london wanderings

 

After an amazing week with my family in England, I caught a train from Birmingham down to London to visit Gabby. Quite apart from seeing him for the first time in a month, the atmosphere in the city was terrific because of the Olympics: busy and chaotic, but also carnivalistic. Walking round Hyde Park, we caught the men's cycling finals zooming by. Volunteers everywhere did their best to regiment the crowds with classic British stoicism and humour (see here for my favourite example). I quickly became addicted to jumping on and off the tube. I cannot wait to live there in the near future. 

lock cottage!

 

 

 

 

Our second holiday stay turned out to be even more bucolic than the last. To reach the house, we had to get through three gates and three fields of sheep, then cross a stone bridge with a wheelbarrow for our luggage. It was well worth the hike though: Lock Cottage was absolutely charming, with its brick terrace overlooking a meadow that trapped the sun and the canal boats that moored outside every night. We spent hours reading, playing whist, eating antipasti in the sun and climbing on the locks. I felt like Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Without the coercion and hard labour. Yes. 

excursions

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  Hardy country
2.  Osborne House, Queen Victoria's holiday residence
4.  Dad keeping cool/ doing a David Hume impression

5.  Idyllic walled gardens

10. Cirencester 

11. An impromptu beach trip to the south coast; our camp   consisted of a dust sheet and two golf umbrellas. 

12. Portsmouth Harbour, Dad's heaven 
13. In the orchard at Hanley Hall, a Tudor mansion

Fox Hall!

 

For the first part of our holiday, my family got to stay in a beautiful restored Georgian hunting lodge in the countryside near Chichester. Hardy-esque was the only way to describe it: rolling hills, sheep and thatched cottages surrounded us. We couldn't believe it was ours. 

twilight tower

 

 

Today the sun finally peeked through over East Lothian, after literally two weeks of cloud. We climbed to the top of our favourite hill, topped by what we used to call 'the twilight tower' as kids. 

grey days

 

 

It's lovely being home and having time to spend a day reading an entire book, lazing in the garden and drinking the leftover champagne from the party with my family. The weather has been atrocious, but we've been cooking gorgeous dishes and watching great movies in the evening. I'm savouring this down time before my next internship. 

21st

This year my birthday seemed to fall at the perfect time. My internship in St Andrews finished the day before, Gabby's internship started the Monday after, and it was a Saturday which meant we got to throw a big ole party.
In terms of photos, I have barely any - I was having too much fun. My amazing parents went all out and even took a long weekend to make decorations, cocktail menus and canapes for the Mad Men theme. We had falling man and Joanie cut-outs, a New York skyline, and a garden filled with candle lanterns and milk bottles full of meadow flowers. It was so amazing to have so many friends and family all under one roof, and all looking absolutely gorgeous in sharp suits and 60s dresses. We twisted, we drank mojitos, and finished the night with champagne and a bonfire on the beach that only burned out at 4am when it got light. 
I feel so lucky to have so many great people around me who made the night so special. 
Last four photos courtesy of Jessica Boston, Rachel Meiklejohn, and my bro :)