You Learn Something New Everyday v.2 (World Cup Edition)

I'm not going to pretend I care that much about soccer. I was an alternate girl for a intramural team in college for two semesters (read: they just needed girls to run around the field). I appreciate it because it's the world's game and I think it's beautiful how entire countries come together for these teams! I also love going to games in real life (I've been to a Fullham game and a FC Barcelona game) because the atmosphere is the best! 

That being said, I probably watched a combined 20 minutes of the World Cup this year..... but that doesn't mean I'm not fascinated by the tournament itself, even if I don't want to watch every minute of overtime.

1 - Red Cards
The Red Card was born in 1966 when the World Cup was held in England, and the match was England vs. Argentina, and the ref was German. Questioning a play, an Argentine player (speaking Spanish) was questioning a play, but because of language barriers, was thrown out of the game. The word "off" was supposed to be universal for "cool your jets or you're out of here", but it was getting lost in translation still. At a stop light later on, a man named Ken Aston decided to take a cue from the traffic ref, the lights - "yellow, take it easy; red, stop, you're off". And so the cards were born. They were first used in 1970 at the World Cup in Mexico.


2 - The Official Language of the World Cup
There is no official language of the world cup. They use basic English when they can (yes, no, foul, offside, etc), but other than that, they use red/yellow cards & signals (corner kick, throw in, etc) - and they aren't required to explain their decisions any more than those signals.


3 - What is FIFA anyway?
FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or International Federation of Association Football in English. I'm glad we cleared that up.


4 - Most Wins
Brazil has won the World Cup 5 times, but they are also the only team to have qualified for every single World Cup! The Netherlands have been Runners Up 3 times, but never won! I feel for them. Germany has 'placed' the most, with 4 wins and 4 runner's up titles. 

5 - 1939-1949, no World Cup tournament

With WWII, the canceled the 1942 & 1946 World Cups. With so much of Europe in ruins from the war, FIFA decided to accept Brazil's bid to host. It was the first World Cup that wasn't hosted in Europe. 

Just a few facts about the World's Game that you might enjoy. Soccer fans, i'll see you again in 4 years. Congrats, Germany on the triumphant win!

xo

Wanderlust Wednesday: London in the Fall

Hands down - my favorite season + place go hand in hand, with the winning combo of London in the Fall. It is SO pretty, and SO festive, and it stays fall weather for MONTHS! Part of my love for it could come from living there for two falls.... and visiting a handful of other Fall's. I'm addicted! I can't help it.

Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea

Kings Rd, Chelsea, SW3

Southbank.

St James Park

Regent's Park

Regent's Park

Me and the Thames, a few Fall's ago. 

So true. Especially in chilly temps!

Hyde Park

Chelsea, down by the Thames

Kensington Gardens

I swear there is something about it that makes the light look like sunset all the time. Perfect amount of coziness. PLUS, around this time of year (beginning of November), all of the different areas of town start to decorate and light the streets up with Christmas decor. It's the best!

Regent Street, W1

St Christopher's, W1

South Kengsington, SW2

Sloane Square, Chelsea, SW3

Sloane Square, Chelsea, SW3

Covent Garden, W4

Not to mention all of the Christmas markets, Guy Fawkes day and all of the shops decorating their windows to be festive! If you have the chance, November is the best time to visit London.... it's pure magic. I'm always extra nostalgic for London in the fall months.... it's just not the same anywhere else.

Have you been to London in the fall? Or London in general? Do you love it as much as i do? :)

xo

Wanderlust Wednesday: Hampton Court

As most of you know, i spent 10 days in the UK about a week ago. And my initial thought was to do this weeks post on none other than London itself, but i thought i'd save that for a rainy day. Because i could always write about London. This is slightly outside the London box, but not too far removed.


When I'm in London I want to squeeze every little moment out of this city while it's still in reach, but i always end up deciding it would be nice to see more of England and expand my horizons. I've been to a handful of other places on the country side (Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Dover, Brighton, etc... Those are for another blog day) and this week I decided to escape the city for a few hours and travel to Hampton Court for the afternoon.

Castle parking?

Just 12 miles, aka 30 minutes on the train and a few ££s later, I was in picturesque Surrey, the county just outside of London. Technically, it is still in Greater London, in an area called Richmond Upon Thames, but you wouldn't dream that a city was anywhere around. As soon as I stepped off the train, there was the Thames river... With a royal palace on the other side.

This is the actual view from the train station. No joke.

Hampton Court Palace hasn't had royalty living there in almost 250 years, and was built by Henry VIII (but who knows which wife he lived with there) and massively expanded by William III to be a rival to Versailles palace in Paris. Hampton Court Palace is only one of two (the other being St James Place in Central London) palaces owned by Henry VIII that still exist.

The Palace

The palace grounds are full of trees, gardens, and lush lush grass. It's still very cold here, but they've planted purple and yellow flowers to beckon spring to arrive. The paths wander sound the entire property Until you arrive at a old fashioned maze - yes, a maze!! - made of beautiful, tall, perfectly manicured hedges, and passage ways that measure over .5 miles in distance. Say what you want, but that's awesome.

One of the walls in the small garden. Amazing.

What the maze looks like!

Gorgeous :)

The flowers are blooming... even though it was freezing.

No idea what these are, but they're pretty!

Secret Garden?

I actually was there on the perfect day - it was pretty cold (as it had been that entire week) for February, but it was extremely sunny and the entire property had a glow to it. The Gardens are vast and go all the way until the river, which is usually covered with regatta boats and people rowing crew. As it was lunch time, there were park benches everywhere, covered with people enjoying their lunch in the sun, trying their hardest not to feed all of the ducks and geese that line the river side.

I didn't go into the castle, because they are typically similar, and usually don't have much inside except history placards (but don't get me wrong - I love those), so I figured I'd save my money for something new.

The rest of my afternoon was spent wandering the high street and finding a cozy cafe run by two sisters from Poland. It was called Five at the Bridge... And was the fifth door on the street opposite the bridge that lead you to the palace gates. After two perfect cups of tea I was finally warm, and ready to venture back to the city.

I love these kinds of mugs... but they wouldnt sell one to me!

I'm set for the day!

Hampton court was perfect for a day trip... Beautiful and removed from the hustle and bustle of he city, but really cute and fast to get to.

Thanks Surrey :)