Eat. Pray. Eat Some More. Then Love.

Since Lauren's placement interview was scheduled for Friday, we decided to forgo any travel plans and stay in London for the weekend.  As luck would have it, when I walked into my room on Thursday from class I was met with a scowl on Lauren's face.  All she said was, "I'm so mad."  Turns out the person who was supposed to interview has fallen ill with laryngitis, aka we could have gone somewhere this weekend. Oh well, nothing we could do about it but make the most of our first real weekend at "home!"
Friday morning we woke up early and started our day off at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  This museum, along with many others considered to be the best in London, is only about a ten minute walk from our flat.  Admission is free and they have amazing exhibits open, so since we hadn't been to any yet we thought this would be the perfect opportunity!  The exhibit that had caught our eye at the V&A was called Grace Kelly: Style Icon.  Here you could walk through and see Kelly's wide collection of clothing and accessories, from the time she was a young Hollywood starlet to when she became a member of Monaco's royal family.  Anyone who knows me and Lauren know how much we appreciate our fashion (according to our parents, sometimes a bit too much), and this was no exception.  Each piece was more amazing than the next, from a classic Chanel coat dress to an elegant Dior ball gown.  After seeing all her pieces, there is no doubt in my mind that if I could go back in time and wear the clothes from any decade it would absolutely be the 1950's; I would give anything to be able to wear those clothes!  Outside the exhibit was another showcase of fashions dating as far back as 1500's from all around the world.  Our favorite was a pearl studded dress that Princess Diana wore while on a trip to the Orient - so gorgeous!  From there we roamed around the rest of the museum, stopping to look at everything from oriental rugs from the 1300's to a jewelry collection that was to die for!  We loved exploring all the parts of the museum, but as midday rolled around and our stomachs began to talk, we decided to make our way to the next stop of the day.

Victoria & Albert Museum

A bunch of our flatmates had gone to Borough Market last week and said it was amazing, so we knew we would have to try it.  This open air market sits across from the Thames River and attracts people from all over the City.  It is filled with every kind of food stall you could imagine, each filled with fresh, delicious choices.  Looking back on it, it probably wasn't the best idea to go there really hungry, but we embraced our hunger and took full advantage of our surroundings.  And so begins our food count for the day.  We started with tomato, mozzarella and basil sandwiches which were to die for.  As we continued to make our way through the different sections of the market, we were offered samples of everything from chocolate covered almonds to fresh olive oils and jams....and of course we had to try every one, we wouldn't want to be rude, would we?  After perusing through what seemed like an endless number of stalls, I decided to try a brownie from "Flour Power" bakery; they were world famous apparently so I felt kind of obligated.  By the time we had finished making our way through the market, we were experiencing a serious food coma.  Our eyes heavy, we rode the tube back to Courtfield to recover and relax for the rest of the afternoon.  I got to have my second official run through Hyde Park, which was just as peaceful and wonderful as the first!
For dinner we decided we would venture over to Knightsbridge and explore an area we had been looking forward to visiting since coming here: Wilton!  My grandparents had lived on Wilton Place years ago, and right down the road from their flat was the Wilton Arms pub.  Naturally, we needed to go and make sure this place upheld our beloved hometown's name.  We made our way to Wilton Place, a quaint little street right off of a major road lined with shops and restaurants; we could see why the Bauer family loved it so much!  After waving hello to #7, we made our way to the Wilton Arms.  This place was so cute!!  Outside, the street was packed with businesspeople enjoying pints, while above them bright colored flower spilled over the window sills.  Inside was even more charming, with warm colored carpet, a big mahogany bar and cozy furniture.  Because it was so crowded we decided we would try somewhere else for dinner, but we are absolutely going to be coming back, hopefully with a couple more Wiltonians!  We definitely approve...I think we'll let them keep the name :)

Around the corner from the pub was one of my grandparents' and Courtney's favorite restaurants, the Spaghetti Factory.  This is where we continued our food fail for the day:  warm goat cheese on ciabatta, risotto and cheese pasta, and wine to go along with it all.  It was a glorious meal to say the least.  Too bad we can't eat for the next week now....
Overall, I would say we made the most out of our day at home!  It was so nice to just explore and take our time seeing things, we feel like this is slowly becoming our city!  Luckily, we have even more of this planned for the rest of the weekend!
    xo Carolyn