Day 82 4/3/12
Today is the day. It was my official last day in London. I still cannot believe how fast time has flown and how much I have done in the past 3 months. I can honestly tell you that I think I have changed as a person and I hope for the better.
What did I do today? I went back to Piccadilly Circus with Jordan to Waterstones, the bookstore once again. We were trying to find a book for her grandfather. He's quite hard to find the perfect gift for. We eventually did and then we went downstairs to Costa because I needed some caffeine I was that exhausted. I was so tired my knees were starting to buckle so I knew I needed a wake up drink stat! It helped and Jordan paid for her book. Oh I forgot to mention before that we went to Cool Britannia another souvenir shop. I got a little West Ham bag that I cannot wait to start using and picked up some tissues for the plane ride. I think I have a cold but to be honest I have no idea what it is. Then after that we went to Waterstones. Oh did I mention we walked right by a movie set for the movie Rushed? Yes, we did. We did not see anyone but there was a taxi set up in the middle of Piccadilly and they changed the underground sign. It was pretty cool. I found out later today that Jordan and I missed Demi Lovato because she was exactly where we were but I have no idea at what time. After all of that we went to Oxford since I wanted to get some shorts. I went to the store New Look and ended up getting two shirts ( 2 for 10 pounds) and some cute shorts. I was happy and then we headed back. Chilled in the flatt for a while. Then Michelle and I went to Primark for one last time. I picked up some more stockings since I love the style and wanted to make sure I was fully stocked on them. After that headed back to the flatt. Did some more packing, cleaning up and all that fun stuff. At around 7pm Jordan, Michelle and I started making dinner with all the food we had left. We made on big pot luck dinner which of course non of the guys joined in on. Go figure. It was nice we had broccolli with cheese, corn, corn bread, pasta, fries, meatloaf. It was quite good and very filling. After that we went back to packing, chilling out and then took a nap. I personally do not plan on sleeping to help with my sleep scheduele when i get back home. Especially since we have to be outside by 4:30am. Sleep is not worth it. So, now I am just writing my blog, charging my phones, ipod, and anything else I need and then will finish packing soon. I am just about done and I will be praying its less than 50lbs. Last time I checked it was 49 and all of my other bags are completely full. Thank God I just have one flight and now I have to pray my bag will FIT in the overhead. I'm a tad weak so lifting it up will be an adventure and especially since I have a beyond bloated back pack to bring on the plane as well.... Oh I hope it goes by fast! So excited to go home!!!! I love Europe, I really do but everyone needs to go home after a while. I'm excited to remember what American Culture is all about. The best part is I can come back legal =].
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Day 81 4/2/12
Day 81 4/2/12
Monday! Today started off meeting at St. Pauls Cathedral at 10am ( YES! The last cathedral! I'm sorry but I have been in more churches/cathedrals that can last me a life time). We looked around for a bit then climbed to the very top to see a beautiful view of London. It was over 1000 steps going up and down. My legs were shaking it was a good experience but you need to be fit as well as not claustrophobic. It was worth it and that was defiantly my exercise for the day. It was a gorgeous view and it made up for me not paying to go on the London eye. I can at least say I've been there about ten times now just not actually up on it. After that I headed back with Jordan. I had to go mail something and she wanted to grab lunch because she had to go out to do something. We ended up eating together at a southern fried chicken place. Then we headed off to Mailbox etc to go mail some of my stuff out. They were holding it since i had some paperwork to fill out still. After that Jordan was trying to figure out where she had to go to get to the Royal College. Luckily she found some internet while standing out in the middle of the sidewalk. It was quite strange and random but who cares, free internet is free internet! She found out where it was she had to go and we were off! After that we went to Starbucks to use their internet to find out where Waterstones was. Was not helpful but we figured it out. So, yes we went back to Piccadilly. Found the bookstore and it reminded me a bit of a Barnes and noble. I bought the Hunger Games ( I now have to move on from Chapter 4). It'll eventually happen. After that we had to head back to get ready for our party tonight at Tiger Tiger. It was our programs party since it was the end of the semester. Of course it would be held at one of the most happening clubs on a Monday night. We got back , got dressed left around 6:10pm with Michelle and Shelby. It was quite nice. We had the cloud lounge to ourselves for a few hours. It was fun hanging out with everyone for our last real night out in London. After a while though the club started to get extremely crowded. I ended up making out with one guy named Brendan for like a minute (sloppy kisser). Then I met a set of twins whose birthday was today and of course made out with one of them. At least I can say I made out with a twin from London on a professional football team. Sadly, I don't remember the team nor his name. But, he had nice arms and was quite fit. I had no problem with. Oh did I mention I was just about sober the whole night. Nothing was really working for me. After a while the club started to get very annoying. It was extremely crowded and it was only me, Jordan and Michelle left. I just wanted to go home to pack and I had things to do Tuesday before I left. It was an adventure lets say trying to get out of the club. We finally did and then headed back to the flatts. I got ready for bed, packed more, and just went online for a while until I went to sleep. That was my last Monday night in London. I would say I was quite productive.
Monday! Today started off meeting at St. Pauls Cathedral at 10am ( YES! The last cathedral! I'm sorry but I have been in more churches/cathedrals that can last me a life time). We looked around for a bit then climbed to the very top to see a beautiful view of London. It was over 1000 steps going up and down. My legs were shaking it was a good experience but you need to be fit as well as not claustrophobic. It was worth it and that was defiantly my exercise for the day. It was a gorgeous view and it made up for me not paying to go on the London eye. I can at least say I've been there about ten times now just not actually up on it. After that I headed back with Jordan. I had to go mail something and she wanted to grab lunch because she had to go out to do something. We ended up eating together at a southern fried chicken place. Then we headed off to Mailbox etc to go mail some of my stuff out. They were holding it since i had some paperwork to fill out still. After that Jordan was trying to figure out where she had to go to get to the Royal College. Luckily she found some internet while standing out in the middle of the sidewalk. It was quite strange and random but who cares, free internet is free internet! She found out where it was she had to go and we were off! After that we went to Starbucks to use their internet to find out where Waterstones was. Was not helpful but we figured it out. So, yes we went back to Piccadilly. Found the bookstore and it reminded me a bit of a Barnes and noble. I bought the Hunger Games ( I now have to move on from Chapter 4). It'll eventually happen. After that we had to head back to get ready for our party tonight at Tiger Tiger. It was our programs party since it was the end of the semester. Of course it would be held at one of the most happening clubs on a Monday night. We got back , got dressed left around 6:10pm with Michelle and Shelby. It was quite nice. We had the cloud lounge to ourselves for a few hours. It was fun hanging out with everyone for our last real night out in London. After a while though the club started to get extremely crowded. I ended up making out with one guy named Brendan for like a minute (sloppy kisser). Then I met a set of twins whose birthday was today and of course made out with one of them. At least I can say I made out with a twin from London on a professional football team. Sadly, I don't remember the team nor his name. But, he had nice arms and was quite fit. I had no problem with. Oh did I mention I was just about sober the whole night. Nothing was really working for me. After a while the club started to get very annoying. It was extremely crowded and it was only me, Jordan and Michelle left. I just wanted to go home to pack and I had things to do Tuesday before I left. It was an adventure lets say trying to get out of the club. We finally did and then headed back to the flatts. I got ready for bed, packed more, and just went online for a while until I went to sleep. That was my last Monday night in London. I would say I was quite productive.
Day 80 4/1/12
Day 80 4/1/12
Sunday. My last sunday in London! Its bittersweet to be honest. I slept in. It felt great. The day started off relaxed and then we (Jordan, Michelle, Amanda and I) headed to Abbey road! That was actually a lot of fun. Also, learned that its really hard to take a picture in the middle of the road trying to look like the Beatles... Cars dont like that..... I failed at it because apparently I kept leaning forward. Why? I have no idea. I also do not like being in the middle of the street. I do not care if the cars have to stop I do not trust them! The whole thing probably took at least 3o minutes. Sadly, we could not even do it at the right cross road since there was construction and who wants that in their picture? No one. We walked down to Abbey Road studios which was pretty awesome. Its amazing how close we were to it! Then we hopped onto a bus to head to Piccadilly to check out Waterstones (largest bookstore in Europe). Sadly, we did not make it in time. Instead we went to eat one last time at Pizza Express. I wish they had them in the states. They have really good food! After that we did a little souvenir shopping at a cute inexpensive shop. After that we found this delicious cinnabun place. It was very tasty! After that adventure we headed back home. I went to the off license to pick up some trash bags since I needed to pack/get ready to move out/throw stuff out reasons. After that I went back to the flatts did a little packing and just chilled for the rest of the night. Had to get up early tomorrow to head to St. Pauls Cathedral.
Sunday. My last sunday in London! Its bittersweet to be honest. I slept in. It felt great. The day started off relaxed and then we (Jordan, Michelle, Amanda and I) headed to Abbey road! That was actually a lot of fun. Also, learned that its really hard to take a picture in the middle of the road trying to look like the Beatles... Cars dont like that..... I failed at it because apparently I kept leaning forward. Why? I have no idea. I also do not like being in the middle of the street. I do not care if the cars have to stop I do not trust them! The whole thing probably took at least 3o minutes. Sadly, we could not even do it at the right cross road since there was construction and who wants that in their picture? No one. We walked down to Abbey Road studios which was pretty awesome. Its amazing how close we were to it! Then we hopped onto a bus to head to Piccadilly to check out Waterstones (largest bookstore in Europe). Sadly, we did not make it in time. Instead we went to eat one last time at Pizza Express. I wish they had them in the states. They have really good food! After that we did a little souvenir shopping at a cute inexpensive shop. After that we found this delicious cinnabun place. It was very tasty! After that adventure we headed back home. I went to the off license to pick up some trash bags since I needed to pack/get ready to move out/throw stuff out reasons. After that I went back to the flatts did a little packing and just chilled for the rest of the night. Had to get up early tomorrow to head to St. Pauls Cathedral.
Day 79 3/3/12
Day 79 3/31/12
Today was a pretty chill day. I went to Mailbox etc. to mail out some stuff to home. I have a lot to bring home. Then I came back to the flatts and basically chilled there for a few hours. Then I went for a walk and checked out some stores on Kilburn. Its nice to just walk a lone for a while. Then I came back and chilled some more. Later I went out one last time with my roommates (Jordan and Michelle). We went to the westbury. It was not that amazing but decent. I had my crack-baby (shot) and I pre-gammed with the girls but I really was not that drunk at all. We came back fairly early and since Westbury is close its not bad of a walk. After we came back I basically got ready for bed and just went online then went to bed as usual.
Today was a pretty chill day. I went to Mailbox etc. to mail out some stuff to home. I have a lot to bring home. Then I came back to the flatts and basically chilled there for a few hours. Then I went for a walk and checked out some stores on Kilburn. Its nice to just walk a lone for a while. Then I came back and chilled some more. Later I went out one last time with my roommates (Jordan and Michelle). We went to the westbury. It was not that amazing but decent. I had my crack-baby (shot) and I pre-gammed with the girls but I really was not that drunk at all. We came back fairly early and since Westbury is close its not bad of a walk. After we came back I basically got ready for bed and just went online then went to bed as usual.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Day 78 3/30/12
Day 78 3/30/12
Today was ours! I slept in and it felt amazing! I went to hyde and Kensington Park with Krista today. It was fun. We left the flatts around 2pm and got on the bus. We got to Hyde park and walked around for a bit. We found this really cool looking tree of flowers and decided to hang out in there for a bit. We were just having some laughs and picture taking moments. Then we kept on walking because it was probably best we didnt eat lunch under that tree with all the flower petals falling into our food. We found this nice log to sit on. It was very relaxing and it was a beautiful day out. We had our lunch and finished with some desert of Matzah and Jaffa cakes dipped in Nutella. Obviously it was a good desert. Then we kept on walking and soon ended up in Kennsignton Park. We were now on the hunt for Peter Pan the statue! I remember my cousin, Tiffany telling me about it and how she wanted me to go see it. On the way we some cool fountains and I even saw a man that looked like Dru Wakely from the Midnight Beast. No it was not him. Yes, I was sad because I really wanted to run into one of the members because I love their music so much! Oh well then we started to walk near the river and it was beautiful and soon enough we found Peter Pan! Thats right folks I traveled to and from Never-land in the matter of a few minutes! The statue was quite nice and very well sculptured. It was very cool and worth checking out. Then we kept on walking to try and find Princess Diana's fountain. It was by the water and it was a very beautiful scene. When we found it you could hear all the little children screaming.\laughing having so much fun. It was interesting. At first I had no idea why that would be her fountain if people could jump in it. It was like a water path. Its hard to explain its very interesting. I of course had to put my feet in it. Krista and I just sat at the edge and put our feet in the freezing water. It was fun and then I started to walk around. It not only hurt from the cold water numbing my feet but the way they formed the ground. It was really odd. Still fun though. Then we put our shoes back on found a nice spot on the grass and started to read. I started the Hunger games. After about an hour and a half it started to get a bit colder so Krista and I headed back. I got to the flatts and chilled out for a while. Then later Jordan and I went to Baker street to the movie theatre to go see the Hunger Games. It was a good movie but I prefer the book. Not going to lie but if Josh Hutcherson ever wants to be my Peeta he sure as hell can! =]. The movie theater was cute looking it didnt even look like a theatre. You could get dinner and all this fancy stuff and the way it was set just looked like a nice restaurant not a theater. It was unique. After the movie Jordan and I headed back to the flatts and just did a few little things and then went to bed.
Today was ours! I slept in and it felt amazing! I went to hyde and Kensington Park with Krista today. It was fun. We left the flatts around 2pm and got on the bus. We got to Hyde park and walked around for a bit. We found this really cool looking tree of flowers and decided to hang out in there for a bit. We were just having some laughs and picture taking moments. Then we kept on walking because it was probably best we didnt eat lunch under that tree with all the flower petals falling into our food. We found this nice log to sit on. It was very relaxing and it was a beautiful day out. We had our lunch and finished with some desert of Matzah and Jaffa cakes dipped in Nutella. Obviously it was a good desert. Then we kept on walking and soon ended up in Kennsignton Park. We were now on the hunt for Peter Pan the statue! I remember my cousin, Tiffany telling me about it and how she wanted me to go see it. On the way we some cool fountains and I even saw a man that looked like Dru Wakely from the Midnight Beast. No it was not him. Yes, I was sad because I really wanted to run into one of the members because I love their music so much! Oh well then we started to walk near the river and it was beautiful and soon enough we found Peter Pan! Thats right folks I traveled to and from Never-land in the matter of a few minutes! The statue was quite nice and very well sculptured. It was very cool and worth checking out. Then we kept on walking to try and find Princess Diana's fountain. It was by the water and it was a very beautiful scene. When we found it you could hear all the little children screaming.\laughing having so much fun. It was interesting. At first I had no idea why that would be her fountain if people could jump in it. It was like a water path. Its hard to explain its very interesting. I of course had to put my feet in it. Krista and I just sat at the edge and put our feet in the freezing water. It was fun and then I started to walk around. It not only hurt from the cold water numbing my feet but the way they formed the ground. It was really odd. Still fun though. Then we put our shoes back on found a nice spot on the grass and started to read. I started the Hunger games. After about an hour and a half it started to get a bit colder so Krista and I headed back. I got to the flatts and chilled out for a while. Then later Jordan and I went to Baker street to the movie theatre to go see the Hunger Games. It was a good movie but I prefer the book. Not going to lie but if Josh Hutcherson ever wants to be my Peeta he sure as hell can! =]. The movie theater was cute looking it didnt even look like a theatre. You could get dinner and all this fancy stuff and the way it was set just looked like a nice restaurant not a theater. It was unique. After the movie Jordan and I headed back to the flatts and just did a few little things and then went to bed.
Day 77 3/28/12
Day 77 3/28/12
Last class of the semester!!! I was so excited! First it started off with taping our dialogues for theatre. That was an interesting time. Then came Math class where I had to do my presentation... Oh boy was that fun! I did mess up on a few things but it went alright. Then came British Life and Culture..... I don't even want to talk about that class. After that I went back to the flatts and then I headed out to the London eye with Shelby and Jordan. We were going to meet with the Art History class to do some tagging in a tunnel. It was quite fun and yes, this was legal. I can now say I have left my mark in London. Because of that I ended up getting spray paint on my fingers so I was a bit annoyed at myself for that since I was going to a show right after but oh well it was fine. I went to Picccadilly Circus to go see Les Mis! I was so excited! This is one of the few shows I have wanted to see but never could. Especially since it does not play in the USA only in Europe. I was even more excited because I had second row seats! Row B seat 9. Amazing seats! I saw everything clearly and it was mind blowing!!! Defiantly worth going to see. I know the tickets were a little pricy but it was honestly worth it! At the end of the show I went to the stage door to meet the cast. As usual they didnt stop and its hard to recognize some of them out of costume. I did get a few autographs and met the main star. He was so nice! I even met two girls (one londoner, one liver poolian). They were very nice and loved the show as well. Though I think they preferred Wicked since one of the girls had seen it 9 times and counting. It was really quite fun and then I came home and basically relaxed and went to bed not long after.
Last class of the semester!!! I was so excited! First it started off with taping our dialogues for theatre. That was an interesting time. Then came Math class where I had to do my presentation... Oh boy was that fun! I did mess up on a few things but it went alright. Then came British Life and Culture..... I don't even want to talk about that class. After that I went back to the flatts and then I headed out to the London eye with Shelby and Jordan. We were going to meet with the Art History class to do some tagging in a tunnel. It was quite fun and yes, this was legal. I can now say I have left my mark in London. Because of that I ended up getting spray paint on my fingers so I was a bit annoyed at myself for that since I was going to a show right after but oh well it was fine. I went to Picccadilly Circus to go see Les Mis! I was so excited! This is one of the few shows I have wanted to see but never could. Especially since it does not play in the USA only in Europe. I was even more excited because I had second row seats! Row B seat 9. Amazing seats! I saw everything clearly and it was mind blowing!!! Defiantly worth going to see. I know the tickets were a little pricy but it was honestly worth it! At the end of the show I went to the stage door to meet the cast. As usual they didnt stop and its hard to recognize some of them out of costume. I did get a few autographs and met the main star. He was so nice! I even met two girls (one londoner, one liver poolian). They were very nice and loved the show as well. Though I think they preferred Wicked since one of the girls had seen it 9 times and counting. It was really quite fun and then I came home and basically relaxed and went to bed not long after.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Day 76 3/27/12
Day 76 3/27/12
Happy Birthday to me! Yes, that is correct today is the day I celebrate my 21st Birthday!! It is funny when you think about it my sister who is two minutes older than me celebrated her 21st 6 hours after me. I started the day off by going to class (Pop music) and I was excited because he was suppose to play some spice girls today (something he dreaded). Sadly it turned out he didn't. I was kind of bummed out about it. After that class I went back to the flatt and I was bored just sitting waiting for tonight to happen so I decided to do some shopping. I went to Primark and bought some cute tights (They actually fit!!!) and then I bought some nice red high heels. Yes, that was a Kellie Pickler reference. I was pretty excited for tonight because I thought it would be fun! Got back to the flatt and just hung out for a while and facebooked and all that fun stuff. After that I showered and started to get ready for tonight. We were going to Planet Hollywood. Around 6:30ish pm Jordan, Krista, Shelby and myself headed to Planet Hollywood. Michelle, Amanda, Brittany and Vikki were meeting us down there. I learned heels were a BAD idea! I could barely walk I was in that much pain. Then we got to Planet Hollywood and we ordered this HUGE drink for 20 pounds. We got the titanic cocktail. it was actually quite good. Then I almost spilled it because I put my heels on the chair as I do with most of the time and my heels got caught and I almost fell flat on the table. Scared me and the girls.... Good Brooke clutsy moment right there. It was classy. It was amusing. Then we soon got seated and got some drinks and dinner. It was a fun time and I even got my name to come up on the screen "Happy Birthday Brook. Have a lovely day." Too bad my name is spelled Brooke. Oh well it was still nice. Still a fun night. Then Brittany, Amanda, Jordan, Michelle, Krista and I all headed to a pub/bar named Adventure in covent garden. It was quite fun. Allie and Kara came a little while after. We were having fun and we ended up taking about 6 shots each of skittles since there was a deal. By the end of the night I had at least 8 shots and was barely tipsy. I also had some guys come over and wish me a happy birthday. I got kissed on the cheek by about five different men. My favorite (didnt kiss me on the cheek) was this guy Will. He looked like Draco Malfoy but was way cuter! He was sober and still having a light conversation with me! I was quite excited but when he stopped after a bit I was like dam! Oh well everything happens for a reason. It was a great night nonetheless. One of my favorite moments was when we all (Krista, Jordan, Michelle, Amanda, Kara, Brittany, Allie) were on the tube. Allie and Kara were just HILARIOUS! I can also now say that I had people sing Happy birthday to me on the tube! Good thing it was the last tube of the night since a lot of people minus the one guy cracking up was not enjoying the song. I loved it and thought it was so amusing! It was a great end to an amazing night! Everyone told me that 21 was not a great birthday to have in London but a lot of the Londoners came up to me and were like "that's awesome your 21" ::high five::. It was great. Plus how many people do you know got sung to on a tube? I doubt many.
Forgot to mention that on the way back my shoes were so painful and we had to make sure we caught the last tube I walked barefoot. Now how many people do you know can say they walked around London barefoot? I used a lot of dis-infective wipes on my feet that night.
Happy Birthday to me! Yes, that is correct today is the day I celebrate my 21st Birthday!! It is funny when you think about it my sister who is two minutes older than me celebrated her 21st 6 hours after me. I started the day off by going to class (Pop music) and I was excited because he was suppose to play some spice girls today (something he dreaded). Sadly it turned out he didn't. I was kind of bummed out about it. After that class I went back to the flatt and I was bored just sitting waiting for tonight to happen so I decided to do some shopping. I went to Primark and bought some cute tights (They actually fit!!!) and then I bought some nice red high heels. Yes, that was a Kellie Pickler reference. I was pretty excited for tonight because I thought it would be fun! Got back to the flatt and just hung out for a while and facebooked and all that fun stuff. After that I showered and started to get ready for tonight. We were going to Planet Hollywood. Around 6:30ish pm Jordan, Krista, Shelby and myself headed to Planet Hollywood. Michelle, Amanda, Brittany and Vikki were meeting us down there. I learned heels were a BAD idea! I could barely walk I was in that much pain. Then we got to Planet Hollywood and we ordered this HUGE drink for 20 pounds. We got the titanic cocktail. it was actually quite good. Then I almost spilled it because I put my heels on the chair as I do with most of the time and my heels got caught and I almost fell flat on the table. Scared me and the girls.... Good Brooke clutsy moment right there. It was classy. It was amusing. Then we soon got seated and got some drinks and dinner. It was a fun time and I even got my name to come up on the screen "Happy Birthday Brook. Have a lovely day." Too bad my name is spelled Brooke. Oh well it was still nice. Still a fun night. Then Brittany, Amanda, Jordan, Michelle, Krista and I all headed to a pub/bar named Adventure in covent garden. It was quite fun. Allie and Kara came a little while after. We were having fun and we ended up taking about 6 shots each of skittles since there was a deal. By the end of the night I had at least 8 shots and was barely tipsy. I also had some guys come over and wish me a happy birthday. I got kissed on the cheek by about five different men. My favorite (didnt kiss me on the cheek) was this guy Will. He looked like Draco Malfoy but was way cuter! He was sober and still having a light conversation with me! I was quite excited but when he stopped after a bit I was like dam! Oh well everything happens for a reason. It was a great night nonetheless. One of my favorite moments was when we all (Krista, Jordan, Michelle, Amanda, Kara, Brittany, Allie) were on the tube. Allie and Kara were just HILARIOUS! I can also now say that I had people sing Happy birthday to me on the tube! Good thing it was the last tube of the night since a lot of people minus the one guy cracking up was not enjoying the song. I loved it and thought it was so amusing! It was a great end to an amazing night! Everyone told me that 21 was not a great birthday to have in London but a lot of the Londoners came up to me and were like "that's awesome your 21" ::high five::. It was great. Plus how many people do you know got sung to on a tube? I doubt many.
Forgot to mention that on the way back my shoes were so painful and we had to make sure we caught the last tube I walked barefoot. Now how many people do you know can say they walked around London barefoot? I used a lot of dis-infective wipes on my feet that night.
Day 75 3/26/12
Day 75 3/26/12
Monday. Class. Fun stuff.... Not really. That was my morning. Then my afternoon I had come back to the flatt and basically stayed there for most of the day. Then I took a shower got dressed for the show we were going to see. We were going to see Alice in Wonderland at the opera house as a ballet. At 5pm Krista came over and we had dinner and then we left with Jordan and Shelby to head to covent garden to the opera house. When we got there Dr. Peirece told us that they had two seats that were better than the rest. She told us she would have us all pick a number and who ever was closest could have the seats. Michelle and Krista were the closest. Michelle ended up giving her seat to Phillipa (one of the teachers/tutors) because she wanted to sit with her mother and grandma that came to visit her. Next thing I know was Phillipa offered me the ticket. The view really was amazing! It was a great performance and I really enjoyed it. It was odd not sitting with the rest of the group because I felt as if we (Krista and I) had come without them. Oh well, it was still great and then after that we went home and caught up with most of the group. We got home and basically chilled out then went to bed.
Monday. Class. Fun stuff.... Not really. That was my morning. Then my afternoon I had come back to the flatt and basically stayed there for most of the day. Then I took a shower got dressed for the show we were going to see. We were going to see Alice in Wonderland at the opera house as a ballet. At 5pm Krista came over and we had dinner and then we left with Jordan and Shelby to head to covent garden to the opera house. When we got there Dr. Peirece told us that they had two seats that were better than the rest. She told us she would have us all pick a number and who ever was closest could have the seats. Michelle and Krista were the closest. Michelle ended up giving her seat to Phillipa (one of the teachers/tutors) because she wanted to sit with her mother and grandma that came to visit her. Next thing I know was Phillipa offered me the ticket. The view really was amazing! It was a great performance and I really enjoyed it. It was odd not sitting with the rest of the group because I felt as if we (Krista and I) had come without them. Oh well, it was still great and then after that we went home and caught up with most of the group. We got home and basically chilled out then went to bed.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Day 74 3/25/12
Day 74 3/25/12
Well today I did not have a great start. Woke up hungover and yes I did get sick... I dont even want to think of it anymore it was not a fun morning. The basics happend we got dressed/packed up/ate breakfast then headed out. We did a hop on hop off tour before we had to get to the ferry. It was a nice tour and I ended up falling asleep through some of it which was fine because I felt a lot better after that. Then we headed back to the bus station to catch the bus for the ferry. The rest of the day was basically more traveling. The only problem was of course with the trains. Our first train was suppose to take us to Crew but decided to take us to Chester instead. It was a one stop difference so no one understood why the couldnt go to the next stop. They then told us to go to platform 7 then they told us to go back on the train and this happened for a good 5-10 minutes where people got on and off the train. The workers had no idea what was happening. It was that bad. Then finally someone got on the train asked where everyone was going and unanamously Crew was said. The guy then told us to get off the train and next thing we knew we had to jet on over to platform 3 not 7! It was really obnoxious. That was the main story of the night and we didnt get back until 11:30pm which we went to bed not long after.
Well today I did not have a great start. Woke up hungover and yes I did get sick... I dont even want to think of it anymore it was not a fun morning. The basics happend we got dressed/packed up/ate breakfast then headed out. We did a hop on hop off tour before we had to get to the ferry. It was a nice tour and I ended up falling asleep through some of it which was fine because I felt a lot better after that. Then we headed back to the bus station to catch the bus for the ferry. The rest of the day was basically more traveling. The only problem was of course with the trains. Our first train was suppose to take us to Crew but decided to take us to Chester instead. It was a one stop difference so no one understood why the couldnt go to the next stop. They then told us to go to platform 7 then they told us to go back on the train and this happened for a good 5-10 minutes where people got on and off the train. The workers had no idea what was happening. It was that bad. Then finally someone got on the train asked where everyone was going and unanamously Crew was said. The guy then told us to get off the train and next thing we knew we had to jet on over to platform 3 not 7! It was really obnoxious. That was the main story of the night and we didnt get back until 11:30pm which we went to bed not long after.
Day 73 3/24/12
Day 73 3/24/12
Woke up nice and early got ready ate some breakfest at the hostel and then headed off to the train station. Why? Because today Jordan, Vikki and I were going to head out to the Island of Bray. It was about an hour long train ride. We first looked for a place to buy lunch to take with us since we were going to go hike up on the cliff at Bray. We found a place then headed up the cliff (there was a trail). It was really beautiful and it was an amazing day which made it even better! The ocean was so crystal blue and breath taking. We did not climb the whole thing but we did climb up to a grass section on the side of the cliff and ate our lunch. Of course I was the only one who had the ant issue and the whole trying not to fall off the cliff and getting hit by some of the thorn bushes while getting to the little area we ate at. It was all worth it and it was so beautiful! After a while we headed back to the train station to head back to Dublin. We were going on a pub crawl! We got back to the hostel and got ready and then headed out for the pub crawl and on the way picked up some McDonalds to get some dinner. Krista met us at the first pub for the pub crawl. In all the pub crawl was not that bad and I know for sure that I was drunk that night. But I enjoyed myself even though I think the best pub crawl I was on was in Scotland.
Woke up nice and early got ready ate some breakfest at the hostel and then headed off to the train station. Why? Because today Jordan, Vikki and I were going to head out to the Island of Bray. It was about an hour long train ride. We first looked for a place to buy lunch to take with us since we were going to go hike up on the cliff at Bray. We found a place then headed up the cliff (there was a trail). It was really beautiful and it was an amazing day which made it even better! The ocean was so crystal blue and breath taking. We did not climb the whole thing but we did climb up to a grass section on the side of the cliff and ate our lunch. Of course I was the only one who had the ant issue and the whole trying not to fall off the cliff and getting hit by some of the thorn bushes while getting to the little area we ate at. It was all worth it and it was so beautiful! After a while we headed back to the train station to head back to Dublin. We were going on a pub crawl! We got back to the hostel and got ready and then headed out for the pub crawl and on the way picked up some McDonalds to get some dinner. Krista met us at the first pub for the pub crawl. In all the pub crawl was not that bad and I know for sure that I was drunk that night. But I enjoyed myself even though I think the best pub crawl I was on was in Scotland.
Day 72 3/23/12
Day 72 3/23/12
Today is Friday! I had class in the morning but who cares about that. After class I was heading to Ireland with Jordan and Vikki and Krista was going to meet us tomorrow. It was mostly a traveling day and in total it was about 7 hours. We did have some problems with our trains. The first train we almost missed but it turns out that someone got sick and they had to find a replacement and that took 15 minutes. Not a big deal unless you had another train to catch and you only had a 10 minute period to catch it. Yea, the three of us were freaking out a bit. They told us that we would be able to make the next train. The second train almost left us. If we didnt run as fast as we did we would have missed it. Then after that train we took a ferry and it was a pretty big ferry and that was about an hours ride. Soon enough we were in DUBLIN, IRELAND! It was night time of course maybe around 8ish pm since we had left around noon and it was a 7 hour traveling day. We attempted to find out hostel after taking the bus from the ferry to the bus station. We asked some older gentlemen who noticed we were lost and asked if they could help. They suggested we took a cab because it would be hard to find unless you know the area. We took a cab and it was only 9 Euros between the 3 of us which was not bad at all. We settled into the hostel and then went to find out a pub to eat dinner at and figure out what we would do for tomorrow. Found a pub named Temple bar and ate there. I tried my first and last Guinness there.... Yuck..... But I did finish it! Then we went back to the hostel to look up more details for what we wanted to do and then we went to bed because we were exhausted!
Today is Friday! I had class in the morning but who cares about that. After class I was heading to Ireland with Jordan and Vikki and Krista was going to meet us tomorrow. It was mostly a traveling day and in total it was about 7 hours. We did have some problems with our trains. The first train we almost missed but it turns out that someone got sick and they had to find a replacement and that took 15 minutes. Not a big deal unless you had another train to catch and you only had a 10 minute period to catch it. Yea, the three of us were freaking out a bit. They told us that we would be able to make the next train. The second train almost left us. If we didnt run as fast as we did we would have missed it. Then after that train we took a ferry and it was a pretty big ferry and that was about an hours ride. Soon enough we were in DUBLIN, IRELAND! It was night time of course maybe around 8ish pm since we had left around noon and it was a 7 hour traveling day. We attempted to find out hostel after taking the bus from the ferry to the bus station. We asked some older gentlemen who noticed we were lost and asked if they could help. They suggested we took a cab because it would be hard to find unless you know the area. We took a cab and it was only 9 Euros between the 3 of us which was not bad at all. We settled into the hostel and then went to find out a pub to eat dinner at and figure out what we would do for tomorrow. Found a pub named Temple bar and ate there. I tried my first and last Guinness there.... Yuck..... But I did finish it! Then we went back to the hostel to look up more details for what we wanted to do and then we went to bed because we were exhausted!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Day 71 3/22/12
Day 71 3/22/12
Thursday! Honestly nothing fun happened. I went to school at 10:30am and arrived at 11am for math class at 11:30am. That went on until 2:15 and I just stayed at the school and browsed online. I get to use youtube without being timed/eating my mega bites up. Then I had class at 2:45 pm British life and culture. It was mostly presentations. I am a bit nervous for mine and I go tomorrow. Hopefully I can get it to 4 minutes. Then at 4:30pm I met with Gareth my theater teacher to go over the dualouge with my partner Amy for next week. Then I stayed at the college with Jordan finishing up all the crazy amount of work I have left to do. Yes, I watched more youtube videos but I got my work done which is all that matters. Then I went to testco to pick something up quickly. If you really need to know it was pads. I'm a girl deal with it. Now I'm just finishing up some more work and writing this blog. I did get to shower so I was happy bout that and I am finishing up some packing for IRELAND TOMORROW!!!!
Thursday! Honestly nothing fun happened. I went to school at 10:30am and arrived at 11am for math class at 11:30am. That went on until 2:15 and I just stayed at the school and browsed online. I get to use youtube without being timed/eating my mega bites up. Then I had class at 2:45 pm British life and culture. It was mostly presentations. I am a bit nervous for mine and I go tomorrow. Hopefully I can get it to 4 minutes. Then at 4:30pm I met with Gareth my theater teacher to go over the dualouge with my partner Amy for next week. Then I stayed at the college with Jordan finishing up all the crazy amount of work I have left to do. Yes, I watched more youtube videos but I got my work done which is all that matters. Then I went to testco to pick something up quickly. If you really need to know it was pads. I'm a girl deal with it. Now I'm just finishing up some more work and writing this blog. I did get to shower so I was happy bout that and I am finishing up some packing for IRELAND TOMORROW!!!!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Day 70 3/21/12
3/21/12 Day 70
Today was the day where I felt a bit out of the group. Today we had the bike ride. Guess what? I cannot ride a bike. I use to be ashamed but now a day I really do not care. I never really needed a bike anyway. I can just walk and now I have my license so I can drive. I took a train with Amanda’s (my GA) mom who was unable to go on the bike ride and was visiting for the week. It was about a an hours journey which was not bad. We then met up with the rest of the group around noon for a picnic. It was a nice day out so it was nice. Then we went to visit the palace at Hampton court. That is where we were also having our picnic out. We went to check out the palace which is quite beautiful. It is where Henry the 8th lived. It was huge and the paintings and designs of the buildings were gorgeous. My favorite part of the trip was getting to see the gardens. They were breath taking and I decided those are the types of garden I would like to have my wedding at one day. It was a great experience and it helped that the weather was very nice out! Around 4:30pm a group of us headed back home and we got home around 5pm but Jordan and I had to do a little grocery shopping. Then got back to the flat went to the bathroom, checked my email, cooked dinner and now I am writing this lovely blog about my day.
Random side note:
I only have about 2 more weeks left and to be honest I am more than ready to go home. I just want to go to Ireland this weekend and then I am just ready to hop back on a flight and go home! I love London but I miss my home. I miss my friends, family, dog (sparky). I just miss it all so much.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Day 69 3/20/12
Day 69 3/20/12
Tuesday! Oh today seriously was not entertaining at all. All I did was go to class at 9am then stayed until 6pm working on homework. The only great part of my day was skyping with Amanda. That is honestly all I did today and I still have a lot to do! I cannot wait for Friday!!!!!!!
Day 68 3/19/12
Day 68 3/19/12
I know I have not updated in a bit but I have fallen behind. I figured before I fall too far behind that this could be one week I skip over and possibly come back to. But, lets talk about today, Monday. I had class as usual in the morning. Then afterwards I came to the flat. I planned on getting some work done so I ate lunch and then headed off to Starbucks. I figured it would help me save some internet. Yea right! I stayed for an hour and a half just to have the internet not work! I wanted to seriously cry because I really was hoping to get work done since I have so much due this week. But no Starbucks thought I should sit and drink the dam coffee. After that I was so mad I came back to the flat and took a nap because I was so frustrated and did not want to waste more internet especially since I knew I would want to watch youtube videos (it would eat up all my mega bites and take away my internet) and I didn’t want to waste just the minutes. I took a nap for about an hour and a half and then woke up to go eat some dinner and finish getting ready. Tonight we were seeing Sweeney Todd! I saw the movie so I knew it would be good! The show was amazing! We got tickets for the upper circle so we were on the second floor. It was better than the tickets for the Phantom of the Opera. We had tickets on the floor but all the way in the back which meant we couldn’t see half of the stage. I think some people were surprised at how dark the show is but I personally thought it was awesome! Maybe that means I’m disturbed but I don’t care its too good not to like! Then after that I came back to the flat and I got to skype with my aunt. That was nice. Then I did some work/facebook time and headed off to bed. That was my night.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Day 59 3/11/12
Day 59 3/11/12
Today I was going to Church with Vikki, Sara and Jordan. After I got dressed in my new funky outfit I headed over with Jordan to Vikki’s flat. We stayed there for a bit then went to the off license to get some alcohol to prep for Church. I personally did not want to drink after last night. I just got some pear cider. It was blue so I thought maybe it would taste like blueberries. It was not bad but it was not blueberries. After we drank all our drinks we headed to the tube and then took a train to get where the Church is. For anyone confused Church is a day club open only on Sundays from 12pm-4pm. You have to dress in costume and it’s a unique place to check out. When we got there it was crowded and pretty much smelled of sweat. For alocohol you had to buy a ticket and it was for three drinks and they gave you the three drinks at one time. There was not a huge selection and I did not understand why it had to be given at the same time. It’s like where am I suppose to put them? Unlike other people I don’t have four arms. Oh well. I ended up getting Smirnoff and I could barely drink the first one. It was making me nauseous for some reason. I don’t think my liver was happy with me after having those drinks from Friday and Saturday night. I just let the other girls have them. We then got on the dance floor and started to dance a bit. That’s what we mostly did. Then they have some random shows. Such as they have a stripper (she looked like she could be Dracula’s wife). Her performance was not that great. I have never seen a stripper before and I knew she was doing it badly. They had her come out twice. Once was way more enough and her show was just awkward. She brought guys up from the crowd and basically had them take off their clothes. I think she forgot that as a stripper SHE is the only one whose suppose to take off her clothes and not have flour and cream thrown at them. How she graduated from stripper school no one will ever know. Then they did some beer drinking contests which was amusing to watch. Then they had this one guy doing a show where he swallows thing and basically throws them back up. Its interesting but nauseating at the same time to watch. He was also and older man so no one really wanted to see him in pants and a jacket with no shirt. Sorry but its true. That’s basically what happened in the 3-4 hours we were there. After that we headed back to the flatts. I ended up doing some work, showering, buying some food and that was my Sunday. I did not want to party too much after this whole weekend. I was still overwhelmed from Saturday night so I just wanted to stay in for a while.
Day 58 3/10/12
Day 58 3/10/12
Today Jordan and I decided we would take it easier today. We went to Camden to look for an outfit for Church, tomorrow. No, not church the religious place. Church the club. We found some cute little things that we would be able to put together with outfits we had back in the flatts. I like going to Camden. Its unique and very punk/alternative. It can be quite intimidating if you are not use to that type of scene. After the shopping we decided to head to the Old bell for some dinner and a drink. We wanted to watch the people do some karaoke. Turns out we had gotten there a bit early for it. Jordan and I were hoping to have a chill night since last night was a lot more than we thought it was going to be. We were trying to eat our meal in piece but this 40 year old man would not stop talking to us! He told us his life story and basically explained to us that he is an alcoholic bum in which everyone is making him drink. Jordan and I both kept looking bored and not interested but this guy would not get the hint and we were trying to be nice by paying attention. Finally Jordan excused herself to the bathroom and I just sat there hoping he would go away. Yea right. So, this woman with bright red hair who was sitting by us the whole time just went up to the guy and told him off. She was like “ excuse me sir could you please leave these girls alone. Can you not see they do not want to talk to you.” The guy was basically saying how he was being nice and just talking but the lady told him how our body language was showing we did NOT want to listen to him at all. When Jordan came back we moved to another table and I went to the woman and thanked her. I think the woman might have been the owner and or manager of the Old Bell. I thought that was cool. So, we deiced to still wait around for a bit since the karaoke was going to start soon. Jordan and I decided to get a glass of wine. A small wine is 99p! Cheapest wine I have ever had. Soon after this older black man started buying us drinks. We knew he didn’t spike it because we saw him get it from the counter and then bring it straight to our table. At one point in the night this guy asked if I was pregnant while handing me the wine. Oh how beautiful I felt at that moment. I’m not pregnant. As the night went on things got more interesting. I really do not want to discuss what happened due to the whole world does not need to know. No. No one was hurt just things happened. I will say that I did do karaoke and sung the song “Yesterday” by the Beatles. I liked that. But that is all I will say about this night.
Day 57 3/9/12
Day 57 3/9/12
Friday! Due to coming back so late last night Lyndon had decided to cancel class! I was happy and sad at the same time. I was happy cause we had no class and had time to catch up on work but sad knowing I could have gone somewhere but couldn’t due to the last minute notice. Oh well. Today I did not do that much. I slept in and basically got ready to head to Temple that was in Marble Arch. Yes, that’s right I was going to temple tonight! Something I have not done since I have been here. After visiting so many chapels and churches I was excited to remember what a Temple looked like. Tonight Krista said she would come with me so I was happy about that. It was nice to have a friend to bring to a temple to show them my religion. We got to the temple and I was amazed how beautiful on the outside and inside. I almost wanted to kiss the ground because it felt so nice to be in a temple again. Don’t get me wrong I am not against churches but after a while of going into so many its nice when you can go to a place where you are familiar with. The service was quite nice. After they were done, we called up Jordan to go get some dinner. We decided to go to KFC because the pub/bar we were going to head off to looked as if the food service would be slow and probably be expensive. We ate at KFC then headed to the pub. When we looked at the drink list we decided to leave it was very expensive! We then decided we would go to Tiger Tiger. Oh what a night. I was not drunk at all. I had two drinks and barely felt them. We were all having fun. There was this French guy who constantly kept trying to dance with me. Personally, I do not find receding hairlines attractive at all and did not want to dance with him. I would always walk away from him but he would keep finding me. Creeper much? He would NOT get the hint at all! Usually when a girl walks away from you everytime you are near and never looks at you its not because she is playing hard to get shes playing the leave me the F*ck alone! He would not. I eventually danced with him and consistently made annoyed faces the whole time. At this point Krista, Jordan and myself all had guys we were dancing with. I made the mistake of thinking if I made out with this French guy he would leave me alone…… WRONG. He kept following me the whole night…. Major creeper. I can get easily annoyed and I was getting very annoyed with this guy. Then sometime at the night Krista left because she had to be up early in the morning to go get her friend. Jordan had a guy she was dancing with so, I decided to find some guys to dance with. I found some Italains….. That was not too bad just interesting. They were probably the best looking guys I danced with all night. Yes, I made out with an Italian. They are quite touchy. I also decided I may not wear my green push up bra with a low neckline for a while. It was, yea I have no words and I know my parents are reading this. Then I went to the “bathroom” to escape dancing with another guy I really did not feel like dancing with. I then met this Londoner. I thought he was nice and he asked if I wanted to just sit down and talk. I was stupid enough to believe that’s all he wanted to do. Yes I made out with him and whatever. Then he started getting really handsy and tried putting his hand on my crotch. I pushed it away and then he took my hand to try and touch his downstairs area. Um hell no! I told him sorry I need to go find my friend and left as he was trying to offer me drinks. This night was ok but I didn’t feel great afterwards. Yea, I can say I made out with a French, Italian and English men all in one night but that is not me. It would be nice to meet a sober man who wants to make out with me because he likes me and not because alcohol is running his hormones. That’s basically all that happened that night and eventually Jordan and I headed off home.
Friday! Due to coming back so late last night Lyndon had decided to cancel class! I was happy and sad at the same time. I was happy cause we had no class and had time to catch up on work but sad knowing I could have gone somewhere but couldn’t due to the last minute notice. Oh well. Today I did not do that much. I slept in and basically got ready to head to Temple that was in Marble Arch. Yes, that’s right I was going to temple tonight! Something I have not done since I have been here. After visiting so many chapels and churches I was excited to remember what a Temple looked like. Tonight Krista said she would come with me so I was happy about that. It was nice to have a friend to bring to a temple to show them my religion. We got to the temple and I was amazed how beautiful on the outside and inside. I almost wanted to kiss the ground because it felt so nice to be in a temple again. Don’t get me wrong I am not against churches but after a while of going into so many its nice when you can go to a place where you are familiar with. The service was quite nice. After they were done, we called up Jordan to go get some dinner. We decided to go to KFC because the pub/bar we were going to head off to looked as if the food service would be slow and probably be expensive. We ate at KFC then headed to the pub. When we looked at the drink list we decided to leave it was very expensive! We then decided we would go to Tiger Tiger. Oh what a night. I was not drunk at all. I had two drinks and barely felt them. We were all having fun. There was this French guy who constantly kept trying to dance with me. Personally, I do not find receding hairlines attractive at all and did not want to dance with him. I would always walk away from him but he would keep finding me. Creeper much? He would NOT get the hint at all! Usually when a girl walks away from you everytime you are near and never looks at you its not because she is playing hard to get shes playing the leave me the F*ck alone! He would not. I eventually danced with him and consistently made annoyed faces the whole time. At this point Krista, Jordan and myself all had guys we were dancing with. I made the mistake of thinking if I made out with this French guy he would leave me alone…… WRONG. He kept following me the whole night…. Major creeper. I can get easily annoyed and I was getting very annoyed with this guy. Then sometime at the night Krista left because she had to be up early in the morning to go get her friend. Jordan had a guy she was dancing with so, I decided to find some guys to dance with. I found some Italains….. That was not too bad just interesting. They were probably the best looking guys I danced with all night. Yes, I made out with an Italian. They are quite touchy. I also decided I may not wear my green push up bra with a low neckline for a while. It was, yea I have no words and I know my parents are reading this. Then I went to the “bathroom” to escape dancing with another guy I really did not feel like dancing with. I then met this Londoner. I thought he was nice and he asked if I wanted to just sit down and talk. I was stupid enough to believe that’s all he wanted to do. Yes I made out with him and whatever. Then he started getting really handsy and tried putting his hand on my crotch. I pushed it away and then he took my hand to try and touch his downstairs area. Um hell no! I told him sorry I need to go find my friend and left as he was trying to offer me drinks. This night was ok but I didn’t feel great afterwards. Yea, I can say I made out with a French, Italian and English men all in one night but that is not me. It would be nice to meet a sober man who wants to make out with me because he likes me and not because alcohol is running his hormones. That’s basically all that happened that night and eventually Jordan and I headed off home.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Day 56 3/8/12
Today I got to explore more of Liverpool with my group. We first got on the coach bus for a mini tour (which of course I fell asleep through). I got to see Penny lane, the memorial for the Trafford and then we were dropped off in the city area. We broke up into our groups mine being Amy and Krista. When we got dropped off we decided that we would first go see where the tunnels were that a man named (William Harrison I think is his name) created for whatever unknown reasons. While we were on the way a problem had occurred one of the girls had become hungry. It ended up that me and the other girl who just wanted to go straight to the tunnels had to go find a cheap place to eat or we were going to be snapped at all day. Personally I dont take being snapped at well especially when I am pmsing+ tired. So, for the fact that I was being calm about it even though I was getting furious is a huge accomplishment for me. We found this little bakery type of place. I would have preferred to go to a pub after the tunnels just to get more of a feel for Liverpool but problems would have erupted if we waited. After we ate we went to go eat we headed off to the tunnels. It was a great tour even though we could not go through many of the tunnels due to it not being safe or still being worked on and stuff like that. After the tunnels it took about 30 minutes for us to walk back to the Albert Dock. When we got there we went to Costa to get some coffee and a snack. We did some of our surveying homework which was good. Then we went into the Beatles museum! It was amazing and I learned so much about them. I'm not the number one Beatles fan but they are pretty huge in the music world. It was a great museum and then we went to the museum gift shop and I got some nice little gifts. Then we went to this art museum but it was about to close. We did get to take home a piece of art that they offer for free. Its basically to circles connected. It was interesting. The meaning was sweet with spreading the love but it looked like the two circle graphs which I cannot think of the name right now. Then we (Amy, Krista and myself) went to Pizza Express and got some food for takeaway. We ate it on a bench by the water then headed back to the hostel to head back on the bus. It was about 6 hours to get back I think.... It was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed again.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Day 55 3/7/12
Today my day started out at 5am. I had to get up and make sure I had everything packed for my night in Liverpool. First we were heading to Manchester and then going over to Liverpool. It took about 4 hours of a bus ride to get to Manchester. I just fell asleep like everyone else and listened to my music. All was well and soon enough we got to Manchester. The first thing we did was go on a tour of Old Trafford (Manchester United Football stadium). It was a pretty cool tour and the stadium is pretty large. After that the bus took us to the city area of Manchester. A bunch of us went to the Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate Shelby's birthday (she LOVES the hardrock). It was pretty fun and it took a lot longer than we expected. We did not have much time in Manchester but there was not much to do any way and the weather was crazy! It was hailing. It was odd. After lunch Jordan, Krista and Amy and myself went to the mall area to find people to ask questions. We had some assignments to do some surveying of different people about different questions we had. We did that for about an hour and then decided to head back to the bus since we had to be there in order to leave for Liverpool. The bus ride was maybe 2-3 hours long. Got to Liverpool and got settled in the hostel. I was rooming with Shay, Amy and Krista. We got dinner since it was free there and when we were done I decided to take a shower since Krista and I wanted to go out. We went to the Philharmonic club because Lyndon (british life and culture teacher) mentioned he would be there and its suppose to be a good pub. Turns out just about everyone went there to meet up with him. It was quite fun. Beautiful pub. There was quite a few laughs and some amazing memories from that but it is not over yet. After that we all went to the Cavern (that is where the Beatles were discovered). Nothing was really happening so Krista and I went to the second cavern. We stayed there for a little bit and then we met up with Jordan. We decided to go check out this pub we saw called the 90's pub or something like that. Turns out they barely played any music from the 90's which was a shame. The drinks were pretty cheap (2 pounds) but not that strong. I just had a screaming orgasm. It was good but not that amazing. Soon Amanda , Vikki and Sara met up with us but stayed for a short period of time since they wanted to head back. After they did Jordan wanted to check out the 60's club next to the cavern. Best decision ever! We saw Taylor and her friends dancing and then we saw Dr. Pierce and Lyndon dancing.... Totally worth it! Lyndon was hilarious! He was doing a mix of the Bernie and the twist. Jordan and I now call it "the teacher". It was funny. Then a bunch of others from the group started to join and we probably danced for 2 hours. It was fun. It was weird how many older people go to clubs (some dressing as if they were in their 20's and they surely were not that young). Around 2am we all decided to head back. It was one crazy night! I know we had an early start the next day but it was so worth it staying out til 2am to watch Lyndon dance.
Day 54 3/6/12
Day 54 3/6/12
Today was a bit of relaxing. I woke up at 7am to get ready for the 9am class....... Yea if you read my post for Monday you would know I was partying and got back at around 4am...... Although by that time I was sobering up I was not quite sober yet....... Which means I felt pretty gross and thought I was going to vomit. I went back to bed to get ready for the later class.... Thankfully sleeping it off helped A LOT! I was exhausted but not hungover. I guess I truly do have the Jacoby stomach and don't easily throw up. I went to class at 11:30am with most of the other people who were out the night before. Our teacher, Rob was aware this would happen since one of the 6 students who went to the morning class mentioned that most of us went out since some people had some guests visiting for their spring break. It's a very good thing Rob is one of the most laid back teachers a person could ever get! He was ok with it and it was a good class. By the way this is for British Pop Music. So, it was a good class. After that I pretty much just chilled for the rest of the day since that night was pretty brutal with all the partying and then the next day I was going to go to Manchester and Liverpool at 6am.
Today was a bit of relaxing. I woke up at 7am to get ready for the 9am class....... Yea if you read my post for Monday you would know I was partying and got back at around 4am...... Although by that time I was sobering up I was not quite sober yet....... Which means I felt pretty gross and thought I was going to vomit. I went back to bed to get ready for the later class.... Thankfully sleeping it off helped A LOT! I was exhausted but not hungover. I guess I truly do have the Jacoby stomach and don't easily throw up. I went to class at 11:30am with most of the other people who were out the night before. Our teacher, Rob was aware this would happen since one of the 6 students who went to the morning class mentioned that most of us went out since some people had some guests visiting for their spring break. It's a very good thing Rob is one of the most laid back teachers a person could ever get! He was ok with it and it was a good class. By the way this is for British Pop Music. So, it was a good class. After that I pretty much just chilled for the rest of the day since that night was pretty brutal with all the partying and then the next day I was going to go to Manchester and Liverpool at 6am.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Day 53 3/5/12
Monday. I really did not think much would happen but a lot defiantly did. The morning I just had class and that was not entertaining as usual. After class I did not have much to do and Jordan and I wanted to see the movie 3 musketeers since we went to part of the set the film takes place at. Jordan and I went to blockbuster just in time since they were closing later that week and picked up the movie. Then we did a bit of food shopping and headed back to the flatt to watch the movie with Krista. It was a great movie and it was easy to tell which part was filemed in Bamberg and when it wasn't. I thought that was quite cool. Later that night was when everything went down. That night we went to go see a show called One man and two guvners. I really had no idea what to expect but I was hoping it would be good. It turned out to be hilarious! Its a show that if you are in London you need to see! The main character was very funny and interacted with the audience a lot! I thought it was also quite good because they had little musical acts/songs during some of the scene changes. It was not a musical but it was still quite good. It was totally worth going to it. One of my favorite shows we have seen so far. Then later I had just planned on finishing watching a movie I rented, Horrible bosses. As I was watching it (I was aware everyone was going out) Bethany and Katherine come to my room asking me if I wanted to come to their flatt and drink. I ended up going to their flatt and drinking a bit and then we headed out a bit later than expected to go to the clubs. Specifically Tiger tiger but it turns out they werent letting anyone in when we got there and so we looked for another one. Michelle, Jordan and I just ended up going to a club named Rumba while the rest of the group kept looking for another club. Rumba was decent and I got to talk to this French guy who seemed pretty chill. After a while the club was shutting down and we headed home. It was about 4am when we got back..... I had a class at 9am that day....... Good thing there was a later time we could go to......
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Day 52 3/4/12
Day 52 3/4/12
Today was the last day in Germany for Jordan and I. We both got up early in order to take some showers, pack up and get ready for the fun filled packed day. We also made sure to charge both our cameras since hers was dead all day yesterday and mine had died half way through it. We went to go eat breakfast and Jordan made french toast for the family since they had no idea how to make it nor did they think they heard of it. They liked it and it was pretty good. After breakfest the boys were taking the train to meet us in Bamberg and us girls were using the car (the car was small so not everyone of us could fit into it). After the boys left we had some time so Jordan and I helped clean up and then went back to our room to try and figure out what to get Ivanna and her family for letting us stay in her home. Sadly, we found nothing and had no idea how we would get her anything since we had no time alone. Soon enough we packed up the car and were on our way to Bamberg. Of course I fell asleep. I tried not to as usual but my eyelids were just too heavy. An hour worth of driving and we had finally made it. Ivanna found a parking garage and we were on our to the brewery where Jordan would meet more family (Ivanna's brother and his wife and two children and their girlfriends and Ivannas cousin). It was a tight squeeze but we managed to all fit in. There was not much room in the brewery but it was a nice place to eat. There was no menu in English so Ivanna had to explain to us everything on it. I got pork with a potato dumpling and wheat beer. It was good but the dumpling reminded me of a matzah ball. It made me really want some matzah ball soup! After eating we ended up going on a little walking tour of Bamberg. In no specific order we saw the cathedral of Bamberg, the place where the 3 musketeers was filmed, little venice, This bridge that had a building that had a huge picture painted on it, a bridge where people put locks on it for good luck and all these amazing sites. I have many pictures of them on Facebook. After a while we ended up going to a brewery for some drinks. Jordan and I had to use the restroom and when we came back we found some dark beers waiting for us. It was quite good. It smelled/tasted like smokey bbq. It was good. German beer is amazing either dark or light. We hung out there for a while then some of the family members had to leave. It just left me, hubbert (ivannas cousin), Jordan and Ivanna. We went on a little walking tour as we headed back to the parking garage. Before we got the car we went to get some coffee at the old western hotel right across from it. Had a lovely cappuccino. And we just chatted for about 20 minutes until heading to the car to head back to Nuremberg where Jordan and I had to go to the airport to catch our flight. When we got to the airport we were an hour early. We said our goodbyes to Ivanna and thanked her for letting us stay with her and then headed off to security check. We were hoping to find some place to eat but barely had any time. We just found a Pret where we got some sandwhiches and ate on the plane. It was close to a 2 hour flight which was not bad and then we took the gatwick express which took us to the tube station where we got back home 30minutes to an hour later. It was a long day but we had a long week coming our way but it was totally worth it. I hope one day I can return to Germany. I already miss their beer!
Day 51 3/3/12
Day 51 3/3/12
Today I woke up around 9 am. Got dressed , made the bed and did all I needed to do before I went to breakfest. When we were finished Jordan and I walked into the dining area where the family was eating. It was a tad awkward since this was the first time we were meeting Ivannas children (Marco and Ben). The youngest one Ben spoke no English but her 12-year-old son Marco spoke English quite well. We mostly ate in silence but one thing that was funny was when Ivanna asked if we were hung-over her son Marco asked if it was like the song hung-over and I thought it was funny. Hangover is the song by Taio Cruz which by the way if you were hung-over you would NOT turn on that song because it would make the hangover worse. Then after breakfast Marco, Ben and Rhiner (her husband) took the train to go to a football match that Marco had. Ivanna , Jordan and I were going into the city area of Nuremberg as well as the documentation place and where the Nuremberg trials were held. The first place we went to was the Documentation place. This museum told the story about what was going on with the Nazis and what they were doing. I loved the museum because I loved learning about the Holocaust due to family history. It was interesting and had a lot of information. After that we went to the Nuremberg Trials. I watched a movie in my Holocaust class about it and I felt like I was almost in the movie/ in the time of the trials. It was insane. There was just so much information and it was all amazing. Of course halfway through the museum my camera decided to die which was unfortunate because I was going to miss so many more picture opportunities afterwards. If you are in Nuremberg I recommend you go to see those two museums because you will learn so much! Then Ivanna took us into the city area of Nuremberg. It was quite interesting. She took us to see the Chris Kringle Market. I thought that was pretty cute and they had a lot of fresh vegetables and all these awesome stuff. Of course my camera was dead so I had no pictures. There is even a church there which I cannot remember the name of which has these figurines on top. At noon the figures go all around the clock just like a coo-coo clock. It was neat but I have yet to see them move. Then there is also a statue that has two rings on one side of the gate and another on the other side. If you spin the rings 3 times you are meant to have good luck. Sadly I could only reach one of the rings. Shortness is not always a gift. After that we went into some of the stores to try and find a shirt for Jordan since she is making a quilt out of all the shirts she gets from each country she has gone to. We had no idea how hard it would be to find a shirt. After struggling with that for a while we went on this trolly tour. It was great but sadly I was so tired and moving things put me to sleep it was hard to stay awake. I tried but I somewhat failed. Then we went to go see the 30 pillars that each pillar had something written on from something like the bill of rights. Each pillar was written in a different language so that was pretty awesome to see. Not long after we ended up meeting with Rhiner, Marco and Ben. On our way to find a place to eat we found this area that Ivanna mentioned to us that happens to be very popular at night for students who like to party. It was a cute little street with beautiful buildings. On the way we even found the house of a famous German Artist (Albert) I cannot remember his full name. Of course the house was on top of the hill but it was fine and it was cool to see the house and the type of paintings he made since just about every store made a copy of it to be sold. After that we ended up finding a place to eat at a Bratwerst type factory. It was a nice place and I got bratwest with potato salad and a wheat beer. It was a good meal but I was not too much of a fan of the potato salad. Then for desert Jordan and I shared an apple crisp type of desert. It was very good. After that we headed back to their home. When we got there was talked for a while and we even saw a clip of a movie that apparently is watched a lot in Germany on New Years eve. Its one of the only English movies they have and its in black and white. We watched a ten minute video and it was quite amusing. Soon enough Marco and Ben headed off to bed. Then it was just the four of us (Jordan, Rhiner, Ivanna and myself). We had some good conversation and some drinks. We found out what was planned for tomorrow and then we went to bed. It was a long but great day.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Day 50 3/2/12
Day 50 3/2/12
Today I had British life and culture and basically all we did was watch the movie Bend it like Beckham to see how it relates to things in Europe such as religion, football (soccer) and etc. I was excited to watch the movie since I had yet to see it and the girl who played Neila on ER starred in it. It was fun watching the movie because there were places that was shown that I could say I knew where she was because I had been there. I enjoyed the movie just not the fact I had to take notes while watching it. After class was over Jordan and I headed to the library to do some homework before our weekend in Germany. We had a presentation to do about the slave trade in Manchester and Liverpool. It took us about 2 hours to finish. We then went back to the flatts and showered and packed for Germany (Nuremberg). At around 5 pm we left to get to Victoria station and from there we took the Gatwick express to the airport. Then we waited a bit until we had to board our plane. We got to Germany around 11pm. We met up with Jordan's grandparents cousin who was letting us stay with her family while we were here for the weekend. They were really sweet people. When she took us to the house we met her husband and we had a couple beers in their dining area and talked for a while. By the time we went to bed it was around 2:30am. It was an adventurous day and we had an early start in the morning as well as getting to meet the rest of Ivanna (Jordan's cousin) sons in the morning.
Today I had British life and culture and basically all we did was watch the movie Bend it like Beckham to see how it relates to things in Europe such as religion, football (soccer) and etc. I was excited to watch the movie since I had yet to see it and the girl who played Neila on ER starred in it. It was fun watching the movie because there were places that was shown that I could say I knew where she was because I had been there. I enjoyed the movie just not the fact I had to take notes while watching it. After class was over Jordan and I headed to the library to do some homework before our weekend in Germany. We had a presentation to do about the slave trade in Manchester and Liverpool. It took us about 2 hours to finish. We then went back to the flatts and showered and packed for Germany (Nuremberg). At around 5 pm we left to get to Victoria station and from there we took the Gatwick express to the airport. Then we waited a bit until we had to board our plane. We got to Germany around 11pm. We met up with Jordan's grandparents cousin who was letting us stay with her family while we were here for the weekend. They were really sweet people. When she took us to the house we met her husband and we had a couple beers in their dining area and talked for a while. By the time we went to bed it was around 2:30am. It was an adventurous day and we had an early start in the morning as well as getting to meet the rest of Ivanna (Jordan's cousin) sons in the morning.
Day 49 3/1/12
Day 49 3/1/12
Today was the day where I have most of my classes. I had my theater class in which today we got to pick our partners for our dialogues and the scripts we would use. I partnered up with Amy and we chose a pretty short script about a 30 year old woman working in a grocery store talking to her invisible friend about making a movie. I actually liked the idea and thought it would be a fun thing to do. Then I had math class. All we had were two people doing their presentations and then I had British Life and Culture. That was pretty much my day. Nothing too exciting or big happened.
Today was the day where I have most of my classes. I had my theater class in which today we got to pick our partners for our dialogues and the scripts we would use. I partnered up with Amy and we chose a pretty short script about a 30 year old woman working in a grocery store talking to her invisible friend about making a movie. I actually liked the idea and thought it would be a fun thing to do. Then I had math class. All we had were two people doing their presentations and then I had British Life and Culture. That was pretty much my day. Nothing too exciting or big happened.
Day 48 2/29/12
2/29/12 Day 48
Wednesday! Today was optional and I bet you would take the day off right? Well, I decided not to. I knew even though I had work I would just be on the computer all day. I found no point in doing that and since they made the class trip start later, I figured it would be fun to go to Hampstead park. It turned out to be a really fun time. Got to walk around the park a lot, feed the ducks and swans (the black ducks are the most vicious), watch some of the girls go swimming in the pond , eat lunch on parliament hill and on the way to the park we passed where George Michaels lived. Not all in that order but that’s basically what we did. It was a lot of fun and I thought it was a lot better spent in the park then in the flat where I know I would have just been online procrastinating on my work and loosing a full day to nothingness. Later, we came back maybe around 4ish pm. I took a shower and ended up going to dinner with Krista to a place called the Heritage Inn. It is a Caribbean food place. We went because she has been dying for some Jerk chicken and finally a place that has it. It was a new place for us to explore and it was a cute place. She ordered her jerk chicken and I got oxtail. It was the only non-spicy food they had and I don't like spicy food. The food was great the drinks were another story. I had a pineapple punch. I figured it was like fruit punch but just more pineapple. It was actually really disgusting and very thick and was icky. Thankfully I was able to get some tap water. In the end it was still a nice place. We had actually planned that night to go to a pub quiz (a trivia games that pubs will hold). Before we headed to the Westbury (club/pub on our street) to check it out we saw a bakery shop on the way to the bus stop and decided to get desert before the pub quiz. I got this chocolate type cake thing. It was pretty good and Krista got the strawberry kind. We stuffed our faces while on the bus so we would not bring it into the bar. When we got to the Westbury we just got a table and watched the pub quiz go on since we missed registration and ordered some drinks. Soon enough Amy had joined us and after a while Vikki and Amanda came as well. By the end of the night I had a screw driver, sex on the beach, pina colada, 2 crack baby shots under 2 hours. If people wonder why less alcoholic beverages get me a little more than they should its because I drink them quite fast. After that I ended up heading back to the flatts around 10pm since I had to get some work done and Thursdays are my busy days. When I got back I just went to my room did some stuff I needed to get done. I guess people think its funny to make fun of me when I drink. I don't think people realize I don't get drunk enough to black out and not remember what is going on. Some of my roommates thought it would be funny to tell me how wasted I was and how I was using up my minutes calling my parents (in which I had lengthy conversations with about things we needed to talk about such as birth right and etc.) and all that type of stuff. I'm not going to lie I was getting a bit annoyed because I don't make fun of anyone else when they are drunk so it was a bit obnoxious at times but I bit my tongue and let them have their fun at my some-what expense. That was basically my fun filled day. Now Thursday. Oh the fun day of just classes. Yayness.
Day 47 2/28/12
2/28/12 Day 47
Another Tuesday morning listening to music. Of course today was different since we listened to Pink Floyd ( I think I am correct) and one of their songs mentioned how they did not prefer the sun shine vacation instead they would prefer to be gassed in a concentration camp. It would have been the perfect moment if all eyes had turned to me. It didn’t happen. I’m the only Jew in that class. Having family members survive the Holocaust I was in utter shock. I’m surprised I barely gasped but I can tell your for a fact my eyes were wide open. I know some people can be bold in their music but that was just a little too bold. Let us just say in the end I was glad I never paid much attention to their music. Therefore, that was my big story for British Pop Music. Later on that night we were heading over to Phillipa’s (one of the teachers) home for a home cooked meal. We were suppose to do charades for that night but none of us were prepared nor knew exactly how to do that. I was in the David Copperfield group. Mind you it was charades and we all knew what each of us were doing. I ended up heading over there with Bethany, Brittany, Justin, and Ally. It took about an hour to get there. We and a few others happened to be early so we helped Phillipa finish cooking the meal. It was fun and the fact we all were able to bring our own alcohol defiantly made it a nice touch. Soon enough the rest of the group finally showed up. The meal was delicious! We had Lasagna, bread, biscuits, granola, crisps, brownies, ice cream and that is all I can remember. It was a very good meal. We all just hung out and thankfully; we did not have to do the charades! There was even a time when Stuart had to read a paragraph of a Dickenson book since that was the theme for the charades. The reason why he did it is that Stuart has the perfect radio voice/story telling voice. If you heard him, you would understand. It was just a chill night. Then at around 9pm a group of us had to go see the ceremony of the keys (the other group went Monday night). It was an interesting evening. The ceremony was quite cool. Not as boring as the changing of the guards. At one point when one of the guards was yelling orders it did make me jump. He’s defiantly not a guard I would like to piss off. It was a good way to end the night. It was even better since at Phillpa’s house they said that Wednesday class was optional. After that we went back to the flatts. I had a cup of tea and some dunking biscuits. I love my tea and biscuits! Then I went up to do a little homework and got to bed since I planned on going to Wednesday class.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Day 46 2/27/12
2/27/12 Day 46
Last night I took a shower. Last night I froze in the shower. Turns out we had no hot water. It was not a great thing and it reminded me of when I lived in ISD. Did not like cold showers before and I do not like them now. But it happened and thankfully I got it fixed later on the day today. Today is Monday meaning spring break is officially over. I did not want to go to class. I was not excited to see my portfolio be trashed. No one was expecting a good grade and as I expected I did not do as well as I thought. I received a 5 out of 10. Why? I got penalized for not having down certain information in which I was not aware of. I got points taken off for things I had no idea that was expected of me. Was I mad? I’m bloody pissed. I like lyndon as a person but as a teacher not becoming a huge fan. I’m tired of my work never being good enough and getting points taken off for things that are not being told of us before the work is due. No one in that class got higher than an 8. Maybe two people at the most got an 8. Apparently me receiving a 5 was a good thing. I’m not happy and I’m even more unhappy because I would have done more work if I knew what was to be expected of me. I’m at the point where the bad grades are going to numb me and I will just become bitter. When I get to that point nothing good comes from it. I have tried to do my best but its apparently NOT good enough and I’m sick of it. I’m sick of the fact that we are being thrown busy work and have barely any time to finish it. Everyday I have somewhere to be at and yet I’m given a lot of work to do and high expectations to do it. How can I do the work if I have no time? Ok well that is my rant for now. Also, I’m not the only whose getting fed up with it. After that class I got back to the flat and made some pasta and ate lunch with Krista and Jordan. We hung out for a bit watching Top Gear as usual and chilled until it was time to head off to our adventures tonight. Where was I going tonight? I was going on the Jack the Ripper tour. Ironically, it was being held in (at the time) a Jewish neighborhood. FINALLY something about Jews! Sadly, it was where Jack the ripper found his five victims. No, I am not saying his victims were all Jewish just that it was done in a Jewish area at that time. I was still excited just to hear the word “Jew” since most of the time we are going to churches and all that stuff. I was sad that we did not get to go to the synagogue. Oh well next time. I’m hoping next weekend I can go for Shabbat at one of the temples. Phillipa said she would give me the address and write down the name. I’m excited for that. On this tour we heard the gruesome details of how Jack the ripper killed his victims. I have no idea if it is because I only heard the details it did not bother me or if I have become quite accustomed to hearing about that after watching so many law and order SVU, ER, and Untold stories in the ER. Maybe I am just a disturbed person. Who knows. After the tour was over I headed back to the flat. I am tired and I am mad because apparently my phone says I need to top up after I did two weeks ago. Something tells me they messed up and I know I did not use 3000 minutes especially if I did not use my phone for at least a week. So, I get to deal with that tomorrow and I am really not in the mood to do so. Now, I am going to head to bed because I am very tired and have class at 9am tomorrow. Good thing its British pop music and I like that class.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Day 45 2/26/12
2/26/12 Day 45
It’s Sunday. Nothing exciting has really happened. I slept in late (yayness). Then I got up and got dressed. Then I went to the living room area and went online. There I did some dishes and ate some chocolate cake since that was all I had to eat. I stayed downstairs for a bit until I went to go get some laundry from upstairs because I needed to do some. That took about an hour in which I just stayed downstairs and went online and then went back upstairs to finish getting ready. By the time my laundry was done I went to get it out of the washing machine and hung up upstairs. I then went out to go grocery shopping. Now I have some food! I even picked up some hangers on the way since I was a bit short on some. This way I was able to hang up some more wet clothes and have extra hangers for when I buy more clothes. Of course I cannot buy too much since I am fat and Europe does not really know how to cater to fat girls like myself. Like Monique said in fat girls “ I’m plump like a roast and thicker than most” and I don’t think Europe always knows how to make clothes for thicker women like me. After I did some grocery shopping I came back and unloaded all that I had. I then came down and the movie Robots started playing. I forgot how good that movie is! I watched that and not long after I decided to come to starbucks to get some work done. I hate how we have timed internet and somehow I used four hundred minutes the night before. I do not think that is right but it’s not like I can change it. I have been at starbucks for a few hours and I have gotten some work done but I need the internet. The internet is being a pain in my ass. For some reason it will not work! It is there one minute and the next it is not. It is driving me insane. I need the internet to do work and I would prefer NOT to use up all my minutes tonight. I have decided to wait until my computer battery is fully charged and just go back to my flat and use my internet if Starbucks is not going to give me anything to work with. I still hope I can skype with Grace one of my best friends from back home. I have not skyped with her in so long and I was hoping I could do it here at Starbucks so I would not take up any more megabites but apparently that will not work. I guess I should have known this is what free internet is like then again it was not so much free since I had to pay for a coffee. That has basically been my day. I told you nothing exciting happened. The only thing exciting in this blog is my rant for how much I hate timed internet as well as the crappy internet service here in Starbucks.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Day 44 2/25/12
2/25/12 Day 44
I have no idea why but going back to London today made me quite home sick. I guess because it was weird to be constantly relaxing and not being busy made me really have time to think and I just started to miss my home, family and friends so much. Maybe it was my pms depression type feeling coming back to get me since it had not bothered me that much when I was pmsing. Ok well that is my little rant and I should probably get back to the story of what happened today. Today I was heading back to London. I got up pretty early and got dressed. I finished packing up all my stuff and the three of us (Me, Shelby and Michelle) headed to St. Angelo’s dock to wait for our boat to arrive. We happened to be quite early but its better to be early than late. We waited for a while and then our boat finally arrived. We got on and it was either an hour or less ride. It was not that bad. Then we head to walk at least ten minutes to get to the airport. I was of course falling behind as usual because I had a big suitcase and I was quite hot since I was dressed for colder weather with my bsu jacket, my wool socks, uggs and winter north face jacket. Got to the airport and then we got something to eat at this little pizza restaurant. It was a pretty good pizza and then we headed to print out my boarding pass. The lines were quite long. They went by a little quickly but it was annoying just like the security check but security check is always annoying (its good for our safety but feels likes a hassle at times). Got through with that and then waited for our plane to board and when it did they had us waiting in line which felt like forever. Then they crammed us all on a bus to take to the aircraft. When we were about to get out some old man basically elbowed me in the throat, it was quite refreshing. No, it was not I personally was not happy about that. In a crammed bus you cannot just lift up your arm without being cautious. Then when I was climbing on the stairs to get to the plane these two girls traveling together pushed me out of the way on the stairs to make sure they were going to stay together. Of course they had to since on a plane they were both walking into they would be separated especially when they got to choose their own seats. It’s alright I made sure to bump them with my bag as I passed by. I was not having the best day today and was not in the mood for anything. I was not in the mood to go “New York” on anyone’s ass because as shocking as it can be I can be passive. As long as I can bitch about it later I’m fine. Plane ride was over then took a 30 minute train ride on the Gatwick express to get to Victoria, London and then got on the tube to head back to the flatts. Was not in a great mood when I was getting out of the tube and this blonde Barbie bitch decides to cut me off when I getting off the tube. I had this big suitcase and she could tell I was getting off but now she was impatient. I should have just smashed my bag into her and when she fell down I could have been like “watch who you cut off next time” but I didn’t I just thought it. Finally we got back to the flatts. I just chilled in my room and skyped my sister and aunt and showed them the presents I got. Then I went out to dinner with Amy and Krista to a Chinese restaurant. It was really nice and it was the first time I had been there. Then we went to the off license store to pick up some alcohol. I picked up two Rekorderligs and some Apple juice for my cocktail mix (on the beach). I’m starting to notice I crave to drink even more if I am having a bad day or feeling sad. I don’t know if I should be worried for the future but I’m not there yet so it is all good. Now, Im drinking my Rekorderlig and chilling out writing my blogs. Im hoping to be able to use the washing machine since I have a lot of clothes to wash.
Day 43 2/24/12
2/24/12 Day 43
Today was the very last day I got to spend in Venice. I slept in a little bit since it was still a vacation and not a class. Today we were going on a tour to see the three islands, Murano, Torcello and Buarno. I was very excited because I LOVE murano glass. LOVE is probably an understatement because I want a murano themed glass house and or wedding. It is just amazing to me. Well, we had the confirmation for the tour but we did not have a printer so we could not print it out. We figured since Michelle could get it on her phone that it would be alright. On our way to San Marco square to get to the tour we decided to get lunch first. We just happened to find the Hard Rock Café on our way and decided to eat there. It was nice eating lunch there since they did not have many people there. There was this big red Murano glass chandelier. I got some twisted mac and cheese with a drink of water and Tropical Thunder (alcoholic) and it was quite tasty. We (Michelle, Shelby and myself) spent maybe an hour there or so. It was pretty good and the staff was quite friendly. Then we were on our way to get to the tour that started at 2pm. When we finally found the station we found out that we needed to have a printed copy of the confirmation ticket, which we did not have. So, this guy took us to the internet café that happened to be closed. We walked back to see if there was anything else and we found the actual office for the tour. They thankfully let us print out the ticket but were a bit bitch/rude about it. They were like “ you should know to print it off just like if you were printing out a ticket for a plane it’s the same thing” maybe she doesn’t realize that when tourists come to visit they don’t always have access to a computer and or printer. Thought I would just that but who cares we got our ticket printed off and went back to the station and then the woman there guided us to the boat. The woman who was at the station was quite nice and friendly. We got to the boat and our first stop was Murano. All we did there was watch a glass blower make one glass bowl piece and then make a horse. It was epic! I was dying it was just so beautiful. Then they took us to the store in the factory and I had no idea where to start. It reminded me of my grandma’s house with all the glass animals. I wanted to buy everything! Instead, I bought some pendants and a family of four little blue elephants for my sister. I would love to keep the collection going and maybe one day pass it on to my children. I figured my parents did not want me to spend over 30 Euros on any of the beautiful pieces that were offered due to having to bring it back and such. But, its alright because I plan on going back. Then we headed off to the next Island, Torcello. There really was not much but a church that some people visited but we did not feel like paying for it so we just took pictures on this cool looking bridge and basically waited to get back on the boat. We did happen to see a few cats on the way which was cute. Then our last stop was to Burano. That was known for their lace. We just walked around for a bit. Took some more pictures and they had a lot of beautifully bright colored houses. It was quite amazing to see and their bell tower is on a slant due to the ground sinking. Its quite scary knowing that building could one day fall and you can only imagine what that would mean for the Island. Then we found one of those stands outside selling some gifts and I bought this black masquerade mask which is actually quite pretty and I bought some more Muarno glass to add to the collection. I was happy, I was in heaven. It was hard not to buy all the pieces. Soon enough it was time to head back to Venice. We got back to Venice and bought a water taxi ticket to get to Marco polo airport since we were leaving the next day. Then we headed to back to find a place where we could find a good price for a Gondala ride. On our way, we picked up some Gelato and I got some beautiful shot glasses. While I got the shot glasses Michelle and Shelby had found a person to get a gonadala ride from. It was nice but it was a little scary since I constantly felt as if we were going to tip. I was sitting on the side so that was making me even more nervous. It was a nice ride though and it was beautiful because it was at night. I was happy we got to go on a gondala ride because at least now I can say I have been on one. We ended up by Riolti bridge. We looked to see if there was anywhere we wanted to eat at but we didn’t find anything. We started to head back as if we were going back to the hotel to see if we would find anything. We stopped into some stores to check some stuff out and ended up finding a restaurant on the way. It was not that great of a place in my opinion. The food was not as good as it probably could have been but it was one of the cheaper places we could find. It was amusing that our waiter did not know much English and kept saying, “Thank you please”. That was pretty much a give away he did not speak English well. Oh well. After dinner, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. It was an adventure but we figured it out. Got back to the hotel and we all showered (at separate times obviously) and we relaxed since tomorrow we were going to head back to London!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Day 43 2/23/12
2/23/12 Day 42
Today Jordan left early in the morning because she was flying to Madrid to meet her mom. That means I have a few hours by myself until Michelle and Shelby arrived. I decided to sleep in a little later since I did not want to stray too far and get completely lost because I cannot understand how to read those maps nor do I speak Italian (remember I never got passed Spanish (Spanish and Italian are similar) level 3). I decided to get up around 11am shower, get dressed, put on some makeup and then I walked around to find a place to eat. It amazed me how so many things started to look familiar from the night before. I was glad I could remember some things because its really hard figuring out directions here in Venice with all the little allies. I found a place that I have no idea what the name of but it was cute. I got to sit out in the sun and I even took my jacket off because it was so warm! I ordered a ham and cheese toast sandwich with a Mocha Latte. It was quite good and it came with complimentary water (Yay!). I sat there for a while but I felt awkward since I was alone and did not have a paper to read. Oh well, after I finished I decided to walk around a little bit. I found a bead store and of course I was drooling. I decided to buy some beads because I plan on making someone an original bracelet by the one and only Brooke (that’s me). It’s a surprise so don’t bother guessing because just don’t. Then I decided to get back to the room and just chill out for a while and wait for Shelby and Michelle. I got bored and I knew they would get lost finding the hotel (it is very hard to find) so I decided I would go pick them up at the water taxi station they were getting off at. I ended up waiting at least an hour because I was confused if there train was coming in at a certain time or if that is when they were taking a water taxi. It was not too bad of a wait at least it was nice out. Then I showed them to the hotel and waited as they got situated. After that, we just walked around for a little bit. I tried to navigate us to San Marco’s Square. I was somewhat successful. Then we just walked around for a while until we all got hungry. I had told them about the restaurant that Jordan and I had gone to which was named Florida. It was on the Riotali (spell check) bridge. Turns out I was a little more confused on how to get there then I thought I was. But, after a while we figured it out. I was not as impressed with the place as I was with yesterday. We did not get complimentary drinks and the waiters acted as if they had no idea what we were talking about, they did not bring up the 14 euro deal until I did and it just did not seem as nice as it was yesterday. I was sad about the drink because I was looking forward to it. The food was not too bad and at least it was 14 euro for three courses (vegetable soup, pork shop and a salad). After dinner we figured out how to get back to the hotel which turns out is a lot closer than I realized. I knew it was close but it’s a lot closer than I had thought. That was nice. We got to the hotel, got some internet, booked a three island tour (excited for that!), almost booked a 275 euro tour because the prices were wrong on the website, decided I am wearing my new dress I bought at H&M tomorrow, blogging, chilling out and soon going to bed. Oh, funny story Michelle and Shelby declared me the tour guide. Meaning I am going to do most of the navigating. I can imagine Ashley (my sister) as well as the rest of my family thinking “oh God, this isn’t good” because I am the worst person with directions. I’m bad at giving directions to those by my neighborhood and I’ve lived there my whole life. Hell, I cannot figure out how to navigate NYC. So, hopefully tomorrow will not be bad. Plus I did warn them. It’s weird being the one to know a little bit more than everyone else and being to help navigate since I’m the one who just goes along with whatever.
Random note. For my wedding I want to have a Murano themed wedding. I have just decided that. So, hopefully I will marry rich and or become rich myself. That has been decided.
Day 42 2/22/12
Day 42 2/22/12
Once again another bright and early morning. Got up around 7:30am because Jordan and I had to catch a 9:25am train to Venice. Was not happy with the hostel because they had two bathrooms no soap and no toilet paper and the other one had no toilet paper. Yea, it was not that amazing of a hostel. The people living on the floor seemed a little peculiar as well. The best part was when Jordan and I wanted to check out there was no one there! It was 8:30am and there was no one there and we had a train to catch. So we left the key and wrote them a note. I thought it was not professional at all to have no one there and not even put a note up saying they were not there. Then we left for the train station and grabbed a quick breakfast. Then we hoped on the train, which was about 2 hours long. Then we got off the train and headed for the water taxi. Turned out we walked farther then we needed to go but we got on the right one so it did not matter. It was a gorgeous water taxi ride. The view was amazing and it was such a clear day in Venice! We got to the hotel (after 30 minutes of trying to figure out where it was) and dropped off our bags because we found out that they did not have the room ready until 2:30pm and it was about 1:30pm. It was a beautiful day and we ended up just walking around to find a place to eat lunch and see what we wanted to do. We found a little sandwich place and ate there. It was not bad and I got a chicken sandwich and a hot chocolate. It was one of the most amazing hot chocolates I have ever had! It was a nice little place. We just sat there for a little bit and talked about what we wanted to do. We ended up just walking around for hours and doing some shopping. I bought one of those Italian glass necklaces (my obsession) and I got some beads and in one of the stores the woman there helped me put it together. I think I got jipped off for getting some of the beads (from the first store) but in the end I am ok with it because I really love it and it’s a one of a kind bracelet. It was a lot of fun shopping even though it was expensive. The stores sell a lot of the glass beads/necklaces. I also saw a lot of things that my grandmother collected and I am so tempted to just buy a ton of them to bring back home. I think I get my obsession from her. You can ask my sister in NYC I can stop for less than five minutes when I see an Italian pendant. I just love them. So, imagine me in a place where every other store carries them. Yes, I was DYING! It was my heaven! I was even freaking out about the gondolas! I cannot wait to go on one. They look amazing! I went into a major freak-out today and the weather was amazing so it helped. Jordan and I just walked for hours and basically got lost several times since the map does not have many street names and there are a lot of alley ways which makes it more confusing. Then we finally found the hotel again and got to go to our room. This was around 4:30ish pm. Then we sat around for a little while and tried to figure out what we wanted to do. We decided to go by the Riolto bridge (spelling may not be correct) and walk around there for a while. They had some fun stores. We found some people selling pasta and my favorite was the sexy pasta. They were pasta in the shape of penis’s. I thought it was quite amusing and they had a bunch of other stuff and for a pretty good deal as well. I might be buying pasta before I leave. Then we went to go look for a bathroom because Jordan needed to use one. When we found one you had to pay and that was not worth it. We then decided to find a place to eat dinner since it was dinner time around 6-7pm. We walked down by the pier. We saw three restaurants and by the third one they had this deal and it looked pretty good. 3 course meals for 14 Euros which is a pretty good deal. Jordan then asks “ If we eat here can I use your bathroom?’ It was hilarious! The waiter was like yea. So, she ran to the bathroom and I took a seat outside. It was gorgeous outside, not too cold and we had a heat lamp that made it better. Then we got complimentary drinks, the best part was the name of the restaurant, Florida (Ironically my family is there right now). For my meals I got Lasagna, fried calamari (it’s a rare thing for me to eat seafood) and then I got a salad. The food was not bad. Then with our check they gave us some free (small) deserts. It was nice. We made a good choice. Then we were planning to go to this Gelato place by our hotel but we had randomly decided to wander and it turns out we wandered a lot farther from the hotel then we had imagined. I cannot give specifics because I do not know but it was pretty far. So, we were lost for a while but it was an adventure. Finally we found where our hotel was and tried to find the gelato place but it turns out it was closed. It was amazing how early everything closed and how dead the town seemed. It is still gorgeous but very quiet. We then went back to San Marco square to find a gelato place and we did. Ironically it was called the American bar. We sat for a little bit and ate our lovely treat. Then we headed back to the hotel and just chilling out. We are rocking out to some random music, telling random stories, bloging, just chilling and having a good ol’ time. It was a fun day, nice weather and everything. Though, Venice does seem to be very romantic and more of a place for couples. It is still cute though and I love it.
I just want to add another note. Today is my mother’s birthday and I want to wish her a very happy birthday! As your mother put it on facebook you have caught up to her. I have no idea how that is possible but apparently you are both the same age. Love you.
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