My Royal Day Out

Today was marvelous.  I got to sleep in, and shower in my own shower!  That was very exciting for me.

We got tickets today to go through Buckingham Palace!  The inside!  I never knew you could go inside.  It's only for a few weeks each year, and those few weeks are now.  We went through about 10 rooms or so, and they were sooo pretty!  Not to mention, they have the best gift shop ever!  I bought a necklace...

No pictures were allowed inside the palace or gift shop, so we snapped a few outside the back of Buckingham Palace because it's a view not often seen.

Afterwards, the only thing fitting would be to go get tea!  So we went to the Haymarket Hotel's restaurant, Brumus, and got tea for 4.  It was sooo good!  It came with yummy sandwiches, scones, treats, and of course, tea!

This is for my sister, Brooke, who will find it quite funny.

We then came back to reality.  Later tonight, we were on the tube and we found this sign:

Good thing they have this!  Otherwise I might have chosen to fall down the stairs instead of walk!

The Lake District and York Trip

This week was our trip to the north of England.  We went up to the Ambleside in the Lake District then made our way down to York, and then back to London!  We of course made some pit stops on the way to see some other things.

First we stopped at Chatsworth.  This is the house where the Duke and Dutchess live, but more importantly, it is where they filmed the scenes for Pemberly in the new Pride and Prejudice!

We also went and visited the Preston England Temple for a little bit.

Finally we arrived in Ableside!  We were staying in a hostel that was right on a lake.  It had a beautiful view, but the rooms themselves...not quite as beautiful.  The day after arriving we went on a 4 mile hike to Dove Cottage.  It was an excellent and gorgeous hike.  Dove Cottage is where Wordsworth lived while writing some of his most famous poems.  We then went and got lunch at a cute cafe called the Giggling Goose.  Afterwards, we went and looked at shops - my favs:  the Beatrix Potter shops (Peter Rabbit) and the wool shops (from Scotland).  When we came back from the town, we went on a fun boat cruise around the lake, went on a little walk on the other side of the lake, and came back for dinner! It was a fantastic day!

Our Hostel.  It's deceivingly cute. 

The Giggling Goose Cafe - how cute!

The next day, we travelled to York.  On our way, we stopped at Bede's World.  What is Bede's World you may ask?  Well, my professor looooooves this guy named Bede.  Granted, Bede was pretty cool and important in history in Britain.  However, I don't really think they needed to make a whole WORLD for him!  This place had a medieval farm, a museum, a cafe, and an old church.  I'm not too sure why we thought it so necessary to take our time and go see a big medieval pig in the middle of no where and eat gross food, but we did!  I will definitely not be forgetting my stay at Bede's World.

If you can't tell, we are all super stoked to be at Bede's World!

We also stopped in Durham to see the cathedral there.  This stop really was cool.  The cathedral was awesome!  Unfortunately, we didn't happen to get any pictures!  Sorry Mom and Dad!  

We arrived in York, and if you can believe it, our hostel was even more gross than the last one!  I went to the local Marks & Spencer (kind of a European Super Target) and bought a pillow so I didn't have to use the one from the hostel!  York, however, was a really cute city.  They had some really fun shopping areas, a beautiful Minster, good food, street performers, markets and more!  

  The city of York.  The sunset made the Minster look gorgeous!

On our day in York, we went to Fountains Abbey.  This is a place that has, along with many many other places, fallen victim to the Dissolution from King Henry VIII.  I explained what that exactly was in previous blogs.  The old Abbey was giant, and in incredibly beautiful country side.  We went and saw the ruins, then went on a little hike up to see the grounds they have made.  They have a lot of rivers and moats and great views from the top of the hills.  

And finally, we ended up back in home sweet London!  I loved my trip up north, but am so happy to be back home in London!

My Primary Class

Not everyone was here, but aren't they cute!?!

Markets, Walking, and 39 Steps

Started out the day going to Camden Market.  We had been there before, but apparently we didn't do it right because we missed all the good stuff!  Everyone here at the centre had been talking about these donuts they have, so we started out the day getting one of course!  Then all of us (literally ALL of the girls here) have been getting these charm necklaces at a booth at the market.  So I went and got one today.  The lady who owns that booth loves us so much from all the business we've given her!

Next we went to Burough Market.  This market was way cool.  It is all food!  They had tons of fresh fruit stands, fish, meats, cheese, jams, breads, and so much more!  We ate lunch there by taste testing basically!  I bought a little thing of delicious pesto to bring home.  It was a delicious place to be!

We then have an assignment to go on a walk though the City part of London.  The City is the old area where the Roman wall surrounded London.  We walked over the London Bridge, and past some important sights that I am ashamed to say I have forgotten what they were!  But here are some photos of us trying to find where we are supposed to go and getting lost!

Oh yeah!  We found where they filmed Diagon Alley for Harry Potter!  Now I just need to find Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station and my Harry Potter sights will be complete!

Later tonight we went and saw the show 39 Steps.  It is a comedy that is a parody of a bunch of Alfred Hitchcock films.  The theatre was right in Picadilly Circus, which was cool.  I can't lie, it wasn't my favorite show I have seen.  It was a little bizarre and over the top for me.  But a ton of other girls who went liked it a lot!  So maybe I'm just weird!

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey was incredible!

This is the Abbey where they have the Coronation Ceremonies for the new Queens and Kings, and they have been doing it there for centuries and centuries!

They have so many tombs of famous people that they are literally shoved into every nook and cranny available.

Poets Corner was one of my favorite places in the Abbey.  This is a place where many famous poets, writers, musicians, etc are buried or have memorials.

Some famous names I saw:  Chaucer, Handel, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Caedmon, T.S. Elliot, Rupert Brooke, and many many more.

They also have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Abbey surrounded by red Poppies.

The Coronation Chair is there.  This has been used since medieval times! (1308 to be exact)

Here are some photos from Westminster!

After visiting Westminster, we walked around to see some memorials outside, and walked past Big Ben and Parliment.  We then went to the Tate Britain to see some paintings for my Bible and Christianity class, then meandered along the Thames and found our way to a tube stop to take us to High Street Kensington (one of my favorite streets for shops) and ate at the Whole Foods there.  After that, we came home and I finished working on a paper for my WWI class!

More Photos!

When we went to Whole Foods for lunch we found this place where they make taco salads.  It is the closest thing to Cafe Rio we can find out here!  And that is one place we are all missing!