Amsterdam, Bruges, Thanksgiving and Winter Wonderland

Good morning blogosphere!

I hope everyone's been doing well since the last post. Things are quickly winding down in for this term in London. I have 2 more weeks of class, then I'm going to Portugal with Aimee. We are so excited! We're going to lay on the beach for 5 days before returning to an Arctic Chicago winter.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I've been very busy this week and want to update you all.
First of all I went to Amsterdam and Bruges last week. I enjoyed the trip. Unfortunately due to the travel time (aka 2 days on a bus) we had limited time in both cities. I didn't take many pics but I'll post a few good ones.

The lights in Leidseplein.

Canals of Amsterdam. There are thousands of bridges!

We're now in Bruges, Belgium!

Yes, there was chocolate everywhere. I got some delicious truffles here. 

The infamous Belgium Waffles. So good!

The batter isn't runny like we do in the States, it's literally a ball of dough they put on the griddle.

Bruges had canals, too. 

This house was incredible. Right on a canal. I want to live here.

674 miles. London to Dover (B) to Amsterdam (C) to Bruges (D) and back to London (E).

Monday was a fine night out with Passfield friends. We weren't able to get into Mahiki in Mayfair (so dumb), but we didn't end our night. We went to O'Neil's in Piccadilly. They had live music and dancing all night.

Aleeza and I, she's so great! 

Ryan!! Thanks for taking care of me. 

Bernie and I. Fun night!

Tuesday was a crazy day, but ended okay because I finally got to see Rish and Alex! Rish is a friend from Knox and Alex and I were in Kemper together this summer. They've been studying at SOAS this semester, which is 3 min from Passfield, and we still hadn't hung out. So we righted things and did happy hour at Pitcher and Piano. It's becoming my favorite place. From 5-8 it's 2 for 1 cocktails.

Yay for Knox!

Wednesday I had a netball game in the Berrylands. We upset the 5th team by beating them 21-13! We had too many goal shooters so I moved to goal keeper. It was fun! I may play that more from now on. We'll see.

Thursday was Thanksgiving in London. Bizarre indeed not to be with the family. My morning classes were cancelled and I was able to go to a service at St. Paul's Cathedral hosted by the US Ambassador. It was for the American community in London. The US Ambassador read President Obama's Thanksgiving proclamation and we sang patriotic songs, like America the Beautiful. 2,000 Americans were there, it was very cool. That evening the general course hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for us as well. Here are some pics.

Outside the Cathedral.

Somewhat odd seeing an American flag in church.

Occupy London village. They've been there since Oct 15. Controversial for sure. 

At the General Course Thanksgiving Dinner.

Love Kelsey!

My meal. Haha it wasn't awful, but nothing like my Dad's :(

Friday after class was a chocolate tasting with the food appreciation society. It was awesome! I tried 8 different chocolates. Some of them were quite unusual, like the green tea chocolate. Later that night I met up with friends I went to Paris with. We had a really fun night out at Prince of Wales pub and Zoo Bar.

We were just missing Sarah!

Yesterday was a day out in London! I realized it was the most time I've spent just hanging around the city. It's crazy. I am in town this weekend and next, and they are the first 2 consecutive weekends I will be in town since coming here. Haha crazy! But that's what you get when you travel 10,000+ miles in 2 months. You're not home too often..

But anyway, I organized an outing to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. I had heard great things about the fest. I went with Allie, Aleeza and Meredith. We got there and saw the sights. Haha however after about an hour we had had enough. It was very crowded and somewhat overstimulating. Still glad we went, but we decided to check out Harrod's instead. It was a great choice! I'll show you some pictures.

At the gate! Meredith, Aleeza, Allie and I.

A moving, talking moose haha.

Look familiar? Belgium waffles are becoming a trend on this post.

Ice skating!

Merry Christmas!

Harrods!

One of windows. Love it!

The windows were incredible.

After walking around the store we decided to try on a dress each. Meredith and I in French Connection. So fun!

Sparkle sparkle!

And then we met up with Hendrick and Alex. We are on our way out of Harrod's and to dinner at Nando's.

We also ran into Brianne and Tom on the tube! Very random. They came to dinner and dessert with us as well.

And now we are back up to the present! I had the lovely opportunity to skype with Ginny Graves last night. She's 2 years above me in Kappa and Knox. But we've kept in touch and it's great because I adore her!! She studied abroad in London and has given me many hot tips. She's just moved to San Francisco! Hopefully we'll be able to grab drinks in Chicago over break.

And speaking of skype dates, shout out to Brittney who skyped me at 4 am Chicago time! I was surprised to see her online then, but nonetheless it was great talking to her. She's a best friend for sure. Thanks for comforting me!

Today I am reading a lot and working on papers. I have 3 big assignments due this week. It's the final push before break so I'm excited! After this week I just have one paper due on the 5th. Then it is time for Algarve!! Portugal here we come :) It will be epic, get excited for the stories.

I loved talking and skyping with my family this week. Despite being away I feel loved from abroad. Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday!

Happy [belated] Thanksgiving from London!
Love,

Hannah