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!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my birthday! I'm finally 21! It's really weird to me. I honestly always feel like I'm older so it IS nice to actually be a year older on paper. So far today I haven't really done anything at all. I woke up this morning not feeling well so I missed work and class today. I've just been laying around with the cats and relaxing. I'm supposed to go to dinner tonight with friends which I am excited for. Layna, one of my best friends from home (MELK), is coming in just for my birthday dinner then going all the way back home. How sweet is that?! It is a 3 hour drive here from back home. What a great friend right!? I am sad I won't be able to see the boyfriend today, but he will be here this weekend. 

As I've already told yall, I went home this past weekend. I went home for many reasons. I hadn't seen my family since I got back from London so I had to go home to tell them about my trip! I also went home so I could celebrate my birthday with my family. 

 I always take advantage of seeing the boyfriend and take as many pictures with him as I can, haha. We took this after eating with my dad's side for my birthday. 

My brother always gets my camera and takes a picture of me blowing out my candles. This was still at my grandmother's house with my dad for my birthday. I had two birthday cakes this weekend! And both were sent home with me! I don't know what to do with all of that cake. 

 

There are a few "taco stands" back home that I'm absolutely in love with. I don't know if everyone knows exactly what I mean by taco stand because I have no idea if other states have them like we do. They are literally just tiny little stands that honestly look a little sketchy. They sometimes hang out in parking lots or any random location really. They always sell AUTHENTIC tacos, quesdillas and a couple other Mexican cuisine. I love love love them. This is me and my little brother at one on Saturday night. We literally had just eaten dinner too, but we didn't care, we wanted these tacos. 

Sunday morning, my dad and I went fishing! I really wanted to go kinda as a birthday treat since I haven't been yet this summer! And by the way, I do love to fish. I absolutely LOVE this lake too! It is so gorgeous and SO quiet! We headed out at about 5:30 AM so it was super quiet. I loved getting time with just my dad too! I can't remember the last time we really had that time so it was very cool! 

And look what I caught! It was just a little bass, about 3 lbs., but it was a good catch of the day! 

Now THIS is little baby boy Remington! One of my best friends Kelsey, also from MELK, had her little baby boy saturday night! I was SO lucky to be home this weekend and able to go see her! He is such a cute baby and she didn't have any complications at all which was amazing! I can't believe she is a mom and a wife. Absolutely crazy to really think about! But she is going to be the greatest mom! She really is! And this little boy is going to have so many aunt's who are just crazy over him and spoil him rotten. I had an amazing weekend at home having two birthday dinners, amazing tacos, fishing with my dad, but I really think this was the highlight of my weekend. If you read this Kelsey, congrats! You are already an amazing mother!

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..

Summer

So before I went to London, I had about 1 week of my summer vacation. Some I spent back home and some I spent relaxing here. Summer has always been my favorite season, ever since I was little. Some of my favorite parts about it include being out on the lake, fishing, swimming, and really just anything outside. I haven't been out on the lake yet but I have time! I also get to spend more time with my family during the summer! This will be my first summer I have not moved back home though, so I won't get to see them as much as before. Hopefully they will come visit me though and I will still come home for a few weekends.

During my one week of summer before London, I spent some time with my nephews, relaxed, said goodbye to a close friend, and really just prepared for London.

This picture is from my friend Alex's (the one in the pink) goodbye dinner. We surprised her by taking her to eat with just us three, then when we walked in about 10 other people were there to say goodbye to her! She moved back home about 5 hours away to go to school there. I already miss her so much! She was the first person I met here and we automatically clicked when we found out we lived in the same apartment complex! It is so weird driving by her apartment and not seeing her car or her outside with her little dog cupcake! BUT at least we live in the same state right!? Yes, it may be one of the biggest states, but still. We can ALWAYS go visit each other!

I got to see my nephews quite a few times before I left which was GREAT! I adore them and love spending time with them! I'm such a proud aunt it's ridiculous. Half of the pictures in my apartment are of them, no lie. But that's okay! This one above is little Andrew. He is the middle child and the only one able to say he is a local to Hawaii (he was born there). Andrew is the most courageous out of the three and possibly the one to get in the most trouble. But he is a cutie. My sister in law jokes that she won't let me carry him around in public by myself because people will mistake him for my son. It's quite funny.

This is the oldest Nikolas! He is definately going to be a little heartbreaker with those baby blues. He is so smart and he knows it.

This little one is the youngest, Carson. He is a hoot. He just now is really starting to talk like crazy and show his personality. He's wild, its hysterical.

They are on a tee ball team that my brother and sister in law actually coach and I FINALLY got to go to a game before I went to London! They are actually really good! Nikolas is starting to really get it and is getting good! Andrew just has fun in the outfield throwing dirt and sparking up conversation.

Andrew got the gameball at the game I saw. He was SO excited and even slept with it that night. Adorable.

How is the beginning of yalls summer going?