Coffee In England (And Other Matters)

Well, yesterday was my first full day in Tupton. Tupton is the town in Derbyshire where my friends live. It is quite close to Chesterfield. I had a nice quiet morning drinking tea and catching up on some emails and such. Around 10 am Ben, Steve and I walked to this cute little coffee shop. It was called The Cornerstone I believe. It was odd. I asked for a caramel latte, and the barrista looked at me like I'd grown horns. hahaha. Steve remarked, "You're not in Kansas anymore." My response, "Apparently." :) The regular latte I had was pretty good, but not like home. And that's fine, because they have the BEST tea in this country, and that's all that really matters.

After coffee, we strolled back towards home, but stopped in the butcher shop on the way! Steve bought bacon. It was my first British Butchers experience. When we arrived back home, we had bacon sandwiches, or bacon butties. So yummy! We spent the rest f the day watching TV and movies. When Mairi got home we watched Sister Act 2 during dinner. Love that movie! We all sang really loud along with the movie. Fun times!... The day was nice and relaxed. Good food, good friends, and good conversations. And of course, sort of good coffee. :)

This morning, we drove into Chesterfield. We stopped in another coffee shop first. It was Cafe Nero... I know, sounds ominous, doesn't it? Nero... But at least this cafe had heard of flavor syrup. I got to have a caramel latte! It was pretty good, really. Next we wandered into a cute little gourmet chocolate shop, then a pet shop. Next I got to visit my first Argos. Then we went to see the famous Crooked Spire. It's so cool! It sort of twists and bends to one side. The church it's a part of is quite lovely. We spent some time walking through and I snapped a few pictures. After we finished there, we strolled through the stalls. It was market day! Chesterfield is a picturesque town. It has a lot of character.

This afternoon, we picked Mairi up and went for a drink at the Hardwick Inn. Really lovely place. Lots of atmosphere. It was nice and quite, and wonderfully old and beautiful.

This evening we stopped at Tesco on the way to dinner... I was ridiculously excited. I've been hearing about Tesco for ages. My friends here swear by it, so I've been eager to see one for myself. It did not disappoint. :)... We had dinner at an Indian restaurant in Chesterfield. This is my second curry dinner in England... Man can they do a good curry here!

Now we are now settling in to watch Little Miss Sunshine... Happy times! :)