Well, I’d like to start off by saying how insanely jealous I am of my family right now because they are off at Girls Getaway Weekend! It’s a tradition I normally take part in, but since I’m so far away it’s a bit difficult to go back for just a weekend. I know that I’m in a pretty special place and you’d think I wouldn’t be jealous cause well…I’m living in Europe for Pete’s sake. But, family comes first and I’ll always choose being with them over anything else! I love you family and miss you lots!

On the bright side, if I can’t be there with them, living in Switzerland is the next best thing! Especially because I can travel to places like London for less than $80 round-trip!!! (Is that a steal or what?!) And that’s exactly what I did last weekend.

 And I GOT TO SPEAK ENGLISH! Oh, it was such a joy and relief to be able to ask for directions, ask questions, make conversation without any sort of language barrier whatsoever. I cannot tell you what a difference that makes on a trip. Especially because when I try to speak any other language, it comes out as a mix of all the languages I’ve learned a bit of…Spanish, French, and English. Half the time I can’t even remember how to say “yes”. (Yes…I mean, Si…I mean, OUI!) If I can’t keep that straight, just imagine me trying to ask for directions. But, I’m trying and hopefully by the end of this year I’ll be a pro. (HA! I can only hope.)

Anyway, enough about that, on to the details of the trip. After my last class got out on Thursday night at 6:30, I dropped my books off in my room, grabbed my carry-on, and ran out the door to catch our train to the airport. (Oh just one more thing…I think my proudest accomplishment to date was being able to pack for three days in a carry-on with my purse fitting inside of my carry-on! They only let you have one item so my gigantic purse had to fit inside of my carry-on, along with my clothes, my shoes, my pajamas, my cosmetics, my blowdryer. For someone who seems to always pack a 50-pound suitcase no matter where she is going or for how long, I was pretty proud of this accomplishment.) Once we arrived in London, we found our hotel and went straight to bed because we knew we had a busy couple of days ahead of us.

We started off the next morning with a delicious breakfast of prosciutto and scrambled eggs and a scone with cream and jelly. Oh and a cappuccino the size of our faces!

And then it was off to hit the tourist sites. First stop, the London Bridge! It was pretty close to our hotel (10 minute walk) so we figured that was the best place to start!

And then, Big Ben and the House of Parliament.

The London Eye could not be missed, of course!

Oh and Westminster Abbey…where Kate and Will got married!!! It looks a lot smaller in person than it does on TV (like during the wedding special that I woke up at 4am to watch). But, it was still magnificent. And I couldn’t help but think as I stood there taking my picture that I’m standing right where Pippa walked Kate into the church. Ah! Unfortunately, the inside was closed for sightseeing when we went…but maybe that’s a good thing; I may have not been able to handle it.

And then it was off to Buckingham Palace. Where I literally could feel butterflies in my stomach picturing what it would have been like to stand jam-packed against the gates on Kate and Will’s wedding day, when they stood up on that balcony and kissed.

After Buckingham Palace, we walked about fifteen minutes through Trafalger Square and up to Jamie Oliver’s restaurant. He has always been a favorite of mine, so eating there was such a treat! It was quite delicious…and Jamie’s Mojito was one of the best mojitos I have ever tasted.

We had to skip dessert because we had a show to see…Billy Elliot! It’s a musical about a boy, who grows up in a mining family in a mining town, and so one would assume that he eventually would become a miner too. But, all little 10-year-old Billy wanted to do was dance! It was pretty adorable.

 

Then, it was off to bed! The next morning we squeezed in the Tower of London because we just had to see the Royal Crown Jewels. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside, but I can assure you that they were rather glamorous, elegant, and sparkly!

Then, we headed over to the little town of Notting Hill for their famous Saturday market on Portobello Road! It was super crowded, but really fun and charming. We looked through records (one day I will have a record player…mark my words), vintage books, antiques, old polaroid cameras, jewelry, t-shirts, and lots more. Oh and we ate yummy food, including a delicious chocolate and cream donut. I simply cannot resist a donut. Unfortunately, I somehow forgot to take a bunch of photos of Notting Hill. I did take video footage though, so be looking out for that in the next few days. Maybe one day I’ll get to the point, where I won’t forget to take pictures or video!

After Notting Hill, we headed to Craven Cottage for a Fulham Football Game, or soccer as we call it in the states. We met up with some other Pepperdine students who decided to go to London for the weekend just like us, and we pretended to be huge fans (even though I’d never heard of them before going). When Fulham scored the one goal to win the game, the place literally went wild and everyone hugged each other…it was pretty hilarious and yet totally cliché.

Then, Hannah and I headed over to the Kensington Gardens because there was just one other place we hadn’t seen yet…Kensington Palace. It was rather beautiful.

And we finished off our trip to London seeing Diana, the movie. Because what better place to see a movie about Princess Di than in London!

And that’s that. We woke up the next morning at 4am for our flight back home, where we then caught up on homework and all the usual school related things.

We had the best time in London! It’s one of my favorite places I have been, and I surely could have used several more days to do even more there! But, I crossed off everything on the priority list that I wanted to do, so I’d say it was a successful trip!

I take my camera just about everywhere with me! Especially since moving to Switzerland. Everything is just so picturesque. And because of this, I currently have lots of pictures stored on my computer that don’t really have a place in specific blog post though because they’re just random snapshots of my new world. So, I decided to start a blog series called Snapshots of Switzerland that show bits and pieces of Switzerland using these random pictures that I take on a day-to-day basis. And along with the snapshots, I’ll give a bit of insight into what it’s like living in my new world. Cause, boy, is it different than anywhere else I have ever lived.

1. Chocolate is infinitely better here. Even just the plain chocolate bars. Confession: it’s rare that my room doesn’t store at least part of a chocolate bar at all times. And I never used to love eating just plain chocolate. But, now, it’s become an obsession (yikes!).
2. Everything closes down around 6-7 here, except for the restaurants. And on Sundays, nothing is open (except for a Chinese restaurant on the corner). So, sometimes it’s really difficult to get that chocolate bar of mine to satisfy my after dinner sweet craving!
3. Dessert is eaten at lunchtime in Switzerland and not after dinner. Weird, I know.
4. Scooters are really popular here. And I’m not talking like vespa or a motorized scooter; I’m talking about like a razor scooter. Everyone from little kids to grown men in business suits ride them down the sidewalk through the city.
5. At restaurants you don’t wait to be seated, you just pick a table and sit down. Before I knew this, I would wait by the door just like I do in America. And then I would always wonder how everyone knew to speak English to me. Now, that I know, I can do a better job of blending in instead of sticking out like a sore thumb!

It’s only been a few weeks (really, is that all??) but I have already fallen head over heels in love with this place.