Mad Hatter Tea

March 31st - During the brief couple of days after I got home from Prague and before I left for Paris my friends and I went to Alice in Wonderland themed afternoon tea at the Sanderson Hotel. If was delicious and so much fun! After we ate we decided to have a mini photo shoot in the lobby because they had so many good props! It was funny because they were having a model casting in a room at the hotel so several models were waiting in the lobby... just looking at our ridiculous attempts at modeling. Good times :)

me, Victoria, Ginan, Michelle, Kristy, & Annie

my food :)

Victoria and me
Ray-Ban ad

Czech out the WIENer!

March 25th - What a stressful day I had! I got out of class in the afternoon and had to rush to the airport for my flight at 4:40 pm. It was raining... the train to the bus pickup point was late... I missed my original bus and had to wait for the next one... and I finally got through security just before my flight to find that it had just been delayed! I shouldn't be complaining though. I'm just glad I made it! However, it was probably the scariest flight I have ever been on. Once we were on the plane and the doors were closed they told us that the delay was because the plane was having electrical problems. They went on to say that they couldn't start the engine normally but would have to do some strange external start that would cause some smoke but not to be alarmed! Great. I'm not really scared of flying but all of the stress of the day definitely made the flight a little uncomfortable... and I didn't even mention the strong turbulence that made everyone clap (and not the fake, polite clapping you sometimes get on planes) but actual joy that we had made it to the ground safely. Traveling by yourself is so stressful!

March 26th - After meeting up with my friend Kasey from USC (I also visited her in Athens) and another girl from her program named Claire, my weekend became much more enjoyable. We started the morning by heading to Stephansdom (St. Stephan's Cathedral) in downtown Vienna. Closeby was the Mozarthaus, where Mozart lived for the longest period of time out of any of his 17 homes and also where he is thought to have written The Marriage of Figaro. We then walked around the area for a bit before getting lunch and stopping at a famous chocolatier called Manner. We stocked up on delicious chocolate (I always seem to seek it out when I travel!) and made our way to Hofburg Palace, the main home for the Habsburg Dynasty. This palace was HUGE. It contained gardens with people laying out on the grass, a national library that makes the Beauty and the Beast library pale in comparison, a detailed account of the life of Empress Sissi, and a China collection that would've made any Brit gasp. We headed back towards Staatsoper (the opera house...which, unfortunately, we weren't able to go into unless we had tickets) and got sachertortes from the famous Sacher Hotel where they were created. Sachertortes are a traditional Viennese chocolate cake that is covered in a layer of apricot preserves and a hard chocolate shell. Delicious! We sat on a bench and did some people watching while we ate. We took the trolley over to Belvedere Palace, which is not a royal palace but actually the home of a very wealthy man. We had traditional wienerschnitzels for dinner!

me and Kasey inside Stephansdom
National Library inside Hofburg Palace
Sachertorte
Belvedere Palace

March 27th - We got up fairly early so we could make it to Schonbrunn Palace (Habsburg's summer palace) before getting on the train. It was sunny outside so the palace looked beautiful :) Our tour got cut a little short because the inside was being renovated. It was a little frustrating but gave us time to browse the cute little Easter Market in front of the palace. We made our way to the train station to head to Prague. The three of decided that Austria is one of the most underrated countries to visit. They have such a rich history but you don't hear much about it in the US. Our train ride was relaxing - I watched the countryside and dozed. After Claire realized our hostel was pretty far from the center of Prague, we spent some quality time at the train station booking another one. While on the metro on the way to our new hostel, both Kasey and I were victims of an attempted pickpocket! There was a couple in their late 20s standing next to me. The man had on a big jacket. I felt the magnetic clip of my bag open (but wasn't sure if I had caught it on something) so I closed it and stepped back so I wouldn't be touching anything. When we were getting off, Kasey and Claire were trying to make their way out of the door but the couple would not move. Eventually they got off the train as well. Kasey felt her pocket and realized her wallet was missing so she grabbed the guy's arm and he dropped her wallet onto the platform. He and his girlfriend ran back onto the train. Such a close call! We decided to ease our stressed minds with a pub crawl. We hit up several bars and ended at a 5-story club along the Vltava River.

Kasey, me & Claire at the Easter Market in front of Schonbrunn Palace

March 28th - We were planning on going on a walking tour but ended up missing it because we forgot to change our clocks for daylight savings! We weren't too upset though because it started raining. Instead we went to the Jewish Quarter and toured through a bunch of sites. The Old Jewish Cemetery, where Rabbi Loew of the Golem fable and David Gans (who the Star of David was named after) are buried, had layers and layers of tombstones because the city would not give the Jews any more land for the burials. It is super crowded, definitely would be one of the creepiest cemeteries at night. The Old-New Synagogue, which is the oldest working synagogue in Europe, has displays of various Jewish artifacts along the walls. My favorite stop was the Spanish Synagogue. The inside had amazing gold patterns covering the entire wall. It was really beautiful. I really enjoyed seeing historical Jewish buildings and artifacts because it is much less common to find post-WWII. One of our tour guides later mentioned that the reason Prague's Jewish Quarter was so well-preserved was that Hitler had planned on using it as a museum for the exterminated race. It's really chilling, but lucky for us now. After having latkes for lunch at a Kafka themed cafe, we headed back into Old Town Square and checked out the Czech version of an Easter Market. This one was much more exciting! There were blacksmiths, children dressed in traditional garb singing on a stage, and so much food! We tried a pastry called a trdelnik - it is similar to a cinnamon roll but spun over fire on a thick pole and then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Like almost everything I've been tasting, delish! I'm kinda craving one as I write this haha. We saw the astronomical clock (known as Orloy to the Czechs) do its little performance as the hour struck and got tickets to head to the top of the tower. There was a great view of the entire city from the top and we took pictures with the trumpeter. Later we were casually browsing the area, waiting for our ghost tour to start when Kasey noticed her camera was gone. Despite epic searching, we realized she had actually become the victim of a skilled pickpocketer. She was really upset the rest of the night. She felt guilty that she had let her guard down and was upset that she had lost so many irreplaceable pictures. We still went on the ghost tour... which was more interesting than creepy because we got to hear a lot of the old myths about Prague. It was difficult to get back in a good mood though.

Old Jewish Cemetery
Spanish Synagogue
with a statue of characters from Kafka story
Kasey and I with our trdelnik
in front of the Astronomical Clock

March 29th - We made it to the walking tour this time! We covered a lot of the areas we had already been, but it was nice to get an informed tour of the history of the area. We walked across the river and took a tram up to Prague Castle. St. Vitus' Cathedral was beautiful, but the rest of the castle had pretty much been hollowed out. In some parts of Prague it is very noticeable that they are just starting to get into to the groove of tourism. We had an early dinner and I made my way to the airport (Kasey and Claire were staying an extra day because they were on their spring break). So I got to the airport and had gone through security... was waiting for the gate to show up on the screen... when my flight got canceled. I was trying to communicate with some of the security guards about where to go but they had a lot of difficulty speaking English. Luckily I found some other people that were on my flight who also spoke Czech so I kinda tagged along with them. I had to wait in line for about an hour, meanwhile calling back home talking to Sean and my dad and having them help me reschedule a flight on a different airline for the next day. (EasyJet was already booked and I would've had to wait 2 days...). After going through the line I was sent across the street to the Courtyard Marriott where we were getting free accommodations and stand in line for another hour to get checked in. After reconnecting with Kasey and Claire I had been planning to go back into the city to hang out with them, but everything took so long public transportation stopped running. Meanwhile, my pay-as-you-go British phone ran out of money... so the calls to the US from the hotel room ended up costing way too much. I decided to just crash.

from the clock tower with view of the Tyn Church
(doesn't it look like a fairytale?)
Charles Bridge and Vltava River
St. Vitus' Cathedral

March 30th - One good thing about having my flight canceled was that I got to cover all the things I had missed. After an awesome free breakfast and a pleasant night's rest with my own king size bed, I went back to Old Town Square. I walked along the Vltava and across Charles Bridge, where I rubbed the lucky plaque that all the tourists rub! I headed to the John Lennon Wall and took some pictures (while listening to the Beatles on my iPod of course!). I hit up a couple shops in the area. It was fun because one place I stopped was a vintage store - in the US and more westernized nations these stores can be really expensive and feel combed-over. This one was fun and reasonably priced! I had a really relaxing, independent day and in the afternoon successfully made it back to London.

rubbing the lucky plaque on Charles Bridge
John Lennon Wall

Prague was probably the most beautiful city I visited. Most of the buildings and architecture are unchanged and all of the roads are still cobblestone. If you keep your line of sight above the people you feel like you are transported back into Medieval times. I loved it!

A REAL St. Patrick's Day

That's right... this year I actually got to go to Ireland for March 17th! We basically landed in the evening, dropped off our luggage, and headed downtown to the pub area in Dublin. This area is called Temple Bar. There are rows of pubs and thousands of people were out. Whoever claimed that St. Patrick's Day is not celebrated in Ireland has never spent one in Temple Bar! Of course there were a lot of tourists, but when striking up conversations in pubs with people we ended up talking to a lot of people that were actually Irish. Some of the pubs were amazing - there were multiple rooms with multiple bars and indoor beer gardens! Needless to say, it was a great night. In the morning we walked back into town... which took about 25 minutes (bad planning on a friend's part but at least or hotel was super cheap!)... and attempted to start sightseeing. We went to a few places but a lot of stuff seemed overpriced. We went to the Dublin Castle, which looked more like a 19th century government building with some castle-esque features and also to the Cathedral, which was nice. We tried going on a tour at the Old Jameson Distillery, but when we were getting in line an employee said that by the time we got to the front they would be closed. So much for that! We ended up walking along the River Liffey and crossing over the Ha'penny Bridge and just relaxing the rest of the day.

Temple Bar streets

March 19th - We took the train up the Belfast. Part way through we had to take the bus to the next station and get back on the train because of a bomb threat. The weird thing is that no one really seemed to mind. At night we decided to go to Botanic... a big street with a lot of restaurants and pubs. We decided to go to an Italian restaurant because we hadn't actually sat down and ate in a long time. My stomach had been a little upset before we went out but I thought it was because I hadn't eaten in a long time. Towards the end of the meal I wasn't feeling too great so I decided to go outside to get some air. I wanted to sit down, but it was dirty outside so I sat on a little ledge inside the foyer that was still cold. I was getting kind of nauseated and got up to go outside when BAM, it just all came out... in the restaurant. It was so much fun as I'm sure you can imagine! I spent the rest of the evening throwing up multiple times at the hostel... quite possibly one of the worst things ever. There was only one bathroom on the first floor and our room was on the top floor so every time I threw up into the trash can I had to walk down 4 floors to the bathroom. (I'm sure you are all loving this detail haha).

March 20th - I got up to do our day-long bus tour that we had pre-booked. I paid to see Northern Ireland and I wasn't about to miss it. I spent most of the bus ride pretty miserable and had a barf bag handy just in case. Luckily I didn't have to use it. We stopped at Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, Bushmill's Distillery, Dunluce Castle, and a couple other smaller places throughout the day. The whole coast was beautiful. Our tour guide/bus driver had a funny Irish sense of humor... but he drove with one hand holding a microphone the entire time we were on these small coastal roads! It was a bit scary. I went back to sleep for the rest of the day.

on top of Giant's Causeway (I didn't get a lot of great pics b/c I was feeling so bad)

March 21st - In the morning we went on a "Black Taxi" Tour which brought us to both the Protestant and Catholic sides of Belfast. We saw a ton of murals, broken glass, Crumlin Road Prison, and the "Peace Wall." It was a pretty intense morning. Everywhere we went we could feel the tension that the conflict has brought upon the communities. Homes next to the Peace Wall had to have cages around the back so anything that was thrown over would hit the house. The road to enter each area is locked at night in hopes of preventing violence. It was so horrible to hear our driver tell use that the people want the wall there; they want the divide so they don't have to interact. They don't care if it limits where they have access to... their hatred is just so deep for each other. It is completely different than the feelings towards the Berlin Wall. It is just so unbelievable to see this intolerance and violence... especially in such a modern country as the United Kingdom. It really was an eye-opening experience.

Loyalist Mural
Republican mural of Bobby Sands

My Love Visits!

The day I got back from spring break my friend Diana (who is in the marching band at USC with me and is also going to be my roommate next year) flew in to visit London for her spring break. Her visit was jammed packed. On the 14th we went to the South Bank to ride the London Eye. We walked around that area, browsed a small outdoor used book market (which also sold old maps... something I collect so I'll have to go back!), and had pasties for dinner (a British food which is kind of like a chicken pot pie in to-go form).

Diana and I on the London Eye

March 15th - We went on a tour of the remake of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (the original burned down). It is a lot bigger from the inside than you would think. They still offer shows that have tickets for the "groundlings," or audience the stands in front of the stage. It would definitely be a fun experience. Next we headed to Tate Modern, which is in a massive, scary, dungeon-like building that does not scream "liberal art!" at all. The museum was great though... there were Warhol, Picasso, Monet, and many other superb works. There were also video rooms of self-mutilation videos from the 70s and 80s that were really disturbing... but something you can't really NOT see. We walked across the Millenium Bridge (or Wibbly Wobbly Bridge... nicknamed because when it was first built it would sway when it was windy... they closed it almost immediately after it was opened to reinforce it) and headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. Inside the cathedral is just breathtakingly beautiful. We did the 584 step climb to the Golden Gallery, which is a small level above the dome. The steps are steep, skinny, and exhausting... just thinking back on it is almost making me break a sweat haha. The viewing gallery is terrifying because there is only a metal railing and it gets really windy! Such a great view of all of London though. That night we went to see Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. It was so good! The girl who played Eponine was really endearing and, of course, the music was just extraordinary. It is probably my favorite show I have seen in London so far.

inside the Globe Theatre
walking across the Millenium Bridge
on top of St. Paul's
view from St. Paul's

March 16th - I had class in the morning but afterwards I took her to Buckingham Palace and briefly to Hyde Park. Our next stop was afternoon tea at Harrods! I have been wanting to go to high tea the entire semester so I was really excited. We got unlimited food and pots of tea. Everything was impeccable and we felt so proper haha... and also slightly out of place of some other the delicate ladies there. Very fun though! I took her shopping at some stores that are only in the UK and out to a great fish n chips place for dinner. I left for Dublin the next day so we just relaxed and got food in the morning until I left. She met up with another friend in London for the rest of the week.

Spring Break! Athens & Barcelona

Athens

While in Athens, I stayed with my friend Kasey who is studying abroad there that I know from USC.
March 5th - we went to Syntagma Square (which is the town center in front of Parliament) to see the riots. Right before I arrived, the Greek government implemented a bunch of budget cuts in response to the horrible economy... hence the riots. There were a ton of police with gas masks and riot gear. People were tearing pieces of the sidewalk off and throwing them and the police were shooting tear gas into the center of the crowds. Kasey and I definitely could feel the tear gas... which got progressively worse over time. It felt like you had rubbed you nose, eyes, and throat in spicy food. We walked around the area, looking at all of the knockoff items that the Africans were selling. We ended up buying baller men's watches haha. When we were headed back to her place we took pictures with the Special Forces cops (the ones who had the tear gas)...

Athenian Special Forces

Georges, our new Special Forces friend

One thing that was refreshing about the Greeks was their absolute adoration for Americans! Especially since the last place I traveled to (Berlin) was not so welcoming, it was great! One night we were going to a club and arrived to see a really long line out the door. We were with a friend who spoke English and Greek so he was talking to the bouncer at the front of the line. He told them that we were American and they let us cut the entire line (which we later found out that you had to have reservations for!) Then... and this is the most incredible part... we found out that the world famous DJ Paul van Dyk was headlining at the club that night!! We were in heaven haha. People in Greece party til the wee hours of the morning. Every time I went out we stayed out until at least 5 am (more often later haha).

I did most of the touring to sites on my own. Kasey had class and it was her midterm week... but luckily everything was pretty easy to find. She lives really close the the old Olympic Stadium from 1896 so I walked by it almost everyday. The Acropolis was absolutely incredible. I saw the Temple of Athena Nike, Herodeion Theatre, the Parthenon Theatre, and of course the Parthenon! It so beautiful at night because it is all lit up and you can see it from most parts of the city. I also visited the National Archeological Museum. It wasn't too big... which is nice compared to the massive museums in London. I was able to complete it in about an hour and half. I also went to the famous poet/sandalmaker... who has made Roman sandals for the Beatles, Jackie O, Sophia Loren, etc. I chose out of about 30 styles and he fits the sandal exactly to your foot. I also got a really cool leather bag (which I've been wanting for a very long time) so it was a very exciting stop! I also went inside the small Byzantine churches that randomly pop up in the middle of shopping streets, and made my way through the Monastiraki Flea Market. The night before I left we went out to a traditional taverna dinner where you get served multiple plates of food and mugs of wine. Very delicious!

The Parthenon

Melissinos, the poet sandalmaker!

Old Olympic Stadium

Barcelona

I absolutely LOVED this city! Their fashion sense seemed like it was almost a decade behind the times... they wore really grungy clothes and had their hair shaved or partially shaved with long sideburns. Definitely not a flattering look. They seem to think it makes them look independent.

The first morning we were strolling down Las Ramblas and found La Boqueria, the amazing fresh market that sold delicious fruit drinks for only one euro! I tried several different flavors, but my favorite was papaya coconut. We adored this place. We went back every day we were in Barcelona! We basically just oriented ourselves with the city the first day... and had delicious tapas of baked goat cheese and pine nuts and fresh bread. Delicious! We walked along the beach area... which looked a lot like southern California and made me miss the warm weather! We went out at night and my friends and I shared several jugs of sangria. So good! We made friends with some of the bartenders and they gave us discounts. By the end of the night we had just ordered more sangria and decided it was time to leave... so we had the bartenders put it into a plastic bottle for us as take away. So silly.

March 11th - Of course we started our morning off with our daily juices! We headed to Park Guell... our first impression of Gaudi's work. It was like a fairytale. We toured through his last home (which is is Park Guell) and it was surprisingly simplistic for a man of such imagination. We had lunch at a vegetarian organic restaurant (one of the girls is both) whose slogan was "Organic is orgasmic." The food was really good and I felt so healthy! We headed to the Cathedral, which was a dark, drastic contrast to Park Guell's colorful lively vibe. We drank from the communal fountain (don't worry, it's clean!) and admired the dramatic architecture. We also stopped at Santa Maria del Mar and stumbled upon a Gothic market filled with antiques and neat postcards from the 1920s. I love that kind of stuff! I could've bought a ton of stuff but settled on a few Barcelona postcards, and one from London that had been sent to Barcelona. If only I knew how to read Catalunyan!

Olivia, Juliana, Victoria, and I at Park Guell

drinking water at the Cathedral

March 12th - Our busiest day because we had to fit everything in before leaving in the morning. We got up early to go to the Picasso Museum. While some of his biggest works were not there, I really enjoyed looking at the collection. My favorites were his variations off of Las Meninas. We then set out to cover all of Gaudi's buildings. Our first stop was Palau Guell... not too interesting because the terrace was closed. We were only able to see the basement... which in a normal house would have been incredible, but when you are expecting something great it is a bit of a disappointment. Moving north we headed to Casa Batllo. This is a house the supposedly has no straight lines in it. Gaudi's work is inspired by nature, and this house specifically by the ocean, the movement of waves, the ribs of a whale, etc. It is remarkable. My friends and I were discussing what it would have been like to have grown up in a house like that. Every dream would be imaginable and every goal attainable! The next stop was Casa Mila, formerly known as La Pedrera. It wasn't quite as cool as Casa Batllo, but the look from the outside, the indoor courtyard, and the rooftop were still pretty amazing. It also had some exhibits depicting how Gaudi figured out tension points in his buildings. He never drew up plans for his buildings... instead he would hang sandbags in the shape of the structure and use mirrors to make adjustments. So insane! Our last stop was at Sagrada Familia. Our guide book told is it was open until 8 pm... but when we got there around 6:20 they told us they were closing in 10 minutes! We knew we couldn't leave Barcelona without seeing it so we paid the entry fee for the short time anyway. Luckily we didn't get completely kicked out for about 25 minutes. It gave us enough time to walk through quickly and go through the museum downstairs. But oh my god... it was incredible. I knew it was under construction, but I didn't realize it was completely unfinished on the inside. The pillars on the inside resemble the stems of flowers and the roof at the top looks like flower blossoms... and there is stadium seating halfway up the sides of the walls. It is just unbelievable. I could sit inside for an entire day and still have my breath taken away by the end of the day. From the outside the structure just looks so heavy, and also like it is melting into the ground. There are little fruit blossoms on the roof (which is pretty interesting for a religious building). We could've spent so much more time there, but we were so glad we made it at all! At night we went to the National Palace in Montjuic and watched the Magic Fountain show. It was pretty, but kinda resembled Las Vegas haha.

on the roof of Casa Batllo

Sagrada Familia

Annie and I in front of the National Palace

It's been so long since I've seen your face...

It's been around 3 weeks since I have posted... sorry I am so far behind! Life has been crazy (as usual) and won't be calming down anytime soon. We just finished midterms this week, which were even more compact than finals usually are so life hasn't been a bowl of ice cream. Our program also stupidly scheduled meetings with our program director this week, as well as a show (War Horse @ the New London Theatre) one of the evenings. But now everything that is school related is complete and I'm just finishing up packing before I leave this afternoon. I wanted to update everything before I left because I know when I get back there is going to be a TON of stuff to write about that all of this will seem petty. And you didn't want to miss the small, unimportant details of my life, right? Let's see... where to begin?

We just finished our Wednesday tours, which are technically a lab for my Rhetoric of London class. Our trip on Feb. 9^th was to the East End. This is London’s poorest area, where immigrants first make their home after arriving at the docklands. Remnants from the Protestant French Huguenots, Irish Catholics, and Eastern European Jews can be seen amongst today’s mosques and restaurants on Brick Lane, now a Muslim Bangladeshi community. The East End is also where Jack the Ripper murdered and mutilated his 6 known victims. We also stopped at the late Dennis Severs’ restored Victorian home. Dennis Severs was born in California, grew up with this romantic ideal of England, moved to London, and purchased a home with the plan of restoring it to its original state. When I mean original, I mean EVERYTHING was the same… no plumbing, no heating, and all original furniture. When he was alive he would dress in the clothing of the Victorian era, ride around in a coach, and offer tours of his home (which would include him excusing himself to pee in the chamber pot behind the screen in the same room as his guests… hey he want the experience to be legitimate!) Although no one lives in the home anymore, his friends still provide tours. And don’t worry, fruit and vegetables are cut up and the chamber pots are filled so all of your senses get the real experience! Our program also treated us to coffee at an adorable shop called Carluccio's. I ordered bicerin... which came with little cups of espresso, chocolate sauce, and cream for us to mix!

Dennis Severs' kitchen

So I'm gonna do a whirlwind tour of the rest of my month! On February 12th, we had our second excursion to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. Both were amazing! I loved the ornate interior decoration and architecture. On the 14th (Chinese New Year) we headed to Chinatown for dim sum and Chinese pastries. 16th - We saw 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre in Leicester Square. It was hilarious... really dry, quirky, physical British humor... and only 4 cast members! 17th - Our class was sponsored by one of the Lords in Parliament to take a tour! It was pretty cool... we had our pictures taken and printed on lanyards and everything. Hella legit! 21st - London's celebration of Chinese New Year in Chinatown, Leicester Square, and Trafalgar Square. We had pork buns, played with the little bags that snap, and watched a bunch of Chinese performances of dance, singing, etc... SO crowded. It is the biggest gathering I have seen in London so far. 24th - Imperial War Museum. It had a ton of stuff but we were kinda pressed for time. Some features included "the Blitz Experience" (narrated walk-through display with moving benches from bombs and stuff) , a walk-through trench exhibit, and a really moving Holocaust display. 26th - Our last excursion to Oxford and Blenheim Palace. The uni had unbelievable buildings. We saw the Great Hall and staircase from the Harry Potter films and the shop where the real Alice from Alice in Wonderland bought her sweets. (Lewis Carroll taught at Oxford and Alice's father was a dean at one of the colleges) Blenheim Palace is where Sir Winston Churchill was born. (his uncle inherited it) We saw the room he was born in as well as the place he proposed to his wife Clementine. The land outside of the house... if you can call a palace a house... was absolutely breathtaking. There is a private lake with a path around it and so many intimate areas to wander off and get lost in... Not to mention it was BEAUTIFUL day... (in London that means it was sunny despite still being cold haha)

Windsor Castle

inside a maze at Hampton Court Palace

me, Kristy, Michelle @ the Chinese New Year Celebration

Annie, me, Michelle, Kristy inside Parliament holding our passes

Imperial War Museum

Oxford Uni - Christ Church (one of the colleges)

Hogwarts staircase

Hogwarts Great Hall

shop where Alice bought her sweets

Blenheim Palace

gardens of Blenheim

where Churchill proposed to his wife

overlooking the lake

in the trees

my attempt at being artsy

As you may have noticed I really enjoyed my time in the countryside sun! Well that covered all the big events of the past few weeks. I have to get back to packing cuz I'm headed to the airport in an hour! Greece and Spain, here I come! Cheers!