Sunday, March 8, 2009

Day 3: St. Paddy's Day

























I actually have no pictures from this day so here are a couple from the previous day. I suppose I wore myself out the first couple of days and was perhaps a bit jet-lagged because I slept until about 10am. I wandered over to a local grocery store (great way to save money) to pick up some lunch. On the way, I stopped in at an internet cafe (you can find many throughout London) that was more of a shack. I think it was about 2 pounds for a 1/2 hour so not bad. I wanted to make sure I new where I was going to catch the train to Glastonbury the next morning.

Being that it was St. Paddy's Day, one of my favorite holidays, I just had to go out and celebrate a bit. There were some parades and things during the day which I sadly missed. But I did have my own personal guide for the evening, a Londoner that my friend had met on one of her business trips.

I was to meet my guide in Leicester Square at Starbucks (don't try and order an iced tea). I had time to kill so I wandered around the square which is considered the theater district: movie theaters, playhouses, and tons of souvenir shops. I got lost in what I thought was a mall (I was looking for a warmer jacket: English springs are like Chicago, unpredictable). It turned out to be a multi-level arcade that was loud and packed with boisterous teens and kids running around.

Finally it was time to meet my guide. Let me tell you how great it is to know a local when you visit another country. He knew where all the good pubs were. Unfortunately, many of the Irish pubs were packed (lines out the door) so we didn't get to hear any live traditional Irish music as I had hoped. Most of the places where playing American music, stuff I would never listen to (Bryan Adams, the Village People, and bad 80's pop). That part was horribly disappointing. I mean all the great bands that came out of England and I was stuck with this junk (no offense to anyone who likes it)...But completely overshadowing that was a wonderful evening filled with great conversation, much laughter (especially poking at each other's accents), and good beer.

The final pub of the night was Porterhouse. Really cool atmosphere. It was like being inside a ship of sorts with brass piping and wood. They had tons of different beers but was a bit packed. We ended the evening at a Thai restaurant (pubs close by 11PM!). I have to say it was the best meal I had so far. As you may have heard, the English are not renowned for their food. On my first night, being the American that I am, I ordered a cheeseburger. It was barely cooked, grisly, with grease oozing out of it. Yum!

1 comment:

  1. Darn it! You're making me London!! Except for the food. Yeah, I don't miss that.

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