Bon Voyage: Nada's Visit!

Friday

Caitlin and I went to St. Paul's Cathedral and then to Tate Museum of Modern Art. Although we realized that neither of us are really that into 'modern art,' the museum was really pretty! After we got utterly confused by the art, we went to a thai restaurant and then made our way to a super cute cupcake bakery. We had the BEST red velvet cupcakes and had a really pretty view of St. Paul's while we were in the cafe.

red velvet heaven

please notice the precious teapot light fixtures

peekaboo with St. Pauls

Nothin' like a little crack to get your Friday started out right

Saturday

I went and picked up Nada from the airport!! I was super nervous that I wouldn't find her gate, but I had her under my wing safe and sound in no time! After I showed her around campus, we went into Putney and got some (surprise, surprise) more Thai food and then went to a pub nearby for a drink. If you didn't guess by now.. Thai food is really popular and good here, as well as Indian food. As we were leaving the pub, I realized that my wallet was missing. It apparently disappeared out of thin air because the workers checked the cameras and it showed no foul play. Thank goodness my smart Dad told me to put aside a visa gift card in case of an emergency, as well as my passport. So, last night was spent cancelling cards, getting a new student i.d., and panicking, of course. Thankfully everything got worked out in time for us to go to the University Performer's play.. Rent. It was good, but Nada was so jet lagged I was SO exhausted that we called it a night after intermission and got a quick bite to eat, then headed back to campus.

And no, my wallet was still not recovered, but huge shout out to my awesome parents for helping me in such a crisis and getting money to me anyway they could!

Rent

Sunday

We were bound and determined to make it better than the day before and got an early start in central to go see the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben! It was super exciting to see her reaction to everything exciting in central London and we had a wonderful time catching up and wandering around central. For dinner, we went into Putney to a new Sushi/Japanese restaurant we heard about, Hare and Tortoise, that was AMAZING. It is so wonderful to have a friend form home here to share exciting experiences with.

London eye with my Schnada!

Monday

We met up with Caitlin this morning and decided to head into Windsor for the day. Since it is one of the queen's places of residence, we knew we wanted to scope it out. The town is separated into Eaton and Windsor by the River Thames, so we headed into Eaton for a bite to eat first. The small town reminded me of the town in The Holiday, really quiet, quaint and full of wonderful food. We got sandwiches for lunch and then headed to a chocolate shop there where I got.. PEANUT BUTTER HOT CHOCOLATE. Sounds weird, I know, but it was so amazing, and tasted like a warmed up Reeses! We then made our way to Windsor where we toured the castle. We made it just in time for a free guided tour, and after she finished, we took an audio tour of the inside of the castle. The art tour that is going on now is all about The Queen, so I had to sneak a picture of the Andy Warhol exhibition dedicated to her. There is actually diamond dust on the pictures to commemorate the Queens diamond jubilee, pretty cool, and probably really expensive. I hope everyone enjoys the picture, thankfully I did't get caught. (the things I do for the sake of my blog..)The Queen was actually in Windsor when she got sick and was taken to the hospital two days ago. She is all better and recovering in Buckingham now (its sad how much I follow the royals) After Windsor castle, we went around a small shopping center and saw some really precious stores. At that point, our feet were definitely feeling the burn, so we headed back on the train (1 hour from Roehampton)

When we got back, Nada and I went to Rigviny Garden, a stop between campus and Putney to get a bite to eat. We found a cute pub called The Half Moon that had SUCH cute decoration. I will definitely be going back soon. We had a few beers and burgers and topped it all off with some caramel and dark chocolate ice cream (YUM)

Tonight, we are calling it an early night and watching Notting Hill before we go visit tomorrow after my class (shouldn't class be cancelled when friends are visiting?!) Thankfully, every day has been so much better since the start of her trip (with the wallet stealing fiasco) and I can only imagine it will continue to get better!

Side note, thank you so much to everyone who checked on me after Saturdays mishap, I cannot thank you enough for your kind words and messages! xoxoxo