The London story

So I was in London last week, I was there for Google Android Camp 2016 , if you want to know more about the technical details go here. This article is all about the adventure, its longer than my usual ones grap a cuppa and enjoy the ride.

Sunday 31st July:
I arrived at Gatwick airport around 7:30 am, after flying for almost 20 hours from Cape Town. I have heard the British accent before but hearing it live made me love it even more.  I took a train to the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel where we were all checked in. After flying for 20 hours my body wanted to take a rest but my mind just wanted to do stuff, you know like send emails before exploring London alone. So I followed my mind. An acquaintance had invited me to Cambridge so Cambridge it was. Its fairly easy to navigate through Great Britain, since all the directions are printed and people are approachable to ask.I took 2 trains, to King's Cross Station then to Cambridge station.  On  the 1 hour train to Cambridge I sat next to a Kenyan lady, we connected on a lot of things. I also got to get a view of the Arsenal stadium. After my meeting with my acquaintance, I stayed a bit more to explore King's College London, it really is beautiful. I wandered aimlessly around the college, I definitely got lost but good thing is you can always ask.

king's college, Cambridge

you also agree that Cambridge is beautiful, right?

proper #tourist

wish I captured the music too!

Arsenal Stadium

 So, eventually I found my way back to the train station. On the way back I slept unconsciously, someone woke me up when we arrived... Thank you kind people of London. I then went straight to dinner prepared by the Google team, it was delish!!



Monday, 1st August:
Started the new month by hitting the hotel gym, for the first time. Didn't enjoy it because I enjoy running outdoors than watching the clock almost not moving. The day was filled with lots of learning and fun activities at Google. Can I talk about Food at Google? Despite having great meals , they have snacks all over the place (both healthy and the not so healthy). You can already guess which ones I had, don't judge. In the evening we had a scavenger hunt followed by a ride along London eye.

1)Scavenger hunt
We were given instructions to take pictures at some touristy places namely BuckingHam Palace, Westminster Abbey and the BigBen. The result?

with my very multinational and cool team

Mandela is honored everywhere

Westminster Abbey

2) London eye.
London eye is a huge wheel where you get a view of the whole of London and its beautiful. Pictures speak louder than words, so.

Big ben from London eye

The London view is especially spectacular at night. Finally we had dinner at Pizza Express, yum!

The journey back to the hotel was filled with magical views.

Big Ben by night

Tuesday, 2nd August:
Also hit the gym, this time I stayed longer, score!
The day was filled with work, talks, work until at Dinner at Kazan- a Turkish restaurant
Dinner.

starter

main course

dessert

the room with the view

turkish tea

The rest of the week:
Unfortunately I fell sick, I woke up with severe headache and fever. There was nothing else I could do than read, walk and sleep.I used the off-time to read You only have to be right once,by Randall Lane. I almost dosed off during the sessions, I eventually got pain killers which sorta helped. We had a hackathon on Thursday to Friday but I didn't have the stamina to stay up all night. I still feel guilty but am ever grateful to my team mates for taking charge. The hackathon ended on Friday.

hackathon treats!

post hackathon dinner - starter

post hackathon dinner

Saturday, 6th August.
My plane was leaving at 8:40 pm from Heathrow. This was the day to wait for it.. wander. I woke up quite early (5 am if you are curious), but struggled to get out of bed due to the fever and joint pains. I had planned to run hoping I would be feeling better. I walked instead and ran a little, it was a good plan as I got to take these breath taking pictures along the Royal parks (St James park). London really is beautiful.

I then went to park, checked-out and decided to explore like a real tourist - Hop on/Hop Off sightseeing buses. I love travelling for the fun of figuring out new places spontaneously, alone, getting lost and eventually finding my way. I didn't get lost this time, probably because I used the good old paper map.

I really liked the way the guided narrated, mostly because I love British accent.

I saw lots of interesting places, here are just a few that impressed me. You can read all their historic significance online, I will present pictures (and a bit of text that I actually remember.)
1) Westminster
All roads lead to Westminster. Big Ben, the house of Parliament, River Thames, Westminster Abbey  and London eye are all located here. No surprise that it is constantly buzzing with tourists

2) Buckingham Palace
The Queen's palace.

3) London Bridge and the Waterloo bridge and other bridges

My ticket included a boat cruise so a cruise I took. Got to see many bridges but was most impressed by the famous London bridge and women's bridge. The Waterloo bridge was built by women during the Second World War, trust me when I say women are natural engineers.

London bridge

view from the cruise

4) Trafalgar square

5) The National Museum

Admission is FREE!!!. Now you know why I stopped there.

6)King's Cross
There is a Harry Potter shop by the station. Harry Potter fans will understand..:)

Dolby has no master...

8)Oxford Street and Regent Street
Oxford Street was so full I couldn't see the ground, am told it is the busiest street in London.

9) Marble Arch.

10) Tower of London

I wanted to see a lot more but time wasn't permitting. I even planned to take the free Harry Potter walk, but didn't make it on time. Time was so short, that I got to the check-in counter just before it closed (smart move , Ima), and yes I was the last passenger to check in, no regrets though. Thanks to the kindness of Emirates, I boarded safely, where as soon as I settled the headache sneaked back in forcing me to sleep. Missing my flight was so close that I had a dream that I was still in the streets of London since I missed my flight .. (Be punctual kids, its good for you dreams ...;))


Sunday , 7th August. 
I started the journey to CapeTown from 10:00 am from Dubai.

Dubai is so hot that the ocean is boiling

 It was my first time to see such an empty Emirates plane. Everyone has 3 seats to themselves, can't complain , it made sleeping a whole lot comfortable.

my photography skills are improving

Beautiful CapeTown from above

Thanks to power points and on-air wifi, I did some schoolwork (or at least tried to until I realized I was under utilizing free movies infront of me). Landed in the mother city at 8pm and had to face the realities of life like winter, assignments, thesis, headache and fever. Let's not talk about that, shall we?

 I hope to get better soon. Sickness aside, London was so much fun. I hope to visit it again in the future. Stay tuned for more travel adventures.