This past weekend was wonderful with my mom. It was about that time when I needed a break from my roommates considering we had been together 24/7 since we have gotten here and I just wanted my mummy! (In Scotland people kept saying, "oh is she your mummy" to me and it kind of just stuck with me ha). It was really ironic that my three other roommates had their families visiting the same time as me! Worked out really well actually. Meg and her parents went to Italy, Lauren and her mom went to Nice in southern France, and Raya and her mom went to a 3 or 4 day spa somewhere in London while Kimbo and I were in Scotland!
Another ironic thing about this weekend was that Lauren and my mom were on the same flight to London... Lauren's mom had a connecting flight in Chicago from Kansas City which happened to be the flight my mom was on so they met on the plane and Lauren and I went together to get them at the airport.
After we dropped their bags off at their hotels we went to this cute cafe in town called Cafe Rouge. It was a french place that was really well decorated with french banners and propaganda. The staff were extremely friendly and nice too. We walked around Kensington for awhile afterwards and then went to take a quick nap before we went to High Tea in Kensington Palace.... High Tea is really popular here. People take a break from work around 3 and 4pm to leisurely drink tea and eat little gourmet cakes and sandwiches. It actually is a really smart idea because usually at this point in the day I am starving and drinking tea and chatting helps curve appetites and not make people pig out when dinner time finally comes around. The palace where we had tea was a garden room and all white and so elegant. This was the first time I had high tea too and it was lovely experiencing it with my mum! An interesting fact that I learned is that European countries celebrate Mom's Day a different day than we do in America. They celebrate it March 14th and we celebrate it May 9th....
Later that night, after we freshened up Lauren, her mom, my mom and I went to the popular Leicester Square where most people go on Friday and Saturday night. There are many restaurants and clubs and pubs on this square so it is entertaining to see all the different people walking around. We went to Sussex Pub on this square to eat delicious fish and chips and to people watch. A couple of my guy friends in my program also joined us later for a drink so it ended up being a good group of people.
Saturday, mom and I got up and went on a 20 to 25 minutes to Harrods! I have been there before, but it truly is unbelievable. There are sooo many different floors of anything you can ever think of. In addition, everything is sooo expensive. The only thing my mom ended up getting was a collar and dog leash for the new puppy, Elvis. ha. My favorite part of the whole store was the food area. The people working at the different stands all wear these goofy hats and matching bow tie outfits. Every stand also is decorated so nicely. There is a candy stand, deli stand, pizza, fish, ice cream stand.. which my mom and I decided to eat at and got a banana split at, hmm 11am in the morning. There were so many exotic and intricate deserts! There also was a HUGEEEEEEE chocolate egg that was 795 pounds. Some people must love going big for Easter...
After my mom and I wondered around Harrods for a couple hours, realizing there was nothing we could honestly afford, we strolled through Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace. My mom got so lucky with the weather. It was soo sunny and beautiful. It had not been that nice since I have been here. I felt pretty bad for her though because I was so excited it was so nice I wanted to walk everywhere. Usually I take either the tube or bus to Harrods and Buckingham Palace and everywhere else but I wanted to take advantage of the weather that I made her walk...EVERYWHERE. We didn't take any form of transportation anywhere besides at the end of the day to go home hahah. She was not too happy about that also because ever since I have been here, I accumulated this new habit of walking very fast. I now hustle down the street and weave in and out of people, as my mom informed me.
Next stop was Trafalgar Square where the famous Trafalgar battle took place and where The National Gallery was. There were so many people out that day too, soaking up the sun, that it was overwhelming walking down the street. We didn't stay there long because of it.
Oxford Circus was our next destination where many department stores and cute little boutiques are. After an hour or so of getting pushed down the crowded streets, I couldn't take it anymore. We were exhausted and annoyed with all the people that we hoped on a bus and went back to the hotel. At this point it was 4pm and we had bought half price tickets for the Lion King for that night so we quick went home, packed our stuff for Scotland, got dressed up and went to Princess Diana's Pizzeria down the street from my place. I had wanted to go to this dinner spot ever since I had gotten here but since money was pretty tight, and none of my friends and I can afford going out to dinner, I figured this would be the perfect time to go, with mummy. It was wonderful! There were paintings for Diana all over this little restaurant and Diana specials all over the menu. I loved it and so happy we got to eat there!
Lion King was AMAZING!!!! We met Lauren and her mom at the theatre and ended up having really great seats.... 8th row, for half price! The costumes were absolutely unbelievable and the singing was outstanding. I felt like a little kid again seeing this play and it brought back so many memories that made me happy! I recommend seeing this musical for sure!
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