A Birthday, A Picnic(k) and A Tourist

What is really sad now is that I have pretty much become so comfortable here that I feel like I live here, but I have to leave in two weeks!  Who knew this day would come??  But now I am making the most out of every day I am here.

Wednesday

Went to work and then came home to go to Julia's birthday celebration.  We met here and her parents at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub.  It's one of the oldest pubs in London and one of three pubs in London that are allowed to have the "Ye olde" title in their name.  It was so neat!  It was built in 1667 and is still running.  There was even a room that said something about only serving men at this part of the bar.  Afterwards, some of us headed to Piccadilly to O'Neills for some live music and dancing and then headed home.

Thursday

Went to work on an absolutely gorgeous day, so at lunch we ate at a tapas restaurant outside to enjoy the weather.  After work, I came home and ordered tickets for The Dark Knight at midnight that night.  So we went to Leicester Square, where the European premiere was held on Monday, only to learn that when they say 00:20 (aka 12:20 AM) on a Friday, they really mean Friday night, not Friday morning.  So we went there for nothing...but that meant that we still got to go the next night.

Friday

Went to work and spent an hour going grocery shopping at Marks & Spencers for food for our company picnick (that's how they spell it here).  Then we went to the park for our picnick where I tried brie for the first time (mmm).  Then I learned how to play rounders which was described to me as "Englishman's lazy version of baseball."  Honestly, I wasn't that great, but in my defense, I didn't understand the rules.  Then I came home and took a nap before heading to The Dark Knight.  On our walk there, we saw asians having a karaoke night on the balcony of the Chinese restaurant across the street from me.  Also, they had metal detectors and police patrolling Leicester Square so we felt paranoid, yet safe.  But we saw the movie, and it was AMAZING!  I was so impressed with everything in it and the story line.  Definitely kept me guessing and I think Heath Ledger did an impressive job.

Saturday

Woke up early because it was my first weekend in London in July (I have traveled the past 3 weekends).  Then Christy and I headed to Westminster Abbey and they have the best audio guides I have ever used.  Definitely beats Bath.  They had pictures and movies on this one!  The Abbey was very impressive and I'm glad I finally went.  Then we headed to Borough Market that is a market with all food.  This is my new favorite place in London.  It smelled amazing and everything looked delicious.  We got these chicken wraps that had salsa on them.  The chicken was so tender and of such good quality.  And then we had fresh Apple and Strawberry juice.  Then we walked around and found things like Ostrich eggs and Zebra meat and decided we have to come back more to get the food and bring some juice back.  Then we went to the Science Museum and saw some neat things, but we were tired and there were kids everywhere, too many, so we couldn't see much.  Even though British kids normally steal my heart because of their accents, I really couldn't stand these ones.

Things I've Learned

1.  How to play rounders

2.  It's only a couple minute's walk from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus

3.  London is overflowing with Americans in July

4.  Charles Darwin is buried in Westminster Abbey

5.  Julia's dad is definitely not Mexican