Looking back

Well, here I am sitting in my kitchen, in the states.  I can't believe I'm back, especially after all the drama that ensued on the journey home.

Sunday morning I woke up early and headed to Kensington Gardens for one last time and sat at the Round Pond with a book.  I'm really going to miss sitting at that park.  Then we left for Heathrow at 11 AM.  Well it only took us 20 minutes to get there and check-in didn't start until 1 PM.  So we had to sit outside the airport and do nothing for an hour and a half.  After checking in, we found out that our flight was delayed from Bombay (good ole Air India).  So we left close to 6 (it was supposed to leave at 4:10) and I ended up sitting in the exit row and getting fully trained on how to open the door for the slide.  Why would they ever put me in charge of that?!?!?  They played Prince Caspian and we were pretty far into the movie when the guy 2 rows behind me stopped breathing.  They called for a doctor over the loud speaker and then he started seizing.  It was so scary.  They had 3 doctors run up to help out.  He finally calmed down  and they moved him up to first class.  When we finally landed it was 7:15.  I got through customs pretty quickly and then waited over an hour for my luggage (waved to the sky at 8 pm to say goodbye to my flight to Cleveland).  After we collected all our luggage, Aly and I headed to the Air India ticket counter to try to get out of there that night, but they couldn't get us on any flights.  So they put us up in a really nice hotel for the night.  Aly was able to go to the American ticket counter and get on a flight the next day, but the Continental one closed at 8:45 so I had to go back at 3:30 am the next morning.  We went to our hotel, ate dinner, I took a nap and then headed back to the airport, only to find out that I couldn't get on a flight to Cleveland until 8 pm that night!  So I took a bus to Midway and caught a flight there to Cleveland and finally made it home that after noon.  I took this as a sign that I shouldn't have left London...

But now I'm back and posting on here for the last time.  Just wanted to give my top ten list!  It was hard to put together because there are so many things that I did and so much that I loved.  So here it is, in no particular order

1.  The trip to Wales and all the transportation issues that ensued.  And how could I forget the "release" from jumping off the cliffs.

2.  Rolling down the hill at Greenwich on the Eastern Hemisphere.

3.  The Hard Rock Calling concert in Hyde Park.  Best line up ever, best weather of the summer, new friends and lots of dancing

4.  Going to the Wimbledon tennis tournament and sitting front row at Paul-Henri Mattew's match, drinking Pimm's and lemonade, watching Venus and Serena, hearing everyone cheer after Andy Roddick lost, watching the number one men's doubles team and eating strawberries and cream

5.  Working at AdConnection.  I can't even begin to describe everything and the memories are unforgettable.

6.  My trip to Prague: Most beautiful city in Europe

7.  My Saturday visits to Borough Market and Portobello Road

8.  Seeing Wicked in the West End

9.  My Paddle boat ride in Hyde Park with Julia

10.  The chauffeured bike ride from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus with Julia.

Alright, London's over, time to head back to Columbia for my last semester of college.  Cheers!

Have 3 months really gone by??

I guess I'm still in disbelief that I'm leaving tomorrow for the states.  Like Marylyn said, it feels like when we get back to the states that no time will have passed and it will be May 17th.  I guess I'm in denial that this summer is over.  But I have truly enjoyed the last few weeks and this whole summer.  I love it here in London, despite the weather.

Ok quick recap...

Wednesday

Went to work and got lunch with some of the girls from work and then gave my presentation that I've been working on most of the summer to the company.  It was funny telling them about Great Britain because they live there and didn't know some of the stuff I told them.  We then headed to Wimbledon Village for my goodbye drinks.  It was so much fun being with everyone.  They made me gave a speech and I tried to not be sappy, but it's hard.  I've spent 2 months working with these people and they have taught me so much.  It soon moved onto a pretty crazy night and there are no words to describe the fun we had.

Thursday

Went to work for the last time.  It was hard to tell myself that this will be the last morning I go to work because I didn't believe it.  I went to lunch with a bunch of people from the office and then we came back and I had my exit interview with Steph.  It was very humbling hearing all of her feedback.  And the best part of it was when she told me that they would love for me to come back and work after graduation in December!  It really hasn't set in yet and everyone else seems really excited when I tell them, but I'm still in disbelief.  I guess that's why I don't feel like I'm saying goodbye forever, because there is a very big chance that I will be back.  After my meeting, we went upstairs and I sat down at my computer to keep working, and Nick said "Halli..."  and I guess I looked scared because I thought I did something wrong because he then said "Don't look scared.  This isn't a bad thing...and then he gave a nice speech and gave me a card and gift from everyone at AdConnection.  They got me a GORGEOUS watch. I was in shock.  All I got them was a card to share!  I'm terrible!  Saying goodbye to everyone was so weird because it's hard to believe that I see the same people everyday and I won't see them either ever again or for a few months.  After work I went for drinks with the people who couldn't go the night before.  And then rode the tube home with Lucy for one last time.  We met some turkish men on the tube who wouldn't stop talking to us.  Pretty funny, but I guess you had to be there.

Friday

Woke up early and went to Oxford Circus one more time for some gift shopping and a last stop at Primark.  Then I met Julia at the Imperial War Museum.  It was really neat and had a Holocaust exhibit and a Trench experience and Blitz experience.  Then we grabbed lunch and headed to the Westminster Pier for the boat to Greenwich with everyone.  It was neat seeing the city from the Thames.  When we got to Greenwich, we went to the Prime Meridian and stood in 2 hemispheres at once!  It was a lot of fun and we got a great view of London from the top of the hill.  Then, Christy, Julia, Aly and I decided to roll down the big hill.  It was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.  I won the race to the bottom!  Then we went to a pub for our last fish and chips, and caught the last boat back to London.  The ride back was fun because we sat on the top and had a hilarious Australian tour guide.  And we got to see Tower Bridge open,  for one of the few times of the year, for a larger boat.  Then most of the girls went out to a pub in Carnaby Street for some drinks for the night.

Saturday

Woke up and headed to Portobello road with Julia, Christy and Jen.  Made some good purchases and enjoyed the lovely rainy, cold, crowded atmosphere.  I got my last Hummingbird Bakery red velvet cupcake!  I'm going to miss those!  Then we met up with Kaylin and went to Abbey Road and did our Beatles picture, like 5 times, and Julia got to be Paul without shoes.  Then we came home and packed.  Not fun.  But I'm all packed now, and am NOT ready to leave!  But we're getting ready to go to dinner drinks one last time at a pub around South Kensington and then we leave at 11 am tomorrow!  AHH!!  I really cannot believe I'm leaving!

Things I've learned:

1.  Never say mocha with a long "o" in London

2.  Cars hate tourists on Abbey Road

3.  I can survive in a flat for 13 weeks with 5 other girls, one bathroom and two bedrooms.

4.  Some English people say bathroom

5.  I was made to live in this city.

So this is my last post in London.  I hope you've enjoyed following my adventures in London and Europe.  Stay tuned for my top ten favorite parts of the summer (it will be hard to do, I promise) and see you in the states soon!

52 stars?? Really??

Someone at work today told me there were 52 stars on the US flag.  I was in shock.  It was seriously the only time that someone said something about america that wasn't true.  They seem to know EVERYTHING here, but this definitely caught me off guard.

Okay recap of the past few days...

Sunday

Christy and I woke up early and headed to St. Paul's Cathedral for church.  Yes that's right.  I, Halli Levy, went to a church service.  It was very interesting, especially since it was held in one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world.  It's where Princess Diana was married.  The only strange thing was when the priest started relating an ignorant comment someone made about boobs to how the person ACTUALLY meant that they think the cathedral is as pretty as boobs.  I totally think he pulled that out of left field.  After the cathedral we headed to Brick Lane, got some falafel, met an English guy in US Army fatigues, got a recipe for falafel from him, saw a stolen Old Navy sweatshirt for sale, and got caught in the rain.  So then we headed to King's Cross and finally got our picture at Platform 9 3/4!!  YAY HARRY POTTER!!!  Then we went for tea at Kensington Palace at the Orangery.  I can't believe it took me all summer to go!  Then we came home, went for our last Wagamama meal, and had a little jean washing party because we didn't want to pay 5 pounds just to wash our jeans.  Needless to say, it was quite humorous and we almost stained the bathtub blue.

Monday

Came in a little late to work because my train decided to terminate at Putney Bridge which is 4 stops before mine.  So I had to take the bus which took FOREVER.  And since I was last, I had to make the tea.  Surprisingly, I didn't drop the tray (I'm 3 for 3!!!).  We had 2 presentations today.  One from shortlist, a men's magazine, which was interesting.  Then we had one from Gorilla Nation.  This was by far the worst one I've seen all summer.  They talked forever, but when I say "they," I really mean just the guy JP because he kept cutting off the other guy.  I did get a free notebook and pen and Starbucks muffin, but it was so boring and they were talking about internet stuff that I didn't understand, and neither did anyone else.  But then I left for class right after.  It was our last class (woohoo), and we got 10 pounds because they never spent it on outside activities for us.  I finally got an A on my final paper!  After class, Julia, Jen and I decided to spend our 10 pounds at my favorite Earl's Court pub, O'Neills.  We got a pitcher of a delicious cocktail, some irish stew and played quiz night,which we lost terribly.

Tuesday

Went to work on a very dreary and rainy day.  Had a good day overall.  I finally finished my presentation, which I will present tomorrow, and learned some stuff about media and helped with other presentations.  It's so weird to think that in 2 days I won't be working there anymore.  I really love my internship and the people are a lot of fun.

Things I've learned:

1.  I will never master the European way of eating with a fork and knife

2.  I have absolutely no clue what is going on in the states right now with movies (i.e., didn't know about Pineapple Express)

3.  I'm still trying to understand what a "re-skin is"

4.  People are still obsessed with Team America here.

5.  Whitney Houston made a song for the LA Olympics.

Okay, time to enjoy the end of my trip!  I'm really going to miss London!

I played "baseball" in London

Okay I put quotes around it because the baseball I played was a combination of baseball, softball and rounders.  Quite amusing I must say, but I will get there in a minute.

Sunday

Christy, Jen and I took a train to Windsor for the day.  We really lucked out on the weather for the day because it was ht and gorgeous out.  We ate lunch on the river at a restaurant called Brown's (like the Cleveland Browns!) and I ran into one of the women from work (small world!).  So then we ventured to the castle and walked around with an audio guide (not as good as the Westminster one) and saw everything except the Cathedral, which is like the main attraction but it is closed on Sundays for worship!  It was really pretty and we saw this huge dollhouse that was so intricate.  And we saw the staterooms where the main halls are and the guests are entertained (aka really important people).  There was a hall that had all the knights' coat of arms and the ones who were stripped of their titles had their coat of arms painted over in white.  How embarrassing!

Monday

Had a normal day at work.  They all thought I went on another crazy trip and were surprised when I said I only went to Windsor on Sunday.  Then I went to class where I turned in my last paper, so some of us went for a drink at the pub at our school to celebrate.

Tuesday

More work, can't remember if anything exciting happened.

Wednesday

Worked again, got drinks with work, and then went to Ice Bar with some of the girls.  It is a bar made of ice and they give you an eskimo coat and you can only stay in there for 40 minutes.  You get one drink and the glass is made of ice.  Then we went to O'Neills for some live music.

Thursday

Great day at work.  I got to leave early with two of the people from work and go shopping for drinks and food for our Softball game against one of our clients in Hyde Park.  I wore my Indians shirt and they all assumed I had amazing baseball skills (they admired my stance!  I told them my dad would be so proud!).  So we played "baseball."  It was really confusing for everyone because they combined their rounders rules and American baseball rules into our own game.  It was a lot of fun, but I am definitely still sore.  We then headed to a pub and hung out for the rest of the night.

Friday

Went to work and went out for lunch with everyone to another client's restaurant, Wagamama.  The had a normal day in the office with lots of laughs.  They made me do my terrible British accent.  And I made tea for everyone for the second time (I finally overcame my fear).  Then I came home and went to Fabric with my flatmates.  It's this crazy and famous club with 3 rooms and one even has a bass in the floor.  We then ventured home on the buses and met some interesting people at the bus stops and got invited to see the "dogs" (greyhounds) the next night because "it was the last night in London that the place was open."

Saturday

Got up and went with Julia to Hyde Park for our paddle boat date.  It was so much fun!  Then we met up with Christy and Lauren to go to Borough Market.  We got the same food again (mmmm) and then headed to Harrod's.  I can't believe I waited so long to go there.  It was so neat and there was every designer imaginable.

Things I've learned:

1.  The British love using American accents

2.  Champagne Cider is ridiculously strong

3.  The Queen hated Princess Diana

4.  Part of Windsor Castle burned down in a fire

5.   It's really hard to teach baseball.

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

Czeching in and out...oh and I saw Michael Caine

The past few days have certainly been filled of some crazy memories...

Thursday I jetted off to Prague, by myself.  I ventured to Luton airport where I had to sit FOREVER because my flight got delayed.  I finally got on my flight where I was surrounded by stag parties who were so excited to get to Prague and all I wanted to do was read my book and nap because it was after 9 at night. (yes I know I am a loser).  Well I finally made it to Prague and ran to catch the final bus of the night, without buying a ticket, but this is when I first learned that they don't check tickets on any Prague public transportation unless the cops decide to go and fine people.  So I made it to Liz, Bree and Gabby's place for the night.

Friday I woke up early with everyone because they had a big presentation and I headed out to go site-seeing.  I took Liz's Prague book with me and found Wallenstein Palace, Prague Castle, some random parks, then wondered around the Jewish Quarter where I got really lost, but it's okay.  Because I found Old Town Square and the most expensive street in all of Prague and went shopping at Hermes and Cartier...okay just kidding but I wished I did.  But I found a Kosher Restaurant and got some falafel and then ventured more in the Jewish Quarter and saw the oldest synagogue in Europe.  Prague is honestly the most beautiful city I have ever seen (minus Tzaft, Israel).  I then came back to the "dorm" and hung out with everyone, ate dinner at a traditional Czech pub, then I fell asleep really early.  So then Saturday we got up really early and saw everything else in Prague that I didn't see the day before, and I was with everyone instead of by myself.  We walked on Charles Bridge, went in some Cathedrals, ate some pizza, saw the big clock, got lost some more, and went back to the dorm and ate dinner and got ready for the pub crawl.  The pub crawl was so much fun and I of course flocked to the British guys on it because I seem to think I identify with them now.

Then Sunday we went to Bohemia Bagel (the start of our pub crawl the night before) to get lunch and our free tshirts from the pub crawl.  Then I headed to the airport.  I either got off the bus at the wrong stop or the bus just drops you off in the middle of nowhere.  But I somehow managed to find my way by reading the czech street signs.  And the rest of my travels were uneventful because I made it back perfectly fine.

Oh and one interesting Prague story.  Friday I went and got some souvenirs for the family only to see that A. they didn't give me Brent's snow globe and B. they didn't give me a receipt.  So I went back the next day and told them that I paid for it and didn't get it, and they just wrapped it up and gave it to me.  If I was in America, that would NEVER have happened.

When I got back into London I went with Julia and her parents to DaMario's, Princess Diana's favorite Italian restaurant this is around the corner from me, where we ran into some of the boys after their venture to Greenwich.  Then we went to a pub for some drinks and uncivilized conversations.

Monday I went to work and then didn't have class so Christy and I went to the red carpet premiere for the Dark Knight.  It was so cool.  We saw the bat mobile drive around for 10 minutes and then Michael Caine and Maggie Ghyllenhall (sorry about my spelling), Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, McFly, and some guy named John that's famous but I don't know who he is.  We staked out on chairs at Garfunkel's and watched the red carpet for a while and then came home.

Today I had work, where 2 of the bosses jetted off for the day to Germany for an hour meeting.  Isn't it crazy that people can just go to Germany for an hour meeting?  Well then after work I met Elise for a delicious Chinese dinner.  And then now we just sang happy birthday to Julia because she just turned 21!  Can't wait to celebrate tomorrow!

Thing I've learned:

1.  People think I can't spell my name correctly because I say "h" wrong in England

2.  Prague people aren't very nice

3.  My cousin just had a baby girl!!  Congrats Marlee!!

4.  People smoke too much in Europe so now my clothes smell like smoke because they have no smoking laws in Prague

5.  Even though I carried around a tour book in Prague, people still thought I was a native.  I guess I really do look like an Eastern European.

Remember that one time I jumped off a cliff?

Yep that's right!  I, Halli Levy, jumped off some cliffs.  But it wasn't as simple as that.  Let me just start at the beginning...

So last Friday night, Christy, Julia and I took the 11:30 pm train to Cardiff, Wales.  We got on the tube a little late to the infamous Paddington Station (think of the childhood stories of Paddington Bear) and had to run to our train just before 11:30.  It was just like in Home Alone Lost in New York when the family was running through the airport.  Well, we made it to our train, with time to spare.  At the first stop we picked up some drunk men who looked like they were in their late 30s.  And they were wasted.  One guy was yelling about losing his cell phone and it turned out that it was right there on the floor.  Mind you it's midnight and these are drunk grown men acting like they've never drank before.  So we switched to "the quiet coach."  We arrived in Cardiff at 2:30 AM and were forced to stay in the waiting room at the station until 5 am so we wouldn't be seen as "trespassers" on CCTV.  So we attempted to make ourselves comfortable in the piss-smelling room and watched Sweet Home Alabama, only to be joined later by quite a few interesting characters.  When we were able to walk around, we decided to make an appearance on the streets of Cardiff, that were still trashed from the night's festivities and eat some McDonald's.  We then found ourselves running back to the station to catch our next train to Haverfordwest (our destination for the cliff jumping).  We jumped on a train that was on our platform, only to find out that we got on the Hereford train...AKA the wrong way.  So we get off in Newport (a place I would never like to visit EVER again) and are stuck there for an hour and a half.  There is nobody working there and it is in the middle of nowhere.  We then take the train to Swansea where we finally get ahold of the place that we were trying to get to and I tell sweet Lorraine our situation and how we won't be able to make it to the morning session of coasteering, so she squeezes us into the afternoon session.  So we hang out in Swansea for a couple hours and do some shopping.  Then we take our 4th and final train of the day to Haverfordwest, hop in a cab and make it to Preseli Lodge with time to spare!

Now time for the real adventure...

So it turns out, the afternoon session is Christy, Julia, me and 10 guys on a stag party (AKA bachelor party).  What could be better?  So we gear up in our wetsuits, life jackets and helmets and head to the rocky beach.  Then we do the coasteering, which is way more intense than I ever thought.  I'm still sore!  So we waded through the water first which then became quite rough and then there were large rocks/boulders and we had to do jumps off them.  It was crazy.  I can't believe I did it.  At one point we had to scale a rock that was a mini cliff.  I was towards the head of the line with about 8 people behind me.  I freaked out and almost couldn't make it across because I couldn't find footing.  But I made it, even though I did slide down the rocks at the end.  But I have never been more proud of myself.  Every time I took a jump off the rocks, I told the instructor "My mom is gonna kill me!!!!!"

So then we head back to the lodge to see if we could wash up before heading back to London, only to have Lorraine tell us that we have all the time in the world to shower because she wasn't letting us spend the night at the train station again since we missed the last train to London.  So they put us up in the lodge for the night.  I thought the Irish were nice, but the Welsh definitely top my list.  Everyone there was so nice and welcoming and they all had heard our story.  We were the celebrities of the lodge!  There was a different stag party staying and a hen party (bachelorette) and another group all there for the night.  So we hung out with them for dinner and then the 3 of us took a 20 minute trek to the beach only to have a little run in with a dog and some mud.  But we made it to the beach to watch the sunset.  We came back, drank some wine, played some pool (which the balls are just yellow and red, no numbers, no stripes), and then passed out on the couches from sheer exhaustion.  That morning we headed out to London and made it back perfectly, and just in time for Julia to head to work.  And then I finally did my laundry for only the second time this summer, but I didn't have enough change to finish drying my clothes all the way, so I had wet clothes laying around.  Oh the joys of being cheap.

Okay and a quick recap of the past couple of days...

Monday

Went to work and finished up our big presentation for Tuesday.  Then I had to run home so I could make it to Imperial for my meeting with GK and IE about the status of my internship and then sit through class, which wasn't too bad because we talked about advertising the whole time.

Tuesday

Went to work, and it was a quiet day because half the people were off at the presentation.  At lunch I planned on going to buy another book to add to my list of 6 I've read this summer.  But one of the girls at work offered her library card to me.  Best thing ever!  And it made me feel like an actual Londoner since only residents have library cards.  So I came back and about an hour after lunch I hear music and it turns out, they have ice cream trucks in London!  So we all chased down the ice cream man so I could have my first London ice cream truck experience (they thought we didn't have them in the states).  I got an ice cream cone, which is actually whipped cream in a cone (no complaints here!), and we took some pictures, which were up on facebook in a matter of minutes.  Then a few of us headed to get drinks after work where I had more revelations about how I've been lied to my entire life.  Schools have always told me that we had to learn the metric system because EVERY other country uses it.  Well, the English schools taught their students that America uses the metric system.  They use feet and miles here.  So after a few drinks and revelations, I headed to the tube and made a "friend."  This little Indian man from Sri Lanka sat down next to me and told me that I have a great and strong aura.  Now mind you I'm a little drunk and so I become over interested in what he has to say.  I am sitting there, totally amazed at everything he says about me (even though it is all so generic).  Definitely a situation they warn you about.  Luckily he didn't get off at my stop.

Wednesday

Headed to work and had the usual day.  Got invited to the red carpet premiere of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, but turned it down because of a previous engagement: CHRISTY'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!  So we went to Ping Pong Dim Sum for dinner.  Little did we know that we would have a celebrity siting as soon as we came in.  Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland was also enjoying some dim sum.  Only Emily had enough courage to say hi.  But we had an awesome meal and I had an amazing drink called "Ping Pong" and it was basically a fancy white wine spritzer with grapes.

Tomorrow I head to Prague for my last trip of the summer.  I'm flying by myself to stay with some Mizzou people on the Advertising trip.  Hopefully my travels are uneventful.

Things I've learned:

1.  The bugs in Great Britain love me as much as the ones in the states.  I am once again, as I am every summer, covered in bug bites and hydrocortizone cream.

2.  My tube card works on the trains too in London (these are different than the tube/underground).

3.  Glamour is the number one magazine in Great Britain (a saleslady came today and gave us a presentation about it)

4.  a WAG is "Wives and Girlfriends" of soccer players and they are tanned, botoxed, arcrylic nailed up women

5.  Contrary to previous belief, I think I like chicken curry.  We had some in Wales at the lodge and it was good.  Or maybe we thought it was good because we were so hungry.

Alright, off to bed (it's 2:40 am here) and then work and off to "Czech out" of London and jet off to Prague.  Cheers!