My trip to England was cut way too short! A week is just not enough! I wish I could have stayed there longer. I definitely would like to visit there again. I stayed with my wonderful aunt's second husband's sister. Weird I know, but they're family to me. I got there the saturday night before Christmas and the line to get through customs was soooo looonnggg. It took 45 minutes. And my flight was delayed about 45 minutes. So I was beginning to get worried at the airport because I know Suzanne was waiting for me. Luckily I got out of there as soon as I found my luggage and she found me. Note to self: go potty on the plane before you stand in the terrible lines at the airport.
The Next day, I got to visit the Windsor Castle. That's where the Queen lives on the weekends. I learned a lot from the tour guide. The Queen also goes horseback riding at the castle, and she's pretty old. I give her props.
The day after that was Christmas Eve. It was spend indoor skiing! I had the time of my life. I haven't skied since I was 5, so I didn't exactly remember how to do anything.
My first time going down the hill, I couldn't figure out how to turn. My skis faced forward, and I was off. I couldn't stop till I got to the bottom and whipped out. That was fun. The second time, my cousin's cousin's step brother taught me how to turn so I got better. My skis kept coming off my boots though. At least 6 times I had to stop, fix my skis, and then continue. I felt like the most pathetic person there especially when some little kid comes flying past me while I have my butt planted in the snow because I fell over...again. Also I wore jeans so my pants got a little wet from the snow. After we left, I mentioned my pants are still wet. In England you call pants "trousers" and "pants" are what they call underwear, so I quickly corrected myself saying my trousers are wet. whoops.
That night, we went to their neighbors house for a little wine tasting. It was fancy smancy. There were about 6 or 7 countries we tasted from with red and white from each. With each country, there was food from that country too. With australian wine, we ate lamb. With French wine, we ate foie gras. From italy, we had meatballs. It was so amazing. My favorite wine was the White Rioja from Spain. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve.
Christmas was a lot of fun. After opening presents in the morning, the ladies of the household went to church. We found this lovely church to go to. I really liked the service.
For lunch, we went to a friends house to have a Christmas feast. We did lots of cooking, talking, drinking, game playing, and eating. I tried a traditional English Christmas Pudding. All I have to say is it's not really pudding.
Lovely table with the lovely children!
We really loved the reindeer gear.
I spent a full day in London the following Friday. It was full of sight seeing and picture taking. I got to eat Carrot and Coriander (cilantro) soup, and I ate the sweet and hot almonds and peanuts you buy from people on the streets. Paris is full of people making hot chestnuts which are ok but don't compare to the sweet Almonds and Peanuts. soo good.
Tower Bridge. Check out the awesome umbrella they gave me.
Phonebox!
Shakespeare's Globe
Floating yoda. and my Cath Kidson bag I got on sale. so cute!
Big Ben
London Eye
At Natural History Museum. That's a dinosaur.
They almost let me in, but then they saw my SAT scores.
The M&M store!
For a special treat, Suzanne and I went into London Saturday night and saw We Will Rock You the Musical! I love Queen and I love musicals, so you can imagine how excited I was. I got emotional. I think I cried for the first 20 minutes and for the last 10 minutes. I'm pathetic at musicals.
They sang all my favorite songs. The last song they did an encore for was Bohemian Rhapsody. Oh man it was awesome.
I was definitely spoiled at the airport. Suzanne booked my return flight for me so I could stay longer, so with her points, I went back in business class yall! I got to eat a free lunch in the lounge at the airport. It was a buffet with everything. I snagged a few extra goodies and stuffed them in my carry on just because it was free. People probably thought I hadn't had food for days with them amount I was eating. I litterally grabbed one of each food and drank 2 drinks. I couldn't settle for just one.
Once I got to my gate, I got to board the plane first (because im special) and my seat was A1...that's the very first seat. My new favorite seat. Once the plane took off, a British flight attendance came by the business class people and asked, "Would you like a hot towel miss?" ".....uhhhh?? Yes. Yes I would."
And I didn't even know I'd get lunch on the plane! I already stuffed my face and now I get a salad, a roll, a parfait, tea, and red wine. I felt like a princess...but not really. To bad the plane ride was less than an hour. I could have stayed there for hours with all the legroom I had.
But overall my trip to England was amazing. I had the time of my life! From skiing, to wine tasting, to dancing to Michael Jackson, to playing charades and breaking bones (Judy), to fighting with teenage boys as they try to steal my wine (seriously, get your paws off my glass), to exploring a new city, to rejoicing with a crowd of Queen lovers as Brian May came out for the last song and started ripping it on the electric guitar. I can't wait to go to England again!
First in Brussels, I was on a mission to see pretty buildings, monuments, and eat food. Belgium is where french fries were created, and they eat them with MAYO! Yep, I was surrounded by my kind of people. Fries should always be eaten with mayonaise. Theres also speculoos in Belgium. Its usually in a cookie form but sometimes in a butter form that looks like peanut butter. It's delicious. Taste kinda like gingerbread. And at McDonald's, you can order a Mcflurry with speculoos. So good!
