Robin Hood

During the break, Katy and I took a day trip to Nottingham which is about a three hour train ride North of London. Nottingham is very close to another town called Edwinstowe where the famous Sherwood Forest from the Robin Hood story is located. I was so proud of the two of us as we were able to find out way around the city and figure out the transit system there.

Once we arrived in Nottingham we made our way to the bus station to get to Sherwood Forest. One thing I immediately noticed is how the English accent in Nottingham is different from the accent in London. After our hour bus ride we reached the Forest. It had a great walking trail and we were fortunate as it was a gorgeous day, although quite cold. There was a Robin Hood exhibit on site which went through the stories of Robin Hood and the history behind the legend. We also saw Major Oak - the big tree where Robin Hood and his Merrie Men hung out.

We took the bus back to Nottingham and explored around there for a while. It was really nice to get out of London and explore a new, less busy place. I've been finding that London is becoming too much for me lately and I needed a break from the hustle and bustle of the city. There are many networks of caves in Nottingham carved out of sandstone so Katy and I went cave hunting and had a little tour. The caves were also used as a bomb shelter during WWII.

Next we went to see the Robin Hood statue downtown and got some good pictures of Nottingham Castle up top of Castle Rock. Right beside the Castle was a pub called "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem." I had first heard of this pub on a Buzzfeed article called 25 Pubs You Must Drink In Before You Die. (http://www.buzzfeed.com/timchester/25-legendary-british-pubs-you-need-to-drink-in-baqg#.yc6Vxb49e) Ye Olde Trip is actually the oldest pub in England which dates back to 1189. Crusaders would stay here on their way to Jerusalem.

Back in London

I've probably said it before but currently I'm finding that the best thing about London is the "winter" weather. In Southern Ontario the temperature -18 degrees today, whereas it got to 13 degrees in London. While I did want a white Christmas I can say that I'm really not missing the shovelling or having to bundle up due to the freezing temperatures. Katy and I took advantage of yet another sunny Saturday during our week off by more sightseeing. 

We visited St. Dunstan in the East which is the site of a former church which was first damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666 but was patched up and then during World War II became almost completely destroyed. The ruins are now a public garden and has a beautiful cobbled paths and vines all around what is left of the building. It's really a gorgeous area that I'm sure is even more breathtaking in the spring/summer when flowers are in bloom. 

  

Katy really likes Agatha Christy so we went to Florin Court which is the building where they filmed Poirot's home in London known as Whitehaven Mansions. The whole apartment is decorated in art deco style. I was taking Katy's picture in front of the building when an elderly woman invited us in the building and took us on a tour. She took us to the rooftop to see the amazing view and the basement which has a pool and spa. Apparently during the filming of the show the residents who lived in first few floors of the building were put up in hotels and their apartments were redecorated to make it look like it was the 1930's and everyone was given a large sum for their inconvenience. The other residents in the building were each given £100 pounds.  

Since we came to London I have wanted to go to Leadenhall Market as it is featured in some of the Harry Potter films - it's actually Diagon Alley.  I haven't been able to visit the market because it is only open from Monday to Friday and closes before I get off work so our Christmas break gave me the perfect opportunity to visit while it is open. The market was one of the numerous buildings that were also damaged in the Great Fire of London but were rebuilt. It is a covered market and pretty small compared to the other markets I've been to. The building's architecture is so ornate and was nice as the Christmas lights were still on which added to it's beauty. My favourite part of the market (which it's quite famous for) is the floating books section. I also really liked the quotes that were lit up "Time Here Becomes Space" and opposite "Space Here Becomes Time."

We ended our day by walking through Picadilly Circus and making our way to Carnaby Street to see the Christmas light display which I thought was super cool and grabbing dinner in a pub nearby. It is good to be back in London!

Christmas and NYE

I was lucky enough to be able to come home to Canada for Christmas. Unfortunately I got a cold a few days before so felt really sick on the plane. My first stop after I got back to Canada was to a walk in clinic and was put on antibiotics for an ear infection. Although it wasn't the greatest thing to come back with, I was so glad to be home and see my family and friends! It was a really busy week trying to fit in time to see everyone and really didn't have any time to just relax.

 I wasn't sure what it would be like coming home and found it strange being "home." Everyone and everything seemed the same for the most part which was nice as it kind of felt like I never left which made me feel better about living away from home. At the beginning of the week I did not want to go back to London because being home made me not want to leave my family and friends again. I even looked into switching my flight for a week later as I wanted more time at home. Near the end of my time in Canada I started to miss my life in London as even though I was busy with seeing everyone, I was bored. In London I feel like there is always so much more for me to do and see and I am never bored. Again, it was really hard for me to leave everyone but it was easier than it was in September as this time I am settled and know what to expect. I was really hoping there would be snow for Christmas and was bummed out that it was a green Christmas and didn't see any snow.

Cupcakes for my belated birthday 

Got to spend time and go for a Christmas walk with one of my closest friends

I went back to London on December 28th and had the week with Katy as Kylie went to Canada for New Years. The two of us went on a pub crawl for NYE in Shoreditch. It was quite the night!

Tate Modern

The last weekend before Christmas break we went to the Tate Modern Christmas Market and wandered around the museum. The market was quite small and there really wasn't much to see but there was a really nice view of Parliament and we got to walk over Millennium Bridge (the bridge from the Harry Potter movie.) The Tate Modern museum was very different - I'm not exactly a fan of modern art and I really didn't understand most of the pieces but there were some really cool sculptures. I was disappointed because I was expecting to see some work from Andy Warhol, but didn't find any. After the museum we walked around the area and did some Christmas shopping. We ended our day in Covent Garden to see one last look at the Christmas decorations.

Tate Modern Christmas Market

Beautiful December day in London - note that we aren't even wearing coats

Covent Garden

The craziness of Piccadilly Circus