Saturday Sightseeing & Sunday Slump

For some reason, recently all of us have been getting very anxious about our looming departure in less than 2 months. So accordingly, Maggie and I were determined to cross off a few things off our “London Bucket List.” Saturday morning we slept in a bit, but by 11 o’clock were on the Tube on our way to Westminster. Our first stop of the morning was Parliament, where we took a tour of its entirety, including the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Unfortunately, we were only allowed to take pictures in the one of the rooms, which is actually the only completely original part of the building (due to several fires and war bombings). Nevertheless, the rest of Westminster Palace (the Parliamentary building's technical name) is still almost 200 years old and is gorgeously decorated, with gold mosaic ceilings, hundreds of paintings of past royalty, and ornate furniture. Our tour guide was also hands down the best of the group (and a Helen Miren look-a-like!). By the time the tour was over around 1:30, we were able to cross that off our list; but, we also managed to add something new: we want to go sit in on a real session!

 Entrance Way into Parliament!

By 1:30 you all can imagine what was also on our minds: lunch. So, Maggie and I hopped back on the Tube to Camden Market, one of our other must-sees. It is the fourth most popular visitor attraction in London, attracting over 100,000 people each weekend; and that was definitely apparent. Although it was extremely crowded, Maggie and I managed to find the food stalls and grab ourselves two incredible burritos, made to order. It was a tough decision between Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Indian, and falafel… but I think we made a good choice. After we had explored a little and experienced the “local-vibe”(which lets just say made us feel out of place in my houndstooth blazer and Maggie’s Burberry jacket), we headed  back to the Tube station. But did you think we would really leave without dessert? On our way in, we had spotted a stand which made dessert crepes fresh right in front of your eyes, and then folded them in this really cool wall to enjoy on the go (it’s hard to explain.) I got the Nutella crepe with coconut and bananas which was INCREDIBLE, but by the time we were finished we were both successfully in a food coma. Four o’clock rolled around and we headed back to Courtfield, both exhausted and feeling terribly gluttonous, in much need of tea and a few hours of relaxation.

Dessert Heaven

Saturday night I went with our friend Allie and her boyfriend to Ministry of Sound, where the famed techno DJ Benny Bernassi would be playing for the night. It was a lot of fun and somewhere else I had been wanting to go during my time here. In a matter of one day, I managed to cross three things off my London bucket list: success!

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Unfortunately, Sunday wasn’t nearly as successful for my list. It was a definite lounge day; after a week of class and work and a day and a half of non-stop activities I was in need. I did try to go with Maggie to Leicester Square to get tickets for a British Film Festival film; however, unfortunately, they were sold out. So instead, I didn’t let my journey go to waste, and instead stopped off at Chopstix Noodle Bar (that Carolyn described last week) for some vegetable low mein that I’d been craving. The rest of my afternoon was spent catching up on e-mails, working on the blog, and watching another episode of Greys online with Maggie. Around 10, Ashley and Carolyn arrived back and we eagerly heard about their weekend in Scotland, including their Edinburgh Underground City tour (i.e. ghost tour). I only WISH I had been there to see that! ;)

With another busy and fun weekend under both our belts, it’s back to our second week of class and work tomorrow!

     xo LC