Monday, December 3, 2012

Life in Photos


If I even began to describe how busy I've been over the last few months it would take up far too many pages for anyone to read. So, to get back to blogging, but also not sacrifice too much of my time, I'm going to try to simply update through pictures of the last month/month and a half :) Enjoy! 

I received the most wonderful care-package from my parents at the moment I was feeling most homesick. It would so wonderful and uplifting just to have something that feels like home. And it's funny...most of the things I miss/asked for aren't things I normally eat...just things that seem to be very American. What a happy girl I was when all this arrived!

On the way to pick up my package, which wasn't delivered properly, I cam across
this most BEAUTIFUL display of Fall colors!
Christmas is everywhere in London now. This is at Covent
Garden.


Covent Garden Rudolph!
 Covent Garden candy canes!

Ice Skating at Somerset House (aka also--mostly-- park of Kings College!)
Discovered this INCREDIBLE bakery in
Notting Hill with a friend... it's French and OH so good!

I cannot ever get over this sight. 
This is the sight that always makes me catch my breath though...reminds me I'm in London...
you feel SO small in front of it. It's awing.. and so beautiful when lit at night. My favourite
signt in London for sure.
Time to be American! My friend Ames and I made
Mac n Cheese and Pumpkin Pie! Ok, so we burned the pie crust just a bit...but was still So good :)





I went to Holland during out "reading week,"
which is essentially a week "off," except when
you have double the reading and a paper due
upon your return...it isn't really a week "off."
But I managed to sneak in a few adverntures
anyhow!
I got to spend Friday in Amsterdam catching up with my dear friend
Hester, who I was like family in Bologna. We had the best time!


Then I went to Utrecht, which may now be
my favorite Dutch city; it was SO beautiful
and lovely, a smaller and less crowded
than Amsterdam. There I got to spend a
few days with another dear friend, Dide!--
also part of my "family" in Bologna. It was
absolutely the best weekend I could've
wished for! I ate delicious food and
drank the best coffee of my life
all weekend long!!


Upon my return from Amsterdam I boarded a train straight away to spend a couple days being very English with my friend Camilla, who is on my same course. We went to the small town of Lewes for the the oddest, craziest celebration I think I've ever been a part of--Bonfire night!...aka Guy Fawkes day.

There was a processional through the town which made you feel like you were part of the conspiracy gone out to kill "the beast" in Beauty and the Beast. A tiny little English town with people hanging out of windows and watching from rooftops as this processional went on for hours of all kinds of fire and explosions. Here is Guy Fawkes..oh his way to be burned...and at random moments the crowd would yell "Burn him!!!" 


After the processional you go to a "bonfire"...although very different from any bonfire I've ever been to. The actual bonfire can be seen on the left. There are crosses burning on the right, a man dressed like the Pope with "bangers" being thrown at him on the right, and fireworks going off dead centre. Madness! But also one of those moments where I paused every now and then and realized this was such an English experience, and something I will always remember--no matter how crazy it seemed to me!
The two lovely girls I got to spend this evening of avoiding "bangers" and exposions with! :) 
Camilla then took me to her BEAUTIFUL hometown
of Eastbourne on the South coast! We had such a lovely day, beginning with a tour of the stunning coast, then a proper English breakfast!! Finally!.. some incredible cream tea and scones at an adorable tea house in a tiny little village called Alfriston--reminded me much of the Cotswolds. We ended with the BEST French dinner I've yet to have here (and since we were outside of London it was about half the price!!). I had duck and banoffee pie (thick layer of biscuit sort-of crust, toffee, bananas, and cream!)...and it concluded the most wonderful 5 days off I could've wished for!
 A visit home is quickly approaching!! I cannot wait for some nice relaxing time to spend with my family, see my friends, drive my car, go to my old gym, go to my hairdresser, and fill up on plenty of good Mexican food and Mom's home-cooked meals :)...sometimes all the familar things just help you to relax (although I'll be writing two 20ish page papers!).

However, I have hardly begun to think about the trip home because SO much is going on here, as always. For the most part classes just dominate all of my time..well not classes, but what is required outside of them. I've got more to read than I could ever finish..ever, and additional papers coming up and a presentation, etc. But I'm surviving it, making it to the gym every so often, spending time with friends to keep my sanity, and still baking! On top of everything else...there were some "complications" with my living situation, and I'm moving this upcoming weekend! Crazy...but actually I cannot wait. I'm moving in with a really lovely English girl, and the flat is just immaculate...clean, new, beautiful, spacious...plenty of room for me to cook/bake, and I've got my own bathroom...and there's a living room!! (no common area in my current flat). I absolutely cannot wait...and it's in a VERY lovely area of Pimlico.

SO much coming up in the next few weeks...but hopefully I'll have time for another update from good ol' Texas!!

Merry Christmas (season) y'all!! ;-)