Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Scotland
Amy, Sarah, and I went to Scotland for two days. We took a night bus there and back, meaning the bus left London at 11:00 PM (ish), drove the 9 hours to Scotland, and arrived at about 8 AM. This meant we could sleep on the bus the whole way and then wake up and magically be in Scotland. This would be great if I could have gotten good sleep on the bus. I drifted in and out and it was really annoying. Put me on a bus tour of something interesting during the day and I can't stay awake. Put me on a dark bus at night -- can't sleep. Fantastic. It wasn't too bad, I definitely slept, just wasn't feeling super perky the next day. I had to sit next to someone I didn't know (we all did, the bus was full), but she was really nice, a young woman living in Edinburgh, moving to London (she had just been there to look for a flat and now was heading back). She had studied in Edinburgh for four years and is originally from Sweden. She was very nice and interesting to talk to.
DAY ONE
EDINBURGH
J.K Rowling lives there. I did not see her. We started by finding our hostel right away which was quite a bit farther away than we thought. We were only staying there one night, so it didn't really matter. The hostel used to be a church which was kind of cool because that meant all the windows were stained glass. After dropping off our bags we went into the heart of the city. There are two parts to Edinburgh, new town and old town. We were pretty much only in old town because it is cooler. We went to Calton Hill, a park that overlooks the city. Edinburgh is a nice city that doesn't really feel like a city to me. It feels small and more personable. There are random people wearing kilts. We saw street performers that played these sweet huge drums and bagpipes. We stopped in a cemetary and saw where David Hume was buried. We went into some cathedral on the Royal Mile that was pretty and had a no photography policy which nobody followed. We ate a lunch/snack at a little cafe that really wasn't anything amazing on the Royal Mile. Then, we visited Edinburgh Castle. It was really cool, but not how you would picture an actual castle, more like a bunch of old buildings on top of a hill enclosed by a wall. We went on a guided tour and saw the Scottish crown jewels - not as impressive as the crown jewels in the Tower of London.
We wandered to the National Museum of Scotland. We only had an hour or so before it closed so we just hoofed it to Dolly the sheep (ha ha, I am SO funny). She is stuffed and rotates in a square glass case. Pretty sweet. In her room there are many interactive exhibits that are probably meant for children, and this is where we spent the hour we had. It was really fun, playing cloning games and such. After that, we went to the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter! (Probably just the first book, because after that everyone would just stalk her and I don't see how she'd get work done. In fact, she probably doesn't even go there anymore now that they've slapped 'The Birthplace of Harry Potter' all over themselves ... hope she didn't like it that much.) The food was pretty good, and I got a hot chocolate called 'Fleur's Fantasy', surprisingly, I believe it was the only Harry Potter named thing on the menu.
Afterwards, we went to Mary King's Close. I don't really know how to explain it well, so I will steal the description from their very own website: "The Real Mary King’s Close consists of a number of closes which were originally narrow streets with houses on either side, stretching up to seven storeys high. In 1753, the Burgh Council decided to develop a new building on this site, the Royal Exchange (now the City Chambers). The houses at the top of the closes were knocked down and part of the lower sections were kept and used as the foundations for the Royal Exchange. The remnants of the closes were left beneath the building, dark and ancient dwellings steeped in mystery." A close is just a narrow street/alleyway. It was really cool, we got to go down and see what the city used to be like. They are said to be haunted, and they keep a spooky mysterious mood, as they don't use very much lighting. We got to go in several old houses and it was definitely worth doing. The guides all dress up as a person that lived during that time and stay in character throughout the tour. (http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/).Then we went and got a delicious deep fried Mars bar. It looked disgusting, but tasted good. It was getting late so we slowly wandered our way back to our hostel and went to sleep.
DAY 2
HIGHLANDS AND LOCH NESS
Our Highlands tour left from Edinburgh at 8:00 AM, so we had to wake up really early in order to be there on time. It was raining during our long walk. ew. We got on our bus, which was more like a 'mini coach', so like a coach bus, but is half the size and fits half the people. Amy and I both like to sit by the window, and Sarah likes the aisle, so we went to the back of the bus where there are 5 seats in a row, Amy and I both got a window that way. Another girl sat next to me, she was from Spain, but studying in Dublin. She said she really didn't like Dublin that much.
This tour was 12 hours long. (http://www.heartofscotlandtours.co.uk/lochness.php?prod=Tour-1) But it didn't feel like it at all. We stopped a lot, and it's really the only way to see the highlands unless you drive yourself. Our guide told us Scottish legends along the way and when she was talking she played us traditional Scottish music, it was really cool to be listening to music that is inspired by the countryside you are currently seeing. We stopped for a coffee break on the way, and got to see Hamish, a highland cow! He was sooooooo cute. Highland cows have hair in front of their eyes, like bangs (or fringe if you're British) to keep out the elements and also making them extremely adorable. The mid point of our trip was Loch Ness. We took a boat tour, and did, in fact, see Nessie (see photo). Loch Ness is huge. It is 23 miles long and extremely deep. The water is super dark because of the peat found all over Scotland, it has a dark oil to it, and seeps into the water, making it murky. If you took all of the water out of Loch Ness, you could not refill it with all of the water in all of the UK. It is that big. I can see how Nessie is hard to find. There's not much else to say about the highlands except that they are absolutely gorgeous. I can't really describe it, I'll let the pictures do the talking. 
We got back from the tour at about 8 PM and wandered around until our bus at 10 PM ish. We arrived in London at 7:30 AM, it was a fantastic trip! Here is a link to the facebook album of my pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2108888&l=9c4c0&id=73405745
Monday, May 19, 2008
Ireland
Wow, it's been almost a month since I last posted. Oops. I've been busy. Lots of homework and stuff to finish for the semester. This post will be all about Ireland, and a little later you will get a post about every thing else, and after that, a different post about Scotland!! I've decided from here on out I'm only going to spend money on trips and musicals - it should be fantastic.
For Ireland we got a really good flight deal - 2p for round trip! But then they charge you to check-in at the airport (there is a free online check-in, but you have to be part of the EU) So my total round trip ticket cost 12 pounds - not bad at all! We stayed in the south/southwest area of Ireland, we didn't go to Dublin. I went with Amy and Brit, we are all from Wisconsin, so it was a 'Wisconsin takes on Ireland' trip.
We flew into Cork, and had an early morning flight, so when we landed we had the whole day pretty much ahead of us. We didn't stay in Cork the first day, we went right to Killarney and explored the small city. It is in County Kerry, and close to two western peninsulas. It was my favorite city, very small and cute, and felt quite Irish. We walked around, went into a church, and then walked through a national park to get to a castle. This castle was called Ross Castle, and it was very pretty. We took a tour of it, it was really small and only really had one tower. On our way back to our hostel we saw a bunch of deer in a field, they look different from our deer. There are mountains around this region as well. Later that night we went to a pub that had live Irish music, it was fantastic. I love Irish music.
There were two tours we could have gone on to see a peninsula (one for each peninsula), one was called the Ring of Kerry tour, and the other was for Dingle Peninsula. We had wanted to go on the Dingle one, because we heard that it was less touristy, more beautiful, plus, in one of the bays there is a resident dolphin. However, not enough people wanted to go on the Dingle tour (they only do it if there is a certain amount) so we went on the Ring of Kerry one. It was really pretty. Definitely a long time on a bus ( I don't even remember how long - 5 or 6 hours), but worth it. We saw lots of mountains and small towns and beautiful countryside. At one stop, there was a man there with three baby goats and a baby lamb which you could hold and take pictures with - SO cute! I love baby sheep. There are so many sheep there.
After the tour, we took the bus to Limerick, and then from Limerick to Lisdoonvarna. We had a hostel there and our only purpose for going was to see the Cliffs of Moher. We actually went to some smaller town first because that was the only place the bus went at the time of night we arrived, and we had to get a taxi to take us to the hostel. Also in our taxi were four elderly Irish women, they were going to Sheila's house and were quite friendly/giggly and seemed to know the taxi driver. We got a later start than we had wanted the next day, but booked it over to the cliffs. We actually didn't have much time on the cliffs because we had to catch a bus, but they were gorgeous. We then took the bus all the way to Cork. Looking back, it kinda feels like we wasted a day just on bus travel for only 20 minutes or so at the cliffs. But honestly, they were really cool and I'm glad I got to see them.
Upon arrival in Cork, we found our hostel right away (with a little bit of difficulty) and then set out to explore the city. I liked Cork, but there was nothing amazing about it and I liked Kilarney better for it's smallness. We found a pizza place to eat at for dinner which was decent. We met a French guy who we played cards with. The next day we went to nearby Blarney to see Blarney Castle (10 mins away from Cork). We walked all through the castle to get up to kiss the Blarney Stone. (http://www.blarneycastle.ie/) It is said that if you kiss the stone, you will get the gift of eloquence. Very famous people have kissed it, such as Winston Churchill. So yeah, I kissed a stone that Winston kissed. Be jealous. It was scary kissing the stone because you kind of have to flip upside down and some old Irish man holds on to you, while you hold on to these poles. you feel like you are going to tumble out of the castle, because it is quite high. After the stone kissing we were newly eloquent and walked around some gardens and stuff the castle had. We went into this cave where I bumped my head really hard. The garden area (called Rock Close) was really cool and had some neat rock formations, like a witches kitchen. There were also wishing steps, and if you closed your eyes and walked up and down the stairs (backwards one way), you will have your wish granted within a year. I'll let you all know if I got my wish next year. The rocks inspired us to take some jumping pictures with umbrellas and we had a lot of fun with it. We did some souvenir shopping before returning to Cork, and also ate at a place for lunch, I had mashed potatoes with beef.
Back in Cork, we walked around again and found this really neat church, but we could not go inside because there was a service. Later we found a diner and ate dinner at it, it was quite good, we weren't starving, so we just got some garlic cheese fries to share and milkshakes.
We had to wake up really early to catch our flight the next day. We had really good luck with all of our hostels, the people were always really nice and we had no problems. I loved going to Ireland. They have a really good bus system and the people, music, culture, and countryside is lovely.
It's also a strange feeling to have London feel so familiar and like home. Arriving back it's just a relief to know exactly what you're doing and how to get where you want to go.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Long Awaited Post
Okay, so it’s been awhile since I’ve updated …. This will be a long post, but you all deserve it.
JEFF GOLDBLUM AND KEVIN SPACEY
Yeah, I saw them … on stage … together. It was fantastic. The play they are in together is called ‘Speed the Plow’ (http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=38). I honestly don’t know if I’d like the play if they weren’t in it, but they were, so I enjoyed it. They acted so well off of each other and both were amazing. Jeff Goldblum is so tall and lanky! Kevin Spacey is the owner of the theater it was at (The Old Vic), and we heard that he sometimes likes to go to the bar in the basement of the theater after performances … so we waited around there afterwards, but he never came. We’re going to go back to the theater after a different performance and chill outside the stage door to see if we can get their autographs… and pictures with them. Because if I could get a picture with Jeff Goldblum, I would be happy forever.
JEFF GOLDBLUM AND KEVIN SPACEY
Yeah, I saw them … on stage … together. It was fantastic. The play they are in together is called ‘Speed the Plow’ (http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=38). I honestly don’t know if I’d like the play if they weren’t in it, but they were, so I enjoyed it. They acted so well off of each other and both were amazing. Jeff Goldblum is so tall and lanky! Kevin Spacey is the owner of the theater it was at (The Old Vic), and we heard that he sometimes likes to go to the bar in the basement of the theater after performances … so we waited around there afterwards, but he never came. We’re going to go back to the theater after a different performance and chill outside the stage door to see if we can get their autographs… and pictures with them. Because if I could get a picture with Jeff Goldblum, I would be happy forever.
BLOOD BROTHERS
We decided to see a musical one day and wanted to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. There was only one ticket left for the show, so we decided to see the musical Blood Brothers. I had heard it was good. And it was good (http://www.kenwright.com/default.asp?contentID=643). It’s a story about twins who were separated at birth, but their paths cross throughout life. It takes place in Liverpool. The music was really good, and at times you could tell it was a musical from the 80s. Also, the narrator was really creepy and reminded me at times of Dwight from The Office. Previously to seeing the musical, we saw a man get hit by a bus. He was uninjured, just got hit by the front corner of it, and it knocked him backwards onto the ground. We heard a loud crack and thought the worst, but it was just part of his camera that broke (his nice Nikon camera). He stayed on the ground awhile; he must have just been in shock. The bus driver got out to see if he was okay and the man didn’t really respond (he was Asian, he might not have known much English), so then the bus driver got mad and yelled at him for running out in the road (it was his fault). It was scary and I’m glad he’s okay.
BOROUGH MARKET
Amy took us to Borough Market awhile back. It is a food market by London Bridge. There is so much food there! I bought some yummy bread and the best apple juice in the world. I also got lunch there, a delicious grilled cheese type sandwich (with other stuff inside). I like the market a lot. It’s a good place to go for fresh fruits as well (and free samples!)
GEORGE CLOONEY
One Tuesday afternoon we decided to go to the premiere of the movie Leatherheads (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379865/). Tickets for premieres are verrrry expensive, but you can go stand on the side of the red carpet and watch all the celebrities arrive for free, you just have to get there a couple of hours early for a good spot :). We had front row spots and got George Clooney’s autograph as well as some good pictures of him! (pictures are on facebook). Renee Zellweger was also there, but I did not get her autograph or a very good picture of her, because her publicist made her go inside before she got to my section of people. It was really cold outside, and she was wearing a little dress and must have been freezing! George was sooo nice, talking to everyone, and he was trying to sign something for everyone. I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing George Clooney. He is a very handsome man, and very tan.
MILAN, ITALY
Louise, Daniel, Zoe, and I went to Milan, fashion capital of the world. We were there for three days. The first two days we were in Milan (aka Milano), and the last day we went up to a lake region. Milan is not the prettiest city and I would not want to live there. It is definitely a city you can see in two days. We walked along the big shopping streets with all the big designers (Prada, Armani, Gucci, etc). We saw the Duomo, the second largest Gothic cathedral in the world (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/milan-duomo.htm). It was huge and gorgeous. There were people there who would shove corn in your hands and make the pigeons eat it out of your hand and then demand 10 euros. We didn’t pay them … they were pushy and mean. We went to a few museums, a lot of which had religious based art. We also went to a Leonardo Da Vinci Museum of science and technology. It had a lot of models of his inventions. We ate pizza and pasta, and had a lot of gelato. Our hostel was great, the people who worked there were really nice to us and always willing to give suggestions or directions. I don’t like Milan’s metro. It made me miss the tube. It didn’t seem as organized or welcoming.
The third day we went to a lake region about an hour north of Milan on the Swiss Border. The lake is called Lago di Como, and the town we went to was called Como. It was very pretty and felt more like Italy to me. We went on a ferry on the lake, so we got really good views of the gorgeous mountains and other lakeside towns. We went to a town called Bellagio (our favorite – very beautiful) and we saw the beginning of the Alps. It was really cold on the boat (there was an indoors, but it was still cold). When we got to the last town to get the train back to Milan, it was pouring rain. It sucked, but at least we got the bulk of our day and sightseeing done before the rain. The day by the lake was my favorite day of the trip – it was so pretty.
CHARLIE COX
Last Wednesday we saw a play called The Lover/ The Collection (a double bill). Much to my surprise, an actor I quite like named Charlie Cox was in the play. He was in Casanova and he was also the main character (Tristan) in one of my favorite movies, Stardust (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486655/). Now, I knew that the actor in Stardust’s name was Charlie Cox, and I had seen the posters for this play with the name Charlie Cox on it, but for some reason I had never put the two together, so I pretty much freaked out when he came out on stage. I really enjoyed the plays, and watching Charlie on stage, he was brilliant. All the actors were brilliant actually. Afterwards, Brit, Sarah, and I decided to go by the stage door to see if they would come out to sign autographs. And they did!!! I got my program signed by three of the four actors in the play and we got a picture with Charlie!!! Brit and I were so star struck/excited that we were shaking. You may be asking yourself, ‘how come you didn’t have this reaction when you saw George Clooney?’ And I will answer you by saying that this situation was completely different. George walks by tons of people just signing his name anywhere and everywhere, and he’s gone in 2 seconds and people are screaming and pushing you and you’ve been waiting to see him for hours. For Charlie, we just watched him in a play, then walk around the block where there are only 5 other people waiting outside, and you have to actually walk up to him and talk to him and ask for a picture and such. It’s pretty surreal. I only had my Star Wars pen on me for him to sign with, and he made a comment about it. He was so nice, and made sure everyone had gotten what they wanted from him and made sure our picture looked good and everything before he left. He was so cute and has the greatest smile!! In a perfect world he would have asked us to join him for dinner, but that didn’t happen (lol). Whenever I look at the photo I get immediately happy. I’m such a nerd but it was a great encounter. Now hopefully the same will happen with Jeff and Kevin.
Tomorrow or the next day I’ll post about my Ireland trip (just got back this morning!)
:)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Everything the fam and I did ...
Here is everything that the family and I did while they were here. There may be some slight repeats from the last post, but hopefully you will find this post full of more information. I don't feel like being formal, so yay to lists!!
THURS
-Met family at about 12:30pm. Got London Passes, which allows us to get into certain attractions for free (not really free, we paid for the passes... but it's a good deal)
-Went to their hotel, a bed and breakfast by King's Cross. It was really small, but good enough.
-We ate a pub called The Rocket.
-We went to see Nido.
-Saw Platform 9 3/4. Did not get into Hogwarts.
-Went to Lillywhites and bought a lot of cheap clothing.
-Walked around Piccadilly, China Town, Leicester Square, and Covent Garden (night)
-Our dinner was just a McDonald's McFlurry, but they were Cadbury cream egg!!
-sleepy time
FRI
-drizzly and cold weather, the fam decided to bring the crappy Wisconsin weather with them.
-Tried to go to St.Paul's, but it was Good Friday, so we couldn't go in unless we wanted to pray.
-walked across Millenium Bridge to Tate Modern, saw some Picasso, Matisse, Jackson Pollack, Monet, etc.
-Shakespeare's Globe, took a tour
-ate at Pizza Express for a late lunch
-walked along the South Bank, saw the Golden Hinde (http://www.goldenhinde.org/)
-Went to the Britain at War Museum. It was interesting, we're glad we got in with our passes, because it was not worth the 9 pounds they were charging. (http://www.britainatwar.co.uk/page1.html)
-HMS Belfast. It was really sweet, we got to climb all through the ship, even into the engine rooms and such. It hailed while we were below deck .... (http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.3188)
-Went to Tottenham Court Road to look for somewhere to eat (like Harry Potter!), but ended up going down a different road and finding Ed's Diner, where we had burgers, and Kirsten had a shake.
-We picked up some free stuffed animal bears (free with our pass) at a gift shop in Piccadilly.
-walked around a mall thing in Piccadilly
-went back to hotel, bought some candy bars.
SAT
-Banqueting House. Charles I was executed here.
-were walking around Scotland Yard (I think) and these horses popped out of nowhere and scared us, Dad was the only one who saw them coming.
-took the train to Hampton Court, where Henry VIII lived. We ate lunch at a little cafe near there. There was a freak blizzard while we were there, and we also saw Henry VIII himself as well as Anne Boleyn (aka actors, but don't tell that to Kirsten)
-Ate at Nando's, a chicken restaurant for dinner. I thought it was delicious.
-We went to Leicester Square, we were maybe going to see a cheap comedy show but decided not to. Then we walked to Piccadilly because Dad wanted a cheap hat (b/c it had been so cold) from Lillywhites, but it wasn't open, so we just went back and bought more Cadbury candy bars.
SUN
-It snowed all morning. EW.
-Cabinet War Rooms and Winston Churchill Museum, very interesting, lots of information. (http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/)
-ate lunch at a place called Dino's, got average pizzas, and apparently the last two pizzas, because the kid at the table next to us wanted pizza, but the waitress told him they were out. So basically, we made little Jack cry.
-Took a tour of Royal Albert Hall. An Islamic festival was taking place there that evening, so they were practicing and it was sweet. (http://www.royalalberthall.com/) They have had many famous performances here, and the Queen even had her own box and secret staircase.
-With our London Pass we got into four different movie theaters for free, so we saw 'Garage', an independent Irish film about a simple man who works at a garage.
-We ate dinner at McDonalds, it was close and cheap.
-We went to Canary Wharf (http://www.canarywharf.com/mainfrm1.asp), which doesn't feel like London at all because it is all newer buildings and stuff. Nothing was open, we just walked around.
-We then walked around the Angel area (area just north of where I live, there's lots of shopping and stuff there) and then walked back the the King's Cross area)
MON
-Victoria and Albert Museum, there is so much stuff here, it's overwhelming, we only covered one floor. (http://www.vam.ac.uk/)
-Ate lunch at a decent pizza place, but the service was realllllly slow. Afterwards we got Ben's Cookies, the best cookies in the universe.
-British Museum. Always interesting.
-dinner at Eddie's, a little place near King's Cross, Mom and Dad finally had the type of fish and chips they wanted.
-Les Miserables. Amazing, amazing, AMAZING!! I loved it, can you tell? Mom and I both cried. It was so good. Have been listening to the soundtrack ever since.
TUES
-St.Paul's Cathedral, we climbed all 530 steps to the top to see spectacular views (http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerID=26860QFKSv07X4ap3dTTDoGLBaIYdHaE)
-Tower of London, ate lunch at a crappy place with spongy chicken nearby.
-Camden Market
-Lillywhites, Dad finally got his hat!! for only 99 pence!
-dinner, we split up, Kirsten and I had paninis (she had a croissant sandwich) at a place called Ciao, Mom and Dad had some Chinese buffet.
-movie called 'The Edge of Heaven', about .... the plot is pretty complicated, it involves Germany and Turkey, if you want to know more about it, look it up. lol.
WED
-breakfast = muffins from Costa. Walked to Euston Station. Kirsten got a liter of chocolate milk at Marks and Spencers ... it was the only size they had and she really wanted chocolate milk ... she drank the whole thing before lunch...
-Kensington Palace, it was cool, but mostly focused on Princess Diana, Queen Victoria also grew up there.
-walked through Kensington Gardens, saw lots of swans. Saw Peter Pan statue.
-lunch = pasties in Covent Garden, they were yummy, Kirsten liked to feed the pigeons. We saw some performers.
-National Portrait Gallery, we also saw the special exhibition of Vanity Fair Portraits. (http://www.npg.org.uk/vanityfair/index.htm)
-National Gallery, we saw works by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Da Vinci, Seurat, Cezanne, Rubens, etc.
-dinner once again at Pizza Express.
-movie, Kirsten and I saw 'The Orphanage', a spanish horror-type movie by Guillermo del Toro, the same guy who made 'Pan's Labyrinth', it was scary, but had a plot and I really liked it. Mom and Dad saw 'Love in the Time if Cholera', a movie with Javier Bardem in it (he was just in 'No Country for Old Men'), I like to describe it as a sprawling love epic.
-sleep
THURS
-Abbey Road, we took pictures in the crosswalk, added graffiti to the graffiti wall
-Went to Baker Street, popped in the Sherlock Holmes Museum Store, went to the London Beatles Store.
-Apsley House, the house of the first Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.12679)
-lunch at a place called Katie's, had paninis.
-Watched Covent Garden performers
-went to Leicester Square and bought theater tickets, we wanted to see Mama Mia, but it was all sold out, so we got tickets for Phantom of the Opera (Mom's favorite!)
-walked to Temple Church, wanted to go inside, but it was closed.
-walked down Fleet Street
-St. Bride's church, quite interesting, this church's steeple is used as a model for most wedding cakes. They also have original Roman Roads in their basement. (http://www.stbrides.com/)
-for dinner, we got cheap pizza slices from a Leicester Square pizza stand, sat on the ground to eat it.
-Phantom of the Opera. It was good. The Chandelier fall was awesome, and the scenes where they went to the phantom's lair were sweet, lots of fog and candles appearing out of nowhere! Out of the two shows, I still like Les Mis better. :)
FRI
-breakfast at McDonald's
-went to hotel room and watched the fam pack
-went to the tube station, said our goodbyes.
-everything went well with their flights.
For more information on Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, or the Banqueting House, click here: http://www.hrp.org.uk/
Whew. That wore me out. You better enjoy it. Here's a few more pics:
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Family is here!
Hiya!
Soooooooo it's been a long time since I've posted something ... sorry.
New news: I'm going to Ireland and Milan in April!!
Family arrived here safe and sound on Thursday. I've just spent a long time putting pictures on my computer and whatnot and now it's 11:30 and I really need to go to bed so that I'll actually be able to wake up tomorrow! We've done a lot already, and we're not slowing down!
I promise, there will be a more detailed post to follow. In the meantime I offer some highlights and photos!
Highlights: Tate Modern, Globe Theatre, South Bank, HMS Belfast, Hampton Court (Henry VIII's palace), Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, Royal Albert Hall tour, independent Irish film 'Garage' .... tomorrow: Les Miserables!!!!
Soooooooo it's been a long time since I've posted something ... sorry.
New news: I'm going to Ireland and Milan in April!!
Family arrived here safe and sound on Thursday. I've just spent a long time putting pictures on my computer and whatnot and now it's 11:30 and I really need to go to bed so that I'll actually be able to wake up tomorrow! We've done a lot already, and we're not slowing down!
I promise, there will be a more detailed post to follow. In the meantime I offer some highlights and photos!
Highlights: Tate Modern, Globe Theatre, South Bank, HMS Belfast, Hampton Court (Henry VIII's palace), Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, Royal Albert Hall tour, independent Irish film 'Garage' .... tomorrow: Les Miserables!!!!
Click on Pictures to see them larger.
sudden blizzard at Hampton Court
Mom bought us little sheep...
London Eye and Big Ben in the evening
the actual map they used in the secret, underground Cabinet War Rooms
Royal Albert Hall, I will be seeing Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, and Adam Pascal here in May!!
'Britain at War' Museum...
HMS Belfast ... don't be fooled by that blue sky, while we were on the ship it hailed.
Mom by the dental surgery room on the HMS Belfast
I am a prisoner
Kirsten and I looking at the ceiling painted by Rubens in the Banqueting Hall
Mom and Dad outside St.Pauls ... Mom is cold!
Kirsten falling into the crack, a temporary exhibition at Tate Modern
being 'groundlings' at the Globe!
Monday, March 3, 2008
My weekend with Ruth!!
THURSDAY
Amy, Louise, Daniel, Tianda, Brit and I went to get wings at a place called the Sports Cafe for dinner. We got 60 wings for 9 pounds, and a different flavor every 10 wings. They were really good. Afterwards, Louise and Daniel came with me to go get Ruth at Victoria Station. She had estimated she would be arriving there (from the Gatwick Express, a train from the airport to Victoria) at about 8:30. Her flight had been delayed so she didn't arrive until 9:30ish. We journeyed back to Nido, and then a bunch of us went to a pub right next door called 'The Long Hope'. It was karaoke night, but there were only like two other people in there. That made it easier to sing karaoke, there was no one to judge... Us girls sang 'Stop' by the Spice Girls, as well as 'A Whole New World'. My favorites of the night was Leon's version of 'Everybody Hurts' and Daniel's version of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love'. It was all highly entertaining, and to top it all off I was with Ruth!!!
FRIDAY
Ruth and I woke up early and went to Covent Garden. It's a market of sorts, and usually it has lots of street performers. There were none when we went, though. Maybe because it was a Friday or it was too early or something... We walked from there to Leicester Square, then to Piccadilly Circus (where we stopped at Lillywhites and bought some stuff), and then to Trafalgar Square. Ruth climbed up and got a picture with a lion. Then we walked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace and caught the changing of the guard. We didn't stay for the whole thing because it Square and ate at Pizza Hut. We chose Pizza Hut because they don't have any in Spain, and Ruth saw it and then craved it, as did I. We got the buffet, and stuffed ourselves. Then we walked back to Trafalgar Square and went to The National Gallery. We had to really limit ourselves in there, because we still had a lot we needed to accomplish. We looked at all the impressionists (Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Seurat, Cezanne, etc), because they are Ruth's favorites, and then swung by the DaVinci and Michelangelo. After that we walked to Westminster Abbey. There were a lot of things we wanted to do that would've cost money, so we decided to pick only one thing out for each day, so today was Westminster. I had never been in there, so I was excited, as was Ruth, of course. It was so beautiful inside. We were in the presence of many famous people's remains, including Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Chaucer, Darwin, Charles Dickens, Isaac Newton, etc (full list here: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/history-research/monuments-gravestones/people/ and of royalty here: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/history-research/monuments-gravestones/royalty/).
Then we went by Big Ben/ Houses of Parliament/ London Eye area and got pictures, then hopped back on the tube to Leicester Square. We went to the theater to pick up our tickets for Avenue Q (we were going to an earlier show of 5:30). Then we had half an hour or so to kill, so we just walked down the street and found an H&M (clothing store) to look in. Our seats for Avenue Q were really good (I got a deal with my Oyster Card - 2 of the best available seats for the price of one). The musical itself was amazing. All the actors sang really well and sounded amazingly like the original broadway cast. It was sooooooooo good!! (http://www.avenueqthemusical.co.uk). After that, Ruth and I met up with Louise, Daniel, Brit, and Tianda, and went looking for a pub/club to go to in Leicester Square. Since it was later and a Friday night, every place had a cover charge, usually of 6 pounds or more, which we didn't want to pay. Finally we found this one place called 'Fudge' and Louise had argued with the guy until she got us in for 2 pounds each. It was kind of lame.
SATURDAY
We went to St.Paul's in the morning, we went inside (but didn't pay, so only saw the entrance). Outside some people were putting on a performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Then we walked across the Millenium Bridge and popped into Tate Modern, but only for 10 minutes. We saw the Globe, and then walked over to the Tower of London. Tower of London was really cool. We waited for our guided tour, and our Beefeater guide was very funny. When we were done at the Tower, we went back to King's Cross area, ate lunch, and went to the British Library. We had to be very limited on our time there, as we also wanted time at the British Museum before it closed. Ruth had enough time to see all the cool stuff, though, like the first copy of Beowulf, the Magna Carta, original Beatles lyrics, DaVinci notebooks, etc. We had less than an hour in the British Museum, so we decided to look at all the Greek and Roman stuff (Parthenon, Greek vases, etc.), and of course, the Rosetta Stone.
After that we met up with Leon, Tianda, and Brit, and went to Abbey Road. It was cool. I'll have to go back there during the day. People write all sorts of grafitti on the wall outside of the studio, they have to paint over it every year. We found a place to eat dinner on Oxford Street, called the Spaghetti House, it was good. We went back to King's Cross, and got McFlurry's at McDonalds, and sat around and talked there until about 11. Then we went back to Nido and went to sleep, Ruth and I had to wake up early so she could catch her flight.
SUNDAY
We woke up at 3:15 AM so we could be at the bus stop by 4:25 so Ruth could catch the Gatwick Express at 5:00 to catch her flight at 8:00. It was early, but on the way to Victoria, we rode on top of the double decker bus, which was cool. I was sad to see her go, I wish she could've stayed longer, but I'm so glad she came and we had an amazing time!!
Amy, Louise, Daniel, Tianda, Brit and I went to get wings at a place called the Sports Cafe for dinner. We got 60 wings for 9 pounds, and a different flavor every 10 wings. They were really good. Afterwards, Louise and Daniel came with me to go get Ruth at Victoria Station. She had estimated she would be arriving there (from the Gatwick Express, a train from the airport to Victoria) at about 8:30. Her flight had been delayed so she didn't arrive until 9:30ish. We journeyed back to Nido, and then a bunch of us went to a pub right next door called 'The Long Hope'. It was karaoke night, but there were only like two other people in there. That made it easier to sing karaoke, there was no one to judge... Us girls sang 'Stop' by the Spice Girls, as well as 'A Whole New World'. My favorites of the night was Leon's version of 'Everybody Hurts' and Daniel's version of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love'. It was all highly entertaining, and to top it all off I was with Ruth!!!
FRIDAY
Ruth and I woke up early and went to Covent Garden. It's a market of sorts, and usually it has lots of street performers. There were none when we went, though. Maybe because it was a Friday or it was too early or something... We walked from there to Leicester Square, then to Piccadilly Circus (where we stopped at Lillywhites and bought some stuff), and then to Trafalgar Square. Ruth climbed up and got a picture with a lion. Then we walked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace and caught the changing of the guard. We didn't stay for the whole thing because it Square and ate at Pizza Hut. We chose Pizza Hut because they don't have any in Spain, and Ruth saw it and then craved it, as did I. We got the buffet, and stuffed ourselves. Then we walked back to Trafalgar Square and went to The National Gallery. We had to really limit ourselves in there, because we still had a lot we needed to accomplish. We looked at all the impressionists (Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Seurat, Cezanne, etc), because they are Ruth's favorites, and then swung by the DaVinci and Michelangelo. After that we walked to Westminster Abbey. There were a lot of things we wanted to do that would've cost money, so we decided to pick only one thing out for each day, so today was Westminster. I had never been in there, so I was excited, as was Ruth, of course. It was so beautiful inside. We were in the presence of many famous people's remains, including Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Chaucer, Darwin, Charles Dickens, Isaac Newton, etc (full list here: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/history-research/monuments-gravestones/people/ and of royalty here: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/history-research/monuments-gravestones/royalty/).
Then we went by Big Ben/ Houses of Parliament/ London Eye area and got pictures, then hopped back on the tube to Leicester Square. We went to the theater to pick up our tickets for Avenue Q (we were going to an earlier show of 5:30). Then we had half an hour or so to kill, so we just walked down the street and found an H&M (clothing store) to look in. Our seats for Avenue Q were really good (I got a deal with my Oyster Card - 2 of the best available seats for the price of one). The musical itself was amazing. All the actors sang really well and sounded amazingly like the original broadway cast. It was sooooooooo good!! (http://www.avenueqthemusical.co.uk). After that, Ruth and I met up with Louise, Daniel, Brit, and Tianda, and went looking for a pub/club to go to in Leicester Square. Since it was later and a Friday night, every place had a cover charge, usually of 6 pounds or more, which we didn't want to pay. Finally we found this one place called 'Fudge' and Louise had argued with the guy until she got us in for 2 pounds each. It was kind of lame.
SATURDAY
We went to St.Paul's in the morning, we went inside (but didn't pay, so only saw the entrance). Outside some people were putting on a performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Then we walked across the Millenium Bridge and popped into Tate Modern, but only for 10 minutes. We saw the Globe, and then walked over to the Tower of London. Tower of London was really cool. We waited for our guided tour, and our Beefeater guide was very funny. When we were done at the Tower, we went back to King's Cross area, ate lunch, and went to the British Library. We had to be very limited on our time there, as we also wanted time at the British Museum before it closed. Ruth had enough time to see all the cool stuff, though, like the first copy of Beowulf, the Magna Carta, original Beatles lyrics, DaVinci notebooks, etc. We had less than an hour in the British Museum, so we decided to look at all the Greek and Roman stuff (Parthenon, Greek vases, etc.), and of course, the Rosetta Stone.
After that we met up with Leon, Tianda, and Brit, and went to Abbey Road. It was cool. I'll have to go back there during the day. People write all sorts of grafitti on the wall outside of the studio, they have to paint over it every year. We found a place to eat dinner on Oxford Street, called the Spaghetti House, it was good. We went back to King's Cross, and got McFlurry's at McDonalds, and sat around and talked there until about 11. Then we went back to Nido and went to sleep, Ruth and I had to wake up early so she could catch her flight.
SUNDAY
We woke up at 3:15 AM so we could be at the bus stop by 4:25 so Ruth could catch the Gatwick Express at 5:00 to catch her flight at 8:00. It was early, but on the way to Victoria, we rode on top of the double decker bus, which was cool. I was sad to see her go, I wish she could've stayed longer, but I'm so glad she came and we had an amazing time!!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Spamalot and Parks
Okaaaaaaaay, it's been a while, I know. Don't be angry. I'm just going to write about things as I remember them.
In theater class last week, we went on a tour of the National Theatre, and it was really cool. It is actually a theater complex, with 3 theaters inside. They can wheel around different sets to each theater, and everything they use in their productions is produced in the building. (http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/) That night we saw 'Women of Troy' there. It was ... interesting. It's about the fall of Troy, and 12 (?) Trojan women are all that's left, and it's basically about their suffering as some get taken away by the Greeks and such. It was super intense, and I was really annoyed by the woman who played the main character, Hecuba. It was also turned into a more modern take on the story, they were in a warehouse in evening gowns, and there was random swing dancing. That made it hard for me to follow, because it's a Greek tragedy, but not set in ancient Greece ... So it wasn't my favorite play, but I will say that the lighting and special effects were awesome. There were fires, explosions, breaking glass, and water from the ceiling. Our teacher gave us some ideas for other productions we could see that weren't part of the class. And one of the was a production of Othello with Ewan McGregor in it! There were only like 2 more nights of the show left, and Brit and decided to try to get tickets, because we LOVE him! So we went, but went too late and didn't get tickets. As it turns out the people who did get tickets in the line had been there since about 4 in the morning. The woman told us if we wanted tickets for the next day, we should probably get there at midnight the night before, to wait for them to sell at 10:30 am. 10 1/2 hours to wait seemed a little crazy to us, and although it would've been totally worth it, we decided to give up on Ewan. :( I was really sad about it, so we decided to see a musical that night to make us happier.
So we went to a half price ticket booth thing and got tickets to see Spamalot that night for 25 pounds, and we'd be waaaaay up in the balcony, but that was okay. Spamalot was really funny, it basically followed the Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie, but was still different enough to not think you were just watching the movie on stage. And, it was a musical, and I was really excited to finally be seeing a musical in London! We were really high up and I felt that if I leaned forward too much I would tumble onto the stage ... but we could still see most everything okay. I just read in the paper that they guy who was Bradford Meade in Ugly Betty is going to be the new King Arthur in Spamalot starting in March, so I should've waited so I could've seen him! Oh well.
Brit, Tianda, and I went to Hyde Park the other day, but we went later in the afternoon, so it started getting dark quite quickly. We walked through to Kensington Gardens, and we saw the Peter Pan statue. We ate at this place called Art Cafe, and I got a crepe with ham and cheese. It was decent. On the way back to Nido, we got McFlurrys, I got the cadbury creme egg McFlurry, because I am in love with it.
The cafe and screening room in Nido are now open, and they play a movie every night at 8:00. I've gone and watched 2 already. The cafe is cool, there's two levels of it, and on the upper level are foosball tables and pool tables. They have TVs in there which usually is showing some sort of sport. They have American things for sale like Oreos and Kraft, but they are expensive, I believe the Oreos are 4 pounds (that's $8!). Not worth it.
I did my laundry for the first time the other day, and it's really expensive. 2 pounds a load, and then 50p for every 15 minutes of drying. I think I spent a total of $10. I'm going to handwash stuff as much as I can, and only use the washing machine when I absolutely need to.
After my Art in London class the other day, Brit and I walked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace (our class had met at a gallery really near there). We walked through St.James Park, which we decided we liked better than Hyde Park, it was prettier.
In other news, Ruth is coming to visit me this weekend!!!!!!!! I am so excited! For those of you who don't know, Ruth is studying a semester in Spain, and we both decided we were going to visit each other while we were abroad. I'm really excited for her to come, did I mention that? I'm going to get her from Victoria station tonight. She will be here from Thursday night until Sunday morning. We are going to do a ton of really tourist-y things, because she has never been to London before. We are also seeing Avenue Q, I got us really good seats, 2 for the price of one, since I have an Oyster card.
So right now I have to do dishes and clean up some stuff and charge my camera battery and take a nap so I will be ready for her. Before she comes, some friends and I are going to get wings at a place called Sports Cafe (http://www.thesportscafe.net/home.cfm).
Love ya!
:)
In theater class last week, we went on a tour of the National Theatre, and it was really cool. It is actually a theater complex, with 3 theaters inside. They can wheel around different sets to each theater, and everything they use in their productions is produced in the building. (http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/) That night we saw 'Women of Troy' there. It was ... interesting. It's about the fall of Troy, and 12 (?) Trojan women are all that's left, and it's basically about their suffering as some get taken away by the Greeks and such. It was super intense, and I was really annoyed by the woman who played the main character, Hecuba. It was also turned into a more modern take on the story, they were in a warehouse in evening gowns, and there was random swing dancing. That made it hard for me to follow, because it's a Greek tragedy, but not set in ancient Greece ... So it wasn't my favorite play, but I will say that the lighting and special effects were awesome. There were fires, explosions, breaking glass, and water from the ceiling. Our teacher gave us some ideas for other productions we could see that weren't part of the class. And one of the was a production of Othello with Ewan McGregor in it! There were only like 2 more nights of the show left, and Brit and decided to try to get tickets, because we LOVE him! So we went, but went too late and didn't get tickets. As it turns out the people who did get tickets in the line had been there since about 4 in the morning. The woman told us if we wanted tickets for the next day, we should probably get there at midnight the night before, to wait for them to sell at 10:30 am. 10 1/2 hours to wait seemed a little crazy to us, and although it would've been totally worth it, we decided to give up on Ewan. :( I was really sad about it, so we decided to see a musical that night to make us happier.
So we went to a half price ticket booth thing and got tickets to see Spamalot that night for 25 pounds, and we'd be waaaaay up in the balcony, but that was okay. Spamalot was really funny, it basically followed the Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie, but was still different enough to not think you were just watching the movie on stage. And, it was a musical, and I was really excited to finally be seeing a musical in London! We were really high up and I felt that if I leaned forward too much I would tumble onto the stage ... but we could still see most everything okay. I just read in the paper that they guy who was Bradford Meade in Ugly Betty is going to be the new King Arthur in Spamalot starting in March, so I should've waited so I could've seen him! Oh well.
Brit, Tianda, and I went to Hyde Park the other day, but we went later in the afternoon, so it started getting dark quite quickly. We walked through to Kensington Gardens, and we saw the Peter Pan statue. We ate at this place called Art Cafe, and I got a crepe with ham and cheese. It was decent. On the way back to Nido, we got McFlurrys, I got the cadbury creme egg McFlurry, because I am in love with it.
The cafe and screening room in Nido are now open, and they play a movie every night at 8:00. I've gone and watched 2 already. The cafe is cool, there's two levels of it, and on the upper level are foosball tables and pool tables. They have TVs in there which usually is showing some sort of sport. They have American things for sale like Oreos and Kraft, but they are expensive, I believe the Oreos are 4 pounds (that's $8!). Not worth it.
I did my laundry for the first time the other day, and it's really expensive. 2 pounds a load, and then 50p for every 15 minutes of drying. I think I spent a total of $10. I'm going to handwash stuff as much as I can, and only use the washing machine when I absolutely need to.
After my Art in London class the other day, Brit and I walked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace (our class had met at a gallery really near there). We walked through St.James Park, which we decided we liked better than Hyde Park, it was prettier.
In other news, Ruth is coming to visit me this weekend!!!!!!!! I am so excited! For those of you who don't know, Ruth is studying a semester in Spain, and we both decided we were going to visit each other while we were abroad. I'm really excited for her to come, did I mention that? I'm going to get her from Victoria station tonight. She will be here from Thursday night until Sunday morning. We are going to do a ton of really tourist-y things, because she has never been to London before. We are also seeing Avenue Q, I got us really good seats, 2 for the price of one, since I have an Oyster card.
So right now I have to do dishes and clean up some stuff and charge my camera battery and take a nap so I will be ready for her. Before she comes, some friends and I are going to get wings at a place called Sports Cafe (http://www.thesportscafe.net/home.cfm).
Love ya!
:)
Monday, February 18, 2008
Weekend in Wales
PRE WALES
With my theater class we got a tour of the Globe Theater the other day - it was really cool, there was a rehearsal going on for A Midsummer Night's Dream. We will be seeing King Lear there in April. That night we saw The Importance of Being Earnest. I really enjoyed it and thought it was quite funny.
I went to Wales this weekend. At our orientation, a woman came to talk to us about the opportunity to go on an adventure weekend in Wales to do sweet activities, and I signed up because I thought it would be a fun thing to do on my birthday. There were 20 spots set aside for London Met study abroad students. We could pick two activities to do, and I picked coasteering and surfing. The trip also included a hike. It was amazing. It was in an area called Pembrokeshire, kind of near the town of St.Davids/Haverfordwest on this map: (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/geogdata/ngw/mapgif.gif). Here are the details:
WALES
FRIDAY
We knew we had to catch our bus at Victoria Station, so we went there and got food to bring on the bus to eat because we didn't have a ton of time and it was almost noon. We thought the bus would be really close to the tube/train station, but apparently the coach station was a couple of blocks away, so we got there with five minutes to spare, while the bus was loading. Then the bus driver informed us that there was no hot food allowed on the bus, and Tianda and I had gotten McDonald's, so we had to throw it away ... money down the drain. I quickly shoved some of my burger in my mouth first though. Had I known, I would have hidden it in my purse or something. The bus was full when we (me, Tianda, Zoe, and Leon) got on, so none of us could sit together. I got the crappiest seat on the bus -- the very back, in the middle. No pull down tray, no storage area under my seat, no reclining, no window, right by the bathroom. There was no seat in front of me, so I did have lots of leg room. At this point I was kind of in a bad mood. I had a 7 hour bus ride ahead of me, I had eaten nothing yet, I had the crappiest seat, and it was my birthday. It was not how I wanted to spend my birthday, but I had to remind myself that I was going to end up in Wales ... Luckily, I had bought two cookies, and had also brought two granola bars with me, so that was my lunch. Half way there we stopped at this place for a break so I bought more food. The lady next to me starting talking to me and told me my accent was beautiful, which I've never been told before. She was cool to talk to, she was going to Wales with her daughter to visit her sister. Soon after that the guy in front of me got off so I was able to sit by Zoe. Near the end of the longest bus ride of my life, it got really cold, and we were all freezing by the time we got there. The Preseli people picked us up, and we were on our way to the camp (I'm going to call it a camp because I don't know what else to call it). We got out rooms and then went to the "lodge" to eat a delicious dinner of lasagna and dessert of apple pie and ice cream! We just kind of chilled and hung out the rest of the night, playing games. We met a bunch of cool people that were from Syracuse that go to a Syracuse campus here in London.
SATURDAY
We got woken up at 8:15 to go get breakfast. My first activity was coasteering. We went to the shed and got on wetsuits, vests, shorts, wetsuit socks and gloves, life jackets (they call them 'buoyancy aids'), and helmets. It was my first time ever in a wet suit! They drove us to the coast, and we walked down to the water. There's no beach, just rocks, so we had to climb down (which is the whole point of coasteering -- climbing all over the coast). It was pretty cold -- but then it was time to jump in the water. And THAT was freezing!!! The wetsuit really helped though and after a while it really wasn't that bad. So basically we just clambered all along the coast, on huge rocks, occasionally jumping in the water and getting thrashed about by the waves. There were three bigger jumps as well, and I did them all! The highest one was probably the equivalent of jumping off of the roof of a house. It didn't look that bad from the water, but when I was standing up there all I could think was am I crazy?!? But I did it and it was amazing. Afterwards, we changed into warm clothes back at our bus, there were no buildings or anything, so boys changed on one side of the bus and girls on the other (not in it, outside of it). It was cold and I think 2 cars went by ... We all shared hot chocolate in the bus. Everyone was freezing. We had a delicious lunch of soup and bread.
After lunch my group went on a hike (the entire group of 32 was split into three - in the afternoon a different group went coasteering and another went surfing). Basically they drove us really far away and we had to walk all the way back - we got no guides, we had to do it by ourselves, we did get a map though. Tianda and I were really slow because we were taking 80 million pictures, so we got separated from the group which was totally fine. It was a 7 1/2 mile hike, all along the coast. It was so gorgeous, but probably a little too long. In some spots it was really muddy and the trail often went through farmer's fields and sheep pastures. I fell down in a sheep pasture because it was really slippery. There were sheep everywhere, we took lots of pictures of them. We started getting sick of the hike near the end, but the scenery never ceased to amaze. Nicky (she works at the study abroad office at London Met and came with us) came back to get us because we were slow, which was good, because near the end I don't know if we would've found our way back. Our dinner was a yummy Indian chicken thing with curry, with berry cheesecake and cream for dessert. Afterwards, they made us a bonfire and had music on in the lodge. We played a four hour game of Monopoly, which was really fun. It was British Monopoly, too, so all the properties were places in England, like King's Cross, Fleet Street, Strand, Piccadilly, and even Pentonville Road! When we were done playing we went to check out the bonfire. There was a really steep and slippery hill to get to the fire, and I fell down it and tumbled a bit. Everyone had been falling up and down it all night, so I wasn't the only one! I roasted a couple of marshmellows ... they were yummy.
SUNDAY
I woke up and everything was sore. I had tiny cuts on my finger tips from coasteering, from grabbing onto barnacles on rocks when climbing about. My activity today was surfing, so we all gathered after breakfast. Our guide told us that the waves were not that big and we could probably catch some waves, but we might have more fun if we went kayaking instead. This was totally fine with me because I had actually wanted to switch from surfing to kayaking anyway. This meant wetsuits again, but a different kind, because we wouldn't actually be submerged in the water (unless you fell in). The previous day, we had rinsed off all the wetsuits and equipment to clean it, so that meant that today they were all really cold and still not dry. We even had to chip ice off of some, and some were stiff because they were frozen. Putting them on was SO COLD. The worst was putting on these wetsuit shoe things, I thought my feet were going to fall off from frostbite. But after about 10 minutes, your body heats it up and you get quite warm, especially if you move around a bit. I had never been kayaking before, so I was really excited. We started out, and my kayak just went around in circles ... but then one of the instructors did something to my kayak that helped. We played tag to get used to manuevering our kayaks, and I did fairly well, I was one of the last ones to be captured. Two people capsized their kayaks, out of enthusiasm for the game. Then we ventured out into the open sea. It was so beautiful with all the rock formations, we kayaked around some big rocks and into some little crevices. On the way back for some reason I had a really hard time steering, but I made it back to shore and never fell in! One guy fell in twice. :) We ate lunch (baked potatoes and corn), and then had to pack up all of our stuff and got driven to our bus stop at 2. We were the first ones on the bus this time, and for a couple of hours it was only us Preseli people on the bus (not all of the people that went, though, because some had opted to take the quicker, yet more expensive train back). At one stop (Swansea) we had to switch buses because apparently the heat wasn't working on ours. When we got on the new bus it felt equally as cold. We were all starving, and didn't stop for a break/dinner until 8:00. We only had 25 minutes, so basically just shoved the food in our faces.
We got back to London at a little after 10:00. I was exhausted. I slept like a rock. It was an amazing weekend. Coasteering was my favorite. I have pictures from the hike, but I did not have a waterproof camera, so I do not have pictures of me in a wetsuit for the water activities. Check out the website here to see what coasteering and such looks like: http://www.preseliventure.co.uk/
Here are pictures from Wales: http://uwlax.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2098278&l=bd921&id=73405745
MONDAY/(TODAY)
Slept in until noon ... (I was worn out!) Then went to the Natural History Museum with Louise, Daniel, Tianda, and Brit. It is so beautiful inside. Later we met up with Bat-el at The Rocket, a pub near King's Cross with curly fries!! Also, the screening room and cafe are now open in Nido! Yay! We can finally use things that we've been paying for!
I need to go to bed now, I have class tomorrow. And by class I mean for one we are meeting at the National Gallery and for the other we are meeting at the British Library. Love ya all!
With my theater class we got a tour of the Globe Theater the other day - it was really cool, there was a rehearsal going on for A Midsummer Night's Dream. We will be seeing King Lear there in April. That night we saw The Importance of Being Earnest. I really enjoyed it and thought it was quite funny.
I went to Wales this weekend. At our orientation, a woman came to talk to us about the opportunity to go on an adventure weekend in Wales to do sweet activities, and I signed up because I thought it would be a fun thing to do on my birthday. There were 20 spots set aside for London Met study abroad students. We could pick two activities to do, and I picked coasteering and surfing. The trip also included a hike. It was amazing. It was in an area called Pembrokeshire, kind of near the town of St.Davids/Haverfordwest on this map: (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/geogdata/ngw/mapgif.gif). Here are the details:
WALES
FRIDAY
We knew we had to catch our bus at Victoria Station, so we went there and got food to bring on the bus to eat because we didn't have a ton of time and it was almost noon. We thought the bus would be really close to the tube/train station, but apparently the coach station was a couple of blocks away, so we got there with five minutes to spare, while the bus was loading. Then the bus driver informed us that there was no hot food allowed on the bus, and Tianda and I had gotten McDonald's, so we had to throw it away ... money down the drain. I quickly shoved some of my burger in my mouth first though. Had I known, I would have hidden it in my purse or something. The bus was full when we (me, Tianda, Zoe, and Leon) got on, so none of us could sit together. I got the crappiest seat on the bus -- the very back, in the middle. No pull down tray, no storage area under my seat, no reclining, no window, right by the bathroom. There was no seat in front of me, so I did have lots of leg room. At this point I was kind of in a bad mood. I had a 7 hour bus ride ahead of me, I had eaten nothing yet, I had the crappiest seat, and it was my birthday. It was not how I wanted to spend my birthday, but I had to remind myself that I was going to end up in Wales ... Luckily, I had bought two cookies, and had also brought two granola bars with me, so that was my lunch. Half way there we stopped at this place for a break so I bought more food. The lady next to me starting talking to me and told me my accent was beautiful, which I've never been told before. She was cool to talk to, she was going to Wales with her daughter to visit her sister. Soon after that the guy in front of me got off so I was able to sit by Zoe. Near the end of the longest bus ride of my life, it got really cold, and we were all freezing by the time we got there. The Preseli people picked us up, and we were on our way to the camp (I'm going to call it a camp because I don't know what else to call it). We got out rooms and then went to the "lodge" to eat a delicious dinner of lasagna and dessert of apple pie and ice cream! We just kind of chilled and hung out the rest of the night, playing games. We met a bunch of cool people that were from Syracuse that go to a Syracuse campus here in London.
SATURDAY
We got woken up at 8:15 to go get breakfast. My first activity was coasteering. We went to the shed and got on wetsuits, vests, shorts, wetsuit socks and gloves, life jackets (they call them 'buoyancy aids'), and helmets. It was my first time ever in a wet suit! They drove us to the coast, and we walked down to the water. There's no beach, just rocks, so we had to climb down (which is the whole point of coasteering -- climbing all over the coast). It was pretty cold -- but then it was time to jump in the water. And THAT was freezing!!! The wetsuit really helped though and after a while it really wasn't that bad. So basically we just clambered all along the coast, on huge rocks, occasionally jumping in the water and getting thrashed about by the waves. There were three bigger jumps as well, and I did them all! The highest one was probably the equivalent of jumping off of the roof of a house. It didn't look that bad from the water, but when I was standing up there all I could think was am I crazy?!? But I did it and it was amazing. Afterwards, we changed into warm clothes back at our bus, there were no buildings or anything, so boys changed on one side of the bus and girls on the other (not in it, outside of it). It was cold and I think 2 cars went by ... We all shared hot chocolate in the bus. Everyone was freezing. We had a delicious lunch of soup and bread.
After lunch my group went on a hike (the entire group of 32 was split into three - in the afternoon a different group went coasteering and another went surfing). Basically they drove us really far away and we had to walk all the way back - we got no guides, we had to do it by ourselves, we did get a map though. Tianda and I were really slow because we were taking 80 million pictures, so we got separated from the group which was totally fine. It was a 7 1/2 mile hike, all along the coast. It was so gorgeous, but probably a little too long. In some spots it was really muddy and the trail often went through farmer's fields and sheep pastures. I fell down in a sheep pasture because it was really slippery. There were sheep everywhere, we took lots of pictures of them. We started getting sick of the hike near the end, but the scenery never ceased to amaze. Nicky (she works at the study abroad office at London Met and came with us) came back to get us because we were slow, which was good, because near the end I don't know if we would've found our way back. Our dinner was a yummy Indian chicken thing with curry, with berry cheesecake and cream for dessert. Afterwards, they made us a bonfire and had music on in the lodge. We played a four hour game of Monopoly, which was really fun. It was British Monopoly, too, so all the properties were places in England, like King's Cross, Fleet Street, Strand, Piccadilly, and even Pentonville Road! When we were done playing we went to check out the bonfire. There was a really steep and slippery hill to get to the fire, and I fell down it and tumbled a bit. Everyone had been falling up and down it all night, so I wasn't the only one! I roasted a couple of marshmellows ... they were yummy.
SUNDAY
I woke up and everything was sore. I had tiny cuts on my finger tips from coasteering, from grabbing onto barnacles on rocks when climbing about. My activity today was surfing, so we all gathered after breakfast. Our guide told us that the waves were not that big and we could probably catch some waves, but we might have more fun if we went kayaking instead. This was totally fine with me because I had actually wanted to switch from surfing to kayaking anyway. This meant wetsuits again, but a different kind, because we wouldn't actually be submerged in the water (unless you fell in). The previous day, we had rinsed off all the wetsuits and equipment to clean it, so that meant that today they were all really cold and still not dry. We even had to chip ice off of some, and some were stiff because they were frozen. Putting them on was SO COLD. The worst was putting on these wetsuit shoe things, I thought my feet were going to fall off from frostbite. But after about 10 minutes, your body heats it up and you get quite warm, especially if you move around a bit. I had never been kayaking before, so I was really excited. We started out, and my kayak just went around in circles ... but then one of the instructors did something to my kayak that helped. We played tag to get used to manuevering our kayaks, and I did fairly well, I was one of the last ones to be captured. Two people capsized their kayaks, out of enthusiasm for the game. Then we ventured out into the open sea. It was so beautiful with all the rock formations, we kayaked around some big rocks and into some little crevices. On the way back for some reason I had a really hard time steering, but I made it back to shore and never fell in! One guy fell in twice. :) We ate lunch (baked potatoes and corn), and then had to pack up all of our stuff and got driven to our bus stop at 2. We were the first ones on the bus this time, and for a couple of hours it was only us Preseli people on the bus (not all of the people that went, though, because some had opted to take the quicker, yet more expensive train back). At one stop (Swansea) we had to switch buses because apparently the heat wasn't working on ours. When we got on the new bus it felt equally as cold. We were all starving, and didn't stop for a break/dinner until 8:00. We only had 25 minutes, so basically just shoved the food in our faces.
We got back to London at a little after 10:00. I was exhausted. I slept like a rock. It was an amazing weekend. Coasteering was my favorite. I have pictures from the hike, but I did not have a waterproof camera, so I do not have pictures of me in a wetsuit for the water activities. Check out the website here to see what coasteering and such looks like: http://www.preseliventure.co.uk/
Here are pictures from Wales: http://uwlax.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2098278&l=bd921&id=73405745
MONDAY/(TODAY)
Slept in until noon ... (I was worn out!) Then went to the Natural History Museum with Louise, Daniel, Tianda, and Brit. It is so beautiful inside. Later we met up with Bat-el at The Rocket, a pub near King's Cross with curly fries!! Also, the screening room and cafe are now open in Nido! Yay! We can finally use things that we've been paying for!
I need to go to bed now, I have class tomorrow. And by class I mean for one we are meeting at the National Gallery and for the other we are meeting at the British Library. Love ya all!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Classes, British Library, Hampton Court, Chinese New Year, BAFTAs, BBQ
This is going to be a loooooooong post, so hold on tight. I'm also not going to say the days I did things, because I just confuse myself and can't remember ... so I'm just going to randomly tell you about activities I did. Sometimes I may throw in a day if I do remember. If this bothers you, too bad, get over it. :)
CLASSES
My Art in London class will be awesome, instead of meeting in a classroom every week, we meet at various galleries. Tomorrow we meet at the Courtauld Institute. We have to keep journals of our reactions to various places and works of art we see. The class covers mostly modern art, which is cool, but not what I expected. I think the professor thinks I'm dumb because I'm an art major and I haven't had any art history classes yet. She asked if I was taking any art history classes while I was here, and I said no (because the one I wanted to take wasn't being offered and it's so confusing to find classes on their website so I couldn't find a replacement.) and then she asked me if that was on purpose. Jerk face.
Then I had a graphic design class which is just called 'Print'. I think it will be a cool class. It's with all British students, which is cool. I was talking to this one girl who said she didn't like the professor, said that he was mean, but she said not to worry, he is really nice to study abroad students. I thought he was just fine. In this class and my other graphic design class (I actually have the same professor for both) we just have one project we have to work on for the whole semester. In Print, each person is going to make their own magazine. It's a little intimidating, but it will be really cool to do. There are probably about 15-20 people in the class.
My other graphic design class is called 'Design for Change'. It's interesting ... there's a ton of people in the class (maybe 50), mostly British students. We got in groups of 5, then picked a topic out of an envelope. Our topic is 'traffic cones'. So we have to do a project with traffic conse. And that is all I know. Should be interesting, eh?
My last class was Theater in London, which I think I already posted about, because it's going to be a really cool class. We'll see a play about every week. Our first play we are seeing is The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
BRITISH LIBRARY
Brit and I went to the British Library on Thursday because we don't have class. I've been there before, but it's still soooo cool. My mind can't even grasp that I'm looking at the Magna Carta, or a Gutenburg Bible, or letters written by Jane Austen, or the first copy of Beowulf, or one of Mozart's songs, etc. They have headphones you can listen to at various points, so I was standing there listening to the Beatles song 'Yesterday' while reading the original lyrics that were written down on a scrap piece of paper with a blue marker or something. It's crazy. And they have this sweet exhibition that has a lot to do with graphic design and the Bauhaus.
HAMPTON COURT
We went on a free trip (provided for study abroad students by London Met) to Hampton Court, one of King Henry VIII's palaces. It was really cool, but unorganized. We took the tube to Waterloo train station, and then took the train to the last stop. But the leader person didn't tell us any of this. It was just all of a sudden "We're going to the tube now, let's go to the station" and she looked annoyed when people would ask her what stop we were getting off at. The Palace was huge, and they are renovating part of it so they covered up the scaffolding with a ginormous tarp with a picture of Henry VIII on it. I thought it was funny. There are really nice gardens, and the oldest hedge maze ever is there (I think, it said something about the Guinness Book of World Records on it).
CHINESE NEW YEAR
London has a Chinatown, and now it is the Chinese New Year! So they have lots of celebrations going on. We went to an event at the British Museum were there was food and different performances and stuff. We went to it with our new Danish friend, Bat-el. We got to see some dances with swords, some girls danced with huge long feathers on their heads. It was really sweet.
BAFTAS - THE RED CARPET
On Sunday, we headed out to go to the Chinese New Year parade. Brit was interested in possibly going to the BAFTAs, (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), it's like the British Oscars. We knew you needed a wristband and had to wait in line and stuff. So before the parade (it was really close to the parade route) we decided to swing by and see how hard it would be to get wristbands and stuff. We talked to this security guy and he whipped out wristbands out of no where so we decided to go for it. Brit got in line, and Tianda, Bat-el, and I went to go watch the parade. It was cool, but honestly nothing amazing, it was hard to see, there were so many people watching it. Then we went back to the line and took shifts to go to the bathroom and eat food. We had to wait to be let in "public pens" next to the red carpet. We were there from 11, and celebrities didn't show up until about 5:00. But it was worth it.
So going to our "pens" there was lots of pushing... it was annoying, but all part of the experience. We met this woman in line who goes to premiers and the Baftas every year, so we got some good advice from her. Before any celebs arrived, they let out two puppies to smell out the carpet to make sure there were no drugs or bombs. And they literally were puppies. They were really cute, but I don't know how well of a job they did. They were really hyperactive and got easily distracted. The first person we saw was Ryan Seacrest, and we had to explain to some British people behind us who he was because they don't have American Idol here. Next to come was Ricky Gervais, the creator of The Office. I was really close to the red carpet, and so I got really good pictures. I didn't have anything for them to sign, but there was only one row of people in front of me, which was sweet. Some celebrities seemed very happy to get the attention and tried to sign as many autographs as they could, whereas others didn't really seem thrilled. Others didn't come to our side of the carpet, so I only saw their backs for a long time and then they would finally turn around when they were really far away. We got these ear phones things so that we could listen to this announcer guy that could see who was arriving, and he sometimes provided comments on what people were wearing.
Notable people I saw include: Hugh Laurie (didn't sign any autographs), Eddie Izzard (British comedian), Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord of the Rings), Viggo Mortensen (did not seem happy to be there), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter!!!!), Orlando Bloom (did not come on my side), James McAvoy (Atonement and The Last King of Scotland), Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood), Daniel Day Lewis (Brit got his autograph, he signed 'Daniel DL'), Kiera Knightley, Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Big Fish) ... and more. Here are pictures: http://uwlax.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097518&l=4bb8b&id=73405745 They are on my facebook. See the stars!! It was really exciting and I've never done anything like that before.
BBQ
After the BAFTA red carpet walk, we went to a barbeque that the Brazilians had invited us to at one of their houses by Turnpike Lane. It was really fun. I miss chilling around a fire because that's what my friends and I do all the time at home. They grilled us some delicious chicken. We just sat around and talked the whole night and it was a nice relaxing way to end our busy star-studded day. The tube closes at midnight, and we didn't want to figure out the bus, so we just slept at their house (they insisted), because it was really late by the time we were getting tired. They whipped these mattresses out of no where and sheets and pillows and everything. Just Brit and I slept over because Tianda and Zoe had left earlier and Louise had gone to Daniel's (her boyfriend's) house. We left at about 11 and went back on the tube.
TODAY
Today I went with Louise and Daniel to Covent Garden because she had an interview at a cafe. Then we just walked around for a while. I also cleaned up the room for a while. We bought some cleaner, so I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen area. I'm trying to figure out how to get to Cairo over spring break to visit Amanda. I need to hardcore figure everything out soon before it is too late. This weekend I go to Wales on an adventure trip. http://www.preseliventure.co.uk/
It will be a fun birthday!
More pictures of general London stuff so far can be seen here: http://uwlax.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097511&l=01611&id=73405745
Enjoy! It's bedtime for me, I actually have to go to class tomorrow ....
Night!
CLASSES
My Art in London class will be awesome, instead of meeting in a classroom every week, we meet at various galleries. Tomorrow we meet at the Courtauld Institute. We have to keep journals of our reactions to various places and works of art we see. The class covers mostly modern art, which is cool, but not what I expected. I think the professor thinks I'm dumb because I'm an art major and I haven't had any art history classes yet. She asked if I was taking any art history classes while I was here, and I said no (because the one I wanted to take wasn't being offered and it's so confusing to find classes on their website so I couldn't find a replacement.) and then she asked me if that was on purpose. Jerk face.
Then I had a graphic design class which is just called 'Print'. I think it will be a cool class. It's with all British students, which is cool. I was talking to this one girl who said she didn't like the professor, said that he was mean, but she said not to worry, he is really nice to study abroad students. I thought he was just fine. In this class and my other graphic design class (I actually have the same professor for both) we just have one project we have to work on for the whole semester. In Print, each person is going to make their own magazine. It's a little intimidating, but it will be really cool to do. There are probably about 15-20 people in the class.
My other graphic design class is called 'Design for Change'. It's interesting ... there's a ton of people in the class (maybe 50), mostly British students. We got in groups of 5, then picked a topic out of an envelope. Our topic is 'traffic cones'. So we have to do a project with traffic conse. And that is all I know. Should be interesting, eh?
My last class was Theater in London, which I think I already posted about, because it's going to be a really cool class. We'll see a play about every week. Our first play we are seeing is The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
BRITISH LIBRARY
Brit and I went to the British Library on Thursday because we don't have class. I've been there before, but it's still soooo cool. My mind can't even grasp that I'm looking at the Magna Carta, or a Gutenburg Bible, or letters written by Jane Austen, or the first copy of Beowulf, or one of Mozart's songs, etc. They have headphones you can listen to at various points, so I was standing there listening to the Beatles song 'Yesterday' while reading the original lyrics that were written down on a scrap piece of paper with a blue marker or something. It's crazy. And they have this sweet exhibition that has a lot to do with graphic design and the Bauhaus.
HAMPTON COURT
We went on a free trip (provided for study abroad students by London Met) to Hampton Court, one of King Henry VIII's palaces. It was really cool, but unorganized. We took the tube to Waterloo train station, and then took the train to the last stop. But the leader person didn't tell us any of this. It was just all of a sudden "We're going to the tube now, let's go to the station" and she looked annoyed when people would ask her what stop we were getting off at. The Palace was huge, and they are renovating part of it so they covered up the scaffolding with a ginormous tarp with a picture of Henry VIII on it. I thought it was funny. There are really nice gardens, and the oldest hedge maze ever is there (I think, it said something about the Guinness Book of World Records on it).
CHINESE NEW YEAR
London has a Chinatown, and now it is the Chinese New Year! So they have lots of celebrations going on. We went to an event at the British Museum were there was food and different performances and stuff. We went to it with our new Danish friend, Bat-el. We got to see some dances with swords, some girls danced with huge long feathers on their heads. It was really sweet.
BAFTAS - THE RED CARPET
On Sunday, we headed out to go to the Chinese New Year parade. Brit was interested in possibly going to the BAFTAs, (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), it's like the British Oscars. We knew you needed a wristband and had to wait in line and stuff. So before the parade (it was really close to the parade route) we decided to swing by and see how hard it would be to get wristbands and stuff. We talked to this security guy and he whipped out wristbands out of no where so we decided to go for it. Brit got in line, and Tianda, Bat-el, and I went to go watch the parade. It was cool, but honestly nothing amazing, it was hard to see, there were so many people watching it. Then we went back to the line and took shifts to go to the bathroom and eat food. We had to wait to be let in "public pens" next to the red carpet. We were there from 11, and celebrities didn't show up until about 5:00. But it was worth it.
So going to our "pens" there was lots of pushing... it was annoying, but all part of the experience. We met this woman in line who goes to premiers and the Baftas every year, so we got some good advice from her. Before any celebs arrived, they let out two puppies to smell out the carpet to make sure there were no drugs or bombs. And they literally were puppies. They were really cute, but I don't know how well of a job they did. They were really hyperactive and got easily distracted. The first person we saw was Ryan Seacrest, and we had to explain to some British people behind us who he was because they don't have American Idol here. Next to come was Ricky Gervais, the creator of The Office. I was really close to the red carpet, and so I got really good pictures. I didn't have anything for them to sign, but there was only one row of people in front of me, which was sweet. Some celebrities seemed very happy to get the attention and tried to sign as many autographs as they could, whereas others didn't really seem thrilled. Others didn't come to our side of the carpet, so I only saw their backs for a long time and then they would finally turn around when they were really far away. We got these ear phones things so that we could listen to this announcer guy that could see who was arriving, and he sometimes provided comments on what people were wearing.
Notable people I saw include: Hugh Laurie (didn't sign any autographs), Eddie Izzard (British comedian), Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord of the Rings), Viggo Mortensen (did not seem happy to be there), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter!!!!), Orlando Bloom (did not come on my side), James McAvoy (Atonement and The Last King of Scotland), Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood), Daniel Day Lewis (Brit got his autograph, he signed 'Daniel DL'), Kiera Knightley, Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Big Fish) ... and more. Here are pictures: http://uwlax.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097518&l=4bb8b&id=73405745 They are on my facebook. See the stars!! It was really exciting and I've never done anything like that before.
BBQ
After the BAFTA red carpet walk, we went to a barbeque that the Brazilians had invited us to at one of their houses by Turnpike Lane. It was really fun. I miss chilling around a fire because that's what my friends and I do all the time at home. They grilled us some delicious chicken. We just sat around and talked the whole night and it was a nice relaxing way to end our busy star-studded day. The tube closes at midnight, and we didn't want to figure out the bus, so we just slept at their house (they insisted), because it was really late by the time we were getting tired. They whipped these mattresses out of no where and sheets and pillows and everything. Just Brit and I slept over because Tianda and Zoe had left earlier and Louise had gone to Daniel's (her boyfriend's) house. We left at about 11 and went back on the tube.
TODAY
Today I went with Louise and Daniel to Covent Garden because she had an interview at a cafe. Then we just walked around for a while. I also cleaned up the room for a while. We bought some cleaner, so I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen area. I'm trying to figure out how to get to Cairo over spring break to visit Amanda. I need to hardcore figure everything out soon before it is too late. This weekend I go to Wales on an adventure trip. http://www.preseliventure.co.uk/
It will be a fun birthday!
More pictures of general London stuff so far can be seen here: http://uwlax.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097511&l=01611&id=73405745
Enjoy! It's bedtime for me, I actually have to go to class tomorrow ....
Night!
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