Hey Everyone!

Last night was a blast! After we showered and Erica came home, we all went out. We took the tube to the SoHo part of London, looking for a place to eat and have a few drinks. Well, the first place we ended up at...which we found out pretty quickly was a gay bar didn't serve food so we left. We went to a really cool place called Revolution and had some drinks. I loved the place, even though they closed pretty early like most of the bars in London do. I loved it basically because they played all of my Mexico favorites...like the horn song (the one always playing in the cabs) and World Hold On! Of course I was pumped and danced with myself in my chair :) We were entertained by the small fight that started with a headlock and by a guy...who sat by himself and then went home with someone was obviously a prostitute (fishnet stockings and all). I know by reading this, it sounds like a super trashy place, but actually it was really nice and I wish they had one in KC or Lincoln.

Anyways, even though the bars close early, the clubs stay open late because they are underground. We went to a club that said "London" on the front, but we are not sure exactly what it was called. It had a red carpet out front and a lady with a list. Well, clearly we weren't on the list, but I guess we were cool enough to be let in right away! When I got in the guy asked for my card...well the dumb American in me gave him my ID, which by the confused look on his face, he did not want. I guess he just wanted us to pay. The club was really fun with good music and really classy looking. We met a guy that told us he was the Duke of Essex...which Erica believed..haha Mallory and I wondered if there really was a Duke of Essex. We had a ton of dancing and drinking and there was even a nice lady that gave us paper towels in the bathroom..just like in Mexico! After we left, we were really hungry and since pretty much everything in London closes early, we went to McDonalds, which if you know me...you know that I am not really a fan. Well I was last night! When we got home we realized we didn't have any ketchup so we walked to the the McDonald's down the street, which had just closed. Well one of the workers was out front and we convinced him to go back inside to get us some ketchup. He did and they were in BBQ type little packets! When we got back to Erica's we ate and went to bed. Poor Erica had to get up early and work. Mallory and I slept and then got some Starbucks and packed up our stuff. And that leads into today, which is quite the adventure I must say.

Ok so our adventure started by taking a cab to a hotel that would hold our extra suitcases until we get back to London on the 15th. After that we walked to Green Park Station and got a ticket for the Tube and rode to Picadilly Station. There, we had to walk down the street, which was a ton of fun with my huge backpack on my back and my small backpack on my chest. We had to get our Eurail passes validated, which was easy and didn't take much time. We got right back on the Tube and rode to Victoria to get a train to Dover, England. Well we got on the train and had fun looking at all the scenery, which was mostly countryside. It took 2 hours because of all the stops and when we got there we took a bus to the Ferry. Well, here is where everything gets pretty crazy, but I just want everyone to know before they read this that Mallory and I are just fine! So the nice man working the information desk informed us that at that time (which was about 8 o'clock) the ferry would only take car passengers. This is because there were no more buses running the restricted area around the ferry, about 3 minutes away. He told us that the only thing we could do was ask someone who was driving their car to the ferry if we could hitch a ride. When a man came up to ask him a question, he asked him if we could ride in with him. The man was very nice and said yes, his friend/girlfriend (we weren't really sure) said it was ok with her too. Well we rode with them to the Ferry and they were even nice enough to let us go for free because they had already pre-paid for their per car tickets. I offered a bunch of times and they said they would not take my money. When we were on our way, they told us that the trains stopped running in Calais (where the ferry was going to) at about 9 o'clock. Well with the one hour time change in France, we weren't going to get into there until about 11:30. We didn't know what to do and didn't have a phone. Well let me just say that the ferry is no Hoboken to New York ferry. This thing was huge, like am mini cruise! It was restaurants, a pub, an arcade, and a store. It was really pretty inside and Mallory and I took fun pictures on the back deck. Well the people that we rode over with were nice enough to take us into Calais because the bus services had stopped working and it was too far to walk. The drive was only about 10 minutes, so it worked out nicely. Since there was absolutely no way to get to Paris and being that a cab ride would cost 600 euros (about $950), we decided to just stay in Calais. We are staying at the hotel right across the street from the train station and are planning to get the first train out tomorrow morning. Well this hotel is fine, but our room smelled like a mouse died and I kid you not...the sink and the toilet are inside the shower. Fortunately, they offer wireless internet, so we are just hanging out in the lobby (which has a tv, a pool table, and bar). We don't want to go back to our room because of the god awful smell, so we are planning on staying here until about 7am...only 4 hours away! Even though it would have been wonderful to be in a nice hotel in Paris right now..I do have to say that I will come home with a story and an adventure!

Well, just to reiterate...for all you worriers out there...I am FINE! I talked to Mom, so she knows the situation and we will be off to Paris in about 4 hours :) I love and miss you all and if you get this in the next few hours...feel free to call me at the 816 number in my first post!

Au Revoir from Calais, France!!

Oh and by the way...the picture is of the Town Hall in Calais, France...it's sooo beautiful!