I thought this was "Naptime Abroad"....

It is officially the last week of school here at Queen Mary.  We are wrapping up all our classes and frantically finishing assignments (or pretending to...hehe)! On Friday, I will be done with my junior year of college and off for a month of traveling Europe #isthisreallife?

Last week, Grandpa, Aunt Marie and I had more adventures through London.  We went to the Portobello Market where I purchased my very first artwork (sew grown up).  It was a FREEZING day here in London and despite my 6 layers of clothing I was still frozen and had to make a pit stop at the hotel to bring my feet and hands back to life.  Clearly, spring is not here.  Now, to all my Minnesotans I may sound like a brat (which definitely could be the case) buuuuuuuut the cold here is so damp it gets in your bones and you can't get warm unless you stand under a heater wearing 16 bagillion layers! My lack of winter clothing is also becoming an annoyance. ANYWAYS, we went to a few other markets and tried a lot of delicious foods (cheese toastie, cheesy potatoes, pumpkin tortellini, etc).  On Sunday, Aunt Marie and I went to Afternoon Tea which was splendid :) We had finger sandwiches, scones and sweets and were completely stuffed the rest of the day! I was so lucky to have them here with me and enjoyed every minute of their visit.

Monday, I had the opportunity to go visit the American School in London.  This is where the story gets interesting.  The classroom I visited had a total of 18 students.  2 students were on holiday.  On Monday, there were 6 students present.  How many people were ill?!!??!!?!?!?! Not only did 7 students call in to say they were sick, 3 went home throughout the day.  As I watched this unfold, the germaphobe in me was silently freaking out.  I had walked into my own mini-hell.  The nurse came down at some point and began handing out anti-bacterial wipes (I wanted to take more than one but figured that would be excessive) and they wiped down the classroom which made me feel a little better.  After school was out, I ran back to my apartment to degermify (newest made up word) and drank a big glass of airborne...I refuse to get sick because........

COLLIE, KEVIN AND CULLIE COME ON FRIDAY!! ! ! ! !! ! ! !! ! ! ! !!  I'm not excited or anything.....I have our stay in London jam packed with activities and then we go to Spain for the week. I can't wait to go somewhere relatively warm and see the sun :) It's been a few weeks. Hanna and I have officially planned our April adventures and we will be traveling to Rome, Venice, Nice (France), Monaco and Copenhagen (Denmark).  I'm so excited to explore all these cities and get one last good look at Europe before heading home in one month.  I can't believe how fast this time has gone.

Loving London

It took me a little under three months to finally fall in love with London! After showing the city off to two different groups of visitors I fully appreciate what this city offers.  I love the different neighborhoods, the interesting people (especially some clothing/hair choices), the different languages I hear, the public transportation, everything! I'm not sure I'm ready to leave in a month...

Last night, Aunt Marie, Grandpa and I went to an Indian restaurant in the Whitechapel area. We were a little unsure of what to expect as we turned down alley way after alley way in a run down neighborhood but we found a really cool place! Aunt Marie expertly navigated the menu and we soon had a feast in front of us.  Everything was delicious! It was my second time having Indian food and I really enjoyed it.  AND!!! Grandpa tried ALL the dishes we got! Afterwards, we went and got bessert (yes, I did want to use a b instead of a d) :)

I guess I can't procrastinate anymore....off to write an architecture essay. BLAH. SO BORING. Mom, Dad and Cullie get excited for me to describe all the architecture of the buildings around London.......

Visitors on Visitors on Visitors

I've been slacking with the blog...hopefully I'll be better now that I have wifi again! Caitlin visited me last week in London and now Grandpa and Aunt Marie are here!! I'm so so lucky have so many visitors here in London and that I get to show off what a wonderful city it is.  Because so much has happened since then I'll keep this short and to the point :)

Caitlin's visit:

• We went food tourin' aka ate our way through London which was wonderful -- some of the favorites were crepes, ben's cookies, chinese food from chinatown
• We saw the Lion King and IT WAS AMAZING.  We were 5 rows from the stage! What an amazing show to see so close up.  Caitlin's seat mate was REALLY into the show with very enthusiastic clapping and laughing at the weirdest times.  He kept us entertained throughout the show
• We went to the IceBar in London which was really fun and REALLY cold - it's kept at -5 degrees at all times.
• Hodgepodge dinners were our speciality! We made some really good meals in the hotel room
• We went to Tea at Harrods which was so fun and it made us think of Grandma <3
• Overall, I was so lucky to laugh as much as I did with her.  It was fun having my best friend at my side and we had a blast adventuring through London :) 

Aunt Marie and Grandpa are here!! WOOHOO.

• Saturday, we walked around multiple squares in the city of London.  Aunt Marie had been wanting to see The Book of Mormon in theaters, however, it was a sold out show until May.  We went to see the theater just in case they had a lottery for some shows.  Surprisingly, they did! There was a huge crowd around the golden lottery ticket holder.  We decided on a whim to put our names in....AND THEN WE WON!!!!! We got two tickets for the front row of the show that night.  They were 20 pounds each while tickets currently sell for about 350 pounds....
• Sunday, we went to the St. Patrick's day parade and festival.  The parade was very abstract random with an ambulance in it, African dancers (not sure how it related to Ireland?) and various other confusing sights...
• Today, we walked around the Westminster area with Big Ben, London Eye, the Prime Minister's house.  We also explored Covent Gardens with a stop at Ben's Cookies!! It never fails to impress me.

Here are some pictures!!

HAHAAHAH mustache picture :) we didn't realize caitlin had a graffiti mustache until after the picture was taken....

leapin' into platform 9 and 3/4

At the Lion King! 

Best Crepes in the world...

GPA and Aunt Marie!! 

Mechanics vs. the Raasch's

I'm beginning to believe that I'm jinxed with mechanical problems (train in Italy, train to Scotland, Caitlin's plane...the list could go on).  On Friday night, Caitlin called me to let me know that her connecting flight from Southbend to Detroit had been cancelled due to mechanical errors.  For the next few hours I frantically searched for ways to get her here in time for our flights to Paris which was 6 hours after she was supposed to arrive in London.  After it was apparent that she wouldn't make it in time I began wondering if she would make it to London in general. 48 HOURS and a bagillion flights later, I can safely say that caitlin is OFFICIALLY in London!! She arrived at about 6:30am and I was bursting with excitement (probably because I downed a coffee that I had added 4 packets of sugar to...not my smartest decision cause I'm still shaky).  We were both crying and hugging each other over and over at the airport.  I don't think we could talk fast enough the entire ride back to Mile End. AND she surprised me with real Cheez-its!

Proof that we are TOGETHER :) <3

Although we missed out on Paris, we are going to have an amazing time here in London -- because of the fun adventures planned and mostly because we get to have sister time :) I could not be happier! Today we are going to go to Covent Garden for some lunch and ben's cookies.

ANOTHER S/O to the Edina Boys Varsity Hockey Team for winning STATE!! What an amazing accomplishment and I'm so sad I wasn't there to cheer them on.  YOU GO LIL BRO :) AND a happy happy early birthday to Cullie!! Can't believe you're already 17!

More later :)

19 hours and counting...

I can hardly contain my excitement...Caitlin arrives in London in 19 hours! WAHOO!!! This has been the longest I've ever gone without seeing my family and it will be so nice to see a familiar face.  Once Caitlin arrives in London we head out for a quick trip to Paris for the weekend.  I can't wait for our adventures and know it will be a blast :) I especially can't wait for the crepes - YUM.

This week was pretty low key.  I worked a lot on a few of my essays due at the end of March. It felt good to get two of them done and now I'm in the process of writing my last Architecture essay.  I visited a woman who is from Edina currently living in London on Monday.  We met at Starbucks a few days before I left and she offered for me to come visit once they got back to London.  I took her up on the offer and it was so fun.  She fed me pumpkin soup (so good) and we chatted a lot about random things that made me feel more at home.  I even got to hold and feed her 3 month daughter, Winslet. 

Last night, after a day of extreme boredom (I was talking to myself....it was bad) I watched the Edina hockey team at the State Tournament! It was so fun to watch the game and cheer on Cullen from London.  I just wish the game tonight was a little earlier since I won't be able to stay up to watch it tonight.  I got some good shots of cullen on TV which I'll put up.

 So intense....

I have so many exciting visitors coming in March I can barely stand it.  I'm so blessed that I have so many people coming to see me and London. 

Countdowns for March visits:
Caitlin: 19 hours
Grandpa & Aunt Marie: 8 days
Mom, Dad & Cullie: 20 days

PS. Since I probably won't have my computer on Sunday I just wanted to wish all the Mum's back at home a Happy MUM's day from London! They celebrate Mother's day two months earlier than we do and it has been so fun to see all the cards around that say "Mum." 

Mum, you may get one too! -->