Saint Patrick's day in London

I have only been once in London in my whole life, but I think I will always remember it. When I saw my friend Papan around Christmas, he told me it could be cool that we celebrate St Patrick's day together, for his half-brother lives in London, he lived in Hamburg, in Germany, I was in Durham and my boyfriend in Paris. We all have between 3 and 5 hours to gather in the center of the British capital.

I arrived at King's cross, my boyfriend at St Pancras. When I saw him, I couldn't believe it. It's hard to be separated from the person you love the most, and then, HE was in England. So happy :)

We found the hotel, spent a few minutes together and then, hop! direction the town center! We played tourists. Along the River Thames, we took a lot of pictures, crossed the London Bridge, visited the Christmas shop... I think that it is not really London that I enjoyed, but rather the company of the love of my life :)

 The weather, however, was what I expected from London: grey and cold lol

We had a nice evening in Camden Town, where we had several biers, cocktails, and a fish-n-chips late at night. 

The day after, we had a brunch together (the first brunch of my life, wouhou!) and what I realised is that London is... well, let's say... 4 times more expensive than Durham! 

We spent the afternoon, my boyfriend and I, along the Thames, again, on the other side this time. There was a modern art museum which caught our eyes, because there was an exposition outside: 

Lemon juicers!

Time was running out, we had to go back to the train station... The Olympics were in preparation, so the stations were modified. We had an hour to visit them. I was impressed by St Pancras, which I found particularly beautiful, with its big statue in the middle of the hall. It is worth a look. And finally, as a big big fan of Harry Potter as I am, we took pictures at Kings cross... but I didn't reach platform 9 3/4 :(

Another day, another city...

After I visited Edinburgh in December, and after I met so many great people, I wanted to discover more. Travel. Weekend. Holidays. Journey. Liberty. That's what I felt everytime I packed my stuff and went to the train station. When I had enough money spared, I chose a new destination. It was easy to travel actually, as I chose a town to visit that I could reach from Durham, by train or by bus. Not far from Newcastle is the city of Sunderland, on the East coast. This time is special, because at first, I wanted to go there alone, but then I realised "hey! I've got a friend in Hartlepool, that's not far from Sunderland!" and I asked Marion if she wanted to go there. And she came, with Heike. I did not know what I would find there. I expected to visit, but then I realised Sunderland is a rather a fine place for shopping, when you are in the town center. I met the girls at the train station, and we had lunch not far from the shopping mall. Just after, we decided to reach the beach, so we got a map and walked.
To my mind, Sunderland is much more interesting when you leave the town center. We had to cross the bridge to reach the beach, but too bad for us, there was a football match at the Stadium of light this day, so we couldn't make the most of our visit! It was fun though^^

The path to the sea is surprising. I wouldn't have find it if I had been alone. There is a glass musuem, statues, sculptures... It is beautiful.

We spent a long time along the river, it was very agreable. 

This day in Sunderland allowed me to discover a new city, but mostly, to have a wonderful day with friends.

This was the beginning of a new relationship :)