Visitors and loveliness

This last week has been above and beyond. I’ve had visitors from all over. First my sister came last Wednesday, then Guro on Thursday, my parents and my brother on Saturday, and then my aunt and uncle on Sunday. Thankfully they all had the grace to stay in a hotel! In fact, I got to stay in one as well, rooming with the brother, which was very lovely. It was great to get away from a little while, to take a mini-vacation, even if I didn’t go any further than Wandsworth. But yes, I’ve been up to quite a lot, so I thought I’d take it day by day.

Wednesday 17th 

My sister and her two friends, Ingvild and Kristine, came to London. Their plane landed around noon, and I went into London to meet them at their hotel close to Paddington. We did lunch at a rather tacky sandwich bar, then we walked down to Oxford Street for some shopping. I’m not really a great fan of Oxford Street, as it’s usually too crowded for my tastes, but it wasn’t too bad, and we kept a slow tempo. I finally found a pair of jeans (I’ve been looking for ages) that fit perfectly, and I’m definitely stocking up before I leave here. New Look in my heart. But yes, shopping, the obligatory Starbucks coffee (tea for yours truly) and then they went back to collapse in their hotel while I had a flatparty to attend back home. 

Thursday 18th 

This day I actually stayed in and got some work done. All very boring. Walked to ASDA with Kat, as we do every week, and went to CU in the evening. Very nice and relaxed.

Friday 19th 

More shopping. This time at Westfields. The girls are tireless in their hunt for clothes, shoes, accessories etc. so of course I had to take them to London’s largest shopping mall. First they came out here to see where I live though. Guro joined us as well (friend of mine from uni in Trondheim), seeing as she was in London with her family over the weekend. It was very nice. However, Westfields was a bit of a disappointment for all of us, as no one managed to find anything. I think HM found one dress, and that was that. All very annoying when you have your heart set on shopping. Oh well. 

The sister and Guro in my room:

Saturday 20th

Parentals arrived this day. Brother as well. I met them in Wandsworth around noon, where we checked into the hotel and just relaxed for a while. Holiday Inn Express is muchly recommended, the beds are amazing! In the evening we went into London and had dinner with sister and the girls, which was very nice. I love parents who buy me dinner <3 

Brother in hotel room:

Sunday 21st 

On the agenda this day was lunch with some friends of the family. Su and Tony live in Salisbury and drove up to meet us for the day. We went to a small pub in Wimbledon for a proper Sunday roast. Mine was lovely, although a little on the dry side. After lunch we drove through Richmond park (which I am definitely returning to, it’s just down the road and such a gorgeous place), then went back to the hotel. At the hotel my aunt and uncle had arrived, so we met with them and did dinner at a gorgeous pub in Wandsworth. The food was spectacular! Three courses, I haven’t eaten that much since, well, I can’t really remember when. Christmas Eve? 

(Oh, and the girls left early in the morning. Back to snow and minus degrees. Hehe.)

Monday 22nd 

We started the day early with a full English breakfast at a restaurant near the hotel, then all five guests accompanied me back to campus for an inspection of my accommodations and the general area. I do believe it passed muster. Especially the park area around Froebel was greatly admired. After the grand tour, we bussed out to Wesfields, where I spent another day looking for a dress I didn’t find. My uncle got the Armani trousers he was looking for though, so it wasn’t an entire waste. After lunch we went back to the hotel for a quick rest, and then came the height of the week: musical in London! And which one did we see? Well, my brother had been allowed to choose this one, so we ended up with Avenue Q. It was amazing. Muppets, songs and bad humour, just lovely <3 I can really recommend it if anyone have been thinking about seeing it, it really was hilarious. Especially the internet song. Gotta love the internet song. Anywho, after the show we did dinner at a nice French/Italian restaurant, but I wasn’t feeling too well that day, had something of a fever, so afterwards I just hurried home and collapsed at the hotel.

Tuesday 23rd 

I was feeling better on Tuesday so we took another the trip into London. The boys went to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum, while my mother, my aunt and I tackled Oxford Street and the surrounding area. This time the shopping was a great success! New boots, new purse, and new sunglasses—I’ll never complain about Oxford Street again! Lunch at O’Neill’s, dinner at The Ship back in Wandsworth (incredible food!), and then a drink at the bar in the hotel to round off a wonderful day. 

Lovely boots and purse:

Wednesday 24th 

This morning we did continental breakfast at the hotel, then everyone left and I took the train back to uni. I’ve had the most wonderful week with the most wonderful people, and I’ll live off this for weeks. Now, back to reality and essay writing (right after Kat and I go to the Fez tonight for some dancing). So yeah, until next time I have something interesting to report!