Mom's Visit, Part 2: Bath

Mom and I took a day trip out to Bath.  Home of Roman Baths, a fashion museum and loads of Jane Austen memorabilia.  The fashion museum was my favorite part (aside from doing a little shoping myself). It documented English fashion with some pieces going back to the 17th century.  There were some parts that were very interactive, like getting to try on corsets and big skirts.  (Mom has those photos on her camera)  There were also more contemporary peices, such as some of Alexander McQueen's designs.

We also went to a Jane Austen museum which documented some of the Authoress' time in the city.

Mom's favorite part was the Jamie Oliver restaurant we had dinner at.

Unfortunately I didn't take many photos, but here are a few:

This was called the circle. Jane writes about it in a couple of her novels.

All of the gardens were beautiful and immacuately manicured.

Some of our new friends!

Mom's Visit, Part 1: Kew Gardens

A few days after Kate left, I recieved another special visiter in London:  My Mom!!  I had a blast showing her around the East end of the city.  We went to a bunch of my favorite markets, saw a couple of shows, took a boat ride to Greenwich, went to some museums and had a propper afternoon tea.

One really beautiful place we went was Kew Gardens.  The (very) amatuer photogropher came out in me and I went a bit photo happy.  Here are a few of the better ones.

There was a huge tropical house that had some very interesting plants and flowers:

There was a walkway around the top of the green house you could explore.

There was also a water lily house:



And the grounds themselves were incredible:

Notice the eggs in the nest!  There were also loads of geese wandering around this pond, who weren't too friendly.

This was a canopy walk that we went up.

On the canopy walk looking to the other side.

Another bird friend I made this day.

My Mom is very into gardening and landscaping so seeing all of the plants and flowers was very exciting for her.  I think she was jotting down ideas for her own back yard.

Kate's Visit, Part 3: The London Eye

One of the many fun things Kate and I did together was to go for a ride on the London Eye.  You get the best view of the city from it.  Here are a few photos!

This is looking North East toward St. Pauls.

This is looking North to the area by my school.

This is looking East. You can see St. Paul's on the left and the Gherkin on the right.

Parliament and Big Ben

Big Ben

On Kate's last night in London we went for a night out in Shoreditch.  It was so much fun having her visit!

Kate's Visit to London, Part 2: Top of St. Paul's

I love, love, love St. Paul's.  I'd been in it a couple of times, but this was the first time I went to the top.

Looking West down the Thames.  London Eye in the distance.

The Shard building in construction.  When it's completed it will be the tallest building in Europe.

Looking across to the Tate Modern and Millenium Bridge.

Kate's Trip to London, Part 1: Hampton Court Palace

My best friend, Kate, came to visit in March for a week!  It was so much fun having her here.  We were quite cozy in my little, tiny dorm room.  But I loved spending every minute with her.

One of our first big outings was going to Hampton Court Palace, a half hour outside of the city by train west on the Thames.  Half the palace was home to King Henry the VIII.  The other half to William and Mary.

Entrance to the Tudor part of the palace

View of the Baroque of palace from one of the many gardens

We picked the perfect time of year to visit becaues the daffodils and the cherry blossoms were out!

Kate!

One of the coolest parts of the palace was the hedge maze.  Kate and I got a bit lost though and had to follow a couple of 7 year olds out!

One of the cool gardens.  There were several of them with crazy shaped hedges all over.  I'm very impressed with the English gardens.

A different side of the palace

Stay tunes for more photos from Kate's Visit!

A few randoms

Here are a few photos from the winter that I thought were worth sharing.  There is no theme with these, completely random.

As many of you know, I had trouble getting out of London for the holidays.  This was due to the small snowstorm that rolled through the UK and Europe in December.  I thought Seattle was bad with dealing with snow, London is far worse.  This departure board was from my second attempt at getting out of Heathrow.  Unfortunately it took a third attempt before I got out of the country.

These are a couple of my closest friends in London.  Nina on the left and Carrie on the right.  We generally go out and explore the night life together.

This is a Chihuly piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The British Museum which should really be called the Stolen Antiquities Museum. (See below)

Part of the apex of the Parthenon (stolen from Greece).

A totem pole from British Columbia. (I think this one was actually donated).

Mummy (stolen from Egypt)

Helmet (stolen from Iran)