mark his words: Into London and onto Europe

The flight from Miami to London was average, in terms of on flight entertainment, food and comfort, it was probably at the lower end, but it got us from point A to point B with no real issues. After arriving in London we were greeted with some fairly mediocre weather, all drizzle and clouds, and the chilly lows were a shock to the system coming from Miami.

Having spent a fair bit of time in London a few years back, I was keen to check out a few things I hadn't seen before, especially given I'd be showing my girlfriend Abby around a lot of the 'touristy' sites later in the week.

One of my friends from Australia, now living in London, was on holiday herself, and gladly offered her room in her London flat for me to stay. Situated in North London, an area I wasn't overly familiar with, I spent some time exploring Abbney Park Cemetary, a rather creepy cemeterary, overgrown with weeds in an eery unkept manner.

Abney Park

I also got to spend a bit time wandering through East London, notably Brick Lane, keeping an eye out for some of the amazing street art in the area. And, later in the week, indulging in some amazing curry. Other not-so-touristy highlights included getting to see my beloved Chelsea Football Club (again), this time in a Premier League game, after purchasing a ticket in an unofficial manner.

East London

Chelsea FC vs Stoke FC

A concept that's big in London, that I've since found out has only just occurred for the first time in Perth less than a week or so ago, is 'Open House London'. The idea involves many famous and some not so famous buildings, opening on one weekend a year, in order for the public to 'have a look around'. I'd done a bit of research and heard that the Lloyds Building was a definite highlight, so I braved a small queue to have a look around, and found the views and architecture well worth the wait.

Lloyds Building

With Abby arrving from Australia, we explored a few of the more 'conventional' London sights, which were still nice to see, although most of my enjoyment was garnered through Abby's enjoyment of seeing all of the below for the first time.