winning London

Getting to London was quite an ordeal. After an incorrect bus schedule, a missed flight, an emotional breakdown, and a middle seat on the plane, I was almost convinced that London didn't want me. But one giant hug from Ericka Christensen was enough to make me feel welcome. We tubed it and tea-ed it like real Londonders and went to bed to rest up for a full Friday.

Hanging out in London with one of my close friends from home was enough to make my heart overcome the clouds and rain that London is famous for. And it only got better when we met up with my roommate, and so much more, Emily Jantz. The number of times we looked at each other with an exclamation of "we're hanging out in Europe together!" is probably equal to the number of shops on Oxford Street.

One weekend is hardly enough to get to know a city as lively and lovely as London, but with a local like Ericka as tour guide, we accomplished all of our touristy tasks. Westminster Abbey? Red phone booth? Big Ben? Globe Theater? London Bridge? Magner's Pear Cider? Abbey Road? Check, check, check, check, check, check, check. And so much more. Oh, and a Jack the Ripper tour just in case we were feeling too safe and happy.

Although it was hard to say goodbye to the endless warm water in Ericka's shower and the even warmer company of my friends, I was anxious to get back home to Ortigia. After a morning service at Hillsong London, Ericka saw me off with a cappuccino, Carmel Digestives to bring back to Italy (where, for some reason I can't understand, we only have the Original Milk Chocolate varieties), and another of those hugs she is famous for.


TOGETHER IN LONDON!






Buckingham Palace with one hundred strangers. Luckily we could use a few of them to "make us a photo."




It took us about 45 minutes of searching the muchbiggerthanoriginallythought British Museum before we actually found the Rosetta Stone, but it was worth it because we saw the Rosetta Stone.


London in a snapshot.






Critical Mass London