Top things of London

I am procrastinating my coursework so I thought I would write this list (even though I think I've done something similar before)

Top 10 favorite places/things in London

1. St. Paul's Cathedral - just something about it, the color, the design, the way it looks over the Thames River... I can't get enough of it!
2. Tower Bridge - most beautiful bridge I've ever seen
3. Big Ben- it just never gets old even if it is the most recognizable building in London
4. Tate Modern Museum - made me realize how much I love modern art
5. Covent Garden - lots to do, street performers, so pretty at night... right near all the major locations
6. Westminster Abbey's Evensong - such a peaceful 45 minutes, and the chorus' voices are amazing
7. Spitalfields Market - I love the variety of vendors, from jewelry to soaps to baked goods.
8. Boardwalk/London Eye - so many street performers, just a really fun area
9. V&A Museum - such a huge & beautiful museum, and so much variety in the exhibits
10. St. James Park- so pretty with the river and all the different types of birds

Little things I love about London

International hub- one second I'm hearing French, then Spanish, then Italian.. then a Scottish accent. Most recently I've met people from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada (french, Montreal), Israel, Brazil, Finland, Belgium, France, Poland. an
Old and the new - right across the river from the Tower of London, is the Shard which is soon to be one of the tallest building in Europe
Cute British children with adorable British accents. need I say more?
Transportation... even though it's quite expensive, it's pretty easy to use, it's clean and I feel safe/comfortable using it by myself
Cadbury chocolate
Pub culture.. I think it's so cool that friends (men in particular) can just gather at a pub after work for a beer and to watch a football game
Museums- so many amazing museums here. Just in this past week I have stared at a Picasso, Pollock, DaVinci and Monet piece.
Centrality- I love being in what seems like the center of the world. it's so easy to get anywhere I want to go, whether it be across the city, up to Manchester or to another country.
Meal Deals- America needs to follow the lead of London and other European cities/countries. 2 pound sandwich/drink/chips lunch deal, 5 pound burger/fries/cider deal, etc. I haven't spent more than 6 or 7 pounds on a meal.. thank you Tesco and Wetherspoons

Sorry it's been a few days since I've posted, but Mel arrived Thursday afternoon so since then it's been busy busy busy! and EXCITING!

On Friday we saw Prince William, Kate and Prince Harry!!!!! I can't even believe it. We were walking from Trafalgar Square to Picadilly Circus and saw a bunch of paparazzi outside the New Zealand House so we decided to check it out. We had no idea what we were waiting for, but me and a few guys in front of me were joking that it would be the Queen or Prince William and Kate... low and behold, it was Prince William and Kate.. and Prince Harry! They pulled up in a black car, jumped out and quickly were escorted into the building, but not without escaping my camera!

you can see them in the middle!

Mel and I spent the next hour or so freaking out and jumping up and down. Even though there are mized feelings about the royalty, I still think it's pretty cool for me (as an American without royalty) to see a Prince and his wife to be. Pretty awesome... and how great was it that Mel got so lucky to see them during her only three days in London! 

Aside from that excitement, on Friday we went to Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Big Ben/Westminster Abbey area, Trafalgar Square and the National Portrait Gallery (definitely need to go back there and see the Monets and Van Goghs that I missed... but I was so in awe of the Leonardo DaVinci drawings that were hanging in front of me. I can't even wrap my head around these London museums and the artists featured in them.) I bought some prints at the museum gift shop that I plan to hang in my apartment next year. I have a feeling my whole apartment will make it quite evident that I studied abroad.

We then went on the London Eye for a birds eye view of London. It was a little cloudy but clear for the most part! I'm surprised I even went on the London Eye... I hate heights so much! It wasn't that bad though. Here are a few of my favorite photos:

^looks like a postcard doesn't it!

Today (Saturday) we went to the Tower Bridge/Tower of London... the bridge never gets old. Still one of my favorite things in this city! Then we went to Oxford St. quickly, grabbed some lunch at Subway (yummm, I missed it!) and headed back to Westminster for the Evensong. I saw it a few years ago when I was here but I can still remember it being pretty amazing! Those choir members have incredible voices.

Mel and I were joking around and saying how weird it's going to be for us to be back in Milwaukee in the fall for school. We'll be sitting there saying "Remember when we were on the London Eye, or remember when we saw Evensong at Westminster Abbey, or when we ran into Prince William and Prince Harry?" This is all so surreal. I'm living such a crazy and amazing life!

Here are a few more pictures:

That's it for now! We have a few more things to see tomorrow but otherwise that was my three day tour of London with Mel and man am I exhausted. London is tiring... but it's worth it. None of it gets old.

toodles!

BEST NIGHT EVER

Tonight me and the girls went to Camden to try and get some tickets for one of our favorite bands, Mumford and Sons, which was performing a small gig at a venue (come to find out it's for their record label and half of the people there were on the guest list). After waiting for 3.5 hours in the cold without much hope for extra tickets being sold.... they finally let us in! The show was AMAZING. Super intimate, Mumford and Sons are incredible live... they truly put a lot of heart and soul into their music. To top it off they are from London, so how perfect was it to watch them perform in their home city. We were treated to some of their new songs, too!

Before the show I took a break from standing in line to go find a bathroom at the pub attached to the venue and as I'm walking up to the doors, who do I see? Marcus Mumford, lead singer of the band, just hanging out with friends. Whoa! I had to stop in my tracks and think about what I was seeing, then I ran back to the girls and we all went back over to his area and stood there staring at him. When we got back into line we realized we should've taken a picture with him or at least said hi! Darn.

We also met Ginny Weasley, a character from the Harry Potter movies!!!!! Even though I'm not a Harry Potter follower, it was still super cool to see her and get our picture taken with her. (we learned our lesson from the Marcus incident... get a photo with a famous person if you see her/him!)

And then we all got a laugh in the underground station on the way home when we saw a dog on an escalator with its owner! So funny!

And then! BEST NEWS. waiting in my e-mail when I got back to my room was an acceptance to the American Society of Magazine Editor's summer internship program!!! I read one line of the e-mail, started crying of happiness, called my mom and then a few friends... but really I could hardly function! Then I read the rest of the e-mail and found out some more details: I'll either be placed at a magazine in NYC, D.C. or Boston... kind of hoping it's NYC because that's where all the top magazines are. I get paid each week (woohoo!) but also have to pay for housing (boooo!). I'll find out more information next month, but I have two days to decide. Not a hard decision at all but me and my parents will have to figure out the financial stuff.. especially after come back from an expensive semester abroad! All these great things are happening but it still doesn't leave me any richer haha... oh boy. WHAT A NIGHT!

Tonight is unreal!!!

15 hours in Glasgow

Well that was yet another exciting weekend in Europe. On Friday night, after running from Victoria underground station to the bus station (not as close as I would've hoped), Alex and I hopped on our plush, luxurious Megabus that would get us in Glasgow in 8 hours. By luxurious I mean we had cramped, aisle seats next to complete strangers. At least my stranger didn't sleep on my shoulder like Alex's did! Glasgow welcomed us at 8 a.m. with chilly temperatures, rain and gloom. After getting our plans together for the day, we headed to George Square to pick up a sightseeing bus that would let us get on and off at various places around the city. Even though we found ourselves waiting for the bus a lot throughout the day, and wasting some time, we were able to see a lot of the city and stay semi-warm while doing it! I would say it was worth my 9 pounds. Here are some pictures!

near Merchant City -->

University of Glasgow... must be nice to have such a beautiful school!

me and the Kelvingrove Art Museum

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to get to the Kelvingrove Art Museum thanks to late buses and me retracing my steps to find a lost earring (never did find it... if it's not one thing it's another, I swear). So Alex and I headed back into town to find some dinner and ended up at Waxy O'Connors.. an Irish pub. For some reason, we ran into a lot of Irish pubs/restaurants in Glasgow. When we asked our Scottish waitress about it she said, "I guess people just like the Irish better." Hmmm. 

Anyway, we split the fish/chips and the ham/colcannon meals. Colcannon is a traditional Irish food, potatoes with cabbage. Yum... Waxy O'Connors knew the way to my heart. And the fish and chips was "lush" as the British would say. aka delicious.

We then headed to a sports bar of the sorts... fun atmosphere but not for us. So we then found ourselves at Molly Malones, another Irish pub that has live music on Saturday nights. Alex and I are suckers for live music and pubs. When we got to the pub, we quickly saw that the guy to girl ratio was about 200 guys to 4 or 5 girls... 2 of them being me and Alex. We plopped ourselves right up front next to where the band was setting up and for about an hour got to listen to some amazing music.... especially the guy with the harmonica. So much talent! At 10 we made our way back to the bus, thinking we'd get a good seat being so early and all... but no.. once again had to sit in aisle seats next to strangers until a lovely lady offered two seats next to each other for me and Alex. pheww... I think we actually got some sleep on that bus ride! barely... once I got back to my dorm room I passed out for another 5 hours or so haha

So that was that, 15 hours in Glasgow, 16 hours on a bus. What an adventure. I think we had a lot of fun.. I'm learning to look past the smaller negatives (cold weather, being tired, etc.) to just enjoy where I am. I had one day in Glasgow and yes it was freezing, yes I was exhausted.. but I still saw a lot and had a great time with Alex! 

Here I am: 2:30 p.m., already had my one class of the day. Time to work on some applications and papers. Ugh! Now that I actually I have work to do, I'm not quite sure I remember how to! But once I get these out of the way, Mel is visiting this weekend so that'll be fun to show her around London. Weird that I'll be the tour guide this time! That I actually know my way around London! Then next weekend is the much anticipated trip to Paris. :) And then Manchester, then Spain, then Berlin/Switzerland, Italy, Nice and back to London for the Royal Wedding and my last few weeks in England. Crazy. But I couldn't be happier!

xxxx

Today we took a tour of Westminister Abbey for my Historic London class. I had been inside three years ago for an Evensong, but didn't get a chance to see the rest of the abbey and the hundreds of tombs of memorials I didn't even know existed! So. so many. Aside from the many kings and queens, Geoffrey Chaucer , Isaac Newton and Charles Dickens were buried there. Not that the royalty isn't important, but I know more about Charles Dickens and Isaac Newton than I do about Henry III.

Unfortunately I've been in a bit of a funk recently... things aren't going my way this week but hopefully they'll turn around. Once I figure out the rest of my travel plans and have some things set in stone, I'll be a little less stressed.

Last night I went to see the "Heretic," a black comedy about global warming/environmental issues, at the Royal Court Theatre in Chelsea. This Arts in London class is certainly doing a great job at making me a more cultured "Londoner"... or whatever of a Londoner I am! I had some questions when the play ended and I thought the whole theme never really ended up with a conclusion, but overall it was a hilarious play. We were laughing the whole time. Bravo! And something cool: a really great bluegrass musician along with an actress from "Bend it like Beckham" were two of the actors in the play.

Well, that's about it for now! I'll be working on my 5 PAPERS for the next few days, then Glasgow here I come!!

prost!

Hello!

As of today it's been a month and a half since arrival in London Town. Crazy! Time has flown and my money has gone just as quickly but now that I think about it, I've done so much. From sightseeing all over the city, to museums, markets and shopping, the Beatles Tour, a trip to Oxford, nights out with friends, a wonderful trip to Galway and Dublin.. and most recently, three days in Munich, Germany!

First thing's first: slumber party in the airport.

Never again. Fun for the first 10 minutes but that's about it. All of the chairs were taken up so we popped a squat on the nice, cold, hard ground. A thin raincoat made due as a blanket and a bundled up towel as a pillow. 1 hour of sleep later and it was time to board the plane. but not without rewarding ourselves with our favorite Spoons' English Breakfast. When we arrived at the airport we were adopted by a German woman who told us that by purchasing group train tickets with her, we can save 5 euros.. so on that note, she whisked us onto the train and into the city, directing us toward our hostel. Thankfully we had her, because at point we had to switch trains due to a closure on one of the lines.

We stayed at Wombats hostel which was a 2 minute walk from the train station and less than a 10 minute walk from the main part of Munich (Marienplatz). Our hostel was awesome! The beds were super comfy, the rooms were clean and spacious, the room had it's own bathroom we shared with the 3 other girls already in the room (all of whom were really nice and respectful). After getting settled we walked toward the city center, taking pictures right and left. Here are a few!

New City Hall, the Glockenspiel (second most overrated attraction in Europe)

me, Jackie and Jen!

start of the Viktualienmarkt

Jen and I with our giant pretzel!

on our way back to the hostel later that evening

Lots of photos! Munich was such a cool looking city... so different from anything I've ever seen. Even though a lot has been rebuilt since World War II, I could still get a sense of the city's original appearance and feeling. You definitely get a different feeling in each of the cities you visit... Ireland was magical, Munich felt first of all, historically significant, second of all, just unique and fun because of the Bavarian culture.

We grabbed dinner at a beer hall across from the world famous Hofbrauhaus. I got the spaetzle for dinner.. a German cheese pasta dish with onions on top. YUM. Marie recommended I try the spaetzle in Germany so I had to, and I was not disappointed. We also got a taste of our first Augustiner beer. Also delicious.

Then it was back to the hostel and into bed after an exhausting day. On Friday we headed to Dachau training camp with the Sandeman's New Europe tour company. What a sobering, depressing experience. Some of Dachau was rebuilt, but it nevertheless retained its distinctive aura.

translates to "work will make you free"

gas chamber/crematorium

memorial at the camp

I'm happy we took the tour because our guide knew a lot of random, unique information we otherwise wouldn't have learned, but at the same time, because we were on a strict schedule, we didn't have the opportunity to look at the displays in the museums. I've always been interested in the Holocaust and wish I had the chance to linger in the museum longer.

On Saturday we joined another Sandeman's tour: the free walking tour of Munich. 

The tour brought us to a few sights we missed on Thursday, but when we arrived at the Hofbrauhaus stop on the tour, me, Jackie and Jen decided to get out of the rain and cold weather, leave the tour and grab lunch at the Hofbrauhaus. We all got bratwursts along with the liter... not sure how people have more than one of these babies... sure does fill you up!

That concludes our Munich trip! I think we were there for the perfect amount of time... I never once felt bored, but I also didn't feel rushed or stressed. We did all we wanted to do (minus seeing the Neuschwanstein Castle aka Sleeping Beauty castle) and had a lot of fun. I actually kinda miss it! My visit to Munich definitely convinced me to pursue plans to go to Berlin. I'm not done with Germany yet!

There was one down of the trip: the language. I wish I knew more German because only knowing how to say "thank you" (danke) didn't get me very far. It was especially awkward when on multiple occasions people started speaking German to us and we couldn't answer! I learned my lesson and will try to learn more than one word of the language whenever I visit a non-English speaking country.

It's hard to compare my experiences in Germany and Ireland.. they were both so different. I love love love both places and wish I could return to either of them. I think the rushed feeling I had in Ireland made the Germany trip a little better, but otherwise, I had memorable experiences in both places. I still can't believe I'm living this life.. I was in Ireland, London and Munich.. all in a 7 day span!

But just like my return from Ireland, my return from Germany was with much relief to be back in the great city of London. I am still so happy to be here!

On a few other notes: Mel (a Marquette friend who is studying in Sevilla Spain) is coming to visit me in 2 weeks! It'll be a busy few days because I'm going to want to show her absolutely everything... an expensive few days at that... but it'll give me another big dose of the city I love so much!

Also, me and Alex spontaneously booked a bus ticket to Glasgow this weekend. Call us crazy, but we're taking a midnight bus Friday night, getting in Glasgow Saturday morning, then taking the bus back to London Saturday night at midnight. Yes. 24 hours in Glasgow, two nights on a bus. We're not crazy for trying to save some money and still see Scotland, but two nights on a bus is going to be an adventure. Hey, at least it's not an airport floor.

I'm trying to figure out the rest of my travel plans because the funds are dwindling but my list of places to go is still pretty long. ahhh! I wish I could go everywhere but unfortunately... no can do. Time to cross some things off the list.

That's that. I'll update later this week!

xxxx

Thought I'd post a quick blog entry before I head off to Munich in the a.m.! Our flights is pretty early, too early to get to the airport with public transportation, so me, Jen and Jackie are heading to the airport tonight and having a good ol' fashioned sleepover. Should be interesting. But.. we're going it again for Paris in a few weeks so I guess we'll just have to get used to it!


I'm so so excited for Munich, even though I'm nervous about the language barrier. I have a list of a few words I'll need to know but other than that...


We'll be doing a walking tour when we get there to get acquainted with the city, then Friday we're doing a Dachau concentration camp tour. It would've been easy for us to just take the train, walk around and go back to Munich but I think the tour will be worth it.. I want to know what I'm looking at!


We return to London on Saturday night and I'm hoping to be full of sausage, spaetzle and good German beer by then!


On other, equally if not more exciting note, me and the girls booked our week in Italy for April!! On April 7 we will be flying to Venice, and from there continue onto Florence and then onto Rome. The weather should be beautiful by that point (I heard it already is so I can't imagine what it'll be like then!). We don't have a ticket back to London from Rome.. so we're leaving our options open.. but a lot of us want a beach.. anywhere. Almalfi Coast? Nice? Greece? Let's see what my financial situation is at that point haha.


I'm also trying to set down some Spain plans because I realized how important it is for me to make it there while I'm abroad. More important than any Eastern European country or city (although, I'd love to see Prague, Berlin, Switzerland, Amsterdam). It might end up being the middle of March that I do that... potentially flying to Barcelona by myself, seeing the city then meeting a friend in Madrid. Ahhh! So much to think about.. but I really want to go and use my Spanish!


Alrighty, off to catch some dinner with the girls at our favorite Wetherspoons pub yummm :)


auf wiedersehen!!

A trip to the Emerald Isle

Hello! I'm back from a wonderful three days in Ireland :) There were ups and downs to this trip, but overall I had a lovely time and a great first trip outside of England.

Let's start with the rain. I don't think it stopped raining for the three days we were there. It was pretty frustrating to deal with and I wish I was able to see Ireland when it was sunny rather than overcast and rainy. But, Ireland is a rainy country so for some reason, the rainy didn't detract from the beautiful landscape. Everything was so green.. and the sheep and cows grazing the landscape added to the beauty of the place.

When we arrived in Dublin on Thursday morning we took a bus to Galway and met up with Katherine's friend (who was so kindly housing us for two nights). Then we grabbed some dinner at a pub in the center of Galway. I ordered myself some Shepherd's Pie. Yum!! We relaxed for the next few hours and then checked out some local pubs later in the evening. And this is where my day was unfortunately ruined by my camera dropping and breaking. My camera is one of my most important possessions and after one small fall... it was broken. The night before I was supposed to be taking a countryside bus tour and trip to Cliffs of Moher. Ahhhh! That was definitely the worst down of the trip.

I bought a new camera today and was able to upload the 5 pictures I took on the broken camera. Here's a picture of a group of us Thursday night:

The next day we hopped on a bus and headed to the coast where we stopped at the Aillwee Caves and took a 25 minute walk through with a tour guide. It was so awesome being in a cave and seeing the calcium formations and running waterfalls.. at one point I even stuck my tongue under some dripping water (with the advice of our tour guide.... the water is extra purified because it's 300 meters or so below ground.) Here is a picture of us in the caves:

Then we made our way through some smaller towns like Clarinbridge and Kinvara, past the Leamanagh Castle, into the village of Doolin for lunch at a pub (got some delicious seafood chowder... perhaps better than the New England Clam Chowder back home!!), stopped at Poulnabrone Dolmen (tomb that dates back to 2500 BC) and the highlight of the trip: Cliffs of Moher. And although it was overcast and gloomy, the Cliffs were remarkable and breathtaking to say the least. There are cliffs and then there are the Cliffs of Moher... something about the greenery and the rock faces jutting out into the sea just made it so pretty.

But we faced one huge challenge at the Cliffs: gail force winds that I believe were at least 60 mph. Needless to say, we were being blown around and had trouble walking at some points. I even fell and skinned my knee! The cliffs shouldn't have been open for visitors that day but the group of us decided to battle the winds anyway and trek up the sidewalk (with guard rails!). Scary at times, but really fun at others... we all had a blast! Here are some pictures:

Katherine, Jen and I bracing ourselves against the wind!

me and Alex windblown:

When we returned to Galway in the evening, we headed back to Eilish's apartment for some yummy pasta dinner and chocolate banana bread for dessert! After relaxing and combing my hair (thank you wind at the cliffs... took me 25 minutes to comb my hair!!), we headed into town again to check out some live music. Galway is known for its live music at pubs and it sure didn't disappoint. We all had a great time and even met some locals.. who could tell right off the bat that I was from Massachusetts! I didn't think I had an accent but I guess they were able to tell!

On Saturday we did some sightseeing in Galway, saw the bay and the Spanish Arch which was really cool. Then we stopped at a local market where I bought a huge loaf of Irish Soda Bread.. and have been eating it like crazy. Delicious! Next we grabbed breakfast at a local bakery then boarded a bus back to Dublin where we spent the few hours before our plane left for London.

Dublin was.... Americanized. Definitely very touristy even though it kept its Irish charm with the old buildings and churches. It was a great city but we were so rushed trying to see everything in such a short time (and we had to carry around our heavy bags... and it was STILL raining). We stopped to check out Trinity College, saw Christ Church, the Bank of Ireland, Dublin Castle and took our Guinness Factory tour (got a free pint at the top floor bar!). I think I tried convincing myself I actually like Guinness, but I don't think I do!

Here's a picture of Dublin from Thursday (going from the airport to Galway) when the weather was actually nice:

All in all, Ireland was fantastic. I wish my camera hadn't broken and I wish it wasn't raining and that we got to see more of Galway and Dublin... but for a three day trip, I'd say we had a great time. We're even talking about going back. 3 days just wasn't enough. 

I loved Ireland and especially loved the feel of Galway, but I did miss London while I was away and am so happy I chose to study here. Maybe its because a month has passed and I can basically call London home, but there's just something unbeatable about this city. The diversity of people, the mix of old and new, the fact that I discover something new every day... makes me so happy! :)

Time to relax for a few days then it's off to Munich on Thursday morning! 

xxxx

I'm not sure why I'm awake right now! We're leaving in less than 6 hours to walk to the train station, take an hour train ride to Gatwick airport, and get on a plane to Dublin!!! So excited. We'll go to Galway right from Dublin and spend the evening and all of Friday in Galway. Then we'll head back into Dublin Saturday until we have to catch our plane tonight. I'm sure I'll wish I was there for longer, but it will be a good little trip, and a good start to the rest of our traveling.

Today was yet another great day in London.. and a busy day at that. To start it off, me, Alex and Jen walked to the Tower of London area to meet up with some friends at a pub for a good ol' English breakfast. It was my first English breakfast and man oh man was it delicious. I wish I could have one every day! Toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, hash brown, tomato, mushroom (we opted for the mushroom instead of black pudding aka some animal's blood. yuck!) From there we met up with our class at the Tower of London where our weekly class tour took place. We were all so thankful we didn't have to pay the 16 pound admission and instead had our tickets purchased by City U. Not bad at all :)

Once again, I am so happy to have a professor who knows EVERYTHING about London, and who can tell us about it in such a narrative, conversational way.

The Tower was awesome! I didn't realize there were so many parts to it, from the first White Tower to the Bloody Tower, and then the little community of housing that over 200 people live in! Who knew that people actually lived at the Tower of London!? They have their own post office and pub, too. Crazy! We were also told about the clipped winged ravens who live at the Tower and the superstition about the tower falling if the ravens left. I never knew ravens could be so big! One started hopping toward us and making noises... was definitely the scariest part of our day as my friend Alex said!

We finally made our way to the crown jewels, and even though there were less than I had expected, it was still an incredible sight! Me and the girls were picking out which ones we liked the best and wanted to have for ourselves. Unfortunately 2,000 ton security doors are keeping us away from them! Afterwards we grabbed some tea/coffee at the cafe and then did some exploring of our own, seeing some of the torture chambers, as well as another part of the tower where prisoners left carved graffiti into the stone.

Then came the Tower Bridge. Never have I seen such a beautiful bridge! I couldn't stop taking pictures of it... it was so grand. After crossing the bridge, we were given free tickets to the top of the bridge by a really nice lady who passed us by. Why sure, we'll take free tickets to the top of the Tower Bridge! When we got up there, it was pretty cool, yet still not as awesome as I was hoping. Much of the view was blocked and the day was dreary and gloomy, so there wasn't much picture taking to be had. Oh well, can't complain too much!

Here are some pictures from the day:

^ Jackie snuck into the picture!

 ^from the top of the Tower Bridge!

Time for some sleep now. Look for a blog entry on Sunday about my time in Ireland!

xxxx