a parting shot.

So, tonight is my last night in London before I depart for Amsterdam (no, I'm NOT going to smoke weed, sorry guys), so I thought I'd leave some photos behind.


Yes ladies, he's single. And unimpressed by Harrod's.

Ice cream sunday part 1...

DOMINATION!

The Natural History Museum...ice skating rink? It's true.

Ask me about the London Film Festival if you get a chance.

A pretty good night landscape.

Here it is...the Ruben and Potato Salad of High Cost.

More about my galavants around Europe as they happen. Cheers!

kmf 11/06

ps-Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it-and may the Lord bless and protect those not fortunate enough to have a thanksgiving.

Independent Travel part 1

So, the academic component of the trip is officially over. People have said their goodbyes, Ned and I had to move 3 floors up into a sketchy room, and the independent travel portion of the trip has started. A quick recap:
Friday-With a pretty large number of folks still around, not much seemed different on Friday. A group of us to see Casino Royale, which is the very first Bond movie I've ever seen...I liked it quite a lot. I can explain why if you're curious-but just know that it rocked hard. A pretty chill round of Texas Hold em followed, and I had what I would later discover to be the last night in my hotel room.
Saturday-Instead of simply extending my stay in my room, Ned and I had to move several floors up, which wouldn't have been a problem if I didn't have the souvenirs I was mailing and books I was donating sitting in the room-not to mention the cans of coke, bottle of bailey's and other foodstuffs...a hassle. Then it was post office to lunch to oxfam (charity shop) to hotel...then Ned and I got dinner and met up with Amanda and her sister-AWESOME! It was VERY refreshing to see new faces and hang out with really awesome folks...all in all a successful day.
Sunday-Got off to a slow start, since we were meeting Nort and his sister for lunch, and hairdryer misdemeanors caused a delay. We went to Harrod's for lunch...photos of the most expensive meal I've ever eaten coming soon. But go big or go home as they say. Then Ned and I explored Harrod's, I got in trouble for trying to take a picture of the 22000 dollar watch (I'm not making that up), and then we went to the Victoria Albert Museum, which was pretty cool, followed by a viewing of the animatronic dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. A trip to the arcade was followed by a screening of the Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D, and so the 3rd ended as a success. Anywho-more pictures and details soon!
kmf 11/06

The trip's almost over...sad I know...

I'm never out of pictures. But class is almost over so I thought I'd give you some more to look at. This is the 1st part of a series entitled "Yes the trip was funner than this suggests" Sims Anderson posing.

Part 2-Elizabeth is REALLY concerned about Conway Castle, while Ned and Dr. Cummins don't seem to mind that much.

Repeat this picture about 20 times and you've got an idea what the Tower of London was like (although the crown jewels were pretty amazing to see, if a little decadent and wasteful imo)

Everyone in this photo was having too much fun. Nuff said.

Look at those calfs! We've become walking studs.

Part 3-The Tower of London had Meg perplexed.

What the hell time it is? (I'm standing on the prime meridian in this picture, though you can't see it.)

Harrison and I posed in Greenwich near the Meridian.

The Millenium dome (right), where Justin Timberlake will finally bring sexy back next summer.

Big Ben and the London Eye, overexposed sweet style.

Look at the sky! It was prettier in person.

Part 4-Yes, it's really that exciting.

Windsor Castle.

Big Ben and a statue of a woman who totally pwned some n00bs...or the Romans.

I hope you enjoyed this round. More to come later.

For those interested, here's my independent travel itinerary (I probably misspelt that-and the word misspelt):
Saturday-Wednesday: Ned and I party hard in London
Thursday (thanksgiving!)-Monday: Tagg and I relax in Amsterdam (Tagg being my youth minister)
Tuesday-Friday: Paris. Heck yes.
Saturday: Frantically packing in London with one last party for good measure.
Sunday: Leaving London Gatwick at 1:30ish in the afternoon...get back to the states at about 4:3oish in the afternoon...too bad the flights actually 9 hours.
See you soon.
kmf 11/06

some more pictures Part 1

The first of several night views.


One more angel.

Our team using the Tube to get to the cemetary.

The hooka.

Amy rocked it like it was her job.

I ended up looking like a dragon...but it was black cherry tobacco.

The crazy sculpture at the Absolut Icebar!

It was brutal.

Yes, the cup is made of ice.

Heck yes.

More pictures later...the place I'm using the internet at is closing.

peace-kmf 11/06

News is good food...for your mind. But I want food...for my mouth.

So, my dad asked me the other day what kind of food I was eating, so I thought I'd take a moment to touch on the "fine dining" of the tour and London. By far the sweetest and best eating of the entire trip happened in Stratford. The bed and breakfast fed us freshly cooked breakfast and dinner, and it was paid for! Lunch was pretty much always Subway's sub of the day (for 1.99 pounds, you get a predetermined sub each day...sort of a magic deal by London standards), and hence we lived for under 150 pounds in 2 weeks, which is a pretty good deal when you get down to it. However, this calm and relaxing break is the exception, not the rule, so I'll take a moment to hit the highlights of our dining:
*Pubs-this is the heart of dining in Ireland and the UK. All the best and cheapest food that isn't American (more on that later) happens in the pubs. From fish and chips to burger and chips to chicken bacon and cheese and chips to cheese chips (notice a pattern?), all the sweet food action happens at pubs. And the drinking too. Except drinking is EXPENSIVE, although a small and stalwart group of us managed a pub crawl for under 10 pounds last week...we weren't particularly drunk by the end (too much walking and eating), but it was still really fun. Some pictures from a particularly sweet pub coming soon.
*Burger King-yeah, you read that right. BK lets us have it our way for SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than most of the sit down restaurants...besides, it's more filling.
*McDonald's-see above.
*Pizza Hut-still more. At Pizza Hut, you've got 2 sweet deals: either the 4 pound lunch buffet (usually crowded but good), or the 4 person feast for dinner...6 pounds a person for 2 pizzas, 4 appetizers, and 4 desserts...it's MASSIVE.
*Grocery stores-the 2 grocery stores that are pretty close offer a wide range of tasty premade sandwiches and wraps, which make a cheap alternative if you're not interested in hot food...plus you can buy bread and meat there for an even cheaper meal, but the bread started to make me nauseous...not cool.
*The desperate quest for Mexican-you wouldn't think that London would be lacking good Mexican food, but it's pretty much one of the hardest things to find in town. It took 5 weeks of searching to finally find a place that serves tacos for under 5 pounds...but man it's good.
*The hotel-finally, the hotel food. Some of it is good (the heated ham and cheese croissant, the fish and chips) and some of it not as much (the blt), but it's close, so there you go.

Anyway, more on my independent travel plans and pictures soon.
kmf 11/06
ps-Stone Sour was pretty much amazing. The end.

Some pictures for your consumption...

Here are some pictures from London/Stratford...a post about food soon.

A cemetary out near Kenwood.

These make good desktop wallpapers I think.

That monkey is as close as he looks...I didn't use the zoom.

Another oddly exposed cemetary shot.

Dr. Aarnes sports the latest Gymbox ad.

St. Paul's cathedral chills with Queen Anne.

Blenheim Palace.

Isaac wasn't impressed.

Murdock and I at John Shakespeare's house...we weren't that impressed.

Meredith and I at the same. Still kinda wooden.

Also look for a post outlining my free travel soon too. Stone Sour concert tonight-sweet.
kmf 11/06