The rest of week 1 in summary

Tuesday: Lex in the city
The day began with Lex and I meeting in the city to walk around and have a look at some of the sites. It was the fastest tourist afternoon in history. Thank goodness for cameras, otherwise I'd have no recollection of what we saw! Lex was a bit fast for me, so I'll go and see it all again when I've got time to take it slow and absorb it all. We saw Trafalgar Square, Admirality Arch, the Horse Guards (complete with shift change), Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament & Big Ben, and the London Eye. The Horse Guards stand in their little huts for however long...just standing there. Not sure what they are guarding exactly, as I didn't do any preliminary research. However, they did the change over while we were there, which was a bit over the top - full of pomp and ceremony. Anyway, I felt sorry for the second shift horse, who had to walk through and then stand in the excrement of the first shift horse. Surely they could get someone in there to clean it up between changeovers??!! It'd be a nasty place to be on a hot day.

Wednesday: Greenwich and ASDA supermarket
Today I met Lex at her place and we walked to Greenwich together. We had lunch at the somewhat famous Gypsy Moth pub. On the strong recommendation of the bar tender, we ordered the pork and leek sausages and mash with a red onion gravy. He eats it every day apparently. I asked to try the strawberry beer, which still tasted like beer, so I declined a whole pint. I got a glass of rose instead...apparently wine comes in sizes here - we got large (250 ml), which perhaps wasn't the best idea at lunchtime, but you live and learn. It was a lovely relaxing lunch sitting in the beer garden, which had a bit of a Newtown feel with its eclectic furniture collection.

We walked out to the Cutty Sark (the famous boat) which was burnt down a few weeks ago. I didn't bother to take a photo of the empty shell of a boat, which was surrounded by boarded fencing anyway.

I left Lex and thought I'd take an adventure to Tescos (the super-supermarket) and took the DLR (light rail) and got off at a place called Gallions Reach. I thought it would just be a 1 mile walk from the station, but didn't realise there is no pedestrian access from that part of the road. A quick call to Shanil (who found this very amusing) prevented a Sylvania f'n McDonalds incident. I got back on the DLR and went to the next station (Beckton) where there is another super-supermarket called ASDA. I got a few bits and pieces, including a bottle of wine - going with what I knew, I got some Australian wine - Lindeman's (shudder) for £5 (my maximum). In order to avoid another incident, Shanil was kind enough to pick me up from here on his way home from work. I did consider braving the buses, but it would have been a lucky dip as I'm not familiar with them yet. The wine was as bad as I thought, but we drank it anyway.


Thursday: Back to reality
I woke up feeling horrendous after my measly 2 glasses of the cheap Australian wine...and I had an appointment at 10 am with an agency in the city. I was there a little early and then had to wait half an hour after my appointment time. I did the tests for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and typing speed and went through a few positions available with the woman from the agency. Two and a half hours later, I was finally able to leave....just in time to walk around the corner to the next agency to do it all again. It was a very draining experience and I'm glad its over, and it certainly didn't do anything for my headache. Although I'm pretty sure half the headache was due to the fact that I don't really want to start working! And that was pretty much my whole day gone! Roger and I went to Tescos supermarket (my second visit) for a brief visit, and I got to see the second floor with the clothing and entertainment section. The place is just huge - overwhelmingly so. Roger bought some Chilean wine which is apparently far better (and cheaper) than the Aussie imports, so I've learnt my lesson there.

Friday: Thames Barrier Park
Yesterday in my travels I discovered that there is a big park next door (yes, I am known for my astute observation skills). The park is located near the Thames Barrier (the device that will save us all if there is a king tide) which currently appears out of order, but hey, I'm sure it's on the to-do list. I went into the park this morning and got a coffee - for a low, low £1.50. I've discovered the cheapest cafe in London!! Picked up some touristy brochures in the cafe/information area and sat back with my coffee outside in the glorious summer day - overcast and chilly. My reverie was rudely interrupted by my UK mobile ringing (yes, I now carry 2 mobiles with me, just like a drug dealer). It was the agency offering me a job to start Monday. They are paying less than what I would get out of bed for, but it's a start, and gets me out of the house. So before I got to meander through the park I had to come back and re-send my CV. And here I am updating my blog and watching the ominous dark clouds come in. A storm is predicted this afternoon. So...now that I've lunched, I will go back to the park and have a look around. At least it will be one achievement in the day!

Well, I have the job, and will turn up bright and early for a 9.30 am start on Monday morning. It's a 5 week job at a Housing Group company in the city. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to it, but alas, I'm finding it hard to get excited. But I am looking forward to the weekend ahead!