It's Bank Holiday weekend here in England, meaning most of the other students in the study abroad program have gone away. Many of them to York, some to Newcastle and who knows where else. Having not really known that we were going to get free time to travel, my older brother Adam and I arranged for him to come visit me. He's a staff sargeant in the army in Germany, and his sargeant major gave him four days off to travel to Liverpool. He's staying in a hostel in the heart of the city, and it's been great to see him again after so long.

The first day he was here, Jocelyn and I went to Liverpool to meet up with him and his friend George, whom he met while at a hostel in Croatia. His name is George, and he brought his girlfriend Hannah with him. Introductions were made all around and the five of us decided to go eat since we were all hungry. We ended up at this awesome Italian restaurant that was a bit off the beaten path. Jocelyn and I never would have found it were we not with them, since we tend to stick around the Liverpool One/Central Station area. I had a ravioli with sundried tomato and goat's cheese, and lemon ice cream with fruit and Jamaican rum for dessert. It was absolutely delicious and everyone loved their food, and my brother generously paid for everything. Thanks, big bro!

Afterward we took the bus about twenty minutes out of the city to Liverpool University, where George and Hannah go to school. We spent a little bit of time there, hanging out with all of George's mates. They sort of reminded me of the lads here at Openshaw, except they ate WAY more frozen pizza. More than I've ever seen boys eat in my life.

Jocelyn and I had to catch the last train out of Central, so we took a taxi back to the station and headed back to Ormskirk, getting lots of amusement at all the people walking around Liverpool at night. The city is a different place when it gets dark, and there's a lot to see as far as the people go.

Yesterday, Steve came with Jocelyn and I to Liverpool to meet up with Adam. The four of us walked around, pub-hopped a bit, went to the Beatles store and ended up at this lovely restaurant/pub on the Albert Docks. We had a great dinner there and just had fun talking and getting to know each other. I'm glad my friends I've made here like my brother, and he seems to really like them too.

This morning Jocelyn and I slept in, which was nice for a change, then went into town to get some food, since everything on campus was closed. We went to Subway, which was a little slice of Americana for us in the midst of all the British-ness, then stopped at the grocery store Morrison's for a few things. Tonight we're going back to Liverpool for a little while to go to the Cavern Club to see a Beatles tribute band with Adam, George and their friends. It's my brother's last night in England, so it will be nice to see him one last time before he heads back to Germany.