Another so soon!!!!

Here is yet another post, lets hope I cover more than one day unlike my previous one because this could take forever!!! I am being so detailed for my own sake. My dad is saving these posts on his computer so if anything goes wrong with the website I will still have this journal. Moving on... We are now up to December 11! This is the day the world media centred on Hertfordshire, North London. As many of you may recall, a massive explosion rocked the Southern part of the UK. An explosion took place at an oil storage facility. I spoke with many people who were awoken by this blast. It could be felt at my place, although I was still sleeping, so I did not feel it. (Before I knew of the explosion) I went out at about 11:00 in the morning and saw the skies were quite gray and a bit annoyed because I would have to walk to work in the rain. The sky to the North and West were extremely black (nasty thunderstorm black) and I was a bit anxious to get to work. Once I finally did arrive I learned of the explosion and realised it was an oil fire, not a storm. The thing burned for a couple of days and the authorities are unsure of the cause. Rumours were flying about that it was a terrorist attack but nothing has precipitated from those reports. In truth, the fire was burning so hot that basically all evidence to the cause of the explosion has since been burned and melted away. Moving on to work!! I worked in Holland Park (quite near to Notting Hill and my house) which is a quite posh neighbourhood. Walking to work trying to beat the "rain," I entered a gated community and walked down into the parking ramp. This parking ramp was amazing; the cars enclosed in this were worth more than I will ever know! I finally got to the correct garage number and found out we were doing a private Christmas party for a man and about 80 of his family and friends. We were given a tour and this place was five stories with an indoor pool, jacuzzi, and sun deck. The place was only about a year old and had just the single, 50 something bachelor living in it, so it was quite new and very flash. This man had about 15 staff from our company plus a catering company all for his guests. HE EVEN HAD A COAT CHECK!!!! I sure wish the Harty Johnson party was like this. The shift lasted 5 hours and from here I was to meet Erik. Erik and I met and did our own pub crawl. We met at King's Cross St. Pancras and visited three different pubs and a kebab shop (twice for Erik). Erik was scheduled to leave London later that week and it would be the last time I see him for a bit. We had a great time as always! He is now in Africa doing the same safari I went on. That safari was amazing!!!! I am sure he is having the time of his life right now. The following week was only a three day work week for me because I was travelling to Austria for a long weekend. School went quickly so that was quite nice!

Monday evening my house took part in the first and most likely only Fiesta Bowl. JP, Adam, and I wanted to try some things out in a cookbook we have at our flat. We decided that since you are unable to find any descent Mexican food in this city (very surprising because every other cuisine is here and delicious) we were going to try to make it ourselves. We planned it all out on Sunday and Adam went grocery shopping during the day on Monday. We were pumped because the instructions had us marinating the chicken in lime juice and other spices! That is right Mom, I helped marinate chicken! Our menu included Fajitas (chicken, green, yellow, and red peppers, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and onions) and refried beans. For dessert, we had fresh mango mixed in to Biopot plain yoghurt. The meal was absolutely brilliant! We were very proud of ourselves and quite happy!

Tuesday evening I met up with the Kaiden family one last time for dinner in Victoria. I took a really thick way and my travel time was about twice it should have been. No good! Anyways, we had some pub food outside of Victoria Station and then hopped on a bus and sat on the top because Mrs. Kaiden really wanted to. We took the bus to Oxford Circus and saw all of the Christmas lights. It was great fun; I love riding on the top of the buses.

Now this brings me to Austria. I am currently at school and do not want to jump into it yet. So here is this post...savour it! I apologise I have not held true to my word about getting more posts out quicker this week, but I have a nasty cold and am trying to kill it. Hopefully tonight I can compose Salzburg for you lot. Anyways, have a great Wednesday and I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy birthday Patti and Keith! I wish I could have been there.