Another great nights sleep and awoke to a myriad of notifications on my phone. One was being tagged in a post about an Australian morning show that was inviting Aussies in London down to the filming of their show that night. It got me to thinking I could corral my girlfriend who has just moved to London to come with and make some new friends, and maybe get on TV!

I start some research about hostels nearby and head downstairs dressed for my walk/jog.
The morning is much cooler than yesterday and spend some time enjoying the peace on my walk. I jogged a bit along the narrow roads, heeding the warning of my hosts about being aware of traffic and not putting my music up too loud in case of cars coming from behind or in front. I go past the local school and oval and wave to the locals as they drive past off to school and work in other towns.

I arrive back home and the rest of the house is awake. I’m offered breakfast as I start to tell my hosts about staying in town. And they are shocked to hear that I’m just planning to stay in a hostel. Not something they’d considered before.
After showing them some pictures and reviews on line they are feeling reassured and I go ahead and book it. It’s exciting to be so spontaneous after being quite the “organised” traveler.
After I book I realize that the post from the tv show was posted a day ago and I’d already missed it. Oh well Im not worried. I go ahead to plan B and contact a friend who lives near London and my cousin who is also here. Within 30 mins a new plan had been forged and a catch up with both will be happening.
All this booking and talk of travel plans, I’ve worked up an appetite. Paul places my breakfast in front of me. 2 hard boiled eggs and toast. I nearly fall of my chair laughing when I see what’s on my plate. The most gorgeous egg cosys you’ve ever seen. Tell me what you think? Cute, hey?

We chat a little more before getting on with our morning. Today Ian would be our host to Winchester, but before that we needed a quick visit to the hospital because my dad needed some stitches removed after having had some skin cancers removed not long before flying over.
After we’re all ready, we head off and soon arrive at Andover Hospital in their Minor injuries unit. We are told that because dads a tourist they can’t do it there and he has to register as a temporary resident with a local Doctor before being able to get treatment. After 5 calls, another pop back into MIU and a number of unhelpful people we finally get a solution and are back on the road. We quickly stop in at Ian’s local doctors surgery, fill out the paperwork and make an appointment for tomorrow.

Now we can continue on with our day as planned and soon find ourselves in the heart of Winchester. I’m told by my guide that this city used to be the capital of England as well. So interesting, as we make our way over to Winchester Cathedral which is the oldest cathedral in the UK. Built originally in 634!!

We are told at the door that due to a funeral parts of the cathedral are closed until 12.30. We make a unanimous decision to go and find a bite to eat to pass the time.
There’s never any shortage of pubs to eat at here so we choose one called the Old Vine.

The staff here are gorgeous and friendly. We quickly build rapport with our waiter as he delivers our drinks (including my prosecco) and I tell him he rocks my world. We get great service, good food and of course wonderful company. The servings are huge! But we’re in no hurry to leave so we just chat for a while till we realize we’d best get a wriggle on. Our waiter pops over to see if we’ve finished. All but dad has so he leaves Ian and my plate and walks away. Apparently it’s customary here to wait to all are finished before clearing the table.

the grounds around the cathedral are as gorgeous as the view of building and we wander back down to take a step back in time at this magnificent structure.

The photos below are just a small selection of this breathtaking feat of architecture. The history of the place is unbelievable. There are so many people buried beneath the walkways here. The most famous being Jane Austen (author or Pride and Prejudice). The pictures won’t do it justice, but it’s safe to say it’s a stunning place. We wander through and light a candle for my step dad, and wrote a prayer in one of the chapels inside in between the gasps and jaw dropping moments of what I see.

We spend heaps of time making our way through. All this wandering seems to have made us peckish, so we head to the cafe for a coffee and afternoon tea. Dad notices how ‘mature’ the crowd is around us visiting this site, which is interesting. I know many a young person who’d find this place fascinating.
The time has come to head into London and dad and Ian would head off to do some shopping. Having done the trip yesterday I’m feeling very comfortable with what to expect and farewell my host and dad as the train is only a few minutes away.
I’m in contact with Alora, my friend, to give her the heads up on what time I’d be in the city and we’re both excited to be catching up.
The trip goes quickly and I’m soon walking into the hostel. The check in was simple and I head up to my room. There’s a bunk and a single and it seems my dorm buddies have taken the bunk. Which is perfect, as I get settled and ready to head out for the night.
Alora isn’t far now and I’m ready to go. So I head out to a pub on the corner called the Wellington to wait for her to arrive.

its all squeals and cuddles as we kick off a night long conversation where neither of us take a breath. Our night is fairly flexible but Alora has some school friends to meet at 7pm so we have a bit of time to make our way slowly to them. After a pint at the Wellington we pass a sushi store for a snack/dinner. Given our plan is to stop at a few establishments along the way.

So many cool names for pubs here. We stop at the Slug & Lettuce and the Sun & 13 Cantons before arriving at Cahoots. A cool underground cocktail bar. It’s so popular if you’ve not booked its very hard to get in. Luckily Alora’s friends have and soon they arrive.

The menus are newspapers and the staff international as I find here often. I sio away on my “Turn over a new leaf” cocktail as the girls chat about their school mates back home.
Tonight’s a school night for the girls we’ve met, so they call it a night at 8.30 and Alora and I are told if this cool Irish pub called Waxy O’Connors. So we wish them farewell and head off in the direction we thought it was.
Although we didn’t find it straight away we did find a cool place to eat dumplings. We just wanted a small snack before hitting the town.
We get a small selection each and not only are they gorgeous to look at they were delicious too.

Now off to Waxy O’Connors which was full of surprises. When you think you’ve gotten to the back of place there’s another staircase up or down to either another bar or seating area.

Theres live music starting and bar is already full. So we make some new friends in Ale & Tom. Ale is from California and Toms from London. They’re super cool so we hang out, dance and chat till closing time. I’ve learnt that by being comfortable in my own skin has given me the freedom to have such brilliant nights out. This was no exception.

Alora and I decide to kick on as we farewell our new friends on the hunt for our next lot.
We dance the night away at a place called Studio 88 before making their closing time too. A cool crowd of Americans and Germans mixed with us two crazy Aussie girls made for a fun way to end the night. But not before a mandatory Big Mac before bed.
Now should I stay in town another night??