"Such a mixture of the old and the new." TB

Well guys, for those of you who do not know my mom (you should… she is kinda the best) she is absurd in the best way possible. She is my best friend. So, I was beyond excited for her to visit!! It was her first visit to Europe, and I could not wait!!

I picked her up from the airport, and we grabbed lunch and shopped around at Camden. It was so fun, and some legit gifts were bought (you lucky ones)!! We had lunch on the water while sitting on old mopeds… it is one of my favorite spots in London. There is just nothing like it. We checked into the hotel and took a bit of a rest, but not for long… Wicked was waiting!! I had not seen the show here or in the States, so I was just as excited as Tonj. Plus, it was a great way to beat the jet lag. The show was fantastic, and I loved every minute of it.

The second day I had class… aka lamessssssss. Tonj was very independent though. She rode the tube, went to the Tower of London, and got lunch all on her own!! Beyond proud. She met our class at the Royal Academy for the Degas exhibit (Shout out to Munster for the ticket)!! Okay, you have to know I am obsessed with Degas. I saw his work for the first time my junior of high school, and I have been obsessed ever since. His prints line my walls, so I was so excited to see such a large exhibit and experience with my mom. It was beyond my expectations, and of course a few items had to be purchased in the gift shop. Haha!! How could you resist? We couldn’t. When we got back to the DH, I had a card from the Robinsons waiting for me, and inside was a London Pass!! I had also won a pass the previous week, so Tonja and I could both get into all the great sights for free (huge blessing)!!!!!!!! Guess what? Laura had two passes as well… aka she and Rex came with us!!

We started at Wimbledon. It was so legit. I mean center court and hey Roddick is pretty attractive. No complaining here. The tour was fantastic and some true Kodak moments were shared. Of course, I spotted the local Cath Kidston store, so I convinced everyone to stop! Win for Christine!! I am obsessed with it all… I legit screamed I want it all at one point. Haha! Don’t worry we just picked up an agenda, postcards, eye class case, and an iPhone cover… not the whole store. Now that we had our fix of Cath, the Abbey was calling us. I visited Westminster during high school, so it was all about Tonja (which she did not have a problem with… I mean she refers to herself as the queen aka she was in her natural habitat). After the Abbey, I found this tour of London Bridge that was rated the number 4 attraction. We got of the tube and were immediately greeted by a man dressed as a zombie, to which Laura replied “Oh no, I am not doing this.” Love her. Aka it was a fail. But, we just walked to the Tower Bridge and got an incredible view of the city. I love that about this city… there is always something right around the corner. While in the Tower Bridge Tonja exclaims, “It is just such a mixture of old and new.” Wise Words Tonj. Love it. We then took the boat tour (Water makes Rex happy… all types) back to Westminster and grabbed some food at a pub. It was such a great day, filled with sweet memories and dear friends.

The next day was Saturday, and Saturday in London means MARKETSSSS!!! We started at Portobello, had lunch at Borough, got some tea and The Coffee and Tea festival, and finished off with the Christmas Markets!! It was my kinda day… a shopping day. We then walked along the South Bank and took in the city via The London Eye! It was my very first time, and it was so great. And hey the 4D experience movie, was just as delightful!! I loved getting to show my mom all the places I love in London and just having her in the city with me!!

Sunday was out last day, so of course a visit to the palace was necessary. I mean it is Tonja. Buckingham was not open for the season, so we just got to the see the outside. It was still great. From there a visit to the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery had to be done!! The Monets, Renoirs, Turners, and Constables were just as breathtaking as ever. Another stop at the gift shop was also needed! New impressionist placemats for the win!! We ended the evening with joint family dinner. The Hutchesons were also in town aka a joint family dinner had to occur, and Laura came too!! Dinner was full of laughter as we all exchanged stories of our visits and our lives. I am pretty sure our moms could not have been more precious bonding!! Love it!! After dinner, we made it to the HTB night service… man it might have been my favorite part of my mom’s visit. I was standing there with my mom, two great friends, and Jane Marie’s delightful mother and beyond sweet sister praising our Abba together… a moment I will cherish dearly. Our God blows me away, and I am forever thankful for the moments her shares his love for me through the people he surrounds me with. Blessed. Yes mam.  After church we finished packing, and of course had to go for a light night McDonald’s run with Rex. What visit would be complete without that? And I must tell you Tonja did say it was her favorite part… there you go Rexy.  For real, it was a truly great way to end the trip just enjoying each other, and of course they swapped absurd/needy Christine stories…. Sigh sigh sighhhhhhhhhhh…….

5:30 came early the next morning… who even knew the tube ran that early… I didn’t. We made the trip to Heathrow, and goodbyes were swapped… but not for long!! I will be home in less than a month… weird to think about. Anyways, back on topic. Tonja’s visit was a success!! I am so blessed to have a mom that is not only a role model but my best friend. Love her.

Here’s to Tonja. enough said. 

Tonj is hittin up London town!!!

TB will officially be hoppin that pond tonight.

London prepare yourself.

Here’s to Tonj! The best mom evaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Midnight Mcdonalds

Okay, so at Samford midnight sonic runs are a weekly occurrence. London is kinda lacking in Sonics, but last night we all (almost) took to the golden arches. It was wonderful. McFlurries and stories abounded. Laughter was constant, and it was the perfect break from writing our final papers!!

I am so lucky to have these wonderful friends and share this adventure with them.

Here's to random cravings!

It's Always Sunny in Oxford

Oxford

The Cotwolds. Dover. Canterbury. Oxford. Can it all be done in one weekend? Well, yes it can. It was indeed my weekend (this post is a lil late that intended, so it was two weekends ago) It is Wednesday, and I am still recovering a bit. Worth it? Oh, yes!!

The Cotswolds were amazing. The countryside was beautiful, and the shopping was great. So duh... I fell in love with it. The quaint towns were a breath of fresh air to the constant movement of London. Katie our house manger planned the trip, so almost everyone went aka crazy times occurred. Kathleen made grown men cry, Isaac became the star of the group (Really when is he not… he is just that cute), and we cliffed, dated, and married.  I have been so blessed this semester to have such great friends to share this experience with.

Dover and Canterbury was the next day. Remember how I’m in a class that focuses on expats and exiles… well my group planned the fieldtrip to Dover Castle and Canterbury Cathedral for class. Dover Castle was by far the best castle I have been to, and the white cliffs (I only saw them from a far) were beautiful. We didn’t really spend that much time in Dover, but we did have a TTM (total tourist moment). As we were riding down from the castle, We spotted some sheep and were so amazed out taxi driver pulled over and let us out to take pictures...hey sometimes you just have to be a tourist. Off to Canterbury we went. Evensong at the cathedral was out first stop. It was a beautiful service, and the boys choir was ahhhhmazing!! We then explored the cathedral some and then rest of Canterbury. Cath Kidston was found, and I am pretty sure I fell in love with about every item.

Harvest at Oxford

Roger!

Now, Oxford. Remember Roger? He is our precious neighbor who made us shake our fists at The Holiday Inn. Well, he attended Magdalen College in Oxford where C.S. Lewis taught. Roger graciously offered to take a group of us with him to Oxford. I visited Oxford the first time I came to London, but I was beyond excited about this trip!! Roger met us on our doorstep and announced he had a surprise. The annual antique car race from London to Brighton was today!! So, we took a detour to Westminster Bridge, and saw the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang like cars. It was magical, watching cars that are older than my country drive by Westminster, Big Ben, The House of Parliament, and The London Eye. Once, we had our fill of the cars, we headed to Oxford. 

As you can imagine, I was exhausted. I am pretty sure it took me all of about 10 minutes to fall asleep. The sleep was wonderful, but I was soon awoken by the words “it is always sunny in Oxford” and Roger’s huge smile. We arrived in Oxford and immediately got down to business. We saw around six collages, climbed the tower, and visited the Eagle and Child where C.S. Lewis wrote. It all went by so fast, but by the best part was Roger. He is so knowledgeable, and the visit to his alma mater was spectacular.

Family Photo

Here’s to people who just make you smile.

Cheers Mates.   

White Powder, White Briefs... Fall Break Finally.

Okay Okay... I have failed you. But, You have to get me some credit for admitting it, and you most definitely have to believe me when I say busy does not even begin to explain my past few weeks (Just ask Tonja). So where did we leave off... oh yeah I groped a complete stranger, had a fantastic harvest themed weekend in this beautiful city, and promised fall break stories...

Well here we go, but first some framework.

I travelled to Venice with Rex (and no... we are not married). After a few days we met our friend Laura in Milan, and onward the three of us went to the beach in Nice!!  Now, that we have the basics done lets jump into the good part... the stories.

sums us up. 

Rex and I left the Daniel House around 2:30 (in the morning) took two night buses, one coach, an airplane, and another bus before we even arrived in Venice. Oh man, was it insane and remember that coach we took to get to the airport, oh yeah we missed our first one, tried to run it down, failed, and bought a new ticket for the next  coach. But hey... we made some memories.

San Marco Square 

Venice was absolutely wonderful. The water. The art. The architecture. It was fantastic. A definite highlight for me was the Peggy Guggenheim Museum where many Jackson Pollock’s and Picasso’s are displayed (Word up). We also took a day trip a smaller island, which specialized in blown glass... amazing. Our hostel was interesting... both young children and the elderly were sprinkled amongst the college aged travelers.  However, our room was separated from all the other travelers... well except for the second night when a mother and son joined our room at around two in morning. I was awoken by the throwing off clothes as the teenaged son decided to strip down to white briefs and then make his bed... which conveniently was facing my direction... it was a definite experience. The hostel was actually really great in the world of hostels... it was five minutes from San Marco Square, had free breakfast, and was clean (Shout out to Rex for booking that one… I still think we should have stayed in the precious, little hotel... haha).

The Grand Canal

Beautiful

Now, onward to Milano!!! Well actually onward to our train ride to Milano. This might be the best story so brace yourself. Okay, we get to train station in plenty of time, ask which platform our train arrives in, and are directed towards platform 1. About half an hour passes (Rex has paced back and forth this entire time because our train is not there), and no train has showed. He goes and checks the board it still says platform 1, so I’m all like calm down man. Fifteen more minutes pass... No train. I am secretly a little worried (but, there is no way I’m telling Rex that after I have told him to calm down so many time haha!!). Rex decided to go check the board one more time... and about three minutes later I see him raising his arms in a panic...I grab his bag, my bag, and start running towards. Side note...I have been beyond sick, so my lungs are legit on fire. I give him his bag and just follow. We reach platform ten, jump on a train (I am presuming this is out train), and it starts moving within ten seconds of his getting on. Crazy... so lesson learned... stay in front of the platform board.  We take our seats across from each other, and try and get settled. However, the train had other plans for us. The child next to me played his Gameboy on full volume while his mom talked on her phone the entire ride, the girl across from Rex had an exploding bottle of Fanta, and the girl with the white powder. She entered the train with her hands cupped and full of white powder (Cocaine, Anthrax, your guess is as good as mine). She proceeds to throw the powder in the air Ke$ha glitter style. The train is silent... except for the Gameboy sounds. It was out of control.

Milano

Despite the insane train ride... we make it to Milan!! It was wonderful to see Laura and be in a new city. Milan is obviously known for its shopping, and if you know me than you also know that is something I have in common with this fashion capital. The shops were perfect! Although, this broke backpacker had no money to buy anything. Milan is also home to The Last Supper... and somehow Rex managed to get us tickets. How? I do not know. They have very strict rules, and you are supposed to book online about three months in advance, but he managed to get us in. Oh man!! Was it amazing!!! It is very bad condition, but who cares... it is The Last Supper. The fifteen minutes you are allotted to look at the painting flew by and I found myself utterly entranced by the piece.

The Mediterranean 

Now let’s hit up Nice!! Nice might be tied for my favorite. It was beautiful. The Mediterranean Sea... was so blue and yes I did get in. However, I did not make it far. We decided to not really do anything touristy in Nice and just relax and explore the beautiful city. It was breathtaking.

Okay, so there you have it... fall break in a nutshell. But, let me just say the places were amazing; however, the friends were better. Late night talks take it or leave it, and even the miserable moments were all perfect because of them. I have been blessed. And hey, you should get to know these two as well... It will make your life!

Here’s to discovering.

Miss you guys. 

p.s. We used Laura's camera in Milan and Nice... so check the book for those pics!!