Last Monday morning two of my good pals from the U of A, Alex Corona & Andrew Smith, stopped in for an extremely fun three-night stay. It was the beginning leg of a 5 week Euro-trip for the guys so I wanted to make sure things were as comfortable and exciting as possible. By that I mean an extra twin/single mattress on the ground, equipped with zero linens, which the two of them were forced to share. Hey, I'm sure it is be better than some of the other places in store (like their future hostel in Tangier, Morocco/North Africa - hah).
Andrew is a future politician and law school student, so we went to the doors of Parliament and what do you know... they let us right in! We watched a semi-heated debate over the necessity of the UK's strict new VISA policies - a stressful issue which I experienced first hand in preparing for the trip. Some may call it 'arguing', but the yelling back and forth between MP's (Members of Parliament) and their opponents actually represents the chief cornerstone of Democracy itself - DEBATE. The three of us also rode the London eye, which allowed for a 360 degree panorama view of the entire city, as well as the surrounding countryside. Quite beautiful.
It is the third weekend here and I haven't traveled anywhere at all. I'm going to have to get together with some folks and plan a trip to Scotland, or maybe Paris. On the same note, JT works with some really cool people, who have invited us both on a trip to the coast (Brighton Beach) before we fly out in July, as well as dinner at Carrie's flat - she's an Opera singer and reminds me exactly of Camille. Josue (Joshua in Portuguese) has been particularly nice, and is kind of JT's boss. He took us to the opening of a local British pub called the "Doodle Bar" which was a really interesting time. All the walls are painted white, the waiters/bartenders wear white clothes, and the catch is that you can write on ANYTHING with different colored paint pens. By the end of the night the place, as well as people, were covered in what they described as 'Urban Artwork.'
Two of the highlights of the trip so far have been the Borough and Portabella Markets. Borough Market is strictly for food venders, which offer a plethora of tastes from around the world. JT had a field day with his new Nikon zoom camera, snapping shots of loaves of bread, rare meats, stacks of wine bottles, wheels of cheese, buckets of chocolates, and my personal favorite - dozens of flavored olives. Portabella Market is in Notting Hill, where the famous Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts flick was filmed. I actually visited the same bookstore where they met in the movie. While there are food venders all over, similar to Borough, Portabella instead prides itself on rare antiques. I held a compass which was used by the British military in the mid-1800s, for example. The prices here were a little too steep, so we spent most of our time just wandering.
Work starts back tomorrow and we will be receiving two new interns this week. One from California (Catherine), another from Wisconsin (Shana). It will be my job to help show them the ropes since as of now I am the most senior intern at the Witt Library.
The trip is officially half way over, and while I miss everyone back home, I am cherishing this experience to the fullest. It is a once in a lifetime journey and the friends I have made so far (John, Kelsey, etc.) are sure to be life-long. The Brits, however, don't even compare to Alabamians/Southerners. The stiff upper lips and lack of decent service is starting to get a little old... not to mention the insanely steep cost of living in this place ($ = into thin air). That said, I promise to post more often. It is definitely a stress reliever, and I'll be glad to have a journal of events to look back on later in life. Goodbye for now, and a shout out to Amanda, the Smith & Shepherd families, and all the fellas from T-town.
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