Hola from Barcelona!

I didn't think I would have time to update my blog while on spring break but I found myself with some extra time before my Gaudi tour to catch you up on my time in Barcelona. Considering the fact I don't want to write a long post about my spring break in it's entirety when I am back in London, I might as well break it up into when I'm in which places. However because I didn't bring my laptop and I am currently using one of the computers at my hostel, pictures won't be up until next week.

So since Friday I have been in the gorgeous city of Barcelona, Spain. As always, whenever you are traveling somewhere, the journey itself is always an adventure. We got to Gatwick airport no problem and because we have Brandon who is on crutches, we were escorted to the gate early by a very sweet woman who was originally from Canada. Let me tell you I have never heard anyone say too many bad things about England but she was definitely not the country's biggest fan. She had a lot of mishaps from doctors to dentists to racist neighbors and I think anyone who experiences that would end up being jaded. I haven't had anything like that happen to me but I am also no stranger to the fact that Americans are not very popular with many English people. Teens and young adults love America (and funny enough a lot of people in England love Obama) but from what she told me, elder people don't really give a damn.

After her depressing stories we were finally able to board the plane and the flight was mostly smooth, although I am starting to hate landings more and more because I feel like pilots don't know how to land the plane and it's always very bumpy. Turbulence is not my cup of tea and the main reason why I can't stand flying. However we made it to Barcelona in one piece and that's all that matters. Now it was just a matter of how to get to our hostel and then find something to eat. Thankfully the guy who in special assistance who helped Brandon escorted us to the train station and showed us how to get tickets for the train and the metro. Of course by now everyone was cranky and grumpy because of the long day and the equally long flight that everyone started to get paranoid about being on the wrong train and not knowing where to go. We did end up on the right train and I helped navigate us through the metro and we found the hostel no problem. Still it's hard when you yourself are cranky and in a foreign country where you don't speak the language.

By the way, Barcelona Spanish is entirely different from what I learned in high school. They speak Catalan which is a mix of Spanish, French, and Italian. So there are a few things that I can understand but otherwise I try not to bother. It's been working out okay so far.


The following day we ended up taking a walking tour of the Gothic district which our hostel offers everyday and at first the day started out wet and cold but thankfully the sun came out and it was blue skies for the rest of the day. It was amazing. Also the tour lasted about two hours and then we all decided to walk around even more. By the time we got back to the hostel it was around 5:30 and we had been walking for more than five hours. My legs and hips are still hurting me. However I ended up taking a nice hour long nap before eating dinner and went out for a little bit before falling dead asleep in my bed.

Unfortunately yesterday wasn't as pleasant. Due to a mix of sangria, a weird tasting crunch bar, and inhaling a bit of shisha (it's nothing bad but I would rather not say exactly what that is. Just know it wasn't any type of drug; I don't do those sorts of things) I ended up getting sick the next morning and had a bad pressure headache. I thought I would be okay once I emptied out the contents in my stomach but the headache was so much worse so I had to stay in and sleep. And that sucked because it was warm and sunny out and it was not fair that I had to stay in. I did end up feeling better towards the end of the night and I went to sleep decently early so I can make the most of today.

So I'm feeling really good today and I am ready to take on my last day here. Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Paris for the rest of break and I cannot tell you how happy I am to see that city and all it's sights.

Also if you didn't know, my sister completed the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando yesterday and I couldn't be more proud of her. She is also doing it again with me in 2015 when I don't have school anymore. So if you are friends with her on Facebook or have her number, congratulate her because 13.1 miles is not an easy feat.

That is all I have for now but I am sure you'll hear from me again in Paris!

Cheers!

Oh the Places You'll Go

I know it's been over two weeks since my last post and that is for a number of factors. One, I was getting over a really nasty cold. Two, I had a weekend trip to Stratford-upon-Avon and it was the best trip I've had in my life, and most importantly, I'm just really really lazy. If that isn't a suitable excuse then I had a lot of homework to get done (and I am not kidding about that). I still have a paper to finish for tomorrow but I figured everyone has waited long enough to know how my trip went and to be honest, I can't help but brag at how wonderful it was.

I'll try not to bore you with so many words when I have lots of pictures that can tell you more.

First off, Stratford-upon-Avon is in the English countryside and it is absolutely gorgeous! Granted it was very rainy when I was there but the experience was still spectacular. Also if you don't know already, this is Shakespeare's hometown and the people there will definitely never let you forget that fact. Not to mention the the Royal Shakespeare Company is headquartered there and they put on plays all year round. So the moment I stepped off the train, I was having such a freak out. I like Shakespeare, hence why I chose to take the class over here and getting the chance to be around people who like the same things and were having minor freakouts of their own, made me feel like I had found the perfect place for me.

Anyway, the first night there we were treated to dinner at one of the bed and breakfasts we were staying at. Homemade lasagna and banoffee pie for dessert. Both were amazing and the banoffee pie was the best dessert I have ever had. Just to clarify it's banana and toffee pie that has cream on top, chocolate chips and a graham cracker crust (now don't tell me that doesn't sound like heaven to you). Afterwards we were off to the Royal Shakespeare Company where we saw a production of the Life of Galileo. It was a pretty good play, though I was so tired from the trip and extremely full from dinner that it took a little bit to get into it. However what boggled me the entire performance was the fact that the guy who played Galileo looked so familiar. It wasn't until afterwards when I saw the cast list that it was IAN MCDIARMID! PALPATINE FROM STAR WARS!!

And to rub it in your face just a little more, I GOT TO SPEAK WITH HIM THE NEXT DAY! He was on his break and another girl went with me to congratulate him on the play. We didn't get a picture because he didn't want to be disturbed while he relaxed, which is very understandable but the fact that I got to actually meet this guy and speak words to him was the highlight of my whole trip.

The following day was jam packed with visits to Shakespeare's Birth Place, Hall's Croft, Nash House, Shakespeare's grave, a filling dinner at a pub called the Dirty Duck (where I saw another actor from the play but she was talking to friends), and seeing The Winter's Tale to end off the night. When I got back to my room I was exhausted! Thankfully we were able to sleep in the next morning before heading to Anne Hathaway's cottage (Shakespeare's wife, not the actress) and having afternoon tea before boarding the train back to London.

Let me just say this: I have never eaten so much or drank so much tea in my life. I was full the entire weekend that when I got back I didn't eat dinner. I also must have had at least 10 cups of tea over the course of the trip but it was so worth it! I don't like coffee and the fact that England is big on tea makes it even better.

Here are some pictures from my weekend:

self explanatory

the street where Shakespeare's Birth Place is located

the actual birthplace

an extremely energetic guy who performed Shakespeare sonnets and skits

letters from Oscar Wilde to Bram Stoker (not Shakespeare related but still really friggin cool!)

best way to exit off a stage
 

Garden outside Nash's Hall
 

statue representing Macbeth

 

can't remember which statue this is but it's cool nonetheless

 

Statues in the garden of Nash's House each represented a Shakespeare play

 

Here we go 'round the mulberry tree!
 

again can't remember which statue this was but it's funky looking (in a good way)
 

Shakespeare with his muse
 

the bed and breakfast I stayed in (they also had a very playful black lab named Harry who was adorable!)
 

church where Shakespeare's grave is held
 

the inside of the church
 

again self-explanatory (his wife, daughter, and son-in-law are buried next to him)
 

Anne Hathaway's cottage

Afternoon tea! By the way, scones with clotted cream and jam is the best snack with tea ever invented. Highly recommend you try it.


I also made a lot of new friends on this trip who not only share my enjoyment of Shakespeare but other things as well. It also allowed me to get to know my professor a bit more because he is pretty chill and really really funny. Furthermore I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the Royal Shakespeare Company building. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to take one but my camera died on Saturday (the batteries in the UK suck fyi) so most of the time I was taking pictures on my phone. However since it was really rainy and wet, I didn't want to take it out so much and waste that battery. Also can you blame me for being really into this experience? I thought coming to London was a dream come true but actually being in Shakespeare's hometown and walking the same ground where he walked, as well as his family and not to mention where famous actors have been, was just something I never thought was imaginable. So if you ever come to England, definitely go to this town. Also there is a milkshake shop near the birth place called Blue Cow that has some REALLY good milkshakes and you can mix and match whatever you want. I had the Merchant of Vanilla (vanilla ice cream, milky bar, marshmallows and a few other things) and it was delicious!

So that was my Stratford trip and can you believe that spring break starts Friday? That means I'm already halfway through with my spring semester and I'll be starting my internship when I get back. Oh yeah I almost forgot about that! Half of the semester is classes and the second half is an internship and I was placed with a post-production company located in Soho. I wanted to see if film production was a career path I wanted to follow because I'm torn between wanting to continue writing (such as Journalism) or get into film editing because I like how the process works. I'm glad I get the opportunity to see how this goes because over here, there are a lot of independent companies that work with television and film. The one I was placed with does a lot of things for Channel 4 and MTV. It's a relatively new company called Lucky Cat but everyone seems nice and it looked like a great atmosphere when I went in for my interview. Not sure how I'll handle working 9 to 5:30 three days a week but hey, welcome to the real world.

As for my next trip, I'm heading to Barcelona and Paris for spring break and I'll be leaving Friday afternoon. It's weird to think that by this time next week I'll be in Spain and then jetting off to France. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself because it's hard to believe that I'm actually traveling around Europe. I never thought I would ever get the chance to do this and I'm super excited but also very nervous about being there on my own. Well, not technically on my own, I'll have people with me but I'm pretty much responsible for everything and that is terrifying in itself.

However this is what it means to grow up. At some point or other you have to learn that although you can be in a comfortable environment, whether it is in school with your friends or being at home with your family, you will be placed in uncomfortable situations that you will have to handle on your own and that's what I have been doing for the past two months that I've been here. England is deceivingly similiar to the US. I am still trying to navigate my way around on buses and figure out what food is equivalent of something from back home. It's not easy and there are times I wish my parents could be here to help me out. But then I wouldn't learn anything. Not every day will be smooth and I've finally had my share of rough days here, especially when you have a fever and all you want are your mother's hugs to make you feel better.

I know Barcelona and Paris will have something in store for me and although I'm nervous to find out what that is, I'm also excited to take on this adventure. Hopefully this time I can make my camera last the entire week without the batteries failing. There are just some things about home that you can't help but miss.

Cheers!

Busy Bee

Before I get into the new post, there was something I forgot to mention in my last one and I feel like I have a right to brag about this a little bit. For those of you who don't know, my middle name is Wendy after my maternal grandmother. Peter Pan has been a big part of my Grandmom's family because my great grandma Toots was in a production of the play and J.M. Barrie created the name Wendy. I was very lucky that my program placed me in South Kensington, near Kensington Gardens where the Peter Pan statue resides. It was my mission to find it, not only for me, but for my Grandmom and on a run in the snow, I ended up finding it. I can't post the picture here because I took it on my iPhone but if you want to see it, it's up on Facebook. I was glad that I ended up making her happy and on a more sunnier (and hopefully warmer) day, I'll go back and find a picture to post on here.

Anyway, onwards we go!

This week has been the busiest I've had because it's been filled with class field trips, seeing plays, a late night foam party, and wandering around the city. Where to start? How about with my field trip to the BBC Studios?

One of the classes I'm taking over here is called Media in Britain where we discuss British broadcasting, such as television and radio, as well as film. It meets on Tuesdays once a week and last week we had our trip to BBC Studios. It was the last week the BBC would be in its building because they were moving to central London, therefore we were being given the last tour. It was absolutely amazing! We were able to see the main room where every news piece was being broadcasted and people sitting at their desks watching computer monitors. Our guide told us their average work day is about nine or more hours long and by the time we were there, everyone had been working for at least three. Sounds really rough but when you are the biggest broadcasting company in the world, those are the breaks.

However that wasn't the most exciting part for me. Before we entered the studio, there was a very familiar blue box outside of the building and my crazy fan girl persona squealed in major delight. It was back in May when I got into Doctor Who and BBC airs the episodes so I found it extremely fitting to take a picture with the TARDIS.

FYI, TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Mock me all you want, I am not ashamed of being a Who fan and a good portion of my motivation on taking a picture with the TARDIS was to make my equally Doctor Who crazy cousin extremely jealous, so eat your heart out Matthew McCarthy!

Of course it would have made the day a lot sweeter if the Doctor himself, Matt Smith, had been present but he wasn't. However two girls in my afternoon class met him on the Tube and got his autograph so I'm very bitter about that but maybe I'll get lucky and spot my favorite Doctor, David Tennant. Here's to hoping!

So that was Tuesday. Wednesday was a little more chaotic. I had to find my way to the Fulham Football stadium (by myself I might add) because I had a ticket for the evening match against West Ham. Getting there went smoother than I thought. Thankfully most British people are avid football fans and I was able to follow the large crowd to my destination. If you want to know just how big the crowd was, here's a parallel. In the movie Modern Times, with Charlie Chaplin, there is a scene in the beginning where you see a herd of sheep being clumped together as they try to move and then it dissolves into a similar picture but this time of men bustling out of the subway to get to work. That is pretty much how it was from the Tube to the stadium. Also if my film professor ever sees this post, at least you know one student really paid attention in class.

Okay so aside from comparing the crowd to a movie scene, the stadium itself was huge and loud. Once the match was underway, you heard all kinds of chanting from both the Fulham and West Ham crowds. This was the first legit football game I have ever been to. Before this my football was limited to me playing from ages four to 10 and being the ball girl at my sister's matches in high school, so it was interesting to see how different the atmosphere was. Also I've never heard so much swearing in my life. The men in front of me were particularly amusing and I've also learned that the British love to use the F-word more than any other swear word.

 

 



 

I ended up meeting with Brandon and his sporting class and followed them so I didn't have to go back by myself. It took an hour and a half to get home because of the nearby Tube station having too much traffic and then going in the wrong direction three times. Still it was an overall fun time and I would be open to going to another match but maybe an Arsenal or Chelsea match to mix it up a bit.

 

Speaking about getting lost, Thursday evening I had to go north of South Kensington to this small pub that had a production of Twelfth Night and it was in a residential area in Kentish Town, a little bit further than Camden Town. That was an adventure in itself. First off, I left around 6:40 and got on the Piccadilly Line ten minutes later. It stopped twice to even out gap times between the itself and the train in front of it. By the time I got to the Northern Line, it was 7:15, which meant I had 15 minutes until the play started. The Northern Line was worse with stops and when I finally got to Kentish Town, it was 7:29. Thankfully I knew what street to go to and once I cleared the exit of the station, I shot off like a bullet. Made it within three minutes and still had a little bit of time before the play started. These are the times where I'm so thankful I am a runner.

 

The play was hilarious and the actors were brilliant considering the fact I was up close and personal with a lot of them (and it didn't hurt that Orsino and Sir Toby were some pretty good looking guys). Just to make this clear, this was for my Shakespeare class so I had to go and I'm glad I did. We have another show to attend Monday evening but this one is a promenade. We are put into small groups and walk through. I can't wait to tell you all about that.

 

Weekends here I love because I get to do anything I want, whether it is going to local markets where all the food is amazing and you can buy goods at a very reasonable price. One market I can't wait to go back to is Partridges because it had freshly made fudge, pies, confectionary, and vendors selling jams, popcorn, and curd (which is really really good. It's essentially jam but with butter and eggs. So creamy!). I'll be sending home some raspberry flavored curd before I leave here and no one is allowed to touch it until I'm back at home.

 

Here are a few pictures of the market

 

 

 

 

 

One last thing before I go. Last night a few of the girls and myself went to a foam party at a club in Elephant & Castle, just across the river near the London Eye and it was a lot of fun. We were covered in glow sticks and even got free t-shirts. When it came time to leave, we were all soaking wet and had to figure out the bus route to get back home. The one that would have gone to South Kensington was not in service so we jumped onto one heading for Trafalgar Square. Thankfully we had a very nice bus driver who promised to help us figure a way back home and when it came to the end of his route, he called over a manager who then escorted us to the right bus to take. By then I was absolutely freezing and my feet were completely numb (it also didn't help that they were still covered in foam) so when I got to my room, I changed into sweatpants, cranked the heat, and fell right asleep. I nearly didn't go last night but I was glad I was kind of coerced into going because I had a freaking awesome time.

 

Just a warning I may not be posting until after next Sunday because I'll be in Stratford-upon-Avon for a study tour and I want to include that in my next post because I'll have a lot of pictures and, most likely, stories I will want to share. So be on the lookout for next post and I hope you enjoyed this one.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

Catching Up

It's been over a week since my last post and so much has happened; I'm not sure where to begin (or if I can remember everything in details) but I will start off with last weekend when we went to a play Friday night called The 39 Steps, based on the Alfred Hitchcock movie.

The plot itself is really complicated but it's a mix of mystery and comedy where a guy must find out what the 39 steps are and clear his name of murder. The cast consisted of only four actors who played over 100 characters (which is really impressive) and it was really funny, even though the corniness of some parts made me uncomfortable. Anyway, afterwards my group decided to find some place to go for a drink and found a guy handing out vouchers for half priced drinks at a nearby bar. We thought, why not? The place had a bar on the first floor that was pretty chill and then a set stairs leading to a large but cramped room that was filled with fully fledged adults that were sloppy drunk, a DJ playing decent music, and some pretty tasty drinks. The key moment of the night that you need to know about though, was when Brandon jumped into a nearby group that was dancing off to the side and I followed right behind. It was an impulse of the moment kind of thing but I regret nothing!

The next day we had a trip to Bath. The day was supposed to consist of a trip to Stonehenge and then onto the town of Bath. Unfortunately we had two days of consistent snow fall, so Stonehenge was cancelled due to road conditions but Bath was still on. I will admit I was pretty disappointed because it would have been cool to have a picture in front of the infamous groups of rocks and rub it in peoples faces. Still, Bath was a very pretty town but it almost felt like I wasn't in England; it had more of a continental Europe vibe. However that was probably because of the Roman Baths we visited. Hence, my next point of interest.

To start off, the legend of the Roman Baths is pretty cool (a lot cooler than how it was actually found). It was believed that those who bathed in the hot spring were cured of whatever illness they had. Although I can't remember the King who was in power at the time of the legend but his son, Bladud, had lepresy and was forced into exile with pigs that also suffered from the disease. The pigs ended up wallowing in the mud where the spring was and he saw that they were cured. Therefore he decided to do the same and soon he was cured as well and returned to claim his throne. Like I said, pretty cool right?

Now let me say one thing first before I continue: the Roman Baths only had one big bath that is full of water so I think the plural is unneccesary but that's not the point. It also had some really interesting artifacts including this giant Celtic head of a Gorgon and the Head of Minerva, who was the God for which the temple was dedicated to (for those of you who do not know your Roman gods, her Greek name is Athena). Our tour was also one that we kind of had to do on our own because so many people were visiting. So they have these audio cassettes that look and act like one way phones. Signs in each exhibit had a number that you press into the contraption and you were told the history of whatever you were seeing or interesting tidbits.

After we left the Roman Baths, we were given free reign to look around the town until we had to meet back up with the bus. The gist of what my friends and I did was we got pizza at a pretty good Italian place and I had gelato for the first time at the next door ice cream parlor. I know it's crazy to get gelato when there is snow on the ground and you're freezing but it was so good and so worth it.

We got back later on and we were all so tired. All I wanted to do was go to sleep. However, Brandon told us that we were invited to go out with a few people he knew from his sports class. As tired as I was, I'm pretty sure if I didn't go, I never would have heard the end of it from my mother, my sister, or anyone else I know. So I went and the girls were from Marist College (not too far from my hometown in New York). They were all really nice and we had a great time but I swear the craziest part was finding out one of the girls in the group was dating a guy I knew in high school. Still it was an awesome night (although I feel so bad for one of the girls who lost her camera and gloves) and hopefully we get the chance to repeat it, but minus the whole pick pocket situation.

On Monday I had a tour of the Houses of Parliment, which was fantastic! It was absolutely gorgeous, even if the main foyer was completely freezing. We got to see the House of Commons and the House of Lords and we even got to see the path the Queen goes on when she comes to Parliament. Also there is a copy of the Magna Carta in the first hallway you walk through and I stood there for two seconds with my jaw dropped. The architecture was amazing because of all the mosaics, the gothic and classic themes, and painting of famous monarchs or events on the walls. You couldn't take pictures on the tour unfortunately (but my camera was dead anyway so I didn't really have to worry about that so much).

The last thing I will say about my week was I joined the running club at Imperial College. It's hard to motivate yourself when your teammates and coach are over 1000 miles away from you so I figure this would be easier for me to do especially since the club does a lot of workouts and even long runs on Sundays, which I'm supposed to be doing anyway.

I couldn't make Monday due to class and Tuesday was cancelled due to weather. However I went to the run they have in Hyde Park and that was definitely a change for me. It was honestly a legit run. When I think of a run, I think of an easy run, conversational pace and whatnot. That was not the case here. I might as well have been doing a tempo run, they were freaking fast! One of the girls explained that a lot of them are training for the London Marathon or other races and therefore have a different regiment than me, who just needs to stay in shape to make sure I don't die when cross country season rolls around. I haven't met that many people yet but the club captain, Sophie, is super nice and has helped me a lot. Today we had intervals and it was just me and her but we didn't mind and she was cheering me on which was nice (it also made me miss my Mama Cash, the loudest cheerleader I know). Also believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the work out. That hardly ever happens for me but I felt really good afterwards and was so glad I turned up.

I'm going to try and make it to the long run on Sunday but it depends on how much homework I can get done, not to mention the pile of laundry that is collecting in the corner of my room. Hopefully I will have the chance to meet more people on the team and who knows, I may get faster through this experience and will end up making the Guilford guys have to chase after me.

I wish I could put up pictures I took from my Bath trip but like I said, my camera died and for some unknown reason the ones I took on my iPhone will not upload here. So if you would like to see pictures they are up on Facebook plus a few from my day at the Natural History Museum. However I have bought batteries and my camera now lives once again so I'll try to use that as much as possible. A few things to look forward to in the next post are my trip to BBC Studios on Tuesday and my first football match on Wednesday. As for right now, I hope this has assuaged you on how I've been doing. As much as I would like to be back in the States with everyone I love and the brands of food products that I miss, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world.

Cheers!

Adventures and Cooking and Laundry...Oh My!

I decided to be completely and totally honest in this blog about what has been going on since I've been here for close to three weeks. A lot of it is just ridiculousness while the rest is relatively cool. I mostly didn't want to post it because I didn't want my mum (and now that I think about it, my dad too) to worry about me because I'm surviving.

There have been numerous complaints about the program so far from the people I've traveled with and I agree with them most of the time. However, I decided to adopt a more optimistic view about the troubles I encounter because I knew there would be numerous ones. So my philosophy is you take the good with the bad. While our accomodations might not be what we thought they would be and money is a big issue here when we go out, I'm in one of the greatest cities in the world and I'm going to make the most of it.

So I will start off with how we feed ourselves around here. Cooking! I was told last summer by my Grandmother to start learning how to cook and of course my mother agreed with her. By then I knew how to make scrambled eggs and grilled cheese (which I made out of a wok instead of a pan but that is a different story). In school I didn't have to worry much about meals because I had the dining hall and the grill to fall back on, not to mention you don't have much in the way of appliances in dormitories. However, here we are given a stipend of 100 pounds and, believe it or not, it does go a long way. The second week into the semester, my roommate and I decided to buy groceries together and cook together that way it would be easier to spend money. So far we've cooked pasta (by yours truly) plus one failure of garlic bread (again by yours truly), and London style enchiladas (courtesy of Leticia)


Leticia cooking her first meal!
 

Due to being on a budget, it's hard to get everything we need to be healthy but we are doing pretty well. We have vegetables, pasta, water, cereal, milk, and a couple of snacks. However we are running low on supplies so, thankfully, we get our stipends tomorrow (they are handed out every two weeks) and we are heading for some shops that have cheap deals tomorrow, so fingers crossed at finding some goodies!

Another big issue here is: laundry! Unlike Guilford who charges us $30 for free laundry, we have to actually use coins here. Since I've lived in an apartment building for most of my life, I was used to coin operated washing machines and dryers. The difference though is my washer at home is $1.25 to wash and about the same to dry depending on how long you need the dryer to go. Here it's twice that much. The machines in Metrogate where I live, are around four pounds to wash and a pound fifty to dry. Not too bad, but it's hard to make sure you have enough change for the machines and the coins here are a whole different story which I will get to another time. The gist though, is everything below five pounds is dealt out in coins. It's a bit ridiculous and I've heard people have a bad experience with the laundry service here. Therefore it took two weeks for me to finally do my laundry but I instead went to a local place that had really good reviews and the people there were very sweet.

It was four pounds to wash and two pounds to dry which seems pointless compared to what I just mentioned about Metrogate. The catch is they give you coins if you have none, they provide soap if you need it, and they even offer to do your wash for you! I only had to pay eight pounds for two washers and got two pounds back in change to pay for the dryer. Furthermore students get a 10 percent discount so, score! It's nice to have clean clothes and I know where I'll be doing my laundry for the rest of my trip. Not to mention it is pretty cool to get to interact with a few locals so it's a win-win scenario in my eyes. Also I hope I didn't just give my mum a heart attack with this story (sorry!).

Finally I will tell you about what else has been going on aside from my small domestic life at Metrogate. I went back to Camden and had some delicious Chinese food for three pounds and even saw a live beatboxer in front of the tube station (I took a video and it should be up within the next day or two). Also I decided that is where I'm going souvenir shopping for people when my program comes to end.

I mentioned in the last post that I've seen all the tourist attractions but this past weekend I finally got the chance to get up close and personal with a few of them such as Big Ben, which greeted me and my friends when we exited Westminster tube station. By the way, Big Ben is not the clock tower, it's the bell that signals the hour. See I'm learning things!

 



Big Ben is connected to the Houses of Parliament and Parliament is very close to Westminster Abbey, the church where Will and Cate were married. Of course, that had to be my next stop for the day. Just a side note, they hold mass there and three of my Guilford companions attended the service last Sunday. I wanted to go but I couldn't get up early enough for it. C'est la vie.

 

 

 

 

It was a very cold day that day and we walked around Trafalgar Square which was a bit of a trek from Westminster and since we had gotten there around 2:30 in the afternoon, we had an hour and a half of daylight, or at least overcast, before it got dark. Still it didn't stop us from heading over to charming Buckingham Palace.

 

It was bloody freezing by then!
 

Unfortunately we were very late and didn't get to see the changing of the guard, but perhaps on a (hopefully) warmer day we get the chance because that just seems too freaking awesome to miss. For dinner we stopped at a pretty good pub near Covant Garden which is right off of Trafalgar and it was so warm! It was nice to defrost after being cold for nearly two hours.

 

One more thing I have done so far, and pictures will go up on Facebook soon for it, was my Shakespeare class took an excursion to see the Globe Theater. Seriously, I was geeking out when I saw it but I kept it all to myself because Brits tend to be reserved with everything and I would have just felt silly for doing a happy dance (even though I really wanted to). The Globe is on the River Thames, though it wasn't orginially, and you get a good view of the Millenium Bridge to the left which was lit up with blue lights and filled with runners and walkers. You also had St. Paul's Cathedral lit up across the way which was absolutely gorgeous.

 

I will conclude here for now but I will tell you what I have coming up. This weekend I get to go to Stonehenge and Bath (unfortunately it's forecasted to snow but oh well), as well as a play called The 39 Steps the night before, and a tour of Parliament on Monday where you can actually sit in on a meeting (definitely taking advantage of that!). So keep looking out for more pictures, news, and shenanigans that are sure to pop up.

 

Cheers!





'Ello!

So I promised family members and a few friends that I would blog about my adventures while I spend my spring semester in London and here it is!

I've been here for over a week now and it has been an adventure in itself. First off, I nearly missed my connection flight to London from Montreal due to an hour plane delay and was yelled at by a woman at the ticket counter because I started crying (and didn't even realize it). Everyone else was super nice and I did end up making the flight. However this meant my luggage didn't and I had to wait until the next evening for Air Canada to deliver my bag. It was not the best experience to have when you are on your first international trip but, c'est la vie.

It definitely hasn't been what I have expected so far. The place I'm living in isn't as nice as it looked in the pictures (however I think that is the deal with most places) but I have an awesome roommate who I get along with and the neighborhood is amazing! We are only a block away from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, and there are numerous trails to explore when I run (and yes I am running because I am not coming back out of shape and facing the wrath of the Cashes). Furthermore, I have been to a couple of pubs. The food is actually pretty good and the pints are delicious as well. I'm not the biggest drinker around but the fact that it's more of a social thing, I'm more comfortable drinking around people. Pubs around here are decently cheap but most of us mainly go to the student bar at Imperial College. Drinks there range from a pound to two pound fifty. The campus is right across the street and the school is the eighth ranked college in the world and has a partnership with the program I am on. I've met a few interesting people over there already so we'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

Classes have already started this week and mine are only Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednedays. It sounds nice (and it is) but the classes are three hours long and I have back-to-back classes on Tuesday. I don't think I will ever complain about an hour and fifteen minute classes ever again when I'm back at Guilford. Also when my internship starts in March, I kind of lose my Thrusday and Friday free days since we have the internship Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday so I have to make the most of out it while I still can.

As for places to explore, I've been on tours where I've seen the main tourist attractions, like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, etc. but I did get the chance on my third day here to get out and go see Abbey Road, which I crossed and have photographic evidence of on Facebook. Another place that is great to go is Camden Markets. Everything there is super cheap and has a wide variety of foods such as Moraccan, Indian, Chinese, etc. I am psyched to go back there. Whenever we go out to far away places such as the ones I mentioned we take the Tube, which is so much better than the subway in New York. I freaking love it and would use it all the time if I lived here. Walking around that neighborhood, or in any non Kensington neighborhood, astonishes me how amazing this experience is already and how much more amazing it will be once the weeks start to roll on.

This is what has happened so far and I will try to update this at least once a week with a couple of pictures and a long post about what I have done so far.

Cheers!