Last Friday we flew out of the Perugia airport (joke) and into London. We flew Ryan Air to every country. Each flight was under 20 euro, but they flew you into crap airports that are usually about an hour outside of the city. Did not take this under account when booking. But I LOVED London. My roommate and I stayed with my friend Tina who is studying there.
I was the happiest girl when we landed on Friday and I realized that I was not going to have to plan out every word I said before I opened my mouth because they spoke ENGLISH. what a beautiful thing. The first thing I did after we met up with Tina was get a venti coffee from starbucks. Let me tell you it as heaven. Then we walked around, saw Big Ben, double decker buses, statues, and museums. Got cider at a pub (Strongbow is my new favorite drink. just fyi) I was drawn to the city with its combination of history and modernness, antique looking buildings and trendy styles.
On Saturday we went to Notting Hill which I loved. Vintage clothes and jewelry, all different kinds of food, and beautiful artwork. The weather was gorgeous all weekend so we really lucked out.
On Sunday we went to Covenant Garden which was really cool too. There were lots of tea shops, a man singing the Stones and playing the guitar, huge vats of paella, and families everywhere. The weather was so beautiful we pretty much wandered around all over the city all weekend. I feel like I need to go back though because I don't think I saw even a quarter of what London has to offer.\
One thing I found surprising about London is that the accent actually makes it really hard to understand people when they talk. I think I have perfected the deer in headlights look, seeing as I used it at least once a day on this trip, even in English speaking countries! The only time this was really a problem was when I accidentally ordered mushy peas since I had no idea what the guy was saying. They were kind of gross. Basically baby food. But of course I ate them anyway. Girls gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
Another surprising thing was the Indian influence on food (curry is everywhere) and the amount of fried chicken places. Piece of advice for the Brits: get rid of the 2000 KFC's that are on every corner and put in some Bojangles. Then we'll talk.
I went on beautiful runs here. More to follow on that in a Running Diary (that name is still so cheesy).
Shout out to Tina for being the best host ever. She dealt with me wearing her clothes, sleeping on her floor, touring me all over God's creation, and listening to Christmas music on grooveshark despite the fact that it was October (sorry i'm not sorry about it. I'm just preparing for the season. every week leading up to December you need a couple hours of Christmas music to get yourself prepared. Its like training for a marathon)
Perugia transitioned into fall while I was gone last week, making it a more beautiful place than ever. While I was running this morning the thin blanket of yellow leaves that now cover the sidewalks and the families in their coats and boots leaving church and stopping by their favorite bakeries before heading home made me a little homesick. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss my family and villanova. But hey, it's nothing a couple cups of instant coffee and a vintage market that is taking place in town can't cure. I do wish that the people I love could experience the things I am experiencing here because this has been, and continues to be, such an amazing semester.
Enough with the mushy gushy talk. yuck.
Next post will be on Ireland! Need to go scope out the market for a cool bracelet. Or wash my disgusting clothes.
Nah. They can wait. Ciao ciao for now.
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