It's been about a week since my last blog post, and before I tell you about my fun weekend, I thought I'd mention what I did for my 21st Birthday last Monday! I missed my friends and family back home a little extra that day, but I had a wonderful time celebrating with friends here in London. My friends Allegra, Becca, and Jungwon from SOAS took me out to lunch at Oxford Circus, followed by some shopping. I bought myself a pair of new shoes as a gift to myself. Later, my wonderful boyfriend Eric took me out to dinner at a great steak restaurant called MASH on Brewer Street.
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| Creme Brulee and Champagne - the best birthday cake ever! |
After that, we headed to IceBar - probably one of the coolest (get it?) places I've ever been to! You get 40 minutes in the IceBar, which is entirely enough time because everything is made completely out of ice, and is therefore freezing! It was a great way to celebrate my 21st birthday.
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You're given these awesomely-stylish thermal jackets to keep warm,
and gloves so that you can hold your glass made out of ice! |
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| A great 21st birthday! |
This weekend I went to Brighton, a small ocean-side town in southern England, with the other BC students studying in London this semester. It was a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city, and I would love to return to this beautiful beach town when it gets a little warmer! We started out with a scavenger hunt to help us get to know the town better. Our team lost, unfortunately, but we did get this awesome picture in a boat as a part of the competition:
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| Team Panda |
After the scavenger hunt, we visited the Royal Pavilion of Brighton, a former royal residence built in the 18th century. The pavilion was absolutely stunning from the outside, and looked like something you would see in Asia, rather than England!
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| The Royal Pavilion |
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| Side-view |
We then had the rest of the day and night to explore Brighton. One of my favorite parts of the town was the Brighton Pier, which reminded me of a sort of boardwalk. It had carnival rides, carnival food, and great views of the town.
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| View of Brighton from the pier |
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| Ferris wheel! |
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| The Brighton Pier |
For dinner, I went with Eric and Dave to a Spanish tapas restaurant called Belluto, which was absolutely delicious. Although Brighton is a small town, it has a vibrant nightlife because of the universities and tourists. It was a lot of fun!
Today, we traveled to a nearby town called Lewes. We had a walking tour during which we learned all about its history, and got to see some important historical and cultural sites. One of my favorites was the childhood home of Thomas Paine, who played an important role in the American Revolution.
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| Home of Thomas Paine |
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| English alleyway |
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| "The Round House" |
After some free time for lunch, we visited the Lewes Castle, which stands at the highest point of Lewes. We climbed to the top of the tower to get a spectacular view of the town and hills of Lewes.
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| Lewes Castle |
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| View from the tower |
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| England! |
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| View from one tower to the other! |
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| Castles galore |
It was a great getaway for the weekend, but it's nice to be back in London. This week I really have to get cracking on my essays, since they are due in just a few short weeks! Which also means that my family will be here soon! I can't wait!
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