London

Apologies

2010-03-30T03:27:00.001-07:00

For all you avid readers of my blog, I am SO sorry I have not posted in so long. Once my internship started I got quite busy and just have not found the time. Instead of writing about my time in Ireland and the past month, I am going to direct you all to my photo albums on Facebook because let's face it...a picture is worth 1,000 words. I have about 600+ pictures...

I hope to keep up with my blog the last month I am here, but if not. I will hopefully see you all soon and I can tell you all about it then!

A Taste of Summer...

2010-03-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

I have experienced the warm weather, and I want it back! For the past 4 days I have been in Santorini, an island of Greece. It was 65 degrees or higher everyday I was there! I got a taste of warm weather and am now sitting back in London where it is 40 degrees. Sure, it is only 15 degrees difference, but that is a big 15 degrees!

Day 1 - Saturday

Anna and I headed to the airport around 5:30pm for a flight that was around 8 sometime. While waiting in line for security, the man in front of me started complaining about security. He said something like "so what we can't have liquids in our carry-on because we can bring a bomb on-board, but we can have one in our checked luggage!?" He said something about getting his new bottle of shampoo thrown out because it was more than 3 oz and something about suntan lotion. He was crazy. Then he asked us if we were going to Moscow too. Crazy man...he thought I sounded Irish. I do not sound Irish...weird

After getting through security, we got some dinner at a cafe in the terminal. We were reading up on Santorini from the book we bought and I found that they had excellent nudist beaches...okay then. We were unaware of this going into it. Luckily, it was the off-season, so there were no nudist beaches active at the time. After dinner, we stopped in a DVD store where I found Hook for only 2 pounds! I just had to buy it. It was even universal, so it will play in the U.S.! So our flight went into day two...

Day 2 - Sunday

We arrived in Athens around 2am. While trying to find a place to sit and rest, we ran into Tanya and Lara! I knew they were coming back from Santorini when we were heading there, but I didn't know they would be in the Athen's airport at 2am! We sat with them and talked until they had to go catch their flight. We got a lot of good pointers on what to do in Santorini and where to eat. It was very helpful! After they left, we still had about 6 hours left of our 9-hour layover. Gah it was hell! We could not find a place to sleep at all! We went upstairs to the McDonald's to get McDonald's breakfast. It was terrible. We then tried to sleep on the couches in McCafe. Unfortunately, the second we were getting comfortable, people started coming to buy coffee because it was that time of morning. I ended up buying a hot chocolate and a muffin so I looked for legit for laying there. While we were sitting in McCafe, someone brought their wiener dog in! It wasn't like Wrigley because it was a brown one, but it was still cute!

We left McCafe once we figured out what gate we were supposed to go to. Finally, we were able to lay down in the gate and get some sleep. It wasn't comfortable sleep, but still sleep. We finally boarded the plane around 11:00am. The flight to Santorini was beautiful! We flew over a lot of the Greek islands and it was absolutely breathtaking! The flight was about 45 minutes long, so we got to Santorini around noon. We were planning on taking a bus to our hotel, but we asked and someone said it would be easier to take a taxi. It only ended up being 12 euro, so it wasn't bad at all!

The owner of the villa met us outside when we got there. He was the cutest old Greek man! He took us to our room and showed us how everything worked and then told us to go down and find him when we were ready and he would give us a map. The room was adorable. It was small, but we didn't need anything big. There was even a DVD player in the room! Once we were all settled and unpacked, we went to find the owner and he showed us where to go eat in town and where to go throughout the island. He was so nice!

We walked into town, which took about 5-10 minutes, and tried to find one of the places he told us to eat. We could not find it at all, and we were hungry, so we just stopped by a place that we saw was open. I got a pizza pocket type thing that was filled with feta cheese. It was pretty good, but it needed some kind of sauce with the cheese...After lunch, we found a gelato shop! Oh how I missed gelato from Rome! Unfortunately in Greece, they don't let you pick two different flavors, so I just got strawberry. In Greece, most of the shops and restaurants close down between 2pm and 5pm, so there really wasn't much more we could do at that time. We were pretty exhausted anyway, so we went back to our room to take a nap. We didn't set an alarm and ended up sleeping for about 5 hours! It was excellent sleep though.

When we woke up and got ready, we ventured back into town to get some dinner. We found a restaurant open that was called Taverna Elia. It had very good food, but we realized that you had to be very obvious when you wanted to leave. We sat there forever before the waiter even came over by us! It took me putting my coat on for him to come close enough that we could ask for the bill. It wasn't even like he was busy, we were the only people there! Of course, time isn't a big issue in Greece. They pretty much just go with the flow. After dinner, we headed back to our room, watched Hook while playing cards, and went to bed.

Day 3 - Monday

We had purchased tickets on Sunday for a boat tour Monday morning. The tour left from the port at 11am and we were told it took about 20 minutes to walk down to the port. They didn't mention that it took 20 minutes because there were 588 steps we had to walk down! It was a beautiful view from the top, but as we continued walking, we just wanted to be at the port! Let's just say our calves got a major workout that day. We finally made it to the port and got on the boat that was going to take us to the volcano and hot springs. It was a cute wooden boat that kid of reminded me of a pirate ship, but smaller! There were three other Americans on the tour who were studying abroad in Spain. There were also some Canadians on board too. The rest were mainly Asian. One of the Canadians had a great Canadian accent! It was so amusing to hear him talk!

Our first stop was the volcano right off the island. They said that if we wanted to walk all the way to the top they suggest we have sports shoes and a water bottle. Anna did not have sports shoes, but we decided to climb up anyway. We got about half way and decided that we didn't need to go any further. It did not look very high, but it was quite a workout! We sat on top of this big rock and just took in the scenery. It was very relaxing. I also took a piece of volcanic rock even though it said not to...whoops. We went to the hot springs next. Everyone had the option of jumping in the water and swimming for a little bit. I would have definitely jumped in if the ride back to the island wouldn't be so gosh darn cold! I settled on watching the people jump in. I guess the water was pretty cold anyway. After the hot springs, we headed back to the island. We were dreading having to walk up all 588 stairs again, but we didn't have to! A man was waiting there selling donkey rides back up the steps for 5 euro! We had to take a donkey, I mean come on, we were in Greece!

Once we made it to the top, we went in search of lunch. We found the place Lara told us to go to called Mamma's House. I ordered Mamma's Meatballs which came on top of spaghetti. The meatballs were very good, but there was some kind of apple vinegar or something in the sauce of the spaghetti making it kind of fruity. I did not like it at all. The smell of it was even making me nauseous. We were so excited to get baclava for dessert, but unfortunately I had a terrible allergic reaction to the donkey and I was miserable. My eyes were itching and my nose was getting all stuffy. Damn donkey and it's hair! We ended up leaving without any baclava, headed back to the hotel, laid down and watched Sense and Sensibility. After the movie, I fell asleep and once again, slept way too long. We didn't even leave for dinner that night because we woke up at 10pm. This things not being open 2-5 thing really put a dent in our trip. Since they weren't open, we took that as naptime. Naptime turned into full on sleep. Oops.

Since we slept so long during the day, we couldn't sleep at night. We decided to watch some TV. This turned out to be the best night of television EVER! Okay, maybe not ever, but that night it was awesome. It started with CSI: NY, then Law & Order: SVU, then Sex and the City (which I could have passed on, but whatever) and finally, CSI: Miami! It was like Greece knew what I wanted to watch! The only downside to the night was that we had about 1,000 mosquitoes in the room because the windows have no screens! We were killing them all night, but unfortunately we didn't get all of them and I woke up with about 5 mosquito bites on my face (nothing else was above the covers...). I hate mosquitoes!

Day 4 - Tuesday

We rented an ATV! This was one of the things Lara and Tanya suggested, and we are so glad they did because we would not have thought about doing it otherwise! We first drove down to Kamari, which is a black-sand beach towards the south of the island. We parked our ATV and took off for the sea! We stood in the Aegean Sea and it was amazing! The water was kind of cold, but it was so nice out...we could have laid out on the beach in our swimming suits and we would have been fine. When we were done walking in the sea, we sat down to dry off our feet and a cat came to keep us company. Now, I am not a fan of cats because I am allergic to them as well, but this one was so cute! I didn't touch it, of course, because I didn't want to have another donkey episode, but I took pictures of it! When we were able to put our shoes back on, we walked down the path along the beach where all the shops were. Not much was open, but there was this little souvenir shop where I bought a sweatshirt for myself. I wish we could have stayed longer at this beach, but we weren't sure how long it would take us to get up to Oia where we were going to watch the sunset.

We got to Oia WAY too early! It did not take us very long at all, and we ended up sitting and walking about this small town. The view was very pretty because all of the buildings are built into the hillside and they are mostly all white. Below there is crisp, blue water. It was absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of stray dogs around, but they seemed to like us and would sit by us wherever we were. Finally, it was time for the sunset and we made our way to the end of the island. It was so pretty! It is amazing how fast the sun sets, however. We waited so long for an event that takes under 10 minutes. It's crazy!

We were a little worried about making it home in the dark, but we made it in one piece! We dropped the ATV off at the hotel and walked back into town for dinner so we didn't have to find a place to park. We ate at this cute restaurant. The food was pretty good and we got free wine when we were finished eating. It was very sweet and we didn't like it very much, but we drank it to be polite. Plus, it was our last night in Greece and we hadn't had anything to drink up until that point. We wanted baclava for dessert, and it was on the menu, but she said she didn't have any. We were sad, but just went to find a bakery that did have it. She gave us plastic forks to eat it with...you do not eat baclava with plastic forks because they break and fly in your face like what happened to me. It was sooo good though. We went back to our room and tried to watch another movie, but two of the movies I brought were region 1 I guess, so they didn't work there. We just decided to go to bed.

Day 5 - Wednesday

We had to leave and we didn't want to :( It was warm there and we didn't want to return to cold weather! Anna went to talk to the owner of the hotel to see if he could call us a taxi to get back to the airport, and he arranged it all for us. We drove back into town to return the ATV and get some breakfast before leaving. When we got to the ATV place, it wasn't open yet! We were freaking out because we needed to be back to the hotel by 11 and it was 10 now. Plus, the guy had Anna's license as a deposit for the ATV. We decided to go get something to eat and hope that he is there when we went back. We got breakfast and luckily he was there when we got back. We got her license back and got back to the hotel with about 10 minutes to spare. The taxi took us to the very tiny airport in Santorini and we caught our flight back to Athens. We had another layover in Athens, but not as long as before, and before we knew it, we were back in London! However, we were not in London for long, but that will be discussed in my next blog...

Enjoy!

I saw Johnny Depp!

2010-02-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

I am blogging twice in one day because I have too much to write about for just one post!

Last night all of my dreams came true...okay not really, but I can cross one thing off my list of things I need to do before I die: I saw Johnny Depp in person! Anna and I went to watch the stars of Alice in Wonderland arrive for the world premiere!

We got to Leicester Square at noon after class. The stars were not expected to arrive until 5:30 or 6:00, but you have to get there early to get a good spot. We were in the second row behind the barrier, which was very good! We meet some cool people where we were. You can't just stand in one place for 6 hours without talking to the people next to you. Luckily two of them were really tall, so they could see what was happening and tell us short people who was coming to sign. Also, when it started raining, they held an umbrella over us! It started raining at about 3:30 or so and didn't stop until 5:15. It was just in time though since people started arriving at 5:40 or so.

The stars would get out of the car that dropped them off and have someone waiting there with an umbrella since it was kind of sprinkling. The stars I saw from afar were Avril Lavigne (she is on the soundtrack), Mia Wasikowska (Alice), and Christopher Lee. The stars that came around to sign autographs and take pictures were Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman (he carried his own umbrealla...what a guy!), Anne Hathaway, the guy that plays Tweedledee and Dweedledum and JOHNNY! It was surreal being that close to all of these famous people! When Johnny came by, people went absolutely nuts. I was excited, but I was not trying to force myself upon the person in front of me to get closer to him. I had my camera in one hand and the book I wanted him to sign in the other. I was getting pushed up against the woman in front of me and I could barely breathe! This was all happening in the pouring rain by the way because it started pouring about half an hour before Johnny came out. My book got very wet and is kind of coming apart now, but it was totally worth it since I got his autograph!

People said I was crazy for standing out there for so long in the rain to only see the stars and not the movie. You know what, I probably am, but it was a once in a lifetime experience that I am so glad I took advantage of. How often am I going to be in a city where a world premiere is taking place? Especially when the movie contains some of my favorite actors/director. If I had the chance to do it all over again...I would.

When in Rome...

2010-02-26T05:22:00.001-08:00

I know this is coming a little late, but this was my last week of classes and I had a lot of work due!

I went to Rome last weekend to see my cousin, Christine! My flight was at 7:30am, so I had to get to the airport without taking the Tube from my home station. Friday night Anna, Angela and I went out to celebrate our friend Arian's 21st birthday, so needless to say, I did not sleep Friday night. We got home around 3am and I made a grilled cheese sandwich because I wanted to eat before I left for the airport. I took a quick 30-minute nap and then set out for the bus stop. I had to take two night busses before getting on the Tube at Acton Town station around 5am. I got to the airport without a hitch! I was so happy that I figured out my way there! :)

At the airport, I bought a newspaper to bring to Christine because there are no English newspapers in Rome I guess. I then went to wait at the gate. I was SO tired! Finally we boarded the plane and I was out before we even took off. I do not remember the flight at all. I woke up just in time for landing. It was actually pretty nice since flying is not always so fun. When I got off of the plane, I could not find Christine right away! Of course we had not exchanged phone numbers yet, so I had no idea what I was going to do if I could not find her! Finally, I saw her and we headed off to her apartment.

We had to take the train into Rome and she didn't know that she needed a separate ticket to take the train from the airport, so when the guy came around asking for tickets, he told her that she could not use the one she had. Now, it is a 50 euro citation if you don't have a ticket, but luckily he just made her pay 5.50 (the price of a ticket) and told us we had to get off at the next station to buy a ticket. We got off, but it was absolutely dead! There was nowhere to buy a ticket, so we just waited for the next train to come and got on. No one checked out tickets on that ride. We got off the train and had to get on the tram (Rome has so many forms of transportation!). We went grocery shopping and bought a pillow for me (she wanted another one anyway) and walked to her apartment. We then passed out for a good two hours! I crashed and it felt so nice!

I woke up and showered, which also felt good after not sleeping/flying. We got ready and headed out to get something to eat. We did not realize how early it was, but we were hungry! We happened upon Campo, which excited Christine because she now knows how to get there! I had the BEST spaghetti with meat sauce at this one restaurant. It was soooo good and I was so excited that I was in Rome for some good Italian food. We finished eating around 8:30 and went to get some gelato :) Gah I miss gelato already! I got strawberry and mango..mmmmm it was soo good! After that, we decided to go check out a bar in Campo, but only ended up getting waters (yes we are so cool). We were too tired to drink. We went home at 9:30pm on a Saturday night. I didn't even care because I was so tired. When we got back to her apartment, we watching "I Love You, Man!" When the movie was done, I crashed once again.

On Sunday, we decided to go and explore the center of Rome. We found the Pantheon! I have pictures of the Pantheon already from the last time I was in Rome, but I took more :) There was also a cool opera singer performing in the square! I love Rome! We went in search of the Trevi Fountain, but we ended up at the Roman Forum. We got lunch at this small shop near there, which was very good. We then got gelato for the second time! I got strawberry and lemon this time. So yummy! We walked through the Roman Forum and passed all these creepy "street performers." They really didn't do anything but stand there motionless. I understand that is hard, but people want money for that? No. The entire morning, I was in contact with Tanya! We finally met up by the Colosseum! How cool is that? She was with Jason, Lara and their friend Allison. We walked around the Forum for awhile and then decided to head home to find a place to eat.

Jason took us up this big hill where we could see all the lights of Rome at night. It was such a beautiful view! On our way back towards his apartment, we found a restaurant that had a student meal for 10 euro. The meal included bruschetta, pasta, dessert and a glass of wine. I do not like tomatoes, but I ate the bruschetta anyway. The pasta was tortellini with ham and alfredo sauce. It was very good, but it was such a small portion! Dessert was tiramisu. I would have probably liked to pick what I wanted to eat, but hey, you can't beat 10 euro for all of that!

After dinner, Christine and I went left the rest of them and went off on our own. Our goal was to drink champagne on the Spanish Steps! Well, we found the Spanish Steps, but no champagne...all of the stores were closed already! We decided that gelato would be just as good! We found one gelato shop open near the Steps, but they did not have the best selection. Thinking it was the only place we were going to find open, we got a cup. It ended up being 7.50 a cup! It was ridiculous, but we didn't know until we checked out. It was not satisfying at all because I wanted fruit, but ended up with cream caramel...still good, but not what I wanted. After we ate our gelato on the Spanish Steps, we headed off towards the Trevi Fountain. Of course there are about 7 gelato shops open near there! What did we do? We got gelato again! We needed to redeem ourselves from the last cup! We had gelato at each of our favorite monuments in Rome! I tossed my coin into the Fountain so I will one day return to Rome and we headed home.

Monday morning, Christine left for work before I woke up. I found my way to the train station all on my own! I was so proud! :-P I did not sleep on the plane ride home because I didn't want to be tired when I got home. I had class at 5 and I got back home at 4:50. Perfect timing! :)

I was so happy I got to see Tanya, Jason and Christine! I love Rome!

One LONG week

2010-02-16T14:59:00.000-08:00

So I think I caught something on the flight home from Istanbul because I spent almost all of last week in bed. Of course it was also the week I had the most due in my classes. I had a presentation and two papers due Wed-Fri. I got an extension on one of the papers, which was very helpful. That teacher is very concerned about us and our health. He freaked out one morning because no one in our class ate breakfast that day. Needless to say when I came to class on Thursday and looked like crap, he said I didn't have to turn in the paper until the end of the weekend. I really appreciated that.

I finally was feeling a little better by Friday night, so Anna, Angela and I decided to go out to dinner so I could get out of my room. We tried finding this Mexican restaurant that we found at a previous time, but we could just not find it! We were getting pretty hungry, so we just picked from the many restaurants in Covent Gardens. We decided on TGI Fridays because we knew we would like something there. I told myself I could have one drink since it was such a crappy week, but no more than one. I decided on a Hurricane because it had the least amount of alcohol in it. I thought that would be best with my weakened immune system. It was actually VERY good! Definitely something I would get again. For dinner I got a grilled chicken sandwich with BBQ sauce. It was also very good. We splurged and got dessert as well, so we just had a feast. I was so full when I left.

I was so exhausted after dinner that I was done for the night. I got back in bed and watched some movies. I had to get well and rested so I could go to the rugby game on Saturday for my sports class.

Rugby is such a strange sport. I went in not knowing what it was like except that it was kind of like American football, but not. I don't even think I understood the point of the game when it was over. I did learn along the way, but I still have NO idea what was going on. It was sure an experience. The most entertaining part was the song for the home team. They were called the Saracens and their mascot was a camel. There was also what I think was a dog with a black eye. I guess that pertains to the roughness of rugby. Anyway, the song went "Stand up, Stand up for the Saracens, for the Saracens..." When this song played, all the fans stood up and waved a Saracens flag. There was an older man sitting two rows in front of us that got VERY into this song. If it played he was up out of his seat and put his whole self into waving his flag. If the song started and he couldn't find his flag, he just waved his arms. He was very amusing. Unfortunately it got very cold after halftime. I stayed for the whole game though. It was fun for the most part. I didn't do much Saturday night either.

Sunday was Valentine's Day. I totally missed that one. I didn't know it was VDay until that night. Whoops. Other than me not knowing it was Valentine's Day, nothing happened on Sunday except for me writing my paper in about an hour and then watching movies. Oh I also finished the book I was reading. I read Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. It was very good, but the ending in the movie was cuter than in the book. The book is supposed to be able to be more romantic because words are used to describe the scene, but nooo it was not. Very disappointing.

Monday I went to Aljazeera headquarters for my broadcasting class. It was actually pretty cool because we got to see them go to air. There are 4 locations for Aljazeera English and they all contribute to one newscast. It was fun to see. Anna and I watched the first of the Olympics as Monday night as well. We didn't know we got them in our room, but one of our channels shows them. We watched Men's Snowboarding Cross and it was oh so very entertaining. I got so into it! We were also very good at choosing who was going to win the run. We were only wrong once. They kept telling us that figure skating was coming up next, but they showed Luge instead. It wasn't as entertaining, so we went to bed.

Today I had my placement meeting for my internship. My interview is on Friday during my Sports class. It kind of sucks because we are taking our tour of Wimbledon that day and I am going to miss it for my interview. I am sad about that.

Oh well, I have an exam tomorrow that I haven't studied for yet, so I should probably look over my notes or something. Until next time.

When in Istanbul...

2010-02-09T08:22:00.001-08:00

First of all, Istanbul is absolutely amazing! It of course had it's ups and downs, but for the most part, absolutely amazing. Now prepare yourself for a very long, but entertaining blog...

Day 1

My day started at 7am on Thursday. We had to get to Heathrow by 9:30 and we wanted to make sure we got there on time. Our flight was supposed to leave at 11:40, it was then delayed until 12:35, then 1:00. The boards were not telling us what gate we were going to, just that our flight was delayed. I do not like not knowing where to go...it made me nervous. While we were waiting, we got bagels and cream cheese. We then found a bookstore that said 4 for 3. We assumed this meant 4 books for 3 pounds and we got really excited...little did we know it was 4 books for the price of 3. We didn't find this out until we were paying. Oh well I got 3 new books and Anna got one. Silly us...

Our gate was finally posted and we basically ran there - it was good that we rushed because a huge line formed at the gate after we got through. We sat there for about another 45 minutes...we didn't end up taking off until about 2:00. The plane was one of the ones with the sleeper section. I am super jealous of all of the small children that got their own sleeper! It is just not fair. I decided that one day I will ride in the sleeper section! Each seat had it's own screen that had games, TV shows, movies, music, etc on it. It was just like an overseas flight! I got sooo excited when I saw that they had the movie Big as a choice! I watched that of course. I have not seen that movie in forever and it is such a good movie! Unfortunately, there were technical difficulties towards the end and all the screens went off. I didn't get to finish the movie and now I want to see the rest! Dangit! Anyway, we got a meal on this flight (which we didn't expect because it was just a 3 hour flight) and it was actually really good. I had chicken and veggies - I actually ate the unknown veggies - a roll and almond cake. I asked for Sprite, but she gave me orange juice, and no, Sprite is not orange in Turkey. We finally arrived around 7:00pm (there was a two hour time change), went through passport control and got on a bus to the hotel.

We got about 45 minutes to unpack and get settled before we walked to dinner. On our way to the restaurant, there was this old man with a cat asking us if we wanted to touch...it was kind of creepy, but very entertaining! Dinner was already paid for the first night. We got three courses! I had some white wine with my meal. We got starters which were basically spreads for very good bread. It all looked very different, but I decided I should probably try new things while I am in new places (who knew I would ever say that...). There were about 5 different spreads and I tried every one of them. My favorite was the one that tasted like cole slaw, so I ate that one the most. Dinner was either lamb or chicken shish (which are shish kabobs). I had chicken and it was sooo good! The rice is also soo very good. Dessert was a choice between baklava or chocolate suflee. I had the chocolate suflee, which was also very good. It was just a great meal overall. There are pictures of it on Facebook. We sat at the restaurant for 3 hours! It did not seem that long at all, but we didn't get out of there until after midnight!

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, read our new books and went to bed. We were way to tired to go out with the guys from our school. Good thing too because they ended up staying out until 4am...we had to leave the hotel by 9am the next morning. The first day was over.

Day 2

I woke up Friday morning to the call to prayer coming from the Mosques. It was so pretty and such a great way to wake up! I'm glad I didn't have to actually go to pray and could continue laying in bed. After getting ready, we headed up to the terrace to have our complimentary breakfast which consisted of bread with various spreads, olives, oranges, tomatoes, cucumbers and orange or cranberry juice. I had bread every morning. The view from the terrace was absolutely breathtaking! We had a view of the Haghia-Sophia, as well as the Bosphorus. We would have had a view of the Blue Mosque as well, but there was a taller building in the way. I braved the cold to go out on the porch to take pictures...Friday was SO cold!

Our whole group (43 students plus 4 supervisors) left the hotel close to 9 and headed out for our tour of the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque and Haghia-Sophia. The Hippodrome really only consisted of a couple of columns. I guess it used to be where people would watch sport or something. I couldn't really understand the tour guide. The Blue Mosque was next and it was amazing! Mosques are so pretty with their tile and use of Arabic writing. The Blue Mosque is called the Blue Mosque because of all of the blue tile used on the inside which is so pretty. I could explain more, but this blog will be long enough. We had a great view of the Haghia-Sophia from the exit of the Blue Mosque and vice versa. While walking to Haghia-Sophia, we turned a corner and saw two men with large guns...they were some kind of police I guess. I didn't ask questions. Haghia-Sophia was first a church, then a mosque, now a museum. It is the only place you will see Christian and Islamic images together. It also has the 4th biggest dome in the world. After Haghia-Sophia, we went to the Basilica Cistern which was an underground water system. It wasn't very amusing, but hey I can say I saw it...

After our tour of the mosques, we took a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul...yes I have now been to three continents! We had lunch over there, but that was about it. I had chicken with noodles and casserole. It was actually pretty good, even though it didn't look appetizing. The waiters only spoke Turkish so I really didn't know what I was getting. Luckily one of our teachers is originally from Turkey, so she had to help us all. After lunch, we went on a boat tour that took us back to our side of Istanbul. It wasn't really a tour because no one talked to us, but we saw a lot I guess. When we got home, we tried to warm up after being on a boat in freezing cold weather and in the process, I passed out. I'm not sure how long I slept, but I had to get up so we could go to dinner. We just walked down the road from our hotel and picked the first restaurant we saw. It was hard not to go in once you look at the menu because someone is there the second you stop to get you inside. I decided I should probably have Turkish food again since I was in Turkey. I had turkish meatballs which were really good. Our waiter gave us free apple tea since he kept opening the door. He said he though we might be cold. It was just the first of many free things we got over the trip. We all split a dessert called aphrodisiac...it consisted of crepe, banana and chocolate. We spent two hours at dinner this time! I can't believe how long we stay there. It doesn't even seem that long at all! Time sure flies in Istanbul.

Day 3

I was sad I didn't wake up to the call to prayer in the morning. I must have been too tired to be woken up by it. We went to Topkapi Palace on Saturday morning which was where the Ottoman Sultans lived for many years. It was not much of a palace. It consisted of three courtyards and then a place called the Harem. This is where the Sultan and his family/closest companions lived. Luckily it was such a nice day since the majority of the palace was outside. We also had the most free time on this day. After we saw what we wanted to see at the palace, Anna, Angela and I went to take pictures of the two mosques with the blue sky. On the way there, we stopped to look at a display of earrings. The guy who was selling them came over and told me that I had to buy the pair I touched - he was joking of course. I kept saying I did not want them, but he took them off and gave them to me, then put them in a bag and said "see I told you you have to pay." I kept protesting, but then he said he was only kidding and that I could have them for free. Again with the free stuff...I kind of like Turkey. Once we got to the place between the two mosques and we had taken our pictures, I saw a sign for free wifi, so I decided to check my email/Facebook on my iTouch. It was pretty sweet I used the internet between two of the greatest mosques in the world.

After taking out pictures, we decided to go check out where we should have lunch. Man did we pick the wrong place. We were the only ones on the terrace and our waiter was very interested in telling us his life story/telling us he wanted a wife. Of course he never had to leave either because there was a little lift that brought the food up to the terrace. Finally, another couple came to the terrace, so he couldn't talk to us as much. This did not, however, stop him from making us roses out of napkins. We each got one. The other couple was only there for dessert, so they left fairly quickly. Our waiter asked if we had a camera because he wanted to take a picture of us. He called Anna Jennifer Lopez and me Cindy Crawford. We have no idea where he got this, but we just laughed about it. He then wanted a picture with Anna, which I agreed to take. I called him her future husband and the picture is on Facebook if anyone cares to see it. He eventually asked us how old we were and proclaimed that he was too old for us (being 26), but invited us out that night anyway. Of course we said we would come back so he would let us leave. We got out of that place as fast as we possibly could...oh what an experience!

We then met up with the rest of the group where we got a piece of Baklava each from our supervisors! It was sooo good and I just ignored the fact that there were pistachios in it. We went to another mosque before getting more free time to visit the Grand Bazaar. We did not stay there long, and when we were leaving, were told how to get to the Grand Bazaar because we were to find it on our own. Well the directions were not very good and we found this place we thought was the bazaar, but we soon found out it wasn't. The vendors in the bazaars are crazy! They kept calling us the Spice Girls and calling out how pretty we were. I have never been hit on so much in my entire life! Some of my favorite lines included: "You dropped something...my heart!" and "I can change your life...can you change mine?" Some just simply stated that they liked us. It was so exhausting! I got a couple of things there and then we decided to get out while we could. It wasn't until we got near the water that we realized that wasn't the Grand Bazaar because that bazaar was nowhere near the Bosphorus. We used a map that Anna had in a book to find our way there. We were so proud of ourselves that we found out where we were and where we needed to be! The Grand Bazaar was HUGE! There were so many different stands and so many different goods being sold. We got heckled here as well, but not nearly as much as at the other bazaar. Nonetheless, we were exhausted from the day already so we decided to head back to the hotel. I wanted to read, but I ended up passing out again.

That night, we had a speaker come in and talk to us. She was 20 years old and was born in Istanbul. She talked about the city and how nothing is changing and how history is repeating itself always. She was very good with English and had such a strong opinion of her city for being so young. She made me feel bad about myself a little bit. It was very interesting to hear her speak about Istanbul from the prospective of someone that lives there.

After the speaker, we went out to dinner. We got heckled on the way there as well, and we were so over it by then! It got really old, and I was still tired. Luckily, the waiter at the restaurant we went to that night was not creepy like at lunch. He did talk to us, but he was interested in what we have seen and we were going to see. It was the only time I did not have a Turkish meal. I had tortellini that was very good! We got another invite when we left that restaurant to go out and do water pipe with him when he was off work if we were looking for something to do. We also told him we may come back even though we had no intention of doing so. We headed back to the hotel, read a little and then went to bed. We wanted to be refreshed for our last day.

Day 4

We woke up to find it pouring outside. It was not going to be a fun day. Luckily, the place we went was the second palace oft he Ottoman Empire (The Dolmabahce Palace), which was built in the European style so it was all inside! It was gorgeous! The rooms were so large and there was gold everywhere. We got to see where Attaturk died (he was the founder of the Republic of Turkey who moved into the palace after the royal family was exiled). The doctors stopped the clock next to his bed when he died. It is always set to 9:05. We saw the rest of the palace, including the largest chandelier in Turkey, and got back on the tram to go back to the hotel. We had a little bit of free time before we had to leave for the airport, so we stopped to get lunch. Once again we got free tea, but we also got a little pin with the evil eye and a dolphin (no idea what the dolphin represents). The waiters did not heckle us here, which was very nice. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to change out of our wet clothes for the flight home.

We arrived at the airport and checked out the shops there. Angela and I really wanted a Turkish tea set because the cups are so cool! We found a pack that came with two tea cups as well as a box of Apple Tea! It was the perfect set. I also got a T-shirt for myself. The owner of the store where we got the tea sets also gave us free pins with the evil eye...however he insisted on putting them on us. VERY AWKWARD! He put it on my tank top instead of the sweater I had on over it! Gosh it was creepy! We got out of there asap as well. Our flight was not delayed this time, which was good because we had to get back to go watch the Super Bowl. There were not screens on this plane, which made me sad because I wanted to finish watching Big. We got food once again, and I got a vodka orange with my meal. It was oh so very strong that I had two cups of water with it. We landed at Heathrow and we rushed through the border and customs to get on the Tube so we would get home in time for the game. We made it just in time for the coin toss! We did not get to see any commercials because BBC was carrying the broadcast and they just had their annoying commentators during the breaks, but we got to see halftime and, most importantly, the Saints win!! The game ended around 3am and I did not get to bed until about 4:30. It was such a long day let me tell you!

It was nice to be back in 'introverted' London. No one heckling you when you walk passed. Everyone has their headphones in while they walk down the street. Ah it feels good to be back. Unfortunately I could not enjoy being home for long because I woke up this morning with a sore throat and now I have a fever. I hate that I keep getting sick while I am here! It ruins everything! :(

And my long, long post is done. I tried to sum it up as much as possible toward the end. I hope you enjoyed! :)

February? Really?

2010-02-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe it has been almost a month already! It does not seem that long.

So Stonehenge...very cool, but not too much to see. We were there for 45 minutes, so I took a picture from almost every angle possible! I can now say that I have seen it at least. It is crazy to think about how the heck they built it. Some stones came all the way from Wales! There was no easy way to get them to England...how did they do it?! They have no idea because it was before written history (that started with the Romans), so they may never know what happened. I hate unsolved mysteries!

The view of Bath from the bus was amazing! It was a bright and clear day, which was excellent. All the buildings are made out of the same stone so it looks really cool. We drove around the city in the bus for awhile to see what is there to see. We were then dropped off by the abbey which was very close to the Roman Baths. We started with a tour of the Roman Baths, then got free time for the next two and a half hours or so.

The baths did not look very appealing because algae has grown in them from lack of use, but supposedly back in the time of the Romans the waters looked very inviting. The public has a the opportunity to take a bath in the "healing mineral water" for about 20 pounds. Not the baths that we see in the exhibit of course (they are full of algae), but modern ones that are clean. I love ruins, don't get me wrong, but I feel like the baths all looked the same. We saw what we wanted to see, then kind of hurried through the rest of the museum to get out into the city.

Angela and I headed straight for the Jane Austen Museum because we are super cool like that. It cost 5.50 to get in, which was not worth it at all. We got a talk at the beginning of the exhibit that was very interesting. I learned more from the talk than walking through the exhibit. There was nothing much in there at all...Really the only good thing that came from buying a ticket was receiving 10% off of a meal in the tea restaurant upstairs. I have never really been a tea person, but I figured we might as well get tea at a Jane Austen Museum while we were there. I think my "meal" was titled Tea with the Ladies, while Angela got the Tea with the Austens. Mine included cheese and cucumber tea sandwiches, a scone with jam and clotted cream and a tea of my choice. I got a raspberry tea that I actually liked! It was all very good and I have been craving tea since...hmm weird. The gift shop was also very dangerous...and I ended up buying Sense and Sensibility because it was only 10 pounds and I "needed" it.

Since we spent most of our time there, we didn't really get to see much else, but just seeing it from the bus was enough. You couldn't get a view of the entire city in the city like you can from outside of it. We went back to the bus and had a two and a half hour bus ride home. I slept and listened to my iPod the entire way.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. The only exciting thing was that Aladdin was on TV! Anna and I saw the ad on TV earlier this week and had been excited ever since. Thanks to my cousin, Christine, I wanted a Big Mac (because she was talking about how she wanted one and dangit it sounded good). Anna, Angela and I looked up the closest McDonald's and quick ran out before Aladdin started. We didn't make it back in time for the opening, but we saw most of it!

Nothing much happened on Monday besides class, but today I did a lot. I had a tour of Parliament this morning. It was pretty cool to see the inside of the famous building. Our tour guide was pretty funny too. He had dry British humor, which I find hilarious, but others didn't seem to get it. After the tour, I stopped at the post office to get stamps so I can finally get some postcards out. We had a talk on environmental stability that we were forced to go to because they took attendance...I almost didn't go just to see what they did to us...

After the LONG talk, we headed to the Imperial War Museum to see the Holocaust exhibit that is currently there. We were planning on going museum hopping, but we ended up spending 3 hours in this exhibit! There was so much information and survivors recounting their stories. I only cried twice, but we came out very depressed. I suggested we should go see a show, but they weren't up for it. Instead we went to the store, bought chocolate and are going to watch Chocolat soon. Nothing like chocolate and Johnny Depp to bring you out of depression!

Only one more day of classes this week and then I am off to Istanbul for the weekend! I am also going to a Football (soccer) game tomorrow with my sports class, so that should be a fun experience. I think I have done more this week than I have any week since I got here, and it is only Tuesday!

Week at a Glance

2010-01-29T10:47:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the large gap between blogs, but I have been too tired/lazy to blog each night. I also apologize for how long this blog will be, I will try to keep each review of the day brief.

Sunday

Lazy/Homework day. Anna had a fever, so we stayed in.

Monday

Slept in then went to class at 5. I don't think I did much else (this is why I need to blog everyday...I don't remember what I did otherwise!)

Tuesday

Anna and I went shopping! We saw this really cute shop when we went to see Avenue Q and we decided to go back. Everything in the store was under 20 pounds so it was great! I got two sweater dresses that I can use for work. One black and grey one and one purple one with a black belt. It was a successful shop. We went to Covent Garden after to look at some shops there, but we didn't really find anything. I am in search for a pair of boots because EVERYONE wears them here and I didn't have room to pack mine...

Wednesday

I have two classes on Wednesdays, so it was a long day. What better to do after a long day than go and unwind at the pub! Anna wasn't going out, but Angela, Todd and I went to Imperial. It was a theme night for a fundraiser for Haiti. It was TV/Cartoon character night. I wore my new purple sweater dress and green scarf with a headband and tights and said I was Daphane from Scooby Doo, but they said I didn't have red hair so I didn't get the discount! Dang specifics. Oh well I had to pay 7 pounds instead of 5, but it went to a good cause. The price included entry and unlimited free drinks. Unfortunately it only included beer or cider, so I had the cider. I only had three drinks, so I didn't even get enough drinks to cover my entry cost... We met up with Michael and Joey and decided to hang out outside. Outside I met a German, Norwegian, Turk, Greek and British person. So many people from different countries go to that school! We were getting cold, so we went in for more drinks. At the bar, I met a guy from Ireland! I told him that I was Irish and he seemed amused. It was such a fun night, and I love going out and meeting people from Europe!

Thursday

I had class at 9am and it was hard. I wasn't up TOO late, but 3 hours in the morning is tough. Of course they clean our rooms on Thursday afternoons so I couldn't come back and nap because that would be awkward. I can't believe I am complaining about someone coming in and cleaning my room for me... I stayed up and decided to shower to wake myself up. I had to take my computer into the Apple store because my headphone jack isn't working, so we decided to go shopping while we waited. The Apple Store is in this awesome mall called Westfield. It is HUGE! Unfortunately they couldn't do anything about my computer unless I replaced something for 350 pounds...not worth it. We went to this one store that had great sales (well all the stores had great sales because January is a huge sale month here). I got two skirts there for 20 pounds. We then went to H&M and that was dangerous. Everything was so cute! I ended up getting a cute shirt, a long sleeve black shirt (I needed one), and a black cardigan (which I also needed). I believe it was a successful shopping trip, although I probably shouldn't have gone. It was fun.

Friday

I received a care package from my family today! I was so surprised to see how much they fit in there! I got Mac n Cheese, Chewy bars, Pop-Tarts, gummi worms, Orange Life-Savers (my favorite), Laffy Taffy, hot chocolate, Starbursts and suckers! My black sweat pants and planner were also in there! Thank goodness my dad is such a great packer! I am so excited to make Mac n Cheese! Anna and I also walked down to the shop on the corner to get Ben & Jerry's ice cream because we saw that they had it. I also needed milk. We saw they had a whole American foods section and they have so much! They also have Kraft Mac n Cheese, but it is SO expensive...plus I have so much from my family! :) They also have American cereals, but they are about 7 pounds a box, which is crazy! If I ever get homesick, and am willing to spend lots of money on something American, I know where to go. They even have Fluff! I may have to go back and get some of that for Fluff and peanut butter sandwiches. :)

Some other odds n ends...I am going to Stonehenge and Bath tomorrow. We have to leave at 8, but it should be fun. I also got my internship placement! I will be working for Sports Impact Ltd. which is a sporting public relations firm...I am so excited!

Well there was my week in a nutshell. I will try to be better about blogging so it is a day or two at a time.

Cheers!

Notting Hill

2010-01-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

I have been so bad at blogging lately, so I don't remember where I left off.

Thursday night Anna, Angela, Todd and I went to this really fancy club called Vendome. We had been invited by one of the guys we met the night before at Imperial, Joey. We were on his guest list and everything...we felt special. I decided I should probably wear heels because some clubs are picky like that - never again! My feet hurt before we even got to the Tube station. It sure was an experience.

The place was underground (as most clubs are I guess) and had three different bars. The DJ booth was in the middle of the dance floor and it spun. The dance floor also lit up. It was so cool! We had to stand for the first half hour or so because our table wasn't ready yet (yes we got a table). We met some of Joey's other friends and then we finally got to sit down - thankfully because my feet were going to fall off if we didn't. At each table, there is a big bucket of ice, a bottle of what I assumed was very expensive vodka, and bottles of orange and cranberry juice. I would have to say it was the best vodka I have ever had because I could not taste it (not always a good thing).

We started the night out saying we would only stay for an hour or two because we were still tired from the night before. We stayed longer than we expected. We got home at 4am once again - and I had class at 9am once again. I just kept telling myself that we have to experience London while we are here. We danced and drank the night away! It was so much fun. When we finally left, we had to wait for the bus because the Tube closes at midnight. Of course it was raining when we left too, but we didn't really care. Luckily we were with the guys that live in London because I don't think we would have found our way home. It was certainly a great experience!

The next morning wasn't so hot. Anna got to sleep in, but I had to be to class at 9. I could not stop fidgeting in class. I think it was my bodies way of keeping me awake. We got out 45 minutes early so I went back home as fast as possible to crawl back in bed and nap for an hour before I had to go to class again. It was so nice. The next class was fine and I was awake afterward.

We decided we were going to stay in last night to retain our sanity. We got invited out again, but we kindly declined. We went grocery shopping and watched TV all night. It was so nice. Unfortunately my bed caved in on me. I can still sleep on it, but it is not nearly as comfortable without the supports underneath the mattress. I put in a work order, but they didn't come today. I really hope they come soon because I can barely sit on it and there is no where else to sit in our room!

Today, we went to Notting Hill for the Portobello Market. It was such a cool place and I got a lot of gifts for people there. They also have the CUTEST clothes, but you can't trying anything on! We decided we are going to go back and just get them. We looked for the blue door from the movie Notting Hill, but we didn't find it. When I got back home I looked up where it is, and found out that it was no longer blue, but black. So much for finding that.

We had hot water today so a very long shower was in order. I have to take advantage of the warmth whenever we get it. Ah well I must go get ready to go out tonight. Hope you enjoyed the blog! :)

Meeting People

2010-01-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very long, but very fun day. I woke up feeling much better and went to class at 1. We met our new teacher for my Islam class today. She was in Beirut last week, so she wasn't here. I don't like her and I want the other guy back. She is from New Jersey originally and she knows what she is talking about, but she can't seem to get it out all the time. It makes her hard to understand.

Anyway, that class went the whole 3 hours, then I went across the street to a new grocery store I found and got a sandwich and chips. All of the sandwiches looked gross to me, so I got a chicken fajita wrap. Now if you know me, you will know that I am one of the pickiest eaters I know. Under normal circumstances I would not have eaten this particular wrap because there were onions and peppers and a bunch of other veggies I don't like in it, but I have actually been trying a couple new things since getting here. Plus I was oh so hungry. Saying that, I didn't actually like the wrap and should have just been my picky self.

My Sporting London class only went an hour because FIE put on a welcome reception for us from 6-10 last night. My teacher wanted us to go, so she let us out at like ten to 6. I came back to the room to get Anna and Angela (no one else in our group wanted to go). We figured it would be a way to meet people, and if not, we got two free drinks and "nibbles" out of it. This gym was set up like a high school dance with a dj playing horrible music...like a high school dance. We entered the raffle to win some cool trips, and all the proceeds went to Haiti. I bought 5 tickets for 5 pounds and of course I didn't win a thing. One girl won two things, so she took the better one and they re-drew for her "lesser prize." The food was cold because we didn't get there until around 7, but they were bringing out new plates of them, so I guess we missed the most recent one.

Of course being the anti-social people we are, we headed toward an empty corner to sit down, drink our wine and eat our cold finger-food. There were a couple of girls over there that we knew from class, so we started talking to them (or they started talking to us, whichever). We then met some more of the people from their school. After the raffle was drawn, they dimmed the lights and turned up the music (so much for socializing in that atmosphere). We got our second free drink, then decided to head to Imperial College since it was discounted drinks night. By this time JJ had shown up, so he left with us too.

It was packed as usual, but we got some drinks and found the rest of our group. There wasn't anywhere to sit so we were standing until we found our friends from the social. They were going to look for a table outside, so we followed them. It was kind of cold, but it wasn't as loud or as crowded. We met some other Americans out there as well. Since names will be easier to reference at a later time, they were Ivy, Abbey, Todd and Anthony. There were more, but those were the main 4 we talked to. Abbey, Ivy and their group left around 11 or so, but Anna, Angela, Todd and I stayed.

All of a sudden a group of British guys sits down next to us and I start talking with them, I turn back to our group and realize that there were more on the other side of us. They were all very nice and we talked for awhile. Two of them will be studying in Delaware next year and they were asking what it is like. I didn't have much to tell them except that it was small.

We decided to get out of the cold and head to the club part of Imperial (which was right next door to the pub). We didn't stay in there too long because it was loud and I don't dance much. The evening was oh so much fun, too bad it is so expensive to go out here and can really only happen every so often.

Today I went on a field trip to Red Bee Media. It was very interesting and we got to see a lot of the behind the scenes work transmitting television programs. The building was very cool and had lots of funky furniture and structures inside. One wall was made out of these colored plastic tubes sticking out of the wall making it look so cool. The colors changed as you walked down the wall. This was the creative floor, so that was why it was like that.

Other than the field trip, not much happened today. It was sunny, but we were too tired to take advantage of it. I also don't want to make this post any longer by adding pointless details, so enjoy!

Broadway in London

2010-01-19T15:27:00.000-08:00

I am sick. Of course I would get sick while abroad. I don't get sick when I am home, but I guess London doesn't do well for me. Boo.

The only time I got out of bed yesterday was to go sign up for some extracurricular events. The program sent out a list of events that they were offering discounted tickets for on a first come first serve basis. Sign up started yesterday morning so we got out of bed and dragged our butts to Foundation House. We signed up for a Beatles Walking Tour, Murder & Horror in London walking tour and discounted tickets for the London Eye. We stood in line for a good half an hour and then went to Starbucks to get breakfast.

I came back and decided to try and sleep away my sickness. I woke up feeling worse than before I went to bed. I decided that going to class would be a very bad idea, so I emailed my instructor to let him know I was sick. That was about the end of the day. We did head down to the vending machines to try and get some chocolate to make us feel better (mental of course), but they were turned off for some reason! It was very disappointing.

I woke up this morning to find I no longer had a sore throat, but my sinus headache had gotten worse. I knew I had to go to class today because we only meet once a week for this one, so I got ready and went. I was absolutely MISERABLE! 3 hours of class is not fun to sit through when you have extreme pressure building up inside your head. I got through it, but I also went through a whole pack of tissues.

After class I couldn't even slow down because Anna, JJ and I decided a couple days ago that we were going to go see Avenue Q tonight. I got back from class, made myself presentable and we left for the tkts booth in Leicester Square to get discounted tickets. We then walked around for a little bit looking for a place to eat. We stopped at this Italian restaurant which was very good. I had pizza, and of course it was Italian style, so the whole pizza to myself is normal. Needless to say I could not finish it, but it was good. We went someplace else to get ice cream to kill some more time before the show at 8. The ice cream was kind of disappointing...not very good.

The show was so funny! I have heard good things about it, but it was so cool to see. I was amazing at how the actors could play so many different people and have different voices for each puppet. I would forget who I was talking for at what time! There were times when one actress would be having a conversation between the two puppets she played where she would have to change her voice each time. All that plus moving the puppet's mouth and arms was amazing. I don't think I would be able to do it! It was a great show and really was a great end to my otherwise sick-filled day.

My mom told me I need to rest, so that is what I intend to do. Goodnight!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2010-01-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

Since we were up so late last night planning our spring break, Anna and I slept in today. When we woke up, it was sunny outside! This is only the second or third time since being here that it was sunny. We knew we had to take full advantage of the day. We decided to go back to all the places we have been to already seen so we could take pictures of them with blue sky.

We started at Buckingham Palace, but by the time we got there, the sun was already setting! Dang winter days! The sky was still blue though, so I got some good pictures. I also decided I should probably take some photos with me in them so I could prove I am here. There was some sort of movie being filmed there today. There were a bunch of people dressed in clothing from the 1920s or 1930s yelling "God Save the King!" and clapping. It was all very strange.

We then decided to head towards the Royal Parks since it was such a nice day. The park is absolutely beautiful - especially while the sun is setting. I can't wait to go back in the spring when everything will be in bloom! The walk through the Park led us to Trafalgar Square where we took pictures of the National Gallery in the sunlight. We will return there to try and climb on top of the giant lion sculptures another day. It is quite a feat I hear.

We walked from Trafalgar Square to Westminster to get pictures of Big Ben again. It was crazy - people were literally on the ground with their cameras trying to get a friend/family member/whatever in the picture with Big Ben. Tourists...haha. We then walked toward the Westminster Cathedral because we knew of a restaurant we had passed on an earlier tour. We went to The Albert for dinner, which was a pub/restaurant. We went up to the restaurant and were the only people there. They were playing 80's music, which was awesome! Some of the song selections included "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," "It's Raining Men," and the beginning of "Footloose." They cut off the song in the middle and changed it to 80s love ballads instead. We wanted the good music back!

I had the BBQ Chicken, which was very good. It also came with chips (or fries as we know them). For dessert I got chocolate fudge cake - I couldn't finish it it was so rich! Another thing amazing about this restaurant was it gave us ice with our water. It was the first time I have had ice here and I loved it! Now the waiter was being a creeper because he kept staring out the window. Don't know what he was looking at, but he was creepy. He also had a mullet...

We got on the Tube to head toward Tower Hill where the Jack the Ripper walking tour started. We ended up getting there too early, so we went passed the Tower Hill station on the Tube and got off a couple stops after it. We left the station, took a look around (saw nothing) and got back on the Tube going back toward Tower Hill. It was still too early once we reached Tower Hill, so we went passed once again...we just kept going in circles! Finally we got out and met up with the tour guide. He is the top scholar on Jack the Ripper and has written two books on the subject (I bought one of them tonight). The tour was 2 hours long and only cost 5 pounds, so it was worth the money! I just love history :)

It was a long day. We were gone from 2 until 10:30 or so, but it was a great day! Lots of walking during the day leads to a good night's sleep!

Weekend

2010-01-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

So I didn't blog yesterday because nothing really happened. I went to class, had a meeting then watched movies. One thing that was cool was I saw the TV show that I saw getting set up when I went to BBC. It was called 8 Out of 10 Cats (so random and has nothing to do with cats). That was a cool experience.

Also, on TV last night we saw full on nudity. It was a travel show where this guy travels to different countries and does certain things. Well he walks into a bowling alley and there are a bunch of naked people bowling! And let me tell you, nothing was blurred out... We also heard the f-word dropped in a different show. Welcome to Europe! I'm going to get used to this whole uncensored television thing and hate censorship even more when I get home.

Today I woke up to pouring rain. We didn't want to leave our room because it was so gross out, but we didn't want to sit in our room either. We lounged around until about 4:00, then decided to go out and try to get tickets to a show. We went to the theatre showing Lion King, but they were all sold out. Next was Billy Elliot - too expensive or obstructed view. Wicked was right near Billy Elliot, so we checked there. The first thing the guy said when we asked if there were tickets available for tonight's show was: "They will all be 60 pounds just to warn you." I guess we must look poor. huh. So our course we didn't go there, because we are poor and didn't want to spend 60 pounds on a show we have seen. Our next place was Avenue Q, but we couldn't remember where the theatre was, so we decided to do the Jack the Ripper walking tour instead.

We got on the Tube to Tower Hill and the tour was supposed to leave right from the station at 7:30. We weren't sure where it was meeting or anything, and we were kind of early, so we went in search of food. Everything was closing so early! It wasn't even 7 and the streets were dark. We headed back toward the station where a group of what looked to be students were congregated. We stood by listening and it was a Jack the Ripper tour, but it was leaving early and didn't seem to be open to the public. We decided to just go home and eat and do the tour another night.

When we got off at our station, we went to the Patisserie and got pastries! They were oh so good and we felt we deserved one after all of our walking.

Senior Citizens here are called Super Adults. I find that very amusing.

Also, people here walk very fast. I thought I walked fast, but people here are crazy! Tonight, there were two girls saying goodbye to each other as we passed them. The girl heading in our direction was eventually a block and a half in front of us, and we were walking fast. I understand we are short, but usually I have no problem keeping up with taller people, but here they are speedsters!

I got to see my puppy over Skype tonight! Oh...and my family :P

Anna and I kept thinking of places to go for spring break after we learned that all the places we wanted aren't even going to be warm! Greece is only going to be high 50's...I mean come on! And the verdict is in and the trip is book...We are going to Santorini!! I am oh so very excited! The hotel is beautiful and the city is amazing! And now I must go to bed.

Umbrellas

2010-01-14T08:12:00.000-08:00

I have been lucky so far with my class times, but today started the 9am classes. Luckily it wasn't class, just a trip to BBC Television Center. I did have to get up early though. We all met at Foundation House, then took the Tube to BBC. Our tour was okay, but no amazing. We didn't really get to see much, and our instructor - who worked there for 10 years - kind of took over the tour. Whenever the tour guides didn't know something he would step right in. It lasted about an hour, then we headed back home.

It was typical London weather today - rainy. Everywhere I looked on the way to the BBC, people had their umbrellas out. It wasn't even raining that hard, but I guess it was hard enough for them. These are the same people that can't handle snow either.

After class, Anna, Angela, Mason, Ryan and I went our exploring. We took the Tube to Westminster, and let me tell you, the view coming out of that Tube station is the best ever. On one side of you is the London Eye and Aquarium - on the other side is Big Ben. Absolutely amazing! We didn't pay to go inside Westminster Abbey because not everyone had enough cash on them, but I will definitely have to go back. We then ventured down the street aways and visited the Westminster Cathedral (which was free to go inside). There wasn't much to see there...just another cathedral, but we wanted to go up the bell tower to see the view of London. Unfortunately, the bell tower didn't open until 2:45 and we were there at 1:45. We will have to go back there as well.

We got back on the Tube and went to Piccadilly Circus to find some cheap tourist shops. There is a HUGE tourist shop that has basically anything you can think of British style. There was a Mini Cooper right in the center of the store. The boys didn't seem too keen on shopping, so we didn't stay long. We walked around a bit more and ended up in Leicester Square. There is a discount ticket booth there similar to the one in New York City, but the deals were not very good. Some shows, such as Wicked and Lion King, had no discount at all. We can find better deals online.

From there, we walked to Trafalgar Square to go to the National Gallery again because some people hadn't gone yet. It was just as boring as the first time. It also smelled terrible because they were pumping sewage or something right across the street. We didn't stay for very long. We left the National Gallery and headed back toward Piccadilly to catch the Tube home. When we got back, I crashed onto my bed. I was so tired from waking up early and walking around so much! I will get used to it eventually, but an hour nap was in store for today.

I woke up around 5 and Anna, Angela and I left to go out to dinner before a show we went to. We decided to go to Covent Gardens to look for a restaurant because we knew there would be a lot to choose from. We ended up going to a place called Maxwell's that had a special Theatre Menu that included two courses for just under 11 pounds. I got a burger, which was very good, and ice cream for dessert. You get a lot of food which makes it worth the money. The burger comes with fries and a side salad and the dessert was three scoops and chocolate sauce. I was so full coming out of there.

After dinner, we hopped back on the Tube to go to the theatre in Piccadilly Circus. The school gave everyone a theatre ticket to see either 39 Steps - the one we went to - or Blood Brothers. I really wanted to see Blood Brothers because it is a musical, but I was stuck with the play. It wasn't even that good. I laughed at parts, but overall, not so good. I am not into straight theatre as it is...more of a musical person. All it did was make me more tired, so I'm pretty sure I will have no trouble sleeping tonight.

A common theme I noticed today was hearing music from the Glee soundtrack. It was following us! In the tourist shop, two songs in a row were on the soundtrack. They were the original artists of course, but it was strange. In the restaurant one came on as well. I believe they are torturing us because we are not able to watch it here. I just thought that was odd.

Goodnight! Another 9am tomorrow...

Long day

2010-01-13T11:56:00.000-08:00

I couldn't sleep last night, so my 6 hours of class today were a little hard to sit through. I don't think I actually fell sleep until 4:30am. Luckily, I didn't have class until 1pm so I could sleep in, but I sure hope I can sleep tonight because I have class at 9am tomorrow. So tired!

We finally have warm water! It was so nice taking a warm shower this morning. I could stay in for longer than 2 minutes. Our room has also heated up, so the only thing left that is cold is...outside. We actually turned our heat down today! The temperature is expected to get up to the 40's later this week as well! Things are starting to look up. Of course the warmer weather brings the expected rain, but at least it will be warmer...

So I had 6 hours of class today. Three hours, then an hour break, then 3 hours of class. Both of the classes are interesting at least. I had Understanding Civilizations: Islam and the West first, which is interesting because I have studied Islam before. I am hoping we will go more in depth in this class. My instructor was not here this week, so the instructor from the other section of the class is teaching us this week. During my hour break, I went to the grocery store to get a sandwich, then I went back to the Foundation House (where our classes are) to eat in the common room. My second class was Sporting London. I am going to like this class because I get to talk about sports for 3 hours. We are going to an observation site for the Olympics on Friday...I can get used to this whole field trip thing.

The walk to Foundation House is about 10 min, so it will be good exercise over the semester. In this cold weather it seems like a long walk, but it will get better. Today I had about 10 lbs on my back since I had to bring my books for two classes (of course I didn't actually use them). It was also my day where my classes were on the 3rd floor so I got to walk up stairs with the books as well. What a work-out.

We all went to the Imperial College Pub tonight. We have ID's to get in there with our program, so that is nice. It was 'pound a pint' night or something like that. I had a pint of Foster's, which took me about an hour to drink. I just don't like beer. It was pretty crowded since it was a discounted pint night, so Anna and I left after about an hour. It's going to be an early night tonight...let's hope I can sleep!

Pink is in style

2010-01-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

So apparently the color to wear for men in England is pink. The sportscasters for the Packer game on Sunday were wearing either a pink shirt or tie (or both). Guys on BBC news wear the same. Today, my British Culture and Visual Media instructor wore a pink shirt as well. I have nothing against it, just making a point.

Had class at 1 today. Once again the shower was cold. That will get quite old soon. Class today was interesting, but once again there were technological difficulties. We learned more about the history of the UK than British Media, but it leads up to the discussion of how British culture became what it is today. We are taking some fun trips in that class as well. We go to Parliament in three weeks. I like the field work we do for our classes here.

After class we headed to the grocery store. We decided we were going to take a cab back so we could get lots of stuff. Strangely enough, I spent the same amount of money today as I did in my initial shop, and I feel like I got so much more to eat. Luckily, there was a cab parked outside of the grocery store when we left. We could not understand a word the man said. He forgot to turn the meter on, so he just guesstimated the price which was around 4 pounds. We aren't sure if this is legit or if he was stiffing us because we were Americans, but oh well. He was the first person I heard say "Bloody Hell" and it made my night.

I also stopped to get a SIM card for my cell phone, but I can't seem to be able to figure out my phone. It seems to be stuck in a mode that is not allowing me to call. It only allows me to call SOS (which I keep accidentally doing because I don't know which button does which), but it ends the call almost immediately afterwards. I don't know how someone is able to call for help when it keeps ending the call. I may just have to go and buy a new phone, which isn't too expensive.

Note to self: Don't buy something in bulk unless you know you like it. I bought two 6-pack bags of Salt & Vinegar Baked Chips (because they were 2 for 1) and they just aren't as good as the regular crisps. Disappointing.

I have decided I am not going to just sit in my room and watch TV anymore. I don't care if it is cold or raining, I am going to go and see London. Starting with the Jack the Ripper tour :) hehe

Classes Begin

2010-01-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

I don't have class on Mondays until 5:00pm, so I got to sleep in today! Our room is getting warmer, which is absolutely lovely. No more waking up freezing! Unfortunately, our shower was like ice this morning. It was miserable! I probably took the fastest shower of my life because I couldn't stand it. I tried to avoid the water as much as possible while still getting clean. It was a tough task let me tell you.

It was very boring today leading up to class. I had nothing to do! It was so dreary outside, so I didn't want to go out anywhere. We also only get 5 TV channels, and there was nothing on any of those. Hopefully on Mondays to come I will have homework or reading or something to do.

My first class today was Contemporary British Broadcasting. The teacher was very nice, but he seemed a bit disorganized. He also didn't know how to use technology...We watched a lot of TV clips from the various channels in England. So basically we watched TV for three straight hours. He didn't realize he didn't give us a break until 20 min before we got out. I am not too worried about this class. We are going to BBC on Thursday, so that should be fun!

Glee was supposed to be on tonight and we got all excited, but it's not on a channel that we get. We found Law & Order: UK instead. There have been lots of guns so far in the show...what happened to no guns in London? It is quite entertaining though because it has the same "dun-dun" noise when they switch scenes as the original. Very amusing :) Oh yes, and instead of our gecko mascot for Geico, London has a meerkat for their car insurance.

I am going to come home addicted to Salt & Vinegar chips (or crisps as they call them here). They are oh so good and very addicting. Of course they are conveniently located in the vending machine just downstairs.

Mind the Gap

2010-01-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Woke up at 12:40pm today...could have slept longer. I then proceeded to lounge around the apartment for another 2 hours. The water was freezing cold, so I decided not to shower, just washed up a bit from the bath faucet. Just another thing that is cold!

Four of us went out around 3 to explore. We went to the National Gallery which is an art museum. I saw some Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, etc. There weren't many big name paintings there, but I did see two that I studied in AP Art History in High School. I always enjoy seeing works that I have studied before. We spent about an hour there, then went on to try and find Covent Gardens. We weren't quite sure where we were going, but we didn't mind because we were seeing London. Two girls we were with got fed up with being lost (even though we didn't consider ourselves lost) and went home. Anna and I continued to look for Covent Garden. We eventually found it, although most of the shops were closing because it is Sunday. Before we got there, we stopped to watch a street performer from Finland. He was no very good, so we left.

Inside Covent Garden, we went to a restaurant called Fuel. We spilt a cheese pizza and since it was Happy Hour, we both got a drink called Fruit Punch Collins. It consisted of Raspberry Vodka, lemon citrus twist, pineapple juice, and soda. It was actually very good. After dinner, we just got back on the Tube and went home.

We went to the Holiday Inn near our apartment to watch the game. It would end like that wouldn't it? It might have been the worst defensive games I have ever seen. What happened to our No. 2 defense? Ah well I guess I would have liked to be home for a Packer Superbowl anyway. It was such a crazy game - so many ups and downs. There were some Arizona fans and some Packer fans there, but no fighting. I am sure Green Bay is going crazy right about now though. Lots of drinking is going to happen tonight. Not for me, however, I am going to bed.

Cold, Cold, Cold!

2010-01-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

The basic theme so far has been cold. Everywhere we go it seems to be freezing! Not just outside, but our rooms, the pubs, the bus. I know it is cold back home (even colder than here), but it still sucks to go outside! Of course I had to come during the coldest winter in 30 years!

Today we started our day with a walking tour around Kensington. Besides the cold, it was a nice, sunny day. This made it great for taking pictures! We were outside for a good two hours and saw a lot of the main sights of Kensington. We saw Royal Albert Hall, the monument dedicated to Albert, Kensington park, some houses where famous people lived, Kensington Palace, the royal colleges, etc. I got a lot of great pictures, but we came back frozen to the core. I came back, changed into pajamas, ate lunch and climbed back under my covers. It didn't help at all that our room is cold as well.

At 2, we went on a bus tour. It was nice to finally get out of Kensington and see some of the main attractions of London. We saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Globe Theatre, The London Eye, Harod's (which is HUGE), Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, and a lot more that I can't even remember. We saw a lot on the bus tour, but we couldn't get pictures of much. We stopped and got off the bus at Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge. Some of us didn't get off the bus at Tower Bridge because we didn't want to be cold, and we figured we could come back and get pictures on a nicer day. The bus driver made fun of us for being American saying we probably came from some warm state...when we told him we were from Wisconsin, he just called us lazy. We had good reasoning...why get off the bus to go take a picture that will not turn out well because it is overcast? After the last stop, the bus driver turned up the heat, which made me really sleepy. I keep nodding off the last fifteen minutes of the tour or so. I don't think I missed too much...oh well.

I made dinner for the first time here. I made spaghetti, and I made WAY too much. I was never good at cooking - lol. It took me forever to figure out the stove too. I got the water ready to boil and I turned on the burner, but it didn't seem to be getting hot. I could still touch the burner. I decided to go out and ask if anyone had used the stove yet, and he told me it took him 15 minutes to figure it out too. There is a switch that is hidden behind the knives that you have to push to turn the oven/stove on...there should be a sign somewhere. It ended up taking me about 45 minutes to make spaghetti.

I used Skype for the first time since getting to London tonight. I talked with my friend Tanya for awhile, then I got to talk to my family! My mom was so amazed that she could see and talk to me over the computer.

Notting Hill was on TV, so of course Anna and I decided to watch that instead of go out. We will eventually go out and see all that was in the movie...including Hugh Grant! haha It was so cool watching it and knowing the places they were talking about. Also, while watching TV, we saw a commercial that involved a man who saw a boy laying on the ground everywhere he went...what was this commercial for you ask? Speeding...the man was seeing the boy he hit and killed while speeding...damn the Brits are blunt!

I get to sleep in tomorrow! Yay!

Finally Here!

2010-01-08T09:58:00.000-08:00

I am in London! It took awhile to get here, but I made it!

Wednesday did not start out looking too promising. London was having a huge snow storm (they aren't used to ANY snow, so this was big) so a lot of flights were being delayed or cancelled. My flight was supposed to leave at 5:10pm on Wednesday, but we didn't end up leaving until 9:00 or so. It was your average international flight - long and cramped. About 40 min before we were set to land, the captain told us that we would be unable to land at Heathrow because it was too congested due to the weather. We had to fly into Birmingham - two hours north of London.

British Airways provided coach buses to get us all to Heathrow. I then took the Tube to the station closest to my apartment, and walked 6 blocks to my apartment. My arms are so sore today from pulling my luggage all day! I missed all of registration because I arrived 7 hours after it began, but luckily I arrived before it closed, so I got a quick version of check-in. I went out to a pub close by with some other girls from SNC for dinner and had my first fish and chips! What a London experience on my first night. I then came back and got all situated in my room (there isn't much space to store clothes!). The room is also freezing! We have a draft coming through the window and our curtains don't close all the way! My roommate Anna and I decided to stay in and sleep rather than going out the first night. Best decision ever.

Today all we had was orientation. That went until 12:30, then Anna and I went to the grocery store to get some stuff that we needed. It didn't seem like too far of a walk there, but the walk back was brutal with our groceries! We had another orientation for our internship at 4:30 which was very boring and I am now very tired because of it. Having dinner in tonight to save some money.

The weather here is just like Wisconsin. One of the guys that works here even made a joke that those of us from Wisconsin probably don't understand all the trouble the snow is causing. They say it will get back into the 40s or 50s shortly, which will be SO nice! I can't wait!