Winding Down

       I really can't believe it, but I only have two more weeks here in London. This weekend will be my last weekend here before my mom and sister join me and then we take off for Paris and Italy! While this is very exciting and going to Italy has always been a dream of mine, I can't help but feel sad as it draws near, because it will mean leaving London, a place that has become my home. I haven't updated this too often because I have been constantly busy with work and homework and travel, but I hope that whoever has read this has enjoyed it. I love it here, but I do miss all of you that I've left behind and sincerely wish you could be here with me, and writing this blog has helped in making you all feel just a bit closer.
      There's a lot that I haven't posted about and I wouldn't even know where to start with covering it all, but there are a few things worth noting. I recently said goodbye to a roommate and then gained a new one on the same day. This new roommate is from Brazil and she is over the top sweet and very genuinely selfless. I've enjoyed getting to know her over the past few days and I really enjoy living with her. It's so fun to meet people from other places. It's something that never seems to get old.
       Most of the Americans who were participating in the program I am in left this past weekend, so I spent the last few weeks doing lots of tourist type things and cramming in as much of London as we could before they had to say goodbye. That being said I've been all over the place. I did a night time ghost walk, went to the pub the Mayflower sailed from and the oldest pub in London, the basement of which as built in the 1200s and was one of the few things that survived the fire of 1666. I took a trip out in the countryside which was lovely and saw the Cotswolds and the former home of Winston Churchill which is called Blenheim Palace. I spent the day in Kew Gardens which was lovely and ate at a really fun Greek restaurant. I shopped at the biggest inner city mall in Europe, had chocolate fondue at Harrods, and took a friend to have a farewell sparkle cupcake. I even walked the line of the Prime Meridian, went to the Tower of London, Greenwich market, and on a Thames River cruise. It's been a busy few weeks and a lot of fun, but this week it has been so nice to just relax and take everything in. It's been good for me and has helped me to acknowledge even more how truly blessed I am to even be here.
        I know you have probably already seen these if you're following my trip on facebook, but this is kind of like a journal for me too and it's nice to have everything laid out for me to look back on, so here are some of my favorite photos from the past few weeks.