Back in Austin, I'm a regular at the Dog and Duck Pub. Before my trip, I discovered the Dog and Duck has a sister pub called the Dog and Duck in the Soho district of London. It was a place I just had to visit. Here it is.

I was alone drinking a beer at the bar surrounded by Brits, when I noticed a guy walk up to the bar wearing a Chicago Cubs cap. As he walked by me, I exclaimed, "Chicago Cubbbbbs." He smiled and said, "Ah, you're an American too. Where are you from?" I told him I was from Austin, Texas.

He said with a big smile, "I'm from Austin too!" His name was Eric and invited me to go to the back of the pub to hang out with his wife and British friends. I happily joined them. Come to find out, he also goes to the Dog and Duck in Austin and it was one of the reasons this bar caught his eye. What was also quite staggering was we discovered we live about a half mile away from each other. Man, what a small world it is.