Happy 50th Pops!

Chelsea and I celebrated my father's birthday by strolling through Hyde Park, visiting a special Picasso exhibit at the National Gallery, touring Westminster Hall, going out dinner with all my friends, and then seeing a West End play, 39 Steps (it was very average).

Bath tomorrow...

Chelsea Comes Tonight

After work and a quick dinner, I'm off to Heathrow Airport to pick up her up. We haven't set up any strict London itinerary, but we'll be probably hit the Tate Modern, Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey. The one thing that is set in stone is that we'll be spending the day in Bath on Friday.

Another Day in the Office

Today, Mark treated me and my co-worker, Andrew to lunch. It was nice to sit and chat with both of them about travel, politics, and life at a less professional level.

Tomorrow there is a good chance I'll get to watch Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. For those of you that don't know PMQs, as they're called, are one of the most dramatic moments in politics. Basically the Prime Minister of the Government gets grilled by members of the Opposition party for an hour.

Here's a classic example of Tony Blair picking apart former Prime Minister John Major.

Spontaneous Concert

So mid-conversation with a dear friend today, I get a text from Jill saying that we should try and scalp tickets to see a sold-out Fleet Foxes concert. The Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut album last year was critically-acclaimed universally and a personal favourite of mine that I couldn't seem to stop listening to.

Needless to say we were successful in scalping and managed to only pay $27 a piece (The tickets were going for $60 on eBay last week). We also snuck up right along side the stage. Not bad for coming 15 minutes before their set. The show was really great--very unique atmosphere because everyone was listening so intently. The vocals on their albums  rival those of the Beach Boys and Crosby, Still, & Nash and surprisingly none of that sounds is lost in their live shows. In fact, their voices are even stronger live.

Jill and I hung around long enough to meet one of the band members, who was nice enough to have the entire band sign my ticket

Fleet Foxes Live

This weekend

This weekend I visited the ancient Greek exhibit in the British Museum which has the marble statues that once surrounded the Parthenon. 

Last night I went to a club down the street that Prince Harry and Prince William frequent. 

And today, I explored Hyde Park for several hours today before starting on my homework.

Chelsea comes on Wednesday and is staying until Monday. I am very excited to see her.

Everything Else I Did In Edinburgh

The second day I was in Edinburgh, my morning began with 2 presentations from Members of Scottish Parliament. For those of you that don't know in 1999 Tony Blair and the House of Commons passed an Act of Parliament that created a devolved Parliament in Scotland that took on certain responsibilities like education and health care. 

Then I went to visit Mark's constituency office downtown. I spoke with the three women that work there about how things work at the office. So now I not only know how Mark's London office is run, but how he works when he is home. Mark makes a point to respond to every single letter or email from every single constituent. He works very hard and is very in touch with his constituency.

The highlight of my day, however, was visiting the Edinburgh Castle later in the afternoon. Since the 12th century there has been a royal castle in that spot although few of the current building pre-date the 16th century. Either way, it is older than almost anything you'll find in the states.

front entrance of the castle

The castle was absolutely gorgeous and the view of the city was absolutely beautiful. I cannot imagine living there. Another cool thing I saw inside the castle was the the barracks were they kept French and American prisoners of war during the "American War of Independence" or Revolutionary War.

For dinner I had haggis which is a traditional Scottish dish.  For those of you who aren't grossed out you probably don't know what it is. According to Wikipedia it consists of sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, andsalt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.

At night we took advantage of the hopping night-life in Edinburgh and celebrated my friend Nicki's 21st birthday. 

Some Pictures from Day 1

One of the many cathedrals along the Royal Mile

Our ghost tour guide

The start of the Royal Mile

A view of the castle from below