Lately

My life has been very busy lately with work and trip planning. I've been at the same school in East Ham and took over a Year 4 class while the teacher was off sick for just over two weeks. It was actually the very first class I ever taught in and was really nice to be in the same class for a solid amount of time. As I was in the class for that long I had to help out with planning the lessons which was a good experience and showed me how much work goes into the lessons (not that I already didn't know.) Katy, Kylie and I constantly discuss the fact that we really prefer the education system in Canada as compared to the UK.

This is the last week until the half term break, which means only 4 more days of teaching then I get a week off! On Saturday I am flying to Krakow, Poland with Katy and Lauren and we are staying there for 3 nights. While there we are going to visit the salt mines and take a trip to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Then we will be taking an overnight bus to Berlin, Germany for 3 nights and seeing the Berlin Wall and taking a day trip to Potsdam then flying back to London. The three of us are all history lovers, and are looking forward to seeing those iconic historic sites. I know that seeing Auschwitz will definitely be a haunting experience and has been something I have wanted to see since high school. The week after we come back from half term my mom is coming to visit me in London for 9 days. I always get Groupon getaway deals emailed to me and noticed there were some amazing trip packages for really cheap. My mom and I decided to book a three day excursion to Budapest, Hungary in the beginning of March when she will be here, so very excited for that too! Overall, I have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks and I am really enjoying my life in London lately!

In October I got tickets to see one of my favourite bands, Alt - J at the O2 theatre in London. I invited Katy to come with me because she likes them too. Even though we were very high up it was a great show and was cool to be at a concert in London.

The concert was sold out - the stadium is HUGE! 

I was lucky enough to go see the Black Mountain range in Wales. It was a rainy, foggy day but what I could see was so beautiful. We stopped at the side of the road on the trail and I took some pictures of the rocks. There were also lots of sheep along the side of the road. 

Two weekends ago I went to Windsor to see the famous Windsor Castle which is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. It is also where the Queen often spends her weekends. We went for a tour of the castle which was very overpriced, it was £20 each! It was close to closing time and we only were able to tour the State Apartments and St. Mary's doll house but it was so posh and each room had so much detail. Windsor was a very nice city, it was a cold day so we didn't spend much time there but I would definitely like to go back once the weather is warmer.

This past weekend I went on a surprise overnight trip to Lincoln in Northern England. We stayed in an amazing hotel room and we went out for a really nice dinner and then toured a bit of the city. Lincoln is a medieval town and dates back to the Iron Age. I loved it because it was so quiet and peaceful, as compared to the constant business of London. Definitely a wonderful weekend!

Pretty sunset from hotel window 

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!