Lazy Day

May 20th

In London they write the day differently it is day, month, year. Smallest to biggest. It makes sense, right? That means today is 20/5/14. Freaks you out a little bit though.... They also go by army time. So, right now it is 23:43. When you get used to living the London life things like this no longer through you off.

Poor life choice: staying up till 2:15am to finish the season finale of Once Upon a Time. It's a silly show, I know, but it is the only one I watch. Justyne is a super light sleeper so I think I freaked her out a bit when I came in after midnight from the beach. Due to this late night and long day on the beach I decided I deserved a lazy day. I slept till 11am. I woke up just before house keeping got here to clean our room. I pretty much rolled out of bed as the maid was knocking on our door to clean. They come every Tuesday to mop, sweep, etc. and every Thursday to give us new sheets. I found this interesting since I change my sheets every four months back home. One of the girls on the program said you are supposed to change your sheets every week and said it is the standard hygienic thing to do pretty much.... oops. Everything is so damp here it makes more sense. I never really feel like anything gets super clean and dry. Well, I walked into the study room and Chloe announced I had five minutes to get ready if I wanted to join them at the Disney Cafe at Harrod's. Yes!

Fourth floor of Harrod's not only has children's clothes, a disney store, a toy store, electronics, and so on, but the Disney Cafe! I almost felt like I was in Disneyland. The magic is real. Here is what we did to pass the time. True children at heart.

I had never had real lunch crepes before. Usually when I get crepes they are dessert or breakfast crepes. This one had melted cheese, chicken, and spinich. It was pretty good. I mostly just wanted to take home the cute Mickey Cups that matched the plates.

Disney songs played, movies ran on the several storybook televisions, and the walls were painted blue like the night sky with characters flying across. Here is a Rapunzel that stood nearly four feet.

A large portion of Big Ben stands in the middle of the room. This Tink was probably two feet tall.

In the waiting room to the Cafe were several display cases of Disney products. This was obviously my favorite. Princess Belle forever. <3

The food was good, but expensive. What can you expect from Harrod's and Disney? The magic was worth it. I am not sure I would go again though. It was a one time thing.

The manly section of the Disney Store just down the hall was filled with Marvel characters, Toy Story, and Cars goods. My favorite was this life size statue of Captain America.

These reminded me of Angela McCutcheon. Donald Duck is her favorite. British, life size Disney characters are my favorite. They even had the little blue houses that the guards stand next to.

Paddington Bear and his friends don't want me to go back to the states. They want me to shop to magically be able to shop at Harrod's everyday and live in London.

Making me miss my giant polar bear. This plush was larger than me.

And who doesn't dream of this doll house? The front was equally as gorgeous. It reminded me of Netherfield from Pride and Prejudice. I have been in bigger toy stores before, but the atmosphere at Harrod's is just so fun. It reminded me of the toy store from Home Alone 2.

The confectionery though.... I was so tempted to just buy all the expensive chocolate. It looked scrumptious.

Nothing was purchased at Harrod's. I wouldn't mind winning a shopping spree there though. It would be a whole day of good food, fancy clothes, and home decor to make me as classy as the queen.

I rode the tube back home and picked up a mango and some peaches at this little stand that is always up.

I got more chocolate too. I'm not a fan of Cadbury bars with caramel in them. The caramelbuttons Kamilla let me try weren't too great either. I did like the Aero bar though. I think chocolate may even be better than mint. Here are my candy selections on the all too familiar walk home from Gloucester. They were gone by the time I got to my room.

I thought I would be productive in between our afternoon out and the show, but it was Sarah's birthday! I had to talk to her! ... and other people... and shower... and facebook.... and anything besides working on my papers. I decided to go with the big group to Indian food for Sarah's birthday. I don't think I have ever had Indian food before. It was okay. I had lamb burry and cheesy nan. Just get nan. Nan is delicious. Curry wasn't bad, but Indian isn't on my top ten of foods to eat. Let me see if I can name everyone starting with me and working around the table. Jace, Amy, Jennifer, Jessa, Kamilla, Sarah, Chelsea, McKenzie, Brittany, and Ben. We went to the National afterwards for A Small Family Business. It was a good show. The humour was sooooo British. I liked it and would consider directing it. 

After the show, an old man talked to us the whole trip home in the tube. I'm glad George and Leslie were there to deflect his questions that seemed to pry. He didn't seem drunk, just overly friendly. Raeni, Delanie, and I got off a stop early to get shakes. We tried to find a waffle place Audrey suggested, but ended up at Byron's instead. The shake seemed very malty, smooth, and more of a dark chocolate. It was good, just different. That is how a lot of things are here. You have to open yourself up to the culture and the differences. Raeni and Delanie said Byron is a great place for hamburgers. Like, it is the best place for hamburgers. I'll have to check it out. I'm not sure how big the chain is. I've seen at least one other one around. It might even be as big as Prett. Prett A Manger is the Britisth McDonald's. It is EVERYWHERE. The little cafe sells ready to go sandwiches, wraps, cookies, and other things to go. I have only been inside one once, but lots of girls in the program go everyday. American chain restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC are higher scale places here. They are rare to be seen too. Funny how things move. Until tomorrow! 

~Emily