Adventures With M&M

"How come you can sell cider and wine after hours, but not beer?" I'm met with a wide-eyed stare from the sales clerk, who is discreetly putting my (highly classy) 2 litre bottle of strongbow into a bag.
"Shut up Genevieve! He can't".

It was the last night of Michelle and Matthew's visit and we were determined to party until they had to leave for the airport the next morning, so we hit up an off license for some booze to take home after the bar closed, which was illegal apparently. Despite our best intentions, and after successfully buying the illegal alcohol, we passed out immediately when we got home.

It was a great week with M&M, even though Justin and I had to work for a lot of it. They did a lot of fun things in their solo time; Camden markets, the zoo, Greenwich, the Thames river ferry, Thorpe Park, and even went to see Sweeny Todd.
Together we went to Harrods, which I had been wanting to check out since coming here (and need to go back!), had a picnic in Hyde park, saw a crystal palace football game, and went to quite a few restaurants and bars, with Michelle picking up the tab a few times (so nice!). The weather was absolutely amazing - about 18 degrees every day they were here. They were very lucky. It was a beautiful week.

Before they left I asked them about their trip and what they thought about things here in London, and I decided to include it in the blog. I tried to type out their answers as they were speaking them, so bear with my poor grammar please :)

What did you expect London to be like before you arrived?
Dirty, busy. Thought it would be overwhelming.

What surprised you about your trip to the UK?
How much diversity there is in the population. How easy it was to do things; transportation and getting around. And that there was no rain!

What was your jet lag experience like?
A mess. That first day really sucked. You wake up in the night, and you are up all day. But I feel normal now. The first day was fu@%ed.

What was it like sleeping on a futon for a week?
The first 2 nights were bad, and then we got used to it! We've had good sleeps the past two nights. Also it was funny that every time Justin left I woke up and talked to him. But I'd fall right back to sleep.

What was hands down the best thing you did while you were here?
The water taxi from Greenwich was pretty cool. The whole area next to the waterfront near the London Eye (southbank) was pretty cool too.
The football (soccer) game was the best experience. I loved how much the crowd sang and how bad they swore.

What were some of your other highlights of the trip?
Thorpe park was pretty cool, yea Fun.
Seeing you guys obviously! Nice to have people who know the area.

What would you not bother doing again?
I loved the zoo but we wouldn't do it again just because we've already seen it. Wouldn't do Greenwich again, not that we didn't like it, but it's just a one time thing.
There wasn't anything we did that we didn't like.

What are some of the differences you noticed?
The service is very different. No tipping, no waitresses. They never ID.

What advice would you give someone coming to visit?
Be careful with transportation, how much you spend on it, and where you can and can't use your Oyster card.

Were there any unexpected costs?
I spent way less than I thought we were going to, and we did way more than I thought we were going to.

Anything else you want to add?
Maybe next time we'll rent a car and go check out Bath and Windsor castle. Just get out of the city.
Yea we really wanted to do it but we didn't have time - We were here for such a short time.
We'll need to start practicing driving on the other side of the road at home!
We'll definitely come back, I never wanted to come to England before, we just came to see you guys, but it was a bonus that we actually really liked it here.


It was awesome seeing them, I miss Michelle so much already. We had a great time.
Matt comes tomorrow so bring on more adventures!

Hoping to see more of you on our new turf, because we miss you!
Gen