Day Two of Touristy Stuff with Spuey

Yesterday was spent looking at the shops on Oxford and Regent streets, so it is not worth blogging.

Spuey had a list of things to cross off on his London To-Do list which included the London Eye, Big Ben, Downing St and Westminster Abbey. He also felt the need to eat a 'traditional English meal'. A big week of touristy stuff lies ahead.

The view of Big Ben clock tower upon exiting the tube.

It was uber-gay after getting to the Abbey to found out that it wasn't open for visitors on Sunday.


Spuey happy regardless......

.... despite getting stuck in a telephone box only moments ago.

It's a shame we can no longer stand out the front of the Downing Street door to take a photo. This is as close as we can ever get.

Luckily today was a day with blue skies and maximal visibility, given the horrible London air pollution. Hence an ideal day for the London Eye.

I like looking up at things and pretending to be artistic.

The entire trip takes about half an hour. It was the longest half hour of my life. By the time we were 1/4 into the revolution, Spuey and I were ready to get off. Not because I'm scared of heights but rather of boredom.

The best view was of the Big Ben clock tower (because it's the closest) and yes, you can see Buckingham palace, St Pauls Cathedral, the Gherkin and the BT tower (eh?) but once you've seen the London skyline even from the ground, it is not any more fascinating from up in the Eye.

The view of the next capsule.

Me and Big Ben.

Oh, and if you don't have close to perfect vision I wouldn't even bother going up unless you like utlising your imagination. I should stop whinging and start appreciating the fact that we ended up on the Eye on a day of utmost perfect conditions. But for those interested, unless you're a person who is awestruck by city skylines, I would give the London Eye a miss.

Next was lunchies. We went to a not-worth-mentioning pub so he could have some traditional British grub. He chose a Toad in the Hole and I had an English Breakfast (read: big fry-up).

While it may look nice here, his veggies were undercooked. And the whole thing didn't fare too well.

Dinner with the Relos

Well after about 22 hours of flying direct from Melbourne to London via Singapore and having only slept 3 hours in the Singapore airlines lounge, I forced Spuey (well he did agree a while back) to come out and have dinner with our one and only relo in London, our cousin.

Dinner was at Pierre Victoire, a French restaurant in Soho - quite nice too! I wished I ordered the spatchcock cos that was so nice, but my entire sea bream almost made up for it. I will be suggesting this place as a regular dining venue.

Well here's what matters, a photo of us cousins.

Cuz and her fiance.

Even though he was clearly tired, Spuey insisted that he was capable of getting to Piccadilly Circus to see the lights.

So sleepy but excited to be in London.

Spuey's here!

The reason why I took today off (and the following week) is cos Spuey's here! So bai bai from one sister and harlo to another.

It is not an eventful ride to Heathrow but I'm glad I got a seat.

Expect some touristy blogs soon!

Hot dogs with Kt

A day off for me and a jobless Empress meant that both parties were available for a lunch at Borough Market.

Kt had a hot dog craving so the problem of 'what to eat' was solved. I have to admit, after becoming sick of all the wieners in Vienna, I kinda wanted a bratwurst too. I opted for sauerkraut on top of mine. Mmmm mmm mmmmm

There were other 'stop taking photos' photos but I decided to be kind and only post the one where she happily posed.


Kt's brownie - cakey as she likes it. I do prefer mine fudgier though.

Mary Poppins... finally!!

Some of you might remember this post (well maybe none of you) where I mentioned that I was *hoping* to see the musical version of Mary Poppins that week. Well FOUR months later, I finally have, joined by Leesh, Tina and Caz.

At my insistence, all three posed outside of the cinema.

Taking a photo of the stage just before the curtain rises.

Whilst I know most of the songs featured in the Disney musical, it was during the first act, that I came to the realisation that I've NEVER actually watched the film in it's entirety! *sniff* An incomplete childhood. I didn't recognise the plot at all or even know the characters' names, except for Mary of course. Oh and is the sexual tension between Bert and Mary that overt in the Disney film?

The stage engineering was fascinating. I love how things move on stage. I'm a geek.

Also, I found it difficult to like Mary's character. Something about her did not sit well with me. Maybe she's just a bit too weird for my liking.

Afterwards we snacked at not-so-bad Korean restaurant and again, I forced photos upon people.

Being silly over and over.

Day 3: Brussels

Our final day in Brussels was somewhat disappointing. All the shops were shut because the city had the same Bank holiday as London!

I don't know why I took a photo of a semi-collapsed building.

Yes. We're back at Rue de Bouchers.

Sick of all the seafood, we opted to have Greek for brunch.

Erm, back in the Grand Place.

Another Chinese Camera Stance. I can't resist photographing them.

Oh this is cool! Tin Tin is running down the fire escape.

With little else to do and only cafes open, there was no choice but to eat a waffle.

This time it was strawberries and cream.

Yeah, I'm embarrassing.

Smee winning this battle easily.

Alright, so clearly these photographs do not represent our timeline, but we did waste a few hours before deciding it was waffle time again. I do have to clarify - I decided it was waffle time.

Me and waffy. Chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.

All gone.

As a result of our trip to Belgium:

• I am sick of Frites
• I am sick of waffles
• I am kinda sick of moules (mussels)
• I could eat another Beef Carbonnade
• I've decided I prefer Bruges over Brussels. It's small but it has it's charm.