Whirlwind European Tour

I think I've recovered sufficiently from my lack of sleep during my week-long whirlwind tour of Europe to finally blog about everything's that's happened in the past week. *Takes a deep breath* Here goes...

This was an insane trip. I'm so crazy; I had essentially 5 days (2 days were taken up completely by traveling) to hit 2 countries (UK and Denmark) and 4 cities (London, Cambridge, Bristol and Copenhagen, although not really because the wedding wasn't in Copenhagen but in Nykøbing Falster). I really did try to do everything and there were only 3 things that I didn't manage to squeeze in: seeing Tom because it was his bedtime by the time I met up with his mom, Ceroc and meeting up with James, my former partner in crime at FAO, because my stay in Bristol got cut short due to a slight passport problem (yeah, like leaving it in another city on the other side of the country).

So I flew out from the US on 23 May and it took the entire day to get to London. I arrive around 8am at Heathrow, defended myself against the customs officer who gave me a hard time about studying in Hull though (not that I blame him), dropped off my backpack at the excess luggage storage at Kings Cross, changed my money at a post office and did a tiny bit of shopping (I bought the dress I was looking for to wear to the wedding - I love you H&M!!!!) before meeting Kizzy for lunch.

It was so great to see Kizzy again. We're pretty good friends considering we've only met twice (last Thursday included). Weird huh? Things just clicked between us I guess! Afterward, I went to Oxford Street and squeezed in a tiny bit more shopping (I didn't buy anything though) before I went to meet Yvette for a drink. It was awesome to see Yvette, too. After chilling out with her at a pub, I took the train up to Royston where Raven picked me up. I crashed at his because he's got a spare bed whereas Yseult's got a couch. Upon thinking about this afterward, I realised I could've slept in with Yse in her bed as it's big enough but oh well. That night I had dinner with Kate and Val, ex-workmates from NXT, at La Tasca. It was soooo yummy and we had a lot of fun catching up and talking about our recent exploits. Too bad it was late by the time I met up with them because it was past Tom's bedtime, but I'm sure I'll get to see him next time I'm in town. Kate dropped me back at the barracks and I slept like the dead until about 10 the next morning. Yay for no jetlag!

I spent the majority of the day chilling out and watching DVDs. I had a fat ass club sandwich for lunch; it took me a while but I did manage to finish it in the end. Raven and I had Italian for dinner at Ask then met up with everyone else at The Granta. I was SO happy that everyone managed to show up: Yseult and Nicola, Ros, Tess (with Jim), Ashley, and Nicky and Jonathan. We spent the entire night at the pub, hanging out and catching up.

Me, Nicky (Jonathan's hiding behind her), John (Nicky and Jonathan's friend), Ashley and Tess.

Nicola, Yseult and Ros.

More pics.

I had a really great time but got no sleep that night (about 4 hours) because I had a 7:30am flight to catch the next day. Before going back to the barracks, we dropped off my backpack at Yse's so I could easily pick it up on Sunday when I got back from Denmark. Raven, being the awesome mate that he is, offered to drive me to Stansted, and I got on board without a hitch.