LONDON, ENGLAND

London, England, UK
Day 100, 101
£1 = $2.5


Happy Birthday to Pa!!!!! Wish we could give you a BIG HUG right now!!! Greg loved talking with you today..and hear all the news!!! All our love to you, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Wow! Day 100! Time to celebrate!!!!

And we are..cos we're at a great hotel here in London...bout time we had a little luxury..after 100 days 'on the road'!

The only thing we're not celebrating is the fact that.. One pound is equal to TWO AND A HALF AUSSIE DOLLARS!

Arriving in London was so weird. We've both been here before. And yet, it looks so different. But yet, it's familiar. And both of us excited to be back.

And after having little English speaking for the past 3 months in Hong Kong, South Africa and Europe, we smelled the air..and realised, yes, here we are!

In the United Kingdom.

The UK!

England!

Weird huh. That we're so excited about being back in an English speaking country..when it wasn't long ago, we couldn't wait to be in a foreign country, Europe, or somewhere exotic, and different to our own country!

About how we got here...

The flight here that is.

Unfortunately Greg and I were separated on the plane, both of us got middle seats and i got sandwiched between two guys..one an aussie businessman who typed on his computer all the way and the other a commedian cockney pommy! Who snored. Geepers.

I was glad when the movie came on! And after watching movies translated into the language of the countries we were in..none in English, we couldn't wait to watch a movie!!!

The movie was The Astonaut Farmer, starring Tommy Lee Jones, which was a bit of an inspirational tearjerker...but after drinking the British Airways wine..who cared who was watching. (the next day my eyes were puffy so i must have cried more than i thought! I was so glad to be in London!) Didn't help that my book was getting to the soppy point as well...oh well. The 2 guys either side of me just had to deal with it.

Greg was in the middle seat behind and no one offered to give us a seat next to each other (who wants to swap a window or an isle seat for the middle?) but it was useful that he was behind cos i could send over my dessert and chocolate etc .... yeah, he always eats my leftovers!!! haha..hmm..

Okay i'm rambling. AGAIN.

It's sort of nice to be here..in this internet cafe...and not feeling rushed or hurried....so i'm gonna ramble. Hope that's ok. I guess you can click off the X if you cant' stand to read any further!

Hey Andy...great about the Dockers winning today hey! haha..

Now about London.

And about Heathrow Airport.

When we disembarked we got checked by customs. Or should i say searched. Thoroughly!

Then went through customs where the guy REALLY did his job. The questions started flying..'When are you leaving London?'

(Upon checking he saw it was much later in the year! Our plan is to catch a train to Paris)

'Where are you staying tonight?'

(We don't have anywhere! But we will find something - I felt like saying a park bench if necessary, but i didn't think that would go down well!)

'How did you get the money to travel?'

(Is that his business?? I guess we didn't want to be held up further so we had to explain ourselves!)

'Do you have jobs to go back to?

(No, but we could easily! Which was his problem when he saw we were an engineer and a teacher - because we ARE employable! In in the UK!)

And after more of these types of questions...and feelinlg like criminals..

I said, 'WHY ARE YOU ASKING ALL THE QUESTIONS????????'

And he said Australians are the most common illegal workers that they get!!!

I said, 'Of OUR age???'

And he had to admit, no, younger but even so....

Then...we told him we'd won lotto, had our millions, and were staying away forever!

No, just kidding...we didn't say THAT!

We told him the truth.

That we didn't have time to work, had too much travelling to do!

hehe

No really...we didn't say THAT either! But, we had to prove and show him evidence(eurail & flight to the US) that were leaving the UK!

Talk about feeling wanted!

We felt like going back home. Or going back to Europe where they were very happy with us. And i mentioned that to him..(that we were the 'convicts' hehe and he said the previous people thought he was interrogating them...and i just had to silently agree.

But thorough hey...i guess they have to be.

Anyway, thank god we didn't get thrown into prison or held up for days trying to prove our worth.

When we checked out accomodation the guy said Wimbleton was on so we wouldn't get much accomodation in London! (It's not Wimbleton yet, it's the French Open!)

And he said we probably wouldn't get anything under 70 pound so we might as well take this cheap deal they had going. (for £70)

We consulted our Bible (the travellers guide) and found he was probably right...

So we took it.

Then got our Oyster Card which is a transport card that gives you half price transport and off we went. On the tube (that looked like a Monopoly Board) and headed off to Gloucester Road. Kesington. (no joke..the Picidilly Line we were on had Kings Cross Station..and Leicester Square and Covent Gardens...so funny...i FELT like we were on the board game!)

Got lost again trying to find our hotels (the guys at the hotel information counter gave us the wrong directions..well, that's what we're saying anyway!) but eventually found it...

AND OH.

It was so luxurious...we've stayed IN for the last 2 days. A queen bed. One that's not two singles wedged together. And a fluffy duna. A TV that has English tv! (we watched the 2nd last show of Prison Break and haven't gotten into the UK Big Brother! Yet! hehe) And we have a shower with a screen. A bath too! AND A KETTLE! With tea and coffee at our whim. OHLALA. It's great! We don't want to leave London just cause we have a great room.

And want to know a secret?

We haven't seen anything either...just the room!

But! Tomorrow...we're going out on the town...to see London Town!

And we have a few exciting things planned...Jack the Ripper tour, Tower of London, Crusing the River Thames, Kesington Palace...seeing Agatha Christie's ~The Mousetrap~ again (I last saw it gulp, almost 30 years ago, with Mum...when i was a young teen!)

So exciting, being in London.

Can't wait to explore..now that we've had our rest in our luxury accomodation!

The guy did well really...the one at the Airport Information counter..to get us the deal he did.

Maybe i won't write that email to the Airport complaining that he gave us change in Scottish Sterling that we couldn't use instead of English sterling, or that he said Wimbleton was on so we opted for a four star hotel instead of a one star which could have saved us 20 pound night (or $50!) or that he gave us the wrong directions to the hotel from the tube which meant we had to trudge around with packs on until we realised we were lost and had to consult our map, late at night, and in the dark..

Nah...the hotel's been good...and half price due to the 'special' and i now have to think that it's compensation for him being a dimwit that takes advantages of newcomer tourists!

Was also good to get an internet card today and be able to ring Pa for his birthday an speak to Elise..and Mum, again!!! Just a shame it's only for land lines....doesn't work on mobiles so Alena, Sam and Aiden will have to wait till we can work out how to ring a mobile that's not $5 a minute, as we found out!

Okies...will let you know how we go in a couple of days..after we've done some exploring...take care..big hugs..lotsa luvs..

jen & greg xxx

PS Sorry about all the typos and spellos, i don't have time to edit, which is the band of my life. Forgive all the grammar too....okies, disclaimers all done! xx

ISANBUL to LONDON

Isanbul, Turkey to London, England
Day 99

Happy Birthday Susan!

Our last breakfast at the Apricot Hotel was YUMMY, again! We sat out on the terrace, just as Annie did, when she and Graeme were here and drank our freshly squeezed orange juice, ate our omelette, fetta cheese, fleshy green olives and french toast, fetta filled pastries and delights....

To the music of the harp. A group of ladies had gathered with one pulling out her musical instrument and started singing. It was beautiful. A lovely ending to a beautiful time we had in this parodoxical country.

Apricot had a libray where you can exchange books so I exchanged my 3rd Mauve Binchy book, The Quentins for a good action book and Greg got a Wilbur Smith. I'm also reading a book called The Island about a woman seaching for the history of her mother who lived on the Greek Island of Crete. And gulp, i also have a book on Gallipoli, which i'll send back home.

My pack is getting heavier....

And my book obsession is obvious.

But i tell you. Not having any english newspapers or tv is making me devour english books at the moment. And papers when i can get them! And um..yep, magazines as well. It helps wile away the hours travelling on buses. Greg can sleep but my neck just gets too stiff!

We had until 2.30pm until we were being picked up by the shuttle bus and ferried to the Airport so we decided to go back to the room and check out at the latest time...11.30 and use the rest of our card we bought to ring my dentist when we panicked about losing my tooth.

So I rang Mum. I hadn't heard from her since before she went to Rottnest and I was dying to hear how it went because Greg and I usually go to Rottnest with her each year for a few days in June.

I felt like crying when i heard her voice. I really wanted to ring her from Istanbul because this was a place i know she really loved and i could almost envision the pictures she'd formed in my mind before we'd even arrived here. Of the turkish ladies weaving at the looms, of the old ladies weaving on the balcony, of the rich colours of the tapestries and carpets, of the old grandeur of the hotel she stayed in when she was here, the Londra and of Peire Palais, where Mum's favourite author, Agatha Cristie stayed which was very near the Londra.

She told me where the Londra was. It was near the Topkapi Palace, which we'd been to and so knew exactly where it was situated. She said it was walking distance.

So after we talked a bit about the goings on in Perth and caught up on everything we hung up and Greg and I decided yes, we'd fill in the next 2 hours having a look at these old hotels.

Walk there???

We got to the Topkapi Palace and headed off to where we thought the hotels were...and got VERY lost trying to follow the directions Mum told us!!! (I know my sense of direction comes from Mum!! Elise and Sam, you'll both attest to this..!)

OK. Maybe the streets had changed. Greg had said it had changed A LOT in 20 years..and maybe that's what it was. Different to when Mum had been here. Later we did find out yes, it has changed, you can't really walk there from the Topkapi. We had to cross the Golden Horn and the bridge was very busy! (with cars!)

We caught a taxi knowing we didn't have much time. The first taxi driver said, 20 Lire...the second guy, who we went with, said 10 lire. Talk about a difference in price! He turned out to be really good too..telling us about the city as we went..pointing out the hold wall and the aqueduct etc so it was a well worth 10 lire.

And we did go to the Londra..and went inside..it's old Victorian and very beautiful. We were a bit sorry we didn't know about it sooner (we did know but i got mixed up thinking mum had stayed at the Apricot, where Annie had stayed..typical me, to get mixed up!) Greg said it was better at the Apricot tho because it was closer to all the sites and we'd have to keep catching a taxi in and out and over the Golden Horn bridge to Sultanahmet, which would be an extra 20 lire each time..and also, of course, the Apricot was beautiful, Mahmet there was just gorgeous and so helpful and the breakfasts were equisite. It aso felt we were with family because Annie and Graeme had a 'carpet history' with them!!!!

We also went over to the Piere Palais where Agatha Christie stayed (and the hotel that she mentioned in her book..or the hotel where she wrote the book, Orient Express..not sure which it was now!) It was under reconstruction so we couldn't go in..but we took photos of the pictures on the outside of the hotel...it overlooked the Aegean Sea..so it was a beautiful spot to be.

We then..of course, had to get back. And stupidly decided to walk!! WHY did we do that??? Knowing we had to catch a taxi there...well, because the guy on reception at the Londra said..yes, of course you can walk!

SO we did..and that was ok..except we got LOST again..and we had to get to the shuttle as we'd booked..and had to go...etcetc and trying to save money...we wanted to catch a 8 lire shuttle and not pay a 40 lire taxi fee.

So..in the end...we RAN to the shuttle. Now........if your'e fit..that's fine. And we are fit. Really fit in fact. BUT...when you have a stuffed foot...it's NOT fine. I remembered my orthopaedic surgeon saying...'you'll never be able to run again'....well...NOT SO! I RAN!!!! Cool hey.....

I put it down to GOOD shoes...(orthodics are great hey!?) and sheer determination that i actually walk FAST that 4 km..and RAN that last kilometre.

Felt quite proud of myself actually.

And we had 20 seconds to spare too...hahahahaha...

In hindside, we should have caught the taxi..cos, it took half an hour to get to the airport instead of half an hour cos we had to go and pick everyone else up that wanted to save a few lire as well!

Still, we got our exercise for the day!

Off to LONDON....

How exciting!

MORE ABOUT GRANDPOP & GALLIPOLI

Will write more here...but have left my notes at the hotel...so i'll fill this in tomorrow!

TROY

Day 98

Troy, Canakkale Turkey

We'd already crossed the harbour to Canakkale from Gallipoli and were at our accomodation at Anzac House so we only had to wait in reception for the bus to Troy...a few of the others on the tour had to walk to Anzac House and in the rain, it wasn't much fun! Was such a shame to be raining here...

didn't stop us from standing at the edge of the Trojan Horse in the centre of Canakkale, just near the harbour..the horse that was built for the movie that Brad Pitt played Achilles in...in the trojan story of Troy. Have to tell you too...that in the little plaque saying it was Brad Pitt...the Turkish wrote Brat Pitt!!! haha!

Anyway...to go on...The trip to Troy was intriguing. Our tour Guide..called Momfasa (who wrote a book about Troy and Gallipoli which we bought, and he signed!) was born in Troy and lives and breathes the history and archaelogy of Troy.

It is actually a legend written by Homer. (and without Homer we'd know nothing about Troy!) I was trying to think what i knew about Troy and all i could muster up was the fact that a people from history had hidden in a horse to fight a battle for a lady. And of course, i'd heard of Helen of Troy.

The battle turned out to be the Greeks against the trojuns..turks in the city of Troy and the smarty pants were the Greeks who built the horse as a gift for Athina..the daughter of the king..and they went into the city in the horse..and then popped out and killed all the trojuns and took over the city.

That's the simplified edition..you may want to read more about it in any myth and legend book or by doing a search..but the way momfasa told it, was so believable. But of course, he stressed it was legend.

He also told the story of the beautiful Helen of Troy as well.

And then..showed us the city of Troy. And you know, it IS there. And in seven layers...there are seven layers of cities so whenever a conquerer took over, they built over the city...it was a fascinating look at a very old civilisation. People say Troy's not worth visiting but after this tour, we'd say it IS worth it...

The things you learn.

We almost overlooked Troy when we were in Gallipoli, not knowing it was so close to go to...and we're glad we found out we could add it to our tour there...hence the staying over the night in Canakkale!

After our trip to Troy we went back to Anzac House and watched the movie Gallipoli with Mel Gibson in it...and yes, it was emotional, again. I searched through more archives of Grandpops and learned so much more about him...which i will write about in another post..

Arrived back to the Apricot hotel, from Gallipoli at midnight and were glad not to be staying in the room on the mosque side....the butcher side was quieter!