Hi everyone! Three more entries to go of Lost in London! I'm very sad about it, but I do have a little surprise I'm holiding on to until my final blog. This entry will also be kind of short, but it's all about my second to last week of studying abroad. A piss up is British slang for like a huge celebration, usually including alcohol. And I'd be lying if I said there was no alcohol involved in the celebrations this week.
After arriving from Ibiza and applying some good old fashioned Aloe Vera (though I was surprisingly not burnt to a crisp after that trip) I embarked on making sure I had some fun final celebrations with my amazing mates. First, me and my friends went to the London Real Wine Fair, which is an annual extravaganza that brings 160 wineries from all around the world to London and allows individuals to sample wine from each one. Now, I'm no wine expert (I tend to stick to barefoot and the occasional white moscato) but this gave me a whole new appreciation for wines from all over the world. We tried varieties of wines from over 25 booths, including wines from Hungary, Greece, Italy, the UK, the US, Germany, France, Spain, and Australia. And as a shock to absolutely no one, the US and UK wines were by far the worst. Surprisingly, though, the one from Hungary was my favorite, so Lost in Hungary is coming soon to a blog near you. Just kidding, but it was seriously an incredible tour around the world. And just when I was thinking I couldn’t love travel any more😂
After coming home from the wine tasting adventure and toasting to our last week in london, I…..to the surprise of no one, fell asleep. But on Monday, I was really feeling the beautiful summer weather, and so I took a trip to Kew Gardens, aka the London botanical gardens. It was absolutely beautiful! Oh and I bought another book—which at this point should be completely off limits to me. Some go to london and bring back clothes, others go raid every bookstore in london for books they could just download on their kindle, but I think avid readers will agree that it’s just not the same.
Anyways, Tuesday was dedicated to what has been my absolute favorite market experience in London, Camden. I swear, a trip or study abroad to London isn’t complete until you’ve tried a magic juice smoothie, bought at least one item of jewelry, and walked along the waters of this stunning marketplace. I also picked up my social pottery cupcake, which I’ve included in the pictures, from my adventure at Social Pottery in Kentish town. This was such a fun little thing to do if you’re an artist or even if you’re more like me. It’s basically fancy paint a penguin with wine, so what could be better?
Then, me and my friend Madi went to the Bar Elba, a beautifully decorated rooftop bar in Southwark. We had a lovely time chatting through our london memories while sipping on some cocktails (how sad that this will be illegal for me in just a days?) And then I finished off the day with a marathon of Frozen, because….well because I was feeling it and what’s more adult than singing Let it Go at 3 am?
Wednesday, my friends and I continued the floral theme, taking the tube to Chelsea for the annual Chelsea in Bloom flower show. We saw beautiful sculptures made entirely from flowers, one of which I’ve included below:) Then we pulled another potluck (funfact of the blog is that potlucks actually aren't a thing here, as Ellen has told me that that's not even a word in British english), this time asian themed! I made some delicious crab rangoons, 10/10 would recommend.
Thursday was by far the best day of the week, as me and Ellen saw Legally Blonde Live at the Regent's Park Open Air theatre. It was a day straight out of my theatre kid fantasies, as we started with a trip to the theatre cafe, one of my all time favorite places! This is a must for any kid who is even half as into musical theatre as me. The songs played are all from different musicals, there's musical theatre merch, and best part-- the drinks are all named after theatre references too. BRB majorly fangirling in the corner.
After getting our sugar fix, we packed some picnic foods and ventured inside Queen Mary's gardens in Regent's Park. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. There are 120 varieties of roses (which happen to be my favorite flowers) and they've mostly bloomed since me and Elizabeth visited last month! It was gorgeous -- I'll have to attach a picture of that too. Then we went inside the theatre, which was basically an outdoor amphitheater without a roof, and it was so cool seeing an outdoor show, with birds flying around and a breeze giving so much extra. I just have to thank mother nature, because outdoor shows in London definitely face the threat of the rain and we were thankfully in the clear.
The show was PHENOMENAL. Quick geek out: the actress who played Elle is famous for her role as Anne Boleyn in Six the Musical, and she had one of the best voices I've ever heard. If you're for some reason coming to London before the end of the summer, I really can't commend it enough.We finished off Thursday with a night of fun! First, we headed to the Hackney Funhouse for my friend Madi's birthday, where we engaged in a chemistry themed experience of making drinks using all the chem equipment! I am happy to report that it went a lot better than the Harry Potter cocktail making class in Glasgow, and for that matter, a lot better than my time in Chem accel in high school too haha. Afterwards, we met up at Wetherspoons for one final piss up with our friends and reflected on the amazing semester we've all had. Finally, me and a few friends went to Heaven, an incredible club that probably ranks as my favorite clubbing experience of the semester. And that may or may not be partly because they FINALLY played everytime we touch!!!!!!
Friday, we headed to our last #FuckoffeeFriday (sponsor me please lol) and hung out with the flat at Regents Park for a chill night in. Saturday (aka yesterday), I revisted Borough Market for the last overwhelming Saturday morning and finished the day with a beautiful Taylor Swift tribute at Southwark Cathedral. Called Candlelight, its a string quartet played to a beautiful backdrop. Um but it was quite awkward not being able to scream along to Taylor swift music and also hearing these songs in a Church so.... And then finally today, I headed to the Columbia Flower Market to see some MORE beautiful flowers (jesus I think there might be a theme here) before heading with some friends to try Indian food for the first time. And that.....was my week recap. So yeah, another 15 hours of sleep. Just kidding, I slept for a bit longer than that.
All in all, I definitely achieved my goal of having a packed week, and the fun's not ending now. This week (aka my LASTTTTTT week in London), I am visiting Ellen's family in New Milton, packing to go home (YIKES), welcoming some family friends to the city, enjoying the queen's Jubilee celebration (aka the biggest event in Britain like ever), and finally, finally, saying goodbye. So let's make these final six days some to remember! I'll be back so soon:)
Your bestie,
Sharon
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