My Birthday and London

Well, I had my first birthday in England...I'm officially 23! On Sunday night, I went out to eat with my housemates, Cat and Marfo. We were originally going to go to a pub, but in England EVERYTHING closes early on Sunday, so we ended up going to Cafe Rouge, a nice French restaurant. I really love French food! We had a delicious meal...I had the croque monsiour, Cat had steak, and Marfo had some dish with mushrooms. On Monday, I went to London for the day to hang out and do a little shopping. I went to Monmouth Cafe, my favorite coffee shop, for coffee, bread, and butter. It's the CUTEST little cafe...very open, with coffee from all over the world. The employees know all about coffee, so you can go up to them and say, "I'd like something chocolate-y and dark, but not bitter," and they'll tell you exactly what you should get! I've had coffee from Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Kenya...it's so good! Afterwards, I walked along the Thames on the South Bank, crossed the Westminster Bridge beside Big Ben, and headed to Oxford Street to do some shopping. Oxford Street has unbelievable shopping...it's almost overwhelming! (Don't worry, Mom and Dad, I only bought a jacket!) My train left at 7:33, so I had just enough time to grab something to eat. The train that goes to Stratford-upon-Avon leaves from Marylebone Station, which is in a very posh neighborhood...Madonna lives in that area! The weather is still VERY cold...when I went to the gym tonight, I wore: a t-shirt, fleece jacket, coat with fleece lining, hat, gloves, scarf, and two pairs of pants. Brrr! Even though sometimes I'm ready for warm weather, it has been kind of nice to have a cold winter. It's real winter weather, which you rarely find in Mississippi. But I don't think I'd like to have such cold winters EVERY year...just every once in a while. :) Today, I had class and then I worked on my paper. Tonight, I went to A Hole in the Wall restaurant for two-for-one pizza. Their pizza is delicious! Cat and I were pizza buddies (meaning we ordered together so we could get the two-for-one), and then Michelle and Hannah came to join us. I'll be home two weeks from today...WOW! :) I hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm posting some pics from London!

Stoney Street...one of the cutest streets in London! Home to Monmouth Cafe, flower shops, a cute old pub, and Borough Market. It's also the area where "Bridget Jones' Diary" was filmed!

Southwark (pronounced Suth-ick) Cathedral on the South Bank...it was built in 606 (no, I didn't leave off the 1...it really was built in 606!) and is the oldest Gothic church in London. Shakespeare supposedly went to church here.

People crossing the Milennium Bridge over the Thames