"There they go, Horace, me lad, out for their evening constitutional. A lovely pair of turtledoves. Around the corner and off to the park..."

Went for a walk in Regent's Park today (the same spot where did meet Roger, Anita, Pongo, and Perdy, in 101 Dalmatians). It was a lovely walk, and I sat on bench and had a good read for about twenty minutes. It was quite cold though, and so I didn't linger much longer than that. It is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon, though. There are very few places in Vegas like this, but London is simply overflowing with them. On the way back, I chanced across 221 Baker street (which, like platform 9 3/4, doesn't actually exist). There is a little Sherlock Holmes museum there, but I didn't go in.

I'm quite settled in here. I've almost overcome the jet lag (we'll see; this is the first day during which I haven't fallen asleep at four in afternoon). My luggage arrived yesterday, quite the same as it had left the US, despite British Air's and Nido's repeated attempts to convince me that they were not responsible for any bad luck that had befallen it (said with a very audible wink wink over the phone, as if they had done something to it on purpose).

There is beer everywhere, and of every variety. There is a bar in the apartment complex, and a bar in both of the student union buildings. There are two pubs on every corner, and usually a few in between as well, and, according to the police, anyone is allowed to walk around on the street with an open keg, if they'd like.

Making friends here has been quite a bit easier than I'd originally feared. I spent a few days in relative loneliness, but soon struck up conversations with those within the body of bodies that is the students in the Study Abroad programme at London Met.

Yesterday, we all went on a tour of London, which seemed to be mainly concerned with who had died where, and when they had done it. In fact, the tour was so full of rapid-fire, historical morbidity, I only took in about a fifth of it. We did all the sights. I saw St. Paul's, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Westminster clock, the houses of parliament, the Texas Embassy, London Bridge, the new London Bridge, the Eye (of London, not Sauron) Piccadilly circus, the West end, the Royal Observatory, the Tate Modern, and the like. It was a fun tour, and I made some more friends.

I start school on Tuesday, but I haven't yet made up my mind what to do with the few intervening days.

Cheers,
Brad