I hadn't really intended visiting London to begin with as it was one of those destinations that had the feeling of being "seen it all on the telly" kind of place but am mightily glad I did. The whole tour of London town has been a bit of a rushed affair however, 36 hours to do it all, to be followed by another of those maddenly early starts to the airport to fly the EasyJet way but thankfully with few hickups this time - apart from an accident on the motorway which made us an hour late! I had planned ahead this time though and had doubled the amount of time I thought it should take and guessed pretty right!! To my surprise EasyJet even allowed me to fly 2 kg over weight.

But to London. Photos and descriptions just dont do it justic. The place has an incredible air of history and vibrance to it, and the sights and sounds of the place again make you pinch yourself to make sure you are actually there. Tripping round the place by metro and shanks pony is a breeze and everywhere you go there are names and places that are just so familiar through playing Monopoly or watching Brit TV shows, that you feel like you have been there before. The place is just jammed with delighful old stone buildings,statues and memorials, especially those from the wars - battle of britian definitely is not forgotten here! The place is packed with people of all colours, languages and types as well - and barely an English voice to be heard!! But of course this is the tourist center of town. Packed is really the right word as well, cos at times you can hardly back up far enough away to get a view to the top of Nelsons coloumn or a decent shot of St Pauls without another monument or some bloody tourist getting in the way. There are a myrid of nooks and cranys to discover and heaps of interesting pubs and eateries to boot. Ahhh so much to sample and so little time!!

I was even treated to seeing the Tower Bridge raised to allow a yachty go thru, which is not all that a common sight now days apparently. Had I also read the newspaper before arriving, I would have been aware of what was happening that day and been able to glimpse the Queen welcoming that Arab guy. As it was, I arrived at Buck House only minutes after the event - just in time to see the protestors packing away their protest signs and all the security gates being removed. Mind you, with the amount of "Big Brother" stuff in London, Im sure I could catch it on a closecircuit TV camera somewhere ;) ... they are EVERYWHERE, and in the metro there are continual announcements about leaving bags unattended and being under survilance for "everyones safety". Hmmm sounds more like what I expected from the other side of the curtain than in Merry Old England.

The highlight here just had to be spending the night wandering around Parliment, Tower Bridge and the Big Ben area after dark, with everything lighted up. Truely a magnificant sight. One thing I cant recommend is the Plaice and Chips however. Bloody awful for the home of Fish and Chips.

The hostel I stayed at was a bit of a dive too - but at 8 quid a night you get what you pay for lol. Mind you the $6 pints at the attached bar and range of "colourful" company compensated somewhat for this :)

Today its Istanbul. I didnt realise when flying here that there are 2 international airports - and the one I arrived at is miles from where Im staying. Luckily I was not the only one having to find a way to the city, so between 5 of us we were able to work it out ... bus to the metro, metro to the tram, tram to the center then walk for 30 min and you are there ... sounds easy in retrospect but at 11 at night and rather jaded ... hmmmmm !! The only problem now is that its pouring with rain and Im stuck in a bar, which brings up another point lol.

Someone pointed out the other day that us travellers seem to spend a lot of time in bars - quite right actually. But there a range of valid reasons for this - often beer is cheaper than coffee or water, it is usually either hot or cold outside and beer helps with intenal temperature control, there is generally no TV in the dorms t owhile away the time and bars have wide screens with sports, it is where everyone else goes therefore a place to meet fellow travellers and in the end its a pleasant way to fill in the time and recover from the travils of travel :) Cheers - Slainte - or if you prefer Turkish - Serefe