my life in europe

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}