I've finally emerged from my Internet-less hole in Egham, England. It's about a forty minute train ride west of London, and the current home of Samara, who is studying music at Royal Holloway University for the year. It's nice seeing a friend from back home, since I've been traveling essentially alone for two months. We visited Rochester yesterday, and giggled every time we saw signs saying "medieval Rochester" or "Rochester castle," and we're heading into London today and tomorrow for action packed days of museums, markets, theater, and food/drink.

Speaking of which, I have barely mentioned food for awhile. I thought I'd compile a list of the best food I've eaten whilst in Europe. In order of appearance:

Estonia:
1. Pirukad- Estonian pastry pies and pretty much the national dish of the country, filled with the ubiquitous smoked fish, lamb, beef, or cabbage usually. I had all of these at one point or another...

2. Crepes with caramel, banana, and ice cream- not particularly Estonian, but delicious nonetheless

3. Pickles- Estonians are particularly fond of pickles, and make them quite well

Ireland:

4. Fish and chips- I am constantly craving fish and chips, and the best I've had so far was in Howth, Ireland.

5. Scones with butter and jam- finding a good scone is a bit hard, but I found a nice, fluffy one in Cork. Ireland also has some of the best butter and milk in the world; I'm not looking forward to dairy products back in the US after having been spoiled by Irish ones.

6. Tomatoes- The farm I worked at in Ireland had over 600 tomato plants, and they were all amazing. Not sure how many pounds of tomatoes I ate there...

Scotland:

7. Tea- It really is a tradition in the UK to have teatime in the pm.

8. Milk- Straight from Molly the cow and used to make yogurt, butter, cream, and ice cream. The elderberry flavored ice cream we made was literally some of the best ice cream I've ever had, even if it was a strange, brown color.

And there's still England and Poland to go.

I'm now flying back to the US Oct. 10 to start my job. Hopefully I'll see some of you soon after!