the leathermans in london

the semester ended, friends went back to the states, and my parents and brother arrived in london! after 4 months apart it was of course great to see them and i was excited to be a tour guide for them. the plan was to be in london for 2 days, fly to salzburg for skiing/snowboarding and a sound of music tour, then train to munich and fly back to london for a day before finally heading home. this did not happen according to plan.

thursday 16/12: the family arrived just a little delayed. we got settled in the flat then went out for lunch at hummus bros and to see faraday house, my school building. we taxied downtown for their first big ben sighting and to do the london eye at dusk, which was absolutely beautiful. for dinner we met up with alex and his dad and our flatmate sam who was staying an extra day at a great italian place called getti on marylebone high street. such a cute restaurant and marvelous food. later that night my brother tommy and i met up with a group of my friends who were still in london for drinks at a nearby pub.

friday 17/12: the big bus sightseeing tour allowed us to pretty much pack all touristy things into one day because thats all the time we had (or so we thought). we were taken from baker street, down regent street, through oxford circus, and past piccadilly circus. got off first at trafalgar square, looked through the national gallery, walked to covent garden, and stopped in belushi's for lunch. picked up the bus again down fleet street, past st pauls cathedral, over the thames on london bridge, back over on tower bridge, and got off again at the tower of london. we went in, saw the crown jewels (took an illegal picture nbd), then used our included ticket on the thames city cruise to westminster pier. we walked past big ben, houses of parliament, and westminster abbey before getting back on the bus tour to buckingham palace. the bus then took us back to our flat where we rested for awhile. wagamama for dinner, always a good choice in my opinion, then tommy and dad went to hamley's toy store while mom and i saw oliver! such an incredible show and it was fun to remember the characters, songs, set changes, etc from when my high school did it. after a long, london-filled day, we packed for our salzburg/munich trip and went to sleep.

saturday 18/12. woke up, stopped by abbey road for a quick self-timer picture by dad and to see the studios, taxied to the train station, got on the express to gatwick airport, and went all the way to the check-in gate, only to find out almost all flights out of london had been cancelled due to 'adverse weather conditions', with no other flights to transfer to. we did some research and realized there was really no way we were getting out of london. (dear london, please learn to deal with snow seeing as it comes every winter and even though its worse this year, you should really be more prepared. kthanks.) we spent a few hours calling, emailing, canceling, and refunding everything we had booked for our original trip. luckily our london flat was available all week, duncan is the best landlord ever. we all regrouped and since obviously there is no shortage of things to do in london, i began to plan what we would do each day. my mom discovered the southbank christmas markets online, so we all got oyster cards and made our way there. it almost felt like we were in germany, but was not quite the same. we browsed through the shops, i finally got a panda hat (as my christmas gift from tommy - thanks lil bro), and then we had dinner at giraffe. tommy and i met alex at the globe pub near our flat for a drink before lounging around and going to bed.

sunday 19/12. (airports still screwed, five of my friends' flights were cancelled, rescheduled for wednesday and thursday.) even though my vacation was spoiled, london is still a fantastic vacation for my family and i was glad i would be able to show them more of my favorite places to go and things to do. sundays = east end markets. we had lunch at the food hall on brick lane then walked up, down, and around the area, looked through a few vintage markets, spent some time in the spitalfields market, stopped back at the flat, saw 'the tourist' at the everyman theater a block away, had a filling dinner and milkshakes at gourmet burger kitchen, then watched 'step brothers' and lounged around before bed.

monday 20/12. (airports still screwed, alex and his dad's flight was cancelled, rescheduled for thursday.) we started our day at the V&A museum, had lunch at pret, then walked through harrods. we then took a bus to hyde park and wandered through winter wonderland. we went to my group of freinds' favorite pub, the court for £4 burger and beer - can't be beat.

tuesday 21/12. (airports still screwed, two more friends' flights were cancelled, they rescheduled for the 26th.) i took the fam to camden for the afternoon. we went in the camden market, walked down the street of shops across the canal, had lunch at camden lock, went through the stables market, stopped for coffee at costa, bought a few london souvenirs, then went back to the flat after a good amount of time at my favorite place. dad had gotten us tickets for jersey boys that night, but realized he accidentally booked the matinee showing, so we missed out on that. we went to the london chipotle for dinner (i would, i know) then alex joined us at waxy o'connors pub in piccadilly for drinks. we watched 'italian job' at the flat and called it a night.


wednesday 22/12. (airports still screwed, three of my friends' rescheduled flights were cancelled again.) my family, along with the rogers and another friend ellie, made our way to greenwich for the day. my mom and i found greenwich's oldest pub, the plume, for a beer while the rest of them hiked up to the prime meridian line. we roamed around the area for a little, walked through greenwich market, grabbed some food and went back to the flat for a few hours. my parents got tickets again for 'jersey boys' while tommy and i and some of my stranded friends all went to los locos for dinner and drinks.

thursday 23/12. (airports still screwed, alex and his dad barely got to dublin but missed their connection so were stranded there overnight.) today was the daytrip tour to windsor, stonehenge, and bath. we woke up super early to get to the coach bus, then first stop: windsor castle. for me, it was just another castle and another cathedral - they all start to look the same. but it was good that my family got a taste of each, and windsor is apparently the queen's favorite place to stay. next stop: stonehenge. yes, the rocks were still there. lunch stop: the george pub in lacock. this quaint little village is used a lot for movies because it is so picturesque, so we saw an alley and house used in a few of the harry potter movies. final stop: bath. i walked around, shopped a little, and found the pulteney bridge while the family toured the roman baths because i had already seen them. bath had a different feel at night, but i still loved it. after a long drive back into the city, we packed, checked our flights, and got pizza express for dinner at the flat.

long day of travel tomorrow! its been a great vacation with the family and an unforgettable semester abroad, but its time to go home. happy christmas!

krista's visit!

my friend krista came to visit me and another friend mara in london this past week. we were all in the mandarins a cappella group together, but krista graduated this spring and is now teaching english to little kids in spain for the school year. she got here tuesday and leaves tomorrow (sunday) morning, so we got to do a ton of stuff around the city.
tuesday we went to greenwich to the prime meridian line and stopped by big ben.

wednesday she went to st pauls and the tate modern while i was taking finals. we met up at piccadilly circus to walk down regent street and check out hamleys toy store before heading to shakespeare's globe theater to see mara perform with her drama class, then a few of us went out to los locos for college night.

thursday we started at camden markets then went to the V&A museum and harrods, then to winter wonderland in hyde park. we rested for a bit at my flat then went to the end-of-semester party at faraday and saw mara perform again then came back to my flat for chinese takeout and a movie with the girls.

friday krista took a trip to a northern city called tharston, which is near norwich. her family is very english, so they traced their roots back to this city where her last name originated. later i went to a club with friends and sprained my ankle (see previous post) while krista and mara also went out with some of mara's friends.


saturday it was hard for me to walk with my sprained ankle, so krista went sightseeing on her own for the morning, she saw the churchill war rooms, big ben, houses of parliament, westminster abbey, the thames river, the london eye, tower of london, tower bridge, and buckingham palace. she stopped by for a small dinner at my flat and then left again to do the london eye! then she came back and we went out for a beer at an english pub near my flat, which i think was a great ending to her stay here in london.

ministry of sound, er... pain

so since its our last weekend in london (sadface) a ton of us decided we needed to all go out hardcore to a club. we all got tickets to ministry of sound friday night and were all really excited for a night out with everyone going crazy. we got there, checked our coats, stopped by the bar, and headed to the dance floor. i am a huge fan of dancing. im always the one saying "i just wanna daaaaance" wining about it till it happens, so this was really fun for me, i even wore flats because 1 its so much easier to dance and 2 we were gonna be out super late. we had been dancing for a while before my friends jess and alex and i were pulled up onto a speaker for a bit. somehow, jess fell and pulled alex who pulled me or something of the sort, and we all tumbled to the ground off this 4ft tall speaker, which, mind you, is 1ft shy of my entire body. jess and alex were fine, but i twisted my ankle horribly. i must have gone into shock because i don't remember the fall but i remember dancing and then bawling my eyes out in the hallway to two other friends. someone got alex to come with me with the EMT at the club. we pretty much got a backstage tour of the club on our way back to the paramedic's room, which was cool. i was crying the whole time, in pain and scared i had broken something. the people that took care of me were so nice though, we were there for probably an hour while they asked me questions and iced and elevated my ankle for me. it was pretty swollen, but not broken, so i decided i just needed to get home, in bed, to sleep. honestly though, i had a great time with friends while it lasted, and alex and i had fun with the paramedics, so it really wasnt that bad. alex was seriously my savior he was with me all night helping me and doing what he could to make sure i was gonna be ok. he got me to bed, propped up my ankle, and even put together an icebag for me. i slept so well and slept in pretty late because my whole body ached. i found another bruise on my other knee and my right jawbone must be bruised on the inside because it hurts to touch and is a little sensitive to chewing. i bought icepacks and a brace and have been able to hobble around for the most part, but its gonna take some time to fully recover. what a night.

notice the sign... "no dancing on this surface"

nearing the end...

last few weeks in london - gotta cram in everything i have left to do before i fly home!

30/11 • tate modern: made me realize i enjoy modern art much more than the classic stuff.

• st pauls cathedral cost money to go inside, so that didnt happen.

• the millennium bridge (think harry potter) connects the two over the thames

• wagamama noodle bar is amazing.

1/12 • alex, jed, and i went to the southbank to see fela the musical. the dancing was so cool, the set was incredible, and the whole show was fantastic.

• los locos has college night on wednesdays so since its already one of our favorite places to eat and party, we went there for the night. then on our way home through covent garden... spontaneous snowball fight! we all felt like little kids playing in the snow, it was great.

2/12 • tara and i went to hamleys toy store, which is 6 stories of christmas childhood wonderland, its absolutely spectacular.

• jed had people over for a hanukkah dinner (my first jewish holiday celebration).

4/12 • i finally got to portobello market. ellie met me there, we walked all along the shops - antiques, food, christmas trees, arts, culture, music, fashion, etc there was so much!

5/12 • since it was sunday, i decided to go to church! this church, however is a club. its only open noon till 4 on sundays and the required dress is halloween costumes so my whole flat and some other friends all dressed up as joggers. the club was insane, i was just happy to be dancing. when we got home everyone was dead tired, and the next day we were sore from our jogger exercises and dancing, but it was well worth it.

6/12 • flat 5 baked and decorated christmas cookies! alex, sam, ellie, tara, and i made some extremely sugary cookies and had way too much fun decorating them.

my friend krista got here tuesday, so the next post will be filled with all the fun things we've been doing around the city.

back in london after 5 weekends away

its so strange that the semester is coming to an end. ive been saying all along how i want to do this and that but kept putting things off, and since i finally had some time in london, i actually had to do some serious sightseeing.

24/11 • winter wonderland in hyde park: the cutest outdoor carnival and little shops set up with christmas lights, music, and cheer!

25/11 • thanksgiving in london: turkey filets for everyone! i made a tasty salad (apples, walnuts, dried cranberries, parmesan cheese, and vinaigrette dressing) and deviled eggs too as a little reminder of the holidays at home because my aunt always makes them for me. great time with friends, thanks to jed for hosting the potluck.

26/11 • took advantage of the school's last friday field trip to bath, england. catherine got me to wake up early and go, and i am sooo glad she did. we went to sally lunn's for lunch where i tried the house tea and a brie&cranberry sandwich aka heaven on bread. overall, i loved the city and i could even picture myself living there if i ever come back to europe. it was the definition of 'charming' in my eyes.

27/11 • ice skating at the tower of london! got tickets with the school, went with alex and emily, and had a marvelous time skating around for an hour next to the tower of london (which i still havent actually been in).
• emily and i stopped at platform 9 3/4. had to get the picture or all my HP-crazed friends would've murdered me.

28/11 • met up with jed and his family for the day. started at speakers corner, then to brick lane for lunch and cupcakes, and on to camden lock and the stables markets where i got the banksy panda sweatshirt i had been eyeing since day one.

• i also had dinner with a distant family friend, ginevra, in her area of town near westbourne park, which was so nice. we're hoping to meet up again so she can take me around the notting hill area.


i have plans to do more this week, and my friend krista is visiting the week after so i'll be doing more then too!  schoolwork? what is that? finals are coming up so some studying and paper writing will have to be done in between all the london fundon things. im also getting excited for when my family gets here on the 16th!

morocco

i haven't posted until now because i didn't want to feel like the best trip of my life was really over. tara, emily, and i spent four full days in marrakech with our guides simo and abdou, who turned out to be the coolest guys and a big reason our vacation was so incredible. simo welcomed us at the airport thursday and took us to our home, the riad, for the weekend. the lobby was our first indication, but our room confirmed that we were staying in a straight up palace! we were immediately served traditional mint tea and biscuits while we discussed the itinerary for the weekend. we headed out for lunch on a terrace, i love that they sit on couches with pillows all around at every restaurant. moroccan salad was first, the two main dishes were lamb with prunes and lemon chicken, and dessert was fresh fruit. we finished with more mint tea and biscuits, then we walked to a spice market where we learned about all the different spices and also bought black soap and argan oil for our hammam spa after. the hammam was pretty awkward with the women washing/scrubbing/massaging us, but i felt so soft and refreshed afterwards, simo said we were true moroccan princesses. we went out for dinner with simo, abdou, and their other friend zakaria and they taught us some arabic and wrote our names out for us. then we all got ice cream and called it a night.

friday we woke up early and went straight to the camels! we rode around for a while and then went to a berber village in the atlas mountains. i think this was the unanimous favorite part of the weekend. we saw a traditional house that looked like it was out of national geographic with stone walls, a woman doing laundry on a washboard, a cow and a goat in their cattle room, and a ladder we climbed leading up to the roof. we put down a handmade carpet for our mint tea, abdou showed us how to wrap a turban, and then the guys played music and we all danced together, it was magical. after a few hours in heaven, we moved on to the women's argan oil co-operation nearby. the oil comes from the argan tree, which only grows in morocco, so we learned how they make it, and also its different uses in cooking, bathing, and massaging.

we had lunch on the ourika river with orange slices and cinnamon for dessert, then went on a waterfall hike up one of the nearby mountains, which was actually more like rock climbing, but so beautiful. we stopped by a carpet house where tara and emily both bought rugs and then took the long drive home. that night, after naptime, we went to dinner near the riad and then went out with simo and abdou to a belly dancing show. we sat in a huge booth on the top floor of a nightclub, sipping mint mojitos and smoking mint hookah. we were really getting into the moroccan spirit.

saturday we got to sleep in a little before simo took us to a palace-turned-museum of marrakech, 'musee dar si said' and then to the main square to see the snake charmers and monkey tamers. next we walked a while to the majorelle gardens and took a horse carriage back to the main square.

a traditional couscous lunch was made for us in a moroccan family's home. we also learned to make moroccan mint tea and got henna tattoos in the family's living room. we were there for most of the afternoon and then left to go shopping in the square and test our haggling skills. i got balloon pants, a tea glass (instead of my usual shot glass), and a gift. for dinner, simo and the lady that ran the riad taught us to make tagine and we ate it on the roof terrace with abdou and zakaria too. after some quality bonding time with the boys, we passed out in our palace only one staircase away.

we slept in on sunday too because it was our free day. shopping was pretty much our only plan, so we went back to the main square to start. i got a few more gifts and a pair of earrings before we got so far into the markets that we had to ask for directions back to the square. we had a cheap lunch, omlettes and moroccan soup, and then got orange juice. the best orange juice i will ever have in my life. i dont even like pulp, but the freshness and perfect chill was incredible. so good. we walked to the nearby mosque and a really cute park right next to it, the weather was just so great to relax for a while before going back to the riad to pack. we said our goodbyes to abdou and our favorite little woman at the riad, then simo at the airport - all were so difficult, but i really think we all knew somehow we would see each other again. simo invited any of us to come back with friends or family and stay with him and i would love to take him up on that offer because this was honestly one of the best weekends of my life.