In Between times

So, back in England...
The next three weeks I was staying at my mate Scott's while they were all away in South Africa - it was supposed to be just 2 weeks, but the volcano in Iceland that erupted and covered Europe in ash prevented them from flying back.

My first day back - Tuesday, I started my new job at the Crown Prosecution Service. When I signed in I overheard another temp sign in also - a guy with an 'Aussie' accent. Once I got talking to him upstairs I discovered he was actually a Kiwi, and had also been working at The Listening Company, albeit on a different campaign.

That Thursday I went to a STA Travel meetup - which was about wine tasting and Australia - I took along a French date, because it seemed like a great idea, however I haven't heard from her since. Regardless I had a great time. On the Friday I went on a pub crawl in East London. It was good, but after a little while I got tired, so I went for a curry at Brick Lane and called it a night.

The following Wednesday I had Suzanne and Bevan around for dinner, and on the Thursday I went to Putney and went to a South African restaurant there called Chakalaka (I may have mentioned last year having all you can eat ribs there). Anyway I decided to celebrate my new job and do the 25oz Steak in 25 minutes challenge. To be honest when they brought it out I was disappointed that it wasn't all that big, and it ended up only taking me about 18 minutes to eat. However, I got a pretty cool t-shirt for my trouble.

The following week consisted of looking at flats, and a curry with Suzanne and Luke (their old flatmate), and on the Saturday a catch up with a friend from the Normandy trip - after that I went to Covent Garden and did something that had been on my list for a while - the London Transport Museum. It was good, but fell a little short of my hopes - I guess because I had seen a website with a whole lot of pictures of tube stations while I was at TLC, so it didn't compare. While I was there, I bought a new wallet, and a copy of the book that a former employer had published 'The Big Short Break'. From there I went and checked out Carnaby Street (famous in the swingin' Sixties baby yeah!)
On the Sunday I went to Camden and on to Primrose Hill.

On the Monday I went back and stayed in the hostel in Earl's Court for two nights before heading to Newcastle on the Wednesday night.