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Hot Air Balloon Festival

Each October, Albuquerque, New Mexico hosts the largest hot air festival over 750 balloons from around the world. It’s always been on my bucket list so this year my friends and I decided to go for it. After a weary drive through the night, we arrived just in time to watch the mass ascension at sunrise. By 9 am the sky was filled with balloons, decorating the sky vibrant designs and colors. Once the balloons floated away we were able to grab a nap before heading back over to the grounds for the Night Glow events. This time, all balloons stayed grounded while the pilots illuminated the night with their propane burners. Our trip came to a close with triumphant fireworks and some well deserved cocoa.

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Day 30

Day 30: Happy Chinese New Year! London is home to the world’s second largest New Year’s celebration. Makenna and I headed to Chinatown and found it filled with food, fireworks, decor and people. Hopefully we will all prosper in the year of the horse!

Day 29

Day 29: Saturdays are always so exhausting because everyones just itching to travel. This weekend was no exception as we took a day excursion to Canterbury and Dover.

Canterbury is a medieval town known for its beautiful Cathedral, the home of the arch Bishop of England. The church was absolutely stunning with color stained glass windows dating back to the 12th Century! As you can see, I went a litttttle overboard with my pictures.

Next stop was Dover. We visited the Dover castle which sits upon the city on some very steep white cliffs. The city is located at the southern-most tip of England making it the closest port to France (we could even see it across the way). The cliffs home a system of military tunnels which have been strategic tools for the british in both World Wars. Although all the sites were fascinating, the CRAZY strong winds were the most fun!

Day 24

Day 24: One of my roommates had a photo assignment that took us into Camden for the afternoon. Although it was rainy and (very) cold, we still made the most of the day and took some cool photos. We stumbled upon Chin Chin Labs, a liquid nitrogen ice cream bar known for their eccentric flavors. We split a Rhubarb Custard with white chocolate toppings. Mmmmhmmmmm

Day 23

Day 23: Meet Lauren, Jami and Kirby, three of the most delightful people I’ve met so far. They’re exchange students from the States but are studying for a full year and have already been living in London for a few months. They’re always down for a city adventure, silly pictures and to dance like no one’s watching. Most of all they’ve helped show me the ropes to living like a Brit!

Day 22

Day 22: WHAT A DAY! My study abroad program took us on an day trip to Startford-Upon-Avon and Warwick Castle. Although the 7 am start time was mighty intimidating for a Saturday morning, It ended up being a wonderful day!

Stratford-Upon-Avon was William Shakespeare’s residence is the 1500’s. In fact many of his plays are said to be inspired by places in and around the town. As we toured his house there were even actors dressed up, ready to perform Shakespeare on command!

After exploring the town we headed down the road to Warwick Castle. Now, I’ve been to a lot of castles but this one takes the cake as the most medieval AND spookiest. The castle is over 1,000 years old, complete with a moat, dungeon AND princess tower. The spookiest part of the day (and my personal favorite) was going on a ghost tour of the grounds ad learning about some of the castle’s infamous legends.

Day 20

Day 20: While abroad I’m challenging myself to 1) Master my Adobe Creative Suite and 2) finally start a (real) blog. So I set out to Shoreditch, a super trendy borough known for it’s unique street art for some inspiration. Hopefully the 100+ photos I shot will keep me busy on photoshop for a while! Overall, it was a wonderful afternoon with friends filled with adventure, photos and lots of delicious tea.

And don’t worry, Goal #2 is well underway too! Stay tuned 😉