Borough Market

Today, I went to Borough Market, a really nice food market by London Bridge, to meet my friend Alisa from camp who I hadn't seen in years and I just found out she is spending the semester in London at UCL! We walked around the market and tried free samples and then I got an ostrich burger- yes ostrich! It kind of tasted like sausage and had a mustard sauce, mayonaisse, cranberry sauce and carmelized onions with it- and was surprisingly delicious! Then we had some mulled wine- which is hot wine that kind of tastes like hot sangria and walked around London Bridge. Then I took the tube back and met up with Tara, Danielle and Jordan on Oxford Street (a street with a lot of shopping) and went to a few stores. I also picked up my new glasses- I got 2 new pairs of glasses because I needed a new pair and there was a 2 for 1 deal! At night, we went out to dinner at Wagamama- a restaurant that has chinese style noodle dishes and had plum wine to drink- in Camden. Then we went to a bar called "The Worlds End" which was huge and was tons of fun!

Chinese New Year

This weekend was the Chinese New Year celebration! We went to Leicester Square and had dinner at a Chinese Restaurant in China Town on Saturday and then went to this place called the Zoo Bar where we reserved a table and were on a guest list it was a lot of fun. Then today we went to see fireworks for the new year which were really cool and a lot different than fireworks at home. They were shot from right next to us and didn't go as high in the sky and a lot of them went downwards, it was really cool and a lot of fun.

Fish and Chips and Vinegar...

This week at my internship the kids had half term break but because it's an inpatient facility many of the kids were there for the week. Since the teachers were on break, I worked with teh nursing staff. The nursing staff focuses a lot more on how the children are managing in their daily life (making sure they eat enough, getting enough sleep, medication etc.) so it was a really different experience than working with the teachers. I definitely prefer working with the teachers but it was a nice change to understand how the whole facility works. The nurses also have to eat with the kids, which kind of stinks because they dont get the hour break that I get during the day but they do get the food that the kids eat which is really good! The day that Iwas there for lunch we had chicken curry, rice, peas, salad, naan bread and fruit- which is bigger than any dinner i've had since i've been here and definitely better than my standard turkey sandwhich, but even so my hour break is necessary. The nurses don't get any breaks throughout the day, they are constantly with the kids or in meetings, where as the teachers get an hour and a half break (including lunch break) and have much better hours (9-4 instead of 8-5 or 5-9:30). The kids get frustrated a lot during school hours because it's hard for them to concentrate on school work so it was nice to see them in a more relaxed environment. We baked cupcakes, made playdough, played countless games and even went to the cinema to see "Percy Johnson and the Thunderbolt theif"- which was the worst movie ever but it was still nice for the kids to get out of Collingham and they all loved it. It was a fun week of doing different things but I'm excited for school to start up and to get back to working with the teachers. On Friday, all my flatmates went out to dinner for Fish and Chips. They were really good and surprisingly the vinegar made them even better!

Hyde Park

Today I went to Hyde Park to just walk around for a few hours. It was so beautiful. It's only a few streets away from my flat and I'd never been there before. I walked throughout the park and across a bridge over the lake the runs through the park and then walked to the Princess Diana memorial fountain and then back across another bridge and to my flat. It was such a huge park and I was so amazed that something like that existed in the middle of the busy London city. It was really nice to just take a relaxing walk and escape the busy city for a few hours.

London Eye

On Fridays I have the day off from classes and my internship. Jordan, Danielle and I went on the London Eye. It’s a huge ferris wheel that over looks all of London located in Westminster right near Big Ben. We went on the London Eye and luckily the sky cleared up just as we went on it so the view was beautiful and it was a lot of fun. Then we walked around Westminster for a little bit and took pictures by Big Ben. Then we went to Leicester Square to try to buy ½ price play tickets but they didn’t have anything for the plays we wanted to see. We had lunch in the park in Leicester Square and then went to Oxford Street to buy movie tickets to see Valentine’s Day. Tara, Danielle, Jordan and I all went to see Valentines Day that night and it was sooo good!

Beatles Walking Tour

Thursday, we went on a Beatles Walking Tour. Unfortunately, it was at night so my pictures didn’t come out so well but we saw many Beatles/Rock and Roll related sights such as Abbey Road, Paul McCartney’s House, Apple- the last place the Beatles performed live and their recording studio on Denmark Street.

Weekend in Paris!

Last weekend we went to Paris!! We took a boat from Dover to Normandy and then drove the rest of the way to Paris. The first day the weather was BEAUTIFUL and we went on a boat tour of Paris on the Seine River. Then we went on a Panoramic Bus Tour of the city and took pictures near the Eiffel Tower. We stopped by our hotel and went to this amazing French Restaurant where I had French bread, French onion soup, Moussaka, and Crème Caramel. It was incredible! Then the next day it was raining but we went to Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, the Opera House, Moulin Rouge and the Champs Elysee. I had Croque Monsieur for lunch with a caramel banana crepe for dessert. Then for dinner we had cheese and chocolate fondue. That night we went to a club called WAX. The next day we had continental breakfast at the hotel- pain au chocolat and croissants!!- and went to the Louvre where we saw the Mona Lisa and many other great works of art. It was a really great trip and the food was INCREDIBLE!

V&A Museum of Childhood

Monday we went on a field trip for my psych class to the Museum of Childhood. It was really cool because it had collections of all different toys throughout history!

Tower of London!

Saturday, we went to the Tower of London, which is so far my favorite historical place we've visited. We went on a guided tour with a great tour guide and got to see the Crown Jewels and King's armor.