On the road again

So Tom and I woke up early for our new adventures ahead of us. I had packed my small bag and left the majority of my stuff at John's so that I can be a bit more mobile while up north.

John drove both of us to the tube station and said our goodbyes. While waiting for the train, I saw this itty bitty car in the parking lot.

It's ridiculous how much smaller the UK cars are than the US. On the way to Kings Cross we passed by Wembly Stadium, which is apparently a really nice football (soccer) stadium. 

Anyway, Tom and I make it to King's Cross where we were to part ways. He's off to visit some other friends and then to Brussles & Amsterdam. Crazy Israeli! 

Bye Tom!

So I make my way to the train station to go up north and see Jimbo. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda nervous to find out what he's got in store for me. The train on the way there was really nice! I found out that my "first class" seat on the train is actually the exact same as the standard class except you get complimentary tea/coffee. Eh, it was still nice. What was cooler yet though was that the train had free wi-fi! So cool! I know places like Boston and such are actually trying to do it on their public transportation systems too. I'd love to see that become more mainstream.

The train was actually 2 trains. I had to get off and transfer in Retford and wait for about 45 min for the next train. They had a real nice sandwich and coffee stand so I got me a lil snack. Large Hot Chocolate & this really nice Brie & Cranberry sandwich - toasted panini style. Ugh! Quality!

Before the train shows up, I had to use the men's room. I didn't see any signs for it so I politely asked one of the train staff where the "restroom is". He points me in a direction, I thank him kindly and head off in that direction. Lo and behold, he just sent me to the rest-room (aka, waiting room)....where I just ate my sandwich and spent the last 30ish minutes. Finally I realized we had a little misunderstanding. Asked another person where the toilet was and they just point in a different direction and off I go. Kinda funny how in the US, "toilet" is a bit more vulgar term for the bathroom and our polite term is something completely different to the brits. Anyway, I digress.

Got on the train to Lincoln which was significantly smaller than the other train I took. It was only about 2 cars long. What's worse though....NO WI-FI!! I got spoiled! humph. At least the scenery on the way up there (through the Highlands) was absolutely gorgeous!

As soon as I get in, I see the over-sized egghead, Jimbo, waiting for me. He hasn't changed at all since I last saw him 2 years ago. After a quick 'allo 'allo, him and I stopped off at a little pub for a bite to eat and a drink. He's a bartender and he actually works there (surprisingly, its not a gay bar -- sorry Jimbo, I'm not like that :P). I get my first Strongbow while in England. I haven't had it in ages. It's a nice cider that my dad introduced me to. Got a little pizza and met up with one of Jimbo's buddies, Fat John (it was merely how he was introduced, not my name for him!) who seemed like proper fun.

Jimbo briefly showed me around a bit and made me walk up this ungodly steep hill which had to be at least a quarter mile long and at a 60% or more incline. ridiculous! Jimbo's mom picked us up and we headed back to his house. 

Right before we turn into the driveway, there is a kid in the middle of the road with an upturned bike, him standing around all confused and juice boxes scattered along the ground. He is rambling something to me that was clearly supposed to be English but I only heard the number 5 and that he needed a new bag in there. Apparently his bag holding his precious juice boxes broke and everything just went...boom. I later find out that I officially met my first "special" English child. The kid tried following us back to the house until Jimbo gave him a stern "Jog on!" off he went.

Jimbo and I played a little catch-up, I talked to his mom for a bit and then she was going to start making dinner. I was absolutely knackered (tired) so I took a nap to prep for the long night ahead! When I woke up there was a shmorgisborg ready. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, string beans, carrots, Yorkshire pudding, brussel sprouts, and all toppled with gravy galore. Let it be noted that his mom is a legend!

Let Me See Your Game Face

Today was pretty easy. Tom and I slept in and got up late-morning. Luke, Jenna, & Matt cooked breakfast which was simply put, fantastic. Eggs, toast, bacon, & milky tea. Simple.    

Had breakfast with the 3 and tom (Jenna seems to be significantly calmer...but has some weird Hindu towel wrap on her head).

Tom and I hung around most of the day while Jenna & Matt went out. Luke was going to meet "a friend" so Tom and I decided to make our way to see John "Loggy" Robb. So Luke drops us off at the station and make our way to Moor Park where Johnny Boy lives. 

  

Nothing big planned with John. He said we're just gonna lay low tonight and get some drinks and go meet up with some of his mates to play some poker. For those of you who have never played poker with me (probably all of you), I'm actually horrible at it. I barely know the rules...no joke.

We get to the party and John does the intros. Really nice guys. But now its game time. Game face. Here's the deal. $10 (rather, 10 pound) buy-in, you get 3000 in chips. Real official-like. We decided that 1st place gets about 70% of the pot and 2nd to last eliminated gets the rest (that's 30 for those of you who aren't math majors like me)

There were some real ballers in the group. Not gonna lie, I was intimidated. I mean who am I? Just some silly yank who keeps asking silly questions and making silly mistakes throughout the game. Well, turns out that the guys who we were playing with, couldn't decide if I was actually an absolute newbie at this game or if I was absolutely hustling them. Newbie fellas. Although I wasn't gonna give up my one edge on them. Turns out that it paid off. I actually tied for first because we had been playing for over 3 hours and the other dude asked if we could just call it a stalemate and split the pot 50:50. DEAL!!

Tom and I had decided earlier that tomorrow we are going to part ways and do our own thing. He is going to visit Nick from this past summer and I'm gonna go up north to see Jimbo (athletics '07) in Lincoln for a few days. I had booked my ticket online for the train which cost 37 pound. First class seats. We'll see how luxurious these first class actually are. It was 2 pound for the upgrade, might as well!

Anyway, the winnings paid for my train ticket tomorrow. (Count it!!) It was close to 3:30 a.m. by the time we finished so John, Tom, and I went back to john's place and passed out. Gotta get up early tomorrow for the train.

lilah tov!

Crem de la crem

After a bit of a drinkup, I find out we're going out to a club called the Cardiff University, Student Union Club...that's a mouthful. Anyway, its tickets only and luckily one person who was supposed to show up for the party in Cardiff didn't end up coming so there was an extra ticket. So I took the extra ticket. Didn't really think that one out. Would have sucked if I'm like "Surprise! Oh, a ticket? well uhh...I'll wait till you get back. boo" so it all worked out. I just threw on a nice button down, my snazzy watch, and a dash of Cool Water. Game time.

Around 11ish, we head to the club which was only like a 10 min walk, tops. Huge line and with a decently-sized group, it was a bit of a challenge to keep all the ducks in a row. Eventually we make it in, head over to a place to stash our coats, I go and get a round for everyone. Me being the silly yank that I am, ask for 8 glasses of champagne...none to be found. So I hear the dude next to me order some stuff called VK vodka. Sure, I'll take 8 of them. It was kinda like Smirnoff Ice - Sour Apple Do you know how freakin hard it is to carry 8 bottles by yourself?! Good god. My hands were wrenched. Well worth it though.

I pass out the rounds, we head over to the dance floor for a bit and i get my whiteboy groove on. Do some more dancing. Now I gotta pee. I tell Jake and he gave me a brilliant idea: I go outside and pretend I'm on the phone (obviously with an English accent...to the best of my ability, which is poor at its best) and as I'm talking to a fictitious person, I do my thing on some out-of-the-way wall. No name spelling or anything fancy, strictly business. Finish up, end my phone call politely, and rejoin the group.

20 min till New Years. One last round for the group. I head over to the bar thinking I can get in and out real quick, apparently others had the same idea. Of course. So to be honest, I spent the majority of the remaining time in line for drinks. Wished the lad next tome a Happy New Year, took a shot with him, and bought my VK Vodka Apples back to the group. Handed them out and we go into another room of the club where apparently they missed the New Years memo and we had the countdown yet again. So I'll count that one as the official New Year.

Anyway, toward the end of the night, Jake, in his incredible creativity of ideas, placed the idea in my head that dancing on the tables without my shirt would be a grand idea. Before he even finished the idea, I was already on the table, doing my thing. I've got pictures that I need to get from Sophie's camera that I'll post later. I'm gonna pick up a cheap digital camera in London later. So yea, lost my shirt, found my shirt, lost the group, found the group, bought another round which my hands just couldn't take it anymore and in the process of finding the group, dropped like 5 or 6 of them. Meh. (speaking of meh, did you know it was recently adopted into the dictionary)

Finally, we go back to Sophie's place for the night, Marc being unsuccessful in his lady attempts, heads back as well. Back at the house, we hang out for a bit and I'm just dead tired. I am the first to pass out (mind you its around 3:30 or 4 a.m. at this point) but I make the dreaded mistake of leaving my shoes on. What a rookie mistake. I'm normally SOOOO careful about this at parties even in the worst cases of inebriation. Jake, being the only other American, obviously knew about this rule and went looking for a Sharpe marker. With no Sharpe to be had, the next best thing was (5 points if you guessed it), yes, the Ham & Cheese paste in the tube. Lucky boy. Obviously pictures to come. After me being the center of humiliation for a bit, everyone got tired and passed out in a respective bed/couch.

I hope everyone had a fantastic new years. Email/comment and tell me what you guys did for new years. I'd love to hear it. Speak to you all soon.