Final full weekend as an AIU student

Welp, can you believe 9 weeks have already passed? I sure can't. This weekend was my last weekend as an AIU student. I am soooo excited to be almost dunzo with classes (hooray for an extra long summer) but am getting a little sad about leaving London. Since this was my last weekend on my own, I wanted to make sure all my favorite things were accomplished one last time.

I spent a lot of my time visiting the parks and walking along the Thames River (my new obsession). Saturday morning started off great with a trip to Portobello Market for a donut...o.m.g. it was the best donut ever. It was loaded with sprinklies and was so fresh! It wasn't greasy like a typical American donut and didn't make me feel sick after I ate it.

Fresh flowers in March? Only in London!

Mmmm Hmmm...that's what I'm talking about

The best stop at the market :)

"Sprinkle Monster"

I took my freshly purchased donut and headed over to Holland Park to enjoy the sereness of this place. I walked along the wooded pathways and then found a nice bench next to the waterfall where I perched for about an hour enjoying my donut, book, and sound of rushing water...what a relaxing way to spend a Saturday morning.

View from the bench

The rest of Saturday was spent walking around and enjoying the sunshine. I did find a great little cafe for lunch called Leon. I ordered myself the sweet potato falafel to go and took it down by the water. Oh it was delicious!

Later at night, Kirsten, her friend Ashley, and myself ventured to the Salisbury pub to get some fish-n-chips and cider black. To our dismay, the bartender didn't understand what we wanted to drink and instead poured us 3 large glasses of Beck's...I must say, it was not half bad! It was from the tap so maybe that's why it tasted better than the bottled crap? As usual, the fish-n-chips were tasty and by the time my plate was cleaned, I was pretty freaking full. Then it was time to head home and work on some homework before falling asleep a little after midnight.

Today (sunday) pretty much consisted of the same type of activities. I started the day off with a run in my new shoes (have had them for about 2 weeks but haven't worn them because I didn't want to get them dirty) and it was lovely. Then I walked from my flat to Regen't Park where I found a nice bench in the sun and of course read some more. After a while I headed from Regent's to the Strand where I hit up Apostrophe for a muffin and flat white. It was quite nice becasue I was the only one there and for once got a window seat! Usually the window seats are occupied so today I got to enjoy the view of the Courts of Justice. I hung out there for about 45 minutes then hit up the Thames again. The sun was shining and I was happy. I walked past the London Eye, Big Ben, and Houses of Parliment again and could not help taking more pictures. These structures still amaze me no matter how many times I see them! Finally, I walked back past Buckingham Palace and through Green Park where I hopped on the tube and headed for home.

Spiced muffin and Flat White...oh how you complete me

Courts of Justice across from Apostrophe

I spy the London Eye!

:)

I think this could qualify as my fave picture of Big Ben

Flowers for dad...he said he is so excited to smell them

Now since it is finals week, I probably should start preparing as I have my British Museum final tomorrow. It is very hard to be motivated to study in this city because there are sooo many other things to do...but don't worry, I will resist the urge and study the rest of the night :) Tomorrow night I get to see Swan Lake the ballet so that will be a nice little reward!

Alright, gotta hit the books!

-A very unmotivated Little Londoner