the great london adventure

enjoy the london post
{finally}
.i know.
it is long --- beware
you can "click" on the collage photos to see them closer
enjoy

read below......

warning

this WILL be a long post

if you get to the end & your eyes hurt from reading

{or} your finger aches from scrolling

don’t say i didn’t warn you

through the clouds

flying in

finally i saw the green grounds of the U.K.

i was -so excited- to arrive

day one.

"portobello road, portobello road"

imagine me singing this song from bedknobs & broomsticks

{a childhood favorite movie of mine}

here---> a huge market on the streets of

london

next stop:

princess Diana’s house

(where she lived before she died)

the english {still} love her

.hummingbird bakery.

if any of you followed my old blog,

you know that i have posted about cupcakes before.

this is my {third} “ode to cupcakes”

amy introduced me to this

bomb-dot-com

treat bakery in London

-------- confession:--------

i went {2} times while i was in London

& each time i got {2} cupcakes

<> adorable

<> cute

<> idyllic

<> delicious

<> scrumptious

<> delectable

chelsea + red velvet with cream cheese frosting = L.O.V.E

next:

downstairs at the troubadour

On friday night we went to the Troubadour Café. It is one of London’s most famous places for live entertainment. And I love live music! Legends such as Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix have performed here in their early days. We were able to see -6- different performances, we bought one of the CD’s, we danced, we laughed, and we will all remember the old, fat, drunk guy that kept grabbing me as his dance partner.

------------> GREAT first night in la-la-la London

on the way home from the pub

i passed this sign

.WHAT were the ODDS.

Beatrix Potter was a famous children's book author

i loved the books when i was a lil' girl

my mom and grandma even took us to an exhibition of it when we were younger

the tale of {peter rabit}

or

the tale of the {two bad mice}

classic good books

that was just day {1}

------------------------------------------

day two.

woke up

i headed to buckingham palace

i wanted to witness the changing of the guards

then i went to the *National Gallery*

england’s famous museum for art

i was able to see Monet’s work

i know you all recognize this painting

{yes} i saw it in person

then.

walked around

{for many hours}

amy was an amazing tour guide

i saw a ton of sights

trafalgar square

parliament, westminster abbey, shakespeare’s globe theater

my new --favorite-- icon is that of BIG ben

we also saw tower bridge, london bridge, tate museum,

st. paul’s cathedral, lots of phone booths,

& so much more

played with the guard

he wasn't ..allowed.. to crack a smile

i tried a joke

then for dinner we had time to stop at a pub for

{fish & chips}

my first experience

-----> later that night

i went to a broadway play

Billy Eliot

{amazing dancing}

i sat second row

this man sold me his daughter’s ticket so they adopted me for the night

it was about 35 dollars only haha

great deal for me

LATER on saturday:

we decided to paint the town of ----Greenwich, England----

greenwich is the home of the prime meridian of the world

{the longitude is zero}

the number one reason people go to greenwich is because everybody wants that classic tourist photograph straddling the greenwich Meridian Line with one foot in the West hemisphere and the other across the line on the East.

{pretty sweet opportunity, don’t deny it}

Bloggers did you know:

greenwich, england {defines} time for the whole world.

all time is measured relative to greenwich mean time (GMT)

all world time zones are based from where i was

{so cool}

and what a better night than the saturday night i was there?

time was changing

it was day-light savings that night at {1} AM

well here is what went down:

we got to Greenwich at 11:30

mind you i had been out since {ten} in the morning already so i was pooped

but we were excited

we got off the train & headed into the little town

we walked our way to the park where the “line” was

and as we walked up to the gates of the park

we realize they are locked

a sign reads that they have been closed since 1900 aka 7 PM

weird we thought

maybe lets walk around to a different entrance

or ask someone

we found someone and asked and sure enough CLOSED

i bet some of you are thinking.. hop the fence

-------> UM NO

these gates & walls are better & higher than the vatican’s

not only were parts just pure brick

but others had spears on the top that would puncture any body part

so there we were on the {outside}

and not on the {inside}

also side note:

there were signs all over the gates and fences that read:

anti-climb paint

WHAT the…….

once home i looked it up:

here is LITERALLY what it is:

"anti-Climb Paint is a thick, non-drying coating for fencing and walls etc. It acts as an extremely effective restriction to would be intruders and burglars by making surfaces virtually unclimable, whilst marking intruders hands and clothing."

so unclimable ehhhh?

and we would have been caught “black-handed”

at first we were all really bummed

we were all so excited***

but what we did was find a bench {near} the park

they pulled out the wine

we laughed & had deep convos

we celebrated like it was new years when the time changed

and pretended like we were standing over that damn line

(photo above) you can see us in the dark

(photo below) the girls.. {basically} east and west hemisphere

or the closest i will ever get haha

the {best} quote of the night from the mouth of Molly to a local:

“wait…. so there are no time-change parties going on? WHAT?!?”

i guess they don't think of it as a BIG deal there

then:

for us who missed the beatles tour that day

we had to take an {abbey road} beatles shot

all in all

a FUN night

still worth it

we didn’t get back home to our beds till 6 AM

only here once right?

we walked through the city of london

till the wee hours of the morning

what a memory

and that was day {2}

------------------------------------------------------

sunday = relaxing

sunny day

picnic in hyde park

people watching

went to Camden market

h.p. fans

here is a little personal shoutout

for my sister. ash p. shak. & nicole

i went to platform 9 3/4

i was thinking of you

you were there in my heart

we attended mass for palm sunday

{in london}

still can't believe i went

sunday night.

i went to piccadilly circus (the NYC area for the britts)

& leicester square

----> then i just walked around to enjoy the moment

i sat on a bench

with this perfect view of big ben

no one bothering me

JUST ME

i am {so lucky} to be here in europe

.life. .is. .good.

cheerio london city

i loved you

i want to come back

i will soon

one last part

gotta blog about this

the “tube”

the london way of transportation

mr. tube and i became great friends during my adventure

{please mind the gap}

u.k.

there will be a {great} post coming your way
probably tomorrow
all about L.O.N.D.O.N
& photos too

all you gotta know
i had a blast

la-la-la london

going away for the weekend

in 5 hours.
i'm leaving for here:

i'm {flying} to london
like .peter pan. did...
but i'll be taking a plane

my sister has {2} best friends studying there

they are sweet enough to have me as their guest

i am so excited

--meet amy--

--meet molly--

they love {one} irons sister already

my odds are great

i know i will l.o.v.e.

LONDON

just wait

{cheerio}

xoxo

five thoughts

i have {five} thoughts to blog about today
random thoughts
you can read them all if you please

-----------------------------------

-one-

what a great day

when i got home from paris i had {5} surprises

letters from home

laura. ash pawlak. mom. dad. g & g ganje

{thank you}

-----------------------------------

-two-

since she doesn’t blog

i am going to write a little about her

my sister {ash}

everyone that knows me---> knows her also

so i will update you

she is livin the life in guatemala

she has been there for {3} months & has {1} to go

she studies spanish for 5 hours every day

she is having an amazing experience

{who wouldn’t be jealous of her life?}

her & her cute friends

------------------------------------------

-three-

lets name this baby

i have some creative minds that follow my blog

{so please}

i'm asking for your help

what can i name my travel backpack

we go everywhere together

i want to name her

because she (or he) is the {1} thing that will see everything i see

it is red--- but please no {big red} or {cinnamon bear}

they have already been tossed out

---give your ideas---

and don't mind how dis-GUSTING i look in this photo

------------------------------------------

-four-

i love technology

it can keep families together when there are miles in between

last night

ash, M & D, and i were able to 3-way talk

i mentioned in an earlier blog that our family is in 3 different countries right now

yesterday we all got to talk via skype in the same conversation

best thing ever

------------------------------------------------

-five-

last thing on my mind

i am going to share a story

(it is a rather {long} story so feel free to pass it by)

i will try to tell this to the best of my knowledge

but i will have you know that i was {crying}

& traumatized from the whole situation

so i mean the incident is blurry

it was monday afternoon:

i was sick, i had just been on a 3 hour train ride home from paris

i had not had any sleep from the night before

i was on the bus in geneva 3 stops from my house

all of a sudden the police jumped on the bus and demanded that everyone pull out their bus passes

{quick background:}

Geneva has a great transit system. Buses are constantly running all over the city so it is very convenient. You pay 3 francs for a ticket every time you get on or you can buy a monthly bus pass. Some girls told me they had been in Geneva for a year and have never been checked. It is called the honor system and you can choose to risk it and never buy one (which lots of people actually do) or you can just get a pass. Being the “honorable” girl I am, I got a pass. Better safe than sorry.

So back to the story:

I was on the bus and the police jump on. They tell everyone to get their passes out. So I start to look in my backpack when I get this terrible pit in my stomach. Immediately I knew that my pass was not in there. It was sitting on my dresser at home. Because I had left to Paris I didn’t pack it. In my head I was just thinking, look through your stuff and maybe they will pass you by... yea right. So the man stops at me and I try and communicate that I am looking for my pass in my huge backpack. Right next to me there was a gypsy man on the bus he tried to jump out of the door and the other police man tackled him, this was when the tears started to fall. In French he told me to get up and the bus stopped. Me, the gypsy, and the two police men got off the bus. I had NO CLUE what they were shouting at me, but at this point the tears were streaming. I was crying for these reasons:

-i was humiliated that they created a scene on the bus & i was kicked off

-i had no clue what he was saying to me, & i assumed nothing good because his tone was enough

-i was an honest person, i HAVE a pass, i just left it at home

-i had gone through my stuff so frantically on the bus, who knew if i left any of it on there when we got off so fast

-maybe if i cried hard enough, he would let me off... YEA RIGHT

(they hate americans)

So there we were, sitting on the curb and I could barely breath (because I was so sick) but also because I was crying so hard. The bus had already drove off. He asked for my passport and started to take down all my information.

Then this sweet lady walked by and could hear my English as I was battling and she stopped to interpret. She was able to compromise with them. If I went to the station and showed my proof within 24 hours I could get out of the 80 franc ticket. I don’t have 80 dollars to spend on a bus fine. So he handed me the ticket, still had the nerve to say "au revoir" (have a good day) and then left.

My tears subsided and I walked the rest of the way home. When I got to my house there was my pass, right where I left it.. my photo smiling back at me.

And then I laughed, what a day!

----------------------------------

there are the {five} random updates on my life

.have a good wednesday.

i miss you all

with love from switzerland

xoxo

mr. golden s-u-n

just so you know:
part {2} of paris will be coming soon
---------------BUT-----------------

i have to take the chance to {blog} about the bea-utiful weather we are having

geneva

60

-----blue sky

-----puffy white clouds

-----sun on the face

{best feeling ever}

even if i am sick

.......about time to bring out the

{stunna shades}

.......i better paint my toe nails

{sandal season is around the corner}

a visit with the mouse-- as in MICKEY

left geneva at {4:30}
a.m.

i slept on the train
woke up
and voila
---paris/france---

i arrived @ the park @ {11:05}
i was greeted with these sights

i couldn't wipe the

s.M.i.L.e.

off of my face

disney paris

say cheese

this photo is dedicated to {2} very special princesses

in the u.s.a.

---snow white & cinderella---

the .castle. from the back

the --top--

i was able to walk up in it

the view of {fantasy.land}

stained glass windows

true love's kiss

then I got to see a parade

GREAT

=colorful

=loved the music

=saw the characters

i rode some rides

quite {surprised} by some:

indiana jones--> went upside down, not expecting that AT ALL

space mountain 2--> kicked the usa WDW's {butt}

& also took us for some upside down {unexpected} loops

i l-o-v-e this tee

totally-----> disney

whenever {i} attend disney

it is all about the

FOOD

{yum}

pizza

i had a great day

it was different than disney world & disney land

it was special in its {own} way

and i loved every second of this day

.all because of the.

m-o-u-s-e

xoxo

with love form euro