London Scavenger Hunt

Have you heard of meetup.com?  It is an online community where people with similar interests can plan events together and form "meetups."  I have joined a couple groups including one where we went on the Seven Sisters hike.

Recently a group meet for a Scavenger hunt around London.  I LOVE scavenger hunts.  The crazier they are the better.  I figured this London hunt would be a great way to meet people.  Surprisingly, I didn't really connect with the group but I did have a unexpected visitor show up:

I'm am pleased to introduce you to Mike.  He's a pretty swell guy.  Mike even tried to help me out on the Scavenger hunt.  Let's see if you have any guesses on the following clues:

How did John Overs plan unsuccessfully to save on his daily food bill?

-He pretended he had died in hopes that his ship crew would go into morning and start to fast.  Instead they held a HUGE celebration that he finally was gone from this world.

What English galleon is best known for its circumnavigation around the glode between 1577 and 1580? 

- The Golden Hind.  It looks like Mike found it!

What is the current tallest building in the European Union?

-The Shard is 1004 ft and opened earlier this year.  Hopefully I'll have a chance to get a view from the top while I'm here!

What tunneling lark clearly required a mighty brain?

You'll just need....

Which guild is opposite The Drapers?

... to come...

How did the 25th Battalion get about?

... visit me in London...

According to this Temple of Mammon, what is 'The Lord's'??

... and swing by... 

What did it take weeks to complete after the man commissioned to make it died?

....the Royal Exchange to find out!

Thanks for all your help!  See you at the next hunt!  Bye!

Taste of Home

This weekend I went to Scotland with my friend Robert.  After a long day touring around the Lowlands and the Highlands we found our way to our very own pub crawl.  Now, beer in the UK hasn't impressed me.  In London they RAVE about Bitter, but I find it flat and tasteless.  I finally have learned to ask for an IPA if I want to enjoy a refreshing brew.  So in Scotland I was expecting the same even though I had high hopes since I love Scottish Ales sold in the US.

Our first spot was a microbrewery called BrewDog.  As soon as we entered we were greeted by the following sign:

Did you notice anything special about that pictures?  Take another look.  Still no?  Okay let me give you a hint.  See that green can?  That is a Ball made can.  A Ball can holding fabulous Oskar Blues- G'Knight.  The same Ball/Oscar Blues can filled with beer a half a mile from my house in Longmont.  That's right.  They have Colorado beer in Scotland!!!!  They also had Left Hand (more Longmont!!!) and the Great Divide (Denver).  I could have sworn that I had died and gone to heaven!

After being a bit home sick the 14 pound sterling spent on two beers seemed well spent.

(P.S. Brew Dog's beer is yummy, too!)

UPDATE:

Oscar Blues and Brew Dog are doing a collaboration beer!  Looks like I'll have even more chances to have the taste of home while living in the UK!  Oskar Blues meets BrewDog!

UPDATE 2:

OB's will be at BrewDog in Shoredich (half a mile from my London Apartment) this Friday with the collaboration beer.  I will be on my way to Amsterdam to visit Robert, but if you are in London make sure to check them out!

Friend Letter #3

This weeks letter came from my friend Andrea.  She drew a picture of a beach we were at for a friends wedding in Tulum.

Now, you need to know something about Andrea.  She is adventuresome like me.  For the past couple of years we have been on a kickball team together and co-mentors on an intern rocket project called BIRST.  Now those activities are fairly tame, but while in Tulum we had a real adventure.  We were told that ruins of Tulum were right down the beach at the first point only 5 km away.  So Andrea, Lisa (another coworker) and I decided to walk to Tulum.  We were from Colorado!  We could walk that distance without batting an eye!!  Except it was 6.5 km IF you were walking on the road, but we decided to walk along the waters edge on the beach.  

It was a beautiful walk.  Along the way we were collect conch shells and pieces of coral but eventually we started wondering where Tulum was.  We had gotten to the first point and found nothing except an abandoned hotel.  What do you do in that situation?  You kept walking.  Andrea and I saw a man up ahead and mentioned we should ask him for directions.  Lisa strangely replied that there were nude beaches around, but this man was obviously wearing a speedo.  That is until we got closer and I realized this was not a man but a large breasted topless woman in a bikini bottom.  Andrea, suffering from exhaustion, asked where the cave was (Lisa and I had no idea what cave she was referring to and during later questioning we discovered she meant ruins). The topless lady then kindly pointed us to a nearby cove pictured above.  It was lovely but NOT what we were looking for.  So we kept walking and walking some more.  Finally in the far off distance we could see the ruins.  Eureka!!! We made it!!!

...Or so we thought.  As we got closer we realized that one of the lines of defense for this Mayan city was the cliffs it was built against.  Cliffs that we could not climb.  At this point Lisa and Andrea wanted to give up, but I said, "No, we shall press on!!"  We found a leaf covered path into the jungle and followed it in hopes that it would lead us to Tulum.  Instead it lead us to the highway, but between us and the highway was a very high barbed-wire fence.  Again my fellow adventurers wanted to turn around but to their chagrin I climbed through the barbed wire.  Reluctantly they followed.  Eventually, after a 2+ hour stroll along the beach and highway we made it to the ruins.  At the entrance we were informed they would be closing in 20 minutes.  We quickly paid, raced through the entrance gate, took a picture to prove we made it, and were promptly kicked out.  

Graffiti or is it Street Art?

I live near the vibrant street markets of Spitalfields, Petticoat Lane, Columbia Road, Brick Lane, and UpMarket.  Every Sunday I am wandering around looking at the wares and taking in the smells.  It is always chaotic but the people watching is amazing.

Plus there is the street art.  Nothing like the random tags you see around Denver or Detroit.  It reminds me of a past art exhibit at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center.  It was call Street Cred and focused different styles of street art in LA.  Each artist was also given a medium of their choice to make a piece of are or sculpture based on their style.

Let's take a walk around Brick Street...

I like how this one is on a piece of plywood.  No destruction of personal property here

If you had a garage door in the community would you welcome artwork on it?

The Monet of street art:

This is my favorite.  The artist first painted on butchers paper, cut it out, and glued it the wall.  By the next rain storm it will be gone, ready for the next piece of art.

Seven Sisters

On a whim I joined a Meetup group going to Seven Sisters in Southern England.  It has been my favorite time in England so far.  It was a 23 km (14 mile) coastal hike from Seaford to Eastbourne.  I met  some new friends, saw some amazing views, and even got a little sun!

Letters of Love by Friends

Before I left for London there were numerous going away parties held in my honor (I'm loved!). The first of which was held by my best friends Val and Christina.  They were amazing hosts and one of the highlights of the evening was a table with crayons and paper placed on it.  On this table party goers were asked to write or draw me a letter.  This way when I was missing my friends I could pull a letter out and remember I was loved back in Colorado (see still loved!).  Today I opened my second letter and got such a kick out of them I couldn't help but sharing them.

Week 1

Week 2

Thanks for the letters!  I can't wait to open next week's.  P.S.  Who drew the second picture so I can send you an equally awesome drawing back?

It's going to be Bright Bright Bright Sun Shining Day!

The sun is out!  There isn't a cloud in the sky.  I left my apartment thinking it was going to be another drizzly day but it is gorgeous outside!  Who knew England could be so beautiful?  Today is just what I needed.  I've been feeling a bit bummed going home with nothing to do at night.  Luckily there is this great invention called the internet where I can still chat with you!

On the way to work today I thought I was late for the train but I was able to get on with a minute to spare.  Then a lady on the train asked me if I'd like her extra cappuccino that she had gotten for a colleague who missed the train.  Life is good.  I hope you have a good day too!