As of Recently...

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It is quite difficult to a keep an up-to-date journal of our time here. I came to that conclusion over the last 7 days as I keep finding myself too exhausted or just too busy to sit down at the computer for a few hours and upload pictures and document the days. However, the bottom line being: this last week has been just amazing, we have traveled to London again, gone to Stonehenge, Bath, had our formal dinner at an Oxford University, and so much more mixed in between.

London

It is quite a feat juggling schoolwork and all the many traveling adventures we seem to go on every weekend. This past weekend we spent Friday in London and Saturday in Bath and Stonehenge. London is always a joy with the bustling crowds, loud taxis, and array of shops. Mitch and I insisted on not using public transportation so we literally walked ten miles as we wandered this way and that through the streets of London. My sense of direction is pretty weak, but luckily, Mitch seems to steer us in the right direction at least 90%!o(MISSING)f the time (the other 10%!i(MISSING)s only because I insist I am going the right way and Mitch lets us go that way only to prove I am wrong). We had a really great time with the girls in London. That is how it always is…the girls…and Mitch. He is the guardian of the group and he is such a great sport, as I know traversing throughout Europe with ten girls on your heels isn’t always the greatest thing ever. You would never know though, he always has that adorable smile held in place by those enormous dimples…I wouldn’t trade him for the world. Anyway, we went and saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace which was quite a spectacle if you are 12 feet tall. It was impossible to see over the heads of all the people who gathered to watch the fat beefeating guards scurry around and yell at each other. I must say I wasn’t that impressed with the whole ordeal but you had to see it. I got on Mitch’s shoulders so I could actually see what was going on, but Mitch started sweating really bad and my self-confidence dropped when I realized his perspiration was due to my weight so I got down. It was nice while it lasted though. After the changing of the guard we got to do something that you can only do 1 month out of the year. We got to take a tour inside Buckingham Palace. It was absolutely amazing with all its little secret doors and beautiful artwork. I loved it, and so did Mitch as he always seems to lag in the museums because he has to stare at every inch. There are so many rooms in the Palace and it was so interesting to hear the crazy history of each room. The dining room and the ball room were just ridiculous with the gold plates, red velvet carpets, and bunches upon bunches of the most beautiful flowers. The Queen sure does receive royal treatment. After the tour, we decided to get lost for about an hour and walk in the complete wrong direction just for fun. We finally got on the right track after a few blisters and swear words and ended up at our destination: Harrods. Harrods is the biggest department store in the whole entire world. I felt like I walked into a whole different extremely overpriced world. It was a joke. I quickly realized that neither Mitch nor I are going to be spending a dime here as that wouldn’t even buy you a strand of the carpet. The pet store sold baby lions. Yea, baby lions. Anyway, after we had our fun there, we left and went to Oxford street which is basically shopper’s paradise. Just think of the greatest stores in the world all one street, and in case you miss one of them there is 4 of the same store about a mile down the road. Mitch and I went in just about every store in search of leather jackets, pea coats, and anything else that looked sassy. Of course, I got nothing and Mitch got like 10 things. He got a really good looking pea coat type jacket that brings out his sexy little figure…especially those chicken legs. We met up with our friends later that night and had a few drinks and caught the late night bus back to Oxford. We got home around 2 only to wake up around 7 to get on the bus and head to Bath. We are young and live on the edge. After 5 hours of sleep a bus ride isn’t exactly the greatest idea in the world and Mitch and I quickly passed out in the most uncomfortable neck breaking positions. I never fail to drool all over him or myself, but I am usually pretty good at covering up without him actually noticing. It was a long ride to Stonehenge but we finally got there and I was drool free and ready for some action.

Stonehenge

I had heard a lot about Stonehenge and how it can be quite disappointing so I was ready for the worst. I was completely and totally surprised with how impressed I was with Stonehenge. I absolutely loved everything about it and it has thus far been one of my favorite spectacles. It was ridiculous! Out in the middle of the country on some man’s farm here are these random gigantic stones just hanging out covered in birds. The grass was so green and the sky for once was so blue, I was just mesmerized! Everyone has come to accept the fact that I am the camera dork and when I whip out my lenses it just confirms their suspicions. I can’t help it. I got some amazing pictures of Stonehenge as the lighting was just right and the birds happen to fly right at the exact moment that I broke out the wide-angle lens. I was pretty excited. We hung around Stonehenge for a while and I snapped a few hundred pictures, as I just couldn’t talk my hands into putting down the camera. Perhaps what intrigues me the most is the mystery that surrounds this cluster of rocks so oddly placed in these green hills. The birds don't seem to find it strange as they love to fly about and and rest upon the different stones. I know they have come here for generations, and if only we could understand them, there would be no mystery at all. Click on the image of Stonehenge...the its beautiful.

Bath

It was another hour or so before we arrived at Bath. Bath was a bit of a disappointment for me as it felt like a bit of a let down. I was expecting a rural, old village with some beautiful Roman baths in the center of town. Wrong. Bath was bigger than Oxford and just as populated with shops, cafes, and tourist attractions. The Roman Baths cost a fortune to go in so we didn’t…I know, we went to Bath and didn’t see the baths. I did, however, see Jane Austen’s house and her old stomping grounds so that was good enough for me. I figured I would just full the bath tub up maybe throw some bubbles in there when I got home and call it a day. I have to admit that I was more fascinated with the countryside on the way to Bath than Bath itself. The countryside is just breathtaking with the rolling green hills, rough wooden fences, and rusty old farmhouses. I wish I could have frozen time to capture the beauty of it all because unfortunately, the bus ride was too bumpy for me to take any pictures. However, I hardly doubt it would have done it justice.
We finally got back to Oxford around seven at night and enjoyed one of our 2 for 1 prepackaged dinners and went to bed. It had been a successful weekend, and Sunday only brought more as we traveled through Oxford on our bikes exploring the ins and outs of the backstreets. We went to the botanical gardens which were just beautiful and I was so excited to find a huge patch of sunflowers just waiting for me. It was so perfect, I could not have been happier. Mitch and I went and got icecream for lunch, and mitch actually ended up winning me a half a liter of ice cream all for myself which is a double edged sword. Pre-diabetes and free ice cream are a killer combo, but we all know I couldn’t give in so I ate the whole thing. It was glorious and Mitch was quite proud of his accomplishment. It was a great day. We decided to continue the greatness on Monday and started off our day with a picnic in the park. We brought a blanket and biked down to one of the big parks. It had been sunny for almost 4 days now so we just had to take advantage of it. We had a gourmet lunch of PB and Js topped off with some delicious chocolate whip cream crepes. It was incredible to see how many people actually came to the park and layed in the grass and just talked with friends. So strange to see something like that in San Diego as most kids are just not interested in something like that. After our little romantic lunch we went to Mitch’s new favorite place in the world: Primark. Primark is basically a Target on drugs. Every is dirt cheap, and I mean dirt cheap. It has everything you could possibly want, and the clothes are really nice quality. Mitch has an absolute hay day and I find myself wrapped in hangers sprawled out deliriously on the tile floors begging him to go. They never have my damn size so my shopping spree is always cut short at 0 when all I find is XL. That is not the case for Mitch as they seem to have his size in every article of clothing in the entire store, and if you know Mitch that means he has to try on every single thing. They have a great selection of really nice dress shirts for 5 pounds and of course they all fit Mitch like a charm so he has to get them. Oh and he found this really sexy leather jacket. I feel like he is straight out of Grease, and I have this vision of him combing his hair back, busting threw the doors, throwing me onto his bike and driving into the sunset while Leader of the Pack blares in the background. Don’t worry, I quickly come to my senses and realize that my boyfriend is no greaser and my rusty old bike is waiting for me in the rain.

The rest of this week has been full of school work and partying. We had our school formal last night, and we all get all dressed up to go to the big dinner at one of the nicer colleges in the city center. There was free wine and a 3 course meal. It was perfect. One of the people at my table was absent so that meant I got a 6 course meal and 2 wine glasses…not bad. We had a really fun time at the dinner. There was assigned seating so we got to know some people that we had not known too well before. Everyone is really open and fun so it was just a great atmosphere to be in. It was a traditional Oxford dinner and was mainly meant to be a socializing event between the professors and students. The teachers were all mixed in the tables with the students which made for interesting conversations sparked with wine and after dinner mints. It was a lovely evening, and we all finished it off in one of the disco clubs in the city center. It was great to finish such a wonderful day with champagne and dancing. I am really getting used to this Oxford life. We are headed to Oktoberfest tomorrow… here we go!

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Photos

The Guardians of the Unexplainable
The Stone Guardians dot the cloudy September sky, delicately enfolding the mystery beneath their dark black wings as they slice through the puffs of air that envelope the unexplainable. Their shrieks dance among the ancient stones deafening the world around them. They pay little attention to the cluster of admirers with their machines and flashes as they survey the land below. We listen but hear nothing as these winged guardians scream the precious secrets of the unknown..