It's been awhile!

Hey everyone, sorry it's been awhile since I posted. I guess life has been getting in the way! I have been keeping busy at work, at least busier than I normally am this time of year. And last weekend I had a great time spending time with friends and in the countryside.

Friday night I caught up with my friends Sam and Sarah at their house and slept over in my "old" bedroom (where I stayed when I first moved here) so that we could get up and go shopping Saturday morning. Sarah drove the two of us to Bluewater, which is the biggest shopping center in the UK. There aren't too many American-type malls here, but this is one. The only difference is that it appears out of the middle of nowhere and doesn't have the massive, sprawling shopping centers around the outside of the mall like you would see in the US. But, there was some fantastic shopping! I even got a hat to wear to the Royal Ascot horse race in June...they are more expensive than you would think!

After Sarah brought us back to London (via a long detour because of a closed tunnel), I headed out to a farmhouse in Essex. I rode on a train for about an hour and then took a taxi for 15 minutes to a beautiful farm. It belongs to the parents of a friend of friends and so I hung out with my friends there. The farmhouse was so old and classically English! When you walk in the main door, the flagstones on the floor are sunk in different places and have obviously been there for at least 100 years. We stayed the night and woke up to the sounds of sheep and horses in the barnyard.

This coming weekend I head to Budapest for the bank holiday. My friend Ben is coming from Denver to join me and we are both excited to explore a new place! Everyone have a great Memorial Day/bank holiday weekend and stay tuned next week for pics of Budapest...