One Week!

I leave England and head back to the US in only 1 WEEK! I honestly cannot believe how quickly these three months have flown by. I have such mixed feelings about it as well. When I first arrived, I'll admit I was a little bit homesick and was really missing the familiarity of everything back at home. But I am so happy with the experience I have had here and wouldn't change a single thing about it. Not only did I get to see so many new things and experience a few different cultures, but I met some incredible people made some amazing friends in the process as well. 

This week I am struggling (which is an understatement) to finish writing an essay, going to a Christmas-themed final night out, doing some last minute Christmas shopping and trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with friends before I go. 

Here are a few photos from our last formal dinner:

Georgie, Me and Abi

Helen, Georgie, Abi, Holly, Kate, Miriam, Olena, Louise, and Rachel

Helen and I with our crowns

All Things Belgian

Last weekend the girls and I took our last trip abroad, whilst being abroad. We went to Brussels, Belgium where we stayed with some extremely nice and inspiring people, ate all of the standard Belgian fare, visited a building which represents an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion times, shopped at Belgium's largest christmas market and of course, lots and lots of sight-seeing!

Weird Christmas tree in the center of the "Grand Place"

This building lit up in synchronization with the tree!

Mussels in Brussels at Chez Leon 

Belgian waffle with strawberries and nutella

It snowed the first morning of our trip!

Sleepy girls on the metro

Char and Caroline in front of the Atomium!

Me and Caroline in front of the Atomium

View of the city from the top of the Atomium

Caroline and I bought much-needed hats from the Christmas market!

Gorgeous buildings in the Grand Place

All made out of chocolate

See the rainbow?

the christmas market

more of the christmas market

It's my last week in Nottingham and although I could not be more excited to get back home and see my friends and family, I am going to miss it here so much!

Mind the gap!

This past weekend Caroline and I visited London (properly) for the first time and I think after the first couple of hours being there we decided we were in love.

We arrived in London around one in the afternoon and got a quick lunch after getting settled into our (amazing!) apartment. Then we took the tube to the natural history museum. After about an hour and a half of that we crossed the street over to the Victoria and Albert museum, which had amazing displays of antiques and clothing and various other random exhibitions. After a little bit of window shopping on Brompton Road we found a tasty dinner at Orsini.

The natural history museum

dinosaur

Caroline and the fetus at the natural history museum. too weird not to take a picture 

the whale

Vintage Chanel at the Victoria and Albert Museum 

Dior necklace

Harrods all lit up for Christmas. This store is heaven! 

Our romantic Italian dinner date... 

and our delicious Italian dinner 

more pretty Christmas lights 

The next day we met up for breakfast with my dad's friend, Kaye, from work. We chatted over tea and pastries for about an hour then said our goodbyes as Caroline and I crossed the street to check out Harrods department store. It was a religious experience. I have never been so awestruck by clothing and furniture (and prices) in my life. After a blissful hour and a half in Harrods we left and casually explored more of the city. We browsed around Regent and Oxford Street, did a little shopping and then headed toward the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. It was getting dark at this point so we decided to ride the Eye the next day before we left.

Green Park 

Buckingham Palace gates 

not the uniform we were expecting...

  

Buckingham Palace 

Our first glimpse of Big Ben!

St. Paul's Cathedral

On Monday we got up early so we could ride the London Eye. It was so worth the early morning because the view was incredible. It's hard to really see how big London is until you get the complete skyline view of the whole thing. After the ride we did a little more strolling, then hopped on the train back to Nottingham.

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

The London Eye

Amazing view from the London Eye

Coming up this weekend is our final trip to Brussels, Belgium!