Arrival
We landed in Heathrow at about 6.30 pm then went straight to the hotel to see Rudi. We hung out with Rudi for about 2 hours until Netia and Rich came after work to fetch us. We had a couple of pints at the bar before we headed to Winchester. We got there and went straight to bed in our comfortable beds in Nets and Rich's spare bedroom.
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The next morning after a hearty English breakfast cooked by a Samoan :) Alex and I walked down to the village and caught the bus into Winchester. We got to town picked up a map and followed the walking tour route. It's a nice little town and we had a look through the museum about the history of the area. We then went to the Cathedral which was amazing. Huge and had many extensions over time. And the main architect was named William and the renovator was another William and a diver that saved the church by diving under and replacing wood with cement over a period of five years was also called William!!! Many of those buried in the crypt were archbishops and headmasters and their spouses. We walked along and saw a cricket game being played near ruins of an old castle. We continued on and walked along the river which was just beautiful with the plants and trees hanging over it. Something out of a painting. We walked all the way and stopped at other sites before we reached the bus stop and caught the bus back to Bishops Waltham at 6.30pm. Got home and went with our friends to their village pub for dinner. Got home sang songs and played music on the piano and guitar. Later there was a challenge on wii but I was quite happy to sing away with Nets and our out of tune intruments!!!
Needless to say we had lots of fun.
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Next morning we caught the train to Hounslow in London to stay the night so we could head downtown and meet up with my cousin Mark whom I'd never met before that and James our old friend who used to work with Alex in Samoa. By the time we got to the hotel it was about 2pm and half the day was wasted on travelling. The hotel wasn't as close to the train station as we thought and there were no cabs insight!!! London is a HUGE city be warned. After gathering our wits we headed out again and found a tube station two stops away and headed into down town. We got off at Leicester Square onto Charing Cross and straight into the Brewmaster. Had a snack while waiting for James. One hour later James showed up confused by a message I left on his phone!!! We reckon he was lost in his own city heh heh. While waiting for James I walked out of the pub and stood on the street so he can spot me if he was nearby. While waiting I was enjoying watching people. It was crowded. People coming and going and everyone looked like tourists. This was corrobarated partly when an accented man stopped to ask me where the Cambridge Theatre was. I said sorry I had no idea I wasn't from there.
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When James arrived around 5pm we decided to start walking to look for Exeter St at Covent Garden where the restaurant was that we were meeting Mark and Kaye. We found it all right. Mark and Kaye arrived about 10 mins after us and then we sat down for dinner. It was really nice to meet Mark since we've been emailing for the past 5 years. They went to Samoa in 2005 and met the whole family there. We had fun and got on with everyone. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. Alex's cousin Matt and his girlfriend Cherna joined us later. We headed for Leicester Square to O'Neall's and left town late. We had a great time and was in need of sleep for the rugby was the following morning.
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The next morning after a hearty English breakfast cooked by a Samoan :) Alex and I walked down to the village and caught the bus into Winchester. We got to town picked up a map and followed the walking tour route. It's a nice little town and we had a look through the museum about the history of the area. We then went to the Cathedral which was amazing. Huge and had many extensions over time. And the main architect was named William and the renovator was another William and a diver that saved the church by diving under and replacing wood with cement over a period of five years was also called William!!! Many of those buried in the crypt were archbishops and headmasters and their spouses. We walked along and saw a cricket game being played near ruins of an old castle. We continued on and walked along the river which was just beautiful with the plants and trees hanging over it. Something out of a painting. We walked all the way and stopped at other sites before we reached the bus stop and caught the bus back to Bishops Waltham at 6.30pm. Got home and went with our friends to their village pub for dinner. Got home sang songs and played music on the piano and guitar. Later there was a challenge on wii but I was quite happy to sing away with Nets and our out of tune intruments!!!
Needless to say we had lots of fun.
.
Next morning we caught the train to Hounslow in London to stay the night so we could head downtown and meet up with my cousin Mark whom I'd never met before that and James our old friend who used to work with Alex in Samoa. By the time we got to the hotel it was about 2pm and half the day was wasted on travelling. The hotel wasn't as close to the train station as we thought and there were no cabs insight!!! London is a HUGE city be warned. After gathering our wits we headed out again and found a tube station two stops away and headed into down town. We got off at Leicester Square onto Charing Cross and straight into the Brewmaster. Had a snack while waiting for James. One hour later James showed up confused by a message I left on his phone!!! We reckon he was lost in his own city heh heh. While waiting for James I walked out of the pub and stood on the street so he can spot me if he was nearby. While waiting I was enjoying watching people. It was crowded. People coming and going and everyone looked like tourists. This was corrobarated partly when an accented man stopped to ask me where the Cambridge Theatre was. I said sorry I had no idea I wasn't from there.
.
When James arrived around 5pm we decided to start walking to look for Exeter St at Covent Garden where the restaurant was that we were meeting Mark and Kaye. We found it all right. Mark and Kaye arrived about 10 mins after us and then we sat down for dinner. It was really nice to meet Mark since we've been emailing for the past 5 years. They went to Samoa in 2005 and met the whole family there. We had fun and got on with everyone. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. Alex's cousin Matt and his girlfriend Cherna joined us later. We headed for Leicester Square to O'Neall's and left town late. We had a great time and was in need of sleep for the rugby was the following morning.
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