Okay, right, so time travel back to yesterday. The check-out day. Well we all were supposed to wake up around six but myself, being on Elk Grove time still, woke up at the unnecessary hour of 4. I did get to watch the sunrise however, and talk to some friends. Once everyone woke up, we had a bite to eat and finished packing our last-minute items, we finished early, however, and my parents and I took a walk into Hyde Park, the beautiful park down the street from our current living accommodation. It is situated right by the home of Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. It was really neat to get to see their home, we also learned the park was once private hunting grounds for the royal family. It is complete with a carousel, Princess Diana Memorial Playpark, and whimsical gardens that are manicured to the point of ridiculousness. Like wow. We had a nice stroll around the park, and noticed that apparently, it seems unconventional to have a dog that isn't white, and that people here look perfect while running/exercising. Literally stop British people, that's not cool, you need to stop that and look gross while running like everyone else. We then made our way into the neighborhood where the National Embassies are, the houses were all very pretty and old-fashioned-looking which, as you can imagine, I loved and wanted to take pictures of every single one, but that would have not gone over well, as there were signs every 5 feet reminding us "No photos please". We then made our way back to the apartment.
Soon, it was time to leave and our cab driver arrived, we loaded the car, and were off. He took us about twenty or so minutes away to The Marriott Hotel. This is where the car rental we would be using was located. Yes. We drove to our next spot. On the wrong side of the road. In America, we drive on the right side of the road for a reason. BECAUSE THE OTHER SIDE IS WRONG. As you can imagine, we all made slightly nervous conversation as we were waiting for our car to arrive. We found ourselves in a cute little brown minivan car. Okay. Somewhat confidently, my dad strode over to get into the car...... on the wrong side. Our drive was quite unsettling for the beginning, once we were on the freeway, it was all good.
We then found our destination after the two hour drive. We turned into the little dirt road that would take us to our next home. It got a bit smaller as we drove, and a bit smaller, and a bit smaller. We wondered why there possibly would be traffic lights on such a small little road. Until we saw another car heading along the same road, directly at us. That's why there could possibly be traffic lights. We had to squish our little car into the side of a bush as we let the other people pass. Carry on. (<< I'm turning British now.) We found ourselves parking in the lot of a huge, very old, very beautiful building that claimed to be the lobby of our new place. We checked in and and then ate a picnic lunch at a little table that overlooked what, to me, looked exactly like the glorious, green fields from The Hobbit. Very cool. We then found our little place, room 36. Opening the door, we all peeked inside, and were surprised to find a two story, very spacious, very pretty little apartment! Score. All we need now is food. The lady at the front desk had informed us that the nearest big grocery store was about at ten minute drive away. Cool. We got into our car and found the store with a few detours, (aka taking the wrong road.) grabbed a cart, started to enter, and a man came out, "Sorry, but you might like to know that we're closed." Ughhhhh. Too bad right? So we headed over to McDonald's to grab some dinner. (Once an American always an American, am I right?) We then left to go back to our place. Or so we thought. We got horribly, horribly lost and two hours later were still lost. We did stop however and called the front desk to find that we were somewhat close. Twenty minutes more and we were still slightly lost but we eventually found our way back. SLEEP.
Okay, I realize this was very very long, I'm sorry but there were details I wanted to share with you. Have a fantastic day, night, or whatever it is where you are.
-Sophia :)
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| My mom and I in the majestic little Hyde Park Garden |
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| Prince William and Kate's house near Hyde Park |
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