first of all, MY FAMILY IS HERE!!!! they got in on sunday and i'm so excited! they came straight to oxford from the airport and we went to lunch and then i showed them around town a little bit.
then we came back to my room where my dad passed out in my bed. sorry pops, jet lag gets the best of us all.
this week they're staying in a town about half an hour away from oxford and doing their own thing, but we're meeting up again tomorrow to travel together for the weekend. yay family!!
monday we took a class trip to stourhead, which i'm sure you've never heard of. it's an estate in southwest england with a huge house you can tour and a giant park and gardens you can hike around. it was, of course, beautiful. but also pretty good exercise. big bonus.
i had been looking forward to this trip more than any other one we had planned. like, i was ridiculously excited about it. and surely now you, knowing how much of an outdoorsy person i am, are very confused as to why on earth i would want to go there so badly. let me explain: pride and prejudice (the 2005 keira knightley version) is my favorite movie. i've seen it at least 100 times. i could probably quote it in my sleep. you only think i'm exaggerating. anyway, my favorite scene is mr. darcy's first proposal to elizabeth. and the place where they filmed that scene? it's at the temple of apollo. in stourhead. yeah.
um... you're kidding me right? i got to go there?! i got to stand in the same place where keira knightley and matthew mcfadyen brought my favorite part of my favorite book to life. seriously? it was incredible. i got chills. you're probably judging me right now, but i really don't care. i was blissfully happy.
aside from the temple, the gardens were really beautiful and different from the other gardens that we've seen. i mean, there were still the glassy lakes and towering trees but there was also a waterfall and lots of stone bridges and caves. it was really cool. we also toured the house, which was gorgeous, like all the other grand estates we've seen, but it had a much more homey feel to it than the others, which i really liked.
so that was monday. monday was a really good day.
tuesday... tuesday was a fairytale. totally surreal. i'll try my best to do it justice.
yesterday we went to london. my favorite city in the world. excellent. we went straight from the tube to see parliament and big ben because we like to embrace our tourist status. there's really no point trying to hide it anyway. so we did our touristy thing and snapped some sweet pics.
we also walked over to westminster abbey but didn't get to go inside because the line was outrageous.
as i walked inside i couldn't stop thinking to myself, "i'm inside buckingham palace." inside buckingham palace. i honestly felt like a princess while i was walking through it. i mean, how could i not?
here are some fun facts for you: the palace has 775 rooms. 240 bedrooms, 78 bathrooms, 19 state rooms... it's enormous. and a lot of it is actually underground. also, during the blitz in world war II, the palace was hit 9 times. pretty crazy, right?
so the palace? it's unbelievable. my jaw literally dropped every time i entered a new room. there was no photography allowed inside, unfortunately, but let me tell you, there's some serious opulence in there. each of the state rooms has a different color scheme, determined by whatever color silk dresses the walls. everything is gilded. there are multiple (massive) chandeliers in every room. all of the ceilings have intricate designs carved into them. it's extravagant for sure, but it never felt like too much. it was just amazing.
then there was the giant cherry on top: inside the palace, there's an exhibit about the royal wedding. featuring kate middleton's wedding dress. the dress. the most iconic dress in the world. it was there, in the flesh (in the lace?).
i got to see kate middleton's wedding dress.
i died. i walked into that room and i died. stop judging me. you just have to understand how much i love 1) kate middleton, and 2) her wedding dress. it is exquisite. so, so much more beautiful in person than in pictures. and shoot, that girl is tiny. the waist of the dress was the circumference of my wrist. okay, exaggeration, but it was itty bitty. kate's veil and tiara were on display along with the dress and they too were gorgeous. big surprise.
several other royal wedding pieces were on display as well, including kate's shoes and earrings, a replica of her bouquet, and a replica of the wedding cake. wow. that was the most intricately decorated cake i have ever seen. and i want it at my wedding.
i eventually had to tear myself away from the dress (to prevent security from doing it for me) and join the rest of my group in the quest for indian food. i had never actually had indian food before, but apparently london's pretty famous for it, so we headed over to brick lane, which we were told is the best place to go, and chose the first place we saw. we were starving. our waiter was kind of pushy and rude, but the food was really really good. i give chicken tikka massala two thumbs up. after dinner we made our way back to paddington station and hopped the train back to oxford, exhausted but so very happy.
the blessings just keep coming. i am seriously in awe of all of the incredible experiences i've gotten to have while studying abroad, and how many more there are to come. God is just so good, all the time. i am so so grateful for all of the opportunities i've had in the last month. i just wish i could share it with you guys! i miss you all a whole lot. but i'll see you so soon! i fly home in a week and a half. bittersweet. until then, all my love from across the pond!
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