The rest of the week was pretty quiet. Tiffany and Domino were still here and Domino slept in my room, but they kind of did their own tourist things throughout the week. I went to work at my internship and stayed in at night. My internship is really good. Masha and I have much more work than the first slow week. I am doing a lot of stuff on the website now. Margaret would be proud of me!
Friday March 13 I went to the National Gallery with Natalie, Tiffany and Domino. It is right in Trafalgar Square and is simply a gorgeous building with lots of great art. That night I l stayed in and did not do that much because of my big day Saturday!
Saturday March 14 I woke up at 5 am and headed to St. Pancras to catch a Euro star train to Brussels with Amanda, Meg and Carly! It is only a two hour train ride from London to Brussels and we heard that you can totally do Brussels in one day so why not!? I slept through most of the train ride there and didn't even notice when we went underwater. When we first arrived in Brussels we thought that we could easily walk to the historical district or even take a tram. However, the tram was very confusing and no one seemed to be able to help us. We tried to walk but that was not fun either. We ended up taking a cab and got totally ripped off but oh well, we got there. The first thing we did was go to Grand Place, this historic square filled with amazing architecture, cafes, and little shops. Of course we sat down and had a waffle right away. The belgain waffles were different then I thought they would be. They were kind of crunchy haha. Amanda explained that there are different kinds of Belgian waffles though and that the kind we had first were the original.
We basically just walked around all day and saw a few churches, the Royal Palace, and the famous statue of Manneken Pis (a little boy peeing into a fountain). But Iwas very disappointed by the little Pis was all dressed up! I guess this non-profit that takes care of him sometimes dresses him up...but I wanted to see the au natural version haha!
The food was the best part though! After that first waffle I got french fries (Belgium actually invented them), hot chocolate, another street waffle and lots of chocolate. There were chocolate stores, waffle vendors, and cafes everywhere! The food was very rich and simply amazing! I brought chocolate to last me some time and some as gifts.
Overall, a day in Brussels was the perfect amount of time and it was definitely worth the trip! :-)
Even though I was tired, I had to go out that night to celebrate with Tiffany and Domino before they left for the States. We thought about going to Fabric but ended up going to Oxygen Bar in Leicester. I thought that the music was great and it was a fun atmosphere. I had so much! And I deviated from my normal "vodka cran" and drank Mai Tais and an apricot sour which I really liked!
Sunday March 15 I somehow woke up pretty early despite of my late night. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, I think it got up to almost 60 degrees! Carly and I went to Spearker's Corner in Hyde Park in the morning. On Sunday mornings at "Speakers Corner" people stand up on "soap boxes" and talk about whatever the want. The first person we saw was very racist against Jews and Isreal so we left almost immediately because it was upsetting. We walked around Hyde park for awhile before returning and listening to a women talk the christian importance of tree hugging. Then we made another failed attempt to see Westminster Abbey (forgetting that it was Sunday and tourists would not be allowed to enter) and ended up back in Hyde Park but at the other end closer to our dorm in South Kensignton. I showed Carly the Peter Pan statue and we walked around for a bit. It was so nice out, I felt like everyone was outside. Lots of young families and exercisers.
After returning to the Crofton (our dorm) Carly took a nap but I was eager to go back out and explore. So Kat and I went took a long tube ride up to Hampstead to explore. Jenny Pearson (my mom's first cousin) told me I should definitely go look around there and she was totally right. Hampstead was the cutest area! We explored the Hampstead Heath which is a giant park consisting of fields, woods, trails, ponds, meadows and anything you can imagine a park being. Then we walked around some residential neighborhoods which were adorable and very chic at the same time. There were porches everywhere! There was a quiant neighborhood full of bookshops, tearooms, hookah bars, cafes, and restaurants. We ended up eating a cafe. I ordered an omlette which was perfect because I don't think I have eaten an omlette since Paris. After dinner we saw this one crepe stand that literally had about 60 people lined up waiting to get a crepe! They must have been amazing crepes but we were so full from dinner we weren't about to wait. I loved the Hampstead area....if I am ever rich I am buying a house there, no joke.
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