York, Paris, and Christmas in London

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I Seriously cannot believe it's 2016 already! Where has the time gone?? Oh yeah, I've been SUPER busy! My first semester of grad school finished (and I only had a few mental breakdowns, you should all be very proud of me) and then my family came to visit and everything that happened during their visit was absolutely wonderful. Let's do a quick rundown and then we'll get to the good stuff!

Since my last update...

Thanksgiving happened! It was my first thanksgiving away from my family, but luckily I am super blessed to have a super awesome group of friends here in London, so we all got together on the big day to celebrate friendsgiving! I had to work in the morning (yeah, my manager here didn't quite grasp how important this holiday is to me. I mean, it's a whole day devoted to food.), but I managed to get off at 4, just in time to get back for all the fun to start! For it being our first time doing this it actually went incredibly well. Everyone pitched in and turns out all of my friends are really good cooks! I of course did the stuffing and cranberry sauce (since those are my absolute favourites), but I ate more than I will ever admit. We even got to stream the Lions game! It was a perfectly perfect evening in every way.

All the Americans! Sam, Sarah, me, Kate, Becca, Imani, Devin, Taylor, Nick, and Aaron.

Nick carving the Turkey that Sam and Aaron made! We all adulted so well that night

Obviously after Thanksgiving, it's time for CHRISTMAS!! I of course celebrated by playing Christmas music 24/7, buying way too many decorations at Asda, and driving my friends nuts by continuously counting down the days until my family arrived. My friend Kyle crashed at my flat for a few days and we went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and generally got all caught up on each other's lives. Winter Wonderland was seriously so much fun. There was food, rides, cheesy Christmas music playing, and German Christmas markets everywhere. We got ourselves some hot mulled wine and wandered around in the misty rain. It was one of those London bucket list items which I'm so glad I got to do with my friends.

Kyle, Becca, and I at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park

Becca and I also went ice skating at the Natural History Museum which was one of those moments where I stopped and realised that I live in London! It was so much fun and I just couldn't stop hearing Night Changes in my head and thinking that "Harry Styles has skated here!" And when that day finally came it was the best day ever.

I picked my family up from Heathrow and after hugging and crying for a solid amount of time, we jumped on the Piccadilly line (to Cockfosters which of course made my sister laugh. It happens for everyone the first time they get on the Piccadilly) and got them to the flat they were staying at. We then met up with Becca and we all went out to the pub down the road from campus for their first real meal in England. My dad got fish n chips, it was dark and raining, and I couldn't have been happier. :)

Snapchat from the pub

The next day we all met super early to head into central to catch a bus up to York. This was everyone's first time in York and I've gotta say it definitely lived up to all the hype. It's a super cute town with so much history and fun places to eat and neat things to see. Larissa was in heaven the whole time, and I was just enjoying spending time with my family again. We saw the wall, the castle, the Shambles (which is this really old, narrow shopping lane which just feels super cool), York Minster, and ate at a really cool pub that was haunted by no less than four ghosts at any given moment. We also visited the University of York which is a super neat campus, picked up a few hoodies and made our way back to London. That was the first of many days to come that we logged over 20,000 steps and I was definitely feeling it in those pesky shin splints. It was worth every step though.

Larissa and I atop the tower in York

The Shambles! So cool, but so crowded with tourists

Part of the wall that surrounds the city

Because I had to. If you know anything about me and One Direction you'll get it ;)

The next day we spent at the British Museum (which of course Larissa almost cried from excitement), Harrods, and Piccadilly Circus. It was another long day of walking and sightseeing, but was so much fun seeing my family's reactions to London as we were walking around. All the things that are so commonplace for me now were all new to them. My favourite was when we stopped at Pret a Manger for the first time and they got the almond croissants. It was such a fun moment :)

The next morning was another early morning, but that's because we were heading to St. Pancras to catch the Eurostar to PARIS!! The train there was actually pretty quick (although we were of course in the carriage with a dozen screaming children... thank goodness for headphones), and before we knew it we were in the city of lights!

Our first selfie in Paris along the Seine

Our first day in Paris involved dropping our bags off at our Airbnb (which was... interesting to say the least, but I won't get into that here), and wandering around our little section of the city. We crossed the river to see Notre Dame, and it was truly amazing. It was so much larger than I thought it would be and was way more impressive than I ever could have imagined. Walking through I was struck silent how incredible it all was. It was an incredible experience. We also went to the mall that was right around the corner from our flat and had a nice dinner out. Everyone we met that first day was so friendly and spoke really good english, which was nice because I know very little French and inadvertently kept trying to tell people my name instead of asking for a croissant.

Our second day in Paris was our major tourist/sight seeing day. We walked up the Eiffel tower (which actually wasn't that many stairs and was WAY cheaper than taking the lift up), and that was the first time I really got to see Paris as a whole. It was breathtaking, and just like I always imagined it would be. It was one of those time where I just stopped and appreciated the fact that I was really here, and how beautiful the city was from high up.

The view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower

                                                        

After the eiffel tower we walked to the Arch de Triumph, then down the Champ Elysee, which it was interesting to see the dichotomy of the people on the streets to the stores that lined the road. The shops were incredible names; Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer, Guerlain, etc, and yet there were so many incredibly poor people peddling the street. It felt wrong seeing such poverty right in front of such luxury. We eventually made it down the very long road to Mon a Prix, which was actually a really cool store. It reminded me of Khols in the states, but with a much larger food section. I spent 50 euros on chocolate there and I actually had to put some stuff back because my bag was too heavy. It was wonderful.

The Arch de Triumph

That night we got dinner at this wonderful restaurant called Hank, which was basically a vegan burger restaurant. Everything they served was vegan, but the burgers were incredible. The one I ordered was a vegan burger with vegan cheese and bbq sauce and peppers. It was devine. And to top it all off, they had vegan desserts! I had two vegan chocolate chip cookies and I'm not even sorry about it. It was very difficult for me to find dairy free food in Paris, so for me to walk into a restaurant and be able to order anything off the menu was the best feeling ever. I was a super happy Lindsey after that meal. :)

The next day in Paris was spent at the Louvre, and all I can say was that museum has ruined me, because now every museum I visit will pale in comparison. There were so many amazing works of art and rooms upon rooms of priceless and immaculate artifacts that after several hours you start to glaze over all the amazing things you're seeing. I absolutely loved it though, and would love to go back someday since we probably only still saw half the museum.

Our last full day in Paris, Larissa and I decided to rent bikes and bike along the Seine and to Shakespeare and Company. Our plan was good in theory... until we actually tried to bike through the streets of Paris. I didn't notice it while walking or in Taxis, but the roads in Paris are usually one way, and they twist and turn all over the place. Trying to obey traffic laws while avoiding honking cars was beyond stressful. We finally did make it to Shakespeare and Company and then treated ourselves to the most amazing nutella crepes ever. That night we got falafel at L'As du falafel, which is supposedly the best falafel in all of Europe (yeah, big claim I know) and it actually was freaking AMAZING. By far the best falafel I have ever had. I miss it every time I get sub-par falafel here in London.

Well deserved crepes after cycling around Paris

So that was about it for Paris! Overall I had a wonderful time there, surrounding myself in the culture and living like a Parisian for a few days. I was super happy to get back to London though, since London is my home now. 

The next few days in London were spent sightseeing with the family and showing them all around my new home. We saw Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Chinatown, and got Nandos. We also got afternoon tea at a hotel in SoHo on Christmas Eve, and then spent Christmas day wandering around the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. It was a very unconventional Christmas, but it was still so special because I got to spend it with my favourite people in the whole world.

Showing the family around London!

Our afternoon tea setup. SO YUMMY

My seester and I

St. Pauls Cathedral on Christmas day! We went to the afternoon chorus service. It was amazing

My family flew back home on boxing day, and it was a really tough goodbye, especially since we don't know when we'll be able to see each other again, but I think everyone was happy to get back to our routines. Hopefully it won't be too long until we're all reunited again (this time I want to be the one to fly to them since I'm starting to miss home now), but for now, I'm still loving my life in London. New Years eve was spent with some of my flatmates and some new friends, and we welcomed the new year from London Bridge looking at Tower Bridge. I seriously cannot believe I get to say these things, that this is my life now. I am seriously the luckiest person ever to be living this incredible life. It isn't always easy or fun, but I know that in ten years, I am going to look back on this year of my life and say, without a doubt, that this has been the best year of my life, and the best decision I ever made was to move to London.

Alright, that's all I've got. If you're still here, major props to you. I hope that wherever you are in the world that you are having a wonderful new year so far! Stay tuned, this year could have some fun travel stories, like Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, and hopefully back home to the states! Lots and lots of love! 

Cheers!