Day 34-August 4

Today was our last day!!! That's so crazy to me! I have had such amazing time on this trip but I am super excited to come home. I am definitely dreading the long flight though. This morning we went to Buckingham Palace.

The back of Buckingham Palace

The gardens of Buckingham Palace were really pretty too

It was gorgeous! I absolutely loved it! It was definitely my favorite interior out of all of the places we've been. Unfortunately we could not take any pictures inside. It was cool because it's one of the only operating palaces still left in the world, and it just has a timelessness about it. It's totally historical and authentic and yet it has a new, clean, almost modern feel to it as well. All of the palaces we've been to have been very sumptuous and ornate and Buckingham wasn't an exception to that. However, I felt like some of the other places had too much going on and didn't flow together very well. Buckingham was still over-the-top but I felt like it worked this time and it was elegant. I just loved it in there! I spent so long looking at everything. haha. They had a really cool display of all of the queen's dresses and gifts she's been given from other countries and I liked that a lot too. When we got out we went through the giftshop and Amanda and I split a chocolate tart and ice cream at the cafe.

It was way yummy! For lunch, Amanda, Beccah, Mallory, Whitney, and I all went to Ask. It was a little Italian restaraunt and it was pretty delicious.

The menus were sweet!

...and so was the food!


After that Amanda and I went to Westminster Abbey. It was cool! It was way crazy inside though. I felt like a was in a big unorganized closet where you just stash all of your old stuff to get it out of the way. It's pretty much like an indoor cemetery. There are tons of people buried there and monuments/gravestones that are dedicated to famous people (i.e. Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, Jane Austin, Handel, and a bunch of royalty). They're just all over the place though in no particular order and jutting out at weird angles. Nothing really flowed together. It was a huge modge podge of different styles and time periods. Some parts are SUPER old and some parts are really new. It was cool but I really did have this huge desire to straighten everything out and organize it! (which would be impossible to ever do because it's all built in and made out of stone) My favorite part was probably the tomb of the unknown soldier. A soldier was sent back from France or somewhere who had died in the battlefield and no one knew who he was but they buried him in the church to signify that he was just as important as any king because he sacrificed his life for his country. It really was worth going to. It just wasn't at all what I was expecting. I felt way bad for Amanda though because I was so tired and totally just falling asleep so she basically had to drag me around the whole place.
Westminster Abbey!!!

When we were done with Westminster we went to Portabello Road to meet up with Beccah, Whitney, and Mallory again. That was my third time being there! Beccah bought a purse that was really cute and Amanda found a dress and then we went to Queensway to buy cheap duffel bags for everyone who didn't have enough room to get all of their stuff home. They were only 5 pounds! On the way home we were going to try and get a black bottom cupcake at hummingbird bakery. We have been anticipating it all week long and they were all gone! We were so sad! It's probably good though cuz I'm already feeling like a fatty! haha. We dropped off all of our stuff at our flat and then we went to the Sainsbury's (grocery store) to buy treats to take home to the family. I got SO many! I am definitely pumped to have a teaparty when I get back home. When we got back to the flat I had a sandwich and yogurt for dinner and then we worked on our blogs and stuff. LUCKILY our sketches are no longer due tomorrow so we can have more fun tonight!