MIND THE GAP! London (Part One)

This past weekend I ended up in London...and what a weekend it was. Let's start with the fact that Daylight Savings Time is not the same day that it is in the United States. Sunday was the start of British Summertime, and every device I have knew this but...MY PHONE! Which just HAPPENS to be my alarm clock. So, the only reason I'm blogging right now is because I overslept through breakfast (I am so mad about that) and if I go to my Spanish class, I'd be about 20 minutes late. SO, I'm just gonna chill out, do some homework and get this blog done! So, me and my friend Alex took the Megabus (which is sometimes as cheap as a one pound fare for a single!) down to London at like 6 in the morning. We arrived at around 10.30 AM to the Victoria Bus Station and took the Tube to our hostel. As you may or may not, I had quite the experience with the Tube before this, however, this time I have a new found appreciation for it, and kind of LOVE the concept (Hey MARTA, you could learn from London about this). Anyway, we started off the day by getting Tesco's meal deal (my best friend) and then ate in Hyde Park! It was a gorgeous day, as it was almost 60 degrees. We went to do a Sandeman's Free Tour which was fabulous, as usual. We got to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster (Royal Wedding!??!!!), and learn tons of crazy stories about British history and culture! We even passed a giant statue of Abraham Lincoln and learned why Britain supported the South during the Civil War (quite cunning, I'll give them that). We met up with some other friends and headed off to a pub, but they were all really expensive. However, I shared the wonderful drink that is the snakebite (half ale, half cider, splash of blackcurrant liquor)! After unsuccessfully finding a place that catered to our student budget, we felt like exploring the city. So we walked around London until around 3AM and a few funny things transpired. First of all, we kind of got lost, or I think we got lost...We decided to take one of those rent-a-bikes, but they're not really suitable for short people. After riding around for a bit, I guess my legs were tired or something and I tried to stop and just ate concrete right in front of a bunch of security guards. After a brief exchange of witty insults I might have won, since I did make them laugh! We walked to the green space near Buckingham Palace and just hung out in front of a pond. The walk back home was INCREDIBLY long, because Hyde Park is definitely deceptively large. When we finally made it back at 4AM, I can safely say that I passed out until morning. 

Wellington Arch, AKA the beacon that always led me back to Hyde Park.

BIG BEN!!!

Houses of Parliament...amazing!

I Feel It All

So this past weekend, I went to Bath and Stonehenge. Both of which were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It was a very relaxing weekend since I don't think Bath and Stonehenge are known for their rockin' parties. I mean, maybe Stonehenge...but no one really knows. Anyway! I'll start off with Bath. If you couldn't guess why Bath is called Bath, I'm not going to explain it to you...but you should probably Google it! We arrived there and saw a park that looked JUST like the (500) Days of Summer park! The afternoon was spend exploring the town (but not actually going into the baths...it was 12 pounds!), we saw a little bit of the baths from the outside, the abbey, and just admired the city and it was beautiful. Everything in Bath is supposed to conform to a certain type of architecture and then be used with bath stone. The weather was gorgeous since it was in the south of England, and perfect for window shopping (and buying the most delicious fudge I'd ever had!). After touring the city, all of the lovely folks on the Don't Be A Tourist trip went to Marmaris which was a Turkish restaurant. It was delicious! We finished off the night by climbing up to get a beautiful view of the city at night and then heading off to a beer garden to have a chat. The next day we packed up all our things from the hostel we were staying at (it was a YMCA!) and headed off to Stonehenge. Contrary to warnings of it not being what you expected, I enjoyed it. 

If you think you're getting anywhere close to those stones...you're wrong. Those stones are as old as the Pyramids in Eygpt and they'd be crazy to let thousands of people touch those stones on a regular basis.

After Stonehenge, we headed off to a village called Avebury. Avebury is surrounded by stones similar to Stonehenge and you can actually touch those!!! So we hugged some stones, climbed on top of them..yeah! We continued our drive back to West Yorkshire and stopped by Broadway, a tiny town that seemed to be full of families and the elderly. It was precious! There was an old couple that sold ice cream dressed in pastel pink old time-y uniforms..it was just picturesque. Besides the trip, as of lately, I've been applying for internships and looking into potential part-time internships for the fall. As of right now, the Carter Center internship is looking pretty interesting AWESOME. If I apply for it, hopefully I'll get it! For the summer though..I'm waiting for responses to my applications. And now I've got my mind all preoccupied with graduate school or law school!! AHH! Only time will tell! Well, I'm off to London this weekend and I'll be scouting out for some interesting clothing finds. 

Adieu!

PS: First photo credit goes to Santiago Almada!

Hello!

This is officially my new favorite song ever. Nothing really exciting to say about the past weekend, but I'm going to Bath and Stonehenge on Saturday and the Leeds Beer Festival for Saint Patrick's Day, so there will definitely be a post after both of those!

Kilo Sale?? What A Wonderful Idea!

Hey all! So, I'm sort of known (I'm kind of a big deal...except not really hahaha...anyway!) for my nostalgic pangs that happen at least once a week. Basically, I have this addiction to 8tracks.com which is user-created mixtapes with a theme (usually). These last two weeks, I've been searching for mixes including songs I would have listened to in middle school and high school, and then low and behold, I get an e-mail about this mysterious "kilo sale"! Apparently every semester there is a giant vintage sale where they fill in an auditorium full of vintage clothes and for 15 pounds (approximately 22 USD) you can get a kilo of clothing (approximately 2.2 lbs)..which is a GREAT deal! I ended up getting some really cute clothes and the best thing about vintage is that it's economically & environmentally friendly! As you may tell...another thing I really like besides nostalgia and vintage clothing, I l-o-v-e lists (Yes, that was a Nat King Cole reference). So here goes! Top five reasons you should shop for vintage/thrift/donate (or formerly loved) clothing!

1. It's (generally) cheaper than what you can find in stores, if you do it right. While I'm sure a set of Chanel earrings from when Coco Chanel was still alive will pretty much annihilate your bank account, but you never know what you can find!
2. It's good for the environment! You're recycling clothing and saving the resources that it would have cost to produce a whole new item. While it seems like it's not that big of a deal, it adds up!
3. You remember in those television shows or movies from when you were a kid/teenager where the character was mortified when another girl wore the same dress as her to homecoming? Yeah, the likelihood of that happening with a vintage piece is unlikely!
4. The satisfaction you get from finding something absolutely incredible is such a rush. I mean, that's really for any purchase, but when you get something vintage, it's something not mass produced (well, not anymore) and it's quite rare!
5. Even if you're only browsing through vintage shops, it's great to try on the fancy dresses with your friends!

BONUS: Vintage/thrift from stores like Salvation Army & Good Will is SUPER cheap, and that means that even if it's not quite exactly how it should fit or how you want it to look, it's not a huge financial loss if you try and alter it and mess up. No pressure fashion design..sounds good to me!

Adorable pink ruffle-y shirt!

This sweater is different than anything I would ever get, but the detailing on the edges makes it fun, and it could play down an outfit that seems too masculine, I think, anyway.

This dress is so warm! It's quite a heavy khaki material and it's reminds me of something that 's comfy enough to wear on a nice walk or picnic..so stoked!

I had to get this...the contrasting stripes and pastel colors were calling my name.

I may or may not have an addiction to stripes...so nautical and loose fitting, perfect for the summer!

Going the Distance

This weekend I went to Ireland with Andrea and Jessica, and it was quite the adventure! Andrea and I left for the airport and arrived at around 6:30PM...and we were so worried about missing our flight -- but we ended up having more than enough time. Anyway, when we arrived in Dublin...we were pretty much beat, so we went to bed. The next day is when things finally got interesting(er). We started off the way by going to two of the National Museums of Ireland (the archaeology and natural history ones), and they were really cool! The natural history museum was full of animals that were native to Ireland on the first floor, and the second floor was animals from all over the world! The most impressive animal was a tiger that was given to the National Museum by George III as a gift...it was a really old and well preserved tiger! In our adventure to the museum of archaeology, we walked through St. Stephen's Green, which is a big park full of statues. The next museum was also very, very cool because it had ancient remains from Ireland and some random travelling exhibits! Very informative. Afterwards, we decided to end our sightseeing at the Old Jameson Distillery, which was my personal favorite. As you may or may have not read, I am taking a class on traditional alcoholic beverages, so the distillery tour was an interesting explanation of how whiskey is made. I was also chosen to be a whiskey taster, so I now know the differences between Irish whiskey, scotch, and American whiskey...and believe me, they are different. All whiskies are made with barley, and this barley is roasted. So scotch's barley is roasted using wood...thus giving it a smoky kind of taste, but on the other hand, Irish whiskey is made with a fuel source that emits no extra taste so the full taste of malted barley is presented. It was REALLY cool! We ended our day in Temple Bar until Jessica arrived and then like the night before...ended up being really tired and going to bed. The next day, we woke up super early and ate breakfast at the hostel...a lot of breakfast. We were planning on saving tons of money that day (which kind of got negated by buying souvenirs...but, hey, I would have spent more had I not done this). So we did a little bit of this (that may save you money if you're travelling!)

1. Does your hostel offer free breakfast? Do they have bread for toast and jelly/peanut butter for topping? Sounds like you should be eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, eh?
2. Sandeman's tours are amazing...they're free tours in major cities like Paris, Dublin, and London (and more...) where the guides work on tips, so you're going to (idealistically) get an excellent tour!
3. Bus passes are overrated. That is all.
4. Don't forget (well, unless you're not a student) that you're a student...so I think "Can I get the special?" should be numero uno on your phrases in another language!

A view of the north side of Dublin from the bridge.

Our itinerary for the day included going on a walking tour of Dublin and then the Guinness Storehouse! The walking tour was free, and is number two on the short list above...we saw most of the main attractions in Dublin and got a lovely historical background on its history! We ended the tour back in St. Stephen's Green and began our trek to the Guinness Storehouse which was okay, but it should have been a guided tour instead of a free for all..in my opinion. We ended the day in the Temple Bar area again so we could listen to some traditional Irish music, and it was GREAT! As we were walking home, we saw this street performer that was dancing with fire and it was so entrancing.

Anyway, that's all I've got about Ireland. Unfortunately there's no exciting trips this weekend, but later I'll post about the kilo vintage sale I went to this afternoon! I'm done with midterms, so life will be back to normal until finals.