It was hard going back to school after my week of traveling. Thankfully I was able to get my butt out of bed and head off to school. We had FHE that night and I volunteered to play the piano. I can admit that I'm not very good, I only know three hymns and they are pretty sketchy as it is. But I find that sometimes I miss sitting down at home and just flipping through the hymn book or Harry Potter soundtrack and playing songs. I don't get the chance here because we don't have a piano in our flat. I also find myself missing the chance to sing. The walls here are so thin that if anyone in any of the flats next to us sing we can hear it. So I don't take that risk in someone hearing me sing, because of this, my poor roommates have to deal with me whistling all the time. I think I drive them crazy.
Anyway back to FHE. The piano in the room in the basement (which is used for Relief Society and for FHE) is badly in need of a tuning. The F key in the left hand is really off and every time I played it on Monday I flinched. We then played some board games such as Monopoly, Uno, Heads Up and SlapJack. I left after playing a few rounds of Uno and because there wasn't as many people as there normally were.
Tuesday
Nothing exciting really happened on Tuesday. I attempted to make some chicken and rice soup in the crockpot, which turned out pretty good actually! But it doesn't taste good as a leftover so it turned out to be a bit of a letdown.
Wednesday was a BEAUTIFUL day! The sun was out and shining and the temperature was over 50 degrees, or thats what it felt like. Instead of the usual history class we went to the City of Westminster Archives to learn more about the London Blitz. We even had the opportunity to hear from a man who was live during the Blitz and he shared some of his stories.
This is a baby gas mask that they created during the Blitz. The mom would place the baby underneath the hanging fabric so that they could see their face in the window and pump air through the tube on the side. I'm sure the mom would have needed a helping hand because the baby gas mask alone was really heavy and when they included the baby I'm sure it was enough to knock the mother over.
This was a suitcase that children were allowed to take with them to the countryside when they evacuated London. As you can see it's very small and there was only room enough for a few things.
This is a map of all the bombing sites in the City of Westminster. Up on their website (I don't remember what it is) they have this map posted and you can click on a site and it will show you what it looked like after it was bombed and what it looks like today. I thought that was pretty cool!
After class I convinced two of my classmates to come along with me to Borough Market to get some lunch! Today I got a Bratwurst and a doughnut and they were quite tasty. (The Ice Cream Man wasn't there and I was devastated!)
One of my classmates had never been there before and I believe I have also converted him to marketism. (evil laughter)
I headed back to my flat, but because it was such a nice day I didn't want to spend it inside. I changed into some proper walking shoes and disposed of my jacket (I was starting to work up a sweat) and took off. I headed south up and over Notting Hill and towards South Kensington. I passed this little church that isn't too far from where I live (I'm not exactly sure what it's called though). Sometimes I can hear the church bells ring on the hour during the day or on Sunday.
My adventure then took me to Kensington Palace and to Hyde Park where there were quite a few people strolling about with their dogs or riding bikes or roller blading.
They had a bit of garden that had flowers blooming and they made me happy:D
This fountain is the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. I decided to end my walk there and I sat on the edge for a good half an hour soaking in the sunlight and warmth. I figured it was time to head back to the house for some dinner before our excursion that ISA provided for us.
We left the house at 5:30 to meet up with some of the people who are with ISA to go on a Jack the Ripper Walking Tour that they have every week. While it was fun to learn about the theories of Jack the Ripper and how each of his victims were brutally murdered, I was definitely ready for bed once the tour was over. The night had gotten cold and it had started to rain again, might I add.
Thursday
My birthday! Let me tell you, it was weird waking up knowing that I was going to celebrate my birthday away from my family this year. No, I wasn't sad about it, it was just a weird feeling, especially when I realized that there would be no Chicken Pot Pie for dinner that night. Anyway, the three of us, TP, MC and I, got ready to go to the London Fashion Show Weekend Event that was held in the Sumerset House over on the other side of the Houses of Parliament.
I think we all looked very well put together, but the rain thought otherwise. It rained pretty much the entire day! We took umbrellas with us so that we could attempt at staying dry and it worked for the most part. We arrived at Sumerset House about 11:15 and had a good hour to browse the items before the Catwalk began. I found a dress by Dolce and Gabbana that I fell in love with and hey, it was on sale for £200 what a bargain!
Don't worry, I didn't buy the dress, although that would have been an awesome birthday present to myself.
It was time for the Catwalk! We queued up outside in the rain and got a pretty good seat on the third row near the end (we got to see them turn in front of us!)
There were 4 different parts of the show that showed the 4 trends that were making a comeback! Flora (lots and lots of flower patterns), monochrome (typical black and whites), shimmer and shine (shiny fabrics) and that's 70's show (yes, the high waists and crochet are back). I had a really fun time in the show, although from the way that the models kept their faces flat, it did not look like they were having a very fun time.
After the show, we browsed around some more. TP ended up buying a really cute pink scarf and MC bought a necklace with a blue stone at the end, I didn't buy anything! We also got to pose for lots of pictures and try on some sunglasses that we liked. I was very tempted to buy myself some sunglasses, but I didn't have enough money in my bank account. The three of us entered to win a £500 which we decided would be split if any of us won, but we left the Sunglasses Hut empty handed.
On the way home from the fashion show, we got pretty soaked, but before getting on the tube we stopped and took some pictures in the park.
When we got back the flat was decorated with some banners and lots and lots of balloons!
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and trying to warm back up from the cold. At about 6:30 we headed off for my birthday dinner at the South Kensington Creperie and had crepes for dinner! Surprisingly, I didn't get a dessert crepe! I got the Mona Lisa Crepe filled with eggs, bacon, cheese, mushrooms and spinach (there was something really appetizing about the spinach and mushrooms).
We then headed back to the flat after dinner and the girls surprised me again with a red velvet birthday cake!
Sorry for the blurry image, I guess I was moving too much blowing out the candles. But it was super sweet of them:D They ended up staying over for an hour and we had a long chat. And I finished up my day by chatting with my family at home! (Everyone except Meg) Overall, it was a very good birthday! Although I had some regrets about buying that dress and those sunglasses, but that's ok!
Friday
Today was rather sunny out again, although it was mid to low forties, so it was still very cold out. We had a late start today I slept in rather late and we finally headed out around 11:45 to Borough Market for lunch. Afterwards we headed north towards Abbey Road and walked across the same road the Beatles did for their album cover.
I'm not sure what tomorrow will have in store, I want to try and get started on my two essays that I have left to write that are due sometime in March, but I also want to go somewhere in the city. The whereabouts are undecided yet! Thank you for all the birthday wishes!
No comments:
Post a Comment