England :D

Hey Hey,

Well Alana and I have had a lovely time in England staying with Helen and with Alana's parents. We arrived very late thursday evening after a 2 hour delay at the airport and went almost straight to bed.

Friday Helen took the day off work so with her Aidan, Alana and I went to Borough Market and tasted lots of yummy food before heading off to the river thames along which we walked to the popular tourist sights like tower of london etc. That night we went to Brick Lane for dinner, a street filled of indian restaurants where workers stand at the door calling out to you to come into their restaurant offering discounts, and you walk along bartering for the best deal. We successfully drove a hard bargain and got such a discount that when we explained to our waiter our deal he wore such an expression of shock and had to go and check with the boss that we were telling the truth! So that was a fun night and first day.

tasting with Alana and Helen

Helen and Aidan on the underground

With Alana by the river with Tower of London Bridge in the backround

By Big Ben

Saturday was a girls day out at Camden market, a slightly alternative market! Quite cool to chekc out before hitting Oxford Street to check out the shops of London. Helen, Alana and I then went to a comedy show in the evening which was a mixed bag, but had a great day.

The Camden area
Sunday, Aidan, Helen, Alana and I all went down to Brighton where we spent a lovely day checking out 'The Lanes' which a lots of cute boutique shops in little streets, ate fish and chips on the beach, and tasted Pims, a yummy english drink, then relaxed at home in the evening. We were very lucky with the weather, perfect for our day trip. Brighton is a rather alternative area and it was really cool to see all the different people out and about.

Train to Brighton

By the pier
the beach

by the pier

With our Pims

With our Fish and Chips

With Helen and Aidan working on Monday, it was off to Thorpe Park for Alana and I, a great theme park. It was lots and lots of fun and we spent most the day on an ongoing adrenaline rush!

Tuesday Alana and I headed off to Birmingham to spend three nights at her parents house. By the time we got there we only had an hour or so to wander around the city centre and check it out and just relaxed at home in the evening. On Wednesday Alana's parents took us to Stratford Upon Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare so we got to check out his house which I thought was pretty cool, and the whole village was really cute and quaint, from there we drove to a small town which I believe is called Woodstock for lunch at the pub before having a wander around Oxford. It was such a lovely day although we were exhausted by the time we got home! Thursday saw Alana and I pass our day in the shops which was nice. That evening we had yummy curry :)

Just chilling outsides Shakespeares, as one does

the token phone booth photo :)

Then Friday Alana flew back to Sweden whereas I returned to London, and hung out with Aidan at the park while waiting for Helen to finish work to meet our cousin Nick before going to the Lion King show that evening. It was cool to catch up with Nick and the show was just amazing! The costumes, the voices, everything, well worth going, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Then on Saturday, Helen, Aidan and I went to our cousin Darren's wedding which was in a beautiful grand old church with a lovely reception at a lovely old manor. It was a lovely day and everyone looked fabulous, and it was great to catch up with Darren who I havnt seen, we worked out, for about 4 years. And seeing Mark, Christine, Glenn and others was also lovely.

Darren and Maddie

Helen and I

Helen and Aidan

On Monday I had the day to myself to run around London and do all the bits that I hadnt had the chance to do yet, so the day started at Harrods which I just fell in love with. It was so cool, I walked into the cosmetics area and a lady asked me if i would like to try the perfume so of course I nodded and then after spraying she informed me that it was 'Laundry Fresh', so i smelt like clean clothes all morning! haha but I couldnt spend the day in Harrods so it was onto Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard, but I got bored with that and left half way through! After being at the Kings birthday in Stockholm, it didnt compare at all so I wandered along and found myself on Park Lane and at Hyde Park before heading to Trafalgar Sq which I just loved! I lost an hour or so there eating lunch and checking out the national potrait gallery and that was very pleasant. Then I wandered along a lovely street past some museums etc before taking the tube to Kensington where I found some nice shops on my way to the Kensington Palace. I got to walk through the palace and it was really cool, such beautiful artwork etc and very interesting. they also ahd an exhibition of Princess Dianas dresses which was actually quite nice, the dresses were of course lovely. From the palace I made my way back to Leicester sq about 6pm on the tube in peak hour and learned what was really meant by everyone being squashed into the tubes, they were jam packed! I met up with Helen and Aidan and we went to Chinatown for dinner which was a nice end to my great trip.

Helen and I in chinatown

Then on tuesday morning Helen and I left the house at 6am caught the bus to the train station where we said goodbye and I took the train to the airport, plane to denmark, train through denmark, ferry to sweden, then bussed home. It took all the public transport to get me home, where I arrived just exhausted but had a fabulous time :) I must admit it was very strange being surrounded by english all the time, I didnt like it at first! It was always a bit strange going into a store or cafe and having to speak english to order a coffee etc, its something I havnt done in english since january! So that was weird!

Now it is back to routine, have lots of things lined up with friends etc so the last 3 months are looking good :)

xx