Whew! What a week...I mean, two weeks. Dang it, blogs are the hardest things in the world to keep up with. But they're also a lot of fun :) My excuse is that I had two lovely visitors to entertain...the first of which this lovely post is devoted to: my sweet friend Kelly Barnett!
For all of you who don't know (or don't remember), I spent a month last summer working on Summer Staff (affectionately referred to as "Summer Slackers") at a Young Life camp in Canadian wilderness. The camp, called Malibu Club, holds one of the most precious pieces of my heart. I saw the Lord transform lives and build beautiful friendships - one of those being between me and Kelly! Since she is studying abroad in Florence this summer, she was able to hop over to London to hang out for the weekend :)
After a stressful yet God-graced bus mishap (myself and Kelly's bus were both exactly 40 minutes late to the meeting spot - without the means to communicate, we were both freaking out that the other person had been waiting the whole time, yet both of our lateness was perfectly timed!), we hiked up to Primrose Hill to meet up with the rest of the embassy interns.
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| Sunset over the London skyline |
***Side note: this group of interns is AWESOME! I couldn't have asked for a nicer or more interesting group of people to get to know this summer, and I think everyone else would agree. We are all proud to be members of what we have deemed the INTERNet (haha, get it?).
Anyway, Primrose Hill is one of the highest natural points in the city, where we watched the London skyline darken among the rays of a gorgeous sunset. After dark we ventured to one of our favorite hangout spots - a pub in Soho called The Green Man - where one of our British friends works (an honorary member of the INTERNet, or "Team America" as he prefers to call us).
On Saturday we explored through Borough Market, Portobello Road Market, and something else. I've decided that Borough Market is my absolute FAVORITE London Saturday activity...so much delicious food! Portobello Road is home to some upscale boutiques and antique stores, but also the cheap stands of little trinkets and paintings. Also on Portobello Road is the Hummingbird Bakery, where you spend a fortune on a (red velvet) cupcake, but it's amazing!
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| Breakfast at Pure Waffle |
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| London's oldest market - and my favorite! |
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| SO MUCH CHEESE |
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| A quintessential image of Portobello Road |
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| Cupcakes from Hummingbird Bakery (that's Kelly!) |
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| Love these crazy girls SO MUCH!!! |
On Sunday, Kelly and I headed over to Greenwich with Ian, another member of the Summer Slackers. Greenwich is the neighborhood in southeast London home to the Royal Observatory, the Royal Naval College, and...the Greenwich Mean Time! A.k.a., the Prime Meridian!...The definitive point in the world from which all time is denoted (or just a line on the ground, whichever way you want to look at it). The town of Greenwich is full of quaint cafes and narrow, winding roads, and there is a beautiful park and some tucked-away gardens; I found this area to be one of the most charming in London that I've been to.
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| Greenwich! And some important ship... |
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| We made our mark |
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| The Painted Hall |
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| Cool mirrors that help you look at the ceiling, although I think we spent more time looking at ourselves.... |
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| Greenwich Park and a gorgeous view of the Old Royal Naval College |
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| There it is! The Prime Meridian |
On the last night Kelly was here, we were reunited with yet ANOTHER member of the Summer Slackers, Wilson (and his girlfriend <3, ooh la la). Good times and reminiscing about our time in Canada was another perfect cure for being homesick.
Primrose Hill Round 2 is happening tonight! More pics to come from that as well as Hillsong Conference and Rachel's visit.
Much love,
Hayley
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