London, great mates, and heaps of sunshine

After leaving Edinburgh and flying to London, we found that no matter where we went we have been taking the California sunshine with us...which the locals seem to thoroughly enjoy. We got all of Ireland, Scotland, and most of our time in England without ANY rain...which is unheard of here. Needless to say, we have been welcomed back to all our places of visit so far. Actually, after my last post, which I wrote in the Orkney Islands north of Scotland, we decided to go grab a pint at the local pub, and of course...knowing Jessie and I, we started chatting it up with the locals. We ended up having a couple more pints, and carried on talking with them to the early hours of the morning. We were then offered personalized tours of the Orkney Islands the next day, and since they were locals, everywhere we went was free and/or behind the scenes of the tourist sites. We also got to visit the Orkney Island brewery, where they make the Viking beer called Skull Splitter, and tastes very similar to our Strong Ale at OAW. IT WAS DELICIOUS. After traveling around with them during the day, we were welcomed back to the Orkney Isl. for life....which I am def. going to take them up on. It was an amazing place and I will def. be going back there someday....who knows....maybe to brew or teach there. Anyways, after the Orkneys, we took the ferry back to Scotland, then drove all the way back to Edinburgh. We spent the next day going to the Roslin Chapel (Da Vinci Code church) and drove about the Scottish countryside one last time, which was beautiful! We then flew out of Edinburgh to London later that afternoon day.

Ever since we have been in London, we have been greatly looked after. For the first few days, we stayed at some good mates of mine from New Zealand, Mark and Erika, who I actually lived and worked with at the Raglan Surf School, and then proceeded to travel much of New Zealand together. They moved back to London a few years ago and have been some excellent hosts. Also, this past weekend, we took a road trip to the west country of England with a great mate of mine, Olly, who I snowboarded with in Whistler, Canada, as well as came to stay with me and my family in San Diego about 5 years ago. We have been staying with him in downtown London, as well as had a wicked time with he, his girlfriend, Jennie, and his family this past weekend in a beautiful part of the countryside, called Somerset. After arriving to a huge lunch with his family, we went hiking to a beautiful view of the entire western edge of England, had a great bbq feast, as well as a lovely proper English breakfast this morning. Basicly, for the past few days all we have been doing is eating heaps of food, laughing and telling stories with Olly's family, drinking the local Ales, and discovering the beautiful countryside of England. After saying our goodbyes to his family, we continued on our adventure to Stonehenge, which was a site to see. There were way tooo many tourists and the line to get in was almost 3 hours long, so we took pictures from a little ways away, and then proceeded to have a beautiful picnic in the field overlooking Stonehenge....not a bad Sunday afternoon. We then came back to London and toured Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the royal courtyards of central London...which was beautiful....and of course....filled with sunshine. We are staying a couple more days in London, spending time with mates, touring the city, and of course....shopping for Jessie... at least that gives me some time to visit the local pubs and to try as many of the English Ales as possible....hahaha..and trust me...there are plenty to try and they are DELICIOUS!!!!

On Wednesday, we are flying from London to Paris, where we will spend a few days touring Paris and then head northbound on the Eurorail towards Belgium, Holland, and Germany. So far it has been a phenomenal trip; filled with plenty of adventures, wonderful conversations with the locals (esp. about beer and non touristy stuff to do), as well as the opportunity to see and do so many things that I never thought possible.
Until next time....remember to support your local pubs, eat delicious foods, and to laugh as often as possible with family and friends....for that is what this trip (and life) is all about. Much love to all....and always....CHEERS!!!!