Jenn Visits London

My mom came to London for a week from March 21-29.  It was her first time out of the country and I think her biggest challenge was crossing the street.  Now I'll admit when I first got here I was pretty confused about it too, but it's a wonder she ever got across the street here! haha :)

Mom and I with our butterbeer

The day she arrived we went to Kensington Palace, right across from my flat.  It was a gorgeous place and had very interesting decorations.  For dinner we of course had to go to a British pub, she got bangers and mash (I'll try a bite, that's all) and I got a pot pie-the best British food you can get.

That Friday was probably one of the best days of the semester.  With my program we went to........HARRY POTTER STUDIOS! Yes! I was in the very building where the films were shot.  I saw with my OWN EYES.  The props, costumes and sets of the greatest series every produced.  I teared up a little bit, I'll admit it.  It was just so amazing!  And it was great to share it with my mom, a fellow Harry Potter fan.  We also had a butterbeer, which is a non-alcoholic Wizard drink.  It's like root beer, but butterscotch flavored.  At the gift shop I bought a Quidditch tshirt, the first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry's wand-I could not resist.

Diagon Alley

Mom and I in front of Hogwarts

The week that my mom visited was one of the coldest yet, which was really awful!  It was almost too cold and windy to go out!  We went to all the tourist-y stuff: Westminster Abbey (cool, but boring-I know, I'm awful), Buckingham Palace and Abbey Road!  We had an amazing afternoon tea! Probably one of the highlights of her visit.  I had to go to the Churchill War Rooms for class, so my mom toured the museum as well.  It was very interesting!   I had no idea that Churchill had all of his offices underground during WWII and the Blitz.  I even got to see the map that divided Germany after WWII ended-the history nerd in me was ecstatic.

War Rooms exactly the way they were
when they closed after WWII

We also surprised her classroom and Skyped with them!  We had a great time while she was here, she's already planning on coming back-hopefully if/when I move here :)

During that week some of my flat mates and I went to Ice Bar, a bar where everything even the glasses are made of ice!  It was fun, but very very cold.

Chris Dupre visits London and a quick visit to Paris

March was a very busy month for me and I totally neglected my blog!  But now that we are no longer studying The Beatles in my Popular Culture class, I'll use this time to catch up.

My dad arrived on March 13, it was really great to see someone from home!  We left for Paris March 14 (Thursday) on the Eurostar train, which gets us there in about 3 hours.  The train was really nice and relaxing, and it gave me a chance to see parts of London and Paris outside the city.

It probably goes without saying, but Paris is amazing!  After we arrived we went to Cafe Central for a late lunch.  We both ordered a Stella and I had probably one of the best cheeseburgers on the planet (or maybe I was just really hungry).  We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the city.  My dad surprised me with the Eiffel Tower, I had no idea we were walking towards it until he told me not to turn my head until he said so.  And voilà there it was! It's amazing and I was in awe every time I saw it over the next few days.  We had wine at a cafe over looking the Tower at sunset.  After we spent more time looking at the Tower, this time at night when it is absolutely stunning!

Over the next few days we had amazing food-pasta, beer, eclairs, macaroons, ganache, wine and croissants (the best in the world).  We saw the Louvre-we joked that it took us longer to find the exit than it did to see what we wanted.  We went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, it was really great but I'm not a fan of heights!  We wandered around the Champs Elysees and I oogled over things I will never be able to afford, like a 600 euro Louis Vuitton scarf.  We saw Notre Dame and Sacré-Cœur Basilica, both were stunning.  And last but not least we went to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, where I spent most of the experience deciding whether I was going to pass out or throw up.  I am really trying to conquer my fear of heights here, but so far no change.






 







We came home from Paris on St. Patrick's Day, so my dad and I went to an Irish pub with my friend Brittany, who was very gung-ho about the holiday.  They died the fountains in Trafalgar Square green, so of course we saw that too!  It was a lot of fun.  We spent the rest of his time here going around London to sites like Parliament, Tower Bridge, etc.  Being avid tennis players and fans, we went to Wimbledon to see the stadium or at least the outside of it because unfortunately it was closed when we got there.  It was still really great to see and think of all the great players that had been there.  We also did the London Eye, however for most of the ride I was immobilized by my fear of heights.  Literally, I couldn't move myself from the bench in the middle of the vestibule.  

To top off the great week I spent with my dad, he brought me TWO boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  I somehow have managed to make them last a month, but I'm almost done with my last sleeve of Thin Mints.