Where Did All This Stuff Come From?

Thursday was my last full day in London and it was definitely a bittersweet one.  As I'm sitting here writing this, I honestly can't believe that I have gone to London for 6 weeks and already come back.  The time flew by so fast that it almost seems like it didn't happen.  The saying is definitely true, time really does fly when you're having fun.

I woke up to go for my last run in Regent's Park because I wanted to say my goodbyes to the park that became so near and dear to my heart.  It was more of a walk/run because I was really tired but I just had to go one last time.  The park is so pretty and unfortunately I never got pictures of it because I never brought my camera when I was there.  After my run, I headed back and got ready for the day.  I was going to meet my parents at Harrods since they hadn't seen it yet and do a little last minute shopping.  My parents were heading to Cool Britannia because they wanted to get some souvenirs before we met up but I was ready before them so I decided to head to Primark and give it one last chance.  My experience in Primark was SO much better this time it's not even funny.  I could actually find my size in what I wanted, there weren't as many people, and the store wasn't in complete chaos so it was definitely a much better shopping experience.  The que for the fitting room was still super long though but I had to try on some pants so I waited in it.  I ended up having success and got 3 shirts for only 28 GBP!  My parents were ready to meet me when I was in the fitting room so I did the best I could to meet up with them as quickly as I could.  I probably looked like a crazy person going through the Tube because I was like running through the 3 different stations that I had to go through.

I finally found them in Harrods and thankfully they weren't mad because they were just wandering around in the food halls looking for gifts for people.  We wandered around there for a little bit but then had to go grab lunch and head over to Buckingham Palace because we had a tour of it at 2:30.  We went to Pret for the last time because I wanted to get my favorite salad.  I liked it so much that I even documented it but I won't bore y'all with anymore food pictures.  Since we wanted to get over to Buckingham Palace, we took our food on the Tube and then picnicked in Green Park.  It was nice to eat outside and enjoy the beautiful weather that we had that day.  After our picnic, we headed over to the Palace to pick up our tickets that we had pre-booked.  The ques weren't too bad to get in and we actually got to go in before 2:30.  We got an audio tour for this as well which was definitely very informative and helpful.

When we walked in the Palace, I immediately fell in love with it.  Buckingham Palace is one of the most beautiful places that I've ever been and I would have loved to grow up and live there just like every other person in the world haha.  Touring Buckingham Palace was one of my favorite things that I did in London so if you are there when the Palace is open, you have to go because it's amazing.  We got to see a collection of Faberge eggs and other items made by them that had been collected by generations of the Royal Family.  Faberge was so incredibly talented and his items were gorgeous.  I really enjoyed seeing them but it was nothing compared to seeing Kate wedding dress.  That dress was amazing!  Words can't even describe how incredible seeing this dress and hearing about how it was made.  Literally ever single aspect and detail of her dress was specifically designed and planned to look the way that it did.  They told how many different laces were in the dress and how it was made as well.  The needles that attached the lace to the dress had to be changed every 3 hours so that they wouldn't be dull...that's crazy!  That is just one of the small details that helped make the dress what it turned out to be.  Seeing her dress was definitely my favorite part of the tour but that's probably only because I'm really interested in fashion and I'm a girl.  The rest of the Palace is amazing so don't just think it's about her dress.  We also got to see their wedding cake which was also ridiculously detailed and amazing.  We couldn't take pictures inside sadly but here are a few of the outside...

 Front of Buckingham Palace

 Closer View of the Front

Gates at the Front

We spent almost 2 hours at Buckingham Palace and then we headed off to get some cookies from Ben's Cookies.  My parents wanted to try them so we went and got a box.  They were just as good this time as they were when I got one a couple weeks ago.  We then headed back so that I could begin my packing process and boy was it a process.  I hate packing in general but having to pack my huge suitcase back with only 1 pound of leeway was quite the challenge considering that I couldn't remember what I packed in it on the way over.  Once I started packing, I kept finding things that I forgot about and they kept adding up.  I don't know where it all came from haha.  I really didn't buy that much though so it wasn't a problem.  I packed most of my big suitcase and one of the carryon suitcases before I met my parents for dinner so that they could take them back with them to the hotel room since we were leaving from the station near their hotel.  We had dinner at Nando's again because we loved it so much and then they came back and helped me pack and clean up the flat some.  I ended up giving them one small suitcase and my big one so that I wouldn't have to drag them through the Tube at 6:45 the next morning.  After they left, I cleaned a little and then hung out with my friends for awhile since it was our last night.  We threw literally everything out because we couldn't leave anything.  It was a shame because we had a lot of food but we didn't really have a choice.  I got everything ready for the morning so I wouldn't have to do much the next morning because I knew that I wouldn't be too functional at 6 am.

Saying goodbye to all my friends was really hard though.  We had all become really close and it was sad because after leaving, it would never be the same.  It wasn't goodbye though because I know that I will hang out with them in Athens and I'm actually really excited because we will be in our element in Athens and actually know what we are doing haha.  It has kinda stunk being away from them but we will all be back in Athens together soon so it's all good!  I finally went to bed around 1 so I knew that the next day was going to be a day full of coffee and boy was it a longgg day but I'll tell y'all about that in my next post.

Did That Really Just Happen???

Alarm goes off at 8:15 Wednesday morning because I had a lot to do that day.  Wednesday was supposed to be my last day of work but I wasn't going in until around noon because my boss was coming back from holiday late the night before.  I got up and rolled out of bed so I could go for a nice run through Regent's Park.  My run was a little rough since I hadn't gone in awhile but I pushed through and felt so much better after.  While I was running, I got a text from my boss saying that she wasn't feeling well and wasn't going into her studio...so no work after all.  I was kind of sad since I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to her but I did end up having a really great day so ended up being a good thing.  I got back from my run, showered, and got ready.  One of my roommates and another really good friend of mine from the trip were planning to go shopping and run errands that day so I just decided to go along with them since I hadn't been spending as much time with them because of my parents being in London.

We headed off down Baker Street and our first stop was Selfridges, which is one of the big department stores there that I had already visited.  We wandered around in there for about an hour but didn't really find anything that blew us away.  Our next stop was River Island because I needed to exchange a skirt and get my VAT tax form from them.  I ended up returning the skirt and buying a super cute pair of flowy pants so it was a successful stop.  I got my forma all printed out and we headed back to Selfridges because one of my friends wanted to try on a pair of pants that she had seen earlier and I wanted to grab lunch there.  She ended up going back to River Island to buy a pair of pants but the lunch that I got at Selfridges was SO good.  It was from a place called Chopp'd and it was one of the best salads that I had eaten there.  Jerk chicken, roasted red peppers, carrots, and sweet potatoes need I say more?

Our next stop was a store called Cool Britannia, which is a huge souvenir shop in Piccadilly Circus because my roommate wanted to find a hat for her dad.  We hopped on the Tube and headed down there but we did make a few pit stops on the way haha.  When you're on Oxford Street, it kind of hard not to get sucked into shopping in some of the stores.  We wandered around TopShop and Zara but I didn't end up getting anything because I think TopShop is a little overpriced and you all know my feelings about Zara from previous customer service issue earlier in the trip.  We also stopped by Anthropologie because my roommate had to get a VAT form there as well.  We finally made it to Cool Britannia and this is what you see when you walk in the front doors...

I have never seen so many Union Jacks in one place let me tell you.  It was a really cool store but I wasn't really into buying anything like that so I just wandered around while my friends picked up gifts for their friends and family.  After we finished up there, we got back on the Tube to head home before going to the Camden market.  They both had never been so we decided to go for a little bit and I like the market so I didn't mind going back.  We caught the same bus I did before on Monday and headed over there.  I showed them around where I had bought a couple things and they enjoyed looking around and made a couple purchases themselves.  We were there about and hour/hour and a half and then headed back because the market was closing down and I had to be back to get ready to go to dinner with my parents.  We were going to one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants so I had to come back and get ready.  For those of you who don't know who he is, he is a world renowned chef who owns several very high class restaurants around the world and who hosts several tv shows such as Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares.  We are big fans of his so we wanted to see what one of his restaurants was like.  I made it back in plenty of time to get ready and meet my parents at the Tube.

I met up with my parents around 7 for our 8 pm reservation because we didn't want to be late.  We got on the Tube and rode down there but realized it was a lot closer than we thought.  Rather to be early than late though.  We had a little bit of a walk to get there though so that killed some time and my parents stopped at the phone store because they needed to add more minutes to their phone so that ended up killing two birds with one stone.  We finally arrived about 20 minutes early and they actually seated us when we got there.  The restaurant is called Maze Grill and come to find out, it's actually his favorite restaurant that he owns in London.  We picked the best one!  Here's what the entrance looks like.

It was really nice inside but it had kind of a casual vibe to it as well because they played music so it was just the right fit for us.  Our waiter was so nice and extremely helpful when we asked him about a thousand questions because we had no idea what to order.  They are known for their steaks so my dad ended up getting a steak, I got bass, and my mom got lamb kebabs.  Let me just tell you, the meal was worth every penny.  I got a whole roasted bass with couscous and roasted fennel with carrots on the side.  It was SO good and I ate it all haha.  Here's what it looked like...

NOM

We all got our food pretty quickly but the only problem was when my dad cut into his steak, it was not really done.  He asked for medium which we learned is way different there than it is here.  He ended up sending it back because it was not done enough so they brought him another one.  This one was cooked enough either because I think they thought he said medium again when he actually said medium well this time.  So he sent that one back as well and they finally brought him out a medium well steak.  It was all good after that and I he got some type of peppercorn sauce to go with it and I was mildly obsessed with it.  I could have probably just sat there and ate that it was so good.  After we finished all our meals, our waiter came to give us the check and he says that he may be able to see if we can go back and tour the kitchen...um what?  That ended up happening!  We got to go back into the kitchen and meet the head chef himself!  He was so nice and even apologized to my dad for his steak not being cooked right.  One of the other chefs took us around the kitchen and explained everything and introduced us to everyone.  It was so cool!  We were all kind of standing there in awe because we couldn't believe that we were actually in the kitchen of one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants during a dinner service.  It was SO hot back there though and we felt kind of in the way because it was not very big and all the chefs were moving around so fast cooking food.  They were all so nice though and I still can't believe they let us go back there.  Here are some shots from the kitchen...

 My parents and I in the kitchen with two of the chefs

Garnish section

Food window with lots of steaks ready to go out

We were needless to say in awe after that experience.  It was so cool to go back there and I

m so thankful and happy that they let us!  After that, we walked back to my flat and my parents and I parted ways.  I met up with my friends and hung out with them for awhile and then we headed back to watch The Bachelorette.  It actually worked this time but I'm so over this season that I'm kind of wondering why I'm still watching it.  The finale is tomorrow though so I have to see it through.  It was pretty late after we finished so we all crashed again because Thursday was our last real day in London so we had to have some energy for it!

St. Paul's and Windsor...Great Day!

Since we didn't get to go into St. Paul's Cathedral on Monday, we decided to meet up to go in on Tuesday morning before we made the trip to Windsor.  We got up and met there around 9:30 and headed in.  St. Paul's Cathedral is a church that is near and dear to the London and has been on the same site since 604.  The cathedral that stands there today is the 5th one to be on the site and is the place where Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married.  St. Paul's was honestly one of my favorite things that I did while I was abroad because it was amazing.  I would say that you definitely need to go there if you ever visit London because it's very interesting, has a lot of history about it, and is absolutely beautiful.  It's one of the prettiest churches I've ever seen and trust me I've seen a lot of them.  The dome of the cathedral is so ridiculously big and breathtaking and the the ceilings are covered in some of the most beautiful mosaics I've ever seen.  There are actually 3 domes inside of one which is also a really cool aspect of the cathedral.  The whole aura of the church is just so peaceful.  The ceilings are so high and full of detail that it really does put you in awe.  We weren't allowed to take pictures but I snuck a couple so sorry that the quality is not the best.

View of the dome

Alter that's part of the memorial to the American soldiers

We got an audio tour with our tickets so it was cool to learn about all the history of the church.  The cathedral actually has a lot of history intertwined with World War II as well.  Since the cathedral was so important to London and its people as a haven and symbol, the Germans tried to take it down by bombing it to destroy the morale of the Londoners.  For as much bombing as the Germans did, they couldn't take it out though.  The cathedral was so important to the English that they had men posted on the roof of the dome to push off any bombs dropped on it and it worked.  The cathedral also has a memorial to the Americans who fought in World War II in it and that was really cool for me to see.  In addition to all the history of the cathedral, just like every other church/cathedral in England there are lots of dead people buried there haha.  We got to go down into the crypt of the church and see a lot of memorials and graves which was pretty cool.  I can't remember who was buried there though because they all kind of blend together in my mind now haha.  After we finished out tour, my dad and I walked to the very top of the dome...this was no easy task let me tell you.  Over 500 small stairs stood between us and the top of the dome and it was a little scary getting there I'm not going to lie.  If you're afraid of heights, don't go to the top because I got a little freaked out and heights don't scare me too much.  There are 3 different levels of the dome that you can climb up to.  My mom went up to the first and then headed back down but my dad and I went all the way to the top.  It was definitely worth it to get the views of the city but some of the staircases were very small and you could see down during the 3rd sections because the stairs were metal so I didn't like that so much.  Coming back down was annoying as well because we were tired from walking all the way up but I guess what goes up must come down.  Here are a couple views from the much anticipated top of the dome.

 Zoomed in on the London Eye

View down of the nave of the cathedral

After spending a couple hours at St. Paul's, we got on the Tube and headed to Paddington station to catch a national rail train to Windsor.  This was the same train that I got left behind on so I was a little apprehensive about that happening again.  We all got on the train together though and made it safely to Windsor.  I decided to go back with my parents because I loved it so much and I wanted to spend time with them.  I also wanted to see St. George's Chapel because it was closed the day that I visited Windsor with my friends and that is where King Henry VIII is buried.  For some reason I have a new found interest in anything doing with King Henry VIII and the royal family.  Now I understand why British people love them so much but I can't really explain why.  I'm now a huge fan of Kate and will definitely be keeping up with her and her style but that's beside the point.

We got to Windsor and headed to tour the castle again.  We went to St. George's first because it closed first and that was the part that I hadn't seen yet.  The chapel was amazing.  So worth going to and I'm so glad I went back with my parents and got to see it.  It's a gothic style church where the queen and the royal family sometimes come to worship and it houses the Order of the Garter, which is the highest honor of chivalry in the England.  King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeths parents and sisters are all buried there along with many other kings and queens so it was cool to see that as well.  I learned a lot about chivalry and the Order while there and I had no idea that something like that still existed today.  Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures in there either and there were way too many people who worked there watching so I couldn't sneak any.  After the chapel, we headed up to Queen Mary's Dollhouse and the Staterooms.  I didn't get to see the dollhouse when I came before so that was another new thing I got to see.  This doll house was ridiculous.  It was a gift to Queen Mary from one of her cousins because she loved dollhouses.  Not only was it huge and extremely detailed, it had electrical lighting and plumping.  A doll house having pluming?  Something I will probably not see again in my life haha.  It was really cool to see though so I'm glad I got to because I used to love my doll house and still have it today in my basement at home.

After viewing the dollhouse, I parted ways with my parents to explore the town a little since I had already seen the staterooms once.  I walked around and shopped a little but found nothing of interest to buy.  My parents met up with me about an hour and a half later and then we decided to head back because it was getting a little late and we really didn't have much else to do in Windsor.  So we road the train back and then headed to dinner at a restaurant called Giraffe.  It was really good and probably one of the best meals I had there so I would definitely recommend going there if you venture over to London.  After dinner, I went back to work on my internship journal and attempt to blog.  My blogging has been lacking I must say and I'm sorry about that but things just got so busy at the end that I didn't have the time or energy to sit down and do it.  It gets harder to remember things the longer you wait though which is what I'm running into currently so if they start to get really short and scatter-brained sorry!  But anyway, my friends and I tried to watch the Bachelorette that night and it didn't work so we just headed to sleep and I thought I had work the next day so I needed my sleep for sure.

Ah What a Great Day!

After a very long and tiring but fun weekend, sleeping was much needed.  I slept in till about 9:30, which I know for some of y'all reading this is still early but for my schedule on this trip is late, and I felt SO much better after it's not even funny.  I didn't have work all week because my boss was on holiday in Spain so that was why I could have the opportunity to sleep in.  One of my other close friends on the trip also didn't have work all week so we decided to head to the Camden market on Monday and wander around awhile.  If you can't tell, I really like markets so I was excited and I hadn't been to Camden yet.  We got ready and headed out the door around 11 to catch a bus to the market.  There was no good way to get there on the Tube so we waited and waited for a bus until it finally came.  The bus ride wasn't too long and I honestly like riding the bus better so I enjoyed it.

Once we finally reached the bus stop, we got off and walked up the street to the market.  The market was huge because it has like 5 different parts.  My friend had already been there once and she didn't like the part that she already went to so we tried to find the good part that we had heard good things about.  Well we found it and I am not short money because of it haha.  I ended up buying probably more than I should have but a lot of it was unique hand-made stuff by local merchants and artisans so it's worth it to me.  I ended up getting a leather bracelet (surprise...not), a pineapple t-shirt, and a hand-made soap that smells like french toast.  It was a good shopping day I would say and it was really fun and relaxing to just wander and not have to be rushing around at all.  There was also a lot of food stalls with free samples which are always my favorite so I enjoyed that as well.  Here are a couple views of the market...

 Overlooking the food part of the market

One of the signs in the market

After spending about 3 hours at the market, we decided to head back so that we could make it to St. Paul's Cathedral before it closed.  My parents were done at Westminster Abbey so we decided to meet up at St. Paul's so that we could tour it since I hadn't done that yet.  The last ticket is sold at 4 pm everyday though so we were cutting it really close.  My parents and I ended up getting off the Tube at the same time so we walked over there and got in line.  We got in before 4 but the cathedral closes at 4:30 and they said that you need 2 hours to go through everything....oops didn't plan that well.  As the minutes ticked away, we decided to come back the next morning before we went to Windsor because we wanted to be able to go through everything at our own pace and not have to rush.

Since we decided against going in St. Paul's, my parents and I parted ways.  They ventured off to the Churchill War Rooms and I headed down Regent's and Oxford Street to return some stuff and do some shopping.  I had to make a final return to Anthropologie and they probably hate me by now because I returned things like 3 times haha...oops.  I wandered around and actually shopped for a little bit after my returns.  I finally found a maxi dress which I have been looking for at French Connection so I was happy about that.  I also bought a long skirt that I have been eyeing since I've been here and then wandered my way back to my flat.  I then met up with my parents for dinner and we went to Wagamama.  It's like a cheaper and healthier version of P.F. Changs so it was really good!  After dinner we headed back and my parents went back to their hotel.  I hung out with my roommates for awhile and then went to sleep because if you can guess, I was pretty tired haha.  London wears you out if you haven't noticed but it is definitely worth it!

Why Can't We Find the Stupid Hotel?

After our long day on Saturday, we slept in a little bit to recover, pack-up, and eat our last free breakfast at the hotel.  After breakfast, we headed over to Hyde Park to find the Peter Pan Statue and the Princess Diana memorial.  This was a bit of a task because the park is so big and the maps were a really confusing so after about 30 minutes of walking, we finally found the memorial.  It was in a really pretty part of the park and it was really nice outside so I enjoyed walking around.  After we frolicked through Hyde Park, we went back to the hotel to grab our bags to take them to the new hotel that my parents would be staying at the rest of this week.  We rolled through streets with our bags and finally came to the area that the hotel was in...the only problem was, we couldn't find the actual hotel.  We spent about 20 minutes looking for it until we finally called them for directions.  We finally found it after some yelling but we later found out that we had the wrong address.  We actually passed it on the street but we didn't recognize it because there was no really big sign.  It was all ok though because we found it and it was worth the wait!  It was really nice so I was really jealous when I had to go back to my flat.

 Princess Diana Memorial in Hyde Park

Pretty part of Hyde Park

Peter Pan Statue in Hyde Park

After waiting about 15 minutes to check-in, we found out that their room wasn't ready yet because we were there 30 minutes before check-in time.  So we left our bags locked at the front desk and headed to the Spitafield Market.  This market is in the financial district of the city and is basically filled with stalls of clothing, jewelry, and other little trinkets.  I have been there once before for a short time before we went to Windsor but I wanted to go back to see if I could find anything.  We ended up wandering around there for a couple of hours and the only thing we found was lunch haha.  My dad took a seat while me and my mom wandered around and there was nothing really that caught my eye.  We did get an amazing lunch of falafel on a bunch of different salads and slaws.  It was SO good!  I was so full after though because of all the veggies.

We wandered through the financial district to the Tower Bridge after the fail at the market and it was kind of creepy walking through because the streets were literally dead.  No one works down there on the weekends so this part of town basically has no life on the weekends.  We finally made it to the Tower Bridge and we went up to the top.  I was kind of underwhelmed because the upper part of the bridge was glassed-in and there was not much to the exhibits.  It was cool to learn about the bridge but I got super tired all the sudden when we were there so I was kind of struggling.

View of London from the top of the Tower Bridge

After the Tower Bridge, we wandered down the River Thames to Tate Modern Museum because we thought that it was open till 10 pm every night.  Since we though it was open till 10, we took our sweet little time because we really couldn't go any faster either haha.  The weather was great so it was really relaxing to just mosey along the river.  We finally made it to Tate to find out that they are only open till 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.  They close at 6 pm every other day and it was 5:30 when we got there...so we had a quick viewing of the museum.  It ended up being fine though because there was really only so much modern art that my parents could take and that we could see.  We did get to see a painting by Jackson Polluck who is one of my favorite artists and we got to see some paintings be Picasso and Monet so it was well worth it.

 Tate Modern outside

Jackson Polluck painting!

After closing down Tate, we headed back to the hotel to find a place to eat.  We decided on a place that we had a coupon for.  It was a little interesting getting there because we had to take a bus there since the trains that went close to the restaurant were all closed.  We had to wait awhile for the bus but it finally came and we made it safe and sound.  The meal wasn't that great though so that was disappointing.  We then went back and parted ways since I was going back to sleep at my flat the rest of the week.  I was SO tired that night it was ridiculous.  I think I went to bed at 11:30 because I was so tired and that is very rare for me because I'm such a night person.  My parents wore me out but it was definitely worth it!

How Are Those People Swimming Right Now?

The alarm at 6:45 am definitely came WAY too early on Saturday.  Since we didn't get to bed till about 1 am the night before because of the bike tour, being woken up that early the next morning was not very pleasant.  We dragged ourselves out of bed and got ready though.  We quickly ate breakfast at the hotel and hurried out the door because we had to be at the Victoria Coach Station at 8:10 in order to catch our bus for the day.  It was about 30 minutes away by train and walking and we actually left early enough or so I thought.  We got to the Victoria Tube station at about 8 and the Coach Station was supposed to be really close to it...not the case.  We walked around for about 10 minutes trying to find the stupid thing and then started running to it in fear of being left.  I bet so many people have gotten good laughs out of us while here because sometimes we can just not get our sense of directions right.  The good news is though is that we made it in plenty of time and actually got pretty good seats on the bus.  Our bus day-trip was going to Lead's Castle, Dover, Canterbury, and Greenwich so we had a long day ahead of us for sure.

After we all finally loaded on the bus, we started to make our way out of London to Lead's.  This castle is a very old castle just like every other one in England and it was literally in the middle of nowhere.  I think it dates back to the 12th century but I'm not 100% sure because I was really tired that morning to information retention was a little hard haha.  We got there at about 11 and we all got off and started our tour of the caste.  It was really cool and really pretty but compared to the Windsor Castle, I was kind of underwhelmed.  They have a lot of weddings there and I can see why because it was gorgeous but unless you want to pay 100 GBP per head, I would suggest looking somewhere else haha.  They were having 3 weddings on the day we were there though so they were racking in the money for sure.  We spent about an hour and a half at Leads and then loaded up the bus again to make our way to the cliffs of Dover.  Here are a couple shots of the castle though just to give y'all an idea...

 View of the entire castle from the bus

Main part of the castle from inside the walls

I was in and out of sleeping in between Leads and Dover so I can't really tell y'all much about that haha. We got to Dover around lunch time and the tour company offered a set lunch for 11 GBP at a hotel there...none of the options looked good or worth 11 GBP so we opted out of that option.  While everyone was eating, we just hung out and explored Dover.  There was a "beach" there was was really pretty but it wasn't really a beach.  The area leading up to the water was completely filled with stones so it was not very comfortable for the feet and to our shock there were people swimming!  I was sitting on the shore with a short-sleeved t-shirt, a sweater, pants, flats, and a scarf and I was freezing so I have no idea how these people were swimming.  The water must have been freezing so clearly I thought they were crazy but whatever.  After spending about an hour in Dover we got on the bus again to head to Canterbury.  We got to see the white cliffs on our way out and they were really pretty.  Here's just a glimpse...

 Cliffs and a view of the "beach"

View of the cliffs from the bus

It was about another hour till we got to Canterbury and this was probably my favorite part of the whole trip.  The town was really cute and it reminded me of Bath and Oxford a lot.  There was a lot of shopping and of course people but I really like it!  We headed to the Canterbury Cathedral first and it was awesome!  It is a Gothic style church and it was beautiful!  The ceilings were huge and the detail work was awesome to look at.  I have seen a lot of churches on this trip though so I have to say that they are kind of all starting to look the same.  This church is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury which was pretty cool too.  We walked around there for a little bit and then went to quickly grab lunch before we got back on the coach.  Here are a couple shots of the church...

 Outside shot of the Cathedral 

Ceilings of the Cathedral

Our last stop on our long day trip was the borough of Greenwich.  We got dropped off by the bus here and that was his last stop on the trip because we were going to ride a ferry back to the center of London. We walked around a park to the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian.  We didn't get to actually see the PRime Meridian line because it was inside the 10 GBP Royal Observatory but we did stand directly below it outside so we were technically in 2 hemispheres at one time haha.  We then boarded a ferry on the Thames and got our free muffin and sparkling wine that came with the tour.  After we got to our finishing point, we walked to Trafalgar Square and wandered around there for a bit.  From there, we walked to Picadilly Circus and up to Oxford Street.  All the attractions in London close down early so walking around is basically the only thing we can do at night.  We went into Hamley's which is a huge 5 story toy store that has been open for 250 years!  There were so many toys and stuffed animals so it was fun to feel like a kid again.  I also showed my parents Liberty of London which is my favorite department store here.

After wandering around and pushing through the masses of people, we decided to go get dinner but as usual we couldn't decide where to go.  We finally decided on Gourmet Burger Kitchen which is the same place I got my burger from on the 4th of July.  It was so so good and my parents really enjoyed it as well.  We went back to the hotel after this because we were dead tired from the long day so we all were definitely ready to go to bed.  Here are a couple other random shots from the day.

 Prime Meridian Clock

 Trafalgar Square

 Cute little tiger treat we found in a bakery window

 Toy Store!

 Inside of Liberty...obsessed

Outside of Liberty

That Was Definitely Longer Than 7 Minutes

Friday was another day full of activities and boy did it tire me out.  Friday we had our last day of class while over here, which is so weird to me because it still feels like we just got here.  Everyone who didn't present the day before presented on Friday.  One of my roommates and I gave our presentation on our trip to Paris the weekend before.  It could only be 5 minutes and max of 10 slides so it wasn't bad at all.  It was nice to finally get it over with and turn in my portfolio that I had spent hours two nights before putting together.  We got out of class early again and since we didn't have a lot of time at the Borough Market the day before, we decided to head back there.  I thought my parents would really enjoy the market so we planned to met up there after they went to the Tower of London.  Communicating with them is a little difficult here since we don't have our regular phones and we only have a set amount of minutes on each phone.  They are using the sim card that I had to buy when my other phone peaced-out in its watery grave. They got a little bit of a late start so me and one of my friends had to kill some time so that they would have enough time to go through the whole thing.


So in order to kill time, we decided to head to Harrods to buy some gifts for relatives and friends at home.  I got some gifts and a bought a little something for myself as well haha.  We began to get hungry though so we headed to the market.  I got lunch there again and I got this really delicious salad with prosciutto.  Here's a nice little view of it...

We wandered around getting all kinds of samples again and I have never been so full in my life.  My parents finally found there way there and we ended up buying some really yummy cheese and chocolates of course.  I'm still in the process of eating both and both are super delicious.  We also got goat's milk ice cream that was also really good because it had a different texture and was lighter than regular ice cream.  After the Borough Market, we headed back to my flat to pick up their luggage, pack my bag for the weekend, and head to the hotel to check-in.  They had to switch hotels because I stayed with them all weekend and not all the hotels here allow for 3 people in a room.  We found the hotel just fine after dragging all our luggage through the Tube.  We had to get ready to go pretty soon after we checked-in because we had to make it to the other side of town by 7 for a 3-hour bike tour of the city.  We left a little later than we wanted so we were racing to make it there on time.  We were about 5 minutes late but thankfully they hadn't left us yet so we made it!

We headed to grab our bikes and get going after this because it was a 3-hour tour so we had to get going.  The bikes were really funny because they would like fold up and I had never seen one like them before.  They were not very comfortable however so that was not too fun especially when we rode over cobble-stone...that was no fun at all trust me.  I haven't ridden a bike in a long time so it took me a little bit to get used to it but I got the hang of it after a little pedaling around.  Here's a view of what our lovely bikes looked like and of course mine was pink.

Once we got going, we never really stopped.  We rode everywhere around central London and our tour guide was really good because we told us some things that I never knew.  We rode through a lot of the city that I had visited before but we also went to places that I never even knew existed.  There is actually a part in London that is all still lit by gas.  It was really cool to see all the street lamps and you could smell the gas but it was also really creepy because there wasn't a lot of lighting and it was dark.  Needless to say, I was happy to pedal my way out of that area of town.  We ended the tour riding along the River Thames and we got to see Parliament and Big Ben lit up at night.  It was beautiful and I really enjoyed the views that we saw.  The only down side was that it began to rain at the very end of our tour. Rain + cold + riding bikes = not fun.  Our tour guide told us that it was only about a 7 minute bike ride back to our starting point when we got off our nice warm boat ride that assisted us on the way back...it was definitely longer than 7 minutes.  Any minute longer when you're riding a bike in the cold rain is no fun let me tell you.  I was so happy when we finally got back to the "pub" that we started at.  We didn't get back there till about 10:45 though and we hadn't eaten yet.  We needed to get back toward my area of town as well because the Tube closes at midnight and I didn't trust the area that we were in so we decided to head back.  We ended up grabbing pizza at Pizza Express and it definitely hit the spot.  Eating at 11:30 was a little weird but we didn't really have another option so we just had to get over it.  We finally headed back to the hotel after "dinner" and literally crashed because we had to be up at 6:45 am the next morning.  We had booked a day trip to Lead's Castle, Dover, Canterbury, and Greenwich for Saturday but the bus was picking us up at 8:10 at a Tube station so we had to be up early.  Here are a couple shots from the bike tour just to give y'all a taste...

 Big Ben duh

 Westminster Abbey Entrance

Parliament at Night...So Pretty

Why is This Train Station So Confusing?

Our first day of class last week was Thursday and boy was it interesting trying to get there.  But before class, my parents arrived!  They came to our flat before we left for class because there flight got in at 6:30 and they couldn't check into their hotel until around noon so they hung out at our place until then.  It was SO great to see them and I was super excited that they finally got here because I was excited fro them to see the city that I've been living in and fallen in love with.

Our class was at 10 as usual and we left around 9:30 to hit up Starbucks and hop on the Tube.  Coffee was much needed that morning from going to bed at 2 am the night before.  We got on the Tube as usual but we had to wait forever for a train which was frustrating because we were already crunched for time.  There was a big group of us though so if we were going to be late we were all going to be late together.  So we finally got a train and went one stop because we had to switch at the next station.  The station we had to switch at is the most confusing station there is because signs on the platforms don't always match the trains.  The train drivers that day decided to totally confuse us because they didn't even know where they were going.  It was like they were just deciding where they wanted to go...so not ok.  So we switched platforms like 2 times and the announcements completely confused everyone so we ended up losing half of our group on a train that was going the wrong way.  A group of us got on the right train but it didn't leave the platform for like 10 minutes so needless to say we were late...very late.  We walked into class around 10:35 and there were like 4 people there.  Everyone walked in late that day so it didn't really matter and come to find out later that there were delays on the Tube lines we were riding on.

We listened to presentations that morning on things or places that people researched and they were interesting.   After about 30 minutes, we got out of class early because we had nothing else to do.  The only other thing we had that day was a ride on the London Eye at 2 so we had a good chunk of time to do something before we had to meet at 1:15.  Since we had time, we decided to head to the Borough Market to grab lunch and walk around.  This is one of if not my favorite market in London because it's all food.  All the food is delicious and they let you try everything!  If I already explained this sorry but I honestly don't remember.  We wandered around there for like 30 minutes because that's about all the time we had.  The market is on the other side of town so a lot of our time was lost traveling.  Here's just a peek at what I got and what it looks like...

 Entrance to the Market

Veggie Burger with salad and slaw yummmm

We made it back to meet the group right on time just to ride the Tube basically back to where we just were...frustrating.  I didn't really enjoy being treated like I was five again though because we literally had to go and do everything as a group.  I understand since it was for our class but at the same time, I'm 21 years old so I'm pretty sure I can find the London Eye on my own.

Anyway we walked from the Tube to the London Eye and then waited in the que for about 30 minutes.  We finally got on and it was awesome!  The views were amazing and it was really cool to see London from all different views.  I thought I might get a little scared since it was all glass but the views of the city were so great that I didn't even think about it.  The view of Parliament and Big Ben was amazing so we took lots and lots of pictures.  Here are a few...

 London Eye from across the river

 One of my roommates and I on Westminster Bridge on our way to ride!

View of Big Ben and Parliament from the top

After our trip around the London Eye, I headed back to the flat to meet up with my parents at their hotel since I didn't really get to see them when they came in the morning.  The hotel that they were staying at was a short walk from my flat so I headed over to met them so we could hang out and plan out what we wanted to do.  We hung out at the hotel for a little bit and then we headed down to Parliament and the River Thames so that they could see the city and get their bearings a little bit.  It was really nice to walk along the river and point things out to them.  We walked along a part that I hadn't yet so it was nice to see another part of the city.  We walked from Big Ben to St. Paul's and then headed back to grab some dinner because everything was closed and they were really tired from getting like no sleep the night before.  We went to this place called Nando's and it was SO good.  I would definitely recommend it if you ever come to London and it was just what we needed after a long day.  After dinner, we parted ways after planning out when we would meet up on the next day after class.  It was kind of a long day but it would prove to be nothing compared to the next couple days that I had coming up...

Oops Well I've Been Busy

I'm alive I promise and I'm sorry this is the first blog that is coming since last Tuesday but things have been crazy busy!  Last week was kind of a whirlwind with class and my parents coming so I haven't had time to sit down and blog about everything that has been going on.  The fact that I didn't have internet all weekend didn't help either ha but it has been great having my parents here and I'll talk all about it.

Hum I left off last Wednesday I believe...I went to work as usual and it was my only day in the actual studio.  It was great to see her and the other intern.  I ran a couple errands for her in the morning and had a little trouble finding the Post Office but I eventually found it and learned how they send packages or should I say parcels here.  After conquering the post office, I rode the bus back to the studio to leave again.  I have to say though, I really enjoy riding the bus because it gave me time to think and reflect on my trip.  I realized through this whole trip that there is so much of the world that I want to see and experience and I don't know when I'll do it.  There is so much culture and just life out in the world to see that I want to be able to explore it all.  Hopefully I will be able to one day but I'm SO thankful and happy that I came over here because it really has been one of the best experiences of my life and I will truly never forget it.  I've learned so much about myself and the world in just 6 small weeks and it has been amazing.

Anyway enough deep thought haha.  I then grabbed lunch and ran a couple more errands for my boss.  I came back and made some spreadsheets for her and that pretty much sums up my afternoon.  After work, I went to a place called Mahiki to grab a drink in honor of one of my roommates 21st birthday that was the weekend before.  It was great to hang out with everyone and just relax because the week completely exhausted me.  I was so tired that I almost feel asleep on the Tube twice and on the bus...it was bad.  The people who were riding with me probably got a big charge out of it though because I was bobbing my head real bad.  After hanging out with everyone for a little bit, we headed back, made dinner, and got to work on our portfolios.  Putting this off till the last week was not a good idea.  We worked on our portfolios from 8:30 until 2...that's a lot of cutting, pasting, and scrapbooking.  We were so so happy to be done with it though after it all because my parents were coming the next day and I didn't want to have to worry about finishing it with them being here.  All that scrapbooking definitely wore me out though so I literally passed out afterward because we had to get up for class the next morning at 10.  Sorry if these blogs are short and scatter-brained but I've done so much that I can't remember it all haha

Department Stores Here are Heaven...and Dangerous haha

The past 2 days I have not had to go into the studio because my boss wanted me to go out and do research for her.  She wanted me to experience the big department stores in London as well as do personal research for her.  I'm sure a lot of y'all have heard of at least one of the big department stores here in London but I'll give them all to you because I didn't even know about most of them since they are not in the US at all.  The stores that I visited were Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Liberty of London, and Selfridges.  I also went to a department-type store, if you even want to call it that, called the Dover Street Market.

The first of the stores that I visited was Harrods.  This is the store that a lot of y'all have heard about because it is world famous for luxury shopping.  This store is HUGE!  It has 5 floors with a ground floor and lower ground floor and covers over 4.5 acres with its sales floor.  15 million people visit Harrods every year...thats crazy.  This store has everything from fresh foods to restaurants to handbags to a pet shop and even to furniture and rugs.  Literally I got lost for about 2 hours haha.  It's a maze though so unless you know what you're looking for, plan to get lost at least once and spend about 3 hours in the store.  It was so fun to wander around though because they had so many different products and items from high end designers and lower end designers as well.  I wandered into a room filled with Alice and Olivia, Tibi, and Milly and I was in trouble.  The clothing was so pretty and of course I wanted it but of course it was too expensive...shock.  Maybe one day but that day wasn't yesterday so I just kept moving along.  Harrods also has a Laduree shop inside it which is the same place that I got my life-changing macaroon in Paris so I will be taking my parents there when they get there so they can experience Harrods and have a life-changing macaroon.

Harrods

Anyway, I really enjoyed walking around as you can tell but then I headed over to Harvey Nichols which was only a short walk up the street.  This store was a little smaller big still massive.  The store was set up differently than Harrods but still really cool.  Out of all the department stores, I probably liked Harvey Nichols the least though.  It seemed kind of crammed and the way that it was set up was not my personal preference.  I wandered around there for about an hour and then headed to grab lunch.  It was cool to see how each of the department stores were laid out and compare though.  Each store had a very different sales floor layout and placed different designers in different rooms and near different other designers.  It all depends on who's in charge and who they are trying to attract I guess.

Selfridges was the next store on my list and I loved it!  It was a lot more upbeat than Harvey Nichols and they actually carried brands that have their own stores like TopShop and All Saints.  It was cool having them all together on one floor but very dangerous because I wanted to buy everything again.  Shockingly I did not buy one thing yesterday or today so mom you should be proud!  I will make a little side note and say that I will be taking my parents to all these stores when they get here though haha.

Liberty of London was the last of my regular department store adventures and I really liked it too.  It was in a very old looking building and thats because it has been there since around the 1840s!  It first opened as a fabric store and became known as one of the most fashionable places to shop in London in the late 1800s.  It has been there since or so I assume from the squeaky floors and old looking decor haha.  The store was beautiful though.  They had a smaller selection as well but that's because it was a smaller store and I think they pick and choose who they carry very selectively to continue on the Liberty shopping experience.  I definitely want to go back there for sure because it is a really cool part of London in my opinion.

 Outside of Liberty

 Quote I stumbled upon on one of the walls inside the store

Open area in the inside of the store

The last stop on my research was the Dover Street Market.  Don't let the name trick you though because it's definitely not a market.  It was more of an art gallery layout than anything with very high-end clothing and designers scattered throughout the various floors of the building.  I honestly don't know what to call it because I was really confused walking around it.  They had some really really expensive brands but they also had some really weird clothing like really weird clothing.  Needless to say I felt out of place and wouldn't shop there because it's not my personal style and I can't afford any of it haha.  It was a cool experience though so I enjoyed it.

The rest of my last 2 days were filled with running errands.  I got groceries for the week and got some stuff for the schoolwork that I have to get done by the end of the week wahoo.  Not looking forward to schoolwork at all especially since my parents are coming on Thursday.  I have to give a presentation with one of my roommates on our trip to Paris, compile a portfolio of all the activities that I have done since I've been here, and compile a journal on the internship that I'm doing.  Our presentation is due Thursday, portfolio due Friday, and our journal is not due till next Thursday and we have class all those days as well.  I want to get it all done asap because my parents will be here till we come back next Friday and I want to be able to spend time with them and my friends without having to worry about schoolwork.  O school how you ruin everything...not really because I don't want to graduate haha.  I'm going into work as usual tomorrow and then we have class on Thursday at 10.  We give our presentation on Thursday but it won't be bad because it's a max of 5 min.  We then are going to ride the London Eye that afternoon and then my parents are coming!  I'm so excited for my parents to come because I'm really starting to miss them and I want them to be able to see the city because I think they will love it!  I have a lot to get done before then though so pray that I will be able to get it all done.  My night will be filled with school, school, and more school.  I'm hoping to watch the Bachelorette haha but we'll see.

Paris Day 3: I Don't Want to Leaveee

I have to apologize in advance because I'm getting tired of typing so my next 2 posts may be kind of short haha.  Our last day in Paris was another great one but sad at the same time because we had to leave.  I loved Paris so I was sad when it came time to leave.  I really love London too so it wasn't bad to come home to but for some reason I just fell in love with Paris.  We got up a little later on Sunday because we were all dead and didn't have anything that we really had to be at super early.  We packed up all our stuff, ate our last free breakfast, check-out, and got on the Metro to head to see the Eiffel Tower up close and personal.  The weather was about the same as Saturday which was annoying yet again...on and off rain and wind lots and lots of wind.  Seeing the Eiffel Tower up close was awesome.  It really is a cool structure and it was HUGE!  I wish we could have gone up it but we didn't have time and it was sold out because it was Bastille weekend.  It's ok though because then I didn't have to spend the money on it haha.  We took pictures from all different angles and then started to make our way down the river toward Notre Dame.  Here are a couple shots...

One of the Roomies and I

Eiffel Tower :)

We wandered down the river and stopped at the little vendors that sell there.  It was cool to see all the different artwork and pictures that they were selling and I actually ended up buying a newspaper ad from 1951 of the Chanel No. 5 perfume to frame.  We finally made it to Notre Dame after walking for a pretty good bit.  We got lunch at a little cafe close to it and one of the girls got a Nutella and banana crepe and she let me have a bite...life changing.  Literally best thing I've ever eaten.  I split one with another girl later that day it was that good.  They are now my favorite dessert and I am now addicted to Nutella...thanks Paris haha.  We wandered around Notre Dame after lunch and met up with our tour guide for another walking tour.  

Notre Dame

We walked through a different part of town that was known as the Jewish quarter.  It was really cool because this area is where all the Parisians shop and it was very picturesque Paris.  Walking through these streets were exactly what I imagined when I thought of Paris.  I loved our tour guide too and we were the only ones on the tour so it was fun to wander around with him.  On the tour, we got to see houses that have been around since the 1300s and are still standing!  Here's a shot of them...

We ended our tour at the site of what used to be the Bastille prison and then wandered around the streets some more.  We headed back to the hotel after this so that we could get our bags and get on the bus to head to the train station on time.  We loaded up the bus, headed to the station, went through customs anc checked-in, and waited for our train.  Our train ended up being 20 minutes delayed because they check-in lines were so long which was annoying because we were all ready to be home.  We didn't get back till about 11 and I was dead tired.  I still haven't unpacked because I was so tired last night haha.  I crashed after talking to my parents and slept so good it's not even funny.  I truly fell in love with Paris and am definitely going back again someday!  O and here is my future house just saying haha.