England, Italy, & Greece 11/3/16 - 12/5/16 - PART 3 (FINAL): UK

Day 16 - 11/18/16 (Shopping):

Sean and I were up at 10am. We shared a very past due shower and ate breakfast. Then we took off with Sean's mom, who had the day off work, for a really fun day of shopping!

Our first stop was the Copt Oak charity shop and Xmas shop. Maintaining recent tradition, I went in for my annual visit and left with a few goodies including a jester hat, new boots, and backpack - all red, white, and/or black - for £5 total!

Coalville was our next stop! We went shopping and window shopping all around there, stopping in Weatherspoons in the middle of it all for a tasty lunch!

Our last stop was Tesco in Ashby to pick up the glasses I'd ordered after Sean's and my eye appointment. While there, we found some yummy, full-sized bags of chips reduced to just £0.05 each! We bought a whole shopping cart full of them for £2.80!

Back at the house, we lit a fire, ate, and watched TV together. Sean and I did a little work til finally heading to bed.

Day 17 - 11/19/16 (Beacon Hill):

I think Sean and I needed to catch up on sleep a bit because we didn't wake up til noon! Sean's mom was at work then but Sean and I stayed home for a couple of hours and did some housework.

At 2 or 3pm,we left the house headed for a spot Sean wanted to show me that he hadn't been to since he was a kid: Beacon Hill! They'd started charging a parking fee, starting at £1 per hour, but we parked for free across the street. From there, it was just a short, though cold, walk up to the top rewarded with a gorgeous view overlooking all the towns and fields that surrounded! :D

We drove to Coalville after that and did some grocery shopping at Asda and window shopping at other stores before walking to Sean's mom's work to pick her up. We had a short walk back to the car together and then drove home.

I'd been craving Maryland Chicken for quite awhile now so Sean left some lasagna cooking at the house and then took my to Leicester for a quick chicken stop. We managed to pull in right in front of Maryland and pick up a quick 20 wings and box of fries for £5.99 total. Smooth operation! Then we drove back to the house and ate while watching TV with Sean's mom. We spent the rest of the night by the fire with TV and work til it was finally fine for bed.

Day 18 - 11/20/16:

We were up around 7am today. Sean's mom had the day off so we had a little time at home together in the morning before leaving at 9:30am.

By 10am, we arrived at the morning car boot (like a flea market) at Church Gresley. Sean's mom had told us about it so we'd been planning to go for awhile now. It was held indoors because of the weather. (Normally, it would've been outside.) There was a £0.50 per person admission fee but that quickly paid for itself. Inside, the place was packed with great deals on great things - lots of sellers with lots of miscellaneous items on and around their tables. I even got a stripper pole, new in box, for £4 total! We got several little bits there, actually, including an awesome spiky bracelet for £0.20, a brand new Nike Pro shirt for £0.50, $0.75 worth of US coins for £0.25, and other good stuff. (Considering the US dollar was up from 2/3 of the value of a pound in recent years to 4/5 the value currently (since the "Brexit"), we were really winning now!)

After the car boot, we drove to Asda and picked up a few groceries before driving down the street to Doreen's. There, we all sipped some hot drinks together with some biscuits and various little treats, ventured into the garden so Sean and I could help cut down a couple of tree stumps, and hung out a bit. Such a nice break with the best company!

We went back to the house then and spent awhile cleaning and sorting Sean's things.

In the late afternoon, we all went for a walk to the Whitwick Co-op a mile or so away. We didn't buy much but it was just nice going out for a walk. We made a couple of stops on the way back too. We visited Whitwick Park briefly so Sean could show me a playground he used to play at as a kid. Really nice park! They still had some of the things Sean used to play on as a kid there and had a new outdoor gym and other things as well. We'd have to go back and use it all sometime! We stopped by the Thringstone Co-op just before getting home too. Then, Sean's mom went home and Sean and I walked just a little further to see a dead hedgehog we'd spotted earlier. A little sad and gross but I was just curious what it'd look like up close since we I don't think there have been wild hedgehogs anywhere I've ever lived.

Later in the evening, Sean and I went to his dad and Pat's house to spend a little time together. Sean's dad had made us a very tasty pasta dinner followed by some rice pudding. Then Sean and I shared pictures from our recent trip with him and Pat and we all watched a few of each other's YouTube videos. Around 10pm, Sean and I said goodnight and headed home.

Back at the house, we got ready for bed, watched a movie while cuddled up in bed, had a little grown-up time together, and went to sleep.

Day 19 - 11/21/16 (Toby in Town):

Sean's mom was working today so Sean and I slept in til 11am. Once awake and ready for the day, we sorted Sean's things for awhile before driving to Loughborough.

We got £10 gas at Sainsbury's for £1.09 per liter in Loughborough and then parked in our usual Loughborough parking spot and walked around the corner to Beacon Bingo to meet our friend Toby who'd gotten the train up from London to hang out with us. We spent most of the rest of the day shopping the thrift and other stores, buying a few bits and walking all around the center of town. Toby bought us all food at Zheng's Express, which was kind of like Panda Express, in the evening. For maybe £13, we got a couple of beers and a couple of big plates of delicious food!

We headed home then, stopping by the Thringstone Co-op on the way, so Toby could finally meet Sean's mom! She'd made us a yummy dinner and had lit the fire. We'd brought shareable snacks back. We all sat around for hours chatting til Sean's mom went to bed. Then the remaining three of us stayed up til after 2am drinking Jager and energy drinks and catching up. Sean and I finally went upstairs to cuddle up and finish what we'd started the night prior while Toby went to bed on the couch. A little after 3am, we were asleep.

Day 20 - 11/22/16 (Toby in Town - Day 2):

We were up at 9:30am. Sean's mom was off so the four of us spent the morning together. We sipped coffees and teas and relaxed for awhile.

The contacts I'd ordered from Feel Good Contacts arrived and in the box was a mini bag of Haribo gummies!! :D Such a simple but fun surprise!

After a bit, we all went to Doreen's to see her, introduce Toby, and drop off Sean's mom who would be spending the day there. We had some hot drinks and spent a little time with the dog. Then we were off.

Sean, Toby, and I headed to Leicester and found some free West End parking. We walked into town to do some shopping, primarily at thrift stores but stopping for a moment in other shops and Leicester Market as well. Sean and I didn't buy much but we got a few bits including a universal waterproof phone case/bag from a charity shop for £1 and Dancing Stage Hottest Party for the Wii for £0.75 from CEX.

In town, our friend Chris Cooze and his son met up with us and joined us for thrift shopping very briefly. Sean and I would be seeing Chris the following morning for longer as we had breakfast plans.

A bit later, Toby spotted Mr. Mime on Pokémon Go. Sean and I got on WiFi there and got him! Our first catch of the European exclusive Mr. Mime!

We stopped for chicken a couple of times during all this. I don't know what recipe they use but all the chicken shops seem to have the same delicious chicken! It's all so cheap too! At a chicken place called Queen's, we stopped in for a bit, Toby got a wrap and fries, and Sean and I got 20 wings for £4!

On the way back to the car, we passed a big crowd of Leicester City soccer supporters, many wearing the same blue and white Leicester City scarf, singing football songs and hanging around outside a pub (I believe) near the big Leicester ferris wheel by Mosh.

We headed to Sean's mom's then and hung out together with her for awhile, sipping festive as well as hot beverages and watching tv for awhile til it was time for Toby to leave back to London. Then Sean and I drove Toby to the Loughborough train station and bid him farewell. Luckily, we'd be seeing him again as soon as Dec 2nd!

At the house again, we got some work done and chilled out on the couch for awhile before heading to bed, cuddling up with a movie, and going to sleep at 12:30am.

Day 21 - 11/23/16 (local friends day):

In the morning, Sean, his mom, and I got up and left the house to meet Chris and Sacha Cooza for breakfast. Traffic was atrocious and we had to get gas ($10 or so?) on the way so we were too late to get breakfast at the restaurant Chris works at but, instead, we met at Hollywood Bowl (one of the places Chris and Sean used to play dance games lonnnng ago) and walked a few doors down to an Italian restaurant called Frankie & Benny's. There, we had a nice breakfast before being pleasantly surprised by Italian language learning courses playing in the restrooms when we went to empty ourselves! Lol

We walked back to Hollywood Bowl after that. Sacha used to work there so she got us in the VIP bowling section and we played a couple of games while sharing pitchers of beer and cider, as if some of us weren't already bad enough at bowling! By the end of the morning, I'm sure we'd spent around £150 as a group, though Chris and Sacha had absolutely insisted on paying the majority and had spent over £100! :o They wouldn't let us do much at the time but we'll have to find a way to pay them back when they come stay with us in Vegas! Thanks, guys!!!

Before returning home after that, Sean, his mom, and I swung by Coalville for a little shopping. We didn't stay long but just got a few things. Sean ran into an old friend while there and said a quick hello.

I was beat by the time we got back to the house so I went for a short nap before heading downstairs to hang out for awhile.

Then, Sean and I left for our second of two pre-planned social events of the day: a get-together at our friend Katie's in Leicester. We managed to get Nathan, his girlfriend Eugenia, and Georgina and Sam Pass to come out and join us there. We brought quite a few of snacks and some drinks and everyone pitched in a little so we spent the night just chatting and chilling around the nice fireplace at Katie's while sipping beers and such and munching. It was relaxing but cool to finally get some people out and nice to catch up and hang out!!

It was a little late when we made it home from Katie's but we were hungry so we made some food and ate while watching a movie before heading upstairs to get some sleep.

Day 22 - 11/24/16 (Sherwood Forest trip on Thanksgiving):

Obviously, Thanksgiving is an American holiday so we didn't celebrate it here today but it still seemed worth mentioning in the day's title considering my roots!

Sean's mom was at work when we woke up today. Though I didn't drink much yesterday, I was apparently dehydrated and woke up with a mean headache which I spent the day battling. It didn't stop us from having fun though! Once we were all ready to go, Sean and I got maybe $10 worth of gas down the street and headed towards Nottingham so Sean could take me to see Robin Hood's home, Sherwood Forest, for the first time!

The route to Sherwood Forest was mostly the same route Sean used to take to work when he worked at a place called Blacklight Software (in the same building as a company called CSI) so we got a quick pic of the place on the way.

Sherwood Forest is a big place but we were headed to one spot in particular: The Major Oak. Taken from Wikipedia: "Major Oak is a large English oak (Quercus robur) near the village of Edwinstowe in the midst of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. According to local folklore, it was Robin Hood's shelter where he and his merry men slept. It weighs an estimated 23 tons, has a girth of 33 feet (10 metres), a canopy of 92 feet (28 metres), and is about 800–1000 years old."

Our destination wasn't far from Sean's mom's house but it probably took about an hour to get there because of the roads. Still, definitely worth it! We parked around 3pm, I believe, and walked through Sherwood Forest to the visitor center and onward half a mile or so more towards Major Oak. There, we found the old oak tree propped up with support beams but still standing gloriously and awesomely, defying time. Once we felt we'd fully documented and taken in all there was to see in that part of the gorgeous forest, we finished the second half of the Major Oak's path, looping back to the visitor's center where we had a brief peek in the gift shop and an exhibit there.

Leaving Sherwood Forest, we found a Christmas Market in the nearest town called Edwinstowe. We pulled over to check it out and had a look in a little charity shop there as well. We didn't buy anything but the atmosphere was festive and fun. Definitely worth the stop!

We stopped in a big Tesco on the way home and tried out a phone app we'd recently found called Checkout Smart. We used it and got come branded cod filets, a cup of Angel Delight, and an overpriced yogurt drink all completely free!

We left some food cooking at the house but went out again straightaway to leave some unwanted things we'd found while sorting Sean's old stuff outside a charity shop for them to take in in the morning. We detoured Aldi on the way home and bought sooooooo much more food for THE CHEAPEST EVER. Despite past visits, we still couldn't believe the prices there. They didn't have everything by any means but on many of the items they DID have made Tesco look expensive!

Back home, we ate an absurd amount of dinner before eventually rolling into bed to indulge a few of our other senses and finally fall asleep in our mess.

Day 23 - 11/25/16 (Belvoir Castle on Black Friday):

We had a dental appointment in Loughborough today. It was our second time trying to make the appointment work at this place this month so we left super early to do all we could to avoid complications. We were so early, in fact, we had to find something to do while we waited for our appointment. We were in luck; Loughborough market, which Dean told me is only held early in the day on Friday's, was on! We had a look at the market, stopping early on at a stall we found selling CDs and DVDs for 10p each! We didn't really need any of either but for the price we couldn't resist getting some for ourselves and as gifts.

Back at our dentists just before appointment time, we were given extremely frustrating news: they wanted to charge us an extremely reasonable price of £19 each for x-rays that day BUT they couldn't do any work on our teeth that day or any day for several weeks onward, however, and we would be long gone back to Vegas by the time they COULD see us. Additionally, by the absolute earliest time we might make it back to the UK, our x-rays would be over 4 months old and therefore considered unusable by them. In other words, our appointment that day was pointless and spending £19 each on x-rays would get us nowhere. We walked out empty handed.

Fortunately, the market saved the morning for us completely! We got a £1 Olympic sausage, which tasted much better than it looked, at Crawshaws and got a latte and tea for £0.69 each (current price between 10am and noon) at McDonald's. We took those around the market for a bit more and had some great outdoor time while admiring tons of old trinkets and other random bits!

Done in Loughborough, the next course of action we decided on was visiting Belvoir Castle, maybe a half hour or so away. I'd spent awhile researching the prettiest castles in the area to renew Sean's and my vows as to put on a beautiful, semi-proper wedding for friends and family in the UK. Belvoir Castle was my top choice of these. Though it wasn't open today, I didn't care. I was really only concerned about the look of it and atmosphere around the outside of the castle. I had no particular desire to go inside. So we drove the extremely rural country roads there, doing our best not to hit any of the many pheasants grazing just off and crossing the road. The castle was behind closed gates but we found a road in, drove up, and walked all the way around and right up to it. It was breathtaking! Definitely the most perfect castle I'd seen in person so far. Sean liked it quite a bit too but said that it was very "castle-like" and that maybe it just stood out to me because I hadn't seen many castles. Regardless, I loved it and it's nice view outward from the hill on which it sat!

We finally had our fill of castle exploration and decided to visit the town of Melton Mowbray (apparently known, if not self-proclaimed, the rural capital of food) in the area before heading back. We had no trouble finding free and unlimited parking right in the center after which we spent a couple of hours browsing numerous thrift shops there. As with most towns and cities Sean had taken me to in the UK, save the seaside ones and perhaps London, this one seemed very much the same as the others - in a good way though! The shop types, the layout, the colors, and the architecture just seemed so similar between each. I wouldn't have expected anything different but just an observation.

We got caught in traffic for the umpteenth day in a row on the way towards Sean's mom's work but eventually made it to pick her up and do some more grocery shopping at Morrison's.

Then we got home, cooked up lots of delicious dinner, did as much work as we could, and finally got to sleep around 2am.

Day 24 - 11/26/16:

Today was a simple day. Sean's mom was at work hours before Sean and I woke up. He and I spent the day sorting more of his things and doing house stuff. We went out for a short while to run a couple of errands. We bought some screws at B&M and found some good boxes and bottles to make into bottle lamps in recycling bins in the far corner of the parking lot there (by B&M and Morrison's and such in Coalville). We got a few Xmas lights and other bits at Poundland. We returned home then to put up a few Xmas lights and install a shelf in the coal shed. When Sean's mom got home, we hung out together, ate, and sipped some festive beverages while watching TV for a couple of hours. Then Sean and I sorted more of his things and even listed a bunch of them on Amazon before heading to bed.

Day 25 - 11/27/16 (Xmas #1!):

Christmas time!! Well, technically we were a month early but that's details. Sean and I wouldn't be here in a month so he, his mom, and I had our second annual early Christmas day today! :D

Sean's mom completely spoiled him and me today by doing ALL the cooking. She started us off with ham and pork pies for breakfast. Sometime after that, the three of us walked up to the nearby Co-op for a few bits before returning home to relax and watch TV while sipping wine and snacking a bit.

Then it was time for presents! Sean and I had saved up some silly, fun, and moderately useful gifts for his mom throughout the past year and she'd done the same. (Sean and I would do gifts for each other back in Vegas later.) There were so many entertaining gifts and we had such a blast opening and exchanging them all! None of us had spent too much on anything but we all got some really cool and amusing things. All Christmases should be like that!

Christmas dinner was ready a little after 2pm. Sean's mom was worried that it was so late but I'm still getting used to eating so much so early! In the US, most families I've dined with seem to eat dinner around 6pm on average. My family was probably more like 10pm! :D Anytime is fine by me though. I'm always ready to eat, especially if we've got a mom in the kitchen! You wouldn't BELIEVE the incredible, mouth-watering dinner this mom created today either. If food could be described in art terms, this meal was a masterpiece. Master Chef judges would've sang it's praises! Hahaha Seriously though...SOOOOOO good. Sean and I ate til our bellies were just about ready to rip and went back for more later too!

We gave our stomachs a short break then before taking them out on the town. XD We went walking to the further Co-op in Whitwick. None of us really needed anything there but we picked up a loaf of bread and used it as an excuse for the walk.

Headed back from Co-op, Sean and I told his mom we'd see her back at the house and he and I stopped off for a little visit to Whitwick Park. It was already completely dark out but we didn't let it stop us! We played around on the mini gym and all the little playground equipment there and had a wonderful time. So much fun and even a bit romantic! :3

Done at the park, we made it back to the house and spent a little while sorting more of Sean's old things. Then we went down to watch TV and hang out with Sean's mom. She eventually headed up to bed but Sean and I stayed downstairs for quite a few more hours doing work, Facebook, and other things. When it got quite late, we each ate huge portions of leftovers that we definitely shouldn't have and headed up to bed to sleep off the pain! Lmao Guess that means it was a successful Christmas (#1)!

Day 26 - 11/28/16 (Bradgate Park):

It was just Sean and me today so we drove to another nearby place he'd been wanting to show me: Bradgate Park. It wasn't like I'd imagined. It was enormous, difficult to explore all of in a single day, extremely hilly, covered in fields and trees, and full of deer. There was actually a deer sanctuary visitors weren't allowed in there but deer roamed the whole area freely as sell. There were ruins from an old building called Bradgate House and a new visitor center with info and exhibits telling all about the park ans area. There were a couple of small waterfalls on a river that runs through the park. There were no playgrounds or gym equipment anywhere we saw. Parking was £3 per car but we found free 2 hour parking outside the park and down the road a bit. We spent a good 2 or 3 hours walking and hiking around the park but didn't get a ticket for going over our allotted time. We walked from the car, past the deer sanctuary and ruins, down to the museum adjacent to the tea room. We didn't visit the tea room but we had a quick peek in the museum before turning and hiking up the huge hill through a big field to two lookout points including a castle-style tower with a pretty archway called Old John Tower. We got some exercise and were rewarded by wonderful views. It was so nice!

Once we were back at the car, we made use of the last couple of hours that stores would be open, stopping by the Copy Oak thrift store to buy a couple of bits on the way to Coalville and then buying a few bits at and browsing thrift and other shops in Coalville til 5pm. Then we picked Sean's mom up from work and drove home.

We ate a bunch and spent some time with the fire and TV in the living room.

A little later, Sean and I got in touch with his dad and made plans to head there for a visit. It was just after 8pm when we got to his and Pat's place. We sipped beers and had fun just talking for a couple of hours til it started getting late and we had to say goodnight.

Sean and I stopped by Tesco before heading home. We got a bottle of rum and soda for us and some Guinness for Sean's dad for our next visit with him in a couple of nights.

Then we made it home, ate again, watched more tv, worked a bit, and went to bed.

Note: I recently stumbled across a website called Italki.com. I haven't used it a great deal just yet and I'm sure it could be better but it's got some great potential! I've been using it just to chat with Spanish speakers of varying Spanish and English speaking capabilities and have been improving my Spanish rapidly because of it. So good! I plan to keep at it for a bit and see how it works out.

Day 27 - 11/29/16 (Nottingham & dinner with Cooze's):

I think we woke up at 9 something in the morning today and were on the road to Nottingham just over an hour later! We found free parking (up to 3 hours) in a shopping center and walked a little way to town center. On the way, we spotted Nottingham Castle sitting on a hill above us and to the left. It wasn't as pretty as many other castles, particularly Belvoir Castle, in my opinion but cool to see and good choice of location for a castle, I think.

We walked through the bus station when we got to it and had a look around the adjacent Broadmarsh Shopping Center at bus station where a PIU used to be. We already knew the machine was long gone thanks to a friend of Sean's who'd told us but Sean showed me it's old, empty spot - out in the open of the second floor - before we browsed th 7e shops there.

Walking around the place, I was shocked to see the kinds of stores that inhabited it. It would've otherwise looked like a typical mall I'm used to seeing in America but there were £1 stores, discount and bargain stores, thrift stores, a super cheap sports store selling second hand items, video game stores selling £1 games. (Actually, most stores here in the UK that sell games have a really cheap range. It's not uncommon to see £0.10, £0.49, £0.99 games. Guess game stores where I'm from don't think it's worth it.) In the USA, at least in malls I've been in, it's rare that a discount or bargain store would be at the mall. You don't see much of anything cheaper than Gap or Forever 21 and Abercrombie & Fitch, Bebe, and Sears are very common. Accordingly, Sean and I rarely go. This time, however, we took full advantage! We browsed a thrift shop there, peeked in Poundland, got 2 games for £1 each at a game store Sean used to buy from there, and got a couple of bits (including a £1 retractable eyeliner pencil I'd been looking for the entire month) from Poundworld.

Out the other side of the mall was town center! We walked up, down, and around the nearby streets, stopping in some charity and other shops along the way. We got a £1 Starbucks drink in Sainsbury's, bought 4 more video games for £3.17 total at a pawn shop, and visited a Taco Bell we came across next to a McDonald's and across from a Maryland Chicken. I didn't even know they had Taco Bell in England!looking at their locations list, it seemed like this location was currently their furthest south in England but expansion was planned! They had a Tuesday deal on while we were there: £2 for 1 taco and a bottle of Sol beer. They don't even serve beer at any Taco Bell or other major fast food chain I've seen in the USA! They also didn't ID when we ordered the beer, though that's pretty normal here, really. Anyway, we got the Tuesday deal with a Mexican chicken taco and paid £1 more for a second taco. We didn't need either at the time but cool to note that they offered free WiFi and outlets here as well!

Back out on the town, we spotted tons more American restaurants - more than in any other town I'd seen this trip we saw Five Guys, TGI Friday's, Burger King, Subway, tons of McDonald's locations, Starbucks.

They had a Victorian Christmas market on right in the middle of town at the time so we had a look around that and saw a lot of neat things but didn't buy anything this time.

It was time to head back to the car then. We'd had a really good time though and we'll definitely have to revisit some time. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the occasional tastes of home here!

Partway back towards home, we stopped to check out a much smaller town in Derbyshire called Long Eaton. We found free parking near the town center and walked in for a look. It was very similar to every other town and city we'd visited in the area this trip so we did our usual routine and stopped in the charity, pawn, food, and other stores there for a little shopping. In Home Bargains, we paid £0.49 for 4 Red Bull sized off brand energy drinks. In a pawn shop, we got 2 video games for £1 each. In charity shops. We got a bra for £1, a game for £1, and a huge luggage case for £3 but with £1.30 left inside it (so we basically got it for £1.70)! In Fultons Foods, we paid £1 for 3 full sized energy drinks. One really neat surprise we got inside one of the charity shops: they played the song Take Me To The Clouds Above which I'd stepped for Sean back in 2012 because it'd reminded me of him. It may not make sense to anyone but for me that's always been our song and it'd been a long time since I'd heard it anywhere. :')

Done in Long Eaton, we drove home to sort more of Sean's things. Sean's mom arrived in the midst of our sorting and we hung out for a bit til it was time for Sean and me to leave again.

We had dinner plans with our friends Chris and Sacha Cooze! They'd invited us to dinner at their place where Chris had spent 6 hours making lasagna for us and Sacha was preparing appetizers and serving wine. What a treat! In fact, Sean and I had truly underestimated just how amazing it'd be. We figured it'd be a nice dinner and we'd spend about two hours there but we were actually blown away by it, wound up spending FIVE hours there, and had so much fun! Chris and Sacha's kids were in bed when we arrived but we got to meet and play with their doggy and have a grown up night. We sat around the candlelit dining room table just chatting for hours while enjoying multiple appetizers, sipping some posh fine wines with each course, devouring our incredible main course, and finishing off with tiramisu. By the end of it all, we were all full, fat, happy, and maybe a little sleepy but reluctant to call it a night. Not nearly enough thank yous to fully express our gratitude later, however, Sean and I finally said goodnight and headed off to give in to the itis. By 2am, we were fast asleep back in the comfort of Sean's old bed.

Day 28 - 11/30/16:

Sean and I took his mom to Doreen's for her weekly Wednesday visit today. He and I stayed for a bit and then went home and spent hours packing our bags and tidying up. Then we drove back to Doreen's to hang out for an hour before picking up Sean's mom.

Sean and I had some errands to run in Loughborough so, after Doreen's, the 3 of us headed there next. Sean and I pawned some old speaker set/sound system thing for £15 at a cash converters store and picked up 3 dance games for £2.47 while there too! Then we stopped in a couple of other shops for some bits before heading home, eating, hanging out more, and finally heading to bed.

Day 29 - 12/1/16 (Last Leicestershire Day):

We spent the morning at home today. It was Sean's and my last day in Leicestershire so his mom had taken another day off to spend it with us! (Thank you!!!)

Just before noon, perhaps, the 3 of us headed to Loughborough for one last outing together. Apparently, Loughborough Market was actually on on Thursdays with veggies, trinkets, and everything between for sale so we walked through and checked that out. Most of what we bought in town, however, came from there surrounding shops. Amongst other small bits, I bought some 7Up very minty, yummy, mojito-flavored (non-alcoholic) soda cans for £0.10 each and 4 bits of clothing (2 dresses, 1 shirt, 1 pair of pants) for £1 each!

2 hours in Loughborough was enough for us today. We drove back to the house after that and Sean and I spent most of the day finishing up the massive undertaking of packing our luggages full of things we'd acquired and dug out this past month, not wasting an ounce of weight allowance. We did take time to enjoy some last time with his mom and eat as much of our leftover food as possible though. (We'd have to carry the rest to London and eat as much as possible over the next few days to get rid of it. That pretty much summarized our entire past month, actually: buffet every meal of every day and an extra 8 or so pounds around the waist each to show for it!)

Around 8:45pm, we said a tough goodbye to Sean's mom for the last time this trip and headed over to his dad's place in Loughborough. His dad ordered us some Chinese take out from Ming's Kitchen then and refused to let us pay for it! >:/ (Thank you again for the food, dad-in-law!! Lol) The food was ready in 10 minutes so we drove over, picked it up, and devoured. Delicious!! Sean and I had brought a 4 pack of Guinness from us and a bottle of wine from his mom with us for his dad. Sean and I had a big bottle of Bacardi to share as well so we sat around sipping just a bit while we hung out. Pat got back from dialysis then and kept us company for a little while before she had to head off to bed. A bit later, the rest of us opted for a mini nap. Sean and I took the couch and he got in about 1 - 1.5hrs of sleep. I couldn't sleep at all but caught up on this typing a bit instead. :p

At 2am, Sean, his dad, and I were up again. We had some last hot drinks and then Sean's dad took us to the Loughborough University Megabus stop to catch the 2:40am bus we'd paid £2 each for to London Victoria Coach Station! Our friend Nathan Kerrins was actually supposed to get on the same bus when it reached Leicester and meet us but somehow he managed to miss it so it was just Sean and me.

Day 30 - 12/2/16 (London Night Out):

We arrived at Victoria Coach Station at 5:40am. We hadn't had to lug all our bags around together at once til that point, . Now, it didn't take us long to feel the pain of exactly what we'd gotten ourselves into. I believe that, including maybe 10kg of food and drink that we absolutely HAD to consume or dispose of before our flight to Vegas, we were toting around about 80kg between us. 40 of that was in rolling bags but it was still no small task. Luckily, we'd booked a really cheap hotel in just about the best possible location for the circumstance: about 2 blocks, maybe just over 1000 feet, from where we were standing at Victoria Coach Station! The place:

The Grapevine Hotel
117 Warwick Way
London SW1V 4HT

We walked over then just to see if we could drop our bags. It was super early and the reception desk, which was actually being run by an adjacent hotel called Sheriff's Hotel, wasn't even open yet (it opened at 7am) but they let us in to drop our bags off anyway. We double-checked but, as expected, there were no early check-in options available at all. In fact, the place was absolutely tiny - only a handful of rooms in size - and had no vacancy at the time. Nevertheless, check-in time was at 2pm (early for a hotel) so now that we'd lightened our loads we just had to wait it out.

We decided to go for a walk to a Starbucks. We had gift card credit so it was the cheapest and best option for unlimited toilet and outlet use we could think of in the city. Better yet, the Starbucks we found had tons of practically private, very quiet, comfy seating options with plentiful outlets downstairs. Upstairs was busy but downstairs we basically had a room of couches and cushioned chairs to ourselves. It was really cold outside so we holed up down there with a pot of tea and a giant Christmas coffee of some sort, charged up, and relaxed! Honestly, we were far too tired for much more than that anyway! The best I could do was type this up and use Italki to practice a little Spanish. Sean managed to play some phone games. Lol

Around noon, we finally left Starbucks to get some air and wander around til hotel check-in time. We walked up and down some nearby streets. We passed ridiculous high-end shops and stopped to have a mini picnic with leftovers we'd brought on a bench outside some private park or garden before making our way back to the hotel.

We were over 20 mins early for check-in when we got back to the hotel but they let Sean check-in anyway. We'd booked the hotel in Sean's name but had only paid for one person, not completely realizing how big of a deal it'd be to them for a second person to be in the room. When we saw the single-person room, however, we saw why (besides wanting more money) they were so adament. Sean snuck me in but it was a hassle having to sneak around the place the whole time. That and the room was THE smallest hotel room I'd EVER seen. Aside from the space taken up by a single-sized bed, there was only JUST enough space to walk down one side of the bed and barely enough space to turn around in the restroom. Fitting two people in the shower was absolutely out of the question. We were very cozy in the tiny room, were happy to actually have a private restroom in our room there, and had no complaints about the room but we probably wouldn't be booking a room for one in a place like that in the future. Way too much trouble. As for the amenities, there was a kettle with coffee and tea supplies, a mini flatscreen tv, outlets for various countries (USA, Europe, UK), free WiFi, breakfast. We were too tired to take advantage of anything other than the bed at the time though. We pretty much got straight in bed, took a little time to help each other release some "tension", and then napped for 3 or maybe more hours.

We got up again at 6pm to get ready and head back out to meet friends! To line our stomachs, we ate as much as we could before leaving the room. Then, preparing as much as we could for the night, we did some pregaming with the Bacardi and headed out with snacks, energy drinks, and a water bottle full of Bacardi. Public transportation took nearly as long as walking and cost way more than it was worth for any potentially saved time PLUS we could use the exercise anyway so we went out on foot, walking 2 miles in about 40 minutes to the Slug & Lettuce, 19-20 Hanover Street, London W1S 1YR. There, lots of friends and friends of friends were there to greet us when we arrived. More showed up over the next couple of hours too. We were actually really impressed at how many people came out. Sean and I had trusted Toby and Declan to get everyone out for a fun night on the town and they'd pulled through! Amongst many other new and old faces, we saw Declan, Toby, Mike Smith, Francisco, Shane Henry, Joanne Marvell, and "Little Man". Unfortunately, for the second consecutive year now, Nathan never did make it down to join us.

Our friends already had a table and many had made a start on drinks when we arrived so after saying hi to everyone Sean and I went with Declan to get drinks. They had a 2 for 1 cocktail special on at the time so we got Sean something called Route 56 (no, not 66!) for about £10 and, with it, and a free Long Island Iced Tea for me. Back at the table a little later, Joanne Marvell and her boyfriend, I believe he was (sorry, I can't remember if you mentioned!), brought Sean and me shots of Jager or something similar they'd bought us. Sean and I tried to return the favor by giving them each a shot of the Bacardi we'd brought.

Alcohol always gives me MAJOR munchies so when Mike Smith's girlfriend, who we'd just met tonight, brought out and offered a can of sardines in tomato sauce she'd been carrying around for some reason I was quick to the her up on it. Normally, I'd do my best to avoid eating any kind of sardines but at the moment they seemed pretty appetizing. I was so hungry! Sean shared a couple with me but I ate most of the can myself. One fishy did end up on the floor though. Joanne dared Sean or me to smack someone in the face with one of them and promised a £1 reward. Sounded good to me at the time! I looked across the table, saw a guy named Tom who I'd never met before, and smacked him straight across the face with a saucy sardine. He wasn't all too happy about it and I ended up feeling pretty guilty but it WAS hilarious, I did get £1 for it, and I think Tom forgave me in the end!

Sometime after midnight, I think it was, the Slug and Lettuce started closing up for the night. A lot of people had already gone home and more dropped off along the way but 7 or more of us went walking to the underground and got on to Camden to go to a club Tom had recommended called the Camden Eye. Sean and I snuck one of us through on the subway so we only paid £2.40 instead of £4.80 total for the journey but we almost got caught and would've just walked anyway had it just been us two.

I needed more food before going in the club so Sean and I got fries and a battered sausage for maybe £3.30 in a shop right by the underground station, which was right across the street from the club, when we arrived. Newly-single Declan went to get beers at a nearby shop with a couple of 17-through-19-year-olds he'd been hanging with lately. They met another of their young friends there in the area too. Then they, Sean, and I paid £3 admission each and joined Toby and Tom who were already inside. Actually, I'm not sure how they snuck the 17-year-old in but everyone got in. Sean and I were pretty awkward hanging out with the little girls but we just did our best to keep to ourselves and the older members of the group. The music in the club was mostly alternative and mostly pretty bad, or at least not my style to dance or usually even listen to, but they did play a bit of everything including a little hip-hop. The journey to the club and the food break had sobered me up a little and Sean's and my rum was now long gone but not long after getting into the club Toby bought Sean and me drinks! (Thanks, Toby!!) I danced with Sean a bit when the good music finally came on a bit later but we spent a lot of the time just chatting with our friends and killing time doodling cartoon penises on frosty windows. :p

Sometime probably around 4am, the club finally closed. We stayed and hung out outside briefly, inadvertently witnessing all the drunken drama that stumbled our way there, but eventually started back to the hotel. It was a long and time consuming 4 miles back but we were too cheap to pay for public transit and figured it'd do well to sober us up and we could REALLY use the exercise, considering we'd have multiple races coming up a week later, anyway. We jogged, walked, and stopped to look around a couple of times. About an hour after starting out, we were back in the hotel. We watched some tv and ate a little food as the sun came up. Pretty soon it was breakfast time. Sean went down to the breakfast room and brought back a small plate of food to share. We didn't want to be too greedy! Around 8am, we FINALLY went to sleep!

Day 31 - 12/3/16 (The British Museum, Hippodrome):

I woke up at noon today. Sean was up a bit later. It was just before 4pm when we actually left the hotel though.

We were due to meet our friend Michelle Cleaver at the The British Museum at 4:30pm. Turned out, however, public transit would take 42 minutes to get us there and would cost whereas a casual walk should get us there in 54 minutes. Might as well walk! It was 2.5 miles and the sidewalks were extremely crowded but Sean and I walked briskly and arrived at 4:45pm. Admission was free, though a £5 donation per person was requested. I wouldn't have donated £5 but I would've made some kind of donation had our luck been a little better. Not long after getting inside, however, they started closing up for the night. Initially, we were supposed to meet Michelle at the museum on Friday but we'd been too tired and had rescheduled for Saturday. I'd looked up the hours beforehand and was expecting them to be open til 8:30pm. Turned out that was just Friday's closing time - not Saturdays. Oh well. We got a good look at some really impressive old clocks and currencies in two of the rooms, snapped plenty of pictures, wandered around in some big and fancy room I think might've been called the Great Room, and checked out the gift shops.

Though we'd budgeted another hour or two for the museum there was plenty of other stuff to do with our time in the area. We then went wandering around, peeking in souvenir and other shops between there and Chinatown. We bought quite a few interesting-looking drinks and foods at a grocery store in Chinatown. Michelle headed off to meet a friend for dinner then but Sean and I had other plans.

We walked to the Hippodrome Casino then. We had plans to meet Declan and maybe other friends to use some of Sean's MyVegas (phone app) credits on freebies there. Declan was hanging with Katherine (one of the young girls Sean and I had been introduced to the previous night) at the time though and she didn't have any ID with her so they weren't able to get in. Sean was wearing shorts then and, though they were nice enough shorts, the casino didn't allow guys wearing shorts in in the winter. We managed to get in a different door by promising that Sean would change into pants (which he didn't actually have) inside. Once inside, we were left alone about the shorts. Though Declan didn't make it in and no one else came out, Toby was kinda in the area and came out to meet us. Sean cashed in some of his for two deals: £25 credit to use in the Heliot Steak House there and £50 in Super Odds Chips (gambling chips that can only be wagered). Toby came with Sean and me to gamble our £50, from which we only walked away with £20, on roulette. Still, can't complain about completely free money! Toby plays MyVegas too so he cashed in some credits for the £25 credit to use in the Heliot Steak House and joined us for dinner at 10pm. It was a pretty fancy place and the entrees were quite small but also VERY good. Sean and I got some £13 mushroom ravioli dish and a £14 ribs and wings dish to share. Toby got a really nice steak with fries. The ravioli dish only came with 4 large pieces of ravioli but it was really delicious and, in my opinion, the best tasting of the three yummy entrees. With a small amount of complimentary bread they brought to the table for us to share, Sean and I were just full enough by the end of the meal. Sean and I paid an extra couple of £s over the £25, a mandatory surprise 12+% service charge, and whatever extra fees they might've tacked on out of pocket but we were still up somewhere maybe around £14 from roulette. Guess technically we got paid to have some entertainment and a nice meal with a friend! Funny note: the women's restroom here has a fancy hair straightener free for use!

We wanted to see Declan after the casino so we walked over to where he was hanging with Katherine in Weatherspoons but it was full and they weren't letting anyone else in. Maybe it was a sign. Tomorrow was Sean's and my last day in London before heading to the airport the morning after so we figured we should call it a night anyway. Toby had to get home anyway so we said goodbye to him and then Sean and I went off alone. We meandered to Leicester Square first, looking around on the way. We stopped in souvenir shops and even found the bear I'd been after for maybe 4.5 years discounted to £6.99! (It was a Queen's Guard bear I'd first found in a souvenir shop by the London Eye for £14.99 or possibly even more. I'd been trying ever since to get a good deal on him when I spotted him in any of the souvenir shops we passed.) I bartered with them and they gave him to me for £6. I finally had my bear!!! <3 <3 <3

We walked back to hotel then, taking a slightly different route when we got close to Buckingham Palace to walk by it. After that, all that was left to do was to watch TV with some Chinatown noodles we'd acquired earlier and fall asleep a bit after 3am.
 

Day 32 - 12/4/16 (Last UK day):

At 8am, we got a little hotel breakfast and took it up to the room to eat later. We snoozed a bit more then til waking up to eat at 11:28am. In the past few days, we'd gotten through a bit of hotel breakfast, lots of hotel teas and coffees thanks to the in-room kettle, and maybe about 10kg of food and drinks we'd brought with us from Thringstone!

We'd decided the best way to get the most out of our last day was to see as much as we could on foot, going and stopping whichever way seemed most appealing at the time. We walked from the hotel to the Thames and followed the river from there towards the London Eye. So many great sights to see on the way! We stopped in a park we passed and played around on the playground for a bit. Playgrounds had come a long way since we were kids. This one had a number of ingenious things to play on including foot-activated chimes set up like a TechnoMotion pad just like one we'd seen for the first time in Leicester, I believe it was, years ago. There, we sat down and had a picnic with more leftovers, feeding the crumbs to birds that came to join us. (I'm sure we're not supposed to but they were too cute to resist!)

We got to Big Ben and all the noteworthy, gorgeous buildings near it. Got some great pictures there - definitely much better than those I'd taken in previous years. Then we walked across the Thames to the London Eye, stopping in the McDonald's adjacent to Namco just before it.

Despite having a basement level of seating as well, McDonald's was disgustingly busy with absolutely nowhere to sit. In fact, families were sitting on the floor outside the front entrance to eat their meals it was so bad! The service was quick enough though. Sean and I had been saving a loyalty card over the past month and only needed one more cup for a free drink. We bought Sean a large tea for £1.09 large and got me a really yummy toffee latte for free! (It was normally £2.39 or so.) Sean remembered some benches in the arcade in Namco so we took our drinks there and sat down to sip, thaw out a bit, and relax for a few. We noticed a few changes to the arcade and music games there but it was still pretty similar to how it'd been when we'd been there before. They had Guitar Hero, EuroMix 1, Dancing Stage SuperNova, and DDR X, if I'm not mistaken - pretty similar to last time we visited. The toilet line there was much shorter than McDonald's and toilets were free to use too. Not a bad stop!

Back out and about, we walked around near the London Eye to get some good shots and even better views. Then we walked up just a bit more by the Thames, past part of a Christmas market (probably the 3rd or so we'd seen in the past few days), and across the Jubilee Bridge. We continued to Trafalgar Square, walked by the Hippodrome again, and kept going to Camden.

In a Sainsbury's Local, we paid £0.20 for 5 delicious, soft oatmeal raisen cookies that'd been reduced to sell.

We reached Camden around 6:15pm. To our surprise, some of the charity shops there were still open. We got 2 England flags - the kind that stick out from car windows - for £1 in one. :p

The first Poundland we saw was closed but the second was still open and we stopped in for some last chips and energy drinks this trip.

Then we walked through Camden, looking around the souvenir and other shops on the way, window shopping on the way to Camden Market. Nothing really seemed to have changed and I was glad! The stores were pretty much just the same as I remembered them, selling the same things in the same places. Only about half of Camden Market was open when we arrived but that was plenty for us to have a good look around again and we even found a crazy, brand new costume dress that still had tags on saying it was supposed to cost £65 just lying in an alley!

From Camden Market, I think it was about .3 miles, maybe even less, to a place I'd found online and had been wanting to visit ever since. The place was called Rio's Health Spa and was coed and nude-friendly. They even had a couples night! We walked over then but when we arrived we were unpleasantly surprised by a CLOSED sign on the door and a notice that they'd been closed since Nov 11th due to fire safety issues. Apparently, reopening date would be based on when necessary modifications were completed. >:/

Rio's Health Spa
239-241 Kentish Town Road
Kentish Town, London, NW5 2JT
http://www.rios.co.uk/welcome.htm

Sean and walked back to the Hippodrome Casino then. Sean still had more MyVegas credits so we redeemed some for £25 table credit (in increments of £5, same as last night), bet the £25 on on 30 out of 37 numbers on roulette just to attempt the most sure win possible (we weren't allowed even wagers), AND LOST EVERYTHING. >:/ But that's okay! It was free money and we still had a sure win with the next thing: we redeemed more MyVegas credits for £10 snack bar credit and headed to the snack bar for 2 orders of chicken wings. We got one order piri-piri and the other garlic, 10 wings per order, and shared. American football was on all the TVs there at the time so we watched while munching. At the end of it, we had to pay £3.50 out of pocket including the service charge but we were still up from our free winnings the night prior and had gotten free food snd entertainment as well!

It was finally time to call it a night then but we still had the long-ish walk back to the hotel. In total, I think we must've walked a half marathon or so today! It was around midnight when we reached the hotel. We got all packed, got ready for bed, and cuddled up in the small but comfy bed one last time.

Day 33 - 12/5/16 (Back to Vegas):

It was a struggle but we were up at 6:50am today to begin our journey home to Vegas. :( We were both far from anxious to go though we'd definitely made the most of the past month!

As I got the last of our things ready to go, Sean went down to get one last small plate of hotel breakfast. All hell unleashed in the breakfast room though. Apparently, one of the hotel staff members had caught onto us and made the biggest scene in front of and the guests in the breakfast room, yelling at Sean andllnd flailing her arms all around because she knew there was a second person in his 1-person room. She said he owed them £10. Really?! Huge scene in front of all the other guests over £10? I'm SURE there was a better was to handle that.. Yeah, the £150 (or maybe $150?) we'd paid for 3 nights was probably a great deal in central London but £10 is £10 and it's not hard to be a little more professional about things when you're running a business. Oh well, guess I really have no room to complain. We DID break the rules, though we didn't obtain or use any more amenities than the average single guest would from it. What can you expect from one of the cheapest hotels in London? Still, all-in-all I was pretty happy with my free stay! Oh yeah, in the end Sean didn't end up paying a penny extra. Lol He checked us out then and we walked back to Victoria Coach Station.

We got to the station 20mins before our 8:30am EasyBus was scheduled to depart for London Gatwick Airport. Luckily, THIS service actually existed! We'd paid £5.90 for 2 people for it long in advance. We sat at the front of the bus and caught our last sights of London on the journey. So many cyclists out at that time! Definitely a different culture than I'm used to.

It was just under two hours before our 12:10pm Norwegian Airlines flight to Vegas when we arrived at Gatwick's south terminal. We got checked in, headed to our gate, and waited til it was time to fly. Soon enough, we were in the air. We'd paid for seat selection, checked bags, and a meal on the way back to Vegas as well (as those aren't included with the flight by default) so we got to take lots of cool things back to Vegas with us, sit together, and and eat airplane food. Yay! Sean and I chose the beef and curry, rather than the chicken and tomato sauce. We DEFINITELY made the right choice. It was pretty good. For the rest of the flight, we occupied ourselves with movies, naps, and more. I typed much of this up, Sean played phone games,.. I found some pretty good shows and movies, both fiction and non-fiction, to entertain myself with including Brain Games 3 (a really neat tv episode about color), Godzilla, Independence Day: Resurgence, Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman (about time and time travel), and Futurescape With James Woods (about aging and scientific possibilities of combating it). One sandwich - inclusive breakfast and many coffees, orange juices, and other beverages later, we were back in Vegas. It was 2:23pm when we landed. We used some free Uber credit and got a ride home.

More than ever before, the buildings looked so ugly and flat - all 1 or 2 stories high aside from the casinos. The presence of dirt and rocks in place of grass was really bothering me. The 66 degree (Fahrenheit) was really nice but it wasn't enough. I didn't want to be back. My perspective changed a bit as I readjusted in the days that followed but I still couldn't help but wonder whether I was due a move or whether I'd just always lust after something different regardless of where I planted roots.

Danny had been in socal for some Playstation expo over the weekend and he'd left our dogs with his parents while away. He retrieved them just as Sean and I started unpacking and met us at the house with them. Funny, they greeted us with close to no enthusiasm. They usually go wild when we get home from trips but I guess this one had just been too long. They clung to Danny more than us but as the following days past things got back to normal and the doggies started loving us again!

It took forever but before the night was out we'd fully unpacked, cleaned house a little, and even began catching up on the work and other things that had piled up over the past month. We can't be gone this long again without figuring something else out. There's just too much to deal with after getting back! Eventually, we just had to call it a night. Still, can't deny it must've been a great trip if getting home feels like the worst thing ever!