Week 13

 This week went by fairly quickly! Amanda and I started the week off eating at Lighthouse Cafe! I got to try their dark chocolate, almond oatmeal and it was phenomenal. On Tuesday, we had class and I love the lectures we are doing in 427 right now. I think the reproductive system is one of the most interesting units in the class. On Wednesday we had a German quiz that I felt so unprepared for, but it went fairly well! On Thursday we had our informal Enmodes presentation. I was not ready for the presentation, and I felt like you could tell. This Enmodes project is becoming even more stressful as the program is nearing the end and I am not prepared for this stress level. After our presentations, Amanda and I headed home to pack for London!! Our flight out on Friday was at 8 am, so we packed and then headed to bed. Friday morning, I was so antsy and ready to get going. The Cologne airport is so nice and it is actually pretty efficient, so we got through security really well, the plane was on time, and everything was going smoothly. Once we arrived in London, Heathrow was massive, or at least felt massive. The public transportation there was SO nice, but they definitely take advantage of needing the transportation. Amanda and I paid $50 each for a ticket to our hotel... Once we got to our hotel, we relaxed for a bit and then headed to this brunch place. They had the best gluten free pancakes that I have ever had. They also had loaded tater-tots, and they were phenomenal as well. After we ate breakfast, we just had a chill day around London. We went shopping, got some coffee, and we ended up walking by this little place called "Donut Time"!  They had gluten free donuts, and I was able to get two to try. One of them was the "Megan Foxx" and the other was the "David Beckham". Both of them were really good, and they were so sweet. Once we got tired, we headed back to the hotel and ordered Wingstop for dinner. This was a taste of home, which was so nice. We spent the rest of the night eating Wingstop and watching Bridgerton. The next morning, we slept in, and then headed on about our day. We went to Waterstones book store, and spent quite a bit of time inside. The store was five stories, I could have spent days inside. One memory of this store that I will cherish forever, is that I was looking at a book when an author came up, found her book, and just whipped out a sharpie to sign it, put it back, and then just left. It was the most amazing thing, and obviously I picked up her book to see what it was about. I wish I was into the genre that she wrote, but sadly I wasn't so I out it back and went on about the store. After looking through the store, I found one of my favorite series and they were in the UK editions. I wanted to cry ˙◠˙ I have never seen prettier editions of books, and I wanted to take them all home. After the bookstores, we headed to this Tortilla restaurant for lunch. They had gluten free tacos, they were good, but after a while they just did not sit well. We then headed to this bakery on the outer side of London, and I regret it. The pastries were rough, not very good at all. Somehow, we ended up in the River Oaks of London, and actually found some very expensive stores. We even tried on some dresses that were over 600 pounds. After looking at these shops, we headed back to the hotel to rest for an hour, made a reservation to eat at this restaurant called "The Alchemist" and then we headed to the London Bridge to see it at sunset! The bridge was pretty packed, but it was still beautiful to see. When we got to the restaurant, it was so cool! Music was pretty loud, and you had to be 18 to go in which was crazy to me. Once we were sat, we ordered these drinks. Mine they literally lit on fire and then added something to it to make it produce like a fog, and Amanda's was the same without the fire. They even had gluten free fried chicken, and whew it was so amazing. Amanda and I literally thought they lied about it being gluten free because it was so good, genuinely thought I was going to be so sick. Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel and just watched Bridgerton for the rest of the night. For our last day in London, we went to Nandos for lunch! The workers were so nice and were very knowledgeable on Celiac, I felt very comfortable eating there. After Nandos, we headed to this place called ChocoMelt, and they had the BEST chocolate covered strawberries. They were so good, and they weren't really too expensive. After this, we headed back to our hotel and grabbed our things to head to the airport. Getting through security was easy, and we just relaxed at a cafe until we got hungry and went to this restaurant for dinner. It was not good, do not recommend. After this, we boarded the plane, made it to Cologne quickly, and then just headed home. On Monday, we slept in and then just had dinner with our host dad at this Greek restaurant. The food was amazing, and speaking with our host dad is so much fun. The only thing I hate is that I talk too fast for him to understand me, and even when I slow down it still is too fast. So I've kind of just stayed quiet most of the time, which is fine, but also I feel bad. We got gelato after dinner and then we just headed home. 

London felt like home but 10x better. The food, the people, and just the vibe of the place was amazing. I loved every minute of it, and if we could have stayed longer, I would have and never would have left. This program is just flying by and now we only have three weeks until we are home ◡̈