"when a man is tired of london, he is tired of life."

{This is a quick update before i leave for the weekend. i apologize for not giving more description so I am making up for it in pictures and after this weekend will edit and try and put more detail underneath each picture.}

So I took a picture of this train on our way to London for the week. ecstatic.

this is london. hi.

this is michelangelo's "the epifania cartoon." to me it looks like a naked man holding his crotch. kinda gross. but i'm all about the artsy stuff. and i hear he went blind from being so passionate about painting so im pro michel.

we went on a tour and i told myself in a note on my iphone to not forget any of the buildings. too much information though. i think if i remember correctly there are dead bodies in the basement of this place. yep.

epitome of london streets. i was in love. twirling around and never wanting to leave. (besides when i lost my train pass and my glove.)

ladies and gents, i nearly died to get this picture for you. this was westminster. security guards just about jumped me and pushed me into saint peter's crypt which would not have been good for that conversation in heaven later but i snapped it and pretended i deleted it and now it's here. you're welcome.

so this is still westminster. turns out however, there is a westminster abbey. and a westminster cathedral. this is definitely the cathedral. its whatever. i saw both. went in both. only snapped pictures of the cathedral. im still one happy girl.

most self explanatory picture. big ben. who turns out to be as wide as i expected him to be but kind of a shorty. poor ben. good thing he always knows what time it is.... he has something going for him.... i actually heard you could fit like 25 buses in him or something so yeah, they attempted to make him sound big.

st. james park is located across from buckingham palace. quite lovely and green grass. too bad it was freezing and my finger was shaking on the shutter button. good thing im a professional photographer. (hah.)

we girls at the musical, billy elliot. if you're wondering if you should go see it... go see black swan and imagine a black swan/ comedy/ gay little 12 year old boy aspiring to be a ballet dancer/ musical/ and you've got yourself an entertaining night.

all the chi omega's at buckingham palace. princesses.

and of course, you cant go to a different country without snapping a picture of our sorority symbols everywhere. everyone gagged. we all posed. except morgan on the left who was a bit confused. she would be from arkansas as well...

this is the london bridge. but not really actually. it was sold to arizona or something. yeah i was confused too.

i remember this place because JFK came here to study. holla.

fire brigade. i want to be british so bad.

the day this photo was taken (by my friend rebecca) was the anniversary of the death of winston. peace man. he was portrayed as an ole bugger though in "the king's last speech." but i bet he was much kinder in real life......

my friend rebecca took this when we stopped to look at a gold encased statute of albert, queen victoria's beloved. he looked great and all but this corner just had nothing on him.

my favorite event of the entire london trip was when we partook in "high tea." i felt like a princess. i ate little crumpets. i pretended like i was royalty. i spent way too much money. and i accidentally drank the tea with the sprigs in it because i kept forgetting to put it in the strainer. but nonetheless, i felt so dainty and lovely and european. ah. it was magical.

rebecca and i at stonehinge. apparently, it's a bunch of rocks. who knew?

oh hey baylor kids.... sic em. of course.

stand still picture for the family to scrapbook. im such a suck up.

hot chocolate in bath. apparently bath is not as jane austen-ey as i would like to see and so we stayed in the warmth of a chocolate shop instead of meandering around the cobblestone by the starbucks and other normal stores... so disappointing. but wait, there's something special about bath besides jane austen.

they have a bath. who would have thought. again. it was great. quite steamy. didn't taste so good though...... tasted merky and old....... (jokes.)

on the bus back to london.

and of course you can't go to london without pretending you're heading to hogwarts with your broom, owl, and musty magical books. here i go. hopefully i make the quidditch team..... (jokes again. my athletic skills are laughable.)

train ride back to maastricht. what a wonderful week of being spoiled into thinking i'm a princess, spending way too much money on food, and experiencing one of the most amazing town's i've ever gotten lost in.

back in maastricht, we took a day trip to a small village outside of it. it's called valkenberg. known for its amazing catacombs. as great as those sound though, rebecca, erin, and i sketched out, found a cozy cottage cafe and enjoyed the warmth of great conversation and giggles. so worth it. (turns out the catacombs were reconstructed.....)

on the streets of maastricht.

small piece of land owned by the united states to honor the war veterans in world war II. eerie.

small cozy cafe in valkenberg.

second night in maastricht, out at the highlander, the local pub for international students.

antique store. obsessed.

sweet man rebecca snapped a picture of before we entered a cathedral-turned-library. photo to come.

and of course you can't go to europe without taking pictures of owls every time you see them.

right beside the university. hello world.

outside of a quaint cafe on the square famous for their live concerts and carnival week.

walking to school one day, a random parade marches through. A few girls and i were literally the only ones on the street... it was our own private welcome parade i do believe. even if no one wants to agree...

kristen (from arkansas) hannah, and hannah (my roommate) enjoying hot chocolate outside of a little cafe

inside the library, they had a party. we received a glass of wine while shopping for books. did i mention its inside a cathedral? im still debating on possible sacrilegious implications...

and this is my bike. i rode it today. it is blue. light blue. it makes up for the gray sky. it's lovely and simple and gives me a great work out. i think i'm going to name him ernie.

off to munich folks.... will update much quicker next time. sorry for the delays, supes busy. you understand... but not really because i'm in europe and you're not. no offense.. its just that its way way wayyyyyy quirkier than you would have thought. turns out, europe is so different. time is different, culture is different, people are different, and its very strange. but i am loving it, embracing it, and breathing it all in.