Somewhere beyond the sea...

Weather conflict yet again, oh weather - why do you lie to me?

When planning this weekend I kept the weather in mind and with it saying there was 90% chance of rain on Saturday I decided to postpone my trip to Stratford-upon-Avon....it rained a bit in the morning and then for maybe four minutes in the afternoon and that was it! It was a tad cool so I think I'll wait until Summer weather arrives to enjoy Stratford.

Any who! I decided to go to the London Aquarium instead, and man was that place cool!

There was 5 levels of all different types of fish, sea life, turtles, frogs and penguins(my favourite)!
I spent a good two hours in there, it wasn't packed (thank goodness) so it was a very lovely time well spent.

At each place they had information about the creature and little facts that you may not have known. Like did you know that you are more likely to be attacked by a dog, vending machine or win the lottery than get attacked by a shark?

Did you also know that sharks have been around since before the dinosaurs?!?!

That place was crawling with sharks! There were about four different types I believe, sorry that I do not remember the names of them all, and in the shark tank they had sting rays and little fish too. They had this big area near the end of the aquarium with a big plated glass window and a ledge in front of it. I spent a good half-hour just sitting there and watching the Sharks swim by, it was very peaceful and relaxing.




After the aquarium I took a walk up to Piccadilly Circus and this is the first time I have ever seen it not as busy as it usually is, and this was in the afternoon as well. After the little rain shower I decided to take the tube to Regent Park and check it out. I hadn't been there yet and really wanted to see what all the fuss was about....the fuss was these amazing and beautiful gardens that were shattered all over the park. The London Zoo is also in Regent Park as well as the Open Air Theatre - both I plan on visiting before I leave.


It was a Saturday well spent.

As you can see I've added some countdowns to my blog, mostly to remind me on what's going on but to also let you know as well. Hope all are well and will see you in about four months Canada :)

Let's do some Math!

Shall we?

As of today, April 17th 2014, I have been in England as an Au Pair for exactly 8 months! That's about 243 days!
Now in 3 months and 14 days I go on my awesome tour across Eastern Europe.
In 3 months and 26 days my sister, Caitlin, will be coming to visit me for 8 days.
In 4 months exactly I will be making my way to Highclere Castle for my Downton Abbey trip
AND in 4 months and 15 days I will be on my way to Gatwick Airport to make my way back to Canada.

Now what does all of this equal up to?

Come on math genius I know you got this!

And the answer is .... one very lucky Canadian girl getting to cross many upon many items off of her bucket list :)

See, math can be fun sometimes.

Now as a short list I'll tell you what I have crossed off my list since being in England:

1) Go to England
2) Go to Paris
3) See Big Ben (The Queen's Tower but everyone knows it as Big Ben)
4) See a musical/play (I have way over done this one)
5) Take a bus (many times)
6) Take the tube (many times!)
7) Take a train
8) Go to Platform 9 & 3/4
9) Go to Stonehenge
10) Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower

There are lots more but as I said I'd keep it short for you.

These past two weeks the girls have been on their April Half-Term/Easter Break. It involved lots of park visits, a trip to Westfield Mall - just outside of London, LOTS of swimming and last Friday we had a movie afternoon with some treats and popcorn. Obviously it was different having the girls home from school but they do enjoy the break...for about three or four days and then they get bored and when they get bored fights happen - like with any trio of siblings of course.

Jane, Chris and I are for sure happy that school starts again soon and that they will be back to their regular activities but we also enjoyed the time with the girls. Jane and I took the girls shopping this past Wednesday for new spring/summer clothes and if you know me well enough you know that I love to shop/window shop so it was fun picking out different items for the girls to try on.

Now that Easter Weekend is tomorrow the family is going away for the weekend to visit family and have Easter dinner and such. While I get to finish up my laundry, go out for a friends Birthday dinner and talk to friends from back home as well (finally!).

Next weekend I am planning on going to Stratford-Upon-Avon for Shakespeare's birthday celebrations! I have planned to spend the whole day there so the weather better be good next weekend.

After that my Panic! At The Disco is shortly after and soon we are almost at the middle of May! Time is a funny thing isn't it?

Another half-term?!?!

Yes as the title gives away the girls are on yet another half-term from school, this one is until after Easter Monday so they get a nice two week break off of school.

I hope to post at the end of this coming week to tell about all the activities we will be getting ourselves up to but for now I guess it's more updates about myself.

This past week I have gone to the Cinema more times than I usually do in one month! I saw "Muppets Most Wanted" last Wednesday - hilarious movie! The soundtrack is amazing and the little cameos are awesome! - "Divergent" on Friday night - won't say anything about that right now as my little Sister is currently reading the book and doesn't want me to spoil it for her, so I'll be nice this time - and today I saw "Captain America: The Winter Solider" - so awesome! I love the Marvel franchise and Captain America is one of my favourites so this did not disappoint!

Also this past week I experienced something else new, one of my Au Pair friends named Lina has gone back home :( She lives in Germany, in a small town much smaller than Forest - she showed me pictures the one time and it looks so beautiful there. If I do get time, and the money I hope to visit her but she is hoping to visit me before I leave England so I have that to look forward too.

My Canadian friend Erin is going back Easter Weekend and then she's hoping to be back in England in September or so, which is when I'll be back home anyways so I may see her before she leaves Canada in the Fall.

I cannot believe it is April now! I know you all must be getting sick of me saying that but it's true! As of April 2nd I have five months left in England and on the 17th of April I will be here for eight months. Time is just going by way to fast!

Um...so if I don't mention this now I may get into trouble. I do have someone coming to visit me before I leave - and she chooses right before I leave to do so (only joking).

My older sister, Caitlin, will be visiting me in August!! From August 12th-21st she will be her and I will be her official tour guide to London :) We are starting to plan our days together and have ideas in motion but until she is done her exams we're not going to set anything in stone - so that she can enjoy the planning instead of getting stressed about it.

Hope all is well back in Canada and that Spring has finally arrived for you all :)

Matilda, Mormon and St. Paul's...oh my!

What can I say, this past weekend was pretty great. I got to hang out with my friend Erin before she goes back to Canada for the summer for work and my luck even rubbed off on her.

On Friday I met Erin in London so that we could go and see "Matilda the Musical", and for £25 for our tickets we got some pretty decent seats. To bad that we had two tall people in front of us, had to lean a couple of times but other than that we had a really good view of the stage.

The musical was AMAZING! It was based off of the book rather than the 90's movie, which I'm quite happy about because, of course, the book is always better. I have to say the children that play Matilda and the other student characters have a lot of courage! I would not have been able to do that at age 8 or 9. It was crazy how talented they were!


The soundtrack is very catchy as well, I have a jumble of it stuck in my head at the moment. If it ever comes to Toronto, or if it is still in New York it should be on everyones to do list! Here's a clip of it from the Tony's last year:

On Saturday I showed Erin around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. We went to M&M World, and of course bought M&M's, and walked around Leicester Square for a bit. They had a "Divergent" Fan Event in the Square where you could take a test to see which Fraction you belonged in and then could do activities afterwards. It was really packed so I didn't do any of the events.

When we first go to the Square we went over to The Prince of Wales Theatre to enter in for "The Book of Mormon" lottery draw. Well the time came for the tickets to be called AND Erin won two of them!! Needless to say it was so much funnier the second time around, and yes I am bragging a bit here but winning cheap tickets is something to brag about :)

Zeus and I

Finally on Sunday we went to the British Museum in the morning. It was quite packed so we couldn't enjoy the museum like we would have liked to but at least the museums here are free so that I can go back and see the things I didn't get to. 

The weather was beautiful this weekend so after the museum we went down to St. Paul's for a walk along the Thames. It was a nice walk and I got to show Erin more on London along the way.

We went into Primark later in the afternoon and I have to say that is one of my new favourite stores. Very decent clothes for a responsible price, cannot beat that!

Erin had to go back to Swansea after that so we made our way back to the tube station to go our separate ways. It was a great weekend overall! 

The next couple of weekend are pretty basic for me, nothing really big planned anyways. As of April 2nd, 2014 it will be 5 months until I am back in Canada! I cannot believe it came up that fast! The next thing I know I'll be packing up my room and getting ready to go home. It's crazy how long I have been here, it doesn't feel like this long at all!

British Museum

Abbey Road & Notting Hill

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly"

Well, I finally did it! I crossed the cross walk at Abbey Road. It may not seem as high and mighty of an accomplishment but due to the fact that it took about two months to finally do this Lina and I were both quite happy.

Wondering why it took so long? Well Abbey Road is located outside of Central London - meaning that you need to take a tube ride or a very long and expensive bus ride to get to Abbey Road. Every weekend that Lina and I wanted to go the tube line was always being worked on and via bus it would take about 3hrs to get there. So that's why it took so long.

Part of the brick wall at Abbey Road Studios

Now when you get to Abbey Road the first thing you're going to see is tourists, lots and LOTS of tourists! This crosswalk doesn't have stoplights so it's basically people standing on the sidewalk until the coast is clear or literally stopping cars just to take a picture. There was a guy there organizing pictures as well, that's how Lina and I got ours done - wish it was more of the crosswalk but you get what you get when the road is super busy haha

Right beside Abbey Road it Abbey Road Studios and I gotta say that the fence posts and brick walls around the parking lot to that building is covered in signatures and Beatles lyrics. I added in my own and signed my name and the date. We noticed after that we could read some writing that had been painted over so I'm not sure how long my message will be there but I hope people get to see it. I wrote part of the lyrics from the top in case you were wondering.

After Abbey Road we made our way to Notting Hill, which I gotta say is probably the most beautifulness town I have seen since being here that is located in the city, The Cotswolds don't count here. All of the houses are painted different colours with different coloured doors as well, it's so neat. Was hoping for more of the trees to be blooming but not this time I guess, I'll have to go back in the Spring/Summer.

This weekend was the last weekend that I got to hangout with Lina, she;s going back home on April 4th and next weekend is when Erin is coming to visit, so we crossed off almost all of Lina's to do list and then went our separate ways. She's hoping to visit again before I go home, hopefully in July so I'll get to see her then :) 

A street in Notting Hill

Hope all is well with everyone back home. 162 days until I'm back in Canada, cannot believe it! Time is going by to fast!!

Up To Great Heights!

"What did I tell ya? There's the whole world at your feet. And who gets to see it but the birds, the stars, and the chimney sweeps."


What a day! Yesterday my friend Lina and I got to go to the very top of The Shard (the tallest building in London) to enjoy the view and take some lovely photos of London as well. It was a beautiful day overall! The weather these past couple of weeks has been amazing, sorry for rubbing it in again Canada, sun and warm breezes - it's amazing.

Before going to The Shard though we took a walk down South Bank and looked in the different shops along the River Thames.

Cherry Blossom trees are over populated in this area. I forgot how much I loved them when they bloomed. As London usually is the streets and sidewalks were packed! 

When I first got here, and would reference my tour book more than once a day, it said that tourists usually come more between March and November...this is a lie! Tourists come ALL THE TIME! I have not had a trip into London where it involved me taking my time and not pushing past people who stop in the middle of the way to look at a map. London will never be like this...it's London.

Now finally we got to go to The Shard, and as I mentioned before it is the tallest building in London. We booked our time for right around the sunset so that we could get day and night photos of London. I have to say seeing the sunset over London and then seeing all the nightlife come to life is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, I only wish my camera took better photos to capture it all.


To be honest I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that it is MARCH already and that it's almost gone. I have defiantly been keeping myself busy enough to not notice all the time that's been going by and I still have lots more planned. Next weekend Lina and I are finally going to Abbey Road and then spending the rest of the day in Notting Hill. The weekend after that my friend Erin is coming down for the weekend and we're going to see Matilda and do little tours of London as well.

I've also added another play to my list before I go home, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! (That's not until June though) and I will be going to see Panic! At The Disco in May :)

A fun couple of weeks ahead for me! TTFN

Hello March, come so soon?

          AH! Cannot believe it is March already! Where is the time going!?!?!

          Was talking to my Mom about it the other day and since I have already booked my flight home it is now less than 6months until I am back in Canada and on the 17^th of March I will have been in England for 7months!

          I remember being in school last year and the time going by so slowly, so I guess that saying is true. Time files when you’re having fun!

Neat lights on Canterbury St. in London

          The weather here has been beautiful this past week, highs of 12 everyday, no rain and just a touch of wind. I actually wore my spring jacket into town and wasn’t cold after leaving the theatre last night, which is a first since September. Anyways let me fill you in on my week.

          On March 6^th all around England (maybe other places as well but I’ve recently just heard about this) was “World Book Day” where the school kids and teachers dress up as their favourite character from any book genre.
          Isabella dressed up as Hermonie from the Harry Potter Series, Georgina dressed up as Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Francesca dressed up as Matilda. They all looked so cute! Fran didn’t want her picture taken so just Izy and Georgie are in the picture with me.

          Yesterday, the 8^th, Lina and I went to see “The Lion King”. It was so amazing! The way that they portrayed the animals was so neat. They had a little girl as a baby elephant and they way they made her costume around her was like a wooden silhouette elephant, it was so pretty.

          The giraffe was my second favourite, they had a person on stilts for the legs and used their hands and stilts for the front legs with an attachment for the head. It was beautiful how each thing was made, and really gun hoe to the movie so Lina and I were singing along to all the songs. 

          The play was really well done and the acting done by young Simba and Nala was amazing! They looked like they were just about 10 years old but the confidence they had and their acting was just amazingly well done.

          "The Lion King" is number 7 on my list of "Plays/Musicals I've seen since being here". Honestly it's one of my favourite things to spend my money on. I love going to the theatre and being apart of the story and reacting with an audience, it's a great feeling.

          At the end of the month I will be adding number 8 to the list, Matilda! And because the girls saw it with their StageCoach group back in November I hear the soundtrack all the time so I'll know all of the songs even before I see it!

          Hope all is well back home and that the snow starts to melt away soon! I'm really glad I missed this winter, even though I've had my fair share of rainy and crummy days nothing beats snow.