Girl’s Day in London <3

So I’m finally getting around to posting London pictures… Several weeks ago mom and Carolyn made the awful mistake of driving up to Oxford to visit me for a long weekend… We had a great time, but they spent almost 24 hours in the car over 4 days… Fortunately for me, Carolyn’s allegiance is easily bought for about 2 quid (ie. the cost of a cornish steak pie!)… :)

We spent a typical foggy day exploring the highlights of Oxford… Carolyn got her mandatory “Oxford” hoodie to wear around with bragging rights and we made a repeat visit to the now famous “milkshake man” at Moos Milkshakes on High Street… Mom  even got a FREE mystery milkshake! And I swear it was the most delicious milkshake flavor we’d ever tasted… Which of course just sealed my crush… Haha Our day in Oxford was even complete with a great personal tour of the famous Christ Church Hall (More colloquially known as the “Great Hall” in Harry Potter… :) from the very sweet lil-old porter… (Hey, it pays to make friends! Haha)… I’m thankful that, as he put it, I have such a “sweet and innocent” smile… Haha I love it when a smile  pays off!

On Sunday, since we’d seen most the major highlights of Oxford, we decided to drive into London… But not before mom managed to burn her bangs off with a curling iron… Haha I mean really… Which the awful burning smell then managed to set off the fire-alarm in my apartment… I swear this stuff only happens to us Bird women… :) Luckily, we all have pretty good sense of humor after years of playing the “Hinckles” on cross country road trips… Haha

After our slight hair drama we finally headed into London… Because I mean really… It’s less than an hour away! How could we not?! :) We  hit most of the major highlights… Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham, Westminster Abbey… And had a great late lunch of fish n’ chips in a local pub… We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering aimlessly through the royal parks near Buckingham and even managed to watch the Royal Guard ride by on horse-back, which was kind of cool…

The oh-so-classic “Big Ben”… Yay!

Parliament!

 

Westminster Abbey- The burial place of Jane Austen and the Bronte' sisters!!! (Who cares about all those king’s and queens, right? It’s all about my favorite English novelists! Haha)

Fish n’ Chips!

Buckingham Palace in the distance…

The Royal Guard just happened to come by… Unfortunately no sitings of Prince Harry for Carolyn and me… Haha :)

At the gates of Buckingham Palace!

We couldn’t help ourselves… It was London, after all… :)

All in all it was a great day… And a good reprieve for me… We managed to yet again buy Carolyn’s happiness on Sunday night with a meat pie back in Oxford while I grabbed a doner kebab (ie. lamb gyro) at my favorite kebab truck (what can I say, my little sister and I are cheap dates… Haha!) The funny thing is, the owner of the kebab truck, Hussain, (who has quite the social-personality) to this day still remembers my name every single time I stop by and never forgets to ask how my mom in Germany is… How bout that for a good memory! Haha I swear I make friends with people in the oddest places here! :)

I’ve yet to head into London again yet, and given the freezing rainy English weather that has set in full force, I doubt I’ll be making too many excursions out of Oxford until it warms up in the Spring… Haha It’s hard to believe, but I’ve only got 3 weeks left in Michaelmas Term! I get out on the 4th of December and don’t start Hillary Term again until almost February! We pay for the shortened 8-week terms with heavy work-loads, but I actually prefer it that way… I’m amazed at how much my thought process has evolved being here; I absolutely adore my coursework… But having said that, I’m looking forward to going home to Germany for some much need time rolling around on the living room floor with my puppy dog… Haha It’s pathetic how much I miss my dog when it gets lonely and cold here! :)

Anyway… I’ve spent yet another Sunday afternoon in the cafe writing… This time it was a debate summary paper on “the problematic notion of the placebo effect” from last week, and prepping for this next week’s debate showdown (ie. “Malaria versus Tuberculosis treatment in developing nations”)… It’s been a lot of fun having debates instead of tutorial essays!… If nothing else, my fingers have enjoyed the break from all that typing! :)

With Love From Oxford… ~Mary Elizabeth <3