Ronan is just awesome. And sometimes a terrifying gremlin. I can't believe how much he's grown in the last two weeks, and not just in size. Ronan has been coming to work with me everyday. I got a baby gate for my new office door so he is trapped, and, much like kids, if you exercise him enough he doesn't have enough energy to be that bad. He's managed not to get fired or to completely disrupt business. He's got the hang of walking on a leash (from watching the big dogs do it), and free-feeding. And potty training has been unbelievable - he asks to go out (even at night), and we're at about 3 accidents a week. That's right...not a day, a WEEK. That's my boy. Now we just really need to work on the biting.

Ronan also started his search and rescue training this week. I thought he was too young (9 weeks), but I went to the regular training (for some dogs that are between 1 and 2 years old), but the lady in charge said he could start that day. He did great. There are some pictures below of him and of one of the other dogs we're training - a malamute named Louie. At this point it's pretty basic:  Ro meets someone, sees that they have the treats (he is highly motivated by food), they run away and at the last minute hide behind a tree while he is watching, he'll smell a scent article belonging to that person, and then he goes and finds them and we all get VERY excited, and he gets a lot of treats. It's all a big game. And then the last time he might not get to watch, and has to follow his nose. This is all over a very short distance to start.

We've also been hanging out with my coworker Mandy and her 3 dogs some more. We've been going up to Snowy Range, the mountains west of Laramie, and letting the dogs romp. Ronan experienced his first snow up there this last weekend. He loved it. And he watches Mandy's dogs very closely to see what you're supposed to do. He also eats a lot of elk poop up there. There are pictures and videos of all this stuff below.

And as for me - aside from my life being entirely taken over by the tiny terror - work is going well. I'm working on some interesting analyses, and we're hiring some new help which will lighten the load. It's been nice having Clistie and her friends around. And I've signed up for an outdoor emergency care class with ski patrol, so my Thursday evenings and one day a weekend will be busy through the end of November. I'm really excited for it, and the skills will carry over to search and rescue and my job. Well anyway, enjoy the pictures and videos!

Some Search and Rescue training photos:

Ronan's first snow....and playing with the big dogs up at Snowy Range.

Ronan vs. The Stick

The puppy is finally here! August was a terribly busy month with work, but I got to do some neat analyses and even brought in my first client to the company. The month ended at least with a lovely 10-day vacation to Pittsburgh/Ohio, where I got to see many of my favorite people. While I was there I went and looked at some puppies, and decided to get one.

This is the little guy I picked. He's a German Shepherd, and after a long debate his name is Ronan (an Irish name). It just suits him once you get to know him. My sister Kelly flew him out last weekend, and she stayed most of the week. Overall he's very sweet, but as he's a puppy he also has a very mischievous side. He's a good mix of cautious and brave, person-oriented and independent. We've been lots of places, practiced going in the car (a lot), and met lots of people and lots of other dogs. We went to work Friday afternoon, and it went pretty well. And I get to move into my new office tomorrow, which will work much better for entrapping the beast when he isn't sleeping. It was great having Kelly here, too. We got to catch up, and she got to see where I live, where I work, and spend some time around Laramie. I took her to some of Laramie's one-of-a-kind restaurants, some of the local shops, and the former Wyoming Territorial Prison. She didn't get to see any of the landscape, though, as it rained all day, every day, while she was here. That's unheard of for Laramie. We didn't have quite the flooding that Denver got, but we got all the rain. Sometimes it's better to be closer to the top of the mountain than where all the water runs off. If Kelly's flight had been any later I don't think she would have made it out. Here's some more pictures and videos - the one with the ice cube is my favorite.

Ronan's first ice cube:

Ronan just loved chasing my nephew Kyan all over the house...

I'm finally starting to really settle into Laramie - getting routines and habits down, making better friends. The most exciting part by far has been working with Search and Rescue. We've been practicing a lot for rescues in the climbing areas. We did some low angle training (i.e. not terribly steep) with the litter, and practiced setting different types of anchors. We did a knot tying classroom session, then went high angle climbing the next day (without the litter, just to get more used to climbing and practice all those new knot tying and belay skills). The rocks up here are at Vedauwoo (pronounced vee-da-voo) are Sherman granite and have crystals that are great for climbing - you can stand your whole weight on a few millimeters of crystal. But if you slide down one it will take a nice chunk of you with it....just ask my left shin. (I did include a picture, so if you don't want to see  it I suggest pausing Vedauwoo is also known for having great wide cracks for climbing (called off-widths). Around the time I moved here a guy got his knee stuck in one of the cracks out there and had to be rescued. It happened to be one of the climbs we did, called "Easy Jam".....quite an apt name. I also got to go on my first search with Search and Rescue this past (very early) Tuesday morning. I'm not quite sure how much is appropriate to post online, but I'd be happy to tell you all about it you give me a call. I got to go out on the team with the dog, which was a great experience. And I'll be getting to help with some of the dog training starting this next week.

Speaking of dogs, I sadly do not have  dog still. I had an application in for a dog that sounded like a great fit, but I think the foster-mom wanted to keep the dog and the rescue took forever to tell me anything and was not very helpful. I've just given up on that one. I've started looking at other dogs, or might just bring a puppy back from Pittsburgh with me at the beginning of September. For anyone who hasn't heard, I will be taking a trip back to Pittsburgh/Ohio at the end of August. Can't wait to see everybody!

Other than that, I've been doing some trail running (well, not so much the last 2 weeks since my leg was healing). There are some decent trails right behind my apartment. It's so flat here on the high plains you can see the weather coming from a long way off, and the very abrupt difference between raining and not raining....check out the picture below. I've been hanging out more with my friend Mandy from work. She's just great. She has 2 dogs that come to work with her most days, so we bonded over dogs and a mutual love for Diet Dr. Pepper. Work has been good, and busy. I finally made it over to the corporate headquarters in Cheyenne this month. And I've got some exciting new projects. The next few weeks will be extra busy to get everything done or to a reasonable state before my trip east. Clistie is finally back in Laramie after her month-long family trip to many of the west's national parks. Her parents stayed with us for a few days when they dropped her off in town.

I'll work on taking some more pictures....especially nature ones per request....but here's a few til then:

There hasn't been a whole lot of note to write about lately - mostly just settling in to life in Laramie - but I'll tell you about a few of the highlights.

There's a shop in town called Works of Wyoming that only sells local artists' work, helps to teach them some business principals, and has some of the artists put on workshops. I took one on wire working that was really interesting. I got to meet some other crafty people, and mess around with making a very contemporary ring. The next weekend I went down to Denver for my nephew Kyan's bowling birthday party. My former roommate, and once again current roommate - the infamous Clistie Puckett - moved in a few weeks ago. She'll be in and out throughout the summer....the joys of being a teacher. We got to do a bit of hiking and exploring while she was here, but then she headed back down to Colorado Springs to help with the aide/relief for the Black Forest fire. I went on a picnic/hike with one of my coworkers, his wife, and 1-year old daughter. Their daughter is adorable, and they have another on the way...yay for friends with kids that I can play with! And this last weekend I went down to Denver again for my niece Zeya's dance recital, and brunch with Lauren. I've been looking at dogs, I got a promotion of sorts at work, I've been meeting lots of new people, and getting to know the friends I've already made a bit more. Things are busy, but good. I've also slacked on taking pictures. Below are a few....I'll work on some more exciting ones for next time....

So far everything is going swimmingly. My apartment has worked out really well, I'm really enjoying work and the people in my office, and I've even managed to make a few friends. I have been pretty tired and the altitude is certainly noticeable, but these too shall pass. This last weekend I finally made it back down to Denver. And making it there was really a challenge....it's still proper winter here in too many ways. There are only 2 main roads in and out of Laramie, and when there's inclement weather they close the troublesome stretch of road. Between Laramie and Cheyenne (about a 45-minute drive) the road was closed in 5 places for about 2 1/2 days. I got lucky and the sun came out and the mountain pass opened. Jenna, Zeya, and Kyan had a signing choir show, and it was awesome to go and watch. Here's a clip from it, but it really doesn't come close to doing it justice:  http://videos.dailycamera.com/services/player/bcpid1146552157001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAFSLizo~,ugsvBtRv1stvvcRBKSXBdVNZS1ysEupB&bclid=0&bctid=2312973781001.
Since my work schedule is so pleasantly flexible, I was able to work from the Harris kitchen Friday. Saturday I got to have brunch with my little sister Lauren. It was great to see her face-to-face. Think that'll become a monthly occurrence.

Saturday afternoon I headed down to Colorado Springs to visit my old roommate - the infamous Clistie Puckett. Actually, as she's moving to Laramie shortly, we've decided to become roommates once again. She took me walking in the Red Rocks area, we went to the zoo, and ate dinner at a Greek restaurant complete with dancing, fire breathing, and plate smashing - OPA! Sunday we went to church and then to an ultimate frisbee game. I was going to play and relive my high school days, but I had a bit of a stomach ache and headed back to Laramie in the early afternoon. What a great weekend though. And now back to work!

An interesting aside, Colorado Springs was one of the areas with large fires last summer. There's a time lapse video of the Waldo Canyon fire below, though I suggest skipping ahead to Tuesday as it's rather long. Clistie's boyfriend is actually one of the people who was in the command post coordinating the firefighting efforts, which helped him to become the youngest ever Red Cross CEO, and he's posted here in Wyoming. The fire took out some 400 homes when it jumped the mountains into Colorado Springs - and on one day it was 102 degrees and 0% humidity...guess I better prepare for summer!

And no, that's not an April Fools' Day joke. I really have moved to Wyoming - Laramie to be exact. I haven't written anything on here for a few months since I've had the pleasure of seeing most of you in person back in Pittsburgh/Christansburg/Beavercreek/Springfield. But to summarize, I started applying for jobs in earnest in the new year, and I finally accepted one. I wasn't all that sure about the job at first, but I really liked the company, and they made me a great offer. So here I am. I now work for WEST, Inc. (stands for Western EcoSystems Technology - check it out at www.west-inc.com). They do everything I do:  biology, math, conservation.

I packed my life up in about a week, and started the long trek across the country. The drive went well - LONG, but well. My dad made the journey, though I had a few very kind offers for which I am very grateful : ) We actually took 2 cars, my new Subaru Forester and my parents' old car for my little sister down in Denver. It meant we each had to drive for about 22 hours, but it did have a few benefits. Namely I could take more stuff, and it was surprisingly helpful to have someone watching my car from the outside since I had the kayak, rowing machine, and bikes strapped on. Even though we weren't in the same car it was just mentally relieving having someone else along the way. I kept waiting to be pulled over - particularly at night - because with the rower wrappd in plastic and duct tape my car looked suspiciously tank-like, or at least weaponized. We stopped in Omaha Wednesday night, and made it to Laramie Thursday around 3. Not too bad. I signed the lease and we hauled all the stuff inside, which was trickier than anticipated because I'm on the 3rd floor, and I always forget that the altitude makes things so much harder until you get acclimated. We had dinner at this nice restaurant (appropriately) called Altitude's Chophouse and Brewery. A quick run to Walmart - the only all-in-one store in town - and then to a well-deserved rest. 

(By the way, my apartment complex is ridiculous. It's intended for college kids as the University of Wyoming is based here, but this was so not my college experience. It's fully furnished, brand new appliances (fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher, washer and dryer), utilities included - including internet and cable, has a gym, pool, fire pits, sand volleyball court, and free coffee shop (coffe, lattes, cappuchinos - the whole lot). My lease ends July 31 - enough time to get to know Laramie - don't know if I want to continue living amongst the young collegiates, but it is a great deal.)
  
Friday we unpacked a wee bit, another Walmart trip, and then headed to Denver to see Jenna, Mike, and the kids. I hadn't realized at first just how close Laramie and Denver are, but it's just under 2 hours, so I'm sure I'll be posting about them a lot in the upcoming months since I get to visit a lot more often now.  I ended up spending the night because we got about 10 inches of snow before it was all said and done. I made it back late Saturday, and didn't get too much more done til Sunday when a massive unpacking occured.
 
Monday I started work. I got to talk to everybody, fill out piles of paperwork, and even got my first project. I really like everyone in the office so far. And the best part:  I'm allowed to bring my dog to work....when I actually have one. But my apartment also allows dogs, so it probably won't be too long til I have a beastie. My hours are really flexible - pretty much just get in your 40 hours a week and talk with the others on your project as needed, but if you want to come in at 7 and leave at 3, or head out in the middle of the day to go skiing, have at it. Right now I'm working on data from the BP oil spill, but that's all the more I'm legally allowed to say. I built a database last week and they really liked it....so far so good!
 
I had dinner with my old roommate from Wittenberg on Wednesday (small world....she had 4 or 5 teaching interviews in Laramie last week and will likely be moving here this summer!). One of the ladies in my office kindly took me to lunch today, I met a few others around town throughout the week, and this Wednesday I'm meeting up with
one of Missy's client's sister-in-laws. So not too lonely either.
 
Saturday I vegged out a bit because I was just wiped after all the excitement of the last few weeks. Sunday I tried one of the churches in town, did a last bit of decorating and unpacking, cleaned and shopped and did laundry. Think I'm finally settled. I even cooked a proper dinner tonight. I wish you all were here to share in the adventure with me, but I'll just have to give you some pictures instead. These are all apartment photos, but I'll get some of Laramie and my office up soon.....relatively....

We started Paris off with a walking tour that took us to Notre Dame, the sites of Marie Antoinette’s imprisonment and beheading, the Louvre courtyards, and a few other places. We got more history about the places in Paris than actually seeing them, since it’s too far to walk to all of the places in a reasonable amount of time. From there we got lunch in a French restaurant, and then actually went into the Louvre. That place is amazing. And not just because of all the stuff inside – the building itself is just amazing. And massive. You’d never make it through the whole thing thoroughly in 3 days, so forget seeing it all in 3 hours. But I can now claim to have seen the Mona Lisa in person. We headed back to the hostel to grab dinner and were going to go out on the pub crawl, but we were a tad late and just tired (somehow travelling for 2 months does that to you), so we gave it a miss. Tuesday morning we were all set to go to the Catacombs and stopped at reception to clarify on directions, only to find out that the place is temporarily closed (they just don’t tell you that on the website). So we popped up to the Moulin Rouge and the Sacre Coeur district. We grabbed the subway over to the Arc de Triomphe, and strolled through town window shopping. The booths for the Christmas markets are erected, but not open yet. Too bad for all my friends and family....Caitlin stopped in the Impressionist Museum, but I was just beat so I grabbed a cup of coffee instead and watched the sun go down and the city light up over by the Louvre. Then we headed up to the top of the famed Eiffel Tower. It really is quite the view. We finished our night with a lovely dinner in a French restaurant and packed up all our belongings. Now for home!

I don’t think that I’ve mentioned it before, but Caitlin is a massive Liverpool fan (football, or rather soccer, for those who aren’t familiar). And since it was such a short train ride away, we just had to stop by the stadium. We had tried to sort out tickets for a match the previous Sunday, but they’re a bit hard to come by, so we settled for watching Liverpool play Russia in a pub next to the stadium. Liverpool is a bit of a rough town –few fancy buildings or architecture, slightly gaudy accents – definitely not built with tourists in mind, but interesting to visit for that reason. We went to the stadium, watched the match, grabbed some dinner, and headed back to our B&B. Speaking of the B&B, that was some quality accommodation. It was pretty cheap, but we had a high-ceilinged room with 2 separate beds, our own separate kitchen and bathroom, and a HOT shower.

Friday we flew to Barcelona, via RyanAir. RyanAir has the cheapest tickets, but they try to catch you on everything. For example, if you forget to print off your boarding pass they charge you 60 pounds/euros to print it during check-in. That might be twice the cost of your actual ticket. We nearly forgot to print our passes, which would have been another 120 pounds, but we remembered at the bus stop and ran back to the B&B. Whew. The flight was uneventful, and we arrived in Barcelona no problemo. Spain has a different culture than many other part of Europe. Everything is close and packed in, people stand much closer to you when they talk, shops are full of anything they think someone might want to buy. It’s a very social place. Our hostel, in keeping with the culture, did a big communal dinner every night. We all met out on the roof at 9 o’clock (they eat much later, too), and enjoyed a bowl of sangria and getting to know the other travelers. Then we went downstairs and crowded around tables grouped together for a family-style dinner, which was both vegetarian and good. Dinner was followed by a cabaret at 11, where a girl from Utah who performs with a fiery hool-a-hoop (sans fire, this time) amazed us all, and then 2 of the receptionists, well, I don’t actually know how to describe what they did. Crazy partner yoga of sorts. What a show. The others went out for a night on the town, but Caitlin and I decided to stay in so we could make the most of the next day.

We started that next day with a visit to Camp Nou, the football (soccer) stadium of the Barcelona team. Then we headed over to the Sagrada Familia, the Church of the Royal Family. The outside is quite a sight, so I can only imagine the inside, but there was a l-o-o-o-o-n-g line and we wanted to see other things, too. We wandered through parts known for their architecture, had the most delicious pastries (wait til you see the pictures), and headed to a tapas bar for lunch. I love tapas bars. We got a bottle of rioja, assorted olives, garlic mushrooms, patatas bravas, an open-faced toast with chorizo and cheese, or in Caitlin’s case sundried tomato and goat’s cheese. Just yum. We missed the walking tour of the Gothic quarter, but just wandered a bit ourselves. We had coffee on an outdoor patio, walked, and shopped. It’s a great place for shopping. Then we had traditional paella (seafood paella for me) down on the waterfront, with a big pitcher of sangria (again, not until late). I really enjoyed Barcelona and the Spanish culture. Today we are on a train to Paris – my final city on this adventure!

Sunday we grabbed the train up to Glasgow, Scotland to visit the infamous Sarah Dowling, a fellow biocon. She got a job reducing landfill waste for a whiskey company – the first biocon with a proper job! We got in a little passed 4, and it took most of the rest of the night, and some dinner with Ginger Grouse (her company’s new beer – hooray for product allotment!), to recount all the happenings of our trip and hear about Sarah’s new life in Glasgow. Sarah had to go to work the next day, and Caitlin and I thought we’d have a bit of lie in then go around Glasgow, but it was just so nice sitting on the couches drinking coffee and relaxing, in a flat to ourselves, that we managed pretty much nothing that day. Fortunately, it was the 5th of November and Guy Fawkes Night in the UK, so there was plenty to do that evening. We got to meet Sarah’s lovely flat mate, Eva, and her friend Chad and former flat mate joined us as well for the festivities. We went to the West End bar by Glasgow Green and watched the fireworks. It’s a bit like America’s 4thof July celebrations, except we celebrate a successful revolution and they celebrate the successful quashing of a revolution. We enjoyed the local beer and some chats, then got – at Chad’s suggestion – deep-fried haggis and a deep-fried Mars bar (candy bar) on the way home. As it turns out, haggis is pretty good, and certainly not how I pictured it in my mind. It’s really similar to regular ground meat with minced onions andspices cooked in, but a slightly stickier consistency. Definitely worth a try if you get the chance.

The next day Caitlin and I got lucky and got the last 2 seats on a tour up to Loch Ness. We stopped off at Loch Lomond on the way, and went pass Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in Scotland), Glencoe (site of the famous MacDonald massacre), and a few other places. We got dropped off at Urquhart Castle and left to explore the ruins for about an hour, then took a cruise across Loch Ness in search of the famed beast. I’m sorry to report there were no Nessie sightings that day. There was plenty of bagpipe music and lovely views to compensate. We made a large circle of Scotland by bus, but the whole ordeal was nearly 13 hours, so we were a bit wrecked when we finally made it back to Sarah’s. That dear girl had cooked us dinner with lots of spinach, which was simply delicious, along with a few Brew Dogs since they’re made in Scotland. (Europe tends to give you fewer vegetables when your order a meal, so the spinach was doubly appreciated after all our travels.) Sarah and I nipped off for a bit of whiskey drinking while Caitlin was in the shower, and just had a lovely time catching up one-on-one. Then we came back and turned on the news to watch as the election votes started coming in. We did pretty well, seeing as we were still awake by around half one, but gave up and went to bed before anything significant was really known.

The next day we awoke to the news that Obama was President again for 4 more years, and Sarah had managed to get a day of to spend with us. She did her undergrad at Edinburgh University, so the 3 of us headed over to Edinburgh and Sarah gave us a personal tour of the town. It’s one cool city. Because the town had built up rather than out back in the day, you end up with streets on top of streets (I’ve no idea how you’d show that on a map), and all sorts of neat architecture demarcating different levels. The castle sits atop Castle Rock overlooking all of the surrounding area, and the sea is at the other end of the city. We grabbed a coffee in a shop looking out over the city, wandered around the outside of the castle, walked past the shops and looked in at the Queen’s Gallery, and decided it was time for lunch. There’s a fantastic shop called Oink, where they spit-roast one pig a day, make pork sandwiches with seasoned stuffing and applesauce and crackling if you’d like, and when the pig is gone they close the shop. They only do one thing, but they sure do it well. We popped into a more vegetarian-friendly restaurant so Caitlin could eat something, too, saw a bit of Edinburgh University, and did a bit of shopping. Sarah recommended a tour of the vaults, but decided it was scary enough the first time she did so she wouldn’t be joining me and Caitlin. So while Sarah meandered and reminisced, Caitlin and I went on a tour of vaults built into a lengthy, lengthy bridge. The vaults had been intended to be storage space for shopkeepers atop the bridge, but leaked when it rained (bit of a problem in Scotland), so they shopkeepers quickly removed their wares from them and the city’s homeless quickly moved in. As you can imagine, the vaults weren’t nice places to live, and there were many deaths there, so they are now renowned for their ghosts and paranormal activity. A cloaked tour guide showed us around and shared some of the horrific tales of the vaults. I found it all quite interesting, though I think Caitlin was more of a mind with Sarah on this one. We met back up with Sarah and went for a drink, then got the train back to Glasgow. We grabbed a late dinner and said our goodbyes (since Sarah would be leaving for work before we were like to be up).

Caitlin and I got packed the next morning, than ran to Piece, the sandwich shop were Eva works, to get lunch for the train ride. Piece is a great shop, and I got a baguette with Polish beer sausage, dilled beet root, horseradish mayonnaise, and lettuce that was again delicious. But Eva wouldn’t even let us pay for it. We owe her a huge thanks. It was lovely of Sarah to have us stay with her and give up her own bed, to cook for us, to be our tour guide, and to let us wash all our clothes (thanks again, Sarah!). But Eva didn’t even know us before this weekend, and still let us invade her space, take over the wash for 3 days, use her hairdryer in her room, hang out and entertain us, and then bought us lunch on top of it all. What a pair. So a big thanks to Eva as well, and if either of you end up in my neck of the woods I will gladly return the favor. Cheers, ladies!

We had the potential for another train disaster leaving Amsterdam, as the train just never came. We had a changeover before connecting with the ferry, so time was of the essence. Luckily we found another train stopping at the changeover station, and we made it to the ferry – crisis averted. The ferry was quite nice, with comfy seats and windows, shops, restaurants, 3 different styles of bars…they even had a cinema onboard. Got a bit of reading in, had some dinner, and made it to London without further hitches, though late in the evening. The next morning we switched to a different hostel, conveniently located on King’s Cross Road, right by King’s Cross, which many of you may recognize from Harry Potter. And yes, I found Platform 9 and ¾. I even have pictures to prove it. We went to a pub from the 18th century for lunch – Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – the kind of place that has a peat fire going and sawdust on the floors and big cozy booths. I had braised pheasant with stewed vegetable and berries and baked asparagus with bacon and cheese. It was delicious, along with the pub’s own organic lager. We stopped back at the hostel and sorted out our flights to Barcelona next week, then went to London Bridge before going on the Grim Reapers of London tour. It took us all over the East End, to Tower Bridge, the Bloody Tower, Traitor’s Gate, the plague pits, the world’s first psychiatric hospital, and to the sites where several of Jack the Ripper’s victims were found. Dark, but fun. We met two other girls on our tour who were studying in France, so we grabbed a bit to eat with them and swapped stories. 

The next morning I had a very cold, very pathetic shower –the kind you have to push the button and you get 10 seconds of water and then it turns off. It was fairly miserable, but it was nice to be clean afterwards. And, at my insistence, we stopped at Starbucks and got some Christmas flavored coffees to take on our walking tour. The tour guide was an absolute hoot, and took us just about everywhere – including Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben among other places. We had lunch at The Old Monk’s Exchange with another girl we’d met on our tour, Kelsey, from America working as an au pair in Italy. They even had Hobgoblin on tap! We parted ways and Caitlin and I headed for the Natural History Museum. Sadly, there was a very long queue to see the dinosaur exhibit, and we didn’t have a ton of time there, so we gave it a miss and explored the rest. It’s an amazing museum, and they do an excellent job of explaining ideas and concepts and significance in their displays. You could spend days in there. We grabbed a British dinner, and here by British I mean something that sounded pretty good on the menu and yet they still managed to make it bland. But we had a great Rioja wine with it and a great chat, and decided London was much cooler than we had expected. Turned out Kelsey was in our room at the hostel that night – so a pleasant surprise to end with.