I Haven't Seen Weather Like This For Ages

After the dreariness from my trip to Portmeirion, then Friday's overcast skies, I was starting to worry that I'm the kiss of death when it comes to the weather. Thankfully, this weekend has proved me wrong as it's been the best weather I've seen since... well, since I left Australia.

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day, if you consider travelling throughout London to do a spot of shopping quiet. Seeing how I brought only a small assortment of clothes with me, I figured it was time to start buying some new stuff. In the end I only bought a few new shirts, but they were desperately needed.

In the afternoon we were planning to head over to the Tate Modern Art Museum to have a go on the slides set up inside. By the time we got back from shopping, Margaret was too tired so Lee and I set off for some fun. When we got there, it turns out we would've had to wait around until 8.30pm to have a turn on the biggest one, so we handed back the tickets and took a ride on one of the smaller ones before heading back. When we arrived, we had some dinner and went to see a movie - Sunshine, if anyone's interested. Basic review: it was mostly excellent, with a few questionable moments.

Today I woke up really late, thanks to staying up until 3am booking my next trip. I've decided to head back on the road for a few weeks, this time I'm heading to Ireland for a 10-day bus tour. I thought I'd see what it's like to have all of my travel decisions made for me, just to compare it to going it alone. The tour doesn't leave for a week, so I'm going to slowly make my way to Dublin via Oxford and North Wales, catching the places I missed out on when I became sick.

I didn't need to even look outside to know it was a beautiful day, inside it was warmer than it's ever been. When I did take a peek out the window it became apparent just how fantastic it was, so I decided I needed to take advantage of the weather. I first took an hour-long walk through Clapham Common (which is literally over the road from where I'm staying), then I caught a bus to Battersea so I could take a closer look at the Power Station and the park.

I've already covered my love for Pink Floyd quite thoroughly in an earlier post, so I won't go over old ground again. That being said, actually seeing Battersea Power Station in the flesh, rather than on an album cover (Animals - one of my very favourite Floyd albums) was another big thrill. There were no flying pigs to be seen, but there was quite a bit of construction work going on. It's being converted into a bunch luxury apartments (they'll fit quite a few in there, the place is huge), and one of the jobs they're doing is fixing the smoke stacks. Apparently they've become quite unstable, so work is being done to repair them and keep them from falling off. Might be a good idea if there's going to be rich people living in there.

The next few hours were spent wandering through Battersea Park, surrounded by hundreds of people out enjoying the sun. Just as I was heading back, I received an SMS from Lee telling me they were going to spend the rest of the afternoon in Clapham Common, so I should join them. I eventually ran into them as I was only a few metres from the front door to the flat. For the rest of the afternoon, until the sun went down, the four of us ate, drank, read and threw a ball around - basically, just having a nice time.

I know I'm tempting fate by saying it, but I really hope the weather holds up for the next few weeks. Tomorrow, I'm catching a bus to Oxford for a few days and it'll be nice to walk around again in shorts!