"You sound like you are from LONDON"

Alexa and I took our very first adventure together to London and we survived! It is amazing to think we bought our train tickets a little over 2 weeks ago and now I am back in my room (eh), writing this blog (yippee), explaining about our trip; I can't believe we actually went. We always talked about meeting up and going on trips together as a big group, but it it is a lot more challenging organizing days with everyone and it almost never works out, so I am really excited Alexa and I picked this weekend and went. Now, I could go on and talk about our trip and explain every detail, but I like to make it short and sweet (Sar, take a note of this)!

Ok, so Friday morning came and Alexa and I met at the train station at 9 (or actually 915 by the time Lex got there) and we boarded the train, found our seats, got situated and the way we went. It was about a 5 hour train ride, which actually was not that bad. Lex slept and I read a book (very exciting). The train took us through the country side, over a few bridges, traveled along the water and made about 6 or so stops on the way. On of the stops was New Castle...I took a picture just for you Nick.


Before we knew it we were in London and hugging Erin, who met us at the train station. From there they took us to Platform 9 3/4 and they were right such a disappointment. It is literally a brick poster board glued onto the wall with a fake carriage sticking out. Even though it was kind of a let down, we still took some pictures, just to show that we were there. 

From there we got onto the Tube (pronunced chube) and headed towards Natasha's and Erin's flats. There flats are just like ours so it was a nice feeling that they are living the same way we are. Then we met their friends, and all of use headed into London and went to Harrods and lets just say it was HUGE and very posh (rich, expensive, snobby people). We probably walked around for at least 2 hours or so and only made it through a section of the building. We went to the pastry section and had Red Velvet cupcakes, then went to the Wine section and tasted a new pink gin; it is only one of two gins that are actually made in London. From there we headed upstairs and made it to the toy room were we learned how to make snow, took pictures with stuffed animals...lets just say we found our inner child again.

After walking around we went to Roadhouse for happy hour and got some dinner. That is when Lauren and Kristen met us. It was so nice to be reunited with our friends from RWU. This weekend really felt like we were back at school. As we sat around drinking, laughing, eating and talking about what our plans were for like tomorrow, I couldn't help but just be so proud of all of us for making this journey and coming to a whole new culture. It really just shows how grown-up we have become (yuck!). Ok, so enough with the sentimental stuff. After we stuffed our faces and could barely walk we went back to Tash's and Erin's flat and got ready for the night. We first started off with a few games of beer pong and I would just like to mention that we flew 3000 miles to play against each other...we could have done that at school for a lot cheaper (oops!). No worries, Tash and I won again (we kicked butt), we really are beer pong teammates! So on and so forth, we went out, came back and went to sleep.

Saturday, we got up early to go see the changing of the guards. Well, guess what they don't do it on Saturdays (oh well)! We did take a few (more like 100) pictures of Buckingham palace, the guards, the monument in the front. I looked like the biggest tourist ever (mission accomplished)! From there we saw Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Oxford Circus, went to Notting Hill (yes, where the filmed the movie) and a bakery called Hummingbirds, which apparently is really famous (and yummy)! We eventually made it back to their flats, were we all watched The Jersey Shore (ridiculous as ever...will Sammi and Ronni ever not fight?) and took a nap. That night, we went to a pub called Spread Eagle, yes that is the name of it, and we are still trying to figure out if it was a gay bar or no. But it was really cool, and had a great "atmosphere" (read that they way mom did it). Any who, after a few drinks we went back, slept, got up early and Lex and I packed up to leave. Here are a few pictures from this weekend.

Monument at Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Tash and I on the monument

Parliament

Big Ben...not so big actually

Westminster Abbey

Notting Hill

Notting Hill again

Our trip back to Edinburgh was a bit long. We ended up getting delayed an hour at some point (I don't understand how that happens on a train) and at one stop about 6 men got on the train, smelled of booze, were drinking, played poker, were screaming and listening to music. It was a lot to take in at 12 in the afternoon. Needless to say they got off a few stops later (woohoo!). Overall, I would say it was a very successful trip and I had so much fun. It was really nice to see Lo, T and Erin and spend time with them. I wish we could have stayed longer, London is very similar to New York, it is really big and no matter how many times you go there will always be something new to see. I had such a great time, and now I am currently getting my game face on to tackle this weeks worth of work. My mission is to write two essay before Superbowl Sunday!!

Cheers and again Happy 21st birthday Erin!!
XoXo