We slept in a bit today to try to rejuvenate ourselves from the fast pace of London. We were able to finally take a proper shower which felt luxurious! Andy and I had a simple breakfast after Catherine and her housemates had left for work at the university. Andy had toast with jam and I had a bagel and cereal.
We took a nice walking trail to the bus station for ride in to the town centre for some lunch and shopping. We had some amazing lunch at a pub called The Slug and Lettuce. Andy had pork sausage & mash, I had green chicken curry. Both dishes were soo good. Afterwards we walked through the shopping area, which is very modernized and Americanized for England. I was looking for some new shoes since my feet have been hurting recently from all the walking we've done, but to no avail. We did however get a prepaid calling card so we can call home sometime. Andy also bought a new rucksack (backpack) and I bought some more socks at Marks and Spencers.
I messaged Carole & Catherine to meet us at the Town Centre at the Slug and Lettuce, in the Food Centre at 7:30. In the meantime Andy & I went to a movie, called Dark Shadows. It was really good, as is anything by Tim Burton. Unfortunately we had to leave early so we could rendezvous for dinner. We met up and went to La Tasca - a tapas bar - for dinner with Catherine, her boyfriend Euan, Carole and her husband, James. We all got different dishes and shared. It was really good! We all were quite full afterwards but decided to go to a pub called Wetherspoon for a few drinks. Cath and I had some very poorly made hot chocolate (better called chocolate water) and Andy had a tasty local brew called Grumpling Old Ale. We chatted for awhile and then parted ways for the evening. It was really nice seeing Carole again and meeting her husband. I've been so blessed to make friends with such lovely people who live halfway across the world and also have the opportunity to visit them in their homeland. Carole, thank you for coming up to see us! It means so much!
After gorging ourselves, we headed back to Catherine's and got ready for bed. Andy was able to get a hold of our dad through iMessage, and in turn, he was able to contact our mom so that we could Skype. It was nice to finally see our mother and Kristin again and speak to them for a few minutes. I think my mom feels better now, since it was the first time she really heard from us other than email or the blog, and we feel better too now that we've gotten the chance to see her. We miss you guys and really wish you were here!!
-Bree & Andy