The Weekend
June 10, 2013
Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a brilliant (I'm so British now) weekend, I know I did! I was able to check six things off of my To Do In London list. Starting with Friday:
I spent part of my day at the British Museum. It was exhausting to say the least--there are over 70 galleries:
Then at night,
I saw Singing in the Rain on its second to last night with Ellen and one of our flatmates. We bought rush tickets the day of and were in the third and fourth rows! It was incredible. I was curious to see how they would do the whole rain part of it...let's just say that we got splashed multiple times.
Saturday was overall wonderful, starting with changing of the guards:
They played their instruments on horses! So impressive.
Being an American, I can't get enough of the royals and their traditions. We don't have anything like that, so it's all so fascinating. The changing of the guards was very fun to watch. I can't believe they do the whole speil every day during the summer.
For lunch, I had traditional bangers and mash, and tried some of a traditional pie. It was interesting to be eating what I consider a breakfast food (sausage) with a dinner food (mashed potatoes).
Then Saturday night we did the best thing so far on this trip: The Making of Harry Potter at Warner Brothers Studio Tour. I can't even begin to describe how elated I was the entire time I was there. I grew up with Harry Potter and was still am obsessed with the series. Just ask my mom or sister. I know it makes me seem obsessive, but I absolutely loved this tour, and even teared up a few times.
Entrance to the Great Hall.
Tried butterbeer. So good!
I felt so overwhelmed and nostalgic multiple times, like I was seeing things from my childhood. I know it sounds over the top, but I really did grow up with this series.
Some goodies from the giftshop :) After we did the tour, naturally we had to go to King's Cross Station and take the classic picture running through the wall at platform 9 3/4.
Sunday Ellen and I went to the Churchill War Rooms. This was where Churchill and his War Cabinet spent a lot of their time in an underground bunker during WWII. It was really interesting, and cool to see the war from a different perspective.
Then we walked around Hyde park and went to see the Wellington Arch.
Also on Sunday I bought this pretty canvas from a street artist:
This was easily my favorite weekend in London so far. Next weekend is my birthday weekend though, and we have some pretty fun things planned, so we'll see if this weekend can be topped!
Anyone else do anything fun this weekend?
xo Catherine
This Week I...
June 7, 2013
Went to the BBC and got a tour of the facilities!
The Queen is going to be there tomorrow, so security was insane.
Where the London morning broadcast is filmed.
I went to the Borough Markets, where I tried a falafel wrap (if you knew me, you'd know that this is big, considering how unadventurous I am when it comes to food). I also enjoyed some flour-less cake and homemade lemonade from the markets :)
I spent an afternoon in Hyde park catching up on the last few UK editions of Cosmo:
The weather has been so nice in London this week! Nice enough for wearing dresses:
Can you believe that all of this green space is in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world?
Overall, it was a really lovely week. I'm getting the hang of this city and mastering the tube like nobody's business. I cannot wait for this weekend though! So many fun things coming up: seeing a show, going to watch the changing of the guards and going to see The Making of Harry Potter!! I guess you could say I'm excited... ;)
xo Catherine
The Thing About London is...(Part 2)
June 5, 2013
Here is part two of my observations about London and its people. You can check out part one here.
1. Everyone, and I mean everyone, owns a trench coat. So glad I brought mine so that I can fit in!
2. They promote personal space by having arm rest dividers on the tube and benches so that no one's all up in your space. I cannot get enough of this. I seriously wish we had more of this back home.
3. Stores close much earlier than in the States. There are even restaurants (Panera style, not sit-downs) that close up shop by 8pm. I could not believe it. I ended up having to go without towels for two days because I kept thinking I could go shopping at 8:30, but oh no. Some stores even close at 7pm. So different! (Don't worry though, McDonalds is open until 2am.)
4. Booties are huge here! Even now that it's June and actually getting nice, they're everywhere.
Well that's all for this installment of The Thing About London is...
Stay tuned for more!
xo Catherine
Brighton/100
June 3, 2013
Hi all! I'm here to fill you in on what I've been up to the past week. Let's see, last week I finally saw Gatsby. I have to say, I loved it. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, but I really enjoyed it (and Leo, of course). Then over the weekend my sister and I went to Brighton, which was absolutely gorgeous.
It felt like we weren't even in England anymore. The sun was shining, the water was beautiful. We sat at a café on the beach for a few hours and enjoyed full English breakfasts and pastries. Then we walked along the pier. There was a slight mishap (we were supposed to spend the night, but there was a mistake with our hotel), but all in all it was a good day trip.
Doesn't this look like it could be Florida?
We ended up having more time in London this weekend than anticipated, so we spent Sunday at some markets and went shopping. We had lunch at this amazing pub called The Whippet. I'm serious guys, it was to die for.
On a different note, this is my 100th post!
Can you believe it? I feel like I just started blogging, and now it's such a big part of my life. I'm always thinking of things to post about, and making sure to take pictures so that I can post them. I've come a long way from Friends Fun Fashion Food (original title of the blog), but I still want to make it better. I've had comments from people in the U.K., Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia and some other lovely Minnesota bloggers. It feels so great to have people I don't know reach out to me like that! I want to say thank you to all of my wonderful readers, thank you for your support and praise.
Here's to the next 100!
xo Catherine
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