England Adventures Day 1-LONDON

We've all arrived in England and the adventure has begun! With no rest for the weary, my sister and I met up with my parents at the airport, we checked into our hotel, and went straight into London to tour around. It. Is. BEAUTIFUL. Typical London weather (gray and chilly) but that didn't stop us from having a blast wondering around the city. It seems to be the perfect time to be here with the flowers blooming-spring has arrived in London!

We saw Westminster Abby, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, the Green Park, and even had some AMAZING fish and chips for lunch in a local pub. We conquered the Underground, or "tube" as they call it, and took tons and tons of pictures. Oh and my Dad drove a manual rental car on the wrong side of the road like a CHAMP. 

We're all exhausted but contemplating Indian food for dinner, because after two years without it I'm craving it something fierce. 

Part of my "goodies from home" package!! My parents know the way to my heart...peanut butter.

The Eye of London and part of the County Hall.

3/4 of the Hughletts in London.

Oh Big Ben.

I'm obsessed with the cute pubs and restaurants with boxed window plants.

Mom peeking around the flowers.

Random collection of cigarette boxes on the side of a house...smoke much?

Dad and I in front of Buckingham.

Sister/Sister! Buckingham Palace.

Gorgeous.

Parents and Daffodils.

Lol. Harold is loving this.

The biggest Pelicans I've ever seen.

Had to do it.

More to come!!

I'm Leaving, on a Jet Plane.

I might be a bit out of touch the next 3 weeks-I have some serious vacationing to do! Tomorrow, my sister and I will travel to London to meet up with our parents (who I haven't seen since July last year!) and we'll be touring around England for nine days. 

With my dad driving a rental car...

...on the opposite side of the street. 

We'll stay in foggy London town for a few days (just enough time to see all the important places and do all the important things, like take a picture in a phone booth and find Indian food.)

Then we'll head out to the countryside-the Cotswold area. I'm most excited about seeing these small villages and staying in sleepy Painswick for a few days. Isn't the countryside gorgeous!?

We'll also be staying in Bath, Portsmouth, Cheltenham, and poppin' by Stonehenge and Stratford Upon Avon. Fun will be had by all and I CAN"T WAIT to see my parents!!

Then I'll jet back to Romania real quick and meet up with Matt to tour around Maramures! This area of Romania is considered the most traditional area in the country. People still rock traditional costumes and there are beautiful wooden monasteries and gates. I'm pretty excited to ride (even maybe DRIVE?) a caruta (horse-drawn carriage) and see the Merry Cemetery. It is a famous for the blue wooden gravestones which have funny poems about the deceased written on the front.

 Basically we'll be about 1km from the border with Ukraine.

The famous wooden churches and the Merry Cemetery.

After touring Maramures we'll head back to Timisoara to meet up with Nick and Jessica, then we're off on an overnight train to Salzburg, Austria! 

So we'll see a little of this...

Then go see the spectacular view HERE...

Hitler's Eagle Nest, right across the border in Germany.

We'll then take a train to VIENNA.

Where there will be a lot of great food, great coffee, and beautiful sites for us to check out. 

I am so excited for the new few weeks I can barely stand it.

The adventure starts tomorrow!

Explanation Needed.

These small stoplights are all over Timisoara-and actually all of Romania. 

WHY?! 

Why is there a normal sized stoplight and then a baby stoplight right below it? It is for bikers? I have never seen anything like it, anywhere in the world. 

Am I missing out on something obvious here? 

Explanation please.

Sisters.

This beauty is here and we're livin' it up.

 We have already spent a warm and beautiful day in Timisoara, unpacked my new apartment (more on that later) and we're going to the winery today for a wine tasting. 

 

Oh-and we found these GIANT coffee mugs in my new place. And yes, we used to them to drink our morning coffee.

The Last 13 Things I...

The last 13 things I....

ATE:  A Taco Salad. I've been craving Mexican food ever since we made super amazing nachos this past weekend, so I went with it. It was delicious.

BOUGHT: I just realized I actually have money in my Peace Corps account so I ran to the supermarket in town to purchase some groceries. Heaven. Favorite purchase was Honey Nut Cheerios.

READ: I just finished the Hunger Games series and I LOVED them. Each and every book-although the first is my favorite. Can't wait to see the movie-comes out in Romania March 23rd!  

 

LAUGHED AT: Just watched a video clip my friend sent me and laughed out loud alone here in my apartment. I'm a cool kid.

COOKED: Well you know I just whipped up a taco salad but as far as COOKING-last thing would be my Saint Patrick's Day meal of chicken, potatoes, cabbage and carrots. You saw a picture in the post below this one. Since it's so awesome I'll post it again. Ugh. 

BAKED: I made peanut butter cookies for Saint Patrick's Day-so naturally I added green food coloring. They were amazing.

CRAFTED:

I don't craft. Sorry. Wish I did. I know-I'm a teacher and I don't craft? Terrible.

DROOLED OVER: The weather today. I went outside earlier to sit in the sun and get a little tan. I found a park bench, tilted my face towards the wonderful heat, and promptly fell asleep. I woke up and realized I had been drooling-right there in my public park. COOL KID. 

COVETED: This MK watch. I know-so expensive I'll never let myself get it but I LOVE it.

THOUGHT: I should probably wrap this up and clean up the lunch dishes.

WORE: Total PC outfit. I didn't have to work so I threw on some ratty jeans, a tank and a long sleeved shirt and rocked the converse to the store. Hair is in a work-out band, I'm trying to encourage myself to p90x today.

CRAVED: Combos. The pepperoni pizza kind. Mom, Dad? Can you bring some to London in 2 weeks?

WAS THANKFUL FOR: The day off today-Thanks Vali! So nice to get things done in the middle of the week.

Saint Patrick's Day: Bunicas and Green Wine.

I know, I know. It's been forever since I last posted and I have no excuses for you. I go through periods where I feel really inspired to write, then weeks where I feel like I have nothing interesting for you to read. So, without any more apologizing, here is a small update. :)

This past weekend I celebrated Saint Patrick's Day with some of my favorite PCVs. We were lucky to have a GORGEOUS, warm weekend, and we spent almost every moment outside. 

Thanks to a care package from my dear Aunt Mary, we were quite prepared for the occasion-leprechaun hats and green wine? Yes please.

Green Wine. But you already knew that.

Matt making some bunica (grandmother) friends in my park. Adorable.

Jessica and I hanging out in the Recas park. This was right before a lady told us to stop sitting on the ground because our ovaries would freeze. I wish I was joking.

Nick and Jessica.

Spending the GORGEOUS day in Timi with Matt. We were actually sweating and Matt was burning, hence the popped collar...

See? Burning up. Turning Red. SPRING HAS ARRIVED!

Yeah, this happened. Thanks Aunt Mary for the hat!

So we couldn't find corned beef anywhere, so I made do with chicken, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. Yum.

Another meal of the weekend-NACHOS!! Matt was able to snag tortilla chips and we splurged on all the trimmings. SO WORTH IT.

It was a great weekend-always awesome to get together with volunteers and eat some American food.

So looking forward to this weekend when I am REUNITED with this beauty... 

That's right! My sister is taking some time off from studying in London to see me here in Recas! Can't wait to have her here next week then to return to London with her and meet up with THESE TWO...

OH HEY DAD.

My Beauuutiful Momma.

Can't wait to be reunited with family!

Happy Women's Day!

Just some of my flowers and gifts-yes that is a pie plate.

It's Women's Day here in Romania, which means my students have showered me with beautiful flowers and gifts all morning. I love this holiday because it celebrates ALL women, not just mothers.

Love to all the special women in my life today.