London Weather Sucks...

I woke up this morning (Friday) to the sound of rain rattling against the window. Up until now the weather during this trip has been tremendous, and yet here I am, prolonging my stay inside to update this blog.

The past two and a half days have been loads of fun, and still very busy.

Tuesday night in Cambridge I went to a choir event called "Evensong" where this teeneaged choir absolutely stunned me with their singing. There was a very small church service and then it was off to the Master's Lodge at Jesus College for a family dinner.

After dinner, my Uncle Robert and my Aunt Margaret introduced me to the show called Spooks. Spook is Britain's answer to CSI or 24 back home, only better. I freaking love this show. I watched two full episodes on Tuesday night, and probably could have stayed up even later, but I had other things I needed to attend to.

I listened to the first period of the Canucks/Blackhawks Game 3 from Chicago, and I got to listen to Shorty and Larscheid call Mayson Raymond's goal! The Canucks won 3-1 and I was momentarily satisfied (more on that in a moment).

The next morning (Wednesday) I took a walk into the Cambridge market place and I browsed into some shops and things. I've been very careful with my money up to this point beecause everythiing in London is so bloody expensive compared to Canada. I know I should probably be a little more relaxed and just ignore the exchange rate, but it's difficult to justify spending 40£ or 80$ on a DVD box-set that has 10 episdoes.

The crazy thing about Cambridge is the fact that there are probably more bicycles than cars transporting throughout the city. Bikes are everywhere! For the first time in my life I actually saw a parking lot for bicycles. But more on that in a moment as well.

I then walked back to Jesus College where my Aunt Trissa was waiting to take me off with her. We visited my cousin Rachel and her husband Roy in a town that was about an hours drive away from Cambridge.

My cousin Rachel has not had the easiest life, in fact she's been burdened with health problems since I can remember, yet she was definitely in top form on Wednesday. She was happy and very hospitable to both of us. I met her three kids: Jessica, Christopher and Bethany and I even ran around and played "football" with them. Christopher wanted to be Manchester United, and I got stuck being Arsenal. I lost the watch 12-5. Shut up.

Trissa and I then went back to her house to enjoy a quick "Prawn Cocktail" before she went off to choir practice, and I caught up on e-mail and watched Lost in Translation.

She returned at 10:00 or so, and then we enjoyed a late Lamb Chop dinner. I watched another episode of Spooks and then I went to sleep.

Yesterday (Thursday) was another memorable day. Trissa and I left her house at around 11:30, and we proceeded to London. It was at the Cambridge train station where I literally saw a bicycle parking lot. There easily had to be 400 bikes parked this one small area. I almost took a picture.

When we got to the tube station she reccommended that I buy an "Oyster Card" for faster use on the undergriund tube. I did so, and let me assure you that it's worked like a charm so far.

I arrived at my cousin Julia's flat at around 2:00, and I immediately set out for the streets trying to find something to buy. I went into a "Top Shop" which I gather is quite popular in London and I tried on some jeans and things, and chose not to buy them because the would have costed me 90 dollars Canadian. However, I may go back and buy them today, because I need to come back with some kind of purchase you know?

I walked around Kensington High Street and then around Notting Hill for close to three hours, and then I got in touch with my cousin Julia who was done with work. Julia and I went to a few pubs around Notting Hill and then we went to "Pizza Express" for dinner.

Afterwards we went and saw the movie State of Play, and it was at the Cinema where I discovered something awesome about Europe.

European Cinema's allow you to drink alcohol inside! Legally! It blew me away that I was able to buy beer at a movie theatre. North America, I hope you're reading, because we need to follow this trend! Either way, the movie was great and Julia and I had a great visit.

I'll admit that this morning has started off as a dissapointment of sorts. I find out that the Canucks lose 2-1, it's pissing with rain outside, and I also found out that Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

It's 11:15 AM here, and my only plans for today revolve around meeting two of my cousins for some drinks at around 8:30. I'd better get cracking if I hope to do some shopping, and some exploring.

I'm off to make something awesome out of something rainy and damp.