european vacation, part II

last night, we stayed in and watched European Vacation. SO hilarious. I particularly enjoyed the part about the hotel in London because that is almost EXACTLY the experience we had our first night there.

I hardly took any pictures at Oxford while we were there because I already have a ton from my junior year abroad. Armand has a lot, which I'll post when he gets around to uploading them. But this picture is of Alex, Fabio, and me:

they live in this cute apartment at the edge of Oxford and their "backyard" leads to the college grounds of Worcester, shown here. It is unbelievable!! and they kept telling me that it's even more beautiful later in the spring time with the flowers blooming everywhere.

I was finally able to revisit my most favorite cookie place in the WORLD, Ben's. I am so obsessed with this wonderful place because they make the BEST cookies, by far, that I have ever had. No other place even comes close. We went multiple times each day I was in Oxford. But now, I found out that they opened up a place in Salt Lake City, UTAH! If it weren't for the Mormons, I might have to move there! j/k But apparently, you can also order them online... Not sure if they'd be as good but I definitely have to try it. We also had cream tea at Queens Lane coffee house, the OLDEST in the UK. I love clotted cream, even though it must be so bad for you! :)

When we got to London, we spotted this bus, on the walk from St Paul's Cathedral to the Tower of London. There were a couple other people taking pictures of it too!

I lived an entire year in the UK and never indulged in fish and chips... so it was one of my many goals while there. We found this little spot near Piccadilly Circus that only had fish and chips. We shared the cod and halibut and YUM they were so delicious. Especially with the special tartare sauce.

We took the London Eye up to see the sights from above. This is a picture taken from near the apex, of Big Ben, Parliament, and if you look closely, you can spot Westminster Abbey.

Upon my return...

It's been tough getting back to work and the business of normal life, since being back from my vacation. It was wonderful. We went to so many beautiful places, historical sites, and spent time with one of my closest friends from my year at Oxford. It was perfect.

Oh, except that my camera is totally trying to break on me. The battery keeps draining unreasonably fast. So I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked but thank goodness Armand had his near-professional-grade camera.

This is the amazing view from our hotel room in Paris on the second night of our trip. We explored the Montmarte neighborhood where the Moulin Rouge is! We also did a fair amount of Joan of Arc related things.

We then rented a car and drove around Normandy, first stopping at Rouen, then Fatouville, Honfleur, Bayeux, the D-day beaches, and Mont St. Michel.

This was one of my favorite meals on the entire trip. It was at Chartre, a very good, and affordable restaurant in Paris, not too far from Montmarte. We started off with escargot, then I had this really tender beef dish, and an entire bottle of red wine that cost us $3!

We kept seeing these GIGANTIC meringues all over Normandy and Paris. I'm actually not a huge fan of meringues but they made me laugh. :)

this is a picture of the cathedral at Mont St Michel. It was breath-taking from afar, and also at night, when it's all lit up. It's on this tiny island, which basically just has the cathedral and one windy street that's lined with restaurants. This was probably one of my favorite spots. Second to the day we spent in Bayeux with the most amazing tapestry.

I have a lot more pictures of our time in England and I will have to post them another time because I'm getting sleepy! So stay tuned for Part II!