Churchill's Granddaughter!

We got to meet Winston Churchill’s granddaughter today! One of the professors in our program has been teaching a WWII class and a Winston Churchill class all semester and he’s been trying to get in touch with Celia. I didn’t take the classes, but I’ve heard all about them from the kids that did. It was great hearing the stories she had to share about this amazing man! She was his oldest grandchild and knew so much about him. It was neat being able to meet someone who had a different perspective on this famous political leader.

Easter in Barcelona

Our flight left Luton around 13:40. The easybus ride and everything went smoothly. Once we got to the airport and checked in and made it through security, I got some food from Pret because it’s the most amazing place ever! We arrived in Reus around 16:45 and caught a bus to Barcelona. Once the bus dropped us off, we had to find our hostel. We had a decent idea of where to go, but the streets aren’t always labeled that great. We found this map, but the thing was in Braille! Who would have thought?! Once we got to the hostel and were checked in and settled down, we decided to head to get some dinner. We had no idea where to go, so we walked and happened upon a place called Tapa Tapa. Tapas are the most amazing thing in the world. They’re tiny portions of amazing food and I love that you can get lots of different things and still not spend too much. The sangria was phenomenal and we bought 4 pitchers of it for the 8 of us. Yumm!
Saturday morning, some of us woke up and got breakfast (cereal) and when everyone was ready, we headed towards Las Ramblas. The street was so busy! There were birds, bunnies, and turtles in cages for people to buy. The street performers were so cool and some were really good! We found this food market along Las Ramblas and went inside to get some lunch. The produce stands were so cool. The fruit was fresh and cheap. I got a carton of strawberries for 1 euro. We also got baguettes and headed towards the end of Las Ramblas and the pier. We sat along the water and ate our lunch. We walked along the pier for awhile and just enjoyed the weather. We saw the boats in the marina and looked at the stalls along the water. There were people selling knock-off purses and sunglasses. We got to see a really cool mariachi type band that played some music. We finally made it to the beach and by the time we got there, the weather was getting a little cloudy and cool. We all just took pictures for awhile along the water! After we got bored at the beach, we headed towards the Olympic village and the rings. There was another market there, but it was basically a garage sale of junk and I didn’t buy anything. For dinner that night, we went to a place called Café and Te. The food was good, I got tortellini (I know, right?) because it wasn’t really Spanish cuisine.
Easter Sunday, we woke up and headed to Catholic mass. Not only was it my first catholic mass, but it was in catalan and I couldn’t understand a thing. Half of the group was catholic though so it made it easier to understand what was going on. After mass, the weather wasn’t looking too appealing so we went back and changed into warmer clothes and headed out for the day. We really wanted to do a boat cruise and I had read about one online. As we went to buy the tickets, a man came up and said that it was a bad cruise for the price and that the boat didn’t even go out of the harbour. We had a tough time deciding what to do since Rae and Shelby had already bought their tickets. We ended up splitting the cost of their tickets and we took another cruise. The one we took was amazing and we had a great time drinking sangria and just talking. It would have been so cool if the weather was nicer, but we survived! When we got off the boat, Mike (another boy in our program) had told us that the Picasso museum was free on Sundays. We headed over there and saw a ton of Picasso’s works. Seeing the progression of his work over the years helped me appreciate it more than if I had just seen a few pieces of his. I know it’s cliché, but I really like his blue period, even though it’s a bit depressing. There were a few pieces in the collection that really stood out to me too, but I don’t remember the names of them…oops. After the museum, everyone was tired, wet, cold, and hungry. There was a little tension as we tried to find a place to eat. We ended up on this side street at a little café and most of us got tapas. We headed back to Tapa Tapa for our Easter dinner though! The food was just that good! We went out for Jake’s birthday to a club called Catwalk. It took us awhile to find it, and once we did, they tried to charge us an 18 euro cover, even though we had tickets for free entry. As we were walking away, I said something to one of the workers about how our hostel had told us to come here and stuff and they ended up letting us in for free; thank goodness because there was no way I was going to pay an 18 euro cover! Once we got inside it was a lot of fun. There were a lot of people there and we danced a ton!
Monday morning we decided to do a Gaudi day. We walked towards La Sagrada Familia and saw some of his other works along the way. The fact that Sagrada is still not complete and it was started over 100 years ago astonishes me! I can’t believe it’s the most visited construction site in the world! The intricacy in the building is phenomenal and it looks amazing. We didn’t pay to go in it, but the outside was incredible! We took the metro to Parc Güell and looked around for awhile. All of Gaudi’s works remind me of the City Museum because of the mosaics and whimsical fantasy world. I would love to have seen the inside of the houses and his other stuff, but it didn’t happen. We sat at the park for awhile and got some sun. The weather was amazing so we decided to head back to the beach. We laid out for awhile and got some sun and played in the sand. For dinner we ate at a restaurant along the boardwalk and had some amazing risotto! It was perfect.
Tuesday morning we packed up and headed to Las Ramblas one last time. We grabbed lunch at the outdoor market. I loved that market! The fruit was so fresh and inexpensive. They also sold fresh juices which were delicious! Once we all got what we needed, we headed towards the bus station. We were afraid that we’d miss the bus or it would be full, so we made sure to catch an early one. We caught the bus back to the airport and waited for awhile to catch our plane. We did a bit of duty free shopping since there was nothing to do but wait! The flight was pretty smooth and when we got back to London, I was so worn out that I just wanted to go to sleep!

G20 Summit here in London

I know I haven't posted in such a long time, but I'm keeping track of everything so as soon as I have the time I'll post!

Here's a little bit about the protests going on today in London. The G20 Summit has become such a big deal here and people are protesting and demonstrating everything! We're trying to stay out of the "city" as much as possible, but it's really not that far from us...kind of scary! What I find interesting is there are only 19 countries in the G20 but the EU is also included so it becomes the G20. I honestly don't know how they're going to solve the economic problems in the 5 hour meeting they're having, but maybe it will work. It's a gorgeous day so I'm headed to the park! Check out this video though:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7975597.stm

The Queen of England

I saw the Queen today! One of the girls in my program had heard there was going to be a processional for the Queen and the President of Mexico. Since I don’t have classes in the morning, I had some time to kill and me, Kendall, Dawn, April, Angela, and Joy went down to St. James’s Park and as we came out of the tube stop, we saw her motorcade. Some of us noticed her sitting in the car, but others were too busy trying to get their cameras out. We walked/ran to where the motorcade was headed and saw the processional all lined up and waiting for the Queen and the President. We asked a nearby bobby the best way to see her and the entire processional and he said we needed to go through the park and get to the “mall” towards Buckingham Palace. We ran completely through the park and got to the mall. There was hardly anyone behind the barricades. Either this wasn’t highly publicized or people don’t care about these types of things anymore. Regardless, we had an amazing view of the carriages and the entire processional. We saw the Queen again as she passed by and I really wanted to try a regal wave to see if she noticed me, but I thought that might be too much. Haha. It was really a great experience. Not many people can say they’ve seen the queen and I’m glad I got to experience it while I’m here.
After that incredible experience, I had a class field trip to the Linley Sambourne house here in Kensington. Linley Sambourne was a famous illustrator during the Victorian period here in London. He illustrated the book Water Babies and did many satirical illustrations for Punch Magazine back then. His home has been preserved completely and still contains all of the family’s possessions. This is unique because Sambourne was middle class, not aristocratic and middle class homes were rarely preserved. The field trip was so interesting and the guide was incredibly knowledgeable on the Sambourne family.

Dublin, Ireland

We flew RyanAir to Dublin on Thursday evening. We arrived around 10:30 pm and quickly went through customs and caught a city bus to the city center. We didn’t know exactly where the hostel was, but we had a general direction and the address so we asked along the way. Some people knew where the hostel was and some didn’t. Half of our group hopped in a cab and went to the hostel and when Alicia, Dawn, and I tried to get a cab, the driver said it was too close and he gave us directions so we could walk. We ended up getting there like 5 minutes after the rest of the girls and we saved money too. We checked in and got situated and decided we needed a drink, badly! We walked towards Temple Bar (where we had just been) and went to a pub called The Porter House. There were three levels and they had a live cover band playing. We went to the bar and I noticed that there were “girly” drink specials. Dawn and I got Emerald Isles and Tir Na Nog drinks and they were delicious and only €5! We closed down the bar and headed back to the hostel. I showered and went to bed because I was exhausted!
Friday morning we tried to wake up early and get a good start on the day. We somewhat succeeded and were out of the hostel around 10. We started walking towards Dublin Castle and fell upon Christ Church and took a few pictures. Everything in Dublin is really compact so we were at Dublin Castle in no time. We took a guided tour of the castle. It was once used by the English Kings and Queens, but it’s now used by the Republic of Ireland’s government. The rooms were really interesting and I learned a lot. Once the tour was over we went to the gift shop and spent entirely too long there! I bought Emma’s Claddagh ring. It has the celtic trinity on it as well so I hope she loves it! I bought Grandma a shamrock charm too! Once we were all done, we walked to Trinity College and some of the other girls saw the Book of Kells. We grabbed Subway for lunch and saw the Molly Malone statue. We walked to Hard Rock Café so Molly could get a shirt and some other stuff. While we were outside, this man came up asking for money for lunch and none of us gave him any money so he called us bitches. How awful. Then we saw him shoot up or something in the corner of the alley so we quickly left! We had a short walk to Jameson Distillery. At Jameson they asked for volunteers of the whiskey tasting and I raised my hand and the guide picked me! I quickly remembered I don’t like whiskey that much so I gave the tasting baton to Dawn for her birthday! We went on the tour and it was so interesting. The difference between Jameson and Jack Daniel’s is huge! Jack is distilled once while Jameson is distilled 3 times and you really can taste the difference. When we got to the complimentary drink area, I had a Jameson and cranberry juice. Lynnsey got the Jameson and ginger ale, and Alicia got the Jameson and coke. All were good, but I liked the Jameson and ginger ale the best I think! Eleanor and Dawn did the tasting/comparison and got to try Jameson, Jack Daniel’s, and Johnny Walker Black Label. They both preferred the Jameson by far. I tried the Johnny Walker and I couldn’t even swallow it…yuck! Once they had a good buzz going we walked to the Guinness Storehouse! Liquor before beer of course! The storehouse was different because it was a self-guided tour which I didn’t like as much. Guinness was decorated really cool and they laid out all of the ingredients and had quotes along the walls talking about beer and the ingredients and stuff. We got a complimentary drink at Guinness as well and the bartender was so amazing. She was able to pour my beer and put a shamrock in the head of it somehow. It was amazing and I tried to take a picture of it. The Guinness in Dublin definitely tastes different than the Guinness here. They say the closer to Dublin you are, the better it tastes and I could agree with that. I could actually drink it in Dublin! After the tasting we went to the gift shop and I bought myself a shirt because I haven’t really gotten myself that much. We headed to a nearby pub for dinner and then walked back to the hostel. We checked into our new rooms and freshened up so we could go out to Temple Bar. Kendall had heard about this place called St. Johns something or another and we tried to go there, but it was 21 and up…not good. We walked a little further and found another pub to go to. We met some men and talked to them all night. Two of them were married with kids, but the one was still pretty forward with Lynnsey. They left and said if we saw them again it would be Serendipity. Well, we saw them again at Temple Bar. We rang in Dawn’s 21st at the Temple Bar! It was like 5 bars in one! We were pretty tired so we went home around one, but we got Hungry Harry’s drunk food!
Saturday was a LONG day! It started at 9:45 when the tour bus picked us up for our tour of the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough. It was cold and rainy at first so I was not having it, but as we drove it got sunny and warmer. The man driving our tour bus provided us with tea and biscuits…how sweet! As we drove up into the mountains, our guide would point things out and tell us the history and stories of the area. We would often pull off to the side of the road and get out so we could take pictures and stretch our legs. The first stop we made gave us a great view of Dublin’s port. Unfortunately, it was rainy and foggy so we couldn’t see as much as we liked, but we still took pictures. Our next stop required a bit of hiking to get to, but it was worth it. We arrived at a lake surrounded by huge hills and our guide said the lake was formed when there were glaciers covering this area. We also stopped at Guinness Lake which is the lake on the Guinness family’s estate in the mountains. The wind was so strong I thought we were all going to be blown off the hill! We stopped in a small town which is the highest elevated town in Ireland, nice fun fact! Our driver also took us to a waterfall and dropped us off at the top so we could walk down the road to the bottom. It was very picturesque because there were sheep and a small farmhouse near the stream. Soon after, the driver took us to lunch which was kind of a rip off because they give you the choice of a restaurant or a coffee shop and you’re starving by this point, but the meals cost 15 euro which is really steep. After lunch we went to this little souvenir shop and I found a claddagh ring! That was one of the things I wanted from Ireland because its such a great symbol of love, loyalty, and friendship. Next we headed to Glendalough (in Irish it means city between two lakes) which is GORGEOUS! It was founded by Saint Kevin as an early medieval monastery in the early 6th century. It was destroyed by English troops in 1398. There were a ton of grave stones everywhere with some remains of their churches and the only one completely still standing was Saint Kevin's Church. Our bus driver toured us through this area (on foot that is). Once he told us a little about it, he let us loose to go explore the area. He told us how to get to another water fall and a walking trail that would take us along the lakes. We took off and explored for a couple of hours. The weather was beautiful as well. We could have asked for better weather for that time of the year. It seemed to be very rare that we didn't get rain either. The bus driver was pretty much shocked. We told him it was because it was our friend Dawn's birthday. After exploring the area for a while, we headed back to the bus and went back to our hostel. We went out for Dawn’s birthday at Thunder Road Café, which is a lot like Hard Rock Café and uber-american. It was fun to celebrate and get some American food! I had a blue drink which matched my blue shirt, not on purpose, but still funny! We went to Porterhouse, which is another bar in the Temple Bar area, and listened to live music! Later that night we went back to the hostel to get our bags and then we caught a taxi to the airport and slept there for a few hours before we could catch our early flight back. It was an amazing trip with the girls and I loved how beautiful the country is.

Pisa and Roma, Italy

We arrived in Pisa with a little difficulty. We had previously purchased open-ended tickets so we could ride any train from Florence to Pisa, but we didn’t really know how those would work. I ended up asking a conductor and he said we needed to validate the tickets at a little box. As we all validated our tickets, we realized we had less than 5 minutes to board our train. I’m sure we were a sight to see, nine Americans with luggage in tow running towards a crowded train. We made the train, but had a little trouble finding seats and luggage storage for everyone. Thank goodness the train ride wasn’t long because it was crowded. Pisa is an interesting place. Without the tower, it would be nothing. From the train station, it’s a 15 minute stroll to the tower. There’s one road to take and not much to veer off to see. We enjoyed just playing around and taking funny pictures with the tower. Some of the girls kicked it, some tried to step on it, and some of us pushed it. A cute Japanese couple actually took our picture while we were taking pictures because they thought we were so amusing. Glad we made their day! After a decent amount of goofing off, we headed back to the train station, but not before getting some gelato! When we purchased the train tickets to Rome, the man said we could get on any train that day that was going to Rome, so we did. We were back to the station early (that’s a first) and boarded an earlier train than we had planned on. We’re riding through the gorgeous countryside of Italy and the conductor comes to collect our tickets. Oops! We’re actually riding a eurostar train, which is basically an express train, and our tickets aren’t valid for this train. He makes us pay an extra 12 euros each right there! I think it’s a way for them to charge tourists because another American came up to us and he had run into a similar problem, but he had a eurorail pass, and they still charged him. We got to talking with him and he’d been living in Phoenix for the last 15 years, but was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois and was a Cardinals fan, small world! If you’re ever in Italy and taking the train, watch out! That put a little damper on our happy moods, but we quickly got over it as we pulled into Rome! We had booked a hostel in advance and got there easily from the train station. We checked in and got settled. Six of us were staying in a dorm together while the other three got a private room since they were leaving earlier than the rest of us. We went to a tiny little restaurant near our hostel for dinner. The food was amazing like always, but when the bill came we had a bit of a language barrier. The two old men working knew little to no English and we knew zero Italian so we were confused about the bill, but it all ended up working out.
I was still unsure as we started our first day in Rome, but we got up and went to a nearby café that our hostel gave us coupons to use for breakfast. Cappuccino and croissants! Best breakfast ever, and I mean that in all seriousness. We all had different departure days from Rome so we thought it best to split up and allow everyone to do what they wanted in the city. Lynnsey, Molly, and I went to the Coliseum, Palatine Hill, and the Pantheon. We paid for a guided tour of the Coliseum and Palatine Hill which was a great decision. I learned so much about both and it really allowed me to appreciate what I was seeing.

Florence, Italy

The train ride from Venice to Florence was gorgeous. The train was amazing and I honestly wish we could travel by train more often in the U.S. because it’s better than driving! We arrived late in the evening in Florence and had a short walk to the hostel. We had thankfully booked one in advance while we were in Venice. Marco, the owner of the hostel, met us and helped us carry our bags up to the rooms. He was so friendly and told us about a few restaurants he had connections with. In Italy, the restaurants charge for everything; there’s always a service charge and they charge you for water! The restaurants he recommended gave us free water and no service charge which was amazing. After we dropped off our bags and checked in, we went out to eat. The food was delicious (and so was the wine) but I don’t think you could have bad food in Italy!
The next morning, all 9 of us went out to explore. We went to a nearby outdoor market and immediately noticed differences between Venice and Florence. Venice had glass, masks, and lace all over the markets, but Florence had many more leather goods and clothing. The weather was pretty gloomy so we decided to explore the inside of a nearby church. Most churches are ornate inside and out, but this one in particular was very plain on the outside, not what we were accustomed to at all. We found out that there are two sides to Florence; the city and old Florence. We had only been on the city side so far so we crossed the bridge and began exploring old Florence. It’s amazing how crossing a bridge can take you back hundreds of years, but that’s exactly what it did. Ponte Vecchio is the famous bridge in Florence and I took tons of pictures of it. There are jewelry shops hanging off the bridge, but we didn’t go in because we couldn’t even think about affording any of it! Old Florence was so much nicer than the city area. I really got the “Tuscan” feel, even though the weather was blah. We arrived at the Piazza de Pitti, but it was too expensive to go into, so we walked around it hoping to get a view of the gardens. We were able to get a glimpse of parts and my pictures turned out pretty decent. Since we didn’t really know what else to see in Florence, or it was all too expensive, we decided to walk around to get a better view of the city. We ended up climbing this huge hill and got some amazing views of the city. While we were walking up the hill, we got to see some amazing homes and little Italian subdivisions. It definitely helped make the city more appealing. The rain and clouds were still putting a damper on our day and we decided to grab some lunch at the other restaurant Marco had suggested to us. After some amazing pizza, we walked to the Duomo, the famous cathedral in Florence. It’s the fourth largest cathedral in the world and the outside is exquisite, but the inside seemed to be missing something that other cathedrals have. It definitely wasn’t my favorite church to see. Next to the Duomo is a bell tower that you can climb for a few euros. We climbed 414 steps to the top. While we were climbing, the bells began to ring. They were deafening! We literally had to stop and cover our ears until they were done. It was intense! After that experience, we went back to the hostel to change out of our wet clothes and get ready for dinner. We enjoyed the restaurant so much the night before, we decided to go back again. The manager came out and greeted us and gave us two free appetizers and free dessert too! I could have gotten used to the hospitality the people have to offer! We went back to the hostel and packed up after dinner because we were heading to Pisa and Rome the next day.

Venezia, Italia

I've always wanted to go to Venice. The fact that the city is sinking is crazy, but every picture is so gorgeous. Venice is just as I imagined and everything I had hoped. Everywhere you look is a postcard.
We arrived in Venice Thursday night around midnight and it didn't seem like Italy at all while we were riding on the coach to town because it was dark and we couldn't see a lot. My friends that had arrived a day earlier booked a hostel for us and gave us directions to find it. We took the water bus since there are no cars in Venice. When I saw all of the canals and buildings, it finally hit me that I was in Venice. The bus was interesting because the driver just goes down the main canal and stops for a bit at each stop. The ticket cost about 6 euros, but in comparison to a water taxi (which costs 50-80 euros) it was a deal! There were 4 other girls with me and we got to our hostel and there was no one at the 24 hour reception desk. We rang the bell and stood outside for awhile, but no one came. We didn't know what to do (remember it's midnight) so we started to walk. Not more than 2 minutes later we run into this old Italian man walking his dog. He attempts to help us and gives us his phone so we could call the hostel, but no one answered. He tells us that he'll make sure we have somewhere to stay and we start to follow him because that's better than the alternatives of standing around or walking aimlessly. As we walk by our hostel, we ring the bell one more time and a person appears to let us in! We thanked our new Italian friend and checked into the hostel and went to bed. The hostel was more like a hotel. I shared a private 3 bedroom with Lynnsey and Kendall. The hostel provided breakfast in the morning too!
Friday morning (after reading our guidebook) we walked to St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) and St. Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco a Venezia). The pigeons are not a joke in the square. They're everywhere! I saw a little boy and he had food in his hands and the pigeons were all over him! I am not a fan of birds. We were taking pictures in the The basilica was beautiful, just like every church I've seen in Europe. We paid 4 euros to climb up to the top and I got some pretty shots of the water and the square. After the basilica we walked along the water. The weather was absolutely perfect. We had to move out of one hostel into another because there wasn't room at that hostel for the night. We decided to take a gondola ride because that's something that must be done while in Venice. There were 5 of us for a 40 minute ride we each paid 12 euros. Being on the water was so nice, especially since the sun was shining. We ate dinner outside at this little restaurant in an open square. The food was amazing! If I lived in Italy, I would seriously gain so much weight because all they eat are carbs! haha. While exploring during the afternoon, we ran into one of our professors and her husband and 2 year old. While we were talking to them, another 6 people from our program stumbled upon us. If we had tried to meet everyone at that spot at that time, it wouldn't have happened. Friday night we sat around our new room for awhile with everyone because we had a rooftop terrace (fancy!) and then we went out to see Venice at night.
Saturday morning we went to Rialto Market and did some souvenir shopping. I don't want to say everything I bought because they're surprises, but I bought myself a calla lily vase for 5 euros! It's absolutely gorgeous and I'm so glad it made it home in one piece! Since we were leaving Venice, we sat on some steps along the canal and soaked up the sun. I think we all have vitamin d deficiencies from our lack of sunshine in London! We had a late lunch at the same restaurant as the day before because it was so good and really affordable. After our lunch, we got our luggage from the hostel and walked through Venice to the train station. We stopped along the way and bought some gelato for 1 euro! It's my true love. On our hike across Venice, some of the other girls' suitcases broke because the wheels and cobblestone don't get along well. We eventually made it to the train station and caught the train to Florence.

Spring Break!

I'm in Italy right now! It's absolutely amazing and as soon as I have time to, I can't wait to tell you about it! For now though, I'm loving everything about this place, especially the gelato! haha. I arrive back in London late Friday night so hopefully I'll find time to post soon after that. Miss you all and I wish you were here to experience this with me!

Ciao!
Ellie

I've obviously been busy!

I know it's been entirely too long! I told myself I'd write all the time, but I've honestly been so busy that it's impossible to keep up. Sit back and prepare yourself...this is going to be a LONG post! haha!

So about three weeks ago I was getting ready for my trip to Wales! Tonight I'm getting ready for my trip to Italy! We'll start from the beginning though...

Monday, February 9th, my Tale of Two Cities class had a field trip to Greenwich. We took a ferry down the River Thames and got to see most of Greenwich. I stood over the Prime Meridian line at the Royal Observatory and got to be in 2 hemispheres at once (cool!) and we toured some of the other buildings in the area. I went to The Queen's House which isn't actually a house at all, but once was. Today it's more of an art gallery. Needless to say, I walked through that pretty quickly. We walked down to a chapel. All of the churches/cathedrals/abbeys here are amazing. They're all decorated so ornately and have so much detail and history. This chapel was of course gorgeous and I took entirely too many pictures of it like always! I was starting to run out of time and my professor had told us we should see the Painted Room; she was right. The Painted Room is so spectacular, I can't even describe how amazing it was when I walked in the room. They say it's comparable to the Sistine Chapel. It seems like every inch of the room is painted (it's not) and the detail is amazing. I can't imagine how someone starts a project of that magnitude. It's truly a special gift to be able to paint. I had to get back to London though because I had night class. Two of the girls in my International Business class had birthdays that week so our professor let us out of night class early! How exciting!

Tuesday, February 10th was April's birthday. We went to Ice Bar here in London. The entire bar is made of ice. When you walk in they give you this shiny blue cape that has gloves and a hood. One drink is included in the cover and I got an Emerald Fizz. It was Absolut raspberry, kiwi syrup, lime juice, and lemonade in an ice mug. It was pretty good, but drinking out of the ice mug was incredibly difficult!

Wednesday was our field trip to the British Museum. I'm not too keen on artifacts and historical things, but I found the museum interesting. With our program, we have guided tours of the museums and other field trips by the most amazing tour guides. They know absolutely everything in the world I think! The British Museum has a lot of Egyptian, Greek and English artifacts. I got to see the Rosetta Stone! The museum is also home to Cleopatra's mummy. I was kind of freaked out when we were in the mummy room though; they're just very creepy to me. After our field trip, me and some of my friends walked over to a tourist/gift shop. I was so excited. They had postcards for 10p (like 10 cents) and other fun stuff. I find it odd that I saw the Rosetta Stone (one of the most influential artifacts in uncovering Egyptian history) but I remember the gift shop we went to after. That's me!

Thursday, we went to see "The Taming of the Shrew" for my Shakespeare class. We hadn't finished reading the play though and the end of the performance shocked me. I had expected it to end like the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" which is a modern production. The live performance did not end like the movie. The end made Kate completely submissive to Pertrucio and he was abusive. I didn't like it, but it's how Shakespeare wrote it. There was one upside to the performance. They had a man act as though he was Jamaican because he was from the "islands" of Italy, where the play is set. It was absolutely hilarious.

For Valentine's Day, some of my roommates and I went to see "He's Just Not That Into You." It was such a great movie! If you haven't seen it (and you're a girl) I'd totally recommend it. Definitely a chick flick though. The movies here are pretty much like back home. They don't have previews really, but commercials before the film. You can choose sweet or salty popcorn. The soda doesn't have a ton of ice which is nice because I don't really like a lot of ice. Movies do premiere a little later here than in the states, but they're still the same. It costs about the same to go too so that's nice.

Fast forward a few days to Wednesday the 18th. For our field trip we went to Dover and Canterbury. It was my first castle experience! Dover was crucial to World War II and has always been a strong military point. There are tunnels on the grounds that were built during WWII, but we didn't have time to tour them. The "keep" was closed for remodeling so we didn't get to see what the prison had been like, but the grounds were nice. It was a pretty foggy/rainy day so it was hard to enjoy being outside. Our tour guide mentioned that if it had been a clear day, we would have been able to see France. That's so crazy to be able to see another country! I know that we see Illinois all the time, but another country?! I thought that was cool...even though we didn't see it. haha. In Canterbury, we toured the cathedral and I was amazed yet again by the beauty of the churches here in England. We were given free time in the town so me and some of my friends walked around a street market. I saw a British copy of Harry Potter and I almost bought it. I think it would be really great to have a set of the British versions, even though they aren't that different, the covers are and I'm such a fanatic that it makes sense to me! haha.

Thursday Mom came to visit! Best idea ever! It was so great! I picked her up from the airport around 6:45or 7...I don't remember. We came back to my place and immediately came up with a plan of attack. We decided to go see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. The palace is so close to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben and Parliament, that we went to see those too, but just from a distance...we had to get pictures! So we watched the Changing of the Guard. There were bands, people on horses, and parades. They do this every other day in the winter and everyday in the summer. It took at least 45 minutes. Seems a little crazy to me, but it was enjoyable. There were 2 bands and it was almost a battle of the bands because one would play a song then the other would. The bands played Mamma Mia! I couldn't believe it...Dancing Queen, really? The funniest part was that the entire crowd started singing along. After that, mom and I went to High Street Kensington so she could see some of the stores and I needed to go to the library! We walked through Kensington Gardens for a bit and then I had class so mom came back to my flat while I learned all about Shakespeare. Thursday night we went to Covent Garden with my roommates and had Mexican! It was delicious...but we were 8 minutes late for Happy Hour. Bummer. The food more than made up for it though. I have a feeling that La Perla will become one of my favorite places because it was pretty cheap!

Friday morning mom and I had a VERY early flight. We left my flat around 4 (I think) and caught a cab (because the tubes weren't even running) to the bus station. There we caught a bus to Luton airport and checked in for our flight. The airport was great, but I know I slept the entire flight to Paris. We arrived and started sightseeing almost immediately. I thought it was really neat that the first thing I saw when I walked out of the metro was the Eiffel Tower. Our hotel was within a 25 minute walk to the tower so we decided to walk there. From the tower we went to a cafe and had the best cup of coffee ever! On to the Arc de Triumph, down the Champs de Elysee all the way to the Louvre. Absolute, without a doubt, longest walk of my life. Once we got to the Louvre, we waited until 6 to go in (so I could get in for free) and walked around for an hour and a half. We saw the Mona Lisa and the Crown Jewels and a ton of other stuff that I'm sure is very interesting.

Saturday we were so exhausted! We decided to go exploring regardless. Usually a great idea, but it wasn't working out for us. We walked along this street that had tons of shops and cafes and food. That was amazing. We tried to find this flea market. We honestly walked around for 2 hours trying to find it and we couldn't. Basically, we failed. We decided to go see Notre Dame. As we walk out of the Metro, I see a church spire so I walk that way. Wrong again. I made us walk around the entire island before we found Notre Dame. Oops. Mom would probably admit that it was better this way because we got to see more?! haha. We made it to Notre Dame and walked through. Again with these European churches. Absolutely gorgeous. We didn't make it up the tower though. We saw the Eiffel Tower lit up at night which was really pretty!

Sunday off to Versailles. We had to catch a train out of the city to get to Versailles, but it was completely worth it. We paid for a guided tour of Versailles and got to see some of the private rooms. There were only 2 other people on our tour because it was English so it was a very private tour which was nice. The palace is amazing. Everything is so elaborate and majestic. We also had a private viewing of the chapel where Marie Antoinette was married. After the guided tour, we got headsets and went on an audio tour of the staterooms. Just as we were getting to the Hall of Mirrors, my camera pretty much died. I was so upset. Hall of Mirrors? Dad would say that's perfect for me! The grounds at Versailles were really nice too even though it's winter and all of the fountains were covered and the grass wasn't very green. It was so cold outside so we decided to head back into Paris. We had a little time before our train came so we stopped in McDonald's across the street. It was 100% the nicest McDonald's I've ever seen. It was super modern and had a little cafe with cakes and cookies and coffees. We didn't get anything, but it was nice to see. When we got back to Paris, we went out to eat at the restaurant next to our hotel. I ordered Gambon?? Risotto. No one knew how to translate gambon to english so I was seriously nervous. It's shrimp, don't worry. It was amazing. Mom had french onion soup and chocolate mousse. I also had chocolate cake with custard. Best meal I've had in Europe, without a doubt. We walked to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night again. It's really pretty the way it "sparkles."

Monday was spent climbing the Eiffel Tower (with no line!) and a river cruise. By climbing the tower I really mean riding the lift. The views from the top were incredible, even though it was really cloudy and kind of rainy. I got to see so much of the city and since I had been to so many places, I could find them and see how far I had walked! The river cruise was neat. The boat was enclosed so that was incredibly appreciated! There were handheld audio guides to help explain the things we were seeing. In my Tale of Two Cities class, we constantly discuss Paris' history. It was nice to see all of the places we've talked about in class about the Revolution and other historical events. That's the great thing about being here. Seeing where the events we've learned about took place is amazing. It really helps me put things into context and get a visual of what's going on in history. Mom and I arrived back in London late Monday night and I immediately started in on all of the homework I had due for Tuesday.

Tuesday I was still catching up on homework so I sent mom off with a list of places, her oyster card (tube pass), and a map. I was in class from 2:30 until basically 8:30 (with a 45 minute break for dinner) and mom had explored so much while I was working hard! She went to Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Harrods! She walked around a lot too and found this cute pub not more than 3 blocks from our flat that we had never been to. After night class mom, me, and 2 of my roommates went out for a drink in a classic English pub.

Wednesday mom and I went to Piccadilly Circus (comparable to Times Square) and did a little souvenir shopping. We found some scarves (for me!) and hoodies for Emma and Dad. Around 12:30 mom and I headed back out to Heathrow and off she went. She's somewhere in the air right now, or maybe in customs in Chicago.

This afternoon when I got back, I researched a little for Italy. I walked to the library and met Lynnsey and we got some travel books on Venice, Florence, and Rome. Then we went shopping! I bought some new clothes for the trip to Italy. Our flight is at 7pm tomorrow (Thursday). We're planning on being in Venice Friday and Saturday, taking the train to Florence Saturday night and staying Sunday and Monday, Tuesday we plan on going to Pisa. Then off to Rome Wednesday through Friday. We arrive in London at 11:45 pm on Friday.

I promise to take tons of pictures and not wait so long to post next time! Miss you all!

Love from London,
Ellie