Brick Lane, Smoked Salmon, and Movie Night

I might have discovered my favorite part of London... I can't claim it for 100% positive yet, but it's safe to say that it is one of the coolest areas I've been to...

One of my best friends from school has a cousin, Lauren, that has lived here since she was three. When my friend heard I was going to be spending the summer in London, she gave her cousin my name and we've been emailing back and forth for a while now. We finally were able to meet today and she took me down the the above mentioned place, Brick Lane. It's a much more artsy/young/indie (NOT ND mom and dad :) hahaha) area. Tons of little shops and restaurants. It was a lot of fun and I'm planning on taking a group of girls from the flat there sometime soon.

While she was showing me around she brought up that there was supposedly a REALLY good bagel shop somewhere around. We somehow stumbled upon it and even though it looked kinda shady, we decided to give it a try.... Good decision. DAD... You will be so pleased to hear I tried something very British... and it was absolutely delicious: A smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel sandwich... Seriously, I wanted it again for dinner, but I resisted. I decided to opt for a healthier meal of chicken sandwich and fruit.

After our delicious lunch, Lauren wanted to show me her part of town. She lives in the east side... Hackney. Her flat is a very small studio type, but the neighborhood is very adorable. She also has a little cat named Ralph! He is also very adorable and has taken a strange liking to me. Lauren claims he never really likes strangers, but he wouldn't leave me alone.. I told her it was because my father's name is Ralph... Must be it, really.

I was glad to finally meet her and have a friend that knows the town. I look forward to hanging out with her some more and meeting her friends.

Tonight, our GR, Phillip, organized a movie night for the flat. We were supposed to watch V for Vendetta, but the disc was scratched so we ended up having to watch Notting Hill :) I was quite alright with this decision. It was really cool, because I actually recognized a lot of the places they brought up! There is even a line where Hugh suggests taking 'Bayswater' which is my road.

Well, I start my internship tomorrow... I'm actually really looking forward to it! But I better get to bed...

Dave: Those were on Saturday night, so the game was over by then... Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd suuuuuuure... I watched it?? Hahah... Sorry! I thought about watching it? Does that count for anything?

Barry: Next time I have a cold beer, I will take a picture of it just for you... Though, they really don't look that much different across the pond...

Torie: I can't turn down William if he asks for my hand in marrige... I'm sorry... I'm sure theres a law or something with like breaking the Prince's heart... Can't have that. If that happens though, the Harry's (Prince and Potter) are alllllllllllllll yours. :)

Dad: I was going to take a picture of my salmon cream cheese bagel sandwich, but Lauren would not allow it... I'll sneak a picture of one sometime soon, as I'm sure I'll have it again.