Win, Lose, or Draw

Carnaby Street (obviously)

Liberty of London-They even have the Target collection shown here

Liberty of London-I think this is the stationary and chocolate room. They have a room for everything!

Liberty of London-more of the Target collection (I'll include more photos fo the store another time. Giong through the store is the only way I know how to get to Carnaby Street).

Liberty's again....

This photo is for Cat- a Belgian waffle with Belgium white chocolate

Weatherspoon Pub-site of our Sunday pub brunch

A draw it is! 1-1 for the USA vs. England World Cup game. Although I had good intentions of going somewhere cool to watch the game last night, I ended up watching it on Bob's couch in my pajamas and was quite comfortable! I had quite a day trying to get around...

I started out the morning thinking I would just hop on the tube and run down to Oxford Circus quickly to find an England shirt so I'd blend in more with the locals. Bob insisted I use the bus because it's much more scenic, but as it takes an hour from the King's Ave. bus stop to Oxford Circus, I opted for the tube instead. Bad choice#1! I walked down to Clapham South station (10 minutes walk or so from Bob's), and it was closed for rail repairs for Saturday and Sunday-not just Clapham South, but half of the entire Norhtern line, so it wasn't even like I could walk a mile or so to another station! Now, everyone looked slightly confused but seemed to deal with it very well. I on the other hand got a bit panicked. I non-chalantly walked by, like "oh, I wasn't going to catch the tube into town", and crossed the street. I looked at the bus stop, but the only buses that ran from there were going to Brixton or Balham (that I could tell-the bus system is very tricky to me), which are the opposite direction from anything inside London. After circling the station a few times, I noticed the guy in the Underground vest that said-"Ask me, I can help" at the opposite bus stop and asked him what to do. He said I could either change buses quite a few times (he clearly didn't think by my face that this option was good, because he didn't endulge me with any details on how to do this or bus route numbers) or ride the bus to Balham and catch the overhead train--overhead train-what? I decided to go back to Bob's. I got some money out at Tescos so it wasn't a complete waste, then walked back to Bob's, stopping to get a batter-dipped sausage to console myself.

After some iceless Coke and sausage (I miss ice), I went to the bus station at the other end of the street to catch the bus to Oxford Circus. It was a nice ride (I sat on the second level) through Sloane Square, Knightsbridge, Marble Arch, to Oxford Circus, but it sure took forever. Once there, I got an England shirt at the sports store I had looked up online (I saw a better one in the giant Nike store, but of course, only after I had bought the first one). I walked over to Regent's Street to Liberty of London. Going through this store is the only way I know how to access Carnaby Street where I had gotten a cool England t-shirt last year. Liberty is one of my favorite stores in London. It's close to the size of Harrod's (takes up a block or so and is 4-5 stories high) but seems to cater more to designers than Harrod's. Anyways, I'll cover Liberty in another post! I found the shirt shop, but not a good shirt, so I headed back to Oxford Circus to get the tube to Tottenham Court road from whihc I could then easily walk to Leicester Square. I wanted to go back to the same store I bought my neckalce at to look at a ring by Serge Thoravl:http://www.atelier-serge-thoraval.com/htm/uk_historique.htm

I got lost coming out of the Tottenham Court Road station though (didn't look at my map-was I really just assuming I would pick the exact street out of the five ta the round-about-to take ot Leicester Square? yes). Instead of heading towards Leicester square, I headed towards Goodge Station whihc happened to be the exact opposite way. I finally figured this out when I reached Goodge Station. After walking for about an hour back past Tottenham Court Station, I finally made it to Leicester Square, bought the ring, and walked about an hour back to Oxford Circus-stopping only for the belgian waffle with white chocolate (who wouldn't stop!). I only knew of the one bus that would get me back to Bob's, so I had to catch it from Oxford Circus, and with the impending game, everywhere was PACKED.

I was so exhausted by my 4 hour walk and 2 hour cumulative bus rides, that I watched the game from Bob's couch last night. Today, all Bob and I did was go out for a Sunday Pub lunch up the road, then nap all day. Luckily, Cat, Zak, and I also figured out how to video chat on gmail today, so I have a date with them, Colton, mom and dad in a few minutes. :)

Some other fun things I saw:

http://www.jackwills.com/
This store (at Leicester Square) was like Abercrombie and Fitch on steroids-with models standing at the door and all the popped collars you would ever want to see. It in no way exhibits London fashion which is very similar to the 80's throwing up-leggings, one shoulder shirts, and ballet flats.

http://www.oliverbonas.com/
Cute chain store where each store tends to sell different items.

http://jessicadelotz.wordpress.com/
Saw her jewelry advertised on the London Jewellery Week Brochure. LOVE IT!