Europe

My fantastic trip to Europe:

OH heavens. I don’t even know where to begin. I started planning a trip to England to visit my beautiful friend Holly about a year ago and waited and waited and waited some more to be able to finally go…and it was TOTALLY worth the wait.

Holly is going to Sotheby’s Institute of the Arts in London and how I envy her. I would love to be going to grad school in England right now. Heck yes! Who knows? Maybe I will end up doing that this fall? Options…options…

I had 12 days to play and explore England (with a little three day weekend in France) and I tried to fit in as much as I possibly could in that time frame. I didn’t get to go to all the places in England I wanted to…but I did get to hit up a bunch of places that have been on my list for years.

Holly lives in a quaint little flat above this adorable British couple in Highbury Grange. Walking into this home I just felt British. It was narrow and there were about three flights of stairs and there was wallpaper and belongings in every corner. I just loved it. Every day that I was there and would take the Tube to get around I started to notice the neighbors and recognize the regular commuters and it made me feel like I was a legit English person just on my way to work—lovin life. It was fantastic to be able to feel so much like a local. It just made my craving for living in London spike. I swear it is going to happen someday…

The day after I arrived in London, Holly and I hopped on a train for Paris. Disneyland Paris to be exact! We had a great time there celebrating our 5 years of friendship. We met at Disneyworld during our internships so going to a Disney theme park to celebrate was only fitting. The castle was gorgeous--there is a dragon underneath by the way--I loved their Thunder Mountain railroad and their Pirates. Their Haunted Mansion freaked my freak and I LOVED their Crush Rollercoaster ride. Oh my gosh--they NEED to bring that ride into the states!

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Jolly Holiday with Mary Poppins

Small World

When we got back to England I was able to visit Oxford, Bath, and Cambridge and then visit a ton of places in London itself.

Oxford.

Loved.This.Town. It was so wonderful and lovely and welcoming. I was a total tourist and took one of those double decker “city-sightseeing” tours to learn more about Oxford and it was very informative. I was there with one other couple and the tour guide was able to answer all of our questions and give us little insider tips and such. Loved it. I took the bus around the town once to get the full low down from the tour guide and because it was a hop on—hop off tour the second time I went around I hopped off at the places that I wanted to visit and then would find the bus and hop back on when I wanted to get somewhere else. Very convenient and I didn’t have to pay for a cab anywhere. I went to go see the “great hall” from Harry Potter but sadly it was CLOSED!! L Not happy about that but I was still able to catch a glimpse of it. There was also a stairway used in the movies that I was able to walk up and down and felt super cool. I just kept thinking to myself Rupert Grint touched these stairs…*sigh* haha! My love for him and Tom Felton will never fail.

Christ Church was beautiful though and I was there during finals so there were students studying everywhere and signs telling everyone to be quite because of those studying. I just kept thinking to myself how cool it would be to go to school in Oxford. I went through all I could go through there and found out more about Alice in Wonderland and how the author came up with the idea and how there is a stained glass window in the Cathedral of the “real” Alice. I loved loved loved it there.

I visited the Bodleian Library, the Sheldonian Theatre, The Oxford Botanic Garden, the Radcliffe Camera, and the Magdalen Tower then I just walked around the town and went into the shops and ate in this awesome pub where the owner was OBSESSED with Elijah Wood. No joke, she had pictures of him all over the pub with signed autographs and everything. I was a little confused but mostly hungry and enjoyed some shepherd’s pie and a diet coke. She was an awesome lady and I loved her little pub.

I must admit I was really sad to leave that evening because I seriously loved being in Oxford.

Cambridge.

To be honest, Cambridge was kind of a let down after visiting Oxford. They are rivals and I guess I was just hoping that Cambridge would be super epic since I had such a great time in Oxford…but it wasn’t. I was really sad about it. I don’t know how to explain the difference other than the feeling I had while being there. In Oxford I felt invited and welcomed whereas in Cambridge I felt like it was very cold. Anyhow, I still made it a good time and went window shopping and I walked down almost every street. I visited the botanical gardens (which were HUGE by the way…probably one of the most impressive things I saw there!) and the Fitzwilliam Museum and had a fine time. After being there for the majority of the day I went back to London and decided to try to get into a tour for Buckingham Palace before heading home but when I got there I found out that the tours are closed until later in the summertime. I was kind of bummed but it was fine because there were a TON of reporters around and people camping out waiting for the Royal Baby to come along. I just found it amusing. Every car that would come to or away from the palace was completely swarmed by the press. It was fun to watch…not to mention that I was just praying that Prince Harry would be in one of those cars and we would make eye contact and fall in love…bahaha but nope, they were all mostly just workers or other people that aren’t as impressive as the Royal Family. I just walked a ton that day and my feet were KILILNG me by like 6pm so I made my way back to the flat for an early day in with Holls.

Poor Holly was working on her dissertation while I was visiting and she had a number of other papers to write so she couldn’t go with me on all my crazy outings, but she was super great to let me stay with her in the evenings and to give me attention while I was around. I was able to convince her to go to Bath with me and that was SO MUCH FUN!

Bath

So I have heard all about Bath thanks to Jane Austen--but I never imagined how much I liked it. Beautiful place, beautiful architecture, amazing history, the Jane Austen Center is there, the Roman Baths are there...le sigh. So freakishly wonderful..I can't even handle it!

London

I really don't know how people can NOT like London. It boggles the brain because I enjoy it so much. There literally is SO MUCH TO DO. I can't even take it! [be prepared for a lot of selfies!]

Overall it was such a great trip. I literally cried on the plane on the way home because I wanted to stay. I was happy to come home to see my family and Josh but I was definitely going to miss Holls and one of my favorite cities in the world.