...to visit the Queen.

Nothing compares, in my brief travel history, to the immensity and grandeur of London. I landed at Gatwick Airport and took the Gatwick Express into London to meet Will at Victoria Station. We went on the tube to Westminster Station.... to Big Ben! It's weird to finally see the things I had assumed were small scale models built for the purpose of selling postcards and novelty items. But Big Ben is real.

I'm not sure how I feel about finding all these landmarks and 'must-see' destinations. Part of me wants to go "Yey! I finally made it!" and part of me feels like I've totally sold out and have become a dirty tourist.

Why do tourists have such a bad reputation? Is it the fake jubilation they show in each 'landmark' photo-occasion in their lives? Or the hoards of pushing, shoving packs of tour groups that parade around each icon, snapping it from every angle? I thought about how many pictures of Big Ben are in living rooms, photoframes, memory sticks and hard-drives around the world, each one of them meaning something different to each photographer.

I remember the stories my Aunty used to tell me about her trip to London. She saved every penny she earned working at the bank to be able to afford the trip. She also took a 3 month boat trip from Australia. I can imagine why it was such an exciting moment in her life and why her memories of that time are so precious. I flew in for 3 days and 2 nights. I felt like I was the millionth walking cliché in the Big City.

But it was still cool. Maybe I just have to come to terms with the fact that a whole lot of people have gone to London to take their holiday happy-snaps. And a whole lot more are living there from other countries, trying to make a small living to spring-board out to the EU. Will is living there and doing just that. But he's no cliché...

Still, I managed to get to Buckingham Palace, St James' Park, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, The London Eye, Downing Street, Covent Garden, The Royal Opera House, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. I also saw a red London Bus, a telephone box, some Bobbys and a squirrel.

Tourist.

But what the hell... I still want my photos.