Time certainly has flown in the fast paced hustle and bustle of London Town.  I have copped more bumps in the streets here than on the footy field back home, which I guess can't be too surprising, being that I spent a fair portion of last season on the bench.

London is starting to come together after a very frustrating start searching for jobs and accommodation.  I finally have a place, so the search is narrowed!  Of course the day I moved in...the hot water moved out, and a cold shower in winter doesn't inspire me really.  We rang our agent about the boiler, but she was away sick, so we spoke to the boss of the company, after the third day of having no hot water.  We were subjected to the following dialogue (my housemate was representing US): 

US: Yes hello we haven’t had any hot water in three days now, whats going on?
AGENT: Dunno......(silence)
US: Its been three days, this is not acceptable
AGENT: Don’t care, not my problem, cant help you
US: Excuse me...are you not in charge down there?
AGENT: Yes, but this is not my property, not my problem (WAIT FOR IT!!!)......stop being a baby (he seriously said this!)
US: Excuse me sir (housemate remained calm), we have not had hot water for 3 days, it's unacceptable, and it's your responsibility to fix it, you have to fix this.
AGENT: No....stop being a baby
US: You are being incredibly rude and unprofessional, we have a right to have our hot water working, we pay good rent for it
AGENT: excuse me (apparently holds up the phone...and says to his colleagues) does anyone think I am being rude....no (back on the phone) no one here thinks I am being rude.....(then he hangs up)
US: (ring back, someone else answers) we just want our hot water fixed, and your manager was incredibly rude to me, is there anything you can do
AGENTS COLLEAGUE: no.....and he wasn’t rude......(hangs up on us again)

Yes, welcome to English customer service!  Tenants don’t have a leg to stand on over here!  Fortunately our landlord is fixing our hot water and changing agents!  According to our Croatian landlord, he described the agents like this, "please forgive my bad language, but those agents are bullshits…!"

Its certainly nice to have a bed anyway....glorious in fact, hot water is a second behind finally getting a good nights sleep after 3 weeks on a couch!

Well, after 3 months on the road, I have finally reached the end point (for now) of my travels…and the start of living on the mighty pound here in London!

What has been happening over the last few weeks?  Well I am glad you asked, even though it was me that asked myself on your behalf.

PARIS
After celebrating the New Year in San Sebastian, I checked into another of the luxurious overnight stay at Casa Del Bus, which was kind enough to dump me in Paris at 6AM.  In France, they have this logical system whereby you cant check into a hostel till after the lockout at 4pm…so 10 hours of twiddling my thumbs and singing in my head 10000 Green Bottles Sitting on the Wall…and I was in!  

Soldiers carrying semi automatic weapons under the Eiffel Tower, which seems to keep the pickpockets at bay quite well.  Gypsies are always asking you if you speak English though (so they can scam you)…my standard response was "pardon…Ingles, no, no parlez-vous Ingles….sorry mate!"

My trip in Paris was capped off with a solid little pub crawl with some fellow travellers!  To beat the cold in between pubs, they ply you with orange vodka to keep warm!  After the third bar, we were cooked and had lost everyone (as well as my vision!).  We partook in a spot of hurdles at the subway gates due to a lack of money, and boarded the train…before security could finish their croissants and catch us, I mean lets face it, they would have had to dust off the crumbs as well. Awesome city though, I highly recommend it....except do some stretches before hurdling at the subway!  Wheres that ice…

BRUSSELS
I was only in Brussels for a day, but the land of Chocolate, Beer, Mussels, Waffles and plain looking female Tennis players did not disappoint!  All the chocolate shops have chocolate fountains in the windows, and you cant help but dream of sticking you gob underneath and keeping it there!  One pub had 1000 different types of beer…unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) they were closed the day I was there!  You only need a day here....which should be enough to pack on a good 10KG's really.

LONDON
London Town.  The budget plane ride that cost me 1 Cent, was not so budget after all! My bag was 4kg over the limit….and at 8 EURO per KG, they should be able to have a pretty good staff Christmas party next year!  Of course, the plane was only a third full, so I'm sure we weren't't in any danger of being too heavy!  It was a 30 minute flight, so basically the plane goes up, they come around and give you tea or coffee, then the plane goes down, and they come and collect the tea and coffee before you have had a chance to finish it!

Life in London is slowly coming together.  At the moment I am living in a mixture of hostels and friends' couches as I search for work and a place to live.  I have invested in a map and an umbrella, and bought some shoes without holes in the bottom, so things are looking up!