It's a jolly holiday with Tara! ~ my sister comes to London!

This Megan was "as lucky as lucky could be" this past weekend... my older sister came to visit me in London over her long Columbus weekend!  We've been excited for this trip since she booked her flights last April (we Powers girls like to plan ahead), especially since we had so much fun the last time we were abroad together in the summer of 2006 with our high school (we visited Spain, France, and England).  I feel like I really caught the travel bug that summer, no doubt thanks to her.  We grew so much closer exploring those beautiful cities together, and it was great to have the time right before she left for college.  A group of Tara's high school friends also took that trip, and she always made me feel so included even though they were all a few years older than me.  We shared so many laughs and memories on that trip, and it's one that I will never forget.

I couldn't believe Tara's visit was finally here.  It was so great to have a face from home around for a few days, to just talk and explore together, know what the other one was thinking-- no matter where we get together, it always feels like home.  We had such an amazing weekend, and I was sad to have to say goodbye until December, but we'll have a great reunion over my winter break (and yes, we've already started planning all the fun adventures we'll have.  We are planners, we'll admit it!)

But first... for the fun adventures we had this weekend! 


After a Thursday evening red eye out of New York, Tara landed bright and early on Friday morning... and by "bright and early," I mean her plane landed a full hour early, and she had to navigate her own way from the Tube stop and come knock on my apartment door!  We had planned for me to meet her at the Tube stop, but neither of us expected her to make such quick time!  Thankfully, my city-savvy sister found her way to my flat... where I was waiting (still pajama-clad) to knock her down with a hug and almost start crying in excitement. :)

Since I had class later that day, we spent the morning/afternoon close to my class building.  After a quick breakfast, we took a stroll through Kensington Gardens, a private garden of Kensington Palace which sits to the west of Hyde Park.  Besides being a beautiful place to escape the high-paced city atmosphere for a bit and take a walk or jog, Kensington Gardens is also home to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and the famed Peter Pan statue.  We had such a nice, relaxing time just walking through the park, talking and catching up.  We tend to have good walking talks, particularly when we're in a beautiful place and haven't been able to talk beyond short texts or Facebook chats for awhile..  Beautiful, cool, nature-filled Kensington Gardens plus a reunion after six weeks apart?  We're all set!

The river running through beautiful Kensington Gardens.

"I won't grow up!"  The Peter Pan statue!
I will forever be a Lost Boy. <3 SHA Peter Pan '07.

The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in Kensington Park.

The fountain reflects Diana's tumultuous life-- water flows from the highest point in two directions, and it cascades and swirls before meeting in a calm pool at the bottom

Sissy and I split up for the afternoon, and she headed off to explore Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden while I sat through my four-hour advertising class.  Ugh, haha.  But we met up later that evening for an authentic London pub dinner!  We visited a local haunt in my area, the Stanhope Arms, where we filled ourselves with delicious fish and chips and cider.  Hey, when in London, right? ;-)

Fish and chips and mushy peas!  I know, so London.

As delicious as our dinner was (I highly recommend the Stanhope for anyone passing through South Kensington!) I think the highlight of our evening definitely came later at dessert... homemade Nutella crepes, anyone?

I had picked up Nutella at the grocery store just a few days before, knowing my fellow sweets-loving sister would soon be with me.  I mean, you can do so much with Nutella-- spread it on toast, dip pretzels in it, eat it out of the jar with a spoon... there are endless ways to spin it.  So we embarked on an international culinary adventure!

Filling our crepe with aaaall the good stuff.

Folded crepe, browned to perfection!

Our finished products, topped with Cadbury Light Mousse!

Cuppy was super excited, both for Tara's presence and for our dessert!

Mid nomming.  We vanquished those things.

Now a side note: we didn't have actual thin crepes to bake with, so we were creative and used the next best thing in my little cupboard-- whole wheat tortilla wraps!  I know what you're thinking, but they were still delicious!  The wrap made for a bit thicker and chewier taste than a real crepe would have been, but adding extra Nutella softens it out juuuust fine.  For a sweet tooth fix in a pinch, this certainly hit the spot!

Saturday was a day full of magic and markets.  We started the day with a visit to The Muffin Man tea shop, an adorable little cafe just a few blocks away from my flat!  Our mom had read about it in a book, and when she Googled it and saw how close it was to me, she was so excited and insisted that we go!  Hey, it's food and tea-- no need to twist my arm.

Our Saturday morning breakfast spot!

This might be the best scone I have ever had. (This picture is pre-strawberry jelly, haha)

Tara and I shared a lovely little tea cake, as well.  It was delicious and had the consistency of pound cake, with a sweet and slightly lemony taste.  We were fans!

Come on, even the scrambled eggs look pretty.  I felt so fancy with my little greens on top!

Enjoying a lovely cup of tea with my lovely sister!

Behind the counter at The Muffin Man.

After our delicious breakfast, Tara and I set off to explore some local London markets.  We went to Portobello Market, which pretty much offers anything you can think of!  The market stretches down multiple blocks, and includes areas for antiques, fresh cooked hot food, breads and pastries, London souvenirs, clothes, hats, and jewelry.  It was kind of crowded when we first got there, but the swarms seemed to have just bottlenecked in the first area of the market; once we got out of antiques and into the next area with food, things were calmer.

Awesome street guitarist playing near the entrance to the market.

They had fresh crepe stands EVERYWHERE-- it smelled delicious!  These people may make the real things, but Tara and I are far more ingenious, if I do say so myself.

Crates of bread near the fresh bruschetta stands!  However, I really only took this pictures because it reminded me of Arthur Avenue... I miss you, Fordham! <3

Me: "Aww, they're called fairy cakes!"
Tara: "Well, they do look like magic."
Oh, sister, how I've missed you! <3

Afterwards, we hit Borough Market.  This has a similar open-air style that Portobello does, but is much more centralized.  All the shops and stands are pretty much within a huge hall and its outer yard, or down a few nearby side streets.  Borough is also much more of a food market, which was fine with us!  No matter where we were it smelled absolutely amazing, and there was such a cool mix of offerings-- teas, goat's milk ice cream (sorry, not on my list of sampled food), cheeses, baked goods, and olive oils to name a few!  My sister is an amazing cook and baker, so she definitely enjoyed this market!

Crowds at the entrance to Borough Market.

We found and "Applebee's" Restaurant!  Not exaaactly the same as the one in the States, but it still made me think of my Dad (it's one of his favorite restaurants).  I thought he would've gotten a kick out of this!

Now for the past ten years or so, I have been in denial over the fact that my Hogwarts letter never actually came.  Yes, I did have high hopes on my eleventh birthday, and was sincerely crestfallen when I was not met with an owl at my window or Hagrid banging down my front door.  To an extent I've made my peace with it-- my friends at Fordham and I love the university's architecture because it really feels like something out of the Harry Potter books, and visiting Oxford was certainly a great HP-fix.  But part of me still had hopes!  As unrealistic as they may be! ;)
Therefore I was very excited when Tara and I decided to visit King's Cross Station!

"Platform 9 3/4 this way!"

Alright, fiiiiine, I didn't go through the barrier.  I'll grow up now.

Tara and I are both big theatre fans, so that night we also saw a play off-West End called My City.  We both really enjoyed it!  The main character comes across his primary school headmistress sleeping on a park bench, and is taken back to his childhood days of admiration and curiousity as he learns what his former teacher has been doing with her life since he left school.  It's a really interesting story about how you define success, and how not living up to your own expectations of yourself can truly shape your entire outlook on an otherwise successful life.  The show was brilliantly performed, from the acting to the lighting to the scenery-- big votes of approval from Tara and Megan!

It was a sweet Sunday for us sisters in South Kensington!  Tara and I made our long-awaited visit to The Hummingbird Bakery, a popular London cupcake and pastry shop.  It reminds me a bit of NYC's Magnolia Bakery, but it wasn't nearly as crowded during our late morning visit!

Now, back in July for my 20th birthday, Tara gave me such an amazing and thoughtful gift-- my very own "Guide to London Living!"  She consulted a few of her college friends who had studied abroad in London, included her own pearls of wisdom, and brought it all together in a scrapbook of things for me to do and see in London!  Seeing the time and effort she put into the book really touched me, and it was so sweet that her friends were all happy to help!  One of her friends' favorite spots, which was raved about by multiple contributing authors and received two pages all to itself in the book, was Hummingbird.  So off the recommendations of well-qualified sources, and with stomachs that are always in the mood for cupcakes, Tara and I set off to taste it for ourselves-- and we were not disappointed! :-D

Arriving at our Mecca!

Cupcake window displays inside Hummingbird.

Red Velvet for me and Black Bottom for Tara!  Nom!

Ohhh just look at all the frosting!  I was a happy Megan.

Mid cupcake consumption.

I absolutely loved my Red Velvet cupcake!  Normally I'm a little iffy when it comes to Red Velvet-- I've had experiences where the cake has been too dry of a consistency, or the icing has been too tangy and left an aftertaste.  But I figured, with all those positive reviews, I could trust Hummingbird to do it right.  And they certainly did!  The cake was nice and moist, and didn't crumble apart as I was eating it.  The cream cheese frosting had just the right balance of tang and vanilla-y sweet, and went really nicely with the moist red velvet cake-- not to mention there was plenty of it!  Frosting is the best part, right?

Next we hit Harrods!  For the most part we just walked around and window shopped, but certainly had fun doing it!  Harrods already has an entire section of one of its floors dedicated to Christmas decor.  I'm talking sequined Union Jack Christmas tree balls (whiiiich I may be taking a field trip back to Harrods for.  They were just that fabulous!).  We hit a bunch of departments, including fine jewelry (oh yeah, it addition to cupcakes and baking, we like sparklies.  Yes, we are girls.), home furnishings, and London souvenirs-- including this little gem...

Oh yes, Royal Wedding Will and Kate dolls.  If this hadn't been so expensive I so would have bought it for myself!  Though I must say, one detail that bugged me was Kate's little engagement ring-- the little "stone" wasn't even blue!  It looked pink through the box.  Now, I know it's just a doll, but when you're creating a toy-sized version commemorating London's most-watched event of 2011, of one of the most popular couples in London, and of one of the most well known rings in the entire world... you think you might pay a liiiittle closer attention to that detail.  I'm just saying...

Anyway, all that window shopping really famished us... time for a stop in the Harrods ice cream parlor!

The adorable ice cream parlor inside Harrods food hall-- and we even sat at the counter!

Our Sunday sundaes! 
Nutella ice cream with caramel topping for Tara, and Nutella ice cream with brownie pieces for me.

Tara with the cute little sugar bear ice cream topper... who we both devoured in fifteen seconds.  Hey, they had it coming, being so darn delicious-looking and all.

We did some more walking (Harrods is big), and finished off the day with another stop recommended by Tara's friends in my Guide to London Living-- mini macarons at Laduree, a famous Parisian cafe known for its macarons, which happens to have a shop right in Harrods.  My chocolate macaron was delicious; the outer part of it was a bit firm, and the inside had a fudgy brownie-like consistency and taste!  Thumbs up!

It was quite a successful day in Harrods-- Tara and I both had so much fun, from our window shopping to our sweet treats!  We were happy campers, as you can see below...

I <3 Harrods!

After a final Sunday night dinner together, we did some last minute packing and studying back at my apartment (I had finals the next two days... the timing stunk but luckily I didn't feel too stressed about my exams!  I feel I learned a lot during my short time in class, and know my instructors prepared our classes well).  I bid farewell to my dear sister early Monday morning-- she headed off to Heathrow and I continued reviewing for my Marketing Strategy exam later that day.  I miss her so much and it's only been a few days!  I loved just having someone to sit next to on my bed while we both worked on our computers, to share delicious foodie adventures with, and to laugh and talk in the ways that only sisters can.  I wish she could have stayed longer, but I'm so glad we had the long weekend here together!  And I'm looking forward to another great reunion in December, where there will undoubtedly be an abundance of Christmas cookies and catching up to do.  I miss you, Zorra!