Hey guys, it’s really been a while. I think the longest we’ve gone without a post since January. I’d like to apologize to my blog followers (Mom and Dad) for not positing in a while.

It’s been a very busy two weeks because my mom came to London Town for my 21st birthday! We had a wonderful time in London, Paris and Dublin, but recounting every detail on here seems impossible and would likely result in the most epically long blog post of all time. Instead, I thought I would give you the highlights in a nice, easy bullet point format, especially since I just wrote two essays (the first school work I’ve done all semester) and am exhausted as a result. Anyway, let’s be honest, the pictures are the coolest part.

• March 2 – My birthday! My mom arrived in time for us to go to tea at a SUPER fancy tea salon where the Queen has been called Fortnum and Mason. It was amazing. Then we went to dinner at Hakkasan where I had a martini with my mom, which was weird. Still, a great way to celebrate.

• I felt a little under the weather the next few days, but we still managed to cross the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and riding the London Eye off my London bucket list.

 

• On Thursday, we headed to over to Paris for the weekend! Naturally, I realized I forgot my passport when we arrived at the train station, but after some minor freaking out and running and cab riding, the crisis was averted.
• Paris was incredible. I fully expected everyone to be stereotypically standoffish, but the people were surprisingly friendly even though communicating was surprisingly difficult. The city itself is beautiful, and we had a great time touring around seeing literally everything. To sum it all up, we saw: the Eiffel Tower (during the day and at night when it sparkles), the Louvre, Mona Lisa, Notre Dame, bridges, river, statues, monuments, macarons, the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, Musee d’Orsay, french onion soup, creme brûlée and finally, falafel. The entire time I was either singing that song from Anastasia in my head or pretending I was in the Da Vinci Code. The perfect weekend.

• Then it was back to London, where we took on the Tower of London (crown jewels, anyone?), Westminster Abbey and a day trip to Manchester.  We also accomplished my life goal of renting one of those “Cycle Hire” bikes and riding around Hyde Park. Never have I felt so British.

• For the last leg of our European adventure, we popped over to Dublin, which we planned without realizing that we would be there the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day. Though we were met with hoards of people, it was great to see a new city with a completely different vibe from London and Paris. When they call it the Emerald Isle, they are not kidding. Everything is green. My mom and I took in the city via double decker bus tour. We toured Kilmainham jail, which was…depressing. The Guinness Brewery, though, was amazing, and I don’t even like Guinness. The museum part that tells you how the make Guinness is really interesting, and I am now a certified Guinness pourer, so all in all a productive visit. We also walked around the extremely crowded Temple Bar area, where I saw more drunk middle aged people than ever before. We finished the weekend off with a visit to Trinity College and the Book of Kells, and a dinner show where there was Irish singing and dancing. It was both hilariously cheesy and genuinely fun.

I have to admit I was not ready to get back to reality when I got back to London. Thanks for a great spring break/birthday trip, Mom!