Visitors!

It's been a while since my last post.  School work keeps me busy and I feel too tired at the end of the day to write.  Nothing too exciting happens here but we have had quite a few visitors in November.  Taylor's friend Jordan visited us for three days.  The majority of the time I was in the library doing research but for one of the days Taylor and I showed him around town and took him to the many sights of Norwich.  He also took us out to the Library restaurant (which is in the converted old library).  Taylor got steak, so he was happy and I got a delicious mushroom burger. (Taylor is allergic to mushrooms so I never get to eat them).  After Jordan left to go explore London we had a few days of just the two of us before the lovely Hilary arrived.  She has been living in London for the past year, but we went to high school together and university together (although we only had one class together). She has recently turned vegan so it was nice to be able to bake and cook with someone.  The first day she was here we explored Norwich and headed back to my place to bake vegan banana bread-which was some of the best banana bread I've ever had-and make a delicious lentil stew.  We stayed up till 2 am just talking about many things and having lovely discussions about pretty serious/thoughtful topics....

Getting ready to bake!

The next day we explored more of Norwich, swinging by the vegetarian grocery store where she bought us these DELICIOUS vegan hazelnut truffles.  After it began to get cold and rainy so we headed back to my place for some tea.  We decided to head out to a vegetarian restaurant I have been wanting to try for a while.  It was about a 20 minute walk from my place in a kind of suburban area.  The restaurant is kind of in the middle of nowhere but oh my goodness was the food delicious! We both got burgers (two different kinds) and stuffed our faces.  It was very odd, the waitress looked SO similar to my sister in law, but she was covered in tattoos....On Hilarys last day here we did some more relaxing things, like bake cookies and more banana bread with her to give to her friends back home.  At 7:30 I walked her to the train station and she headed back to London.

London!

Mom and I didn't have much time in London so we tried to cram as much in as humanly possible.  We arrived in London around 1:30 and took the Tube to our hotel-The Boltons.  It was a pretty adorable room.  We relaxed for a little while before heading off for our adventure.  We went to the British Museum and wandered around for a while before trying to find a restaurant to eat at and settling on some pizza.

The British Museum at night

Mom Bolton at The Boltons

Daughter Bolton at The Boltons

Saturday was another jam packed day.  Mom and I explored the Wellcome Collection a museum that one of my classmates used to work at.  Before she told me about it I had never heard of this museum.  It was amazing! Basically it holds the collection of a guy whose name is Mr. Wellcome (he has a first name I just can't recall it).  He tended to collect any object that was somehow involved with medicine.  For example he had Napoleon's toothbrush, 19th century glass eyes, a chastity belt, a birthing chair, etc.).  I was blown away, I plan on going back for the upcoming exhibit on Death. Next we headed to the V&A.  Stopped by the horribly crowded cafe for a delicious lunch before I FINALLY got to see the 16th century collection.  The last two times I have visited the V&A this section has been closed off.  I got to see the death mask of Henry VII, something I have always read about.  Since it was right next to the V&A we visited the Natural History Museum.  I love taxidermy and weird things in jars so it was quite interesting, albeit outdated.  Mom and I relaxed our sore feet back at the hotel for a short while before heading out to a delicious vegan restaurant 15 minutes from our hotel. 

"Obesity" from the Wellcome Collection

Napoleon's toothbrush

Glass eyes

Henry VII

MANATEE!!!!

Tasmanian Tiger

Mom and her orcas

The dress Queen Victoria wore when she found out she was Queen

Our last day in London was my favourite.  I'm a wee bit obsessed with Queen Victoria and mom and I were able to visit Kensington Palace.  It was fantastic! To walk into the exhibit you have to walk up the stairs that Queen Victoria describes using on a daily basis (but until she was queen it was always with someone  holding her hand)  Throughout the exhibit we got to see everyday pieces belonging to the Queen and her family including the gown she was wearing when she found out she was now Queen of England, her wedding dress, personal clothing items of the children, paintings, etc.).  We also got to see an exhibit on Queen Victoria's Jubilee celebration as well as the Royal Apartments used by Queen Anne and a few of the Georges. After we explored a very crowded Camden Town and shared ice cream made with liquid nitrogen, very delicious!  For our last night together we headed to a restaurant in the north end called Le Mercury.  Delicious (and quite cheap).

Her wedding dress

Children's clothes

Jubilee items

Liquid nitrogen ice cream

On Monday I had to take my mom to the airport and sadly send her back to Canada, where she gets to snuggle cats all day.


After I had to say goodbye to the mother I met up with my friend Hilary who I know from high school and university.  She has been living in London for the past year so we went out for lunch and wandered around the non-touristy areas of the the city before I had to board my train back to Norwich.

My mom arrives in the UK! Part 1

On Saturday the 27th I took a very long three hour trip to the airport to pick up my mommy!!! We travelled back to Norwich and she finally got the proper tour of my flat and we relaxed for the night (as she had been awake for 25 hours).  For the first 6 days up until Friday we spent our time together in Norwich.  On Sunday we had an amazing day at the Norwich Halloween Pug meet up.  After mom riding her first double decker bus we headed to Eaton park to snuggle and play with pugs dressed in costumes.  We met many friends.  Lola (a pug with a lovely under bite) and her sister Coco were our favourites.  All they wanted to was sit on your lap and snort.  After the Luna incident, this just made the both of us so happy.

Lola

Coco

Isn't she so freaking cute?!

After the pug adventure we wandered Norwich a bit and went to many stores looking for a square casserole dish.  Since we couldn't find it we gave up and bought a circular one and headed home.  I made my famous mac and cheese that night and we just spend the evening watching wonderful, tack British television. 

The next day we wandered to the Castle museum before joining up with Taylor and wandering around the city a bit before going out for a lovely dinner.  Many of the days of her trip in Norwich are a little blurred since we did SO much! We went out for a lovely dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, visited the Market, got milkshakes, visited my university (but sadly didn't see any bunnies), walked the many old streets of the city.  To top is off mom got to visit the grave of her great-great grandmother (I can't exactly remember how many greats).

Don't we look SO happy.

Mom and I got to participate in our favourite event: afternoon tea.  I took her to Biddy's (the tea place I have mentioned before) and she LOVED it! We got sandwiches, tea, scones and a huge slice of raspberry coconut cake.  Scrumptious.  On her last day here Taylor, mom and myself visited Norwich Cathedral.  Having stepping in it once before but never explored it, I never realized how HUGE it is! We got a guided tour from this sweet older lady who never everything about it! We also went on a ghost walk through Norwich and I found out cute little facts I never knew!

Friday morning we left for London to begin a new adventure.  But I'll write about that in another post.

Luna

I haven't posted in here for a long time.  A couple of weeks ago I phoned my mom up for our regular chat and she informed me that they took my 8 year old Bernese Mountain dog Luna to the vet and they found out her body was riddled with cancer and she did not have much longer.  The dog is my puppy sister so myself and my family were devestated.  I didn't feel like writing, interacting with humans or anything.  I was able to fly home and snuggle with her for her last few days and be there as a comfort for my family. This entry is going to be really long, but I have to write it.


Luna, a.k.a Goo-Goo, and bug was the best dog I could have ever hoped for.  When you entered the front door you got what we call a Luna greeting.  She was just so happy to see everyone, she would bark like crazy, sit on your feet for snuggles, and if you tried to move away from the greeting she would hit you with her paw, or even give you a hug with both paws.  Now this happened no matter how long you were away from the house or who you were.  She gave this greeting to everyone.  She believed when people came over to our house they came over to see her (lets be honest, they probably were).  All Luna wanted was to be with her family.  If any one of us left the house she usually laid by the door waiting for us.  Luna was extremely loved, there was never a day that went by that she didn't receive at least 100 kisses on her freckle nose.  She loved a car ride, in fact I think it was her favourite.  When people began putting on their shoes, that was her cue to go crazy since it meant she got to go on a car ride.  She also loved when my dad went out for a smoke, as it meant she could sit on the porch and look for the raccoons that lived in our neighbours roof.  I always felt bad for Luna when I became a vegetarian.  When I ate meat I didn't really like it so after dinner I would have half of it left over and lucky Luna would always get it.  When I became a vegetarian, she would still look at me after every meal, or watch me while I was eating waiting for the meat.  But, she was stuck only getting a cookie.

Luna was a big suck, and when we first got her I was so excited to have a dog to play fetch with and other fun games.  I soon learned Luna did not do this.  Her idea of playing was grabbing a toy (or a shoe) and running around the yard hoping you would try to steal it and then kinda play tug of war while barking at you. But she wasn't lazy.  She loved a good walk.  Her and my mom would walk for hours, and lucky for her every Saturday she would get to walk with her dog boyfriend.

Going home this Christmas will be really hard.  Usually when I get off the plane all I can think about it getting home and receiving "the greeting".  The house will be really empty without her.  I'm used to her being next to me almost all the time.  I will always miss my Luna, her goofy grin, her freckled nose, her warm heart, her hugs that sometimes ended in pain, and the happiness she brought to me and my family.  Even though she is no longer with us she will always be in my heart.  I am not religious in the slightest but I like to imagine her running around a field and hanging out with my cat Bandit in a place that has no pain, only lots of treats and car rides.

Facts!

I have been in Norwich for a month now and there a few things I have come to understand.

-Getting used to cars driving on the other side of the road is easy.  Getting used to the drivers side being on the opposite side is not.  I still freak out when I see a child or dog on the Canadian drivers side, and think to my self "who is letting their dog/child drive?!" 

-Women of all sizes love to wear very short shorts over tights no matter the weather.

-The British love pre-packed food.  I swear 2/3 of the grocery store is pre-packed meals.

-Cath Kidston is very popular.  Everyone owns her bag (or at least a cheap rip off).  I also want to own one...

-Squirrels are not as prevalent as they are in Canada.

-Eggs are not refrigerated in the grocery stores.
 
-People are very polite to you, but don't expect them to say sorry if they run into you/hit you with their bag/step on your feet.

-ALWAYS keep an umbrella on you.  There are days like today were it was supposed to be sunny all day, but it randomly mizzled (drizzling rain/misting) for 10 minutes).

-Nobody guesses I'm from Canada, they all think I'm American and they apologize profusely when I say where I am from.

Bombay mix!

I mentioned Biddy's Tea Room in my last post.  I'm so addicted to that place that I went the next day with Taylor.  He had a cola chocolate cupcake (a chocolate cupcake made with cola, which you could barely taste) I had a scone with jam and clotted cream and violet flavoured tea.  Oh, how delicious it was! Taylor loves the place to and I cannot wait to go back.

Taylor is the king of the tea room

Ooh! I finally found a winter coat (I didn't bring mine as it is a shabby piece of work).  It's an adorable Hell Bunny coat that is not only warm, but adorable.

Thanks mom for helping me afford this

Friday I had my first Museum Studies class.  The professor is amazing (she is the one who interviewed me for the program and I could have sworn she grew up in England, but she is American and has been here for almost 10 years.  But, she has a strong English accent....) The class is fantastic, it is actually teaching us the skills and information we need to one day work in a museum, no matter what role we want to take on.  She is also a crazy cat lady, I only know this because the examples she used always mentioned her cat.

Saturday night a bunch of the students from my program went for dinner at the Bicycle Cafe.  There was only about 8 of us, which made it quite intimate.  I dragged Taylor along so he could meet everyone.  We stayed for a few hours and then had a peaceful walk home through the Cathedral walls at night. 

Sunday something glorious happen.....PANCAKES!!!! Taylor made me pancakes from scratch (thanks to a Martha Stewart recipe).  They were delicious! I ate far too many and napped for the rest of the day because of them.I did have a Skype date with Ms. Blaze.  I miss that pretty little lady, but we made plans for Xmas (Sadies and the AGO? Sounds like a perfect day)

I also talked to Abi (who is in Japan for her honeymoon at the moment!) and we came to the agreement that everything we need to know about British culture we learnt from Ab Fab.  For example, carpet commercials are horribly weird, fanny bags are called bum bags (fanny is another word for the front of a lady apparently), and Bombay mix is delicious! Bombay mix is mentioned in one of my favourite Ab Fab episodes and is a quote often used by Abi and myself.  So, when I saw it in the market, I KNEW I had to try it.  And good god is it delicious! It's roasted lentils, chickpeas and peanuts with these strange fried noodle bits all put together with lovely Indian spices.  I will be bringing a huge bag home and everyone can try the amazingness of it. 

Bombay mix!