A Final December Weekend of Fun!

Since I finished term on Wednesday, I essentially have had a four day weekend to explore and be a tourist in London. Post an advisor meeting on Thursday morning, Arielle and I headed over to Winter Wonderland. As you may recall, Winter Wonderland is one of my favorite parts of London at Christmas.  Going on a weekday has its advantages- less crowds, and no lines for mulled wine. 

We started off on the adventurous side with the world's biggest mouse roller coaster. I don't have a feel of heights, but I do have a feel of falling. Yet, the five minute ride was well worth the screaming.

Wild Maus

Arielle and me

Post rollar-coaster, we sat down for lunch in the Bavarian Village complete with cider and mulled wine.

YUM!

As we were a bit cold and both needed to finish some Christmas shopping, we headed down to Harrods. A madhouse as we expected, we still managed to find some new tea, some Christmas goodies, and eat some ice cream. It's been on my list of things to do in London to actually eat at the ice cream parlor inside Harrods, and I can now cross that off! We split a macaroon sundae, and it was to good to not take some photos of!

Arielle and Me

Thursday evening, I went to the Pi Phi London Alumnae Club Holiday Party. I hadn't had a chance to go to any of the events this term yet, so I was super excited to meet some other Pi Phis. I also got a chance to see Michelle, the Chair of the club here. We ran into each other literally on the street in 2010 when I was wearing letters one day. We had drinks and dinner at Wahaca's South Bank Experiment. I'm a huge fan of Wahaca already based off the Covent Garden location of this Mexican restaurant. The Southbank Experiment location overlooks the Thames.

Two Sisters and Me

Friday was spent running some errands and taking it easy. It was a crappy evening, and the West Wing was needed.

Yesterday, Arielle, Jenny, and I met up in Islington to hunt down this craft store called Loop. Jenny knows how to crochet, and our goal of the day was to do that. I had tried before, but failed, and Arielle wanted to learn as well! The craft store was located in Camden Passage. The street it was on was also filled with a pop-up antique market. Post shopping, we met up with Zaina at a local pub where we proceeded to crochet, drink mulled wine, catch-up, and eat lunch. My scarf is still a work in progress, so no photos yet..But I do promise once it is done to show it off! 

And, today was my last day in London before break. I took the day to run some last minute errands including a trip to Laduree and to stock up on some Cadbury for the Christmas holiday. I fly home tomorrow, and I must say that I'm looking forward to escaping for a few weeks. 

A Look Back

Hello all! I must apologize for the lack of a weekend post and a Thanksgiving post that was almost posted a week later. Times have gotten more stressful than usual because of the approaching end of Michaelmas term. Nevertheless, here's the weekly weekend recap...just now taking place on a Thursday.

Last Friday night was a mild one. First, the MPA Student Association (MPASA) has a careers committee which I am apart of. Myself along with my friend Yiling and the chair, Madeline organized a management consulting panel for our fellow students. It was this past Friday night. I'm glad that I got to help organize it as well as attend as I can safely say that management consulting and I do not match. It's an interesting field, and the practice case was a lively discussion, but it didn't feel like I could commit myself to something like this for the next 40 years.  Post the event, several of us went over to the George for some end of the week drinks followed by dinner.

On Saturday, I met up with Elena and Jenny for a late lunch at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.  If you have never been, I suggest that you get yourself to London and more specifically, Winter Wonderland as fast as you can. Think Bavarian Village, the North Pole, and the culture of London combined into one. It takes over a large part of Hyde Park with tons of mulled wine stations, stalls selling candies and crafts, and rides for kids.  It was raining all day Saturday, but it will was still fun.

Jenny and me

Elena, Jenny, and me 

After Hyde Park, Jenny and I ventured down to Harrods for some window shopping. Harrods was busier than usual on a Saturday due to the holiday season. Jenny had never been, so we took our time walking through the various departments such as the animals, toys, and the Christmas sections.

And, for the rest of the day, I finally got to see Nicole for the first time in several weeks. It's hard because she's just as busy with her grad school program. And, her going to another university makes it even more difficult. Nevertheless, our evening was spent grabbing hot chocolate and croque madames at Patrissee Valerie (yum!), going to Winter Wonderland (again!), and catching a movie.  If you can't tell, I was extra good this year, so Santa let me attend Winter Wonderland twice in one day!