Life in Streatham and Beyond....

I am pleased to report that I am having a jolly time in London this go-around, as I have figured out the trains and tube, found a pub that sells lager for £1.75 and made friends with Raj, a dude that owns the dollar store around the corner just down from little Somalia here in Streatham. (I go in to buy cheap toilet paper and washing powder and when I present my own canvas bag, he likes to "charge me" .30p extra!) Ha! You know you have arrived when.....

Been also making a habit of buying all day travel cards so I can explore London like a little vagabond tourist. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Covent Garden on a Friday and managed to make it back to Streatham, as the last train from Victoria leaves around midnight, and let me tell you mate! You do NOT want to get stuck trying to find the right bus or paying £50 for a cab! The weekend after, I went on a proper outing with the girls and had a Sunday brunch at Vicki's house, the girl I roomed with this summer! Then, I went with Lisa Cullen to Islington up North, by the new Emerates Stadium, which houses Arsenal, one of the top Premiere League footy teams. We went to a proper pub with local fans and then to her house where I was treated to a Sunday dinner and the usual "what is wrong with the world and how should I solve all its problems" conversation.

I also visited my mate Penthouse Pete in Bournemouth last weekend, which is a seaside town on the Southern Coast. As we are both flat broke, he being house poor and me just being poor, we bought a flat of Carlsburg, watched DVD's, made pasta and walked along the cliffs just South of Poole. Lovely. Thanks Petey!

Bernie has made his way back from Ireland, and while he is going through Post Ireland Depression...(Something I will suffer when I go home...Post Europe Depression...) he is working with Dan Harris and his company I.T.@Home and hoping to make some more money so he can go back to Ireland and rejoin Ultan John in their quest to sign a record deal and tour. www.ultanjohn.com
Otherwise, he could moonlight as a chef, as I have never tasted such amazing Irish Stew in my entire life! Thanks Bers!

Also met another friend here in the neighborhood, Mr. Nick Smart (don't laugh it really is his name) and he lets me pop 'round his flat for tea, laundry and HOT showers! (Sorry Bers, your shower...well, you know. I just think it is haunted.)

Finally, will end my time in England going down to Southampton for a proper footy match, they are playing Birmingham and I CAN'T WAIT! YYYyeeeeeeehhhhhaaaaawwwwww!!!
God love my other mate Andy, spoiler rotten of all human-kind! Thanks mate, you rock!

Next week I hope to have a proper night out with the girls and boys and say goodbye London style to Europe and the most wonderful 8 months of my life. Ugh. Can't cry now, I still have 2 weeks left! Then, it's off to Florida to visit mom and Pignone clan, then home to SF where I will crash the CHOW Christmas party and try to actually find a j.......jo..............J-O-B....oh god help me. laters...

New Photos and Update

These are some new and old photos from Greece...

Still in London, will be going home around the first week of December and wow. I have such mixed feelings. I really want to stay here, not go home, pretend I have no pressing issues, make believe that I have another $5000 in the bank and tell myself that this glorious experience isn't coming to an end. Alas. Reality BITES!
But, the one thing that is keeping me going is knowing that I am going home to sort out my crap, save money and return next year. Seems like a long time, but I plan on working as many jobs as I can and THAT....should keep me busy.

Went to Oxford last weekend, it is a magical little place I tell you. Planning on seeing London this week and then off to the South to see my friend Penthouse Pete in Bournemouth next weekend. Finally, will end my journey in Southhampton to see a proper footy match for the first time. After that, ...sniff sniff...back home.

Murphy is coming back from Ireland next week, so I will be living with not one, not two but THREE boys...I can't wait to see him. Dan is trying to hook me up with a proper Thanksgiving dinner and then we are going to have a house party to celebrate Murphy coming home, mourn my imminant departure and take the piss out of Christmas. We are calling it the "un-Christmas...Christmas party!" Finally, someone who hates Christmas as much as I do. Yippee! I am going to LOVE this.

Anyway, trying to find some friends to play with my last few weeks here...should be interesting without a damn phone. Oh one last thing...I could have just used my phone and gotten a sim card here. God I am retarded. Oh, go and see Borat.

LATERS!

Back In London...

Here once again at Murphy's pad in Streatham and now sharing the flat with Dan Harris, who went to uni with Bernie and Paul Schumway, who was an original back in the Spring. I have set up camp in the dining room, on the futon with every blanket and sleeping bag piles on top of me.

I was hoping to blog my little heart out here for the next couple of weeks, but Dan is living here and running his computer design company from this office, so it looks like I will have to wait until I get home. Which, sadly, will be in the next few weeks. Ugh. Can't believe it.

I spent some time in Amsterdam, a night in Berlin, and 10 days in Prague where I was looking into taking a TEFL course. This is a Teaching English as a Foreign Language class that gives one a certificate to teach English anywhere in the world. So, I will go home, work, sort out some issues and then head back ASAP. The Busabout thing never materialized, couldn't get a Visa and at the end of the day, the people who worked there were kind of cliquie and snobby and I didn't want to join that kind of group. It's a long story, but I will say that there were a few guides and drivers that I just loved and I won't forget how nice they were to me. Best to get off the bus anyway, and start something fresh and on my own.

I am off to Oxford for a couple of days to meet up with a friend I met in Amsterdam. Should be spliffy! I am trying to see some of the English countryside before I take off and next weekend I am supposed to go to Bournemouth to visit my friend Penthouse Pete who is a lifeguard trainer dude. He's a right crack, that one.

Okay, must get my beauty rest, tomorrow is a travel day! LATERS!

Ode to a Friend...err...Chicken

Here is a little tribute to my companion, who was sadly abducted by a band of crazy Australians in Cinque Terre. There are many more photos of him all over Europe, but here is a sampling. I miss him terribly, but life goes on...