It's so lovely to get out of London. This time I managed to get all the way to Bath (if you don't count Scotland, this is the farthest in the UK I've gotten yet). It was absolutely gorgeous. Even managed to spend a few hours in that super fancy new Spa (wasn't the biggest fan, there's a lot that's not right about the place, but the rooftop pool is money). Bath was very quiet though, I guess it's not quite hopping when the University is out. But the architecture was gorgeous, the shops were quite cute, and the river was wonderful. Even though the rain tried its best to ruin the day.


Bath Abbey


River Avon


Roman Baths


Bath Abbey


Bath Abbey

I am still reeling from the most massive London celebrity sighting I've ever had! Walking along Shaftesbury Ave two weeks ago, and noticed this phat Lexus SUV pulling between traffic like it owned the joint. It stopped at a red light and while I walked by I glanced inside and sure enough, in the passanger seat talking on a car phone (they still make those?) was Sir Paul McCartney!!! And I honestly couldn't believe it was him, so after I crossed the intersection I stood on the curb and just stared at him. Eventually he noticed us staring and waved! Bingo!

I think I'm finally starting to add some serious meat to my celeb spotting list, because I've got a few now who are world famous, not just England-famous. I mean, this guy was in probably the greatest band of all time.... So just try and beat that.

My list, updated:

1. Martin Freeman
2. Goldie Hawn
3. Kurt Russell
4. Ivana Trump
5. Charlotte Church
6. Carmen Electra
7. The Darkness
8. Graham Norton
9. Paul McCartney

Something that I've been wanting to do since before I ever even dreamed of coming to London, but could never seem to make happen, is go see tennis at Wimbledon. First of all tickets are near impossible to get, it's all lottery-ified. If you don't have tickets, you can just randomly go wait in line, and hope that enough people leave for the day so that you can be granted access. Sometimes you don't get in. So as you can imagine, it's a little hard to rally the troops for this. But a lovely friend of my put her foot down, forced us all to go, and even negotiated a date when I was available, and away we went. After queuing over two hours, we were in. And it was awesome!







It was one of those days where I felt totally amazed that I was in London. And after being here 2 years and 10 months I just don't get those feelings too often.

Ok, I'm back from the most decadent week ever, that was in honor of my 30th birthday (for example, Wednesday night was spent at Gordon Ramsey at Claridge's with a seven course, 4 hour meal. Oh, and I never in my life thought I would spend the Fourth of July with a Cornwallian and an Australian in a British restaurant that serves French food; no freedom fries for me!)

While I got some great gifts and stuff, what I am most thankful is England's present: we've finally gone smoke free!!!!!!! No more smoking in public, enclosed spaces. I am so happy. I think I'll be a lot more inclined to go out now, as places also should be less crowded. The same phenomenon happened the first time I went to California, everyone was standing outside smoking and the bars were comparatively empty inside. You could get a drink so quickly, extra bonus!