I finally got out of London (not a minute too soon) and headed west to visit my friend Julian who lives in Reading. Julian introduced me to the fine traditions of eating minced meat pies, getting drunk in a pub every night, and climbing under old bridges at 4 in the morning (yes, in that order). I was also lucky enough to be in Reading for the much-anticipated solar eclipse of 99! This was such a huge event people had been planning parties all over England for over three years to celebrate. I say I was lucky because I think Reading was the only city in all of England that wasn’t completely covered in clouds when the sun finally started to disappear. We performed all sorts of grammar school science experiments like shining the sun through a pinhole in a piece of cardboard and observing the reflection of the sun in a tub of water. Don’t tell my mom, but I even looked directly at the sun a few times (I’m so naughty). Julian then showed me the best bike shops in town and I spent entirely too much money on a new bike. Have I mentioned that London sucks?