The famous Hard Rock Cafe was actually started in London. Apparently a couple of rock and roll lovin' Americans came over here and started an American diner that later took off world wide. We've tried our best to avoid the American chains while we've been here, so it seemed a little weird to be eating at a place in every major US city, but we figured it was okay since it started out over here. 
The food was good - reminded us of home at least - although it was very pricey. The place was also PACKED! We got there at 5:30 thinking we'd have no problem (since dinner generally starts so much later here), but we still had an hour wait.
The main attraction ended up being in the gift shop across the street, though. One of the things the Hard Rock is famous for is its memorabilia, like guitars and stage costumes and the like. The basement of the gift shop here (and I think in some other Cafes as well), has a vault of some of the most important things. We learned a ton from the "Vault Master" about the history of all the stuff they have. As it turns out, their restaurants are collectively the largest museum of rock and roll in the world - by far. We also learned the interesting story of how they got started. Please indulge the story:
So apparently the Hard Rock, back when it was just a small diner, was the favorite spot for the great Eric Clapton when he was in London - because a burger was much more appealing than bangers and mash. He came nearly every night when he was playing in town. At some point, he asked the owners if they would put a sign on his favorite spot at the bar, so that he would essentially have the right to that seat any time he wanted. They counter-offered that he should give them his guitar and hang it above his seat. About a week later the owners received another guitar from Pete Townsend of The Who along with a note that said "Mine is as good as his". The rest is history. Clapton's red Fender still hangs above bar, but I don't think he'd probably brave the crazy tourist crowd now!! 
My assignment was originally scheduled to end at the end of February, but due to some on-going client work (and a desire to travel more), I extended an extra two months. That meant, though, that most of the people we came over with returned home at the end of February.
We had a couple of last get-togethers - an official one with lost of people for work and then an informal dinner with just the 20 or so of us that came over. It was hard to say goodbye, firstly because we don't know if or when we'll see most of these people again, but also because them leaving makes our impending return all the more real. It made us realize that this adventure is soon coming to an end.
On a less sad note, we did have the pleasure of housing Eric and Anne for their last week in London. Due to some conflicts between his return date to KC and the end of their lease, they were going to be homeless, so we offered them our floor for 4 nights. Although it was a bit cramped and interesting trying to all get ready for work in the morning, we had a great time with them and it was a good way to say goodbye. We've made a lasting friendship with the Yurkovich's, and it will be hard to not have dinner buddies over the next few months to talk with about all of our wild adventures. We also had a fun time helping them stuff everything into their suitcases!!
Another Tourist Day - BFC/St Pauls/Nat Gallery
With our time in London dwindling, we wanted to make sure we took in all the important sites that we've been putting off for so long. The list was down to just a few items, and we had a free Saturday, so we went to it.
We started with lunch at Books for Cooks, which as always did not disappoint. After a trip through the Portobello Road market (and a London Bus souvenir), we went to one of the last remaining sites, St Paul's Cathedral. We'd been to a service here before, but they kind of look down on you gawking at the ceilings and carrying your guide book up to take communion, so we saved that part for a separate trip. With guidebook and high-priced ticket in hand, we took off for a tour of one of the 2 great churches of London.
Westminster (the other great one) is the more classic cathedral in London, and is the home to all the dead royalty and history. St Pauls is more "modern". Both are pretty amazing, and neither could really be called better than the other, just different. St. Pauls is much more open and bright, which was nice. It is also known for having one of the largest domes in Christendom, which is really the distinguishing feature. Jenna and I both ascended about half way up the dome to see the inner-section up close, but she wimped out on the full climb to the top, so I had to go alone.
The views from the top were pretty good, but to be honest I'm not sure that London is a great city to see from the sky. There are the few distinguishing features - The Eye, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, etc - but I feel like these are all better up close anyway. So while the view was good, I don't know that it was worth the resulting pain in the calves!
After leaving St Pauls we made a quick trip over to the National Gallery just before it closed to have one last look at the impressionist rooms - Jenna's favorite. 
Football
We've been wanting to get tickets to a football (soccer) match since the day we moved over here. Last season we just never got around to it, and since the beginning of this season (in the Fall), the timing had just never quite worked out to go. We finally matched up the schedule of the team we wanted to see with the schedule of our being in town, and bought our tickets. 
The following of football over here is pretty mind-blowing. Pretty much exactly what you always here about. London is about the size of NYC (slightly smaller), however it is still able to support 5 teams in the Premier League, and they play about 40 matches per season.
The system is a little confusing, but as a quick summary (as I understand it): There are 4 leagues that would be considered "professional". There is one main league, the Premier League, and then 3 lower leagues that could be loosely compared to baseball's minors. Each league has 20 teams. The amazing thing about the system, though, is that teams can actually move up and or down between leagues depending on their performance. The bottom 3 teams in each league get bumped down each year and are replaced by the top 3 teams from the lower league. it would be like if the Orioles became a minor league team at the end of the year, and were replaced by the best Triple-A minor league team. It keeps things very interesting, because even the worst teams still have something to fight for at the end of the season.
I think it ends up that the same teams tend to stay "borderline" and move back and forth, but there is always a chance that your favorite neighborhood team could be in the top league if things go well. In fact, the team we went to see - Fulham FC (football club) - was in the 3rd league in 1997 and worked their way up to the Premier League in just 5 years (mainly because they were bought by a billionaire who invested a lot in coaches and new players).
We chose Fulham partly because they are the closest team to us, but mainly because they are a middle-of-the-pack team, which means that you get the Premier League action and quality, but can still get decent seats at a good price. The game was pretty incredible. They were playing another similarly ranked team (I think they were ranked #9 and #10 at the time), so they were fairly evenly matched. Our seats were right down on the pitch (field) about 4 rows up directly behind one of the goals. There were 3 goals scored in the game, and all of them were on our side, so we got to see quite a bit of action. 
Being at the game was something else. We unknowingly purchased seats in the "rowdy" section of the stands, and through the whole match the devoted fans were chanting and singing and yelling and it really helped us get into it. I used to hate soccer with a passion, probably because I was used to watching (or worse participating in) the terrible play of 11 year olds. Seeing it at this level is something completely different. We can't wait for the World Cup and maybe even a little MLS action back home in Dallas.
Bath
Bath is a small town a few hours from London that was built on top of the only natural hot springs in England. You may remember a post from a while back when we took our first trip out there to see the ruined Roman baths and a few other things. We had decided right after that trip that we hadn't spent enough time and needed another trip, so once a free Saturday came up we took the train out to spend the day.
We were able to get a much better overall feel of the town on this trip, as the last time we really only had time for the baths before things shut down (we went to Stonehenge first that day). This time we arrived early and were able to take a free guided tour of the town to get a little of the history. This was a hot spot for the rich and famous at one point due to the supposed healing qualities of the mineral water from the hot springs. They built a tea room right above the main spring that served glasses of the stuff, and it still stands today. We did try the water...it was terribly disgusting.
We were also lucky enough to be able to enjoy tea in the Pump Room just like the high society did in the 1800's. Too bad we left our fancy dress and hats behind.
It was interesting to walk around the town and hear about all the important people that spent time here. We also toured an old Georgian house and the town's ball rooms, both decorated at the height of Bath's popularity. The homes were basically vacation rentals, where rich folks from London would come and spend a few weeks or months in these fancy homes while they played in town. The ballrooms were built by the mayor as a place for all the tourists to come and socialize.
Before catching an early train back home, we toured through the large cathedral that sits right in the middle of the town square.
Once again, Bath was a great little place to visit. It is just a nice little place to get away from London for a day and enjoy a little of the countryside and some smaller-town life, much as they did 100 years ago.
