UK (6.29.10 – 7.2.10)

On Tuesday, I woke up early (7AM!!) to say goodbye to my Uncle David before he left for work; I’m not sure when I’ll next make it back to England, though I’m toying with the idea of coming back for the 2012 London Olympics. At 10, Elaine took me to the station and after saying yet another fond farewell, I continued on to my Granny’s house. My Granny met me at the train station, after which we went home and had some lunch. I was quite tired after getting up so early, and ended up falling asleep on the couch for a while. We watched some tennis (Wimbledon is on at the moment) and discussed the various sporting events on at the time. Upon discussing the Ascot Races, we started talking about fancy hats, and the hats that my Granny has. That took us upstairs so I could see the one she has, and she gave me one of them! It’s a beautiful navy and white hat; I love it, and I’ll be able to think of her whenever I get the chance to wear it. That night we went to a local Chinese restaurant called The Jade Fountain, who never fail to impress; this is a quality restaurant. We had an absolutely superb meal there, and both came away feeling quite full.
On Wednesday, we spent the morning talking more, and then headed to a Ploughman’s Lunch, run by a group that my Granny is a member of. For my non-English readers, I am going to have to explain what a ploughman’s lunch is. The meal consists of bread, with cheese and pickle, followed by an apple for pudding…simple, but hearty and filling. After the meal, Granny took me to the station and I headed back to Balham for a few hours before heading out to Leicester Square to meet Helen Stoy, my friend whose engagement party I went to back in November, and who spent my birthday day with me,  for dinner and drinks so that we could see each other one more time before I head back home. We met up at Chipotle, an American burrito chain with a single location in London. Helen knew that I had been craving and missing burritos for ages, and for that reason had declared that that was where we would be eating; she is amazing. After dinner, we walked around the city for a few hours, walking along the Thames with a view of the Houses of Parliament before heading back to Leicester Square. We went and got a drink before Helen left to head back to Hatfield, and from there, I walked to Waterloo to meet my cousin Hannah for a drink. Hannah and her boyfriend, Tinker, had been at Wimbledon all day, so we met at the station and went to a nearby bar for a quick drink before we all had to head home for the night. It was wonderful to see my cousin, even though it was only for about an hour.
On Thursday, my aim was to tie up all of the loose ends, and to finish packing. I went to the post office so I could mail myself a package containing the hat my Granny had given me, as well as a couple of other fragile things that were better off being sent home than being squashed into my suitcase. The rest of the day was spent trying to pack everything into one tiny suitcase! Honestly, I’m pretty impressed with how well I’ve done. That night, I went out to dinner with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins; we went to get Indian food. Hooray! I love getting to have favorite meals one last time! The meal was delicious, and the company was superb.
On Friday, I woke up to say a final goodbye to my cousins before they headed to school. I then finished packing the very last of my things, said goodbye to my aunt, and then my uncle and I left together to get the tube. He was going into work, so we made part of the journey together before separating with one last goodbye, and I continued on my way to Heathrow Airport. I checked in and waited to board to get my seat in Business Class! What better way to end my trip!!

My Granny and I at the Jade Fountain

My delicious chicken Chipotle burrito!

The most touristy photo I have from London. I figured that this photo just needed to be taken, sooner or later!

And now, back to the States I go. Next stop… Washington DC!