Back in the saddle again...

Hello, faithful readers. :) I'm happy to report that everything in England's fair and pleasant land is good, and that London in early July is waaaaaay more humid and hot than I ever anticipated. Highs during the first three days of my visit were over 90 degrees, and though I have no official humidity readings from the BBC, I estimate humidity was approximately 1,000 percent. And since my fourth-floor hotel room had no air conditioning (and I'm convinced the radiator in the hall outside my room was STILL ON) there was no strenuous exercise for me. Now, I'm all for making excuses whenever possible, but I really do think worshipping at the altar of Mistress Jillian would have been hazardous in those conditions. At least that's what I told myself.

Instead, I walked - and I sweat - and I walked - and I sweat. I drank water, and drank water, and drank water - then I sweat some more. The only place in London that had any kind of cooling breeze those first three days was down by the Thames River, which meant walking three blocks to the subway station, down the stairs, on the train, up the stairs, and walking three blocks to the river. Rinse and repeat for the trip back to the hotel. Thankfully, the weather broke on Sunday and the next four days were much more bearable. Just as much walking, but slightly less sweating. And I managed to keep my eating under control thanks to fabulous little sandwich shops and grocery stores that listed calorie contents on the packages. Londoners are big on grabbing sandwiches and salads at these places to take back to their homes/offices (say "take away" rather than "to go", otherwise the counter clerks stare at you strangely) so I did lots of that. And the Sainsbury's grocery store on the way to my hotel from Victoria Station had these HUGE tubs of ripe, freshly-cut pineapple for approximately 3 bucks. I grabbed one of those and a chicken sandwich for several of my meals. Everything was proudly labelled as containing "British chicken", which made me picture little chickens dressed as Admiral Nelson, strutting about with one wing lopped off. :) I couldn't finish all the pineapple in one sitting, so I'd leave it in my room when I went out for the evening to finish off later. I'd come back and, owing to the heat in my room, the whole place smelled like pineapple. Couple that with the coconut-scented shampoo I'd bought in 3-ounces bottles, and it was like living in a pina colada! Without all the calories!! :)

All the walking/sweating/pineapple eating apparently paid off, since I am now officially down FIVE POUNDS since I started this blog. I have a bad feeling it's because I haven't done any weight training in two weeks, and those five pounds will come back as soon as I do, but right now I'm going to soak in that five pound loss until my fingers get all pruney. And I'm going to buy some yarn this weekend before any of that weight comes back. Quickly, to the KnitPicks.com Web site!! :)