Days 19-22: The Autumn Effect

Monday:

Another Paris picture- at the Louvre

Wow, I can't explain how absolutely lovely it was to sleep in "my own bed" again. Paris was a blast, but there's something perfectly amazing about coming home to London, saying hello to my room, and crashing out in my wonderfully comfortable bed. Classes again this morning- Kalie and I found out (after we got up way early) that our first class was postponed 45 minutes, so that was slightly disheartening, but at least we got a decent sleep. Had a small break between classes in which I uploaded videos, blogged, and all sorts of lovely things. Second class was Fine Arts and we enjoyed the National Gallery again and looked at some awesome paintings. I love that we can just hop on a bus and go to a museum for class. It's excellent. After class we grabbed Scandinavian food for dinner (absolutely delicious, especially the chocolate cake for dessert), ran back to the house, and decided to go out. The party never stops, now does it? So, some cider in the park later, we decided to hit up on of the closer (and far too expensive bars) and chill there with a couple of friends. It turned into a lovely social evening in which I didn't have to spend a pound (again, thank you to all my guy friends here), and we later jumped to another of the local bars called Janet's where Janet herself gave us PB&J sandwiches. Gotta love it. This was, of course, after she told us there was a 3 pound minimum to be there and ordered shots in the beginning and sitting around afterwards didn't really fly. Oops. Our bad. Kalie found mittens and decided to snag those and we made it back to the house far later than planned, but, honestly, it was such a good night back that a little sleep deprivation doesn't matter...

Tuesday:

Another Techno Parade picture in Paris

Sleep deprivation wasn't really an issue, cause I got to sleep in today! Lovely! I finally rolled out of bed around 11:45 (wow... haven't done that in a long while), went to Convo with the rest of the house, tried figuring out my credit card balance and realized Paris was a little pricier than expected, and then went to my "class" for the day- we went to another museum and got to see Rafael's tapestries and cartoons together for the first time ever. Such a surreal experience! Group dinner was at Wagamama's, an asian food place, and Kalie and I practiced our frugality by ordering lots of food with the 12 pound limit we are given and taking it home for later meals. Free food. Why not? Now I don't have to buy lunch tomorrow! Anyhow, concluded the evening by finishing Sweet Home Alabama (love that movie) with Kalie, before heading out for a fun evening at the park (after buying delicious food... again) with some of the boys. We just don't stop moving... Oh well. I love it.

Wednesday:

The boys being silly in the park

Mmm, this morning came WAY too early. But seriously, not really feeling the 6 hours of sleep thing. I kind of have an obsession with actually getting a decent amount of hours in. Anyhow, watched Kingdom of Heaven in History class today. I'd seen pieces of that movie, so it was nice actually watching the whole thing. A cool mix of gladiator epic-violence and historical value. Almost a little too epic at points, but hey, I'm totally down for watching movies in class. Leftover fried rice for lunch and 2 episodes of Glee (yeah frugality!) after Kalie and I cleaned and vacuumed our room (we really want to win the competition so we can achieve the ever-coveted prize Ben's cookies... because they are delicious), then had Humanities class and then to Italian food for group dinner! And, naturally, Kalie and I utilized our entire 12 pounds in order to get lots and LOTS of food and have leftovers again tomorrow. Fantastic. I like this way of utilizing our money. Anyhow, hung out a bit at the house after dinner, then went out for a casual pub and kebab evening with a few of the girls and boys in the house. I decided to go back early, considering I actually have to get up at a human hour to go ride horses. We'll see how my knee handles that one- it's sporting a VERY painful scab and numerous bruises at the moment. I'm really glad I tripped over that speed-bump in Paris.... Yeah. Not so much. Oh, and somehow my pointer finger is super swollen. Don't know how that one happened. Strange things abound in Londontown. So, crashing out now, and wishing it was still raining, because isn't that just a lovely sound to fall asleep to? I think so. It was raining all day. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get a ton of that in the months to come, but for now... sleep. My eyeballs are about to fall out of my face from exhaustion. Isn't that a lovely image? Yeah, I'm speaking nonsense from the sleep deprivation. Good night, London!

Thursday:

Walking to the stables in the SUN

So, woke up today to: "ANNIE!" Scared me half to death. Anyhow, Kalie thought my riding lesson was a bit before it actually was, so I got a lovely wake-up call an hour and a half early. Oh well, at least me roommate looks out for my schedule, even if it is the wrong time. haha. Gotta love it. I got to fall back asleep then wake up slowly to an absolutely GORGEOUS sunny day in London (as compared to the rainy gloom of yesterday), yet still with that crisp autumn effect setting in. I can't wait until the colors start changing. I did the 20-minute walk to the stables with one of the other girls (Carrie) and as we walked in we saw the instructors riding in on these 3 beautiful horses. Not slightly-mangy school ponies, but legitimate, pristine horses. So, naturally, we eyed them jealously as we walked around to figure out which pony we were riding today, and.... Instructor: "Annie?" Me: "Yes?" Instructor: "You are experienced, right?" Me: "Yes..." Instructor: "Okay, you ride Zack today." Me: -jaw drops- "Okay." 

Horses walking into the stables!

Yeah, I got this unbelievably gorgeous 17 hand black-bay that one of the instructors rode in on. Um, let's just say I was in horse-lover heaven. This animal was amazingggg. So, Carrie and I got put in  lesson today with two of the girls that rode there (hence the fantastic horses), which was so much fun considering I haven't done arena work in about 2 years. My knee was definitely screaming for mercy, but I guess that what I get for tripping over a speedbump in Paris. Zack was quite a dream to ride, moved really well, so when we had to switch horses and I was put on an equally good-looking liver chestnut that was way more rounded I had to refigure my riding style. Probably going to be sore tomorrow, but hey, at least we got to ride in beautiful weather on beautiful horses. Woohoo! 

So, we walked back to the house after our lesson, I decided to hit the gym and just put my poor knee through continued torture after eating last night Italian food leftovers (so good!) and then relaxed a bit to some tv shows while Kalie was in science class. Very relaxing. I can't wait to sleep in again tomorrow. The evening presented itself with some socializing downstairs with leftover fried rice (I really need to get my bum in gear and make actual people food like other people in the house as opposed to befriending the microwave and leftovers every night). After dinner, a quick skype chat with the mom- I'm coming home for Christmas!!! - and then getting ready to go out to The Rocket for our Thursday night 2-for-1 cocktails evening! London, I love you. The Rocket was fun- great atmosphere, slightly too-loud music that was somewhat reminiscent of a concert, but still fantastic. Got a free drink from a British guy finally- they really don't approach girls. Silly boys. Anyhow, all in all- a very fun night, and we actually caught the correct bus home! Brilliant.