A wee bit of London

We met up with Ala tonight and she took us on a small tour around our 'hood for the next two days (East End area - Shoreditch). It was mind-blowing! I can honestly say that everyone should book a flight here now and just experience what (little) we've seen so far. It's an absolute culture shock -- much more heavy drinking and smoking than in Canada, but that aside, you can feel (and see) the history that's around you here. Everything from the architecture to what people get up to is so interesting, and almost overwhelming to take in (but we'll try!). I took a few photos of what we got up to this evening (of course, it's still late afternoon at home, which is still weird, seeing as I'm now in my jammies and in bed, lol!).

Waiting for the Heathrow Express train (15 minutes to Paddington station, which was great!)

First glimpse of London from the taxi (We weren't brave enough to take all of our luggage on the tube and piss people off.)

Wandering around the hood on the 'Ala tour'.  :) (Below the trees was a pub area...surprise, surprise.)

Ooooo, our dinner, at a Vietnamese restaurant...so tasty!

Novelty of the night: This is a public urinal!  Augh!  They get put out at key places over the weekend so that the menfolk don't decide to use trees/posts/anything that doesn't move long enough as a place to pee on.  Shortly after this picture was taken, that urinal was put to use by some people...I suppose it works!

Tomorrow is a busy day, I think we're going to take in the Tate Modern, London Eye (maybe just look as it's 15 pounds per person, yikes!, Oxford Street, Regent Street, and lots more).