Final blog.

Saturday night i went to the BBQ at Brad and Emma's place, friends I met when travelling in Australia. It was great to catch up and have a few drinks, they introduced me to Pimms which I really liked.
The next day Dave and I headed back to Birmingham and from there i trained back to London. Met up with Karen as I walked from the tube to Paul and Julie's place (Karen and Clem's friends) That evening we went out for dinner at La Porchetta and had pizza.

Monday we took the tube to central London where we wandered down Regent street to do some shopping and visited Hamleys, a very large, and famous toy store. I still haven't gotten over the novelty of the street names, having grown up with them all when playing monopoly and now they have materialised into real streets and stations. I also very much enjoy taking the tube, its so simple and logical. We had lunch at All Bar One where we had tapas and Pimms cocktails. Next we went to Westfields London which was quite a large mall and had a section for all the fancy brands, such as Gucci, Tiffany's, Chanel etc, spent a few hours there. After we went to Piccadilly Circus for a Cinabon which is a well known American cinnamon scroll company that i discovered in Panama, they are amazing.

That evening we cooked dinner for Paul and Julie, we had spaghetti bolognese, with salad, and garlic bread then hot chocolate fudge cake and after dinner mints for dessert. Needless to say I was very full afterwards.

Tuesday we did some very touristy things, starting with a Thames river cruise down the golden mile. We had a great Irish guide giving us amusing commentary of the famous buildings. My favourite fact i learnt on the cruise was that Richard Harris (actor who played Dumbledore in the first 2 Harry Potters) had been living in one of the famous hotels on the edge of the Thames river. He died of cancer a few years ago, but when he fell ill he had to be taken out of the hotel via stretcher and the lobby was packed so they had to carry him through the restaurant, as they went through he yelled out "Don't eat the food here!!" He obviously had a great sense of humour though I'm not sure the chef would have appreciated it.
After the cruise we went on the London Eye, I had heard mixed reviews of this attraction but i quite enjoyed it, the views were awesome and it feels pretty high. From there we took the tube to Leicester Square where we had lunch then headed out to the O2 where there is a Body Works display. This was incredible, it's something I've wanted to see for a while. Basically it's real human bodies that have been treated then partially dissected to reveal different layers of muscles, nerves bones and joints. It was amazing and a bit creepy. The first room showed fetuses from 1 week through to 8weeks in test tubes to see how much they develop. Then fetuses from 1 month through to 9months, including an adult female body who died while she was pregnant so they have opened her stomach so you can see the baby. It's incredible. There was a man that was was down to the muscle layer but he carried his skin in one hand like a blanket. They had taken off the skin in one piece, you could clearly see the hands, feet and face.
We also learnt about different diseases such as cancer and strokes and they showed what affect they have on the body and compared them to healthy bodies. Also explained how bodies age, the affects of smoking, and also showed what artificial hip and knee replacement look like in the body. My favourite displays, was of a man on a horse and both bodies had been dissected and split into layers so you can see, muscles layers, bones and the brains of both man and horse. And in the final room was a massive giraffe stripped to its muscle layers, it was amazing.

That evening I arranged to meet up with Nic and Craig and another friend from Contiki, Marie. However when i got on the tube we were told the service will be delayed due to a person going under a train. It was a bit of a shock to hear that but apparently its quite a common occurrence in London, and usually its someone trying to kill themselves rather than accidentally falling. It was a strange feeling driving past the station where someone had just committed suicide. I wasn't able to get to my stop so I walked the rest of the way and when I got there it seemed Craig and Nic had had the same problem. We went out for dinner at a pub and then took the bus to Leicester Square to go see The Hangover at the movies. Movies here are so expensive, i think we paid 11pounds, i.e 22AUD each. And the theatres are nowhere near as nice as the ones back home. But the movie was hilarious.

On Wednesday, our final day in London, my final day of travelling, i decided i wanted to see one last theatre show. I had really wanted to see the Lion King but struggled to find anyone who wanted to join me. I was singing Lion King songs all morning annoying everyone who was with me. I went to the ticket office but they only had seats left with view obstructions so i had to abandon that idea. Nic, Craig and I decided to go see Chicago instead. The singing was good but visually it wasn't amazing. The one interesting thing, and one of the reasons we saw this show, was that Jerry Springer played the role of Billy Flynn. (played by Richard Gere in the movie) It was definitely a novelty to see him, but he wasn't a fantastic performer, his timing was off and he couldn't really dance. Overall it was entertaining but i prefer the movie.

After the show we went and had a final drink before I said goodbye to the boys.

The next morning we took our final tube ride to Heathrow, it took about an hour but we were over 3 hours early so had plenty of time to spend in the airport lounge. Fortunately the duty free store was giving out free samples of a large selection of alcohols. I tried Pimms, whiskey, mango vodka, a vodka cocktail and cachaca. After i was feeling a bit tipsy. We had lunch wandered the shops then headed to the boarding lounge. Our first plane was an Emirate A380, i was very excited about this plane. The best part was plenty of legroom, and overall the plane was very nice. The next plane felt like a major downgrade, especially in terms of legroom. By the end of the flight I had swollen feet, wasn't much fun. Did get to see quite a few good movies though.

So finally I had returned to Melbourne. Hai picked us up from the airport, Clem didn't have any house keys so I had to climb through a window. My bedroom was different and all my stuff was gone because other people had been staying in that room. Being home, even now after a few days, is not as sad as I had expected it to be. I have loved my travels but I was ready to come home. I appreciate being back in my own bed and not living out of a backpack. My biggest issue now is sorting out my future, a daunting task.

Thanks to everyone who read my blog, I know they get very long winded sometimes, and often focus too much on food. Sorry for the huge gap in blogs during my time in Europe, I was just having too much fun. However I have enjoyed writing these and I'm sure I'll appreciate being able to read back on them in a few years time. To everyone in Christchurch, I hope to get back and visit soon, however as you can imagine I'm a little low on funds so may take a while.

20 countries in 134 days. It's been incredible, fun, exciting, scary, fascinating, exhausting, eye opening and stunning. Tried to learn Spanish, Portuguese, Quechuan, Italian, French, German, Dutch and Greek with very limited success. Learnt about the cultures, ate churros, empanadas, traditional Peruvian and Ecuadorian food (don't remember the names) gelato, snails, Italian pizza and pasta, French crepes, Greek souvalakis, Austrian apple strudel, delicious dutch waffle biscuits, raw cacao beans, lemon ants from the amazon, coca leaves, plenty of chocolate, Cinabon, traditional English breakfast, pork ribs, and more ham and cheese breakfasts than i could ever possibly want. Drank schnapps, absinthe, rocket fuel, Acai berry drink, German beer, cachaca/caprianas, pisco sours, French wine, Grand Prix cocktail, South American coffee (not that good) Inca Cola, Coca tea, Pimms cocktail, and my favourite Kahlua. Explored jungles, canyons, cemeteries, malls, theme parks, castles, palaces, churches, climbed hills, mountains, and stairways. Met people from all over the world. Travelled by train, bus, car, bike, ferry, boat, tok tok, London underground, quad bike, and tram. My favourite memories include, horse riding in the Pantanal Wetlands, Carnival's Sambadromo in Rio, week of recovery in Ilha Grande, floating down a river in the Amazon, climbing out the window of a church steeple in Quito, Quad biking in Banos, Salt flats in Uyuni, our week in San Pedro especially the star gazing, exploring Paris, staying in a chateau in France, George's boat and the resort in Corfu, Greek dinner and dancing, the beauty of Switzerland and all the activities in Amsterdam.

So that's it. I hope you enjoyed it.