Brighton, Biking and Bowling

So Friday was the school trip to Brighton, which I must say, is my favorite place so far. it felt like we were walking around a movie set, very victorian, reminded me of cape may and nice rolled into one.

The day consisted of mostly eating, which was FINE BY ME! We all ate a light lunch, on the beach might i add, knowing what kind of food the pier would bring. and by food, i mean delicious, hot, sugary doughnuts.The day was probably one of the best days I've had so far, just being with good people relaxing by the water...and eating. The pier consisted of a bunch of typical boardwalk things, so most of our time was spent taking stupid pictures...

To backtrack, Wednesday late afternoon before class I trekked to Covent Garden, expecting, you know, a GARDEN?! but finding a bunch of stores...the area was actually really nice, reminded me a lot of Boston and the Faniel Hall/Quincy Market area

This weekend is the "SU loves London" weekend, so the school planned stuff all weekend to do, and today i signed up for the London Bike Tour. After busting our butts to get there because we had walked right past the meeting point, we finally made it, were given bikes/helmets and were on our way. of course, the meeting place was right along the Thames, and of course this weekend is the Thames River Festival, so my first few minutes on a bike in a few years consisted of me having to weave in and out of thousands of people, little children, and celloists (it was a close call). Not that I'm complaining about riding a bike along the Thames, but it was just a rough way to start off the trip.

My favorite part of the ride was biking over Waterloo bridge there and back, it was amazing to be able to look over each shoulder (but only for a split second as to not hit oncoming traffic) and see such amazing landmarks.

But, of course, guess who got stuck with another sucky tour guide...me! This guy made is start/stop so many times I can't even count, but I have bruises in places I'd rather not mention to prove it. The great thing about the tour is that we got to see so much, but not all of the sights were conducive to 22 bike riders...he took us to leister sq. where we're not even allowed to ride, so we had to walk our bikes, AND chinatown, which...was not a good idea, more weaving and starting/stopping.

Our stops included Hyde Park (and the Princess Diana Memorial), Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Sq., Chinatown, the west end, and whenever the guide decided to dash through traffic lights leaving everyone else on the other side of the road.

...in front of Buckingham Palace

...Hyde Park, reminded me of Florence

...Maggie by the Princess Diana Memorial

One of the hardest things, especially when we were biking in traffic, was the 'left side of the road' thing...i didn't know which way to look for what, so i just kept turning my head! My favorite was how the guide kept yelling at Arielle, the one who rides 500 miles every summer up/down the coast of California to "STAY ON THE LEFT ARIELLE" in his British accent...amazing.

After biking, we ran back to Portobello market in Notting Hill, then I booked it back to the apartment to change before BOWLING! To my suprise, and my team's suprise, I did fairly well for not having bowled in a few years. I found my lucky-bright-pink-8 lb. ball and stuck with it. Overall a really fun time, and it was topped off with a dinner stop at Pizza Hut, where I tried their pasta...I think I'll stick to pizza next time. Another strike out for the search for good Italian food in this city.

Tomorrow is the boat ride to Greenwich, which will include a picnic and hopefully a stop at some markets since last time I had the other sucky tour guide.

Empty Adventures

so, because I don't have Tuesday classes, I thought yesterday would be the perfect opportunity to go online, find something to do and just do it. so I went on 'time out london.com' which is this website that has all the restaurats, museums, etc. for london.

apparently there is a 'museum of brands, packaging and advertising' which has some new display called 'sweet sixities' and it has all these wrappers from candy/food from the sixties. So i, loving candy AND the sixties, decided i'd trek over to the Notting Hill Gate tube stop and venture out. I had looked up directions/street names beforehand, and brought my London A to Z street map, so you'd think it would have been easy to find.

One thing I already hate about London is how all the streets bend and wind, and its not like new york where you can just keep going and make a left and youre back where you started. Every street name has a little different variation in name, but it's just enough to get you lost. Looking online, the museum was on Coville Road, so I FINALLY make it there, and there's Coville Road, Coville Square, Coville Gardens, Coville Mews, etc. So i waunder around for a little bit, in the rain, finding only houses. I ask a police officer, who doesn't even know what I'm talking about, and has to wait for 2 of us coworkers to tell me where to go. I was then directed in a complete square...'go straight down this street to the right, make your first left, then make the second left, then make another left'...no thanks. So I then asked a cab driver, who ALSO didn't know what I was talking about. So, at this point, I just said 'screw it' and somehow found my way back to Portobello Road, ironically right in front of Hummingbird Bakery. So I took that as a sign and went in and got a cupcake.

then, my day of adventure continued when I thought I'd try to go to Harrod's just to see what it's all about. BIG MISTAKE. That place is WAY TOO MUCH TO TAKE. After picking up some souveneirs I wanted to see what this 'food hall' was all about, and like the rest of the store, WAY TOO MUCH TO TAKE...so I ditched.

So while my day of adventure may have been unsuccessful in that I didn't exactly find what I was looking for, i DID find this stationary store and bakery (hummingbird) that I have been told to go to, and picked up some cards/souveneirs, and some postcards to decorate my wall with.

Now I just have to find another adventure to keep me busy until my class tonight...

Stonehenge/Salisbury

So today's another rainy day in foggy town...it's funny because the grim weather really doesn't bother anyone, because we're all so used to the crappy weather of syracuse, so it's kind of like a win-win (or a lose-lose?) The past few days have been very busy so get ready for a long entry with lots of pictures

Friday was the much anticipated (by me) trip to Stonehenge, and Salisbury. The day started off with me realizing that, of course, I got on the bus with the same ANNOYING tour guide I had had during the Greenwich, and the reason that I did not get to see anything besides the restrooms and something historical which I now forget. Anyway, after busting our butts to get the Faraday at 8:30, of course we didn't end up leaving until about 10, which made everyone REALLY HAPPY...and then the stupid guide continued to talk for the first half hour, I'm really suprised he didn't get tomatoes thrown at him...but I just plugged in my ipod and passed out, like usual.

The drive to Salisbury was suprisingly amazing, we drove through beautiful suburbs, fields and things that we wouldn't have normally seen. Upon arriving in Salisbury we took a tour of the Salisbury cathedral, which was beautiful. Of course, the tour guide kept yelling at us to stand in certain places and take pictures "on our own time"...so of course i whipped out my video camera, digital camera, and heavy duty camera...I SHOWED HIM!

Anyway, while we were touring this voice came over the loud speaker (I think it was God), and led everyone in a few prayers, which was pretty cool because now I can say I prayed in the Salisbury Cathedral.
The town of Salisbury was beautiful, but of course all that I got to see was the view from the bus window, because our guide wouldn't stop yakking and went over into our 'free time' for lunch, but luckily I packed a PB&J, so I got to do some exploring.

After Salisbury we were on our way to Stonehenge. Of course, the second the bus parked in the lot it started to down pour. And, of course, today was the day i had neither an umbrella, or a hood. Luckily I was with people more prepared than I was, but the rain prohibited me from getting good pictures/video. Overall I loved Stonehenge, but for some reason I thought you could get a lot closer to it than you really could, there was string like 500 ft. in diameter around the stones. On the bus we were trying to figure out whether Stonehenge really is a wonder of the world, but, if it is, that makes 2/7 for me, including that random post on Turkey...?

Yesterday we went to Notting Hill, where every Saturday there is the Portobello Market, on Portobello Street. I had been wanting to trek to Notting Hill since we've been here so this seemed like the perfect occasion. The area was beautiful, and everything was cheap! I got an avocado, (arielle and i made guacamole), a HUGE doughnut (the only reason i miss dunkin donuts), 2 scarves, and a shirt that has 'London Calling' along the top of a phone booth, which i told myself i had to get because it was fate since thats what i named this baby! Anyway, it was a great outing, and i finally made it to a woolworths since we came across one!

Today I was supposed to go on a walking tour of the East End Markets but when I woke up it was pouring, and then all I could think about was the work I had to do, and how I was just at a market yesterday. And the east end markets we could go to whenever we want, its not like stonehenge where we have no way to get there, it's right in the city, so I went back to bed. But, it's already 2:20 and i'm done with my work, have a load of laundry in and have updated this baby!

Tomorrow means back to classes and Maggie's birthday!