Bright and early Friday morning she called me saying she was in London. Unfortunately, I still had to go to my internship so while I was behind a desk, Silvana explored touristy parts of London. The real
fun started Friday night for my flatmate, Jill’s birthday. Our house was filled with giggly and smiling sorority girls. After having Monica’s friends over the previous week I was scared out of my wits that sorority girls were going to be just as loud. To my surprise, they turned out to be 5 of the quietest guests 15 Manson Place has ever had.
Jill, my flatmate, by far has the best internship out of all of us. She is basically interning as a club promoter and gets all these amazing deals for London nightlife. So, lucky for all of us, she was able to get us into one of her clubs, PUNK, for free!
I liked the club a lot, but I can’t say the same for the straight guys we were with. It became very clear after the Glee cover of Don’t Stop Believing came on that we weren’t in Kansas anymore. It got worse for the poor guys when some of the men in the club started kissing. I am totally down with the rainbow and I found it to be a great change. It was the first gay club I had been to and it was awesome to not have to look behind me every few minutes to make sure a strange guy wasn’t creeping up behind me to start grinding with me.
After a few tequila shots and some Ke$ha, some of us decided it was time to leave, so we made our way outside to try and find a way home. Unfortunately, our best option was to walk all the way to Piccadilly to catch the 14 bus. My feet were in a ton of pain, so after switching shoes with Silvana I had 2 options – hold my sweaty socks or toss them. In my un-sober state I decided to throw them on the sidewalk. Not graceful or eco-friendly, but I hope my socks have made someone homeless very happy.
Saturday I brought Silvana to my favourite spot in London – Camden Market. There are no pictures of our journey because it was SO FREEZING COLD I was afraid to have any bare skin showing. I did buy the last of the my souvineers and afterwards we quickly made it back to my flat.
Later that night we went to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland with Genna. It was surreal because normally carnivals happen in the summer time. They had a ferris wheel, a merry-go-round and even one of those massive slides that you could ride if you had tickets and to my surprise people were actually going on them. I don’t see any fun in sliding down a massive slope with frigid cold wind whipping your face, but I guess the Brits are weird that way.
"Spinning Baubles." They ALSO had "Racing Reindeer" and a Double Decker Red Bus that spun around. Those Brits are so clever =)
<3
I love Santa Claus. AKA Father Christmas (British)
Sunday we wanted to go get some culture, but instead ditched that idea to meet up with two of our old friends from Ireland, Alan and Phil. They are two Londoners that we absolutely fell in love with on our Shamrocker tour so we gladly met up with them at a pub north of Oxford Circus. After many pints and shots and blurry memories with them, we hopped in a cab back to my flat where Monica and Jill had created a massive Thanksgiving feast. After one plate of food I collapsed into my bed from the Turkey Coma and the massive amount of alcohol I consumed.
(Don’t worry family, I am NOT an alcoholic- I am a college student abroad. Alcoholism isn’t until after college. Kidding, but really. I’m okay).
St. Pauls and The Millennium Bridge (Day)
The Tate Modern
I do have to say that being in the museum did take me out of my reality and forced me to start seeing things in an artsy way, if only for a few hours so I appreciated it. After snuggling in bed while eating popcorn and watching Love, Actually which is one of the best Christmas movies of all time, I had to drop Silvana off at the bus station. It was a tearful goodbye because we both know it will be over 8 months until we see each other again.
St. Paul's and Millennium Bridge (Night)
Pretty, right!?
Silvana visiting basically saved me from pure insanity. I am fully aware that my time in London is coming to a close and I am happy to see this part of my abroad journey ending. It’s been great, but I am ready to be back in Hawthorne in my car, blasting A Day to Remember with Diana, and going home to my own room with my own bed with my kitty curled up at my pillow patiently awaiting my return. But, for now, I am looking forward to my weekend in Paris with my Omega love, Sarah!
18 DAYS TO GO!!