Audrey, Sherlock Holmes, and Cider

And when I say Audrey, I mean, of course, St. Audrey. Not me Audrey. That would be pretentious. Anyway, Jessi and I attended Mass at St. Etheldreda's Church today, hence my mentioning St. Audrey.

And the inside:

 As you can see, it was beautiful. And it was beautiful getting the opportunity to attend Mass in the church of my patron saint on my birthday. Easily the experience of a lifetime. And this is easily my favorite of the churches I have been to during my stay here.
After Mass, we came back to the flat and walked around Portobello Market. I feel like I probably talk about that every day, because we go there pretty much every day. They've got everything there, and the atmosphere is fantastic. Today, we got waffles. For lunch. Birthday waffles:

This afternoon, we all (Jessi, Meredith, Kelli, and I) went somewhere I've been wanting to go, well, pretty much my whole life. Since I was around 9 years old, anyway, when I started reading the stories. 221B Baker Street. Also known as, the residence of Sherlock Holmes. Currently being used as the Sherlock Holmes Museum. We waited about an hour and a half, but it was completely worth it! The Baker St. Tube station was even awesome:

And I got an awkward picture with the policeman-who-wasn't-really-a-policeman standing outside the museum. I felt like the ultimate tourist, especially with the deerstalker, but no matter:

 The inside was fantastic. The place was actually a lease building during the late 19th century, so it is a legitimate representation of where Sherlock Holmes would have lived. If he'd been a real person, that is. They had the rooms set up with such precise detail, taking everything given in the texts, the sitting room, and Sherlock Holmes' room. And upstairs they had set up different scenes from the stories, like "The Speckled Band", "The Hound of the Baskervilles", and quite a few others. I was basically living the dream walking through that place. It was great!
After that, we were hungry, and it was time for supper, so we found a lovely pub near our flat, called The Castle. I had Fish and Chips, and my first official alcoholic drink at a pub/bar. They carded me. The legal drinking age in Britain is 18 years. Thank God that, in my old age, I still have my youthful looks. I had a hard cider, and it was quite delicious:

And, the actual meal:

I think this was probably the best Fish and Chips I've had thus far, crispier and more flavorful than the others I have had.

And then, later this evening, I had a lovely talk with the Fam- specifically Mom, Daddy, and Jimmy. Trudy was there too, but she didn't have anything to say. She was too distracted with worrying about missing her dinner, and/or trying to get it as early as possible. But really, getting to talk to them was another addition to an already fantastic day. They are the best.

And this has been my 21st birthday. Completely different from any other one I've ever had, but incredible nonetheless. Thanks to my amazing family and friends, and the awesome new friends that I've made while here in London! God is very good!