Bye, Bye London

Just figured I'd make one last post about my last week in London/trip home.

My last week was spent doing things that I had been meaning to do all semester, but just didn't have the time to do, such as going to the Wimbledon Tennis museum, tea in Hampstead and the Annie Leibowitz (spelling?) photo exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery.

The photo exhibit was great, definately worth the 8 pounds. Going to Wimbledon was really cool, just to see the stadium was great-i didn't get to see the center court because of construction, but the museum was really cool and hands on, with a 200 degree cinema where you just sit in there and the screen is over halfway around the room.

The rest of the week was full of packing, running errands and flat mexican night. For the first time all semester we all decided to have a theme dinner night, and due to the lack of good mexican food in London, that was our theme! i was in charge of the beef...but we had tacos, quesadillas, nachos, guacamole and salsa! mmmmmm

Overall, the week was bittersweet, I was excited to come home, but knew I would miss things about London. Anyway, after a 9 hour flight, Newark welcomed me back with a downpour, which made getting my like 200 lbs. of luggage to the car difficult, but we did it, and now i'm sitting in bed watching Friends.

It's been suprisingly difficult adjusting back to life here, but things like Panera and bagel bites make it easier. Overall, this was the best semester yet-not just because I was in London, but because I learned things that "can't be taught in the classroom."

THE END.

Last week in London

Just thought I'd update on my last week in London--

it's been a busy week! wednesday night I had my presentation, and thursday I had my final, but now i'm done! This week has been crazy with people trying to check off the last few things they have left on their 'london' lists...part of me feels like i wont fit it all in, but so far so good...

Friday I had to go to Farday to help set up the photo exhibition for the end of the year party that night, all the photo classes had pictures hanging (pictures of the pictures and everything else mentioned to come once i upload my camera), and then I ran to borough market really quick, which I had only been to once before...it's basically all food...so i got olives! almond stuffed olives to be exact...delicious! The market was all decked out for the holidays, there was even a high school band of french horns/trumpets/etc. playing holiday music...it's getting me excited to come home and have some christmas meatballs!

After Borough I ran back here and then headed back out to Faraday, where they were having the end of the year shindig, which included a huge chocolate fountain...oops! I think it's the first time ive had chocolate in London...everyone yells at me for not having tried 'Cadbury' chocolate before, but then I just yell at them for never having tried Thai Sweet Chili chips before...to each their own.

Today was dedicated to Portobello Market...for the last time. Dana, Brendan, Arielle and I headed down, determined to eat all of the food we always say we're going to get, and never do, because, well, in my case, i always end up with a doughnut in my hand...but not this time! Today I got pizza, then walked a few blocks, tried some Seafood Paella, then walked a few blocks, picked up some produce for tomorrow night's stir-fry, got an apple streudel, and then called it a day...and then i didnt feel good for the rest of the night. The phrase of the week has been "go big or go home"...and we're going home soon...so, this week its just..."go big"

Tomorrow we're headed to Hampstead Heath which i've heard amazing things about but still haven't been--and I think the plan is to get Tea, which is good because I still haven't done that either! I'm also excited to see Hampstead Heath because I just watched Notting Hill a few weeks ago and one of the scenes towards the end was filmed there.

Besides Hampstead, all that's left on my "list" is this photo exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, possibly Oxford for an afternoon, and going to the Wimbledon museum, which, by the looks of it, looks really cool and something I feel like I should do while I'm here. I think I'll be able to fit it all in--as far as packing goes, I packed one suitcase tonight...scary! I was actually able to fit more in it than i thought, so i should be in good shape space-wise for the rest of my crap.

(yes mom, dont worry, i'm leaving my socks here)

i've been making a mental list of things i'm excited to do when i get home--don't judge me

1. sit in a car...it doesn't even have to be moving...just sit in a car
2. watch real television, not the arabic crap we get here
3. guitar hero...dont judge!
4.bagel bites
5.roam the aisles of Target just looking at all of the "stuff"
6.guitar hero
7.panera

looks like it'll be a productive winter break!

Happy December!

I cannot believe it's December already, where has the time gone?

With only 10 days left in London, the pressure's on to see and do everything I have left on my list! Luckily, after 3 p.m. Friday I am done with classes and finals, which gives me 5-6 days to make the rounds in London.

This week is the last week of classes, but since I don't have any finals during finals week, I have a presentation for my 'sauce' project Wednesday night ,and then my sociology of sport final Thursday afternoon, then i'm done!

The past week has been insane, full of visitors, get togethers and absorbing the last bits of London. I'll back track to last Wednesday, when my roommates/other drama friends were all in the play "The Bird and the Two Ton Weight", to commerate the 20th Anniversary of Pan Am 103, a flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland full of SU Students en route to JFK after their semester in London. The play was amazing, and people from all over the UK came, US Embassadors, people from the town of Lockerbie, parents of people on the flight, etc. It was great to see the support for it over here--one week a year there is "Remembrance Week" on campus where the commemorating bench/statue area on campus is flooded with flowers, but for the first time, SU London drama students performed a play about it, written by a former student of the SU London program. The weekend before the play the actors went to Lockerbie, Scotland and performed the play 3 times for students and the community, and apparently it went really well--they got to meet people who were there when the plane went down and got to hear first hand stories.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! It was funny because it felt like a normal day in that I got up, went to class, etc...but it was different because our kitchen was full of cooking roommates concocting things to bring to the festivities later. Our friend Mackenzie arrived from Strasbourg on Thursday afternoon, which was amazing because this was the first time I was seeing her in a year--she was abroad last semester on Semester at Sea. So between her and patty being here, it was already shaping into a good Thanksgiving. We headed to Sarah's that night where there were about 20 of us...so much food! It was funny to see everyone in the kitchen stirring gravy, and cutting the turkey-we all felt really "old"!

Overall the whole night was amazig, if I couldn't be with my family for Thanksgiving, there was no where else I'd rather have been. Everyone really stepped up their game and spent all day cooking, getting ready, and it all paid off. It was weird not being home, but it was great to spend the day with 19 other people who were all in the same situation. It was most of our first holidays away from home, yet we resorted to things that most people do on Thanksgiving--we had a before dinner toast, a post-dinner "what are you thankful for" circle, and then watched a movie to try and fight the exhaustion.

Friday morning we were off to Windsor Castle! This was the last SU Friday-field-trip, so I felt like I should take advantage of it, plus I was able to sign Patty up, so it was a nice "day out". The castle itself was really cool, reminded me a lot of the Edinburgh Castle from the outside. Inside we toured where the Royal Family vacations (apparently the Queen was going to be getting there for the weekend while we were there!), and the chapel were many of the royal family have been married. The town of Windsor was so quaint, I don't blame the Queen for spending the weekends there, we decided she probably frequents the Pizza Hut across the street for her late-night cravings.

After Thanksgiving, everyone had such a good time that we decided to get everyone together again the next night at our flat--we're all feeling the crunch of trying to spend as much time together before we leave! The night turned out to be a lot of fun, and it was also Patty's last night so she got to meet new people/say goodbye to the rest--overall a good night.

Saturday morning I got up to say goodbye to patty and sent her off to brave the tube system! After a few more hours of sleep we headed out to show Mackenzie Portobello Market, after stopping for a late lunch at this amazing Thai place we'd been to once before. The market was great, but by the time we got out of Thai Rice it was dark and freezing! It's weird to know that I only have one more Saturday left here for Portobello!

Saturday night we had gotten tickets to this concert--Monday was Arielle's birthday, and Mackenzie was here so we figured it'd be a fun night...it would have been, if the band didnt cancel! We didn't find out until we were already inside for an hour and Maggie asked someone...the venue itself was really cool though-it was in Camden which is an area I hadn't explored yet, and the venue was a converted horse stables? so each stable had couches and tables, etc. and there was a large dance floor in this room that also doubled as an art gallery, with photography all over the walls...very cool. Anyway, we decided to leave so we could get our refund, and then ended up at this "diner", which was the first diner i've seen in europe, and was basically like a swanky, clean Prestige...and yes, I got the "lumberjack special" pancakes and eggs! mmmmm...we ended up sitting at this place for like 3 hours just talking and hanging out, the perfect way to end a hectic, yet amazing week/weekend.

Sunday morning I got up and went to church for the first time in London--I had been to Mass in Paris and Galway, but I've only been in London for a handful of Sundays, so I decided to try it out with Amanda and Missy. It was actually very interesting, I was really thrown off by the British accent in the church setting for some reason, I guess it's because I associate church with being "home", and it was strange to hear the different accents, yet interesting that people all over the world do the same thing every Sunday that I do.

After church it was time for Ice Skating at the Tower of London--AMAZING! This was an event run by SU because this weekend was "SU Loves London" weekend. It turned out to be so much fun...a few times I just stopped and looked around me, to my left the tower of London, in front of me the Thames River, and ice skates on my feet...when again is this going to happen? The group of people that also went was really fun, so it was a good afternoon, minus the scars I got from the bright-blue-ice skates.

Overall, this was probably my favorite week in London...good people, good food, and great memories.

Visitors!

So I figured i'd update since it's been a few days, and the next few days are going to be even more hectic, so this leaves me with less to tell you next time!

Saturday was the day all of our visitors arrived! I headed to Heathrow Airport bright and early to pick up Patty, who flew in from Newark for the week, and ironically i ran into my roommate Jacob on the tube headed to the airport to pick up his girlfriend, this week we've got a packed house!

Luckily everything went smoothly and they let Patty into the country, so we were on our way back to Edgware road to drop off her bags, and then off to Nottinghill to go to the Portobello market. After many food purchases (doughnuts and olives mostly), we headed back to eat it all, hung out for a little bit, and then showed her a "traditional" pub. Later that night we went to Picadilly Circus with her friend Chris from the summer camp they worked at, and his family. After dinner we came back here so she could crash, and me too! I think just knowing she was fighting jet lag made me tired, an exhausting day!

Sunday we slept in and it was pouring rain so we decided to just relax for the day, because we knew most of the week we'd be running around seeing sites, etc...so we went to the grocery store and cooked an amazing breakfast of egg sandwhiches on toasted rolls, "american bacon" (aka the thinnest bacon we could find, and then i burnt mine to a crisp), and hash browns which took like 3 hours to cook, so they turned into an afternoon snack,but none the less it was a delicious breakfast...which took place at 2:30 pm...oops!

The rest of the day we just hung out, and that night we headed to dinner at Wagamama in covent garden. I had been to my first Wagamama while my parents were here and i devoured it, but for some reason last night's didnt taste the same, but good nonetheless!

Today I had class all day so Patty and Chris did some sightseeing, and tonight I think we're all going to celebrate Arielle's 20th Birthday.

Tomorrow and Wednesday we'll have to cover all the sites, because Thursday I have class, and then we're celebrating THANKSGIVING! and Friday we're going on the school trip to Windsor Castle, then Saturday she leaves!

I haven't really thought about not being home for Thanksgiving. Well, I've thought about it in that I know that I'll miss it and the usual routine, but I haven't thought about how it will be here, i'm sure it's just going to be like any other day, wake up, go to CLASS, and then have a huge dinner? I guess it's nice because we're all in the same boat without our families, etc., so I guess for the day we'll just have to suck it up and be one big happy family! Although I will be thinking about the NPHS football game...maybe.

Ok, time to cook up some stir-fry for dinner! I just finished uploading Edinburgh and more November pictures to snapfish, more to come from patty's visit later once i upload my camera to my computer...adios!

Edinburgh/Random London

so, it's been a while! i'd been meaning to update sooner but i've been working on a paper for my class tonight...see! i do work!

Last weekend was my last trip of the semester (i think) to Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a really nice weekend because I still had all day Friday and all day Sunday in London. Friday we were going to go to the market and picnic in one of the parks but because it gets dark so early, by the time we would have gotten to the park it would have been dark, so we opted instead to go out for Indian food in covent garden. It was actually very good, I hadn't had real indian food since being here, and since it's so popular here I figured I should try it!

After dinner we were going to head back to the tube, but it was so nice out that we decided to walk back. The city is decked out for Christmas already, so the walk down Oxford street past the window displays was beautiful, and it wasn't even that cold out!

After our walk I quickly finished packing, showered, and was off to the bus station for what I thought was an 11:45 pm bus, but what was REALLY an 11:15 bus, no worries, we made it, but...oops! After like 25 planes, trains and buses, i mess up on the last one!

Anyway, my traveling luck continued when I sat next to the LOUDEST girl on the bus...because we were late for the bus we kind of just had to grab seats, luckily I found a window seat, because the girl next to me was sitting on the aisle to talk to her friends, VERY LOUDLY, across the aisle. But I just plugged in my noise-cancellation headphones and fell asleep. honestly, i dont know how people of normal height survive on these buses for more than 4 hours, I could barely feel my knees and ankles afterwards!

We got to Edinburgh around 8 a.m., and then began our 14-hour stay in Scotland...in a coffee shop. BUT, after my blueberry muffin, we started our walk around Edinburgh. We had heard about this free walking tour, so we decided we'd try to catch the 11 a.m. one. We headed up to the Edinburgh castle and decided to tour it. It was actually really cool, it was filled with a bunch of museums and canons, etc. Many people told us to not bother paying to go in, but here wasn't much else to "tour" so we figured we'd splurge and just go in...when in Edinburgh!

It turns out that the 11 a.m. FREE TOUR was FULL?? Don't ask...so we decided we would walk around, have lunch and come back for the 1:00, which is what we did! While walking around we found about 1,000 shops selling kilts, rugby shirts (got one!) and tartan, which is the different types of plaid for each family name...and then i found this...!

Who knew? Unfortunately no where had the "King" tartan, but it was still funny to find the book. The area itself that we were walking around, the "royal mile" was really cool, cobblestone streets, old buildings, the whole 9 yards. However, the area where the bus station was and where we ended up getting dinner was more of a city. I guess I had expected more countryside, but when people asked me how it was I compared it to Dublin.

The tour ended up being really interesting, and a good way to kill 3 hours on the longest day of my life. We walked around the entire city and saw things that I wouldn't have noticed, and learned some history (woo woo)...the tour ended in the Prince Charles gardens which was probably one of my favorite parts:

After the tour it was getting dark, and cold, so we walked around a bit, killed some time in a cafe, then walked around some more, got even colder, and found a great thai place for dinner. By the time we finished eating it was later on so all of the stores were closed, so we just set up shop in the bus station, i changed into my sweatpants and there we sat until our bus at 10:20! The bus back was pretty smooth, minus some annoying american students who didn't shut up...but now i know why everyone hates us!

All in all it was a good trip...i'll leave you with this:

(aunt maur-i got his digits for you!)

Update

So, while nothing much new has happened in the past few days I figured I'd update before leaving for Edinburgh tonight!

Wednesday was spent writing my paper, which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought, so that was a bonus, and Thursday was spent turning in my paper. There--that's the section on school.

All week I have been searching for websites to watch tv shows online, particularly "The Office". Now at home you can just go to nbc.com or abc.com, but those don't work outside the US, and neither do most other websites...HELLO? FOREIGN PEOPLE LIKE AMERICAN TV TOO!!!!

Anyway, I finally found some sites that work and am now downloading Episode 7 of The Office, I'm sure you're relieved.

Moving on--today is my first Friday in London with nothing to do in a very long time, and it's kind of nice...it's currently 2:28 pm and i'm still in my pajamas...woo! Today we're thinking of going on a walk along the Thames, maybe a trip to Borough Market and then possibly picnic-ing in Hyde Park? But who knows, the sky looks questionable so it'll probably rain the second we step foot outside the door...such is life in London!...or syracuse...

Tonight I'm off to an overnight bus to Edinburgh, Scotland. We arrive around 8 a.m. Saturday morning, and then have the whole day to explore, before we get back on another overnight bus at 10:30 p.m. to arrive back in london at 7 a.m. Sunday...phew! I hope I make it!

That's all folks

A Week in the Life

So since the last time I updated, the fam has come and gone, we have a new president-for better or for worse-and it's rained 4 times.

So, backtracking to last week--Monday I had CLASSES, and Monday night I met up with some people to go see a band, Ra Ra Riot play in London. The band was actually started at Syracuse with a bunch of students who used to just play at house parties, and now they're on tour, filming music videos, on Conon O'Brien and David Letterman and in London for the 2nd time this semester! It was pretty cool to see them all the way over here, and to hear them give Syracuse a "shout out."

Since Tuesday is my day with no classes, i plopped my butt on the couch ALL day watching the election. Luckily, out of the only 3 english channels we get they are CNN, BBC and Euronews. It was so weird being over here for the election, even as I traveled throughout Europe, once they heard you were American they'd ask "Ok, so McCain or Obama?"...I think the people over here cared more than some Americans about the election. But now all of that has come and gone so I'll move on.

Wednesday the family arrived! I was suprised on how awake I was for going to bed at 5:30 am (after Obamas speech) and waking up at 10:00, but that didn't last for long. I made my way to the Marriott Grovesner Sq. and met up with my mom, dad and Julie. We then made our way back to my flat to drop off some goods they brought, and for me to stuff the suitcase with things I didn't need anymore. Next stop: pub...you can't come to London and not go to at least one pub, so that's what we did.

The rest of the afternoon we spent walking around the area where I go to school, Holborn, before my class at 7. We did the British Museum, Russell Square, and more importantly, Pizza Express for dinner! After dinner I headed off to class and they headed back to the hotel to fight the jet lag.

Thursday morning we toured the Tower of London, then walked along the Thames to St. Paul's cathedral, we didn't really have time to go in so we just peaked inside, then grabbed lunch before I headed to class a 2. While I was at class they got tickets from TKTS to We Will Rock You, a show based on the music of Queen. It was really cool, we sat 10th row and the show was basically like a concert, except the bright lights and ridiculously loud music left me with a splitting headache the rest of the night-i know, i sound like an old lady-but it was worth it.


Friday we took a day trip to Cambridge. We got really lucky with the weather, it was a beautiful fall day, so we just took the afternoon to walk around the town, mostly spending time at the market that was going on and peaking into whatever schools we could.
That night we met my mom's friend who had moved over here a few years ago for a little while, then had dinner at this AMAZING chinese food place she recommended...mmmm...I can still taste the spring rolls.

Saturday was our day to see all of the little things we hadn't done yet-so we headed to Portobello market for some breakfast (where I got olives for later! mmm), then we went to Covent Garden to walk around and have lunch.

After lunch we went to Harrod's...I had been there once in September, but this time we walked around more and i COULD NOT believe how much crap they have in one building...this is mostly the food i'm talking about. We walked through the initial food hall where they have sandwiches, sushi, etc., into this room with a huge ice cream/gelato bar, huge italian pizzeria bar with a line of people waiting to sit at the counter, bakery, jelly belly area and krispy kreme! I couldn't believe I missed all of this the last time! We then went downstairs to find the bathroom-such is traveling with the Kings-to find this huge wine selection, a full pharmacy and a sit down tapas bar! WHAT! I was in awe, and then, while we were waiting in line for the bathroom there was an ad on the wall for "Mo's Diner" on the 4th floor...this place has too much food for even me!

On another note, the whole store was decorated for Christmas...they get ready so early here, mostly because of no halloween or thanksgiving to prolong the process. They had christmas music playing and everything...just a little too early for me.

After Harrod's my mom's friend picked us up and drove us around, gaving us a mini tour of the city, then back to her house to meet her family. Afterwards she dropped us off for our night ride of the London Eye. I think the Thames area at night is one of my favorite areas of London.

Saturday night I stayed at the hotel in one of the most COMFORTABLE beds ever, it made the transformation into my bed with springs popping out difficult. Sunday morning we had breakfast by the hotel, and then it was already time to say goodbye.

Sunday afternoon I went to a futbol game with my Sociology of Sports class, Fulham vs. Newcastle. It was a good game, Fulham won 2-1, which was good because it was a home game for them, and futbol fans are BRUTAL! Of course it rained the whole time and while we had great seats, they were uncovered, so that was...brutal as well. Yesterday i had CLASS all day, in Photo we had a guest speaker come in, and he showed us how to do more technical things with photoshop, looked at our pictures and told us what to work on, and showed us some of his work. In PR we had a project due, but other than that it was pretty boring as usual.

Today I woke up and the sun was shining, so, since this is a rare occasion, I took advantage of the sun and walked to Regent's Park, a place that I'd heard a lot about but hadn't made it to yet. This park is probably my favorite place in London. First of all, it's HUGE, I kept going to leave and finding a whole other area to explore. It was so pretty at this time of year with the leaves changing and all, and towards the end of my visit the sun was beginning to set (at 4:00, let's not talk about it)...so I got some good pictures.

There was one area of the park that I was looking for but didn't expect to find: Primrose Hill...from the top of this hill you can see just about all of London, it was beautiful!
And just so you can feel like you're sitting at the living room table with me, I'll show you my dinner! I've tried to get more experimental with my cooking because i'm getting tired of the same 4 things over and over again, so tonight it was time for some CAJUN CHICKEN! It tasted better than it looks!