Pubs: Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

3 April 2012 - Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Temple, London

The last pub on our Hidden Pubs of Old London Town walk was Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub.  This pub was also hidden back behind some buildings and accessed through an alleyway.  It was a very cool and very old pub with lots of levels and dark tucked away rooms.



Allegedly Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Mark Twain drank here.  I had a Samuel Smith Pure Brewed Lager.



I really liked the vibe of this pub and would go back to explore more of the hidden dungeon-y rooms and find out more about its history.

Pubs: Old Bank of England

3 April 2012 - Old Bank of England, Temple, London

The next stop on our Hidden Pubs of Old London Town walk was The Old Bank of England pub.  We entered through a random door in a back alley.  I'm hoping there's another entrance, because otherwise I may never find this place again!  The pub is, unsurprisingly, an Old Bank of England building that was turned into a pub.  A gorgeous pub.  I mean, c'mon:



I was really blown away.  It was just lovely.



Unfortunately, we could only stay for 20 minutes since we were on the tour.  I had just enough time to enjoy a half pint of Discovery and a chat with a fellow Meetuper.



I'll definitely be back if I can find it!

Pubs: The Devereux

3 April 2012 - The Devereux, Temple, London

I'm getting pretty behind on these!  The next three pubs were part of a London Tours guided walk, The Hidden Pubs of Old London Town, that I did with an American Expat Meetup group.  The walk unfortunately coincided with the first very rainy day of Spring, but no matter.  We still had a good time!



The first pub we visited was The Devereux, which was tucked back behind some law buildings.  I had a half pint of Young's because we were only there for about 20 minutes.  The pub wasn't too busy and could handle the influx of about 25 people.  It didn't really stand out to me in any way though, and I probably won't be back.

Making Friends, UK Style

Ahh friends.  I miss having friends.  Things have been fairly slow in the friend-making department.  I moved here from the US not knowing anyone but my husband and my dogs... and my social circle still pretty much consists of my husband and my dogs.  I've been here less than two months though, so I know that I'm still very new, and I can't expect to just instantly have a group of girlfriends.  But, not gonna lie, it would be nice.  I do miss having friends you can call up at the last minute to join you for a margarita or glass of wine and/or other silly stuff like at-home manicures and reality TV.

In the past few years in the US, we moved around a lot.  I think I've become fairly adept at meeting people and making new friends.  I know that it takes time.  Making friends is a lot like dating.  You don't want to come on too strong, or be too pushy and freak the other person out.  But you still have to show interest and put forth effort.

As an adult, it can be hard to meet people who are open to new friendships.  The easiest avenues for friend-making, school and work, aren't happening here either.  My formal school days are long over, and I'm not working here yet (a subject for a future post).  But I'm doing what I can.  I'm joining Meetup groups, taking an adult education class, and volunteering.  Meetup.com has been very good to me in the past.  I've met some really wonderful people through that site, and hopefully that will hold true here as well.  I've joined some American expat Meetup groups in London, and I've started a couple of local Meetups, so we'll see what happens with that.

Hanging out with Americans has been nice, but I don't want to only have American friends here.  That would kind of defeat the purpose of moving to another country.  Plus, there aren't very many Americans here in my small town, and I really would love to have some local friends.  So I'm trying to factor British reservedness into my friend-making approach.  Don't want to freak them out with my eagerness and my super friendly Texan-ness.  That's kind of a joke, because back home I'm considered pretty quiet and reserved.  I usually have to consciously make myself more open and assertive when I'm meeting new people.  Hopefully I'll figure out how to strike the right balance here.