All Things London

It has been five weeks since I have arrived in London and I am finally starting to get a feel for this city. The past few weeks have been filled with a lot of school work, but we have managed to find time to do some more exploring and adventuring here in London.
To start, we have been able to find some pretty amazing places to eat out in just about every corner of London. Last week for my birthday we went out to dinner at a Mexican tapas restaurant called Wahaca. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was amazing and the company was just perfect too!
Venturing out to some of London's outdoor markets also gave us a chance to find some yummy food. Last weekend Leah and I went to Portobello Market, and explored the shopping scene there. I was able to pick up a dress for myself and a few gifts along the way, which was great. The market was filled with antique vendors, shops and numerous food stands (we found some pretty delicious falafel wraps).
Then this Sunday I visited what has become my favorite market so far in all of London- Spitalfield Market. I thought the area around the market was just as awesome as the market itself, there were some pretty cool independent stores surrounding the market. The actual market area is located under a glass canopy where art, clothing and food vendors set up their stalls. There is just about everything you can think of at Spitalfield Market and a few items caught my I that I suspect I'll be returning for. And again, you can't go to a market without trying some of the food, so we got breakfast crepes called 'The Londoner' that were filled with cheese, egg and sausage, and then we split a cupcake from the most adorable cupcake stand ever called Lola's.
Hope you all enjoyed these highlights from the past two weekends! Here's to some more exploring!

Paris

Wow. What more is there to say. It has been a few days now since I have returned from Paris, my first trip outside of London since I have arrived to study here, and now it is time to share the trip with all of you. Looking back on the weekend I can say without a doubt that we crammed almost every last thing into this trip.
Last Friday we left early in the morning from London on the Eurostar and headed off to Paris. First let me just say I LOVED the Eurostar. No fuss of planes, it was great! Since there is so much to talk about I'll just give you the highlights/ my favorite parts of the weekend. But first, not without a shout-out to my cousin Jess who studied in Paris for a semester and provided me with the best insider tips for where to visit while I was in Paris!!

Lets begin with the food! Yum!! I don't think I've eaten so many carbs in a 48 hour period in my life. From the crepes to the croissants to the baguettes, it was all so delicious and fresh!! Once we got to Paris our first priority was getting to the Latin Quarter to eat crepes for lunch! We also went to the famous home of French Macarons, Ladurée and I bought eight macarons for 17 euros.
#sorryimnotsorry Then I went and ate them on the evening river boat cruise. With the Eiffel Tower sparkling behind me. Ah, what a picture!

The sites! A few of my favorites included Notre Dame, Musée d'Orsay, and Sacre Coeur. And of course the Eiffel Tower!

On Saturday late afternoon we walked up to Sacre Coeur, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, through these winding, very steep road, but boy was the view worth it! Just an amazing sight and we got up there while the sun was setting! Again just perfect!

Well that is all for now! Hope that gives you a little taste of what my weekend in Paris was like! Will certainly look forward to going back one day!!
P.S. Tomorrow I turn 21!!!! Yeeeee!!