The Mothership

It's true, we found the mothership. 

We ventured out this weekend to Harrods, which really is the mothership of shopping. First of all, it is HUGE... like an entire square block huge. Maybe even bigger. Obviously it has amazing clothes, shoes, etc, but it also has anything else you could think of - pet supplies, fitness equipment, home furnishings, electronics, specialty foods - you name it, it's probably there! It takes one-stop shopping to a whole new level. It's like a celebrity version of Walmart. :) 

Pretty overwhelming to say the least! They were having a huge sale, so we ended up buying some cool gear to wear to the Manchester United game next week... apparently it's a big deal to wear the right colors to the game, so rather than risk getting killed by the fans we went ahead and did what we were told. :)

Another reason we went down to Harrods was because I had a surprise for Jordan. Last time I was in London, my sister and I found the most AMAZING ice cream sundae shop in the basement at Harrods, called Morelli's. They have a menu about a mile long, and they make their sundaes into these insanely big works of art. Needless to say, it was a good surprise. :) Although, out of the whole menu, Jordan chose the classic chocolate sundae... he is a man of simple pleasures!

I'm not usually one to split desserts, but honestly, these are so big that you almost have to. We are excited to find reasons to go back and try a few different ones. :) Is this not reason enough to come visit us in London?! 

I think I was a little too excited...

Before heading to Harrods, we walked through Hyde Park, which is a really well-known park in London. It is also HUGE!! I fell in love with this tree, and I could have sworn it was the tree from the movie Big Fish. Don't you think so?

The park has some really neat fountains and courtyards. Jordan happened to like this one. Pretty majestic.

The next morning we decided to set out on our first fishing adventure, which turned out to be, as Jordan put it, a "comedy of errors." The pond Jordan had found online was a pretty far tube ride away, and we had to stop at a bait store first. So we pack up our stuff and head to the tube station, only Jordan had forgotten his tube pass, so we had to walk all the way back to our flat, fishing poles and gear in tow! We got back to the tube, traveled to where we needed to go, and found the bait store. The guys in there were really helpful... until they told us that January is the worst time of year to go fishing and that we probably wouldn't catch anything. Great, thanks. Since we had already traveled that far, we decided to go anyway. 

We found the cute little fishing pond we were looking for, that's the good news!

The bad news is, by the time we got there I was FREEZING. But I was trying to be tough, so I didn't say anything... Jordan finally got the poles all rigged up, and on my third cast my line somehow got completely tangled up. Not just a little bit. It was seriously straight out of a cartoon. I've been fishing pretty much my entire life, and I've never seen fishing line this tangled up. At this point, my hands are too cold to function, so Jordan is trying to untangle my line... finally, we both just start laughing, and decided to call it a day. 

Well, I had to try and chase the geese that were surrounding us first. That's normal, right?! 

We are excited to go fishing again in the spring once it's a little warmer, and when there are actually FISH to be caught! :) It made us realize how much we take for granted fishing up at my lake cabin in the summer... being out on the boat, getting a tan, drinking a Corona, catching bass - you really can't beat it!

We made it back just in time to head over to a nearby pub and watch a big soccer game on the big screen. Okay, "FOOTBALL," sorry! I don't know if I'll ever get used to that. Manchester United ended up winning, and it was fun to watch a game at the stadium we'll be at next week!

Yesterday, Sunday, we decided to do something I've always wanted to do: go to a service at Westminster Abbey. We ended up going to the 3 o'clock Evensong service, which turned out to be a pretty neat experience. It's crazy to think that Evensong services have taken place at the abbey for over a thousand years! Jordan hadn't been inside Westminster yet, and he was in awe; well, we both were. The service was very traditional, and most of it consisted of the choir singing and the organist playing. The sound in there is INCREDIBLE! I just finished the book World Without End, by Ken Follet, which is the sequel to Pillars of the Earth; both of which are set in the medieval ages of England, and revolve around these ancient cathedrals. As cheesy at it may sound, it totally took me back to the book and made me feel like I was witnessing something straight out of the medieval times. As a side note, I highly recommend both of these books if you're looking for a great read!

We can't believe January is almost over. It feels like we've done a lot, but we also have so much planned for the rest of our time here! We booked our flights to Italy and Greece for the second week of Jordan's spring break - woohoo!!! CAN'T WAIT!

Last but definitely not least, we want to wish my Grandma Helen a happy birthday! She is 75 years young today, and we are bummed we can't be there to celebrate with her. For those of you who don't know her, she is the most AMAZING woman, and I am so proud to call her my grandma. We love you so much, Grams!

P.S. Thank you so much to those of you who comment on the blog. It's so nice to have some confirmation that people are reading it. :) We appreciate hearing from you!