'ello mates, I'm back from London

Picked up a British accent.. ok, not really, but I can definitely impersonate a British person better than I did before!!

I loved being surrounded by lovely British accents :). My weekend was great, I definitely bring good weather with me wherever I go in Europe because Paris had horrible summer weather until I got there and it was all sunny and nice! London was the same.. been grey and rainy all week apparently but my weekend there was filled with sunshine! (Well, except a little rain on Sunday)

I was reunited with my cousin, who showed me around on the first day, and my wonderful friends, Jinden, Zoe, and Abi, whom I all met at UCI while they were foreign exchange students.

The train from Paris to London took only 3hrs. Not bad at all. Only thing was I took EARLY trains and that totally killed me.. at least, I got to sleep a little on the train ride.

Getting ready for the Olympics!!

I forgot they drove on opposite sides of the road AND the car itself! I think whoever created the roads and cars must have been left-handed.

It was so cute and polite. All the pedestrian crossings had reminders of which way to look. Probably lots of tourists trying to be cool by jaywalking and getting run over.

Then, we headed to Buckingham Palace

You can't tell but the gate was all gold, SOO pretty

ALL these people were waiting to see the changing of the guards. It  was packed!

My zoom is pretty amazing.

Part of the Changing of the Guards ceremony

We then walked towards Big Ben and found it!

And right across the street was the London Eye

Lots of soldiers passed my way and being extra sneaky, I snapped a picture of them while Todd was around my neck hehe. They were quite handsome!

Westminster Abbey was right around the corner. This is where Prince William got married to Kate. I didn't get to go inside because it was SO expensive. Plus, pictures weren't allowed, so I couldn't have shown them to you guys anyway. The outside was still just as beautiful!

And look how London welcomes me... with my favorite color on the Tower Bridge!

Delicious English lunch! Fish cakes filled with some salmon, a poached egg, and a side of spinach. 

On Friday night, I met up with my friends, Zoe and Jinden, to spend the weekend at their place and we went to a pub where I discovered THE most delicious drink.. Pimms! They were also in the process of making their own beer and I got to help!!

After 2 days.. starting to foam, which means it's fermenting properly woot woot!!

And the following day, we met up with my other super beautiful and sweet friend, Abi (in love with her accent). We all went to the Portobello Road Market, which was HUMONGOUS! Lots of cute antique things that I couldn't afford but that Taylor Swift apparently can since she's been to this market! Also heard a really cool band play!

Waited about an hr for this delicious paella!

Deciding where and how to get to Hyde Park, which is connected to Kensington Gardens, HUGE PARK!

 Just look at this beautiful day!!!!!

And the next day, because it was unfortunately, a little grey and rainy, we went to the British Museum.

Now THIS is the kind of London weather I was expecting.

The Rosetta Stone!!!!!

Parts of the Parthenon!! SOO beautiful and really cool!

This is the California dollar back in 1849 I believe. Look how tiny!!

This was probably my favorite part of the museum. It looked like the library from Beauty and the Beast, except a little smaller, I guess, but still gorgeous! This was King George III's personal library! Imagine having this to yourself!!!! So jealous!

The view from their double deck bus. AWESOME view of everything when you're at the very front!

And early this morning around 4am, I walked on my own around London to find my bus to my train station. It  looked so deserted, kinda creepy!

P.S. Fun facts, I learned lots of different phrases and sayings (some you've probably already heard of).

- That's rubbish = That's bullshit

- jumper = sweater

- mate = friend

- I rang him = I called him

- university = undergrad

- piss off = F*** off