Less than one month ago I blogged about how important blogging is to me, and how it helps me remember the stuff my poor memory will otherwise soon forget. And what do I do after I go back to the UK? I forget to blog. How silly of me.
Today was a rather splendid day. The weather could not possibly have been better, and neither could the company. In the morning we went to see the Animals Inside Out exhibition at the natural history museum, which was absolutely amazing. It's basically dead animals' insides preserved and put back together to look like an animal, so you can see the musculature, nervous system, internal organs and so on. There were all kinds of animals: frogs, cats, goats, but also giraffes, an elephant and a gorilla. It was very fascinating and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
In the afternoon we drove around and went to the bike shop where my girlfriend bought her bicycle last year. I was hoping to view some bicycles that would be more-or-less fit for long-distance touring, but the salesmen quite misunderstood me when I asked him for touring bicycles. His idea of touring was.. muddier. None of the bikes on display fitted my demands so the visit was short.
I am determined to find a new touring bicycle, but the more I look the more it seems that Giant's Great Journey seems to be the right bike for me. I'm not sure if that's even available in the UK, but that's ok. Before I commit to that bike I want to see some different bicycles in real life. Maybe find some shops that sell them online and pay them a visit. Even before that though, I should get an apartment.
In other news, I am on a diet. I've failed several times last year to find the discipline to go the gym three times a week. Exercising in the gym is just not as fun as just cycling around in the countryside, and it ends up feeling like a chore. I can deal with chores, but it costs mental energy, so at times when I run out of energy I tend to forego them. In other words, the default state always ends up not doing exercise, whereas I can more easily change my default state for food to 'not eating'. I managed to eat one meal a day for months on end when I was 17, I see no reason why I can't do that now. I didn't feel malnutritioned or weak then, and so far I've been ok with this new foodstyle. I will keep it up. I really should lose some weight.
Back to the apartment thing: the airbnb place I'm staying at is really nice. I arrived yesterday and got shown around the house, then did my laundry, explored the dodgy local area and went to sleep. I haven't had much contact with the people living here. Even as I type this they appear to be out of the house. I wonder if I'll see much of them during my stay here. A small part of me wonders if this is not a scam where someone advertises someone else's house while they're on holiday, then breaks in and rents it out. But given the kind reception and the helpfulness of the person showing me around I only grant a very small percentage to that possibility. Still, this is London. Can never be too careful.
Tomorrow I'm off to see a new old friend. Thanks to my diet I'll have some lunch breaks free to search for apartments, which is what I'll start on next week. I have also somehow been convinced to go to the gym again. I conceded to one day per week but I'm ready to give it up if I feel that I need more time for other things. Still, a good workout to exhaust my energy will do me good. Next weekend may have one day in the interest of taxes, accounting and figuring boring money stuff out. Restarting the life..