Venice Beach...No, It's Camden Market!

On Thursday after finishing my final project, Taylor and I celebrated by exploring Camden Market! Camden Market is very much like Venice Beach, full of shops, a couple of crazies and food.

From the start we set out to find some unique jewelry and after tons of different shops I came home with some gorgeous pieces, a camera necklace and even a necklace with Paul McCartney's face!

We made a stop a one of the many food places along the canal to see the very fun seating areas. The seats throughout the market are old motorcycle seats that are facing the tables that you can sit on and enjoy the atmosphere.

There were lions everywhere in this area, which I really liked, although I did not really understand the reasoning behind it.

We shopped a lot, so we decided to treat ourselves to the homemade doughnuts that they make all over the market place. They were so fresh, warm and very tasty indeed!

After lunch and too much shopping, Taylor and I walked to Regent's Canal. Along the way to Regent's Canal we passed the London Zoo and saw some of the animals including birds, warthogs and dingos.

The canal was so pretty, full of boats and tons of people on relaxing walks. I loved seeing the water with the sun shining on it and all of the people on the boats, it was a side of London that I did not know was there.

Beauty Along the Canal,
Johnni Z

London in Bloom

You know it is spring when the Easter bunny makes an appearance!

This year I was in London for Easter, not with my family, which was sad but I got to spend it with my honorary family, the Lays in Barnes.

I went to Barnes for my last long weekend with the amazing Lay family. We went on walks through the park and laid out on the lawn, seeing as there is no beach.

We had some great meals throughout the weekend and even decorated eggs, so American! On Easter itself, we woke up early to go to mass and I finally attended a traditional British mass.

Later that afternoon, I had my first Lindt chocolate egg, which was so good I could not eat just one. We then went to a family friend's house, who were Australian and had an really tasty, almost Thanksgiving like feast for lunch.

After a great day, I headed back to Islington and was greeted with an Easter basket from my roommate Taylor! I also skyped my family, an experience to say the least and had an amazing holiday!

Most recently, on Tuesday I celebrated spring by finally making my way to Wimbledon!!

Wimbledon was really interesting and so amazing because of all of its history. I got a couple of souvenirs and even got to see Center Court!!!

To top off a really fun experience we at lunch at Wimbledon and took in all that these awesome tennis courts had to offer. The courts themselves were so cool, with grass instead of concrete to play on! It was such a good time and I loved checking it off my list.

Easter and Tennis,
Johnni Z

Home of the Musicals

I have been so blessed to have seen two amazing shows over the past two weeks! I saw the Lion King and Les Miserables and they were both so good.

After dressing up and getting really excited to see Lion King, Taylor and I found out that it was all sold out. In order for this to not happen again, we bought tickets for the next week and got very excited waiting for the day to come.

Lion King had some of the most spectacular costumes I have ever seen. The music was really upbeat and easy to enjoy no matter how old you are.

I especially loved the British Simba and Nahla, the young versions because the kids were so cute and the accents made the Lion King better than I could have imagined.

The next week, Kirsley was visiting us and we decided to see another musical seeing as London is the birthplace of Broadway.

Rebecca, Kirsley and I went and saw Les Miserables, one of the most iconic and famous musicals of all time.

After all the hype I was a little nervous that I would either not understand the storyline or it would not be as good as all the musicals I had seen before. Lucky for me it was so good, the story was fantastic and it did not disappoint.

The performers' voices were insane, everything was sung, nothing was spoken and it really raised the bar on musicals for me. I absolutely loved it and I am so glad that I got to see it before I left London.

Singing in the Rain,
Johnni Z

High Tea and Gardens Fit for a Princess

In order to make the most out of what little time I have left in London, I created a list, as I often do full of things I want to see before I go.

Luckily for me, Natasha came to visit and she had a list that was full of very unique and fun things to do while in London.

One day we went to Kensington Gardens for a picnic and a long walk that lead us all over the park. This garden is where Princess Diana lived and it is dedicated to her in numerous places throughout the park.

We walked all over the garden, saw an amazing carousel and some of the coolest statues.

Once we made it to the Peter Pan statue, we had to stop for a couple of photo ops, obviously!!

The best part of the park was the Italian fountains that were surrounded by some of the most beautiful flowers I have seen. The tulips were spectacular and full of color. The fountains were so different and each one was very pretty, it was a site I am glad I was able to see.

Another day, we went to Harrods and took part in the traditional British event of afternoon tea. I love tea, I am actually obsessed with tea and drink it all the time, so tea at Harrods was amazing.

I loved dressing up for high tea and spending the day with all of my friends and roommates. It was a lovely outing and another thing that has been checked off my list!

Tea Crazy,
Johnni Z

Warming Up: London Style

Last week the weather in London began to warm up and it has been pretty nice being able to wear something besides long sleeved shirts.

To celebrate the sun and all its glory I decided to take advantage of the great weather and I went on a hunt for cupcakes. Cupcakes, were my final project topic therefore I was killing two birds with one stone.

I got to explore Primrose Hill area while looking for Primrose bakery! It was so pretty and such a fun area...surrounded by tons of green parks and cute shops.

After a long journey to find Buttercup Cake Shop-the best cupcake place in London- I stopped by Hyde Perk to pay tribute to Friends-the best show ever- and have lunch! The food was really good and it was such an adorable cafe.

Later that week Taylor and I went to the Breakfast Club, a really tasty restaurant hidden away behind antique shops. After lunch we tested out Frae, one of the few frozen yogurt places in London...very good.

London Foodie,
Johnni Z

Sunsets and Watermelon: Corfu

On Friday night we decided to come back into town to go out and see what the nightlife was like in Corfu. We missed the last bus into town, not due to lack of effort(sprinting up a large hill and running after the bus) and therefore had to take a taxi.

We started with a couple of drinks in the center of town and just enjoyed the warm weather. I had a strawberry margarita, which was really good and we all had watermelon shots...beacuse they are tropical and very good.

After drinks we ended up at Au Bar where there was live music and Master Tempo...a greek DJ was playing. We had a ton of fun listening to some Greek songs as well as the American music we love to dance to.

The next day was our last full day in Corfu so we went sight seeing. We started out by having some very tasty crepes(strawberry, banana and nutella).

Next we went to the Old Fortress and climbed to the very top in order to get an amazing and breathtaking view of the island.

We took alot of pictures as usual and soaked up the sun everywhere we went. It was such a cool lookout point and worth the strenuous walk to get there.

After the fortress we went down to the water and went swimming for a little while. The water was spectacular as usual and really nice to swim in.

The rest of the afternoon we spent shopping and walking around the island, seeing everything it had to offer.

We watched the sunset from a lookout point near our hotel and had dinner and desert at two places at the peak of Kanoni.

Corfu was so amazing and spending all that time with my best friends was priceless!!!

Summer Preview,
JohnniZ

Stranded on a Private Beach: Corfu

With just a day break, my dad left and Dori and Skye arrived in London...just for the night.

On Thursday morning we took a taxi to Gatwick airport in order to get to our vacation in Corfu, Greece! We spent three days in paradise.

Once we arrived, we checked into our hotel, which was a little sketchy to say the least, but fine overall. We got unpacked a little and then headed into town for our first adventure.

In town we explored a little and realised that April is the off season in Greece and therefore nobody can help you find what you need and there are no tourist booths open. That being said, we found our own way around and saw Greece our way.

We went to a beatiful and secluded beach on the first afternoon we were in Corfu. The water was so blue and completely clear. You could see ocean everywhere and really cool mountains surrounding the water.

That night we went to a Greek food place and got a taste for the Greek culture and figured out that most people there do not speak very much English...challenging.

The second day we woke up pretty early to catch the bus into town from Kanoni, where we were staying. We then walked super fast to get to the green bus station....to get on at bus that would take us as close as possible to Glifalda beach(everyone said we had to go there).

Once we got dropped off we walked the rest of the way to the beach and were suprised...(kind of) by the fact that we were the only three people there not inculding four workers on the other side of the shoreline.

We all took naps on the beach and tanned a little on basically our own private beach.

On the walk back to the bus stop we came accross a donkey, chickens, roosters, tons of wildlife and a broken down old car. The view from the top of the hill was specatcular and the walk was well worth it because of how peaceful and beautiful the beach was.

After getting some watermelon gelato and a really good greek salad, we went back to our hotel to regroup and plan out the night.

Perfect Paradise,
Johnni Z