Wales! Hampton Court! London! [oh my]
Hi y’all!!
I am officially in my LAST MONTH of study abroad!!! So busy, so sad, so excited, so …poor? 🙂 Don’t worry though, I still have a few last tricks and trips up my sleeve! I’m considering this last month as the sudden death round of my semester in London (as in, I may suddenly die from exhaustion before I make it back to America) and I certainly will be taking advantage of each day.
I have been into all sorts of shenanigans these past two weeks….
WALES
I took a roadtrip over to Wales for the day on Saturday and completed my rotation of the United Kingdom countries. As with Scotland, Ireland, and England, rain accompanied me. However, a little bit of mist does wonders to the ambiance of a castle.
On the way up to Wales from London, we passed through the Welsh valleys. The fields were absolutely littered with these beautiful yellow flowers and so many sheep. We also did a little sightseeing of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. We (oddly) drove by the local prison, a few nice gardens, a freshwater wharf of some sort, a large castle in the middle of the town, and the church where Robert Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) was baptized. Wales is a strange place.
HAMPTON COURT PALACE
Today, I took a train down to Hampton Court with my international program for a fun day trip outside of London. I’ll spare you the history lesson of the Palace and supply a few buzzwords: King Henry VIII, Tudor period, beautiful gardens, maze (!!), Anne Boleyn, and ice cream (irrelevant to the Palace but delicious all the same). The Palace was very interactive and we spent a sunny afternoon lounging in the gardens. King Henry VIII knew how to live royally! We ended the day with an always delightful Sunday Roast (on Monday, since it was a bank holiday).
LONDON
As per usual, I have been practically sprinting all over London. Just a few things I have done in the past couple of weeks:
-attended an event at the HarperCollins offices next to the Shard (!!!!)
– art galleries and exhibitions
-London Coffee festival (most of my pictures are unfocused on account of I drank 12 beautiful cups of coffee/ espresso before noon)
– met this guy at the Grant Museum of Zoology
-caught some gorgeous aerials of London from the Sky Garden and a few great views from street level along Regents Canal
I also went to five thousand markets, ate some really awesome food (I’m lookin at you Camden Market and Wing Street), and sat in parks thinking up ways to pawn my plane ticket and stay forever. (just kidding Mom)
Anyway! Until next time!
Megan