A Farewell to London

I wanted to wait and post this week's blog now, instead of last Sunday, so I could include all of the happenings from my final week in London. 

After my parents left last Tuesday, which now feels like weeks ago, I was busy finishing papers and studying for finals so I could enjoy my last weekend. We all were. We finished everything and were so releaved to be done and relax. We started off our weekend on Thursday and tried to go to The Roxy one last time BUT there was a huge line when we arrived. It was unbelievable, we were baffled that our little Thursday night spot had been invaded by hundreds of people. I waited in line for at least twenty minutes and reluctantly had to give up and go home (I had to pee so badly) I literally ran home, which didn't help the situation at all!! 

Pure Happiness 

On Friday I didn't have work because of the bank holiday/Easter so we kicked off our day at Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station. Yes, this exists even though the scenes in Harry Potter weren't even filmed there so... I'm confused. This has been something Perri and Helen have been talking about doing the entire time we have been here so they HAD TO GO!! And they dragged me along to be the photographer. Great fun! We got out of the station and had to ask where the platform was. After the tube station man laughed at Helen he pointed us in the right direction. When we walked over there was a huge production in front of it. "Conductors" were taking professional photos and mingling with the people in line chatting about the movies, books and secret Harry Potter gangs that meet and practice their wizardry (I'm assuming). Anyways we walk up and there is a huge line wrapped around to go up and take a picture with the trolley that has been pushed halfway through the wall already. Magic!! The girls got in line and I found a seat and got some tea. About 45 minutes later it was finally their turn so I positioned myself in the perfect spot to take pictures of them. Now I have never been to a professional photo shoot before but I imagine it was something like this. Perri and Helen, no where near the youngest waiting in line, which is weird but I won't comment further. Everyone has their thing right? proceeded to have a full on photo shoot for a solid 15 minutes as the crowd cheered them on. First individuals and then group photos of them casting spells on each other. The crowd was loving it. I'm not sure if they were laughing at them or with them, maybe both but they didn't care. Thankfully they finally finished up and I had over a hundred photos proving just how much they love Harry Potter. 

Oh Helen your wizardry

After that we met up with Rena and Anna, a friend of hers visiting from Scotland, and went to Brick Lane. This is where they have traditional Indian restaurants... But of course I will get to the food in a minute. FIRST the vintage shops! Wow thank God we didn't make it here earlier or I would have had to buy another suitcase to take home. It was a street lined with vintage stores. More clothes than you could sift through in a lifetime. We went to one shop first and I bought a scarf/ headband thing (yes, mom another one). But Rena knew of a cool underground place so we went there before it closed. It was an underground vintage market. So many little stalls set up with different people's treasures it was a lot to take in. But.. I found this one man who was selling Levi high waisted jeans, 20 quid!! I was like OKAY! I tried on a bunch of pairs in this small dark corner that was the "dressing room" all by myself. I had lost the other girls and was going in blind, making a major fashion decision without consulting my friends first. Oh no! (It wasn't as dramatic as I'm making it seem I was calm, cool and collected so the guy would give me a good deal. I bought high waited jeans and black shorts and a tshirt all for 35 pounds! What a steal. I love getting a deal. The stores were closing so I ran around trying to find the girls, high on life after the purchase I made. They loved them! (Hugh sigh of relief) the jeans were a little 'mommy' but I got all crafty with them when I got home and with the guidance of Helen and Perri distressed them, and bam, they were perfect. I couldn't have lucked out more. 

After shopping we went to dinner with Ravina and one of her friends that was visiting too. Ravina and Rena had been before so they knew the best restaurant to chose. All along the street men from the restaurants stand out front and bargain with people on the street to chose them for a place to eat. One place offered us four bottles of wine and 25 percent off. I tried to be funny and said why don't you just give it to us for free but no one heard me... I laughed to myself anyways. So we picked a place and sat down. We got our free bottle of fine Italian wine (at an Indian restaurant none the less) and our free papadum. I had pakora and saag masala with rice and Perri and I split naan (garlic naan, Perri insisted). Yummy!! It was delicious and the perfect amount of food. Good job Rena and Ravina. 

It was the perfect day until... Helen lost her license and Oyster Card. I'm honestly surprised her or Perri haven't lost something important yet just based on the way their sides of the room look. No one's perfect, me included. Maybe I'm just slightly more organized. Anyways, I helped her look. We retraced our steps because we hadn't gone far but no luck. It was gone. It was also sad. She surprisingly handled it very well (unlike I did the one time freshman year I thought I lost my phone and ID. I'm sure those of you who remember this are laughing or shaking your head in disgrace at how I acted) I got my stuff back but Helen's has yet to turn up. Good thing we only had a few days left. 

On Saturday Helen and I went to Regents Park and sat and people watched for a while. It was nice to go one last time and just sit in the sun relaxing. I'm going to miss that park. That night we all attempted The Roxy ONE MORE TIME!! But when we got there, the cover charge had mysteriously (hmmm) gone up to 8 pounds and we only brought the 5 pounds it was supposed to be so we went home. Well, we did some questionable eating first and then went home. But we were alright with it, we have had some amazing memories at The Roxy and I will remember it fondly. We all will. 

Sunday was our last full day at Free State. We ate all of our favorite foods and drank a lot of coffee and tea while we finished a few little things that needed to be done and I studied for my Econ final, which was the next day. I won't bore you with details but the final was alright. I did the best I could with what I could retain. Fingers crossed my professor liked me enough not to grade me too harsh. But if you need to know anything about the Japanese or Chinese economies, I'm your girl.

This past week seemed to fly by with my last few days of work and taking exams. All of the exams were fine and we are all officially done with CAPA!! Hurray! Thank god. What an eye opening experience that place was. I love you so much Clark!! 

My last day of work was Wednesday and my team was so sweet. I misjudged the situation and, to my defense, I think the British work culture had a little to do with it but they actually really liked me and appreciated all the work I did. The team took me to lunch and gave me a nice card and a gift certificate to an accessories store, which I went to after work and bought a ton of rings. My favorite. It was really sweet and I was sad to say goodbye to them. I really have learned so much there and I wouldn't have wanted to trade my internship for anything. Whizz-Kidz you have been good to me! 

So, as of today, Friday, we are all officially done with everything and pretty much all packed up and ready to go. This is our last full day in London and tomorrow we leave for Scotland to see Tara!! 

It's bittersweet leaving London. We are glad classes and work are over but saying goodbye to this city is hard. I have really fallen in love with this place with all of the food, shopping, museums and landmarks that make up this intricate and diverse city. I couldn't have picked a better place to study abroad or had a better experience. Although I didn't have the typical, 'made so many friends from everywhere' experience (we had a strict no new friend policy) (jokingly but it kind of didn't happen) (we blame CAPA). But the people from Clark who I wasn't really friends with before coming here have become some of my closest friends. You all know who you are and I will fake a text message every time I walk by you back at school. That's how much I love you guys! 

Some of my favorites:

Market- Portobello for shopping and Borough for food
Club- Toss up between The Roxy and O'Neils
Pub- Princess
Coffee Shop- Free State
Restaurant- Amico Bio
Monument- Big Old Ben
Park- Regents Park
Sweet Treat- Portobello Market Crepe
Tube Line- Circle Line
Tube Line Name- Hammersmith and City Line
Tube Station- Picadilly Circus
Tube Station Name- Cockfosters
Mush- Rice with refried beans, salsa, a little cheese and when I was lucky, avocado
London Saying- Cheers! Bye yea (in an upward inflection)
London Memory- When Perri and Helen jumped on an old desk chair in front of our flat one night and instead of sailing down the street, like intended, crashed down hard on the pavement. They woke up the next morning with bruises on their body and it took a couple of hours for us to realize what they were from.
BigBed Moment- Getting hit by Helen in my sleep and waking up holding her hand
Picture Taken-

No caption needed 

For those tearing up thinking this is my last post, don't fear. It is not. I had to give Kyle my computer yesterday to take back home with him since I am traveling so I wrote this on my phone. Impressive right? I think so. My fingers are cramping up but I will continue to document our travels as we go. The posts will be sporadic but I will fill you in after each country we visit. We are off to Scotland this weekend and then Amsterdam and Prague. I will be heading home after that but Perri and Helen will continue their journeys without me. I will see you on May 10th America and I can't wait!  

XX.