London had a visitor!

Taylor came to London! TGOD

So as you can see Taylor came to visit me in London last weekend! We had a great weekend of touristy activities; mother nature was even kind enough to give us that London rainy/foggy weather so that Tay could get the entire experience. Aside from the nasty weather, we made the best out of running around London, it was a dangerous concept, but in the end we made it out alive! :)

Friday

On friday I had made arrangements for us to go on a cruise along the River Thames (pronounced tems). This was something I had not done yet and I was really excited to see Tower Bridge. The clouds were rolling in but we got some really cool pics before it started to rain on us.

After our cruise we took the tube over to Gloucester Rd. where we went to the Natural History Museum. It's really nice because all of the museums are free here (most of them anyways). I would compare the Natural History Museum to the Science Center in St. Louis. It's fun to wander and doesn't take too long to get around like some of the galleries here. The museum contains a load of galleries of different animals/species found all over the world. The dinosaurs were on holiday though, so that was a little discouraging.

Our next stop was Harrod's. Oh Harrod's. I'm not sure really where to start... we decided that Harrod's Department store could be it's own city. The store has 330 departments, a super market, 32 restaurants, and tons of high end fashion. We spent an hour or two in there just roaming the floors looking at all the beautiful (some rather odd) clothing and accessories. Before we left we made a mutual decision to find a seat at the gelato bar and have a little 1000+ calorie snack. When in ... Harrod's right?

That night we went to a cute pub in Camden town and ventured back to our hostel. ALMOST figuring out the bus system but having to end up in a cab for 7 pounds. Not too bad.

Saturday

Taylor and I went in the London Eye, for my second and final time (hehe). As soon as we were getting off of the giant ferris wheel, several fighter planes flew over for the Queen's Trooping the Colour. From what I gathered this is the "official birthday" of the Queen and they throw a parade every year. We considered going to the parade but decided to stick to the sidelines and avoid the massive amounts of people.


After the Eye and showing Taylor the traditional landmarks we took a bus on over to Hyde Park. By far my favorite park I've been to in London. We rented those fancy Barclay's bikes again and strolled throughout London's largest greenland. This is one of my favorite pictures I have taken on this trip aside from Tower Bridge:

I even captured Noah from the Notebook on the right there ;)

Saturday night Taylor, Rebecca, and I went to a pub and then to a club for a little London nightlife. Oh and we had the buses down pat this night, no taxi for us!









Sunday - The Finale


Taylor's last day in London was unfortunately miserable weather. Our only option to escape the rain was to take immediate shelter in some shops along Oxford Circus. I would say we did a pretty good job at this. And then of course to carry on our motto for the weekend... eat, drink, and be merry... we had one final Strongbow before I sent her on her way back to Italy.

All in all I had a wonderful time with one of my best friends from home! So glad she came all the way to the UK to visit me! Thanks Tay!!!





Next weekend = Barcelona, Spain. Tata!

High Pimp!

That's high "five" in Welsh. Why am I speaking Welsh all of the sudden?? Well I went to Wales last weekend! Molly, Rebecca, and I had a fun weekend at an adventure lodge in Pembrokeshire. I can't say enough about how awesome the staff and accommodations were at our lodge. If you are ever in Wales and need a little adrenaline rush, check out Preseli Venture. They catered to us all weekend with delicious food, comfy and spacious rooms, and awesome adventures! The first day we went coasteering in the morning and then on a 7 mile hike in the afternoon. Coasteering is basically a form of making your way through the cliffs on the coastline. We climbed up them, jumped off of them, I even ate half of a limpet off of one. Here's a picture of a limpet if you have never seen one. This is as close to sushi as I have gotten this entire trip, which is definitely on my to-do list when I return to the States.

Limpets

The second day we went sea kayaking. Since I had never been kayaking before, this was a good introduction into the sport. It was very calm and really helped us take in the scenery. Wales was a beautiful place. I got some really great pictures that I'll share at the bottom of this post. All in all it was a wonderful and relaxing weekend. The only noise we ran into were the two stag parties taking place at the lodge. A stag party is a bachelor party. Kidding of course, the guys were great and just having a fun time! Although I can't say that I have been to a bachelor party recently, my assumptions formed from The Hangover did not quite meet the agenda for these boys' stag party. Although they did go out and drink, I did not see a tiger or Mike Tyson at any point this weekend.

Today after work Alison and I went to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. We saw some incredible paintings including Van Gogh's Sunflowers. The rest of the week is work and then Taylor Browne makes a trip to come see London!

Happy Monday!

The beach in Wales

Showing off my newly developed kayaking skills!