British humor. Gotta love it.
There is so much to write about, I think I will just start from the most recent and work my way back.
Yesterday we went to Bodean's BBQ in Soho. It's a KC BBQ joint in the middle of London, and the owner of it is a KU grad! That's not the best part. The best is that when we were deciding to get take away or eat in, Andrea says to me, "Kelly, don't freak out, but Josh Hartnett just walked in the door." I thought she was just joking, but I turn around and sure enough, there was my teenage heartthrob AGAIN. So, it goes without saying that we stayed, and we happened to get a table right across from him and his friends. Best dinner I've ever had in London, I must say.
We had spent the day at Brick Lane market. I have an addiction to markets, though I don't think I spend that much at them. My favorite part is the bakeries that mark all of their delectable pastries down to £1 in the last hour. Yesterday I got a chocolate/almond flaky pretzel of deliciousness.
London is ready for Christmas. They were almost ready on the 1st of November. Now they're serious. Markets are getting ready, and there are lighting ceremonies all over the city for different neighborhoods. We're going to make a night of the Marylebone High Street lighting. That's the one right next to my hostel. There will even be fireworks! Maybe that will be the special occasion I've been waiting for to try mulled wine. It's a red wine simmered with spices. Apparently a holiday favorite around here, because it's everywhere. I had a mulled latte yesterday, and plan to have several a week for the next month or so because it was heaven!
We went horseback riding in Wales last weekend and stopped off at Chepstow Castle, the oldest stone castle in Europe, and Tintern Abbey, the remains of an abbey where Woodsworth wrote Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey. Not the most original title, but now I see that maybe the beauty was too much to describe with anything more. Here are a few lines, followed by a shot of his inspiration:
Once again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur. Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
I think it's worth a few lines, yeah?
That night we went to a little village called Hay-on-Wye, which is also known as the Town of Books or the "Woodstock of the Mind" (Bill Clinton). It's packed with used bookstore, and even boasts the largest second-hand book shop in the world! There was one that was at the bottom of the castle and there were bookshelves lining the border of the square. It was called the "honesty bookstore" and you put 50p in a little box on the wall for a hardback, 30p in for paperback. I bought an amazing Welsh wool blanket at a store, too. They have sheep like we have cows...they graze all over everywhere.
That night we stayed at the hotel that inspired the Sherlock Holmes novel, The Hound of Baskervilles. It was such an old creepy hotel, but such a perfect place for us to stay. And the following morning, we rode horses for THREE HOURS in the freezing rain. That was about 2 1/2 hours too long. My horse's name was Eclipse, and I don't think he was fond of me because every time I tugged his reins a little he gave me a look. But he didn't buck me off, that's all I really cared about. In my mind, we parted as friends.
Oh, and last but not least, we saw the "sexiest toilet" in London...It was alright. Maybe not the sexiest, though.
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