Football pitches, zebras crossing streets, and other rubbish from London

Current location: Rome! But I'm going to backtrack a bit since I still haven't told you about London. Don't worry, I still have one more day in Rome, so after that I'll give you all of the details about this wonderful ancient city.

Palabra del día: During my time in London, I felt like I was learning a new language. I could understand British English about as well as I can understand Spanish: there were certain words I didn't know and there's also a weird accent.  Instead of choosing just one word, here's a list of all of the British words I learned.  Try to guess their definitions (some are more obvious than others). Answers are at the bottom of the post - don't peak!

1. Jumper 
2. Floor
3. Flat
4. Zebra (pronounced "Deborah")
5. Way out
6. Car boot 
7. Trousers 
8. Buckets
9. Chips
10. Match
11. Pitch
12. Rubbish
13. Toilet, gent or ladies, or loo 
14. Cycling
15. Pavement
16. Muffin
17. Petrol station
18. Lift
19. Queue
20. Crisps

Comida del día: afternoon tea 
Afternoon tea is a wonderful thing.  It's basically an excuse to eat mini sandwiches, scones, and three desserts in the middle of the afternoon while feeling classy, proper and caffeinated.

Foto del día: The red phone booths actually exist!

I've been moving around a lot recently.  Two weeks ago, I was on top of the Eiffel Tower.  Since then, I've been in London, Granada, and Rome, and tomorrow I'm off to Venice!  I sometimes have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming because I still can't begin to believe how fortunate I am to have the chance to travel to so many new places.  I keep thinking that traveling makes me feel like a little kid.  I get endless enjoyment out of the green guys in the walk signs (they're brown in the US), the mini smart cars instead of giant SUVs, and the announcer's accent on the subway, and whenever I can decipher a street sign or advertisement in a new language I have the urge to say, "Look Mom, I can read!"

I've now seen three cities and I have plans to see four more.  In general, I'm hoping to avoid the one tall building in each city that tourists always feel the need to climb.  It's usually overpriced and crowded and there are better views in other places (I made an exception to this rule for the Eiffel Tower, because it's the Eiffel Tower, of course).  As I travel, I also hope to meet people along the way so that I learn not just about the museums in each city but also about people's culture and lifestyle.  I hope to find the right balance between educational activities and fun activities; and to not wind up broke (which is a bit difficult because shopping in Europe is so good and there are too many good sales after Christmas!)  

Now I will finally describe some highlights about London, even though it already feels like forever ago since I was there!

• Weather: Rainy. Windy. Cold. Dark.  I don't recommend it.

• Food: There's no sun in England, so vegetables don't grow there unless they grow underground.  There's a lot of meat and potatoes, and a few beets if you are feeling a vitamin deficiency and search for a bit.  You may be able to tell that as a vegetarian I wasn't the biggest fan of traditional British food, except for the tea and the fish and chips.  The good thing is that London is a large and diverse city, so I ate some of the best Indian food I've ever had.  Also, people eat dinner at 6 pm.  How strange is that? 

• Tourist attractions: I loved visiting the British library, which had original copies of works by Shakespeare and Chaucer, the original score of a Mozart horn concerto, and handwritten Beatles lyrics. 

• Public transportation: the train in London is called the "Underground" and it's definitely the best public transportation system I've ever seen.  It's clean, user friendly, goes almost everywhere, and you never wait more than five minutes for a train.  The only downside is that it's quite expensive (along with everything else in London).

• Shopping: There are a lot of department stores, but after the boutique shopping in ever fashionable Paris, London shopping was a bit of a disappointment.  I did enjoy the Brick Lane markets in east London though, which takes place every Sunday and include a flower market, vintage shopping, flea markets, food markets, and basically any crafty item you could ever want.  

These hats were definitely the best things Simone and I found while shopping in London department stores.

Parts of London to me felt exactly like New York city, except older and with a funny accent. But it was more like the US than any other city I've been in recently.  I did a double take when the waitress at a restaurant my first night in London spoke to me in English, because that hadn't happened in four months!  I didn't fall in love with London as much as I did with Paris, but I still enjoyed everything I saw and did there.  Despite all of the clouds, I loved the views of the bridges on the Thames river, and the lack of sun made sunny moments even more enjoyable. 

British word solutions: 
1. Sweater
2. Ground (in London, floors can be outdoors as well)
3. Apartment
4. Yes, its the animal, but it also means crosswalk (since there are white stripes on black pavement)
5. Exit ("Way out" was written on all exit signs, although "exit" was still used for "Emergency Exit")
6. Trunk
7. Pants
8. Ramekins
9. French fries
10. Game
11. Field (Soccer game on a field, or football match on a pitch?)
12. Trash
13. So many ways to say "bathroom"
14. Biking
15. Sidewalk 
16. English muffin (but "American" muffins are just called muffins as well, so it gets confusing)
17. Gas station
18. Elevator
19. Line
20. Chips