Pugs n Pubs

The city of small dogs and the English version of a bar

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[pugsandpubs]

March 16th // Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

CAPA’s spring dinner was awesome! We got a three course meal: salad, chicken, vegetables, potatoes, and chocolate fudge cake for two pounds. On top of that my table got third place in the pub quiz. We won chocolate and a 10 pound gift card to Starbucks. I think my trivia knowledge helped us win as I go to trivia every week back in Minnesota. 

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March 14th // Chinese to-go (take away?) 

My roommate Meghan and I heard about this amazing bagel place in Brick Lane. We decided after class ended we were going to go there and get bagels maybe even bring a dozen home. It took almost an hour to get there and to our disappointment they only sold like three types of bagels. Their famous “rainbow bagel” wasn’t there and wouldn’t be until 5 p.m. We ended up buying on plain bagel with cream cheese and traveling all the way to Borough market. There was a Chinese place there my roommate was dying to try. At this point we were starving and tired so we took it to go. The food was well worth the wait and I got to enjoy it in the comfort of my own flat. 

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March 13th // My Old Dutch

ft. Butterscotch pancakes 

Found a place that serves real pancakes and chocolate chip ones to boot! They also had these enormous crepes that were like three times the size of a normal crepe. I may have to revisit it before I leave just for the photo op. 

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March 12th // Stratford-Upon-Avon

I absolutely love Shakespeare so I was glad I got to see his birthplace. However, I already know his background and history of him and his family so I did not enjoy the tour. For once, it was a really nice day outside and I didn’t even need a jacket! Finally a picture without me wearing my leather coat. In the center of the city there were statues of some Shakespeare characters. My friends and I tried our best to recreate them. I think I made a pretty convincing Lady Macbeth. 

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March 12th // Kenilworth Castle

As usual we took really weird pictures. Here we are pretending to be dead at the castle. Emma D. (on the far left) was not a very convincing dead person. 

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March 12th // Kenilworth Castle 

Our program took a day trip to Kenilworth Castle and Stratford. The castle was basically a large historic playground. It belonged to Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth’s supposed lover. I had watched a documentary on her and Mary Queen of Scott two days before this trip. I had no idea it was Dudley’s castle until we were on our way there and the tour guide was talking about its history. 

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March 11th // Selfridges

Found the American food section as Selfridges. I’m slightly offended they don’t have Kraft mac n’ cheese. I also don’t understand why maple syrup isn’t a thing here or pancakes in general. I had to buy golden syrup in the store. It’s just not the same. 

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March 11th // Harrods

I went to Harrods for the first time. It was ginormous and full of ridiculously expensive things. I saw a group of girls dressed exactly like Blaire Waldorf from Gossip Girl. They even had the same headband she was wearing in one of the episodes. I honestly didn’t know people like that existed till I saw them. My favorite part of the store was the actual Harrods section with these giant bears. They were all dressed up as typical London things like the Queen’s guard or a policeman. 

I learned that Harrods used to sell exotic animals like a baby elephant or an alligator. I wished they still did they could have a whole pet store on a floor.

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March 7th // Another day another walking tour

For my detective fiction class today we took a walking tour around London tracing back the history of early detective fiction by looking at places mentioned in their works. 

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March 6th // Budapest

Spent the day trying to chill. We started out by all getting ear piercings at a mall nearby our hostel. I ended up crying from the pain. After that we went the largest thermal bath in Budapest. It was amazing. We all got massages and relaxed in a giant hot tub with a bunch of strangers. It was a much needed relaxing day after the busy week we had. 

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March 5th // Budapest

We rode this little tram thing up and down the side of a large hill where the Buda Castle was located. In the Grand Budapest Hotel movie they have a similar looking tram and I love that movie. I made everyone agree to going on it. 

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March 5th // Budapest

Found a Hungarian dog near Fisherman’s Bastion. It was really working the wind. 

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March 5th // Budapest

Overlooking Pest today. We hiked up to the to Fisherman’s Bastion which was really cool. I tried to take a creative picture. There is another one where I am about to jump out the archway, but that one is passée. My friend thought this picture looked very Game of Thrones-esque. 

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March 4th // Budapest

Not only is Budapest the warmest city we’ve been in, it is also breathtakingly beautiful. I managed to catch the sun set behind the Buda Castle. 

Fun fact: I learned just before coming to Budapest that it is actually two cities: Buda and Pest. We spent most of our time in Pest but once you cross the river you are in Buda. 

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March 4th // Budapest

So far I really enjoy Budapest. The money here is ridiculous just looks like monopoly money.  I love carrying around 28,000 HUFS though. In case you thought a Starbucks in London was expensive check out the prices in Hungary. For only 990 HUFS you can get a tall cappuccino. 

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March 4th // Bratislava 

During a rough bus ride we passed through Bratislava. I managed to capture this picture as we passed over a bridge. Although we didn’t visit Bratislava, we did have to stand outside for 15 minutes waiting to change buses. I’m counting it as one of the countries I’ve been to. 

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