Cousins, Fish and Friars

We had the great fortune of another cousin visit this past weekend. This time from Jedburgh Scotland! My 'second cousins' came to London on Saturday as they came down for the weekend to stay in Reading just outside the city. It would be the second time on record that I have met these cousins as I first met them in Edinburgh on my trip in September. I must say though, Lilian, and her teenage daughter Emily are so cool! And super nice!

We met them at the train station as they took the train from Reading. Thank goodness! I was originally thinking that they were going to drive into the city and I thought that they were mad. I thought it might be fun to hit the London Aquarium which is located on the bank of the Thames right next to the London Eye. The shark tank was pretty cool, and I loved the coral reefs and watching the clown fish frolick among the sea anemone. What I didn't expect was how small and dark it actually was. It was basically all underground. We only had 2 hours and I thought we would only get to see one floor. We saw the whole thing in 1.5 hours. I guess its not fair of me to judge as the main aquarium that I am comparing it to is the Boston Aquarium which is just massive!

The best and most original experience that I will always remember was the touch pool. This was a large pool filled with about 12 stingrays that allow you to touch them if they come up to the surface. Each ray has a different texture. Syd felt one that had a scaly rough surface with a bony spine, whereas I touched a soft fleshy one that must have been in infancy. It was such a neat experience and totally worth the admission price alone!
Following the aquarium we crossed the Blackfriars bridge and hit a pub called 'The Black Friar'. Yes, I know, very original. However, inside, it was really funky. I tried to take pictures to capture it. There were wood carvings of friars all along the top of the walls and cute phrases.


We enjoyed a good ale there and then walked over to covent garden to have a hearty American meal at TGI Fridays. It was so fun to get to know each other, share funny stories and even share pictures and music over bluetooth with our mobiles! Emily taught Syd about how to do the bluetooth exchange, to which he was embarrassed to not be too knowledgeable about (sorry honey!) ;o)

Its great to be able to be close to cousins who would normally be across the ocean. Can't wait to spend time with them again at the Edinburgh tattoo in August!