#the cathedral was closed the last time I went to Leicester as well

[ashleighneville]

I'm going to Leicester to see spurs women tomorrow which means I'm missing the reopening of the cathedral by a week. A singular week. Why is the world conspiring against a simple Richard iii girlie like that

[1234-angelika]

London Calling

an:Hey y'all! I'm back from hiatus and I have a new Spencer fic for y'all. This is the sixth installment of the Happily Ever After series for Spencer. As always, hope y'all enjoy!

words:1.1k

warnings:mentions of food

summary:"In London, everyone is different, and that means anyone can fit in." - Paddington Bear

masterpost|taglist|have an idea

You and Spencer had been celebrating all the milestones in your relationship, big or small.

For the pair of you, this was a big step in the relationship. You were going on your first vacation together. It was going to be a short trip, just a two-day trip to London. Which, according to Spencer, was enough time to see all the 'important sights.' He had taken the reins on planning this trip, so at this point, you were just along for the ride.

You got to the airport at noon, three hours before your flight, which you preferred. The plane took off at 3pm from Norfolk airport, which got you to the UK at 8:30 am. You had only one layover at O'Hare, which was just complete craziness. Because of his eidetic memory, Spencer had been in charge of the itinerary, the obvious—being that he was the one who planned the trip. So the first stop was the hotel to check-in, drop off your bags and freshen up before exploring the city.

Your first tourist spot was Hyde park for an hour. And then, an hour later, you watched the chaining of the guard at Buckingham Palace followed by a visit to St. James park. Afterwards, you and Spencer visited Westminster Abbey. You spent a lot of time there since Spencer had booked the hidden highlights tour. As you walked around, you were admiring the beautiful stained glass. Next, you crossed the street and saw the house of Parliament as well as Big Ben, which was not the photo opportunity you were hoping for but still amazing enough to cross off your list.

Lunch was at a swanky Indian restaurant, the Cinnamon Club. Then you were back to doing touristy things. First on the agenda was Trafalgar Square which was bustling with people, and then you moved on to the National Gallery. Which took a few hours but was completely worth it as you walked past masterpiece after masterpiece. Next was a romantic ride on the London Eye, the sun was setting, but it hadn't got cold yet. Before dinner, you visited the Piccadilly Circus, similar but not as grand as Times Square and Leicester Square. You stopped back at the hotel to change into something a little fancier before heading off to dinner. You went to Bob Bob Ricard and had a fantastic dinner with cocktails. And then you and Spencer had some cocktails at Mark's bar to end off the night.

The following day you had a bit of a sleep-in before getting a start on the day. Over a light breakfast, Spencer briefly told you the plan for the day. It was busy. Starting at 9am, together you visited the Tower of London, coffee in hand. Spencer told you all sorts of historical trivia before you moved on to the London Bridge. Of course, the bridge came with trivia of its own. You paid a quick visit to the Shard, which Spencer told you was the tallest building in London, before heading to the Borough Market for brunch.

Spencer's itinerary for your second day brought you to two museums. The first stop was the Tate Modern, London's modern art museum. It was amazing. The museum was full of contemporary artists such as; Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and, Mark Rothko. For each piece of art, Spencer was prepared with facts about the painting and the artist. After a few hours at the museum, it was time for the next stop. St. Pauls Cathedral.

You walked across Millennium bridge to get there. The architecture was beautiful, and the entry fee you had paid was completely worth it to see the inside. The second museum was the V&A museum, with a vast collection of the best art and design in the world. It was definitely not made for kids but so enjoyable for the two of you.

The last tourist attraction was Kensington Palace & Kensington Gardens; this was only a quick visit since it closed at 6pm. To mark the end of your trip, you had dinner at a well-known pub. Churchill Arms, known for its wide selection of ale and its surprisingly good Thai food. You and Spencer took your time enjoying your last meal in London before getting ready to head home.

You hailed a cab fairly quickly and piled into the backseat. Unfortunately, traffic was insane, and even though your cabbie navigated it fairly easily, you still got stuck. It took longer than you anticipated to get to the airport, but that only added to the adventure, so you weren't worried. Spencer, on the other hand, was slightly freaking out. You knew how much he hated being late, so slowly, you reached out your hand and placed it over his. When he didn't flinch away, you knew it was okay to leave it there. Over the next few minutes, his breathing slowed down, and he was back to normal.

Upon arrival at the airport, you discovered that your plane was delayed. At the news, Spencer's shoulders became less tense and his posture less rigid. Security was too bad, for the most part. The line was really long, but the process went quick. You and Spencer headed to the airport bar for a drink before the flight. You sat together at the bar, just chatting softly, which was a stark contrast to the boisterous people in the airport. A surprising number for being so late at night.

You and Spencer boarded the plane. He had the aisle, and you were in the middle. Nobody was sitting beside you, and you loved it. Your flight took off, and Spencer lifted the armrest separating you and then leaned on your shoulder. You placed a soft kiss on his head, followed by a whispered 'I love you' before settling into your seat. As his breathing evened out and he fell asleep, you started to do the same. All you could think about was how much you loved him. He put so much effort into the which was two days, primarily because of your schedule, and he made it the best trip you'd ever been on.

taglist: @sparklykeylime

@1-800-brain-and-heart @multixfandomwriter

@gspenc @myescapefromthislife @j-cat

[junker-town]

Reviewing the best (and worst) of this season’s European soccer jerseys

Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images

Let’s take a look at the fashion statements made across the top four soccer leagues in the world

One of the most unique aspects of soccer is that a team gets to make a new image of itself when they release new jerseys or “kits” each season. In recognition of that, we have decided to give our honest and subjective opinions on the best and worst that the top European leagues have to offer this year.

We looked at the kits of all the teams in England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, and Germany’s Bundesliga and selected five of the best and worst they will take the field in this year. The categories for judgement are:

Best Overall Team Kit: The team we felt had the best combination of home, away, and third kits

Worst Overall Team Kit: The team we felt could have brought their home, away, and third kits back to the drawing board

Most Boring Overall Team Kit: The team that needed more inspiration when creating their home, away and third kits

Best Individual Kit: We chose the one kit that was the most strikingly beautiful, amazing, and awesome throughout the entire league

Worst Individual Kit: After looking at all of the kits, these were the ones we think will be finding the clearance rack soon

We also decided to prevent teams from being placed in similar categories. For example, if a team was selected as the Worst Overall Kit, they could not be represented in the Worst Individual Kit. The same goest for Best Overall and Best Individual. However, as we will see later in this list, we allowed for a team to be selected for the Best and Worst Individual Kits if we felt they were merited.

Before we begin, all photos were taken from footyheadlines.com, one of the best websites for soccer jersey leaks and releases.

With that, we start our list in England.

English Premier League

This was apparently the year that Premier League kit makers decided to be experimental. Some kits worked well, others crashed and burned in glorious fashion.

Best Overall Team Kit: Everton

These kits are clean, bold, and inoffensive. The home kit is traditional with great subtle design details. The away kit features an amazing shade of yellow. The third kit is a shade of mint that we don’t love, but unlike a certain German team’s mint kit, the accents are subtle. A great result for Everton here from Hummel.

Honorable Mentions: Southampton, Manchester City, Arsenal

Worst Overall Team Kit: West Bromwich Albion

The home kit isn’t bad at all. In fact, the bar code stripes have been worn by West Brom before with good results. The problem really lies in the away and third kits. Not only does the same pattern in the home kit continue to the other two, but the colors are terrible. The away kit directly rips off a fellow English team in Norwich City and the third kit causes me such intense headaches that I can’t look at it for too long. Why Puma?

Honorable Mentions: Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle United

Most Boring Team Kit: Fulham

Simply put, all three of these kits look like they were Adidas templates you would use when you’re making jerseys for your rec league team. Add on the fact that the third kit was their same last year and these kits look like the epitome of laziness.

Honorable Mentions: Leicester City, Crystal Palace, West Ham United

Best Individual Kit: Manchester City away

via Footy Headlines

This thing is beautiful. Shades of blue in the gothic cathedral design on the shirt play nicely with the black base of the shirt. The bronze accents and bronze monochrome badge really make this kit the beauty that it is. Man City went in three bold directions with all of their kits, but this one totally payed off. Maybe the best Puma kit for the year.

Honorable Mentions: Southampton third, Leeds United away

Worst Individual Kit: Manchester United third

via Footy Headlines

Do I really need to explain this one? The same design is on the shorts too. Yikes Adidas.

Honorable Mentions: Chelsea third, Liverpool third, Newcastle third

La Liga

The top flight of Spain brought a lot to the table with many impressive kits. Some stood out like a sore thumb, but most of these were fantastic.

Best Overall Team Kit: SD Huesca

A quality kit collection should be balanced, clean and varied. Huesca nailed all three with their range for the 20/21 La Liga season. Choosing a soft color for the cross in the home kit allows it to complement, not contrast with, the deep yet sparkling blue. The away is simple and all white, but it’s cohesive and has an understated topographical design element giving it dimension. The third is quite simply a green and gold accented stunner. The zig-zag design element makes it look flowing and royal. You either play a sport as beautiful as football in it, or you clap twice to have peasants carry you on a golden pillow to a goblet filled with peeled grapes. No in between. I’m shocked Kelme produced our winners, but they deserve it.

Honorable Mentions: Deportivo Alaves, Eibar, Valencia

Worst Overall Team Kit: Real Madrid

This requires some defense as Real is one of the biggest clubs in the world. The home and away kits suffer from the same problems. They both just look like white and pink t-shirts with as minimal design as possible. A lack of design on the shoulders and sleeves hurt this kit. On top of those two, the third kit features a design that doesn’t make sense for Real Madrid and failed to impress the two of us. Better luck next year, adidas.

Honorable Mentions: Celta Vigo, Sevilla

Most Boring Overall Kit: Getafe

It’s the same shirt, three times, in three basic and flat colors: blue, red and white. As a consummate procrastinator, I know ‘Whew, at least I made the deadline’ when I see it. Do better Joma.

Honorable Mentions: Celta Vigo, Osasuna

Best Individual Kit: Cadiz away

via Footy Headlines

Full disclosure: I would place Huesca’s third kit here but we are trying to be fair. Having admitted that, Adidas’ design on Cadiz’s away shirt is not far beneath Huesca’s third shirt. It’s not as opulent, but it would still feel good to pull on ahead of a match. It has a wonderful use of an accent color, which is a vivid and perfect shade of yellow that contrasts well with its blues. I typically dislike plain gradients (see: Chelsea’s third shirt), but the upward stripes are actually design elements that merge to create a gradient effect. Up close they are unique and interesting, and that continues to the crest, which is outlined in yellow and filled-in with a pearlescence that shifts from blue to a soft pink or almost purple depending on the angle and available light.

Honorable Mentions: Barcelona away, Eibar away, Valencia away

Worst Individual Kit: Granada third

via Footy Headlines

This is just ugly fam. It doesn’t deserve the classical collar it has, the glowing aquamarine is framed by flat yellow sleeves, the sponsor is a big red ‘W’ and the crest and Nike logo are blacked out. It’s a confusing mess of a shirt and I hate it, so I’m going to show mercy and stop typing so that you can scroll down.

Honorable Mentions: Barcelona third, Villareal third

Serie A

A league in a country that is well known for its fashion produced some amazing kits. Unlike the other leagues, only two teams were in the running for worst overall team kit. But, the loser is a big one.

Best Overall Team Kit: Genoa

Genoa’s kits this season are as good as Genoa kits get. They have a set style and Kappa didn’t deviate, but this year I think they hit the pinnacle of what they’re capable of. The home is perfectly balanced and has understated design elements to give it depth. The away is just as balanced and looks especially clean on an all white backdrop. The third is the beauty of the bunch. I love how the logo and crest treatments make them a cohesive part of the shirt, and the subtle red in the collar accents the red piping down the sides. The prominent design on the shirt is balanced by deep colors, giving it depth and making it interesting even though it’s simple.

Honorable Mentions: AC Milan, Atalanta, Fiorentina

Worst Overall Team Kit: Juventus

I don’t know what Juventus is doing with any of these. There’s no cohesion in any of them and two of them look like they were designed by children at the height of a sugar rush. WHAT IF THE STRIPES WERE LIKE TIRE MARKS INSTEAD OF STRIPES JUST LIKE SKKKKKRRRRRR! WHAT IF IT WAS LIKE ORANGE CAMO BUT NOT REALLY ORANGE CAMO BUT LIKE IT LIKE JUST BSH YA BRRRSHHHHS ALL OVER! Go to your room, Adidas.

Honorable Mention: Sampdoria

Most Boring Team Kit: Spezia

The benefit of looking at these shirts is that they will make you infinitely interested in something else just to make sure you don’t accidentally slip into a coma. ONLY MALE PLATYPUSES ARE VENOMOUS — whew, thought we almost lost you there.

Honorable Mentions: Hellas Verona, Torino

Best Individual Kit: Roma away

via Footy Headlines

I feel things looking at this shirt. The primary thing is an appreciation for life and the possibility that it could be beautiful. This shirt is a reminder, or more accurately a refresher. It can exist, it can be endlessly beautiful, and that must mean that not everything is terrible. The cream with deep burgundy accents, the throwback wolf crest, the retro styling; it is a perfect shirt and Nike’s best of the year.

Honorable Mentions: Atalanta away, Inter Milan third, Genoa third

Worst Individual Kit: Roma third

via Footy Headlines

Nike, continuing their quest to be the most confusing kit manufacturer, made two stunning shirts (one an immediate classic) and then decided that they would build the third shirt using construction paper. It makes no sense, it’s overly complicated, poorly designed, and has what looks like asphalt pouring from the armpits. I almost respect Nike’s commitment to ensuring that their expectations are never set too high. Every now and then you gotta fart at the dinner table just so everyone is reminded that you do not, in fact, have your life together. Correct, this shirt is a fart.

Honorable Mentions: Inter Milan away, Napoli home, Sampdoria goalkeeper

Bundesliga

One of us writes for a Bundesliga team blog. So, when we say we were underwhelmed by the offerings from the German top flight, we really mean it.

Best Overall Team Kit: 1. FC Union Berlin

There weren’t many dazzling kits this year in the Bundesliga, but this one stood out for all the right reasons. The collar and sleeve stripes on the home kit are perfect. The lines on the away kit are a great color of blue. The third kit uses that same shade of blue plus some awesome design elements that help Adidas knock these kits out of the park.

Honorable Mentions: 1. FSV Mainz, Armenia Bielefeld, Borussia Mönchengladbach

Worst Overall Team Kit: RB Leipzig

We both realize what Nike was trying to do when they announced the third kits of a bunch of teams (see Juventus, Roma, PSG, Spurs, Chelsea) would take inspiration from old Nike Air Max shoes to show the connection between streetwear and football culture. The design they used on the third kit for RB Leipzig should have stayed on a pair of shoes. It is ugly to look at and I almost feel like there’s an optical illusion I should be finding. The away kit has two (2) different shades of yellow with the club crest and Nike logo being darker than the bulls on the front of the shirt. A boring, uninspired home kit wraps up this nightmare.

Honorable Mentions: SC Freiburg, Bayern Munich

Most Boring Team Kit: FC Augsburg

*snoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooore* Huh? Did something happen?

Alright, I know that Augsburg’s traditional kit structure is white home kit, green away kit, red third kit. But did they have to be so boring about it? Three radically different collar designs don’t help these shirts and Augsburg should think long and hard about what they’ve done.

Honorable Mentions: Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg

Best Individual Kit: VfB Stuttgart away

via Footy Headlines

Jako kits don’t often get a lot of love outside of Germany. But gaaaaawd these are sick. The monochrome badge plays really well with the intricate design of the map of the city of Stuttgart on the kit. They also apparently aligned the map in a way so that the middle of the stadium was under the crest. Lots of points for creativity and a fun look.

Honorable Mentions: Borussia Dortmund home

Worst Individual Kit: 1. FC Köln third kit

via Footy Headlines

To the average fan, this is a garish kit. However, for Köln fans, it’s a throwback to a classic shirt known as the “canary kit”.

However, unlike the effort from Puma in the 90s, this uhlsport kit has un-subtle and blocky stripes that truly ruin any good things coming for it. This reminds me more of something I’d be wearing on the 20th of April rather than what I’d wear to a football match.

Honorable Mentions: Bayern Munich third, VfL Wolfsburg third, RB Leipzig third

So these are our rankings. This is the way.

However, we know the conversation doesn’t end here. Let us know your thoughts and feelings in the comments.

André covers Chelsea’s men’s and women’s teams at We Ain’t Got No History and the Washington Spirit at Black and Red United. He can also be found tweeting aimlessly at @not_carlisle.

Jake covers Bayern Munich and German soccer in writing and via podcasting at Bavarian Football Works. He can be found screaming into the void on Twitter @jeffersonfenner.

[suitcasetales]

Biltmore Magic

Thursday was to be the creme de la creme day of our trip: visiting Biltmore Estate. Leading up to the trip, I had very mixed feelings about it. The ticket prices were close to being Disney-esque, their website was confusing, their on-line customer service response time was dismal and their phone customer service was only on weekdays. Seeing the house and the grounds was one ticket, seeing the house and grounds in the evening was a second ticket. On line, you could add a day ticket to your night ticket but not a night ticket to your day ticket. Go figure! The room rates of their hotels on property went higher every time we looked or inquired about them. So, needless to say, there were times I was questioning this whole trip.

But then, as is my usual habit of doing before I travel to a region, I read a book. Denise Kiernan’s “The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, And American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home” is a thorough history of the family behind Biltmore: George Vanderbilt and his wife Edith Dresser Vanderbilt. The house and its setting was George’s vision but it was Edith’s savvy decision making after his death that led to the estate that we can all visit today.

After leaving our B&B, we made a brief stop in Biltmore Village to visit All Souls Cathedral, the church built by the Vanderbilts for the village residents. [Consecrated in 1896, it become a Cathedral in 1995.] With beautiful and sturdy woodwork and basic red brick, the decor is fairly simplistic.

Stained-glass windows (done by contemporaries of Tiffany) memorialize Frederick Law Olmsted (landscape architect of many parks in America including Central Park in NYC and the Biltmore and, FYI Richmonders, the part of Brookland Parkway between Brook and Hermitage); Cornelius Vanderbilt (George’s grandfather); Paul Leicester Ford (author, close friend of George’s and frequent travel companion before his marriage to Edith); Richard Morris Hunt (architect of Biltmore); Maria Lovisa Vanderbilt (George’s mother); and, Clarence Barker (George’s cousin).

If you are planning to visit Biltmore Estate and/or Asheville, I highly recommend Kiernan’s book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and made it a mandatory read before Sue and Janet were allowed to come on the trip! And if you are curious, one of them did not grasp the true meaning of the word “mandatory.”

Biltmore Village sits right outside the gates of Biltmore Estate so we snaked our way along Approach Road in to the parking area, “self parked,” and walked toward the house. The morning fog had not quite burned off yet, so it wasn’t the best time for the long view of the house but it was improving by the minute and the sunlight would soon hit the Chihuly sculpture and the front of the mansion. 

Later, we walked up the slope opposite the house because from that perspective, you get the sweeping view of Mount Pisgah and the Appalachian Mountain Range and you get some idea of the view which enthralled George in 1888 to declare he would purchase land and build his dream home there.

Entry to tour the house was timed but then, once inside, it is self-guided. None of us opted for the audio guide as to not get too bogged down with details. We also only did the ordinary tour which covers the ground floor, the first floor and the basement.

This Chihuly is just outside the entrance to the house:

This is the only Chihuly inside the house:

It was a gorgeous day but very hot. We spent the early part of the afternoon walking through the gardens to see all of the Chihuly sculptures in the daylight....

....... before driving to Antler Hill Village (still within the estate) where we shopped a little, walked around and did a tasting at Biltmore Estate Winery. Well, the sisters did a tasting; I again was the photographer, designated driver and chief checker-outer of the food samples in the gift shop there — tough job but someone had to do it!

These two sculptures were in Antler Hill Village:

We had an underwhelming dinner at the Village Social restaurant and then drove back to the House where the brilliance of Dale Chihuly and the magnificence of Biltmore came together for a magical evening. 

My night pictures are not great but here is a sampling of them......

And when you are with people you love and that love you back, it no longer matters how much you paid for the tickets. Magic is priceless. It was the perfect ending to the Asheville part of our trip.

[thebradforddiaries]

8. London & everything else

I know I’ve been slightly MIA recently but now here I am trying to catch up and remember what happened since my last post. We met other Erasmus students, so our squad got bigger and it seems to consist of the two Belgian girls, a Finnish girl, two Turkish boys and the girl from my country and I. We go out together and even had a Pizza Party Wednesday Night with pizzas from Domino’s, which were utterly delicious. On top of it, we’re going to Dublin in April together. (Except for the Finnish girl but she’s going to be missed.)  On the Saturday of the Pizza Party’s week, the time finally came for me to go to London. I was so excited because the last (and first) time I’ve been to London was 9 years ago. I went with Virgin Trains East Coast, which seemed pretty fancy even though it wasn’t frist class. The journey was 2 hours 50 minutes long but I got 20 minutes in Leeds to change for the other train heading to King’s Cross. Once I arrived, I went straight to my acquaintances who live in Fulham, which in my opinion, is the best area to live in London. Their flat is in a Victorian terraced house and I fell in love immediately. That day, I went to Bishop’s Park to see the River Thames, it was such a warm and sunny afternoon. In the evening, we went shopping, talked a lot because we haven’t seen each other for years, and watched a film together. They also have two cats and one of them is a real charmer. In the following days I went to Harrod’s to buy a teddy bear, strolled in Soho, Covent Garden and Oxford Street. I was disappointed when I saw that Picadilly Circus is getting rebuilt or I don’t know what was being done but it was covered with metal stuff. After three days, I moved to another acquaintance’s place, she lives in Bromley, 30 minutes south of London by train. While I was staying at her place, I went to visit Tate Modern, my main purpose was to drink a coffee in the restaurant on the 6th floor witht he view of the Millenial Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral. Then, I walked through the bridge and went up to the top of the One New Change shopping centre to see the Cathedral up close. I also went to the British Museum because 9 years ago my mum and I only saw the Egyptian exhibition. I went to Leicester Square to M&M’s World, Chinatown and then the most random thing happened to me. I was walking without any purpose and I saw a theatre with the posters of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, then I walked past a group of smoking people who were wearing costumes and I realised they were the actors of the play! If I had seen the play, I would have definitely asked them for a picture.  The next day, my dad and his fiancée finally came to visit me. However, it was also the day of ‘Storm Doris’. Well, I wouldn’t have called it ‘storm’ because in Yorkshire we have strong winds like that every two weeks. So that is the main reason why I didn’t understand why the trains didn’t come. They don’t even have cables! But I understand that the landing was more thank risky and shaky as my dad told me, he is not the easy-to-be-scared type but he said he was scared as shit during the landing. Since the trains didn’t come from Luton Airport, I was waiting for them for more than 2 hours at King’s Cross. They took an Uber with other people, then I was really happy to see them. Still, as soon as we went down to the Tube, an alarm went off telling that everyone must leave the underground because there is an emergency. Great. Just great. Luckily, we didn’t swipe our Oysters at the gates. Then, we waited for 30 minutes for a bus to take us to Camden Town but it just didn’t come and by that time, the underground was open again. It was closed down due to overcrowding. So finally, around 7pm, we got to our accommodation in Camden. It was a pretty eventful day with lots and lots of waiting.  On Firday, we went to explore the city together. We basically saw everything, London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St James’s Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and went into the National Gallery. In the evening, we met our acquaintances from Fulham, a couple, and had a few drinks in Soho at The Duck and Rice. I probably drank the fanciest gin tonic and best tequila of my life. After that, we went to have a late dinner in a great and affordable French restaurant called Cote Brasserie. The food was sooo delicius and the fries were seriously the best fries I’ve ever eaten. We sort of celebrated and said goodbye to the couple because they’re moving back to America. Oh, and I have to mention the French waitess because she was so kind to us that the world needs more people like her.  On the last day with my family, we went to the Tower and Greenwhich. Later, we just randomly walked in Camden, had dinner at Honest Burgers and I have to say, their fries are in competition with the ones in the French restaurant. But the burger was... Wow. The next day, I was sad that they are leaving and I didn’t want to come back to Yorkshire because I am in love with London and the weather was much better there. Even though I missed the Yorkshire accent. Since then, I’ve been volunteering in the primary school. This week, I made a crown for Queen Elsa and tried to protect my play-doh heart from a five-year-old boy. It is fun. In College, everything is good, I had my last classes and I’m going to miss those people I had lessons with. They are the nicest ones. Unfortunately, neither of them attend my new class which is Environmental Education. It is really, really interesting and I’m glad I chose it. Although the people don’t seem so friendly so far but there are some exceptions.  I also had a haircut at College, went to the cinema to watch Fifty Shades Darker with one of the Belgian girls and the Finnish girl. It was really good to see a film in a cinema without subtitle or being dubbed.  This week’s adventure was a trip to Ilkley on International Women’s Day. I climbed up a hill and just watched the sorrounding moors and the village. The English countryside is so beautiful, like a painting. When I’m not busy (or procastinating) writing my assignment, I can’t stop thinking about the fact that my mum is coming next week to London and we’re celebrating my 21st brithday there. Celebrating. My. Birthday. In. London. No biggie. Honestly cannot wait.  xxx D