London

What a long and exhausting day! I saw every single corner of London today. We took the train in and got there just in time to see the changing of the guard. It is a Bank Holiday today so there were tons of people out and about around the city. We then got on a double-decker bus and did the tour, which took up the majority of our day! Westminster is gorgeous, Big Ben is as well and has a great sound when it rings, I loved the Tower Bridge, Parliament was neat, St Paul's is inspiring, the lions and fountain in Trafalgar Square were beautiful and my neck hurts from looking up at all of the beautiful buildings and statues. I would show you some of the 150+ pictures I took, but . . . can you believe at the end of the day I got an error on the camera that said the SD card needed to be formatted? I'm working feverishly on my laptop to recover the files that didn't go corrupt, but it is taking some time. I will cry if they are gone . . . Keep your fingers crossed that I can recover them or I will have to do it all over again!

So, it didn't snow all winter in London. Guess what it did today? Yes, in the Spring, when I am trying to tour the city, they get their first snow and hail. I was blamed repeatedly for bringing it over from the States with me. We toughed it out and sat proudly (and often alone) on the top of the open-air bus. Hardy we are! Nothing was going to stop us.

I am getting fat. Those who tell me the food in London is awful are just not eating at the right places. Lunch was fantastic. We stopped at a great little back alley pub and I had my first Guinness. Ok, it took some time for them to 'pull' it as it was a proper stout - cloudy and thick. Like a bitter milkshake. Yummm . . . I am now sold on dark beer which I never thought I would be. I had the best Ham and Split Pea soup with French bread (I think it really was French bread since we are so close!) and a Cottage Pie (think Shephard's Pie but with beef instead of lamb). Mandy would have loved the Pie. For dinner I had this goat's cheese and carmelized onion appetizer followed by a 'game pie' (lots of pie today) that was venison, pheasant and other woodland creatures (they promised no squirrel or badger) with creamed spinach and something called colcannon (mashed potatoes with cabbage in it). This was followed with a plum pudding with some kind of yummy white custard sauce. I am going to have to buy new pants.

Tomorrow is a day in. We will do a grocery run in the morning in a small neighboring town and then my hosts are having a dinner party for Easter dinner with two other couples that I am invited to. The menu looks equally fattening and I'm promised that the company is "quite mad". Should prove for an interesting holiday.

If I recover these darned files I'll post them . . . Please keep every digit crossed. They really are beautiful. Cheers!