Last days in London :(

Final week blog:

This is it guys! I head home this Saturday and at this point it seems as if il be heading home with no regrets, but future plans to return of course!

This morning I went to class and began working on my final photo project, it consists of taking pictures of books in interesting spots around London. It is supposed to be a symbolic self portrait since everyone knows I love to read. 

Today was a day I had been looking forward to for a long time. Number one because Kate Middleton went into Labor early this morning. Number two because today was my Downton Abbey Afternoon Tea. 

After getting all dressed up I made my way over to swanky Knightsbridge to the Cadogan Hotel. 

 I was seated in a small beautiful dining room at a table with other people who were awesome enough to go to afternoon tea alone :)

We all exchanges pleasantries ( both single Jewish women older than me who obviously love Downton Abbey. 

I ordered the Chelsea Flower tea, and it was delightful. Then they brought me three tiers of heaven. Five delightful finger sandwiches that didn't have ham! Be still my heart! A beautiful miniature scone with clotted cream and jelly.  A Chelsea bun which I had never tried and although good, would not be my first choice. 

A mango chocolate macaroon that melted in my mouth, followed by some form of a cream puff. I finished it off with a raspberry mousse treat. 

Now that you can calculate all that I ate, you can learn about what I heard. Jessica Fellowes is the niece of Julian Fellowes, the creator and writer of one of my beloved shows, Downton Abbey. 

She spoke about various aspects of the show including how it was filmed, the historical accuracy, fun facts about the actors and some insider scoop. Admittedly she didn't know much about the plot of the fourth series or about why Julian is such a monster, she blamed it more on the actors then on her uncle, which is understandable. I took notes on my phone, but being able to decipher them is another story! If you want me to try just ask and il see what I can do!

I headed to Buckingham Palace to see the crowds awaiting a royal arrival. I was there for a little over an hour and then I decided to head back. 5 minutes after I get home they announce the baby, oh well! I hung out with my friends for a few hours and called it a night.

Tuesday morning I woke up and headed to class. I did a presentation on Annie Leibovitz and then continued to work on my final project. 

After class a group of us took the long journey to Wembley Park to tour Wembley Stadium. 

The stadium was huge and we got to see a lot of cool memorabilia, including David Beckhams jersey. They were boasting a high number of seats, 90,000 but we all know the Shoe can beat that :)

We sat up in the royal box where William, Kate and Harry sit, and when I asked the tour guide joked they would put a crib in there for the new baby.

After the tour I stopped at Buckingham Palace to get a glimpse of the plaque, and there was a long line so I just took a far away shot and called it a day.

For a die hard Royal Family fan, you'd think I would want more than that right? Good thing that when I headed home a few of my friends and I decided to walk over to Kensington Palace and shortly after our arrival I got to see William, Kate and the baby carrier. I pretty much lost it, hyperventilating and such, basically the best thing ever. I couldn't be happier and now I can leave London achieving everything on my bucket list!

This morning I am standing in line to get 5 pound tickets to see Matilda the Musical, and I got them!

I headed to class and finished up my final project, it took a few hours but I'm very happy with the final results. 

I chose to do this project not just for my love of Harry Potter, but also for reading. Reading has always been an extremely large part of my life, so it seemed fitting for my final project.

After that I hung with my friend for a bit and then headed to the Museum of London. Inside the museum there was a little bit about A Royal Arrival, which has now happened of course, and the rest of the museum is riveting. We saw roman ruins, a beautiful dollhouse, and a little about the Olympics. They had some amazing models and dresses, I had a wonderful time and it was well worth the free admission :P

I was a little early for Matilda so I grabbed a quick dinner of Sushi and a strawberry smoothie and then headed to the theater. 

The show is absolutely adorable, Matilda is one of my all time favorite movies, so seeing this show was high on my bucket list. The music is so cute and all the child actors are adorable, worth seeing for sure!

Wednesday night Alex and I did a giant music swap and I am currently enjoying some new tunes. 

Thursday morning I went to class to do my final photo presentation. It went pretty well and people seemed to like my final project. I was very happy with it!

I went for a quick walk to say goodbye to the construction crew and as I was telling them I was heading back to the states, they gave me a quizzical look and went "I thought you were English" this one statement was the epitome of awesome, I finally was mistaken for a local Woot!

Afterwards Alex and I headed to Notting Hill. We went in some very cool record shops and stopped at Paul Rhodes, so Alex could try one of their scones, which of course was delicious.

We walked all around portobello market and then got slightly lost heading back and ended up in Holland park.

We laid in Kensington Gardens for awhile and then headed to see Billy Elliot. Billy Elliot was absolutely spectacular, the level of talent was unreal. All of the stars were not only incredible singers and actors, but indescribably good dancers. The show itself is very emotional and worth seeing.

Then we headed to O'Neil's for some live music, but it was super loud so we went back to the house, it was a perfect night. 

Friday morning Alex and I got up early to see the Changing of the Guard and then we laid out by the water near the Serpentine and the Princess Diana memorial fountain. 

We had to spend quite a bit of time packing up the rest of our things, then we got one last pancake for dinner. That smoked salmon pancake will go down in history.

That night the boys took me to a showing of a movie called The Room, and they told me it was a cult classic and the worst movie ever made. I figured they were exaggerating and I was quite wrong. The crowd was full of drunk British people yelling at the screen and throwing spoons. It was one of the most fun things I did all summer. 

We stopped at Trafalgar Square to see the new statue that was erected on Thursday, a Giant Blue Cock. It was definitely worth seeing.

We tried to go to bed early because we were all exhausted, but it was a couple tough goodbyes. 

This morning I woke up and Alex and I went to Kensington Gardens one last time, it was extraordinarily bittersweet. I said my final goodbyes to everyone, and then cried in the cab. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't had the best summer these past 6 weeks and I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who was a part of it.

I'm on the plane right now and I am excited to be stepping on American soil in just a few short hours!

Love Alexa 

Last weekend blog

I don't know how it's possible that this is my last weekend in London, time seems to have just run right past me and I can't believe I am leaving in a week! Cue sad music for leaving and happy music for going home. I am very excited to see my family and friends but I can't believe how much it will suck to leave all of these amazing people and this perfect city. 

Anyway, this morning I woke up and Katie and I headed to St Paul's Cathedral. We climbed the 528 steps to the top for a completely breathtaking view of the city. It was absolutely worth every bead of sweat to see how beautiful the city is from that high up and a panoramic view at that! It was something I'd been wanting to do for quite a few years so I was extremely happy to cross it off the bucket list, especially with the perfect weather! 

Next on the list was a full afternoon tea and man oh man hours later I am writing this and I'm still full! I had a delightful pot of Darjeeling tea, with brown sugar cubes and a dash of milk. Sandwiches filled with tomato basil mozzarella and goat cheese and sun dried tomato took care of my savory needs. Scones with clotted cream and jam filled me with happiness. Then we split all of the cupcakes in fourths so I got to taste Strawberry, lemon, Peanut Butter, Red Velvet and Baileys, each one better than the next! We topped it off with 3 different kinds of brownies, meringues and some sort of flavored marshmallow. I repeat the level of fullness was severe. 

Everyone really enjoyed their first afternoon teas (I'm a seasoned champ) and were really glad that Jaclyn recommended such an awesome place! 

In the late afternoon I finished my Night Photography portfolio and worked on my Annie Leibovitz presentation. Here are a couple of my favorite shots:

Tonight we are going to the Sherlock Holmes pub to see if we can find Benedict Cumberbatch! 

There were no sightings of Sherlock himself, but the pub was quite cool.

Saturday morning we boarded a bus for 2 hours to go to Bath. We walked around the Roman baths and grabbed a delicious lunch. 

We went on a walking tour of Bath and saw where Jane Austen lived, and Charles Dickens as well. Then we stopped for a bit of fudge and were on our way. 

We came back and then grabbed Stick and bowl, for dinner. We spent the night hanging out at Builders Arms and then I played Pool and foosball in the basement with some friends. 

This morning I slept in a bit and then headed to the Lone Ranger movie premiere. I was number587 in line so I read a book. Then they let us into the spots and I spent hours discussing my favorite movies with some awesome strangers and really enjoyed preparing for the premiere. 

I got Johnny Depp and some guy named Will's autograph. Johnny is incredibly nice and ridiculously good looking and talented. I think we would be great friends in real life :P Definitely a very successful day. Now I'm going to spend some time with friends now and prepare for my last week as a Londoner!

Love Alexa