I've decided coming home warrants one more blog entry, but I need to stop after that or I will become some creepy blogger.
Lol, no offense to people who have blogs... none at all. I'm just not special enough to have one, haha. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Anyways, coming home has taught me a great deal about myself. It turns out how much I really love North Carolina took me by surprise. I have not been in London withdrawal, which is also surprising. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore the city and will never completely get over it, but coming home has made me realized how much I have had all along.
While abroad I was always aware that I love and will always miss my family. We're really close and there is no place like home. However, I never really thought about Chapel Hill too much after the first month abroad. Once I had settled in I always knew I'd be back next semester and kept in touch with my friends in the meantime.
The first thing that struck me when I came home was how much stuff I own (well... AFTER the Andy's shrimp burger... oh and leaving my travelers checks at the restaurant. Yes... the 2nd thing I did in America was leave money at a restaurant... go figure, lol). I was able to pack everything into my suitcase and duffel bag. And I had plenty to live with in London. Here I have a ridiculous spring/summer wardrobe, 3 purses I will end up using, 2 clutches, random piles of crap, magazines, jewelry I completely forgot about, tons of shoes, etc. It's ridiculous.
I am a wasteful citizen and never really realized how much. My mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year and... well... I really don't need anything. Not going to lie though, we went to banana republic and I found enough to wrap up to satisfy the need for a few boxes under the tree... so I'm STILL wasteful...lol. I guess old habits die hard :-) At least it was all in dollars!
Wow... this is becoming a long last post.
Also, I am realizing I need to go volunteer or donate to a charity, ASAP, I have always wanted to buy a donkey for a small village in a random country...
OK, well anyways. So I not only have loved coming back to my family, but seeing my friends has been a gift. I adore Chapel Hill. Seeing Lindsay Tuesday and Thursday, brunch with Peter on Wednesday, and going to Charlotte and Katie's party was wonderful. I cannot wait until next semester...
Here is what I have found that only exists in North Carolina/ America that coming back has made me highly appreciate:
1. Eating at Five Guys I looked over to a table of Southerners... a kid was wearing a tshirt with a bald eagle that said "If you don't love it, leave" - it makes my day to see rednecks
2. Driving. I love driving... (although now I am back to worrying about deer... it was on the front page of the News and Observe this week that Wake County has the largest # of auto accidents involving deer...)
3. Driving and seeing 2 guys with a shot gun shooting at the trees... and the shot gun fires - People can have guns in America... scary, but entertaining when seeing them used in this manner
4. Hectors Cheese Fries!!! (and being friends with their 1 and only VIP)
5. 25 cent beer
6. Animal Planet... a whole tv station dedicated to animals... I specifically chose to watch "Growing Up Walrus" - it's adorable/ creepy - (Sapna stopped me after 10 minutes... worried I was going to be brainwashed)
7. Most things costing half price and knowing it...
8. Breadman's French Toast, especially when eaten after a night out, lol
9. Having a Christmas reindeer in our lawn/ riding around suburbia and looking at the obnoxious decorations
10. having someone to come help if crazy stuff happens... like my car getting keyed on Friday (thanks Dad... )
11. Banana Republic
12. SPACE - it's this concept I seemed to have forgotten
13. Taco bell, Andy's cheesesteak, Dunkin Donuts, Biaggi's, Five Guys, my fav. Korean restaurant (yes... I will start eating healthy eventually... haha, well... after I get to Bojangles...)
14. eating something other than Tortellini's, period
15. ridiculous Sigma memories, lol
16. the HUGE liquor store... dude... it's overwhelming
17. a queen sized bed! (lol, and bunk bed next semester...)
18. Blockbuster, VH1, a true MTV, being in America while watching The Daily Show and Colbert Report, a ridiculous amount of bad reality tv (that I adore... right now I'm watching 'America's Most Smartest Model'... embarrassing, i know), etc
19. It being painfully obvious that I need to read more, lol
20. Rueda!
21. being home for the Holidays :-)
22. Carolina Basketball!!!
23. driving around the winding back roads to Chapel Hill... with the windows down and music turned up entirely too loud when it's warm out (like it was this December until today...)
24. Where else can you go to CVS to get a flu shot and then to the grocery store in under 45 minutes...
25. Although I feel as though I've made lifelong friends in London, I am so blessed to be back to the many friends I have grown close to over the past 3 years. I love you guys!
So even though there are many things I'm bound to miss about London, and I'm not going to lie... I'd certainly love to live there again at some point... in the end, even though this is terribly cliche, I've also found there is no place like home.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Last day in London/ coming home
The one thing I will say is I truly found closure with leaving at the end of my trip.
Sapna woke me up at 7:30 to hug me by. After that I couldn't fall back to sleep so I decided I just needed to spend the day doing and seeing everything possible one last time. I packed until around 10AM and then headed out. First I dropped off my library books then stopped into Cafe Deco for, what I thought, was my last time. The younger guy that works there actually seemed sad... such is life. I also was able to say goodbye to the small convenience store owner; he was such a cheerful person... he even laughed at my jokes (and that's unwarranted, lol).
I then went to the British Museum one last time to look at the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian exhibit. It brought me back to that first day where Chris, Heather, and I were ridiculously lost in our neighborhood. My next impulse was to go to TopShop one last time... I know... random, but they just don't have shopping meccas like that in the states, lol.
After shopping for an hour and a half I found the perfect top. Now THAT is closure, haha.
(I shamelessly took pictures of every single thing I saw this last day... probably 70 or so pics total, lol)
New topic... lol... I went back to Cafe Deco to eat lunch. I considered going with Katherine and Kaitlin to walk to the Tower Bridge, but I realized my feet were killing me. It was really sad; the owner gave me free coffee and gave me a hard time about leaving - I'm definitely going to miss Deco. After Deco I ran into Todd and David at Winston House. They had just gotten out of their exams (sucks for them! lol) and were heading to the Borough market. This market is crazy! It has every type of food or drink product you can dream of. Shoot... they had a selection of 20 different Christmas beers! You could also have ostrich, delicious cheeses, the best sausage of your life, around 25 different flavours of turkish delight, etc. Too bad I had eaten lunch... go figure... lol. It was still worth seeing.
David and I headed back, because I had plans to hang out with William. I ended up meeting him and Patricia in Leicester Square for dinner. I finally had Wagamama's... lol... idk how I hadn't eaten there before, but it really, truly is darn good Chinese food. It was so great seeing Patricia one last time and catching up. Then we all headed to Hyde Park to meet a big group of UNC students at the Winter Wonderland. Patricia had to head back, but the rest of us had a nice time. I'm still pissed all tickets to skate were sold out... but we had mulled wine and relaxed. Then the saddest point of the last night occurred... I hated saying goodbye to William. At least with the UNC students I know I'll see them around next semester whereas Arkansas and Louisiana aren't nearly as close. Haha, but it's all good... it's an excuse for a road trip...
Then it was back to packing. Sapna and I had accumulated 3 trash bags of food and random crap - it was impressive. Then it came time to deal with the extra alcohol; this was not acceptable, lol. No worries though, we finished it all :-) Todd had come in and asked if I wanted to walk around one last time - then we decided to turn it into a group affair.
(at Queen Elizabeth's gate to Hyde Park - my camera died soon after this, lol)
The walk was suppose to last an hour... haha, yea... it turned into 3. It was worth every bit of the effort. It was one last chance to sip on a Fosters in public, one last chance to get a picture of the theatre district, etc. We hung around Trafalgar for a bit then walked along St. James park to Buckingham Palace. We continued on to the Marble Arch and then onto Oxford Street. At the end of Oxford street I insisted on getting chips one last time from Dionysus, lol. It was a good decision. I look back, and this was the PERFECT way to end my trip. I didn't waste a minute of that last day.
Next morning we were up at 6:30... yes... it was painful. Thank god Heather is practically a saint and helped me carry my last trash bag up the stairs - it was broken and weighed around 20 lbs, lol. I'm so glad I was able to travel back with Heather. There were moments where I was sad, but overall it was one last misadventure before heading home. We got rid of our change during breakfast (i'm positive our waiter hated us). Then we fell in love with the Harrod's 2007 Christmas bears and bought them. So picture this... 2 college girls holding teddy bears.
That basically sums up our ride back. It was wonderful seeing my family. The first thing I ate off the plane was an Andy's shrimp burger. It was heavenly.
Last 2 weeks in London/ it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas :-)
Well after Stratford Upon Avon I was pretty worn out, but that didn't stop me from partying in flat 1... go figure :-)
On Sunday I arrived back to my flat around 7PM after standing for 2 hours on a train - it was intense. But strong pong was calling my name. Haha, and who are we kidding - I wasn't going to get any work done!
Lets just keep it to this: that Sunday was definitely one of the wildest nights in London. If not THE wildest.
What we learned:
1. stick to strongbow
2. buy enough strongbow so you don't run out
3. playing flip cup with gin/ wine is a bad idea
3. playing flip cup with gin/ wine is a bad idea
Anyways... most of us didn't feel well the next day, but it was nice while it lasted. :-)
Monday I went and saw a concert at St. Martin in the Fields. It was nice to walk to Trafalgar. I randomly found a booth in China Town that sold fried pork dumplings which certainly helped with my poor state.
Tuesday was Katherine O's 21st birthday! A group of us went out to Sports Cafe and it was an overall nice time.
Friday I ended up deathly ill. All of a sudden I woke up that morning with a massive fever and the chills... go figure... it's weird how life happens. I wasn't back to normal until Monday; the rest of the weekend I was bedridden. However I did manage to get a decent amount of my work done... I wrote my 2 final papers and my final review.
For our last music class with Professor Oehler Chris and I performed the Villa Lobos then everyone presented their London themes. I awkwardly talked about salsa dancing... yea... it was really awkward. I'm not great at talking about dancing... lol
Our Shakespeare final on Wednesday was not too difficult.
(drinking from the treasure chest... *sigh* lol, it was like a Dublin reunion)
Wednesday night was ridiculous. Plain ridiculous. We went to Mahiki, a REALLY nice club across the street from the Ritz. We all made it home safe... and I'm going to be thanking god for that for the next few months... good grief
Thursday night was when it sunk in things were over. First I went to eat at the Crypt Cafe with Heather, Mary, Laura, and Esther. This also included seeing the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, which was fun (although the tree was rather pathetic, lol...). 
Then the rest of the night I hung out in flat 1. It was really sad to be in there for the last time... a place where we had all shared so many great memories. Sapna and I went back to my room after saying goodbye to the guys and listened to sad songs until 3:30AM... haha, in retrospect that was a really good time. We talked about how much we had learned all semester and reminisced about all of our experiences.
Then the rest of the night I hung out in flat 1. It was really sad to be in there for the last time... a place where we had all shared so many great memories. Sapna and I went back to my room after saying goodbye to the guys and listened to sad songs until 3:30AM... haha, in retrospect that was a really good time. We talked about how much we had learned all semester and reminisced about all of our experiences.The last day deserves it's own entry :-)
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The Shakespearience
haha, going to Stratford Upon Avon was definitely an experience, a SHAKESPEARIENCE
I left the Saturday my mom and brother left. Mary and I took the train from London to Birmingham, then Birmingham to Stratford Upon Avon. We missed our connecting train so we had an hour to kill in Birmingham. Good thing the station is connected to a MASSIVE mall.
Not only was it a mall... it was a mall with freakin' Top Shop!
Anyways, I was excited...
When we arrived in Stratford Upon Avon it went like this:
Mary: Christina, where is our hotel?
Me: umm, I forgot to call. I thought you had looked?
Mary: Christina!?
Me: My bad...
We had to walk to the tourist center. But it was OK :-) in the meantime we met up with Heather and David. They were fortunate enough to experience the Mil Mar's disgustingly pink decour. It was sooo pink it was nauseating... but yet I freaking loved it.
(don't you love the matching pink towels!?!?)
That was what started 'Mary and Christina's Romantic Weekend'
We had romantic stratford upon avon and a ridiculously adorable bed and breakfast...
Anyways...
We walked to Anne Hathaway's cottage. Even in nasty, rainy weather this area is beautiful. The cottage is perfect. We had a nice tour, although the woman talked a bit too much about bread baking... umm... not that interested... but it was so cool knowing the history there. We sat where Shakespeare apparently courted Anne, haha, when he was 18 and she was 26... he definitely got her pregnant which is why they were married.
Haha, that's the Shakespeare I love. Scandalous :-)
After our tour we walked around the grounds and discovered they had a tree labyrinth. Yes, a labyrinth. And darnit, we definitely went in. At one point we got tired of following the path so we started cutting through the trees... haha, it worked... except Heather got stuck at one point, lol.
Mary made it to the middle first... David right after... Heather and I were close, but were blocked by a puddle. Then we were kicked out. Apparently winter hours are NOT the same as summer...
After that we went in town to have a delicious dinner at the Old Thatch Tavern. I nerdily read Shakespeare's sonnets... haha... look, it felt right finally buying the sonnets while IN Stratford Upon Avon. After that David and Heather left *tear*
Haha, but then Mary and my's adventures began. We found a really cute bar and drank some mulled wine and a glass of red wine. Mulled wine is like heated Sangria with spices; aka... pure, holiday deliciousness.
Then we went and saw Henry V. If you're in England, THIS is the place to see Shakespeare. The actors were phenomenal, the effects were surprising/ really impressive (especially about the time I was falling asleep before getting coffee at intermission and there was an explosion), and part of it was acted by actors suspended in the air. It was like an awesome action movie meets Shakespeare meets Cirque-de-Soleil.
Then after that things got interesting :-)
We went to the Dirty Duck, the pub right near the theatre. There we got an upclose look at all of the actors. Quote of that place: "I'm attracted to talent"
But it was an older demographic so we decided to leave. We came up to a club, but we were not ready for that, but the bouncer told us to go back to the place called "Shakesperience."
I went up to that place's bouncers, went... "Do you have alcohol!?" Yes, they did... specifically a bottle of wine with "Shakesperience" on it. It was hilarious.
There, while taking pictures, a guy came up and offered to take a picture of us. Him and his friends were heading to a club. Haha, the club, Bounce, was rather lame. But just being... at a club... in Stratford Upon Avon... was totally worth it. Finally it was time to leave and we headed back. But of course... we stopped for Kebabs. Really I just wanted chips... but Mary wanted a kebab... I tried to order both... and the order ended up meat and chips.
Haha, gross... yet perfect...
In the meantime Mary had met this really strange local guy. He ended up hitting on her in front of his girlfriend. That's him in the picture below. Sketchy...
The next day we woke up and had the best breakfast of my life. I love the Mil Mar... would highly recommend it. Then we went to every main Shakespeare site. We first visited the Church of the Holy Trinity where he is buried. Then we walked along the Avon river which is lovely.
Next we visited his birthplace then finally ended at Nash's house, which is the house where Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband lived. Since Shakespeare retired in Stratford Upon Avon in 1611 he lived in a house next door. Unfortunately it was torn down by it's next owner who didn't like paying taxes on it; now it's a garden.
Overall this weekend was WONDERFUL. I already loved Shakespeare, but seeing where he lived (plus the adventures of our one night) really made it special.
I left the Saturday my mom and brother left. Mary and I took the train from London to Birmingham, then Birmingham to Stratford Upon Avon. We missed our connecting train so we had an hour to kill in Birmingham. Good thing the station is connected to a MASSIVE mall.
Not only was it a mall... it was a mall with freakin' Top Shop!
Anyways, I was excited...
When we arrived in Stratford Upon Avon it went like this:
Mary: Christina, where is our hotel?
Me: umm, I forgot to call. I thought you had looked?
Mary: Christina!?
Me: My bad...
We had to walk to the tourist center. But it was OK :-) in the meantime we met up with Heather and David. They were fortunate enough to experience the Mil Mar's disgustingly pink decour. It was sooo pink it was nauseating... but yet I freaking loved it.
(don't you love the matching pink towels!?!?)
That was what started 'Mary and Christina's Romantic Weekend'
We had romantic stratford upon avon and a ridiculously adorable bed and breakfast...
Anyways...
We walked to Anne Hathaway's cottage. Even in nasty, rainy weather this area is beautiful. The cottage is perfect. We had a nice tour, although the woman talked a bit too much about bread baking... umm... not that interested... but it was so cool knowing the history there. We sat where Shakespeare apparently courted Anne, haha, when he was 18 and she was 26... he definitely got her pregnant which is why they were married.
Haha, that's the Shakespeare I love. Scandalous :-)
After our tour we walked around the grounds and discovered they had a tree labyrinth. Yes, a labyrinth. And darnit, we definitely went in. At one point we got tired of following the path so we started cutting through the trees... haha, it worked... except Heather got stuck at one point, lol.
Mary made it to the middle first... David right after... Heather and I were close, but were blocked by a puddle. Then we were kicked out. Apparently winter hours are NOT the same as summer...
After that we went in town to have a delicious dinner at the Old Thatch Tavern. I nerdily read Shakespeare's sonnets... haha... look, it felt right finally buying the sonnets while IN Stratford Upon Avon. After that David and Heather left *tear*
Haha, but then Mary and my's adventures began. We found a really cute bar and drank some mulled wine and a glass of red wine. Mulled wine is like heated Sangria with spices; aka... pure, holiday deliciousness.
Then we went and saw Henry V. If you're in England, THIS is the place to see Shakespeare. The actors were phenomenal, the effects were surprising/ really impressive (especially about the time I was falling asleep before getting coffee at intermission and there was an explosion), and part of it was acted by actors suspended in the air. It was like an awesome action movie meets Shakespeare meets Cirque-de-Soleil.
Then after that things got interesting :-)
We went to the Dirty Duck, the pub right near the theatre. There we got an upclose look at all of the actors. Quote of that place: "I'm attracted to talent"
But it was an older demographic so we decided to leave. We came up to a club, but we were not ready for that, but the bouncer told us to go back to the place called "Shakesperience."
I went up to that place's bouncers, went... "Do you have alcohol!?" Yes, they did... specifically a bottle of wine with "Shakesperience" on it. It was hilarious.
There, while taking pictures, a guy came up and offered to take a picture of us. Him and his friends were heading to a club. Haha, the club, Bounce, was rather lame. But just being... at a club... in Stratford Upon Avon... was totally worth it. Finally it was time to leave and we headed back. But of course... we stopped for Kebabs. Really I just wanted chips... but Mary wanted a kebab... I tried to order both... and the order ended up meat and chips.
Haha, gross... yet perfect...
In the meantime Mary had met this really strange local guy. He ended up hitting on her in front of his girlfriend. That's him in the picture below. Sketchy...
The next day we woke up and had the best breakfast of my life. I love the Mil Mar... would highly recommend it. Then we went to every main Shakespeare site. We first visited the Church of the Holy Trinity where he is buried. Then we walked along the Avon river which is lovely.
Next we visited his birthplace then finally ended at Nash's house, which is the house where Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband lived. Since Shakespeare retired in Stratford Upon Avon in 1611 he lived in a house next door. Unfortunately it was torn down by it's next owner who didn't like paying taxes on it; now it's a garden.
Overall this weekend was WONDERFUL. I already loved Shakespeare, but seeing where he lived (plus the adventures of our one night) really made it special.
Smith family London style :-)
Well... I'm home now, but I'm going to try and document the rest of my semester as best as I can (I took so many pictures I figure looking at them will remind me of most of the adventures).
The weekend after Katherine O and I had our Notting Hill adventure my mom and brother came! It was wonderful being able to show them what I had learned so far and to take them around the city I love.
The first day they came I really messed up, haha, surprise surprise...
I was... 4 hours late meeting them. I had gone out dancing with friends the night before and slept at Patricia's place on the other side of the city. When I finally met them I charmed Mom into forgiving me... haha, thank goodness. Then I walked them to Trafalgar Square to show how close I live to the main part of the city. Mom took many pictures of me looking terrible as punishment for being late :-)
The weekend after Katherine O and I had our Notting Hill adventure my mom and brother came! It was wonderful being able to show them what I had learned so far and to take them around the city I love.
The first day they came I really messed up, haha, surprise surprise...
I was... 4 hours late meeting them. I had gone out dancing with friends the night before and slept at Patricia's place on the other side of the city. When I finally met them I charmed Mom into forgiving me... haha, thank goodness. Then I walked them to Trafalgar Square to show how close I live to the main part of the city. Mom took many pictures of me looking terrible as punishment for being late :-)
The next day we took the Original Bus Tour around the city. It took us everywhere. Nothing too exciting there, but it was nice learning more of the city's history. This night we discovered the amazing Fish and Chips restaurant near the British Museum. It is delicious. Hmm... I think we also went and saw Avenue Q this night...? haha, idk... but when we did it was just as funny as the first time.
Preston liked the song 'The Internet is for Porn' best.
The third day we got back on the Original Tour bus to head to Kensington. I was extrordinarily pissy, haha, because it took us an hour to get there. Apparently I had grown really accustom to the quick-paced London lifestyle and sitting in a bus put me in a bad mood. Eventually we made it to Kensington and walked around the Victoria Albert museum first. We stopped in for food and I had a traumatic incident with my scone and clotted cream... involving a fish bone... gross...
lol, but I recovered and we headed first to the Science Museum, but left after 15 minutes because we were bored; we are definitely better Museum of Natural history people. This was A LOT of fun. Me and Preston + dinosaurs = entertainment. Oh, plus the freakin' cool giant sloth skeleton was cool too.
Eventually we were hungry and that ended our day in Kensington... go figure :-)
By that point Mom had hurt her ankle on stairs... so it was a bit intense. We had already bought tickets to Madame Tussaud's
This was actually one of the highlights of the week. It is hilarious to take pictures there... and Preston and I are REALLY photogenic, lol
This is us and the lead singer from Queen
Up until this point London had been extremely cold, but on Wednesday all of a sudden the gorgeous weather was back. We took a gorgeous walk from Trafalgar Square through St. James park to Buckingham Palace then back. We also went to the National Gallery quickly so Preston can say he's seen Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir paintings.
In St. James Park (Preston ALWAYS had to tie his shoe, lol)
Wednesday night my History of WWII Professor cancelled (haha, what a surprise...) so we went and had dinner at Belgio and then went and saw the Lion King. It was FABULOUS!
Thursday was Thanksgiving. Mom and I went shopping, of course, haha, and later that night the group had a lovely dinner together.
Friday... dude, I don't even know what we did. One day we went to the Tower of London, which is really interesting. At 4PM we had a tour through Parliament which was incredibly interesting. And that was that.
The week was wonderful and I'm really glad my mom and brother came!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Saturday - aka I love London/ there is a WHOLE lotta awkward sitting right here, haha
Katherine and I went on an adventure to Notting Hill Saturday afternoon. I managed to get up around noon, so I had an hour more daylight than Friday, lol... I know... be proud :-)
What we saw of Notting Hill was nice. However, we realized Kensington was pretty close, so we walked in that direction. Shoot... they are only 15/20 minutes apart. I never realize these things until I walk around the city. All of a sudden we hit some great shopping and, there we were, in Kensington.
By the way... Kensington has it's OWN Top Shop. Woah, lol
( the classic phonebooth picture... outside of Kensington Gardens!)
However, by this point we were ready for some caffeine. We stopped at a charming Italian Cafe right near Kensington Gardens (thank god... or we would have had to go to Starbucks... lol). Then we walked around the palace and then through the park.
It's this kind of thing that I can't really describe. Walking through a park doesn't seem that exciting, but in London it really is one of the most entertaining things to do. It's so interesting to watch the people. Also, the birds are always ridiculous. It's just beautiful, in a way you wouldn't think you'd find inside a city.
We walked all the way to the Natural History Museum (went in for about 30 minutes... but we're saving it for Monday) and then headed back. Now THAT was crazy. I have no clue how we fit on the car... I have never been so close to so many people in my life. It was fun :-)
Later that night I met up with William, Lia, and Katie to go see a play. Lol... too bad it didn't start until the 13th...
so we improvised and decided to head to Hairspray. I had pretty low expectations based on the movie. I liked it, but it wasn't anything special.
The theatre production is SOOO much better - I was blown away. It almost hurts to say it, but I liked it even better than Wicked. The singers were incredibly talented, the sets and costumes were vibrant and full of life, the dancing was top notch, and it was really funny. The mother (a man dressed as a woman) and father's 'You're Timeless to me' was a show-stopper. I have not seen a standing ovation at the end of any other London production like last nights.
After that we kept up with the theme and headed to Ed's... umm... well it's a diner, lol. I'm bad with all names. Not only did they have milkshakes... they had Alco-shakes. Brilliant. I had a Bailey's and Oreo flavoured milkshake. It was heaven. It was like being back home, lol, with an alcoholic touch :-) We all hung out there for around an hour.
The main theme from the diner: 'There is a WHOLE lotta awkward sitting right here'
classic :-)
We all ended up talking until around 2AM. Too bad the parks close after dark here though...
Anyways, great day, great night :-)
I love weekends in London, especially when surrounded by wonderful people.
What we saw of Notting Hill was nice. However, we realized Kensington was pretty close, so we walked in that direction. Shoot... they are only 15/20 minutes apart. I never realize these things until I walk around the city. All of a sudden we hit some great shopping and, there we were, in Kensington.
By the way... Kensington has it's OWN Top Shop. Woah, lol
( the classic phonebooth picture... outside of Kensington Gardens!)
However, by this point we were ready for some caffeine. We stopped at a charming Italian Cafe right near Kensington Gardens (thank god... or we would have had to go to Starbucks... lol). Then we walked around the palace and then through the park.
It's this kind of thing that I can't really describe. Walking through a park doesn't seem that exciting, but in London it really is one of the most entertaining things to do. It's so interesting to watch the people. Also, the birds are always ridiculous. It's just beautiful, in a way you wouldn't think you'd find inside a city.
We walked all the way to the Natural History Museum (went in for about 30 minutes... but we're saving it for Monday) and then headed back. Now THAT was crazy. I have no clue how we fit on the car... I have never been so close to so many people in my life. It was fun :-)
Later that night I met up with William, Lia, and Katie to go see a play. Lol... too bad it didn't start until the 13th...
so we improvised and decided to head to Hairspray. I had pretty low expectations based on the movie. I liked it, but it wasn't anything special.
The theatre production is SOOO much better - I was blown away. It almost hurts to say it, but I liked it even better than Wicked. The singers were incredibly talented, the sets and costumes were vibrant and full of life, the dancing was top notch, and it was really funny. The mother (a man dressed as a woman) and father's 'You're Timeless to me' was a show-stopper. I have not seen a standing ovation at the end of any other London production like last nights.
After that we kept up with the theme and headed to Ed's... umm... well it's a diner, lol. I'm bad with all names. Not only did they have milkshakes... they had Alco-shakes. Brilliant. I had a Bailey's and Oreo flavoured milkshake. It was heaven. It was like being back home, lol, with an alcoholic touch :-) We all hung out there for around an hour.
The main theme from the diner: 'There is a WHOLE lotta awkward sitting right here'
classic :-)
We all ended up talking until around 2AM. Too bad the parks close after dark here though...
Anyways, great day, great night :-)
I love weekends in London, especially when surrounded by wonderful people.
Week after Scotland
Well... after Scotland I did nothing on Sunday. I just got a LOT of sleep.
However, I had Monday to kill, so I deemed it Covent Garden day.
First I stopped by the Post Office to send postcards home ;-) I love you guys! Then instead of taking the tube I decided to walk. I mean, why not? lol
Anyways... this is why not: I passed Holborn tube station and should have turned right. Instead I walked for 10 minutes down Holborn street... definitely the wrong way. But it was ok - I found an amazing french bakery for lunch. After that I took the tube BACK to where I came from. From there... 20 minutes later... I managed to find Covent Garden.
I love walking around Covent Garden. Good shopping, inside there is typically classical music being played (including an opera singer!?), and it turns out it is really close to where I live. I have no clue how I haven't stumbled onto it before.
Later Monday night was our groups cheese tasting night at 8PM. I practiced and read Shakespeare up until this point. I love cheese tasting night though. Good conversations.
Later that night Laura and I went salsa dancing :-) Apparently I actually CAN dance after drinking - and there are benefits, lol, and some downsides to it. With certain people I had danced with before I was "soo much better." But also... for the dancers that try to instruct you... that didn't go well. I was in no mood to completely change my dance style for someone.
Anyways, we stayed for about an hour and it was perfect :-)
Tuesday I read some Shakespeare... practiced... that was about it. Saw a concert of music I'd played in the last year, which was interesting. lol, Anyways...
Wednesday I continued to read Shakespeare. Didn't read as much as I should have, lol. Wednesday night I went to the Court with Tyler, Cory, Tracy, Creecy, Sapna, and Katherine O. Mainly Katherine and I bonded ;-)
Thursday went by quickly too. Gotta love Vosper's class. Haha, or not. Next class I'm talking about Thatcherism. It should be interesting... haha, or terrible... oh well :-)
Friday I slept in until... 1PM. I had stayed up until... almost 4AM watching Heroes. Good show. Heather and I made it the Tate Museums day. We started with the modern. I had low expectations, but I actually enjoyed it. My favorite exhibit focused on 'the absurdities of every day life' - it was different videos focusing on the same scene of a man being tripped by a dog and falling.
I still don't get the crack exhibit, lol
Anyways
Then we took the boat to the Tate Britain. We were pretty overwhelmed by this point so we went and got tea... and I had clotted cream with a scone for the first time. I'm a big fan. By the time we had finished eating the museum was only open for 50 minutes. We went and checked out the modern works there which were a bit more tame. Then we found the Pre-Raphaelites. I love this group of painters. They have the bright colors of Monet, but also tell stories of love and loss. *Sigh*
haha, anyways. That night I got back and Katherine and I split a bottle of wine. Haha, that was all we needed... we hung out with Patrick and Todd and played cards. I am pretty freaking awesome at palace - I won 3 times. Yup, I'm awesome.
Haha, I was too tired to really learn rummy. Oh well... maybe next time.
Overall it was a really great day.
However, I had Monday to kill, so I deemed it Covent Garden day.
First I stopped by the Post Office to send postcards home ;-) I love you guys! Then instead of taking the tube I decided to walk. I mean, why not? lol
Anyways... this is why not: I passed Holborn tube station and should have turned right. Instead I walked for 10 minutes down Holborn street... definitely the wrong way. But it was ok - I found an amazing french bakery for lunch. After that I took the tube BACK to where I came from. From there... 20 minutes later... I managed to find Covent Garden.
I love walking around Covent Garden. Good shopping, inside there is typically classical music being played (including an opera singer!?), and it turns out it is really close to where I live. I have no clue how I haven't stumbled onto it before.
Later Monday night was our groups cheese tasting night at 8PM. I practiced and read Shakespeare up until this point. I love cheese tasting night though. Good conversations.
Later that night Laura and I went salsa dancing :-) Apparently I actually CAN dance after drinking - and there are benefits, lol, and some downsides to it. With certain people I had danced with before I was "soo much better." But also... for the dancers that try to instruct you... that didn't go well. I was in no mood to completely change my dance style for someone.
Anyways, we stayed for about an hour and it was perfect :-)
Tuesday I read some Shakespeare... practiced... that was about it. Saw a concert of music I'd played in the last year, which was interesting. lol, Anyways...
Wednesday I continued to read Shakespeare. Didn't read as much as I should have, lol. Wednesday night I went to the Court with Tyler, Cory, Tracy, Creecy, Sapna, and Katherine O. Mainly Katherine and I bonded ;-)
Thursday went by quickly too. Gotta love Vosper's class. Haha, or not. Next class I'm talking about Thatcherism. It should be interesting... haha, or terrible... oh well :-)
Friday I slept in until... 1PM. I had stayed up until... almost 4AM watching Heroes. Good show. Heather and I made it the Tate Museums day. We started with the modern. I had low expectations, but I actually enjoyed it. My favorite exhibit focused on 'the absurdities of every day life' - it was different videos focusing on the same scene of a man being tripped by a dog and falling.
I still don't get the crack exhibit, lol
Anyways
Then we took the boat to the Tate Britain. We were pretty overwhelmed by this point so we went and got tea... and I had clotted cream with a scone for the first time. I'm a big fan. By the time we had finished eating the museum was only open for 50 minutes. We went and checked out the modern works there which were a bit more tame. Then we found the Pre-Raphaelites. I love this group of painters. They have the bright colors of Monet, but also tell stories of love and loss. *Sigh*
haha, anyways. That night I got back and Katherine and I split a bottle of wine. Haha, that was all we needed... we hung out with Patrick and Todd and played cards. I am pretty freaking awesome at palace - I won 3 times. Yup, I'm awesome.
Haha, I was too tired to really learn rummy. Oh well... maybe next time.
Overall it was a really great day.
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