Our First Bank Weekend

Up bright and early! 2 coffees, 2 pastries, and legs full of energy! Until I realised that I had left my Oyster card at home. Back down the path that is normally short but right then it felt so far. Round two. This time with my oyster, we hopped on the overground and headed for Stratford. I like the overground the best, you can see the surroundings and there aren't as many weirdos that hang out in the dark underground. 40mins later, we are at the end of the line. Out of the station there are two exits; one to the gigantic mall, one to Olympic park. We took the latter, we were on a mission. We made our way around to all the sights, the stadium, the fountains, the rings, the Velodrome, all while the sun shone soundly upon us. It felt like such a nice community, families playing, lots of people going for a run, flowers, cafes, grass. We had done enough walking to make our stomach a rumbling. Our meal of choice: Caribbean. Chicken and mango burger for me, spicy chicken wings for Lars. To share we ordered something that sounded interesting. Hard food- and it was exactly that. Steamed banana, yam, and a dumpling. A solid and chewy flour, water and salt ball. Not the worst thing I've eaten, but not the best either! I was kindly allowed to look in the mall. Inside, we discovered that half of London were there. Not even this giant mall could hold them. So home Jane, Jim? Judy?

Sunday 

Another early rise. This is especially great in a Sunday morning because everyone else is either sleeping in or at church. We caught the Jube (Jubilee tube) to tower bridge. Once we were up in the as-fresh-as-can-be air, we were greeted with a baby blue sky, covered in a gentle haze, with crisp Aqua marine trying to escape the edges. What a morning. As we made our way around the corner, we got a grand good morning from the view. Seeing the Thames sparkle and the Tower Bridge stand so proud, it was a reminder why we have moved to London.  Today was another filming day, so we went straight to get our first shot. We had got the opening lines and were ready to start the next when Raj turned up (It was his name on his name badge). He proceeded to rudely tell us to go away and Lars was politely trying to explain to him that we were perfectly fine to film there. He chased us round half of the tower so we had to go guerilla. It worked perfectly. Cool calm and casual, and I nailed my lines! It had not taken long and we were ready to get in the long waiting line. After a quick croissant of course! It was a medieval fair that weekend, so we joined the kids as people were being knighted by Henry Vlll and Anne Boleyn. The man being Henry was scarily too similar to the real thing! Inside the tower walls we felt transported back in time. We did a round on top of the walls, pretending to be archers. We walked down the steps past the Ravens. I thought that they were robots at first, but no no! They were real. I am scared of regular Ravens, let a lone these beats that are fed mice and blood all day! Every one thought that my fear was funny. How kind. We gazed upon the glass pillow where Anne Boleyn and many a Foe had been be headed. It was now time for the most sparkly part of the day. The crown jewels. I surprise attacked Lars with an ice cream, I don't think that he minded. The guard was surprised at how quickly Lars guzzled down the ice cream.  Inside the very, very thick metal walls were the most dazzling things I have seen. I vaguely remembered seeing them from when I was little, but I did not truly appreciate their true glory until seeing them again. Reading about the history behind them made them even more of a treat! We ventured back into sunlight on our way over to the White Tower. A tower filled with war and battle goodies from around the world. As much of a delight it was to see ancient torture methods, my legs were starting to fade and I was ready to go. We had been there for 6 hours. A quick tour over the bridge and we found ourselves in the middle of a Polish Day Celebration. And what do Polish people do well, Hot Dogs!!!! But £9 was not what we were going to pay for one warm puppy, Pret - A - Manger (No clue how to say the second part) saved the day. As always! The wind was picking up and we knew of a very nice sunny spot, in our lounge at home. We enjoyed our floor picnic with eyelids that drooped lower each minute. A quick nap at 4.30pm will do no harm... 2 and a half hours later we were dazed and confused, and not in the Led Zeppelin way. Time for dinner and some proper sleep, maybe a lay in is deserved in the morning.

Monday

In this day, we decided to have a sleep in. Mine was much longer than Lars' but who is counting? The weather was not so crash hot, onwards to IKEA! When we arrived, we felt obliged to have Kanelbullar and Tea. Already feeling confident in our living quarters, we rushed around the top part. We made sure to follow the direction of the glowing arrows this time. When we got downstairs, that's where things got interesting. We bought containers, cardboard boxes, and some snacks! Wild. We had planned to go for a walk to our favourite hill - Primrose. As we were leaving, the wind picked up and the grey, ominous clouds came rolling in. We took a better option and went for delicious food and a movie. #highlife

Fair Laura at the Fair...

The White Tower.

Laura contemplating archery attack plans.

Lars, post archery attack, You should see the other guy.

"That's a cool photo" - Laura 2016

Yum, ice cream. Gone in five seconds.

Tower Bridge. (no other caption necessary)