Conquering the Castle

Dear Jack,

I woke up with a migraine today. I thought I was going to die. I took my Darvoset around 7:30 and around 11ish it finally felt like it was working. I woke up, went for a shower, went to lunch (Lasagna with beef filling), and am now typing out the journal. I will probably do very little today, maybe some laundry. I know I am going to try and stay away from caffeine for a few days too--as caffeine can make migraines more prevalent. I've been slacking in that area for a while.

Last night was probably one of the most relaxing nights in my life. Betsy Martin, Grace Mitchell, and I went to the gay bar. It was called Castle Tavern. We walked in and people stared at us as if asking, "do these stupid Americans realize where they have just entered?" We went up to the bar tender who wore an American flag on his shirt. We ordered our drinks and sat down. The bartender was more friendly with us than the others have been at the so called straight bars. This may have just been a fluke though. I had a double Archers with lemonade (That's Peach Schnapps). We chatted for a while. I took in the atmosphere. There were fans on the walls which rotated, plants everywhere, and pictures of men's bottoms. Thus there was a sense of sophistication that was not seen in other bars, yet a tinge of the risque. It was not very crowded. The ages of the men and women varied. I felt much more relaxed than I have ever before in my life. We chatted for a while, and then decided to try the other bar out. Before leaving we went up to the bartender to ask where his tip jar was. This allowed us to get into a conversation with several people there about whether or not it is necessary or appropriate to tip at bars in the UK. The Brits said no, but we ended up leaving the bartender a £.

We entered the second bar, The Jolly Farmers. It wasn't as nice as the other one. There was just about as many people though. I had a Tia Maria and Coke. We stayed for a bit, and then decided to head home. The girls are emphatic that they want to go back to the Castle again. I do too. I felt comfortable enough that I may even venture there by myself... who knows. I'm still a chicken. We stopped by a Kebab stand on the way back to college where we all ordered chips.

Back at my room, I read a little for class and went to sleep, not knowing I'd wake up with a damned migraine.