travels....

Welp I've been here for almost 2 weeks now... it's hard to believe that time has flown at the same time I feel like I have been here forever.  The client is pretty awesome and the hotel isn't too bad.  We have found some really good places to eat but are finding that most places are chains even if they look pretty old/neat from the outside/inside.

This past weekend I went into London to see some old friends from college, Cynthia and Matt.  I got to their place Saturday afternoon and then they took me on their own little tour of London.  Wow, was it fun.  We visited Camden Town.  This place was awesome and I can't wait to take Carl back.  It's like China town in NYC but the people aren't Chinese and most of the shops are retro type of things.  There are an endless amount of shops.  The people are also dressed pretty crazy...  think goth-like.  Hot pink hair, black leather, lots of skin, piercing, tattoos, etc... There is also a "lock" there.  It's to help with the canal traffic.  It was really neat to watch.

We also headed to downtown London.  I LOVE Tower of London.  I can't wait to go back with Carl and learn about it.  It's so old and has so much history.  It's really amazing.  The architecture in downtown London is really original too.  I had no idea that most of the buildings were short and not tall like NYC.  The street's are CRAZY!  I'll take a picture when we go back next week.  We did stop at a couple of pubs for a beer and some street performers (always entertaining).  We circled most of the city before we decided to head back to where they lived in Hampstead.  Hampstead is really pretty.  They live off High Street (aka Main street).  They have a small pub across from their flat and live above a flower shop.  They also live in a dog friendly area, which works very well for their puppy.  We ate at a pretty good Indian restaurant and then went back to their place and crashed.  

Sunday we woke up and headed to Cynthia's lacrosse game.  The team invited me to play, it was so much fun.  We went up to St Albans and played at a rec. field.  It was a pretty close game but we lost.  After the game we headed to Harpenden to a local pub for lunch.  Most of the girls from the team came.  The team was pretty cool as their was a mix of english and american's on the teams.  After lunch we headed back to Hampstead and then I caught a couple of trains back to Maidstone.  

I'm so glad that I met up with Cyn and Matt.  I had a blast and got to see some areas that I want to go back too.  I can't wait for next week.  Carl flies out tonight on a 9:30pm out of BWI.  He'll get in early tomorrow morning.  He'll take a train to our hotel, leave his bags and then be able to travel around London all day until I get there in the evening.  I can't wait to see him.  I hope he doesn't have a lot of trouble.  We leave Saturday afternoon on a train to Paris and we'll be there for 3 days until we head back to London.  I can't wait.