Royal Wedding!!

photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/home

I will have to blog more about this later on.. I'm still writing my last report for the T&G, which I will also post as soon as that is online!

But. I will say.

OH. MY. GOSH.

Was that the best experience ever? Yes, quite possibly. I camped outside for 18 hours and after dealing with no sleep, cold temperatures and annoying people around me... it was me and my friends who were front row outside Buckingham Palace gates, watching the Royal Family and the couple's first (and second kisses). WOW. wow. wow. wow.

I saw the Queen!! and the Princes! and Kate! all right in front of my eyes. best view of everyone. ahhhh!!

That was history and I was a part of it. Something I will never ever forget that's for sure. I'm in shock, still. I haven't even had a chance to watch the wedding online. But the video clips are awesome. I get goosebumps watching Kate & William, seeing her in that beautiful dress, listening to them give their vows.

Awesome, awesome, awesome day. A great way to wrap up my time in London. (2 more days!)

3rd installment for T&G

http://www.telegram.com/article/20110428/NEWS/110429682

Check out my latest article about the growing excitement around Westminster Abbey!

It's about 5 p.m. over here, and in an hour or so, me and some friends will be packing up, stopping to get some snacks, and heading over to Hyde Park/Buckingham Palace area to grab a spot for the night.

And it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. Blah! It hasn't really rained here in weeks... but of course it rains the night I plan to sleep outside. Wonderful.

Anyway, wish us luck. This is going to be an exciting but crazy 24 hours!

Article #2 for the T&G.. about tabloid coverage of the Royal Wedding.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20110427/NEWS/110429744

And here are my most recent photos of the Royal Wedding prep... the profile photos are of people I talked to!

https://picasaweb.google.com/110189500286397591927/RoyalWedding


I don't have much time to blog about everything, but my T&G articles basically sum it up. I'll post a huge blog entry once all this wedding craziness is over and I have time to think!

Tomorrow me and the girls will head over to pick our camping spot... should be an interesting 24 hours that's for sure. Wish us luck!!

xxx

My first royal wedding report for the Worcester T&G!!

http://www.telegram.com/article/20110426/NEWS/110429789

Royal Wedding countdown

As I mentioned, I will be somewhat of a Royal Wedding correspondent for a daily newspaper I interned for last summer... the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Today I went out to Oxford Street/Hyde Park area, and then on over to Buckingham Palace to see what was going on there. The media booths have been set up and you could even see several broadcasters inside reporting to cameras. Union jack flags were hoisted on posts all around the palace, and barricades were ready to block off the crowds come Friday.

Here is the link to some photos I took at souvenir shops and by Buckingham Palace! You can see there's been a lot of preparations... and a lot of Kate & William memorabilia sales. Photos!

I was at Primark (why oh why do I continue to go to such a crazy zoo of a store.. way too many people in one place!).. and they were selling replicas of Kate's blue sapphire engagement ring. Ok, I did buy a princess crown to wear on Friday (it will also double as my birthday crown come June 18)... but a replica blue sapphire ring?!? London is crazy, I'm telling you. If you wanted Royal Wedding toilet paper, you could probably find it somewhere. Not even kidding.. these stores have everything!

I also bought a union jack flag to wave around on Friday, and a commemorative program for keeping's sake.

I'm half scared for my life because the crowds are going to be nuts this weekend, but I'm also SO excited!!! I'm super lucky I get to be over here for such a big event. I haven't decided who is more into the Royal Wedding, the Americans or the British. Either way, Friday is going to be the celebration of the year, if not the decade.

Just a warning, this week's posts are probably going to include a lot of sad faces and "ahhhhhhh it can't be over!!!" comments.

I just looked at my Switzerland photos again and still don't believe I actually went there. And Ireland? That was forever ago but I'm still bitter it's over. Blah!!!

Why did Ireland, Munich, Paris, Manchester, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Switzerland, Venice, Florence and Rome... ALREADY END?!?!?!

:( :( :( :(

Even though I have my favorites, I'm starting to miss each city for it's own reason.

Dear Ireland, I miss your greenery, cuteness, nice people and all around magic.
Dear Munich, I miss your Bavarian culture.
Dear Paris, I miss your crepes, your classiness, your beauty, & your artsiness.
Dear Manchester, I miss relaxing weekends full of English breakfasts and all I can drink tea.
Dear Barcelona <3, I miss every inch of your city. every. inch. But most of all, I miss your art, your sun, your Spanish beauty, your gorgeous views and your beach.
Dear Madrid, I miss your affordability, your tapas bars, and your "enjoying life" attitude.
Dear Berlin, I miss your currywurst. That's about it.
Dear Switzerland, I MISS YOU SO MUCH! I want your snow capped mountains and blue/green lakes to be my backyard.
Dear Venice, I MISS YOU SO MUCH, TOO! I miss your magic and uniqueness and overall charm.
Dear Florence, I miss your gelato and your views.. I miss your leather markets and I miss Michelangelo's David.
Dear Rome, I miss your history and the crazy number of things to see in one city.

UGH. sorry, such a depressing blog post. I promise I'll be more cheerful tomorrow when I go out exploring London some more!

xx

Chelsea: my dream neighborhood.

Key word "dream"

Yesterday, Jackie and I ended up in London's wealthiest borough while on our hunt for My Old Dutch, a well-known pancake/waffle place. The flats and shops and cafes and restaurants are just so perfect. The people all look so nice and they all have their little dogs and nice cars and nice lives.. ugh. I wonder how many famous people live around there..

So we finally made it to My Old Dutch and I had the most amazing belgian waffle. indescribably delicious. and then we headed over to the Science Museum in South Kensington. If I haven't said it 10 times before, I will say it again. Dear London, thank you for having free museums. Otherwise... I'd have a lack of things to do here and would be going to say hi to Big Ben every day. There is no lack of museums in London so I have no excuse for "being bored."

Science Museum was pretty cool. Jackie and I bypassed all the industrial stuff and went straight to the outer space exhibit. And seeing as Jackie and I sometimes act like aliens with each other (our secret's out), it was totally an exhibit made for us. "How awesome would it be if there was something to beam us off the ground and make us float?" -Jackie. (Jackie, do you read this blog?)

Then there was the "Who Am I?" exhibition which was also really neat. It let us be interactive, which is always a plus. Although, I had to compete for the interactive screens with a bunch of little kids. They won. The exhibit was literally all about humans.. the brain, personalities, gender, psychology stuff, fears, etc. The psychology nerd in me loved it.

South Kensington is museum haven. Right in front of the Science Museum is the Natural History Museum, which I still need to go into. Then next door is the V&A... one of my favorite museums.

Natural History Museum...

I think we only spent a little over an hour at the Science Museum, but we were both exhausted. Even the smallest things take so much energy these days. I feel like such a lazy bum, but you can't blame me. I've been on the go 24/7 for the past 4 months.

Last night I went to this club called 02 Academy, which is right up the street from the dorms. Super convenient. There are two rooms.. one plays more indie (independent) music while the other is more recent hip-hop/pop/Billboard Top 10 music. But then they were also playing all this American music... Michael Jackson, 50s/60s tunes, Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing', and a whole load of other pretty American tunes. And... it made me so happy! I was like, heck yes we have good music. Even though when I first arrived in London back in January, I totally hated America and thought it was just so awful in comparison to everything here... over the semester I've learned to appreciate my American-ness and be really proud of the US. I know once I get back, everything is going to seem pretty lackluster and not as magical as London/British things... I still gained some American pride while over here. You know what, I like being from America. America is pretty cool, actually. So there.

America will (hopefully) welcome me with open arms in 8 days. Yes, 8 days. AHHHH. I know I said I was looking forward to going home.. and I definitely am, but but but but but my study abroad experience CANNOT END! noooooooooo. this is something I've been waiting my whole life for and has been the best 4 months ever and I'm totally living in London right now and have traveled all over Europe and it.can't.be.over. In 8 days, not only am I leaving London.. I'm leaving behind the best 4 months of my life. Obviously I have photos and 5 scrapbook albums worth of keepsakes.. but I just can't believe it's over (almost). Why do people get to live in London forever? So jealous.

Thank heavens I'll be spending my summer in the Big Apple...

Until the end of July, my life will continue to be full of awesome international people, great food, tons of museums, beautiful green space (Central Park), way too many tourists, expensive living && fashionable people everywhere. must. keep. up.

but, it will also be full of new friends and faces (shout out to the ASME interns!), a phenomenal internship, and a 3 hour bus ride home on the weekends if need be.

and GREAT NEWS. Lauren Fishbune, one of my best friends in the whole wide world, just booked her plane tickets to NYC to be there with me on my birthday. I cannot wait to cause a scene in the airport when we see each other.

So 8 more days. What will I do?

1. Tomorrow is Easter... Jackie, Liz, Jordan, Betsy and I just did our grocery shopping and will be preparing the most delicious Easter brunch tomorrow. On the menu: french toast, eggs, fruit salad, potatoes, Orange Juice, yummy tea we bought at Whittard's...some delicious pastry thing Betsy is whipping up, and Mimosa's. YUM. I'm also patiently awaiting the Easter package my mama sent me. Bring on the Starburst jellybeans.

2. Museums? Still gotta go to the Natural History museum, and might as well check out the V&A again while I'm there.. also have to go into Harrod's and wish I had more than what will probably be 5 pounds in my wallet.

3. Markets.. Borough market aka free food samples, back to Spitalfields to buy some trinkets, Brick Lane for my first and last Indian food of London

4. Parks... Hyde Park, Regent's Park, St. James Park. I will bring my ipod and possibly listen to the Beatles while I stroll around looking like a local.

5. ROYAL WEDDING!!! I'll be taking some photos/writing a few blurbs for the Worcester T&G back home (my last summer internship), but I can't wait to be a part of the mayhem. Even if I don't see Kate & William.. I already saw them back in February :)

I think I have more than enough to do for the next 8 days. Me and London have some serious bonding to do.

Until next blog post.. Happy Easter!!

xxxx

art art art art art

So if I haven't mentioned before, I will say it now... this semester has given me a new found appreciation for art. You wouldn't have caught me dead in an art museum. But yesterday, I walked 45 minutes from my dorm to the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square to see some of the art I missed the last time I was there.

Threw on my sunglasses (the weather here is gorgeous, high 60s and sunny), plugged in my iPod, grabbed a Starbucks iced latte and walked along the Thames River. It was around lunchtime so all the businessmen and women were out sitting with their bag lunches and colleagues. So cute! The St. Paul's lawn was filled with people, as was every bench within half a mile. Islington and the City of London are two huge business areas, so when noon hits, everyone is out and about in their business attire. I love it! Makes me want to be a businesswoman.

I've been to the National Portrait Gallery briefly before but seemed to have missed most of the Monet and Van Gogh artwork... how does that happen? Anyway, I get there and the first room I walk into ends up being a lot of Monet work. Ah, I just love Monet. Some of the most famous paintings in the world are by him.. the water lillies for example. Here are a few of my favorites! (photos courtesy National Portrait Gallery website)

Water-lilies, Setting sun. 1907. It's prettier in real life, but I just love the use of pinks and oranges in the reflection.

The Thames below Westminster. 1871. I bought a print of this in the gift shop because I loved it so much. I'm biased because it's a painting of London, but in a general sense, I like the muted colors. It also kind of represents what I would picture the atmosphere of that time.. just kind of industrial, gloomy, gray, etc.

The Grand Canal, Venice. 1908. I love this because... I love Venice. The colors are just so pretty.. blues, oranges, pinks, greens, whites. Venice definitely deserves all those colors. I think it's neat how even though there's not a lot of definition, you can still tell where the buildings meet the water.

 Bathers at La Grenoulliere, 1869. One of his first paintings it seems like! I love that there's just so much involved in this painting, boats in the foreground, people on the dock in the middle, swimmers (look like little dots) in the background.

Next up we have Van Gogh... as crazy as he was, he was nonetheless a brilliant artist.

Sunflowers, 1888. I bought a print of this.. just because, it's the Sunflowers and one of the most famous pieces of art ever.

A wheatfield with Cypresses, 1889. It's just so swirly! The clouds, the trees, even the wheat a little bit. I love his use of bold colors, dark greens, light greens that even have a certain "pow!" to them, blues, golden yellows... so pretty! You can bet I have a print of this, too.

I also love, love, love Degas. He focused a lot on dancers, but this painting is one of my favorites.

Four Dancers. I like how a lot of the background is more impression-y and uses broad strokes, but there is a lot of definition and fine black lines on the upper half of the dancers. It really sets them a part from the background.

I also think Manet is great (not to be confused with Monet!). This is, "The Grand Canal, Venice." Again, just because I love Venice. I like how things in the photo are a little crooked, such as the buildings in the background, the striped poles in the foreground.. even the gondola is tipping over.

Basically I just really like impressionism. Here is one of my favorite's by artist Camille Pissarro.

Fox Hill, Upper Norwood, 1870.

If you've been following my blog.. at least back to the Spain posts... you would know I am a big fan of Picasso. Although he's not really everyone's cup of tea.. seeing as his paintings got really wacky as time went on, I think his style is just so unique. You know a Picasso painting when you're looking at one. There's no second guessing.

But, you may to be surprised to find out Picasso doesn't just paint weird looking creatures. A lot of his early work was of landscapes. This is one of my favorite Picasso works... I love the dotted colors and how they're just kinda thrown on in no particular sequence or design.. but it works.

Woman in a Mantilla (la Salchichona), 1917.

When I took my weekend trip to Manchester, Pat and I took a look at the Lowry museum in the Lowry theater (before the play we saw). L.S. Lowry was famous for his paintings of industrial northern England in the early 1900s. He has a really unique style, that again, might not be everybody's cup of tea. But I just loved it!

The people are so goofy and cartoonish looking.. and then you have the guy on the far right who's standing at a completely different direction than the rest of them.

As you can see, Lowry is a pretty unique artist.. and even though he uses a lot of darker, dirtier colors (even the pinks and greens in the photo are dirty looking.. but I think that successfully portrays the "industrial" feel), it all seems pretty lively and funny.

So that was my art rant. I'm probably the last person who should be talking about art but hey, I'm learning. An art connoisseur in training if you will. I cannot wait to live in NYC this summer and check out some more of the best museums in the world... woooohooo!! Everything is going to be at my fingertips this summer. The mecca of all things culture is New York City. My fellow ASME interns and I have been chatting recently, and it's making me so excited for the summer. They all seem super great. It's going to be an amazing two months in the big apple, that's for sure. 2011 is getting a thumbs up from me, thus far. 

Today Jackie, Liza, Jordan and I went to Picadilly Circus for some souvenir shopping... we've been here for 4 months and I don't even have my London memorabilia! Then it was over to Lillywhites (sports store) where I purchased a Manchester United Cristiano Ronaldo jersey. Ronaldo doesn't play for ManU anymore, but it's kinda cool to have a player's old jersey, right? I'm not really a football/soccer fan in the first place, even though I should technically be an Arsenal fan.. living in London and all. I'm just a really big Ronaldo fan haha

Then we roamed around Covent Garden and Leicester Square, eventally making it to Oxford Street and beginning the long walk back to the dorms. But, now that I'm looking at the actual distance (a little over 2 miles from Picadilly to the dorm), it's not TOO far. It just seemed longer because of the 2395829034853 tourists and their mothers who were out walking around, too. Sometimes I wish everyone just walked at the same pace. Yeah, that would be robotic and weird, but it would be so much less annoying!

Tomorrow I'm off to Borough Market.. haven't been there yet and they supposedly have the best food samples. 

Oh London... our time together is dwindling down :(

xxx

When in Rome...

...continue to eat lots of amazing gelato and Italian food, hang out at the Colosseum, throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, and don't stay at George's Guesthouse hostel.

I mean, I guess it was fine. But the area it was in.. super sketchy. And by "hostel" I mean someone's apartment. One bedroom was for the lady and her child, the other was for us. A few bunk beds and two other beds pushed together to form an awkward king sized bed. And one small bathroom/shower. For the cheap price, and the fact we were only there to sleep, it was fine. Questionable roommate though... Pablo, age ?, from Argentina, wears man thong (Alex saw it), and velcro sneakers. Need I say more?

But aside a more to be desired hostel, Rome was amazing! I couldn't believe how much stuff was there. There was a statue or memorial or church or something on every single corner. We probably only saw half of Rome in the time we were there. And so, so much history in that city. The Roman forum was amazing to me... it's all been there since around 7th century BC?! Crazy. And I thought London had some old things...

So we got into Rome on a Monday night, after another 3 hour train ride from Florence. After navigating out to the hostel (but first dealing with a bank crisis, thank you Bank of America for putting my account on hold while I'm in another country), we settled into our hostel, got some sleep and headed out for a full day of sightseeing.

In a matter of a few hours, we saw Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo de' Fiori, walked around the Roman forum, and went in the Colosseum. I would say me and the girls are pretty skilled sightseers by now. The Basilica was gorgeous (although we didn't go inside). The Trevi fountain.. a lot larger than I was expecting and super cool. Of course we had to do the touristy throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain thing. My feelings about the Trevi fountain were the same feelings I had about the Mona Lisa...

Even though the Mona Lisa and Trevi Fountain are really talked up and a lot of people get to these places and are underwhelmed, I personally think wow, this is the real deal.. the Trevi Fountain... the Mona Lisa. I've heard about both and seen pictures of both for so long, so it was awesome to see them in real life. How cool is it to say that I've been to the Trevi Fountain, I saw the Mona Lisa, etc. long list of other amazing things I've done and seen this semester.

I loved, loved, loved the Pantheon. The inside was just so pretty! With the light streaming in from the top...

We grabbed lunch at a little pizza shop and wow. I think we all had a pizza revelation. "This is what pizza should be like," Alex said. Yep. That along with a yummy Italian ice... we were happy as clams.

I think I forgot to mention in my last post, but the week we were in Italy was "culture week" meaning a lot of sights that usually cost $$, were now free. We saw David in Florence for free, and in Rome.. we got into the Colosseum for free. Thank you culture week.

I felt like Russell Crowe in the Gladiator when we went into the Colosseum. minus the wild animals and huge crowds of people. It was prettttyyy cool! And so in tact for being so old! We stayed there for a little bit, then moved on to the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, which I think ended up being one of my favorite parts of the city. 

It's just so neat! We literally just ran into it.. not expecting to see such a huge memorial. But welcome to Rome, every corner has something this magnificent basically.

Then we made our way to Roma Sparita, a restaurant Alex had heard about via Anthony Bourdain's 'No Reservations' show. We knew we had some good food in store for us. *Also, it was Jen's birthday and she was leaving us for Barcelona the next day, so Roma Sparita was our last dinner.. so bittersweet!*

We ordered a nice bottle of wine, some bread and olive oil.. and for dinner... the cacio y pepe. Credits to Alex for this photo...

YUMMMMMM. that is homemade pasta with cheese and peper, in a parmigiana cheese bowl.

After a beyond satisfying dinner, we met up with my friend Ted from Marquette and he brought us to get some delicious gelato, and then on over to the Vatican. I was not aware that the Vatican was it's own country, but indeed it is. Where's my passport stamp?

St. Peter's is beautiful. It really did give off this aura of holiness... the Pope has a pretty cool neighborhood. It was closer to 11 p.m., so the area only had a few stragglers like us. Fast forward to Wednesday morning and me and the girls were back at the Vatican for the Pope's weekly appearance/speaking. I saw the pope I saw the pope!!! Although I admit to denying it was him.. I really thought he had darker features! But maybe it was because he wasn't wearing his pope hat :(

^The man himself

In 4 months I've seen the Pope, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Marcus Mumford. Awesome. 

The girls and I headed over to the Vatican Museums where we followed about 87 signs saying "Sistine Chapel, this way" because we really were just trying to see the Sistine Chapel and get over to St. Peter's before Jen had to head to the airport. But, the walk through the museums to the Chapel was pretty neat.

^this is one of my favorite pictures.. and one of my favorite rooms in the Museums. The ceiling was so elaborate and intricate.

After the museums we went to St. Peter's but ran into the world's longest line of people, waiting to get in. Unfortunately, we had to pass on St. Peter's :( Oh well... that's for next time, I guess!

Later in the afternoon we met up with my good friend Claire from back home.. we've been friends since 3rd grade if you can believe it! She's studying in Rome this semester so I had to see her. We grabbed some coffee at a cafe near her campus, and then she showed us girls where to get a delicious dinner. I had a yummy carbonara (although, to this day, the restaurant we ate at in Paris had the best carbonara ever). It was so good to see Claire, and while we had coffee, she surprised me by saying she and a friend would be coming into London the next night and staying for the weekend! Although my paper and exhaustion kept me from seeing much of her, we made plans to meet up back in good old Shrewsbury in a few weeks.

Thursday morning we say ciao to Rome and to a great week in Italy, and headed back to London. What an adventure... I loved traveling with Jen, Jackie and Alex.. it was a great trip to end our semester with and I think we all had a blast. And I'm so glad I traveled with girls who appreciate gelato as much as I do/good Italian food as much as I do.

And with the end of the Italy trip comes the end of all of my traveling. I'm back in London for two more weeks and then hello United States. I think I'm ready. Or I will be... after I do some last minute London things. :)

Ciaoooo!

Firenze (Florence)

Ciao, again!

Sorry for the delay in Italia blog posts, I had some friends visiting this weekend, and a paper due at the last minute yesterday!

Leaving off on April 9, a Saturday morning. The girls and I reluctantly say goodbye to Venice, with this one last view of the city at sunrise...

Then it was off on a 3 hour train ride to Florence. When we arrived in the city we took a bus to our hostel, Hostel 7 Santi, which was about 10 minutes outside the main center of Florence. The bus system made it so easy for us to get back and forth though, so it was not a problem. The hostel was an old convent, so it was smack dab next to a beautiful church and the hostel itself was pretty big and spacious. Not as quiet as we would've hoped for an ex-convent, but it was nice nonetheless. We had two other roommates, girls from the States also visiting Florence from their study abroad location in Ireland. Good thing we had good roomies then, because come Rome hostel, things got weird. (more to come on that!)

After dropping our stuff off and relaxing for a few minutes, we headed into the city. Catching our first glimpse of the Duomo was so awesome! It was just awaiting us, in its dirty teal and rusty red colors. 

It cost a decent amount of moola to get up into the dome, so we instead went into the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (love that name, by the way, it has a beautiful ring to it). Let's just say the outside of the duomo is prettier than the inside... I honestly wasn't that impressed, considering by that point I had also seen Westminster Abbey, La Sagrada Familia, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur... oh, and the Sistine Chapel (in Rome a few days later). But moving on, we grabbed a small dinner of cheese, crackers and pizza bread and made the trek to Piazzale Michalengelo, for what was supposedly the best view of the city.

I would hope it'd be a good view after one heck of a vertical incline walk.

I'd say that's a pretty good view, don't you?

Me and the girls sat there for hours, just enjoying life and the amazing sunset that came around 8 p.m.

 Florence is such a beautiful city. I didn't really know what to expect. I loved that it seemed to be perfectly plopped down in between the rolling Tuscan countryside and mountains. And the river and bridges, with the duomo in view at basically all times... it just worked.

I love this picture because of the reflection in the water! And the buildings just seem so perfectly aligned and compact.

Here's a view of the Ponte Vecchio, Florence's most famous bridge. It's lined with jewelry shops and even more tourists.

The next day we met up with Jackie's friend for breakfast at an American diner she knew of. While it's silly to eat American food while in Italy (of all places), it is not silly to eat American breakfast while anywhere in the world. Omelettes, bacon, pancakes, hashbrowns... too good to pass up. After that we headed to the leather market for some shopping. And while we all told ourselves "oh I'll probably only buy a small wallet or keychain, maybe a belt" we all left the market with a little more than that. For the girls, three beautiful leather jackets, for me, a brown leather purse I've been wanting forever. Success.

Then it was off to Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. After waiting in line for about half an hour (not as bad as I was expecting), we finally saw the man himself. It was really cool. I've never seen such a huge statue. It's literally HUGE. If I stood next to him, I'd probably be a little taller than his knee.

...back to the hostel for some rest (this is the point where we are all exhausted from 4 months of traveling, and don't mind just hanging out). Then, with our hostel lady's recommendation, we headed down the street for a yummy Italian meal. Up until then we really hadn't had anything melt in your mouth worthy (aside from some scrumptious paninos), but we were in luck. I ordered something along the lines of tortellini and meat sauce, while Jen and Jackie both got a baked cheesey gooey ravioli thing, and Alex had a seafood and pasta extravaganza. Delicious. All of it.. we each had to try each other's food of course! Then came gelato (second of the day.. and absolutely necessary).

On Monday we went back into the city to find a food market Alex knew about. When we first came across it, it looked like just a bunch of fruit and veggie stands, then we wandered a little bit more and found food market heaven. Meats and pasta and nuts and more meats and fish and pastries and bruschetta and olive oil and balsamic and fruits. We made our way to a vendor (that Alex also knew about!) and got their infamous roast beef sandwich. 

.....

I have been craving another one ever since. Best. sandwich. ever.

......

We also got free samples of biscotti. Yum. The Italians have some great food, that's all I have to say.

Then it was off to the Giardino di Biboli (gardens) behind the modern art museum for some more relaxation before catching the train to Rome. 

^ Here's me at the gardens with my new bag :)

View from the Gardens... not too bad. Me and the girls just laid there relaxing and listening to music for a few hours... another one of those life is good moments. And of course I couldn't have asked for a better 3 girls to be there with (awwwhh). sidenote: Alex left for the states this morning, Jen is leaving tomorrow morning. This is not okay!!!! The semester is ending :( And I have two weeks, baaah!!

So that concludes the Firenze trip... we headed to Rome shortly after dinner (with our cheese and crackers again). Jen, Jackie and Alex got creative on the train ride and made cards out of napkins. Yes, 52 playing cards out of napkins. Then we realized, oh, you can see the number and suit pretty easily through the back of a napkin. Oh well, honor code it was. We threw on our sunglasses for a mean, competitive game of Go Fish. Off to Roma...

From Venice sunrises to Florence sunsets... Italia was treating us pretty well.

to be continued!

Venice

Ciao! I'm back from the most wonderful week in Italy with the best travel buddies anyone could ask for, Jackie, Jen and Alex :) This was our final trip together and our last hoorah of the semester. I think we can all agree that there was no better way to conclude a great semester than with a week in Venice, Florence and Rome.

We spent two days in Venice, about three days in Florence and two days in Rome. While there was a lot to see in Rome, we found ourselves doing a lot of relaxing in Venice and Florence. From hanging out at various parks and by the beautiful rivers in those cities, to staying at dinner for longer than we usually would... it was nice to just chill. But, nonetheless, by our last day in Italy, we were all so exhausted. I think 4 months of traveling has caught up to us. It will definitely be sad to leave London, but I am in need of my bed, my family, my dog and home-cooked meals. This reminds me, I have to send my mom a menu of all the home-cooked dinners I want. cough cough Mama!

Anyway, Italia trip 2011... first stop: Venice, Venezia

We arrived in Italy last Thursday morning, after flying over the Swiss Alps (sooo beautiful) and after an hour bus ride, we finally pulled up to Venice.

Wow.

Venice is just like you see in the pictures... so it was insane to believe we were actually there, in a city with no streets, just canals and gondolas, light/cloudy turquoise water, bridges, beautiful buildings... Venice was another place I had to stop and be like, whoa, this place is real. Needless to say, we all fell in love with Venezia.

Now, instead of doing the whole hostel thing, we went out on a limb and tried CouchSurfing, a company that sets up travelers with apartment/couch owners in various cities around the world. Back in February I found a young guy named Giovanni on CouchSurfing who said he could host us 4 girls come April 7... we kept in touch, and while we were a little nervous.. Alex had a great CouchSurfing experience in Paris, so we were feeling good about Venice. Turns out, Giovanni and his roommate Alessandro were GREAT. They welcomed us in their home, gave us a key so we could come and go, showed us around Venice and pointed us in the direction of the most amazing gelato. What more could we ask for? Oh, and Giovanni is a Boston Celtics fan.. so obviously he was the perfect host.

We did a lot of exploring in Venice, but surprisingly, didn't get as lost as we thought we would! With four of us, at least one of us could remember what church or bench or cafe we passed when, and how to get from the guys' apartment to Piazza San Marco (main square in Venice).

view from the guys' apartment...

Food: not as great as we were hoping for. The gelato was top of the line (I'm going to admit we got gelato at least once a day that week in Italy... but usually, we had it twice a day. Sorry not sorry!)

Weather: BEAUTIFUL. sunny and warm all week... I acquired a bad sunburn by the end of the week, but up until then it was so nice to have some Italian sun and warmth. Not to mention how awesome it was to only pack dresses and shorts and sandals :)

Culture and people: So charming and nice! The ladies loved when Alex used her Italian with them, and I just couldn't get enough of how "intimate" everyone was with each other, how friends and couples truly act like they enjoy each other's company. The first night, we went to the San Margherita piazza with Ale to meet his friends and hang out for awhile. All the college kids seemed to be there, so it was pretty hopping... not what you would expect of Venice, right? We met a girl named Julia (who speaks 6 languages... say what?!?! Europeans are too cool) and her boyfriend. They referred to each other as Amore.. :: cue the melting :: we all thought it was super adorable.

Sights we saw: St. Mark's, the Campanile (the real one is a little bit different than the one I've seen at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas), Grand Canal, Bridge of Sighs (although it was covered by an ugly Toyota ad), Rialto bridge

Some highlights of our time in Venice include our traghetti ride, which we thought would be a a nice little journey down a canal but instead ended up just bringing us 2 seconds to the other side of the canal. Ah well, 60 euros for a gondola ride wasn't happening. Then there was Alex's pigeon experience, Day 1: feeding and  having one sit on her arm, Day 2: being pooped on. Maybe she spoke too soon when she said she was the Pigeon Whisperer! Andddd Gelato. yum yum yum yum. I tried strawberry first, which is really surprising seeing as I'm a chocolate girl, 100% of the time usually. But, the strawberry won me over.. at least for the day. From there on out it was chocolate gelato. We lived the gelato dream for a week.

Overall, Venice was simply magical. We couldn't stop taking photos of canals and gondolas and buildings and people and more canals and more gondolas in canals and gondolas beside canals and gondolas near canals. But even though we never put our cameras away, my photos are all so different... every corner of Venice is unique. Picturesque. And so so so beautiful. I will definitely be back to Venice in the future.

I have less than a month left in Europe. I can't believe how time has flown! It really does seem like just yesterday that I was back at Marquette worrying about if my dad was even going to let me study abroad....and I can also clearly remember my first few days in London... being so excited and thrilled with life. And even though that initial excitement feeling has gone away (only because I've adjusted and made London my home away from home), I still have that "Am I really here?" question lingering about. And before I know it, I'll be back home in Shrewsbury, wondering "Did I really go to London for 4 months?" It's all such a blur. Maybe because I've done SO much. I can hardly fathom that during my time here I've seen a lot of London, been to Dublin/Galway/Cliffs of Moher, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Scotland, Oxford, Manchester, Barcelona, Madrid and Switzerland. Kinda crazy if you ask me. It's been such a whirlwind journey thus far but I've loved every minute of it. I can't even picture myself back at Marquette come August, walking to class on Wisconsin Ave. or grabbing lunch at the Union...

You know what's also crazy? That after I leave London, I still have a whole new adventure in NYC waiting for me. I find out in the next week or so what magazine I will be working for (I'm pretty nervous... cross your fingers I get a good one!). 4 months in Europe, 2 months in NYC... then back to Marquette. This is not my life!

I need to make the most of my last few weeks though. There's still so much to do and see here! Jackie and I are going to make a quick day trip down to the coast to Brighton, then I need to go back to a few museums, go to Harrod's... then there's the Royal Wedding on April 29!! Looks like Jackie and I will be camping out by Buckingham Palace to get a good view of the procession/and first kiss on the balcony. London is going to be one big celebration that day.

But before all that... me and the girls have one last trip. to ITALY!!!! We leave early tomorrow morning for Venice, then train to Florence on Saturday, then train to Rome on Monday, then back to London on Thursday. We've been looking forward to this trip all semester... in fact, it was the first one we planned. So now that it's finally here, we're all in disbelief!! And the weather forecast for Italy all week: mid-70s and sunny :)

Ciao!

Luzern, Switzerland

I can't hold off any longer on this Switzerland post! Well I could, but that would just mean I'd have to write my paper due for class. And obviously, blogging is more fun.

So. Last Friday morning, Alex, Jen and I hopped on a plane from Berlin to the airport in Basel, Switzerland, then we had to take a bus into the town and catch an hour train ride to Luzern. I think we all couldn't believe our eyes when we caught the first glimpse of mountains from the train. The tops were still covered in snow, and it was absolutely beautiful! When we arrived in Luzern we grabbed a quick lunch of... bratwurst... (I guess I wasn't ready to leave my German food behind yet) and met up with Katie, Alex's friend from home ( St. Charles). I've made an observation during my travels, that I clearly cannot be without a person from St. Charles. Either I travel with Alex, or I travel with Jen. I stayed with Katie in Luzern, I stayed with Shivani in Barcelona, and one of my best friends at Marquette is Lauren. 5 different St. Charles girls.. can't get enough of them I guess haha.

Funny story: we saw a guy with a shirt that read "You looked better from behind" and we all laugh and Alex says "Yeah, so do you buddy."

Leaving the train station, we took a quick bus ride to Katie's "apartment"/old hospital she's staying in. And lucky girl, right outside her room window is the most tremendous view of the mountains! Each morning when I woke, I popped my head up and saw Swiss Alps. Good morning to me. (In London, I look out the window and I see an ugly brick wall of the dormitory next door.)

After dropped our stuff off and relaxing for a little bit, we walked back into the city for some sightseeing. Luzern is a really small town, so it only took us about 25 minutes to walk to the Lake/train station area. Also, Luzern is in the German part of Switzerland so they speak Swiss German there. But because Swiss German is only a spoken language, they write in German. Our airport (Basel) was in the French part of Switzerland so it was funny to go back and forth between languages. Merci. Danke. Merci. Danke.

We stopped to grab coffee at Bourbaki, a coffee shop/cafe/bar that Katie and her friends go to all the time. It's located in an old panorama, so the circular floor spins once a day... and lucky us, we got to experience it once on Friday and once on Saturday! So fun. After that we walked toward the lake to catch our first glimpse of the fairy tale land that is Luzern.

Blue/teal lake water, white swans floating about, French-inspired buildings and hotels set along the edges (reminded me of what the coast in Nice would look like), and snow-capped Swiss Alps in the backdrop. Somebody pinch me because I think that was a dream. Places like that exist?!?!

Yes, yes they do. Pictures don't lie. But imagine this photo, beautified 10 times... that's what we actually saw. Even though we all took a bajillion and one photos, our photos could not fully capture the beauty of Luzern.

We grabbed some quick dinner at Coop (a grocery store with inexpensive packaged sandwiches, yummy pastries, and all the Swiss chocolate you could dream of), we went to an art gallery opening.

 I think Alex, Jen and I left Switzerland a little more hipster because of it. and we also left a little more addicted to chocolate. I honestly can't even think about chocolate after that trip. I ate enough for a lifetime. But it sure was yummy.

Then it was back to Bourbaki for some chill-time with some of Katie's friends from school. She is studying graphic design, and the next day (Saturday) she took us by her school to show us some of her and other students' artwork. Pretty cool if you ask me. They had all recently been to London, so a lot of their work was based off of that trip. Wooooo London!

On Saturday, after grabbing some picnic-y items from Coop, we went to sit by the lake. I could've sat there all day. The weather the whole weekend was mid-70s, clear skies and sunny. Perfect weather, perfect town, perfect day. Then, the group of us, and Katie's friend Lisa (also from America) took a paddleboat out onto the lake. 6 francs each... not too shabby. 

**note: The franc is really close to the dollar, but Switzerland is rolling in cash so everything was pretty expensive... which is why we ate from Coop. Also, because Switzerland is so wealthy, so are its people. They dress beautifully, they are all beautiful. End of story.**

The paddleboat ride was phenomenal! Definitely the best part of the trip. While it was a little chilly being out on the lake... Swiss lakes = ice cube water straight from the melting mountains.

After a lovely paddleboat ride, we grabbed some dinner (at Coop, of course!) and hung out at Bourbaki for most of the evening. Upon returning to the hospital/apartment, we went up onto the roof top and had the most BEAUTIFUL view of the sky. Being so far up in the mountains, we realized it was the closest to the stars we'd ever been. And, being in London for these months, and Milwaukee most of the school year, I never see the stars. It was so awesome to see them again :)

On Sunday, we had most of the day, so we met up with some more of Katie's friends and went to the other side of the lake where there was a park. So many of the locals were out and about, laying in the sun, playing games.. and walking tightropes between trees? Didn't realize that was the cool thing to do in Switzerland! Then it was back to Bourbaki for some more chill-time and coffee, then Alex, Jen and I said bye to Katie and Lisa, and hopped back on the train to Basel airport.

Yes, our itinerary was filled with lots of forms of relaxation and staring at the mountains, but that's really all we wanted to do. We wanted an inexpensive, relaxing trip.. and that's what we got. I think we left Switzerland 200% satisfied with our time there. 

What a beautiful place. I still can't believe what I was surrounded by all weekend! Such a dream land.

Spain is still my favorite country, Barcelona is still my favorite city. But Switzerland... you.are.wonderful.

Berlin!

hello everyone! I'm back from another great adventure :)

Even though the trip included both Berlin and Switzerland, I'm going to break up blog posts again. Just because the two places are so completely different!

Jackie and I (along with Andrei and his cousin, Cesar, who happened to have the same flight as us) flew into Berlin SXF airport Wednesday morning and easily navigated to our hostel, Heart of Gold, which was in the popular Mitte district. We had registered for a 26 bed dorm room, so needless to say, that's exactly what we got. 26 beds, huge room, infirmary/hospital style. Just me, Jackie, and a group of Spanish-speaking guys from Spain (of course I chatted them up in what little spanish I have... ending the conversation awkwardly at "y es todo el espanol que yo se" -- that's all the spanish I know).

Even though it was such a huge room, it was clean and the beds were pretty comfy. Our outer space themed hostel definitely grew on us.

Jackie, Andrei, Cesar and I went to Pariser Platz by the Brandeburg Gate to meet up with our Sandeman's Walking Tour (same company I've used in every other city!). But on the way, we stopped to eat lunch at a currywurst place in the train station. YUM. so delicious. Then we ran into a Dunkin Donuts (yes, an actual Dunkin Donuts, not Spain's Dunkin Coffee version) and I think Jackie and I were in heaven with our iced coffees. Here's Jackie's photo of us and our beloved DD iced coffees...

The 4-hour walking tour was super interesting, and our tour guide knew a lot about the city. We saw the Hotel Adlon (where Michael Jackson hung his baby over the railing), the site of Hitler's suicide bunker, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, site of the Book Burnings, Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and Berliner Dom among many other sites. Berlin has so much history (that I actually wish I knew about before the tour, so I could connect things and be like oh, so that's where it is!), but oh well. Our tour guide was good about giving us a quick history of the city. 

Here are some pics from the tour!

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Berlin Wall

Jackie and I at the Berliner Dom

After the tour, we relaxed at our hostel for a bit and grabbed some dinner at a salad place nearby, then walked toward Hakescher Market. Along the way (5 minute walk, keep in mind) we spotted approximately 25 prostitutes lining the street. I was not aware Berlin had a prostitute scene like that. But lucky us, found it. Super sad and depressing to see girls dress like that and stoop to such a level to get some money. Definitely dampered my Berlin experience.

But, I couldn't help but sing this song in my head...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3EmA-eJPxs

Anyway, Jackie and I had some yummy weiss beer at this outdoor cafe, a.m. to p.m., at the market. The seats were little wooden cocoon swings. So cute! And they gave us blankets because it was pretty chilly outside. Danke! (thank you!). Then we got another currywurst. Can't get enough currywurst.

On Thursday, Jackie and I grabbed our Dunkin Donuts iced coffees and headed over to the Reichstag (parliament building). Unfortunately it was closed due to some security thing, so then we walked to the Jewish Museum. Let me just say that I love student discounts... my student card has saved me so much money on museums and attractions these past few months!

The museum was GREAT! Really interesting design of the building, the exhibits were all really artsy and meaningful... and informative. A lot of content was covered and I think even in the 2 hours we were there, we didn't get through all of it. While it did cover the Holocaust, the museum was intended more as a history of the Jewish people in Europe, so it was nice to see more than just the tragic part of Jewish history. After that, we walked back toward the Berliner Dom, stopping to get lunch. Guess what we ate? Bratwurst. We needed a little bit of a change from currywurst, but not enough of a change to throw us off from our sausage diet.

Jewish Museum...

Then it was back to the hostel for a nap and also where we were meeting Jen and Alex, who had flown into Berlin that morning and were off on the same walking tour we did the day prior. We all grabbed dinner at this little natural foods restaurant a few minutes away... I ended up with some potato wedges and a delicious salad with apples, raisins and nuts in it. Yummy. We were all pretty tired so we hung out at the hostel for the rest of the night, talking with Andrei and Cesar. I think we all had a lot of fun, just keeping things casual.

Friday morning, Jackie headed back to London (even though we wish she could've joined us in Switzerland!) and Alex, Jen and I jumped on a plane to Switzerland (that adventure, to be continued in next blog post!)

But, my thoughts on the trip:

Not a big fan of good ol' Berlin, actually. Everyone says Berlin is supposed to be this awesome city, but for some reason, Jackie, Alex, Jen and I couldn't find what was so awesome about it. Was it the currywurst? Because then I'd have to agree. I loved how historical the city is, and I think it's really interesting how it's still rebuilding. But that rebuilding, left a lot of construction throughout the city and no real unified culture or identity. As Jen said, Berlin is having a bit of an identity crisis. Fair enough. But I just never really grasped where I was... in Munich.. I knew I was in Germany. In Barcelona, I knew it was Spain.. Dublin.. Ireland, etc. But Berlin? I feel like I could've been anywhere. It was a big industrial city, and even when the sun was out, I didn't find it to be visually stimulating. Am I being too harsh on Berlin? I had a great time with the girls, and I saw a lot of the city with the walking tour, and the currywurst was great and it was a very affordable trip.. but I left feeling kinda "meh" about it. I really wish I had discovered what is so great about Berlin, because I know there has to be something, and I feel bad for leaving with such a so-so outlook on it. Sorry Berlin, but Munich was my favorite German city.

Best part of Berlin:

I am glad I went though!! :)