Three rows from Josh Hartnett... Does it get much better than that?

Thursday morning I had class as usual and then went to Covent Garden to meet my grandma and her friend, Pam, for lunch. We went to a lovely Thai restaurant because I really just can’t get enough of Asian food. I would be completely okay with eating it for every meal – including breakfast. :)

After lunch, we walked to the Palladium Theatre where “The Sound of Music” musical is playing to see if we could get tickets for that evening’s performance. Tickets were available and we actually ended up with very good seats for not too much money. Then we went by a few shops on Carnaby Street, a somewhat trendy area, and walked into a shop with really unique shoes. I got a fabulous pair of black flats with silver polka dots (thank you, Grandma Jane) and Pam bought a cute pair of dancing shoes. Then we went by Berwick Street Market, which mostly just had fruit and vegetable stands – but really, whenever I see the word “market” I have to go.

We decided to head to the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square because the weather was getting pretty rainy and dreary, which is just typical London weather. On our way to the Gallery, we walked through the “XXX” rated side of town… if you know what I mean. That was definitely unintentional, according to my grandmother, but you never know…. Hahaha, only kidding. The National Portrait Gallery was lovely. I really enjoyed it just because it was different from the other art museums I’ve been to – there was a lot of photography, which was a nice change of scenery for me. And I enjoyed all the captions by the pictures because they usually tell you something interesting about that particular person that you probably didn’t know before. For example, before Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, she was a research chemist, among other things. And of course I think that makes her even more fantastic.

Then we all had tea in the café located at the top of the Gallery. It gave a beautiful view of the Clock Tower (Big Ben is the bell, not the tower) and the London Eye (the giant Ferris wheel). After tea, we walked back to Carnaby Street in the London mist and participated in a silent disco while they lit the Christmas lights. We all had headphones on, so we could only hear the music; therefore, it was silent to everyone else! So I’m sure we all looked fabulous to them since we were dancing to music they couldn’t hear. And Christmas lights were never technically lit, but we did get confetti sprayed on us, which was fun. It was just a really random, memorable experience. I mean really, how many people get to say they went to a silent disco on Carnaby Street in London to watch Christmas lights being lit?

After that, it was onto dinner at an Indian restaurant. I have never had an encounter with Indian food, so this was all new to me. But since it is somewhat Asian, I was a fan. :) I got chicken thali, which was a variety of chicken with yellow curry, rice, an eggplant mixture, and potatoes in a special sauce. It was definitely delicious. I better learn how to cook Asian food… because we all know Muncie’s options for ethnic food are hopeless.

After dinner, we went to see “The Sound of Music”, which was spectacular! That was one of the musicals I had really wanted to see while I was here. I used to watch the movie with Julie Andrews all the time at my Grandma Luba’s house. And the live musical was just as fabulous.

On Friday, I met Pam and Grandma Jane at the tube stop near Pam’s house. We all left from there in Pam’s car and went to Cambridge. The town is adorable, lots of cute shops bustling with college students. The university is old, but still very beautiful – it’s actually hard to believe it’s a university at all! It’s seems like it should be a museum or something. It’s just very different from what I’m used to at my beloved Ball State University.

After a wonderful lunch of fish and chips at a pub, we went on a punt ride down the river Cam. A “punt” is what they call the little boats they use. So instead of a walking tour of the university like we do at BSU, we had a river tour with our own little guide paddling the boat. It was a really fun time and it didn’t rain, so yay for that! Do you want to know why the town is called Cambridge? Because of a bridge was built over the river Cam… and that’s how they got “Cambridge”. So clever.

Today I went “cheap clothes shopping”, as Pam calls it, with her and Grandma Jane at a market in East London. I didn’t find any clothes, but I did find a handbag VERY similar to the green giraffe print one that got stolen! So I was PUMPED about that. It’s kind of large and in charge, but I love it and it was cheap. :)

After the market, Grandma Jane and I took the tube to Leicester Square and went to the theatre where “Rain Man” is playing. That’s the production that Josh Hartnett is currently starring in. Luckily we were about to buy some tickets for the matinee performance. Before the show, we had lunch at a restaurant in Chinatown because the theatre is nearby there. I know, surprise surprise that I ate Chinese food. And of course it was fabulous – we had peking duck as part of our meal… AMAZING.

“Rain Man” was absolutely wonderful! I’ve never seen the movie with Dustin Hoffman, so the storyline was brand new to me. And it was the first drama I’ve seen since I’ve been in London. And we were three rows from the stage… meaning I was only three rows away from Josh Hartnett. So yeah, put all those things together and I had a wonderful afternoon. :)

Tomorrow, I am going to church at St. Paul’s Cathedral with Pam and Grandma Jane. And then we’re heading to Pam’s house for a traditional English dinner… I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m sure it’ll be wonderful!

Until next time,
Rachel

“When you sneeze, we catch the cold.”

I know that I have been neglecting my blog lately and am very sorry about that! It’s just that this whole experience is slowly winding down and I’ve been busy trying to spend time out and about in London and doing all that unwanted homework that I HAVE to do. But I guess, technically, I am supposed to be “studying” while I’m here. :)

Last week was mostly spent doing things in and around London – I went to the O2 Centre in Greenwich is see a movie. This is a huge monstrosity of a building planned by the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has a celebration for the millennium. Well, it wasn’t done is time, cost taxpayers way more than what was expected, and is in a horrible location that definitely does not attract many visitors. So basically, it’s a waste. I mean, it was a really cool building, but it wastes an enormous amount of energy every day. I also went walking through Kensington Gardens one day and stumbled upon a memorial for Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. I have no idea how I never knew it was there because it definitely large and in charge.

This past weekend I went on a group tour of Wales. On Saturday we stopped in a few towns to see a very old castle, the ruins of a famous abbey, and to shop around in all the different bookshops. Sunday was that day I was really looking forward to because we were going horseback riding in the countryside! The countryside in Wales really reminds me of upstate New York. So anyway, on Sunday we left the hotel and it’s raining. We arrive at the horse stables and it’s raining. We mount the horses and start riding… and guess what? It’s still raining. It pretty much rained the entire time we were on the horses, which made all of us decide we wanted to come back a little earlier. I basically went numb about two-thirds through the ride because I was completely soaked and shivering. It seriously looked like I walked into the shower with all of my clothes on. But on a brighter note, my horse, Smokey, was fabulous. They called him a “gentle giant” and he really was. I felt completely safe while I was riding him – he liked to stop and eat every chance he had, but can you really blame him? I mean, most of us like to do that too. :)

On Monday I had British Life and Culture class – we spent a lot of time talking about what had happened the previous week in the States with our presidential election. It was amazing to be in London during that time and to watch the reactions of the British. The day after the election, I walked into a newspaper shop and Obama was on the cover of every major newspaper in the United Kingdom. Pretty amazing. And everyone here is so thrilled about his victory – but it also presents the question that our British professor brought up on Monday… Will the Brits ever have a black Prime Minister? They’ve already had a woman, which we are yet to do, but what about a minority leader? One man we talked to in Wales said something that really stood out in my mind – he was referring to the actions of the States and said, “When you sneeze, we catch the cold.”

That night we went to the musical “We Will Rock You”. It’s based entirely on Queen’s music and was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I know I say that about most shows I see, but this one was truly extraordinary. Everything was wonderful – the band, the lights, the stage, the performers – it was awesome. The storyline was a little weak at the beginning, but the music definitely made up for it. By the end of the performance, the whole audience was singing and clapping along, and I don’t think any of us wanted it to end. It was definitely the best musical I’ve ever been to.

On Tuesday, my first visitor came to see me! My Grandma Jane arrived in London on Monday night, but I didn’t see her until lunch on Tuesday. We ate at the Chinese restaurant that we both loved when we were here together several years ago – and of course, it was just as good as we remembered. She brought along gifts with her – Orbit sweet mint gum and candy corn. Can you believe they don’t have candy corn anywhere in London? That’s just ridiculous. So anyways, we had lunch, went to Oxford Street to find her a cheap, pay-as-you-go cell phone, and then headed to Harrods to do a little belated birthday present shopping for me. She bought me this fabulous, environmental day planner made from recycled paper – I absolutely love it! And then we had traditional English afternoon tea there too. The tea was lovely, along with small sandwiches, raisin scones topped with clotted cream (talk about a heart attack waiting to happen – but still amazingly delicious) and strawberry jam, and a few assorted pastries. It was a lovely English day with my grandmum. :)

Wednesday is our weekly day trip day, and this week we went to Brighton. It’s on the southeast coast of England and is very much a “beachy” sort of town. The Royal Pavilion is there (I believe it was built by King George IV), which is considered a royal palace, but it is definitely not as large of a residence as Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. The inside is definitely extravagant and over the top, with a very, VERY prominent Oriental theme going on. There is also a very long pier in Brighton, which is sort of “carnival-ly”. If you’ve ever read the book “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”, this is exactly the scene in which I imagined that book to take place. Funny story though - I was walking on the pier eating a small piece of fudge and then before I even knew what had happened, a HUGE dinosaur seagull swooped down from behind me, landed on my hand, and snatched the fudge right out of it! It was ridiculous because that thing was huge and freakishly fast. And it must have been stalking me for quite some time to spot that piece of fudge. So it’s safe to say after that happened, I quickly turned around and headed for the shore.

My favorite part of Brighton was DEFINTELY all the unique shops they had there. I had lunch at a little “hole in the wall” Chinese restaurant (but of course those are always the best) with one of my friends and then we went shopping all around town. One shop we found was called Vegetarian shoes and their motto was “Treats for your feet for those who don’t eat meat.” I thought it was hilarious – and very clever too.

After we rode the train back from Brighton, we went to this new shopping centre in London called Westfield. It’s humungous, brand-new, and very modern and contemporary. One part of it is called The Village and only contains designer shops, like Armani, Gucci, and all those stores that are way too expensive for my lifestyle right now. :) But there were also shops that I can actually afford, like Levi’s, H&M, and places like that.

Today I will be spending most of the day with Grandma Jane and Pam. I don’t know what they have planned, but I’m sure whatever it is will be tons of fun! And I promise I’ll try not to go so long before I post again!

Until next time,
Rachel

Thank you, Eiffel. For the Tower.

A weekend in Paris. Interesting to say the least. Not a bad trip – just interesting. And it was very quick. We arrived in Paris Friday morning and left late Saturday night. The first day was wet and chilly, so after lunch at a cute, little French restaurant with crepes, we headed to the Louvre Museum.

The Louvre is where the Mona Lisa is housed, so it was cool to see her. She’s much smaller than you would expect. But for anyone who knows me, I’m not a huge fan of museums and I don’t know much about art, so after about an hour, I was good to go. I just think it’s more fun to explore a city that I’ve never been to than to spend my day in a building. But we stayed a little longer since the others wanted to look around more. Really though, that place is HUGE, and it would probably take about 4 and a half days to make it through the entire thing.

After the Louvre, we walked towards the Arc de Triomphe. We walked through some gardens and parks along the way, which were lovely with all the leaves on the trees changing colors. But fall is definitely not the ideal season to visit Paris – spring or summer would be much better because there’s just so much to see that’s outside. By the time we made it down to the Arc, it was dark because it was actually a lot farther away than we thought. But it was fun walk and it was cool to see the Arc at night.
After that, we headed to our hotel. It was by the airport, which is definitely not in the centre of Paris, so we had to take a train back out to it. Thank goodness for public transportation – otherwise we definitely would’ve been in trouble. When we got to the hotel, it was actually really nice – but of course there has to be a story to go along with it. There were four of us who went on this trip. Well, when we walked into our room, there was only one bed. Awesome. How that happened I don’t exactly know, but regardless, there was still only one bed. So me and a guy slept on the floor. He took the curtain down from the window and slept on that. I, on the other hand, used my towel for a blanket. So yeah, not the best sleep ever, but at least it was only for one night. We ate dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, which was one of the first hot meals I’ve had in a long time that did not consist of English muffin and American cheese sandwiches. :)

The next day when we checked out of the hotel, it was raining. Not exactly pleasant, but no matter what, I was going to see the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower, because really, that was pretty much the whole reason I went to Paris in the first place. Before we went to Notre Dame, we went to a restaurant where I had a croque (I think that’s the name of it). It’s basically two slices of bread with some sort of cheese, either mozzarella or asiago, melted on each slice. Then they are stacked on top of each other with tomatoes in between and an egg on top. Probably one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life. Seriously, it was delicious.

Notre Dame Cathedral was beautiful and HUGE. We toured the inside while mass was happening, which was probably somewhat awkward for them, since random people were walking around them, taking pictures, and staring. I really wanted to climb the stairs to the top of Notre Dame because you get to see the bells and the gargoyles along the way, but the line was too long and not everyone wanted to wait.

Then we FINALLY headed to the Eiffel Tower. Unlike the Mona Lisa, it is much bigger than you would expect. We rode the elevator up to the second level, because the very top was closed due to the weather (But I don’t really understand why… It’s not like it was foggy or snowing… just a little rainy). But the views from the second level were still extraordinary. It was so beautiful – and the sun even started to come out while we were up there. After taking tons of pictures, Mel and I decided to go back down to the bottom because we thought the boys were already down there. WRONG. After standing on a bench underneath the Eiffel Tower for at least 45 minutes looking for them, they were nowhere to be found. So, we decided to walk through the Parc du Champs de Mars to get pictures of the Eiffel Tower from a different view. After that, ee decided to walk under the Eiffel Tower one more time and look for them, but if we couldn’t find them, then we were just going to meet them at the airport. Well, somehow in that crazy mass of people, we saw them. Amazing. They said they had been looking for us the whole time, but I find that hard to believe. You know how boys are – they probably got distracted and then finally realized that we weren’t near them anymore.

After the Eiffel Tower, we headed over to a street near there, went into a few shops, and ate dinner. We went to a sandwich and dessert café, which was absolutely adorable. I got a baguette sandwich (because that’s just something you have to do… hello, it’s called a FRENCH baguette for a reason!) filled with goat cheese. It was AWESOME. And then for dessert I had a chocolate éclair – really, you just can’t go wrong with French pastries.

By the time we left there, it was dark outside, so we walked by the Eiffel Tower one more time to see it all lit up. It was spectacular – I can’t even describe it. It’s just something you have to see in person – and even then it doesn’t actually seem like you’re really there looking at it.

After that, it was time to head to the airport. We made it to London without any major problems, but it just seemed to take FOREVER. It’s just one of those things – when you’re traveling home you just want to be there. You don’t want to take a plane, a shuttle, a train, and the tube – you just want to instantly be at your place. Is that too much to ask? Ha.

But all in all, it was a good trip. I saw almost everything I wanted to see, and learned that springtime in Paris is probably better than fall in Paris. And as much as I love traveling, there’s just something about coming back to London that makes me feel all warm and cozy on the inside. :)

Until next time,
Rachel

The good and the bad.

So, I know I have neglected posting on here since my return from Italy. And you would think that was because I have been relaxing, sleeping, and recovering from that trip. WRONG. This past week has actually been one of the busiest weeks I’ve had here, so there’s definitely a lot to share.

Okay, let’s start with last Saturday, two days after I returned from Rome. The whole time I’ve been in London I really wanted to take a day trip out to the coast of England to see Dover. So I took the train and journeyed out there by myself. It was lovely because I didn’t have to worry about other people complaining about walking or not wanting to see what I wanted to see – it was MY trip. And I loved it. I spent most of the day roaming around Dover Castle, which is absolutely humungous and sits on a hill high above the city of Dover. The views from up there were quite impressive – because Dover sits right on the water, it was clear enough for me to see the coast of France! I mean, obviously not the best view considering it is 40 miles away, but nevertheless, I saw it. I also took a tour of the Secret Underground Wartime Tunnels, used in the Napoleonic Wars and, more recently, during WWII. Very interesting – my dad would’ve loved them! And I learned about a man named Bertram Ramsey (a vice admiral in the British navy), who basically saved all the English, Belgium, and Holland soldiers who were trapped in Dunkirk, France during the war. For some reason, he is highly underrated. I had never heard of him until that day, and it seems like his name should’ve been all over our history books.

Besides the crazy winds that were blowing most of the day, it was a really good trip. And as much as I love traveling with people, sometimes it’s just nice to have a day for yourself – which was exactly what I did. :)

The next eventful thing happened Tuesday night, but this is definitely not as pleasant as my fun, little trip to Dover. I was sitting with a friend at this restaurant, called Wok in a Box (fast-food Chinese – actually really good), when I got up to leave and noticed my purse was missing. Yep, it had been stolen. NOT COOL. And the crazy thing is that it was on my leg, and somehow I didn’t even know when it was taken. It was just not a good night. When I realized that it was nowhere to be found, I felt so sick to my stomach – one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had. I think I was initially in shock because I didn’t actually start crying until I made it back to my flat and was talking to my dad. But I tried to pull myself together as much as I could and tried to figure out what needed to be taken care of. There was a lot of stuff in there – all my cards, most of my identification, my iPod, my camera, my UK mobile, the keys to my flat, and of course all of it was in my fabulous green giraffe print purse that I bought with Daniel in Las Vegas. I filed a police report that night and Mom and Dad and I called all the credit/debit card companies and all that stuff. So everything was pretty much taken care of fairly quickly, but it still just was not fun. I do not understand how a person can justify doing that to another person – how they can even think that it is an okay thing to do. But I guess that’s why I’m not a criminal. On the optimistic side of things (it’s always good to try to find the silver lining), all of my pictures were off my camera, my journal and laptop were not in there, and my passport was safe and sound back at my flat. So it definitely could’ve been worse.

My dad sent me an email shortly afterwards that basically sums up how I feel about the situation: “Do not let this ruin your time in nor your perception of London and of England. This kind of thing could happen anywhere… you can't stop living and doing all the fun things you had planned. The thief only should get what is in the purse, don't let him / her ruin anything else!” Thanks, Mom and Dad. :)

So onto happier news… Wednesday morning we left for an overnight trip to Manchester and Liverpool, England with the London group. We went on tours of both cities and were to observe the regeneration, industry, and other things about each city. It was a really interesting trip because most of the time when you think of England, you think the only big city is London. That’s definitely not the case. London is more like its own country than a city, I think. Both Liverpool and Manchester are quite large and each is unique in its own way. Both of the cities remind of big cities in the states - Manchester is sort of like Indianapolis and Liverpool has been compared to Gary, Indiana by other students, but I wouldn’t say it’s quite as rough. My impression of Manchester was that it was really new and contemporary (hence, regeneration), with lots of modern shopping and art centres. We DEFINITELY did not have enough time there. And we saw the Manchester United Football Stadium, which was cool just because it’s so famous AND because David Beckham used to play there all the time. Then we went to Liverpool Wednesday night, stayed at a very nice hostel, and went on a tour of the city the next day. It didn’t grab my attention quite as much as Manchester, because it was a little rougher and not quite as fun and new, but it was still very awesome because of that one band that started there… Who were they again? Hmm… I can’t really think of their name right now…. Oh wait… THE BEATLES. The city definitely attracts a lot of attention because of them. We actually drove on Penny Lane, which was really cool. We headed back to London later that day, which took longer than expected because a big bus and London traffic don’t exactly mix. I was content though – the girl I sat with on the bus had her laptop so we watched episodes of “The Office” and the movie “Sex in the City”. :)

The next day, I went to Paris with Mel, Kenny, and another boy, Sam. And it just happened to be my 20^th birthday. :) I will write all about the adventures of Paris in my next entry, so stayed tuned!

Until next time,
Rachel

Roaming around Roma.

The adventure to Rome began with a minor catastrophe that made me freak out for just a tiny, little second. We were on the train from Florence to Rome, when the announcer said, “Roma Termini”, and we were like, “Hey, that’s our stop.” It was about 10 minutes earlier than our planned arrival time, but for all we knew the train was going to arrive ahead of schedule. So we got all of our belongings together and got off the train. Yep, not the right stop. Great. As it turns out, we only got off one stop too early, so we were able to figure out the Metro system and take the tube to our intended destination. Like I said, I just had a small moment where I was like, “Oh my gosh, it’s dark, I’m in another country, I’m dragging around luggage, and I don’t know where I am.” But everything turned out okay, and we found our way to Roma Termini and eventually to our hostel.

This hostel was different from both the Venice and Florence hostels we stayed at earlier during this trip. I would describe this one as more of “real” hostel… if that makes sense. It wasn’t as sketchy as the Florence one, and the whole area just seemed much safer. It was me and one other girl from our group in a room with four other people we didn’t know. Then in a completely different area of the hostel were the three other girls from our group. There was a co-ed group bathroom, which actually turned out better than I thought it would because there was never a problem finding an available shower. The other people in our room seemed pretty safe – they were American girls studying in Copenhagen, Denmark. They had three weeks to travel all over Europe, which would be nice, but that’s a very long time to be living out of hostels. One night we had a homeless man in our room, but nothing bad happened. I guess he needed a place to sleep that night just like everyone else.

Our first real day in Rome started off with breakfast at this cute restaurant right down the street from our hostel. Out of all the lattes I had while I was in Italy, they definitely had the best one. Then we hopped on the Metro and went to Vatican City. The place is definitely amazing, just because of all the incredible architecture, and because of all the people who go there to visit. We went to St. Peter’s Basilica first. There were signs that said you weren’t allowed inside if you had a tank top or shorts on. So basically, if you dressed skanky, you weren’t getting in. Hahaha, I just thought it was really funny. So all of us cleared security and were within the limits of the dress code, so we were allowed inside. The inside of the Basilica was amazing. And I know I’ve seen a lot of churches and I say this every time, but the inside was seriously AMAZING. It was humongous! The ceilings were so high, the statues were so detailed, and the length of the Basilica just kept going and going. Two things that really stuck out in my mind: Number one, there was a pope who had died quite a while ago that was in a glass box on display. He hasn’t decayed at all… kind of stange… they don’t have an explanation for it… so yeah, that was interesting. Number two, the statue by Michelangelo of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus after he’s taken down from the cross was in there too – very cool.

After St. Peter’s Basilica, we went to the Vatican Museums. Luckily we did all of this in the morning, so nothing was too busy. The Vatican Museums stretched on forever and ever too because there was just so much stuff to look at - tapestries, statues, paintings, etc. Really all I wanted to see was the Sistine Chapel, along with everyone else there, but in order to get there you have to walk through all the other rooms. So it took a little while, but we eventually made it. It definitely did not disappoint – absolutely breathtaking. Everything was so detailed and precise – and the room is huge, so no wonder it took Michelangelo so long. I can only imagine what he thought the first time he walked into that room, “Really I have to paint all this? That’s not overwhelming or anything.”

After that, we had lunch at a pizzeria, went to a “supermercat” (grocery store) because that’s the only place they sell inexpensive water, did some souvenir shopping, and just walked around Rome. Along the way, I decided to I was thirsty, so I took a sip of the water I had just bought… Well, in Europe they have two types of water: sparking and still, gas or no gas, with fizz or without. Somehow I had gotten the sparking one, which means it’s carbonated, but there’s no flavoring. So it’s like flavorless Sprite. Eww. And when you aren’t expecting to have carbonation and you get it as a surprise, it’s just not a happy time in your mouth. So yeah, that was gross. We also saw people filming a movie with a very cute Italian actor. I’m assuming he was famous because all the girls were running over to him and screaming.

We were trying to walk towards Trevi Fountain, but along the way we found the Spanish Steps. Those were really fun, and busy, but I still climbed to the top just to say that I did. After that, we went on to Trevi Fountain, which guess what, was under construction. And I’m not even kidding, but the crane was all up in his business… I don’t know if it was maintenance work or what, but the man was definitely cleaning “the family jewels” of the main statue man. After that we tired, so we got some much needed gelato. Then we walked a little more towards the Pantheon, but we got distracted along the way by markets and other shops, so by the time we reached it, it was dark.

We had dinner back by our hostel and then went back to our rooms because it was getting late and we were all sleepy girls. There was a little drama amongst the roomies from Copenhagen that night. Apparently they all went out to a “pub crawl”, and along the way one of the girls decided she didn’t want to do it anymore. So she left BY HERSELF after she had been drinking for quite a while. When everyone else came back later, the girl who left was nowhere to be found. So everyone was freaking out and calling the embassy because they had no idea where she was. Apparently she showed up a few hours later, so everything turned out fine. But really, have we learned nothing from Aruba? Keep track of your people.

The next day in Rome was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. We went to the Colosseum! I had been waiting the entire Italy trip to do this, so I was definitely excited. It was just awesome. So big and well preserved… I loved it. It’s hard to believe that they were actually able to flood it at one point. It would have been awesome to see it during its prime with all the people in it. It was just extraordinary. That is something everyone should try to see at some point during their lives.

As we were leaving the Colosseum, these men dressed up as faux gladiators came up to us and told us to pose for a picture. So we did. And then they said they needed five euros from each of us for the picture. I was not a happy camper, so I told them I would just delete the picture because they should’ve told us that before the picture was ever taken. Then they said something about paying them for their time… what, like 30 seconds? So, I was about to argue some more, but then one of the girls just paid it for everyone, but if she hadn’t done that, the attitude was about to come out. It was just really rude because they thought they could take advantage of us because we’re young, American girls. Not cool at all.

After that fiasco, we went to the Roman Forum and walked around there for a bit. That stretched on forever and ever and after a while it got a little overwhelming. We didn’t really know the historical importance of everything we were looking at because we didn’t do a tour, and in retrospect, that probably would’ve been something informative to do.

Then we had lunch, went back to the Pantheon and actually went inside this time, ate gelato, and walked over to Piazza Navona. That place is famous for its three fountains, but during our little visit, the one in the middle was under construction. Surprised? That seems to be a reoccurring theme. We spent some time in that area looking at different paintings artists were selling and going into shops. It was a really cute and unique area. We ate dinner in that area and then had tartufu (basically chocolate ice cream covered in chocolate shavings with a cherry in the middle) for dessert. It was DELICIOUS! In Piazza Navona that night, there were masses of birds flying around – it was crazy! All you could see were waves of black that kept moving all over the place. Samantha got bird poop on her shoe and after that everyone ran away seeking shelter. I just stood out there and filmed it for a while and luckily didn’t get anything dropped on me. Then we walked by Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum, so that we could see them both at night, which of course was incredible.

The next day, Samantha and Tara left early because their flight was at 10:30 AM. Megan, Magdalena, and I weren’t flying out until that evening, so we just had a leisurely day shopping, eating, and talking. Everything went fine with getting to the airport, checking our luggage (I was afraid mine was going to weigh too much, but it was good!), and finding our gate. Our flight was delayed, which was not a surprise with EasyJet because they are ALWAYS running behind. But because it was delayed, we didn’t back to London in time to use the tubes, so we had to take buses back to our flat… all while dragging our luggage and lugging around my backpack. It took about an hour longer than it should have, but when we finally got off the bus near our flat, we were all just so happy to have made it back.

Italy was so beautiful and amazing. I learned so much about the people there, saw so many incredible things that I will remember forever, and made some really good friends. But when I got off the bus on my street and saw my flat, it definitely felt good to be back “home” in London. :)

Until next time,
Rachel

Leather + Wine = Florence.

After staying in Venice for two days, we took a train to Florence (which is where I wrote my previous post, even though I just posted it a few minutes ago). We arrived late at night, so decided it was best to take a taxi to our hostel instead of searching for it in the dark. We our taxi driver dropped us off at the address we gave him, we were almost positive there was no way this place could be a hostel. All we saw was a big wooden door with a doorbell. No signs or anything. But we rang the doorbell, then the big, wooden door unlocked, and we went inside. The best way to describe it was that it was like an apartment building, where one of the “converted apartments” was the reception for the hostel and then we climbed a few more flights of stairs to get to our actual room in another “converted apartment”. We arrived at 11:20 and check-in closed at 11:30 PM, so we got pretty lucky with that one.

The whole place seemed a little sketchy, especially compared to our previous hostel in Venice because that was exceptionally nice. When we saw our room, we all just sort of stopped and laughed. They had painted the beds and walls really random pastel colors (I think in an attempt to spruce it up a bit), but it ended up looking like we had just walked into the Seven Dwarfs’ bedroom. But in the hostel’s defense, at least it was clean and there were only five beds in our room, meaning we didn’t have to share with any strangers. And even though there was only one shower/toilet for the entire floor, it was clean too and had toilet paper, both of which are always a plus.

Our first day in Florence was spent exploring the city by foot. It is so much easier to get around than Venice because it’s more organized and doesn’t have as many curvy little side streets. We had breakfast at a cute little café near us – I actually think I had a slice of vegetarian pizza because it looked so good! Then we crossed Fiumo Arno (the main river in Florence) to get to the central part of the city. We mostly just stumbled into different piazzas and discovered really awesome buildings and statues – like Piazza della Signoria, which has the faux David statue by Michelangelo, and Piazza di San Giovanni, which contains Il Duomo. Il Duomo is a cathedral that is seriously humongous. And I know I’ve seen a lot of cathedrals and I always say that each one is better that the previous one I saw, but this one was seriously amazing. It was gigantic, colorful, and incredibly detailed.

After we gawked at Il Duomo for a awhile, we made our way to Galleria dell’ Accademia, where the real David statue by Michelangelo is kept. It used to be displayed in the piazza where the faux one is now, but they moved into indoors for safe keeping. The real statue is amazing. To even think how someone can look at a rectangular block of stone and create a statue as precise and detailed as David is remarkable. I mean, we’re talking serious muscle definition and veins in the hands showing – that’s just crazy! I was reading about the statue in the gallery and it basically said that this statue is the model of perfection and you probably won’t be able to find one that is more realistic. Kudos, Michelangelo.

After that, we went to a market (because that’s always a must) and then had lunch at a little outdoor pizzeria/café. I got something called Florentine crepes (similar to lasagna, but without meat and very little sauce), which of course I thought was delicious. Then we went to Santa Croce, another church in Florence, but we went inside this one because it contained the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, and a tribute to Dante. Again, very beautiful. My only issue with this church was that it had people buried under the floor, so it was like you were stepping on them. That just creeps me out a little bit, and I don’t understand why it’s necessary to do that. The rest of the day was spent eating gelato, buying bottles of wine because that is one of the things Florence is famous for (besides leather, but you know I’m not all into that), and chatting with the girls at another little café because none of us wanted to go back to the hostel earlier than necessary. :)

The second and final day in Florence wasn’t as busy as the first. We checked out of the hostel, had breakfast at the same little café, and then took our luggage to the train station so that we didn’t have to wheel it around all day. Then we went to Giardino di Boboli, which is a huge area full of trees, gardens, and statues, and just walked around that for most of the morning. There was one place in there called Forte di Belvedere which gave you beautiful views of the countryside. This is what I would image Tuscany to be like, and since we didn’t make it there on this trip, I’ll just have to find out what it’s like on my next journey to Italy. :)

After that, we had a little lunch (veggie pizza for me – surprised?), did a little random shopping, and then headed towards the train station to catch our train to Rome. Florence was a lovely city, just like Venice, but definitely more commercialized and city-like. It’s not a place you would vacation for a week, but it was nice to visit for a few days.

The post about Rome will be coming soon – hang in there!

Until next time (which will probably be later today),
Rachel

Venice - take two.

(I wrote this one 18.10.08, so it is a continuation from the first post about Venice)

The second day in Venice was just as fabulous as the first. It started out with breakfast at the hostel, where we saw six other girls from our London group who just happened to be staying there too. We had no idea. Seriously, how crazy is that?! Oh, and the best part of breakfast was that they had tiramisu! That’s fabulous - thank you very much. :) After breakfast, we packed up all our luggage and took the hostel transportation back to Venice.

We were going to “deposit our luggage” at this place our hostel clerk told us about because we didn’t want to drag it all over Venice with us and we weren’t going back to the hostel at night. So we arrive at the luggage place and there’s a sign that says it’s FULL. Great. A lady waiting outside told us that we could take it to the train station and leave it there. So we drag our luggage over there, which luckily wasn’t too far away. When we get there, there’s a HUGE line, but it’s not like we have a choice so we just waited like nice, patient girls. I don’t really understand what was taking so long to move people through, but that’s probably just the American mentality that comes out every now and then about “speed of service”. Europeans just aren’t in as big of a rush, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – I’m just not used to it. BUT, if that did happen in America, there would be some irate customers for sure.

We finally get our luggage taken care of at the train station, which actually turned out to be a good thing because that’s where we had to come anyway to take the train to Florence later that night. The public transportation strike was over today, so we took a boat to the island of Lido. The ride there was so beautiful. We basically went through the entire Canal Grande, so we got to admire Venice from the water which is just spectacular. The weather today was so much nicer too – a little warmer and much sunnier, so that made it even better. It took about 45 minutes to get from Ferrovia (the train station area) to Lido, but I enjoyed every minute of. I’m sure the Venetians would never say that about their public transportation, but for us tourists, it was so much fun riding in a boat because we never get to!

When we arrived in Lido, we walked to the beach, which was only a 10 minute walk from the boat stop. I know we didn’t get to see much of Lido, but from what I did see, I thought it was just so quiet, secluded, and peaceful. It didn’t seem like there were many tourists, but that could just be because it’s October. Lido is famous for its beach, and in most places October and beaches don’t go well together. But I could definitely see it being popular in the summer months, especially among the celebrities who want a little privacy.

The beach was beautiful, even though it was slightly chilly (good sweater weather). It stretched on forever and ever, just in one single, straight line. The water was freezing, but you can’t go to the beach and NOT put your feet in the water. It’s just not right. We saw a man who was going swimming – in a Speedo. Yikes. I walked with one other girl for quite a while because we wanted to find out the purpose of this unique-looking building in the distance. As it turns out, it was only a restaurant, which would definitely be a beautiful place to eat. It was just a really fun day – relaxing and peaceful. But really, who wouldn’t love to visit an Italian beach?

The rest of the day was spent eating gelato, buying CHEAP water and Coca-cola light at a grocery store in Lido, and taking the public transportation boat back to the train station in Venice. We left Lido at 5:00, which was just perfect because the sun was starting to set, which allowed for AMAZING pictures. Definitely the best time to take a ride along the Canal Grande.

One of my favorite things about Italy so far is all the cute, little sandwich shops and pizzerias. It’s so easy just to grab a little sandwich or slice of pizza and be on your way. I guess that’s their version of fast food. AND they always have a vegetarian option, which makes me so happy. :) Tonight at the train station I had a grilled tomato, mozzarella, and green olive wrap – Delicious!

So now I’m on the train to Florence, but obviously when I post this I won’t be. Unfortunately the technology isn’t so great that I can get wireless on a train across Italy. I think that would be a good mission for my brother, Jeffie – You could make a ton of money. Think about it. :)

Until next time,
Rachel

Uno momento.

So I'm very sorry I haven't posted lately, but I've been in ITALY! At the moment I'm in Rome, but me and the girls I'm with also went to Venice and Florence earlier in the trip. All the cities have been so amazing, but each one definitely has their own unique identity, which I find fascinating. It's been a fabulous trip. I fly back to London tomorrow night, so I will try my best to get some posts and pictures up about the trip ASAP! Thanks for understanding - I love you all!

Until next time,
Rachel

Venice, Florence, and Rome... OH MY!

I am officially on my “mid-semester break” from classes, which means my tour of Italy has started! The first city on the list is Venice (which is where I am now), then it’s off to Florence, and finally Rome. It’s just me and four other girls – I know, SCARY. But so far we’ve been doing good. Barcelona was definitely a good practice run for this one.

Venice is indescribable. It’s just beautiful. The city is very old, but in a cute, traditional way. It’s a great city to walk around because you find so many cute shops that you would have never found if you rode a bus all day. It isn’t commercialized at all, which is very surprising that the Starbucks and McDonalds of the world haven’t made their way inside it, but I’m glad they haven’t. It would’ve ruined the quaintness and beauty of Venice.

We actually arrived in Venice last night. We flew in Venice Marco Polo Airport from London Gatwick – there were no major problems, besides that our flight was delayed about one hour. When we landed, we had transportation to take us to our hostel, which was wonderful because I’m not really sure how we would’ve gotten there otherwise. And that would have been bad news for sure. Our hostel, which is technically a hotel, but we have five beds in our room, is very, very nice. I feel really safe staying here and everyone has been really helpful because they can probably tell that we need it.

We’re kind of far away from the central part of Venice though, so we had to take transport from the hostel to the city this morning. Then we rode the public transport boat as far we could towards Saint Mark’s Square – BUT there was a public transportation strike today (of course, right?) so we didn’t get too far. Fortunately, there is decent signage to help the tourists as much as possible. We grabbed a sandwich for a quick breakfast at a little local shop (I had a grilled wrap with mozzarella, tomato, and basil – DELICIOUS!) and headed towards St. Mark’s Square. Once we got there, we saw the Basilica, Campanile (an old lighthouse), and Palazzo Ducale - All had beautiful architecture. We paid to go to the top of Campanile where you see fabulous views of St. Mark’s Square and most of Venice. AMAZING.

After that, we just did some walking along the Canal Grande and the Bacino di San Marco, where we went to fun, little shops and found someone we knew! One of the guys from our London group was there too – how crazy is it that we actually saw each other in Venice? Crazy.

Next we were walking towards Santa Maria of the Friars (a church), when we met a gondola man and decided now was a good time to take a ride. It was tons of fun and I’m so happy we did it! We went along the little waterways between buildings and on the Canal Grande, so LOTS and LOTS of pictures were taken. We asked our man if he could sing and he said that it was a myth that all gondoliers could sing… but I don’t know if he was just saying that because he couldn’t. :)

Afterwards, we had lunch at pizzeria, where I had a spinach ricotta pizza – Mmmm, delicious. But not as delicious as the next thing we ate. Right next to Santa Maria of the Friars is a gelato (Italian ice cream) shop that is supposed to have some o f the best gelato in Venice and possibly all of Italy. And oh my gosh, it definitely did. One scoop of chocolate and one scoop of tiramisu – It doesn’t get much better than that.

For the rest of the time, we mostly walked all around town and down little side streets shopping. Of course, it was tons of fun. Venice is very famous for carnival masks, lace, and glass, so that’s what a lot of the shops had, besides the regular souvenir business. We found a market near Rialto, which was fun because really, who doesn’t love a good market? Afterwards, we made our way back to the bus station, had dinner, and waited on our hostel transport to come and bring us back.

All and all, it was a wonderful day. The weather was a little cloudier and chillier than I had planned for, but while we were on the gondola the sun DID make an appearance, so it’s all good. It’s just really hard to describe Venice though, because I’ve never been any other place like it. It almost seems surreal because so many other places (like Las Vegas and Hollywood) try to recreate it, but you just can’t capture its beauty. All the pictures I took don’t even do it justice. It has its own identity and is just really peaceful – a rarity in most cities.

Tomorrow we have a few hours left to spend in Venice before taking a train to Florence. I still can’t even believe this is happening… Am I seriously in Italy right now?!

Until next time,
Rachel

P.S. I'll post more pictures soon - when I have more internet time that I don't have to pay for! :)

I fell in love... with Barcelona.

I am back in London and would just like to say how much I love it. Barcelona was absolutely beautiful in so many ways and I’m so happy I went there, but there’s just a certain sense of comfort that London offers. It just feels good to be back. :)

We left for Barcelona after class on Thursday. There were five of us who went - Me, Mel, Kenny, MacKenzie, and Tara. I was kind of anxious/nervous about the whole trip because I had never done anything like that before – fly to a different country for a weekend with only a backpack. But nevertheless, we were on our way. We had a few minor problems leading up to our arrival at London Gatwick Airport, but the biggest problem happened once we got there. The bus we took there dropped us off at the North Terminal, which didn’t seem to be an issue at the time, but just wait…

We had all checked in online, so we went straight to security, where they checked our passports and scanned our tickets. We got through without any problems and decided to get a little lunch before our flight at 2:30 PM. We kept looking at the screen to see which gate our plane was going to leave from and couldn’t find our flight number. So MacKenzie and I went to the information desk and asked what was going on. Apparently, having the number 5 in your flight code means SOUTH Terminal and not North Terminal at Gatwick. Oh my gosh. So yeah, we had to be escorted back through security, catch a tram to the South Terminal, run a little, get new tickets since the other ones had already been scanned, go through security again, and run a little more. We finally made it to our gate with a little time to spare, but that whole situation was absolutely crazy. I still don’t know how our tickets scanned and we made it through security in the WRONG terminal. Whatever. It was crazy and I hope I never have to go through that again.

But anyway, the actual flight was not bad and it didn’t take long until we arrived in beautiful Barcelona. We took a train from the Aeroport to our hostel (for about 10 seconds we thought we were on the wrong train, but then everything turned out okay). We found our hostel without any huge problems, and it actually ended up being very nice for a hostel. We stayed in a room with six bed, and since there were five of us, there was only one other random person who we hardly ever saw. That first night we didn’t do too much – ate dinner at a restaurant that we stumbled across and just walked up and down our street for a little while. I would say our street was similar to Michigan Avenue in Chicago or Oxford Street in London – tons of designer shops. But because we stayed at a hostel, we didn’t have to pay a huge amount of money.

The next day (Friday) was packed with things to do. We were only there for two days, so I definitely wanted to make sure I got to see everything I wanted to. The first place we went that morning was to Sagrada Familia – the huge, famous church that has been under constructions for at least 120 years. It still isn’t completely done yet, but whenever that happens it’ll be beautiful. I’ve really never seen anything like it in my entire life. It puts the London cathedrals to shame. Definitely worth the walk to that side of Barcelona.

After that, we made our way to La Rambla, which is kind of a touristy street – lots of shops, restaurants, and street performers. Along the way, we passed a bullfighting arena and several memorials. On La Rambla, there were lots of shops selling pets (kind of different), flowers, and art. Just off the street is a famous food market, called Mercat la Boqueria. This place was absolutely AMAZING!! There were stands selling every kind of food you could possibly think off – chocolate, dried fruit, fresh fruit, nuts, mushrooms, fish, shrimp, eel, ham, chicken, vegetables, juice, gelato – I could go on and on! It was seriously awesome.

After that, we walked further down La Rambla until we arrived at Port Vell. Right by the port is the Christopher Columbus Monument, which I thought was kind of funny because it’s not like he was the best explorer ever, but bless his heart, at least he tried. Port Vell was so incredibly beautiful. There were tons of sailboats – which really, I would just like to know what kind of job I need to have in order to afford one of those. The weather was unbelievably amazing that day, which only added to the beauty of Barcelona.

We kept walking along the port because we wanted to go to the actual beach area so that we could walk in the sand. The beach was lovely too – I’ve never seen water so blue! I about took a tumble in the sand trying to escape a wave, but luckily Kenny was there to catch me. I still basically got sand all over myself, so that was a fun time. After the beach, we walked up a street called Via Laietana towards the Cathedral de Barcelona. Unfortunately, it was completely under construction, so we couldn’t see very much of it. But along the way, we saw a lot of Gotic architecture, which was really cool.

We finally made it back to the hostel just in time to go on their “Tapas Tour” we had signed up for earlier that day. We ate tapas (which are like little appetizers – the ones we had were slices of a baguette with different cheeses, meats, and vegetables on them), drank sangria, and watched a flamenco show. After that, we were so exhausted that we just crashed. I wore my pedometer that day, and we ended up walking 37,000 steps and 11 miles. WOW.

The next day wasn’t quite as intense as the first one, but we still did a lot. In the morning we went to the Picasso Museum. I’m not a huge art fanatic, but it was good to see the museum since I was in Barcelona and all. Most of the art that Picasso is famous for is really abstract, but when he was just beginning, he actually painted realistic images, which look nothing like his later work. I don’t know how someone can change their style so much, but maybe that’s why he’s so famous.

After that, we wanted to ride these cable cars over in the Montjuic area. It was quite the journey just to get to that side of Barcelona. Then we had to hike up a small mountain to get to where the cable cars were. And we did all of this with our backpacks. Quite the adventure. Once we reached the top, the cable cars weren’t even running because of the “weather conditions”. What, was there too much sun or something? But regardless, we still saw some beautiful views of Barcelona, so I think it was worth the hike.

After that, we just went back to La Rambla and went to a few shops. We took a train back to the Aeroport, checked like 15 times to make sure we were in the right terminal and at the correct gate, and flew back to London. It was definitely a quick, whirlwind trip, but I am so happy that I went. I learned a lot about myself and that three years of high school Spanish actually IS useful. I didn’t know too much about Barcelona before I went, so it was definitely way more than I ever expected it to be. Next time, it’d just be nice to stay more than two days. :)

Until next time,
Rachel

Can I change my major to British Life and Culture?

This week has been amazing so far! I feel like I’m learning so much about British life and becoming what my professor, Lyndon, would call a “social anthropologist” and less like a tourist. I mean, there’s no doubt that I still have American written across my forehead, but I just feel like what I’m learning about here is giving me a different perspective on America as well. Does that make sense?

On Monday, we had our usual British Life and Culture class – during which the topic of Kew Gardens was brought up. And of course since Mel and I had just been there, Lyndon wanted us to talk about everything we had seen. I think he was very proud that we had gone there on our own time. Also, I think the group that was supposed to research Kew Gardens was happy that we were there to bail them out since their research was “rubbish”. :)

We also talked about social classes, which are so much more pronounced here than back home in America. I know that we have them in the States, but here it is so hard to move out of the one you’re born into. Really the only way to do so is to go to college, like Lyndon, but that doesn’t seem that it’s the norm to do so. If you know anything about the Royal Family, that’s why it was such a huge deal when Prince Charles married Diana Spencer. She “supposedly” had some royal blood, but was still from a middle-class family, which was apparently not good enough for the Royal Family. That’s also why there’s a huge controversy surrounding Prince William and the possibility of him marrying Kate Middleton, who is also middle-class.

That night, before our weekly musical, Mel and I went out to eat because I’ve basically been living off English muffins and cheese. So we thought a little Italian food would be lovely. We had no idea where to go, but we just got off at the tube stop where the theatre was, saw a cute little Italian restaurant, and went there. It turned out to be fabulous and fairly inexpensive. That’s what makes London so fun – you can basically go anywhere without any sort of plan and discover something new and wonderful.

After our little Italian feast, I saw the BEST musical I have ever seen in my life! WICKED! Oh my gosh, it was so AMAZING! Now I see why my cousin, Jackie, loves it so much! Everything about it was fun – the characters, the scenery, the music, and so much more! If you’ve never seen it, you MUST go. It will completely change your perspective on “The Wizard of Oz”.

On Tuesday, I had my usual international relations class in the morning. Then I spent way too much time on homework, but it needed to be done. That afternoon I went on a run to and through Hyde Park. I definitely got rained on, but it wasn’t horrible – kind of liberating, actually. That night, one of the girls downstairs had a guy come over who she met at the American sports pub/club a week ago… He just happens to be in the Queen’s company – meaning, he wears the bearskin hat and guards the Queen at Buckingham Palace! Seriously, how cool is that?! AND, the best part is that he brought some of his friends over too who also guard the Queen. They’re all over 6 foot tall because apparently you have to be a certain height to be one of her guards, I guess. But they are all HILARIOUS and so much fun. Two of them are from Birmingham (which they pronounce “Bur-ming-um”), and their accents are so strong. They try to hide them because the stereotype is that people with a Birmingham accent are dumb. But of course the Americans wanted to hear it, so when they busted it out, it didn’t even sound like English. At one point I said something about candy corn, which they’ve never even heard of, so I let them try some that my parents had sent me. Two of them didn’t like it, but the other guy wasn’t completely opposed. They said it tasted like fudge. Yeah, I don’t know. Oh, and they also thought I sounded “posh”. I will take that as a compliment, thank you very much. :)

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. We took a day trip first to Dungeness and then later went to Rye. Dungeness is on the coast of England and one of the most unique places I’ve ever been to. It is so quiet because it’s located in a nature reserve, but it still has its own unique identity. In the city, a nuclear power plant and a wind power plant sit only a few kilometers away from each other. It’s so amazing how this small coastal town is experimenting with those two power sources, but a huge country like America can’t seem to get away from foreign oil. Just kind of interesting.

Lyndon wanted us to take lots of pictures of this town to use later for an assignment. We only had one hour, which kind of rushed things because there were so many unique things to look at. I saw a couple outside their cute little home, so I walked up to them and asked if I could take their picture. The lady said, “What… is all our lovely clothing?”, laughed, and then allowed me to take their picture. That was probably my favorite picture of the day because it captures their simple happiness and the beauty around them. Another interesting picture was one of a clothesline with the nuclear power plant in the background. That just shows the strong contrast between their simple lifestyles and the rise of complex technology all in one small area. It was such an adorable little town, and I know I won’t ever forget it.

Next we went to Rye, which is much more developed and “touristy” than Dungeness. There’s a quaint little church in Rye that has spectacular views of the city from the rooftop. It costs one pound to go up there, so we decided it was worth it. Getting up there was hilarious because the passageways were so narrow! I had to turn sideways to fit through a lot of them and last time I checked, I am not a huge person. But it really was worth it because the views were incredible. You could see the entire city and the windmills for the wind power plant – all very cool. After that, we had some fabulous fish ‘n chips, looked at a building that King Henry VIII had built during his reign, and went to an adorable little teahouse. Once again, there just wasn’t enough time to see everything – but nevertheless, it was absolutely beautiful.

And now, I’m about to go on another adventure. Tomorrow after class I’m flying to Barcelona, Spain for the weekend! I have that anxious nervousness, just because I’ve never been to a country where English is not the number one language and I’ve never stayed in a hostel before. But I’m sure we’ll all be fine. Oh, and all I’m bringing is ONE backpack. SERIOUSLY, that’s it for three days. But I guess that’s what makes it an adventure, right?

Until next time,
Rachel

P.S. This is random, but I have to share it. The British guards we hung out with on Tuesday also say aluminum very strangely - they pronounce it as "al-you-mini-um". Isn't that crazy?! The first time I heard it, I was like, "Umm... I have NEVER heard that word before!" Ha.

Welcome to Kew - my future home.

This weekend was definitely a typical London weekend – meaning it was rainy, dreary, and gross Friday through Sunday. And a lot of my time was spent trying to catch up on homework, even though I’m not really sure what assignments I accomplished. :/

But I didn’t waste the entire weekend being boring and studious. On Saturday, Mel and I went to Kew Gardens, which are right outside London. We didn’t even have to worry about a train because we were able to ride the tube out there. We just had to “top up” before we left – meaning, we had to pay a little extra because they are located in a different zone than what our Oyster card is for. The trip on the tube was hilarious because we were talking the whole time, which according to our professor Lyndon, is how Brits know we’re American. They NEVER talk on the tube and we ALWAYS talk on it. But anyway, we were talking and this random, foreign guy kept looking at us. I don’t think people in other countries have that whole “this is my own personal bubble and you’re way too close to me” mentality, so they just openly stare and learn towards you. He must have been lost or something because after staring for about 12 good minutes he decided he needed to ask us how to find the Piccadilly line, when really he should’ve gotten off about four stops ago if he really needed it that badly. But whatever, we had some good laughs.

Once we reached Kew, I absolutely fell in love with the little town. It’s so cute, peaceful, and quaint. We even went on a cloudy, cold day, but it still looked beautiful. The Gardens were a short walk from the tube station and on the way, I saw my future house! Hahaha, I’m sure it’s extra expensive, but it was adorable. And not only was the house fabulous, there was a black Mini Cooper in the driveway. Absolutely perfect. :)

Once we reached Kew Gardens, we walked around for awhile just taking in the beauty of it all. I sort of expected to see gardens like the Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace, bursting with colorful flowers, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was more like a giant park, with greenhouses. It was still incredible though. We went into a greenhouse, called the Temperate House, which had tons of plants from all of the British commonwealths. There were so many plants I had never even seen before, so that was actually pretty interesting. My momma would’ve loved it. Then we went on this crazy thing called the Treetop Walkway. Even though it was my idea to go on it, I did not really enjoy it. It’s just what it sounds like – a walkway above the treetops. And considering the wind was blowing like crazy that day, I did not enjoy being that high up. But the views were still pretty spectacular. Then we went in two other greenhouses, one with waterlilies and the other with different types of palms. There was also a huge, random Chinese pagoda just sitting there in the Gardens. We walked for a while to get to it and then once we did it was kind of like, “Ok… cool…. What now?” It was just really funny. But I definitely learned a lot there, so it was a fun little trip and I’m glad we went.

On the way home, we accidently got on the overground trains instead of the underground trains, so we were slightly nervous that we weren’t going to end up in the right place. We had to switch trains at a station we had never been to before to get on the Bakerloo line. While we were waiting for our tube, I turned to Mel and said, “I hope nothing goes wrong with the tube because I don’t know how to get home from here.” At that exact moment, someone makes an announcement regarding Bakerloo trains and we about freak out. But luckily it was a false alarm and didn’t apply to us. So a few minutes later, we got on the tube and were on our way home.

Both Friday and Saturday nights we explored the London nightlife and had a fabulous time both nights. On Friday, the boys wanted to go to Brick Lane, which Mel and I had been to before and thought was pretty sketchy, but when we told people about that no one believed us. Well, after Friday night, everyone agreed with our opinion, and we were like, “Yep, told you so!” And plus, places in that area love to play techno music. Apparently Brits are born with something that Americans weren’t that allows them to dance to that type of music, because they can and we can’t. Bottom line. Also, this is random, but McDonald’s here is about 1,783 times better than it is in the States. It’s actually seems more like a real restaurant here. It’s just not as trashy, and is one of the few places that has public toilets, so I’m a definitely a fan.

Yesterday was a pretty relaxed day, but I did make myself go on a little run through Regent’s Park. I went a little farther than I normally go and discovered some really pretty gardens there. So I’ll definitely have to go back and check it out more later. Even when you aren’t looking, it’s so easy to discover something new all the time in this city.

I’ve been here almost one month and I already feel like I’m not the same as I used to be. I don’t know what it’ll be like when I come back home to the States. I can feel this adventure making me more independent, but at the same time it really makes me appreciate everything I have back at home. It’s just been an incredible experience already and I am so happy I was able to have this opportunity!

Until next time,
Rachel

Flaming Toad in the Hole

We normally go on day trips every Wednesday, but this Wednesday was different. We stayed in London and actually had an assignment to do. We were supposed to go shopping at a specific shop and then follow a recipe for Toad in the Hole. Our professor for British Life and Culture and his wife were coming to our flats that evening to try everyone’s rendition of it and give an award for the best one.

The shop we were assigned to go to this time was more like a flea market and the exact opposite of our previous shops, La Fromagerie and The Ginger Pig. Chapel Street Market was definitely more for people in the lower-working social classes. We were able to find some sausages we needed for the recipe and then a discount grocery store for the rest of the items.

After that, my roommates and I came back to our flat and prepared to make dinner for our professor. For some reason Mel and I thought it would be fun to “trash talk” some of the other flats, so we went and did that for a while. It probably wasn’t the best idea ever because there was no guarantee our Toad in the Hole was going to be good, but it just made the assignment a little more fun. Toad in the Hole is very similar to Pigs in a Blanket, except we use sausages instead of hot dogs and make our own batter instead of using crescent rolls. At first everything was going good – we had our batter done, we were frying our sausages, and had more than enough time to finish everything. Then as we were putting our mixture in the oven, we noticed our oven knobs didn’t have numbers on them. They apparently had gotten worn off over the years. Fantastic.

We tried to estimate how hot the oven was by putting our hands in, but none of us really knew so we just stuck our raw Toad in the Hole in and hoped for the best. After seriously two minutes, we checked on it and the top was black. NOT GOOD! So we turned the heat down and kept poking it, until we thought it was done about 30 minutes later. In retrospect, I think the oven was a little too toasty to begin with and just burnt all the grease that was there from the sausages.

We salvaged what we could from the pan and tried to make it look like we hadn’t caught the meal on fire. The plates ended up looking quite lovely – we wrote the letters of their first names in spicy tomato ketchup and put red and yellow pepper strips on the plate. We referred to it as “Flaming Toad in the Hole.” Very original I think. :)

When Lyndon and Erica came to try ours, they seemed to be impressed. They thought it was interesting that we had chosen to go with beef sausages over pork (which was definitely not my choice!). They gave us pretty good reviews, and we had a good conversation with them so that was fun. Now we just had to wait one hour until they were done taste testing everyone else’s.

It turns out that we didn’t win, despite all the fabulous trash talking. I think we got fourth or fifth because they weren’t fans of the beef sausage. But considering we burnt the heck out of our Toad in the Hole, I’d say our place was pretty good. And our prize was the best one as far as I’m concerned. We got tea biscuits (which are what we would call cookies) and Cadbury chocolate. How could anyone be upset about that?

But the worst part about the whole thing was that the two groups made entirely of boys got first and second. Seriously?! Of course they think that they’re just fabulous, but I think they just got lucky. And Lyndon’s wife’s explanation of why they won was the best – “It all has to do with how much you beat the batter. And of course we know guys are excellent at beating things.” And then she made some interesting hand gestures… and then came the roar of laughter. Hey, she’s the one who said it!

Until next time,
Rachel

"You either love it or you hate it."

On Monday, we finally found out what we were supposed to do with all the food we had bought over the weekend. My British Life and Culture professor, Lyndon, wanted us share our experiences at each different shopping location, and of course my group had stories to share. Then he wanted us to try all of the unfamiliar foods. The Jafa cakes, which are small cake disks with an orange jelly filling and topped with dark chocolate, were delicious. The Yorkshire tea biscuits were also one of my favorites because they tasted like a non-greasy version of a shortbread cookie. No one went near the black pudding. The stilton cheese was the strongest, most pungent cheese I had ever had in my life. And marmite jelly, made from beer residue, was absolutely disgusting – way too strong. I don’t even know what that would taste good on! But then again, its slogan is, “You either love it or you hate it.”

Lyndon brought us some food called Laddhu, which are little, round, bright yellow cakes made from chickpeas. They’re sweet and really didn’t taste too bad, but I don’t know if I would eat them again. However, Lyndon loved them! It must be a British thing. They originated in India, but somehow made their way over to Britain where they are really popular. Lyndon also demonstrated the proper way to make tea, and showed us how different social classes drink their tea.

That night we went to our second musical. This time it was “Les Miserables”. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as “Blood Brothers”, but it wasn’t bad by any means. It was just different – and much longer. There were a lot more solos in this one and it had a much more serious plot. But there was one character played by a little boy, who was so adorable and had an amazing voice. Just think about his resume when he gets older – He’ll probably be able to get almost any job he wants because he was the London “Les Miserables” musical when he was ten years old.

Yesterday, I had international relations class in morning – We talked about the whole financial crisis happening back home in the States. We really only hear little bits and pieces of it here, so it was nice to finally hear the whole story. Basically, it just sounds like bad news bears all around. Dr. Scheele did share an interesting fact with us though – At the end of 1992, the States earned half of the world’s gross domestic product. Now they only earn 23% of it. Just kind of interesting to think about – what exactly happened?

After class, I decided to go on a run through Regent’s Park. Apparently yesterday was quite the religious holiday amongst the Islamic community. It was the last day of Ramadan. Well, we sort of live in area where there’s a large number of Muslims, so they were all out and about. The crowds were huge, and there were bobbies on the sidewalks for crowd control and even a few streets were closed off to cars. Of course I chose to go running at that time and just happened to be wearing a bright blue t-shirt that said “Hollywood” and shorts that said “Army”. But everything was fine… I mean, I got a few stares, but no one said anything mean or rude. I don’t know if I expected them to or what. I guess I don’t really know that I expected. I just feel like no matter what Americans have preconceived notions about Muslims for obvious reasons no matter how hard we try not to. But they’re just like everyone else – some are nice and some are mean. While I was running yesterday, I definitely found out what it feels like to be in the minority.

I tagged along with the art history class to the British Museum later that afternoon. It was rainy outside so it was a good day to go. Everything is so amazing there – slightly overwhelming because there’s so much, but nevertheless, very cool. Recently, people have done CAT scans on Egyptian mummies in order to find out the gender, age, and other information about the person inside. That way they don’t have to open them up – very smart idea. The Rosetta stone is always amazing to see – just because of the historical importance of it. And it’s fun because I recognize a lot of the Greek letters on it from physics class. Something that I think is sort of sad is the huge display of Greek Parthenon statues and stones that the British Museum owns. It doesn’t belong there. It should go back to Greece where it belongs.

After that, we needed a little Starbucks pick-me-up (of course!). Then we all went out to an American pub/sports café to celebrate a girl’s birthday. It’s always a fun time when the whole group is there. :)

Now we’re preparing to make Toad in the Hole for our professor to eat tonight! I’ll tell you more about that soon.

Until next time,
Rachel

The red-meat vegetarian and the slaughterhouse meet.

Our assignment this week for my British Life and Culture class was for each flat group to go grocery shopping at different assigned grocery stores and buy a list of items. On this list were very “English” foods, such as black pudding (you’ve have to Google that – it’s disgusting), a jar of marmite (basically a jelly made of beer residue), stilton cheese, Earl Grey tea, a pasty (yes, a pasty – not to be confused with a pastry), and other various things. Well, my group as assigned to go to the Ginger Pig and La Fromagerie. And that’s where the adventure began.

To begin with, I was dressed like a soccer mom, so it just started off bad. It was surprising warm on Saturday, so I felt like wearing capris. But of course I didn’t have any summer shoes… therefore, I had to wear tennis shoes. Believe me, it just wasn’t a good look. And, as if you couldn’t tell from the name of our stores, they were in the more upscale part of town, so yeah, I definitely did not blend.

We get to La Fromagerie and aren’t really even sure if we’re allowed to shop there because it’s sort of like a restaurant and sort of like a store, but not really. The closest thing to compare it to is probably Panera Bread. Most people go there to eat, but then you still have the people who go there to buy bread and bagels. So anyways, we’re trying to find everything on our list, but for some reason we didn’t Google everything before we left – so, we really didn’t know what everything was. I finally asked a lady working there and she turned out to be really, really nice and helped us a lot! They didn’t have a lot of the things we needed, but that’s okay because our professor, Lyndon, said we probably wouldn’t be able to find everything at our stores. However, La Fromagerie definitely had stilton cheese. In fact, they had a whole refrigerated room of cheese. I can’t even describe the smell – a mix between stinky gym socks and spoiled milk. Unpleasant to say the least. But we got our cheese, so we were good to go.

Next came the Ginger Pig. Oh my, this one almost killed me for several reasons. First of all, I didn’t know it was a butcher’s shop, and anyone who knows me knows I’m not really a fan of killing animals or eating red meat. And right when you walk into the Ginger Pig, you are surrounded by bright red, raw meat of every shape and size. Definitely about lost my lunch on that one. We walk over to the counter and ask a man if we can buy some black pudding. He happened to be from Brazil and very nice as well. (We were very lucky that we encountered nice people that day.) He asked, “Umm… are you sure you want that?” And we said, “Yes, we’re supposed to buy it. Soo… what exactly is black pudding?” So he told us. All I can say is gross. It looks like a sausage and is made with blood and some sort of other material. We were lucky enough to get one with blood and pig’s head. Fantastic. But apparently, it’s quite the popular item in England. There was a whole bowl of it and our little Brazilian man said it would all be gone by tomorrow. Oh, and it also cost 13.50 pounds per kilogram. I can think of about 9,874 things I’d rather spend that much money on, besides a roll of bloody pig’s head. We bought the smallest piece possible and got out of the slaughterhouse as fast as possible.

And now the stinky cheese and black pudding are sitting in our refrigerator at our flat. I can’t wait to find out in class what we’re supposed to do with all that. I’m usually pretty good about making myself try different things, but after seeing pounds and pounds of raw red meat AND learning exactly what black pudding is, I think I’ll skip out on this one.

Oh, and today was another crazy adventure. All of my London books (and the Internet) recommended going to Brick Lane Market, so we thought we’d give it a try. Oh my. That was seriously the first time since I’ve been here that I did not feel safe. This market was supposedly in North London near the tube stop for Liverpool Street. After walking quite a while, passing a man drinking a large can of beer at 10:30 AM, another man trying to “woo” us, and a crack whore (seriously, she was for real – no exaggeration), we decided we were pretty much lost. So we turned down a random street and somehow ran into what was supposedly Brick Lane Market. There wasn’t much there, so I’m not exactly sure if we ever did find it… but let’s just say we didn’t stay long. We walked back to the tube stop as fast as we could and went to Camden Market instead. That market is so much better and makes me so happy. :)

I had some fabulous Chinese food again, and split a triple chocolate donut from the lovely donut cart with Mel. It was wonderful. And a much friendlier place than where we were before. I bought a few things for some people and myself, so it was a definitely a good time.

But of course, that’s not the end of the story. For some reason, they closed the Camden Town tube stop from 1:00 to 5:30 PM on Sundays to cut down on the crowds. (?) I don’t really understand the theory behind that, but whatever. So we had to try to figure out the bus system, which is slightly more confusing than the tube system. We were tired of waiting, so we sort of just jumped on the first bus that came by us. And unfortunately it was headed north and we really needed to be going south. I didn’t actually realize this until we were sitting on the bus and I pulled out my map. We were off my map of central London, so I figured it would be a good time to get off before we ended up in Scotland. Luckily, we weren’t too far from a different tube stop and rode that back to an area we knew without any problems.

Oh my, the adventures of London. Always a good time. :)

Until next time,
Rachel

The journey to Bath and back again.

Yesterday, I took my first non-official day trip – meaning it was just me and another girl. No groups. Just us. On our own. Luckily, we were only going to Bath, so it’s not like we went to another country and were completely lost. Nevertheless, we went to a place neither one of us had ever been before. But we did it AND made it home all in one piece, so I would say the day was a success.

We left our flat at 8:00 AM, so that we wouldn’t be late for our train leaving Paddington station at 9:00 AM. Well, we live one tube stop away from Paddington, so we got there at 8:15 AM… a little too early. We finally boarded the train at 9:00 AM, and were on our way to Bath. Mel and I ended up in different coaches on the train, and since it was our first train ride of the trip, we didn’t really know if you could get up and switch seats. We both breathed a sigh of relief when we stepped off the train and saw each other because we knew we had both made it to the right place. Go us. :)

When we got out of the train station, we both just kind of looked around and though, “Okay, what do we do now?” It’s a strange feeling because you can read all you want about a place and carefully plan your visit, but it still doesn’t prepare you for that initial feeling of, “Wow I’ve never been here before and really have no idea what to do.”

Bath is a pretty small town, so it was really easy to walk everywhere. We explored on our own for a little while and went into a shop that sells artsy glass pieces made in Bath. The man asked us where we were from and I said, “What? You don’t think we’re from here?” He just laughed and shook his head. Apparently the backpacks, the brightly colored shirts, and loud American accents gave us away. After leaving that store, we found the Jane Austen Centre after some mindless wandering. Apparently she lived in Bath for five years, but wasn’t really a fan so she left. Interesting though that they have a whole centre devoted to someone who didn’t even like the town. Nevertheless, she did get a few ideas from the town for her novels.

We had lunch a Thai restaurant, which was fabulous. I feel like Asian food is all I’ve eaten since I’ve been here, but it’s just so good! Then we found a fudge shop that had DELICIOUS fudge, so of course we had to buy some. (Hello, everyone needs dessert!) I got chocolate with a swirl of white chocolate running through it, and Mel got chocolate too with pecans and a swirl of marshmallow. Both were of course FABULOUS.

After stuffing our faces with fudge, we decided we needed to walk some more, so we went on a free (I love that word) walking tour of the city. It was led by a volunteer who took us all over the city, showing us the where ancient Roman baths used to be and telling us all about the architecture and design of the Royal Crescent and the Circus. The Royal Crescent is a basically a row of houses with the same façade in the shape of half an oval. The whole point of them is for the front of each house to look exactly the same, but apparently one lady didn’t want that. So she painted her front door yellow, instead of the standard white, just to be different. And of course this caused a HUGE uproar. It was so big, that the case was taken to the House of Lords (that would be like the case going to the Supreme Court in the States). Somehow she was able to prove that she had painted her door 48 hours before the law that prohibited this action went into effect. She won her case. And yes, the door is still yellow today.

The Circus is a circle of houses all surrounding a circular road and a grassy area inside that road. The architect of these houses (the same man who designed the Royal Crescent, John Wood) really loved Roman architecture, so he designed them after the Roman Coliseum. The fronts of the houses have the same elements as the outside of the Coliseum – meaning the same types of columns in the same places, etc. Also, there are three ways to get out of the Circus and three ways to get out of the Coliseum. Finally, the dimensions of the Circus are so precise, that the Coliseum would fit perfectly inside. Who has enough time to even think of things like that, I do not know, but regardless, it’s still very cool and really beautiful.

After the two hour walking tour was over, we went and saw the ancient Roman baths because that’s kind of the whole point in coming. (Besides the fun little shops everywhere.) I definitely learned a lot there as well. I had no idea that the main reason the baths were so popular was because they were believed to have powerful healing qualities. People with all kinds of injuries, diseases, and aches and pains would come to these baths in hopes of being healed. The water isn’t quite as beautiful today (the sunlight has encouraged algae to grow), but you can definitely still appreciate the technology it took to build such an elaborate and popular place.

After we were done looking at the baths, we got a little coffee drink and headed back to the train station. I know a lot of people think airports are the best places to people watch, but the train station at Bath definitely had an interesting mix of people. We got on our train, headed back to Paddington Station, and made it home all safe and sound. It was quite the long day, but definitely worth it.

Until next time,
Rachel

The Canterbury Tales

Nothing I’m about to write about even compares to the excitement of Monday (with the tour of Parliament and the amazing musical that night), but Tuesday and Wednesday were both still fabulously fun days! I had class in the morning on Tuesday, which wasn’t too bad. I’ve been reading a packet my professor gave us about the Cold War and Gorbachev, the man in charge of the Soviet Union at that time. I really didn’t know much about went on during that time, except that Russia and The States just weren’t fantastic friends at that point in history. But I’ve learned a lot just from reading that packet, and I would have to say that Gorbachev seemed to be a pretty decent guy. At least that’s what I got from my material.

Anyway, after that I went on a cleaning rampage around our flat. It’s not that it was dirty and messy, but it was just really unorganized and after a while it just gets to me. So yeah, that was a good time. In the afternoon, a group of us walked to Regent’s Park to play ultimate Frisbee, which was really fun while it lasted. (My dad has helped me perfect my Frisbee skills over that past few years, so I can definitely fling a Frisbee better than I can throw a ball). Then, of course because we’re in London, it started to pour so we all decided to hike it back to our flats. It had stopped raining by the time we got back, but some people had to get ready to go to class and I had to get ready to see Colbie Caillat in concert!

A group of us girls had decided over the summer that we wanted to go see her when she was in London, so we bought tickets a few months ago. They were much cheaper than if we had gone to see her in America, that’s for sure. She was playing in Islington, London at a new, but small, venue that was “standing room only.” We got there fairly early, so we were lucky enough to be about three or four rows from the stage. Her opening act was an up and coming young British man, named Julian Perretta. He was really, really good and I would’ve been fine with watching him perform all night. Colbie Caillet finally came on stage, and of course she was fabulous too. It was a wonderful night, even though my legs were completely dead by the time I got home. :)

On Wednesday, we had our first official group day trip. After a two hour bus ride, we arrived in Canterbury. The town is very cute and quaint – it definitely reminds me of something you would see in an old English movie or even possibly during medieval times. The main attraction of the city (besides its claim to fame through Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”) is the Canterbury Cathedral, which was started in 1070. Again, something else that is almost 1,000 years old! Not only is the cathedral famous for its amazing beauty, but it’s also the place where Thomas Becket, a former archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered. Supposedly it was King Henry II who wanted him dead, but of course the king would deny having said that – or claim that he was “joking”. And for anyone who knows about “The Canterbury Tales”, all the characters in that piece of literature are on their way to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St. Thomas.

After visiting the cathedral and taking a million pictures, I had some fabulous fish and chips at a pub. Then we went on a journey to find the remains of St. Augustine’s Abbey, which are almost 1500 years old. There’s also an old Roman wall that surrounds part of the town of Canterbury, which is kind of cool. After that, there wasn’t a whole lot to do. I mean, there were cute little shops everywhere that were fun to go into, but most of the boys were ready to leave after about two hours. Girls are much better at browsing and getting little coffee drinks, but even I was ready to go.

I was so weird to me that that town is actually a place where people live, go to school, and work. It just doesn’t seem real because it’s like a town out of a story. Granted, there was a Starbucks right NEXT to the cathedral, but for the most part, it is very old-fashioned. A cute place to visit, but I could never live there. I’m sure that’s what people say about Selma and Muncie as well, though. :)

Until next time,
Rachel