the start of a new journey

So I have been in Leicester staying at Michael's dad's house since Saturday Oct 1 when they picked me up from Michael's house in Beeston and we moved all of my and Michael's stuff into the car (after much maneuvering) and drove home. The next day we took the National Express to London, where I met his broski Nick and his GF Elinor and stayed at their new apt in Wandsworth. They took us out for a Mediterranean dinner, and then Michael and I went to St. Paul's and hung out with Shiz who is in town on business. Then on the 3rd, Mike and I went to Thorpe Park, and I forced him to go on all the big boy rides, which he reluctantly agreed, but then became hooked! It was real good weather and we even went on some water rides and dried off pretty quickly. Then when we arrived back at Nick & Elinor's we went out to dins at a thai restaurant with stairs to the bathroom that were probably a 90% gradient. Then the next morning I went to the US Embassy and walked out 3 hours later with an emergency passport, then met Michael at Hyde Park and we had lunch in a cafe after walking around and checking out the waterfowl. So for the past week since returning to Leicester, Michael has been showing me what his hometown has to offer (which isn't a great deal!), but we did check out a few museums and parks. The New Walk Museum renovated their dinosaur exhibit so that was interesting to see the findings in the local excavations. We also went to the Abbey Pumping Station (a free museum across the road from the National Space Centre, which is P13 entry, so we just walked inside, took some photos and left) and there we read about the history of the toilet! Then yesterday we met up with his BFF Michael and we played pool and went to the New Walk Museum again to see the Animal Stories exhibit. Today we went to yet another museum called the Newarke (pronounced just like the friendly city in Jerzz!) and learnt more about the history and culture of Leicester, and then we ate lunch at the Castle gardens. Now, tomorrow morning, Lance and I will embark on our cycling journey to Coventry via Market Harborough and Rugby. So I am cutting this entry quite short so I can go to sleepies early to wake up early and begin my adventure! After what I've heard about Coventry, I'm sure it will be an interesting one!!