Magnificent Maps and REALLY Magnificent Pizza...

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the Pond for the second installment of the day. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!!! Needless to say - it's pretty quiet over here. So when we left you, the coffee was flowing, the showers were turned on, and we were en route to the British Library. Sure enough, we had a BRILLIANT walk on perhaps THE BEST day of the year weather-wise before arriving at the Library for a rare treat - a glimpse at some of the treasures from the map room.

So back story - in 2005 I tried to get into the map room because I'd just finished "1421" and wanted to see some of the maps referenced in Menzie's masterpiece (that's right, I said it - MASTERPIECE - that puppy was meticulously researched and SUPERBLY written). When I rolled up and asked where the map room was, the look on the attendant's face was somewhere between shock and utter disgust. He (somewhat less than politely) asked me for my membership card and my residence permit, as both were required to enter the room. When I replied that I didn't have either but REALLY wanted to see the map room, I was summarily dismissed with a headshake. Good times...

So fast forwarding 5 years, this really was something of a historian's dream come true, as we spent TWO HOURS wandering through some of the largest maps in the collection. We saw some amazing stuff, including both the world's smallest and largest atlases, the first medieval map of the world (a digital reproduction, but still), the oldest map of Italy, and the largest woodcut map ever printed (9 feet long!). It was really fantastic, and I'm so glad we got to check it out.

We also had a delish dinner in, making a pizza and LOADING it with additional pepperoni. Add in the "cheese tray" appetizer (Mom - I've decided the Gouda is my favorite - JT's still partial to the goat's cheese and herbs), and it was a GREAT meal. And better still, an AFD!!! Yep - I bet you all thought that little acronym had vanished from my vocabulary. Mercifully there were 2 of them this week, and I'm hoping to continue that trend throughout this week and next.

Also, JT and I planned out some future travel (95% of the credit goes to Muffin Puffin, as she did the driving and all the research), and I even got to chat with Rice and Mum (the latter whilst taking a nice stroll through Regent's Park - PERFECT weather).

This weekend has simply been PERFECT - aside from the Ghana loss, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I think Muffin said it best when we were being lazy in bed yesterday and she said, "This is nice. It feels like home." That pretty much summed it up - the feeling of home and the activities of London - that's just about all you can ask for.

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. I hope the fireworks are WICKED AWESOME! Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and Jenny