When Elard (TfM) told me if I wanted to see him again in 1998 he was going to be in London for the weekend before Christmas, I told him he'd best come up to see me! He declined, so I was left to face London, the city I couldn't stand...

I got the train down there from Ely, as the journey's less depressing that way. Was a bit nerve-racking arriving on my own at Kings Cross. I mean, I'd met Elard before, but I was also to meet Rudi, Risa, Sam (Bernie), and Lennart (Elard's friend) for the first time! I guess another kind of bonus was there was the slight chance of me meeting my 'bruv' Ian who I hadn't seen for an amazing two years, but I still wasn't too sure about it all...

Elard, Sam, and Lennart eventually came to meet me. In fact, they were not ten foot in front of me when I made my worried phone call to see where they were! Least they found me :)

We went back to Sam's room (which I was to share with him) while we waited for Risa and Rudi to prepare to meet me. When the moment came, I hope they weren't too disappointed with their first impressions!!!

We went for lunch in a pub as we were getting a bit peckish by the time Risa and Rudi were ready for us. Then we went for a walk round London, ending up in 'HMV Emaginator'. It was... different! I also saw a group of my friends from Soham back home while I was there which I thought was pretty amazing! I mean, you go 80 miles or so to get away from it all, and your friends do the same?? How bizarre!

After our bit of fun, we did some shopping. If you've ever been shopping in London the weekend before Christmas, you'll appreciate how handy the 3 cell-phones the Dutchies had with them were!!!

That evening we went for a meal in the Steak House which was good. I got to know them all that little bit better through the engrossing conversation we had! Then a couple of kids came in to carol sing which I thought was kinda cute, but the others thought funny! Damn foreigners.... hehe [Clockwise: Risa, Sam, Lennart, Elard, Ian, Rudi]

After the meal, we bought a few drinks, and headed back for mine and Sam's hotel room which appeared to be the meeting place for us all. Sam revealed his cocktail skills, and we took advantage of them a bit! My shock of the evening, though, was going down to the front desk to ask about the local churches (-we were in the Park International Hotel which is a pretty top place!), only to be told they hadn't a clue not even about the location of them! Sam gave me directions for one that he'd passed anyway, which satisfied me for a while.. though I really wished I was near enough HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) to be able to attend it...

The next morning, I woke up bright and early, ready for the day that lay ahead. I thought I'd best take Sam's maps with me incase I got lost, when what should I find, but that HTB was just down the road after all!! That was it, I was going! Got lost a few times on the way (never did have that good a sense of direction!) and the locals were as helpful as the front desk, but I eventually made it to the 9am service... at 9.25am. Oops! Didn't matter anyway, cause I still enjoyed what remained of the service, and wasn't the last in! :)

They also had an 11am Family Christingle Service which I decided to try to drag Sam along to. I didn't get very far. I shook him up a bit to get the reply, "No. I'm on holiday. Just wanna lay here. Leave me alone!!" I told him he wouldn't know what he was missing out on, and so returned alone. Was a totally excellent service, and I don't think I'll forget it in a hurry!! :))

The 'trip' back to the hotel was a laugh at my expense, but I don't think I'll be sharing that here! Ok, Ok, so I kinda managed to trip and skid across three lanes of traffic at a red light. Happy now?? I also got a nice big bruise to show for it, and all anyone (including me!) could do was LAUGH! *ouch*

When I got back to the hotel, they were all waiting for me. A few moments later, when they'd all been convinced I'm madly insane, we went for a touristy look around.Sam needed some pictures of things other than us lot to show for his trip to London! I just wanted to use up the film of my camera!!! We went for a pub lunch as the walking made us all a bit peckish. I had to explain to Risa what Cheddar or some such cheese was, and translate 'ploughmans lunch' for all of them. What was I doing in my own country with a bunch of foreigners anyway I ask myself..?? *sigh* [Left-Right : Risa, Rudi, Sam (Bernie), Elard (TfM), Lennart]

That evening we went for a Chinese (except for Rudi and Risa. Rudi was going back and so Risa was going to the airport to say goodbye..) I was a bit wary about it as I'm not that fussed on Chinese food really. Nevertheless, I like the chopsticks thing, and so kept quiet about it. Anyway, the food was really good quality, and I've never enjoyed a Chinese so much! Shame I can't revisit it as I can't remember where it was exactly... :o/ [Left-Right : Ian, Sam, Elard, Lennart]

After the Chinese, we headed back for mine and Sam's room to try to finish off what remained of the night before's drinks. I wasn't feeling too good, and so just stuck to water. The inevitable also happened with the bathroom door that doesn't lock, but oh well, it just added to the events of the day really! :) hehe

Monday was to be our final day together. We just ate brekkie where we all discovered our tastes (Sam LOVED his meal!!!) and just went for a look around again. We also discovered "Holland Park".We saw a Dog toilet straight away, and Elard said it reminded him of Holland. Only thing that did apparently, but oh well! [Left-Right: Lennart, Elard, Risa, Sam]

We ate at Wendy's when we eventually had lunch, which was really nice. Risa said the toilets had black lighting or something, so we all went to check it out! Soon after that we realized that we were running late in order for me to get to the train home in time. I denied it until it was too late. We ended up going to see Elard and Lennart off first :~( I then caught the train after the one I was gonna get, but it all worked out ok in the end... and Sam and Risa even got to see the madest side of me over all the madnesses witnessed during the weekend!!! Anyway, to summarize, we all had a brill weekend, and it was a shame all good things have to come to an end...

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