In Photos: Oh, England.

I'm back! I flew into Seattle on Thursday night, and I must admit, I'm still a little jet legged. I fell asleep at 7:30 last night, woke up at 6am, was up for an hour, then slept till 9:30! My poor internal clock; it's so confused.

Crab apples in Winchester.

My trip was wonderful. Thanks for asking! I really lucked out with the weather. It was incredibly cold, but sunny and mostly dry. I did wake up to a dusting of snow on Tuesday, though.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I lived in England in 2006, and my dad works over there a lot, so it's like a second home. I stayed with my dad in Farnborough and my friend Abi in Basingstoke. I got to see so many wonderful people that I haven't seen in years! My old neighbor Claire took me to the Christmas Market in Winchester (where Jane Austen is buried). It was fun seeing England at Christmas time. I sampled many Christmas puddings and brought back Pimm's to make a Winter Pimm's, which I discovered at a pub in Surrey. It's a hot drink that involves brandy, apple juice, and fruit & spices

The day before I left, I made a trip into London to see my friend Mike. We wandered around Liberty's, which is quite overwhelming; full of so many beautiful things. Afterwards, Mike gave me a little tour of Soho and took me to lunch at Soho Joe. They make great burgers, if you're ever in the area.

Carnaby Street

My only regret is not being able to meet up with my friend Erin over at 365. We've been friends and penpals for more than 10 years, and have yet to meet up in real life. One day, though!

Marmite Christmas lights in Oxford Circus

Now for my next trip, I want to see Iceland for more than a couple hours! It's so beautiful. IcelandAir has an entire music channel for Sigur Ros, so I listened to it as we flew into Reykjavic around sunset. Sigur Ros really is the soundtrack to Iceland. Flying over the frozen plains and spectacular volcanic land-forms, it just made sense.