I left London on a Friday evening after school and took the train to Maccelsfield. It took an hour and forty minutes plus a good magazine and I had arrived. Gill an Alan were waiting for me at the station with open arms and big smiles, it was so lovely to see some familiar faces. We then ventured to there house in Buxton, which was about 20 minutes from the station. The house itself is beautiful. A little old cottage built of stone with lots of land, a stunning conservatory and beautifully decorated by Gilly!
Waking up to have breakfast cooked for me every morning and dinner every night, not to mention when we went out, was pure bliss! I felt like I was in 5 star accomodation! It was so nice just relaxing for the week and not having to work or anything. I managed to fit in lots of Skype dates too. Because of the time difference this can sometimes be difficult when I'm at work.
Gill and Al took me to some beautiful English villages. Chatsworth was the first stop and I was in heaven in the farm shop there. Mainly because it was all food of course. Then we went to Chatsworth house which is where the duke and dutchess of Derbyshire live. It was huge, kind of like a scaled down version of buckingham palace and to say it was a house is a little bit of an understatement, it was more like a village with shops, cafes and lots to see. It was a lovely day.
Then came the day I had been waiting for since arriving in London. Family roast day!! I helped Gill prepare it (although I didn't do anything really) and Alan's brother and his wife, along with some friends came. Its true what they say about country folk, they are super sweet. Alan's brother and his wife turned up with a vase of flowers, perfume and a 'Buxton' calendar all as gifts for me, unbelievably thoughtful! The roast certainly lived up to expectations also, it was BEAUTIFUL! Roast chicken AND lamb along with every vegetable you could think of, followed by apple and blueberry crumble... I really was in heaven! We then spent the night watching a Rod Stewart concert and dancing on ice. I felt like I was home.
Another one of my favourite places we visited was a little village called Bakewell, the home of the famous Bakewell cake/tart/pudding. Of course I had to sample some and again it was so good. The village itself is made up of beautiful little boutiques down cobblestone lanes and old stone buildings. It was very much just like the Movies set in the English countryside. Gill and I spent the afternoon exploring the lovely little boutiques.
So as you can tell I had an absolute ball visiting Gill and Alan and was sad to leave and head back to London. I will definitely be back soon!
Back in London, Emma and I headed straight out for a night with friends in Soho... No rest for the wicked, well no one rests in London, not when there's so much to see and do. The weekend saw Zaynab and I venture to the Vintage markets in Shoreditch (East London - very edgy and alternative. Somewhere I'd like to live!) this was fun and so interesting to see all the things they had for sale. The rain had set in whilst at the markets so we decided on a quite night in making homemade pizzas and watching a movie. Our pizzas were SO good, think Caramelized onion, spinach, goats cheese etc!
Another cultural day was upon us (although every day in London is cultural) and both my housemates Zaynab, Mike and I headed to the Tate Modern. An international modern and contemporary art gallery. I was blown away and throughly enjoyed just walking around taking it all in. Then for my FAVOURITE part of the weekend and yet another 'OH MY GOD' I'm in London moment. The sun was shinning bright and Zaynab and I walked from the gallery, along the river Thames and headed for Somerset House. My favourite London building, that stages many events and exhibitions. Once there we were hit with LONDON FASHION WEEK! That's right I can now say I've actually been to London fashion week, and what a moment it was. I actually don't think we were suppose to be in there, but hey it's not our fault the security guard on the door was occupied when we went in. Walking around mixing with the biggest fashion bloggers, journos and models was just incredible. I honestly could have sat there all day just watching the fashion world pass before my eyes. Although I wish I has dressed up for the occasions. What a day.
Back to work after my lovely week off and still loving all the little munchkins I inspire to learn. Even when they think I'm from Poland (my skin is so white I cant blame them for thinking that)! Emma and I once again made the most of the London theatre and hit up Legally Blonde. It was a great show and certainly got us laughing. However, nothing can beat Matilda, YET!
If you can't already tell I'm loving the fact that Zaynab is as much celebrity, fashion and media obsessed as I am. I certainly struck it lucky moving in here. She also likes an adventure and we decided we would take the chance and head to the Brit awards (English Music awards) as you do in London! So we got the the O2 arena and it was unreal, the stadium it's self is more like a city with a whole ring of bars and restaurants circling it. The red carpet was rolled out and the stars were flocking! It was so so cool, very much my sort of fun! I even stood in front of the step and repeat and posed like the celebrity I am. After such a fun night we came home and made homemade pancakes for pancake Tuesday : ) I'm yet to give up anything for lent.
Another weekend and a different London market. This time it was the Borough Market, which is simply yet amazingly all food, with lots and lots of samples : ) I had my first good coffee there too. The coffee in London is very disappointing!
I leave you still absolutely enjoying my time here with the days getting warmer and the sun beginning to shine.
C'est la vie xxx
