Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Roberth Nordin

Friday 5th of January

08.35 Once more the three men have left their beds. An amount of stiffness is felt in our legs. But it isn’t as bad as I feared. The truth is that I am glad that I did some stretching yesterday. Next on our schedule is breakfast.

10.11 First we had breakfast, bread, ham, juice and coffee. After that followed change of clothes and an all but brisk walk to the station. Now we are seated on the 10.09-train for London. It is cloudy today but the sun struggles to break through.

Roberth and Swiss-Re Tower.

11.29 We reached our station in London and went by the underground a bit. We didn’t get where we wanted. We had entered the wrong train. We ended up at Aldgate. It was on this line that one of the bombs exploded on the 7th of July 2005. That we had gone wrong didn’t matter that much since our planed first view, the Tower of London, still was in walking distance. After that we crossed Tower Bridge and now the rest of London is waiting for us.

Tower Bridge

11.55 A new stop by a new Starbucks. I guarded the table while my friends purchased the beverages. Christer bought a ”tall”, 12 ounce (0.35 litres). Roberth ordered a”large” for himself and me. A large sure fits its name. It contains 20 ounce (0.59 litres) coffee. We are by the way in Hays Galleria near London Bridge Station.

Beautiful pub near London Bridge Station.

13.34 We rode with the tube out to Camden Town and walked around in all small shops and markets there. They sold lots of familiar and unfamiliar things there. Now we are heading on to new stations and places.

Camden Town

Kentish Town

14.00 We made a quick stop in Kentish Town. But since we found no place to eat there we are back in the tube.

14.41 The next stop was at Goodge Street. We went up from the platform to ground level in a lift. Here we strolled a while and found a place, Yes buffet, which offered lunch buffet, rice, noodles and different kinds of meat for £ 6.95. We considered this a resonable price and sat down. We just finished the meal and now we are looking at the map to find out where we are and what to do next. Maybe shopping?

15.47 We went down with the lift at Goodge Street station. We went on and were able to say hello and farewell Leicester Square. Now we walked back to Covent Garden. Here Roberth found the last gift for the household back home.

16.12 We´ve gone down to and now depart from the station at Charing Cross. Next disembarkation will be Baker Street. The trip and walk we did yesterday sure can be felt in our legs.

Saying hello to Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street station.

16.33 We went up and said hello to Sherlock Holmes (his statue) and went back down again. Next platform for us will be the one in Hammersmith in west London. What will we do there? Well I guess we will find out.

17.49 We went to Hammersmith station. There I went up and posted by postcards. After that we rode on to Knightsbridge and made a short stop at Harrods on Brompton Road. Later we walked around in the fancy areas in Kensington. They had high prices on the things in the windows.

18.16 We carried on with the tube again, from South Kensington to Victoria Station. In the street above we found to everyone’s joy, a toilet. We paid for one but went in all three.

A break near Victoria Station.

18.48 We rest our bodies and cool our feet in Green Park. We just walked past the royal castle, Buckingham Palace. In the distance we can see a Starbucks tempting us with its green sign.

19.29 We thought back the temptations of Starbucks and went from Green Park south to Brixton. Here we will have dinner at Speedy Noodles. Our sodas just got here. Here in Brixton it feels like we are on Jamaica or in Africa. Just we and the Asians serving us have pale skin.

20.02 We are beyond satisfied. Our faces feel like they have been fried. We have begun our journey home but first we need to buy beer and breakfast. Now we stopped at Vauxhall. We remain seated.

Waiting for this day´s last trip in the tube.

21.31 We are on the train to Harlow. It is still standing still. Since the last note this has happened. We reached Oxford Circus, walked along Oxford Street looking for grocery shops. We found none and went from Tottenham Court Road to Liverpool Street Station. Outside of there we found a Tesco, a line of stores which Christer and I got acquainted with on our trips in Central Europe. There, in Tesco that is, we bought what we thought needed. The train still remains still but is has been cleaned. One thing that feels safe is the fact that more people has bordered.

23.07 As we got home we found that we had got a new room mate. He was asleep so we went down to the living room. There Christer and I drank the beer we bought at Tesco. Roberth took the chance to send and check e-mails. Before we returned to the room we checked about the football games tomorrow.

Saturday 6th of January

09.30 Today we slept until we woke up. Until we woke up by ourselves that is, no ringing cell phone here. We who woke up is Roberth and I. He is in the shower and I sit on the side of bed. The other two still sleep well.

10.48 We had breakfast and spoke with the Swede who lives here at the hostel. He comes from from Sidensjö in my home areas. He gave us tips about what to see in London and told us that he had been working in this area since September 2005. He is a laboratory assistent at a school. What kind of lab assistant one might wonder? Well he assists during the laboratory work in science. I wonder if we have that kind of work back home in Sweden. The ”new” room mate woke up and left the room without saying a word. It is a rainy day.

11.22 We are back at the platform by Harlow’s station. We are once more waiting for the train to London. As we get there we will aim for a proper football ground. Here comes a train but it isn’t our train. It will be here later.

11.41 We are on the tracks again, on our way to London, lunch and football. It keeps raining, that’s not so good.

Looking for a lunch place in rainy London.

13.22 First we looked for places to eat around Moorgate Station, then we carried on to London Bridge Station. There on 11 Borough High Street just close to the station we found "Fish Bar" and here we ordered some lunch, but not a fish dish. We will go for kebab and wraps. We also decided to watch Crystal Palace game today. They are playing Swindon Town in the FA cup.

13.48 We just missed the train connection to the Selhurst Station in southern London close to Crystal Palace arena. Now we decided to head for Queens Park Ranger’s arena and the game against Luton Town instead. This match is also in the FA-cup. We are lucky to be in London and being able to pick and choose from many matches.

14.12 We are at Moorgate station. Some mending of the rails has made us choose another line to get to the arena. We won’t go to White City but to Shepherd’s Bush, the part of the town in western London where you can find QPR.

15.05 We made it. We got here just a few minutes late and went just a little wrong in the arena. We aimed for stairs T and row W instead of the other way around. We had no problems locating the arena. We just followed the line of loyal supporters from the underground to here. It cost 22 pounds to see the match.

Luton Town fans at Loftus Road.

15.32 Live from Loftus Road! QPR is in the lead against Luton with 1-0. Goal in the 32nd minute by number 32, Dexter Blackstock. The rain keeps flowing down and if it carries on like this the pitch will start to look like the rice fields Christer and I saw last summer in Asia.

A fierce battle going on in the rain.

15.50 It is a pause in the game and also in the rainfall. Just before halftime Luton equalised through Rowan Vine. This led to a roar of cheering from the crowd, on the visitors’ part of the arena. From the home crowd we heard no joyful cheers. They are far from happy with the referee and think that he ought to be replaced. They also seem to claim that the town of Luton is full of shit. What forces drives ordinary people to use such language?

17.06 It was a draw, 2-2 after Warren Feeney had scored 1-2 and Shabazz Baidoo made it 2-2 (with his, not God’s, hand!). There will be a replay in the 16th of January. While the main part of the crowd heads home we await it all at over a cup of coffee in the Arabic café La Brioche. Here another language is used and it is a different feeling from the one in the arena. Two gentlemen are discussing whether the TV should show Italian or English football.

Roberth thinking back on the 2-2 match.

17.39 We are moving again. The crowds in some stations (they sent home the fans in small groups), made us go from Goldhawk Road instead. There were police men, police men, riding police men and some more police men everywhere in Shepherd’s Bush. Roberth hoped for some "riots" but we guess they just controlled it all. Some fans are supposed to have had a little fight on a pub just before kick off.

18.53 We had a new stop and came up at Great Portland Roads Station. We walked along the road that gave the station its name and turned into Oxford Street. From there we went to Carnaby Street in Soho. There we found lights and joy. Now we hope to find a place that serve food.

Carnaby Street, Soho.

Dinner at Pizza Hut. The author is working.

19.26 We strolled along Carnaby Street, passed through Soho and Chinatown. Now we are at Pizza Hut and we ordered a pizza. A pizza each that is. Outside of here we can see a limousine. Before we got in here we saw a rented double-decker where a party was going on. The bus was filled with happy people and balloons.

20.46 We are sitting down with a beer each. We are by a table at the pub Penderel’s Oak. The pub can be found at 283-288 High Holborn.

A worthy way of ending a trip to England. Cheers!

21.54 We made a final tube ride. This last trip took us to Liverpool Street Station. Now we are seated on the 21.58-train for Cambridge. We have been promised that they will yell as we reach Harlow.

22.41 Back home in Harlow for the last time. Now we will have to pack the things for tomorrow´s journey. It will be an early morning tomorrow.

Sunday 7th of January

06.10 I woke up as the cell phones rang and sneaked out of the room. I sure was surprised as I met Christer in the bathroom. He and Roberth had waked up by 05.00 or 06.00 as Roberth’s cell phone said. He had forgotten to set it to British time as he set the alarm last evening. Now the time has come to return back home to Sweden.

06.46 We’ve just consumed the breakfast we brought with us. Today breakfast was eaten on the platform at Harlow’s railway station. The tickets to Stansted are bought from a machine to a far from reasonable price £5.50. The other way around cost £3.65.

06.52 On the road again. Not much people going with us, I hope that nothing is forgotten in the room.

07.52 We checked in the luggage and passed the security control where Christer had to remove his belt. I joked about if he had been forced to remove his shoes as well. He told me that he hadn’t had to do that. We carried on our walk to the gate but were suddenly stopped. It was time for another control. They wanted to X-ray our shoes. Beyond that control and with the shoes back on it was time for a cup of coffee for me. With fresh coffee in my stomach I was ready to walk on and so we did. Now we stopped walking and wait to board. We have begun noticing that we got up really early this morning.

08.21 We found a triple seat and sat down. It is time to reset our watches to Swedish time. In the queue by the gate we saw a man who was on the match yesterday. He sat in the row below us on Loftus Road.

11.09 We are about to land at Skavsta Airport. We slept during most of the flight. Now I just have to put down the travel journal in the hand luggage and tie my shoes. Not much time left.

SWEDEN

12.09 Christer and I have said bye to Roberth who has gone to his bus bound for Stockholm. From there he will catch a train to Östersund. We are also on a bus but on a bus of the local kind. Before we boarded it the driver asked us if we were about to fly. He quickly changed his question to ride the bus. We´re going to central Nyköping. We will leave with a train from the railway station at 14.15. We are home in Sweden again. Tomorrow we are back at work and also start to plan for a new trip. You are welcome back then dear readers.