Hello everyone! This is going to be my last post until i get back from my tour de Europe! My roommates and I are all very excited. For those of you that don't know I will be leaving this Friday for Brussels, Belgium and Amsterdam, then Copenhagen, Denmark, and ending in Rome, Italy! We are a little concerned due to the Eurostar (train) braking down multiple times over the past few weeks and everyone getting stuck. But hopefully that wont be happening to us.
This week has been a lot of preparation for spring break, looking up places we want to go and making sure all of our tickets are in order, were not bringing any computer or anything, and I dont really know what to do when Im lost and dont have a computer around, sooo this should be interesting.
Last weekend we went on a Harry Potter walking tour!!! It was a lot of fun. We got to see platform 9 and three quarters and where J.K. Rowling was whens she thought up of everything and you can defiantly see all the relations to London. We even walked some of her route that she had to walk between her home in London and the train station and there is a Minerva Rd! Coincidence? I think nooooottt. Diagon ally, both of the Leaky Cauldrons (since they filmed two). And we even got to Fly (and by fly I mean our tour guide called it flying and we just ran through the streets of London with our arms our in the air).
On Saturday we woke up early and headed to Portabello Market. It was AWESOME! It is by far one of my favorite places I have been so far in London. They had old antiques, food (cooked and fresh), clothes, everything! It had a very cool atmosphere and I just loved it. I got a bag for 5 pounds, a compact mirror for 2 pounds, a key to make a necklace out of for 2 pounds, and a bratwurst for 3 pounds =)
Sunday we woke up to go to CHINESE NEW YEAR!! Well it wasnt the real holiday but it was the celebration weekend. So we went to China town and I bought some snaps (like mini fire crackers kind of?) and a paper dragon that we all decided to wear as a hat instead. There were shows and dragons in the street and fireworks! and street vendors. We got some much needed Chinese food (I got come chicken and rice) It was freezing but well worth it at the end of the night when the fireworks went off and let me tell you!! The Fire works here are very different than the ones at home that require fire trucks and 500 yards of clearance, because we were standing NEXT TO where they were going off, but they were also not going off nearly as tall as those I am used to. It was a blast though and I am very happy we went.
Today I actually went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour! hahaha It was very spooky and educational although it lacked in the area of actually showing us relevant things to the tour and was more just a story being told as we walked. It was still cool to hear about and I love to walk around London!
Tomorrow should be uneventful, and the same for Thursday but if something happens Ill try to remember to tell you all before I leave because I know Ill have WAY too much to talk about when I get back.
Until then....Cheers!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Pictures!
Hey everyone! just wanted to let you know I realized no one has been seeing my pictures who don't have Facebook, so I made a new site for everyone else. I put up a few but nothing has captions yet just because it took me a very long time to do that and I am too tired. Buttt I promise that I will add captions and try to keep up with it as I get more pictures from my new camera :) The link if on the right under pictures!
Cheers!
Cheers!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
mini update =)
Since I have been back from Dublin I have been doing a lot of work and classes, since I had to work last Friday (due to missing work on Monday) my roommates and I were unable to have a "Friday adventure", as we have been trying to do every week, but we did try to make up for it by deciding to try one on Sunday instead.
The city has started to become somewhat of a zoo recently because it is the country's mid term break. (like Feb. vacation for the States) Well that means that the city is FULL of people who dont usually come here during the week and weekend. So the tube and tourist attractions have been a little too crazy for our taste, but we tried to still do an "adventure" anyways, We set out for the Tower of London Sunday morning, but found the lines out of the door and around the corner, so we settled on a smaller tour of Tower Bridge. It was actually really cool, and they had a lot of information about bridges in general that I know some of my engineer friends would love (cough cough). After that my roommate Jen and I wanted to go to the camera stores we saw a few days ago when we went to see Valentines Day (the new movie with a lot of big name actors in it, it was cute). My camera broke in Ireland (may have forgotten to mention that before) so I was looking for a new one and her camera broke the first week here because her water bottle cap cam off in her water proof purse (which basically just made everything she owned, including her i pod, camera, and phone swim in a pool). I found a really great one, Samsung with dual screens. It was a little pricey but I got a free 8gb memory card a case and a US plug adapter thrown into the deal, since my dad has taught me how to bargain so well. Ended up costing me around 380 us dollars (eek). But I wanted to make sure I had one for my spring break around Europe and I figured spending an extra 50-75 from what I would have spent at home is worth to have it now.
Well two days before this (sorry for the mix in chronological order) we had our free tickets on the London Eye (that big ferris wheel) and it was amazing. We had to have our tickets moved to night because we all had to work, but it was amazing anyways. I still would like to go on again during the day though, because I want to see if I can actually pic out where things are.
Well thats its for now...small update. Missing everyone!! CHEERS
The city has started to become somewhat of a zoo recently because it is the country's mid term break. (like Feb. vacation for the States) Well that means that the city is FULL of people who dont usually come here during the week and weekend. So the tube and tourist attractions have been a little too crazy for our taste, but we tried to still do an "adventure" anyways, We set out for the Tower of London Sunday morning, but found the lines out of the door and around the corner, so we settled on a smaller tour of Tower Bridge. It was actually really cool, and they had a lot of information about bridges in general that I know some of my engineer friends would love (cough cough). After that my roommate Jen and I wanted to go to the camera stores we saw a few days ago when we went to see Valentines Day (the new movie with a lot of big name actors in it, it was cute). My camera broke in Ireland (may have forgotten to mention that before) so I was looking for a new one and her camera broke the first week here because her water bottle cap cam off in her water proof purse (which basically just made everything she owned, including her i pod, camera, and phone swim in a pool). I found a really great one, Samsung with dual screens. It was a little pricey but I got a free 8gb memory card a case and a US plug adapter thrown into the deal, since my dad has taught me how to bargain so well. Ended up costing me around 380 us dollars (eek). But I wanted to make sure I had one for my spring break around Europe and I figured spending an extra 50-75 from what I would have spent at home is worth to have it now.
Well two days before this (sorry for the mix in chronological order) we had our free tickets on the London Eye (that big ferris wheel) and it was amazing. We had to have our tickets moved to night because we all had to work, but it was amazing anyways. I still would like to go on again during the day though, because I want to see if I can actually pic out where things are.
Well thats its for now...small update. Missing everyone!! CHEERS
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Shippin off to Dublin...
Apologies for the lack of keeping up with the blog, as you might have seen, I sat down to start writing this post about 4 days ago and then I decided it was more important to catch up on the reading of other friends blogs and I got nothing else done.
ANYWAYS.... I went to Dublin, Ireland last weekend and I loved it! Me and two of my roommates, Jen and Mairead, left on Thursday night after class, and actually stayed until Monday evening due to an error with booking tickets, but we were staying with Mairead's grandparents who live there so it wasnt a big deal. They were amazing, we called them Bobby and Nanny (sorry Nanny) and they were very cute and Irish. The first night we got in on the late side and Bobby picked us up and gave us a little accidental tour, due to some detors caused by construction, of the city. I am happy to say that the steriotype of irish people will live on in my mind because the tour consisted of Bobby pointing out his favorites bars and pubs and of course his favorite place to golf. it was also Bobby's birthday! So what else do you do on an 80 year old Irish man's birthday? You stay up until 2 am talking to college aged girls and have a few drinks. Nanny was drinking SoCo "with just a little water, because it is too sweet", and Bobby was drinking whiskey. I found it hilarious that these two old Irish people could probably drink us college girls under the table, and Bobby kept trying to sneak more wine into my glass when I wasn't looking but it was actually a blast. It was all ideal until it turned into heaven when I hopped into bed to find a hot water bottle (old school style, the rubber kind that you only see in cartoons now) warming up my bed. I fell asleep with it on my feet and it was the perfect end to a great evening.
The next day we woke up nice and early and had a little toast for breakfast and headed into town via the public transportation known as The Luis. It was this adorable little monorail car that basically travels in two directions across the city, but their happened to be a stop right outside the complex where Nanny and Bobby live so it was very convenient. The first day we met up with my friends Ryan and Mike, who we ended up spending the entire weekend with, at Pheonix Park so that we could try to get to the Dublin Zoo. After a little difficulty we found each other and started walking around this beautiful and very large park. We finally get to the zoo, which is in the center of the park, and we find out that it cost 17 euro (about 23 US dollars) to go in. So we decided we are too poor for that kind of entry fee and we decided our money would be much better spent on a tour of the Guinness Factory.
The Guinness Factory was a blast, I got to see how beer is made, although I already knew because Ryan happens to brew his own beer at home, and I learned all about Guinness. I was a little saddened to find out that the beer is actually no longer made in that perticular factory and some is not even made in Ireland, but it was all still very exciting and interesting. We were given a little taste about half way through our tour and then at the end you get to enjoy a complimentary pint in the 360 Bar at the top of the Guinness Factory, which is an amazing view of the city in a smallish glass room. After my meal and a half of Guinness we decided it was a good time to go home because the family was coming over for Bobby's birthday and we had promised an appearance. The boys actually ended up joining and we made a night out of it. Bobby kept shoving drinks down our throats and Nanny kept feeding us, so I was a pretty content girl.
The next day we got up bright and early for a tour of the Dublin Castle, which we also managed to drag the boys on. This tour was much more reasonably priced at around 3.50 euros each. It was BEAUTIFUL and is actually still a working government building. The original castle actually burned down a long time ago and they replaced it with more of a palace instead, as a place for the Queen of England to come and stay and visit on her very rare trips to Ireland. But they also host people like Hillary Clinton and some other famous people and have large stately dinners there. After that we thought it would be a good idea to try to find St Patricks Cathedral. You would think that this would be something easily found in a city with no sky scrapers, but it actually took us a few tries and by the time we got there it was closed. So we went back to Mike's apartment so they could get ready to go out for the night, after of course stopped by to see Bobby and have a few drinks. (Bobby kept telling us to "bring the lads around for a drink". I think he enjoyed having them around a lot. We ended up staying there most of the night actually instead of going out but it was "great crack" (irish for fun?). Im still not sure how to use that exactly but I know that people say they have "great crack" in Ireland and it means they had a good time.
The following day we woke up to go on a free 3 hour walking tour of the city, but not before breakfast, which was AMAZING. We had an authentic Irish breakfast with this stuff called "rashers" which is basically just thick undercooked bacon, but you put in on bread with butter and some black and white pudding (I wont tell you what that is if you dont already know) But I loved it, and If I wouldnt gain 500 pounds or have a heart attack from it, I would eat it everyday! The walking tour was actually very funny and informative , since it is done by local actors, and they work off tips alone. We didnt realy go to see very much exactly, but I learned a great deal about the city itself. On our way home my roommate Jen and I saw a cute jewlrey shop and decided to stop in to have a look for some claddagh rings. I found a beautiful one for 30 euros and bought it, and I am very very happy about my authentic claddagh from Ireland! :)
On Sunday night it was the Superbowl back home, but it actually didnt start here until 11pm. We found an American style bar near Mikes apartment that said it was staying open as long as it took and serving hot dogs. I skipped on the meat, but it was like being home again even without it. Everyone in the bar was wearing American football Jerseys, even for teams that had no business being on peoples backs in another country. The group of Irish guys who sat next to us during the whole game consisted of a chargers fan, bears fan, a saints fan (he was ok), and a browns fan. It was very random, but I thought it was adorable. I even found a patriots fan at that bar but he wasnt very interested in me being from Boston....
We got back home around 6am and woke up the next day at 230pm, just in time for our flight at 6. hahahha.
It was a very fun weekend, and I have been invited back by Bobby and Nanny after school gets out, which I very well might take them up on!
ANYWAYS.... I went to Dublin, Ireland last weekend and I loved it! Me and two of my roommates, Jen and Mairead, left on Thursday night after class, and actually stayed until Monday evening due to an error with booking tickets, but we were staying with Mairead's grandparents who live there so it wasnt a big deal. They were amazing, we called them Bobby and Nanny (sorry Nanny) and they were very cute and Irish. The first night we got in on the late side and Bobby picked us up and gave us a little accidental tour, due to some detors caused by construction, of the city. I am happy to say that the steriotype of irish people will live on in my mind because the tour consisted of Bobby pointing out his favorites bars and pubs and of course his favorite place to golf. it was also Bobby's birthday! So what else do you do on an 80 year old Irish man's birthday? You stay up until 2 am talking to college aged girls and have a few drinks. Nanny was drinking SoCo "with just a little water, because it is too sweet", and Bobby was drinking whiskey. I found it hilarious that these two old Irish people could probably drink us college girls under the table, and Bobby kept trying to sneak more wine into my glass when I wasn't looking but it was actually a blast. It was all ideal until it turned into heaven when I hopped into bed to find a hot water bottle (old school style, the rubber kind that you only see in cartoons now) warming up my bed. I fell asleep with it on my feet and it was the perfect end to a great evening.
The next day we woke up nice and early and had a little toast for breakfast and headed into town via the public transportation known as The Luis. It was this adorable little monorail car that basically travels in two directions across the city, but their happened to be a stop right outside the complex where Nanny and Bobby live so it was very convenient. The first day we met up with my friends Ryan and Mike, who we ended up spending the entire weekend with, at Pheonix Park so that we could try to get to the Dublin Zoo. After a little difficulty we found each other and started walking around this beautiful and very large park. We finally get to the zoo, which is in the center of the park, and we find out that it cost 17 euro (about 23 US dollars) to go in. So we decided we are too poor for that kind of entry fee and we decided our money would be much better spent on a tour of the Guinness Factory.
The Guinness Factory was a blast, I got to see how beer is made, although I already knew because Ryan happens to brew his own beer at home, and I learned all about Guinness. I was a little saddened to find out that the beer is actually no longer made in that perticular factory and some is not even made in Ireland, but it was all still very exciting and interesting. We were given a little taste about half way through our tour and then at the end you get to enjoy a complimentary pint in the 360 Bar at the top of the Guinness Factory, which is an amazing view of the city in a smallish glass room. After my meal and a half of Guinness we decided it was a good time to go home because the family was coming over for Bobby's birthday and we had promised an appearance. The boys actually ended up joining and we made a night out of it. Bobby kept shoving drinks down our throats and Nanny kept feeding us, so I was a pretty content girl.
The next day we got up bright and early for a tour of the Dublin Castle, which we also managed to drag the boys on. This tour was much more reasonably priced at around 3.50 euros each. It was BEAUTIFUL and is actually still a working government building. The original castle actually burned down a long time ago and they replaced it with more of a palace instead, as a place for the Queen of England to come and stay and visit on her very rare trips to Ireland. But they also host people like Hillary Clinton and some other famous people and have large stately dinners there. After that we thought it would be a good idea to try to find St Patricks Cathedral. You would think that this would be something easily found in a city with no sky scrapers, but it actually took us a few tries and by the time we got there it was closed. So we went back to Mike's apartment so they could get ready to go out for the night, after of course stopped by to see Bobby and have a few drinks. (Bobby kept telling us to "bring the lads around for a drink". I think he enjoyed having them around a lot. We ended up staying there most of the night actually instead of going out but it was "great crack" (irish for fun?). Im still not sure how to use that exactly but I know that people say they have "great crack" in Ireland and it means they had a good time.
The following day we woke up to go on a free 3 hour walking tour of the city, but not before breakfast, which was AMAZING. We had an authentic Irish breakfast with this stuff called "rashers" which is basically just thick undercooked bacon, but you put in on bread with butter and some black and white pudding (I wont tell you what that is if you dont already know) But I loved it, and If I wouldnt gain 500 pounds or have a heart attack from it, I would eat it everyday! The walking tour was actually very funny and informative , since it is done by local actors, and they work off tips alone. We didnt realy go to see very much exactly, but I learned a great deal about the city itself. On our way home my roommate Jen and I saw a cute jewlrey shop and decided to stop in to have a look for some claddagh rings. I found a beautiful one for 30 euros and bought it, and I am very very happy about my authentic claddagh from Ireland! :)
On Sunday night it was the Superbowl back home, but it actually didnt start here until 11pm. We found an American style bar near Mikes apartment that said it was staying open as long as it took and serving hot dogs. I skipped on the meat, but it was like being home again even without it. Everyone in the bar was wearing American football Jerseys, even for teams that had no business being on peoples backs in another country. The group of Irish guys who sat next to us during the whole game consisted of a chargers fan, bears fan, a saints fan (he was ok), and a browns fan. It was very random, but I thought it was adorable. I even found a patriots fan at that bar but he wasnt very interested in me being from Boston....
We got back home around 6am and woke up the next day at 230pm, just in time for our flight at 6. hahahha.
It was a very fun weekend, and I have been invited back by Bobby and Nanny after school gets out, which I very well might take them up on!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
English ≠ English
Hello all of my loyal followers (i.e. mom and matt) I personally apologize for my absence in almost 2 weeks! It had been driving me crazy that I haven't written anything in that long. I feel like everything gets backed up and then I forget about it so I have been trying to jot down some notes in between postings so that I wont forget to write about anything. That being said, sit down and get comfortable because I am about to unleash two weeks worth of adventures on you...3...2..1..
Everyone was always talking "culture shock" but I never really thought that there would be any real big differences between the UK and the US, considering that we are both two large English speaking nations. I think that was my first mistake because just because we both speak the same language actually means nothing. For one, English is not the same as American (in terms of language). It has actually taken me over three weeks to realize that everyone who was coming up to me at work and asking me "are you OK?" were not actually concerned with me not being alright, but were in fact just saying "how are you?" as we say in casual passing expecting someone to say "good, you", and I have been answering "yea", almost rudely now that I look back on it, because I wanted everyone to think I was strong and capable, ooops. Another thing i recently found out is that the police in London, DO NOT carry guns. This blew my mind! They have little night sticks and no other way of defending of offending I guess. This is clearly a large difference because most British people that I meet will ask me about guns and ask me if I know anyone with a gun or own one myself. So I learned that Americans are really perceived as "gun crazed". but really, how can your law enforcement not have guns?? Maybe its because all of their commercials are all so graphic that everyone is too scared of everyone else. There is this commercial on tv that plays ALL THE TIMEE and it is a little 6 year old boy who is all mangled and his eyes aren't focused and this man is going about his life and wherever he goes this little dead boy is there and then at the end it says "its 30 for a reason" talking about the speed limit. Its very graphic. Email me if you want to hear about more because they are pretty crazy but I wont bore everyone with all the details (everyone being the 3 people that read this). I think this all gits in with the English needing to be more informed. I thought Americans were nosy! Every announcement on the Tube explaining closers and delays tells you EXACTLY why it is closed or delayed. ("the district line in closed due to the fact that a middle aged man dropped some of his belongings on the track and jumped down to get them"......Boston wouldn't even tell you it was closed)
Other English Language Differences:
-If you say you are taking the "bus" somewhere long distance people WILL look at you funny and ask if you mean a "coach" ( I guess they are different)
-I was in the airport in security recently and asked for "a bin" to put my shoes and other things in to go through the x-ray machine and the man laughed at me...a bin means "trash can"
-Pants = underwear.....if you said you werent wearing pants people would think you meant your going comando
- the letter 'Z' does not exist. Its a "ZED" for one thing if they do use it and they rarely do. Instead they use "s". its not globalization its globalisation, and realize becomes realise...its all very strange
-they spell A LOT of things differently. its defence not defense, and everyone just thinks your dumb when you spell them "wrong"
Thats all for now...more to come soon...promise!
xoxo
Everyone was always talking "culture shock" but I never really thought that there would be any real big differences between the UK and the US, considering that we are both two large English speaking nations. I think that was my first mistake because just because we both speak the same language actually means nothing. For one, English is not the same as American (in terms of language). It has actually taken me over three weeks to realize that everyone who was coming up to me at work and asking me "are you OK?" were not actually concerned with me not being alright, but were in fact just saying "how are you?" as we say in casual passing expecting someone to say "good, you", and I have been answering "yea", almost rudely now that I look back on it, because I wanted everyone to think I was strong and capable, ooops. Another thing i recently found out is that the police in London, DO NOT carry guns. This blew my mind! They have little night sticks and no other way of defending of offending I guess. This is clearly a large difference because most British people that I meet will ask me about guns and ask me if I know anyone with a gun or own one myself. So I learned that Americans are really perceived as "gun crazed". but really, how can your law enforcement not have guns?? Maybe its because all of their commercials are all so graphic that everyone is too scared of everyone else. There is this commercial on tv that plays ALL THE TIMEE and it is a little 6 year old boy who is all mangled and his eyes aren't focused and this man is going about his life and wherever he goes this little dead boy is there and then at the end it says "its 30 for a reason" talking about the speed limit. Its very graphic. Email me if you want to hear about more because they are pretty crazy but I wont bore everyone with all the details (everyone being the 3 people that read this). I think this all gits in with the English needing to be more informed. I thought Americans were nosy! Every announcement on the Tube explaining closers and delays tells you EXACTLY why it is closed or delayed. ("the district line in closed due to the fact that a middle aged man dropped some of his belongings on the track and jumped down to get them"......Boston wouldn't even tell you it was closed)
Other English Language Differences:
-If you say you are taking the "bus" somewhere long distance people WILL look at you funny and ask if you mean a "coach" ( I guess they are different)
-I was in the airport in security recently and asked for "a bin" to put my shoes and other things in to go through the x-ray machine and the man laughed at me...a bin means "trash can"
-Pants = underwear.....if you said you werent wearing pants people would think you meant your going comando
- the letter 'Z' does not exist. Its a "ZED" for one thing if they do use it and they rarely do. Instead they use "s". its not globalization its globalisation, and realize becomes realise...its all very strange
-they spell A LOT of things differently. its defence not defense, and everyone just thinks your dumb when you spell them "wrong"
Thats all for now...more to come soon...promise!
xoxo
Friday, January 29, 2010
Rain, Rain, Go Away....
This week has been pretty typical. I didnt have any huge adventures on Sunday and I have been running around like a crazy person between work and classes and homework and plays for my theater class. I guess Harrods just had a huge sale so work was pretty busy this week. We usually get maybe 2 pages per account of sales for an entire weekend, this week we had about 10 per account. It was crazy and took all day long to put the orders into the system, but because Im such a great little worker and got it all done by 5 pm they let me go a half hour early on Monday which was very nice of them. I was getting really excited because fashion week is coming up in London and I kept hearing people in my office talking about "tickets", and I was assuming that it was for a show, but so far I have yet to be invited to anything.
On Tuesday I went to a play for my Theater in London class. It was an Irish play called Greta Garbo goes to Donegol at the Tricycle Theater. It was good and very interesting, and there was a naked man in the first scene that our professor failed to warn us about before hand, but I think in all it was pretty good, and the tiny theater it was in was very cute.
Wednesday was crazy because I have class in the morning then work and then back to class until 730 pm. My morning class is with one of my roommates, but she is late to absolutely everything. So when i saw her get out of the shower at 9 am (where we would usually be leaving around 930 am) I knew it was a lost cause and I told her I would meet her there because I had to print something out before class. It was a good thing I did leave her behind, she ended up being a half hour late to an hour long class. So I feel bad when I leave her behind, but at the same time she really bothers me when she makes me wait, soooo I think Ill be going class without her from now on. Wednesday was also exciting because I got to an an errand for work to Harrods and Harvey Nichols. It was very exciting, especially since I hadn't into either store yet. Harrods is probably about 10 miles of walking if you went into every room, so of course I got lost, but I was with my friends like Dior and D&G, so I wasn't too sad about it.
On Wednesday night, my roommates and I decided that we wanted to go to Imperial College, where we have access to their student union and can join their clubs and stuff. Well Wednesday nights is pound fifty beer night, so we heard it is usually a good time with a bunch of college aged kids. We have had enough of the bars and pubs in our area where the scene seems to be more 50+. It was a lot of fun and we met a bunch of people who were international and British students, and we decided that it would be nice to go back again sometime. It also didn't hurt that the bus to get home is right outside the gates of the school, so we didn't have to walk our usual 2 miles to get from here to there.
Last night we went to a pub called The Shakespeare. It was close and maybe more 30+ rather than the areas usually 50+ places so we had a few drinks and just sat around a talked. It was very cute, but the drinks were around 3.50, which is 5 or 6 dollars each, but that's probably the best deal in our area.
This morning is what I am really excited about. We found out that the theater near us is played Wicked right now and we also found out that students can go the morning of a show and get front row tickets for 25 pounds (usually 60+) so thats what we did and tonight I will be sitting front row at Wicked. We are all pretty pumped. When we were buying the tickets though, some group of women came up right behind us and they were at the next window trying to do the same thing, and I guess we got the last ones, so we told them we were sorry and they said well did you come all the way from Northern Ireland to see it! and we just said no we came from America, they looked embarrassed and shut up and walked away sad but I didnt feel bad because they were kind of rude and I wanted my tickets.
The sun us out today, which is rare, so were probably going to try to take advantage of it and head out to see a castle or something. We have made it a goal of ours to go on an "adventure" each Friday, since none of us have class or work. Today's adventure : Castles!
We are also all getting very excited for our trip to Ireland that we booked a couple weeks ago. The trip started out as a nightmare because of some stupid errors on my part, which included booking the wrong weekend. But it is all starting to work out and we will be shipping out on the 4th after class. Were staying in Dublin with our roommates grandparents, but I plan on seeing Mike Star and Ryan while I am there and that should be great!
On Tuesday I went to a play for my Theater in London class. It was an Irish play called Greta Garbo goes to Donegol at the Tricycle Theater. It was good and very interesting, and there was a naked man in the first scene that our professor failed to warn us about before hand, but I think in all it was pretty good, and the tiny theater it was in was very cute.
Wednesday was crazy because I have class in the morning then work and then back to class until 730 pm. My morning class is with one of my roommates, but she is late to absolutely everything. So when i saw her get out of the shower at 9 am (where we would usually be leaving around 930 am) I knew it was a lost cause and I told her I would meet her there because I had to print something out before class. It was a good thing I did leave her behind, she ended up being a half hour late to an hour long class. So I feel bad when I leave her behind, but at the same time she really bothers me when she makes me wait, soooo I think Ill be going class without her from now on. Wednesday was also exciting because I got to an an errand for work to Harrods and Harvey Nichols. It was very exciting, especially since I hadn't into either store yet. Harrods is probably about 10 miles of walking if you went into every room, so of course I got lost, but I was with my friends like Dior and D&G, so I wasn't too sad about it.
On Wednesday night, my roommates and I decided that we wanted to go to Imperial College, where we have access to their student union and can join their clubs and stuff. Well Wednesday nights is pound fifty beer night, so we heard it is usually a good time with a bunch of college aged kids. We have had enough of the bars and pubs in our area where the scene seems to be more 50+. It was a lot of fun and we met a bunch of people who were international and British students, and we decided that it would be nice to go back again sometime. It also didn't hurt that the bus to get home is right outside the gates of the school, so we didn't have to walk our usual 2 miles to get from here to there.
Last night we went to a pub called The Shakespeare. It was close and maybe more 30+ rather than the areas usually 50+ places so we had a few drinks and just sat around a talked. It was very cute, but the drinks were around 3.50, which is 5 or 6 dollars each, but that's probably the best deal in our area.
This morning is what I am really excited about. We found out that the theater near us is played Wicked right now and we also found out that students can go the morning of a show and get front row tickets for 25 pounds (usually 60+) so thats what we did and tonight I will be sitting front row at Wicked. We are all pretty pumped. When we were buying the tickets though, some group of women came up right behind us and they were at the next window trying to do the same thing, and I guess we got the last ones, so we told them we were sorry and they said well did you come all the way from Northern Ireland to see it! and we just said no we came from America, they looked embarrassed and shut up and walked away sad but I didnt feel bad because they were kind of rude and I wanted my tickets.
The sun us out today, which is rare, so were probably going to try to take advantage of it and head out to see a castle or something. We have made it a goal of ours to go on an "adventure" each Friday, since none of us have class or work. Today's adventure : Castles!
We are also all getting very excited for our trip to Ireland that we booked a couple weeks ago. The trip started out as a nightmare because of some stupid errors on my part, which included booking the wrong weekend. But it is all starting to work out and we will be shipping out on the 4th after class. Were staying in Dublin with our roommates grandparents, but I plan on seeing Mike Star and Ryan while I am there and that should be great!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Stonehange and Bath
On Friday my program hosted a free trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge is the very old site of some very big stones that were brought from miles away to this very hilly place in Great Britain, and no one really knows why anymore. It was very cool to look at because the rocks are something like 20 feet tall and on our tour I found out that this specific type of rock isnt found anywhere near where they are located, actually over 20 miles away. They said that it would have taken over 60 men over one year to move just one rock. And there are a lot of them. And the area around it is made up of all hills and valleys. So I decided to go with the idea that the aliens did it. It could have been a site for religious practices or some kind of calender, They arnt sure anymore. There are also all of these huge boulders stacked on top of the other huge boulders and they are kind of carved to fit together and it looks all very intricate for people from over 5000 years ago. I guess some people say there is no way that the illiterate people of that time could have put together anything this detailed, so I guess it was the aliens. Well it was raining (of course) so we only stayed for about an hour and left to continue on the Bath.
Bath is this city in Great Britain founded by the Romans because when they were exploring they found these natural hot springs and decided that it was holy. So they built their summer home there (basically) and it was very "posh" for any of the Romans to be seen there. I did find out one interesting fact about it. It was uncovered by the britains at some point becuse after time the land around it kinda of filled it in. Well it brought the city back to life and was made very popular to the English when Queen Ann visited it because she had heard that the water had healing powers and she wanted to cure he gout! So I guess she drank 2 liters of the water everyday and soaked in it for a couple hours and it helped her gout. (Sorry Nanny, I wasn't able to find any bottled Bath water to bring home for you) I did however have a glass of the hot spring water, which was interesting. There is the pump that still operates and they allow you to have a drink of the water which contains 23 different minerals. My friend said he thought it tasted like he was drinking rocks but I didn't think it was that bad. Its kind of weird tho because on the pump you can see all the mineral deposits on the faucet. So you know its all in there. We also found this very old very cute candy shop, so I went in to ask if they had any "plain" chocolate. I guess its what the English eat (its somewhere between dark and milk chocolate) It was awesome so a bought two bars and ate an entire one while I waked around Bath. oops.
I guess the town recently applied to have a new spa built in Bath and they were granted it. So now they have this very nice and new spa that uses the natural springs (which heat the water to about 90 degrees) and you can spend the day at the spa there. So my roommates and I are looking into prices because it seems like something we wouldnt hate to do hahaha. Bath was beautiful but it was raining the entire time, so after our 2 hour walking tour and just being out in the rain with no where to go for a few hours we were happy to get back on the coaches and come back to London.
The next day we woke and decided that it was a good day to go to a market. So we went to Camden market. Its supposed to be this large market area that has food, jewelry, clothes, and hand made crafts. We got a late start but we heard it was open till about 6 so we figured we would have enough time. We found a way to get to the closest tube stop and went on our way. Well were on the tube about two stops before ours and the train stops in the tunnel. We sat there for about 10 minutes before the guy comes on the announce system and says that the train will be terminating at the next stop and everyone has to get off. I thought it was weird but I always hear so much about how the tube always shuts down and there are always down lines on any given day. So we get off and decide we can just walk the rest of the way. Were going up the lifts to get out of the station and my roommates tell me that they were having little freak out sessions on the train when it stopped because yesterday the UK raised its terrorism alert from substantial to sever. I was thankful I didnt think of this when we were down in the tube because I would have freaked out too. So we exit the tube station and there are cops everywhere with bomb sniffing dogs that are smelling everyone who exits the station. So then I started to get a little worried. I went up to a cop and asked him what direction the market was in, thinking that if something was wrong with it he wouldn't point me in the direction of the danger. He politely told me it was about 400 yards on the main road. So we decided they must have it under control and we went on to the market. The market was very cool and I decided that we should go back a few more times before we leave. I found this hat that I really liked but being half of my father, wouldn't pay for it unless I brought down the price to just above half. He wasnt having any of it and I left hat-less. (Im going to go back and get it next time) I bought a scarf for 3 pounds (about 5 dollars), a ring for 2 pounds and a pair of earrings for 1.50 pounds. So I thought the day was a success.
Were getting pretty cold and hungry and we werent even half through the market but we decided that we will save it for another time. Plus at this time its starting to get dark and all the weird people were crawling out of the cracks. (I saw a mad with so many piercings on his face I wasnt sure of his skin color!) We started walking back to the tube station we came from and we start seeing all of these buses that said "replacement rail services". Soi asked on of the still many police officers what was going on and where to go and he said that the chunk of rail near us has been suspended and to get on a bus going to Euston so that we can get home. So we found the right bus stop and get on the bus and go to Euston and find an alternative route home. It wasnt too bad for us but while in the station we find out the half of the rails have been suspended in the city and we were a little on edge until we exited the station thats about a 10 minute walk from our flat. We turned on the news to look for something that had happened but I guess nothing did. The tube is still about half down right now but as far as I know nothing has happened. And we have been told to keep going about as usual, but to just be "more aware". I guess the "severe" here is the same as the US"orange", which we have been on and off of for years, so I'm not too worried. (Family members don't freak out). Cheers!
Bath is this city in Great Britain founded by the Romans because when they were exploring they found these natural hot springs and decided that it was holy. So they built their summer home there (basically) and it was very "posh" for any of the Romans to be seen there. I did find out one interesting fact about it. It was uncovered by the britains at some point becuse after time the land around it kinda of filled it in. Well it brought the city back to life and was made very popular to the English when Queen Ann visited it because she had heard that the water had healing powers and she wanted to cure he gout! So I guess she drank 2 liters of the water everyday and soaked in it for a couple hours and it helped her gout. (Sorry Nanny, I wasn't able to find any bottled Bath water to bring home for you) I did however have a glass of the hot spring water, which was interesting. There is the pump that still operates and they allow you to have a drink of the water which contains 23 different minerals. My friend said he thought it tasted like he was drinking rocks but I didn't think it was that bad. Its kind of weird tho because on the pump you can see all the mineral deposits on the faucet. So you know its all in there. We also found this very old very cute candy shop, so I went in to ask if they had any "plain" chocolate. I guess its what the English eat (its somewhere between dark and milk chocolate) It was awesome so a bought two bars and ate an entire one while I waked around Bath. oops.
I guess the town recently applied to have a new spa built in Bath and they were granted it. So now they have this very nice and new spa that uses the natural springs (which heat the water to about 90 degrees) and you can spend the day at the spa there. So my roommates and I are looking into prices because it seems like something we wouldnt hate to do hahaha. Bath was beautiful but it was raining the entire time, so after our 2 hour walking tour and just being out in the rain with no where to go for a few hours we were happy to get back on the coaches and come back to London.
The next day we woke and decided that it was a good day to go to a market. So we went to Camden market. Its supposed to be this large market area that has food, jewelry, clothes, and hand made crafts. We got a late start but we heard it was open till about 6 so we figured we would have enough time. We found a way to get to the closest tube stop and went on our way. Well were on the tube about two stops before ours and the train stops in the tunnel. We sat there for about 10 minutes before the guy comes on the announce system and says that the train will be terminating at the next stop and everyone has to get off. I thought it was weird but I always hear so much about how the tube always shuts down and there are always down lines on any given day. So we get off and decide we can just walk the rest of the way. Were going up the lifts to get out of the station and my roommates tell me that they were having little freak out sessions on the train when it stopped because yesterday the UK raised its terrorism alert from substantial to sever. I was thankful I didnt think of this when we were down in the tube because I would have freaked out too. So we exit the tube station and there are cops everywhere with bomb sniffing dogs that are smelling everyone who exits the station. So then I started to get a little worried. I went up to a cop and asked him what direction the market was in, thinking that if something was wrong with it he wouldn't point me in the direction of the danger. He politely told me it was about 400 yards on the main road. So we decided they must have it under control and we went on to the market. The market was very cool and I decided that we should go back a few more times before we leave. I found this hat that I really liked but being half of my father, wouldn't pay for it unless I brought down the price to just above half. He wasnt having any of it and I left hat-less. (Im going to go back and get it next time) I bought a scarf for 3 pounds (about 5 dollars), a ring for 2 pounds and a pair of earrings for 1.50 pounds. So I thought the day was a success.
Were getting pretty cold and hungry and we werent even half through the market but we decided that we will save it for another time. Plus at this time its starting to get dark and all the weird people were crawling out of the cracks. (I saw a mad with so many piercings on his face I wasnt sure of his skin color!) We started walking back to the tube station we came from and we start seeing all of these buses that said "replacement rail services". Soi asked on of the still many police officers what was going on and where to go and he said that the chunk of rail near us has been suspended and to get on a bus going to Euston so that we can get home. So we found the right bus stop and get on the bus and go to Euston and find an alternative route home. It wasnt too bad for us but while in the station we find out the half of the rails have been suspended in the city and we were a little on edge until we exited the station thats about a 10 minute walk from our flat. We turned on the news to look for something that had happened but I guess nothing did. The tube is still about half down right now but as far as I know nothing has happened. And we have been told to keep going about as usual, but to just be "more aware". I guess the "severe" here is the same as the US"orange", which we have been on and off of for years, so I'm not too worried. (Family members don't freak out). Cheers!
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