London Bucket List

A few weeks ago we made a list of all the things that we want to do before we leave London this summer. We realized that we have a limited amount of time left and that there are still loads of places that we want to see, so we have created a list and plan to check things off as we do them. The trouble, of course, is that we keep adding to the list. It feels like for every landmark we check off, we remember to add three more. 

Last Monday was a Bank Holiday so we wandered around town and then into the British Library. We took the tube to Angel station, as that is the deepest tube station in London. The escalator went up for miles. We also went into St. Pancras Hotel and King's Cross Station (of Harry Potter fame). We found some beautiful city parks during the day and then later that evening Steven met up with our friend Rich who was in town visiting family.

Another item on the bucket list was to see the Thames Barrier (truth be told, only Steven was really excited about this one, but I went along to keep him company). It was actually very cool. We took the Docklands Light Rail all the way up north, checked out the outlets of Marks & Spencer and Clark's Shoes (rather disappointing), then walked about 5 miles to the Barrier. It's a huge engineering feat that protects London from the risk of catastrophic flooding. I'm glad to have learned about it... and now we can cross it off the list.

We'll keep running down the list and will keep you posted.

Big Win!

On Saturday night Steven and I headed off to the Selkirk Pub for dinner, a couple pints of local ale, and the Liverpool-Chelsea match. Had a fun night, but Liverpool lost. However, it didn't get us down all that much because the next day we had a huge win: Franny's team won the Cup Final against Barnes! It was a great game, and the final score was 2-0. Alan and Isabel came to cheer on the team, so Franny had lots of family rooting for her. We were all surprised at how professional the whole event seemed, from the large pitch to the printed programs and concessions, covered bleachers, and the girls all entering the field to shake hands with the opposition. It was a great day, and we were so very proud of Franny. She, in turn, seems mighty proud of her new trophy.

As of Late

Cambridge University

Nope, I wouldn't mind going to class here...

I haven't blogged in awhile, but here's what has been happening this past April/May...

• As part of Gifted&Talented, I had the opportunity to go to Cambridge University with some of my classmates for the day where we toured campuses of the different colleges and learned a lot about the interview process, the kind of grades you would need to get in, and what it's like at an Oxbridge school. It was such a great experience- the campus was beautiful, of course, but it was also interesting to hear about the logistical side of university. The main thing I learned from the day was that the interview is a huge part of getting in- over 80% of Cambridge's applicants are interviewed, so you have to have a good personality, come across well, and hopefully stand out. I can't believe it's less than three years until I'll (most likely) be applying to schools!

• Last weekend, Mom and I ran some errands on Oxford Street (returns etc.) and stopped in at Liberty. We both loved it- their prints are amazing, and it is filled with gorgeous clothes, stationary, and especially homewares. I could definitely outfit my house in everything Liberty. I did get a travel-card holder there which I love because it's very London. After Liberty we wandered around shopping and trying not to get too wet. Last week it poured every single day and we've had the heat on all day it's been so cold. Definitely not typical May, which is fine- Spring is my least favorite season; I'd rather chilly winter weather. 

• I have had lots of exams recently which hasn't been too fun, but otherwise school is going well. We are currently figuring out my schedule for Ballard High sophomore year- kind of challenging because none of my lessons here are specifically titled e.g. 'World History 1/2'...it's just 'History!' I have yet to tell my friends here that we really are leaving this summer- I know I have to by the end of May though; it's gotten late enough.

All in all, a good start for Spring.

More London Landmarks

After our relaxing break in Spain, we returned to London for another week off (the Easter break here is two weeks) and filled it with lots of sightseeing. Our friends, the Dohertys, came to visit, so we had fun returning to many of our favorite sites and playing tour guides for a while. We also proved that two families of four could fit in our little London house (just!) for over a week.

Some of the highlights included a private tour of Westminster Abbey (friends of friends of friends who work and live there arranged an awesome walk-through for us all), a new exhibit at Kensington Palace, another afternoon at the Tate Modern, walking along South Bank and across the Millenium Bridge, shopping at Notting Hill, climbing the lions at Trafalgar Square, and enjoying the sun in St. James Park.

The girls returned to school last week and I am back at Abel & Cole, but we've managed to fit in some other fun as well. Steven and I met our friend, Kevin, last weekend for another urban walking tour. This time we checked out the Olympic Stadium and Park, as we hadn't been over there yet. It's definitely coming along, but it's hard to imagine the millions of people who will be there in just a few more months. The City is clearly getting excited about all of the festivities. And today was good practice, as it was the day of the London Marathon, which was a huge event. We got into town early to cheer on our cousin, Robert, who completed the race in just over 3 hours! It was great to see everyone out supporting the runners, and we were able to spot Rob at a few different locations.

The day the Dohertys left, Susan, Robert, and David arrived to spend the weekend and be here for the run. It was great to see them, and we squeezed in Covent Garden and the Transport Museum, lunch at Wagamama (I had to work that day, so missed those activities), a nice dinner and Steven's famous rhubarb (from Susan's garden) and strawberry (from Borough Market) crumble, then today's big race event. We are all completely knackered tonight and we didn't run at all!

Granada y la Playa

Granada

Flat Stella

Alhambra

Holy Week parade

On the beach

The walk down to the water

Dodging the waves

Swimming!

The Andalusian countryside was absolutely gorgeous- we had a week's worth of viewing mountains dotted with villas and white villages; I loved it. But my two highlights of the trip would have to be our visit to the city of Granada and Costa del Sol, the Mediterranean beach.

Granada is large city, and there was loads to see: outdoor squares with marble floors, all the main Spanish shops (Franny got a watch), stalls on the street selling tea and meats, and an older area with views of the impressive Moorish Alhambra. We were especially lucky to be in Granada on the Wednesday before Easter, as it is the same day that the city holds a parade through the streets, as part of Spain's Semana Santa or Holy Week. It is celebrating when Jesus visited Nazareth, so the people wearing the red pointy hats and gowns are called nazarenos, and made up most of the procession. There was also a large crucifix and candle lighting- very religious (Franny was disappointed that they didn't throw out candy like at the Ballard parades). So, topped off with frambuesa flavored ice cream, the parade was really interesting to see. 

But my two most favorite days were the ones spent at the beach. I had never seen the Mediterranean Sea before, and it was exactly like I pictured it- amazing light blue water. On our first beach day (Monday), we stopped at a supermercado to make a picnic to take to the beach, which was perfect. No swimming that day though- just lying in the sun napping and reading. We went back on our last day (Thursday) to a different beach that was less secluded, with more people around. It was also very, as Mom put it, 'anything goes'...and Dad said it was "rather European:" about half of the beach goers were nude! It was really warm that day; Franny and I even went swimming! Jumping waves in the Mediterranean was the perfect way to end the trip. Although driving to the sea actually seemed like a bad decision at first: Spain takes religious holidays very seriously, because that day was a national holiday for Easter and not a single supermarket, local store, or restaurant seemed to be open! We were planning on a picnic again, but had zero food in the fridge and found out once we were nearly at the beach that it was either the gas station mini-mart or nothing. We decided to just head to the beach, play, then figure something out later for food. We drove down, and right next to the beach were two restaurants, both open. Miraculously, we didn't starve but instead ate gazpacho, fresh fish, and candied eggplant while looking onto the sea... bliss.