2010 to Now

Just a quick look back at the previous months of 2010, so I have a documented entry for my records.

Winter

In February, I got to go to a friend's cabin in Whitefish, Montana and ski Big Mountain. Some of the best skiing of my life and also a great friend bonding experience. Later that month, the family went up to Vancouver, B.C. and saw a hockey game at the Winter Olympic Games, pretty neat stuff. I remember one of the players was Lemm on the Swiss team. Early March, the Misery Tour took place on Mt. Pilchuck. It was a grueling hike up to the lookout at the summit and never really skied even though I had skies and boots on. We camped inside the fire lookout which was an interesting change on the Misery Tour, made it quite pleasant. Lastly, I did my standard downhill ski days up to like Stevens, I think I got over 20 days of downhill in this last season, a new record.

The family infront of the Olympic Flame

Spring

The start of spring brought me to Yakima where the FBLA state competition was. Nothing to do in hickville but stay alive. I got 4th place in the state. I travelled to Florida with father to see Embry-Riddle, it was a quick trip but a memorable one. Seeing as I am there now, it was effective too. A few days back at school and I was again on the road to Louisville for the DECA National competition. I enjoyed betting on horses and had an amusing time with the other people that went but Louisville is not the most interesting place. I did walk away with a custom bat from the Slugger headquarters. Most of all, I walked away 2nd in my event. For spring break, I flew over to Washington D.C. alone and stayed in Dean's, father's friend from college, apartment. It was very nice seeing all the sights, including a wonderful tour of the Capitol. In April I switched between eastern and pacific time 7 times, it was rough.

Under the center of the Dome of the U.S. Capitol, you rub the stone for good luck

Summer

As June rolled around the corner, it was time to graduate. I was selected and recited a speech at my graduation and did indeed graduate from high school. An eventful break then began. I took trips to friend's cabins in Chelan and hiked at least once every week. Mid-July, I spent a week in Nashville for the FBLA Nationals. It was nice seeing Nashville but really a waste of a week of summer. End of July Kyler and I went to Honolulu, Hawaii for an action packed weekend of snorkeling, biking, hiking, and anything else we could do. Probably the most fun trip I had over the summer. August came quickly and I returned to Whitefish, MT to see what it is like in the summer. The highlight was a hike on the Garden Wall Trail in Glacier National Park, most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Besides that, I hung around Kirkland and worked for the rest of the summer. I was never able to go on a family camping trip which is regrettable but there is always next summer. August 23rd, I left for my new journey in Florida. After several goodbyes and laughs, I was on my way.

Atop Diamond Head, Waikiki beach in distance, Hawaii

Fall

I am in school now, Riddle is an excellent place that has easily to connect people and countless opportunities, I am slowly becoming accustomed to college life and the heat of Central-East Florida. The next four years look to be as exciting as the previous four. Hard to believe all that has occurred in the last year though. It was only a year ago that I was on the beaches of Palma, not evening thinking about school, college, or much of anything.

Bartlet for America

What do you get when you combine an all-star cast, a wealthy network, and a topic that people are curious about? A damn good television series! A few years ago, my father began introducing me to older, ended television series', we started with MacGyver then onto Air Wolf followed by an tour of Hill Street Blues. For this last summer, I decided to reevaluate a show I watched occasionally as a child for further understanding and most of all, entertainment. The show was Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing.

So, to be honest, I started to write a comprehensive synopsis of this show but thought, why would I waste my time when you can just read a professional's on IMDB or Wikipedia, to help you, I have even included the links to the prescribed pages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_West_Wing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200276/

Good, so now that we are all caught up and have a thorough understanding of the show, listen now as I squire about the brilliance of it. The setting and plot is perhaps the most intriguing part of the show. Everyone wants to know about what goes on inside the White House, mostly because no one really has any idea, it is a relatively confidential operation mostly because of all the stuff the government is doing that they don't want us to know about. I have spoken to some of these: the secret blood storage facility in Greenland, the freezing of dinosaurs at the Science Center, and the alein-trolley elimination project in San Francisco. But this show attempts to give the viewer a look inside, and according to former presidents and senior staff, they did a pretty good job. I give most of the success to this show behind attacking such a fascinating topic.

A strong cast helped to make the production better, my personal favorite character, Sam Seaborn, the deputy communication director, for most of his time on the show, was cast by Rob Lowe, you know #2 from Austin Power's. He was the focus of the show for most of the first 3 seasons and in the 4th, he was discontinued and left the show. It was a personal blow for me, but it got me to pay more attention to the antagonist throughout the series, Al Qaeda, no, just kidding, Toby Zeigler. Toby, the Communications Director, may have worked for the president but I am pretty much sure all he did was hurt everyone around him with his superior wit and excellent reasoning and writing skills. He was the good employee, bad person character. I have a personal hatred for Toby Zeigler. The glory days of the show came when he got fired, but quickly ended when President Bartlet decided to pardon him for his criminal acts. I think he should've implemented the death penalty, do society a favor.

In the end, why did I write this post, well I think that the Presidency and Executive Branch are two unique fields and it would he pretty cool to be the man in the oval office. You know the one bringing the president coffee. This series is a wonderful option for everyone, it has drama, humor, love, and most of all Martin Sheen, the white Morgan Freeman. Invest time and watch some of the episodes, they won't disappoint.

Daily's:

Daily Fact: Andrew Jackson was the only president to ever kill a man in a duel.

Daily Word: jubilation: (n) joy, celebration, exultation

What I am doing Today: volleyball, maybe surfing

Inspiration for Today's Post: A great television series

Palma IV

I forgot to post this after the trip...

Sunday, 6 Sep 2009, 18:52 local time

I’m on my sixth and final flight of the trip. I’m sitting at an exit row window seat, my father and in the aisle position.

My last post concluded relatively early in the trip. That Wednesday afternoon, a group compiled of my father, his work associates, and I drove from Palma to Soller the largest inland town of Mallorca. The drive in was adventurous, roads to Soller are narrow, and windy, often a car headed in the opposite direction would speed up and either the or us had to back a few hundred meters to a spot where both cars could squeeze by. An hour later, we arrived at the trailhead for the day’s activity, a hike up some mountain. The trail itself is a walking road, compiled of cobblestone, that gains elevation quickly up a peak follows a ridge line and ends at a glacial lake. The nine hour round trip was far too long for our group, we decided to hike for an hour then turn around and hike back. After the first 20 minutes, the hike split into three groups, a fast, medium, and slower group, I was in the fast group as well as one other member, we managed to climb up the peak and make it to the start of the ridgeline. The views were superb but it was really warm making the journey hard work. Once everyone finished the hike, we went to a local pub, had a drink, then drove to the city center, and ate at a restaurant. Returned to the hotel around 00:30, tired and soar.

The next morning, I went back to the beach while my father continued his meetings. Thursday’s afternoon plan was a visit to the Port of Soller via the historical railway. We boarded an old train in Palma that over the course of an hour and through 13 tunnels, brought us to Soller, then we took a small tram down to the port. The port of Soller was another pleasant Mallorcan bay with white sandy beaches, and the turquoise water. We ate at a bay front restaurant where I had my favorite meal. It was a cod compilation with grilled vegetables. The presentation was good, the taste even better. The satisfying meal lasted about 2 hours and really after that, it was time to head back to Palma. That night back in Palma the dinner was at a pasta and pizza place. I had a risotto, again pleasantly surprised at the quality of the cuisine. I should note at this time that dinner in Mallorca takes place about 23:00 or later, perhaps because that is when it cools down but the Spanish simply eat dinner late. Midnight in Mallorca has the same amount of activity and population that Seattle does around 21:00.

Friday brought more fun and a little pain. My dads meetings now having ended, the group decided to take a boat tour. We selected a business that takes us on a large catamaran with a sightseeing deck and duration that lasts 9-16:30. It started in the Palma bay and weaved along the coast. About halfway through the tour, the boat set anchor and we swam about 500 meters off the coast, again the swimming was marvelous. We re-embarked and the boat continued to another bay where we disembarked and toured the small town and beach of the bay. At that beach we decided to again go for a swim, as our distance from the shore became quite great, I felt a bite sensation on my left elbow, I immediately started swimming ashore with my left arm aching, at this point I thought it to be a fish bite. When I walked ashore it was apparent that the bite was a jellyfish sting and it was swelling very much. I found a lifeguard and he cleaned the sting up with ammonia, while the others continued to swim, I was in a little pain and decided to just work on my tan. An hour later, the time came to get back on the boat. After boarding, a seafood feast was served with live entertainment provided. The boat then got back on its way headed back to Palma. All jellyfish stings behind, it was an entertaining boat ride that showed off more of this majestic island. That night we walked from the hotel and toured a Roman castle. The castle, located atop a large hill, offered sweeping views of Palma and historical artifacts on a civilization far ahead of its time. Dinner was a buffet at the hotel upon returning from the castle.

I had done a lot already in Mallorca but there was still much to do come Saturday; my last full day. The group, now only my father, myself, and two others, headed inland from Palma for a Pearl factory. On the way, we encountered a glass museum and active shop; we stopped in and saw a seventh generation family member work molten glass into bowls and animal figures. Back to the pearls, Mallorca is famous for its pearls, but to understand requires some understanding. Essentially, there are three types of Pearls, natural, cultured, and then Mallorcan. The natural are simply pearls from the oyster, cultured are real pearls farmed from oysters, Mallorcan pearls however are small glass balls that are painted wish special fish scale paint to look like a natural pearl. Though they are not real, only an expert can tell the difference. We visited a factory but were unable to see how they are developed because like everything else, it is now made in China. With the pearls a bust, we headed to another beach. This beach was very scenic, located in a protected bay, it offered great swimming and even some cliffs that we jumped off. As the sun got lower in the sky, we headed back to Palma, the final dinner was at a previously suggested restaurant, it turned out to be another really good meal. My father and I shared steak that came out pre sliced and we got to cook on a large ceramic hot plate. The others got a seafood skewer and salad. We arrived at 23:00 for dinner and were the only ones at the restaurant but when we left at 00:30, the place was hopping, again the Spanish like late dinners. Back at the hotel, we packed up and prepared for an early departure.

I awoke at 5:30 this morning, Mallorca time, my father and I arrived at the airport and caught the 7:55 flight from Palma to Madrid. We arrived in Madrid 9:00 Mallorca time and left for KOLD at 11:30. After nine hours on the plane, we got into KOLD around 14:30 local time. Clearing customs and reentering the airport was easy, waiting for the 19:05 flight to Seattle, not as easy. Eventually though, we got on the flight to Seattle and that is where I am now. It is scheduled to land in Seattle at 22:00 local time, my body however still on Mallorca time thinks that it will be 7a.m. So lucky I will have been up for 25 hours to get back home.

The long flights definitely take some calibration and the time zones can be a burden but Mallorca is well worth the flight. It is one of the most beautiful locations I have ever been. Palma welcomes tourists and is generally friendly to get around in, both the European inhabitants and physical lands are gorgeous, and most of all the beaches and swimming in the Mediterranean is spectacular that no place in the world can simulate. I have had a really good summer with a long European tour, camping, and great friends to spend time with. This trip put a large cherry on top making this my best summer ever. It is a lot of fun living like a business executive. I now must return to a life with responsibility and work but am motivated so I can someday have a summer like this one again.

Palma Part III

Wednesday, 2 Sep 2009, 15:00 local time

For two miles I walked along the Palma Harbor looking at yacht after yacht wondering when I will hit a beach. Eventually I came across the Central Palma beach. When I arrived it was a busy seen with swimmers, sun bathers, and then the beach games crowd which included football, volleyball, and some game which looked like people just tackling eat other, but hey it could’ve just been a fight. My goal was to experience the water so immediately I dropped the towel ran and into the water (Don’t get any ideas, I was one of the few swimmers their that had a swimsuit on). First impressions, I thought I was in a bath, except the waves tackling me, as I swam further out into the ocean, the waves calmed down and I was able to enjoy myself more, the next thing I noticed was the brilliant clarity of the water, I could see for a quite a distance. The third encounter with the Mediterranean was not so pleasant; it reminded me that I was in an ocean-The salt. The Mediterranean is very salty. I recommend taking a bottle of water to the beach so after you swim you can wash out your mouth.

I swam for about half an hour then sat on the towel working on my color for another half an hour or so. When that got dull, I decided to take a risk and ask to join in on one of numerous volleyball games. The court I selected was inhabited with Italian tourists that spoke English, when I walked up and asked to play in Spanish, they replied in English, a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed beach volleyball with this crowd which seemed to be just my age, the total count was 3 guys and 4 girls plus me to make a good 4 on 4 game. My skill level seemed equal to the others although I wasn’t in the proper attire, a speedo for the guys and bikini for the woman, thankfully, my swimsuit did not restrict my game play.

When we took a brief brake, I glanced at my phone and noticed the time was now 17:10, this is bad. My father completed his meeting at 17:00 and the agreement was to be back at the hotel to meet him there at that time. I was already late and a good 40 minute walk away. As I reached for my phone in my bag, I dropped it on the concrete, the battery came off and when I powered it back on, I had forgotten my sim card pin so my phone became effectively useless. Now I just had to get back as soon as possible, I waved goodbye to the Italians and started the walk back, my sandals began to hurt my feet but I was determined to return. I tried to take a shorter way back but off course I got a little ‘lost’ so it ended up taking a little longer, I arrived at the hotel 18:10 with the entire group out in front waiting for me, I explained my misfortune with the phone and after changing , we were on our way.

For the night portion of the day, one of my father’s business associates took us to the German night district in east Palma-an hour’s journey by bus from the hotel. We walked along the beach, then after the sunset went to a restaurant and had some schnitzel. About 21:30, the end of dinner, the group walked up and down a busy night scene with pubs and activities filling my eyesight. Tragically, we didn’t enjoy it for more then half an hour, instead walked to the bus stop and returned to the hotel. After some play time on the computer I went to bed around 1:30 this morning.

Today I slept in again, got up for an early lunch with father then took a swim in the hotels pool. In about 10 minutes my father’s meeting for the day will conclude, it sounds like the night activity today will be a hike up some mountain, I’m looking forward to it.

I don’t know why I am doing all these blog posts but for some reason enjoying it. Have fun at school everyone!

Palma Part II

Tuesday, 1 Sep 2009, 13:56 local time

The sun almost directly up in the sky, the thermometer pushing 31c (88f), this is what I call paradise. My last post ended at the Madrid airport where I indeed discovered wifi and was able to upload it. After that, my father and I boarded our final flight of the three to get to Palma. The flight itself was uneventful. I will note that it was only about ¼ full and I feel asleep upon sitting down. The plane landed about 10:30 in the morning and we where their. After a short scare of going to the wrong baggage claim terminal and not finding our checked luggage, we were more then relieved to find our baggage in the international area. Big relief!

From the airport, we met a business associate of fathers whom drove us to the hotel. The hotel is a wonderful little resort fully equipped with swimming pool, spa, etc. Once unpacked, the three of us decided to try to find a boat rental shop for a tour of the island. We drove up and down the Palma bay looking for a rental place, after no luck, we decided to go to a tourist information area but the signs that led there died off and got us lost in a network of small ally ways and roads. From that point it was decided we will park and attempt to find lunch. Logical solution seeing as it was about 14:00. We choose some restaurant somewhere that is really all I know about it, upon sitting down, a very powerful sleep wave hit me that stayed for the remainder of the day.

When lunch concluded we abandoned hope of the boat tour and decided to take a tour of a castle and cathedral. Both were interesting but the sleep deprivation meant that if I stop or sit, I will pass out. This made the tours interesting for me because as my father and friend would stand and observe I would run around from place to place trying to stay awake. At one point I sat briefly in the castles chapel but fell asleep only to awakened by an employee claiming I cannot sit their. We returned by about 18:00 to the hotel and I was done. By 18:10 I was happily asleep in the hotel room. Now fully conscious, I am happy that we got all the history junk out of the way while I was tired so the fun stuff is saved for when I can actually savor it.

I woke up about 11:30 this morning; my father came in about 10 minutes after that, informing me that it was time for lunch. I followed him down and met his group of 11, all part of this committee that was meeting here. Apparently while I was sleeping they had been meeting since early in the morning. The group all walked down to the gorgeous Palma waterfront and ate at a local café. I had a pollo, tomate, papas frita, y jamon, which is simply chicken, tomato, fries, and bacon. It was good! We walked back up to the hotel, about 4 blocks, and as they went back to business, I went to the room to put on sun tan lotion. Sun block is defiantly a must here as the sun is hot, bright, and takes no survivors. To insure the sun lotion thoroughly soaks inn, I decided to write this post before I leave to go swim in the Mediterranean. From what I hear, it is warm, and from what I see it is gorgeous. Time to go find out…

Palma Part 1

My body is rattling, along with the rest of the aircraft, the flight attendant drops a meal scattering sticky food debris across the cabin, I look outside into the dark abyss and barely make out the wing, the seatbelt sign illuminates quickly followed by a message from the Captain to sit and buckle up, then after a few moments, the trembling seizes and I return to my slumber. I describe one of countless turbulence encounters on my Atlantic crossing. This is definitely my bumpiest journey across the pond.
The setting for this tale comes in two portions. The time can most easily be described as 4:52 a.m. Madrid time. The place however is more a manipulated variable then concrete idea, it is constantly changing and involves being at two different locations at the same time. One location is simply somewhere over the North Atlantic the other, the seat of an A340-600 aircraft. The locations will eventually culminate at the capitol city of Madrid, Spain. The two locations may come together in Madrid but this is not the final place. The destination for this voyage is Palma, a city on the island of Mallorca, located 300 miles off the Spanish Coast into the Mediterranean Sea. Accompanying my on this voyage or I should say the person I am accompanying on this trip is my father. The purpose of the trip for him is business related, for me, to relax, refine my Spanish speaking, and have fun.
Although I write this post out of pure boredom, the purpose is not to bore. This post initiates my documenting of this trip. But why did I choose such an ungodly hour to write this first entry? On an airplane there are only so many choices, eating the provided meals, piffling through the inflight entertainment, listening to music on the mp3 player, and of course sleep. But what to do when all the options are exhausted; I have slept for a few hours, watched a movie, and listened to more then enough Coldplay. So as I twiddled my thumbs, I thought a blog post would be appropriate, besides I need an entry before the end of August. And here I am writing this entry, the time by the way is now 5:29.
If we reverse back to 5:29 a.m. (Seattle time) a day ago, I would have just been going to bed, then about an hour later, I awoke at 6:45. After a very comforting shower, my parents and I piled into the car, and left for Sea-Tac. Uneventfully, my father and I caught the 8:40 a.m. Alaska flight to KOLD, after a pleasant clear morning aboard an Alaska 737, we arrive at KOLD around 14:30 local time. After a Chinese lunch at the food court, we navigate the airport to the Iberia terminal and wait. By 17:00 local time, we are onboard the heavy jet and after a brief takeoff line, leave the ground.
The Alaska flight was a manageable 3.5 hours, this Iberia one takes 7.5 to get to our established location-Madrid. Other then turbulence, the only other notable event is that my dad broke-off the tray table from his seat, providing a moment of laughter followed by more boredom.
This blog post has helped pass the time, only about 2 more hours until landing, but once in Madrid a whole new adventure begins. We must negotiate through Spanish Customs, catch another flight from Madrid to Palma, and I really hope the Madrid airport has wifi so I can upload this post. The biggest question however is my checked baggage. Since we are using two different carriers and 3 different flights, I am optimistic that my baggage will arrive in Palma at the same time as I do. I have my fingers crossed though.
I no longer have any information to give, except that the end of the world doesn’t occur in your next 9 hours, trust me, I’m their. Stay tuned for more!

Lemmepean European Chronicles: Part 1

The first three weeks of July 2009, I got to see first hand, a piece of European life and culture. This is that story.

Today marked the thirteenth day I have been away from my home, my state, my country, my continent, and more importantly my social life. This post, the first of a few in this series, will summarize the beginning to my European adventure: the journey over and beginning of London

The Journey Over:

It was noon local time on Tuesday June 30th. The family was in the Excursion and Colin had just arrived to drive us to the airport. Thirty minutes later, we arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (KSEA), checked the baggage and boarded our flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (KMSP). The flight, with a destination in our first point of visit-London, was initially planned direct from KSEA to LHR but due to the economic recession, the airline had cut back on flights and we got the “lucky” opportunity to connect through KMSP. I usually do not mind a connection flight but not when it is to KMSP. The reason I dislike KMSP is not because I have a hate for the Twin cities but the airport is one of the worst in the world. KMSP has the stupidest terminal design because all the gates run along one long straight line. This means that your flight will arrive on one end of the terminal and then you have to catch the departure on the complete other end a few miles away. Thankfully, for this flight we had plenty of time to get to our next flight. The plane from KSEA arrived at KMSP 1920 local time and the plane for LHR departed at 2130.

So how about the flight from KMSP to LHR? It lasted about 8 hours and the route took us over Greenland and then back down to the U.K. The equipment was an A330, you know the airplane that just had the Air France disaster, the crash didn’t really bother me but usually my philosophy is fly Boeing or I’m not going. Although the flight was at night and the parents suggested I should sleep, I took the more logical approach and watched movies and ate the meals. I got a chicken teriyaki meal for dinner while I watched “Watchmen,” then at about 1 in the morning I started “Taken” and after that, I fell asleep to “I Love You Man.” After a short hour or two nap I awoke for breakfast which was an egg and fruit feast, another hour of looking out the window, we landed at Heathrow.

London

It was noon local time on Wednesday July 1st, 2009. The family had just deboarded the flight from KMSP, we where now challenged with navigating the busiest airport in the world that is undergoing a massive remodel. Surprisingly, we came across customs rather quickly, going through was a breeze for it was only the British border; the American one I hope will be much more thorough. Then we walked down to baggage claim, picked up our respective luggage and headed for the tube.

The tube or subway as we know it is our planned primary method of transportation throughout London, unlike many cities in the states, Europe has effective public mass-transportation systems. The family entered a packed subway car and headed to Earls Court the location of our London flat. When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised with a huge 3 story London apartment located conveniently one block away from the tube station. After a brief stop at the apartment, we pushed on to Victoria train station.

At this time on the trip, I was regretting my anti-sleep attitude from the plane ride. A nap would have been nice when we first arrived at the apartment but my parents being insistent on keeping us up to prevent sleeping and then waking in the middle of the night pushed us on.
At Victoria station my father received our tube weeklong passes while the rest of the family stared into oblivion while standing in the middle of the station. Next was a plan to head to Westminster, Westminster is the tourist center of London with all the major attractions, Big Ben, Parliament, The London Eye and so on. The goal of stopping at Westminster the first day was to give the family and I an instant look at where we are.

A quick sidenote, my father is the master planner behind the trip. He has worked on the plan for months and though he has been to all these places before, he has set up the best trip for first time tourists to these areas.

It is interesting when you take the subway in a foreign place, you get on a train, go to a different station, and not until you walk up those final steps do you know where you are. Westminster was a particular surprise, I walked up the steps to see Big Ben right infront of me. After some pictures, the family walked across the Waterloo Bridge with views of Central London, Parliament, The Tower, The Eye, and much more. We sat infront of the aquarium located on the waterfront. Their some ate icecream while I just enjoyed the sunny weather and breathtaking views.

The time was about 1700 local time now and entire family was really getting tired. We were more like zombies then tourists. Personally, I had hit a stage past sleep deprivation where I was wide-awake but in a “strange” mood. With this sleepy state, the family insisted on taking breaks every few steps, we wondered from the aquarium about two blocks down the waterfront to a large grassy park located adjacent to the London Eye. First it was Alex, then Peter, Julie shortly after, and even Sean all laid on the grass and fell asleep. I still wasn’t that tired so I decided to have some fun and tie Alex’s shoe laces together but when he got up about 20 minutes later, he was too tired to comprehend what had occurred and the poor lad couldn’t even untie the knot.
Since sleep deprivation was obviously apparent, democracy decided to get dinner and the return to the apartment for sleep. From the park we returned to the tube and took it to Piccadilly Circus, the theater and night life part of London. From their we ate at Pizza Hut, how foreign, and then returned to the apartment for sleep.

The next day, Thursday the 2nd, our London tour began with the Tower of London. The Tower, built initially as a palace for William the Conqueror way long ago, later became a place of royalty, protection, and most famously known for torture. It was the tower that housed some of the most infamous British traitors before they were trialed and then beheaded. I received a comprehensive tour of the place led by a British Royal Army officer. He was thorough with his descriptions as well as comedic with the tour. After spending a few hours at the tower, we moved on to the nearby tower bridge. The tower bridge built in the early nineteenth century stands today as a famous London landmark. We climbed up several flights of stairs to see a beautiful view of the city as well as learn about the inner working and design behind the tower bridge.

That night we took a short river cruise up to Westminster where we caught the tube to another part of London to eat at Mr. Fish for dinner. A large importance to Sean was eat fish and chips in London, Mr. Fish became the selected venue for the task, we arrived at the location and sat at the table, just to leave a minute later because we had no time for dinner and had to catch a play.
From the restaurant we hurried again to the tube and got off back at Piccadilly Circus. From there we walked about 2 blocks to the Criterion Theater to see our first British play “39 Steps.” Though I am not a huge play guy, at the end of this one I was pleasantly surprised with an amusing play about a false murder acquisition and the whole play was is done with only four actors that play over 100 different roles.

It was now about 2100 on Thursday night, as we left the theater we entered a busy nightlife within Piccadilly Circus. The hungry family ate at Aberdeen Steakhouse and returned to the apartment for a rewarding sleep.

See Part 2 for the Continuation