A SAMple of London

¡Hasta luego!

2008-05-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

¡Hola again! I’ve got another week of Spain to catch up on, so I’ll get started.

Last Wednesday and Thursday were pretty calm and relaxed days in Pamplona. Wednesday, Pete and I again walked around Lo Viejo. I purchased some cute flats, as the rough cobble-stoned roads of London killed many of my shoes this semester. Also, Spanish people don’t really wear flip-flops and look at you weirdly if you do. So I felt obligated to acquiesce to their fashion….and the shoes were cute. Justification enough, right?

A cool pic of a street in Pamplona.

We spent some more time in Parque Taconera, where all the wild things are. And by wild things I mean some birds and some pretty calm deer and goats. The animal-lover in me was very happy.

A peacock trying to impress the ladies.

This picture is dedicated to my mother, Carol Schaefer, friend of the goats.

Wednesday night Pete took me out for pinchos (which are what tapas are called in northern Spain) hopping. We went to a couple of bars, grabbing a couple of pinchos at each. Pete and I both love the concept of pinchos/tapas. It’s such a healthy way of going about it because the portions are small and when you hop from bar to bar you often eat standing up. And you stretch your meal out, therefore eating less. I really enjoy the huge variety of pinchos they have too. I found a good website on tapas that you can check out if you’re interested: http://www.arrakis.es/~jols/tapas/indexin.html The concept is just so different from anything in the States that I really feel I’m getting a genuine cultural experience. Yes, of course this is once again related to food, but I still feel that’s ok.

Thursday we had originally planned on a taking a day-trip to San Sebastian, a small city on the Atlantic. However, we later rationalized that since we were taking a 10-hour night bus Thursday night to Alicante for the weekend, that we’d hold off and relax and shop for our weekend instead. It turns out Thursday was Labor Day in Spain, so most of our shopping destinations were closed. However, we had a good day of again walking around and buying the things we could in preparation. We ate dinner Thursday night with Ernesto at Café Bar Iruña, Hemingway’s hangout back in the day. They had a great set menu for cheap, so we were all pretty satisfied.

The ten-hour ride to Alicante Thursday was just as anyone would imagine it—tight, uncomfortable and long. Unfortunately, there was a lady snoring unusually loudly behind me too, so Pete and I didn’t get a ton of sleep. Needless to say, naps were a first priority when we arrived in Alicante and checked into our hotel. We actually did not stay in Alicante, but north a bit on Playa San Juan. It was a great area. Not terribly crowded, but a really nice beach. Our hotel was about 50 meters from the beach, if that, so we were pumped for the great location.

I can pretty much sum up Friday, Saturday and Sunday together, as we did essentially the same thing every day: Woke up, bought food and drinks for the beach and beached it all day. It was literally the first time this entire semester where I have done absolutely nothing for a couple days straight. It was absolutely wonderful and refreshing. Pete and I had a great time every day just talking, napping, listening to music and attempting to tan. Key word is attempting. I was really smart with the sunscreen this go around, so no crazy sunburns and lines this time. Originally we had said we’d hit up some clubs and stay out late a night or two, but the sun was so draining during the day that we settled for late dinners and strolls on the beach before calling it a night. Pete treated me to a great beachfront restaurant on our first night where I had spaghetti con mariscos (seafood), which was filled with shrimp, mussels, clams, calamari, etc. I was really happy. The second night I treated us to a nice pizza place.

The view from my balcony.

People out on Playa San Juan.

A happy beach-goer.

The boardwalk on Playa San Juan.

Sunday evening we ventured back down to Alicante and caught our 10-hour bus home to Pamplona. The way back was actually less comfortable than the way down, unfortunately. A couple of Pete’s friends who are also exchange students in Pamplona ended up on the same bus going back, so it was cool to meet and chat with them. We got in pretty early on Monday morning and went right back to sleep until the afternoon.

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, Pete, Ernesto, Angela, her friend Danny and I decided to throw our own little party. Spain does not celebrate this holiday, only Mexico, and Americans wanting an excuse to party. We, of course, are such Americans. We all headed over to Ernesto’s piso (apartment) to enjoy some good ol’ Tex-Mex burritos and margaritas in celebration. It ended up being a pretty fun and chill night just sitting around, talking and listening to music. Unfortunately, had to keep the noise level down as Ernesto’s neighbor, who obviously was not celebrating the holiday and instead celebrated her sleep time, knocked on the wall to quiet us. Regardless, a good time had by all. I’m so happy that Pete has made these friends over here. He has a bunch of other friends, both exchange students and Spanish students, but Ernesto and Angela and him are probably the tightest. They’re very cool, and since Angela goes to MU, I’m sure I’ll see her a bunch next year.

Today we actually made it out to San Sebastian. It’s a short bus ride away, and is absolutely gorgeous. It’s nestled at the base of some mountains, right on a bay off the Atlantic. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in my life. Check out these pictures and please take a look at my Facebook album for more: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2257708&l=30576&id=15921830

The beach with the tide out.

Town Hall with the mountain and statue of Jesus in the background.

Turtle Island in the middle of the bay.

We spent the majority of the morning climbing up a mountain toward a giant statue of Jesus. The mountain offered gorgeous views of the city, bay and ocean, so I had to stop every couple of feet for a photo op. Pete’s amazing with how patient he is with me. We enjoyed the slow climb and loved stopping here and there just to take the whole thing in.

Taking a break on the way up the mountain.

We made it up to Jesus!

After our descent, we spent some time wading in the waves on the beach and then sunning ourselves. I was bad and forgot the sunscreen, so I have a bit of a tomato thing going on right now. Luckily, this is even-ing out those crazy tan lines on my arms that I mentioned in my last post that I got during our picnic at La Cuidadela last week. Post basking/baking in the sun, we grabbed some pinchos at Pete’s favorite pincho bar he’s found in Spain, and headed back on the bus. It was a pretty short trip, about 5 or 6 hours, but entirely worth it.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have experienced all these places in Spain and Europe with Pete. I know most couples don’t get this opportunity, and I guess fate just played in our favor, since we’d both decided to study abroad this semester prior to even dating. All my experiences have been enhanced by sharing it with my best friend and best travel buddy. It’s cool that we’ll be able to go back and be able to share pictures and all our stories with everyone. I know he and I are both ready to go home at this point and do just that. I’ll be home late Friday night and Pete is back in the first week of June. We’ve both got a fun summer in Atlanta together to look forward to, which we’re both beyond excited about. Internships will keep us busy during the week, but we’ve got some good nights and weekends planned with his friends, as well as a trip to St. Louis for my cousin’s wedding (yay!) and a possible NYC roadtrip to visit all our friends who are working there this summer.

I suppose I’ll wrap it up by telling you what’s coming up these next couple of days. I am taking an early bus Thursday morning to Madrid to catch my flight to London. I am staying a night in London in possibly my flat and then am catching my flight home on Friday afternoon. It lands in Chicago, so I have to connect to a flight to KC, but I should be home about 10 p.m. on Friday night. I am very very excited to see my family at the airport. I talked to Mom and Dad on the phone the other day and I could tell they were so excited that I was returning in a week. It’ll be great to see home again, the pets, my bed, visit my grandma, drive my car, eat a well-made hamburger….the list continues. I guess I’m an American girl through and through, even though this experience has impacted me beyond my expectations. I feel so lucky to have had it.

I don’t know if this will be my final blog post. Tomorrow will be full of repacking, seeing my lasts of Pamplona, going to a party with Pete’s friends and of course, spending quality time with Pete. (Yeah, I’m going to miss him quite a bit.) And I can’t foresee if I’ll be able to write from London, not that there will be a ton to tell you at that point, as it mostly will be comprised of traveling.

In case this is the final post of “A SAMple of London” I want to say thanks for keeping up with my travels and experiences. I’ve gotten so many e-mails, comments to my blog, Facebook messages and even hand-written letters (thank you, Jenna King) from friends and family, and it’s been so wonderful reading them and keeping in touch with everyone. It’s been fun knowing that you’ve enjoyed what I’ve shared. And it’s cool to know that this blog is something I’ll always have to look back and remember what I’ve experienced. I was initially hesitant to become another blogger out there in the cybersphere, but I’m so glad I did. It was worth every minute of tedious uploads and computer malfunctions. I don’t like good-byes, and I’ve had to say far too many of them in the last couple of weeks, so I’m going to end by again thanking you and telling you to stay tuned for future blogs of Samantha Schaefer. I anticipate some more European excursions in the next couple of years, so this girl is not done yet.

It wouldn't be a proper post without links to my Facebook photo albums. I've included all the European ones just in case you don't want to go back through searching for the links. They're pretty much in order from most recent to least:

Pelirrojita does España: Parte Uno: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2255784&l=beb5b&id=15921830
Pelirrojita does España: Parte Dos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2257708&l=30576&id=15921830
About Londontown: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252393&l=cd82c&id=15921830
London Ladies: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2254366&l=342e6&id=15921830
A Few of My Favourite Things: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2246066&l=c4ded&id=15921830
A Bray Escape: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2250098&l=eb891&id=15921830
Momas Weekend and Others: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2243803&l=795f7&id=15921830
Be Very Wary of the Gypsies while in Paris: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2240382&l=f51e8&id=15921830
If you tilt it sideways, it becomes art: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2240239&l=b104c&id=1592183
Rome if you want to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2241844&l=f9a27&id=15921830
Roman Holiday: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2241749&l=1f049&id=15921830
Pieces of London/My Royal Premiere!: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2238051&l=d8b55&id=15921830
A sunny day in Londontown/I'm going to Hogwarts!: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235155&l=3c830&id=15921830
Hooray for English Countryside!: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2234313&l=707ec&id=15921830
Peter does London: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2234309&l=2bae2&id=15921830
Stonehenge: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2230967&l=663bf&id=15921830
Cardiff Castles and Coasts: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2230961&l=535b3&id=15921830
Bashing Around London: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2227248&l=018c0&id=15921830

¡Hola from España!

2008-04-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

I knew I was in for a great two weeks just flying into Spain. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, even from the plane. Rich, green fields interspersed with semi-arid desert and trees in patterns on flattened hilltops created a storybook picture as the plane descended down to Madrid.

Pete met me at the airport. It was so exciting finally being here with him, something we had both looked forward to the entire semester. We lugged my HUGE suitcase from the airport to our hostel in central Madrid. Because I had to pack everything up in my flat before I left for Spain, I decided to take the suitcase with all the clothes, shoes and toiletries to Spain and leave the other one locked up in a spare flat in London until I can pick it up before I fly out of London to the US. The other one is full of souvenirs and winter clothes, but the one I brought is still ridiculously heavy. There was no way of getting around it unfortunately. Pete was amazing in handling it for me. I don’t know what I’d do without him.

Our hostel in Madrid was in an extremely old building, circa 1400s, I think. No air conditioning, big windows, balconies overlooking the narrow city streets, high ceilings, crown molding—perfect. After checking in, Pete and I headed out to explore the city, walking through some of the hot bar and restaurant areas en route to El Parque del Buen Retiro. It is absolutely gorgeous, which of course was even enhanced by the perfect weather—mid 70’s. For the first time since November, I could walk around comfortably in a t-shirt. For the first time since October, I could comfortably wear a skirt. We spent a while walking around the park and Paseo del Prado a main road near the big art museums in town.

Pete and I in Parque del Buen Retiro.

We went back to rest and siesta before going out to a late dinner. In Spain, people don’t eat dinner until 10 or 11 at night, and don’t really start going out to party until 1 or so in the morning. It’s a total time difference for me, but it’s fun to be experiencing something so culturally different from what I’ve experienced thus far from someone like Pete who’s lived here and understands the culture. We ate some amazing paella, which is this delicious Spanish dish of rice and in our case, veggies, sausage and chicken. Afterwards, we hit up a nearby bar for some cañas (beer) before calling it a quasi-early night.

Saturday we started our day with the famous café con leche (coffee with milk) at a nearby cafetería. Yeah, it’s just coffee, milk and sugar in an espresso-sized cup, but I like to think the taste was totally enhanced by just being in Madrid. We then walked around a bit, exploring the major spots in town, from Plaza del Sol to Gran Vía, the main road cutting through the city. Pete loved reliving his experiences that he had with his friends when he traveled here about 4 years ago. We wound up at a Parque del Oeste, where there was an Egyptian temple dating from 200 B.C. given to Spain in as a gift in return for Spanish architects working to save some of its other temples. The park also offered great views of Madrid and the nearby Spanish palace.

Looking out on Palacio Real.

Me and the Templo de Debod.

Around mid-day, we stopped at a café for some cañas and tapas. Tapas are small, appetizer-sized dishes that Spanish bars have sitting out on the counters and customers buy the piece. People often will have a couple for a meal. We then met Pete’s friends from Pamplona, Angela and Ernesto, who came to Madrid for the night. Angela is another MU student studying abroad and Pete has told me tons of stories about both, so it was great finally meeting them. We all went out to Plaza Mayor, a huge and beautiful area in town where Angela and Ernesto had some paella. Pete and I shared another small tapa and some of the famous Spanish sangria.

Afterwards, we went to the Prado museum, one of, if not the largest museums of purely paintings in the world. We saw some famous works by Velasquez and a wonderful whole exhibit of Goya’s work. To any art buffs, I recommend you Google both.

Pete and I continued on to La Reina Sofia, the other huge art museum in Madrid just down the road from the Prado. It consists of more modern pieces, and Pete and I were particularly there to see the Salvador Dali’s and Picasso’s. I was absolutely floored by being in the presence of the Dali works—I’ve been a fan of his art for years. It’s so trippy and there are many things about the works that I have yet to really comprehend (as I’m sure few have), but it’s still so interesting to view. The Picassos were all in a huge exhibit, which was slightly overwhelming, but cool to see such a large collection.

Enigma by Dali was at the La Reina Sophia.

After our museum afternoon, we spent early evening in the Parque del Buen Retiro, hanging out and enjoying the once again beautiful weather. We met up with Angela and Ernesto later in the evening to out for dinner and drinks. Dinner was at Cocina del Desierto, an amazing middle-eastern place in the college area of Madrid. It was such a chill atmosphere, with people sitting on pillows and eating off of big gold trays. Hummus and falafels, my new craving, were on the menu for me, as well as some great Spanish wine. We walked around town drinking and ducking into a few bars here and there before calling it a late night. Of course, Madrid was still very much alive at the time, but I guess I’m not that immersed into Spanish culture that I can stay out until 7 in the morning. Not yet anyway.

Sunday, Pete, Angela and I hit up El Rastro, an absolutely HUGE outdoor market held every Sunday in the south central Madrid. My time in London made me a big fan of the markets, so I had fun finding some good deals and admiring the wide variety of stuff for sale. Everything from antique doors to shark jaws to hookahs were on sale.

Pete, Angela and I caught the 2 pm bus back to Pamplona. The ride was absolutely gorgeous, winding through semi-desert, through bright green fields, miles of hills and some forests. In retrospect, I wish I’d taken pictures, since it was some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen in Europe. I ended up falling asleep here and there, so unfortunately, I’m sure I missed the majority of the pretty ride. Once we hit Pamplona and got settled at Pete’s place, I was pretty much out for the count until the following morning.

Monday was a little cloudy and cold, but Pete still took me out on a great tour of Pamplona. We walked through Lo Viejo, the old part of the city, along the path where the bulls run during San Fermin in the summer. It’s a beautiful old city, full of colorful buildings and narrow streets. It’s so cool walking through the city that Hemingway made famous through his adventures and debauchery described in The Sun Also Rises. It brings it all to life actually seeing it in person. In homage to Hemingway, we ducked into the Café Bar Iruña, one of the main settings in the aforementioned novel. Pete treated me to some amazing churros con chocolate. Yes, that is churros dipped in a cup of chocolate. Yes, it was delicious and terribly unhealthy. We also found a statue of Hemingway there and staged a photo shoot.

Pete and Ernest.

Plaza del Toros, where the bulls end up after their run.

We spent the rest of the morning walking around before hitting up a bocadilla (sandwich) place for lunch, and then later meeting up with Angela so she and Pete could work on a class project. I got to walk them to class and see Univerisity of Navarre campus, which is nestled in a beautiful valley with the unnamed mountains in the background. It’s so pretty. While they were in class, I did some grocery shopping for Pete’s chili he was making for dinner that night and returned to his apartment. I met his roommates, Jesus, Enrique and David, all who are really nice. Unfortunately, I suck at Español, so my dialogue with them was pretty short. I felt so bad about it—I mean, I spoke a few sentences and did my best to understand, but there were a lot of “¿como?” (what?) parts in the sentence. I’ve told Pete that I want him to start helping me become better at Spanish. My college classes and books are a good base, but I want him to use his experiences to help me with conversational Spanish. Pete made a delicious half Tex-Mex, half Spanish chili complete with chorizo sausage for dinner, which I ate far too much of. We later met up with Ernesto for a couple of late-night cañas on the town before heading home.

I slept in today, enjoying the slow pace of Spain and finally capitalizing on my ability to take it equally slow with no work or class in my schedule. We arranged to meet Ernesto, Angela and Angela’s roommate, Christine at the La Ciudadela, an old fort turned park in the center of the city. It was a beautiful day, so we picnicked out there all afternoon with some sandwiches and sangria, just taking it all in. I had a great time talking with everyone. The only downside was a wretched sunburn on my arms in a really embarrassing pattern since I just used a sunscreen stick the size of glue stick for sun protection. No bueno. The great day was totally worth it though.

Tonight I’m going out to an international students party with Pete and everyone. It should be a fun night, getting to meet all the people Pete has told me about. And thank god I’ll be able to get by using minimal Spanish. The next couple days looks to be really fun. Tomorrow I’m exploring more of downtown, maybe go out for a run, while Pete’s in class. Thursday Pete and I are going out to San Sebastian, a town on the Atlantic known for its gorgeous beaches and mountains. We’re hopping on a bus again late Thursday night to take an all-night ride to Alicante for a weekend on the Mediterranean. So very beach-filled next couple of days. I’m very excited, to say the least. Stay tuned for further pictures and updates.

I leave you with a pretty sight and a link to my newest Facebook album.
Pellirojita does España: Parte Uno: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2255784&l=cda83&id=15921830

Looking out onto Lo Viejo from Pete's apartment.

Wrapping up London

2008-04-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

¡Hola from Spain! My London journey has ended and I am now enjoying my two week stay in Spain with Pete. Today has been my second full day in Pamplona, where Pete lives, but Friday-Sunday, we were in Madrid. I am going to focus this post on wrapping up my London tales, just to break it up a bit, as we know I write novels, so stay tuned for my post on España.

I guess my last post was from last Monday. Tuesday I traveled out to Feltham, a suburb in southwest London, where I presented my final project for class to the charity that I’d based the project on. As you may recall, my idea for my project was to find a small London charity and create an advertising campaign for it that would help it to meet its needs. A couple weeks back, I went out to my selected charity called Storehouse, out in Feltham. It’s a great little place that offers food, children’s clothing and toys to needy families in the area. I talked with Doris, the wonderful Project Manager at Storehouse, about the needs of the charity and discussed my aims and means of approaching the campaign. Then using the information Doris gave me combined with some of my own research, I spent the last couple of weeks developing a fairly thorough fundraising plan and corresponding advertising campaign that would help Storehouse meet some of its goals. I was a little nervous going back at how it would be received, but Doris was really impressed by some of the insight and said that she could see my plan being implemented in the future. She also offered to drop my name around to other non-profits and businesses she knew and tell them about my skills and service, which was extremely exciting and flattering. Who knows? Maybe there’s a career to be made in this?

After coming back from Feltham, I went into work. Lillian and I had a great last lunch together with just the two of us. We went to an absolutely amazing Thai restaurant in Soho called Patara, where I enjoyed way to much food. But again, it was worth it. I had a great time with Lillian. I feel as if I’ve found a true friend in her, and she has served as an incredible role model and guide since I started work with her in January. I told her about how my Storehouse presentation went, and already having seen the work, she encouraged that I maybe pursue some sort of independent consulting career. Hearing this from Lillian, a woman I respect so much, was so exciting. It’s really opened my eyes to where I want to head in these next couple of years. And it’s great knowing that I have an incredible ally on my side who can offer insight and support like Lillian. Overall, a great lunch and great couple of months working with her. I was truly blessed to have had this internship.

Tuesday night, my flat and the ladies from the flat two floors up all went out to a pizza dinner and then to K-box, a karaoke place that we’d rented for the night. We all sang our hearts out. I shouldn’t have sang since I have laryngitis, but either the alcohol or fun of it all inspired me to sing far too much. Consequently, my throat has gotten much worse since then. Oops! However, it was such a great final night with all the girls. Surprisingly no tears, as we’d all hypothesized, but I don’t think the shock of actually leaving had hit us yet.

Singing our hearts out to "Sweet Caroline"

The audience enjoying the show.

Wednesday was the day that Sarah, Alex and I were treated to our surprise that our supervisors had given us as a good-bye gift. Lillian had put together an amazing day at Top Shop, a HUGE women’s clothing store on Oxford Street. The day was complete with a big gift card for each of us as well as a free manicure and professional hairstyling. We also had a tab built up for us at a nearby bar called Match. We were all floored when we found out about it at work on Tuesday. Again, our bosses’ generosity surpassed all expectations—they are amazing! So Wednesday was a great day of shopping. I ended up with a great dress for Spain, a nice fashionable London-style top, some bracelets and a nice belt. I was extremely nervous about the manicure, since I’d never had one before. I’m a nail-biter and really self-conscious about my hands. I ended up loving it and got over my fear. In fact, it has become my new way I’ve decided to deal with my bad habit, since I haven’t bit the nails since I got the manicure. I can totally budget for it, if that’s the effect it will have.

Match was a ton of fun, and we all heavily cheered our success in London and our amazing bosses. Sarah, Alex and I got so close working together and really had a great dynamic going. I know I’ve made some great friends in them, and am so excited that I get to go back and see them in the fall at MU.

The ladies post-makeovers, ready to go out on the town.

Thursday was the last London day. I was inevitably stressed, trying to pack up all my last things and get motivated to say all my good-byes. Generous as always, our bosses took us out for a great last lunch at our favorite, Century Club. That’s where we all had our first company lunch, so it seemed fitting to be our last. It was such a nice note to finish everything on. I am able to leave work with such experience, and I have tangible and intangible things to show for it. I feel I’ve grown so much this semester on both a professional and personal level, and I have my amazing work colleagues to thank for it. Saying good-bye to Lillian was of course the hardest part. I wrote her a really nice letter, have her a framed picture of us, and made her a really funny t-shirt with a picture of Camilla (Prince Charles’ wife) and the word “Homewrecker” beneath it. It’s an inside joke we had this semester, and I know she’s going to have fun in the future teasing Alex’s boss Denise, who’s a Camilla supporter. Denise is a great sport about it all. The gifts added some levity to what was a potentially sad day. However, I know that I’ll be keeping in touch with everyone, especially Lillian. It’s all just life, I guess.

Thursday night was all just packing up and preparing for my flight to Madrid the following morning. I said my good-byes to everyone Friday morning, which was a little hard. But like I’ve said, Flat 2 reunions are in store in the fall.

I guess that brings us to an end of all my London excursions. I return for a one-night layover on May 8, before I catch my flight home on the 9th. But essentially, I’m just there for a couple of hours to sleep and repack stuff. It’s weird to think that it’s all over—something that I’ve envisioned myself doing since freshman year. I’m sad, but proud. I’ve spent an entire semester relying on public transportation, traveling to the popular and obscure (Bratislava) destinations in Europe and budgeting my money perfectly so that I didn’t get eaten alive by the pound system yet could still go out and enjoy London. I’ve seen so many parks, historical sights, churches, plays/musicals and picturesque pieces of London that I can’t possibly pick my favorites. I’ve balanced classwork, a job, and a social life. I’ve figured out how to co-exist in tight quarters with 6 girls and how to manage without a dishwasher and washer/dryer. I’ve seen Royalty in person and become the “Official Creeper to Lily Allen and Scarlett Johannson.” I’ve run a major immersion project for the UK’s largest advertising spender, and through a smaller personal project, gained some insight into what I want to do in life. I maintained an amazing, healthy relationship with Pete that will continue once we get home, and I’ve established some lasting friendships while I’ve been over here. I would not go back and do one thing differently. Living in London was one of the most fun and influential experiences of my life, and though I’m ready to move on into new things, it’s something that I will always look to and reflect fondly upon.

And per usual, here are some Facebook albums for you to check out the pictures:

About Londontown: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252393&l=3fd96&id=15921830
London Ladies: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2254366&l=86085&id=15921830
A Few of my Favourite Things: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2246066&l=be0d7&id=15921830

Lasts of London

2008-04-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

Oh goodness. Three days left in London. How do I start about that? It was weird. I came here and I remember walking up Hogarth Road toward my flat one evening and thinking to myself how far away April seemed. I imagined then what it would feel like walking up to 40 Hogarth at the end of four months here. How knowledgeable, how comfortable, how, well, London, I’d feel. And now I actually feel that way. It’s strange, seeing yourself undergo that sort of transformation. It’s all sort of bittersweet.

Ok, I’ll get sentimental another time. None of that now. I’ll catch you up on how the last London week has gone.

I guess I last left off on Wednesday. Thursday, had a great lunch with Sarah and Alex at our favorite brasserie, Maison Malinowsky, right across from work. We all are obsessed with salmon, brie and tomato paninis at this place. It was the first place we ate when we started work, and it seemed fitting that our last group intern lunch was at the same place. Monday and Tuesday we also ate lunch out at some spectacular local areas. Monday, we found a stand that gave you literally a 3-pound tub of delicious Greek salad and food for only £3.50. And Tuesday, I had my first amazing Neil’s Yard experience. Literally 100 yards away from work is this colorful oasis of vegetarian heaven, nestled right in the middle of some buildings. We had a great lunch comprised of a veggie casserole, a organic roll and some freshly made juice all pretty reasonably priced.

Neil's Yard. So rainbow, so hippy, so wonderul. So surprisingly under my nose this entire time.

Yes, I enjoy talking about food. No, eating is not all I’ve done in London. I have come to the conclusion that enjoying the whole dining experience and trying new original stuff is definitely one of the highlights of travel. I think my flatmates really taught me how to appreciate that. And given that it was my last week in London to do so, appreciate I did.

I’ll continue on this gastrointestinal tour shortly, but first must tell you about Thursday night’s experiences. We planned a pub crawl around the Covent Garden, Leicester Square area that took place right after work. It was cool to meet up with all the girls and some of Alex’s friends that I hadn’t met yet. I only enjoyed a couple pints before a few of us met up with a big group from class to see Spamalot. It is probably one of the funniest shows I have seen, taken right from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But it’s so much better. Great score, hilarious acting, same beloved storyline. Our group seats sucked…we were higher than God in the play. But still, great show.

Out on the pub crawl.

Spamlot, but not the London cast.

Here's some of the London cast. Lady of the Lake (Gwenivere) and Sir Gallahad.

I’m continuing with the aforementioned tour. Friday morning the interns were treated to a full-English breakfast at Simpson’s, a British institution. We had the infamous “10 Deadly Sins”—a 10-part plate, full of everything from sausage and baked beans to black pudding and liver. It was all amazingly delicious (minus the liver and kidneys), and I of course, loved the whole ‘quintessentially English’ experience.

Friday night Pam and I went to the Troubador, a bar down the road that I’ve been trying to hit up all semester. It’s got a great concert room down in the basement that’s pretty famous. It was where Bob Dylan had his first British concert, for example. It was folk night Friday, so we got to enjoy some pretty crazy instrumental stuff. An amazing saxophonist was the highlight.

It was nice going into the weekend because I had already accomplished most of what I’d wanted to do while in London. So there was a lot less pressure to do a ton of stuff and see everything. Pam and I had a late brunch at a local café that my flat mates love, then headed out to Oxford Circus to explore the world’s most intimidating female clothing store—Top Shop. The one on Oxford Street is absolutely huge. It was fun looking through everything, but no purchases. Wasn’t in the shopping mood I guess. I’m more looking forward to haggling cheap shops in an outdoor market in Madrid this weekend. We also explored Carnaby Street, a really famous shopping street in the area. It was the hot-spot in the 60s (the opening scene in the first Austin Power’s movie is shot there), and it’s having a newer revival today. It was fun, but again, not in the shopping mood. Still in the non-shopping mood, we of course went to another shopping destination, an old and pretty iconic department store called Liberty. It’s totally a Tudor-style building, and absolutely fabulous wooden interior. It was fun walking through and looking at everything, though I again did not buy anything. Shock.

The famous Liberty department store.

Pam and I had been wanting to check out a British comedy show the entire semester, and fate would have it that before our last weekend, we just happened to be handed free comedy show tickets walking down the street the other day. We hit up the spot in east London on Saturday, and it was absolutely hilarious. Inevitably, we got picked on as the Americans, and Pam was singled out and asked a lot of questions, of which of course turned to good-humored ridicule. At this point, it’s great because we can totally take the semi-insults. We’re used to how Americans are seen over here, even though there’s still a lot more acceptance and like of Americans than I anticipated. They don’t agree with our war and President, but they seem to like us in person. So though they may call us fundamental Christian war-mongrels, it’s all in good fun. One of the comedians made the point that Brits marched right beside us into Iraq. Overall, hilarious show—all the comedians were great, and being in London for so long, I got a lot more of the jokes than I would have in the beginning. I understood the references to certain parts of London and the UK and reputations of celebs, etc. It probably wouldn’t have been as funny to me in February.

Sunday was another relaxed day. I spent a good portion of the morning starting to pack. I think I’m able to fit all the souvenirs and stuff back in my bags, so no extra shipping costs should be incurred….at least I don’t think so. Right now, I just basically have some clothes and toiletries to throw in, and I’m good to leave. It’s crazy….I don’t want to think about it quite yet.

In the afternoon, I attended a Sunday roast with Pam for a feature article she’s writing on local restaurants’ Sunday roasts. It’s a really traditional concept over here, but as this restaurant was a little more posh than the typical roast location, I don’t think I got the traditional experience. I’m not complaining though—it was absolutely delicious. I got some great Pollock and Hake dishes and a delicious almond and blood orange tart. Best part—totally free. Journalism has its perks.

I lead Pam on one of my infamous death marches through Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park between our late lunch and dinner. During my runs through the park, I’ve discovered some cool places, like the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, the Peter Pan statue and the Italian Fountains. Of course, I don’t carry my camera on me then, so I was hoping to capitalize on the semi-sunny weather to get a few good shots. Of course, it was cloudy and starting to drizzle by the time we hit the sights, but it was still great to get one good last stroll (or march) through the park. I think Pam enjoyed it too. We definitely burned off our lunch in the process.

Me and the Diana Memorial Fountain. It's so unique.

It's Peter Pan!

The Italian Fountains.

Sunday, my flat decided to have a potluck dinner to celebrate our time together. We all made our own dishes and had a great night reminiscing and joking around. We made a soundtrack for the night of our favorite songs while London and even read goofy poems. It was a really good night and it made me really see how close I’ve gotten with these girls. They are amazing girls, and I know that next semester has some Flat 2 reunions in store.

Today, pretty slow. A great day at work and a nice relaxing night. I got sick over the weekend so I stayed in and have just chilled all night, drinking tea and praying to be good for my last few days and upcoming Spain excursion. This is likely to be my last post while in London. Tomorrow is a girls night with our flat and another flat in the building. All 12 of us are going out for a night of wine and karaoke. It should be absolutely ridiculous. Inevitable hilarity and probably some tears. Wine will do that to you.

Wednesday is a special surprise from our bosses to the interns. They’ve been all clandestine about it, whispering to each other in corners of the office the last couple of days, glancing our direction. I’m REALLY excited to see what they have planned. Honestly, I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been working with them this semester. I feel like a family with them. If I could take anything back home with me, it would be the company, without a doubt.

And Thursday is my final day at work and then an evening of packing and cleaning. It’s all so brief and final. What a strange reality it is. But it’s life. I’m not going to be upset about it yet. I think I’m a little lucky in that directly following my departure from London is an amazing two weeks in Spain with Pete. Words cannot describe how excited I am to see him and spend that time with him.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures from London that I took from Alex's facebook. Also, check out my facebook album for more updated pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252393&l=3fd96&id=15921830

Alex and I at the premier of Flashbacks of a Fool.

Yes, that is Daniel Craig's backside. Still handsome.

There's Claudia Schiffer. She had no role in the movie, but she was there in all her gloriousness. And yes, she is just as pretty in person.

A couple of weeks ago we caught the celebration of the 90th Anniversary of the British Airforce. We went to the Waterloo Bridge during our lunch break. Exactly at 1 pm, the jets flew over the London Eye. I felt very patriotic seeing the red, white and blue...wrong country, but still patriotic.

Thanks for the great pictures, Alex!

I am the walrus

2008-04-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hi, all! I apologize for not writing in the last week. As things are winding down in terms of school and work, time speeds up. Funny how that happens. Blogging is obviously not the top of my priorities as I’m scrambling around the city, making sure I see everything and enjoy my “last of London” experiences.

OK, so here’s a fill in. Cannes was beautiful. A little rainy for most of it, but had a good hour or so of sun to take some pictures. I was only there less than a day, so it was a quick trip with nothing much to tell. It’s better to see instead.

Looking down on Cannes from a hill.

Pretty lilac bushes.

An artsy picture.

On Friday back in London, I went out with a big group to a great club called Abacus. Clubs still really aren’t my thing, but I had a great night dancing. It was a pretty swanky venue, so it’s nice to get exposure to that sort of thing, since it’s something I don’t do as much. Plus, my friends are wonderful, so more time with them, the better.

In preparation to turn in our final projects on Monday, most of my weekend and that of pretty much all other MU kids was consumed with staying in and working. I took a break on Saturday and used a free ticket that Grace, one of my flatmates, had to the Design Museum. It was a really, really cool museum, located near some surprisingly posh wharfs out in East London. The museum had two floors, one of which was dedicated to French designer and architect Jean Pouvre. He was highly influential in many French buildings and industrial design throughout the 20th century. Having never heard of him before, it was cool learning a bit in this subject that I don’t have much knowledge on. The second floor was the Brit Insurance Design of the Year Awards exhibition, which showcased the top designs in transportation, technology, furniture, graphic design, clothing, etc. from across the world in the last year. Features ranged from the Nintendo Wii to a new type font family. I absolutely loved this portion, and am amazed by some of the creativity out there.

On the way back from the Design Museum, I got caught in a freak rain/wind storm right as I was crossing Tower Bridge over the Thames. Of course this is the day that I emerged from the flat anticipating warm weather, wearing a skirt with tights and a light sweater. And I had a brain-lapse and forgot my umbrella. My pashamina served as a makeshift hood, but overall, outcome was bad. I was a little like a wet rat by the time I made it to the Tube station. This misadventure is an example of a trend lately—the schizophrenic London weather. In the last week, we’ve had days where it will be warm and sunny, then five minutes later start to rain, sleet or hail. No snow, but definitely ice. As it is mid-April, I was hoping for some more spring-like weather. Guess I’ll have to wait for Spain next week. Oh well. Hopefully, if you’ve learned anything from my blog, it’s to come prepared for sporadic rainy weather when you visit London. Love the city, but you never know what the forecast is going to bring.

There's the bridge as the infamous storm approaches...

Sunday night Alex invited me to the premier and after party of Flashbacks of a Fool, starring Daniel Craig. Yes, I did see him on the red carpet and during the after party. And yes, he is just as good looking in person, since I know this is what the ladies will inquire. I also walked in nearby Claudia Schiffer, who wasn't in the movie, but along for the show. At the after party, we brushed shoulders with many of the stars without realizing it, since most were stars on the British screen. The movie was really good and pretty thought-provoking, and the after party was wonderful and at one of the coolest venues in London called Sketch. So architecturally edgy--for example, in the bathrooms, each of the individual stalls was shaped like an egg. So you walk into this room and there's all these large eggs scattered about. No joke. I was thrown off too. I wasn't as overwhelmed and giddy about this premier, mostly because I'd been through the entire experience before with The Other Boleyn Girl. But it was still a great time and another fun thing to add to the overall London experience.

The cast of the movie. Daniel Craig is the blur on the far right.

My camera messed up on the red carpet, so Alex got some great pics of us as well as one of Daniel and one of Claudia.

Monday I actually presented my project in class, and it went over really well. I think I did a pretty thorough job coming up with a mock campaign that the charity I chose could actually use to fundraise. I’m actually going back to the charity next Tuesday to present my idea to them, so I’m going to still try to improve it a bit. I’m hoping they’ll like it, whether they use it or not. I’ll let you know how that meeting goes.

Last night, Pam and I went to History Boys, a Tony-winning play in the UK. As all I've seen is musicals, seeing a play was really a nice change of pace. It was extremely well acted, about a group of Oxford/Cambridge-bound boys at a prep school and their interactions with their highly influential professors. It was a lot more interesting than I just made it sound, and the underlying themes of the play were so complex that I'm still figuring it all out today. I enjoy that kind of show.

Work’s been winding down, and I’m just finishing up a few minor projects for Lillian before my last day next week. It’s really sad that the end is already so close. You look forward to this experience for years, and it’s a weird realization that you’re done with it. I mean, it’s great that I made it happen, but it’s sad that it’s something in my life that I can’t look forward to. I know I’ll come back to Europe and London in the future, though probably not in the same capacity. Everyone keeps saying that what we want is to go home for a couple of weeks and see everyone and then come back. In some sense, I understand that, but I really am excited to get back into the groove of things in the US. I love the Brits, but I’m not one, which is fine with me. My heart is always going to be in America.

OK, moving away from the overly sentimental…

Knowing that we’re leaving in 8 days from now (for me at least), Pam and my flat mates and I have created some oh-so-efficient Excel documents outlining what we’re doing, where we’re eating, etc. each day for the rest of our time here. So basically, a computer nerd’s day planner. We’re scrambling to get all our favorite restaurants in one more time and see some of the stuff we’ve not yet seen. Today, Pam and I accomplished a good chunk of that. We started out with a class trip to the Tower of London. Since I’d been there recently, Pam and I kind of took an abbreviated tour of the things we wanted to see then left for a good lunch at The Hung Drawn and Quartered pub nearby. Obviously, it stuck with the theme of the famous executions done nearby at the Tower by having a noose hanging over the bar and portraits of some of Britain’s most famous execution victims on the wall. We had a good lunch there before heading up one last time to Camden Market to see parts we hadn’t seen and finish up souvenir shopping. Camden’s so big that it really does take a couple of trips to do it all.

The highlight of the day was hitting up my last must-see in London: Abbey Road. Pam and I of course took the stereotypical picture walking across the zebra crossing. We couldn’t take it from the right angle because we’d be in oncoming traffic. It’s actually a pretty busy road. But it was cool to do nonetheless. And there were TONS of tourists like us doing the same thing. Frequent drivers down the road have to be tempted to hit us—there’s no way they wouldn’t. We also made our mark on a wall in front of Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded. People write their Beatles sentiments all over it. It’s cool to see what everyone’s written and where everyone is from. We wrote some of our own in a little corner, wanting to be a piece of the history (at least until they whitewash the wall next).

Abbey Road.

Trying to channel Paul, John, Ringo and George. I wish I'd taken off my shoes.

Doing grafitti.

And now, I’m exhausted. Good, long day, and many more good, long days to come as we continue to finish everything up here and then start the packing. So bittersweet… As sad and weird as it all is, I am beyond excited that in just over a week, I’ll be heading to Madrid for my two-week romp around Spain with Pete. I can’t even begin to fathom the fun I’m going to have with him. We’ve got places arranged for Madrid and then a weekend in Alicante along the Mediterranean, so I’m already starting to imagine the warm beaches.

That’s all for now. More to come.

Check out these albums for more photos:

Some ramblings

2008-04-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

It really hit me today. I have just over two weeks left in London. The time has literally flown by, especially this last month. I feel every time I talk to someone in my program, we give each other the usual poll about our feelings, how quick it went, are we ready to leave or digging our nails into the London curbsides? For the most part it’s a mixture of both. Everyone’s going to miss London, but most are ready to leave. To go home and spread out. To not live in mice-infested flats (yes, 40 Hogarth does have a serious mice problem). To go back where the US dollar is worth something. I definitely have all these feelings too.

We had our last British Life & Culture lecture tonight, which proved to be the most entertaining one of the semester. Save the best for last, I guess. Our speaker discussed Brit pop culture, and focused a lot on British vs. American trends and customs. It’s interesting because I realized that a lot of the things I thought were so weird when I came over here I now find absolutely normal, and in fact really like it. I get the weird British humor and sarcasm for the most part. I’ll never be a fan of the soft porn topless girls they have in regularly published and distributed newspapers and magazines, but I do appreciate the kind of liberal outlook the Brits as a whole have. I say chips instead of fries without much thought. It’s all the little things that make me feel like I’m legitimately British. But I know that within two weeks of being back in the States, I’ll start saying fries again and probably switch gears and pick up a Southern accent for the summer. And this is just how it is. And I’m ok with that.

Here’s a little brief update on everything. My big project that I’d been working on all semester at my internship went off very well last Thursday. We had members of our largest client come in and listen to presentations from our company’s magazine editors, heads of media departments and leading executives. We treated them to great food and drinks and gave them opportunities to interact with some of our innovative products and services. I had my hand in almost every aspect of the project, acting as the main liaison and one of the head coordinators, so seeing it all go off smoothly was such a relief and gave me such a good feeling of accomplishment. Lillian told me today that the client’s have already given her a ton of positive feedback from the day, and our head of marketing said that the template I helped to develop will be the one we use for future client immersion days. I’ve heard we may already have a business lead as a result. So all this is just amazing affirmation that the hard work was effective.

I got the day off on Monday, so I spent the day catching up on schoolwork and other things. It was so nice for a change being in the flat when no one else was there. I finally felt like I had a little space to myself. It was amazing. Went on a brief trip to the V&A Museum so I could write a brief paper for one of my classes and spent most of the day working on my final project for my journalism class. I’m working on developing an advertising campaign proposal for a small London charity. It’s all hypothetical work, but I’m giving it to the charity to perhaps reference in the future. Plus, it’s a really good way to put together all that I’ve learned during work this semester. I’m not as concerned about the grade as I am about making it a good proposal that my client would actually consider. I’m to present it next Monday in class, so I’m working on just getting it all together at the moment. A little stressful, but I’ll be alright.

Tomorrow we’re attending the Globe Theater (where Shakespeare performed in his days). I’m probably going to make a stop at the Design Museum, which I’ve heard is fabulous, and spend the evening packing for Cannes and going to a movie screening for work. Then it’s an early morning flight to Cannes Thursday, returning Friday around noon. Should be a bit of a whirlwind, but I’m excited. I probably won’t write until my return.

Hope all is well with everyone!

I-rish I could afford drinks in Dublin

2008-04-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

First of all, I apologize for the ridiculously cheesy and terrible title. That being said, I returned from my Dublin weekend with Pete a couple of nights ago, but have been busy per usual with class stuff and a lot of other things I’ve put off for far too long, like e-mailing my wonderful relatives who’ve been so great about keeping in touch while I’m over here.

I’ll go ahead and fill you in on how the weekend went and what’s been going on the London front.

Friday I caught a mid-morning flight that arrived just about the same time as Pete’s flight. We had an oh-so-romantic meeting by the luggage carousel before navigating our way to the hostel to check in. After a quick lunch, we trekked across town to the Jameson Whiskey Distillery, a highly recommended sight by some of my classmates who’ve been to Dublin this semester. Though it was interesting learning about the whiskey distilling process from a highly humorous Irish tour guide, the best part was observing a whiskey taste-testing session between a panel of volunteers. Sadly, Pete and I were not part of this panel, which was fine for me, as I’m not a huge whiskey fan. The volunteers got to sample three different kinds of Irish whiskey, a Scotch whiskey and American whiskey (likely Jack Daniels). They all voted that the Jameson was their favorite overall, though I think the glaring eye of the guide may have influenced their opinion. Everyone on the tour got a sample of Jameson or a Jameson cocktail, so it was a nice little refreshment.

Me and a cask turned bench.

We spent the remainder of our evening doing a little shopping and exploring the area “north of the Liffey,” the river that cuts through the city center. I had a delicious Irish steakburger for dinner at restaurant called O’Shea’s, where there ended up being a good Irish band playing some Van Morrison and other Irish covers. I was very happy about this. We hung out listening for a bit before heading to Temple Bar, which is not one bar, but a whole area of town filled with bars. They were all packed pretty tight and many had great live music. However, we made the terrible discover that Dublin’s beer prices are RIDICULOUSLY expensive. Like, more than London. I know, I couldn’t believe it either. We enjoyed a pint and left, a little more distraught than when we arrived, but still optimistic about the trip as a whole.

As I’ve already been to Ireland, I assured Pete that Dublin is in fact not representative of Irish culture and experience at all. It is in fact, my least favorite place in Ireland, but you can’t get cheap travel to any of the other parts. With both of us determined to return to the homeland, we decided that Dublin was better than nothing. But to give Pete a taste of true Ireland, which is small towns and countryside, I made us take a train out to a seaside town called Bray, about a 40 minute train ride east from Dublin, right where the ocean meets the bay. Though it was absolutely freezing and windy, we had an incredible afternoon taking in the beautiful scenery. It rests at he base of some nearby mountains, right along the coast. One of the mountain’s called Bray’s head, juts out into the sea, and after hanging out on the beach for a while, we decided to make the climb.

The beach at Bray looking toward Bray's Head.

Taking a break on the mountain side.

Looking down on the beach from the mountain.

Before our ascent, I bought some new batteries for my camera. When we got to a very picturesque part of our climb, I came to the terrifying discovery that my camera was acting very strange and would not take photos. My usual response was to freak out that I no longer had a working camera for my time abroad. Pete’s usual response was to talk me down from the ledge (Figuratively of course…don’t want to give you the wrong impression since I was on a mountain), and he calmly made the discovery that the batteries were the trouble, not the camera. In an act of defiance and pure catharsis, I chucked a battery into the sea. Not the most environmentally friendly response, but it felt good. We hung out on the mountain for a while, taking the whole thing in, before heading back down to town for an early dinner at a seaside pub. We enjoyed great food and great conversation, as usual.

Sunday was my last day, but since my flight was late at night, I had the entire day to finish our sightseeing. Before we could begin, we hit up a great souvenir store in search of a magnet. A new hobby we have is collecting magnets of all the places we go together. Besides the magnet, Pete made a prized purchase: an Irish penny whistle, which he played throughout the day as we walked down the streets. Photo ops were abundant, as were the interesting looks people gave us.

Pete, a statue of James Joyce and the famous penny whistle.

Playing a farewell tune to Dublin.

We both wanted to see the James Joyce Cultural Center, since Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is one of our favorite novels. Overall, probably not worth the 4 euro admission, but still cool to walk through and learn a few additional facts about the author’s life.

One of the best quotes from the novel.

We then trekked across town to the Guinness Brewery, a must-see for all visiting Dublin. It’s a really cool museum that goes into great deal about the brewing process. I’ve been before, but it was fun sharing the experience again with Pete. At the end of the tour you get a free pint on the 7th floor Gravity Bar, which offers a great panoramic view of Dublin and sweet 80’s soft rock (which we decided was appropriate music for the atmosphere). Post-Guinness, we had a great Irish dinner at Quay’s Restaurant in Temple Bar. I tried the potato and lentil soup, which was delicious. I love not being a picky eater—I feel it enhances my cultural experiences. And it probably is making me fat. Oh well. Worries for another day.

In the Guinness Brewery, with the rushing waters, an essential element to perfect Guinness, behind us.

A good pint of Guinness should always have a shamrock.

Looking out over Dublin from the Gravity Bar.

I caught a smooth late night flight home and still managed to catch the tube back from Heathrow Airport before it closed. Sadly, Pete’s journey was not so smooth, as a delayed flight the following the morning caused him to miss his connecting flight in Paris. Once he finally got to Bilbao, Spain last night, the bus service to Pamplona had ended. Poor guy had to walk the entire city before finally crashing at a hotel and catching a bus this morning. I guess given his luck, it’s good Dublin was his last inter-Europe trip. I think he’s happy to stick with travel is Spain now.

Despite all his travel problems, I can’t stop reminding myself how lucky I am to have him as a travel buddy this semester. It’s so rare for a couple our age to be able to do this, and I don’t let myself forget that. We have so much fun wherever we go, and I feel like my experiences are even more enhanced with by his company.

I’ve got some other London stuff to discuss, but I’ll save that for another post. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures. Check out this link to see the lovely photos of Bray: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=38183844&l=d9b6e&id=15921830

That's busy-ness for you

2008-04-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

This last week has been absolutely manic. Between getting settled back in from Vienna and keeping up with work and class, it's been quite a whirlwind. And this Friday I leave once again for a nice weekend in Dublin with Pete, where we will reconnect with the homeland.

Due to lack of time on my part, I'll quickly gone over new things. Last Thursday had a great night out with my coworkers for a team party. We rented out a room at Imperial China, a great restaurant in nearby Chinatown and ate and karaoked the night away. It was an absolute blast. I feel so lucky to be part of such a fun and tight-knit group of people who've taken the American interns in as their own. Not only do we love to have a party together, but the workday atmosphere around us is great. Professional, yet fun. Our office is very open, with no cubicles and the heads of department mixed in with the rest of us. At first, I was kind of turned off my the whole setup, but have come to really like it. The lines of communication are so open and you really get to know everyone. There are days when I'm sure a quiet cubicle would be nice, but for the most part, I'm loving this unique experience.

Saturday and Sunday were both really great days. I took Pam on a tour of my West Central London "home," around where I work. She has a job out at a set of papers in the western suburbs, so she doesn't get into the city much except to go out at night. So, we decided to spend an afternoon in the Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Soho area, eating at my favorite places, exploring new stores, and just taking the whole thing in. We had lunch at my favorite braisserie across from my work, where I have my "usual" panini. Yes, I go there a lot in order to have a "usual." Pam loved it, of course. Then I perhaps broke all the dieting rules ever created when went to Patisserie Valerie, one of London's most renowned bakeries/patisseries, and each enjoyed a slice of oh-so-delicious-but-an-inevitable-heart-attack cake. I also took her by Candy Cakes, the world's greatest cupcake shop nearby, where we bought a cupcake to share later. Like way after Patisserie Valerie, after our blood sugar levels had finally depleted. All in all, a very fun and tasty experience. We shopped around a bit, looking in new shops. I bought a new pair of pumps, as 3 pairs of shoes have broken in the past couple of weeks, so I had no work shoes.

We went to the Oxford v Cambridge boat races on the Thames that evening, which was really cold and rainy but really fun. Students were tailgating like it was college football season. Ok, maybe not that hardcore, but still was a good time. It draws a huge crowd of people from all over the UK, and even though you only see like 6 seconds of the race as it goes by, it's still cool to get the energy. Oxford ended up winning, which Pam was happy about since she has a friend who goes there. I was impartial. Just there for the tourist-factor.

Sunday we did some more markets, checking out Spitafields, a cool indoor market in east London, then going back up to Camden Markets that I visited earlier in the semester. We both we set on finishing most of our souvenir shopping for everyone, so this definitely was an effective day in that respect.

This week has been a little bit crazy. Tomorrow is the culmination of what I've been working on at work for about the entire semester. It's a huge day with clients that I've helped plan and execute since the beginning, so though I am tired and a bit stressed out about the matter, I can't wait to see how it turns out. It's involved so much networking, organizing and planning on my part, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to come out of it with some good clips and materials to show in future job interiews...happening in about a year...ahhh!

Friday morning, Pete and I will meet up in Dublin, so stay tuned for the Irish adventures of the weekend! I'll try to be better about posting them quicker for you too.

In the meantime, enjoy a couple photos from good ol' Londontown. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2246066&l=be0d7&id=15921830

Back to Vienna

2008-03-29T02:52:00.000-07:00

We returned to Vienna via train on Saturday. Again, a really pretty trainride. I guess it was kind of similar to how a drive through Missouri looks, but it seemed a little greener, a little cuter. But I guess I haven’t been in Missouri for a while, so I’m not sure how it really looks.

The remainder of the day was spent exploring the area, and especially spending some quality time down in Naschmarkt, a great street market full of amazing food, wine and antique vendors. It was so much fun walking through all the crowded stalls, checking out the variety of food— fish and squid, piles of freshly made bread and cheese and a variety of what seemed like veggie tapas. Pete and I bought some ricotta stuffed cherry tomatoes, olives and artichoke hearts. We had some incredible kebaps, which here are made of doner meat (could be lamb, beef, mutton, or goat) cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off, tomatoes, lettuce and a tsaziki sauce wrapped in a pita-like bread. Since everything came to the market that morning, it was incredibly fresh and delicious. I also had some falafel, intrigued by it since my roommates had raved about it since being in Europe. Falafel is Middle Eastern food, a fried ball or patty made from spiced fava beans or chickpeas. It’s definitely an interesting taste, and when you have it with hummus or some other dressing, it’s absolutely fabulous.

Here's a picture I took offline to show you what doner meat looks like. They just slice it off the spit and put it in your kebap.

Pete enjoying (?) his kebap. Very goofy.

I know I’ve been raving about food a lot lately. I’ve come to realize that a lot about exploring another culture is about going out to eat and trying the native dishes of the country you’re visiting. I have almost as much fun doing that as sightseeing, which may have negative consequences for my weight, but that's ok. Totally worth it. When am I going to get the chance to eat grilled sausages and saurkraut in Austria again? Probably not anytime soon, if ever.

A really cool picture I took walking down the street our hostel was on. New next to old.

When it got dark, Pete and I decided to explore the city by night, taking a walk around the Ringstrasse. The entire old part of the city is surrounded by this beautiful, pedestrian friendly road, where you pass by some of the city's most beautiful buildings. It was finally not raining or snowing, so we took up the opportunity. We stopped at the City Hall building which looked like Cinderella’s castle. During the winter, they have a huge ice skating rink out front that they have decorated to look like a winter wonderland. We missed it by a couple of weeks, though my flatmates were able to see it when they went to Vienna over winter break. Regardless, it was so beautiful, as is the entire city in general.

Part of our nightwalk.

City Hall/Cinderella's castle.

Pete and I on our nightwalk.

We ducked later into a pub we went to our first night in Vienna for a late night snack of pretzel, a couple sausages and a pint. But by that point, I was pretty beat from the traveling and the walking, so we didn’t stay out too long. Plus, knowing we had to do Easter mass the next morning was more incentive not to stay out too late. So we called it a night.

The next morning, we got up early and attended Easter mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, right in the heart of Vienna. The inside is absolutely spectacular, and though there were people taking pictures, I still didn’t feel it appropriate to do so. St. Stephen’s is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, so the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schonborn, presided over the mass. What was really cool was that they had a full orquestra and choir singing the songs of Beethoven and Handel throughout the entire mass. Given that I didn’t understand a word that was being said over mass, the whole experience was much more like a concert than an actual service. But we were able to take communion and every once in a while sing “Hallelujah,” say “Amen” and do the sign of the cross, so I guess there was some familiarity. Overall though, kind of cool that you could say you had Easter mass in one of Europe’s largest and oldest cathedrals.

We enjoyed a nice Easter brunch and then checked out a cute Easter market set up in one of the city squares, full of handmade decorated eggs that are hollowed out and you see on people’s Christmas trees a lot. It’s fun to look at crafts at these kind of markets. I know my mom would have loved it.

The little Easter market.

To actually be tourists, I dragged Pete to the Hofburg area, where we went to 3 museums in one, the Silberkammer, the Sisi Museum and the Kaiserappartements. The first is a ridiculously large collection of silverware, place settings, and general lavish table décor that you have no idea what its actual purpose is. Pete and I weren’t so interested in this part, overwhelmed by the sheer gaudiness and amount of it all. It was all used by the Hapsburgs, the famous line of Emperors and Empresses that ruled Austria and Austria-Hungary from the 1300s up until WWI. The Sisi Museum gave us an inside look into the most famous empress, Elisabeth, who was married to Emperor Franz Joseph and lived in the 1800s. Her life has been documented by so many movies, that I guess a specific museum to her was deemed acceptable, or at least a big money maker. The Kaiserappartements are the still decorated rooms from Franz Joseph and Elisabeth when they used the Hofburg Palace area as their summer home. It was all fairly interesting, though Pete and I kind of burned out on the palace thing, since we’ve both seen so much of it. Probably not worth the admission fee to see it all, but I felt good knowing I at least did something really touristy.

Part of the Hofburg

Before I realized you couldn't take pictures, I snapped a shot of a room of golden candlesticks. Pretty extravagant.

The Schonbrunn Palace, another part of the Hofburg area.

In a park in the Hofburg area. It doesn't date back to ancient times, but was still pretty. You can see City Hall in the left of the frame.

The Ringstrasse that we would walk around in the evenings.

We walked around the Hofburg area a little more, enjoying the outdoor gardens and gorgeous buildings. In the evening, we hit up an area called the Bermuda Triangle, full of bars that stay open really late. We bar-hopped around, enjoying live music and each other’s company late into the night. A good way to have our last evening together.

We bought liter steins, which as you can see was huge. But this is the way Austrians, and Germans for that matter, do it, so we tried to be in tune with the culture. Don't worry, we spread the drinking out over a couple of hours.

I left the following afternoon, so just spent the morning laying low and checking out of the hostel. I would go back to Vienna in a heartbeat. It was an absolutely gorgeous city with so much history that I’d like to explore even more. There are so many great public gardens that were just on the verge of blooming that if I could come back in May or June and enjoy the city in nice, non-snowing weather, I definitely would.

It was hard saying good-bye to Pete, as usual. We both realize how lucky we are, to not only be able to study in Europe at the same time, but to be able to travel together. He’s a great travel companion. We always have so much fun wherever we go, which will include Ireland in a week and Spain in a month. It’s going to be a bummer when this is all over and we can’t “plot our conquest” of the foreign countries or be chased around by gypsies or Cape Crusaders any more. Columbia in the fall will be amazing with him, as will the month of July when we’re both in Atlanta.

If I haven’t mentioned it already, I got an internship in Atlanta with a great company for the summer. I’ll be living with Pete’s mom, who has graciously taken me in. Pete won’t be back in the States until early July, but I’m on good terms with his friends, so I know I’ll have a good summer. It’s going to be fun getting to know a new region of the country and getting to know Pete’s friends and family better. I’m a little sad that I’ll have been away from the Midwest and KC for so long, but I do go to school there, so I really can’t complain. And my parents are of course wonderful in being supportive of everything and letting me go off and do my own thing for this semester and the summer. I guess that’s just where I am in life right now, and will be a year from now as well. Pretty scary, but really exciting at the same time.

Busy day today. I’ll need to update you on the past week because some fun stuff has happened, so I’ll do that as soon as possible.

BARtislava

2008-03-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

This title is in honor of a cool T-shirt we found at the Slovak Pub during our visit. One of the waiters was wearing one that said “BARtislava” and we couldn’t have agreed more.

Don’t worry, we didn’t spend all our time in Bratislava, Slovakia in a pub. We started our Slavic adventure by catching a train from Vienna to Bratislava on Friday around noon. The ride is actually really pretty. You see the Carpathian Mountain Range appearing on the horizon and there a ton of beautiful green fields dotted with orange-roofed houses on the way.

We spent our afternoon in Bratislava walking around the old city, which is actually comprised of beautiful architecture, colorful buildings and lively squares. There were also a ton of statues just randomly spread out across the city. We strolled around, stopping at whatever caught our eye, and reveling in the fact that of all places, we found ourselves in Bratislava. Who does that? OK, I’m sure many, but Pete and I were amused by our somewhat random tourist destination. People we know have only heard about it because it’s the setting of the Hostel I and II movies, which I refuse to see since I rely on hostels while I’m over here. Don’t worry, we didn’t have any experiences like those in the movie.

Some of the colorful buildings in the town hall square.

Me being petted by Hans Christian Anderson.

We ended up climbing up a huge hill to Bratislava Castle. The museum inside the castle itself was closed, so we didn’t end up learning much about it, but it’s situation on top of this hill overlooking the city and the Danube River was absolutely stunning. We took a bunch of great pictures and spent a good amount of time up there taking in the whole damn thing.

The UFO-looking thing is a restaurant at the top of a bridge over the Danube River. We preferred cheaper dining, but it would have been a cool view.

The view of the Danube River and the Carpathians in the distance. It was beautiful.

Pete and Bratislava Castle.

Looking out onto Bratislava. I loved the orange roofs.

Me in another cute square.

It was during dinner that we made the most amazing discovery ever: Slovakia is so cheap! Cheaper than America! Hooray! We had a huge dinner at a wood fired pizza place that complete with beer, an appetizer, salads and a pizza AND tip ended up being 420 crowns, or $21. And it was good food! Needless to say, we hit up a couple other pubs to enjoy $1.50 pints. Try to imagine my joy, coming from a place where cheap pints are still almost $6. I was tempted to move after being here.

Yeah, that's a $1.50 pint right there.

We returned to Vienna on Saturday morning, but definitely could have handled another day in Bratislava. The people were really friendly and the atmosphere was really fun. Cheap pints or no, it was a worthwhile stay and a really cool place to say that I’ve visited. I was proud of ourselves for breaking out of the big city draw and giving it a chance. It should be interesting to watch Slovakia as time goes on to see how it ends up developing. You can definitely tell Bratislava is a growing city. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be able to drop back by in the future and see how it’s changed.

Contemplating the nature of existance.

Where the "w's" are pronounced as "v's"

2008-03-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

So, I apologize for not posting sooner to let you know I survived my Eastern European adventures over Easter break. I got back Monday night, but have been a little bit of a bum since then and put off the inevitable novels of posts that I have to write.

Before I get into that, I just spent an interesting last hour reflecting on my London study abroad experience as I answered questions for an interview by my high school newspaper. They’re doing a feature story on studying abroad, and know that I always support my alma mater, especially the good ol’ Campus Crier, whenever I can.

I talked about all the things I’ve done and learned since being here, and realized that I really have accomplished quite a bit. Between sightseeing, traveling Europe, work and my fun work-related functions and just general exploration of the city, I feel like I’ve really made every minute worth it. There’s still a ton of stuff I want to see, places I’d like to eat at, and some shows/concerts to attend, but I feel that even working within a tight budget, I’ll be able to do most of the stuff. It’ll be nice now to slow down the sightseeing pace a bit since I’ve seen most of the major sights, and just take time to explore areas and see things just as someone who’s called London home for a while.

I also feel like I've grown up a bit, as cliché as that sounds. I feel a lot more self-reliant and have seen myself succeed here in this situation where I am expected to go to work every day and function as a normal Londoner. I've still got a bit of growth to go before I can take on "the big kid world" as I call it, but I'm feeling this was overall, a good step in the right direction.

I’m leaving London in four weeks, and it’s kind of a bittersweet realization. Whenever it comes up at work, Lillian looks at me and we’re both like, “Oh, let’s not talk about it!” I think we’re a good working pair and we’ll definitely miss each other when I’m gone. In general, I’ll miss quite a few things about London—its vivaciousness, its number of great stores and restaurants, the amazing public transportation, its history, my job, and my room/flatmates. But I think I’ll be happy to get back home and be more in my element again. Though Britain and America share a lot of similarities, I can’t see myself living long-term anywhere other than America. You can’t deny where you feel at home.

Enough of the sap…

Moving on to my Easter trip to Vienna (Wien) and Bratislava. I’ll probably break it up a bit to keep you from hating me.

In order to catch my flight to Vienna on Thursday morning, I had to stay the night in Heathrow Airport, as I yet again booked an early morning flight. Pete had to stay in Vienna by himself the night before, so I wanted to get there early, and I liked the idea of having a whole day to see the city. I didn’t end up sleeping in Heathrow, instead opting to take a nap before I left my flat and passing out on the flight.

Pete greeted me at the airport and we checked into our first hostel. I then officially capitalized on the fact that we were able to use the slightly less expensive Euro currency, and bought myself a cute spring jacket from H&M, something I’d been wanting for a bit. By the way, there were H&M’s on every corner in Vienna. I couldn’t believe it. We then went to the heart of downtown Vienna to explore the area and enjoy lunch. I had my first wiener schnitzel, a sort of deep fried pork sandwich, and Pete and I each enjoyed a good pint of Ottakringer, an Austrian beer.

St. Stephen's Cathedral. Note the gorgeous tiled roof. It was added on in the 1950s.

A close up of St. Stephen's Cathedral in central Vienna. It's a gorgeous Gothic building, but we couldn't tell if it was black because of a past fire. All the signs were in German.

You could take carriage rides all over the city.

Our very Austrian lunch of wiener schnitzel, fried zucchini and Ottakringer. Not so healthy, but so delicious.

There were a lot of buildings with this sort of architecture in Vienna. I really liked it.

It wouldn’t be a proper Pete and Sam trip if we did not have some enemy accosting us. As you may recall, in Paris it was the gypsies. In Austria, we had to battle the Cape Crusaders, men and women dressed up in capes in swarms in the high-tourist areas, trying to sell opera tickets to unsuspecting tourists. Ok, it’s actually a legit service. But their tactics are pretty low. One guy after trying to sell us a performance for Friday and hearing that we couldn’t go, tried to sell a ticket just to me, not Pete. I don’t know if it seemed to him like I expressed me interest in the whole idea or something, but Pete was not having any of it. Needless to say, we dodged the Cape Crusaders the rest of the trip. And that was a hard task, as they were so sneaky and seemed to pop up around every corner.

We later returned to central Vienna for a good Austrian dinner near St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The restaurant we selected ended up being really nice with fancy décor, classical music in the background and a great authentic menu. I opted for the quintessential Austrian selection with grilled sausages and bratwurst. We walked around and hit up a nearby bar to cap off the night, settling in a little early as I was drained from hardly any sleep the night before.

It ended up snowing quite a bit that first day. A weird cold front swept all of Europe this weekend—even London got some snow!—and the weather in Vienna was a bit schizophrenic the first day, with snow for a few minutes, then sun, then rain, then sleet, then thunder snow. Kind of frustrating, but kind of romantic when it was snowing.

Pete in the snow. They don't get that in Spain. Though he hides it behind his smile, he is unhappy with this situation.

St. Stephen's in the snow.

A Very Momas Weekend

2008-03-19T12:11:00.001-07:00

I'm getting all ready for Easter break in Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia. My flight leaves Heathrow at an ungodly hour of the morning, but I'll be able to get a full day in Vienna when I arrive. Pete should be arriviing there shortly today, so he's going to meet me at the airport and we'll start our adventure. But before I start those, I need to get updated on the past week.

As you know, my mom and brother, Thom, came for a weekend. In the trend of simplifying names, I referred to them as "Momas" jokingly. They got in last Thursday morning, and unable to check into their hotel right away, dropped off their bags and met me for lunch at work. Seeing them that first time was so great. It was interesting however, that as we were talking and hanging out together, it was like I never left. Nothing's changed between us at all, not that I necessarily anticipated anything. It just seemed like any other semester when I drop home every few weekends for a visit. Except that, obviously, they were visiting in my current home, which is nothing like Kansas City.

When they arrived totally exhausted and jet-lagged, Denise, one of the intern supervisors, offered to book us a table at Century Club, so I got to treat "Momas" to a nice lunch of salmon appetizers and pork entrees, and they got to see why I always rave about the place. My boss, Lillian, met up with us a bit later and we had a really nice talk. My mom and brother absolutely loved Lillian and understand why I always talk about her and hold her in such high regard. London would not be the same if I didn't work for her.

After lunch, we headed back to Earls Court area so they could check in and take a quick nap. We enjoyed some pints and "pub grub" for dinner. Thom enjoyed a good steak and ale pie and I tried the shepperds pie (made of lamb). We both really liked the pies, but mine didn't come with that great pie crust outer layer, so I was determined to get another one in the near future. Thom and I went out for some more pints afterwards so he could enjoy the whole buying-alcohol-legally experience, but overall, we called it an early night, and prepared for our big day on Friday.

I once again lead a "death march" through the city on Friday. Our first stop, by Thom's request, was the Tower of London, renowned for all it's royal history and especially bloody history as it was used most as a prison. We went on a great guided tour by a Yeoman Warder, who actually lives within the Tower with his family. He was so funny and gave us some great stories that we would have missed otherwise.

Us with some of the Yeoman Warders, also what we may call "Beefeaters."

Our guide and big tour group.

Thom in front of the White Tower, the central part of the whole Tower of London complex. It's a really fortified area. You can tell why it's been around since the 1200s.

After the Tower, we enjoyed lunch and a stroll on the Tower Bridge, which most people mistake and call the London Bridge. No, the London Bridge is not so pretty. In fact, the original London Bridge now is in Arizona, as the man who bought it thought he was getting the pretty Tower Bridge. I'm sure he was disappointed.

Mom and Thom in front of the famous Tower Bridge.

We then walked over to St. Paul's Cathedral, where Mom proceeded to feed the birds with some leftover bread scraps of her lunch, which was one of her goals in life. I was very happy for her. She actually has most of the pictures from the trip, including these. Hopefully I can obtain them and upload them for you to see. It was actually really cute. The pigeons loved her.

Inside St. Paul's we saw all the sights and climbed the 430-something stairs to the top of the dome, looking out over London. Mom was proud of herself for completing that climb. Even I was worn out, so I would be proud too. I then treated them to a celebratory pint and chips (fries, remember) at my favorite English pub, Ye Olde Chesire Cheese. I think they liked it just as much as I do.

We were to meet my Uncle Dan and new aunt, Ellen, at the National Gallery at 4, so we hurried over there. All together, we spent a bit at the museum, looking at key paintings I pointed out. We then traveled to a nearby pub for a pint before heading to Porter's English Restaurant in nearby Covent Garden for our actual dinner. We had a great night together, and I absolutely love Ellen. I honestly felt like I'd known her longer than just a couple of hours. She is so friendly and has great stories, much like Dan. They both seem so happy, which is all one can ask for. I also achieved my goal of having a real chicken pie, pie crust and all. It was absolutely delicious. British food like pies and fish and chips are pretty heavy and not very healthy, but when you're in the mood for it, it totally hits the spot.

Ellen, me, Thom and Mom in Piccadilly Circus before we parted ways.

To top up our long day, I took Thom and Mom on a walking tour across a Thames River bridge and down to the Westminster area. The night lights of the city on the Thames are gorgeous, as you might recall from the night Pete and I walked across the Waterloo Bridge when he visited. Mom and Thom were troopers and stuck it out despite the long day.

Saturday I took Mom and Thom on a stroll up to Kensington Garden, via the route I take to class. Mom loved all the parks and flowers on the way. Thom is always a good sport when we start ooo-ing and aww-ing over all the "pretty flowers." I then gave them an abbreviated tour of nearby Imperial College, just to show them where I actually study during my study abroad experience. We then traversed over to Westminster Abbey, one of my favorite sights of London still. It was just as breathtaking and awe inspiring the second go around. I think they enjoyed it too. It's kind of like a movie star spotting-being so close to some of history's most famous individuals...well, with the exception that they are dead. Kind of morbid, I guess.

Our last major stop was the Imperial War Museum, one of the best museums I've ever been to. We explored the WWI and WWII exhibits and walked through a WWI trench that was designed to look and smell like the real thing. But my favorite part was the Holocaust exhibit. It was honestly one of the most moving and chilling things I’ve ever seen. I’ve grown up seeing images of the Holocaust, but never have I seen images so graphic and heard stories so heartwrenching. Mom and I cried for a bit as a result. I’d recommend it to anyone. It’s something that needs to be seen and understood by all.

Pam joined us for our last meal together was at none other than Hard Rock Café. Yes, a little pathetic to go for the American food, especially for Mom and Thom, but Pam and I kind of miss things like chicken fingers and quesadillas, in my case. Afterwards, I showed Mom and Thom the local wine bar I frequent, and later, Thom, Pam and I went out for a couple of drinks at another pub.

They left early Sunday morning, and I was a little sad seeing them go. I could have used another couple of days with them, not just to see the sights, but just to spend time together. A couple of years ago, I would not have just said those words at all, but it’s interesting how the time apart in college makes you enjoy your family a little more. Plus, the immenent reality of moving out and on with life in a little over a year makes me want to really enjoy the family time I do get with them. I wish Dad and John could have made it over, but I’m looking forward to seeing them when I get back. I’m trying to get some good souvenirs for them to help compensate.

I guess I’ll briefly touch on the other parts of the week. Monday was St. Patty’s Day! Hooray! I had the Irish music playing, the green on, and all that other overly cheesy stuff that the Irish do, and headed down the street with Pam to O’Neill’s pub. I had far too many Guinesses, but if there’s one day to go all out in that respect, this was it. We also picked up some cool hats while we were there! My flatmates, Alex and Steph, went to Dublin for the weekend, so my experience has nothing on theirs, however, it was a good celebratory evening.

Me, Pam and some random. Check out our cool Guiness/Shamrock hats!

Today’s class trip was to Houses of Parliament, which was kind of a surreal experience, somewhat similar to going to the White House, I guess. Except that Parliament is way prettier and has many more centuries of history. Each room was lavishly decorated in a neogothic style with gilded gold everywhere. We saw where the Queen processed in and sat during the House of Lords meetings. Unfortunately, photography was not permitted inside, so the best I’ll be able to give you when I upload the photos is the pretty recognizable exterior. I learned quite a bit about the British political system that I did not know before. For instance, the House of Lords (the other branch being the House of Commons) is comprised of unelected members, with individuals often inheriting rights into the House. The Prime Minister is the majority party leader in the House of Commons, which is set up to be more representative of the British population. However, he also, is somewhat of an unelected figure in this process. I was shocked by these two particular differences, having such an emphasis on elected officials in the United States. Definitely read up on it sometime if you’re interested. It’s pretty fascinating stuff.

I think that about wraps it up for now, but I will be sure to keep you updated on my Easter break trip as soon as I return. I'll let you know how my attempts at German and Slavic go. I'm a little nervous.

Check out pictures of Momas weekend, St. Pat’s and other randoms at this link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37953395&l=67b29&id=15921830

Happy Easter!

Mom and Thom are en route!

2008-03-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

As I was so busy posting all the spring break updates, I forgot to mention that my mom and brother, Thom, are visiting this week/weekend! They will get here tomorrow morning and leave on Sunday morning, so I get a few good days with them. I am beyond ecstatic to see them. I miss people from home so much, so it's great to get a piece of it brought to me. I'm not really sure what we'll end up doing on their visit. Thom I know wants to see the Tower of London, which we saw on our last family vacation here, and Mom wants to do Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's. I've seen all this stuff, but I loved it and am happy to tag along again. I've got work off on Friday, so I think we'll be able to see a good amount of stuff between the three days they're here. I'm also really excited because my Uncle Dan and his wife, Ellen, are meeting up with us Friday evening for tea/dinner/drinks and whatnot. They were just married in the fall, so this will be my first time officially meeting Ellen, so I am really excited for that. And to catch up with Uncle Dan, of course. He's an amazing world traveler, so it's always cool to hear what he's been up to.

In other news, this week's been pretty quiet. Everyone's still recovering from our breaks, and have kept pretty low-key. This obviously will change for St. Patrick's Day next Monday.

Today, our last major all-day class trip was to Bleinham Palace, where the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough live, and Oxford University. Bleinham is a gorgeous baroque palace that's been around since the 1600s and has housed that line of dukes. It also has a strong tie to Winston Churchill, as his uncle was the 9th Duke of Marlborough, and Churchill was the godfather of the current duke. So it was an interesting morning of exploring the aristocratic history of the building and taking in the luxuriousness of it all. They allowed us more time than necessary to explore the palace in my opinion, which probably wouldn't have been that much of a problem if we could have spent some it outside exploring the gorgeous grounds. But unfortunately, it is FREEZING here and very windy. There's a weird storm system affecting the isles and Europe right now that's causing really rainy weather everywhere (hence, our rainy days in Rome). Wales is apparently getting beaten by wind and huge waves on the coast. So we were kind of trapped indoors as much as possible during the day.

Oxford was extremely fun to go to as well, though we weren't really able to explore all the college campuses in it because of it being so cold. Oxford is not one college, but over 40 self-governing colleges and halls, all located in the same area and operating under the general Oxford system. I did not know that until I came to the UK. We took a tour of the famous Christchurch campus, which is absolutely gorgeous. It houses the smallest cathedral in the UK and its dining hall is where the scenes of the dining hall in Harry Potter movies are shot. Yeah, I was REALLY excited about that. There were no floating candles or anything, but it was still really cool to see. Harry Potter nerds like myself really enjoy that kind of stuff. After our tour, my flatmates and a couple others explored the town of Oxford. We were so happy to stumble across a place that is the closest thing I've seen to Chipotle in the UK. I had to get some chips and guacamole. I added Chipotle to my mental places of American restaurants I need to go to as soon as I get back. Restaurants here are great, but sometimes, you miss your old faves.

I'll upload the pictures I have of Bleinham and Oxrford soon, but I think I'm calling it quits for tonight.

No rain to RUIN our exploration of ancient Rome

2008-03-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so lame. I love puns. Pete's even more of a fan of them than I am, so I partially blame him for the cheesiness of my blog titles.

Day 8: A hands-on history lesson (Hooray! You made it to the last day!)
This was probably my favorite day in Rome, even beating out the amazing Vatican experience. Weather was warm and sunny, so I really got to see just how beautiful of a city Rome is. Plus, I'm a bit of a history buff, and I got to learn first-hand what ancient Rome was like by walking among the incredible ruins in the heart of the city.

We started the day at the Colosseum where women got in free for some random women’s appreciation holiday. Once again, luck was on my side, or at least on my budget's. To treat myself, I got an audioguide, which really gave such comprehensive background about how the Colosseum was built, what it was used for and of course, information on the gladiator battles. It’s really such intriguing stuff. I just wish I could see what it looked like during its hey-day. The Colossuem is legitimately huge. All of its arches kind of reminded me of the old Busch Stadium, actually.

A view from outside.

Inside, amidst all the excavation work that's been done to show all the cages beneath the old arena floor where animals and equipment were kept.

Pam and I spent the rest of the day exploring the Palatine and the Roman Forum, both areas of Roman Empire ruins dating back to the earliest centuries. Pam and I had so much fun, randomly exploring these ruins and discovering the history behind ancient castles, gardens, stadiums and forums. Our method of sightseeing was find a sight, look it up in this amazing guidebook I brought along, and read what it’s all about. That’s pretty much how we approached our entire Roman trip. See following photo:

We had a nice lunch basking in the ruins in the sun. I felt so at peace and never wanted to leave.
People basking in the ruins. We soon joined them.

Here are a couple more pictures of the Palatine and Roman Forum.

A stadium that was part of the Imperial palaces built in the 1st century A.D. They are not exactly sure what it was used for.

The Roman Forum with the Palatine hill behind it.

Me and the ruins.

In terms of what we saw, you really need to look at the Facebook albums, which gives some background on the ruins and buildings. Just copy and paste this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2241844&l=28e35&id=1592183

The end of my break…finally. Thanks for hanging in there with me. We caught another early flight from Rome to London on Sunday morning. It feels good to be back, but it's always hard going back to school and work after a vacation.

Final thoughts on my first mainland Europe trip:

-Being in France and Italy made me realize how embarrassed I am to speak only one language fluently. Almost everyone I encountered was able to speak English as a second language, and perhaps another language as well. I think that American schools should put an even greater emphasis on having kids learn a foreign language at a younger age. The experience really put this in perspective for me, and I realized as I was trying to somewhat converse with my Argentinian roommates in Spanish, that I really wanted to buffer up my Spanish a bit before I go to Spain for two weeks at the end of my time abroad. Yeah, I’ll have Pete there to guide me, but it’s not the same. I don’t want to get by just knowing the standard, “Please,” “Thank you,” “Sorry,” and the worst, “Do You Speak English?”
-I love traveling. I’ve always liked it, but it was really fun planning my own trip this go-around, as stressful as transportation issues were at some points. It gave me confidence for future trips.
-Pete and I are better than ever. The Paris trip was one of the best times of my life. I can’t wait to see more of Europe with him during our future adventures.

OK, I’m done. Until next time…

Isn't Rome supposed to be warm?

2008-03-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Keeping busy in rainy Rome

We were originally banking on sunnier weather while in Rome. Unfortunately, it reminded me a little too much of London weather and rained 3 out of the 4 days we were here. We had planned on traveling out to a nearby beach on our Friday, but the cold rain kept us in Rome, as opposed to spending money on transportation. I was set on seeing the beach, but I know I'll get my chance in a couple of weeks when I travel to Spain. Pete and I are planning a weekend in either Alicante or Valencia on the Mediterranean. I think I can wait until then.

We intended on seeing some museums and mostly staying indoors on this day, but many of the museums were closed or had ridiculous prices and booking policies. Museo Borguese for instance not only was outrageously priced but required advanced bookings. Boo. Coming from London, where most museums are free, Pam and I were not happy with this discovery. So instead, we spent most of the afternoon walking around and seeing some of the sights we had missed earlier, such as the Piazza del Popolo, the Castel Sant’ Angelo, the shopping area Piazza Navara where Pam and I each devoured our own delicious 12” pizza (All the walking worked up an appetite! What can I say?), and the Pantheon.

Piazza del Popolo. We didn't get a chance to go in the twin churches because they shut down for afternoon services.

The Pantheon was really cool since it’s a mix of both pagan and Christian origin and it really has withstood the test of time, unlike most of the other Roman structures built that long ago. It was originally a temple to the Roman gods, but was converted to a Christian church in the Middle Ages. Currently, it’s used as a church and has some kings buried there as well as the famous artist Raphael.

The Pantheon.

Honestly, the sightseeing was really fun. We covered a lot of area and learned a lot during our adventures. The only bad part was that since I anticipated warmer weather, I left gloves at home, and thus my genetically poor circulation to my hands lead to a really painful afternoon. By the time we sat down to eat our pizza my hands were so numb that I could hardly hold a knife and fork, let alone slice my pizza.

Sorry, I digress. We ended our excursions back at Piazza del Popolo, where we visited the church Santa Maria del Popolo. This gorgeous church transported me into Dan Brown's novel, "Angels and Demons," which made me happy. There is a ton of religious significance at this place. It's walls are lined with famous little chapels including the Chigi Chapel, which was designed by Raphael. On the floor of the chapel is a mosaic called the Kneeling Skeleton, which is pretty famous. Unfortunately, we couldn't see that or most of the chapel because of what else?--scaffolding. But there were a lot of other cool chapels, including Cybo Chapel, which is totally made of marble. It was absolutely stunning. Sorry, there are no pictures from this part of the excursion. My batteries were dead. But if you want to see some good pictures, copy this link: http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/italy/rome/popolo/popolo.html

Our long day of walking in the cold left us once again exhausted, but Pam and I toughed it out and had a really fun late night at the hostel’s bar with a few of our roommates. The hostel had free sangria hours and good happy hour specials all throughout the month ,and a lot of the visitors like to come down there for the evenings, so it made for a really fun time every night we were there.

My Holy Pilgrimmage

2008-03-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

Day 6: Hello, God!

I got one step closer to God last Thursday. Or at least I felt like it. I made a holy pilgrimage to the Vatican City, which ended up being one of the coolest experiences of my life. Pam and I wanted to avoid the crazy long lines that form during the day, so we got there by 8 a.m. and walked right in to St. Peter’s Basilica. Yes, we are hardcore. Check out the absense of people in the piazza at this ridiculously early time of day.

The basilica is an absolutely huge structure, easily twice the size of Notre Dame. And it is one of the most gorgeous buildings I have ever seen, with it’s walls and floors made of over 20 different kinds of marble. Unfortunately, the lighting didn’t make for good photos at all, so it’s definitely something you should try to see in person at least once in your life. One of the highlights for me was Michelangelo’s famous “Pieta” statue in one of the side chapels of the basilica.

There is also stairs in the middle leading downstairs to the point where St. Peter is buried. We did not have access to that, unfortunately, but being that close worked for me. We also explored the crypts of the basilica and stood literally feet away from where John Paul II is buried. It was a little surreal. At the Vatican, I was sure to buy some Holy Water. It ended up leaking a bit, leaving Pam and I with the question of what to do with leaked Holy Water…do you let it go down the sink? Try to get it back in the bottle? I’ll have to call the Pope for an answer, I guess.

Here's a cool picture looking out at the square from the basilica. Very rainy, but a little promise of sun. It never actually came, but it was a cool picture.

The Vatican Museums aren’t ajoined to the basilica, so we did have to wait in a long line to get in. Part of the Museums is the famous Sistine Chapel, the chapel where Michelangeo painted images of the Old Testament on all the walls and ceiling. It is an absolutely huge chapel, so you really understand and come to appreciate all those years Michelangelo spent painting on his back. And the artwork is incredible. We literally spent 15 minutes at least staring up at this ceiling. It was the only room where you couldn’t take photos, so I didn’t, though I probably could have gotten away with it just like hundreds of other tourists. I’ll post a better photo from online for you.

Also inside the museums were some amazing rooms painted by Raphael, including one of his most famous works “School of Athens.” I really enjoyed going through each of those rooms and learning a bit about each work. I think my mom would be proud of all the art history I’ve experienced while abroad.

Raphael's "School of Athens."

Again, here's the link to this Facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37878783&l=12c7e&id=15921830.
It's definitely worth taking a look at because I've included a lot more information about each individual photo.

Just Rome-ing Around

2008-03-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Rome wasn’t built in day, but you can definitely see it all in three or four. That was Pam and my opinion, anyway. Rome really grew on me while I was there. It’s a lot smaller than Paris, so waaay smaller than London, but that made seeing all the sights really feasible. And that was our plan. Also, I was happy to find that most people were able to converse with us in English and were incredibly friendly.

Day 5--The day my calves will never forget:
After arriving to Rome around lunchtime, Pam and I had our first genuine Italian food at a little pizzeria across the street from our hostel. Our pizzas were good, but in general, I wasn’t overly impressed by the Italian food we had on our trip, but this is likely because we chose the cheapest ones we could find. I have no doubt that the higher-priced ones serve the most amazing Italian food you can get.

We decided afterwards to just explore the area nearby, but we kept getting curious by things we saw, and ended up walking literally one-half of the city. We explored the ruins around the Roman Forum and Trajan Markets, dating back to the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D.

Me with the Trajan Markets, the world's first shopping centers. As a female, I really appreciated this bit of history.

Knowing that we were going to see these areas more in detail later, we decided to see the famous Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, both huge tourist attractions.

The beautiful Trevi Fountain. You are supposed to throw coins over your shoulder into the fountain--the first to make a wish and the second to return to Rome. I didn't know about the second one, so I don't know if I'll ever make it back to Rome. Hopefully I do though.

The busy Spanish steps.

They look prettier during the summer when they are full of flowers.

Me on the steps.

Walking a bit further, we entered a great park that housed the Museo Borguese, an art museum we were interested in visiting that housed what we at first thought was Michelangelo’s famous sculpture, David. Turns out that it actually is in a museum in Florence, so I guess it’s good that we didn’t pay that time. All the walking sufficiently wore us out for the day, so we had a relaxed chill night at the hostel.

Pam and I stayed at a pretty cool youth hostel, but through a mistake in booking, ended up being in separate rooms. At first, we were kind of worried about staying with six or seven people we didn’t know at all, but it ended up being really cool. During my four nights there, I ended up rooming with a French family, guys from Japan, girls from Argentina, a girl from Mexico and a couple of Americans. (The variety coming from the fact that people left and arrived to the hostel on different nights. I had new roomies almost every night.) It was a cool cultural mesh that I haven’t experienced here yet. Pam had just as much diversity going on in her room, so I got to meet a bunch of other people that way. As long as you’re laid back and open to the rooming-with-strangers situation, these kinds of hostels are definitely the way to go.

Check out more photos by copying and pasting this link to my Facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37878517&l=6dc60&id=15921830.

Paris part two: The Gypsy Saga

2008-03-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

Finishing up the last two days in the City of Love...

Day 3-The InSEINE adventures of Sam and Pete

Pete gave this day the highly politically incorrect title of Samantha Schaefer’s Bataan Death March. When I’m in tourist mode, I’m kind of hardcore, apparently. I was determined to see a lot of sights, and when I'm in that mood, strap on your walking shoes or else.

We started out the day by doing a little shopping because Pete needed another sweater, and I wanted to see if I could capitalize on the better exchange rate. I ended up getting nothing, but Pete got a couple of good shirts. I honestly think he has a better sense of style (guy’s style at least), than I do.

We were planning on doing a group walking tour of some of the city’s sights, but at the last minute, decided to set our own itinerary so as to take our time and see what we wanted to see most. We started at Notre Dame again, but this time, took a tour through the inside. Its stained-glass windows are just as incredible as everyone says.

The beautiful South Rose Window, one of the most famous pieces of stained glass in the world.

We then took a leisurely stroll down the Seine River that cuts through the heart of Paris. We had an incredible afternoon on our journey, staging ridiculous photo shoots and visiting vendors that set up tourist-trap shops along the river banks. We ended our walk at the Eiffel Tower. By that time, the line was over an hour long and a little more pricey than we would have liked, so we both enjoyed the experience of looking up at it as opposed to looking down from it.

The Eiffel Tower from where we stood.

Looking at the Eiffel Tower from where we stood.

It was at this point when we were accosted by a number of women (who we were informed were gypsies) who approached us one by one, handing us a sheet of paper to read about their sad situation, and begging for money. One after the other handed us the EXACT SAME sheet of paper with the exact same story, so we eventually crossed the street to avoid them. We ended up buying a waffle on this side, but moved out of the way to eat it in secret so they wouldn’t see that we actually had cash on us. We then had to map out our escape route to the metro that best avoided their territory. OK, it was all a little immature, but really funny to us at the time.

Eating my tasty waffle in secret.

Lauren, my suitemate from freshman year, is studying abroad in Paris, so she, Pam, Pete and I all met up for a nice wine night near Lauren’s apartment. It was nice having someone with us who could at least speak French a little (well, a lot) better than us. And her apartment is absolutely adorable--very Parisian chic.

Day 4-Beware the Early Flights:
Pete, Pam and I had a fairly casual day, just exploring little shops in the Saint-Germain area and enjoying one last panini before Pete left to catch a train back to Pamplona. It was a sad goodbye, but I get to see him again in a little over a week for Easter break, which definitely helps out with the heartache.
Pam and I ended up having a bit of a freakout when we realized that the Regional Express Railroad, which we had planned on taking to Orly Airport the next morning, would not be running early enough to catch our flight, so after dinner, we tried to figure out that situation. Lauren luckily saved the day by getting a cab to pick us up bright and early the next morning. He picked us up at 4:10 a.m., so honestly wasn’t that bright at all, both in terms of sunlight and our moods. Words of wisdom for you: Do NOT get early flights in cities where you have to rely on public transportation to get to the airport. Generally, the subways and trains are down until about 5:30 in the morning, so you end up relying on the pricier cabs. So not fun.

That about wraps up the Paris portion. I absolutely loved the city and would not mind going back again. I felt like I only scratched the surface of what the city has to offer. I'll have to buffer up my French a bit and go back for a longer stay one day
Check out my facebook album for this portion: http://www.facebook.com/photo.phppid=37826212&l=885e5&id=15921830.
Also, Pete has made a good video montage of our photos and posted them on his blog that you can access by going here: http://pamplonaprose.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!

Paris, je t'aime

2008-03-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

I returned home to London yesterday from my amazing spring break in Paris and Rome. Both places were so much fun and I have a ton to share about each day, but to avoid giving you a long novel and you consequently hating me, I’ll break it up a bit for you.

Overall, the whole trip was amazing. I traveled with Pam the whole time and met up with Pete in Paris for a couple days at the beginning of the trip. The whole thing went pretty smooth travel-wise, despite a little trouble getting to the Paris airport to catch an early flight to Rome. It feels great to be home in London now and not having to feel incredibly awkward searching for the appropriate French or Italian phrases to use. I felt like we did pretty well with our first really big traveling experience in mainland Europe. We did more walking and sightseeing than I thought imaginable, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I’ll do my best to break my trip down a bit for you, and make it interesting with some pictures. Of course, these are just a tip of the photo iceberg, so be sure to check out some of the links to my Facebook albums and some other sights.

Paris:

I absolutely fell in love with Paris. I had a fun few days there, obviously with my experience being enhanced by having Pete there with me. I really just liked the city’s atmosphere a lot. It’s a bit smaller than London, so everything’s a little more attainable with walking and public transportation. Also, there’s tons of outdoor cafés and little vendors on the streets selling delicious paninis and crepes (both of which we had too frequently) so there is a distinct street life and general romantic European ambience in the city.

Day 1—McDonalds and a late night stroll. So romantic, right?
Pam and I took the Eurostar from London to Paris, and arrived around 2. Pete had taken an overnight train in, so he had been in the city for a couple hours. I met up with him and we walked around a bit, exploring some of the neighborhoods outside the city center before making our way down to the Saint-Michel area, where Notre Dame is located. I had taken a couple of years of French in high school, but we were both a little intimidated by the language barrier at first, so sadly, our first night’s dinner was McDonalds. I vowed after that to have no more American fast food chains while in Europe. We initially were going to check out a pub crawl in the St. Michel and Saint- Germain des Prés area, which is a hot spot for bars, restaurants and nightlife, but the days travels left us both tired, so we decided to scratch that idea.

Here's Notre Dame, glowing at night. Apologies for the blurry picture.

Day 2—I like the way you Louvre
Pete and I ended up a little more rejuvenated than the day before, so we set off to do some serious sightseeing. First stop was exploring Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise, were Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried. It was an old cemetery, full of these moss-covered mausoleums, which ended up being quite pretty to stroll through. Jim Morrison’s grave was pretty cool, and an obvious pilgrimage destination for Doors fans of all ages.

The really old and beautiful cemetery.

Jim Morrison's grave. On a wall of a mausoleum next to his grave, people had graffitied their tributes, with things like “This is not the end…break on through” and “Ciao Jim.”

We enjoyed a panini and crepe after the cemetery before heading off to the Louvre. By luck, the first Sunday of every month is free entry, so being the budget-watcher that I am, I was probably too excited about this. The Louvre is absolutely gigantic. There is no way you could see the whole thing in one day. Honestly, it might take you at least 3 whole days to see the whole thing. We obviously saw the Mona Lisa, along with all the other hundreds of tourists, clamoring to snap a photo. Mine ended up blurry, but it’s ok. The Mona Lisa is actually quite small, and they keep you back so far from it that you really don’t get a good look, which was a little disappointing. We checked out a couple of other DaVinci’s and Renaissance paintings and explored some of the richly decorated rooms of Napolean III (not Bonaparte), who actually lived in the Louvre during his reign.

Pete at the Louvre, as I experimented with "artsy" photo angles.

The one and only Mona Lisa. Sadly, blurry again.

To celebrate our one year since starting to date, Pete treated me to a nice French dinner down in the Saint-Germaine area. Every restaurant experience was so funny because we were both so tense before we ordered due to the language barrier. Immediately after ordering our food, we both became noticeably more lighthearted. We enjoyed some wine and great conversation, so our wine and dining anniversary was a truly romantic Parisian evening.

Check out the full facebook album by going to: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37820758&l=f2c4c&id=15921830

Before my travels

2008-02-28T16:22:00.000-08:00

So tomorrow (being Saturday, since it's technically very early Friday morning here), I head off to my mid-term break in Paris and Rome. Pam and I will be taking the Eurostar beneath the English Channel to Paris. Pete's going to meet me there for a couple of days, and then on Wednesday morning Pam and I will continue on to Rome for a couple of days and then fly back to London on Sunday, March 9. It's going to be a whirlwind of a week, but I am so excited. Today, I practiced key French and Italian phrases, namely those like "Where is the bathroom?" and "I'm lost! Do you speak English?" My favorite phrase that I've perfected is "I would like a litre of the house red wine, please" in Italian. Haha. We'll see if I actually use that one.

This week has been pretty laidback. Monday and Tuesday were class days, and besides giving a group presentation on British ads on Monday, were pretty basic. Wednesdays we usually have a class-related field trip, but this week being right before break, they let us have a free day. I ended up having to go into work and help set up for a presentation and party that evening. Prior to going in, I treated myself to the National Portrait Gallery, where they have a current high-profile exhibition of Vanity Fair photos throughout the decades. It was a little pricey of an exhibit, but I loved it. It's amazing to see these famous and beautiful photos of some of the world's most famous people. My favorites are by Anne Leibowitz, whose work is easily identifiable. She's the one who is often behind the big tri-fold Vanity Fair covers with a spectrum of celebrities. She's an absolute genius. Google her. You'll be impressed. After that exhibit, I checked out one of the all the Tudor portraits, which featured original oil portraits of King Henry VIII, his hundreds of wives (ok, he only had 6 in reality...still too many) and a lot of Elizabeth I and her court. I've been so immersed in the Tudor dynasty since reading and watching The Other Boleyn Girl, so I'll ride this wave of interest until I get sick of it. It is intriguing history, though.

After the museum, I went in to help set up for a presentation and screening of the Cannes Lions Festival. This Festival is like the Addies of the US--it's the top ads of the year in all mediums from all over the world. My employer has ownership in the festival, so it was an event put together to show clients a little about what the festival has to offer. The ads themselves were absolutely brilliant. It makes me happy to be in a field that is so creative, even if I never actually create the stuff. The whole night was a lot of fun. We all enjoyed great champagne (probably too much) and tapas, and afterwards one of my bosses and a couple coworkers went out with the interns to a pub for a pint. It's great that we're getting to know everyone on a much more personal level. I feel like I can joke around and be really casual with people in the office. It's so cool to feel that you can relate to people on that level and not just be viewed as "the intern." I had similar relationships with some of my coworkers over the summer, so it's really nice that the same thing is working out overseas. We're at the halfway point in our internship now, which is pretty sad, but I know the latter half of the semester is going to be just as great as the first. It's hard not to have fun when I go into work. It's a nice reassurance that I'm going into the right career.

It's been a nice, low-key week leading up to a crazy one this coming week. I want to forewarn you that I will not be bringing my computer on my trip with me, so there will be no blog updates for a little while. When I return, prepare yourself for a monster entry and too many pictures. Also, I still need to upload some pictures from Greenwich, particularly those where I'm in two hemispheres at once. I'll try to get those up tomorrow, but no promises. Packing takes precendent.

That's it for now. Happy leap year! I'd like to give a special shout out to my cousin, Annie, who turns 6 today! Hooray!

Sitting in a pub that's older than my country

2008-02-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

I'm going to Tarantino this story a little bit and tell you my most recent adventure first and kind of work my way back through my memory of the past week or so.

Today Pam and I attended mass at a nearby Catholic church with a couple of friends of ours. It was the Latin mass, and so some of the prayers and all of the songs were in Latin, which was kind of challenging, but still really fun. Afterwards, Pam, Alex and Steph Coon and I traveled out to Greenwich (pronounced Gren-itch), which is in East London, on the other side of the Thames. It’s a really cool city with a number of great attractions. On a nice day, you could make a whole day out of it by traveling out there and enjoying lunch in Greenwich Park, shopping in the markets and visiting the Royal Maritime Museums and Royal Observatory. We got out there a little later, especially after a good 30-45 minute walk from the tube station since the connecting line was shut down, so we only hit up the Royal Observatory. It’s the place where they have the Prime Meridian marked, so you can stand with your feet literally in two hemispheres. Obviously, pictures of this momentous occasion were taken, but I’ll have to upload them later. My camera’s out of batteries. If I get a chance, I’d love to come back on a sunny day. The Observatory is settled on a tall hill with a spectacular view out on the city. You can’t see way west toward Westminster and the London Eye, but you can see a lot of the east part of the city.

Last evening, I accomplished one of my London goals by hitting up the famous old pub, Ye Olde Chesire Cheese, where Charles Dickens used to haunt, as well as several of London's old journalists, as its location on Fleet Street (yes, Sweeney Todd's area) used to be a major newspaper hub back in the day. This pub was REbuilt in 1667 after the great London fire, so it is extremely old and rich in history. I literally felt like I was walking a time portal as I entered into the building with it's dark, uneven floors and walls, it's little bar rooms and restaurants tucked into every corner and the smell of charcoal burning in the fireplace. It was seriously one of the coolest places I've been in London. Pam and I had dinner there and a couple of drinks and chatted for a few hours, which made for a really nice evening. I really wanted to try a meat pie at a pub, so I felt it appropriate to make this the night. So I ordered a steak and kidney pie. Ever tried kidneys? Not for me, I discovered. But the steak aspect was good as well as the bountiful chips (fries) that came along with it. All these good chips make dieting in London hard, which I was not expecting.

The Chesire Cheese has been around for 15 sovereigns. It's hard to comprehend that!

The ceilings were so low!

This weekend has been pretty laid-back. I stayed in most of yesterday, just getting some homework done for a group project we have due on Monday and investigated some traveling options for Pete's and my Easter break to Vienna and Bratislava in a couple of weeks.

Friday night I had a great time out with the girls. A group of 8 of us went to a very small and posh club out in Fulham, which is further south outside of the city. We talked the bouncers down about £10 to get in and danced the night away. In all honesty, I enjoy the pub atmosphere better than club atmosphere, but I really had a great time dancing with my friends and experiencing something entirely new and a little out of my element.

As far as other highlights throughout the week go, besides The Other Boleyn Girl premiere, I took a nice day-trip through class out to Dover castle and the city of Canterbury. Dover Castle was extremely fun and gorgeous. We had some serious fog on our way there that finally broke when we hit the castle. It's situated atop the famed white cliffs of Dover, right on the English Channel, and is a really unique structure in its history because it has been used for tactical war purposes from the 1200s through WWII. Even now, there is a military church there, run my priests in the militia. The grounds were beautiful and fun to explore for a short hour and a half, or so. I could have spent more time there enjoying the sunlight and the scenery, but we were jetted off to the city of Canterbury (Chaucer's Canterbury Tales ring a bell?) to explore the Canterbury Cathedral, where Christianity formally was brought to the UK. It also has some historical significance as Bishop Thomas Beckett, now known as St. Thomas of Canterbury, was murdered in the cathedral itself back in the 1200s. It was a cool church, but lately, after St. Paul's, Westminster and a couple of others, I feel like I've reached a saturation point with visiting churches. We managed to stop in one more in Canterbury, where St. Thomas's finger bone, one of his only remains, was placed in a box above an alter in memorial. Very weird, but interesting I guess? We walked around Canterbury after lunch for far too long, and were happy to be bussed home, as these all day trips can be really exhausting. Luckily, this week we do not have one and just are meeting with our internship coordinators to discuss our mid-term progress.

On that note, I am shocked that it's already mid-term. As of today, I've been abroad 47 days, which astounds me. Part of me feels like I've been here forever, yet it's hard for me to comprehend that I only have a few weekends left in London due to all the traveling I will be doing the remainder of the semester. I put all the things I want to see/do on a calendar so that way I could visually see what needs to be done when, and I'm shocked at how everything is starting to get squeezed in. Hopefully I get it all done.

Here's a couple of pictures from the trip Wednesday.

What I could see of the white cliffs of Dover.

The Dover Castle keep, which was set up on the interior to show what it would have been like when King Henry VIII and his court would have occupied the castle.

This old lighthouse was constructed by the Romans in 160 AD. It is actually called a pharos.

Just so sexy.

St. Thomas Cathedral at Canterbury

Inside the nave at the cathedral.

A couple more things. Check out this picture of me as the "Official Creeper to the Stars" behind Scarlett Johansson. This photo was on Perezhilton.com this week, which is easily the world's most popular celebrity blog that a ton of my friends back home read. My flatmate Alex is snapping the photo, and I am peeking out over her shoulder with a look of sheer joy for being within feet of Scarlett. Unfortunately, my face actually makes me look like "that girl" who was purposely trying to get in that shot. Not really what I was going for, but oh well. I'll take my fame where I can get it I guess. Just get a good laugh out of the photo. It's pretty funny.

By the way, I want to let you know that have not let my recent celeb exposure get into my head. I don't anticipate or necessarily want anything like this to happen again, but it was a really cool experience while it lasted.

Here are some pictures of St. Paul's from my adventure last Saturday. It is a gorgeous building with an even more gorgeous view of London. Enjoy!

Pigeons at St. Paul's

Walking toward St. Paul's. So pretty.

From atop the dome, looking over the front of St. Paul's, west onto the City.

A view of the London Eye, Waterloo Bridge and way in the distance, Westminster and Parliament.

I'm up in the spire now! I could slide down the dome if I wanted...Ok, maybe not.

Lily Allen + Samantha Schaefer = BFFs(?)

2008-02-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

The Royal Premiere of 'The Other Boleyn Girl' surpassed my expectations. The movie itself was wonderfully done (though, I definitely prefer and recommend the book). However, it was the star factor that still has me going back and being like, "Wait, did that just happen?"

Take, for instance the picture that I found of myself online at several websites. I was walking in with famous Brit singer, Lily Allen, and got stuck behind her during a huge photo shoot. Oops!

I was trying to quickly get out of the way so I wasn't "that girl" to the celebs. But too late.

So here's the whole story: After work Tuesday, Denise and Lillian, two of our supervisors took us down to the Radisson Edwardian on Leicester Square, right next to the Odeon Theater where the premiere was. We had a couple of snacks and drinks before heading toward the red carpet, which in this case, was actually a turquois color. Here's me with Sarah (far left) and Alex, the two amazing girls I intern with on the turquois carpet.

We timed our entrance just right. Literally, as we were walking up the carpet, Natalie Portman was just 10 feet away from us doing interviews and Eric Bana who played King Henry VIII just a couple feet further. Then out of nowhere swoops in Scarlet Johansson, passing within an arms length infront of us. I am using all of Alex's pictures to document the night because my camera's night vision quality was absolutely awful.

Our view of the Odeon walking up.

Eric Bana doing interviews.

Natalie Portman doing interviews (the one with the hair slightly up, with the beautiful curl). She looked absolutely amazing.

Scarlett Johansson as she walked past us.

Scarlett working it for the cameras. She is even more gorgeous and very tiny in person.

Scarlett and Natalie walking onstage before the movie began. Isn't Natalie's dress stunning? Alex was third row, so was able to take these amazing photos.

The main cast on stage as the director, Justin Chadwick spoke. He's so young and great at what he does.

I was up in the balcony level, which actually proved quite fun. When Prince Charles and Camilla arrived, they were seated at the bottom of the balcony, about 15-20 rows in front of us. The cast also had seats nearby. It was hard to comprehend at the time that I was in the presence of royalty, let alone the future king of England. They seem like such friendly people. Denise, our boss, got to meet him earlier in the day at a luncheon for trustees of a film board. She raved about Charles and even Camilla (I think she's on Team Camilla, not Diana. My boss, Lillian, is definitely rooting the other way.) At the end of the film, Charles and Camilla walked up the stairs and stopped just a couple rows in front of us to talk to friends, so I got a good close-up view. I was tempted to snap a picture, but no one else was, so I didn't want to be rude about it. You'll just have to take my word for proof.

Overall, an incredible evening. I know I will never get to experience anything like it again in my life, so I definitely enjoyed getting dressed up and living in the moment. London is an amazing city--a financial headquarter and a huge cultural and entertainment hub--that I'm so lucky to get to enjoy at this point in my life. I know at the end of this, I'll be anxious to get home and back to the pace of the States, but in the meantime, I'm really appreciating all the experiences, whether or not they involve the Royal family.

I have a few more pictures of Dover Castle and the Canterbury Cathedral that I need to upload and tell you about, but I need to get going at the moment. I'm working on planning Pete's and my Easter break. Next week (beginning the 1st) is my mid-term break, and Pam and I are going to Paris and Rome. Pete is going to meet us in Paris for a couple of days, so I'm really excited to explore the city with him. My suitemate freshman year/roommate part of sophomore year is living in Paris for the semester, so she's going to be an awesome tour guide as well. Two weeks after our mid-term break is Easter break, and Pete and I were wanting to go a little further east like to Budapest or Prague or Vienna, but flights are proving difficult. So I'm still looking around. Hopefully there will be some breakthrough.

All right, I'm out. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Also, one more thanks to Alex for the photos. They are magnificent.

Life as a rock star?

2008-02-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentleman, look for me on the red carpet. No joke, this Tuesday, I get to go to the world premier of The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. Our boss at work has great movie connections and so generously gave the interns passes to the premier. What's more is that this is the Royal Premier and thus, Prince Charles and Camilla will be present. How crazy is that?! Check out the movie trailer by going to www.sonypictures.com/movies/theotherboleyngirl. I'm quickly trying to read the book before I go, though I am only a fifth through. Regardless, it looks to be an incredible movie and an incredible night. I am so excited to share it with my co-workers. I honestly can't believe that I am so lucky to have this opportunity--just to be in the same theater as some of the world's greatest movie stars and (I still can't believe this) royalty, is beyond my comprehension. Stay tuned for pictures by Wednesday or Thursday.

Getting that wonderful news was one of the great treats we received at work this week. We were treated to the Century club, an exclusive private club that some of our bosses at work belong to, for lunch and a late-night cocktail party on Thursday night. The way they do clubs in downtown London is different than our country club method in the United States. It's not necessarily about the money, but about your profession. Century is comprised of people in advertising, film, entertainment, music or theater, so it's definitely a very artsy club. It's about creating an atmosphere or vibe with its members. I've enjoyed lunch there a few times--fabulous food. Smoked sea bass and a light mozzarella, tomato and basil salad were on the menu this go around. We stayed late after work on Thursday and then headed straight back to Century for an open cocktail bar and appetizers at the rooftop (which of course was covered, given that it's February in London). It was a great relaxed evening, just enjoying the scene and observing some of the posh London crowd.

Honestly, my job treats me and the other interns like rock stars. It's absolutely incredible. I feel so blessed. Their generosity is beyond belief, and I keep telling them that when I go back to Missouri, I won't know what to do with myself because I'll have been so spoiled. I've been thanking everyone incessantly, but I don't feel like any amount of cards I give or teas I make can really compare to what they’ve given me. In case you are wondering, I do actually do work at my internship. I've been really busy the past few weeks and Lillian has given me a couple of projects that I've really taken under my wing and have become the main contact for. As much as I love the perks and lunches that I've been showered with at work, getting good, hands-on agency experience is by far the best part. I feel like I've grown a lot in a professional sense, and am looking forward to see where I am by the end of this.

Moving away from work, it's been a fairly quiet week. On Wednesday all my flat mates and I went to see Avenue Q, a hilarious musical with a human and puppet cast. I like to think of it as an R-rated Sesame Street. Every taboo subject is touched on and sang about in such a light-hearted cheery tune. The irony is delightful. My stomach hurt from laughing at the end. Here are a few stage shots.

I’d highly recommend the show for anyone with a sense of humor. Although, it’s definitely not for the kids. Read a plot synopsis and you’ll get the point.

I forgot to mention that I saw another musical last Friday night. Pam took me out to Richmond, a western suburb of London, for a musical that her work had given her tickets to. It was an off-West End production called Next Door’s Baby about two Irish mothers and their families competing in a beautiful baby competition. It was a small cast of maybe 10 and it was at London’s only theater in the round, which means that the audience is seated all the way around the stage. It was an amazing musical. I loved the cast and the plot, and although the music wasn’t my favorite out there, they all had such amazing vocal quality. I also just loved that I was seriously 5 feet away from the actors themselves. You felt so engaged in what was going on. And the fact that it was a smaller theater and not some big West End/Broadway production, made me feel really part of the everyday London community, not so much as a tourist.

I also mentioned a bit ago that I’d upload pictures from the Lion King that I went to over a week ago. Check out some of these costumes:

Scar and Simba.

Yes, those are people in giraffe costumes. They were my favorite.

This weekend has been pretty relaxed. I haven’t done a lot besides my laundry and then a solo trip to St. Paul’s, which was absolutely amazing. The church itself is huge. Going in, I knew that the dome was big, but until you get inside and stand under the rotunda and look up, you can’t fully fathom how big it all is. It is an absolutely gorgeous building, and I had a great time exploring and climbing the 400 and something stairs up to almost the highest point of the steeple where I was able to snap some panoramic pictures of London. Thank God it was a clear day. It was an absolutely breathtaking view. I’ll post some pictures soon.

That’s about it for now. Stay tuned for Tuesday’s pictures! If I can, I’ll snap some of the stars or the royalty, but no guarantees.

I'm off to Hogwarts!

2008-02-11T15:54:00.000-08:00

Within the first couple of days of getting to London, I sat down and created a list of all the things I wanted to see and do. I successfully put a huge checkmark through so many this weekend and absolutely had a blast doing it. It was so warm and sunny all weekend—I just wore a light jacket out both days—so I hit up some outdoor activities.

Saturday Pam and I trekked up to Camden Market. I was there the week before with Pete, but I actually did some shopping this time…too much, unfortunately. I picked up a couple of gifts for people, a great pashamina scarf (the cashmere is so soft!) and a cute little dress for me. I even haggled my way down the price on that one by like £5/$10. I was pretty proud of myself for that one. The one thing I set out to get was wellies, and of course, that was the one thing I didn’t get. Oh well. If the weather holds out like it has been, I won’t need them.

On a weird note, Camden had a huge fire Saturday night. It started in one of the market stalls, but its origin is unknown. So weird….

Here's Camden pre-fire. Look at all the crazy store fronts!

Camden is located on a lock canal that boats actually go through. It's actually a cute little area.

On the way back, our tube stopped at King’s Cross, so naturally, Pam and I had to look for Platform 9 ¾. Those of you who read Harry Potter know the significance of this. Some people want to skydive before they die or maybe go on a Mediterranean Cruise, but no, all I wanted was to take my picture at Platform 9 ¾. Now if I could only figure out to go through the wall….

Screw London; I'm off to Hogwarts!

The famed King's Cross Station seen in the movies.

We took the tube to Portobello Road, another market, just to scope out the scene. It was a lot different than Camden. More antiques and food, less punk and alternative. It was such an awesome vibe though. I’m planning on going back next weekend to pick up some fresh fruit and peruse the area further. While there, Pam and I spotted something we’ve both been on the lookout for—a genuine Banksy piece of art. Banksy is one of the most famous graffiti artists in the world, and it’s pretty rare running across one. Pam and I were beyond excited, and of course, entered tourist-mode and took some pictures. Check them out, as well as this website: http://www.banksy.co.uk/

A view of some colorful flats lining Portobello Road. It is the markets of all street markets, in my opinion.

Chinese New Year has been in full-swing since Wednesday, but Sunday was the big parade and festival. Pam and my flatmates, Alex and Grace, and I got up early for the parade and followed it into Chinatown for some dim sum, which I regard as Asian tapas/appetizers. They are absolutely delicious and a cheap meal if you split them between friends. We walked around a bit afterwards before heading home. It was so cool feeling a part of this cultural event. That’s one of the perks about being in a huge city like London—you’re exposed to all these diverse cultures and experiences. I doubt I’ll ever be in a place as culturally diverse ever again. I hope to keep taking advantage of the opportunities as they come.

Chinatown was decorated the entire week. I loved the lanterns.

Here's the bearded dragon candy, the 'Candy of the Emperors' that I sampled. I was not really impressed, but at least I siezed the moment and had the experience.

The start of the parade.

Every night this weekend has been pretty low-key, which is nice after the extremely busy days I’ve had. Also, I’ve been doing some tight budgeting to save up for my trips this semester, so if I can keep the clubs to a minimum, I should be in good shape for Paris and Rome for spring break in a couple of weeks, and later on Vienna/Munich, Cork Ireland and Spain after that. A lot of travels. But airfare is fairly cheap, so now’s the time to capitalize on it.

Last thing before I sign off. Pete is nice and settled in Pamplona. He had to stay in a hostel for the first couple of nights, but found a great apartment with a spectacular view over the city. And it has free WiFi, so he and I have set up Skype so we can talk over the Internet and not burn up our cell phone minutes. It sounds like he’s having a good time. He’s met people in his program from all corners of the earth—Australia to France to Colombia. It also sounds like he’s going to have one of his apartment mate’s girlfriends help him with his conversational Spanish if he in return helps her learn English. If you want to keep updated with him and see some absolutely stunning pictures of the Spanish coast and countryside, you should keep up with his blog at: www.pamplonaprose.blogspot.com. He's a great writer, so it makes a good read.

Before I go, here are a few more pretty pictures from this past week:

Anne Hathaway's (William Shakespeare's wife) adorable country cottage.

Looking down at the Warwick Castle grounds.

Gorgeous green countryside. It's more breathtaking in person.

Pete and I in my flat.

In busy Piccadilly Circus.

To check out more photos of my weekend click
here.

Enjoy!

Picture links

2008-02-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I am exhausted, but I wanted to put up a couple of links to some photo albums on Facebook.

To view pictures from Pete's weekend, click here.

To view pictures from my trip to Warwick Castle and Shakespeare's home in Stratford-Upon-Avon, click here.

We had an absolutely GORGEOUS day at Warwick and Stratford-Upon-Avon. It was sunny and beautiful, not too cold either. Just being able to look out on the incredible countryside was my favorite part. Also, I've discovered that I'm a bit of a history buff, so I've enjoyed hitting up these castles and learning about the people that once lived there. Visiting Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare's (Hathaway was his wife) homes in Stratford-Upon-Avon was also a lot of fun. I'm a little bit of a doubter on the whole Shakespeare thing. I have a couple of issues believing that the son of a glove maker in rural England who was only educated up until the age of 13 was capable of writing these incredible sonnets and plays which deal with royalty, aristocracy and classical history. I am what one may classify as a fan of the Oxfordian theory, which felt it may have been some sort of earl that actually wrote the plays. Regardless, I still enjoyed the trip so much and appreciated learning about how people lived back in the 1600s. It definitely was a simple life back then, at least by our standards. Part of me would love that simplicity, but I am too connected to technology and electricity to ever wish that I lived back then.

Tonight I saw the Lion King musical with a group from my classes. It was an event paid for by our program fees, so I definitely opted to go. And I'm glad I did. The show was incredible, especially the staging and costumes. The costumes literally brought animals to life on stage. I'll have to include a few still shots later to show what I mean. As one of my favorite Disney movies of all time, I had a blast watching it and singing along to the songs in my head. The vocals were amazing as well. It was definitely a different perspective seeing it on stage than as a cartoon. I think I liked the stage better.

There are more updates with work and some more pictures that I need to post up here, but I'm going to get to bed right now. Sorry for the brief update. However, hopefully the picture links will suffice for now. Goodnight from London!

Pete weekend

2008-02-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

First of all, I should inform you that I am not dead. I know I warned you that I’d be taking a temporary hiatus from blogging and essentially all other technology when Pete was here, but I want to reassure you that I’ll be back to posting every day or so.

Pete’s visit was the most amazing five days of my London stay so far. Which I guess isn’t too surprising. Being able to share the city with someone you really care about can’t be matched by practically anything. I’ll catch you up on what the past couple days have entailed. There are quite a few pictures, but I’m just going to give you the direct link to my photo album right here: . Note: Blogger is once again giving me a bit of trouble, so I actually may have to try linking it all together again tomorrow, or posting the pictures on the site. I'll get something worked out though. Don't worry if you can't view the pictures right now.

Pete arrived really early Friday morning at Gatwick Airport. I took a train up there to meet him and take him back to my flat so he could drop off his stuff and get settled before taking on the city on my beast of a scavenger hunt. I actually arrived to Gatwick a little late because there was a delay on the tube. So he actually had been waiting for me. When I arrived at his terminal, I was all frazzled, staring up at the screen and trying to figure out where I could meet him. All of a sudden, I felt someone standing uncomfortably close behind me. I turned around and nearly jumped back, having to do a double-take because I couldn’t believe it was him. It was very much a Pete greeting. So funny and cute. We commuted back to my flat and let’s just say both of us were ecstatic and cheesin’ pretty hard. I had to leave him to go to work, but he met up with Alex and me for lunch at Hummus Bros (best hummus EVER) and a little pastry at Café Valerie. My boss was incredible and upon finding out he was in town, let me off work after an afternoon meeting. She even let him come in and chill for a bit while I was in the meeting, just so we could jet off and spend time together.

Friday evening was pretty mild, especially since Pete was exhausted from the plane and jetlag. We did a little grocery shopping at Sainsbury’s and later hit up the cute little Wine Bar down the road. It’s so cozy and quintessential European (or at least what I can tell from my experiences so far)—it was a perfect romantic evening.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. Pete brought the good weather with him from Atlanta. Well, I guess it was still cold, but at least the sun puts a bright spin on things. We made some pasta and walked up to Kensington Gardens for a picnic at Round Pond. I showed him all the routes I take around the city, and probably exhausted him even further. Oops.

I decided to hit up an area of town I hadn’t been to yet on Saturday night. That’s what I love about Pete. He’s fun to explore new areas and things with. We went up to Camdentown after hearing a suggestion for good live music at a pub called the Dublin Castle. Camden is definitely alternative. We had to have seen about 50 mohawks getting off the tube with us alone. It was totally edgy and out of my element, but a lot of fun. There are amazing markets there on the weekends, so we caught the tail end of them when we arrived. There’s so much cute, cheap stuff that I’m definitely making a trip back this weekend. I am in some serious need for wellies, which are pretty cheap there.

Sorry, I digress. After checking out the markets, we found this AMAZING tapas bar called Jamon Jamon. I know Pete’s going to eat tapas like every day in Spain, but we’re both a big fan, so it hit the spot. It was definitely run by Spaniards so the taste was authentic and wonderful. The jug of sangria we split was also wonderful. Sangria is one of our favorite drinks, so I guess you could say we had to order it for sentimental reasons...and because we didn’t want to pay too much at the bar at the concert. Dublin Castle ended up being pretty cool. It has a great local vibe and the bands that played were really good. I honestly forgot their names, and it really ended up being only two by the time the night got rolling. I was just happy to check out some live music since so many great bands have rolled out of London.

Sunday was kind of a lazy day. We got going a little later in the afternoon and walked around Piccadilly Circus for a bit and then explored the National Gallery. This was my third time here, and I still am not finished seeing all the paintings. I guess I dawdle more than the average person. I made sure Pete saw the DaVinci’s and one of my favorite painting called “The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein. Google it sometime. It’s pretty cool. We also moved into the 1750-1900 years, so I was psyched to see some beautiful Monets and Van Goghs, among many others.

Sunday night was the Superbowl, which we watched at the Imperial College union. It was definitely mostly Americans there, but oh well. You've got to have your American football, too. Sadly, Pete and I had to watch the Patriots lose. Yes, I know they’ve won so many others, but honestly, they are such an amazingly talented and dynamic team. Even when Brady’s down, the rest of the team performs incredibly well….at least up until this game. Pete was highly bummed about it. He’s big into the NE sports teams. Hopefully they can pull a big streak again next year. Something tells me it could happen.

Once again, my boss was incredible and let me off work a little early both Monday and Tuesday. Pete and I sampled some delicious local Indian food (I’m not a fan of British food too much, but London is renowned for all its Indian places…so good!) and on Monday night, took an amazing walk down the Thames River in central London. I heard that the Waterloo Bridge promised a gorgeous view at night with St. Paul’s lit up in the east and all of Westminster with Big Ben and Houses of Parliament to the west. And it was absolutely true. We had an incredible hour or two walk down the bank of the Thames, taking pictures and goofing around as we walked. I am perpetually amazed by the amount of fun Pete and I are able to have together. There is never a dull moment, and we enjoy each other’s company so much that it’s impossible not to enjoy anything we do together. Taking that moonlit walk was probably my favorite part of London so far. All the beauty and incredible sights around you are enhanced when you’re there with someone you care about so much.

Overall, it was a wonderful couple of days. We hung out with my flatmates a bit, and they really seemed to like Pete a lot. Again, not surprising for anyone who’s met him. He’s a charmer.

He left this morning, and though it was hard seeing him go, knowing that he was en route to Pamplona to start his semester in Spain made it much easier to handle. He’s arrived and I think is doing well. A little overwhelmed, I think, but I have no doubt that he’ll have conquered the country by the time he’s done. He’ll probably be fluent in Spanish after a couple of weeks too, which I know he’s excited for. He’s been looking forward to this experience since he was 17, so I’m ecstatic that he’s finally seeing it happen. He’s so passionate about Spain and the Spanish culture that there’s no way that he won’t have an absolutely amazing experience.

I have more to add about the class trip I went on today, but it’s a bit late here for me, so I’ll give you updates and pictures tomorrow.

Love you all. Cheers!

12 more hours...

2008-01-31T11:44:00.001-08:00

I will see Pete in 12 hours. I am ridiculously excited about this. But I will warn you, I probably won't blog until after he's gone. I might be able to put a few pictures up here and there, but don't assume that I've fallen off the end of the Earth if you don't hear from me until Wednesday. I'm so excited to give him a taste of London. Honestly, London isn't the most romantic city in the world, but I know this is going to be an incredibly romantic weekend sightseeing and hitting up pubs and concerts with him. Rain or no rain, this is going to be an incredible weekend and start to next week.

Of course, we will be staying up late to watch the Superbowl on Sunday, which I believe will be at 11:30 p.m. here. Oh well. I will still get a couple of hours in before work. As an American, it is my obligation to watch this game, and luckily Imperial College will leave their pubs open to cater to its American exchange students. Hooray!

Tomorrow, I'm sending Pete on a scavenger hunt while I'm at work in hopes that this will keep him preoccupied so he doesn't go to sleep. I know, probably a little mean, but I just don't want him to mess up his sleep schedule right when he gets here. I can't give away some of the stuff on the list, but I think it'll keep him busy. Hopefully he doesn't get too pissed off at me for making him more exhausted than he already is.

The past few days have been nice and low key. I had a great night on Tuesday when I celebrated my friend, Mary Elyse's 21st birthday at a pretty cool club in Piccadilly called TigerTiger. It was pretty tame (pun intended) on a Tuesday, but you can tell it's a crazy time on weekends. I had a great time hanging out with some girls I hadn't really spent time with since I've been here.

Yesterday we visited the Tate Britain, a beautiful art museum comprised mostly of British artists' works. You'd think I'd be museum-ed out by now, but honestly, each one is so different that it doesn't bore me at all. Plus, it's winter still here, so there's not a whole lot to do outside during the colder days.

Last night, Pam and I attended a public forum, which was set up to discuss the media coverage of the Madeline McCann case. We went for our International Issues and Reporting class, and I'm really glad I went because I got to witness the British press functioning right before me. Here's the story: Madeline was a 5-year-old kidnapped while vacationing in Portugal with her family last May, and she has yet to be found. Her story has been a year-long media sensation, causing a lot of debate about how the media's covered it, what the PR spin on it is and who is to blame. This was my first quasi-press conference I've attended, and there were parts of it that entirely shocked me. Some people came there to play the blame game only. They adamently accused the girl's parents of killing her and collecting money donated to her fund. The thing is, no one knows who's to blame. There are no hard facts. To go in there to a conference that is focused on the media's coverage and behavior and then turn it around and start pointing fingers without any evidence is ridiculous. These people got a lot of "boos" from the majority of the people attending. Needless to say, it turned into quite a lively experience, which I really got a kick out of. I feel bad saying that, since this girl's disappearance is at the core of the issue, but some of these people were so tactless. I know this rowdiness isn't typical at all of British media or citizens, but it was still interesting to see all the different perspectives and attitutudes people have on the issue.

I was not interested in pointing fingers, but in the media's coverage of the issue. I could go on and on about the lack of journalistic principles in this case--how the incessant coverage has turned this little girl's sad case into almost celeb gossip; how stories and accusations in the press go unchecked; how sensationalism runs rampant--but really it's not worth it. I'm kind of jaded about the whole journalism thing. I guess it's good I'm going into advertising.

All right, I'm out for the night. I need to get some stuff ready for Pete's arrival tomorrow. I'll try to keep you posted throughout the weekend, but if not, you'll hear from me Wednesday or Thursday!

My Goals

2008-01-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am able to access my blog from my computer. Hooray! So, as I'm riding this wave of good luck, I uploaded some pictures of the Albert Memorial and V&A visits on Sunday.

Has spring sprung in London?

Check out the Albert Memorial on a sunny day! (Sorry if it's on it's side right now...I can't get it to rotate.)

Each corner of the Albert Memorial has a statue that represents the corners of the British Empire at its height. This is for Asia.

This was for Africa.

The Americas.

And Europe.

I thought it might be nice to actually show me in a picture on occasion.

The front entrance to the V&A Museum. It is a gorgeous Victorian building.

The V&A was the first museum where we could actually take pictures inside. There was an incredible sculpture gallery in one of the hallways.

Good ol' Albert.

A beautiful glass chandelier in the front foyer of the V&A. You have to love the juxtaposition of new and old.

The past two days have been fairly quiet as we kind of settle into this work-school routine. Mondays and Tuesdays are definitely the longest days. I go straight from work at 5 to class at Imperial College at 6. Monday's class actually starts at 6:30, allowing us a little time to change out of our work clothes and grab a bite to eat. It is difficult however going from a 6-8 hour workday straight to a 2-3 hour class period. Classes aren't too difficult as long as you pay attention and do the work required. The most difficult aspect is actually remaining attentive/awake during them.

I guess I really haven't explained my classes yet. I am only enrolled in two this semester. My internship accounts for the other 6 credit hours, leaving me with 12 hours total. On Mondays, I have International Issues and Reporting with a professor from Mizzou who is over here for the semester. We basically study the differences between British and American media and try to look at things from a global scale. On Tuesday is our British Life and Culture class, in which we have a new speaker come in to discuss a particular historical or cultural subject with us every week. Then the next day, we go on a fieldtrip pertaining to that subject. Tonight we had a guy come in from the Tate Britain and British Museum and discuss the Golden Age of British Art, and tomorrow we will visit the Tate Britain. Next week we're traveling to Stratford-Upon-Avon and Warwick to get a deeper look into Shakespearian literature. It's pretty interesting stuff. We have to write a weekly paper about our experience for that week, but overall, it's not too bad and I enjoy the class...minus the timing.

In last night's class, we had some Mizzou grads who are now living and working in London come and speak with us about their experiences. It was really cool hearing their stories and what it's like being an American-born actually settling here. One of the girls is a photojournalist and I was particularly inspired by some of the things she has accomplished and what she's setting out to accomplish. She and her husband are going to start a global trek to photograph and report on development projects of indigenous tribes all over the world. It's quite an undertaking, but it was cool hearing about all the places they'll go and their goals in the trip. I know it's kind of corny and cliché, but it made me realize that the now and the next few years is the time in my life to have these horizon-expanding experinces and travel. I can't do stuff like this in a decade when I have kids and a demanding job. So, I created a little list of my goals to accomplish while I'm here:

1. When in London, do as the Londoners do. I love the amazing sightseeing opportunities, but I also want to take time out to hang out at the library or on a park bench just reading, catch a football (yes, I mean soccer) game at local pubs and find a church to attend regularly. For the next few months, I want to make this my home and feel what it's like to be a citizen over here. Right now, I'm just an American looking in. And I know that this won't completely change by the time I leave, but I'd like to have a little more insight and perspective on things than when I arrived.

2. Make British friends. This kind of goes along with #1. I feel like I won't get as much as I could out of the experience if all I interact with is Americans. I am lucky that I get to work alongside Brits, but I'd like to make it a social activity soon. I plan on hitting up some good pub nights at the Imperial College Union and see if I can strike up some relationships with people my age. I just need to get over the awkwardness that I have now and do it.

3. Travel. This is a given. But I don't know when I'll be back here, if ever. I get stressed about the money issue, as I should, but I really don't want to limit myself from seeing some of Europe's most incredible sights because I'm worried I won't be able to eat or drink at a pub the rest of my semester. The truth is, I can make pitas and peanut butter go a long way if it means I get a weekend in Prague or Vienna. I'm willing to make the sacrifice.

These sum it up for now, but I'm sure I'll add to the list as time goes on.

It's a bit late here, so I'm signing off for now. Cheers!

A run in the park

2008-01-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

Hooray! My computer is actually letting me use it to access and update my blog today. It's obviously a little fickle, but I'll roll with it.

Today was yet another sunny day in Londontown. I woke up a little slowly and took a great run up to Kensington Gardens with Sarah. It's nice to have a running buddy that I can run with during the weekends. Plus, she's all about doing toning exercises and ab work, which I absolutely hate but know that I must do. So it's nice to have someone who holds me accountable on such matters. The Gardens were even more gorgeous than yesterday. It draws absolutely everyone and every dog in the city. It seems that even if you are a city person, you still need a little bit of nature in your life. And if you want a pretty slice of nature, London parks do the trick. I have yet to stumble across an unkempt park.

Pam and I joke that we're on a perpetual date. Our museum visits and strolls in the park seem like perfect date activities. I'm developing a good list of things to do when Pete gets here based on Pam and my "romantic" sightseeing thus far. Today, we checked out the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, which is what I call "culture in a box." The museum houses an incredible collection of fashion, art and furniture throughout the last few centuries. As females, we naturally checked out the fashion exhibit and saw a lot of couture gowns from Versace, Dior and even Juicy Couture (gross). There was even a dress that Princess Diana wore on display. I'm not a huge clothing fiend, but it was a very pretty exhibit and cool to see how styles have changed through the ages. I honestly can't believe women's waists used to be so restricted by corsets and all their other ridiculous undergarments! There were a ton of small-waisted dresses on display and thinking about how these women barely even breathe in them made me gasp for air a bit.

Tonight's been pretty chill. I decided that since I'm "studying" abroad, I might actually want to do my schoolwork for my classes this week. They both are very manageable classes, but I can't get too negligent and let the work slide.

After my third week in London, I can say that I'm viewing things in a lot more positive light. My first few weeks were a little rough with the culture shock and a little bit of home/Pete-sickness, but I think I'm getting the hang of this city. I know that I would not want to settle in the big city, but I think small doses of it like this are good for a person. It definitely is a nice change of perspective. I can see why people would like the hustle and bustle and just the vivacity of it all, but I like my yard and a little more space to spread out a bit. But that's just me.

Getting into a routine has really helped me out with the adjustment too. My internship is great, and it takes up so much of my time that the days fly by. I've also been pleasantly surprised that with six girls living in a fairly tight place and only one bathroom, we've been doing all right. We all leave in the morning at slightly different times, so sharing the bathroom/mirrors hasn't been too bad. I say this now, but hopefully it doesn't change. I know at the end I will be happy to get back to my spacious personal bathroom at my apartment complex. Yes, I'm spoiled, but at least I appreciate what I have, right?

Hope everyone had a great weekend and has a great start to the week! Thinking about you...

2008-01-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

For some unknown but highly predictable reason given my problems with computers, I cannot update my blog from my own laptop. I can however choose any other computer in the world and update it from there. I have no clue how this works. Luckily, I have generous flatmates and a computer in our flat, so this really isn’t a problem. The only problem that does affect you is that I can’t upload pictures. However, I will attach links to my photo albums on Facebook as I go, so feel to always click on those links to see new pictures. Like I’ve said before, even if you are not a Facebook user, you will be able to go straight to the photos. I’m sorry if this causes problems for you all. E-mail me if you still can’t see the photos.

Moving on. Other than the above dilemma, it’s been a great start to the weekend. Yesterday, one of my fellow interns, Sarah, and I were put in charge of purchasing prizes for contest winners. We spent the afternoon in some of the hottest stores in all of London, buying designer brands that we would never be able to afford ourselves. Well, Sarah who’s going in to law, may be able to. But she’s generously offered to buy me something Marc Jacobs or even better, Fendi, when she makes it big. We checked out Selfridges a designer name mecca and shopped up and down Oxford Street. It was a fun afternoon getting to see the shopping that London has to offer. Obviously, my budget doesn’t allow for much of it. But window shopping is always free.

For the second night in the row, I was asked to go to a movie screening. Sarah and I got to view Christina Ricci’s new movie, Penelope. It was incredibly cute. I think it’s out in the states, but I thought it was rent-worthy for the future. The screening was in the middle of Soho, and afterwards, we got a bit lost trying to find the nearest tube. Luckily, Londoners have been more than helpful with directions, especially when they see two confused girls, heads bent over a map.

My roomies and I were all exhausted after our first week at work, so we spent a relaxed evening at the wine bar.

I slept in late today and awoke to yet another sunny day. I think there’s actually been more sun this week than rain. Hopefully this streak lasts a bit longer. Pam and I went down to a local Laundromat and did a load each. It’s a lot more expensive here, so we opted to bring the wet clothes home and drape them over hangers and vents instead of paying for the dryers. I ended up handwashing socks and underwear since I’ll have to wash those pretty frequently. But it feels so good to finally have some clean clothes. After a couple of weeks, you start to feel a little gross. I’m sure you all find infrequent laundry trips kind of gross too. But when you’re a poor student, you have to rely on a lot of Febreeze and handwashing.

Pam and I spent the remainder of our afternoon in Kensington, popping into shops on Kensington High Street and exploring Kensington Gardens. I got some fabulous pictures of Kensington Palace and the Gardens that you can access by clicking here. Once again, the photos hardly do it justice. Pam and I can’t wait to come back when the flowers are in full bloom in a couple of months. Today was still a fabulous day to explore it all though. The sun was shining and it was warm enough that Pam was comfortable even without a coat. We cut across a couple of cute backroads to the Kensington Public Library where we are registered through Imperial College. I’m trying to get in the habit of reading more often so I checked out a book by Philippa Gregory, who’s novel The Other Boleyn Girl is being made into a movie with Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johanson. You get some time to read during your commute on the Tube, so hopefully I’ll get a few books checked off my list while I’m here.

Not really sure what our plans for tonight are. Pam and I might join Sarah and a few others down at a club in Piccadilly for a night of dancing. I’m not a huge club person but I guess while I’m here, I should try to enjoy the nightlife. I’m much more of a laidback pub girl, I’ve decided.

Pete will finally arrive here on Friday morning. He’s staying in a hostel down the road from me for about 5 days before he travels down to Spain for his semester in Pamplona. I’m so excited to give him a tour of what I know of the town. We always have a blast together no matter what we do, so I know we’re going to have an amazing few days. He has demanded that we watch the Superbowl (huge Pats fan), so I know that’s one of the things on our agenda. I can’t wait to see him again.

Of big rocks and the big screen

2008-01-25T01:06:00.001-08:00

Hello again from London!

I’ve had a really great week thus far. I think I’m starting to get a hold of this London thing. Even the weather isn’t getting to me as much, which most of you know can be a large determinant of my mood. I think an e-mail from my brother earlier this week helped put things in perspective. From the words of Thom:
“I must say that weather wise, you are not missing much. The past ever since you left the weather has repeated this cycle every three of four days: Day 1: "Arctic" cold front moves through starting mid-day to early afternoon. Lots of freezing rain, sleet, snow (shitty kind, not enough to do anything on). Day 2: Starts out with a wind chill of -12 to -8 with wind blowing from the North and a temp of 4. High might get to 12 or 13 with a wind chill of 2. Day 3: same as Day 2. Day 4: is a nice toasty day with a high around 25...maybe 30, and no wind.”
Suddenly, rain and 50 degrees doesn’t seem so bad. Thanks, Thom!

Wednesday was the eventful day to Bath and Stonehenge. Stonehenge is as it was last time, a formation of rocks. To go in and expect anything extravagant will leave you disappointed. But when you consider the sheer magnitude of the rocks and the mysterious purpose behind them is when it becomes interesting. There are 52 “blue stones” in the formation, which are huge stones only to be found in the Preseli Mountains in Wales. These ancient people would have had to transport them over sea and land over hundreds of miles to get them where they are today. Dad sent me an interesting link before I went to show the ingenuity of humans. Check is out: http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/moving_big_rocks. This is not at all how Stonehenge was created, but it was still pretty cool to watch.

You might be wondering what Stonehenge’s purpose was. Honestly, most don’t know exactly. Probably some sort of spiritual altar as well as a calendar to predict the next eclipse. The stones are also arranged so that at the entrance to the configuration was perfectly aligned with the summer solstice sunrise. Summer solstice is the only day where visitors can actually go up and walk within the stones. You just have to deal with all the druids and hippies that are there as well.

I didn’t know that there are so many other henges and ancient burials in the area, but there are literally thousands. You drive through the countryside of Britain and you see these round bumps in the middle of farmer’s fields that are ancient burial plots. It’s absolutely incredible how much history from thousands of years ago lies just a couple of feet beneath the ground.

Bath was an incredible city. I unfortunately passed out on the bus between Stonehenge and Bath so I didn’t hear all that the guide had to say about the city, so I didn’t hear all it’s historical significance. It was built on England’s only natural hot springs, nestled in the middle of some nice green hills. The Romans erected an elaborate bathhouse over the spring thousands of years ago. Since then, it has been an incredible archaeological find in the middle of this cute city. We were able to go into the Roman bath house and walk around, looking at ruins of the house and temple and taking pictures right next to the ancient, steaming bath. It was extremely fun. I even got to drink the Bath water, which was warm and very weird tasting. I don’t recommend it. But you’re only in Bath once I guess. See pictures.

The city itself was actually extremely cute. It is mixture of Victorian and gorgeous Georgian architecture. My favorite part was The Circus. A huge roundabout where three sets of Georgian apartments, all identical in appearance lined the streets. A nice little park was in the middle of it. It was quintessential Europe. So much so that I made Pam take a picture of it (my camera’s batteries died after Stonehenge, of course). Speaking of pictures, Pam has a TON of them from Wednesday, so please check out this link to her Facebook picture site (yes, even non-Facebook users can do this), so see her pictures. Go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2230971&l=66618&id=15919578.

Pam and I ate at a cute Mediterranean café and enjoyed some oh-so-terrible-but-so-delicious-you’d-be-an-idiot-not-to-buy-and-eat-it local fudge. We also stumbled across a Jane Austen museum, which was very, very exciting, especially after just watching Pride & Prejudice. We couldn’t go into the museum, but I enjoyed the gift shop. Jane Austen grew up in Bath, although she hated it because during her time, all the cities were black and dusty from coal. It’s no wonder all of her novels take place in more rural settings.

Work Thursday was good. I found out that Lillian will be out for the rest of the week, but I still kept busy with other projects. I also feel so much more comfortable with all my co-workers and it seems like the trust the interns with accomplishing work and projects. The people at Emap are incredibly fun to work with. I lucked out so much.

The best part of my day was being selected to see the screening of Cloverfield with my flatmate and fellow intern, Alex. Her boss is the film director, and gets access to all new movie screenings. Cloverfield is already out back in the States, but it comes out in a couple weeks over here. I was the lucky one to tag along and enjoy a fabulous appetizer and wine hour before the screening. I’d been pumped about the movie for a while now, and it met my expectations. As a 1 ½ hour film, it felt like 20 minutes. That’s how into it you managed to get. It was an absolutely jarring experience, told from the viewpoint of home camera recorder. But it was an incredible take on it. I definitely recommend the movie for those wanting a thriller, but don’t expect a happy ending. Pete ended up seeing it today too, so we have a lot to discuss. He already picked up on a few things that I missed entirely, so I’m excited for our talk.

Speaking of Pete, allow me to brag for a couple of minutes. He applied for a summer internship at ESPN. In his application, he was honest and told them that he’d be in Spain until the end of June, knowing this would probably affect their decision since they generally want a 12-week intern. He got a good letter back from one of the big honchos saying that if it hadn’t been for Spain, he would have had the internship without a doubt. Everyone who read his clips was greatly impressed and selected him as their top choice. They advised him to apply for an internship for fall or spring, which I know he’ll choose to do. I’m so proud and absolutely ecstatic for him. He’s a great sports journalist and it was nice having people from ESPN, the epitome of sports journalism, to commend him on his work. Sure, the internship may pull us apart for a couple of months again, but it’s entirely worth it. We can do the long-distance thing, especially at this stage in our lives.

I need to run to work, and don’t have enough time to upload pictures. I’ll get them up as soon as possible. In the meantime, take a look at Pam’s fantastic album documenting our Bath and Stonehenge adventures.

Cheers!

Workin' Woman

2008-01-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

I already love my job. My immediate supervisor has been out ill for the past two days, but I've already been given responsibility over some projects and have gotten a lot of exposure to other people and their jobs. I've reformatted some information to be presented as case studies on the company website and today learned a little html magic to put it all online. This sort of thing is generally not my cup of tea, but I like that I'm learning this kind of stuff. It's become pretty essential in our computer-based world. I've also done some work with promotions and got to call some contest winners today, which was way fun. People get so excited.

There is just so much going on inside the company. It will be impossible not to get a good taste of the ad world after this experience. I'm excited for Lillian, my supervisor, to return and take me under her wing for a bit. I get to sit in on client meetings and do a lot of strategic brainstorming for future projects. I'm really excited to get involved with the strategic planning bit. I think that's the stuff that's right up my ally.

With the internship starting, I've already noticed how quickly the days go. The pace of the office makes time fly, which is refreshing since I feel like I've been here two months already when it's only been two weeks. I also get to work with the other two interns who are in the Mizzou program with me. They are incredibly sweet and fun girls, and I know we're all going to do well at Emap. The three of us treated ourselves to a nice lunch at a French braisserie down the road from us yesterday in celebration of our first day. It was absolutely delicious and another fine example of the great variety of restaurants and cafes you find in an international city like London. I definitely can't afford to eat at these places more than once a week, but it's nice to enjoy them when I can.

Speaking of money, I was very proud of myself for buying two weeks worth of groceries for under $22 last night. Don't worry, it wasn't just peanut butter and bread. I definitely have enough for a good breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Sure it's a lot of pasta and soup (and peanut butter sandwiches), but I've been eating apples and oranges as well. I've also rediscovered my love for a turkey, hummus and pita sandwich. I could eat one every day. It's my quesadilla substitute while I'm gone. And everyone knows how much I love my quesadillas. (I seriously considered bringing my quesadilla maker over with me, but decided I liked clothes more.)

Tomorrow, we're off to Stonehenge and Bath early in the morning. Bath is an ancient Roman bathhouse, hence the appropriate name. I've already seen Stonehenge, but I'm excited to see it again. England has such rich history, and I feel like I'd be cheating myself out of the full experience of studying abroad if I went to all of these museums and sights with an ambivalent attitude.

In full British style, Pam and I are going to watch Pride and Prejudice to cap off our night, if we can drag ourselves away from the breaking news about Heath Ledger's death. Very sad.

I still have some photos to upload and will undoubtedly have some from tomorrow's field trip.

Cheers!

Castles and coasts

2008-01-20T15:16:00.000-08:00

The gales in Wales have continued. Pete laughed at me yesterday because I was complaining how sick I was of the gloomy, rainy weather I’ve experienced thus far in my trip. “You chose to study abroad in the UK and it’s winter, Sam. What’d you expect?” Needless, to say, it was a reality check. What would I do without him?

Despite the weather, we made the most of our Saturday in Cardiff. We started out with a nice continental breakfast at our amazing hostel, and then traveled up the road to Cardiff Castle. It was an incredible castle on the inside and out. It’s about 2000 years old, established by the Romans when they held the land before the Normans came in around 800 A.D. We took a tour of the main interior, which was redecorated in the 19th century by a wealthy lord who owned it. Each room was absolutely gorgeous—every square inch was covered in intricate paintings, designs, woodwork and tiles. One of the rooms was estimated to cost £10 to 15 million to redesign today. Jewels, gold, you name it—they were somehow incorporated in the decoration. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside. I’ll attach a few from online so you can see what I’m talking about.

This is a gorgeous picture from the clock tower room. Every image in the room is related to the zodiac, the days of the week, the time of day or the seasons. It was my favorite room.

The fireplace in the grand dining hall.

Lord Bute's bedroom. He commissioned the redecoration of the castle to what it is today.

After the tour we were allowed to explore the grounds and the keep, a stone fortress right in the middle that was surrounded by a moat. A real moat! I got kind of excited by this. You always read stories and watch movies with all these medieval castles surrounded by moats, and I think this is the first legitimate moat I have seen thus far.

From inside the keep.

The moat!

From atop of the keep. Beyond you can see the castle towers and Millenium Stadium where Cardiff's national rugby team plays.

I came to Wales with the hope of taking a coastal hike or walk. The rain set my roommates to different destinations, but I was still set on my coastal walk. Charlie, one of the hostel owners, told me that Penarth, a small town across the bay from Cardiff, had a good pebble beach and pier. So I set off on a nice public bus ride to Penarth. I missed my stop, but I befriended the bus driver and he dropped me off right at the entrance to a gorgeous green park which lead me right to the boardwalk and pier on the bay. Weird as it is, I got a little choked up when I heard the sound of the waves. I’ve always loved going to the ocean, so I knew I had to take this opportunity away from London to enjoy it. I spent a good leisurely hour walking up and down the boardwalk. Yeah it was a little gray and the water was a little brown, but the little ghost town of a pier was gorgeous in its own light. There were a few other people, most of them fishermen, and me along the pier, but I enjoyed the seaside solitude. I’ve constantly been around three to six girls the past week and a half, so it was nice to finally get some alone time to think and enjoy the scenery.

The boardwalk.

Kind of gloomy, but still beautiful in its own way.

The pier.

The gorgeous green park en route to the bay.

Afterwards, I took the short walk up to town and bought some Welsh original beer, Double Dragon Ale. I sampled one last night. Not my favorite beer, but I like sampling the wine and beers of the area. Fact: Though a lot of stories and pictures associate dragons to all Britain, it’s actually indigenous to the Welsh. I didn’t know that until today.

Pam spent her afternoon at the National Museum and Gallery of Wales and Steff went to the Dr. Who exhibition. It’s a sci-fi show shot in Cardiff that she is absolutely obsessed with. It was nice when we all returned to share pictures and stories of our adventures. Pam and I ended our night with a nice Italian dinner at a restaurant on the bay. It was quite a walk to get there, so we burned off the pasta on the walk back.

Today we just relaxed a bit before we caught the bus back to London. It's been homework and preparation for our internships since then. I hate how quickly weekends go. I now am officially heading into my school and workweek, so these weekends are going to have more value placed on them in weeks to come. I am excited to get into the groove of things and get more accustomed to everything by spending my days at emap and nights at class. I have a feeling time is going to start speeding up, which I guess is good and bad. Stay tuned for internship updates!

Gales in Wales

2008-01-18T15:40:00.000-08:00

Wicked was absolutely amazing. I was a little nervous going in because I knew the voices of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth so well from the soundtrack that I might not like the vocal change. But Kerry Ellis and Diane Pilkington were an incredible Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. The show was everything I had imagined it could be and more. I had figured out most of the plot through listening to the soundtrack far too many times, but I enjoyed actually seeing the show filled in the blanks and delivered an unexpected ending. Thanks, friends who have seen this before and not ruined the ending for me! Check out my excited pictures before the show. Note how close we are to the stage, too!

Kerry Ellis was incredible as Elphaba!

Glinda making Elphaba "popular."

Wicked at the Victoria Apollo Theatre.

After two years of waiting, I was very excited to see the show.

It's a little blurry, but you can kind of tell how close we were to the stage. The curtain was a map of Oz.

Pam and I pre-show.

Today we traveled to Cardiff, the capital of Wales. We booked a cheap and comfortable bus ride through Megabus and arrived here around 6 p.m. Sadly, gale-force wind and rain greeted us. After a few minor turnarounds, we managed to find our adorable hostel, Riverside Backpackers Hostel. I’ll take some pictures tomorrow and have them posted. It is newly refurbished and is incredibly stylish and comfortable. It’s owned by a really hospitable brother and sister who have been wonderful to us so far, giving us club, pub and activity suggestions for our stay. We had delicious and pretty cheap meal at a local pub called The Bethany. I had the smothered chicken, basically chicken smothered in cheese and bacon (which is actually ham here). I haven’t really had a full meal like that since I’ve been here. Needless to say, I was extremely happy.

Tomorrow, we plan on visiting Cardiff Castle in the heart of downtown Cardiff. We could see it from the window of our bus, but the darkness didn’t allow for the best view. We originally had hoped to attend a theatrical Welsh dinner there tomorrow night, but they need 40 people to attend in order to host the dinner. I guess there weren’t enough for this weeked. It’s not too surprising that January doesn’t bring in too many tourists.

I hope that we can get a good hike in tomorrow along the coast as well. The bay is only about a mile down the road from us, so I’m sure I can at least get a couple of hours down in that region. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for semi-decent weather tomorrow. It rains in the UK every day. If you ever visit, I don’t care what else you bring—just be sure that you at least have an umbrella. Besides Pete and my family, I would say that sunshine is the thing I miss the most from home. Sad but true.

I’m going to take a moment to sum up some of the things I’ve learned in my first ten days of my London/European adventure:

-Fries are called chips; chips are called crisps; cookies are called biscuits. There are so many other words and expression differences, I could spend an hour or two listing them. The most important one is not using the term “bathroom.” It is instead called “the toilet.” If this is a little too weird for you, “loo,” “W/C,” or “restroom” works just as well.
-On the subject of cultural differences, making a peace sign with two fingers is ok, but if you do that and flip your hand around you pretty much just flipped someone off, if not worse. Please keep your deuces back in the states.
-The Underground (Tube) system is one of man’s greatest engineering accomplishments. I absolutely love it. If only Kansas City had something even remotely similar.
-You actually can enjoy London for cheap. Most museums are free, so you should never run out of things to do. It’s the living expenses that really rack up the costs. But lucky for us, we have an amazing supermarket down the road. You can, in fact, survive on peanut butter sandwiches and apples, especially if it means a trip to Spain or Italy down the road.
-On the subject of money, you don’t have to tip here! Hooray!
-Londoners dress exceedingly well, but I’ve found you can kind of mimic their style by having a few essentials, namely boots, skinny jeans and tights.
-Like I said, umbrellas here are clutch. This is my golden rule for London.

I’ve also learned that doing the whole across-the-ocean-relationship thing is in fact very doable. Pete and I have been sending e-mails back and forth every day, and I honestly feel like we’ve become stronger. His e-mails are great—they sound just like he talks, so the distance isn’t as difficult.

Lucky for me, the distance isn’t permanent. I get to see him in 13 days (but who’s counting?) when he visits for a couple of days en route to his semester in Pamplona, Spain. We’re planning small trips to Paris and Ireland this semester and after I’m done with my program, I’ll spend two weeks traveling through Spain with him. I’m so excited for him to finally get to Spain and get the experience he’s been wanting for so long. He’s going to do great there.

I’m going to finish up a few more things, then hit the pillow. Updates from Wales and pictures to come! Cheers!

Here are a few more pictures of the past few days:

This was Trafalgar Square during the Russian Festival last Sunday.

We went to the Tate Modern on Tuesday. Inside the front entrance was a huge, manmade crack. It got everyone's attention right away.

A close-up of the intriguing crack.

From the seventh floor of the Tate Modern, we got a pretty good view across the Thames into downtown City of London. There's St. Paul's!

Here is emap's world headquarters where I will be working the next three months!

Feelin' Wicked

2008-01-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

I have known the soundtrack to Broadway's "Wicked" by heart for over two years, and tonight I finally get to see it on stage! In the 10th row, front and center, no less! You can't imagine how excited I am about this. Or maybe those of you who know my obsession can. I've heard the London cast is spectacular. I'll fill you in on the show later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Today has been a great day thus far. I went to the Emap offices in Soho, where I was met by an amazing supervisor and staff. The office itself is so cool--very hip and contemporary set-up and a young and tech-savvy staff. Also I'm pretty excited about our lenient dress code. I can wear office slacks or skirts one day and jeans the next, which is great, since I'm over here with a limited wardrobe anyway. My supervisor, Lillian, is wonderful. She's extremely friendly and is set on giving me a lot of personal responsibility over projects this semester. She says I could easily walk away with at least three or four projects I've managed from conception through execution, and have a ton of work and clips to show for it. I'll be working in account services, but I'll also be doing a lot of trend research and strategy planning with Lillian. She's such a vivacious and intelligent woman. I know I am going to learn so much from her. Also, we get a ton of free magazines, music and access to TV show and movie screenings and premiers, shootings and other exclusive events. Maybe I'll meet a few Brit stars while I'm here! Who knows?! I start Monday at 10 a.m. (Hooray! No 7 a.m. commute!) I'lll keep you updated as the job progresses. I'm already helping to analyze and strategize a campaign for a local non-profit for children. Perfect--right up my alley! I am going to have an incredibly fun time here. I am absolutely thrilled.

I've got to run and eat before Wicked. Stay tuned for more, especially the next few days during my journey to Cardiff, Wales!

Westminster Abbey photos and more

2008-01-15T17:07:00.001-08:00

I forgot my camera that day, but luckily my roommates are great photographers and were generous enough to let me post their photos on my blog. Enjoy!

You literally get off the tube stop and bam! Hello Big Ben!

The Millenium Eye across the Thames River from the Westminster area. It's being cleaned now through March, but we're hoping to catch a clear day and go on it to get a great view of London.

Big Ben and myself. Obviously, the I am outshadowed by the tower. Fact: Big Ben is actually the bell inside the tower.

Houses of Parliament. We're taking a class trip there sometime during the semester.

Steff and I in front of Westminster.

Look at how gorgeous the outside of the abbey is! It's absolutely incredible.

Walking in through the Great North Door of Westminster. So beautiful.

The three roomies outside of Westminster. We were so excited to go inside, but not so happy that we couldn't take pictures once we were there. It's just something you have to see for yourself.

This is one of my favorite shots of London so far. I actually stole it from my roomie, Pam, who is the superior photographer.

I love the musicians in the tube. This one was playing an accordian and had a wooden heel and a tamborine attached to her shoe for the rhythm. She was actually really good!

Three great days

2008-01-15T02:04:00.000-08:00

I've had some of the most incredible experiences in the past three days. I’m still in sightseeing mode. I’m not quite hooked on the idea that I’ll be here for four whole months, not just two weeks. But I'm sure once I get my internship started and get in the groove of the workforce, I'll be much more like a Londoner (or at least be able to act like one) than a tourist.

Sunday we had a sort of late start but decided to head back to Trafalgar Square to see more of the National Gallery and experience the Russian Festival taking place in the square. Unfortunately, the festival was extremely difficult to get into with long queues (lines, in American speech), and a crowded concert-like atmosphere. There weren't abundant booths of food or vodka, so it didn't seem like it would be my cup of tea. (Just kidding about the vodka, parents!) So instead we walked the Renaissance period of the gallery, which was spectacular. I stood just feet away from Da Vinci's 'Virgin on the Rocks' and gorgeous sketch of 'The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and John the Baptist.' It was absolutely breathtaking. I'd never been witness to such famous art before, so this experience was extremely moving. I also saw many of Raphael's and Michealangelo's works, amongst many other famous artists. We've only tackled about a fifth of the museum so far. Luckily, it's free, so I have access to the amazing collection any time I want. Just a couple of tube stops away! You've got to love all the free museums in London for that reason.

I thought Sunday night was going to be a night in, but Pam and another friend and I felt up for a pint. We hit up a last call at a pub and then decided to explore a local wine bar, just 30 seconds from our flat. It was tucked away a bit and hard to spot if you hadn't been looking. We entered the basement venue and were greeted by the lovely Russian owner. We spent the next two or so hours there chatting and enjoying her delicious wine selection. I also had my first interaction with "real, live" Brits. Two guys, John and Matt, who are physicists working for CERN (Yes, the place that invented the Internet. You also may recognize the place if you've ever read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons.) sat down and talked with us about everything--from the job of a physicist to the hot ski spots in Europe. It was nice to finally have a good conversation with someone who is not American. It's weird, but it seems like Americans always find eachother or seek eachother out at pubs. The accents give us all away, and I guess it's a good commonplace to start conversation.

Yesterday, our big tourist point was Westminster Abbey. If you ever go to London, this should be your top sight. You’re right in the middle of everything--Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the Thames River. But the abbey itself is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. I knew I had to visit it because my mom would kill me if I spent four months in London and failed to go inside. Last time we were in town, it was Sunday and only open to services. This time we hit it on a Monday, and it was an experience I’ll never forget. It is an absolutely breathtaking structure. The architecture is so old and intricate; you could literally spend hours staring at the walls and ceilings. But what’s even more incredible is the amount of history within the floors and walls. I saw the graves of Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Charles Dickens, Chaucer and Charles Darwin, just to name a few. I learned about how the abbey was made and all the incredible artifacts used in coronations. I saw paintings that were over 700 years old. It was definitely worth the £7 admission. I plan on seeing it again at some point. I’ll get some pictures up here as soon as I can.

Another big thing on Monday was that I found where I’d be working this semester. I’ll be placed at EMAP (check out www.emap.com), a big media group that has over 50 magazines, 42 radio stations and seven digital television stations. It’s a big business-to-business conglomeration, and I found out I'll be helping out with account services, serving the liaison between EMAP’s clients and the business. I’ve been told that I will have a lot of personal responsibility overseeing projects through from beginning to end, so I’m really excited to get some good hands-on experience. I think it sounds like a perfect match. I’ve heard from other students who’ve worked with them in the past that it’s a great place for ad majors. I’m really optimistic about it. Even if it isn’t exactly what I expected, it’s a great resume filler. I mean, I get to work in downtown London! Who does that? (OK, a lot of people, but I feel I’m doin’ all right for my age.) I start my internship next Monday, but I have an official interview this Thursday with my supervisor. I’ve heard she’s great, and I’m looking forward to meeting her and getting a tour of the office. I’ll keep you posted on everything.

Today we got our bus tickets for Wales (only £20 to Cardiff and back! So awesome!) and then explored the Tate Modern. It’s an amazing contemporary art museum and absolutely huge. I saw some great work by Matisse and Picasso and Andy Warhol. I was hoping I’d see some Dalí, but there’s actually a museum in London called Dalí Universe that features a lot of his work. It probably has an admission fee, but that’s ok. Totally worth it. Dalí’s pretty trippy, but still amazing art to see. I also think Pete’s taking me to see more Picasso at a museum in Spain. I’m not going to lie, being in warm Spain right now would beat out the rainy, chilly London weather. Hurry up spring!

Coming up this week: I FINALLY get to see Wicked! Hooray! I will have to restrain myself from singing the entire musical along with the cast. Tomorrow we’re going to the Museum of London for class and Friday is the day we travel to Wales. Very exciting. Stay tuned for pictures and more.

More pictures!

2008-01-14T03:28:00.000-08:00

I have some good updates, but I wanted to get these up here first.

Steff, Pam and I in front of Hogarth Road, our home for the next four months.

The flag is up, so the Queen is home!

Pam and I in the tube station. The tube is AMAZING! I wish we had one in KC.

Little girl feeding pigeons and squirrels in Hyde Park.

Gorgeous in the winter...I can't even imagine what Hyde Park will be like come spring.

Pam and I enjoying lunch in Hyde Park.

A statue atop a gorgeous arch in Green Park.

Victory in the sunlight! (A rarity in London, from what we can tell so far.)

A cool view of Victory in front of Buckingham.

The taxis, the rooftops and chimneys...so London.

Pretty view of Big Ben in the distance.

Here Comes the Sun

2008-01-13T03:42:00.001-08:00

Saturday was our first gorgeous day of sunshine since I've been in London. We took full advantage of it.

I started my day with a brisk walk around the Earl's Court and Old Brompton Rd area, just a couple of blocks around me. It was nice to just have some alone time to think and scout out other pubs and stores I hadn't discovered yet. This was definitely a good way to start my day. What made it better was that upon my return, our repair man came to fix all that was broken in our flat--our refrigerator, microwave, toaster, HEAT, HOT WATER and TV. Despite the fact that I'd already braved an ice cold shower, I was relieved that there would be hot ones to come.

We all got a relaxed, late start to our day. Pam and I wanted new boots. They're quite the fashion statement in London, plus they keep your feet much warmer and dryer than flats during the frequent rainy days. We hit up some great stores on Knightsbridge and walked from there to Hyde Park to enjoy spectacular scenery and a little lunch. It amazes me how green and gorgeous the parks are now. I don't think I'll ever leave them when spring comes around.

We then strolled from Hyde Park toward Trafalgar Square, taking pictures of everything along the way. We stopped at Buckingham again for pictures and we got spectacular views of Westminster in the distace. At Trafalgar, Pam and I hopped in the National Gallery for an hour. This art museum is amazing--there are so many gorgeous oil paintings from the world's most famous artists. You experience history almost more than the art. We only hit up the 1250-1500 AD paintings, but today we're going back for a longer stay. Plus, there's the Russian festival out in front of the Gallery, which is said to be the largest festival of this kind outside of Russia. It should be fun.

We're in the process of planning a trip to Wales this weekend. We found some great bus rates, a wonderful hostel and a castle to tour and dine at for a traditional Olde Welsh supper. All of this is at a great price! This will be a great first vacation while on vacation. It will get me used to the whole hostel experience but not be so far away, pricey or overwhelming. I'll keep you posted on the details as this plan develops.

Sad news: I once again had camera troubles, and all my pictures from yesterday were lost. Yes, during the only sunny day so far. But I'll steal a few from my roommates and get those posted very soon.

I'm thinking about you all back home and hope all is well! Stay tuned for more...

Pictures...finally!

2008-01-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

Finally, here are some pictures! I took many more today, but those take a bit to upload. I will get to them soon! In the meantime, enjoy!

One of the first things you must do in London is pay a visit to the royal family...or at least their house.

We got to Buckingham Palace just in time to watch the changing of the guard. It's quite a good parade.

Apparently Prince William and Prince Harry are in this regiment. I could have sworn I saw both (though it looked like Harry, or his look-alike, was asleep). Then again, I could be seeing what I want to see.

The statue of Victory stands proudly in front of Buckingham. It is gorgeous on sunny days (I'll post a picture of that later).

I've loved St. Paul's Cathedral ever since I the first time I watched Mary Poppins. I want to feed the birds on the front steps at some point.

A lovely view of St. Paul's. It is in an incredible building. I can't wait to actually see the inside.

Queen Victoria commissioned this gorgeous gold-plated statue of her husband, Albert, after he died. It's only about a 15 minute walk from my flat.

Some pretty homes in Kensington. The photo does not do it justice at all. Kensington is the most gorgeous, WEALTHY and safe neighborhood in all of London.

Here is our adorable flat on Hogarth Rd. Pictures from the inside to come.

Here's some food for thought: This is the "American food" section at our local supermarket. We've got fried chicken, nachos and sour cream, potato skins, BBQ ribs... I thought it was pretty funny.

Learning Londontown

2008-01-11T04:15:00.000-08:00

I apologize that I have not uploaded any photos yet. My computer is having issues, so I'm trying to investigate ways to finally get them up there. Don't worry. It will eventually happen.

My second day in London was wonderful. We started out early with a guided bus tour. Our guide, Debra, was extremely witty and full of interesting historical and cultural information about the city. We saw so many sights, from the museums right down the street to St. Paul's Cathedral to the hot shopping districts. We also got to see some of the changing of the guard, though I want to get a closer look next time. It's definitely a huge tourist attraction, but I figure that I'll allow myself a week or two to be a tourist before I truly try to assimilate into London culture.

After the tour we got dropped off at Piccadilly Circus with the instructions to find our own way home. My roommates and I walked around for a bit, exploring the shops and nearby Chinatown before we rode the tube back to Kensington. In Leiscester Square, near Piccadilly, they were just having the Sweeney Todd premier. People were already lined up over seven hours early to camp out and wait for the stars, namely Johnny Depp. Though I was EXTREMELY tempted to join the crowd, the long, cold wait didn't really appeal to me. It was cool though knowing that we have our own little Hollywood just a couple of tube stops away.

Once again, our organized pub crawl was postponed until tonight. A group of us set out on Earl's Court Road, a minute away from us to try our own crawl. It ended up being a fun evening. I got to know a couple of people from my program and sampled the local ales and lagers. I'm glad that I've learned to like beer because it's the cheap way go, especially in a town as expensive as London.

Today has been less sightseeing, more class orientation. It is another gloomy, rainy, chilly day, so I suppose it's a good day to be stuck indoors as opposed to out in the shopping districts or parks. I can't wait for spring though. We're near to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, and they look gorgeous even in the dead of winter. I can't even fathom the beauty the warm weather will bring.

I am heading out to buy a cell phone soon. Hooray! My phone is like my fifth appendage, so I've been hurting without it. I know it's sad and pathetic. My mom is shaking her head and "tsk, tsk"-ing me as she reads this, I'm sure. But it will be nice to have a few minutes to talk to my family and Pete. Nothing really beats hearing an actual human voice when you're this far apart.

Again, I'll work on those pictures for you. And I'll take some new ones, hopefully with some sunshine in a few. If you ever travel to London, bring your umbrella and wellies (boots). You will need them.

Cheers for now!

Excitement and exhaustion

2008-01-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

I have arrived. I've talked about studying abroad in London for months, well years actually, but physically being here still caught me off guard. I think it may be a week or two before I come to terms that I am to be a Londoner for the next few months. Crazy.

Regardless of my disbelief, I'm so excited about what's ahead. My roommates and I are planning a few theater excursions for the upcoming weekends (I finally get to see Wicked! Yesss!) and am looking forward to exploring some of the quirkier shopping areas in Covent Garden and Camden. And of course, I'm pumped to do the tourist stuff like watching the changing of the guard, seeing St. Paul's and hitting up all the amazing museums Londontown has to offer. I'm already staking out fun places and pubs to hit up with Pete when he visits in February.

Thus far as a Londoner, I've learned how to look right-left-right when crossing the road, that one should change out currency at the post office (high service charges otherwise!) and that Long John Silvers outshines the pubs that boast of having the world's best fish n' chips. I've also learned the physical toll of sleep deprivation. After waking up at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning in KC and catching my domestic flight, I spent a good 8 hours in O'Hare Airport, lugging around my mammoth suitcases (I thought I packed lightly, but it didn't feel that way!) and intently monitoring them. I met with some of my study abroad peers, and we flew Air India to London Tuesday night. During the six or seven hour flight, I only managed about a rough hour or two of sleep. Once we landed at Heathrow, we were jetted off to our flats (Mine is ADORABLE! My roommates and flatmates are wonderful!) and then taken on a whirlwind walking tour of our South Kensington borough. Needless to say, this schedule of activities was meant to deter us from afternoon naps which would worsen the jetlag. Despite the long and grueling past 35 hours, I'm doing farely well. I'm a little dizzy and my eyelids each feel about 10 pounds. I know crashing on my bed tonight will feel great.

Hopefully when I wake up tomorrow this will be more real and fabulous than it was today. We're getting a busride tour of the cities major boroughs and attractions and then being set loose in Picadilly Circus after which we are to navigate our way back to the flats--our first true test of using the Tube. I'm not worried about it. Then tomorrow night, we are having a rescheduled pub crawl. Everyone was too exhausted by the end of the day today to attempt the crawl tonight. It's a strange day when college students choose sleep over alcohol.

Stay tuned for more updates and pictures. I'm bringing out the camera tomorrow!