Cotswolds Bus tour

I just got back from a wonderful tour of the English highlands called the Cotswolds. My friend Tracy and I went with a tour company called Anderson Tours and we had the best guide ever. She was so old and cute and knowledgeable, and a vegetarian to boot!

It was so nice to get out of London again and get some fresh country air. The sun didn't come out, but at least it didn't rain until our return drive back into London.

It was a great trip but, unfortunately, I forgot to put my battery back in my camera, so I didn't get to take any pictures. My friend Tracy, however, took some shots. You are welcome to view them on her Snapfish album, but you may need to sign in to view. Not sure though. I will try to copy them from her and post the link to my Facebook album so that it will be easier. If you want to check them out now, the link is:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=217189221/a=55797795_107922767/t_=55797795

Class in Cambridge

We had class this past Saturday in Cambridge. It is such a quaint little college town. We got to take a tour of many of the bigger colleges that make up Cambridge University as well. We got to see the round church; King's College, which was founded by Henry VIII; and the Wren library, shown in the movie Chariots of Fire, which I never saw, but now I will.

Click on the link above to go to my Facebook album to see my pictures of Cambridge.

I love free stuff!

The only good part about taking the Undergroud/tube to work is that often companies have free stuff to hand out. For example, today I got a free sample of men's and women's deodorant (I need to find someone to give the men's to). When the Sweeny Todd movie came out, they had real barbers there doing free shaves for men. The other day, I got a free apple from the new take-away salad place that opened down the street. That kind of thing can be a ray of sunshine on an otherwise dreary, rainy London day. :)

53 Galapagos Sea lions found dead

Can you believe that? Who would do something like that? I am so glad I got the opportunity to go to the Galapagos since it appears that they are going to limit tourism on the islands. I am all for it if it will prevent massacres like this!

Happy Pancake Day (aka Shrove Tuesday)!

The British celebrate Pancake Day the day before the 40 days of lent to use up the food (cream, sugar, fats, eggs, etc.) that they are not allowed to eat during the 40 days of Lent. It sounds like such a great holiday, and there are events, such as Pancake races, in which participants dress up and have to run while flipping a pancake in a skillet a certain number of times without dropping it. Some friends and I attempted to attend one such race today, but sadly it was cancelled due to health and safety regulations. We were very disappointed because we had really been looking forward to it. This website contains pictures from past Great Spitalfields Pancake races--http://www.ukstudentlife.com/Ideas/Album/PancakeRace.htm. I think we need to start this in Austin! Anyone wanna help? :)

Sadly, 2/3 of Brits ignore pancake day (news article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/04/npancake104.xml). How could you overlook such a fun holiday! I think I will try to fry up some pancakes tonight because I am craving some now. :)

Happy Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake Day aka Mardi Gras aka Fat Tuesday!

Happy Super Tuesday as well. I think I will be attending a primary this evening for Americans abroad in the UK. It is supposed to be Iowa-caucus style, so this should be interesting. I still don't know who to vote for though!

Nice Photos!

As in Nice, France (pronounced niece). I was there this past weekend with a couple of friends. We also got to explore the principality of Monaco and the medieval town of Eze as well in this short jaunt to the Cote d'Azur of France.

Here are the links to the pictures I took. Unfortunately there are not as many as I would like because my camera died near the end of the trip. :(

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88853&l=78811&id=723885367

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88874&l=78e0d&id=723885367

Au revoir!