Londay Day 4!

Oh my fellow bloggers, I am so sorry I have been absent! I wasn't feeling well last week and summer school had started as well. I think I've really just had too much going on! But I will continue with my trip to London!

Now day 4 started out early! We had a train to catch! 

 

We were going to Bath, England for a couple days! This was my first time to be in a real train station so I thought it was really cool. We literally almost missed our train though because we couldn't find a trash can. 

The train ride was about 2 hours long. It would have been extra cool if it was an older train like the one in Harry Potter. Sorry, nerd moment! 

 

Finally we arrived in Bath! We had booked a one night stay in a hostel there and had to find it which wasn't too incredibly hard! Here's a glimpse of the room we had. It was a very nice hostel and the bed was quite comfortable. We didn't stay there long just left our stuff and went back out! We headed to the thermae bath spa..

These pictures were taken from the roof-top pool of the spa! Now this spa was amazing! We got a 2 hour session with an extra 45 minutes for food and drinks. There were 3 floors of the spa all open to us. The top was the roof-top pool which was nice and warm. All of the water used was actual mineral water from the spring there. It was very cool! I've never spent so long in a spa and thought it was so cool to get to wear the white robes around, haha. 

This was the 2nd floor. It was full of steam rooms and a waterfall shower in the middle. Those things to the left are little foot bath's which were neat. This floor was definitely our favorite floor and where we spent the most time. Each little steam room was a different scent, our favorite being an apple crisp one. The bottom floor was another pool area with some bubbles and a little flow kinda like a lazy river to it. Very cool. 

We did take advantage of the little cafe they had to give us extra time! This was our view out the window. How cool is that?! Don't you love their roads? All of the roads in Bath were like that. Which by the way, Bath was probably my favorite part of my whole trip which I twill talk more about later. The top picture is a picture of my awesome smoothie completely natural. Then the middle picture is the selection of breads and fruit we got that all was amazing. 

 

After the spa we walked around Bath just a bit and went to Bath Abbey (above). It was absolutely gorgeous! I love this kind of architecture, it's so fascinating. We didn't get to stay too long inside because we walked in pretty close to closing. After we left we made our way back to our hostel. Bath is incredibly small compared to London so it seems like nothing to walk anywhere in Bath. When we got back to the hostel we layed down and ended up falling asleep for at least an hour before dinner.  Once we got up we went down to the front desk and asked for a good suggestion for dinner. 

He suggested this little Italian restaurant around the corner and let me tell you... it was AMAZING! This was my number one favorite meal of my entire trip. We walked in and the little Italian man up front asked "Do you have reservations?" and of course, we said "Um, no..". So he continues with "That's okay, let me see if we can squeeze you in" then puts his arms around both of us and kisses us each on the cheek and says "See! I squeeze you in!". It was quite funny and cute. 

 

This was my dinner. AMAZING. I ate every last bite, which is rare for me. I'm not even sure what the name of it was, I decided really quick. Then my drink up top was a bellini, quite good. When we left the same man up front asked "How was it?" and of course we started saying how amazing it was and he goes, "No! I ment the kiss!". Once again, very cute. After dinner we went back to our hostel and passed clear out.

Day 5 is also spent completely in Bath so stay tuned!

London Day 3!

I apologize for such the big delay! I had a weekend at home spent with my family full of a lot of exciting things that I will fill yall in on tomorrow! Now on to my third day spent in London!

We woke up a little later than normal so we kinda missed breakfast time. So we went to a place down the street from her place called Nando's for lunch! I had this amazing chicken Cesar salad (I seem to have a pattern of that) and a side of their "mash" because Emily said I just had to try it! All of it was amazing! Then after lunch, we headed to find the London Zoo! As you all have read in my previous posts, I am a HUGE fan of the zoo! I was PUMPED for this one! It did take us quite a while to find it and a lot of walking but we finally did. 

So this is obviously the reptile house at London Zoo! I LOVED this zoo! It is a really old zoo with all original buildings so it is pretty cool. The significance of THIS building has to do with Harry Potter! The scene in the first Harry Potter "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's stone" or has they say.. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone" where Harry is at the zoo with his uncle was filmed here. Harry was at a snake exhibit and found out he could talked to snakes and ending up setting it free. That was filmed here and it even has a little plaque by the exhibit they filmed it at! I thought it was pretty cool because I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. 

This guy was just near the gorilla exhibit and I had to pose on him. 

 

Now these are the craziest looking chickens ever! I personally think they are super ugly to but hey it is still God's creation! These chickens were just roaming around the snack area where we stopped to sit and get a drink. They literally just walk around and walk right up to your feet and just stand there. I had my feet in my seat (as you can maybe tell in the picture) and were creeped out by them. 

 

Okay now this exhibit was cool but odd! It might not be very interesting for anyone else to hear because you weren't there and I may just be weird but hear me out. So they had an entire building dedicated to bugs or anything of that nature. This exhibit was for leaf cutter ants. I walk up to and am looking really hard at it to see them and trying to figure out why there are ropes. I ALMOST touch this rope but then realize there are ants ON the rope! Out in the open! They would travel from like box to box by the rope! I know this is cool and all but also a little crazy especially when there is no warning! There were even a few that were on the walls and what not that must have escaped! 

This is just me being silly by yet another statue. 

They had a really cool butterfly garden that had so many different kinds of butterflies and even caterpillars. I see these sometimes in Texas zoos but there never seem to be any butterflies. 

Then our last stop at the zoo was the gift store! I got these cute little plush tiger masks for my nephews but had to try them out first of course! I got myself a coffee mug with a old picture of the London zoo with a zookeeper and baby tiger. I want to buy coffee mugs pretty much every place I go but I only gave in here! 

After the zoo we headed to go see Buckingham Palace! It was really neat to see it and watch the guards out front! 

 

This is still at Buckingham palace! All of the statues in London amaze me! Just THINK.. someone sculpted that by hand! How crazy is that? 

 

  We sat around on the steps for awhile like everyone else seems to do in London. Definitely good to rest my feet.

After this we headed to dinner at "The Texas Embassy". This used to be the actual location of the Texas embassy in London but is now turned into a restaurant! They did a pretty good job making it look authentic (AKA like a Mexican restaurant) and they tried with the food but didn't quite get it. It was really fun though and gave me a little taste of home! After dinner we went home to bed after a very long day. Now get excited for day 4 because it was definitely one of my favorite days!

On a side note, my birthday is tomorrow! I will be turning 21. I'm very excited because my best friend is going to come see me for the day and I'll celebrate that night with a group of girls from Sigma! I am sad I won't be able to see my family or my boyfriend on my actual birthday but I will see him this weekend and I just came back from home.

London Day 2!

My second day in London was a little more relaxed than the first! After some much needed sleep, we got the day started by going to a local coffee shop on her street. I love that coffee shop atmospheres are pretty much universal. I expected to walk in and feel a different sort of British vibe, but there was none to be found. I felt like I could have been back home here in Texas. I loved that feeling! Next on the list was Camden Market!

This picture is a glimpse of the tube (A.K.A. the underground). This was our means of transportation everywhere if we weren't on our feet. Basically, you take the tube from station to station then walk a few streets to your actual destination. My feet were KILLING me during my whole stay in London, no lie. London is huge number one and number two, they don't really have even roadways.

These were some seats at Camden Market that I thought were really nifty.

Camden Market is basically a HUGE marketplace with booths and stands set up with local foods and shopping. A lot of the stuff was really cool but some was generic. The organization of this place was absurd. Emily and I were trying to make sure we didn't miss anything but it was so difficult knowing which direction to go or how to get back to somewhere we had been before. I had an amazing fruit smoothie here right by Regents Canal.

Speaking of, this is Regents Canal. Well really, this is a picture of a swan. I saw so many swans in England! I mean this may not be very cool for everyone, but as a Texan girl I find this kinda neat! And they were HUGE! I would honestly be a little frightened if I were really close to one of these things.

Here is Emily and me still at the market. It was so nice to be outside for so long without sweating pints. If this marketplace were in Texas, it would not be a pleasant experience.

Next on the list was dinner. We once again hopped on the tube and then made a long walk to a pub next to our after dinner plans. This picture is me on the millennium bridge with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background. Excuse the windblown hair look. At dinner, I had a burger to try out the British take on it. It definitely wasn't the same and I honestly didn't really enjoy it. The chips (A.K.A. fries) were good though.

Then after dinner we headed to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. We had standing tickets for "Much Ado About Nothing". It was really cool to be there and actually see a play!

Here is me standing with my drink, waiting for the play to begin. I had some apple cider thing that was actually quite good. Standing the entire play wasn't as bad as you may think though! We were able to sit down during intermission so it wasn't bad. The play itself was actually quite good! I enjoyed it a lot! I've read the play more than once and seen other versions and this one definitely made it to the top! "Much Ado About Nothing" is one of Shakespeare's only comical plays and they really played it up. And GUESS WHO WAS IN IT!?! Remember the TV show Fresh Prince of Be lair?? And the butler, Geoffrey?? He was in this play! How crazy is that!? Also some actress from The Kings Speech and an actor from Titanic! How cool is that?

Stay tuned for Day 3..

I returned from London!

Well I'm back everyone! I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted! I honestly have missed blogging extremely! I just never had the time or means to do it! But I am back! I'm looking forward to catching up on everyone's blog and getting back in touch with yall!

London was WONDERFUL! It was definately a cool experience! I have so many stories and honestly don't even know where to begin. I think I'm going to post about one day at a time. That still may be a lot, but it will limit it somewhat. I may throw in some different posts in between London posts so I can mix it up some but don't worry I will continue with my stories!

I got back on friday and STILL am not adjusted to Texas time! London was 6 hours ahead so I am VERY thrown off! I go to sleep really early and wake up at 4 or 5 every morning and force myself to go back to sleep. And it's so hot here! I come back to 95 degree weather when I was in 50s and 60s! Of course I WAS freezing there and miserable when it rained. I started back to work today and start my first session of summer school next week. Back to reality, right? I feel like I was in a dream and now I'm back to my everyday life. Quite a change! Okay, but let me get started on day one of London!

As you all know, I had a layover in Boston before flying to London! I never left the airport, I just hung out in the food court and made a few laps around the ENTIRE airport (I was sweating by the end of it..). Finally, my plane to London arrived! This is the 757 that took me to London, England!

After a 7 1/2 hour flight I finally made it there! This picture was taken when I met up with my friend Emily at the airport! I apologize for my grungy appearance, remember I had been traveling for a little under 24 hours straight.

Surprisingly enough, I wasn't incredibly tired once I got there! However, I did need coffee. This is my first meal in London at a cute little cafe! AMAZING cappuccino!

This was a chicken ceaser salad. Absolutely INCREDIBLE!

Then we went to Trafalagar Square. Very cool, lots of people but not too badly crowded. They have a monument thing here that has a countdown to the olympics, since the olympics are going to be held there.

 

This is the National Gallery. It is in Trafalagar Square as well. It is a HUGE musuem full of famous artwork. I saw original Van Goghs and Monets, very exciting for me! Obviously, I couldn't take pictures otherwise I would have!

The red telephone booth is iconic to England! I had to have a little photoshoot in it and completely be a tourist for a minute or two!

Then we went down to Westminister and saw some cool sights! This is big ben! He is probably my favorite to look at and can be seen from almost all over London.

This is some of parliament! I LOVE the architecture of it! Actually, I love the architecture of all of London! It has such a mix of old style and modern that you do not EVER see in the states!

Then here is Westminister Abbey! We didn't get to go inside because the line was incredibly long! Most likely because the wedding wasn't too long ago. It was still neat to just SEE it!

Then my last thing of the day was dinner at a local pub! I had my first authentic fish and chips! The green stuff is mushy peas that is also super traditional. It wasn't too bad! I wasn't a huge fan of the fish just because I like my fish cooked in smaller portions, but it was good overall!

And that concludes day one recap of London! I slept hard that night and fell asleep in like .5 seconds. But it was a great start to my trip!