Meeting up and going out.

I have really been trying to branch out and get out of my comfort zone here.  It is important to me to meet new people and try new things...that is what this move to London has been all about!  A few weekends ago, I volunteered to help set up a craft fair.  Everyone was super friendly and I was glad to get out and explore a place I hadn't been before. 

 This past week I had my first "meet up", it was a book club that I joined on meetup.com.  Much to my mom's dismay, I ventured out...after dark (yikes!) in London by myself.  It was perfectly safe and an easy commute by bus to the pub that the meeting was held.  The book we discussed was Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, which was a bit of a depressing book about abandonment, loss and family secrets.  I enjoyed myself and met some nice ladies and I am looking forward to next months meeting! 

I have also picked running back up since I don't have a gym membership.  Memberships are pretty pricey and I have actually been enjoying my runs, which is surprising to me because I hated it in Springfield.  I think it helps that there is constantly stuff to look at and pass by, it isn't boring.  I've been trying to run three times a week and I'm up to about 4.5 miles.  Who knows...maybe there is a 10K or half marathon in my future.  I joined a running club online (also through meetup.com) and headed to my first run on Saturday.  I thought I gave myself enough time to get to Kensington Gardens...but alas, I was 10 minutes late.  I still had a great one hour run and I loved the park.  If only it didn't take an hour to get there!  I'm going to try the meet up again next week...hopefully I won't have any transport problems!

After my run on Saturday, Josh and I went out to explore London again.  We haven't been out in a few weeks.  It was a beautiful day to be outside, the sun was shining and the temperature was mild.

Josh on the bus.

 Josh wanted to check out a museum in the Somerset House, which is a place we have been before (ice skating rink). When we got there, we found this...

Fashion Week

Ooo...Fashion week.  The tent was taking up the whole courtyard and held a runway.  There were a lot of people in black running around looking important.  We didn't stick around and we decided to skip the museum.  On we walked...

University of London Library

Library

Arch near Hyde Park

 We stumbled across a few small markets and had a snack of falafal wraps halfway through the day.  I decided I really wanted to see Harrods, so we trekked two miles across town to see it. 

Green Park

 We walked through Green Park on the way to visit Harrods, it was very pretty and quiet compared to the street!  Harrods was overwhelming.  They have over a million square feet of sales floor.  Josh and I enjoyed the hall with chocolates and teas and coffees.  I bought some English breakfast tea and Josh got some chocolates that he was nice enough to share with me :) 

Harrods

We left Harrods intent on finding a pub so we could sit and have a beer.  Josh walked us to a neighborhood not far from Harrods.  There was a church at the end of the block and we stood there for a minute getting our bearings.  Josh decided we had to go the other direction.  The strange thing was that there were no less than 4 security guards watching the block we were on.  It was like out of a movie.  One on each end of the sidewalks on either side of the street and at least one in a car, wearing black and looking hulky and serious.  I'm not sure what they were there for, but the houses there were pretty fancy...I'm guessing celebrity or politician! 

We ended up going to a pub, called The Queen's Head, near our flat.  The atmosphere was pretty good and we enjoyed ourselves.  Rather than go home and make dinner, we ended up ordering Chinese food to go.  It was just okay...definitely not China Wok! 

In other news, Josh and I are planning a train trip to Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxemburg for April.  Hopefully we will book our train tickets today and start figuring out hotels! 

Until next time...Rachel.