Gypsy give me your tears...

Warning...this is really long...sorry to anyone who plans on reading this!

Tuesday: Had off of working due to a power outage, slept til 1pm (glorious!), went to PoundWorld (aka dollar store) for some little stuff and then did laundry for the first time (not terrible or too expensive luckily). A lot of kids from my house then went out to an American sports bar which, I think all Americans in the city of London also decided to go to. It was actually really fun, some of my housemates had friends from high school there and such and they had great drink specials (the cheapest beer we could find so far).

Wednesday: I had my first full day of work. It was a little rough because the power was partially out so I couldn't use my computer half the day and my boss had to use one across the office so I was randomly bored, but I get a nice hour break for lunch and get reimbursed for it which is cool!

Thursday: My first class was a walking tour of different parts of London, I got to see the restaurant where its dark and the waiters are blind like in Chelsea Handler's book and a bar where Stalin and Lenin met! We finished the class at the museum of London, which I now realize why I loved this museum when I was 9: there is so much archaeological stuff and not a lot of paintings! I enjoyed it a lot but then had to run back to campus to go to my Modern Brit class where we basically watched a really funny BBC video on the Attlee/Churchill years. Then I rushed home and had to eat and gather all my stuff to depart to Paris....

I went with my two roommates, Tara and Emily. Let's just say we learned a lot of life lessons in Paris. For starters:

Lesson #1: Never take a 10 hour bus ride to Paris, no matter how much money you think your saving.

It left at 9:30pm and got to Paris at 7:30am so we thought we'd just sleep on the bus and then have a nice full day in Paris. Welllllll 2 hours in we had to go through customs. Then wait an hour. Then get on a ferry (which was actually really nice, Emily and I got Strongbows and Tara snoozed on a couch) and then we had about a 5 hour bus ride straight to Paris. The problem...the seats were not meant for sleeping, we were so uncomfortable that it was basically terrible and we maybe slept for 30-45min in total.

Friday: Oh, and the bus got there at 6:30 (an hour early) and we then took the metro.

Lesson #2) The Paris Metro really is gross compared to the London Tube.

We then had to find our hostle (luckily I google mapped from the metro to the hostle before hand so we didn't have much trouble and it was only like a 5 min walk) but we got to the hostle at 8am...

Lesson #3: Never stay at a hostle. Its just weird. We were in a 5-person female only room, meaning there were two random ladies...they were nice its just awkward. And its not like a hotel, especially the showers.

Check-in wasn't til 4pm and I already thought I was gonna pass out from exhaustion at 8am. We legit took a nap on the tables there before finding something to do and they guy told us we could come back at 2 (I think he felt bad for us because we looked like death). So we took the metro and exchanged money.

Lesson #4: exchange money before hand, its such a pain, and England has to be annoying use the Pound when the rest of Europe uses the Euro.

We then got tea at this place and relaxed/warmed up on comfy chairs before heading to the Lourve, which we got in for free since we're EU students.

We then walked through maybe one hallway before I thought I was legit gonna die because my back had been hurting so bad. I felt bad tho because Tara and Emily were okay and I just kept sitting down and hunting for tylonol.

Lesson #5) Always carry some sort of pain reliever with you while traveling.

We left the Lourve after like a 1/2 hour so I could go to a pharmacy to get advil and then got lunch at this cute french restaurant and I got lasagna and a waffle with nutella and ice cream

it was then time to head back for our much needed nap so we went back to our hostile and slept til like 530pm.

After regrouping we decided to go to the Eiffel Tower and then get dinner and call it a night. The Eiffel Tower was GIGANTIC! So much bigger than I expected and so much prettier. We went to the second level and took lots of pics

and then on the way out saw it twinkle which was so cool! We then got dinner at this little cafe around the corner and called it a night, got a little lost but made it home and legit, I've never slept so well.

Saturday: We woke up around 9, had breakfast, and then went to Versailles.

Lesson #6) Not speaking the language is so annoying. Most people spoke English but a few times we had issues and we all just felt dumb not knowing French

Versailles was BEAUTIFUL. We were also baffled at the size of the Estate itself. We also got in free with our visas which was really nice. We explored and got to see Marie Antoinette's bedroom and the Hall of Mirrors.

 Chapel in Versailles

 Garden behind Versailles

 Us in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles

 Marie Antoinette's Bed (you can't see it in this picture but near by is a door she used to flee on Oct. 6, 1789)

 Us outside the Palace of Versailles!

We then went to a cafe for lunch and had burgers and nutella crapes (yes, every dessert I've had since I've got to Europe has had nutella in it). We then headed back and went to Norte Dame which is soooooo much bigger than I thought it would be. It was like St. Patrick's Cathedral on steroids.

We walked in during the start of mass which was cool and very pretty. We then went back, changed, and headed to dinner with 3 girls from our house in London who were also in Paris for the weekend. We met them at this fondue place that Tracey recommended to us, it was really good (mainly because I'm obsessed with cheese), they also serve wine in baby bottles haha

It was so nice seeing them and catching up on our adventures even though it had only been like 48 hours haha. We then made the best decision ever - we took a cab home. We were so sick of the gross metro, so cold, and so tired. It was great tho because we got to see beautiful views of Paris that we missed out on the metro and it wasn't even that much. We then slept wonderfully again.

Sunday: We woke up around 9, had breakfast, and then made our way on the metro back to the dreaded bus. I'm currently writing this from my blackberry on our way back, its like noon here and we should be back around 6. We had fun this weekend but we can't wait to get back to London, away from Metros and back to the Tube, away from hostles and back to our own room, and back where everyone understands us (even if we are American).

(I'm writing this part today)...I spoke too soon after writing this...because right after....our BUS BROKE DOWN! Yupp. Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse. We had to wait 3 hours for the next bus to come with the CRAZY Romanian Gypsy family and their 7 children RUNNING around the bus, eating smelly foods, picking up coins off the ground, oh..and BEATING THE SHIT out of their children (I cried...I've never seen someone hit their child, nor been unable to stop it because we didn't speak the same language). We finally made it back to lovely London around 9:30, showered, and ran to McDonalds (in sweatpants, which is a big no-no fashion wise here).

Yesterday (Monday): I worked from 9-1 and then went to Greenwich for Art class where we went to the Queens House which was originally part of a Palace (that burned down...like the rest of London apparently?) but Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were born at said palace, and the Queens palace was really cool and we could see the Observatory built by Christopher Wren from the backyard.

This is where the Prime Meridian is! How cool, two halves of the world!

We then proceeded to stand outside and learn about architecture but all I wanted to do was kill myself because I was still sick and freezing. After trekking home I took a 3 hour nap, ate a bagel, and went back to sleep, woke up for like an hour between 12am-1am...and fell back asleep.

Today: I decided when I woke up for work that I still felt like death so I called in and...slept til 2pm. So I have basically been the biggest bum ever today. I watched "What a Girl Wants" with some of the girls, went to an internship program meeting that was pretty much a waste of my time, and watched some Gossip Girl Season 1 with like half the house. Now I'm getting some rest because I'm working 9-5 tomorrow and I'm determined to go and feel better. Tara's currently dying and not going to work tomorrow and Emily has a nasty cough and I keep feeding her Robitussin. SO...

Lesson #7: Expect to get sick after two 10 hour bus rides in one weekend (one with a crazy gypsy family), staying in a hostle, and walking all over Paris.

Overall: I enjoyed Paris, I wish I didn't feel like death warmed over for the majority of Friday, but hey, it happens. I still got to see the Eiffel tower and lovedddddd it. There was some great art and architecture in the city (my teacher for my art and architecture class would be so proud that I could identify types of columns everywhere we went after 2 weeks haha) but overall, the city of Paris was a bit...gross? Maybe I'm spoiled because London is beautiful, and clean, or maybe Paris needs to pick up their game. They had so much graffiti and homeless, it was not something I was expecting. I'm glad I went, we have some funny stories (like this 40 year old couple MAKING OUT on the elevator down the Eiffel Tower while everyone else looked on horrified because it was so awkward) but if anything, the trip really reaffirmed my decision to come to London for the semester. After two and a half weeks I already feel like its my home and I couldn't wait to get back. This coming weekend we're going to Galway, Ireland to visit Kelly Murphy and I also get to see Courtney Kaska who will also be visiting so I'm really excited to be reunited with them and get a feel for Ireland: oh and we're taking a plane there, thank the lord!!!!! Also, HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAYS ASHLEY CRISO & JESSIKA MAS :)

Classes, Pubs & Punting

So as time goes on here, blogging gets harder to keep up with but I'm trying to be good!

Okay so...Thursday:
I had back to back 3 hour classes. The first class "London: Growth of a Modern City" is a history of London class that I'm obsessed with. Sadly I'm the only history major and my teacher realizes this and I look like a super nerd, but either way I'm excited, this coming week we are already going on a city trip. I have lots of reading for that class but its interesting! I then grabbed lunch in the student union (which was surprisingly good and inexpensive!) and then had "Modern British Society Since 1945" which is sociology-based but SJU counts it for a history class. My teacher is boring (his name is Michael J. Fox btw, I can't make this stuff up! hahahaha!) but luckily my roommate Emily is in that class and keeps me sane because we have some really weird kids in that class with us haha. After class Emily and I explored the bookstore and the gym only to head home and get ready to go out with everyone from our house. We went to Notting Hill Gate Arts club, it was very "artsy" but really fun to be out with everyone near our house!

 (All the girls in the house kitchen before going out!)

Friday: I was able to sleep in and relax a little, then had work later in the afternoon. One of the girls who I worked with my first week who really helped me out has a new job and is living so we had a "going-away send off for her". I felt like I was on The Office, only the party planning committee wasn't causing problems and my boss didn't give weird speeches. We all stood around and my boss and manager gave really nice speeches and advice to Nicola, we had cheese and crackers and champagne, it was really nice. I then came home and a group of us went out to this bar O'Neils that every SJU kid from previous years raved about. We now understand because it was a really cool bar/pub with food and tables downstairs, more room for mingling upstairs, and band playing covers of stuff we all grew up listening to! Everyone that went loved it and we plan on going back soon! We also made lots of American friends, it was weird how much we missed talking to Americans even after less than two weeks!

(Emily, Me, Carolyn, & Tara at O'neils!)

Saturday: A group of us girls went out for an adventure to the Westfield Mall...this place was MAGICAL! So big and beautiful, its owned by the same people as the Garden State Mall (ironically my favorite mall at home) yet Garden State is NOTHING compared to this place. So many nice stores, the directory was a touch screen computer, a beautiful food court with people that cleared your trays. Just look...

Oh and the best/most dangerous (for my bank account) part is that this mall is only two tube stops away...Anyways, so after a day at the mall and finally getting some Chipotle-like Mexican food for lunch, we embarked back home and all got dressed up. We went to this posh club near the Ritz because we knew people who knew people who could get us in for free. After realizing that the rich-club-scene wasn't our thing we came back early and relaxed!

Sunday: For my internship, the program that places us took us on a trip to Cambridge for free and we could bring friends. So 6 of us girls went to Cambridge for the day. After getting up wayyyy to early for a Sunday morning and taking over an hour bus ride we took a bus tour with a local. We then ate in Cauis College dining hall...we all felt like we were in Harry Potter, we weren't allowed to take pictures...but I snuck one on my phone...

We were then given some free time to wander around, we watched fudge being made and got free samples at a store. We took some pictures and I bought a silver ring with a fun-Celtic-cross-like design at a local market! We then went punting...aka boating in these odd boats where people use sticks and we floated down the River Cam and made friends with our boat chauffeur, Tim. (Tim has a girlfriend Sarah and a baby named Jack, he lives in Cambridge, works 5 hours a day, and sang Spice Girls for us! hahahah)

(The little boats are the Punting boats like we were on)

The view from the river was also beautiful! This is King's College Chapel, built by Henry VI in the 1400s...

We finished our trip in a pub called The Anchor and got "chips with cheese" aka cheese fries and nachos! We then ventured home and later in the night booked our trip to Paris for this upcoming weekend (SO excited). Since we're college kids and we want to do the most traveling possible, me and my roommates Tara and Emily will be going to Paris in class (on a bus) and staying in a beautiful...hostle (a reputable one tho!).

Today: I woke up early, trudged through the rain, blended into the London work crowd during rush hour reading my book on the Tube. I got out of work early tho because due to a power failure the computers were down so now I'm cozy in my bed til I have to trek off to the National Gallery for my Art & Architecture class. Oh and tonight...my roommates and I are doing our laundry, should be an adventure haha!

I'm glad I got to skype with Nan & Dad yesterday, Mom we'll have to set up a time soon! Danielle, I miss your face & keep Rocky company for me! Ash & Court, so great to skype with you guys for a little yesterday as well :) Everyone at SJU, have fun with syllabus week, wish I could be in two places at once! I'm loving London tho and I'll report back with more updates soon :)

The beginning of classes & interning

Monday I had my first class from 2-5pm. I'm taking a really cool Art & Architecture course where we travel to different sites every week. The first hour was rough (due to being in the cold for so long) and we learned about the area of Whitehall from standing on the street and learning about the buildings. Since we're standing while our professor speaks I use my blackberry to take notes and I email them to myself (which is much more complicated than one would imagine). We then went into the Banqueting House, which was part of Whitehall Palace before it burnt down. (The building was acquired from Cardinal Wosely by King Henry VIII but brought into its glory by the Stuarts).

We learned all about the function of the building and then we interpreted the paintings which was really cool. The paintings were put in under Charles I in honor of his father James I and was full of allegory and obviously message about King's divine rights. I then went back to school since we had a reception with our professors at school, which the school gave us wine (its weird drinking with your professors but you feel much older!) and then my friends and I went to McDonalds....again.

Tuesday I had my first day of interning with The Citizenship Foundation under which I really enjoyed. I was given an office tour and I learned more about what I will be doing this semester - scanning the newspapers for political & educational articles, searching databases for articles, tweeting, blogging, working events and doing small projects. Most of my office is very young and "hip" and their really nice and friendly. Oh and I get my lunch paid for, which is cool considering things cost so much here!

Today I slept in a little and then woke up and went for a run to High Street Kensington (where there are a lot of shops) and picked up some more towels and pillow cases. By that time I had to get ready to go to my first event for my internship which was a tea at the House of Commons at Parliament. The charity I intern for works for keeping this class British kids have to take called Citizenship in the curriculum (since it could be cut due to financial deficits) so there were Lords, Baronesses, and Members of Parliament that were all there and I got check their names off of the list and give them name tags.

(This is me at Parliament, note the sweet name tag with my photo, going through security was like at the airport!)

I then went out for a drink with some of the people from work down the road and now I'm back watching Notting Hill...which is fun considering I live in Notting Hill :)

Wavin' Flag

Greeting from London!

Friday was our first day off...so naturally we slept until 1:30pm. My roommate Emily and I walked down to Portobello Road (as seen in the movie Notting Hill, we didn't see Hugh or Julia tho) but we went to this place called "Gourmet Burger Kitchen" it was wonderful! Then I took some pictures...

After my taking this picture, Emily and I wondered back home and realized that we were completely lost...after my maps on my blackberry failed to get us back and it started pouring, we asked for directions and ended up taking the bus back...yes we were that far away. We then went shopping at High Street Kensington with the girls and Tara and I finally figured out our UK phones (we couldn't make UK calls because we were keeping the 44 UK code in front...no one told us?!). Then six of the girls from my house went out in SoHo again and we had a blast, it was really nice and we just enjoyed exploring the nightlife.

The next day we bummed around because it was raining, we decided to go into Covent Gardens and see a play and grab dinner, also take some nice night pictures...

We saw the play "Deathtrap" with one of the guys from Glee (Jesse?...Ashley know who he was?) it was really good, some scares and plot twists. We then grabbed dinner at this Italian place because we've all missed Italian food. Tara and I share Nutella Pizza...(aka HEAVEN!)

Today we woke up early and decided to have a Tourist Day! I started by taking pictures of the house...

My New Home :)

From the middle of the street. The colorful building is near the tube stop and where we go shopping for little stuff and restaurants.

We then went to services at Westminster Abbey, which was SO cool considering my idol Elizabeth I (See Danielle I'm stalking the Tudors!) is buried there and all! It was really cool to look around during church, although being Catholic I kept getting confused with the subtle differences, and I was surprised that they sung every song in Latin tho!

We then walked down to Buckingham Palace and took a million pictures...

And the flag was waving so the Queen was in the house!

Then we wondered into Green Park...

We then walked to this place we heard about on our walking tour that is said to have the best fish and chips!

 On our walk we passed Trafalgar Square (below) and St. Martin-in-the-fields [Where you can eat on the Crypts and do the brass rubbings, it made me think of Mom and Dad!] (above)...Oh and Julia...If your reading this...which you probs won't, RIP to the pigeons!!!

We then pigged out...

Now we're just hanging out in our room...oh and this is part of my 1/3 of the room...

We start classes tomorrow, but I'm really excited because they seem awesome! :) Miss you all, hope everything is well where ever you are reading this!

"I got service at McDonalds?"

So I'm now that done with orientation and have a few minutes to write, I'm going to recap the last few days.

Tuesday: Our group took the tube to St. Giles Hotel and met with other London study abroad students. We were given speeches by various people like Lord Taverne, a member of the House of Lords, and a police officer who basically told us all that we were going to get mugged in the next week if we were not careful. Apparently I'm living in a country of “petty thieves” and now I'm basically paranoid anytime I'm in public using my phone(s) and carrying any type of money, but I guess thats for the best. During our lunch break I bought my blue “nugget” UK phone...

After that we took a walking tour of central London at night, it was cold yet informative and I recognized a few places that I visited from when I was younger...

 The National Gallery near Trafalgar Square!

 The British Museum!

Convent Garden (where my fair lady took place).

After the walking tour we went to a play called “The Women in Black” at this little theater in Covent Gardens and it was really good and sort of scary. We got back from the play late and finished the night by buying cookies at the local store and eating them in our house's common room.

Wednesday: We had a brief meeting in our house followed by a lunch at “Pizza Express” which was actually not what it sounded like. Its a sit down, personal pizza place that is more “upscale” but was paid for, so we all ate up! I then had to navigate the tube to go to my internship introduction. – Btw the tube is the easiest and most efficient public transportation in my opinion. I'm really excited about my internship, everyone is very nice and in their mid-20s. The office is laid back and I can wear jeans if I dress them up, which is nice. I'm going to be working half days monday and fridays and full days tuesday and wednesdays. The best part of my meeting was finding out that I'm going to Parliament for tea on this coming Wednesday night for my internship!!! I then returned to go to McDonalds with my friends for dinner but McDonalds here is NICE!

 1) My meal looks like a commercial
2) They gave us "service" at Mcdonalds by picking up and throwing out our trays when we were done. The place was also SPOTLESS!

This is my friend Emily with a real flower that is in McDonalds...who would think!?

We ended the night by going to the Old Swan, a local pub and just casually hung out with other kids from our house.

Thursday: We had to be up early to head over to Birkbeck (our school) and we had a run through of the library, school policies, our class information (which I'm really excited because most of my classes involve “field trips” to various museums and historical land marks...and Tudor related things that I plan to update Danielle about). We ended up napping and getting a nice dinner and food shopping, and then we had our first “night out” with everyone from our house. We went to SoHo to two different bars and it was a lot of fun. The tube stops running at midnight so we took the Night Bus home which was a fun experience!

Tomorrow will be our first day off and we plan to go shopping for things we have not been able to purchase yet and catch up on some sleep. I'm having a really great time so far, its nice talking to people at home. Oh...the only negative is my internet is limited, we have a user named and password and if we use up our minutes we will have to pay for extra. It doesn't sound bad but being an “google freak” I hate the whole process of logging on and everything, which makes me that much more for having my blackberry here! Okay its late and I'm still off on sleeping due to the jet lag!

Wait...I'm actually here?!

So I'm currently sitting in room in Notting Hill! :)

I got here at 8am after a nice flight of watching The Social Network (so Courtney Kaska gets off my back for not seeing it) and attempting to sleep... but failing. We were then transported by the program to our house which is really really cool. It was built in the 1800s and I'm in a triple that has a lot of room and storage! This is a view across the street from my window and our building looks really similar..

Oh...and Stella McCartney lives two doors down...SO COOL!

But yeah we were given time to unpack, I explored the building and then ventured out with a few people and we had sandwiches at a place called EAT around the corner. There is plenty of shops, restaurants, and pubs within walking distance and the tube is so close which is nice. I used some down time to nap and deal with the jet lag and then we were off on the tube to dinner with the program.

We went to this restaurant in Covent Gardens called Porters and I had a nice meal of mashed potatoes, chicken pot pie thing, and a beer! And now I've just been hanging out with my roommates Tara and Emily who are both from Saint Joe's as well!

Thats all for now! Orientation starts tomorrow morning so I'll have more to report later!