TEA & MEETING HARRY x2

(Continued…)

Tea has been running through my veins. Tea for breakfast, tea after class, tea breaks between class, just because tea, at midnight tea, and so on. Since being here, I have gone to a few different tea shops but one that I recently I have gone to is the, “Tea Cozey”. Why is it called the ‘Tea Cozey’? Well, when they bring your pot of tea to your table, it has a knitted cozey around it and it’s super cute. There was one that was knitted in the pattern of a watermelon, some polkadots, and even stripes. The teashop was decorated with the Royal Family memorabilia. It was “organized hording” as I would call it. The walls, shelves and ceilings were covered with things about the Royal Family including news articles/papers, magazines, photos, souvenirs, anything you can think of! It was crazy to see the dedication they put into their decorations. Besides admiring the décor, I got their breakfast tea with a chocolate chip scone. SOOO GOOD! It was great being able to sit down and drink tea with Katelyn, Hannah, Katie, Tiana, Jenn and her friend (who was visting from Scotland). 

The next day was a fun one, the day before Halloween to be exact! A bunch of us got together in the lovely flat of 30C and had a pumpkin carving party. It was really neat to see some individuals carve pumpkins for the first time! Everyone got their thinking caps on and got down to carving. I didn’t carve a pumpkin (due to forgetting to get one) but, I did enjoy watching everyone carve their own. Some went with the basic pumpkin face and some got really really really creative. I was fairly impressed. On Halloween, I spent sleeping in to catch up on sleep. Later that evening, I went into town to go on a hunt for a costume and I was joined by the beautiful ladies, Hannah, Tiana, and Micah.  Before the hunting got serious, we grabbed a bite at Ed’s where I ordered a delicious chicken burger with a side of chips. It had truly hit the spot. After a yummy meal, we walked over to St. James street to take a look at the charity shops (aka thrift shops). It was getting really annoying because 1) I didn’t know what to be and 2) nothing was sparking my interest on being anything. A few hours later, I came across a cheap Hawaiian tshirt and I decided to go basic and be a tourist. SCARY right?

Chris, Diede, Daniel, and Evan.

 I paired my shirt with a swimsuit top, skirt, borrowed some tall white socks, sneakers, sunglasses, and a lei. Super simple but got the job done. As the sun went down, the costumes came on and it was finally hallows eve. A group of friends and I got a wristband for about  £8 which gave us free access to a several clubs and pubs. 

You would think it would be a good deal but it wasn’t (sadly). All of the queues were miles long and places closed down for others because it was way too full. Angry and about to give up, we come across a club promoter who gave us discount access into their club for  £2  and let me tell yeah, it was super lame. 

Makin up for the boring club with fun selfies.

We danced a bit and decided to give it another chance but Diede saved the night when he spotted a door! He opened it and it lead to a long hallway and before I knew it, I was following him and Daniel down the hallway which to our surprise led us to Colosseum, which happened to be another club which was poppin! To give you some background, this club was about £10 to get into. We decided to stay put and the rest of the group joined us later on in the evening. I  had such an amazing time dancing away the night. It was a lot of fun and definitely a night to remember. It would not have been the same without Daniel, Diede, Laura, Chris, Phillipp, Evan, Micah, and Isil. SO thanks to you lovelies. 

From the last few days being so hectic, the following day was a “lazy day” for me. This included drinking some tea and hanging out with my buddies Katie and Tiana. Bored from being so lazy, we wanted to get outside. We decided to go explore our “backyard”,we found it to be a pretty neat area! We wandered the area a bit finding some trails made by other people and we eventually came across a gate and decided to see what was beyond it. We met two lovely ladies owning a beautiful collie. Us three sat on the hill, took some selfies and just chatted as we watched the sun set just behind the hills. 

Although it was very simple, it was a day that I will cherish. It was nice seeing what was just a few yards behind where we sleep at night. The following day was planned to have a “Robin Hood” day in Nottingham, but due to expensive tickets we decided against it. Since a group of us were already up early and at the train station we decided not going home and wanted to go adventure somewhere else! We decided on London. Grabbing a few booklets for 2 for 1 deals, we were off. 

Morning chai at the station. SO good.

After the train, we all were starving and decided to get lunch. All of us wanted different things so we all split off. I got teriyaki with Hannah and it was a nice time just us two getting to know each other a little bit more. Afterwards, we met up with the rest of the group. All of us wanting to do different activities, we decided to split off again. A group of us headed to Madame Tussauds and the other group headed to a Library. 

What was exciting (and a little silly) was that Madame Tussauds was on my To-Do list in the UK so I was super stoked to go. Joining me was Micah, Hannah, and Katie. For starters, it was not what was I expecting; it was a lot better! Standing in queue for about an hour was definitely worth the wait. I got to “meet” so many people! I could go on and on and on who I saw but I saw Emma Watson, David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling, Madonna, Beyonce, Ghandi, Mandela, President Kennedy and President Obama, and of course One Direction. What was pretty neat was that it was organized by Sports, Music, Movies, etc so it was really cool to see who and what they were famous for. The one I was pretty clueless was the sports section because a lot of their sports players I didn’t recognized, besides their bronze medallist diver of the summer Olympics, Tom Daley. When we came into another room, it was full of the Royals. I even got to “meet” the queen. It was awesome. 

The photo we got with the royal family gets me every time. It is just SOOO awkward, none of us knew where to put or hands or what do because we did not want to offend anyone but hey, we got a picture we can look and laugh at. I also got to meet my favourite Prince Harry, too bad it wasn’t for real. Another cool thing about the museum is it had a section of the history of torture and wax figures of famous murders. It was actually really interesting to see what they look like up close. There was also a haunted house but I decided to pass it up because haunted houses just give me way to much anxiety, but, the rest of the girls did decide to go through it though and they said that it was frightening.

After the haunted house, the building continued on (it was HUGE)! They even had a ride to go through the history of London and such, it was rad. Towards the end of the museum, they had a section on the history of Madame Tussauds and how it all started and such.  If you ever have the time, I recommend looking in to it!

I mean, how could you not?

Moving on, the 5^th of November (Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night) rolled around! Let me tell yeah, it was soooo cool to experience something that we don’t celebrate back in the states, “Remember, Remember the 5^th of November”. Walking the streets of Lewes and seeing a parade of a “Mob” who carried torches and played instruments, making canons go off; It was so NEAT! I was entertained the whole night.

Later that evening, we went to a bonfire and saw fireworks. At the moment, it sucked because all of us were freezing and we were so close to leaving because they were over an hour late to start (being cold makes you do things you don't want to do), BUT I am so glad we didn’t because the firework show was phenomenal!!!! I was so blown away by the show they put on that it had left me speechless (definitely on the top of my list for fireworks). I am so glad to have been joined by lovely people to experience such a night.

One of many shots that I took of the night on my DSLR.

 I end this post with a Thank You! Thank you to my family for their constant support on my love to travel and for supporting me on this journey. I also thank you to the lovely group of people who I am surrounded by 24/7, this experience would not be the same without ANY of you. Whether we are close or not, you make this experience just as great. THANK YOU THANK YOU! Also, thank you for reading my rambling and awful grammar, it really means a lot. I couldn’t have done this without any of you.

 

The only group shot we got from the night!

Cheers! Until next time. x

Amanda

Now Playing: Once in a Lifetime – One Direction (From their new Album - Four. I recommend go giving it a listen. It is really good what I have heard so far, very different sound).

TEQUILA, NANDOS, & PINTS.

Hiya! I am still alive and I am well-ish (I still got a lovely cough). I haven’t posted for almost a month! I am seriously slacking. Tiana and I were talking about trying to post once a week so that we don’t bombard anyone with loooooooong posts (like I am today; I actually might split this post in two). Let’s get this blog post started! A few weeks ago, a few friends and I decided to go to one of our favourite pubs called the “Hobgoblin” (which I like to call the Hobbily Gobbily) and I attended my first “Tequila Tuesday” (don’t worry mom, dad & sister, I didn’t go crazy, just had one shot to be exact). Tequila…is…interesting. The whole salt, shot, than lime is a weird concept, but hey… YOLO.

The next day for my British Cultures class, we took a field trip to the city and took a tour of the Pavilion. What’s the Pavilion you ask? It’s official name is The Royal Pavilion. It is this extravagant palace that was built in three stages, starting in 1787. It was one of many homes of George, Prince of Wales. It looks really random on the seaside of Brighton, but it is truly beautiful inside and out.  The history of the palace and Prince George is quite fascinating, so if you are ever bored or something, I insist on doing some research to know more about it all. The tour consisted visiting the many rooms that make the palace; I even got to hear some history through headphones while walking the floors of the Pavilion. It was awesome. Later that week, we decided to head to Kings & Queens for student night. Kings & Queens is this cute pub that resides in the city. They have £2 drinks, so of course I went with getting a pint of Cider. Later that night, I decided to FaceTime some friends back in Arizona. Oh gosh, I miss them a lot. Although it wasn’t long, I appreciated the few minutes I got to talk to Mo, Alie, and Brooke.

A few days later, Tiana and I decided to go into town to grab some dinner together. We came across an “American Diner” called “Ed’s Easy Diner”, in the shopping centre here and we decided, “what the hey”. It was quite delicious even if the American Cheese didn’t even taste close to American Cheese. Whatever! I can’t remember what the name of my burger but it had guacamole and bacon, so that is all that matters. I also got a nutella shake with my burger; Amanda getting a nutella shake?? WHAAAT? I was very pleased to have eaten good food and have a nice conversation with Tiana. I am very glad about the friendship that is growing between us. That day, everyone joined together in celebration for Micah’s 23^rd birthday. We all went up to Flat 30C, had a few drinks and ate some delicious cake made by Crystal. It ‘twas a good night.

The next few weeks were full of adventures. Which of course, if you know me, I am totally okay with! One of many was a night walk with my buddy Daniel from the Netherlands. We walked around Sussex, came across this pond and went to a cute little pub. I got a cider, he got a beer and we were just chattin away. We also were starving and went to go get some Kebabs in the city. But, I do have to say that England kebabs are basically Gyros. The next day Daniel’s bud, Roman, flew in and was here for his Holiday. I was lucky to be able to explore with them in the area, including a day trip to Lewes. It all started with us three trying to find a bus that would take us there, that took longer than it needed to be. Finally finding a bus, we were on our way to Lewes. We came across a bookstore full of first editions books. I found a book of The Grimm Fairy tales and Peter Pan. I would have so dropped money on them, but not £800 pounds. 

From there we went into the Lewes Castle and spent a few hours there. Once we got to the look out, the view took my breath away! It was marvellous. You could pretty much see all of Lewes. I definitely want to take my family here when they come in June. After the castle, we decided to roam the streets of Lewes. We came across a small river, which had houses lined up and down it.

Starving, we were now on a hunt for some place to eat. I can honestly say that I couldn’t find this place by memory since we did go down so many alleys and took so many turns. We decided to go to a pub, what a surprise, that we walked by. The pub was ran by a French Lady named Elizabeth who was very welcoming. I would like to go back again some time. Daniel and Roman ordered a steak meal with a beer and I got a burger with a cider. 

Later that day, we got to celebrate another birthday and this time it was for Evan and it was his 23^rd. Again we all gathered in 30C; had a few drinks and listened to some good music. It is always nice being together and having a great time.

Later that week, my British Cultures class took another field trip but this time to the Amex Stadium, which resides on our campus. After class, we walked over to the stadium and that is where we met with our tour guide (I can’t recall his name). He gave us a 2-hour tour of the stadium giving us the history and behind the scenes stories. We also got to take a visit to the V.I.P rooms, boxes, home and away locker rooms, and hidden hallways. It was pretty neat to see it all! What was also really cool is he took us into the seated area and went to the highest point giving us the view of the entire stadium. IT WAS SICK.

IPad selfie in the locker room!

The following Friday, I finally got to give the infamous Nandos a try and I was joined by Katie, Simi, and Naomi. It was sooooo good. I had a wrap with chicken (obvi – Tiana told me to say that) with Mango & Lime level of spice (delish) and a cup of British Fanta (it is different, trust me). I definitely will be planning to eat there multiple times when I am here.

Moving on, a rule of any adventure is ALWAYS chase sunsets (and fog, waterfalls, you get the picture). That is what Kate, Katie, Tiana, and I decided to do on our trip up to Lewes. We wandered down alleyways and ended up in an alley lined up with doors to people’s backyards (none of them were unlocked though, sadly).  As we walked through the neighbourhoods, the sunset was setting and it was so simple but beautiful. We ended up at this park with ruins and it was pretty neat, yay history! Time passed and we sat on a bench (which are hard to find in Brighton) and we sat until Austin, Josh, and Joel met up with us. From there, we walked to a pub (surprise, surprise), but, it ended up that the pub was way to expensive for us Uni kids; We ended up walking back to the main road (and of course up this killer hill) and ended up going to a pub that the boys went to earlier that evening. Afterwards, we headed back to campus and I was out for the night.

To be continued…

Cheers, Amanda x

Now Playing: Imagination Infatuation - MisterWives

Tiana, Kate, & Katie - Lewes, East Sussex