Relaxation 101

Today was pretty much the most relaxing day ever. I slept in this morning and took my time getting ready for the day. I had no other plans today other than a wine tasting that I set up with some of the other folks here at 3:00. I went to Barclays Cash Point, a.k.a. an ATM, and got out some more money. Living in a city is expensive! After that I grabbed a quick lunch and met some folds out at Kensington Gardens just to relax. It was a gorgeous day today--the sun was out and it was the perfect temperature. It was nice just to sit in the grass for a little while. Then we headed over to Vinnopolis, a local seller of wine and other spirits. We got a quick lesson in how to taste wine. First, you hold the glass by the stem so that your hand doesn't heat up the wine, then you look to make sure that the wine is not cloudy. After that you look at the color--the lighter the edge of a white wine the younger it is, but if the edge of a red whine is lighter then it is an older wine. Then you swirl the glass to look for the legs, or drips. The more drips you see, the higher the alcohol content is. Swirl it again and stick your nose into the glass to see if you can identify the different layers of smells. Finally you actually taste it--but you have to slurp it to incorporate your sense of smell. It was very informative. The place was beautiful too! There was an exhibit of wine and then rooms were decorated that held the wine. There was a tapas bar for (overpriced) food, and a great selection of wine broken down by country. I tried a Cabernet Sauvignon from France, a really great Riesling from Australia, and a Shiraz from Mexico to name a few. Our tickets included five wine tastings along with two extra premium (really good) wine tastings. It was so great! It also included two rum tastings and between the seven of us we got more tickets to try whiskey, beer and absinthe.

After the tasting we headed to a Mexican restaurant right on the Thames. It was the most tasty meal I've had here so far. We had a great time there--possibly as a result of our earlier activities, but I'm sure we would have had as good a time regardless.

Then we headed to my new favorite pub, the Island Queen. We just hung out and each got another drink. I got a glass of Aspall Cider--my new favorite thing. Today was just a day full of drinking, relaxing, talking, laughing, and generally being lazy--loved it!

Tomorrow's going to be an early day--we're going to the Tower Of London and then seeing another Shakespeare Play: As You Like It. Can't wait!

Until tomorrow,
Whitney