Yesterday was quite a busy day. We started off by finally making it over to Harrods department store for some gift shopping. I picked up some really nice little gifts for certain people, but I won't tell you what they were or who they were for right now... I guess you'll have to wait! The store was completely ridiculous though. I mean, aside from being insanely huge, it's a complete maze, and I don't think the word 'ornate' begins to describe what it's like in there. It was just cool to walk around and see what all of the different rooms look like. And of course, Stefy and I didn't pass up the chance to have some good eats while we were there. We had lunch at this AMAZING little pizza cafe... and I mean it was seriously some of the best pizza either one of us had ever eaten. Mmmm.

Well, after our overwhelming afternoon at Harrods, Stef and I took a cab over to Leicster Square to check out what tickets might still be available for the night's shows at the TKTS booth. We both really wanted to see David Schwimmer in his play "Some Girls", but it was already sold out for the evening. So, Stefy recommended going to see Shakespeare's "As You Like It" since we've heard so many good things about it. I'm not exactly a big Shakespeare buff or anything, and neither of us had read or seen the play before, but it sounded like a safe bet. This is the play that Jude Law's soon-to-be ex fiancee Sienna Miller is in too, so if nothing else we thought it would be cool to say that we saw her perform. While it took my brain a while to adjust itself to understanding the Shakespearean dialogue, I REALLY enjoyed the show. The main actress who played Rosalind was especially good, although her name escapes me at the moment. Anyway, it was a pretty long play, but both Stefy and I thought it was amazing, so I'm really glad that we decided to go.

Miss Spiro and I continued our adventures through London today. We went to Notting Hill this morning to check out the market on Portobello street, but unfortunately there weren't any Hugh Grant or Julia Roberts sightings. The market itself was pretty cool though. There's an insane amount of stuff on sale at the various little stores and stands lining the streets, and both of us managed to pick out some really cute souvenirs for people back home while we were there. One store in particular, 'Octopus', was quite the goldmine -- between the two of us, we managed to buy presents for at least four or five different people in there.

After a busy morning/early afternoon of shopping, we parked it at an outdoor restaurant for at least and hour and a half. We both had great lunches, and enjoyed the pleasant weather and interesting people watching while we were there. Once we were done with dessert, Stef and I hopped into a cab and headed across town for a covert operation that turned out to be just a dead end. It was kind of a bummer, but at least it we got to enjoy a nice cab ride out of it. Ah well.

Tonight we were planning to finally go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but since my poor Stefy isn't feeling too hot right now, I think we'll probably just stay in for the rest of the night and watch some of the cool dvds that I just got in the mail. Yep, my dad's care package arrived today, and I was really excited about everything he sent me: my back supply of EWs, a Tennis Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, four or five dvds, and four packs of gum! Oh, yeah! It was really nice to get something from home. As much fun as this trip has been, and as much as I'm not really homesick per se, I am definitely starting to miss all of my family, friends, and coworkers. I know my staying in London an extra week will only make it harder, but I guess it'll just be that much more exciting to see everyone once I'm home. Well, I guess that's it for now.

Yesterday morning was pretty productive. I finally got out all of the postcards that I'm sending to my generous benefactors for the trip. Also, while I was out and about I got some good footage for my short documentary project. I hadn't been over to the Tavistock Gardens since July 7, but that's the small park that is right across the street from where the #30 bus blew up. After walking around in there for a while, I finally realized that the statue sitting in the middle of the garden is of Gandhi, which I thought was somewhat ironic, considering the events that took place right in front of him four weeks earlier. So, I basically hung out in the park for a good half our or so and just collected lots of random filler footage that I can hopefully use for cutaways. My overall concept of what this documentary will ultimately be is still somewhat vague, but the idea is constantly solidifying itself in my mind as I gather footage. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday afternoon Stefy and I went out for a looooong walk to do some shopping on Oxford Street. Stef picked out a cute new pair of black shoes and two new pashminas while we were out and about. Of course, my mouth started salivating as soon as I caught a glimpse of the Apple Store on Regent's Street. I had totally forgotten that Apple had FINALLY released a two-button mouse yesterday, so I indulged myself and bought one while I was in the store. Now, for those of you non-mac heads, this is actually a big deal. Apple has eschewed two-button mice for 21 years, so it's actually a pretty big milestone that they finally got it right and added a second button... and a third, and a fourth, and a scroll wheel! They didn't name it Mighty Mouse for nothin'!

On our way back to the dorms we popped into the Virgin Store so Stefy could add some time on her cell phone. While we were in there we noticed their deal of five DVDs for 30 pounds. Since we were pretty pooped and figured that we didn't have the energy to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight, we went in together and bought: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Stand By Me, Roman Holiday, Chocolat, and Bean. So, after grabbing some food at Marks and Spencer, we just came back to Stef's dorm, and had a nice relaxing night in.

Well, that's it for now on this Saturday morning. We're taking off for Harrod's for the first time on the trip, so I'll let you know how that goes. Have a great Friday everyone!

Well, it's been four weeks since the July 7 bombings, and fittingly the Russell Square tube station is re-opening today. The police have set up a really nice remembrance area right near the front of the building for people to come and leave flowers, and sign a book of condolences. Here's hoping nobody tries anything stupid to capitalize on the situation.

Well, my night out on the town with Tim on Tuesday was a success. I met him at the bar inside their hotel at around 6:30 that night, and we sat there and chatted over a couple Cokes for about a half hour. We were both getting really hungry for dinner, but didn't have a lot of time left before the 8:00 show time, so we popped into McDonald's on the way to the theater. The place was half empty when we got there, so we promptly moved up to the second row right when the show started, and had a perfect view of the stage.

Tim and I agreed that the guys who played Frank, Sammy, and Dean were all REALLY good impersonators. The guys who did Frank and Sammy also looked a lot like the originals. The show was a good two and a half hours long with the intermission, but they did a lot more than just sing songs. There was a bunch of fake joking around between the guys, and it was sort of their way of re-creating the real onstage dynamic that the original Rat Pack had. Of course, I'm a bit too young to remember those days, but I think it's safe to say that they exaggerated their characters just a little bit -- every other word out of "Dean's" mouth was some remark about his heavy drinking. Still, it was a really fun evening, and I was glad to finally get some time to hang out with Stef's dad and talk where it was just the two of us.

On the surface, Wednesday seemed like a pretty lazy day since I didn't really DO anything outside, but I actually got a lot done indoors. I spent most of the morning researching ideas for my short documentary film, and think I finally found the inspiration I was looking for. Now my tentative plan is to go back to Bognor Regis on Tuesday to see Ken and Margaret so I can spend some time sitting down and getting them to talk on camera. Stef is leaving with her class for York on Tuesday for a couple days too, so at least it works out that we'll be gone at the same time. Basically, I want to get some footage of Ken and Margaret talking about the London they used to know and love, and hopefully get Margaret going about all of "those bloody foreigners". Then, when I get back here, I'll just get as much random footage of people and places throughout the city trying to show that it's not as bad as she thinks it is. I know this idea sounds a little flaky at this point, but trust me, it actually fits in with what we were talking about during the first half of the course perfectly.

Anyway, I met up with Stefy for a nice mid afternoon lunch at the Russell Square Cafe this afternoon, and then went back to my dorm when she had class at 1:45. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon putting some of the finishing touches on my new website design, and I think it's pretty much ready to go live once I get back to the States. Later on in the afternoon, I went out to walk for a bit up on Tottenham Court Road. I bought a quick sandwich and lemonade for dinner at Marks and Spencer, and then popped into Virgin Megastore for a bit to look around. After about an hour stores were starting to close, so I headed over to Stef's dorm at around 6:30. She was just getting ready to leave for her play at Regent's Park with class when I got there, so it worked out well for me to give her a smooch on her way out. While she was gone I just pretty much hung out in her room and spent a few hours doing some work on the M.I.T.F. website. I actually got a lot done, and was glad that I was able to keep things updated while being thousands of miles away.

I still haven't figured out for sure yet if I'm going to stay in London an extra week like I talked about. Spartan Travel finally got back to me and said that no flights are available on the following weekend, but I told Tim to call them and see what he could figure out. Hopefully I'll know for sure what I'm doing within a day or two. Ta ta for now.

Just a quick note... I'm heading out to see the Rat Pack Tribute show with Tim tonight. Teri and Justin are seeing some other show, and since it's their last night in London, I'm going out with Tim since no one else wanted to see this show with him. Should be fun.

New pictures from the last week are online. You can see them here.

Okay, so I'll admit it... as excited as I was for France, I was still a little skeptical going in. We hadn't heard many good things about French people in general before leaving, and after having lost the Olympic bid to London, it's mystique seemed a little tarnished. How wrong was I?

This city is amazing! In comparison to London, it's even more spread out, and consequently seems to be much less crowded. Every French person we've encountered has been very gracious about our speaking English (although, Stef's French has come in handy more than a few times). The scenery here is beautiful. The museums are better than London's. The food is better. The Eiffel Tower is spectacular. Their subway system hasn't been bombed recently. Taking all of these things into consideration, I think I can safely say that Paris was robbed. Don't get me wrong, I still think London is an unbelievably amazing city, but there is something magical about the city of lights.

The train ride on Friday was pretty pleasant, and went by pretty fast since Stef and I watched about five consecutive episodes of 'The Office' on my computer. We stayed at Le Meridien Montparnasse, and while the location wasn't quite as close to some of the major landmarks as we were anticipating, it was still pretty easy to catch a cab right outside the lobby. Shortly after unpacking and settling into our rooms on Friday night, we hit the streets looking for a place to eat. The consierge sent us in the wrong direction looking for restaurants, but we finally got our bearings and found a cute little French café. After a wonderful dinner, we piled into two cabs -- which we had to do the whole trip, because there were five us us -- and headed over to the Eiffel Tower. It was still pretty light outside when we got there, but we decided not to take the ride up to the top, and just sort of walk around and sit on the grass instead. Once the sun finally dipped below the horizon they turned on the giant spotlights that keep the tower lit at night, and once it was officially 'dark' out, they turned on the sparkly lights (I guess this is a relatively new feature, and basically makes the tower look like a giant disco ball for about 10 minutes at the top of every hour). It was simply breathtaking. I don't think you really get a sense of how HUGE the structure is from pictures. The replica in Las Vegas ceratinly doesn't do it justice either. We all sat outside and just sort of watched the tower for about an hour or so, and Stef and I managed to take about a million pictures while we were there. I really can't tell you how amazing it was to be at the Eiffel Tower with my girlfriend... I loved every minute of it!

Saturday was by far the busiest day of my entire European expedition. I don't know how we managed to cram in so many things, but it was all worth it. We kicked things off in the morning with breakfast at our hotel, which was much better than any of us were expecting. After breakfast we grabbed a couple cabs and headed over to the Champs Elysees for some morning shopping. Nobody was having much luck finding anything while we were out, but Stef and I spotted a cute little store called 'Morgan', so we popped in there and picked out a small change purse with the name written all over it for me to give to my little sister (since I missed her birthday). After a long morning jaunt up the avenue, the Champs Elysees ends at the Arc de Triomphe, so we went through the street's underpass to check out the Arc and take some pictures. It's another deceivingly large structure, but decidedly less exciting than the Eiffel Tower.

So, with two more major landmarks checked off our list of things to do, we caught a copule cabs again and headed over to the next site... Napoleon's tomb. All I gotta say is, I want my burial site to be at least twice as extravagant as that dump. Seriously though, I don't think I've ever seen such an opulent tomb in my life. Good God, the place was huge! And it's funny too that they needed such a big casket structure to bury Napoleon in, considering his small stature.

Well, after scoping out Napoleon's tomb we grabbed a bite of lunch at a nearby cafe, and then went for a long walk. Teri wanted to find the Louis Vuitton store, but we kept getting lost along the way, so we managed to kill ourselves looking for the joint. I bet it took us at least an hour to find it. Of course, I was less than interested in doing any shopping there, but the girls were excited to look around for a bit. Once Stefy was done inside we decided to break off from the rest of the group, and take a cab over to the Musee D'Orsay It's an art museum like the Louvre, but much smaller, and with a completely different collection of pieces. Basically it's housed in an old train station, and has a lot of impressionist paintings. We saw a lot of stuff from Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Whistler, and a bunch of others. While I'm not exactly a big art buff or anything, I think we saw a lot of really cool paintings, and the museum itself was pretty huge and amazing to walk through.

After we were done at the Musee D'Orsay Stef and I went for a little jaunt along Seine River for a bit, before taking nice mid-afternoon break for ice cream in the park. What can I say? The weather was gorgeous, the park was beautiful, the ice cream was great, and we had another great view of the Eiffel Tower. It was a perfect afternoon with my girl.

We managed to pack a LOT of stuff into our day on Saturday. So, logically, we tried to tone things down a bit on Sunday so we didn't get too burned out. We all spent most of the morning at the Louvre checking out their insanely huge collection of art. I have to say though, aside from highlights like the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo, Stefy and I both liked the pieces we saw at Musee D'Orsay a lot better. That said, the museum itself was quite the site to see, and we were both thrilled to finally get a chance to go there.

After the Louvre, Stefy and I went back to the hotel and collapsed for most of the afternoon. We were both pretty pooped out from everything, so we just chilled out with a couple episodes of The Office on my computer. Later in the evening we all got gussied up and went for this really cool boat ride on the Seine. We had dinner and champagne, there was a live band and singer, and we got to see all of the sites lit up along the river at night. It was TERRIFIC. I really just can't tell you how wonderful it was. All of us had a great time, and are still raving about how much we enjoyed ourselves.

This morning Stefy and I went out for some last minute shopping in Paris before leaving to head back to London. I didn't get anything, but Stef picked out some really cool outfits for herself at H&M while we were out and about. It was nice to venture out into the city one last time before we had to leave. The driver picked us up shortly before 2, and our train ride back to London went smoothly. Tonight we all went out to dinner at Pizza Express with Stef's cousin Olivia since it was her last night in the UK before she flies back to the states (she's been here for an internship since mid-May). This might be the last time we get a chance to spend any time with Stef's family before they leave on Wednesday since Stefy has a play for class tomorrow, so it was a really nice way to wrap up our time with them.

Whew, well this might set a record for my longest, most incoherent post ever, but it was an amazing weekend. All I have to say is, if you have never been to Paris... you must go. I really can't thank the Spiros enough for their generosity in taking me to the city of lights. It was an experience I will remember fondly for the rest of my life.