Springtime in England

During my week vacation in April, I was so fortunate to get out of France and fly over to England. I headed to London to visit my old roommate, Oonagh. She picked me up and the first thing I did of course was try to get into the right side of the car. Her response: "Are you driving us home tonight?"

That night I went to her home in Marlow, a very quaint, beautiful little town outside of London. Her mom had made us egg and lentil curry for dinner. What an unexpected but delicious mélange!

The following morning we woke up bright and early to explore London town!

Here's a little bit of what I saw in under 12 hours :)

The Admiralty Arch- The middle gate is only opened for the Queen!

An oldie but a goodie!

Changing of the Guard- Only happens every 2 days! My luck :)

At St. James' Palace. These are real foot soldiers. The feathers indicated what country they come from (England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland). St. James Palace was built in the 1530s and was a family residence for over 300 years. Can you just imagine living there knowing that past Queens and Kings walked the same hallways?

Buckingham Palace

House of Parliament. The Westminster Hall is the only remaining part of the medieval palace. 

The Big Ben Tower

London Eye

Sure thang, England!

London from a top London Bridge

Amen

St. Paul's Cathedral- Home of the 2nd largest dome in Europe. Built in 1790!

Designed after a battleship. 

London Tower Bridge

The Shard- Some crazy Brit has already climbed this crazy building, Spiderman style. 

Tower of London- Way too long of a line to see where people were tortured!

Shakespeare's Globe (well, recreated but still!)

After a long day and even longer wait to get home (lightning struck the train tracks so our train back from Paddington was delayed by an hour), Oonagh and I arrived home in Marlow for another amazing home cooked meal. Then off we went into the downtown stretch of Marlow to have drinks at The Slug and the Lettuce. Later still we went into a neighboring town, Wycombe, for more drinks and dancing at Koko. Drinks definitely beat those in France. We got two large drinks for 7 pounds and then free drinks from the manager at Koko since he remembered Oonagh (how can you not?) from New Years and decided to give us 10 pounds rather than a discount (which is what we originally asked for when we talked to him). What an amazing night with my favorite drinking partner.

The following morning we got up bright and early to head off to Leeds with Oonagh's sister, Vicky, and her new baby boy, James. We arrived to a very rainy afternoon and thus consequently decided anonymously to lay around in Oonagh's house and wait for her groceries to get delivered (AMAZING IDEA ENGLAND, HINT HINT FRANCE). You pretty much just order anything and everything that you could want to eat from an online site and they tell you when they will deliver it to your doorstep.  You wait, they call, you go down in your pajamas, and TA-DA, you are no longer without food. Ingenious idea that should already be a hit in lazy 'merica at this point, no?

On Monday, Oonagh gave me a tour of Leeds University, the town of Leeds, and the amazing shopping opportunities in England. Award for the best store on earth goes to........dun dun dun..... Primark! To my Americans, it's even better than Target. To my English pals, what have you keeping from me all this time? To the French, your eyes will explode from the bright colors and short lengths so do refrain if you are one of those who blends in with the neutral clothing crowd. Right, back to my point of how amazing Primark is. Let's just say I bought 3 pairs of spring/summer shoes for 10 pounds. Sure I don't plan on these things lasting until I'm 80 years old, BUT I now have cute shoes to wear when it gets warm and my feet want to make an appearance with my bright nail polish. We also checked out the National Armories once our debit cards took all they could handle. The only exciting thing there was King Henry's armor and an umbrella gun.

Church turned nightclub. Why don't I live in England?

Whatcha looking at?

Amazing Victorian architecture

Inside one of the upscale shopping malls.

Inside an old market turned shopping center.

Leeds from outside the National Armories.

The English give such good advice sometimes.

Leeds 

I spent a wonderful short few days in England and I can only wait with anticipation until I have the money and opportunity to go back and explore more of the country in-depth! Of course it wouldn't be as fun if I didn't have Oonagh to show me the English ropes! Thanks again my friend <3

Next stop, Ireland!