The Scottish Presbyterian and the Pub Psychologist

So I'm trying to make it so each title is an inside joke based off an experience, or just some funny memorable moment. Last night, Catey, Kelsey and I decided we wanted to go out somewhere. After a long time of searching through our London travel books and the internet, we found this place called Portobello Gold, the oldest bar in Notting Hill (Yes, the place where the movie with Julia Roberts was based off of). We took the tube down 2 stops to Notting Hill Gate and then roamed around down there trying to find this bar. We finally get there and notice that everyone else there is at least in their 30's, so it definitely wasn't a college student scene. However, we decided to each get a drink and sit down at a table to talk and relax. We met some very interesting people at the bar who decided to approach our table. First, the Pub psychologist. He was a drunk older man who came over to us and asked "Are you depressed? Are you feeling low? Do you feel like you're going to lapse? Because I am the pub psychologist. It's what I do..free of charge!" We all looked at each other not knowing what to think but we told him no, and he kept talking about I don't even know what. Over the course of the night he came back about 5 or 6 more times, each time asking if we were okay. We finally decided to play with him a little and told him our friend Catey was feeling a little low to see what he would do. What a funny guy. Next was this scottish man who came and sat down, offering us about 20 minutes worth of wisdom. Some of his takes on life: 1) Worth is more important than love 2) You meet people when you need to meet them 3) Have faith and confidence in yourself 4) Don't be irish - apparently his wife is irish and she gives him a splitting headache. It was just hilarious meeting these people and quite an experience!

Moving on, on Wednesday night we decided to go to Imperial again because we didn't have any plans but wanted to do something. We ended up meeting a whole group of British students who bartend at the union bar there. They had a day off but still decided to go there to hang out and joined us at one of the tables. We played some games and then they invited us out with them to Fulham to a club. It was really cool getting to meet some local people and going out to dance for a few hours. We went to a place called Fiesta Havana.

Thursday night after class I went to a play called "Stockwell" at the Tricycle Theatre off the Kilburn tube stop. It was further out of the city- almost out of Zone 2. It was a type of verbatim theatre (similar to the Laramie Project) where the entire performance was quotes from people who were at the incident or involved in the event. This story was about the brazilian man who was killed by the Metropolitan police after the London bombings a few years ago. He was thought to be a terrorist and was shot, even though he was an innocent man. It was a very sad story but very informative to me because I had never heard what happened before. The theatre was small and intimate. We were actually in the front row which I was very excited about. (You could sit anywhere but there just happened to be 3 seats open front and center).

Friday we went on a day trip to Bath and Stonehenge. It was very surreal going to these places I have heard so much about. We had about 45 minutes in Stonehenge, where we saw the rock formation and got cheese scones, and then we went to Bath to tour the Roman Baths. It is hard to believe how old the baths are- it just blows your mind! In Bath, we also went to this little restaurant called Sally Lunn's, famous for its sweet buns. It has been there since the 1400's I believe- really old! It was a long day on the coach bus but still a lot of fun! Last night when we arrived back I just wanted to sleep but I regained some energy somehow and that is when we went to Portobello Gold. I came full circle in this post!

Right now I am doing my laundry and I hope to do something tonight but I'm not sure what everyone else is doing (It is 7:46 here at the moment). I hope everyone is well! Cheerio!