Bonjour Disneyland Paris!

               One of my goals in life is to go to every single Disney Park in existence. I grew up about three hours away from Orlando so my family went to Disney World about six times a year with our Annuals. I remember times when my family had nothing planned for the day and we just left early Saturday morning, go to Blizzard Beach, and come home at night or the next day. (I also remember in elementary school my class would have field trips to the zoo and my parents would take me to Disney for the weekend instead. Oh, those were the good ol’ days.) Of course it has gotten a bit difficult since I’ve been in college, but I participated in the Disney College Program this past spring (which was a total blast! I entirely and highly suggest everyone to do it! Feel free to ask me questions too either on here or my tumblr: inmouseearsatoxford.tumblr.com) and that definitely made up for time lost.

                So, anyhow, back when I was accepted into the UGA at Oxford program I begged and begged and begged my parents for the four of us to go to Disneyland Paris. And like the good, loving, caring, amazing parents they are, we decided to go!

                So beyond the no air conditioning fiasco at the hotel and after trying to find La Vallée Village, we were really happy to go to Disneyland Paris.

                We woke up that morning and after getting ready, we went to the restaurant in the hotel for breakfast. For us it was included in the hotel price. As we were in line I noticed there were signs that explained about Tex-Mex food which was funny and interesting because in America I guess it’s so common that I didn’t really think that France would not have some form of Mexican food (I did see some in England which surprised me so I figured it was global then I realized…I guess not). There were rolls, croissants, pain au chocolat, some cold meats, cereals, fruit salad, little packets of Nutella (I lost count of how many Mitchell and I both had), a bowl of cocoa (for cereal? It was by the cereal), a bowl of olive oil, butter, and other condiments, hot chocolate, coffee, café au lait, one water station (O_o), and apple and orange juices. The restaurant part is actually very large which surprised me at first. I would say it’s about as large as Coronado Springs’ restaurant (it had similar decorations, too).

                Soon we were off and heading to the park! We walked to the park from the hotel which goes through the Disney Village and past the train station. We went through the Disneyland Hotel and had to take a couple of pictures! Also don’t miss the Mickey made out of flowers in front of the hotel!

                After presenting our ticket and going through the gates (the lady on the phone suggested for us to buy our tickets online as they were cheaper and we did…you can also print them out at home too and it has your name repeatedly typed on them! Also there is a ticket that is cheaper depending on if you go during a not as busy time, which we happened to take advantage of, too), we made it onto Main Street!

Main Street at DLP is not as large as Disney World’s which I honestly expected, but there are a lot of cute elements to it that I really loved. City Hall is still to your left like WDW, but on either side of Main Street there are arcades: the Discovery Arcade and the Liberty Arcade. Now there are not game-filled arcades like those found at hotels, but arcades that are covered areas that connect different shops together (When I went to Ladurée in London it was in the Burlington Arcade) and helpful when people left after fireworks. We found this out later on in the day when we went back up to Main Street and go to the shops.

Discovery Arcade has a late 1800s/early 1900s—I noted some very subtle steampunk elements to it—theme to it that is shown in large posters and boxes filled with artifacts while Liberty Arcade has a New York City theme to it.

They had some really cute items on sale like these cameo tiaras!

We of course had to take some pictures in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle! I was wearing my favorite Preppy Park Ears by Sail Bows and my Tangled button from Park Bound Buttons in full Disney spirit.

Now my favorite rides at WDW are Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean so I absolutely had to go to and analyze and compare the ones at DLP! So we headed over to Frontierland to go on Phantom Manor.

Now Phantom Manor to start off with is in French and English. The traditional “Grim Grinning Ghosts” is in English, but most of the ride is in French. The only part that is actually both is Madame Leota, who goes back and forth between the two. The story of Phantom Manor is a lot darker and scarier and even sadder than the Haunted Mansion at WDW. But it’s really good! The story focuses more of the haunted bride of the house, Melanie Ravenswood, who’s fiancé is killed by an evil spirit and she waits for him until Judgement Day. Whereas at WDW there is a very loose storyline and many different interpretations. Mitchell and I both agreed (as we were in our doom buggy together) that the ride seemed longer also than WDW’s. I won’t complain about that one!

After Phantom Manor we passed by Big Thunder Mountain. We unfortunately were not able to ride it as the Fastpasses were out (oh! Their version of Fastpass is like the old version where you walk up to the machine and a ticket pops out…I kinda liked this way of Fastpasses). But it is in the MIDDLE OF THE LAKE! How cool is that? I’m not sure how it gets to the center of the lake, but that to me is a really cool concept!

Next Mitchell, Daddy, and I went on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. It is based on the second Indiana Jones movie (Temple of Doom) and is a roller coaster with a loop in it. We all thought it was good, but we wished there was a story line in the beginning—maybe seeing Indy being chased away from the natives, which results on us going on a crazy coaster…just thinking. We all did like the loop as you can see it in the daylight (unlike Rockin’ Roller Coaster for example), but it was a bit rocky and I had to try to keep my head from smacking the side of the pull down protector. But I liked it.

We soon went back to Frontierland for lunch and stopped at the Fuente Del Oro Restaurante. It has a Tex-Mex-y kind of theme similar to the Santa Fe Hotel and it served fajitas and tacos—which after a week of meat and potatoes in a variant of forms and as much as I loved British food, I was really glad to have something different. All of the quick service locations have this choice of three kinds of meal plans and then a la carte food. For example I could have gotten chicken fajitas with salad or Mexican rice, a drink, and a fruit cup or Magnum ice cream bar. They had similar ones with beef tacos and an additional main option. I liked being able to get a main entrée with a side, a drink, and dessert all together for a flat price. We enjoyed the concept.

They also gave us a ton of food! For the fajitas we were each given three chicken strips and lots of peppers and onions that were cooked with it, three medium sized tortillas, about a cup of rice, a large drink, and I picked the fruit cup while everyone picked the Magnum bar (which was not a full-sized Magnum bar—which you could purchase—but after all of the food they did give you may not have wanted a full-sized bar anyways).

After lunch we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean! I love Pirates and this one did not disappoint! We walked past the Swiss Family Robinson’s Tree House and the Pirate’s Beach and spotted a couple of Disney friends…

Pirates of the Caribbean at DLP looks like a giant Spanish Armada fortress. It’s huge! And there was only a 5 minute wait which I think was more like 20 minutes. As you make your way to the boat there are skeletons about just like at WDW but as we got closer to the loading dock I noticed that there was a restaurant INSIDE OF THE RIDE! I know that at Disneyland in California the Blue Bayou Restaurant is inside their Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but there is not one at WDW’s. The only ride that has a restaurant inside of it is Living with the Land with Garden Grill, the Coral Reef Restaurant in The Seas with Nemo and Friends (technically), and at the Mexico Pavilion with El Rio Del Tiempo and San Angel Inn Restaurant. But still, how cool is that? We later found out that the restaurant is called the Blue Lagoon and I really wanted to go to it! I just really wanted the coconut mousse, okay?

But back to the ride. We all agreed that Pirates at DLP is longer than WDW’s too. There are three drops (spoilers): one small one and two larger ones (or as Mitchell joked, “It’s their Splash Mountain” of which Mom whacked him on the arm with a reply of “It better not!”…however it is evident by the looks on our faces when they took a picture that we did expect one of the drops to be a lot larger than it was). It was also really impressive that there was a pirate who swings by you in the beginning of the ride on a rope! That was pretty neat.

Note the faces behind us are quite placid.

As we came to DLP during the Frozen Summer Fun, we did leave Adventureland to the far side of Fantasyland to see the Royal Welcome for Elsa and Anna. My poor family having to sit and hear me sing “Let It Go” over and over again as we waited for the parade. It was cute as Anna and Elsa were in a carriage and they waved to people. I really loved that they played the end score of Frozen and also the version of “Let It Go” in 25 languages.

Because we had about an hour before the parade we decided to go on It’s A Small World and oh my gosh. You’d think we were seeing a bunch of movie stars with how we were acting. I’m pretty positive the people in the row in front of us thought we were crazy. To begin, DLP’s Small World begins outside and goes inside. It wasn’t until we saw London Bridge about 30 seconds into the ride that we started freaking out. Mom brought out her camera and I took out my phone and started snapping away. When I noticed an homage to Mary Poppins that I started realizing that DLP’s Small World is supposedly similar to Disneyland’s in that there were Disney characters scattered about throughout the ride! Soon I was spotting Slink the Dog, Pegasus, Aladdin, Ariel, a doll that reminded me of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy (long stretch, I know), and then they had a NORTH AMERICA SECTION! We don’t have that at WDW probably because we are in America so it’s not different and maybe not as appreciated…? Anyhow, there was the West with cactuses and Native Americans; Canada with ice skaters and moose; New York City and Hollywood! Not to mention a really cute football and baseball player! When you freak out over It’s a Small World, that’s when you know you are a true Disned.

After Small World we stood by to wait for the parade. I had a popsicle that kind of reminds me of the old Itsakadoozies they used to have at WDW but it was a mixture of strawberry, lemon, and orange sherbet. It was really good! They also had Magnum bars, a vanilla cone with chocolate sauce, and a Haribo pop that you shove the stick up to make the ice cream come up (like the old Scooby Doo pops in elementary school) but my brother noticed that there were gummies in the bottom of it.

Now waiting for the parade was definitely not as intense as waiting for it at WDW. We only had to wait in our spots for about a half hour and there was plenty of space. It probably helped that we were there during a slower time of the year but I won’t complain!

The Disney Magic on Parade (this version of YouTube is pretty close…but a tad bit different because of the 20th anniversary of DLP) was really cute! I loved all of the characters that they brought in! Some of the lesser seen characters such as Gepetto, the Blue Fairy, Merlin, Simba, Pumba, Timon, Rafiki, King Louie, Baloo, Mary Poppins, and Bert were nice to see. I also really liked Mickey and Minnie’s float. It had a kind of sorcerer, space, Greek theme to it (not sure if there is a name for this, but I liked it and it was different and cute).

After the parade we went on Le Pays des Contes de Fes which has miniatures from fairytales. There was miniatures from Aladdin to The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast. It was a precious ride.

We did go on Les Voyages de Pinocchio as we do not have a Pinocchio ride at WDW (we were really trying to go on things that were different than WDW). It was a cute, slower ride in air conditioning that was nice. We didn’t go on Snow White’s though (the movie actually terrified me as a child and I never liked the ride when it was at WDW…I feel like how I’ve been talking about WDW I must not like it, but in all reality I consider it my second home and always have. I’m just really enjoying the differences that I’ve found and comparing the two. My biggest complaint about DLP is that it doesn’t have Dole Whip, Mickey bars, or Mickey ice cream sandwiches -___-). I wish we did go on Peter Pan’s Flight too as I’m curious to compare it to WDW’s.

Next we went to explore Sleeping Beauty Castle. If anything I’ve heard that is something you do not want to miss out on. There is a little Christmas store inside of it and I almost bought an ornament that is a sparkly pink Mickey shaped macaroon. It was beautiful stained glass and tapestries that tell the story of Sleeping Beauty (one of them even light up with magic!). Below I found a sleeping dragon or, rather, a dragon who was trying to sleep. She (as I assume that it is Maleficent) wasn’t very happy with us as she kept on waking up and growling at us.

Another cool thing about DLP’s castle is that it has the fountain system that can be found at Epcot and at Disney’s California Adventure. There was a fountain show for the Frozen Summer featuring really lovely music and it was enjoyable.

We soon made it to Discoveryland which has a Jules Vern, steampunk kind of feel to it. Unfortunately Space Mountain: Mission 2, the 2000 Leagues Under the Sea/Nautilus ride, and Videopolis was all closed. I really wanted to go on Space Mountain (which reopens later this month) because it has inversions in it and it goes outside.

Mitchell, Daddy, and I went on Star Tours and it is like the old version where Rex tries to fly the craft for the first time and things go wrong. It was also in French and English. Rex spoke French but the Rebel fighters spoke English. The ride you can tell was old because a lot of the seats in the ride were broken and had “do not sit here” tape on them. But it was still fun. I just like the newer version at Hollywood Studios better (I guess I’m partial to it because, not to brag, I am the rebel spy…but don’t tell anyone!).

I did kind of want to go on Autopia because of their cute futuristic 1950s looking cars and the many turns it has, but we didn’t get to go on it.

Also, look who we found!

We decided to go on Main Street and shop instead. One thing I really noticed around the shops at DLP is that they had a lot of items on sale, like 70% off items sale. There were a couple of cute items that I considered buying, including a Minnie rain jacket and matching ankle boots, but decided against it. I did however get a DLP t-shirt and doubled my Tsum Tsum collection with also getting Flounder, Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Sven (I NEED ALL OF THE TSUM TSUMS!!! Actually I really do need Kristof now if any of them…).

After shopping we went to Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost for dinner. We also stopped in Hakuna Matata which has some African food and I thought sounded good. But we decided to go with pizza.

Colonel Hathi’s theme is British colonialism in the 1800s and early 1900s. It also had the meal deals (as I like to call them). I got a four cheese pizza with garlic bread, a drink, and a Magnum bar. The pizza was really big and I didn’t even finish it! It was probably a 12-inch diameter pizza. They also had a royal pizza that everyone else got (it had ham and black olives on it) and another meal deal was lasagna which you could get tiramisu with it.

We only had about an hour and a half before fireworks began (they started at 11pm) so we waited on Main Street. Good thing we did too because everyone came crowding into the main hub. The castle was really pretty when the sun set. One thing Mama and I did notice and agree on was that we felt like that DLP doesn’t have as much crowd control as WDW does. People were sitting everywhere. Even on ramps and in the middle of the street. I remember thinking to myself that I would sit down but decided to move because I thought they would say something to me as it was on a ramp. But people sat there too. I also noticed people would smoke really anywhere in the park. There are smoking areas but I guess they aren’t as heavily implemented there. One last thing we noticed was that not everything was easy for people in wheelchairs such as door opening devices, which I think WDW does well with (however I’m kind of bias because I do not use a wheel chair so there are probably things I do not notice at WDW, but I did notice some at DLP).

Before 11pm the Frozen water show happened again and before I knew it was time for fireworks! We actually really enjoyed the fireworks, called Disney Dreams (a pretty close version also…but we had flames). It focuses on Peter Pan and his shadow who gets separated from him. It also switches between English and French (ex. Peter speaks English but Wendy speaks French, Quasimodo speaks in French, and so does Remi and Lumiere, which culturally makes sense). Disney characters like Genie, Lumiere, Quasimodo, Remi, Elsa, Dr. Facilier, and others make an appearance on the castle as lights go crazy, fireworks go off, water is sprayed, and fire erupts into the sky. Disney Dreams might not have the really big fireworks like Magic Kingdom does (partially due to the lack of an area to set them off…at MK I’ve seen them go off backstage…they are about, at least, a half mile away from the castle for safety reasons…the transitions were kind of rough but they were cute), but we enjoyed the water and pyrotechnics and the characters on the castle. When are fireworks not fun? Never. That is the honest answer. I really loved the star at the top of the castle lighting off as it was truly mesmerizing. It was a well done show and I wish there were more items than the couple I found at the store that were sold.

As we made our way out of DLP and walked back to our hotel room we all agreed that DLP was much more than we expected. We had all heard that it was a lot smaller than WDW and even though that might be true in the form of entirety, DLP as the one park is very large. It has a lot more rides than I expected and we all really enjoyed it. We all really liked Phantom Manor and Pirates of the Caribbean the best. I really appreciated the details put into it such as the character throughout the park, the use of multiple, and not as used characters at WDW, and the details within and below the castle. We all also thought that the meal deal were a really good idea and that there was a lot of food for what you paid for. We enjoyed the fireworks and the parade and appreciated the similarities and differences between DLP and WDW. WDW will always be my home and I will love it forever, but it was still really neat to be able to see something different to compare it to. I personally think that if you are a die-hard Disney fan to definitely give DLP a chance. The park is really great and I hope to return again in the future!

Sur la route…encore…

                6am is early after walking about for the past week all day each day in London, but I was excited because we were going to none other than Disneyland Paris! So really it wasn’t that difficult for me to get up.

                We soon made our way to St. Pancras station where we took the Eurostar from London to Lille to Marne-la-Vallee, France. The train ride was only about 1.5 hours between London and Lille with about a half hour of it under the English Channel through the Chunnel. The English countryside was really pretty and we even got to see the Folkestone white horse imprint in the side of a hill. France was really pretty too.

                When we came into France everything switched from English then French to French then English which I expected (much like watching a hockey game depending if the Montreal team is home or away). But when we got off at Lille for a layover for about an hour my high school and college French classes were coming in handy. Too bad I haven’t had a French class in a little over a year. =/

                One thing my teachers and professors always told me was that everyone in France knows English to a degree. I found this out to be incorrect. Most people spoke some or very good English. But there were also some people that could not speak English or about the same amount that I spoke of French (aka very, very, very little). At one point there was a young British couple about my age and they were trying to talk to an older French woman who spoke very, very little Enlish and when we found out we both spoke English–after my fiasco with trying to talk to a man who also didn’t speak English–we had this immediate bond with probably each of us thinking to ourselves “an English-speaking person! I’m not alone!”

Another thing that I kind of wish we did in class was more real world situations. Every single test I took in French (and even Spanish) classes required everything and everyone to be on silent. When I was on a train and they speak on an intercom French and I needed to pay attention to what they were saying as I am the only one in the family who knows French and every one of the train is also speaking French it is nerve wracking in a non-test environment. That would have been a useful and realistic test that I know I would have appreciated if I do say so myself.

                Anyhow, we soon were on our way to Marne-la-Vallee and soon we got off the train, got onto the bus, and took off to the Santa Fe Hotel.

                Before I continue on let me say that past couple days in London have been scorching hot. Record breaking hot for the past couple of years. It was the same in France. And it wasn’t getting any cooler.

                I was in charge of picking out (between the Santa Fe and Cheyenne hotels) the hotel and calling Disneyland Paris to arrange the situations. I picked Santa Fe because it looked newly renovated and had a Pixar Cars theme to it (my favorite Pixar movie). And it was cute when we got there. There was an old West theme with Cars posters and little Native American items about the lobby.

                But it was hot in the lobby and as we were in the line Mama questioned if the hotel had air conditioning. There was air conditioning in the lobby, but we soon found it out that there was not air conditioning in our room, but there was a ceiling fan. According to the lady that checked us in, there is not air conditioning in the lower tiered rooms but there is in the upper-tiered rooms. I guess normally if it wasn’t that hot it wouldn’t be a problem. But it was the upper 90s and it was very, very hot.

                I really did like our room though (even though there was no air conditioning). It was cute with wall paper with Mater, Lightning McQueen, Luigi, and Sally on it (Mater is my favorite!). There was a lot of traffic cones everywhere like the light, the mirror, and on the curtains. It reminds me of decoration that could be found at the Cozy Cone, Sally’s motel.

                We soon decided that it was cooler outside than in the room and we were hungry so we headed over to the Disney Village, which is like their Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs). There was an Earl of Sandwich (which we ate at), a Rain Forrest Café, Café Mickeys (which looks like Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary, but I did notice Tigger and Eeyore through the windows), a couple of different Disney stores (a fashion shop and a toy shop), a Lego store, a Disney Store, and a World of Disney store. There was also a McDonald’s, Starbucks, and a couple of other restaurants. I thought it was interesting that there was both a Disney Store and a World of Disney Store (not that I’m complaining really).

Outside of Planet Hollywood

The World of Disney store had a really cute Disney Art Deco/1920s theme going on and it was really cute. It reminds me of the art work and style that they have on the Disney Dream.

The World of Disney store looked new and there was a lot of Disneyland Paris merchandise and I found some really cute items that I haven’t seen at Disney World.

Sorcerer Minnie hat

Sorcerer Stitch

Ballerina Minnie

Peter Pan Mickey

Minnie in her parade outfit

Experiment 628

                I did end up getting a Mickey plushie that is based on his parade wear and a White Rabbit Tsum Tsum (Yay! I found him!).

On our way back to the hotel we ended up passing by the New York Hotel, the Disneyland Hotel, the Newport Bay Club Hotel, and Sequoia Lodge.

                I was really excited for the next day and go Disneyland Paris! I will donate its own page for it and tell of all my adventures there!

London, London, London

When I am overwhelmed—like at school during finals week—I usually create lists to help organize my mind. I think it is easiest and most blatant to say that while in London I was frankly, yet (once again) wonderfully overwhelmed by the grandeur, friendliness, and historically vast city. But soon my love for the city grew to the point of no return and nothing can compare the adoration I now have for the capital.

So in order to keep my mind straight I have created a list to explain simply my thoughts of London, this city that I have absolutely loved during my short time here.

4—the number of croissants I’ve eaten

6—the amount of bags I have purchased

1—pieces of clothing I have purchased

1—Mickey plush

11—books

55—pictures taken on my phone

473—pictures taken on the camera

72—pictures that were either of Mama, Daddy, Mitchell, or me and the various combination of us in front of Big Ben

5—the floor of our hotel room

82—pigeons I spotted in a corner in St. James’s park

2,765—the amount of times I told someone I planned on moving to London after I graduate from college

12—the times of which they were said to Scott

13—the amount of buildings I deemed my “future flat”

764—bags I saw (including my own) from Harrods

6—the amount of times I had to close my mouth after I noticed that it was agape while in Selfridges alone

3—steak and ESB/ale/porter/etc. pies I ate

0.25—glass of Guinness which I drank

0—the minutes of which I saw nighttime (it was literally daylight out from 6am that I got up this morning to after 10pm when I’ve gone to bed on most nights)

So like I said. Overwhelming. The kind of overwhelming that Mia Thermopolis learns from her grandmother that she is a princess. The kind that Anna felt when she found out that Elsa has frozen powers. The kind of feeling that Harry has when Hagrid tells him “yer a wizard, Harry.”

Yes, that kind of overwhelming.

Of course this came in spurts and waned away at times. But this wasn’t exactly my first impression of London.

But first, let me back up a bit.

We drove in from Leicester with our little Citroen and with Dad’s driving and London traffic it was overwhelming in a sense of…well…let’s just say that if I were a cat with nine lives, I’m pretty positive that I would have lost four of them by the time we made it to the car park to drop it off. And we did get lost, but we did happen to find Wicked and an old school!

But outside my window London seemed to be filled with business suits on bikes, Café Nero coffee cups, and Dan Stevens and his 700 clones walking about. It seemed New York City busy with Athens streets after a football game: crowded and packed, but somehow managing to make it all fit. I guess after being in both New York City and Washington, D.C. multiple times each, I expected towering skyscrapers to loom over us. But as soon as we were out of our hotel, the St. Ermin’s, and were walking around the town, I found that most of the buildings were not very tall—at least in our area around Westminister Abbey, Parliament, and Buckingham Palace—but short and historic.

We had the afternoon and we decided to walk around and take some pictures. Of course our first stop was Buckingham Palace and St. Jame’s Park.

No, I unfortunately did not catch a glimpse of the Queen or Will or Kate or cutie Prince George or even Princess Charlotte or even Harry, but we did see plenty of guards! It was soon followed by finding Big Ben and Parliament (which, to my dismay, was not covered in Dalmatian spots…#GlennClose).

For dinner we found the Red Lion which we had been wanting to go to before our trip and, according to the menu, was often frequented by Charles Dickens.

On Friday we went to Westminster Abbey and the Imperial War Museum. We were not allowed to take pictures in most areas of the Abbey, but it was very old, ornate, and beautiful. With growing up in America it is not common to see large structures or pieces of history within the area that is prior to 1700. At least not to this size. Granted there are places such as maybe in Massachusetts and Boston, but we really do not see it in South Georgia. At least, not as old as some parts of the Abbey. Some parts of the Abbey were created between 1100-1200 AD. The only bits of American culture that we have created at this time or even before it is some Native American artifacts that have been preserved and not destroyed by centuries of conquest. To me it is fascinating to see these parts of the Abbey because they surprise me about how large they are and that they are still standing even after sieges and WWII—which did damage the Abbey.

Many kings and queens are buried here but it was odd to me that Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I were actually buried together. It seems odd partially due to, not them being half-sisters, but by Queen Mary being a very devout Catholic who now deems the old child folktale of “Bloody Mary” while Queen Elizabeth I recreated the Anglican faith and is one of the most well-known queens in history—not to mention they seemed to strongly dislike each other (thank you elementary school reading of The Royal Diaries).

My favorite part of Westminster Abbey was Poet’s Corner. Poet’s Corner is a section of the Abbey where there are different writers buried and also plaques in honor of writers. I saw plaques with the names of Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Dodgson), Shakespeare, Shelley, Keats, all three Bronte sisters, and numerous others. The author I was surprised to not see was Tolkien. I was told that he is supposedly buried in Oxford but I thought they would have a plaque for him at least.

Soon after we toured the Abbey, we met up with Abbey and Mr. Andy and went to the Imperial War Museum.

Both Mitchell and I were excited to go to the IWM because the entire bottom floor is devoted to WWI. In America, it is very hard to find WWI history as we were only in the war for about a year. Let’s just say there is one wall about 15 yards long wall devoted to America joining the war effort in the IWM and in the American History Museum in DC there is a 15 yards long wall devoted to WWI as a whole. I personally like WWI’s history as it seems to be the war that is a cross between a war based on chivalry colliding with a war based on new weapons of destruction. This creates this middle combination/transitioning that leads the world from the wars that consist of the nobility to commoners order in rank seen in the Franco-Prussian War and Anglo-Boer War to a war that like WWII was more mixed partially due to the amount of men who died during WWI and the generations who were born after that really didn’t make up for the amount of men who died.

It is also a very tragic war where there was not a very direct understanding between the men and those back home of what exactly was occurring during the war. The world had never seen a war this large partially due to colonialization and the fight for land. The new weapons like the use of choline gas and older concepts like trenches on the size of this war were also outstandingly horrid. Not to mention that it didn’t help that the governments were creating propaganda that painted a less bleak picture of the “war to end all wars.” Poetry and stories were created to try to explain the battle conditions, but the amounts of horror and destruction and desolation can really not fully explain the events of WWI with words. It was a very tragic war and should be more acknowledged in America. Even though we were in it for solely a year, we were still a part of the tragic occurrence.

I think a large realization I have had while being in London and going to the IWM and going to Parliament and going to the Churchill War Rooms and going to Kensington Palace and going to the Tower of London is how much history is not taught in the school system and yet how much of it somehow intertwines with our own, American history. Yes, we learn in school about the bombings of London, but why do we not learn about the efforts and the amount of fighting and working to end the war before America even joins in December of 1941? Why do we not learn more about WWI in school as even though we only fought in it a year, but this war is what shapes the later in wars in terms of what is and what is not allowed to use during war time? Aren’t the Americans who we lost during that one year still important? Is by not learning about these horrors hindering us and the future generations to truly understand the concept of humanity and the appreciation of human life? Is by watering down the history taught in schools going to negatively impact us in the future?…………The history major is coming out again in form of a rant…sorry…

I’ll go back to my story.

After the IWM Mr. Andy and Abbey went to Oxford Street and went home. After another shopping spree at the museum (I love the books that you can buy at museums…they have a lot that are in specific areas and they also have ones specific to certain exhibits like one of the few I bought: Fashion on the Ration, a book on clothing during WWII and the ration years). We after went to Piccadilly Circus and went to Ladurée for some macaroons (I got sea salt caramel and vanilla…both were really good!) and I stopped at the Cath Kidston store which was having a store wide sale (not to mention that it was three stories!). I ended up getting a cute tote bag with soldiers on it, a small flower-ly and lacey make up bag, and a coffee/tea portable cup with London historic sites on it.

The following day we went to Parliament. I loved the different parts of Parliament and to see a different government than ours. I loved the history and color of it.

We also went to the Churchill War Rooms which were pretty amazing. The War Rooms are underground like a bunker as it was used during WWII. There are no windows or really any signs from above beyond really only one way in and out to the meeting room for safety precautions and was guarded by a royal marine. But there are multiple rooms for some of the staff, Churchill, one for his wife, some other men of high importance like those in charge of the military branches, a kitchen, the map room, the telephone room, and others. For those staff that did not have rooms there, there was a basement where they slept. Now there is also a museum focusing on Churchill, a store, and also a café (which has really good food of pretty large portions). Just being able to go into the bunker and here the stories was truly inspiring. Even though I take many history classes at school and read many books, what really helps for me to really acknowledge history are pictures, videos, and visiting cool museums and historic areas.

In the afternoon we really just walked around and got some ice cream.

On Sunday we watched the changing of the guard! We didn’t get there as early as we planned but it was still good. I didn’t know what to expect, but I loved listening to them play. They played “Fat Bottom Girls” by Queen (which was kind of an odd choice to me, but was played well) and the theme song from Mission Impossible. We later went shopping.

And oh. My. Prada.

Selfridges blew me away. It was huge! It was filled with beautiful clothes. And, yes, it was very expensive. There were clothes in there that I have seen countless times in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and the other magazines I’ve read over the years. There were clothes that I’ve read about in books and some I’ve seen on TV and in movies. These clothes that I’ve dreamed of seeing in person let alone holding the hanger of.

But then there were some brands that I’ve never heard of, which surprised my mom (I’m so glad that you think I’m that knowledgeable of brands, Mama! Haha Just call me Anna Wintour 😉 ). But it was a pretty cool experience of its own and I now need to catch up on Mr. Selfridge as I eat some more Pierre Hermé macaroons (which are very soft and very good too).

Found cute hats at John Lewis!

We also ran by the Disney store—of course—and I picked up a stuffie of Mickey who is dressed up as a beefeater and a London/Minnie Mouse top.

We also ran by Hummingbird Bakery for cupcakes which were. So. Good. I picked out salted caramel and red velvet, Mama and Mitchell each picked out a sticky toffee, and Dad picked out coffee. I will totally be seeing that bakery again before I leave for the States!

On Monday we went to Kensington Palace, which was curious because it was composed of different sections that were historically and artistically very different from one another. For example, the one area created by Queen Mary and King William (of Orange) was based in a simpler 17^th century style and the rooms were smaller in comparison to Queen Victoria’s area in the mid- to late-19^th century. But it was altogether very beautiful.

Not to mention that I found out that I am Queen Victoria’s height! Ha! Take that tall people!

We later went to Harrods which was just as awe-inspiring—if not more—than Selfridges.

I didn’t even think that was possible.

Every single room had a theme to it. The chocolatier area look right out of Willie Wanka and the Chocolate Factory in the 1910s while the tea area looked like an orangery from the late 1800s. The stairwell/escalator area was Egyptian themed and even had a sphinx at the very top floor! My Harrods purchase was a pink Longchamp (which was cheaper than in the States not to mention!…Thank you Mama ^_^) which I love and I love that it folds up (perfect for packing!).

We ended up going to the food hall at Harrods—which is needed to be visited at least once in a lifetime—and bought some bread, butter, cheese, drinks, salads, my Chinese food and other items for our picnic that we had at St. Jame’s Park. It was so nice out!

On Tuesday we went to the Tower of London—which was also pretty strict on pictures—and went across the Tower Bridge! The Tower of London was a lot bigger than we had expected! It told us that it usually takes people about two hours to go through it and it took us about six hours! But there was so much to see! We took a tour with a beefeater which was really funny and fun. There were different towers to visit including White Tower that is now a museum for the armory. We also saw the building where Queen Elizabeth I was housed when she was there (which puts my memory of reading her Royal Diary book into a new perspective). I also didn’t know that there used to be an area that they housed “exotic” animals for people to see before they created the London Zoo. Mitchell I think really enjoyed the armory museum because of the historical battle armor and chain mail and other items.

We later went over Tower Bridge which was really pretty as it had some light and dark blue parts to it and after walked around and found St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Wednesday was our last full day in London and we decided to go back and see the changing of the guard again. We had much better seating this time as we were right at the gate. They played “Thriller” by Michael Jackson and a song from a WWII movie. It was very nice.

I ended up going to the Queen’s Gallery as everyone else went into the shop there. It was very nice and I really enjoyed it. The theme was gardens and there were different paintings and tapestries and other items that really helped show the growing importance of gardens and their uses throughout history. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

We later went around again to Selfridges and a couple of other stores, but when we were back at the hotel and I was packing, I noticed that my beefeater Mickey had the magnetic tag still on him! We only had about 40 minutes to rush back to the store all the way up on Oxford Street again to get it off. We made it with about 20 minutes to spare.

But all in all I loved London. I can’t even count how many times I told my parents and Scott that I planned on moving there after I graduated. I could see myself living in a fashionable flat, working at a publishing company, shopping at Harrods and Selfridges, and traveling around Europe with me in my pretty Prada dress and Scott in his handsome cobalt blue suit (which practically every other guy—who could pass as David Tennant’s twin—wore to work). I could get used to that! It might be more fantasy than life goal, but I think that would be fun!

Day 4: Accio Shakespeare! Now where are my red and blue 3D glasses?

If there was anything truly that I regret in life it would be that I am no longer an English major.

Most people either scoff at this as they think that’s pretty good if that’s the worst thing I regret or others simply look at me with slight contempt with “nerd” said under their breaths. But those that really do understand my regret can probably imagine how much I truly geeked out when I found out that we were headed to none other than Stratford-Upon-Avon.

After a quick bite at the Marks & Spencer Café where I had a bacon roll and hot chocolate (maybe it’s the American in me that has lead me to get bacon every single morning…or maybe it’s that I actually enjoy British bacon more than American bacon as it’s not as crispy or salty…yes, you read that right, dear reader, British bacon>>>American bacon…#sorrynotsorry), we met Mr. Andy and Abbey who showed me the workings of Abbey’s old cell phone that they let me borrow when I am here in England and how to call America. I kind of feel like I’m two fisting phones now with Abbey’s old HTC and my iPhone 5C or that I’m at least some regards to a young professional (or as Uncle Phil calls them, yuppies…yup, I guess I’m now a yuppie). We later found out that the random R2D2 noises were actually the phone receiving text messages which only helps the family joke and argument that Princess Leia and I are practically twins.

But soon we were on our way to Stratford-Upon-Avon. It was only really less than an hour away from Leicester, but the more and more we drive around England and listen to the GPS, the more I’m aware that the British-accented lady tells us to go to the left, to the left just about as much as Rihanna does. But people are actually really friendly on the road and don’t drive like maniacs like in America (or maybe that’s just Orlando or Interstate 95). There is also a lot of sprawling green land and sometimes we’ll either run into some cows (Look, Scott! Cows!) or really pretty brick houses or even these really giant windmills that are as tall as skyscrapers. Not to mention the lack of car accidents on the road (fingers crossed).

But as we got closer and closer to Stratford, the more and more I saw of Elizabethan architecture (the white buildings with black-painted boards in crossed shapes and hatched roofs), which I personally love (of course a couple of these buildings look like they were melting, but hey, it gives it character). I’m not sure when exactly I fell in love with Stratford—maybe it was when I saw the statue of Yorick from Hamlet or the architecture or just the entire day—but there is now a very large part of my heart dedicated to it now.

So soon we parked in a car park and while Dad and Mr. Andy where paying for the parking spaces for a couple of hours, I grabbed a couple of pictures of different clock towers that I saw.

I also had to run over to take a picture of the Yorick statue that was in the beginning of the street and then ran over and absolutely had to take a typical tourist picture with a telephone box if my life depended on it.

Then Abbey pointed out the mail box next to it and I had to take a picture of it, too.

Soon, I was shouting “I need to take a picture!” every five steps in order to make sure Mama, Dad, Mitchell, and Mr. Andy wouldn’t lose me (thanks for sticking with me and making sure I didn’t get hit by a car, Abbey…you’re a real friend haha) and it soon became the running joke that I was going to take a picture of everything. But really the joke was on them because I really did take a picture of everything even the Costa (not to be confused with Cosco…it’s like Starbucks) sign (in my defense the building was really pretty!).

  

I think I bought just as much stuff as I took pictures though! The first store we stopped in was called the Wizard’s Hatch which kinda looked like something out of Diagon Alley so I had to run in (not to mention that they sold Butterbeer ice cream, which I unfortunately didn’t get to try). I bought two little posters—one Doctor Who and the other Sherlock—and a present for Scott (some amortentia, muahahahaaha! 😉 See, Scottie! I haven’t forgotten about you!).

We also saw a cute little Peter Rabbit store that I had to take pictures of because, well, I love Beatrix Potter (no relation to Harry Potter).

But there was Shakespeare stuff EVERYWHERE. And I couldn’t have been happier.

We saw the birth place of Shakespeare and I ran into the Shakespeare shop next sore where I bought the quote “She may be but little, but she is fierce” on a page of a Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Stratford-Upon-Avon magnet for my fridge, and also a card that is block-stamped from a segment of Romeo and Juliet (or as Mitchell says, “Iviet”).

I just honestly took a bunch of random photos of buildings and stores and flowers. I should have taken a picture of the cobblestone, but I didn’t even think about that.

Soon we went to lunch and we ran to a little shop called the Pasty Presto Cornish Bakery (pesky pixie pestanomy!…I think I understand where the name Cornish Pixie came from now). I had a sausage roll which was really good. I’ve never had a roll like it before as it was an English sausage in a flaky pastry that was baked. Abbey, Mitchell, and I all agreed that it was really buttery and that the pastry stuck to the outside of our mouths.

After lunch I spotted a Jack Wills, a store that I follow on social media and have been dying to go to, and they had my favorite four-lettered word splattered across their windows: they were having a SALE! I ran in and started grabbing items when Molly and her friend, Chris (the friendly chef that made the ice cream sandwich and other items for us the other day at Kiworth House…see, I told you you’d make it into my blog! haha), met up with us. I ended up getting a dress, a couple pairs of socks, a t-shirt, and a bag (because I need another bag after I just bought the one at the Shakespeare shop, but they’re so useful when I move between home and UGA). I also spotted this really cute arm chair that was pink and navy striped and I couldn’t help but imagine it in my room at Oxford (you don’t think they would notice if I took it, do you? Even if I left the mannequin on the floor?) along with an Oxford poster.

After I spent my life savings, we found none other than the Rose and Crown! Who’d of thought that we would find the Disney pub in England itself?

We soon found our way to the park area where I took pictures of every single statue that my eye could find (including the Shakespeare one that reminds me of a scene in Gnomeo and Juliet).

I also took some pictures of some swans and other birds in the river as Mama grabbed me so I wouldn’t fall in the water (that was one time, Mama!). Amongst all of my running about I soon realized that the big brick building (that for some reason reminds me of the Holocaust Museum in DC) was none other than the Royal Shakespeare Company’s theater! I gave Mama and Abbey one look and ran in.

My love for the RSC started in high school when we watched some in English class (thanks Mrs. Terrell!). No to mention that it has grown with my undying love for Shakespeare and David Tennant (Are you the Doctor? Because I’ll be your companion any day. ;)—page 1 of Marena’s Guide to Picking up Hot Geeks and Other Fangirling Guys [I tried this once on Scott…he just rolled his eyes at me and gave me a looks like “yeah, okay”]). I soon found myself buying Richard II which was last year’s production with David Tennant in it and a Tudor Rose keychain (no judging now, Scott…I said I bought a lot haha). I also learned how to tell if a DVD can be played on US players: it has to say on the back by “region” either “region 1” or “all regions.” This one said “all regions” (I also wanted to get Hamlet with David Tennant playing the lead role as Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare play [thank you The Lion King] but it was only “regions 2 and 4” and not for the US). I was also hoping to find Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Catherine Tate (aka Donna from Doctor Who, David Tennant’s Doctor’s [not to mention my personal favorite] companion), but they unfortunately didn’t have it. But all in all I was thrilled to even get the one DVD and work on US players.

We did continue walking around a bit and as we were heading to the car we walked past a charity shop (where people donate items and the money goes toward charities) called the Blue Cross and I noticed that they had a bunch of books, some that really old and stopped right in my tracks. They might have the Harry Potter books, I thought. Before all the words I shouted to Mama left my mouth I was in the building searching frantically for first editions of the Bloomsbury copies of Harry Potter, something that I have been wanting to get since the age of eight. I was looking so quickly that it wasn’t until Dad called me over that I realized that he found some! We ended up finding Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (numbers 5, 6, and 7 respectively) as first editions and the Bloomsbury copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (number 3…it was published in 1999 when the original books came out but did not say “first edition” on it but decided to get it anyway just in case). I usually don’t talk about money, but I was so surprised when I found that each book was less than £4! (Thank you, Dad, for letting me borrow a couple of pounds!) I was in luck and I couldn’t believe it that I found them! Three first editions/four Bloomsbury down, four first editions/three Bloomsbury to go.

I can’t help but say that I had a really, really, really great day at Stratford-Upon-Avon. I can’t believe all that I found from Shakespeare’s birth place to the Royal Shakespeare Company to the Harry Potter books. I think Abbey, Molly, Chris, and Mr. Andy realized just how nerdy I truly am but I’m so thankful that they were so patient with my fangirl-ing.

It’s said that stories imitate life and that is evident in Shakespeare’s plays. But sometimes I can’t help but think that life rarely, but unintentionally and ironically, imitates stories too. For example, I can’t help but remember the one episode of Doctor Who where the tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Martha Jones travel back to 16^th century England, run into Shakespeare, and save the day with a Harry Potter spell and see the similarities of me traveling to Stratford-Upon-Avon, seeing Shakespeare sites, finding David Tennant (albeit on a giant poster), and purchasing the Harry Potter books (“Wait ’till you read book seven…oh, I cried”…me too, Doctor, me too). I mean, how ironic is that?

Maybe I just over-analyze everything. Maybe my geekiness is showing. Maybe I was just wonderfully overwhelmed. But whatever state I was in, I can’t help but have a longing to return to Stratford-Upon-Avon one day.

Cultural Differences

Day 2-3

                When I said yes to studying abroad at Oxford I knew there were going to be some cultural differences when I came over to the UK. But I don’t think I realized how much of a culture shock there was going to be.

I created a list earlier in the car to remember the few I’ve picked up so far:

1. The bathrooms all look like they are out of an IKEA magazine (unless you happen to be at Kilworth House, then it looks like it is straight out of Downton Abbey and I have pictures to prove it…You don’t really believe me, do you? Well, you’ll see soon enough…)
2. Asking for a lemonade might not end up in a combination of lemon juice, water, and sugar…it might be carbonated, clear, and taste kind of like Sprite
3. England seems to have just as many money converters are there are ATMs along with the amount of advertisements for places outside of the UK like Disneyland Paris
4. How Asda and Sainsburys are just like Walmart and Target respectively
5. The concept of roundabouts and driving on the left side of the road but walking on the right side of the aisle
6. How many drinks—including flat water and Coke products—are in glass bottles
7. Rain seems to be more like a sprinkle than a down pour (or maybe that’s only south Georgia)
8. The globalization of Pizza Hut and KFC and how surprisingly common they are
9. How there are similar yet different items in a store such as the many different kinds of Kit Kat bars or the rebranding of products such as Lynx instead of Axe
10. Eggs sitting on shelves instead of being in the freezer section
11. How HP sauce is not made in the House of Parliament
12. Tax being a part of the price instead of adding it on after you go to the register
13. How Fanta orange soda looks more like orange juice that is fizzy instead of the color of its wrapping
14. And finally, the severe lack of pickup trucks but a vast number of Range Rovers and Mini Coopers

The first pickup truck I’ve seen in England

 

Day 2: Just call me Lady Marena of Camden

It was about 8 o’clock in the morning when Mama tried to wake me up. But instead I decided to roll over and stick my head further into the pillow: the time change was still clinging onto me like an unwanted Sharpie mark that takes a lot of scrubbing and time before coming off. And it was showing. But soon I was up and dressed ready for the new day. We met the Jones’s down in the lobby and we followed them through the downtown area of Leicester to Highcross Shopping Center.

Our first stop was John Lewis which I quickly learned was a very large department store composing of different brands like Polo Ralph Lauren (which is probably at least five times the price than at an American outlet…let’s just say I was curious and picked up a tag on a men’s pullover and it was £150 pounds on sale for £100 which is about $200 on sale for $150…I think you can see my point) to more British brands like Cath Kidston (which is super cute…definitely check them out here). We went to the food shop area where we were able to get some breakfast. I decided that I wanted to go British for my first meal so I went with a full English breakfast with a hot chocolate. I was able to switch the beans though for a couple of pieces of tomatoes as I’m not that adventurous yet. It was really good!

Afterwards I ran into this cute gazebo and now I think I might have a future project for Scott in mind (maybe I could fit it into my dorm room as a reading nook or maybe bring it to a tailgate).

Soon we were in the full area of the mall. There were so many stores that we ran into that I had never heard of before and some that I was familiar with like Top Shop and Urban Outfitters and Accessorize.

Ready for the Ascot!

We happen to run by a cute pastry shop called Patisserie Valerie and snapped a couple of pictures of the desserts in the window. C’est magnifique, non?

We also ran into of all things a Krispy Kreme! I should have grabbed a picture but I didn’t as they had different flavors like a couple of cheesecake ones. They also had the bon bons which last time I went to one I didn’t see those.

We also went out into the city square which I snapped a picture of the clock tower in front of the T.K. Maxx (aka T.J. Maxx in America…why a change of the middle name, I don’t know).

We also ran into a really cute, old fashioned sweet shop. I got a small bag of Haribo Giant Strawbs which are good as Dad ran into Walker’s Pie Co. with Mr. Andy and Mitchell to grab a pork pie.

But soon we left shopping and went to the Kilworth House as we had a date with the Crawley’s.

Okay, fine, we didn’t have a date with the Crawley’s. But I sure felt like Lady Mary or Lady Rose could come gliding down the grand staircase and have high tea with us.

To say it simply, when Abbey and I were walking and talking together as we made our way from the cars to the entrance to the house, she described the house in the best way possible: it was grand and it was posh.

And it was very grand and it was very posh as we went through the doors and were greeted with gold damask walls, dark wooden embellishments, grand oil paintings, and sparkling stained glass windows. I felt like I was transported to another era.

We were having tea in the Orangery and as we made it to our table I couldn’t help but wonder if the party of ladies sitting next to us happen to be duchesses coming together to talk about their next charity event they were planning or if the couple at the table in the far corner were really a lord and lady from the next county over.

You see, Molly works in the Orangery as a waitress. I’m kind of jealous but happy for my friend that she gets to work in such a cool and historic location. I mean, how neat would that be to work in such a place? You never know when you might run into a foreign prince or some famous person (maybe like David Tennant or Tom Hiddleston…I’m just dreaming, but you never know!). But it really is just as neat to be able to go there and have high tea.

Obviously as you can see my imagination was racing and I sat up a little straighter and crossed my legs just like Julie Andrews taught me—well, Anne Hathaway—in The Princess Diaries. But soon I relaxed as the staff was very friendly and jokes were thrown across the table between Molly and her staff friends and between the eight of us.

We all decided to go with the Full English Tea which composed of a drink (such as a hot chocolate like Molly and I went with; some form of a coffee like a cappuccino that Dad, Mr. Andy, and Miss Sonia went with; and a tea like Mitchell, Mama, and Abbey went with), a round of finger sandwiches, and some desserts and cakes at the end.

I did end up trying the English Breakfast tea that Mama, Mitchell, and Abbey went with and, even though my personal history of tea is an unfortunate one, I really enjoyed it! I enjoyed it so much that I ended up having not one but two cuppas (plural of “cuppa?” Just guessing here really).

I also tried Dad’s cappuccino, which was very good, along with a white wine, which was eventually finished off by Mama.

Soon they brought out the sandwiches which I didn’t end up trying as I decided to save room for dessert (not to mention the amount of drinks I had went instead of them). Abbey was given solely cheese ones and Molly received ones with just ham on them (it is always a nice thing to be on the chef’s good side 😉 ). Molly also received an ice cream sandwich which was a joke turned into something really yummy.

Following the sandwiches were the desserts. There were so many! They brought out four tiers of three levels of pastries! There were scones and Victoria sponge cakes and brownies and clotted crème and jams and other things I can’t even remember the names of! But they were all so good. My personal favorite was the vanilla bean scones and the Victoria sponge cakes (Marena says for the 463^rd time in the past two days). The clotted crème kind of surprised me. I didn’t really know what to expect when I tried it as we don’t have it in America. I was kind of expecting something like whipped crème, but it wasn’t as sweet. Nor was it really like a light and fluffy butter. But I decided I really enjoyed the vanilla bean scone with a bit of powdered sugar on it plain as it really had good flavor and really didn’t need the crème.

But yes, at some point we did need to go to the toilet (not to get too personal) but I couldn’t help but be amazed at it as weird as it sounds. It was really fancy too with the carpet being plaid and there being really fancy mirrors. I know. It sounds weird. But I think I took on a whole new level of taking selfies through the bathroom mirror.

#getonmylevel

We did travel a bit through some rooms where they host private dinners and we did make it outside. It was on such a beautiful piece of land with rolling hills of green grass that I’ve ultimately decided that when I figure out the way to create real life floo powder and become a trillionaire I’m going to buy a lot of land with as fancy and grand of a house as Kilworth House resting upon it.

After Kilworth House we really just relaxed for the end of the day. We went to Sainsburys (like British Target) and I ended up finding a Kinder Surprise. Illegal in America, Kinder Surprises are a hollow, egg-shaped milk and white chocolate candy that have a toy inside. I ended up with a cute panda ring that just about fits my pinkie finger. But all in all it was a really great day and I went to bed happily.

Outfit: Dress, scarf, shoes, and cardigan are from J.Crew Factory; tights are from Target; and purse is from Cambridge Satchel Company

Day 3: Wait. What size am I now?

Today was a day full of shopping. We went to Sainsburys this morning and had breakfast. I had scrambled eggs and bacon. Mama, Dad, and Mitchell had breakfast sandwiches which were essentially large pieces of buttered toast with a couple pieces of bacon and sausages. In other words, my kind of sandwich.

We soon went to Fosse Park which has a bunch of shops like Marks and Spencer, Monsoon, and Accessorize. I did end up getting a really cute top at M&S along with a cupcake tray as I am always making cupcakes and giving them away. But now I can give them away in style!

We also went into a store that had a bunch of books in it—I can’t remember the store’s name—but I’ve been looking for the very first Bloomsbury edition of Harry Potter, but I haven’t had much luck. I might still buy the new edition with the new cover as they are still different than the new Scholastic covers in America. But I found the British edition of The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which is one of my favorite books of all time, and I had to get it.

But all in all the most difficult thing was the sizing. It is different and not all of the tags had American sizes on them. And I could never find sizes small enough as I’m such a short person. But oh well. I’ll figure that out like I have to figure out the money.

                But soon we were finished for the evening and Mama, Daddy, Mitchell, and I came back to the hotel room and I wrote some for IMEAO and later went to dinner with Mr. Andy, Miss Sonia, and Abbey as Molly had to work.

We went to a restaurant called the Farmhouse Inn which is a restaurant and carvery (which I am guessing is British for “buffet,” but it sounds a lot nicer doesn’t it?). Miss Sonia thought it had only been open for about a year but it was very good. The carvery area had a choice of turkey and gammon (“ham” for Americans…and I had both) with Yorkshire pudding and different kinds of veggies and potatoes. There was also a bunch of different cakes and ice cream. I had the honeycomb and toffee fudge ice cream and Abbey had mint chocolate chip and cookie ice cream. I personally loved the honeycomb because it reminded me of the center of a Crunchie bar.

Mitchell really wants this jersey!

It was really fun to wind down after a morning of shopping just being able to talk and relax with each other. I really do love Leicester as it is such a warm and inviting place with really great friends and history around every corner. This was where the found King Richard III a couple of years back under a car park and now have a museum in honor of him. Then there are the pretty cathedrals and the town shops by Highcross that remind me of Georgetown in DC. I know that my time here in Leicester is winding down, but I know I’ll be back soon!

Outfit: cardigan and shorts from J.Crew Factory; top from the Lauren Conrad’s Minnie Mouse Collection; shoes by Keds

Welcome to England!

Day 0-1

Day 0: Departure Day

                Today was flying day. And I was terrified.

                It really had nothing to do with flying the concept, just the failures of flying. As a history major it would be one thing to say that I was well aware of a basic history of flying, about its ups and downs (pun not intended). But to actually be on a plane. Now there’s a new challenge.

                Not that the day started off exactly on the wrong foot. I got up at 7:30 in the morning. Got ready. Finished packing my things into my suitcase, backpack, and duffle bag. Unfortunately Dad decided to “test” and see if it might have been over 50 pounds to which he replied, “Oh, yeah, that’s definitely over fifty.” So with apprehension in my heart, I grabbed said suitcase and Dad along with the car keys and we were off the Publix to measure the ominous object. Just as he insisted it was over weight: it was 60.5 pounds. My horror and dismay lead me to immediately start contemplating what exactly I needed to take out and leave home as I texted Scott, my beau, who was using prime Boy Scout knowledge of what exactly needed to take out and leave.

                At this point I couldn’t help but feel like Peach the starfish from Finding Nemo. Today was the day. The sun was shining. And now—gasp—my suitcase was overweight.

                As Scott charged forth upon my burden of baggage (pun intended) with Eagle Scout mode coming out full force, he started grabbing out items and I started playing the game of to bring or not to bring as I shoved some with in “To Athens” bag and the other items in another carry-on bag (Thanks Dad for explaining to the flight attendant that the boisterous, blue cheer bag with “Camden Cheerleading: Marena” engraved on it was yours. There’s a special place in my heart just for you.). Soon the suitcase was under 50 pounds (18 pounds later. I hope I don’t need those corduroys…), the car was packed, we said our goodbyes to Scott and Marlin, our dog, and we were off to Orlando!

Goodbye Georgia, Hello England!

Fast forward four hours, six renditions of Maroon Five’s “Sugar,” and an eight car pile-up later…

We finally make it to the airport!

We so cute ^_^

Of course when we make it through checking in the first thing I spot is the Disney Store EarPort…

After grabbing some dinner, making it through security, being delayed an hour and a half, and texting Scott frantically, we finally make it onto the plane. Of course I was nervous but after we got off the ground it really was like riding on a cloud.

Me and Mama ❤

I was able to sleep some as it was a night flight but I was waken up some from the turbulence we ran into. This was the part that frightened me (not to mention the really loud thud outside the plane I heard). The last time I flew was between Atlanta to Jacksonville. A 45 minute flight, I had never ran into turbulence before…I didn’t like the turbulence but I was able to sleep fortunately.

Day 1: Technically Speaking…

I guess I can count midnight over the Atlantic somewhere to ending up in Leicester as my first day in England even if it wasn’t a full day.

                Anyhow…

                So here I was sleeping on a plane, occasionally being woken up by turbulence, and was soon woken up by an excited mama as she pointed out the window toward a body of water and some land. The window was covered lightly in ice pieces and I groggily looked outside and saw different colors of green patches of earth, a long body of water, and some more land on the far side. I soon realized that I was looking down upon England, the English Channel, and France (probably and Normandy Beach). My first thought was that I was surprised how close France was to England. I mean, I knew about it from books and maps, but it’s entirely different seeing it in a plane at a bird’s eye view!

                Soon we landed in Gatwick Airport in London, made it off the plane, and went through customs. There were some windows and the first thing I saw outside was cars. I had a weird moment that only lasted for a millisecond—déjà vu really—as I looked at these cars that I’ve seen on television but now here I was looking at them in real life. I imagine that won’t be the last time that will happen. We soon made it through to get our passports stamped (after thinking I was lacking paperwork, but I was fortunately good and wasn’t missing any), went through customs, thought that all English bathrooms looked like they were straight out of Ikea, and got our suitcases.

                The first stop we did out of the airport was to stop at Café Nero and in my own words is like a European Starbucks but better (don’t worry, Starbucks, a tall caramel Frappuccino will always be my weakness…but still…#sorrynotsorry). I ended up getting a coconut and chocolate crème frape and caramel waffles—like a circular wafer with buttery, vanilla-y caramel inside. Let’s just say my first thought was that if the rest of my British food experiences were going to be like that, then I would not starve after all! (P.S. I’m the most picky person anyone knows…probably because I don’t like cheese, but ya know…*puts hands up in a defensive gesture with a “don’t judge me” kind of look*)

Yummy ^_^

                We soon get our rental car with the only problem being that it is a standard car. Let’s just say I’m happy and thankful that Dad decided to switch to automatic because really: (my American dad + a standard car)^England = a very, very BAD idea. Especially when he tries to drive like Jason Statham in The Transporter. Uh, no thank you.

Dad trying to figure out our cute Citreon

                But I think you can imagine, dear reader, how awkward it was to stand there waiting for Dad to switch the car as an American tourist lugging baggage that could probably fit ten tea pots, an obese corgi, and maybe a tire of a Mini Cooper in while multi-tasking by looking obviously lost in a parking lot (excuse me: car park) with the only conversation sounding a bit like:

                MAMA: So what do you think of England?

                MARENA: Well, as far as I can tell, the sky is the same.

                Trust me when I say the driving was no better, but I’ll save you the pain and leave that to your imagination.

                We made it to Leicester about two and a half hours later, and if it wasn’t for Mr. Andy, our family friend, we would still be on a round-about looking like we were straight out of National Lampoon’s European Vacation.

                We met up with our friends the Jones’s and went out to dinner. It was really nice to be able to catch up with them in person. The last time we saw them was when I was in the tenth grade, but we soon hit it off just like old times and were ready to start our holiday.

We made it!