Some old pictures from Wales!

Just wanted to post a few pictures from the beach in Wales a few weeks ago - what a gorgeous coastline!

An Eye Over London

Spent a lovely day with my oldest friend Bethan around town today. We did some shopping, a lot of walking, a visit to the London Eye (first for both of us), an evening trip to the Natural History Museum's After Hours series...and a delicious dinner of crepes in Kensington. All in all - a great day, with a great friend...in a great city :-)

We're all speaking English...right?

Part of the reason London seemed like a good place to settle for a bit is language...I speak English - they speak English. However it's become abundantly clear that we are somehow not always speaking the same English.

I'm not just talking about the Brits lovely slang and colloquialisms. I enjoy a good "bloody brilliant", "poor bloke" and "cheers!" with the rest of 'em. I'm talking about suddenly someone opens their mouth and I'm struck slow still trying to figure out the first word...while they've finished the sentence and are sitting there waiting for a response. Basically you mix a heavy accent with one or two new terms...and I'm gone.

Note: The "smile and nod" technique does not work in these circumstances!

In fairness - they think I (and all Americans) speak ridiculously fast (Yes Mom, you've told me for years). One of the many aspects of life that I'm working to slow down while living in Europe.

Bath (City & Spa)

Just wanted to share a few quick pictures from Bath today - a lovely day enjoying the city and relaxing at the thermae spa. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a London day trip!

Sweet Chili

I wish I knew more people that lived in British colonies (or really any). I'd take an official poll as to whether their chip (or crisps to use the UK name) flavors are quite as varied - and extremely different from the states.

Sweet Chili: This is a flavor that is used far beyond just crisps, but is one of the most common. It's sweet and spicy (as the flavor would suggest) and actually quite tasty in my opinion.

Bacon: That's right - bacon flavored crisps. Bacon flavoring is common on it's own, or often mixed with chedda

r, onion, etc.

Prawn: (or shrimp for those non-seafood eaters) really these just taste like a very sweet cocktail sauce - very odd to this American - and really why does anyone need shrimp crisps?!

Chicken: Since there's chicken, bacon and shrimp - you'd expect beef (there's not). I admit I haven't tried the chicken crisps, but I stand by a belief that it's just a bit strange.

Worcestershire: Taste like a basic brown sauce, with a bit of a bite. Maybe this flavor is supposed to represent the "beef" option of the selection?

All of these have an interesting sweetness to them. Which is interesting since I wouldn't say so far that sugar is a big part of the UK diet. I'll keep researching ;-)