Political Science Class, in GRANTHAM

So I'm not taking a political science class... sorry. However, my roomate and his girlfriend are and we went to Grantham to basically get supplies for their trip to Italy this weekend and complete their project of talking to the Brits about their political system. By the way on a side note... "my class was canceled." Anyways, we get into town by shuttle and end up at The Goose where my two collegues gracefully find two "regular" joes and interview. Myself and Brandon decide to stay and wait for them in the pub to get finished, I find one of those nice comfy booths and plop a seat right down. After about an hour, Justin, the other roomate of my two comes over with the town historian Mick. Mick invites us to get out of the "Yank" bar and head on town to a pub called "The Beehive." As we wander through the crooked and winding Grantham streets we end up finding ourselves outside the pub next to the only tree on the street. I look up and I find a man-made beehive. Mick explains to us that this is the only "free hanging" signed pub in all of Grantham and that it has been there since the 16th century. I'm stoked... entranced, and (amazed the brits just let bee's hang out on the road).

We walk into the pub and Mick gives us the basic lay of the land, offers us a pint on him and introduces us to the bartender. He also mentions that Grantham had at one point over 134 pubs throughout the small 8 mile city. After about a half an hour with one Strongbow down and Justin and Natasha getting a bit restless with hunger we decide to venture out into Grantham once more. We were more than happy to say our goodbyes to this pub, because honestly, we'd rather us four be the only ones who know about it for the sake of the group. This wasn't the end of our personal British education for the day.

Before leaving The Beehive we asked the bartender where a good eatery was. He recommended The Blue Pig. This pub has also been literally untouched by American tourists. We walk in and talk with the bar maids who apparantly you call "AY MO" when you need a drink. I sit next to an older British gentleman who asks various questions about the states, politics. Come to find out that he works for the Sport's division of SKY SPORTS. The largest company in cable throughout the UK. We talked hockey, football, and believe it or not Baseball. Apparantly his alliances fell with Toronto... I showed him my Cubs jersey and we had ourselves a great conversation.

After finishing my beverage another man named Rick shows up to the bar. He asks us all about our experience in the UK, tells us about the history of Britian and about the influence of the media on his 7 year old son. A mysterious fellow he was, however, the entire group of me, Justin, Natasha, and Brandon find that we have spent over three hours in The Blue Pig listening to his stories. Amazing story tellers the Brits, though he was only 1 generation away from being a Celtic Scottsman through and through.

What I didn't tell you yet is the most glorious aspect of this entire story. What we had all forgotten is that the Champion's Cup was being played at 7:45PM between two English teams. This is the first time this has happened in history. Chelsea and Manchester Utd. were playing in the match. We all headed over to The Goose and had dinner as well as watched the match which went into a double shootout. Everyone ended up going home happy because Manchester Utd. was victorious. That was my Wednesday, and to say it was probably the best day finally getting to experience some, "off the beaten track" sort of places. The people were so kind, inviting, and curious, as we as, amazing conversationalists. Spot On I would say.

-Brad