Hampton Court Palace, Ice Bar, and Mom’s Visit!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Hampton Court Palace

My friend from home, Anna came to visit me for a few days.  While she was here we went to Hampton Court Palace where King Henry the 8^th lived.  Anna is fascinated by King Henry and his wives so she really enjoyed it.  We walked all around the palace grounds, it was quite confusing…we got lost a few times.  My favorite parts were the gardens; all of the trees, the fountains, and the flowers were so pretty.  We went to Hampton Court right when it opened so we wouldn’t have to wait in long lines.  The weather was a bit overcast and cold so not many people were there.  However there were about 5 or 6 school field trips going on; there were kids running around all over the place.  It was funny to think not so long ago I was that young going on field trips and now I am 21 getting ready to come home after living in London for 3 months.  Crazy.  We headed home to relax before the Ice Bar that night.   

Ice Bar

On Monday night there was a group of about 20 of us ready to go to Ice Bar.  Ice Bar is exactly what it sounds like, a bar fully made of ice.  It is a very popular attraction in London; we had to make reservations a few days in advance.  When we walked in they gave us these big blue cloaks with furry hoods.  The cloaks also had gloves attached to them; even the glasses they gave you to drink out of were made of ice.  You are only allowed to stay in the bar for about 45 minutes because it is so cold!! It was so much fun, the concept is really cool.  We all felt and looked like Eskimos. 

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Mom’s Arrival

I was SO excited to see my mom.  I see her on Skype at least 2-3 times a week but seeing her in person was so great after 3 months!  We had a very busy 4 days ahead of us so we got started right away.  We shopped a bit on Wednesday, and then went into the National Portrait Gallery.  Wednesday night we went to dinner and then saw The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in Covent Garden.  Seeing The Lion King on stage was amazing.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen; it gave me the chills.  I highly recommend it to men and women of all ages, you will not be disappointed.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday morning we went to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye.  The London Eye was very cool.  It is like a large enclosed ferris wheel where you can see the whole city of London for miles.  After seeing those sights we headed back to the hotel, we had to get ready to catch our train to Paris.  We got to Paris at about 7:00 pm. After we checked into our hotel we went straight to the Champs Elysee.  It was so gorgeous; the entire street was lit up for Christmas.  Every tree had 3 rings of neon colored lights; they looked like they were floating around the tree trunk.  We ate dinner which unfortunately was not Turkey; but we were in Paris so I am not complaining! 

The weather was overcast Thursday and Friday, the fog was so thick that we couldn’t even see the top of the Eiffel Tower!!  Friday we went to the Musee D’Orsay which houses Renoir, and Monet.  My mom was in heaven at this museum.  We then went to Notre Dame which was absolutely gorgeous.  Then we went on the hunt for Longchamp bags (my main mission in Paris).  Two train rides and 45 minutes later we found the store where we waited in line for what seemed like for ev er. 

After we got the bags we were happy and hungry campers.  We took the train back to our hotel and sat down to grab lunch.  Unfortunately we had misread our train tickets and it left 2 hours earlier than we thought.  We sat down to eat at 2, our train was at 3.  We cancelled our order, panicked a little bit, and then grabbed a cab to the train station.  We made our train about ten minutes before it left!! As my mom says “God was on our side that day.” 

Saturday November 26, 2011

We decided to do a Hop on Hop off bus tour; it’s the easiest way to see all the sights in London.  We went to the Winston Churchill War Rooms which is now my favorite museum that I have ever been to.  It was my second time there because I had gone with my history class.  It has so much to see and do.  I have a newfound obsession with Winston Churchill.  I was also really excited for my mom to see the Tower of London which has the Crown Jewels.  There happened to be a guided tour starting right as we arrived at the Tower.  Our tour guide was extremely informative and very funny!  I had been there before, but it was my first time taking a tour.  After the Tower we headed to Buckingham Palace and then to Harrods.

  It was a jam packed few days but we had a blast!! It was so great to show her what has been my home for the past 3 months.   As of Thursday December 1, I am done with classes and finals!  I come home in less than 2 weeks and I still can’t believe it. 

More adventures coming soon (:

Liz 

Everyone at Ice Bar..chilly

Harrods lit up!

         

 

Tucked into the Gardens at Hamptpn Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace

Caitlin and I with Harrods Bear



Passport to Paris

Friday October 28

“The Eiffel Tower”

After our two hour ride on the Euro Star (the Euro Star is the train that goes all over Europe) we had finally arrived in Paris.  We checked into the Hotel de Paris aka Hotel from Hell.  This was literally the most disgusting hotel I have ever seen.  Our room smelled awful, there was no shower curtain, and the sheets were stained. I could go on forever, but I won’t bore you with the details.  Lisa, Caitlin, Johnny and I shared a room.  We wanted to get out of there the moment we arrived.  So we dropped our bags and headed to the Eiffel Tower.  It is so amazing to look at in real life; all the pictures and images you see on television do not do it justice.  Caitlin and I kept thinking about the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen twins’ movie “Passport to Paris.”  We quoted it most of the weekend.  It was around 4:30 5ish when we got in line to climb to the top.  All of us wanted to say we climbed to the stop so we opted for the stairs instead of the 2 minute elevator ride (not to mention it was cheaper to take the stairs too).  We waited in line for about a half an hour, and then began our trek up the stairs.  700 stairs to be exact; at about 200 we took a break and walked around and watched the sunset.  It was definitely one of the best sunsets I have ever seen for sure.  As the sun sets you see all of the buildings and streets start to light up it was so pretty!!  The sun set and we continued up 500 more steps.  Once you reach 700 you can’t take any more stairs; you must take an elevator up, it is about a 20 second ride.  When we reached the very top, we were all speechless…it was an amazing view of the city.  City of Lights is absolutely the right name for Paris because the lights were so pretty and they were all twinkling, especially from so high up.  After about 20 minutes of ooing and ahhing at the view, we were starving and dreading our 700 step walk down.  As we neared the bottom our legs began to feel like Jell-o.  We walked to the closest restaurant and had a much needed long sit at dinner.  Then we headed back to the hotel to relax and rest up for Saturday.

Saturday October 29

“The Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees”

I really thought the line at the Louvre was going to be really long, and that we would be waiting there for hours.  We waited in line for a total of five minutes and did not have to pay since we are students studying in Europe which was a nice surprise.  The museum is SO big; there are so many wings and hallways, and exhibits.  You definitely need a full day if you wanted to go all over the museum.  We basically just wanted to see the Mona Lisa, which isn’t even that great in person (sorry art lovers).  It was really small, and the area around it was so crowded that it wasn’t even really enjoyable to look at.  We walked around for about an hour, and then decided it was time to go.

The Champs Elysees was really cool, there were so many shops that Caitlin and I couldn’t afford but loved looking at such as the Louis Vuitton store.  However Caitlin, Johnny, and I relived our childhood and hung out in the Disney store for a while…it’s the same in every country in case you were wondering.  We also dragged Johnny into the biggest Sephora store Caitlin and I had ever seen he was a trooper.  Finally we made it all the way to the end of the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.  Again pictures and television don’t do it justice.  It was such a unique structure and the ceiling of it was like looking at an optical illusion.  We headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.  Caitlin and I enjoyed dinner very much because they put gummy bears and glow sticks in our cocktails, it was so weird but awesome at the same time. 

Sunday October 30

“Notre Dame”

Notre Dame was gorgeous inside and out.  Disney did a fabulous job of depicting it in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  This was one of my favorite parts of the trip because the moment after I asked “Where’s Quasimodo?!” the bells started to ring, it was so funny.  The stained glass windows were the prettiest windows ever.  It was easy to tell what the stories were depicting because the pictures were very detailed.  We took the Euro Star back to London Sunday night and crashed, we were exhausted.  Caitlin and I then watched Passport to Paris and said oh we've been there and there we are such little girls. 

Overall my trip to Paris was so much fun.  I can’t wait to back at Thanksgiving with my mom!  Staying in London this weekend….My friends and I have a few day trips in England that we are planning for the rest of the semester.  It is coming to an end very quickly, so bittersweet!!

More adventures coming soon!

Liz (:        

In front of the Eiffel Towe

Caitlin and I in front of The Louvre





Caitlin, Johnny, and I in front of the Arc de Triomphe

Notre Dame

Eiffel Tower by night



Wishing I was 5 years old again so I could have bought this in the Disney Store