Happy Easter Holiday!

It's the time of the year that teachers and students look forward to - the Easter holiday! Let me tell you, I could not wait for this holiday. Even though it came after the shortest half term (only 5 weeks) I was shattered by the end of school on Friday.

I have had a great start to the two weeks off, and I'll try not to ramble.

The weekend before the holiday started (so, a week and a half ago) I went to a 500 year anniversary sleep over at Hampton Court Palace, which was incredible. We had a champagne reception, multiple themed tours (including a ghost one after midnight), a Georgian dancing lesson, a Tudor dinner, a Shakespeare re-enactment (I was Lady MacBeth!) and free entry to the house the next day, after spending the night sleeping in a portrait galley. To make it even more awesome, we were given goody bags the next day, which is where we got the terrifying masks in the photo below. It was an incredible experience, and I loved every minute. Check out Hampton Court Palace at http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/

On Wednesday evening my housemate had free entry to a restaurants tasting event. It was aaaamazing. The restaurant was on the South side of the Thames, very close to London Bridge, so we had a lovely view. There was a great selection of food and drink which I obviously loved.

 Then on the Thursday evening I went on a bit of a random stroll around Hoxton and Shoreditch with two of my workmates. We work in the area, but being teachers we never get to do much after work. We had really unique cocktails in The White Lyan on Hoxton Street. I say unique because they were so different to everything I've drunk before. The bar makes all it's own alcohol, and doesn't have any external brands or mixers. I must admit, I prefer traditional drinks (I love a fruity cocktail!) but my friends absolutely loved their drinks. Afterwards we went to Hache and had some brilliant burgers.

Finally, Friday arrived. After school ended, I helped a friend take her class guinea pigs home before we met our work friends for a meal in a great Vietnamese on Kingland Road. Yummy! After that, we went to a mini house party where a lot of wine was drunk!

Despite the hangover I woke up at 7 to go to Oxford with my friend Alice. Luckily I recovered on the train because we had a Oxford Literary Festival Philip Pullman event to go to. Philip Pullman has long been one of my favourite authors, with His Dark Materials topping my favourite book lists since I was 13 (that's 12 years. Ah!). The talk was really interesting and exciting; there were lots of questions from young fans who were still reading the series for the first time, which was great. We learnt that there is a short story about Lyra coming out soon, and that The Book of Dust will (hopefully) be published next year. Afterwards, I was able to get my copy of Northern Lights signed, and I bought a beautiful binding of the trilogy that was signed as well. Instant treasured possessions! Alice and I spent the rest of the day eating waffles, visiting the bench in the Botanic Gardens, and then eating and drinking even more in The Eagle and Child, the pub where the 'inklings' (which JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis were a part of!) met to discuss literature.

I headed straight to my friend Caroline's house once I was back in London, where we chatted, snacked and drank tea until 2.30 am. I spent Sunday relaxing (and sleeping), which was perfect.

On Monday I met my friend Georgia, who I work with, and after a bit of 'which tube stop are you at?!' we wandered through Hampstead Heath till we found Kenwood House. I love historic days out! After staring at all the art we went to a pub down the road (that both Alice and my mom recommended). We only meant to have a drink and dinner, but ended up staying there for 6 hours, and forcing a work friend to join us. A wee bit drunk, we stumbled to the tube to go home.

Another (mini) hangover the next day, when I caught the train home to my mom's house, and that is where I am now. I'm enjoying the chance to raid charity shops for books for my classroom and to sort out the clothes I left here before I moved. It's nice to have some lazy days before I get busy again on Saturday!

Review: Rivers of London and the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch

Although I am (again) in a car I thought I’d write a book review for the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch.

This series is about a young policeman called Peter, who works in Central London. Without any prior exposure to the supernatural world he stumbles into a case involving a ghost in Covent Garden. The series of books follows his continued progression into the supernatural division of Scotland Yard, and his relationships with various people who are a part of this community.

The plot of the books is fast paced, exciting and interesting, but what I love most about it is the combination of humour and serious plot progressions. There are so many references to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings that after each book I could die a happy nerd. What is clear from this series is that the main character (and the author!) is an unabashed fan of all things deemed ‘nerdy’. I loved the Harry Potter references (by Peters cop friend) that Peter should be embarrassed because Dumbledore could drink him under the table, and this type of humour carried on throughout the story. However, serious issues were also addressed. Peter himself is a back Londoner, with parents from Sierra Leone, and there are referrals to the prejudices he faces as a black british man. Because of this I not only found the stories laugh out loud funny, but also engrossing. Throw in the supernatural elements (river Goddesses and Gods, ghosts and the fae) and I was in heaven. There’s also  bit of romance thrown in for those (myself included) who enjoy it, but the love story, whilst benefitting the plot, definitely does not lead the way. Peter is a fun character who you really care about, without having to learn an entire back story about. As a reader I effortlessly fell into the story, taking on his perspective of the story and routing for him. 

In case you hadn't already noticed, the covers of the books are also rather fantastic. They are all maps (of London, except for the final book), and in fact in one of the books I can even see the place I live. The maps are all covered in small labels, with information about the local area. They're really interesting and tell you a lot about the area, which I love.

If you're interested in learning more about the series, check out http://www.the-folly.com/

The first book is called Rivers of London in the UK, and Midnight Riot in the USA.

A Quick Mention

Term is nearly over, which means that soon I will be posting longer, more interesting blogs here. I just wanted to mention how much I love the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch. I've just finished the newest in the series, which came out a few weeks ago. I LOVE THESE BOOKS. Check him out.

Where I've Been

I'm sitting here trying to think of how to make the last few weeks sound exciting. The truth is, they've been pretty busy (both work and at the weekends) but there has been no reason for me not to write something here, apart from complete exhaustion.

On a Sunday evening, after a weekend off, I am still exhausted.

My last post was on Halloween, and I done quite a bit since then.

One weekend, my friends Eleri and Rhiannon came to visit. They didn't actually come to London with the purpose of seeing me; instead they came for the live Welcome to Nightvale session. I used to listen to episodes of the pod series when I did my make up before heading to placement in the summer, but then once I had caught up I forgot to carry on. Even though they didn't come to visit me, I met them before hand at Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherds Bush, where we had dinner and then I shopped (aaah) afterwards. Then they headed to mine afterwards and we stayed up most of the night talking ~retro sleepover vibes~ which I think annoyed my housemate (sorry Claire! I blame very thin walls!). Then the next morning we went for breakfast. Of course, by the time they went it was 3pm and most of my weekend had been spent very pleasantly, but very little to show.

The next weekend I was meant to have a friend visit on the Saturday, but she missed her train and I was ill (/hungover). Then on Sunday I spent the day showing my mom the Poppies at the Tower of London (just in time - most were still there but they were completely gone 24 hours later). Then we did a mini Christmas shop and had dinner in her old haunt (back from her 21 year old nannying days), Covent Garden's Punch and Judy. She left for home at 6pm, and that was another weekend that had been enjoyable (minus the illness) but not really a recovery from the week!

I've also spent many weekends attempting to sort out my room, which is a task that never seems to end. I don't have the right type of storage for some of my belongings (imagine a large plastic box holding all the contents of my desk, and a broken wardrobe with no rail) and to add to that there has been a sudden increase in damp. I have to keep cleaning mould off shoes and a coat, and now there is mildew on my rose fairy lights, and a horrible creeping damp patch near my bed :(

They have been good weekends (apart from the mould) with most Friday evenings spent having drinks in the pub with some of the girls I work with (Lets ignore the night I had too much to drink, on no food since midday, and spent the next day very ill). It's just after a full week of teaching children and planning lessons until 9pm at night at the earliest I wish there was an extra day off every week; especially as at least half a 'day off' is spent planning more lessons.

Halloween in London

Less books, more of a celebration of the weather today in London! It's the last day of October, more than half way through an abnormally mild Autumn (if you count Autumn as September, October and November - I do!) The average Halloween temperature in the UK is somewhere around 13 or 14 degrees celsius, and today it hit 24c!

Anyways, have some random photos of my day in London...

A house in Kensington dressed up for Halloween.

Green Park looking Autumnal.

Buckingham Palace.

Myself at Trafalgar Square.

Big Ben and the London Eye from Westminster Cathedral.

Trafalgar Square!