Beautiful day in the park

Today has been an absolutely amazing day filled with coffee (of course) and walking in Regent's Park all morning. After our long induction week at school, we had today off and I decided to spend it at the park. Luckily, today was not grey but blue skies and the sun! Something very special in the city that never sees the sun. After getting my coffee at Costa-the big competitor of Starbucks- I went to the park to explore.

There are public parks everywhere in London and they are so well-kept. They are called the "Royal Parks" and royal they are. The best thing, in my opinion, is walking around and stumbling upon a beautiful, old statue or monument. I found the one below this morning donated in the late 1800s to England from a middle Eastern man to thank and honor the Brits for protecting him and his wife. It was written a little differently on the statue but that is the overall gist of the story. 

Lastly, I found a group of Rugby players practicing. The team looked like it consisted of mostly older men so I was somewhat confused why they were practicing rugby, in the park, at 11:00 on a Friday but I didn't really care as I watched them for about an hour. There is a saying here that, "Football (American soccer is a gentleman's sport played by hooligans and Rugby is a hooligan's sport played by gentlemen." I am curious to learn more about this sport but today I watched them practice basically running into each other and driving the other player to the ground. These guys were also just wearing shots and a t-shirt. No pads, no pants, no helmet, etc. After about an hour, I started feeling like a slight creeper so I left. But tomorrow, my french friend, Charlotte, and I are going to a pub at 9:30 to watch the Rugby World Cup: France vs. New Zealand. I told her that she would have to explain the game but that I would cheer for France. I am sure I will be cheering for Jean Claude or some frenchmen with all the fans but it will be grand.

Cheers!