My Final Weekend

Alas, it’s hard to believe that this is my last weekend in London! I feel like the time has just flown by! It has been a gorgeous weekend, though, it didn’t rain at all yesterday or today. This is saying something, since it’s rained almost every single day we’ve been here. Anyway, this weekend has pretty much been about relaxing, having seen most of the things that I wanted to see while I was here (minus Leavesden Studios, but I’m doing that on Wednesday). It was really quite nice, not having to rush around to places, feeling like you have to cram everything in before you leave. I was glad to have the weekend to relax in Surbiton.

On Thursday, we went to Stratford-upon-Avon, which is where Shakespeare was born. It was an adorable little town, and honestly, I think if I had to live anywhere in England, I would probably live here. There were a lot of cute little shops (more on that in a minute) and I liked that it was kind of a smaller town, and you could take a two hour train and be in London, if you wanted. Anyway, we went there to see The Tempest, but we had a little time to kill before the show we were seeing. So we walked around Stratford and found Shakespeare’s birthplace. We walked down the street a little ways, and what did we find? A little shop called The Creaky Cauldron, a store dedicated to Harry Potter things. We might have freaked out a little! It was such a cool little store, and we grabbed some butterbeer before continuing our way through Stratford. Then it was time to see The Tempest, which was a pretty good performance, though it was a little slow at parts. Then we stopped in a used bookstore before grabbing the train back to London. Overall, it was quite a successful day.

The next day, we got up early in order to get to Westminster Abbey before it got too busy. This is an absolutely gorgeous building, both inside and out! It kind of amazes me that people actually go to church there, because it is such a beautiful building. A lot of famous people are buried there, from kings to famous authors to famous scientists. It’s pretty neat to see. After the Abbey, we made our way down the bank, specifically looking for the Southbank Book Market, which we found! It was lovely to see all of the books placed on table, I probably could have spent the whole day there, browsing through the books. There was also a little food market there, where we stopped for lunch. We had some delicious brushetta from a little stall in the market. Then we made our way to the Imperial War Rooms, a museum dedicated to all sorts of war things. It was interesting to see a different side of the wars, especially since they all happened over here. We’re used to hearing the US side of things, and to see the British side of things was neat. They also had a Holocaust exhibit that was really interesting, and really depressing. We all decided that we needed something happy after that, and what’s happier than chocolate? So we went into a chocolate store, and did some shopping before heading back to Surbiton for the night.

Saturday we spent the day in Kingston, doing various shopping things and walking around the mall. We did go to this little cupcake place called Sweet Revenge, which had the most delicious cupcakes. I had a red velvet one, and took home a peanut butter one for later. So good. The rest of the night was spent relaxing, and beginning to work on my paper. Sunday was a day of complete relaxation. Since it was so beautiful outside, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and headed into Surbiton, grabbing a panini and a milkshake, and sought out a park to read in. It was glorious. I read all of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I can’t say that I regret it one bit. When I came back, I had to work on my paper (which I probably should have been doing all day), but I’d have to say the afternoon was definitely worth it. Today I ventured into London with a few friends to go to Camden Market, which is a huge market! There were so many different things being sold there, and that’s one of the things that I love about London. There are so many of these market places all around, and that’s definitely something that you don’t see as much of in the United States. I kind of wish you did, because most of the time, the markets have really good deals on things. If I lived here, I would try to do most of my shopping here! Anyway, the rest of the week should be full of adventures, as I might possibly get to see the torch 3 different times, and I’m going to tour Leavesden Studios! It will be a whirlwind, then I will be home. So bittersweet. Until next time, happy reading! 🙂