The Forty-Fifth and Forty-Sixth Days: Housework. The Forty-Seventh Day: Brighton

Monday, March 24 and Tuesday, March 25:

I spent the majority of these days cleaning, doing laundry, catching up on the blog, and packing for our trip to Brighton. More on that later. I also took a walk in Hyde Park, because I do that to get out of the house. It's so close to us, which is awesome.

The 24th was my brother's birthday. (Happy Birthday, Brock!)

The 25th, we ate this for dinner. I wanted to document it because I can't recall anything like it in the states. The grocery stores here offer pre-made (but not frozen) meals for two. The ingredients are all fresh, so they only stay good for a couple days. This one had onion bhajis for an appetizer, chicken korma and chicken tikka masala, and sides of coriander rice and naan bread. For £8! Such a good deal. Especially because there's enough curry and rice to save for lunch the next day. Love these. I'll miss them when we go home.

Tony (I know you're reading this), Chris says you make awesome curry. I'm going to need you to teach me that when we're not in London, and you're not in Oregon, okay?

Wednesday, March 26

Today, we took a train down to Brighton for the UCISA Conference. Brighton is a little seaside resort town about an hour south of London, and it's where Aunt Jill and Uncle Bob live! (Tony is Chris's dad, Jill is Tony's sister.) We'd be staying until Sunday, so I was excited to be able to spend time with them and learn more about the Weddicks! Bob and Jill had booked a holiday in Fuerteventura, and weren't going to be back until Friday night, so I had a few days to explore Brighton on my own.

So! We got to Brighton and checked into our hotel, and Chris left for the conference. I grabbed my camera and walked across the street to the pier! There's this small amusement park right over the ocean. My fear of heights/drowning kicked in because you can see right through the wooden slats down to the ocean below. Terrifying. But I forced myself to walk on it anyway.

Couldn't believe these guys were surfing. It was so stormy and cold! 

Shark! Oh wait, those are clouds.
Also, that's the remains of West Pier. It burned down in 2003. 

The beaches are so pebbly here. Definitely not as cozy to lay on as the sandy beaches in St. Maarten. 

View of the city from the pier. 

Because it was wintertime on a weekday morning, no one was riding the rides.
And it felt abandoned. And abandoned amusement parks are scary. 

Brighton Wheel. Not to be confused with the London Eye.

YOU GUYS. This bird.
Okay, there were some teenage girls I walked by on the pier, and one of them said "Come on, you guys, it's just a bird. It's not going to poop on me. You guys are chickens." And she posed ever-so-adorably hugging onto this lamp-post, waiting for a picture to be taken. And this seagull pooped right on her head. And her friends were laughing so hard, they couldn't even pull themselves off the ground to help her.
And I laughed right out loud.
 Should've taken her photo, but I didn't want to embarrass the poor thing any further.

Mushy peas sound like the worst thing. 

That night, I walked over to the Royal Pavilion. This palace is so weird, guys. I'll do another post about when I went inside, but look at this Indian inspired exterior for just a second. 

(Fotofly people: I didn't bring a tripod, so my shutter speed couldn't be too slow. I had to bump my ISO way high. Sorry they're so grainy. Just deal with it.)

Then I sauntered back to the hotel, making sure to pass The Wheel on my way. 

Cheers!
Kami & Chris, the Pseudo-Londoners

The Forty-Fourth Day: Natural History Museum

Sunday, March 23: 

Went back to the Natural History Museum today, to finish the whole thing. The last time we were here was within our first week. It's high time we saw dinosaurs. Not going to lie, being Brock's little sister makes seeing museum exhibits real disappointing. We're dinosaur elitists 'round these parts. 

The main hall was so overcrowded, so we decided to start at the top floor and work our way down.

#elevatorselfie

Stepping out of the elevator, you see this: 

So it's pretty much official that I love this building more than I can explain. 

Amazing.

All these people, so blissfully ignorant about how lame that Diplodocus cast is. 

Now this was cool, because it's an actual fossil. And a pretty impressive one at that.
 "Archaeopteryx is the earliest known bird and the Natural History Museum cares for the first skeleton specimen ever found. This spectacular fossil helped prove that modern birds evolved from dinosaurs and was the first example providing support for Darwin's theory of evolution. It is the most valuable fossil in the Museum's collection."

The crowning glory of the Dinosaur Exhibit is this robot Tyrannosaur, which was actually pretty cool.

We then went to The Cocoon, which is where they store the museum archives, and you can see museum scientists doing research, etc. It was cool, except we were there on Sunday, which meant no scientists were working. Next time. The building is an awesome seven stories, though. 

Chris sneakily snapped this of me when I turned around to look at him.
Also, I'm pretty sure those are the Hogwarts Magical Shifting Staircases. 

Then I started taking pictures of the stuffed animals. Some because they're awesome, some because they're absolutely ridiculous.

Those were all awesome. 

This guy. Ridiculous.

"Oh HAAAAAAAY GUYS! I'm just a happy baby hippo!" Ridiculous. 

This face! Those eyes! Why does it make me laugh so hard?! Ridiculous.

What happens if those top two horns just keep growing into his head?!

HA!! I can't see this picture without laughing. Ridiculous.

Things like this make me miss being in Africa.
Kruger Safaris kind of ruin museum/zoo exhibits for the rest of time. 

Giraffes look so beautiful in profile, and so goofy from the front.

SURPRISE!

If I ever see a blue whale in the ocean, I will probably pee my pants. Sheer terror. Too huge.

Bahaha. Smiley little guy. 

WHAT EVEN IS THIS?! Ridiculous.

I want this as a pet.

THIS! This anteater! His little curly body! So ridiculous. 

Oh man. If sloths aren't the most ridiculous thing...

Okay, I'm actually kind of terrified of armadillos. Those claws. Yipes. 

OH HIS SPINDLY, SPINDLY LEGS! Jerboa. You kill me. 

Oh my gosh. This shrew. His nose. Why is it?!

Oh hey, handsome. Be my best friend, 'kay?

This bear looks less terrifying and more like he wants a high-five. "Up top!"

Obviously I got a little silly. I just can't help it. The expressions on these animals were cracking me up. Then, we found fun-house mirrors. Hilarity ensued. 

What a day, guys. What a day. 

Cheers!

Kami & Chris, the Pseudo-Londoners