Day 9/10: Milkshakes and Oxford Street.

So, I was meant to write this post on Saturday night but clearly that did not happen. I am going to attempt to remember what we did.......Okay. Got it!

On Friday morning I had more orientation lectures and presentations, which ended up being pretty interesting actually. At 2 o'clock everyone in our program was split into groups of 2/3 for a scavenger hunt. We had three hours to go to a bunch of different locations all around London. It was very cold and super exhausting. By the end of it, we were all starving. So we decided to stop at Sainsburys to grab some food for dinner. I must say I don't mind making dinner for myself. Later on Maggie and I ended up walking around the area and found a super tiny burger place. It's name is Burger and Shake. We were both craving chocolate , as per usual, so we decided to stop in for shakes. Maggie went for a chocolate one and I had salted caramel. I had never had a milkshake in that flavor before but I must say it was very yummy. We also decided to share a plate of fries. We figured we deserved it after the three hours we spent running around London.

We had to laugh at the fact that we found the most American restaurant to stop in.

Maggie and I woke up quite early on Saturday so we could be on our way to Oxford Street by 10. It is about a twenty minute walk to get there from where we are living. Personally, I like walking places because you get to really see the city that way. The tube can be fast (depending on where you are going) but you are underground a miss a lot of the scenery!

Our first stop was Primark. This store was massive. I was able to find a few pieces of clothing!

I tried this dress and pretty much fell in love. It was very inexpensive and fit quite well. I think it is one of those dress that can fit all season. 

Well, I'm not sure why its cutting off half the picture. This is a t-shirt that was only 4 pounds. I wore it yesterday and it was super comfortable. Its quite thin so it will be perfect for spring. 

For my internship (blog about it here), I go outside with the students during gym class and needed some suitable trousers to wear. 

After Primark, we headed towards the other shops. We wandered around Topshop, HM, and Miss Selfridges. I held myself back from buying the whole store. We also found the Drop Dead store near Carnaby Street (Bonus points if you know why this is even relevant). We also stumbled upon this cute area. They had tons of restaurants that we will deffo be going back to. 

I have been on the hunt for a reusable water bottle. This was more difficult than I thought it would be. Maggie and I went into a football shop...and I found a water bottle! I only knew three of the teams and decided on a Chelsea FC one. Although, I sort of wish I had bought a Manchester United one. Or a Manchester City one. 

I think I fit in quite well now. 

On Sunday, Maggie and I asked our friend Lauren to go to the Museum of London with us. It was actually an assignment for class, so the blog post for that is here. Check that out if you'd like. 

A.  

London Smells Like Cigarette Smoke: Some Thoughts

One of the first things I noticed while walking around London is that 90% of people here smoke. People walking and talking and, oh yes, smoking. The smell of cigarette smoke reminds me of being a kid. Neither of my parents smoke, but we had a boat for most of my childhood and nearly everyone out on the water smoked. Including my cousin who still smokes now. So, the smell almost has a nostalgic effect on me. Which is sort of comforting. Until you get a lungful and start coughing. 

I was going to add more to this post, but I started rambling and decided it deserves its own post. Will be coming soon I think. 

A. 

Day 6: Covent Garden

Yesterday Maggie and I decided to make a quick trip to Covent Garden. It was about a twenty minute walk. But lucky for us the sun was out the entire time! We stopped into a few shops (Zara, Oasis) on our way to the Covent Garden Market. 

There were tons of cute cafes and cake shops. 

This is inside the Piazza where they have loads of little shops and restaurants. Including a Shake Shack. There a few designer shops in there as well. 

This shop is just in the bottom right hand corner of the picture above. Maggie and I wondered down there, once we saw the options for crepes we had to try one! 

Everything was very pink and super cosy. They had tiny wooden tables for people to sit at. 

Maggie and I decided to share "the nutty professor" which had nutella and peanut butter in it. Super, super yummy! We will def be going back there. 

I also ordered a macchiato. Maggie had a hot chocolate. 

It was much better than Starbucks. 

I am not sure if anyone taller than 5'10'' would be able to stand up straight in this shop. 

We also decided to stop into the Disney store.

We also passed this shop window. I am hungry again just looking at this! 

This sun was setting while we were walking back. This is Hotel Russell, the picture seriously does not do it any justice. 

This building is what The Ministry of Truth is based off of in George Orwell's novel 1984. It is also Gotham City in Batman. 

Sadly, I only have a few pictures of the tube from today. 

A bit of tube etiquette: The right side is reserved for those not moving. The left side is for those who need to run down the stairs and nearly knock everyone over. I am turning into one of those people. 

A. 

Day 5: Walking Tour of London and Rambling On.

Hello! Sorry for not posting yesterday, time got away from me and I was in a bit of a yucky mood to be honest. I will try to write a make up post tonight. 

Today was exactly how I pictured London. Cold, windy, and rainy. In the morning, I had orientation about basic things pertaining to the program and London. 

At 2 pm we ( as in me and the others in my program) departed from our dorm building for a walking tour. Now, keep in mind there is about 35 of us not including our two directors. So, we probably looked ridiculous walking around.

 We made our way through Russell Square towards The British Museum. Fun Fact: Russell Square was the meeting place of the Bloomsbury Group which was made up of very important writers (Such as Virginia Woolf).They would meet on Thursdays to discuss important matters and such. Being an English major I thought this was really cool. And I am pretty sure no one else knew who he was talking about. But, that's alright. 

In the Museum, we only went through three of the "bigger" exhibits super fast. The museum wasn't very busy. Take note Monday afternoons are a great time to go to this museum. By the time we were walking out, it was raining very steadily. It was only about 5 minutes to Covent Garden though. 

I opted for my packable down coat (which isn't good for walking in the rain for 2 hours, by the way). A little outfit of the day mirror selfie. Sadly, Maggie was at class so there was no proper picture. I have literally just inserted this in the middle of my post, I am sorry. 

I bought these boots from h&m. I feel like they are a cross between Doc Martens and a pair of Chelsea Boots. They were super comfortable and warm today considering I spent quite a while in the rain. 10/10 for you h&m. (I just went on their website to try and find a link for them but was unsuccessful. Soz)

I don't know if my sister reads my blog, but this is her shirt. She doesn't know I took it. (Mom said you don't wear it. Sorry) This is how she is finding out I took it. Awkward. My make up looked great today. But I didn't take a close up picture. I feel like I am talking to myself when I write these things. Anyways, I had to pull my hair up yet again because of the wind. This seems to be a trend. At least it looks okay (I hope). 

This is what I wear outside. I tend to hold my handbag as though someone is trying to steal it from me. One can never be too cautious. Don't worry Mom, I put a scarf on after I took the picture. 

Well, getting back to the walking tour. It was indeed all walking as one might assume. After the museum, we walked to Covent Garden. Which is probably a ten minute walk from where I live. This is somewhere that I know many Londoners recommend walking around. I would agree. It was very cute and there were tons of little cafes and such. I passed one cake shop that had their pastries displayed in the window. It looked very yummy. I think Maggie and I may go back tomorrow. 

Luckily I wore my coat with a hood so I didn't deal with my umbrella. Others ,however ,did not have hoods. This would be why there are umbrellas in many of my pictures. I apologize in advance. 

I would like to crop this picture but can't figure out how. Our tour guide said this is the best place to get fish and chips. Fun Fact: that's the front of his hat in the right hand side of the picture. He was super lovely and very knowledgeable. 

I took this picture for two reasons. The first being that the Christmas decorations are still up, but not lit. The second being that there was a Crocs store which reminded me of my Dad. He loves crocs. Hi Dad. 

This is the Covent Garden Market. It used to be a vegetable market. Fun Fact: It used to be called "Convent Garden" because there were nuns who grew the vegetables. 

I took this picture because I wanted to show everyone who is buried up to their necks in snow right now that everywhere in London is still green. It pretty much looks like spring, but feels like a fall/winter day. That man looked at me weirdly after I took the photo.

This is a street lamp that still runs on gas. Not too many of them left, so obviously I took a picture. These buildings were very cool too. 

He also said that this alleyway is featured in a few of the Harry Potter films. I have sort of watched a few of the Harry Potter films, so if you recognize this... that is very cool and I'm glad. These buildings are pretty much offices now for producers, directors, and casting agents. 

A lovely shot of some shops and umbrellas. Side note: it is very hard to see anything when you are surrounded by umbrellas. I wouldn't advise it. 

After Covent Garden, we headed towards Trafalgar Square. It also started to rain very hard just as we were walking there, so taking pictures was difficult. I plan on going back to all these places when it isn't raining. Or, is raining less. 

This is a statue of Henry Irving. He was the actor who made Shakespeare famous. He was also the basis for the physique of Dracula (by Bram Stoker). I thought this was very cool and exciting because I have actually read that novel. This statue is situated behind the National Gallery which is filled with artwork. The National Gallery is massive and beautiful (oh what a surprise, I know). 

If you look past all of those people with umbrellas, there is a giant blue cock (as the tour guide said). This statue changes every year (?). He said the statue that will be there next is a giant thumbs up. How very 2014 Iphone Emoji of them. I believe that statue is owned by the French. 

I am genuinely going off memory for all of this information so I apologize if it is wrong. But I usually remember things really well (fun fact: I am listening to Amnesia by 5 Seconds of Summer right now. I thought this was funny to add since I am talking about how I have a good memory...and amnesia is ...well never mind you know what I mean).

This is at the center of Trafalgar Square. If you look in the distance you can see Big Ben. 

These pictures look very depressing because it was so rainy and cloudy, I am sorry. 

A giant lion, always cool. 

The square was pretty much empty since it was 4 in the afternoon. I love how everything has some sort of significance whether it is related to history, authors, or government. We also walked past the place where the man who created James Bond...created James Bond. Very cool. We walked towards Buckingham Palace then, but we couldn't really see it. (Side note: I am sitting here laughing at how terrible this sounds because I don't remember everything) We also stopped at the place where they change the guards on horses. At this point, I was frozen to the bone and very wet. So, I don't really remember everything he said. Terrible, I know. 

We ended the tour at a pub somewhere near Westminster Abbey. I sat there frozen for about thirty minutes attempting to re hydrate myself with water. There was some confusion with the area our program director had reserved, so we had to leave. We ended up taking the tube home (successfully!). Luckily one of the girls with us has been to London before and knew exactly where she was going, so major thanks to her for leading the way. I even snapped a picture. I am not a big fan of going underground, at all. So, I pretended as though I wasn't underground the whole time I was on it to put off having a mini freak. The tube is completely silent. No one talks to each other, and everyone keeps to themselves. It is very strange but almost nice. There is no pressure to socialize or make awkward small talk. 

After we hopped off the tube, Maggie and I stopped into Costa for a much needed hot chocolate. She had a very, very crazy day so a hot chocolate was in order. I think we are going to head off to Covent Garden tomorrow for a wander. So, blog post tomorrow and maybe a vlog? We will see what the day brings. 

A.