Cheers London, Hola Spain!

It was a sweet weekend in London with a Parliament tour into both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. I was unable to take pictures, but here's a link about Parliament if you'd like to learn more. http://www.parliament.uk/education/online-resources/parliament-explained/the-commons-and-lords/
It was a beautiful building with high ceilings, a chapel, and areas to discuss and debate legislation. It is said that Parliament is sinking into the Thames River, and someday it may need to be moved. When in Parliament, I was able to hear Big Ben chime for the 11th hour which was a neat experience. After Parliament, we went to Westminster Abbey! This is the church where many of the royal ceremonies have taken place including the most recent Royal Wedding. It was a beautiful church with elaborate altars and stained-glass windows! I was unable to take pictures once again, but here's a link more about it: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/

After the Abbey, I went to Camden Town which is an area with open air markets. I had a fun adventure with some of my friends taking the double decker busses to and from there to get back to the London Underground!

On Sunday, I went to Hillsong Church in London which was held at the Apollo Theatre! It was an awesome worship service, and it was sweet to sing a lot of Hillsong songs! From there, I went to St. Paul's for a traditional service. It was such an experience to go from contemporary to very traditional back to back, but both services were awesome in their own ways. The organ and choir at St. Paul's Cathedral for Evensong was so amazing with the perfect acoustics. From church, I went to Harrods Department Store and walked around seeing a small part of the gigantic store. The toy section was like a child's dream come true with most any toy one could imagine having!

On Monday(today), I went to Stonehenge via Salisbury. Salisbury was a cute quaint English town where I had a nice baguette sandwich for lunch. Stonehenge was very neat to experience. The setting is out in the country with beautiful rolling hills, crops, sheep, and cattle. It was peaceful to be away from the big city. At Stonehenge, there are ancient burial mounds which you can hike around and on, the stones in a circle, and a few gift and food shops. The rocks were very neat and large, and it is so mysterious to how they got there and were assembled as they are.

Tomorrow, I'll be leaving London feeling like a Londoner. I have learned so much about London, and I've grown accustomed to the culture. It is a wonderful city which I am so grateful I've had the chance to explore, and I'm looking forward to Barcelona.
 Cheers London, Hola Espana!

Londoner Adventures

Mama Mia was really good, and I recognized a lot of the songs. It was a fun night! On Wednesday, I went on an Olympic Park tour which was neat! I got to see the Olympic Stadium, Aquatic Center, and the viewing deck. I also got to see the revitalization that took place as a result of the Olympics being in London, a rough area of London has been and continues to be transformed. On Thursday, I went to the London Aquarium(loved the penguins, baby seahorses, starfish, etc.), the Victoria & Albert Museum( there were royal jewelry and dresses), went horseback riding in Hyde Park(huge beautiful park), went to Harrods which was a HUGE store, and wandered on the West Bank of London plus across the Millenium Bridge( known as the wibbly wobbly bridge). Today, I went to the Antique Market, Windsor Castle on the train, then we toured through the castle, saw the Queen for a second time :)...she was getting in a Bentley Car, then had tea and scones for an afternoon tea party right outside the castle! Tonight, I went to the London Zoo, it was a fun time with music plus animal and people watching! I enjoyed the butterfly paradise, penguins, and giraffes the most! :) It has been an exhausting and amazing few days, tomorrow we're going to Parliament and Westminster Abbey, looking forward to another exciting weekend in London!

More Londonian Adventures and Bath!

On Sunday, my friend and I went to the open air market in Marylebone which was a big festival with live music, sweet food, and other cool vendors. I had some awesome food: fresh strawberries with belgian chocolate, whipped cream, and double chocolate brownies...just to name a few. I went to an organ concert and church service at St. Paul's Cathedral that evening. It was a beautiful cathedral with awesome acoustics, a large dome, and sweet mosaics. Then I went for a stroll through Regents Park feeding some of the friendly squirrels & seeing the rose garden which is in full bloom.

On Monday, we headed to Bath which was a cute smaller town in the country. It has a river flowing through it, and it is the location of the ancient Roman Baths. We went on a tour of the baths, strolled along the river and headed back on the train towards London. The train station we were at was Paddington station, and I found a statue of Paddington Bear, which was pretty cool! Then, we had dinner at the college followed by Abbey Road where the Beatles walked, and we struck the 'pose'. Later, we headed out for ice cream & a stroll through the park once again! Today, we're headed to Greenwich, the Prime Meridian, and the place from which all time originates. Then tonight, we're headed to Mama Mia! So far it is a sunny day in London!

Trooping of the Colours, Adventures, Wimbleton!

The past few days have been filled with overwhelming excitement! First, the trip to Wimbledon was a sweet one! The Championship is upcoming very soon, yet we were able to tour and see many of the courts including Centre Court. We also were able to see Court 18 where the longest game of tennis ever was played in 2010. Then, we went to the museum where there were trophies: giant golden cups and plates. There was also a neat 4D movie. Then, later last night I went and saw Wicked with a group since we were able to score a good price for some last minute tickets. It was an awesome musical!

Today, I went to see the Trooping of the Colours (a celebration of the Queen's Birthday), and I was able to get very close to the horses, carriages, and the Royal Family members. The family left the castle, went to participate in the parade, then came back to Buckingham Palace. Here, they stood on a deck and looked out.  I saw Princess Kate and Camilla in a carriage, the Queen in her enclosed carriage, and William and Harry as well as the other members present! It was truly an amazing experience, and it was a beautiful first-class ceremony being concluded with a flyover of red, white, and blue. It was gorgeous!

This afternoon, I went an explored for the afternoon with my friend Fiona who lives in London area. We explored Covent Garden area, had a nice lunch, went to China Town, Piccadilly Circus, The National Portrait Gallery, and Leicester Square. We saw a sweet street performer near the market who climbed a ladder, hung upside down, and juggled knives while being held up by 4 guys holding ropes. We also checked out a concert going on which was pretty neat to see too! It was so good to chat with and see her! Saw so much royalty today!

 I had dinner with some friends at a Mexican Restaurant in Piccadilly Circus. It was delicious food, and I had some loaded nachos. It was another sweet few days in London with a fair amount of sunshine and rain both.

London Adventures

Greetings!
It has been a fun few days in London so far. I did quite a bit of shopping at touristy places, Harrods, and Pri-Mark. Pri-Mark is an equivalent of Old Navy, and I got quite a few good deals. Yesterday, I went to the Tower of London. This was a place of the execution of many famous royal people including Anne Boleyn. There are 20 towers in the structure, lots of spiral staircases, some sweet armour, and the British Crown Jewels. After the tower, I walked over the Tower Bridge, found some fish and chips at a pub, and rode the double-decker bus part of the way back to Regents. We had to find the Underground after we were part of the way back to Regents though since it was very rainy. Today, I went to the British National Museum which had a lot of neat artifacts from all around the world. Some highlights were the mummies of people and animals, a part of the Tower of Babel, and some old coins. From there, we ventured to Leicester Square and Picadilly Circus. These areas are like New York City's Time Square. We went to a cute outside market at a church where I bought some tea named 'Regents Park', the park right outside the college, and then to an Italian Restaurant for dinner where I had some delicious pasta. We were going to go to Greenwich, but we're going to go on another day where it is more sunny and less windy. However, we did see our first sunshine in London today which was very welcome! Looking forward to Wimbleton tomorrow!

Au Revoir Paris, Hello London!! :)

Hello from London!

The last day in Paris was very fun-filled with climbing the Arch de Triumph. This is where the Tour de France ends, and it is a major Parisian intersection. There was a beautiful view of the city from the top! From there, we did some shopping, and we had lunch at a cute pizza cafe! During the middle of the afternoon, I watched some of the French Open on the television. For dinner, I went to a beautiful area nearby the Eiffel Tower which had elaborate fountains and visited a street vendor. I had a jambon(ham) panini and a chocolate crepe. After dinner, it was darker and the Eiffel Tower lit up, sparkled & glowed. It was awesome to see it and wander around while enjoying raspberry and chocolate gelato.


This morning, I boarded the EuroStar train headed for London. Eurostar trains travel up to 300 km per hour(186 mph). It lasted 2 hours and 25 minutes, and there were two tunnels underwater in the English channel which lasted 25 minutes each. It was neat to see the French countryside along the way. Once we arrived in London, we headed on the Underground to Regents College, now University, which is our school here. It is right in the middle of Regents Park, one of the prettiest and ritsiest areas of London. I'm staying in a dorm room which overlooks a center park in the middle of the college. The London Zoo, beautiful flowers, and open spaces are in it. I'm looking forward to exploring it further in the coming days! We also headed to see Big Ben on the way to the London Eye, a giagantic ferris wheel. It was so fun, and it was an awesome tour from the sky of London. I also went to a 4D theatre movie on the London Eye. On the way back, a few of my friends and I took an adventure for shopping and ice cream. I've already seen several double decker busses, and London is such an awesome city! Looking forward to exploring it more!






For now, so long from London! Cheers!

A Rainy Sunday in Paris!

Bonjoir!
At breakfast, I indulged in fresh rolls, baguette, croissants, and English Breakfast Tea! Today, we went to Notre Dame Cathedral during the church service! It was beautiful and filled with many large stained-glass windows. It was a nice service filled with singing and readings. From there, we did some shopping and headed to the Louvre. The Louvre was huge!! This is where the pyramid from the DaVinci Code is located & home of the Mona Lisa, Aphrodite, and Napoleon's Apartment. We saw a lot of paintings and statues! Later, we had lunch at a quaint French cafe & I ate a three cheese pizza. Then, we decided to do some shopping, and we were able to find souvenirs; however, the clothing stores were closed. There were a lot of restaurants closed as well since it is Sunday, and Parisians take the day of rest very seriously. We went back to the hotel for a bit & then out to dinner at another cafe. At the cafe, we enjoyed French cheeses and chocolate mousse both of which were supremely delicious! I'm enjoying getting to know everyone in our group, and we are having a lot of fun learning and exploring together. Looking forward to seeing the Arch De Triumph and other sights tomorrow on our last full day in Paris!