Pre Scotland

"This wine can't be that bad. It has a cork." -Ryan explains how wine that is corked is better than wine that has a twist off lid.

I'm still in London. Tonight we're finishing the "Wine Window" (every time we drink a bottle of wine, we add the empty bottle to the window sill in the living room) and watching Project Runway and possibly Top Design. I had a very eventful weekend and my legs are really sore.

The only thing I remember from last week is being excited for my big solo trip to Scotland. Plus, 1ST ANNUAL SOUP NIGHT HAPPENED LAST WEEK! Jordan came over at six on Wednesday night and Jon vacuumed our place (for the first time since we moved in) and I washed dishes while Jordan prepared vegetarian potato and kale soup. Guests started arriving at about 6:45 with tons of good bread and wine and by seven, the soup was done. We asked everyone to bring their own dishes and silverware so we didn't have to use throw away stuff and we all pitched in to do dishes at the end. The most important part of soup night is when the chef du jour explains how the soup is made. This week, we all learned a lot about the historical significance of kale and also about boullion cubes. Kerry is making roasted vegetable lasagna on Thursday night which is not soup but will probably be delicious.

We saw three plays last week so we're looking forward to cooking better meals this week (like burritos!) since we only have one on the itinerary and we'll be less rushed in the evenings. War Horse, about a boy and a horse who are separated at the start of WWI and then miraculously find each other near the end of the war, was absolutely incredible. It played at the National Theatre so we all got dressed up. The animals in the production were played by humans who used elaborate wooden puppets, even the horses were puppets manipulated by people. It sounds odd, but it was well done and believable. Under the Blue Sky, the play we saw on Thursday, was none of those things. After the play, Ryan and I went to a pub called "The Coal Hole" for drinks and then took the bus home.

Our walking tour on Thursday was really interesting because we got a chance to see where the barristers and solicitors (British lawyers) are trained. Barristers in the UK still wear black gowns and wigs made of horse-hair for all of their court appointments. We also walked along the river for part of the afternoon which is always a treat.

I spent a lot of my free time in coffee shops this week doing Sudoku and spending lots of money. One money saving tip I've discovered, however, is telling the barista that you're getting your chocolate cake/lemon bar/blueberry muffin to go (or "to take away" as they say here) because they charge you an extra 30-50 pence to "eat in."

Early Friday morning, I went to Scotland.