Portobello Road

Today, Richard and I took a trip to the Portobello Road Market. Though it was rainy and unpredictable, it was pretty nice.

Lots of weird little things, lots of clocks, and jewelry.

The Notting Hill area was really nice ($$).

And the fresh strawberries were amazing.

Tomorrow is my last trip to Greenwich. How completely depressing. It's become my getaway from London, in London. Quiet, green, and lots of history, I have come to love it. The St. Alfege Choir has especially made me sad to leave. Thursday drinks after choir practice is something I have always looked forward to... I will certainly miss them all.

My Birthday!

As with all young adults, turning 21 is a big deal. At least with us Americans.

Well, today is my 21st birthday!

I feel like this is probably the most anticlimactic 21st birthday a person can have, considering that I will continue drinking as I have been for the past year. Woo hoo?

 
Today I slept in and then walked around Oxford Street with Katie. I bought myself a pair of sandals (sorry Mom). After searching for some new sandals, I went to Selfridges to buy some macaroons... they didn't have any. Major disappointment. I'll try again tomorrow, I neeeed them. Then I went to meet Richard for dinner and drinks. We went to Mr. Kongs in Chinatown, really tasty place. Richard got some sherry like the classy old woman he is. Then I got my taro bubble tea and we walked down to Gordon's wine bar next to Charing Cross. Gordon's has been around since the 1890s and is a wine cellar (photo below from this blog), and dingy little place. Good wine, and a nice atmosphere, but really pricey.

Now we're off to the bar for some drinks to celebrate with friends, but the big party is on Friday night. This week it's Richard and my's birthdays, and our friends Aly and Valeria's too! So it's a joint party at the bar, I'm pretty excited for it.

Note: 2 exams and 2 weeks to go. Lame.

Yeah, whatever.

Okay so I had a Spain post started, but I can't be bothered with it, it would end up being far too long. Let's just say Spain was good, really good. Pictures are here. Just ask me when you see me and I'll tell you all about it. I can say that there was a Taco Bell in Madrid and it was the happiest moment of my year. Okay, well it was a really good moment.Since then, school has finished. Projects and papers have been handed in. Exams have started.

Katie and I went to see Foals on the 10th and it was amazingggg. They've been one of my favorite bands for the past 2 years and it was a mission of mine to see them while we were here, since most English bands have a habit of never touring to the States. It was so worth it. They played for an hour and 15 minutes (a long time by concert standards), and the encore was the best I've seen any band do. I hope I can see them again soon!

The weather is getting better. It rained last week more than usual, but the temperature has been so nice lately, and it's supposed to get up to 75 this weekend! Epic. I hope it's that warm in Milwaukee when I get back.

I've been doing the internship thing still. It's been good, I enjoy the people I work with a lot and it's really laid back. We had a ball last week, the May Ball, which I got to help out with. It was pretty tiring for my feet, but good fun for all involved. Tomorrow I'm helping out with another gig that my boss Stu is running, an American guy named Jamie Lidell. It sold out already, so he should be good, right? I look forward to experiencing how a show works at a real venue.


Other UK occurrences - the Prime Minister resigned and within 15 minutes the government went from Labour to Conservative. That was an interesting half hour. Good for me because I hear that they're going to make it even harder for international students and foreigners to get into the country... as if it could be any harder than it already is!

I'm home in 3 weeks from tomorrow. I can't believe it, it scares me every day. Where did the time go? What happened to the last 8 months? Eek! Anyhow, at this point of being here, I have created a list of things to do before we leave that we have managed to put off. These things include (but are not limited to): getting a group of friends together and doing the Jack the Ripper Walk, going to services in Westminster Abbey and St. Pauls, seeing a play at the Globe Theatre, Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill, Spitalfields Market, a trip to London's oldest pub, National Portrait Gallery, British Musem and Library, etc. Not a bad collection of things.