Mary in London- 2019

Hi

Friday night I went out with a bunch of girls to a well known "ball pit bar" Ballie Ballerson. I thought it might be an overrated place as it's quite trendy at the moment but we had so much fun and the drinks there were so cool (drinks coming with temporary tattoos, drinks being lit on fire-- you get the idea). You had to buy tickets in advance and it's a two hour time slot but I definitely recommend!

Saturday, I continued to enjoy my new bedding by sleeping in. I also went to the grocery store again and got myself dinner for a couple nights. That night, I just stayed in and watched this UK show called "Safe" on Netflix- it was 8 episodes so I've already finished it now.

Sunday, I met two girls, Liz and Maddie, for brunch at Eggbreak in Notting Hill. We went out around 1pm and every place had a wait of about an hour but we put our names down for this one and they texted us when our table was ready. Despite our hunger, we didn't mind exploring. We all got french toast. If I were to go back, I would definitely get a savory egg dish because they looked unreal. Afterwards we went shopping on Oxford street. I didn't buy anything and am still trying to come to terms that I'm not sure I can pull off European styles (tbh they're too "cool" if that makes sense) but maybe I can make small steps towards it! Later that night, my friend Nadia and I went to the free lights installation at Canary Wharf. It was crowded but beautiful! We then checked off another food item on our bucket list: Nando's. This a very famous fast food place here known for their legendary flame grilled PERi-PERi chicken. We both got the same meal: chicken breast (mild) with a side of mashed potato and garlic bread. It was pretty delicious- will be back...

Tomorrow is my first day of class. I will be in retail marketing for 4(!) hours- but not until 2pm ;)

Having no fun as you can see...

Notting Hill

Egg Break ^

These were spinning prisms

This is inside the tunnel in the pic below

This entire installation is only up for 2 weeks so I'm glad I got to it!

Nando's-- yummy

Hi

On Wednesday, I went on a walking tour of Portobello Market with my CIS group. We started from the Ladbroke tube and then walked Portobello road towards Notting Hill Gate Station. They told us some fun facts- Portobello not as in the mushroom but rather a town the British conquered in Panama I believe. Then, we got coffee at Coffeebello. I had a vanilla iced latte with oat milk- yumm. We saw some colorful houses in Notting Hill. I definitely will go back just to wander around. That night I went on a Thames River Cruise sponsored by the University of Westminster. Their event promotion skills were a little sad as they basically told us that we should come bundled up, that we had to buy our own drinks, and that there would be no food served. Needless to say, we had low expectations. But it ended up being quite fun! There was no need (it turns out) to bundle as 200+ people on a relatively small boat gets quite warm -we were too bundled. We had expected it to be more of a networking event but rather it was more of a party event with lots of dancing- no complaints just sweaty! We got great views of Tower Bridge and passed the Canary Wharf Lights that I'm hoping to get to in the next few days.

On Thursday, I slept in (kinda, it turns out my building tests the fire alarm every Thurs AM several times...) and then made my way to Chelsea/Knightsbridge area with two girls in my program, Courtney and Lulu. We walked to the famous pretty Bywater Street and snapped tons of pics of each other. Then we went into the V&A Muesum super briefly and just went in a couple rooms (again, definitely will return as it would take a full day to give it justice). Then we walked a couple blocks to Harrod's to check it out. My favorite floor remains the 5th floor- Shoe Heaven. And we checked out the Food Hall there. After we went to this very pink cafe called Elan Cafe. I personally wouldn't go back as I thought it was definitely overrated but I did have a delicious dessert there and it was a fun ambience!

Today (Friday) was much more tame. I went to Oxford Street in hopes of finding some more supplies for my flat from John Lewis. I am typing from my upgraded bedding and it was worth every pence as my bed is basically my only space. I also got a few kitchen supplies but will probably get anything else from Argo's (a more affordable option). At Boots (basically the UK CVS) I finally got full sized toiletries. I definitely underestimated some of my "start up" costs as I was so concerned about what clothes to bring and such but it *might* have been worth it to check another bag at the airport of just home supplies instead of having to buy this stuff I already have from home/UMass (a toss up; I'm really not sure/obviously pros & cons). I also figured out how to take the bus home (it's cheaper than the tube and allows for sightseeing!). I definitely feel much more settled in my comfy bed and knowing that I can now cook my own food now instead of continuously having to spend money out on food that I'd rather save for other things. Tonight, I'm going to a Ball Pit bar with CIS people and will be sure to post pics of it in my next post!

Notes:
-Almond Milk has been found (at the Waitrose)
-re: dirty hair...so it turns out (this is probably well known- I just didn't know) that London has very "hard water"
From google: Hard water tends to make the scales stand up, which makes your hair feel rough and tangly. Since your hair is tangled and rough, it is more difficult to rise out all of the soap. Soap is less effective in very hard water because it reacts with the excess minerals to form calcium or magnesium salts.
My solution (thanks to google): I purchased a weekly (expensive...) clarifying shampoo that is supposed to nourish my hair and reduce buildup - fingers crossed!
-Only Americans wear the puffer coats here. Mine is fortunately a super thin Patagonia one but still sticks out. Not top of my priority list but am definitely going to be on the lookout for a more stylish coat.
-Only the post code matters here. You don't need the street address- so strange!
Here's an article on it: Most Googled: how do London postcodes work?