What are you looking for?
30 June 2013

the weekend edition :: london by bus












on saturday, rebekah, ani and i had plans. plans that involved a bus, and our adopted city. we met around ten thirty, stocked up on snacks, and boarded the bus. on the top deck of the open-air bus, we were joined by a variety of tourists; both english and not. both young, and not. some even on a hen doo. some, were not.   we had each seen these buses around the city over the last few years, even boarded them in other cities, but never considered hopping on one in london. this all changed with a discount voucher rebekah had nabbed a few weeks earlier.

we were the loud ones, despite the hen doo and the teenagers. i guess, as we're not technically 'tourists' anymore, we were on that tour for different reasons; we wanted a fun day out in the city. they, on the other hand, wanted to see the sights, learn some history, and probably do all that while taking in the sounds of the city - not with a soundtrack of antipodean jokes, swearing and generally un-lady like behaviour. oh well. you win some, you lose some.

the tour itself was very mundane, despite the age and colour of this city. possibly not if you're a tourist, especially not if you had the three of us sat behind you for three hours (yes, three whole hours). we did so many loops of the city, we ended up seeing things over and over again, and very little of the things we would loved to have seen more of. the loop of the audio tape was greatly out of time with the actual tour, and it got so bad that to make light of the fact, i started taking pictures of things the tape was trying to tell us were there. i got some great pictures of banks, trees and even a pile of construction. aaaah yes, hilarious.

we bailed about half an hour early on the way back to victoria, and instead took the tourist's approach and held a photo shoot with big ben. vogueing to a series of directions like "do eastern european! do kangaroo! do pin-up!" with a bevvy of onlookers and passers-by was actually the highlight of my day. once were done there, we hopped on the tube to bond st to join our tourist friends in a spot of retail therapy. exxxcept, turns out we forgot about london pride, and so found ourselves in the midst of the day's main highlight; the pride parade on oxford street. 

we took cover inside while the parade passed, then headed to cafe rouge for some well-deserved lunch (and wine). a few hours and shopping bags later (not mine, sadly), exhausted and with ice creams in hand, we called it a day. the patchy sunburn on the back of my neck and the tops of my arms acts as a reminder of the amazing day we had, as do the hundreds of photos taking over my phone.

how was your weekend?

Add your comment

  1. It looks like you had an awesome time though despite the dodgy audio et al. At least it was a nice day for it. x

    ReplyDelete
  2. i love london! i wish i lived there xo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ahhh, but I usually love these bus tours! The Dublin one was mental- horns started playing when it entered a park (they were v proud of having a park) and they boasted about sewage systems and being the best at everything in the history of the world. I lovvvvved it due to its weirdness too!xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ahhh to be sure! dublin would have been mental anyway!

      Delete
  4. Such a fun outing! I'd love to tour Salt Lake City, as despite living here for almost six years, I still am getting used to the state. :) I love that London had a pride parade, woohoo!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. hehe! looks fun!
    i like how in the first picture, someone there looks like they just smelt the smelliest fart! :P

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love how you sneaked in some Primark time ;) Currently looking into a jaunt to London in the near future! Come on summer holidays! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. nuh ah, the primark bag was there from the begining, i didn't buy a thing!

      Delete
  7. My plan is to study abroad in London for the first semester of my Junior Year. These pictures make me even more excited :D

    xxLizzy

    ReplyDelete
  8. It looks like you had so much fun. Hope you have a great day.

    Heidi’s Wanderings

    ReplyDelete

thank you for your comment, you lovely thing you.