In saying that, Hugo and I had many laughs, met some great people, both new and old friends and experienced so much. We were there for four days, we rode bikes through the streets of London in the British Drizzle, we rode on an Inflatable RIB down the Thames to the tunes of James Bond music, we dined at Harrods, we took walks through Hyde Park, we rode the Underground, the buses, the trains. We found a local pub round the corner and mixed it with the locals. We lived like a Londoner.. But, in the end, it's a big city full of tourists.
Londoners tolerate the tourists, whereas The Irish embrace them. The Irish have stories to tell and love to chat, the English have an air of superiority and look down their noses on the Australian peasants. In other words, Ireland has spoilt me. According to the local Londoners, Australians are loud and uncouth. Drunks and louts, and racists... I was horrified to hear this, but sad because I also had heard the same thing from the locals in Thailand. Is that really the image we wish to portray to the world?
Once upon a time, we were the fun loving country, now we are a land of drunken racists. This makes me sad. In Thailand it was clearly visible, but although I didn't witness it in London, it must be present for them to have the opinion.
I caught up with a gorgeous young friend on mine, an Aussie, who speaks with an English accent now, to enable her to 'get on' in London. Sad but effective. With her hair now a beautiful ginger, she passes as a beautiful Welsh woman. She is beautiful and smart, and able to pull off her new life with aplomb, I'm so very proud of the woman she is, and incredibly happy to have had the chance to catch up with her.
We successfully navigated our way on public transport from Bayswater, to Victoria to Gatwick and settled into the Emirates Lounge to wait for our flight home. We were early, we were the only customers in the lounge for hours, but we'd done it. Without incident, without one hitch, without one hiccup. Me, the girl who struggles with left n right, had successfully navigated her way through yet another couple of countries.. I felt like I had completed the Dakar Rally.. Lol.. Just using 'um, this way' or 'maybe, that way' as commands for the driver.. Yet another reason I love my travelling partner, Hugo. His patience and his calmness. And his incredible faith in my abilities when overseas. Poor fellow. Little does he know, I am still practising my 'fake it till ya make it' routine.
So, here I sit, in yet another airport lounge, making the most of the free champagne before boarding our last leg.. Home to the Emerald City.
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