entrance. Overall it was an amazing tour and one of the best I have done in London.

In between our time of our tour and game we had a couple of hours to kill so we wandered down to nearby Marleybone High Street and tucked into a traditional Sunday Roast. It was nice to have a rest and sit and watch the busy street go by but it wasn't long before we were off on our next adventure which was to visit the famous Abby Road Studios and THE pedestrian crossing. We wandered up there and were confronted by lots of tourists trying to do the same thing - get THE photo of them walking across the crossing. The cars must hate it! We got a photo in the end but as there was only two of us it wasn't quite the same. Still its quite cool to walk where they have walked.

In the early afternoon it was time for the match and we got our seats in the stand to watch a twenty20 match between two county teams. It was pretty eventful with lots of big hits, roars from the crowd and some cheerleaders. Although for both of us after a long day it was hard to get into the swing of things and when one team was quite obviously losing we decided to call it quits for a quiet evening at home.

Unfortunately for me it was back to work after a great weekend but Dad continued his holiday with a visit to some family friends. Our time in London together was pretty short but only because we are off on a trip to Norway!