Almost as soon as possible, my things were packed, I said farewell to my closest IES friends, and I was on my way to the airport, bound for London! I haven't had the chance to spend Christmastime in London for many years, so I was excited for the chance to do so with Khala, my aunt. I knew it was going to be the most relaxing break ever, and after traveling and being on the go constantly over this past semester, I truly needed it. Going to London is like going to my second home.
Since I'm a "world traveller" now, I took the train from Gatwick Airport into Victoria Station in Central London, and then caught the tube to Khala's stop. Even though it was past 11pm, I didn't need her to come and collect me. I know the city well enough after working here over the summer! It was surprisingly warm in London, about 15 degrees warmer than Vienna's 35 F. I was sweating by the time I got to the seventh floor where Khala lived.
The ever-familiar lobby |
Khala is like my second mother, since she lived with my family from when I was 9 to about 12 years old. She was getting her master's degree in interior design from the Art Institute in Houston before we moved away and left her down there. A Londoner at heart, she quickly moved back here to start her business. Although I still consider her my second mother because of that and because she and my mom are so close, she's also a friend. I already knew I was about to have the best holiday ever.
The week in London consisted of a lot of sleeping, watching TV, music videos on MTV, random holiday movies and movies I had never seen though should have (e.g. Slumdog Millionaire), and lots of Khala's fantastic breakfasts and "healthy" brownies. I think I might have cleaned her out of those brownies.
I hadn't had my hair cut since last December (gross, I know), and I was too nervous to do it in Vienna because my German is almost nonexistent. So Khala made me an appointment for Saturday morning, and I came back a changed girl! It felt so amazing to cut off 6 inches!
My haircut! |
I visited Rugby to see my grandmother on Sunday. Khala and I took the train and had arrived in the small, northern town within the hour. I brought my grandmother a Sacher Torte from Hotel Sacher and she was pleased with it. She fed us and we all shared the cake with a cup of tea. A few aunts and uncles stopped by to say hello as well. They must have been surprised to see me again, since I was just there in the summer. Normally, we don't see each other for a year or two. It was a nice visit, and Khala and I left in the late afternoon to go back to London.
No trip to London is complete without a visit to my favorite sights. Though I've been coming to London for more than 15 years, I can't visit without seeing Westminster. Big Ben and Westminster Abbey will always amaze me. Khala and I continued our walk here in the setting sun, crossing through Trafalgar Square first, to see Norway's gift to England: a giant, but pretty wimpy-looking, Christmas tree. The tree probably only looked wimpy because the decorations were so poor. Even the Prime Minister's Christmas tree on 10 Downing was more impressive than Trafalgar's...Khala profusely apologized to me on England's behalf.
The pathetic tree... |
Trafalgar Square |
The art installation of the moment: a blue cock |
Westminster was the same as always, though there is now a Nelson Mandela memorial as tribute to the great South African leader. The statue of him was covered in flowers. It was in the central square, closer to Westminster Abbey. The Abbey looked beautiful. In the evening light, you could really study the impressive architecture on the outside, and see the stained glass windows in detail because the inside lights had been turned on. By 5pm, it was completely dark and Big Ben chimed farewell to us as we climbed down into the tube station to go home.
Big Ben |
Westminster Abbey. Probably my favorite place ever. I've been inside to see the tombs too many times to count. |
Nelson Mandela's memorial |
There are enormous sales on in all the stores, and shopping in London is my favorite. On the first evening I was there, Khala took me to Selfridges where I did some damage. I hadn't really been shopping all semester because I wanted to spend my money on traveling, so now was the time to buy a new wardrobe, when everything was on sale! A few days later, I also perused Topshop's sale racks, Zara's, Oasis', and Warehouse's at Westfield Mall. Good thing I came to London with an almost-empty suitcase. I bought so many new things!
One of my favorite tearooms in London is called Candella. Mom and I stumbled across it over the summer when she visited and we've loved it ever since. It's fashioned like an antique sitting room, with lots of knickknacks, plush and mismatched furniture, mirrors and paintings, assorted lamps, and a grand piano, all shoved into a small space. Their assortment of homemade food and cakes, and especially the imported tea (the French and Portuguese are my favorite!) make it our favorite place. Khala and I went before heading to Westfield and ended up spending three hours in the cozy place, mostly to escape the sheeting rain outside, but also because we could! The food was delectable, and we both ordered specialty tea's with our thick slices of cakes for dessert. I think it was Candella that made me obsessed with tea this summer!
Those little coloured pots near the bottom right are different tea leaf flavours you can smell and choose which one you want! |
It was a beautiful day on Christmas Eve when Khala and I decided to go for a long walk down Cromwell Road and all the way to Piccadilly, and back by Regent Street and Carnaby Street. I really needed the walk and fresh air away from the TV by that point! We stopped after about an hour at Cafe de Pierre and had a delicious, cream-filled lunch and an english scone with clotted cream and jam with our tea.
So delicious! |
YUM. |
The place was cute, but packed, and I can honestly say that when I have to leave Vienna for good, I'm going to mourn the loss of the kaffeehauses. In England, I also discovered what IES kept repeating as "culture shock". I think I'll be able to cope a lot better than most students because I've been to Europe many times, for weeks on end sometimes, but since I'd been around German conversations for over four months, the overwhelming amount of English conversations around me literally made it seem like I had ADD. I couldn't concentrate on my own conversation because I kept glancing around whenever I heard English. I also noticed that the English speak very loudly; I used to think they were quiet compared to Americans! I wonder how Americans are going to sound when I get home...
Being artsy... |
London is scarily empty and quiet on Christmas Day. Everyone is inside cooking their Christmas dinners and the only people out are the wandering tourists. In addition, everything is closed on Christmas Day. London is like a ghost town. I love it. I didn't realize that my tolerance for tourists and masses of people had been stretched so thin since being in Vienna. Maybe because Vienna has a comfortable amount of people, so it doesn't seem like the place is crawling with people. London is incredibly busy. I made Khala leave Westfield Mall the other day because I was too overwhelmed with the amount of people all over the place. So Christmas Day was looking like my favorite day.
I went for a run in Kensington Gardens in the morning. I missed my morning runs there! The weather wasn't too cold, and before long, I was just wearing my tank top. The run to the gardens was empty; just a few other runners passing by and we gave the acknowledgement nod to one another. However, I was expecting empty gardens...and was sorely mistaken. Since all the shops and restaurants and sights were closed today, the tourists all congregated in Kensington Gardens! It was packed with people, more than I'd ever seen! I was so irritated that I'd have to run through all these people, but I did it anyway. An hour later, I was racing home to beat the ominous black raincloud that had suddenly appeared. At least I got my run in, though it was a little different from how I had expected it to turn out.
Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens |
Khala made me a sumptuous Christmas breakfast, complete with eggs and chives (my favorite!), turkey bacon, fruit, and so much more. It was a relaxing Christmas on the couch, though our dinner plans got a little screwed up (thanks, M&S), and so we ventured out after we finished watching the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". Knightsbridge was the only place that could possibly be open on Christmas (and Edgware Road probably). They're both catered to an ethnic crowd, who mostly don't celebrate Christmas and might want to eat Lebanese or Indian, etc. food that night. Luckily, Al Arez, a Lebanese restaurant Mom and I tried this summer, was open and Khala and I had our Christmas dinner there. It was delicious, and though we were both a bit sad about no homemade Christmas dinner, neither of us truly mourned the loss of a turkey dinner. We had a long walk back via King's Road. It started raining hard as we crossed through South Kensington, but that's London. We had umbrellas, so it wasn't too bad. Anyway, I'd always fancied walking in the rain at night, with nowhere to be and all alone. Turns out it was as good as my imagination created!
Harrods at night |
The next day, I went to High Street Kensington to visit Topshop again (the sales are fab!), and then came home to go to Angel/Islington with Khala to see Matthew Bourne's rendition of "Swan Lake." I was so excited when Khala told me she could get tickets for the ballet, because "Swan Lake" wasn't coming to Vienna until February, and I was so sad I was going to miss it. Khala saved the day!
I'd never been to Angel, but it seemed like such a cool area. Next time, I'll have to explore it a bit more. Khala and I grabbed a Pret (missed this...) and made our way to the Sadler Well's Theater for the show. It was an incredible and beautiful show. Bourne choreographed the ballet with contemporary elements and styles as well as classical, and the most striking thing was that he made the swans male! He said he wanted them to be powerful, and therefore choreographed them for male dancers. I was unsure of how I'd like it, but I think I prefer it to the delicate female choreography in the original. It was such a stunningly beautiful show. I'd go and see it again if I could!
Khala and I discussed the show over coffee and hot chocolate at a cute cafe called Niche: Rosebery Cafe around the corner. We had both loved the show!
Since I had to leave London the next day, Khala and I headed to Covent Garden to take a walk around (where I managed to snag a pair of boots from Dune!), and walk to Soho so I could point out where I worked over the summer. We were both getting hungry, so I took Khala to one of my favorite restaurants in the area, Yauatcha. It's a Japanese grill that serves the most amazing food. My spicy cashew chicken hit the spot! It was a fine farewell dinner together.
Appetizers |
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, the news told us that England has been experiencing incredibly strong winds. A tree had fallen onto the Gatwick Express train's rail, so the service was interrupted. Typical. I had to leave so much earlier and go a more round-about way (involving a train to East Grinstead and then a replacement bus to Gatwick) in order to get to the airport on time for my flight back to Vienna. I managed to get there early enough, but was sad I had to leave London so soon. I still want to live there when I'm older, a dream I've had since I was about 6. Though I love Vienna so much, London is the place for me. There's just something about the city that draws me in and despite all its shortcomings (delays, replacement transport, poor weather conditions, trillions of tourists, etc.), I want to end up living on Launceston Place. I'll make it happen, I'm sure of it. But for now, it's back to Vienna to spend a week touring my sister, Zaynee, and my best friend, Savannah, around!
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