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Cheers to London!

LAST weekend, my friend Briana and I took a casual weekend trip to London, UK.
And I need to move there. It was definitely my favorite city so far (but how can I even say that...I've loved them all). All of the buildings were so regal and stately and just GORGEOUS and clean. The weather was a lot like home, with leaves blowing everywhere, grass and parks all over the place, and beautiful trees blowing in the wind.
And who WOULDN'T fall in love with all of the double decker buses and classic black taxis and the fact that drivers sit on the right side of the car and they drive on the left side of the road. It was crazy. And I loved it.
Just walking around London.

Some Deltas met up in London (because we love each other and we love Delta Phi Omega).

Classic picture by the Tube Map in London. Realistically though, we only took the Tube once because its expensive and we were on a budget. We walked EVERYWHERE. Another opportunity to tone our butts and legs. Always appreciated.


And we went out in London.


The Natural History Museum! Such a beautiful building, straight from the movie "Night at the Museum" (LUHH DAT). As a future teacher (yeah yeah yeah), I would LOVE to take students to this museum. I learned so much. I never wanted to leave.

Just chillin on the river by the Houses of Parliament.

Big Ben!

Outside of the church in Westminster Abbey.

Briana and I by Westminster Abbey!

Who wouldn't love a city that calls their bathrooms "loos"????

And we were just laxin' in the grass in London....

Buckingham Palace! My favorite part: seeing the guards in their absurd red uniforms and tall furry hats.

The Houses of Parliament from another angle...you can never have too many angles!

Walking along the park after leaving Buckingham Palace. Unbelievably beautiful with crisp, fresh air. I would love to live here. Seriously. I'd spend every day in this park, or running on this path, or walking with friends, or reading, or playing catch. It was perfect.

And of course a classic red-telephone-booth photo shoot had to happen.

STARBUCKS (aka american coffee, or in my case a CHAI TEA LATTE) was so welcomed in the airport early in the morning before our flight back to Italy on Sunday. SO WELCOMED. We literally stormed around the airport going "we need american coffee. WHEEERRREEE IS STARBUCKS? WHEEERRE IS BK? I want a breakfast sammy." Tryna snatch every bit of America we could while in London, hahahaha.

Our flight back to Perugia was quick and easy, but when we arrived in the city center, where EUROCHOCOLATE (the annual chocolate festival) is currently taking place, we were overwhelmed again with the Italian lifestyle. The city was full and crazy, blasting music about chocolate from speakers on every corner, Italians and tourists pushing and shoving their way down Corso Venucci...

And then I had an "I'm from Minnesota, the cold doesn't scare me, I like to wear my sweats to the grocery store and Italy doesn't like me" culture shock moment.

I got home from the airport, went straight to my room, and was EXHAUSTED. I literally dumped all of my things on the bed and just started talking to my roommates and relaxing and cleaning and unpacking and lounging around. But then I realized I needed groceries in order to make dinner and I hadn't eaten anything since my airport breakfast that morning. So, since I was already dressed in my white athletic shorts and t-shirt, I figured I would just throw on a north face and run to the grocery store (it wasn't cold, remember?).
Well, the Italians didn't like that. I figured that out as soon as I got onto the main road on the way to the grocery store. If I could even DESCRIBE the looks I got from the winter-jacket-clad-scarf-wrapped-boots-wearing Italians, you MIGHT understand. I really can't though. I got the up-down ("what is that girl wearing?") from literally every person I passed. I don't speak much Italian, BUT I UNDERSTAND YOU. I literally couldn't believe it. I WASN'T cold. I was actually incredibly hot from the uphill walk to the grocery store.  The breeze on my legs felt GREAT. NO, no I WASN'T "freddo" (cold), you dear Italian people who are judging me. I'm from Minnesota and I'm fine.
So that was my little culture shock moment of the week, thought I'd share.
Lesson learned: No wearing short shorts and a north face to the grocery store in the winter here (we'll see if I follow that rule...comfort is comfort, in my book, but then again I'm becoming more and more Italian every day ;) hahah)

BASTA.

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