Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

Hello all!

Today marks just 12 days until I head back to New York and leave behind London and all it has blessed me with. But it is still too soon to be sad and nostalgic as if this journey is over yet! 12 days is still a lot to accomplish anything my heart desires!

Although I am done traveling outside of the country, I have had the best week here in London! I realized that my bucket list has narrowed down to only a few things to quickly do in my time left here, so I have been spending my time doing those few things!

Friday evening my flatmates and I headed to Hyde Park where Winter Wonderland is taking place all throughout December and through the New Year! This park is already huge and now half of it is covered in rides, bars, street food, and shopping stalls for us to walk through whenever we please! We have been multiple times but this was our first December trip, making it really feel like Christmas! We grabbed a drink and sat in the German beer tent singing along to live music. There may not have been snow on the ground like a real Winter Wonderland but London did see some flurries this week!

This weekend, I unfortunately had to work a majority of the day Saturday, but was able to see a local theater perform a play with the students I mentor throughout the week!

Then Sunday my flatmate Victoria and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 9am to finally go see the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Buckingham Palace! We walked outside and with our luck, it was raining. At that point we already made the commitment and made our journey to the palace to hold a spot to see the ceremony! The ceremony basically consists of new guards coming in on horse and followed by a band to replace the guard currently protecting the palace. The job seems boring to just stand there in front of the palace all day but you're also responsible for protecting her majesty the queen which is cool!

With so much free time Monday before my 7:30pm class I spent the day finishing Christmas shopping and wandering around all of the iconic London streets while I could! I even had time to hit the Victoria and Albert Museum, literally right around the corner from my flat in Kensington.

I've done plenty of iconic London adventures since living here for 3 months but lately my favorite moments have been the times in a local coffee shop, or a pub just sitting with my friends like a local. It is truly amazing how in 3 months this place became my home. I have my regular grocery store, my favorite coffee shops, and rarely use CityMapper anymore to get around the city.

So on that note, I can't get too emotional just yet because I still have 2 full weeks of work, and final papers to write! Just know that everyday I don't write is a day I spend enjoying my life here, and loving London for the amazing city that it is.

Aub

Just trying to survive in the cold rain!

The gates open at the Buckingham Palace! Who's heading in?!