England Day 3...

Three days in England now...one traveling mostly...and two seeing everything it was possible to see in London in two days. We didn't catch the Globe show tonight...it was sold out. Par for the course for this trip, but as it turns out - everything that's gone wrong has turned out to be perfectly right. What a lesson there is in that.

The wine we drank at dinner last night was called "Outra Vida" - meaning "the other life" and it refers to the life that we make for ourselves outside of the toil and turmoil of everyday things...the life of relaxation and enjoying every moment. It was good too :)

Today we saw the changing of the guard. Pretty magnificent, all that pomp and circumstance. And the guard band during the changing played Goldfinger. The lovely English lady with her son who's just recently turned "proper teenager" told the boys that the band was "getting jiggy with it." Her proper teenaged son seemed mortified.

Then on to a second lunch at the Spar convenience store. The best lamb simosas I've ever imagined...and a hike to Covent gardens where I bought some handmade wooden flowers. Eliza Doolittle never had it so good!

We wandered a lot today - not necessarily 'accomplishing' so much, but lots of exploration and delightful finds. We RAN down southbank for about 30 minutes to catch the Globe production of Midsummer, but alas, it was sold out. I stood in queque for about 20 minutes to see about returns, but the 3 fellows from Cali standing in front of me got the last 3 groundling tickets. Bummer. Ah well, got a poster at the gift shop, and a flake (the best ice cream cone EVER) at the gates, and c'est la vie. We walked back down Southbank, enjoying the MANy sights this time and back to the hostel where there's a rousing barbeque going on.

New friends Jill (from Virginia) and Liz (from Australia) were hanging out, so we shared some wine and an Australian sing a along with them. Jill is a grad student in Russian at UVA who's traveling now after spending 3 months in Moscow and St. Petersburg and Jill is a writer from Australia who's traveling, probably chasing love, but she's getting over it...and writing a book on spirituality and women and who we are after we rid ourselves of the constraints of social, familial, cultural, etc. influences. Both fascinating women and it's been a pleasure to share a little chatter with them.

Tomorrow we leave the hostel at 7am... to catch our rail and sail (train then ferry) back to Dublin to explore and stay with Rita's sister, Elaine. After two beautiful days in England, I'm almost a little hesitant to return to the rain of Ireland (all my luggage is by now a little damp). Then I remember that it's Ireland...and exquisite...and my soul sings.

Only three more days really, until our return, and I kind of can't believe it. In some ways I'm anxious to get home...to the ease and the comfort of familiarity...and you own bathroom :) But I could stay here so much longer. And meeting folks at the hostel - so many people from so many places, who travel all over the world. I need to go to Spain and Australia...to explore Wales, and go to Scotland. In our room (8 beds), we have three Indonesia guys who are doing an internship in Germany and traveling sporatically during...one girl from Australia who's just been at summer camp in Boston and is now spending the next 3 months traveling Europe before returning home...and last night a wonderful IT girl from Wales who got conversations going about immigration laws and cultural perceptions.

Don't know if I'll get to blog much more...thanks for reading. But I promise many pictures to ensue in the coming weeks as we get home and get situated! Although...we're off and running as soon as we return. B. got cast in a film (he's the villian and gets to shave his head!) that begins filming four days after our return. The Isle of Capri - in appreciation of my new membership, has offered us a free room...AND...my dearest princess Aly is getting married in a few short weeks. The adventure continues. Talk to you soon!