Cashmere Con Panna: Winter Wonderland @ Hyde Park.

Before I knew it, the calendar had fast forwarded and my last week in London came and slapped me in the face.

Not quite so forcefully, but it definitely came out of nowhere.

Being in London for a semester has been the perfect amount of time to become accustomed to London life. Not too little, not too much. See, as much as I've adored my time here, the time has come where I'm finally ready to come on home.

Blame the gobs of holiday lights down Oxford Street or the complete checkout of my brain as far as school is concerned, but I'm just... ready, to go home.

That being said, I'm using this last week to go back and walk through all of my favorite spots, a few of which I've done already.

And surprisingly, some of these last walkthroughs have been some of my favorite experiences whilst being here. They've housed some truly memorable times and I know that my heart will always hold a soft spot for London and all of these little nooks that have welcomed and embraced me as a Londoner.

It truly was a once in a lifetime experience for me to come here and experience all that I had and I most definitely grew exponentially as an individual, learning a lot about myself, others, and living in a different part of the world.

I can't wait to return to the US, eyes newly widened by my time lived in London...

Winter Wonderland

Although this isn't a walkthrough of one of my favorite places, it is located in one of my favorite places and it's altogether a must if you're visiting London during the holidays. Located in Hyde Park (you can't miss it), Winter Wonderland is a holiday extravaganza (that's free) with rides, food, drinks, entertainment, and plenty of shopping.

I was originally meant to go on a date with a fella here, but was unfortunately stood up, so I went instead with Siobhan, which was 1000x better than I could've imagined...

Siobhan and I were most content with waltzing around, enjoying the sights, smells, and people watching, but were enticed by the swings up above. Contemplating on whether or not to go, Michael Buble's It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas suddenly came on and it was a sign. Tokens were purchased and we waited not ten seconds before we were seated next to each other, about to take off.

By far one of the most exhilarating and blissful experiences I've had thus far. There we were, flying over a beautifully lit Hyde Park, angled towards each other holding on to our hats, looking out at London before us, laughing and giggling as we swung over our city.