So, here we are - final destination, London. We have been here a few days staying with the very nice Ray and Nicky who have kindly given us a place to stay while we look for work and accommodation.

About that - we've found a place to live from the 1st of December in East Acton which is on the west end. I've started looking for serious IT work and I've had my CV put forward for one job so far which I really hope I get an interview for.

So, looking back on the week that was: Wednesday the 17th we went to Trafalgar Square, pictured above. Things are really a lot bigger than they appear in photos. I don't think I can adequately express with just a picture how impressive that monument with the huge lions is.

The square is right next to the National Gallery so we went there and saw some incredible art from over the last 500 years from Da Vinci, Monet, Renoir, Michelangelo, Raphael - so many inspiring works of art.

On the 18th we stayed in most of the day while I looked for jobs. For dinner we went out down Green Lanes where there are more Turkish restaurants than you can shake a stick at. One in particular was called Anteplelar and gave us more food than we could possibly eat for 10 quid each.

On Friday we went to Spitalfields Market and then across to Brick Lane which is pretty much the best thing ever. It was actually like walking into another country when we rounded that first corner with a mosque and men standing outside of Indian restaurants enticing potential customers in. Then there were the cool kids of London who were just hanging out checking out more vintage stores than we could possibly go to.

So we left there and went over to Petticoat Lane, which was actually quite disappointing; just a lot of clothes racks and harrowed looking merchants. I'm sure there are some bargains if you look hard enough though.

We went over to Oxford Circus after that, which is becoming my area for shopping because it just makes you want to spend money! Right now all the Christmas lights are up and it's stunning. Here's a picture:

So that was yesterday. Today is Saturday and we stepped out in the direction of Notting Hill where they have the Portobello Rd Market; perhaps the biggest and best market I've been to. The setting certainly helped; Notting Hill is a lovely suburb.

And some of the stuff on display:

And then, would you believe it, at the very end of the street - a pie and mash shop. I want to post a picture of the beef pie, smothered in clear greeny goop with some mashed potato, but I don't want to scare anyone, so here's me about to enjoy it:

At the moment we're looking after Ray and Nicky's place while they're out of town, so we decided to cook a dinner tonight. Food at the supermarkets here is really quite cheap and easy to cook and the street just around the corner has a few Turkish sweet shops, so we're really enjoying this area. I'll wrap this up now, but hopefully soon I'll have some good news to post about a job.