The night of our London Eye flight!
Even the walk there was very pretty...with the sun setting and casting a golden glow on Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Beautiful!
It took half and hour to ride the giant wheel...but the view was gorgeous. :)
Except...I was kind of in one of those moods where I didn't want to be around a lot of people that night...the only thing that hindered me from having a great time.
Got up early Wednesday morning because I was convinced my friends from Wales were arriving that day. Miscommunication? No...I just misheard. lol
They arrived Thursday. :)
Thursday, April 14th:
After class...and after I had finished writing a paper, I joined Molly and Shawn at Regent's Park to go to the Sherlock Holmes' Museum! It was basically a house set up as what their home would have looked like. It was kind of neat though. One of the workers had the job of dressing up like Sherlock and letting tourists take pictures with him. haha!
We then decided to go for a stroll through Regent's Park...and saw a lot of groups of plants with names on signs. I'm still confused as to what the signs were....?
We hurried over to the Laughing Halibut to get some fish and chips...but they only had "take away." So we had to eat it in Vandon House...and had a TON of leftover chips.
And I can't remember if it was this night or the next that we watched Notting Hill on my computer, a wonderfully cheesy movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. I had never seen it before and I squealed when I recognized Portobello Road and market! :)
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| Sherlock Holmes Museum |
Friday, April 15th:
Brighton Day Trip!
I was really out of it for some reason this day. Once again...not wanting to be around a lot of people...and not wanting to do anything actually. I think I was just tired of always being on the move, I would have rather stayed in London and slept. lol...
Kind of just didn't care about anything. Going with the flow. And for me...that's not normal. :)
It ended up being a really nice trip though!
We took our train to Brighton and our first stop was an old King's Palace...getaway of sorts.
The most exotic palace I've ever seen. This Royal liked to please his guests!
"Royal Pavilion - this iconic building was home to King George IV in the early 19th century. It was designed by architect John Nash (who also designed Regents Park), and is extravagantly decorated in the Chinoiserie style."
We couldn't take pictures inside...but I assure you, it was really cool. Very extravagant, no inch of space wasn't decorated somehow...a lot of Gold and Bamboo. :)
Most people had already left by the time I finished walking through. So I ended up going with Megan and Jake. lol...I felt like such a tag-along.
We walked over and saw the pebbly beach and Brighton Pier (carnival-like..."funfair rides, arcades, and candy floss"...the British term for cotton candy), and the seafront. Except it was so cloudy that the color of the sea mixed with the sky...making it all look like one big white sheet. lol.
Oh...and this is where I also got paint on my coat from leaning on the rail. It's not my fault. There was NO "wet paint" sign anywhere in sight. I had no warning. :(
Found a place to eat near the beach that had a free salad bar with our meal. I got bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) and a banana shake (more like flavored milk...meh).
The bangers and mash really wasn't that great. The sausage was awful...I wasn't too surprised.
So...I only ate the potatoes and gravy and maybe half a sausage.
In the States this wouldn't be a problem. I ordered it at my own risk...knowing I'd pay for it if I liked it or not. But apparently it's different here?
Our waitress came and asked Megan (who ordered the same thing and also didn't like it) why she didn't eat her sausages. Megan told her that it was her first time trying it and wasn't super hungry. But when she asked me I flat out told her I didn't care for it.
lol...sometimes I'm too honest. But, well...she asked!
She made a fuss about it saying if she had known it was our first time trying it...she would have told us to order something else.
?
So when she brought us the check she said she had talked to the manager and the cook had done nothing wrong. But because we didn't like the food...the gave us a half-off discount!
Megan and I were shocked! It was unecessary...definitely something that wouldn't happen to us in the States unless we made a point to complain...which we hadn't, at all! I may have spoken my mind...but I was still willing to pay for my food!
Idk...it was just odd. But...half-off! Yes please!!
To top it off...their credit card machines weren't working...so they were going to take off the fee it took for us to get money from the ATM.
The cash machine though...of course...didn't accept our cards.
So they just wrote down the information from one of our cards and let us go.
Wow. So that was like...10 pounds off our whole meal? lol!
Quite the experience in itself.
As we left our waitress grumbled to us about how she doesn't know why she stays and puts up with this company.
haha!
We went back down to the beach for a little while to walk by the water.
Plus, the sun had come out!!
I collected some shells and was taking pictures when a little boy swimming through the rocks on his belly right next to my feet scared the poo out of me! haha! He looked like he was about 10 years old too...so it was twice as funny. "What a big child?!!" :)
Megan and Jake had to catch a train back to London...so I met up with Mary, Megan, and Kaylee on the North Lanes shopping streets.These streets were narrow...but they had the cutest, quirkiest shops ever!! I loved it.
We browsed through some shops for awhile and then stopped at a tea room for our afternoon tea and scones. :) Mmm. I'm going to bring those to the States!!!
We ate at a table outside...It was lovely, the sun in our faces. :) The three boys joined us later and we had some jokes about what Spencer and my babies will look like. haha! It all started when I saw an adorable girl with red curls skip by and I said I wanted redheaded babies. Spencer, however, thought I said "I'm ready to have babies."
yea...see how the jokes came about now? lol. Mind you...Spencer is our lone black man in the program...so it made the jokes even funnier. ;) haha!
I was really out of it for some reason this day. Once again...not wanting to be around a lot of people...and not wanting to do anything actually. I think I was just tired of always being on the move, I would have rather stayed in London and slept. lol...
Kind of just didn't care about anything. Going with the flow. And for me...that's not normal. :)
It ended up being a really nice trip though!
We took our train to Brighton and our first stop was an old King's Palace...getaway of sorts.
The most exotic palace I've ever seen. This Royal liked to please his guests!
"Royal Pavilion - this iconic building was home to King George IV in the early 19th century. It was designed by architect John Nash (who also designed Regents Park), and is extravagantly decorated in the Chinoiserie style."
We couldn't take pictures inside...but I assure you, it was really cool. Very extravagant, no inch of space wasn't decorated somehow...a lot of Gold and Bamboo. :)
Most people had already left by the time I finished walking through. So I ended up going with Megan and Jake. lol...I felt like such a tag-along.
We walked over and saw the pebbly beach and Brighton Pier (carnival-like..."funfair rides, arcades, and candy floss"...the British term for cotton candy), and the seafront. Except it was so cloudy that the color of the sea mixed with the sky...making it all look like one big white sheet. lol.
Oh...and this is where I also got paint on my coat from leaning on the rail. It's not my fault. There was NO "wet paint" sign anywhere in sight. I had no warning. :(
Found a place to eat near the beach that had a free salad bar with our meal. I got bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) and a banana shake (more like flavored milk...meh).
The bangers and mash really wasn't that great. The sausage was awful...I wasn't too surprised.
So...I only ate the potatoes and gravy and maybe half a sausage.
In the States this wouldn't be a problem. I ordered it at my own risk...knowing I'd pay for it if I liked it or not. But apparently it's different here?
Our waitress came and asked Megan (who ordered the same thing and also didn't like it) why she didn't eat her sausages. Megan told her that it was her first time trying it and wasn't super hungry. But when she asked me I flat out told her I didn't care for it.
lol...sometimes I'm too honest. But, well...she asked!
She made a fuss about it saying if she had known it was our first time trying it...she would have told us to order something else.
?
So when she brought us the check she said she had talked to the manager and the cook had done nothing wrong. But because we didn't like the food...the gave us a half-off discount!
Megan and I were shocked! It was unecessary...definitely something that wouldn't happen to us in the States unless we made a point to complain...which we hadn't, at all! I may have spoken my mind...but I was still willing to pay for my food!
Idk...it was just odd. But...half-off! Yes please!!
To top it off...their credit card machines weren't working...so they were going to take off the fee it took for us to get money from the ATM.
The cash machine though...of course...didn't accept our cards.
So they just wrote down the information from one of our cards and let us go.
Wow. So that was like...10 pounds off our whole meal? lol!
Quite the experience in itself.
As we left our waitress grumbled to us about how she doesn't know why she stays and puts up with this company.
haha!
We went back down to the beach for a little while to walk by the water.
Plus, the sun had come out!!
I collected some shells and was taking pictures when a little boy swimming through the rocks on his belly right next to my feet scared the poo out of me! haha! He looked like he was about 10 years old too...so it was twice as funny. "What a big child?!!" :)
 |
| it was that boy in the blue shirt |
We browsed through some shops for awhile and then stopped at a tea room for our afternoon tea and scones. :) Mmm. I'm going to bring those to the States!!!
We ate at a table outside...It was lovely, the sun in our faces. :) The three boys joined us later and we had some jokes about what Spencer and my babies will look like. haha! It all started when I saw an adorable girl with red curls skip by and I said I wanted redheaded babies. Spencer, however, thought I said "I'm ready to have babies."
yea...see how the jokes came about now? lol. Mind you...Spencer is our lone black man in the program...so it made the jokes even funnier. ;) haha!
Took a train back to London and I met up with Molly and Shawn at Trafalgar Square.
Fished the day browsing through the National Gallery for awhile. Saw some Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, and Rousseau. Good stuff. :) I can't believe I haven't been to that section of the Gallery yet!!
Saturday, April 16th:
Molly, Shawn, and I went on a Daytrip: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford.
We met at the crowded Golden Tours office near Victoria coach station and were on our way...
First stop: Windsor.
Our tour guide was a funny man. Serious, dry humor, short, and he carried around a giant yellow umbrella (about as tall as himself) for us to see and follow. haha! We also discovered that his original language is Welsh when Molly guessed what language he spoke in to us. Of course...he loved Molly and Shawn after that when they told him they're studying in Wales, his home country. :)
Turns out....only have an hour to see Windsor castle is NOT enough.
Who'd've thunk?
It was a very pretty castle. The Queen's residence. Depending on which flag is flown, we could tell if she was in the castle that day or not. Unfortunately, she was not there. :( Probably helping to get ready for the Royal Wedding. :)
We saw the Queen's (Mary's?) Dollhouse. An intricate and incredibly accurate miniature Castle...Windsor castle!! So even though we couldn't see the Queen's residential rooms...we saw the mini version. I was amazed at the fine detail! I used to love building my own dollhouses. And they still fascinate me. :) I would have loved to have a dollhouse like that when I was young! lol
Saw some random Leonardo sketches in a gallery...
Then walked through the State Rooms.
Extravagant
Beautiful!
We took our time gazing at the general splendor when Shawn pointed out the time.
We were shocked to realize we only had twenty minutes left. We had just arrived!!
So we had to hurry through the rest of the rooms and make our way back to the bus.
Still making time to get postcard souvenirs and some fudge for Amy. :)
Definitely not enough time there. It should be a daytrip in itself! We didn't even see a fourth of the castle...and nothing of the grounds!! :(
Next stop: Stonehenge.
I didn't think I would like it because I've heard it basically just a small group of rocks.
But I loved it!
Sure, it's nothing compared to the ancient Pyramids...but how a small group of farmers could have gathered the stones from distant lands and built such a thing fascinated me!
The theory is that these farmers used the place to meet for worship....and then the Romans had to come and destroy part of it so they wouldn't start an uprising or something.
Sheep
Pretty yellow patches of flowers
Rock with a Lion Face
Heart picture
Moving right along...Oxford!
I had already been on the walking tour of Christ Church, so I didn't want to pay for it again.
But now I kind of wish I had...because I ended up just walking the shopping streets for awhile trying to find things to do. I went over to the Eagle and Child, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis' pub...but I was too scared to go inside by myself since Molly and Shawn were on the tour. Come on. It looked dark in there and the only people I could see were men with pointy teeth. lol
So I just took a picture, grabbed some mint chip ice cream from the place next door...and ran. ha!
Another ice cream kick. I had two mint chips that day. *blushes* :)
Went into some old bookstores to try and find a copy of Alice and Wonderland, since I was in the town where it was written. But they were all so expensive. : /
All in all...it was a good day. Wish we'd have more time at some places. But oh well. :)
Sunday, April 17th:
Kind of a crappy day. One of those days when every little thing seems to go wrong...and it adds up to one big thing.
Planned on going to Westminster Cathedral that morning for church...and Palm Sunday.
But soon after stepping out the door we realized there was a big miscommunication. They were going to the Abbey...not the Cathedral. Arg! I could have still gone with them...but the plan was to go to the Cathedral because I still had not been inside it.
So I ended up going to the London Marathon over by Buckingham all dressed up with a group of girls. haha! It was really cool though, besides sitting on a rail in my skirt so long my feet went numb. lol
It was neat seeing everyone cheering for the runners. My boss from my internship was even in it...but I didn't see him run.
We were close to the finish line!! I only saw a few of the wheelchairs and elite women go by before I left to go get some lunch though.
I walked over to find the place with Turkish crepes...someone had put it on the suggestion wall...but sure enough, I walked all the way over there and it wasn't open. Go figure. So I had to go back to Vandon to make something to eat then spent some time in my room...but could not focus on anything.
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| Marathon |
I needed to get away. Away from the Vandon House drama. Away from my room. Away from the constant hustle and bustle and noise. Away from people...the crazy crowds from the marathon. Away from the city...so I could be in nature and have some God time.
Finding a place like that in London though...when the marathon is happening...good luck!
I purposefully went to Hyde Park, the biggest park in London...to sit on the grass and be still. Yet there were people everywhere. I found a place somewhat secluded, but there were still people nearby and noise...always noise. Guh. London is nice, but quiet-time days are essential for me...and for this reason, I could not live in this city permanently.
I did manage to get some reading, praying, and journaling done. But it wasn't without difficulty focusing.
I walked back to Vandon House...passed Buckingham Palace. There was a black woman standing with signs that said the people of England want a Blonde Princess because she'd best represent the countries genetics. Um...what? Couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. It was odd...Nazi-like. : /
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| My spot in the park |
So I got back to Vandon and thought pancakes sounded good. Got out the mix my mom left me and added water like she said. Complete failure! They didn't cook normally....pale and crepe-like, besides the fact that Vandon's pans are pieces of rubbish and I could hardly flip them anyway. And then they tasted weird...not like my mommy's pancakes. :( I couldn't figure out the problem by the time we had to leave to go to the night service at Westminster Cathedral (with Mary and Kaylee, since I couldn't go that morning). So I had to put saran wrap on the batter to save for later...going to church without supper. yay.
I had never been to a Catholic service before.
It was...interesting...
The Cathedral was absolutely gorgeous inside!!! I need to go back and take pics before I leave. Along with a million other things. lol
Some of the traditional sayings and gestures struck me as odd. The whole bow thing before you sit? Idk...I grew up in a different Christian tradition...and from what I observed, some of the practices were just something they do because they've always done it. Does that make sense? Like...it doesn't have meaning anymore, it's just habit?
I'm not judging the Catholic church. Because...all things and little traditions and arguments aside...they also believe that Jesus died and rose again to save us. :) We have our own quirks in my own denomination...I'm sure. :) So quick to point out the faults of others...no church is perfect.
Anyways. We each got a little leaf off a Palm tree and there was a scripture reading.
I really liked how they did the readings. At times the whole congregation read a part...usually the "crowd's" part. And there were some priests (?) assigned to read the other parts. It was like story time!...and since it was a very long gospel reading...it made it so much more interesting. :)
One of the things that upset me though, is that my friends wouldn't let me take communion. And I really wanted to!! When I asked them later they said it is because I believe it's only symbolic but they believe it is the actual body and blood...so they couldn't let me take it. Like I would contaminate it or I wasn't good enough for the "real stuff" or something. I don't know...that's how I felt anyway. We may believe different things...but I still wanted to take communion! I haven't had it since Christmas break. Plus...on top of all the little failures I had experienced that day...this was the straw that broke the camel's back.
We got back to Vandon, and I tried...again without success...to fix those dang pancakes!! Finally ended up skyping with my mom...crying...asking her what I was doing wrong. haha! Poor mom...I probably worried her to death. She told me to add and egg and make Frenchy toasty...so I did the next day and they weren't bad. :) lol
Quite the day. I guess you need those every once and awhile to cherish the good days even more. :)
Quick rest of the week before I flew to Paris to join Kelsey for our Spring Break adventure:
- sun bathing at the internship...blanket on the grass outside...James' kiddos jumping on the trampoline...little naked elves...and strawberry ice lollies. :)
- Sent out a load of postcards
- The cleaning crew left me the most comfortable pillow in the world
- I got a package from home! First and only time I've received mail here! Lovely chocolate bars for Easter. :)
- Cabinet War rooms on Thursday...field trip for class. Pretty neat...hideout government rooms during world war 2...lot about Winston Churchill.
- My roommate saw the QUEEN when the left the War rooms!! SO JEALOUS! Random sighting too!
- Packing
- Paris! Weird to go back in warmer weather...and recognize places! :)
~Merely Mortal~
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