Markets, Museums and More

Don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned my blog already… I’m back with almost a week’s worth of stories and pictures to share.

Aubrey, my roommate from USC, came to visit for the weekend before jetting off to South Africa for her own semester abroad. She arrived on Friday afternoon and met up with me, Margaret, and Kaitlin at our flat after we explored the Borough Market with the rest of the people from our program. I had an absolutely amazing grilled cheese sandwich and a white chocolate chip cookie that was the size of my face.

One of my favorite things on the planet.

Photographic evidence the cookie was the size of my face.

After meeting up with Aubrey, she and I took the tube to Trafalgar Square, walked around, and visited the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. I love that most of the museums in London are free, it makes it so accessible and easy to see everything that they have to offer. When we got back to the flat, we changed and headed out for our first club experience at Libertine. Not my favorite place to be honest, but it was still fun for me, Aubrey and everyone else to go out together in London for the first time.

On Saturday morning, we headed over to Notting Hill for the Portobello Road Market, a classic antique, clothing, knick-knack and food market. We roamed around the streets and walked into a few of the shops, then stopped for some food. It was a lovely, sunny day, and a great first visit to the market. We will definitely be back.

A Nutella and strawberry crepe from the Portobello Road Market. The houses in Notting Hill are all so picturesque, everyone stops along their walks to take photos of them.

The market features tons of fresh produce, pastry, and flower stands alongside the antique stands.

From there, we hopped back on the tube and made our way to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which featured exhibits from the ancient world all the way through the modern era. We looked at an exhibit on civil disobedience, statues and paintings from the Renaissance era. We also saw an exhibit on fashion through the ages that I particularly enjoyed. It even featured a “Homies South Central” shirt, which we all found amusing.

Next, we visited the hallowed halls of Harrods department store. The sheer size of the store is completely overwhelming, not to mention everything that is sold there (pretty much anything you could ever imagine). There is an entire section of the store called Shoe Heaven – appropriately located on the top floor. There is a luxury home goods and grocery area. A fine jewels department. Multiple restaurants. After some serious sticker shock, we left the store with nothing more than a few macarons from the store’s own Laduree patisserie to munch on.

Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, two iconic London sites.

Refueled by our french sweets, Aubrey and I forged ahead and did a whirlwind walking tour of some of London’s most major sites: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey. I know, cliche, but it had to be done. There’s really not that much to say about them except that they are just as grand as one would imagine. We went to bed early so that we could get up in the morning to attend mass at St. Paul’s cathedral. It was an amazing way to experience the church. Then, Aubrey and I went on to the Tower of London for a tour and to see the Crown Jewels. We ended the day with dinner at a yummy Thai restaurant with a couple friends from home, Taylor and Carrie. They are here for the semester too and have been in the city for a couple weeks already, so it was fun to catch up with them and hear about their experiences so far.

Before Aubrey left on Monday afternoon and I had my first class of the semester, we went for a late breakfast at Covent Gardens. We stopped at a little cafe in the marketplace, and were treated to an impromptu performance by an opera singer while we ate our meal. Afterwards, we strolled back and caught a bus home so that we could hang out a little before her departure. I can’t believe we won’t see each other until August! Thank goodness for social media.

Next on What a Girl Wants, I tackle my first week of classes. More on that soon… Cheers!