paris holds the key to my heart

okay so blogging every night about my adventures is just way too hard. i always end up way to exhausted every night to bother typing up a summary. my previous post on london covering the three days started to dwindle towards the end lol lacking details cus i got sick of writing it. 

thus, for paris, i am going to give a more sparknotes version with just random thoughts/comments. if you want more details, you should just come visit yourself! :)

REASONS WHY I WILL NOT MISS PARIS:

» the men are obnoxiously forward, and its annoying. they will shout to you across a street, keep talking after you say goodbye, or follow you to keep talking to you. 

» the prices. its near impossible to find a restaurant with a platter (not a side/appetizer) thats under 10 euro, well unless its chinese/japanese. most are 12-20 euro. && thats even worse because the value of the dollar is so low you gotta multiply it by about 1.4.

» the metro is a touch bit annoying because theres hardly anywhere you can go without switching trains at least once, which is usually a decent walk through the tunnels.

» tons of couples and tons of pda - although hopefully when i come back i will have a boo for my own and this will not be a bother anymore.

» the restaurant service is nothing compared to america. they dont work for tips so they arent that attentive. they dont bring the check until you ask, which is only annoying because they dont regularly check up on you. however, this is something i got used to pretty quick and it just allows you to take your time and not rush through the meal. although i do kinda miss having super attentive waiters that help you pick an entree, talk to you, etc. 

REASONS WHY I WILL ALWAYS MISS PARIS & WANT TO GO BACK:

» eiffel tower. its brilliant. so huge, so stunning, so romantic. freakin love it.

» the buildings. the majority of the buildings are just so wonderful! some are quaint with flowers on the patios, others are old and elegant with tons of details/work. 

» there are amazing views everywhere! its either a normal street with pretty buildings, or an amazing water way with bridges, or idk pretty much everything is amazing!

» the cafes! of course! oui oui! the tables are mostly outside and the chairs all face outward to the street so you can people watch while you dine. usually its about a little more than half people drinking espresso, beer, or wine. and then the others will be eating food. people spend hours just drinking and talking at these cafes, a lifestyle i cant get enough of. 

» the language is so amazing! i cant wait to know french.

» people actually have style. flip flops and nike shorts? totally taboo. even the children have style! (guessing a product of their parents, but still, ive seen 13 year olds dressed better than me).

» did i mention the eiffel tower? 

» versaille, notre dame, louvre. there were a lot of french tourists, which was refreshing because london has mostly tourists and i like being surrounded by french. and they are just effin beautiful places!

» the streets are full of people all the time. 

» the guys are SO hot! all of them! well, the mast majority. and there are tons of children everywhere and every single one of them are freaking adorable. im gonna find me a hot french guy and make some cute french babies.

and im sure theres so much more, but those are my thoughts for now. in the morning i am off to madrid!

ps. the post title is in reference to the movie anastasia, one of my favs.

adventures in london!!!

DAY ONE: too tired to function

The travels all started Saturday, May 14th. (the day after my 21st birthday, so i already was pooped from all the drinking that had ensued the 2 days prior). Our flight was at 3pm, we had a lay over in Boston (ive always wanted to go there! too bad i only saw the airport), and then our flight to London was at 6:25. Well, those hours are kinda wrong cus our flight was delayed like an hour but thats the gist. Our arrival was at 6:20 am, so we were thinking we could stay up and watch a movie or two, and then sleep through the night. Oh wait, we are dumb because those 6 hours we planned to sleep were actually the time change and we got zero hours of sleep :(. 

We couldn't check into our hotel until 2pm, so our plan was to check our luggage and just hang in London till 2. Sounds good right? After seeing the London Eye, House of Parliament, and a long road of government type buildings, and eating at a weird tasting breakfast place, we were so tired we ended up napping in the downstairs of the McDonalds (all the Micky Ds here have at least 2 floors) one at a time. That didn't really suffice, so we went back to our hostel at like 11 and begged to get a room early and the lady finally sympathized and broke the rules for us. So nice!

A few hours later, at like 4ish, we finally left to go hit the town, still pretty tired though. We got off at Charing Cross station and walked around the Soho area to find food. We ate at a chinese restaurant which were everywhere (it was pretty good i guess, nothing amazing). Then we walked around looking a few shops, but everything had closed already because it was passed 6. 

Then we ran into this really cute pub called The Lyric and we had a pint and played cards for a while. On our way home we saw a random band performing on the street (i took a flip video), and the took some night pics of the London Eye, Big Ben, and the Westminister Abbey. 

DAY TWO: why aren't the guys with the black fuzzy hats at the buckingham palace?

We woke up early, and headed straight to the Buckingham Palace. There was a shit ton of people there, which we finally realized was because we had gotten there during the changing of the guards. But it was just boring black/red guards riding horses down the street, thats it haha. Wasn't even the red ones with the giant fuzzy hat. So to avoid the crowd we wondered around and found this amazing pub looking place, but on the inside looked like pottery barn meets anthropologie. And the food was amazing! Then we went back to the palace, took a bunch of pics, and walked around the entire garden (took like 15 minutes). There aren't any tours right now because the Queen is staying there, so we just toured the royal Mews, where they keep the horses and coaches. Pretty interesting, wish we got to see more horse action though and less coaches haha.

After stopping at a random coffee shop, we took the underground to Oxford street where all the main shopping happens. Went to TopShop, New Look, H&M (which had a tiny home store, kinda cool), Zara, and a couple other random ones. Bought a cute new purse! and lace tights. 

When we got hungry, we took the underground out towards Hyde Park to hopefully escape the masses or tourists. We ended up in a pretty residential area. Discovered that Tesco seems to be the grocery store of the town, we went into a Tesco Express. After more walking we found an italian restaurant. Had THE most amazing chianti wine, yum. But the food was just average, along with the service. Before we got our check, our waitor clocked out, changed clothes, and started drinking with his friends! We were super tempted to just ditch the joint without paying, but good morals overcame it and we had to get another waiter to get our check (plus a bad tip).

It was a freezing walk home, and we got lost and had to get directions because we were off our map. We made it though!!

DAY THREE: lets go live in the tower of london

We woke up at 12:30, to our dismay. We hurried to get ready and went straight to the Tower of London. This was by far the coolest part of the trip. The old castle/fortress/tower was so cool! Especially with the bleek london sky in the background. We got a tour from a guide to get a bit of history and then wondered around by ourselves. Every building had been converted into a walk through museum system. I kind wished it had just been set up to look like it used to, but it had been used as so many different things throughout the years and buildings have changed so i get it. Oh, and we saw the royal crowns! They have such big jewels they look fake! But obviously not. The aewsome guards with the fuzzy hats where guarding it (thank goodness, i needed to see one!).

Next stop, Tower Bridge, which is right at the tower of london. Now that is a gorgeous bridge. I could look at it for hours. That whole area was just breathtaking.

Then we were off to Shakepeare's globe theater! It looks exactly hour a pictured it, minus all the fancy modern buildings surrounded it. We managed to get lucky and grab some 5 pound tickets in the pit. Standing for 2.5 hours was so hard cus my legs are in such pain, but it was worth it. The show was As You Like It, done very well. I mean it was not my fav thing ive ever seen, but it was awesome to go see a play done like that. Cus it was a traveling show with an informal feel. They sorta "talk" to the audience and everyone claps when they do something well. Not interactive, but its obvious they we were there kinda thing.

Oh and before the play, we went to this chain called "eats" where its a bunch of premade food (kinda like at the airport) that you get togo or eat it there. Very yummy. 

Then we walked down the harry potter bridge, formally the millenium bridge, and it led to St Pauls cathedral. Lots of pics. Then we popped into the McDonalds cus i wanted to try the onion rings with sweet chili sauce. Quick walk down fleet street (not dark and gloomy btw) then to the underground and home.

Wish we got to see more, but now im off to Paris!!