Anarchy in the UK

The weekend after my family returned to California, Alex and I traveled to London to visit his Uncles Dan and Mario.  Alex had been to London when he was very young and could barely remember any of it, but it was my first time, and I had no clue what to expect.

Our flight started off being delayed by nearly 2 hours and then when we finally reached London, we had to take the Gatwick Express into Fitzrovia.  By the time that happened, it was around 1am, but Dan was very sweet to wait on us as at the station and we got a big hug from Mario and lots of licks from Dumela the brilliant Lab upon arriving at the flat.

The next few days were filled with tours of London (the London and Tower bridges, the Tower of London, the Ee of London, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms, Buckingham Palace, and my ultimate favorite....Camden!).

Dan and Mario were very good hosts and took us to some amazing places to eat.  I even branched out and tried some new food!  Wink was thoughtful and picked up the tab for some of the most wonderful Indian food I have ever eaten, right down the street from the Happy Go Lucky Funeral Parlour. 

We even stopped in to eat dinner with the Creek family, after John Creek had helped Alex compile a sponsor package when he was soliciting sponsors for Grand-Am.  They were do kind to have us in their home, cook for us, and allow us to keep them up until midnight sharing stories.

Camden was my favorite place though.  Sure, it's a little grungy, dirty, what have you, but I am blown away by the creative spirit that town has!  Not only did they have a marketplace with foods from all over the world, they had some of the best shops and art around.  I think Alex's favorite part of the trip wa the glow in the dark rave shop we found in Camden.  There are no words to describe it!

All in all, we had great fun with Fan and Mario and London followed through with surprising me, in a good way.  If it weren't for the rain, we would be tempted to live in the UK for sure.