Hampton Court Palace and weekend in Leeds

Hey friends, sorry for the long wait again, nothing really exciting happened last week, so I was just gonna post about my weekend on Sunday, and then I obviously procrastinated until now. Shoutout to the dear Abby Head for inspiring me to write this today. Just trying to keep my fans happy (totally kidding, please don't think I'm conceited). But let's get my horrible memory started on trying to remember the past like, 10 days, (eeek I promise I won't go this long without blogging again).
Last Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: it rained. I laid in bed and went to class and bought groceries and that was about it. This was mainly due to the fact that it was gross and I am a lazy person, but there were also the tube strikes (straight from satan himself) which caused any sort of getting around London to be completely miserable considering half the lines weren't even running and all the buses were packed, so that was a major bail.
Thursday was when the magic started, as per usual. The only thing I hate about Thursdays is that I have to wake up so freaking early and for everyone who knows me at all, I love sleep and getting up before the sun is not in my list of activities that I'm interested at all. This week, however, there was the most gorgeous sunrise to greet me when I woke up and it was only there for a few minutes, but it was such a sweet little picture. I felt like God was just like, "Good morning Rachel, you're more beautiful than this sunrise." And I was like, "Man, thanks God. You're the best." And therefore my day began in an awesome way.

#nofilter

For my art history of London class we set off to explore Hampton Court Palace which was so dope, y'all! Like, we need to talk about the ceilings for a quick minute because British people are #not #playing with their ceilings. This was probably my favourite trip that I've taken with this class so far. For some reason I just really liked it and my teacher didn't give me an anxiety attack this week and it was just really great. We just walked around this sick castle and I got to light a candle in the chapel and I laid on a bench and looked at the ceilings for a while which was nice.

 This was actually the worst chai tea latte I've ever drank. Don't trust hot drinks that come from a train station kiosk.

Notice the shameless promo to follow them on all social media

 Just picking up British boyfriends left and right

 I know this has historical significance, but I couldn't stop thinking about The Other Boleyn Girl. Scarlett Johansson, anyone?

 This is the dream prom photo spot.

 I'm sorry, are we actually in the state of Alabama right now?

 Sickest parts about castles (besides the ceilings) are the doors.

 Here's a fireplace that I apparently thought was good enough to photograph?

I actually don't know why I take half the pictures that I do.

My favourite part of castles is probably the really awesome chapels that they all have in them. In this one in particular, the cutest old man gave us a whole history of the church and it was so adorable and interesting. Basically, this was where Henry VIII hung out for a time and my all time favourite part of history is the fact that good ol' Henry VIII started a new religion just so that he could divorce his wives. Not saying I truly agree with the policy, but literally, what a baller. I get the feeling that he was the Kanye West of the 16th century.

 There were cushions on the floor, so I had to sit on them. There really wasn't a choice.

 Apologies for the horrible picture, but this was yet another photo that I wasn't allowed to take and so I had to be sneaky (but still got yelled at). These ceilings were just too bomb not to share with the world.

 Stained glass windows are cool and Alex is an actual freak.

 Casual backyard shot.

 #Vogue

 Selfies with the wicked ceilings.

 Bathroom selfies or it didn't happen. Also this was the first bathroom I've used in England that had the flush that you had to pull a chain from the ceilings for. Too cool.

Let us just imagine what it would be like to eat meals in this room because I really want to. Also, this is proof that English ceilings don't mess around.

After we got done touring the palace (by the way they had a maze there, nbd) we just walked around Surrey for a bit trying to find somewhere to grab lunch and we ended up at this precious little deli where I got a toastie (panini) and chocolate cake and it was beautiful. Then we headed to Covent Garden because Yuri had his sights set on this cookie place that was another gift straight from the hands of the Lord, also I had to go to Vodafone to deal with the bs that was my phone plan, so it worked out.

Then Thursday I didn't go out because I had to get up quite early in order to get my train, so I just hung out and went to sleep early.

Friday I woke up and had to head to the library to print out my train tickets (most complicated process ever, by the way) and then I headed to King's Cross (call me Hermione) to get my train to Leeds to see Hayley, yippee!! Train journeys are actually the best ever and the English countryside is really so beautiful. However, there were the most obnoxious guys ever seated at the table next to me and they got drunk on the train and were being really loud and rude and they were doing that thing that drunk people do where they think they're really funny, but they're actually so annoying, so I was just like, *sarcastic side eyes emoji* But I sat next to a precious old Irish couple, so they made the journey worth it.

My train got delayed and we were stranded in the middle of nowhere for an hour, so by the time I got to Leeds it was almost dinner time. Hayley and I walked to her flat, stopping quickly in Primark to grab a blanket and some pyjamas for me (British people are so into pyjama sets and onesies though) before getting ready to get food. Leeds was a lot more different than I expected it to be, it was a pretty good sized city and she was right in the middle of it, basically. It was so strange to be able to walk everywhere and not have to take public transportation though.

We ended up going to Wagamama's for dinner before going to her friend's flat for predrinks and then going to the club at their Union. Leeds Uni is actually huge compared to Roehampton (think 3x more students) so their student union was massive. They had multiple clubs, so it was super fun. We danced the night away and it was fantastic even though guys were creepy. I love how much One Direction is played when we go out here, it is definitely what I'm about.

Wagamama is actually where it's at

Yay for besties reunited in the UK

Coolest place ever

Favourite part of the night was when guys would keep trying to put girls on their shoulders and the DJ would just interrupt the song and say, "Get down!" He was also doing birthday shoutouts? Not really sure, but every now and then he'd interrupt some rap with a, "Happy birthday Samantha," so we were just like, okay. Do you.

Saturday we slept in a bit and then just made some food at Hayley's before heading out to do some shopping and explore Leeds. The shopping there was so great, everything we needed in such a close proximity it was amazing. We also had afternoon tea at the cutest place ever. I felt so freaking British in that moment. And we went to this incredible sweets shop! Americans steal a lot of ideas from other countries, so I'm just waiting for the idea of massive sweet shops to make its way over to North America because it is a really important concept. That night we decided to just have a chill night and so we went to the "cinema" which was really really nice, we had assigned seats and the popcorn was really nice. It made me want to go on a date with a boy to the movies (Niall, call me) really badly, but as we all know I will probably have to wait 100 years until that happens. After the movie, which featured a beautiful Zac Efron accompanied by a girl who looked like she wore the same smudged eyeliner for the entire movie, we went back to Hayley's and I forced her to watch "This Is Us" and then we started planning our adventures for the month of April.

 Macaroons are everywhere here and I am not complaining.

Ceilings dude

Sunday we got up and grabbed breakfast at the cutest little deli and did a quick look for penny boards in the skate shop next door before I had to catch my train. This train journey went much smoother (no delays) and besides spilling hot tea on myself, it was grand. When I got to King's Cross I went straight to church which was amazing as always, also I got a sick new Bible. This weekend was so great.

This week has been really boring so far because again it has been cold and rainy, so all I've done is go to class, but today Allison and I went over to Chiswick and explored a bit and got some tea and a snack at the most precious little bakery ever. It was raining the whole time though which was pretty miz, so we didn't stay long. We did find a couple cute shops though including a massive bookstore and a precious thrift store! So we're planning on going back when the weather is nicer.

So that's pretty much all that's been going on over here, I'm really excited for this weekend because Hayley is coming and it's fashion week and Galentine's Day and yay! Luvin lyfe. Well I love you all so freaking much and miss y'all tons and sometimes I just stalk your Instagrams and cry because you're all so beautiful and amazing and I want to squeeze your faces. I'm also super jealous of all the school that y'all aren't having and am gonna need y'all to send some of those cancellations my way. Also I'm officially going through withdrawal from Chick fil A sauce and Easy Mac so if you could somehow find a way to transport a chicken biscuit straight into my mouth that would be fantastic. Love y'all talk to y'all soon, muah!!

xx

P.S. If you want to see my video documentation of my weekend in Leeds with Hayley, you can click here.

Also, I'm trying to win a free ride to the airport at the end of my program so I don't have to carry all my bags on public transportation and be a sweaty mess all over the city of London. Basically, all I need is the most Instagram likes on all my pictures with #CISLondon, so if you would like to help me out with that you can do so here.