Elementary my dear Watson!

In honour (see what I did there?) of the 3rd series of Sherlock finishing up this week, some friends and I made our way to….

That's right. "The name is Sherlock Holmes and the address is 221B Baker Street." (First is me at the subway station, the second is with Abbie Chritiansen on the street.) There is an entire museum dedicated to the character and his author. We didn't have time to go through the line and enjoy it, but many of us plan on going back and spending the  £6 to see it. 

But we did enjoy some of the nifty trinkets in the gift shop…

 Abbie, Jillian, and I are looking for clues.

Because a good detective would need  £8 business cards…

 More outrageously priced trinkets.

Oh, btw: if any of you need to reach me, iMessage works of me here. So does email and FB messages. We could even Skype, google+ or FaceTime, or whatever. Time zones make that tricky, but we can figure it out. I would love to hear from everyone! I already miss home, friends, and family so much!

And as a self brag moment, I got asked for directions in the tube by a local! (The tube is London's underground transportation system--it's like the Floo network in Harry Potter and only slightly less dirty…) So of course, I had to take a stalker picture of her so I can cherish this lovely memory forever.

Time to Destination: 00:00

I’VE BEEN IN LONDON FOR OVER 24 HOURS.

I wont bore you guys with the gory details of my 12 hour journey from my home in rainy Greenville, NC to my new home in rainy London, England. It was long, it was delayed, it was tiresome, and I didn’t get enough sleep. End of story.

My first impression of the area just outside of London was that it looked a lot like eastern NC in the winter: wet, green(ish)...

First photo is me on the shuttle #awkwardselfie... second is a snapchat sent at 7pm London time, 2pm in NC--it had been over 24 hours since I got any real sleep.

Let's just say, I was not the happiest person at the time...my opinion of London has improved dramatically with sleep.

Our apartment: The building we live in is beautiful and is located in one of the more posh parts of London. Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens is right across the street (and yes, someone in our group actually SAW PRINCESS KATE IN THE PARK!) The second picture is to show you how far away Hyde Park is from the front door!

We live by a bunch of embassies. You can see Netherlands's red brick one right next door in the first picture above. We are also near the Republics of Fiji, Algeria, Estonia embassies and some others.

Like I said, this is a really nice neighborhood. Churchill lived here too. Here's his house (Jillian Koonz and Andrew Rich are standing in front). 

And for all you foodies: here is my first meal...

Very English....I know.

BUT my dinner the next day was awesome! We got fish and chips at a place on  Porchester Rd. W2 5DU, just down the street from the library we'll be using. It was so good, I'll probably go there all the time!

First: the restaurant's sign. Second: Christine Davies and Savannah Goodrich with a plate of fish and chips. Third: Christine and Savannah, Ashlyn Allred, Paige Peterson, Audrey Varvel, and me. (I know I'm lookin' a little worse for wear. But I've got a cold, so don't judge too harshly!)

Before that, we had started our classes today (the 8th) and I started The Quest for London's Best Hot Chocolate. 

This place....not good. The hot chocolate was slightly flavored warm milk, but the chocolate croissants were on par!

And if you're wondering if I am experiencing horrible jet lag, here's your answer:

This is me and my (2nd) Ashlyn drinking warm milk at 3am because we woke up...and the second picture is of me realizing I had my pajama pants on backwards all night...and people definitely noticed.

 That's it for now! Much love to my family and friends who I miss sooo much! Thanks for reading! (BTW, my posts probably won't be this long anymore...)

Getting Started

Quick explanation of my blog's name: I needed a URL for this thing and, unfortunately, all the version of my name and "peas porridge" were taken. Lucky for me, Shakespeare created some interesting words I could use, and "madcap" is one of them.

Madcap: (adj) eccentric, surreal; (n) an eccentric person.
It appears in Shakespeare's Love Labours Lost and Henry IV. Maybe more.

Anyway, it does the job.

I apologize for any grammatical errors or anything that offends...more likely than not, I will be writing in the middle of the night and it may all be gibberish.

Special shout out to Eleanor for the fancy header she created, and to the Panorama Streetline 2013 Calendar we stole the picture from!