Let's Go To The Beach, Let's Go Get Away

     I just used Nicki Minaj lyrics as my title. Wow. But it was hot today!! AH! If only the weather can stay this nice, then I can start wearing shorts again(: Today Miranda and I went to Brighton which is a town on the coast. Seriously it's like the San Francisco of England, I thought I was in California. I don't know how warm it actually got, but it felt like 70 degrees and I got sun burned(: So that means it was a good day. So yesterday was a 12 hour day, I topped it. My adventure today was 14 hours. As fun as these day trips have been, I'm almost glad that travel week is done. It's exhausting(; But anyway, I have lots of fun videos in today's post(:

So this was in the morning, but by the end of the day the boardwalk and pier were so crowded you wouldn't be able to recognize the place.

Welcome to Brighton yo.

This was around 10 in the morning, it was before the clouds and mist had really cleared yet. But I was already really happy.

I love the ocean! Even though this water was freezing!!

So later on there were more crazy kids, and adults, and lots of others who entered the water. It was still really cold though(:

The sun finally came out and I got to tan a little bit(:

I didn't really see any waves at all, but they had a surf shop(:

I don't know what half these things are. 

Well hello there Mr. Shrimp.

To the pier!!

So we rode this one(: It was so cheesy and so much fun! Something would pop and out make us jump and then we wouldn't be able to stop laughing haha(: Some stuff was genuinely creepy, too.

They also had this roller coaster and a ride called Crazy Mouse which is like the ride Mouse Trap at what I think might be Lagoon? (which is a theme park in Utah). And I love that ride(: And I loved these(:

Brighton Pier, what up!

So this nifty place is called the Brighton Pavilion. And it's super legit, but it's kind of weird at the same time. Because it looks like an Arabian palace, but it's in England. Also, there wasn't any information about when it was built or why. So it left me wanting. But it was super pretty(:

There was a very small museum about Brighton next door that we went in. And I met this cat named Tippers (that's what the plaque said).

There was also a free museum about fishing in Brighton on the boardwalk. There was a small section about water polo where I saw this and I laughed(: It also reminded me of two of my besties from University. 

So these guys were paddle boarding. And it made me want to paddle board so bad! It looked really fun(: When I come back here in a couple weeks I might just try it out(:

Fish and chips! Oh, they were good, too! Added some salt and vinegar and ate them bad-boys up! I can't believe it took me 4 weeks of being in England to finally eat some fish and chips. Super tasty though(:

We ate at this place called Beach Break on the boardwalk. We chose it because it's prices were pretty low(:

So after a couple of hours (like 8), we were starting to get tired and so we decided to leave. But then things got exciting. Well not really, more annoying than anything else. Apparently our train tickets home were for a specific time. All our other tickets we had bought had been any train, but these were specific for some reason. So they wouldn't let us leave. And the time on our ticket wasn't until 9:02. and it was like 5 when we wanted to leave haha. So that was exciting. We ended up just walking around the city and sitting in this park for a very long time. We also found some lovely chalk messages along this one building(:

And this awesome Star Wars themed graffiti(: Really though, I saw this and laughed for a good 5 minutes. 

     So the last part of my day was the train ride back to London, where we sat in the same car with the most obnoxious children. If any British people are reading this, I apologize, and I hope this isn't the true case. But ever since I've been in London I've only seen awful parenting. Children will be running around screaming, crawling and rolling around the floors of train and subway stations, and doing all sorts of other rude or irresponsible things, and the parents do nothing. They'll just keep talking on their phone or literally just stand there. And in the case of the four 12 year olds on the train, the mom was encouraging the rude, disruptive behavior. I thought England was supposed to be the Mother of manners! What is this?! Anyway, maybe I've only seen all of the bad parenting examples and it's the minority. I surely hope so. Sorry for my rant(: Also, I'm tired and have had a very long day(: It was lovely, but quite long. Peace out. 

"The Boy Who Lived" and Other Fun Tales

      I did so much today, so today's post will be much like yesterdays: lots of pictures with some comments here and there. I left this morning at 8 am and didn't get home until 8 pm, so I was adventuring for 12 hours straight. Word up! Also, lots of nerdy stuff is coming your way. So be prepared(:

"What is that?" "It's a bull." "Guys...it's an ox. Duh." Welcome to Oxford! The home of one of the oldest Universities and the film site of many Harry Potter scenes and the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland and Hogwarts. Woo!

So this is called Christ Church at Oxford University. This is what Hogwarts was based on and where a lot of Harry Potter scenes were filmed and it's also where Lewis Carrol went to school and where he got influences for Alice in Wonderland(:

Look familiar? THESE ARE THE HALLS OF HOGWARTS!!!

I was so happy, I even teared up a bit. I am such a nerd.

These stairs look famliar?

I am standing where Harry stood and Krista is standing in place of Malfoy. Say what?!

The great hall!! Of course, minus all of the paintings, and there are benches in place of the chairs, but still!! 

So while it was the great hall, the main table was set up like the Mad Hatter's tea party(: 

I don't know why this is sideways, but this is where the first years learned how to fly their brooms(: 

This is Christ Chapel, and this stained glass window is of St. George and the Dragon I believe(: Surrounded by the Knights of the Garter, which he started and still continues to this day(:

These are the dorms for Oxford, like what?! Also, attractive British college men were everywhere. Not that we had any intention of talking to any of them it's still every American girl's dream.

So we then just meandered around the grounds and campus and found all sorts of parks and walking paths. Including a stream/creek thing with ducks and devil swans (also known as geese). Krista got really excited and kept chasing them around like 

We really liked the cemetery. Yeah, I'm that weird girl that hangs out in graveyards. Also, we named the cat Ginger, or as we liked to call her, Gingy.

This is the pub where J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Hugo Dyson would meet and talk. They are all very famous British writers and some of my greatest role models. They're part of the reason I want to be an author(: But yeah, this place was cool.

I have no idea if this has any connection to Daniel Radcliffe.

So we then went to Oxford Castle, where I continuously hummed or sang LOTR theme music and said  Princess Bride quotes. 

I'm standing on the Motte here, which is a big man-made hill that they made for the castle keep. The keep was on top so it was most guarded and had a good view for if enemies were coming. Made me think of Rohan. Also, the keep isn't there anymore, but you can see some remains if you walk around.

This is called the Radcliffe Camera. It's pretty cool(:

This was some sort of library I think, I can't remember which one. But all of the buildings in Oxford are really old and cool looking(:

This is the Bridge of Sighs. It's pretty, though I don't know why it has any significance.

We then ate dinner at this cool pub called the Pig & Pen, or something similar to that. Where I got a yummy steak sandwich, chips, and a drink for 6 pounds. It was really tasty, too(:

We then split this super tasty chocolate fudge cake. So good!!

We found this graffiti near the train station, but there was nothing underneath it. So Krista is very upset that people think she is grass(; 

     I could have gone into so much more detail about today, but I really don't want to try and fit 12 hours into one post. Also, I saw so much today that I can't keep it all straight. All I know is that I love Oxford(: And I know I've said I want to move to London, but I've changed my mind. If I ever move to England, I'm going to live in Oxford. Besides, its only an hour train ride from the city(: Well anyway, we returned home where we then watched the first Harry Potter and then freaked out about all of the similarities and the fact that just a few hours ago we had been standing in the exact sites that the movie was filmed. AHHHHH!!!! But yeah, today was great(: And tomorrow I'm going to the coast, it's supposed to be nice so hopefully I can finally get some sun(: My day has been long, and I'm tired. Night everyone(: