I hope you all planned on sticking with me through thick and thin because it's looking like there are going to be a couple more blog posts made from London. That's right, concerned citizens, my flight was canceled on Sunday due to inclimate weather (HA HA HA) and I have a shaky reservation for a 5pm flight on Thursday. I refer to this reservation as shaky because the amount of flights that have actually been leaving heathrow is deplorable. Tomorrow, 2/3 of flights are already canceled. It hasn't snowed in FOUR days. This is absolutely ridiculous.
There was a Canadian guy that was interviewed yesterday outside heathrow talking about all of the people living there, saying that there was basically one person out on the runways using inefficient equipment so no wonder no one is going anywhere. They should have EVERYONE in London, including the people living at the airport, outside clearing the runway with more than just a FisherPrice plastic beach shovel. I am literally never going to make it back to the United States. A representative from Heathrow actually said that currently, they're handling flights on an "is it really necessary that you fly?" basis. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
There are over 1000 people living in the airport. There's about 3 inches of snow. Something here does not add up. Cierra has just informed me that starting tomorrow, she's moving there as well in hopes of getting out. Her next scheduled flight is Christmas.
On the bright side, we have managed to get some people out and home safe. Emily, after having TWO flights canceled, is now in the air above me as we speak. Joe, Jill, Monica and Paul are all home in the US sleeping in their own beds.
And how has it been in the house? We're running a refugee camp. Several people without homes have moved in, including Alyssia and Michelle (Joe's girlfriend) and my friend Sam is here all the time. We're managing to keep the place clean for once, but NOT noise free, as I was woken up at 9am this morning by a JACKHAMMER doing construction up against the wall in my bedroom that I share with the building next door. This caused me to sleep until 3pm on and off and finally wake up with the most miserable headache.
The good news is as follows: I have the BEST friends who are all being super supportive on facebook and skype these past fews days, making me smile and changing their profile pictures to ones of me and them in my memory as though I have died (which I probably will, here.) My parents have been amazing at handling the situation and trying to get me out of here, and my brother is making me laugh as always via facebook chat so at least I smile once a day. Also, the people that are left in this house have bonded intensly over the past few days due to our shared situations. Matt keeps everyones mind off of the flights by blasting 90's music and insisting we do nothing but jam out for HOURS (which we did, last night, approx. 8pm-11pm...some hits featured aaron carter, old school britney, sublime, and michelle branch-"good branch"). Miriam, Cierra, Alyssia, Michelle, Sam and Ruth have been ROCKS. I honestly don't know what I would be doing right now without everyone.
So for now I'm trying to fill my days with productiveness but obviously that's not going as well as planned since I SUCK at productivity. I did do laundry last night, which is intense since I planned it so I would have JUST enough clothes to get home on Sunday. I have officially unpacked ONE of my two suitcases and feel a little like I have admitted defeat. I will attempt to keep you all in the loop over the next couple of days.
Cheers! (only, not really)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Heathrow Airport is the MOST dramatic
Good evening lovelies, greetings from across the pond. I know it's been a while since my last entry, and this is mostly due to the fact that there has been little to report. Between my last post and this one, I have basically just been writing papers and working, preparing to end the stress of school with a bang and today was supposed to be spent packing. Let me explain what ACTUALLY happened.
Last night, I went to Emily and Alyssia's with Mimi and Cierra to drink and hangout because Emily was supposed to fly back to the states today. After drinking an entire bottle of wine myself, we somehow made it back home where I passed out, waking up this morning (and by morning I mean 12pm) to discover that the following things had taken place during my slumber:
1. Paul's flight was cancelled
2. Emily's flight was cancelled
3. It was snowing outside with an accumulation of about 3cm (NOT inches- CENTIMETERS)
4. All of the flights in the WORLD were going to be cancelled and I was going to die here
Now, while I was waking up slowly and absorbing all of this information with Miriam and Paul in my room, I was also hungover. I opened the door to the hallway to get a drink of water and BAM! was blitzed attacked by FIVE of my housemates with snowballs. I immediately assumed the fetal position while they continued to show no mercy. Eventually, the beating was haulted and I was offered a deal: give up Paul the terrorist (Matt thinks he's Jack Bauer from 24) and I would be spared. I agreed- I owe Paul zero allegiance. As I was agreeing to these terms, Paul and Miriam busted out of my room wearing ALL of my winter gear and basically screamed and ran while the guys and Ruth (that traitor bitch) opened fire.
Eventually, I got myself up and ready and a bunch of us (not Paul, he was sad he got hit in the eye with a snowball in a kitchen attack) walked over to hyde park to have a massive snowball fight. Although Matt really wanted to hit strangers, we kept it between the six of us. Then we hit Miriam mercilessly with 20 snowballs in a row for her 20th birthday while she shrunk in fear.
After warming up back at the house, Miriam Ruth and I went to Harrods to celebrate Miriam's birthday -where else?- at the chocolate bar. It was flipping delicious, as usual, and I conceived 5 chocolate babies. Yum. We shopped for a bit, and then called it a day and headed home.
Now I'm laying in my bed, and was just informed that Cierra and Matt's flights were also cancelled. I will probably be stuck here until christmas. I have to finish packing (and by finish, I mean start) but part of me feels like I shouldn't bother. Scheduled to leave for the airport at 1pm tomorrow, wish me luck.
Cheers!
Last night, I went to Emily and Alyssia's with Mimi and Cierra to drink and hangout because Emily was supposed to fly back to the states today. After drinking an entire bottle of wine myself, we somehow made it back home where I passed out, waking up this morning (and by morning I mean 12pm) to discover that the following things had taken place during my slumber:
1. Paul's flight was cancelled
2. Emily's flight was cancelled
3. It was snowing outside with an accumulation of about 3cm (NOT inches- CENTIMETERS)
4. All of the flights in the WORLD were going to be cancelled and I was going to die here
Now, while I was waking up slowly and absorbing all of this information with Miriam and Paul in my room, I was also hungover. I opened the door to the hallway to get a drink of water and BAM! was blitzed attacked by FIVE of my housemates with snowballs. I immediately assumed the fetal position while they continued to show no mercy. Eventually, the beating was haulted and I was offered a deal: give up Paul the terrorist (Matt thinks he's Jack Bauer from 24) and I would be spared. I agreed- I owe Paul zero allegiance. As I was agreeing to these terms, Paul and Miriam busted out of my room wearing ALL of my winter gear and basically screamed and ran while the guys and Ruth (that traitor bitch) opened fire.
Eventually, I got myself up and ready and a bunch of us (not Paul, he was sad he got hit in the eye with a snowball in a kitchen attack) walked over to hyde park to have a massive snowball fight. Although Matt really wanted to hit strangers, we kept it between the six of us. Then we hit Miriam mercilessly with 20 snowballs in a row for her 20th birthday while she shrunk in fear.
After warming up back at the house, Miriam Ruth and I went to Harrods to celebrate Miriam's birthday -where else?- at the chocolate bar. It was flipping delicious, as usual, and I conceived 5 chocolate babies. Yum. We shopped for a bit, and then called it a day and headed home.
Now I'm laying in my bed, and was just informed that Cierra and Matt's flights were also cancelled. I will probably be stuck here until christmas. I have to finish packing (and by finish, I mean start) but part of me feels like I shouldn't bother. Scheduled to leave for the airport at 1pm tomorrow, wish me luck.
Cheers!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
I bet Jude Law is in there
You should all be very sad, as this is the beginning of the end of my beautiful posts. I will be leaving London 10 days from today, and it doesn't make much sense to continue my abroad journal into 2011 when I will be residing in rural DC. I'll finish out the month and then probably start a new blog about my college adventures. Keep an eye out for the link to that, I'll make sure to add it in a post so all my loyal followers can continue to read about my life.
You'll be thrilled to know that last night I finished the most miserable paper of my life and only have two more, a final, and a small project to go. While the rest of you in New York and in the District are winding down your semester, I'm basically just starting to get to the worst part. Just have to remember to breathe- ten days...ten days.
I've been feeling rather nostalgic lately, however, for this beautiful city even though I haven't left it yet. I feel like the time flew by but every time I remember a specific event it seems like ages ago. It is going to be SO weird to go back to the states, see American money, buy a lean cuisine, not be legal to drink- I didn't think I'd have reverse culture shock but I am starting to worry. I will miss London so much, but I think all the drama and academic bull shit is clouding my mind and causing me to only want to go home. I said this to Alyssa the other day on Skype and her response was, "Enjoy it while you can, and quit wishing you were back in Mineola. You HATE Mineola." And she's right (mostly). I haven't been back in Mineola for more than a week since this time last year, and I was miserable. I just miss everyone I love there so much (including her!) and cannot wait to see them.
In exciting update news, I've been back to Winter Wonderland since I last posted. I went with Emily and Cierra and it was SO fun. Even though it was basically pouring and I totally ruined my brown Uggs, I had the best time. We rode the Ferris Wheel and the GIANT slide that you ride down on a burlap sack and catch air over the ramps (you know what I'm talking about...?) and Cierra went down it so fast she went straight through the foam wall at the bottom just like they do in the movies. SO worth three pounds.
Sunday, Joe and Matt cooked steak and potatoes for everyone and it was absolutely delicious. Monday I had class and then went over to Alyssia and Emily's apartment for Alyssia's birthday. We had chicken that they made and it was pretty awesome, which surprised and scared me a little. I will be living with Alyssia in about a month and if this girl starts to believe she can cook my whole apartment will become a fire hazard.
That's about it for now- I'm at work at the moment and obviously not getting anything done. Next week on Tuesday night I'll be DONE with class and assignments, and Wednesday is my office Christmas party. For those of you who are my DC lovers, shoot me a message on Facebook to let me know if you want to hang out/come visit over break in New York. My next post will undoubtedly be an effort to procrastinate.
Cheers!
You'll be thrilled to know that last night I finished the most miserable paper of my life and only have two more, a final, and a small project to go. While the rest of you in New York and in the District are winding down your semester, I'm basically just starting to get to the worst part. Just have to remember to breathe- ten days...ten days.
I've been feeling rather nostalgic lately, however, for this beautiful city even though I haven't left it yet. I feel like the time flew by but every time I remember a specific event it seems like ages ago. It is going to be SO weird to go back to the states, see American money, buy a lean cuisine, not be legal to drink- I didn't think I'd have reverse culture shock but I am starting to worry. I will miss London so much, but I think all the drama and academic bull shit is clouding my mind and causing me to only want to go home. I said this to Alyssa the other day on Skype and her response was, "Enjoy it while you can, and quit wishing you were back in Mineola. You HATE Mineola." And she's right (mostly). I haven't been back in Mineola for more than a week since this time last year, and I was miserable. I just miss everyone I love there so much (including her!) and cannot wait to see them.
In exciting update news, I've been back to Winter Wonderland since I last posted. I went with Emily and Cierra and it was SO fun. Even though it was basically pouring and I totally ruined my brown Uggs, I had the best time. We rode the Ferris Wheel and the GIANT slide that you ride down on a burlap sack and catch air over the ramps (you know what I'm talking about...?) and Cierra went down it so fast she went straight through the foam wall at the bottom just like they do in the movies. SO worth three pounds.
Sunday, Joe and Matt cooked steak and potatoes for everyone and it was absolutely delicious. Monday I had class and then went over to Alyssia and Emily's apartment for Alyssia's birthday. We had chicken that they made and it was pretty awesome, which surprised and scared me a little. I will be living with Alyssia in about a month and if this girl starts to believe she can cook my whole apartment will become a fire hazard.
That's about it for now- I'm at work at the moment and obviously not getting anything done. Next week on Tuesday night I'll be DONE with class and assignments, and Wednesday is my office Christmas party. For those of you who are my DC lovers, shoot me a message on Facebook to let me know if you want to hang out/come visit over break in New York. My next post will undoubtedly be an effort to procrastinate.
Cheers!
Friday, December 3, 2010
You may be overreacting a BIT
It's official, I'm on twitter. Follow me- GennaMarianna- I have a ton of interesting things to say. Although I do suppose it would be quite redundant to read my blog and then read my tweets (look at me, using lingo!) so don't feel peer pressured or anything. Just a suggestion- I like to look like I have a ton of friends.
You may have also heard that currently London is experiencing a huge giant mega blizzard at the moment. Oh, wait. Did I say blizzard? I meant it snowed for a little yesterday and now there's a half inch of snow on the ground. I get confused because of the way everyone's freaking out, you know? Like, with all the panic, I expect to walk outside and have to look UP to see the top of snow drifts. Alas, not only must I look down, but I must also use my magnifying glass.
As for my super fun day to day activities, that would include going to class, going to work, and trying to stay awake. I especially enjoy that last one. When I get back to New York, I am sleeping for three days straight to make up for the three months that I didn't. That means, for those of you I told I would be back on the 19th, I won't actually be available until the 22nd. Once the 22nd hits though, I am DEFINITELY down for a good time. I miss my Mineoleans!
So I'm in the office now, avoiding work as usual. In the next ten days I have 3 papers do, which is normal for the end of the semester, so I'll probably be working on those all weekend. But I am down to skype with anyone looking for an excuse to procrastinate! That's all for today folks, it's been a dull couple of days. Alyssia's birthday is on Monday though, so that should be fun- we're having dinner at her apartment to celebrate. Then, on Tuesday, I think I'm going to Surrey (just outside of London) to see Sam in her school's musical. News on those adventures to come.
Oh, PS: I have become mildly obsessed with tea. Promised myself it wouldn't happen but...they got me.
Cheers!
You may have also heard that currently London is experiencing a huge giant mega blizzard at the moment. Oh, wait. Did I say blizzard? I meant it snowed for a little yesterday and now there's a half inch of snow on the ground. I get confused because of the way everyone's freaking out, you know? Like, with all the panic, I expect to walk outside and have to look UP to see the top of snow drifts. Alas, not only must I look down, but I must also use my magnifying glass.
As for my super fun day to day activities, that would include going to class, going to work, and trying to stay awake. I especially enjoy that last one. When I get back to New York, I am sleeping for three days straight to make up for the three months that I didn't. That means, for those of you I told I would be back on the 19th, I won't actually be available until the 22nd. Once the 22nd hits though, I am DEFINITELY down for a good time. I miss my Mineoleans!
So I'm in the office now, avoiding work as usual. In the next ten days I have 3 papers do, which is normal for the end of the semester, so I'll probably be working on those all weekend. But I am down to skype with anyone looking for an excuse to procrastinate! That's all for today folks, it's been a dull couple of days. Alyssia's birthday is on Monday though, so that should be fun- we're having dinner at her apartment to celebrate. Then, on Tuesday, I think I'm going to Surrey (just outside of London) to see Sam in her school's musical. News on those adventures to come.
Oh, PS: I have become mildly obsessed with tea. Promised myself it wouldn't happen but...they got me.
Cheers!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
That guy is REALLY spicy
Happy almost December, loyal fans. It's hard to believe that November has actually come to an end and I will be back in NY in less than three weeks. As most of you may have read on my facebook wall, I'm excited that it this abroad experience is ending. It's not that I'm not having a great time- I really am- it's just that with the weather, and drama in my house, and everyone running the academic program here being a total dumb asshole, I'm at wits end and need to return to the familiar.
I've had a great past couple of days but the issues with FIE (my program) have been especially trying. I have three papers due over the next two weeks which is normal for this time of year, except that no matter how hard I work my professors have all informed me that it is literally impossible to get an A in their classes. Apparently, since British students hold themselves to MUCH higher standards than Americans, they don't receive A's because that would mean that they are perfect in every single way. If I work my ass off, and do an assignment exceptionally well, I deserve a good grade. I get that things are different here, but at the end of the day these grades are transferring back to an AMERICAN school, where C's are NOT the norm and certainly unacceptable (especially for someone on scholarship). So thanks a heap Britain for all of your ego, but I'm over your bullshit. And, while we're on the subject, forgive me if I don't pity the fact that your universities are soon going to cost 6000 pounds a year. The dollar equivalent of that is about $9500, AKA what I pay for HALF a semester WITH a decent scholarship. So if your students are so smart why don't you tell them to get a job and stop bitching?
In happier news, these past four days have been a lot of fun. Saturday night I went with Miriam and her friend Silvana to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, which is basically a giant Christmas carnival with booze, rides, shops and singing reindeer. Sunday, my flat hosted a Thankgiving, complete with a Turkey-based feast and Christmas music to get us in the holiday spirit. There were 17 people, tons of food and fun, and about 100 pies. SOOOO many pies. After we ate ourselves into a coma, Ruth and I took a walk around the town to alleviate our food babies and ended up at a casino where I lost about 15 quid on a slot machine. Sad day- at least I was considerably drunk.
Yesterday was a boring stay at home day- the only thing that ended up making it fun was that Emily and Alyssia's internet broke so they came over to do their gazillion papers. Alyssia slept over because we had plans for today and she didn't want to have to come all the way back, so we had a super awesome sleepover and bonded and got pumped about living together next semester.
This morning, I woke up to one of my flatmates FLIPPING out because it was snowing. I almost committed murder because it was an hour before I actually had to be awake for class and I was up late the night before. At around 9:30am Joe and I met our BLC class down by Brick Lane for a field trip, where we learned about the history of one of the most cultural areas in London. It would have been 100 times more awesome if it wasn't an outdoor walking tour, since it was snowing a lot and probably about 25 degrees.
When I got home from Brick Lane, Alyssia and I ate some lunch and then I took her to part 1 of her birthday date (both parts were surprises!). We went down to the Natural History museum and went ice skating! (Side note about ice skating- going today reminded me how innately spastic human beings are. QUITE entertaining.) I thought I was going to fall on my ass and make a fool of myself for the hour we were on the rink, but I ended up taking to it really quickly. I was surprised at how good I was and how much fun I had! I haven't been ice skating in probably 5 years at least. Alyssia and I had the BEST time, and especially enjoyed watching this one guy fall every five seconds. I would like to note his determination though- it was inspiring. He spent most of the hour on the ground.
After ice skating, we took the bus to Harrods where I introduced Alyssia to the Chocolate Bar. We shared an order of triple chocolate fondue and ate until our veins were flowing with chocolate. I could have poked myself and bled chocolate. Mmmm...chocolate.
And tonight will be an early night, since I have my internship tomorrow and got a mere five hours of sleep last night. Trust me, I will be making the most of my last few days here but when I wake up on the 19th with my bags packed, I will be happy to head home. I love London so much, but it's at the point where it's becoming almost too stressfull to enjoy. The good news is, my friend Alex B is coming to visit this weekend so there will definitely be some alcohol to ease my mind.
Cheers!
I've had a great past couple of days but the issues with FIE (my program) have been especially trying. I have three papers due over the next two weeks which is normal for this time of year, except that no matter how hard I work my professors have all informed me that it is literally impossible to get an A in their classes. Apparently, since British students hold themselves to MUCH higher standards than Americans, they don't receive A's because that would mean that they are perfect in every single way. If I work my ass off, and do an assignment exceptionally well, I deserve a good grade. I get that things are different here, but at the end of the day these grades are transferring back to an AMERICAN school, where C's are NOT the norm and certainly unacceptable (especially for someone on scholarship). So thanks a heap Britain for all of your ego, but I'm over your bullshit. And, while we're on the subject, forgive me if I don't pity the fact that your universities are soon going to cost 6000 pounds a year. The dollar equivalent of that is about $9500, AKA what I pay for HALF a semester WITH a decent scholarship. So if your students are so smart why don't you tell them to get a job and stop bitching?
In happier news, these past four days have been a lot of fun. Saturday night I went with Miriam and her friend Silvana to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, which is basically a giant Christmas carnival with booze, rides, shops and singing reindeer. Sunday, my flat hosted a Thankgiving, complete with a Turkey-based feast and Christmas music to get us in the holiday spirit. There were 17 people, tons of food and fun, and about 100 pies. SOOOO many pies. After we ate ourselves into a coma, Ruth and I took a walk around the town to alleviate our food babies and ended up at a casino where I lost about 15 quid on a slot machine. Sad day- at least I was considerably drunk.
Yesterday was a boring stay at home day- the only thing that ended up making it fun was that Emily and Alyssia's internet broke so they came over to do their gazillion papers. Alyssia slept over because we had plans for today and she didn't want to have to come all the way back, so we had a super awesome sleepover and bonded and got pumped about living together next semester.
This morning, I woke up to one of my flatmates FLIPPING out because it was snowing. I almost committed murder because it was an hour before I actually had to be awake for class and I was up late the night before. At around 9:30am Joe and I met our BLC class down by Brick Lane for a field trip, where we learned about the history of one of the most cultural areas in London. It would have been 100 times more awesome if it wasn't an outdoor walking tour, since it was snowing a lot and probably about 25 degrees.
When I got home from Brick Lane, Alyssia and I ate some lunch and then I took her to part 1 of her birthday date (both parts were surprises!). We went down to the Natural History museum and went ice skating! (Side note about ice skating- going today reminded me how innately spastic human beings are. QUITE entertaining.) I thought I was going to fall on my ass and make a fool of myself for the hour we were on the rink, but I ended up taking to it really quickly. I was surprised at how good I was and how much fun I had! I haven't been ice skating in probably 5 years at least. Alyssia and I had the BEST time, and especially enjoyed watching this one guy fall every five seconds. I would like to note his determination though- it was inspiring. He spent most of the hour on the ground.
After ice skating, we took the bus to Harrods where I introduced Alyssia to the Chocolate Bar. We shared an order of triple chocolate fondue and ate until our veins were flowing with chocolate. I could have poked myself and bled chocolate. Mmmm...chocolate.
And tonight will be an early night, since I have my internship tomorrow and got a mere five hours of sleep last night. Trust me, I will be making the most of my last few days here but when I wake up on the 19th with my bags packed, I will be happy to head home. I love London so much, but it's at the point where it's becoming almost too stressfull to enjoy. The good news is, my friend Alex B is coming to visit this weekend so there will definitely be some alcohol to ease my mind.
Cheers!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!
In a couple of hours my parents will board a plane at Heathrow headed for New York, and I can't stop thinking how strange it is that in three weeks I'll be doing the exact same thing. I have 21 days left in this country and, given how quickly the other hundred or so went by, I'm only now realizing how much there is that I haven't done. Luckily, I have the advantage of being young- if all goes according to the plans I have for my life, I will be back in Europe eventually.
Also, I had the advantage this week of doing a lot of fun stuff with my parents while they were visiting. Wednesday, I went to work as usual, where there was a small fiasco that involved me stuffing, unstuffing, and then restuffing 80 envelopes. Around 4:30pm, my parents met me at the office so we could have dinner, but my boss insisted that they come up and meet everyone in the office and sit down for a cup of tea. We ended up hanging out with my boss and coworkers for about an hour, and it was a lot of fun because I got to show my family where I worked and what my days are like here. After their visit we went to TGIFriday's for some delicious food and then nextdoor to a comedy show that I bought tickets for weeks ago. It was an improv group like last time, with a bar and open seating with a tiny stage in front. And, also like last time, the comedians were HYSTERICAL- my entire family was falling out of their chairs laughing.
Thursday was, as everyone knows, the beautiful American holiday of Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I am not in American, and it took my family and I hours to actually find a turkey so my mom could cook a nice meal for us in their hotel. During the day, we all went to an exhibit at the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace called the Victoria and Albert exhibit of antique art and paintings, and then to the royal stables where we saw royal horses and royal things and I got a royal lollipop for free at the gift shop. (No seriously, it was royal- it said Prince on is. They ran out of Princess ones.) We also saw the carriage that Kate Middleton is going to ride in when here and William get married in April of next year. Lucky bitch.
After the museums we went back to cook dinner (or at least my Mom did, while Matt and I watched Friends on TV!!), and then ate around 5:30 with my friend Sam joining us. We watched the Holiday (which came in a box set with Love Actually), and laid around with portruding bellies from a delicious feast. Yum sweet potatoes with marshmellows. On Friday, I had work and then I went to my parents hotel, where Alyssia met up with us so we could all eat dinner together. Because I didn't book Ice Bar tickets soon enough, we couldn't get in, so we had fast food in a super shady BK by the Earl's Court tube and then went to see Despicable Me in Leicester Square. It only JUST came out here, which is weird since I saw it opening night in DC in July. And yes, it STILL made me laugh my ass off. If you haven't already seen it, I suggest you do soon.
And what am I doing right now? Sitting in bed, debating over whether or not I should take a giant nap to catch up on all the sleep I missed this week (and for the past three months, for that matter.). I woke up early to have breakfast with my family before they left, and now I'm home doing schoolwork and fighting to stay awake. Miriam has a friend visiting so I'm going to meet them in Hyde Park later at "Winter Wonderland" and my kitchen looks like a bomb hit it (as usual) so I'll probably also do some cleaning. I miss you all and hope you had a wonderful holiday with your families.
Cheers!
Also, I had the advantage this week of doing a lot of fun stuff with my parents while they were visiting. Wednesday, I went to work as usual, where there was a small fiasco that involved me stuffing, unstuffing, and then restuffing 80 envelopes. Around 4:30pm, my parents met me at the office so we could have dinner, but my boss insisted that they come up and meet everyone in the office and sit down for a cup of tea. We ended up hanging out with my boss and coworkers for about an hour, and it was a lot of fun because I got to show my family where I worked and what my days are like here. After their visit we went to TGIFriday's for some delicious food and then nextdoor to a comedy show that I bought tickets for weeks ago. It was an improv group like last time, with a bar and open seating with a tiny stage in front. And, also like last time, the comedians were HYSTERICAL- my entire family was falling out of their chairs laughing.
Thursday was, as everyone knows, the beautiful American holiday of Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I am not in American, and it took my family and I hours to actually find a turkey so my mom could cook a nice meal for us in their hotel. During the day, we all went to an exhibit at the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace called the Victoria and Albert exhibit of antique art and paintings, and then to the royal stables where we saw royal horses and royal things and I got a royal lollipop for free at the gift shop. (No seriously, it was royal- it said Prince on is. They ran out of Princess ones.) We also saw the carriage that Kate Middleton is going to ride in when here and William get married in April of next year. Lucky bitch.
After the museums we went back to cook dinner (or at least my Mom did, while Matt and I watched Friends on TV!!), and then ate around 5:30 with my friend Sam joining us. We watched the Holiday (which came in a box set with Love Actually), and laid around with portruding bellies from a delicious feast. Yum sweet potatoes with marshmellows. On Friday, I had work and then I went to my parents hotel, where Alyssia met up with us so we could all eat dinner together. Because I didn't book Ice Bar tickets soon enough, we couldn't get in, so we had fast food in a super shady BK by the Earl's Court tube and then went to see Despicable Me in Leicester Square. It only JUST came out here, which is weird since I saw it opening night in DC in July. And yes, it STILL made me laugh my ass off. If you haven't already seen it, I suggest you do soon.
And what am I doing right now? Sitting in bed, debating over whether or not I should take a giant nap to catch up on all the sleep I missed this week (and for the past three months, for that matter.). I woke up early to have breakfast with my family before they left, and now I'm home doing schoolwork and fighting to stay awake. Miriam has a friend visiting so I'm going to meet them in Hyde Park later at "Winter Wonderland" and my kitchen looks like a bomb hit it (as usual) so I'll probably also do some cleaning. I miss you all and hope you had a wonderful holiday with your families.
Cheers!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
You're not a very good stand up comedian! It's because I'm sitting down.
And here is the promised official update of the past 5 days of my life. I know you were all on the edge of your seats so prepare yourself because it's going to be the best thing you've read since the Bible.
On Saturday, my parents and brother arrived bright and early in the beautiful(ly freezing) city of London. They were cold, tired and cranky, so we got some lunch, toured my flat, met some of my housemates and then headed back to their apartment. I swear the three of them dropped like flies once we stepped in the door. I managed to keep my mom up for a half hour to watch an episode of Modern Family, but even for that she was in and out of conciousness. Eventually, she admitted defeat and went to bed around 7ish, at which point my dad woke up and offered to take me to a casino. We took the tube to Knightsbridge and gambled the night away: we both lost a lot playing poker but then I won 50 quid on the slots! After we got tired of wasting money, he went back to his flat and I went back to mine to sleep.
Sunday, I woke up relatively early to get over to my parent's flat so we could all eat breakfast together. After breakfast, I took them back to Knightsbridge where we spent a couple of minutes admiring the windows of Harvey Nichols and Harrods (pictures on my mom's facebook!), which we really cool and got me in the winter-Christmas mood. Then we went into Harrods to eat lunch (HAHA) at the Chocolate Bar. "Hey Genna! This sounds like a magical place that I want to go to when I die!" It is, unknowing citizen, it is. It is the land where chocolate dreams come true. Just to give you a general idea, for lunch I had triple chocolate fondue and a Reese's milk shake. "Hey Genna! That sounds really fattening! Was it worth it?" Oh, how naive you are, unknowing citizen. Chocolate is always worth it.
After we left the Chocolate Bar, my mom and I went to Camden Market while my dad and my brother went to some WWII museum. We spent about 4 hours at Camden and bought so much stuff we literally needed to buy a small roll-ey suitcase to bring it all home. Once my whole family met back at the flat, we showed off our goodies to my brother and dad (who pretended they did not care about our pretty scarves and bags of real green tea and new purses) and then walked to an Italian restaurant up the block for dinner. "Hey Genna! You're a lightweight when it comes to drinking. Is it genetic?" As a matter of fact, it only took two bottles of wine to get my entire family completely pissed (there's some London slang for you) at dinner in a very quiet (but not for long!) place. We were laughing so hard we were crying and then, one of my childhood dreams came true. My mother, who normally does not condone my eatery-cleptomaniac tendencies, not only encouraged me but ASKED me to steal the salt and pepper shakers from the table where we were sitting. Now, I'll admit, she said nothing about the full set of silverwear and shot glass I also slipped into my purse. After we left, as I was bragging loudly to my dad about everything I took and waving it around in the air, the waiter chased me out onto the street screaming...I didn't realize until I saw him waving my gloves that he was simply returning something that I had left. I thought for sure I was going to prison- but at least my food there would have flavor.
After dinner, we all went to see the Social Network, which was amazing and I recommend it to everyone. We got out pretty late, so I went straight home to bed because I had class early the next day. Monday was super boring for that very reason- class 9am-2:30ish with a short break in between as usual, and then I met my parents at their hotel so we could all go to Jay's flat for dinner. Jay is a friend of my Dad's for about 30 years now or so, and he has houses all over the world. He was in London this week and wanted to have all of us over for a traditional Indian meal (Jay's Indian, you guessed it!). Although I wasn't eager to try everything that was cooked for us, I enjoyed what I did eat and overall it was pretty entertaining. Jay is such a nice man, and it was nice to finally meet him after hearing such amazing things about him from my dad. It also helped that his house was freakin sweet and he has his own personal staff.
Tuesday, thanks to the help of one of my awesome teachers here that I love, (whose preggers and super adorable) I was able to take off of class so I could spend more time with the family. We had breakfast together and then went to the Natural History museum, which is right by my flat. The museum is HUGE so we didn't get to see all of it, but we did get to see pickled animals in pickle water (still don't really get it but, ok...) and some cool life size moving t-rex robot in the dinosaur section that made me nostalgic from that time that I was a dinosaur. Those were the days....
That night, we went food shopping for Thanksgiving dinner that my mom is cooking tomorrow, ate some chinese food and then watched Love Actually as I've been waiting for forever to see it since I got to London. I will not bore you with the adventure Matt and I went on to FIND the movie and a way to play it on our hotel TV, but I will leave you with the following figure: 80 quid. That's about how much we spent during the course of 2 hours during which we searched literally all of London for this fucking movie and got to experience about 6 stores, 3 cab rides, and about 30 minutes of walking on a HIGHWAY. Details upon request.
And now, I'd love to tell you about today since it was super fun but I am super tired from all the super fun so once again, I must leave you hanging with the promise that I will most likely finish tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers, enjoy the day. Tune in tomorrow to see what I'm thankful for.
Cheers!
On Saturday, my parents and brother arrived bright and early in the beautiful(ly freezing) city of London. They were cold, tired and cranky, so we got some lunch, toured my flat, met some of my housemates and then headed back to their apartment. I swear the three of them dropped like flies once we stepped in the door. I managed to keep my mom up for a half hour to watch an episode of Modern Family, but even for that she was in and out of conciousness. Eventually, she admitted defeat and went to bed around 7ish, at which point my dad woke up and offered to take me to a casino. We took the tube to Knightsbridge and gambled the night away: we both lost a lot playing poker but then I won 50 quid on the slots! After we got tired of wasting money, he went back to his flat and I went back to mine to sleep.
Sunday, I woke up relatively early to get over to my parent's flat so we could all eat breakfast together. After breakfast, I took them back to Knightsbridge where we spent a couple of minutes admiring the windows of Harvey Nichols and Harrods (pictures on my mom's facebook!), which we really cool and got me in the winter-Christmas mood. Then we went into Harrods to eat lunch (HAHA) at the Chocolate Bar. "Hey Genna! This sounds like a magical place that I want to go to when I die!" It is, unknowing citizen, it is. It is the land where chocolate dreams come true. Just to give you a general idea, for lunch I had triple chocolate fondue and a Reese's milk shake. "Hey Genna! That sounds really fattening! Was it worth it?" Oh, how naive you are, unknowing citizen. Chocolate is always worth it.
After we left the Chocolate Bar, my mom and I went to Camden Market while my dad and my brother went to some WWII museum. We spent about 4 hours at Camden and bought so much stuff we literally needed to buy a small roll-ey suitcase to bring it all home. Once my whole family met back at the flat, we showed off our goodies to my brother and dad (who pretended they did not care about our pretty scarves and bags of real green tea and new purses) and then walked to an Italian restaurant up the block for dinner. "Hey Genna! You're a lightweight when it comes to drinking. Is it genetic?" As a matter of fact, it only took two bottles of wine to get my entire family completely pissed (there's some London slang for you) at dinner in a very quiet (but not for long!) place. We were laughing so hard we were crying and then, one of my childhood dreams came true. My mother, who normally does not condone my eatery-cleptomaniac tendencies, not only encouraged me but ASKED me to steal the salt and pepper shakers from the table where we were sitting. Now, I'll admit, she said nothing about the full set of silverwear and shot glass I also slipped into my purse. After we left, as I was bragging loudly to my dad about everything I took and waving it around in the air, the waiter chased me out onto the street screaming...I didn't realize until I saw him waving my gloves that he was simply returning something that I had left. I thought for sure I was going to prison- but at least my food there would have flavor.
After dinner, we all went to see the Social Network, which was amazing and I recommend it to everyone. We got out pretty late, so I went straight home to bed because I had class early the next day. Monday was super boring for that very reason- class 9am-2:30ish with a short break in between as usual, and then I met my parents at their hotel so we could all go to Jay's flat for dinner. Jay is a friend of my Dad's for about 30 years now or so, and he has houses all over the world. He was in London this week and wanted to have all of us over for a traditional Indian meal (Jay's Indian, you guessed it!). Although I wasn't eager to try everything that was cooked for us, I enjoyed what I did eat and overall it was pretty entertaining. Jay is such a nice man, and it was nice to finally meet him after hearing such amazing things about him from my dad. It also helped that his house was freakin sweet and he has his own personal staff.
Tuesday, thanks to the help of one of my awesome teachers here that I love, (whose preggers and super adorable) I was able to take off of class so I could spend more time with the family. We had breakfast together and then went to the Natural History museum, which is right by my flat. The museum is HUGE so we didn't get to see all of it, but we did get to see pickled animals in pickle water (still don't really get it but, ok...) and some cool life size moving t-rex robot in the dinosaur section that made me nostalgic from that time that I was a dinosaur. Those were the days....
That night, we went food shopping for Thanksgiving dinner that my mom is cooking tomorrow, ate some chinese food and then watched Love Actually as I've been waiting for forever to see it since I got to London. I will not bore you with the adventure Matt and I went on to FIND the movie and a way to play it on our hotel TV, but I will leave you with the following figure: 80 quid. That's about how much we spent during the course of 2 hours during which we searched literally all of London for this fucking movie and got to experience about 6 stores, 3 cab rides, and about 30 minutes of walking on a HIGHWAY. Details upon request.
And now, I'd love to tell you about today since it was super fun but I am super tired from all the super fun so once again, I must leave you hanging with the promise that I will most likely finish tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers, enjoy the day. Tune in tomorrow to see what I'm thankful for.
Cheers!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Oh my GOD you guys!
I know I've been lousy at updating lately, and I apologize- it's actually been a really hectic week. I went on two field trips for class last week, one to the new Wembley Football Stadium for international marketing and one to Parliament for my British life & cultures class. I love how most of the sights I'm seeing in the country I live in are mandatory for grades! I know I already wrote about the stadium so I won't double-bore you, but Parliament was fairly interesting although I didn't take any pictures and almost fell asleep during the tour. I cannot believe how much I haven't been sleeping since I got to London...Christmas break is going to be one giant nap for me.
Wednesday I had work all day, which was mostly the same as usual. I kept entertained my distracting my co workers and getting a sufficient amount of emailing done, and then I met my flatmate Ruth at our house so we could get ready to go to the theater. We had bought tickets way back in September to see Legally Blonde, and it was finally time- second show in less than a week! We had a great time on our little date, and the show was pretty good. Not as good as Sami made it out to be- I found it to be a little annoying at parts, but it was still funny and a much needed break from a long start to a short week at work.
Thursday and Friday were boring work days as well, pretty much bonding with my boss and procrastinating a bunch (although I do work, I swear!). I was mostly just excited for my family to arrive in London (they were due early Saturday morning) so I didn't have much to keep me busy besides planning out our week together.
Now that my parents have been here for about 5 days, I have a lot to update in this blog. Unfortunately, it's 1:30am and I just came from the apartment where they're staying (which is SUPER nice) and I have work in the morning so I wanted this to be a simple quick update. Tomorrow, I'll get around to the good and juicy stuff that's been going on in my life.
Cheers!
Wednesday I had work all day, which was mostly the same as usual. I kept entertained my distracting my co workers and getting a sufficient amount of emailing done, and then I met my flatmate Ruth at our house so we could get ready to go to the theater. We had bought tickets way back in September to see Legally Blonde, and it was finally time- second show in less than a week! We had a great time on our little date, and the show was pretty good. Not as good as Sami made it out to be- I found it to be a little annoying at parts, but it was still funny and a much needed break from a long start to a short week at work.
Thursday and Friday were boring work days as well, pretty much bonding with my boss and procrastinating a bunch (although I do work, I swear!). I was mostly just excited for my family to arrive in London (they were due early Saturday morning) so I didn't have much to keep me busy besides planning out our week together.
Now that my parents have been here for about 5 days, I have a lot to update in this blog. Unfortunately, it's 1:30am and I just came from the apartment where they're staying (which is SUPER nice) and I have work in the morning so I wanted this to be a simple quick update. Tomorrow, I'll get around to the good and juicy stuff that's been going on in my life.
Cheers!
Monday, November 15, 2010
The light just snap krackle popped
This continuance is specially written for Kate, who doesn't believe I'll finish posting about my weekend and thinks that all of my facebook advertising is a ploy to encourage readership for stale blog updates. Ha! I have bested you, Face, and will always be one step ahead. <3 <3 <3
Saturday was a long day. After getting only about 5 hours of sleep or so after a fun Friday night, I woke up to an all too chipper Kate and an appropriately chipper Vanessa (chipper meter determined in direct correlation to the hour), who had just arrived at Heathrow airport that morning. They had one full day left in London and so it was my job to show them the best of it, so we got to work. Of course our first stop was Camden Market, my favorite shopping destination in the city, where we spent a couple of hours looking around. I'm amazed at how every time I go there I see a new section of it I never knew existed.
After we left Camden, we noticed that pretty much all the tube lines were down due to construction, but we managed to make our way down to Westminster to see the crucial London sights. We saw the River Thames and took some pictures together in front of the London Eye.
It didn't take long for Vanessa and Katie to convince me that we had to ride the London Eye, even though it was expensive, I was damn near broke, and I was almost positive I was going in a week when my family visits anyway. We got our tickets and stood online for about 20 minutes and could not have possibly timed it better. We got on just as the sun was going down and the whole city was lit up beautifully. Just as our pod hit the highest point on the wheel, fireworks were being set off on the River right in front of us in honor of Rememberance Day. It was so scenic it reminded me how much I have totally fallen in love with this city over the past few months. Katie, on the other hand, didn't need as much time to grow appreciation. She had been declaring since the moment she arrived that London would one day be her permanent home.
After the Eye, we met up with three of Vanessa's friends who were also visiting London so we could all have dinner together (along with Alyssia and Emily), at my favorite Chinese food place Hare&Tortuous. Because the tubes were down we had QUITE an adventure getting to the resturant, but I won't waste time and energy describing the ordeal because it was insanely frustrating and disheartening. On the upside, dinner was delicious, and afterwards, Vanessa, Katie, Alyssia, Emily and I all went back to my flat for a drink. Bedtime was early that night for sure.
Sunday was an overdue lazy day. I hadn't sat in my flat awake for more than an hour since Wednesday, and I was so tired and wiped out I could hardly get out of my bed. I slept 12 hours, during which Katie left for the airport, and then woke up to say goodbye to Vanessa when she got back from seeing more of London that afternoon. I grabbed some groceries, made some lunch, and watched a lot of television. Got to catch up on my shows!
Today, I was back to a hectic routine; I had to wake up extra early and take the tube an hour out into zone four for my international marketing class field trip to Wembley stadium. The tour of the stadium was actually a lot of fun, and I was really excited to see more of London- especially on class time and on someone else's dollar. Now that I'm leaving in just five weeks, I feel like I have to see everything! I already know next week is going to be insane and filled with London adventures, since my parents and Matt (!!!!!!) arrive on Saturday for a week long visit. I miss Matt so much, I haven't seen him since May, so he better be prepared for a lot of squeezy hugs.
Tomorrow, I have another class field trip (British Life & Cultures) to see the houses of Parliament. Should be sufficiently dull- no one knows as little about politics as I do. The good news is, today I found Nutella cereal in the supermarket and will be having a deliciously fattening breakfast in the morning.
Cheers!
Saturday was a long day. After getting only about 5 hours of sleep or so after a fun Friday night, I woke up to an all too chipper Kate and an appropriately chipper Vanessa (chipper meter determined in direct correlation to the hour), who had just arrived at Heathrow airport that morning. They had one full day left in London and so it was my job to show them the best of it, so we got to work. Of course our first stop was Camden Market, my favorite shopping destination in the city, where we spent a couple of hours looking around. I'm amazed at how every time I go there I see a new section of it I never knew existed.
After we left Camden, we noticed that pretty much all the tube lines were down due to construction, but we managed to make our way down to Westminster to see the crucial London sights. We saw the River Thames and took some pictures together in front of the London Eye.
After the Eye, we met up with three of Vanessa's friends who were also visiting London so we could all have dinner together (along with Alyssia and Emily), at my favorite Chinese food place Hare&Tortuous. Because the tubes were down we had QUITE an adventure getting to the resturant, but I won't waste time and energy describing the ordeal because it was insanely frustrating and disheartening. On the upside, dinner was delicious, and afterwards, Vanessa, Katie, Alyssia, Emily and I all went back to my flat for a drink. Bedtime was early that night for sure.
Sunday was an overdue lazy day. I hadn't sat in my flat awake for more than an hour since Wednesday, and I was so tired and wiped out I could hardly get out of my bed. I slept 12 hours, during which Katie left for the airport, and then woke up to say goodbye to Vanessa when she got back from seeing more of London that afternoon. I grabbed some groceries, made some lunch, and watched a lot of television. Got to catch up on my shows!
Today, I was back to a hectic routine; I had to wake up extra early and take the tube an hour out into zone four for my international marketing class field trip to Wembley stadium. The tour of the stadium was actually a lot of fun, and I was really excited to see more of London- especially on class time and on someone else's dollar. Now that I'm leaving in just five weeks, I feel like I have to see everything! I already know next week is going to be insane and filled with London adventures, since my parents and Matt (!!!!!!) arrive on Saturday for a week long visit. I miss Matt so much, I haven't seen him since May, so he better be prepared for a lot of squeezy hugs.
Tomorrow, I have another class field trip (British Life & Cultures) to see the houses of Parliament. Should be sufficiently dull- no one knows as little about politics as I do. The good news is, today I found Nutella cereal in the supermarket and will be having a deliciously fattening breakfast in the morning.
Cheers!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Katie is moving to London, apparently
I have spent entirely too many hours wearing stockings in the past ten days. I can get passed this though, because I look so damn cute in my little professional outfits I think it's worth the annoyance. My internship is going really well- I love my boss and all the people I work with, and I just found out I'm actually going to receive a small amount of compensation at the end of the seven weeks (paid in GBP, score!) even though its kind of against the rules. The days are long of course, but they don't drag which is good. Twenty-four hours a week is a lot, but I suppose it hardly compares to how much I worked this summer. I also kind of enjoy my twenty minute commute every morning; I take the number 14 bus from South Kensington to Green Park (yes, I sit on top of the double deckers...I don't care how long you live here it's still cool) and on the way get to see great parts of the city. The windows in Harrod's (which are comparable to the holiday windows at Sax Fifth Avenue) look amazing because it's Christmastime and the whole city is getting ready for the season.
Besides working so much at my internship, I had the most hectic, insane, fun week in London. Wednesday, I went straight from my job to meet one of my flatmates, Ruth, in Picadilly for dinner and a comedy show. We had bought tickets for the show through our abroad program for 5 quid, which was an amazing discount. After dinner at TGIF, we sat down at the comedy club for happy hour drinks and the show. It was hysterical, I literally have not laughed that hard in a long time. I didn't think it was going to be that funny because it was improv instead of stand up, but it was really entertaining.
After the show, I got home and Katie was sitting on my couch!! (This wasn't a surprise, I knew she was coming but it was still just like Christmas morning!) She brought my chocolates from France to thank me for hosting her for the weekend, which was adorable and one of the million reasons why I love her. We spent some time chatting and catching up, but then I had to go to sleep because I had work early the next morning. During the day on Friday, Katie met me on my lunch break at this yummy salad place, and then came to see my office. After I got out of work, we had a quick dinner at my flat and then went with Mimi to see Wicked at the Apollo Theater in Victoria. It's already one of my favorite shows, but the singing that night made me fall in LOVE. The cast was incredible, and the woman who played Elphaba (who yes, had an Irish accent!) blew Idina Menzel out of the water.
Friday, I had work again but it was good to know I had an exciting weekend coming up. Friday night, everyone in my flat plus about 18 other people visiting went out to a club. I haven't gone out with everyone in a LONG time since I was travelling so much last month and have just been so tired all the time. We went to a club called Pacha, where there was a random fashion show going on. Katie and I got home super late and then, much to my distaste, woke up super early on Saturday morning for another long day.
I'm going to finish updating a little later, I have to eat some dinner and work on a paper I have due on Tuesday. It would also be nice if I could find an open washer/dryer to get some laundry done.
Cheers!
Besides working so much at my internship, I had the most hectic, insane, fun week in London. Wednesday, I went straight from my job to meet one of my flatmates, Ruth, in Picadilly for dinner and a comedy show. We had bought tickets for the show through our abroad program for 5 quid, which was an amazing discount. After dinner at TGIF, we sat down at the comedy club for happy hour drinks and the show. It was hysterical, I literally have not laughed that hard in a long time. I didn't think it was going to be that funny because it was improv instead of stand up, but it was really entertaining.
After the show, I got home and Katie was sitting on my couch!! (This wasn't a surprise, I knew she was coming but it was still just like Christmas morning!) She brought my chocolates from France to thank me for hosting her for the weekend, which was adorable and one of the million reasons why I love her. We spent some time chatting and catching up, but then I had to go to sleep because I had work early the next morning. During the day on Friday, Katie met me on my lunch break at this yummy salad place, and then came to see my office. After I got out of work, we had a quick dinner at my flat and then went with Mimi to see Wicked at the Apollo Theater in Victoria. It's already one of my favorite shows, but the singing that night made me fall in LOVE. The cast was incredible, and the woman who played Elphaba (who yes, had an Irish accent!) blew Idina Menzel out of the water.
Friday, I had work again but it was good to know I had an exciting weekend coming up. Friday night, everyone in my flat plus about 18 other people visiting went out to a club. I haven't gone out with everyone in a LONG time since I was travelling so much last month and have just been so tired all the time. We went to a club called Pacha, where there was a random fashion show going on. Katie and I got home super late and then, much to my distaste, woke up super early on Saturday morning for another long day.
I'm going to finish updating a little later, I have to eat some dinner and work on a paper I have due on Tuesday. It would also be nice if I could find an open washer/dryer to get some laundry done.
Cheers!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Theories on whether or not I'm actually here
I wonder how many people I can randomly run into in Europe before it becomes strange/apparent that I'm actually living inside a very small cardboard box? To date, these are my awkward "small-world" run-ins:
1. While travelling to Rome with Mimi, we realized we were on a flight with two girls in our marketing class at FIE. Two days later, we ran into them again while eating gelato (what else?) at Campo de Fiori. Also, while at the Vatican on the Monday of that week, we ran into two other people we go to school with in London.
2. About two weeks into living in London I was walking home from the tube when I noticed a girl who looked extremely familiar: turned out to be an old friend from high school that graduated the same year as my brother. She had gotten there that morning- I hadn't seen her in 6 years.
3. Saturday night, Mimi, Cierra and I met up with Emily at a bar by where she lives. She had two friends visiting from American and we wanted to all have a grand old time partying the night away. Five minutes after getting there, I'm walking past the bar when someone reaches out and grabs my arm: I'm about to smack a bitch because that would have been the second time I had been groped since entering. I turn around and it's Ian, a guy who lived on my floor freshman year at AU. He was with three other AU people. ...Wtf?
So, as a result of the above evidence, I have developed a theory. I am in my very own version of the Truman show, and everyone in the world is staged to bump into me randomly when I least expect it. Either that or we're all in a social experiment of students who THINK they're studying abroad but actually are, in fact, living inside a very small cardboard box.
Cheers!
1. While travelling to Rome with Mimi, we realized we were on a flight with two girls in our marketing class at FIE. Two days later, we ran into them again while eating gelato (what else?) at Campo de Fiori. Also, while at the Vatican on the Monday of that week, we ran into two other people we go to school with in London.
2. About two weeks into living in London I was walking home from the tube when I noticed a girl who looked extremely familiar: turned out to be an old friend from high school that graduated the same year as my brother. She had gotten there that morning- I hadn't seen her in 6 years.
3. Saturday night, Mimi, Cierra and I met up with Emily at a bar by where she lives. She had two friends visiting from American and we wanted to all have a grand old time partying the night away. Five minutes after getting there, I'm walking past the bar when someone reaches out and grabs my arm: I'm about to smack a bitch because that would have been the second time I had been groped since entering. I turn around and it's Ian, a guy who lived on my floor freshman year at AU. He was with three other AU people. ...Wtf?
So, as a result of the above evidence, I have developed a theory. I am in my very own version of the Truman show, and everyone in the world is staged to bump into me randomly when I least expect it. Either that or we're all in a social experiment of students who THINK they're studying abroad but actually are, in fact, living inside a very small cardboard box.
Cheers!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Is there no limit to what Stanley won't notice?
Back to London, which means back to posting once every week or so. A couple of super important points I need to make sure I cover in this edition:
1. I started my internship on Wednesday
2. Alyssia, Emily and I went to the National Gallery on Tuesday and saw lots of paintings of people I didn't know. Some were naked.
3. I got an A in Finance! Fuck yes. I rule the world.
4. I desperately miss my notebooks (packing on the way here only allowed me to bring one instead of all six and I'm suffering from separation anxiety)
5. I have three (yes, three...THREE) grey hairs. Three. And that's only counting the ones I can see with my naked eyes (the ones on the front of my face. If you're walking behind me and notice another one, by all means, fill me in.)
Ok so, lets be real here folks: the only one of those thoughts that actually needs expanding is the first one. As most of you know, part of my program here in London is to do a 6 credit internship for seven weeks during the second half of the semester (that's why my finance class is already over. Did I mention I got an A?). So on Wednesday, I put on a "smart" business outfit (some british slang for you), and took the bus to Green Park where I will be working for the rest of the term. I'm in the corporate office of NinetyTen, a social networking business that has created a private social network for membership organizations. I'm working in the marketing department (which is actually just me, another intern, and an actual marketing guy), but in one big office (and I use the term "big" loosely) with the whole staff. Altogether, including myself and my boss, there's 5 of us. The work is kind of tedious- I'm doing a giant database entry sheet and sending out solicitation emails for our new product- but I love everyone I work with so it's a lot of fun. Today, my boss Tony bought us all KFC and we just sat in the conference room for an hour and hung out. I also convinced all of them that we should go see the Social Network movie together (appropriate), so we're going next week.
So, ever since I've been waking up at 7 30 and doing 9 hour days, I'm super tired all the time, as are the rest of my flatmates. So even though it's only 11 30, I'm going to sleep. I want to give a nice little shout out first, though, to my best friend Alyssa (Joey!) because tomorrow is her 20th birthday and I'm sad I can't be with her for it. I love you so much Alyssa and hope it's the best! More in a few days, this weekend should be tons of fun.
Cheers!
1. I started my internship on Wednesday
2. Alyssia, Emily and I went to the National Gallery on Tuesday and saw lots of paintings of people I didn't know. Some were naked.
3. I got an A in Finance! Fuck yes. I rule the world.
4. I desperately miss my notebooks (packing on the way here only allowed me to bring one instead of all six and I'm suffering from separation anxiety)
5. I have three (yes, three...THREE) grey hairs. Three. And that's only counting the ones I can see with my naked eyes (the ones on the front of my face. If you're walking behind me and notice another one, by all means, fill me in.)
Ok so, lets be real here folks: the only one of those thoughts that actually needs expanding is the first one. As most of you know, part of my program here in London is to do a 6 credit internship for seven weeks during the second half of the semester (that's why my finance class is already over. Did I mention I got an A?). So on Wednesday, I put on a "smart" business outfit (some british slang for you), and took the bus to Green Park where I will be working for the rest of the term. I'm in the corporate office of NinetyTen, a social networking business that has created a private social network for membership organizations. I'm working in the marketing department (which is actually just me, another intern, and an actual marketing guy), but in one big office (and I use the term "big" loosely) with the whole staff. Altogether, including myself and my boss, there's 5 of us. The work is kind of tedious- I'm doing a giant database entry sheet and sending out solicitation emails for our new product- but I love everyone I work with so it's a lot of fun. Today, my boss Tony bought us all KFC and we just sat in the conference room for an hour and hung out. I also convinced all of them that we should go see the Social Network movie together (appropriate), so we're going next week.
So, ever since I've been waking up at 7 30 and doing 9 hour days, I'm super tired all the time, as are the rest of my flatmates. So even though it's only 11 30, I'm going to sleep. I want to give a nice little shout out first, though, to my best friend Alyssa (Joey!) because tomorrow is her 20th birthday and I'm sad I can't be with her for it. I love you so much Alyssa and hope it's the best! More in a few days, this weekend should be tons of fun.
Cheers!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Count how many people think it's a bathroom
Home in London!
After a hectic epic trip in Rome, doing nothing in Mykonos for three days seemed super inviting. Unfortunately, as relaxing as it is to sleep in until 11am and have no cares in the world, it gets pretty boring. It's not to say I didn't enjoy myself these past few days: riding around the coast on an ATV, shopping, taking walks on the beach and eating gyro IS fun, I'm just glad I'm back to reality. Not to mention it was super hard to leave the hotel Thursday and Friday because of the super violent winds and insane downpour. Needless to say, Miriam and I learned a lot about each other over the past week, especially after drinking a lot of wine and being cooped up for too long in our beautiful room.
I don't want to make this post super long, because I am so tired and I think you have all probably heard enough, but I just wanted to mention a few more things that I did on my holiday this week before I finally returned home to my flat this evening.
The last two days in Mykonos, as I mentioned, were long and slightly boring due to the weather. Miriam and I found out the hard way that unless you own a DVD player or have a job, there is literally nothing to do in Mykonos when it is not nice out. We did make it down to the beach a few times, to enjoy the view and have dinner on our last night, but mostly we got stuck in doors. During our trip though we met some interesting people: our waiter at the Perfecto Cafe where we had lunch every day, who offered to drive us around and "show us Mykonos", and the guy who rented us our ATV, who shamelessly flirted with Miriam and then asked us out for drinks when we ran into him on the streets the next day. All in all, Greece is amazingly beautiful and we had a lot of fun.
Today was a super long day because we woke up in Mykonos and then flew to Athens, where we had a 6 hour layover we purposefully booked so that we would have time to see the Parthanon (sp?) and the Acropolys (sp? haha). We went into the city expected to run there, take some pictures, and run back, until we realized that the Acropolys is actually a giant fucking hike. Not prepared clothing-wise at all and carrying huge heavy backpacks, Miriam and I eventually made our way to the top. It was worth it: we had an amazing view of the entire city and we definitely worked off the McDonalds we ate for lunch.
A quick reflection on our trip in general:
1. Thank you to the millions of people that took pictures for Mimi and I this week, since we were sick of taking pictures by ourselves.
2. Sooooo much gelato
3. Feels good to be home, even though this week was one of the most amazing of my life.
I'll try to add a few more stories and fun facts another day, but for now I'm so tired and just trying to upload a bagillion pictures. Be sure to check them out on facebook, I got some good ones!
Cheers!
After a hectic epic trip in Rome, doing nothing in Mykonos for three days seemed super inviting. Unfortunately, as relaxing as it is to sleep in until 11am and have no cares in the world, it gets pretty boring. It's not to say I didn't enjoy myself these past few days: riding around the coast on an ATV, shopping, taking walks on the beach and eating gyro IS fun, I'm just glad I'm back to reality. Not to mention it was super hard to leave the hotel Thursday and Friday because of the super violent winds and insane downpour. Needless to say, Miriam and I learned a lot about each other over the past week, especially after drinking a lot of wine and being cooped up for too long in our beautiful room.
I don't want to make this post super long, because I am so tired and I think you have all probably heard enough, but I just wanted to mention a few more things that I did on my holiday this week before I finally returned home to my flat this evening.
The last two days in Mykonos, as I mentioned, were long and slightly boring due to the weather. Miriam and I found out the hard way that unless you own a DVD player or have a job, there is literally nothing to do in Mykonos when it is not nice out. We did make it down to the beach a few times, to enjoy the view and have dinner on our last night, but mostly we got stuck in doors. During our trip though we met some interesting people: our waiter at the Perfecto Cafe where we had lunch every day, who offered to drive us around and "show us Mykonos", and the guy who rented us our ATV, who shamelessly flirted with Miriam and then asked us out for drinks when we ran into him on the streets the next day. All in all, Greece is amazingly beautiful and we had a lot of fun.
Today was a super long day because we woke up in Mykonos and then flew to Athens, where we had a 6 hour layover we purposefully booked so that we would have time to see the Parthanon (sp?) and the Acropolys (sp? haha). We went into the city expected to run there, take some pictures, and run back, until we realized that the Acropolys is actually a giant fucking hike. Not prepared clothing-wise at all and carrying huge heavy backpacks, Miriam and I eventually made our way to the top. It was worth it: we had an amazing view of the entire city and we definitely worked off the McDonalds we ate for lunch.
A quick reflection on our trip in general:
1. Thank you to the millions of people that took pictures for Mimi and I this week, since we were sick of taking pictures by ourselves.
2. Sooooo much gelato
3. Feels good to be home, even though this week was one of the most amazing of my life.
I'll try to add a few more stories and fun facts another day, but for now I'm so tired and just trying to upload a bagillion pictures. Be sure to check them out on facebook, I got some good ones!
Cheers!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
I think you brought the weather with you from London
Greetings all, second post in two days! We're on a roll...and its all thanks to this amazing hotel. Every night at the end of the day I get to wind down with a little posting and then head off to the next adventure in the morning.
So just to add a small appendix to the last post, I forgot to include one of the funniest stories from Rome. Our hotel was in a place outside the city center called Rebibbia, ("the bible") which I mentioned was roughly the Harlem of Italy. We had to take a 20 minute subway ride and a bus to get there...the "444" bus, which might as well have not existed since every night we took it we had to wait 40 minutes at a super shady gas station for it. Well, Sunday night Mimi and I are carrying home a bottle of wine getting prepped to drink in our room and pass out, and we're waiting for the bus which finally showed up around 10pm. We get on and realize, (awesome!) we have no idea where we're supposed to get off. We tried to ask the people on the bus but none of them spoke English, and all of a sudden we're the only ones on the bus besides the driver, so we decide to walk to the front and ask him. He also doesn't speak English, so we told him the name of our hotel and he literally drove the bus off route and took us to the front door while we stood in the front looking out the window like a rollercoaster (which it might as well have been with how fast they drive there!). This story might not be so funny to hear, but it was pretty funny to us, rolling up in front of our hotel in a huge public bus.
Onto Mykonos: Today I had the most amazing afternoon of my life. After an awesome complimentary breakfast at the hotel and lunch out, Mimi convinced me we should rent an ATV and drive around town. I was scared out of my mind and relunctantly agreed. We went to the bike rental place where we shamelessly flirted with the owner and got our motorbike for a per person charge of FIVE euros. We paid more for crepes at the diner. Anyways, we get on (me driving most of the way, but we switched on and off), and spent hours driving around the coast of the most beautiful country I've ever been to. Of course, we almost died a few times, but we got the hang of it eventually.
After we returned the ATV and had dinner, it started downpouring, thundering and lightning. So now, even though its only 10pm and we should be partying, we're drinking wine in the hotel and watching japanese game shows (which fucking RULE, btw). Have to go upstairs and keep Mimi company, I'll try to post another update before I leave Greece. Shopping, beaches, and more ATV driving tomorrow!
Cheers!
So just to add a small appendix to the last post, I forgot to include one of the funniest stories from Rome. Our hotel was in a place outside the city center called Rebibbia, ("the bible") which I mentioned was roughly the Harlem of Italy. We had to take a 20 minute subway ride and a bus to get there...the "444" bus, which might as well have not existed since every night we took it we had to wait 40 minutes at a super shady gas station for it. Well, Sunday night Mimi and I are carrying home a bottle of wine getting prepped to drink in our room and pass out, and we're waiting for the bus which finally showed up around 10pm. We get on and realize, (awesome!) we have no idea where we're supposed to get off. We tried to ask the people on the bus but none of them spoke English, and all of a sudden we're the only ones on the bus besides the driver, so we decide to walk to the front and ask him. He also doesn't speak English, so we told him the name of our hotel and he literally drove the bus off route and took us to the front door while we stood in the front looking out the window like a rollercoaster (which it might as well have been with how fast they drive there!). This story might not be so funny to hear, but it was pretty funny to us, rolling up in front of our hotel in a huge public bus.
Onto Mykonos: Today I had the most amazing afternoon of my life. After an awesome complimentary breakfast at the hotel and lunch out, Mimi convinced me we should rent an ATV and drive around town. I was scared out of my mind and relunctantly agreed. We went to the bike rental place where we shamelessly flirted with the owner and got our motorbike for a per person charge of FIVE euros. We paid more for crepes at the diner. Anyways, we get on (me driving most of the way, but we switched on and off), and spent hours driving around the coast of the most beautiful country I've ever been to. Of course, we almost died a few times, but we got the hang of it eventually.
After we returned the ATV and had dinner, it started downpouring, thundering and lightning. So now, even though its only 10pm and we should be partying, we're drinking wine in the hotel and watching japanese game shows (which fucking RULE, btw). Have to go upstairs and keep Mimi company, I'll try to post another update before I leave Greece. Shopping, beaches, and more ATV driving tomorrow!
Cheers!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
In America you can marry more than one person and the grapes don't have seeds
This is damn near impossible, keeping up with myself. Where do I begin? Let me start with the following perspectives: This morning I was in Rome, this afternoon I was in Athens, this night (now) I'm in Mykonos. Yesterday, I was wearing a shirt I bought in Paris, sitting in the Vatican, studying abroad in London, going to school in DC, born in NY. In the past two months I have been on 8 flights, 2 international trains, and in 6 different countries. I cannot believe how fast the future is becoming the present, and how I'm finally doing things with my life that I only ever dreamed about.
Sunday:
Mimi and I walked nearly all over the south of Rome, ate dinner in the courtyard of the Pantheon by the fountain, saw a professional tug of war team event, took a zillion pictures (of course), got lost along the river, got found along the river, had a photoshoot, ate gelato twice in two hours, ran into people from our London program, got a bottle of wine, drank in our hotel room, and fell asleep dreaming of Italian men with super sexy accents. We saw a small island, the Trastevere River, a synogog, Ceaser's fort, Augusto's fort, more ruins, more ruins, more ruins...I wish I had my map on my so I actually know the name of everything we saw. Anyways, I think I'm overlapping some of this with my blog from the other day so I'll move on to Monday...AKA the longest day of my life to date.
Monday:
Woke up at 8am for the fourth day in a row, showered, got ready, and went with Mimi to meet Cierra at the Vatican. When we got there, she had been waiting on line for 45 minutes already...and it ended up being another 2 hours until we reached the entrance to the museum. Big suck. We went into the museum, had lunch in the courtyard and saw the Sistine Chapel...which is ten times more impressive than anything anyone has ever described to me. The three of us got gelato and then Cierra had to leave, so Mimi and I sat in the main part of the Vatican in front of the Basillica (sp?) while I quoted Eurotrip. (They've elected a new pope! We could be seeing history in the making! We could be seeing an ARREST in the making.)
While we were there, we waited for Miriam's friend Giacammo, who grew up and lives in Rome. They met at a camp that they both went to for 2 weeks in 2005, and after all these years Miriam thought it would be fun to reunite. Backround on Giacammo: He's a true Italian who is adorable with the sexiest accent especially when he speaks Italian, and I will probably never be able to spell his name correctly. After we met, G (that's what we'll call him) took us all along the river so we could see the Justice building, where he went to high school, and a beautiful castle. Then, we climbed up one TRILLION stairs (not unlike Montmarte, in Paris) to reach this balcony (blanking on the name) so we could over look the Piazza Popolo and see all of Rome just as the sun was setting. Como se dici "breathtaking" in Italiano?
After the balcony we had dinner, where G ordered for us in Italian and we all drank lots of wine. We went to G's car after dinner and then found a bar along the river after walking for about an hour and, of course, stopping for gelato. The whole time we're walking I'm explaining to G that we have an early flight, have to be up by 6am and leave by 7, we're tired from a long ass day, and I don't want to go home any later than 10 30...I know I sound like a buzz kill but I was too tired from drinking, and I can drink any time I want in London. It's just not why I came to Rome. The only reason why we ended up going at all is because G told us he'd drive us back to our hotel, which was about an hour away from the city center and super hard to get to. (Also right next to a prison in an area that is the Italian equivilant of Harlem.)
So we get to this bar that has 15 euro pitchers of some brazilian cocktail with strawberries that G convinces us is the best. The three of us sucked it down in about 15 minutes, and then all of a sudden ms. buzz kill decides she needs another pitcher. So we order another (first mistake), this time with tequila (second mistake) and I drink a lot of it super fast (third mistake). Needless to say I became shit faced (this being an understatement) and fell on the pavement a couple of times on our way to the car. I'm COVERED in bruises. I passed out in the car, have no recollection of how we got into the hotel, and started puking in the garbage can next to my bed in the room while Mimi took care of me. I think it's safe to say that night will go down in history as epic/insane/uncalled for. Did I mention I woke up this morning still drunk? Boarded a plane to Athens at 11:15am...still drunk. Disaster.
But you know what is not a disaster? Mykonos. Sweet baby angel I can never leave. Mimi and I arrived in Mykonos after having separate 30 minute connecting flights in Athens into the smallest airport in the universe. I think my house is bigger. We took a 30 second cab ride to the hotel (30 seconds because the driver was going ABOUT 115 miles per hour on a windy single lane road), and checked in around 9pm. Our hotel is beautiful, our room is beautiful, and we have a balcony overlooking the ocean. The only thing to see in Mykonos besides beaches are the windmills, and we can see them from our balcony. We are two minutes walk from the beaches. The woman who runs the desk just brought me a ham and cheese sandwhich while I was writing this blog. I know I haven't seen it in the daytime yet, but consider me in love with this Island.
For now, I must part ways because I've been online too long and need to go to sleep so I can wake up sober tomorrow (for more drinking tomorrow night). I will leave you with this: I could not be more thankful for my life right now, including everyone and everything in it. I love you all so much, thanks for being such loyal readers and sharing in my excitement! And yes, I'm bringing you all AWESOME souveniers.
Cheers!
Sunday:
Mimi and I walked nearly all over the south of Rome, ate dinner in the courtyard of the Pantheon by the fountain, saw a professional tug of war team event, took a zillion pictures (of course), got lost along the river, got found along the river, had a photoshoot, ate gelato twice in two hours, ran into people from our London program, got a bottle of wine, drank in our hotel room, and fell asleep dreaming of Italian men with super sexy accents. We saw a small island, the Trastevere River, a synogog, Ceaser's fort, Augusto's fort, more ruins, more ruins, more ruins...I wish I had my map on my so I actually know the name of everything we saw. Anyways, I think I'm overlapping some of this with my blog from the other day so I'll move on to Monday...AKA the longest day of my life to date.
Monday:
Woke up at 8am for the fourth day in a row, showered, got ready, and went with Mimi to meet Cierra at the Vatican. When we got there, she had been waiting on line for 45 minutes already...and it ended up being another 2 hours until we reached the entrance to the museum. Big suck. We went into the museum, had lunch in the courtyard and saw the Sistine Chapel...which is ten times more impressive than anything anyone has ever described to me. The three of us got gelato and then Cierra had to leave, so Mimi and I sat in the main part of the Vatican in front of the Basillica (sp?) while I quoted Eurotrip. (They've elected a new pope! We could be seeing history in the making! We could be seeing an ARREST in the making.)
While we were there, we waited for Miriam's friend Giacammo, who grew up and lives in Rome. They met at a camp that they both went to for 2 weeks in 2005, and after all these years Miriam thought it would be fun to reunite. Backround on Giacammo: He's a true Italian who is adorable with the sexiest accent especially when he speaks Italian, and I will probably never be able to spell his name correctly. After we met, G (that's what we'll call him) took us all along the river so we could see the Justice building, where he went to high school, and a beautiful castle. Then, we climbed up one TRILLION stairs (not unlike Montmarte, in Paris) to reach this balcony (blanking on the name) so we could over look the Piazza Popolo and see all of Rome just as the sun was setting. Como se dici "breathtaking" in Italiano?
After the balcony we had dinner, where G ordered for us in Italian and we all drank lots of wine. We went to G's car after dinner and then found a bar along the river after walking for about an hour and, of course, stopping for gelato. The whole time we're walking I'm explaining to G that we have an early flight, have to be up by 6am and leave by 7, we're tired from a long ass day, and I don't want to go home any later than 10 30...I know I sound like a buzz kill but I was too tired from drinking, and I can drink any time I want in London. It's just not why I came to Rome. The only reason why we ended up going at all is because G told us he'd drive us back to our hotel, which was about an hour away from the city center and super hard to get to. (Also right next to a prison in an area that is the Italian equivilant of Harlem.)
So we get to this bar that has 15 euro pitchers of some brazilian cocktail with strawberries that G convinces us is the best. The three of us sucked it down in about 15 minutes, and then all of a sudden ms. buzz kill decides she needs another pitcher. So we order another (first mistake), this time with tequila (second mistake) and I drink a lot of it super fast (third mistake). Needless to say I became shit faced (this being an understatement) and fell on the pavement a couple of times on our way to the car. I'm COVERED in bruises. I passed out in the car, have no recollection of how we got into the hotel, and started puking in the garbage can next to my bed in the room while Mimi took care of me. I think it's safe to say that night will go down in history as epic/insane/uncalled for. Did I mention I woke up this morning still drunk? Boarded a plane to Athens at 11:15am...still drunk. Disaster.
But you know what is not a disaster? Mykonos. Sweet baby angel I can never leave. Mimi and I arrived in Mykonos after having separate 30 minute connecting flights in Athens into the smallest airport in the universe. I think my house is bigger. We took a 30 second cab ride to the hotel (30 seconds because the driver was going ABOUT 115 miles per hour on a windy single lane road), and checked in around 9pm. Our hotel is beautiful, our room is beautiful, and we have a balcony overlooking the ocean. The only thing to see in Mykonos besides beaches are the windmills, and we can see them from our balcony. We are two minutes walk from the beaches. The woman who runs the desk just brought me a ham and cheese sandwhich while I was writing this blog. I know I haven't seen it in the daytime yet, but consider me in love with this Island.
For now, I must part ways because I've been online too long and need to go to sleep so I can wake up sober tomorrow (for more drinking tomorrow night). I will leave you with this: I could not be more thankful for my life right now, including everyone and everything in it. I love you all so much, thanks for being such loyal readers and sharing in my excitement! And yes, I'm bringing you all AWESOME souveniers.
Cheers!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Si, si. I'll call you a cab, it's very far
Ok gang this is going to be the fastest post ever with a shit ton of typos because Im in an internet cafe in Rome that is 4 euros for a half hour and the keyboard is really sticky. Just didnt want to keep my fans out of the loop...
Ciao from Campo de Fiori!
Its been the most incredible 2 days so far, and tomorrow nothing should be any different for our last night in Rome. After a super shitty flight delay caused by the goddamn strike in France, we Miriam and I finally arrived at the airport in Rome at 10 30, and didnt get to our hotel until 12am because its super far from the city center. The whole way there the cab driver kept telling us to pay more money and get a hotel in a normal location. These intrustions were shouted over the Alanis Morsette CD he had blasting in the front...so I wasnt super jumpy to take his advice. When we arrived at the hotel we realized it was well worth what we paid ($60 a night each!) because it is a four star hotel that is super beautiful with the NICEST staff. Miriam and I messed up the shuttle three times and they still agreed to drive us to the metro!
So yesterday was about 65 degrees, a far cry from what I can only describe as "the situation" in London...(40 degrees!)...so I wore a dress. Miriam and I were downtown in the city center by 10am, where we took a tour of the colosseo, and the Palentino ruins. After that, we had our first real Italian meal- I had lasagna and a glass of white wine, followed, of course, by gelato. Miriam and I have had gelato twice a day every day since we got here...today we had it twice in 2 hours. Its insane how I actually have to go back to the states eventually where gelato is very hard to find.
After lunch we met Alex B (a friend of mine from AU) and her friend Aley at the Trevi Fountain (and I forgot to throw a coin in and make a wish for a beautiful Italian man with a moped!) Then we all sat on the Spanish Steps and chatted with the most beautiful view. Everywhere you go in Rome youre bound to be looking at something amazing. After that, sooo much shopping! Then the Pantheon (which was incredible!), Piazza Novana, and dinner where I had more wine and a pizza that was bigger than my head. Of course, more gelato, and then home to pass out for a couple of hours before we woke up today to start the day again at 8am.
After my shower and breakfast at the hotel (nutella on EVERYTHING), we went to the city center again and literally walked for about 2 hours, saw a Van Goh (sp?) exhibit at the museum, ate lunch, and have been walking every since. We only stop for gelato and leather/liquor stores!! Right now, were just outside Campo de Fiori, where we will probably go tonight for dinner and a little drinking!
Sorry this cant be more in depth, running out of time and just wanted to catch you all up! Im having the most amazing time of my life. I am literally in love with this city and this country, even the language! (Which Mimi and I are slowly learning!) More to come in a few days miss you all.
Cheers!
Ciao from Campo de Fiori!
Its been the most incredible 2 days so far, and tomorrow nothing should be any different for our last night in Rome. After a super shitty flight delay caused by the goddamn strike in France, we Miriam and I finally arrived at the airport in Rome at 10 30, and didnt get to our hotel until 12am because its super far from the city center. The whole way there the cab driver kept telling us to pay more money and get a hotel in a normal location. These intrustions were shouted over the Alanis Morsette CD he had blasting in the front...so I wasnt super jumpy to take his advice. When we arrived at the hotel we realized it was well worth what we paid ($60 a night each!) because it is a four star hotel that is super beautiful with the NICEST staff. Miriam and I messed up the shuttle three times and they still agreed to drive us to the metro!
So yesterday was about 65 degrees, a far cry from what I can only describe as "the situation" in London...(40 degrees!)...so I wore a dress. Miriam and I were downtown in the city center by 10am, where we took a tour of the colosseo, and the Palentino ruins. After that, we had our first real Italian meal- I had lasagna and a glass of white wine, followed, of course, by gelato. Miriam and I have had gelato twice a day every day since we got here...today we had it twice in 2 hours. Its insane how I actually have to go back to the states eventually where gelato is very hard to find.
After lunch we met Alex B (a friend of mine from AU) and her friend Aley at the Trevi Fountain (and I forgot to throw a coin in and make a wish for a beautiful Italian man with a moped!) Then we all sat on the Spanish Steps and chatted with the most beautiful view. Everywhere you go in Rome youre bound to be looking at something amazing. After that, sooo much shopping! Then the Pantheon (which was incredible!), Piazza Novana, and dinner where I had more wine and a pizza that was bigger than my head. Of course, more gelato, and then home to pass out for a couple of hours before we woke up today to start the day again at 8am.
After my shower and breakfast at the hotel (nutella on EVERYTHING), we went to the city center again and literally walked for about 2 hours, saw a Van Goh (sp?) exhibit at the museum, ate lunch, and have been walking every since. We only stop for gelato and leather/liquor stores!! Right now, were just outside Campo de Fiori, where we will probably go tonight for dinner and a little drinking!
Sorry this cant be more in depth, running out of time and just wanted to catch you all up! Im having the most amazing time of my life. I am literally in love with this city and this country, even the language! (Which Mimi and I are slowly learning!) More to come in a few days miss you all.
Cheers!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
That swan is going to kill us
I'm gonna try to keep this one super short so you're not overwhelmed by my sudden burst of blogging, it's just that so much has been going on! First of all, I made my schedule this week for Spring 2010 classes, and if everything works out, it should be a good semester. I'm taking three classes for my major (one with Camille, of course!), one for my minor, and one science Gen-Ed. No classes Wednesday and out by 12:35pm on T/F! Very excited. Second of all, the reason why so much has been going on is because (!!) Camille has been in London all week.
Although we didn't really do much during the day, (with the exception of our PrimeMark adventure), I saw Camille and Alyssia almost every night this week. This has been nice for two reasons: 1. I love them and 2. My flatmates and I are all driving each other insane. With the flatmate issue aside, it's been a really great week. Camille and I made dinner together one night at my apartment, and then again last night at her cousin's apartment (where she's staying) with Alyssia. We also went out one night to a cheap pub dinner, where I scared the crap out of the two of them by stealing about 8 forks. Camille leaves tomorrow and I will be sad day all days until January when we are re-united.
Yesterday during the day, me, Miriam, and Emily (Alyssia's roommate who I am in love with because she's a sassy bitch), went to Hampton Court Palace to see where Henry VIII lived and banged. And bang he did! He had like, a 100 mistresses and about 327 wives. We had tried to go see this palace last week, but Emily did not read the directions very well and we ended up about 12 miles away from where we needed to be. This time, we took the right train, which was an overground train that left London, to get to the Hampton Court. We spent a couple of hours there, had lunch, and walked around the multiple acres of gardens outside the palace. Even though it was FREEZING, we were lucky that the sun was shining, and it ended up being a pretty awesome day.
So I leave you with a warning. I leave tomorrow for a 9 day trip through Rome & Greece with Miriam. One of two things will happen (in relation to my blog): either I'll find time in my busy schedule to get to an internet cafe once every couple of days and update, or I'll get home without having posted at all and not be able to muster up the energy to write about 9 days and two countries and countless experiences so I won't bother writing at all. I'm going to try though, because this blog is not only to keep you guys in the loop but also for myself to have some kind of written account of my life here, and I wouldn't want to skip such a big part. Wish me luck and a bon voyage!
Cheers!
Although we didn't really do much during the day, (with the exception of our PrimeMark adventure), I saw Camille and Alyssia almost every night this week. This has been nice for two reasons: 1. I love them and 2. My flatmates and I are all driving each other insane. With the flatmate issue aside, it's been a really great week. Camille and I made dinner together one night at my apartment, and then again last night at her cousin's apartment (where she's staying) with Alyssia. We also went out one night to a cheap pub dinner, where I scared the crap out of the two of them by stealing about 8 forks. Camille leaves tomorrow and I will be sad day all days until January when we are re-united.
Yesterday during the day, me, Miriam, and Emily (Alyssia's roommate who I am in love with because she's a sassy bitch), went to Hampton Court Palace to see where Henry VIII lived and banged. And bang he did! He had like, a 100 mistresses and about 327 wives. We had tried to go see this palace last week, but Emily did not read the directions very well and we ended up about 12 miles away from where we needed to be. This time, we took the right train, which was an overground train that left London, to get to the Hampton Court. We spent a couple of hours there, had lunch, and walked around the multiple acres of gardens outside the palace. Even though it was FREEZING, we were lucky that the sun was shining, and it ended up being a pretty awesome day.
So I leave you with a warning. I leave tomorrow for a 9 day trip through Rome & Greece with Miriam. One of two things will happen (in relation to my blog): either I'll find time in my busy schedule to get to an internet cafe once every couple of days and update, or I'll get home without having posted at all and not be able to muster up the energy to write about 9 days and two countries and countless experiences so I won't bother writing at all. I'm going to try though, because this blog is not only to keep you guys in the loop but also for myself to have some kind of written account of my life here, and I wouldn't want to skip such a big part. Wish me luck and a bon voyage!
Cheers!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
You don't understand...this is my GIRLFRIEND
I realize that this is my first post in 27 years that is actually about London, and I'm gonna try to make it very riveting so that you think I'm having as much fun in my host country as I am in the countries I'm visiting. Something that has added to the fun lately? Having two of my best friends visit.
Now, Alyssia has been here for about a month, which is very exciting and nice. But this week, Elsha came to visit London with Scott because his parents live nearby. Last Monday night, I went over to Scott's parent's flat in Green Park and stayed catching up with the two of them until 4 o'clock in the morning. I was soooo happy to see her (although it made me miss Nomo!). Although, I think the thing that really made it amazing was that Scott's mom made cookies that she obviously baked with a touch of crack, since they were the best cookies I've ever had in my life, and he sent me home with about 20 of them.
Thursday, the three of us went to Camden market, my favorite place in London. I don't know if I posted about it the first time I went, but Camden is an amazing flea market that is basically the size of the town I grew up in (small for a town, fucking HUGE for a market!). Elsha and I bought matching clock necklaces, which are sooo cute and sooo worth the 8 quid, and I bought some gifts for my mom and my brother. We ate the messiest crepes ever, and Elsha took pictures of my face smothered in nutella so make sure you're looking out for that on facebook as I will almost immediately de-tag. After Camden, we met Alyssia at her flat, (where Elsh nearly peed on the carpet because I had made her hold it so long by scaring her about flea market bathrooms) and then went to a pub for some drinks. Alyssia and I stayed later than Elsha and Scott because they were having dinner with his parents, and we ended up alone on the second floor of bar. This was when I decided to slip a couple of things into my purse, including a pint glass, until Alyssia convinced me that the mirror behind the abandoned bar was two-way and someone was watching us.
Thursday morning, besides getting excited to go to Camden and see Elsha again, I woke up early and got super cute because it was finally interview day! As most of you know, the abroad program I chose comes with an internship that will start in November and last 7 weeks, 3 days a week. My program, FIE, sets me up with an internship based on my resume, interests and major, and then we go on an interview to confirm the placement a couple of weeks before the job actually starts. I will be working for a company called NinetyTen (feel free to look it up!), which has created a business social media network and needs me (pause for effect) to market their new product! I will be working with the co-founder of the company on gaining clients and market share for the newest development of their company. The job sounds really interesting (to me, at least!) and will be excellent experience. My boss seems really nice, and everyone else that I met in the office seems super friendly. I'm also really looking forward to it because internships in the UK are different than those in the US: I won't be making coffee or "learning by watching," I will be a legitimate member of the marketing team with responsibilities that will be entirely my own to manage. I think I'm growing up...
Friday, Mimi and I went to the Museum of Brands for our market project. So many dorky marketing activities going on in my life that I secretly love. I'm glad, because lately I've been realizing more and more that I'm happy with my major, which is semi-important in the scheme of things. The museum was tiny but really cool, there was a section of it that showed the progression of certain products over the past 100 years. We saw displays, for example, that had a can of Pepsi from 1910, 1920, 1930, etc, until 2010. It's so strange to see how long things have been around and how different everything looked.
Onto the most entertaining part of my week, and the story of one of my best nights in London so far. Friday night, Mimi, Mimi's boy Dave (a British guy she's seeing whose adorable and really fun), Elsha, Scott, me and Camille all went to Absolut Ice Bar London to celebrate Camille's arrival to the UK as well of my love of cold alcoholic beverages. We bought our tickets online, got there, received super heavy/warm capes and gloves, and were ushered into a tiny bar made entirely out of ice. The bartenders were bundled up like eskimos, serving drinks in glasses made of ice to customers sitting on ice benches posing with ice sculptures taking pictures with ice. It was fucking AWESOME. The only thing that sucked about it was that we were only allowed to stay for a half hour, because the bar is kept at -5 degrees and I'm pretty sure you could freeze to death.
After the ice bar, we went to a club next door and danced the night away on a 80's style light up dance floor. I got completely shit faced, and then we all parted ways around 3am after a sad goodbye to Elsha and Scott who were leaving London the next morning. In all, it was a pretty epic night.
More to come soon, I have a lot of exciting things planned this week and I plan on updating again on Thursday before I leave for my awesome midterm break vacation with Mimi!
Cheers!
Now, Alyssia has been here for about a month, which is very exciting and nice. But this week, Elsha came to visit London with Scott because his parents live nearby. Last Monday night, I went over to Scott's parent's flat in Green Park and stayed catching up with the two of them until 4 o'clock in the morning. I was soooo happy to see her (although it made me miss Nomo!). Although, I think the thing that really made it amazing was that Scott's mom made cookies that she obviously baked with a touch of crack, since they were the best cookies I've ever had in my life, and he sent me home with about 20 of them.
Thursday, the three of us went to Camden market, my favorite place in London. I don't know if I posted about it the first time I went, but Camden is an amazing flea market that is basically the size of the town I grew up in (small for a town, fucking HUGE for a market!). Elsha and I bought matching clock necklaces, which are sooo cute and sooo worth the 8 quid, and I bought some gifts for my mom and my brother. We ate the messiest crepes ever, and Elsha took pictures of my face smothered in nutella so make sure you're looking out for that on facebook as I will almost immediately de-tag. After Camden, we met Alyssia at her flat, (where Elsh nearly peed on the carpet because I had made her hold it so long by scaring her about flea market bathrooms) and then went to a pub for some drinks. Alyssia and I stayed later than Elsha and Scott because they were having dinner with his parents, and we ended up alone on the second floor of bar. This was when I decided to slip a couple of things into my purse, including a pint glass, until Alyssia convinced me that the mirror behind the abandoned bar was two-way and someone was watching us.
Thursday morning, besides getting excited to go to Camden and see Elsha again, I woke up early and got super cute because it was finally interview day! As most of you know, the abroad program I chose comes with an internship that will start in November and last 7 weeks, 3 days a week. My program, FIE, sets me up with an internship based on my resume, interests and major, and then we go on an interview to confirm the placement a couple of weeks before the job actually starts. I will be working for a company called NinetyTen (feel free to look it up!), which has created a business social media network and needs me (pause for effect) to market their new product! I will be working with the co-founder of the company on gaining clients and market share for the newest development of their company. The job sounds really interesting (to me, at least!) and will be excellent experience. My boss seems really nice, and everyone else that I met in the office seems super friendly. I'm also really looking forward to it because internships in the UK are different than those in the US: I won't be making coffee or "learning by watching," I will be a legitimate member of the marketing team with responsibilities that will be entirely my own to manage. I think I'm growing up...
Friday, Mimi and I went to the Museum of Brands for our market project. So many dorky marketing activities going on in my life that I secretly love. I'm glad, because lately I've been realizing more and more that I'm happy with my major, which is semi-important in the scheme of things. The museum was tiny but really cool, there was a section of it that showed the progression of certain products over the past 100 years. We saw displays, for example, that had a can of Pepsi from 1910, 1920, 1930, etc, until 2010. It's so strange to see how long things have been around and how different everything looked.
Onto the most entertaining part of my week, and the story of one of my best nights in London so far. Friday night, Mimi, Mimi's boy Dave (a British guy she's seeing whose adorable and really fun), Elsha, Scott, me and Camille all went to Absolut Ice Bar London to celebrate Camille's arrival to the UK as well of my love of cold alcoholic beverages. We bought our tickets online, got there, received super heavy/warm capes and gloves, and were ushered into a tiny bar made entirely out of ice. The bartenders were bundled up like eskimos, serving drinks in glasses made of ice to customers sitting on ice benches posing with ice sculptures taking pictures with ice. It was fucking AWESOME. The only thing that sucked about it was that we were only allowed to stay for a half hour, because the bar is kept at -5 degrees and I'm pretty sure you could freeze to death.
After the ice bar, we went to a club next door and danced the night away on a 80's style light up dance floor. I got completely shit faced, and then we all parted ways around 3am after a sad goodbye to Elsha and Scott who were leaving London the next morning. In all, it was a pretty epic night.
More to come soon, I have a lot of exciting things planned this week and I plan on updating again on Thursday before I leave for my awesome midterm break vacation with Mimi!
Cheers!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
How do you transport negative space?
So, just like two weeks ago, I'm going to force you to read the below post before you continue on with this one. Because then you can really feel like you were with me all weekend in Paris, instead of just for part of the time that I describe in this second post.
So, after Montmarte, me, Kate, Vanessa and her posse made our way to see the Moulin Rouge. As it is one of my all time favorite movies, I had told Vanessa that this was a priority for me. To get to the Moulin Rouge, we had to walk through the Red Light District, which I thought was only in Amsterdam. But no, Paris has its own little sex town right in the heart of it's beautiful architecture and culture. We passed stores declaring "SEX HERE" & "WET PUSSYS" and resisted the temptation to enter the "Museum of Erotica." It was all very romantic. One we found the Moulin Rouge, we took some fun pictures and decided to go home and eat.
We stopped at a supermarket by Vanessa's flat and her friend Danny made us dinner. Then, Vanessa made plans for us to go out. Unfortunately, I was still sick and wanted to save my energy for my last day in Paris, so I decided to stay in. I know everyone thinks I'm lame, but I can drink anywhere. I'm only in Paris once (so far, that I know of) and I don't want to miss anything because I'm hungover or even just overtired. So I watched some TV on Vanessa's computer and went to sleep early. So responsible!
The next morning we planned on spending most of the day attacking the world's largest museum: the Louvre. We stopped at a breakfast place and ate the most delicious crepes, and then got on the metro. Have I mentioned that people in Paris smell REALLY bad? Because this fact is exentuated (sp?) on the metro. I almost up-ed my crepe. They don't believe in deoderant, apparently.
The Louve was an adventure and a half. First of all, it is the most beautiful building I've ever seen, and it is HUGE. There is a giant garden with a lake and the famous glass pyramid in the courtyard, and people everywhere. Thankfully, due to Vanessa's awesome french/bull shitting skills, we not only cut the line and snuck in the back, but we got our tickets for free even though Kate forgot her student ID. (Word to the wise: if you ever find yourself traveling in Europe and you're in the posession of a student ID, use it. I cannot tell you how much money I've saved.)
On the way through security, I made a speech about how much I loved my friends and enjoyed my weekend and Katie started crying. So we were off to a great start. We then got lost in the museum for about an hour looking for the Venus de Milo, which I was convinced for a while didn't exist because no one would tell us where it was. (Finally we found it. Bitch has no arms.) We also saw the Mona Lisa, which was not as small as everyone made it seem, but also not that entertaining. Here's my thing about art: Modern art can suck it. I go into the MOMA or the Tate Modern and it's like, okay, I could paint that, you could paint that, my dog could paint that. The paintings/sculptures in the Louvre were amazing, I appreciated the fact that I could not paint anything in the whole museum. Respect. But what I don't understand is why certain pieces are considered so prestigious and famous, while others just as good go unrecognized. Case in point: the Mona Lisa. It's amazing, sure. But it was on a wall opposite this piece that was bigger than my flat, and painted with such intense detail I just couldn't fathom why no one was crowding around it. At the end of the day, The Mona Lisa is just some ugly bitch that no one really knew anything about. HOLY SHIT SHE'S STONEHENGE. (If you're a loyal follower of my blogs you already know my issue with stonehenge.)
After the Louve, we walked through the gardens, took the metro to the Luxomburg gardens, and sat to eat lunch. It was kind of rushed because Kate and I had trains to catch, so we made our way back to Vanessa's to pack and say our goodbyes. Vanessa and I took Kate to the train station, where she cried again, (sorry Kate, I love you too I'm just dead inside!) and then Vanessa and I got Mcdonalds while we waited for my train home.
I cannot possibly write anymore about Paris. I'm tired and I'm waiting for my laundry to be done. Some bitch stole my dryer while I was writing this post. Hope it was worth it!
Cheers!
So, after Montmarte, me, Kate, Vanessa and her posse made our way to see the Moulin Rouge. As it is one of my all time favorite movies, I had told Vanessa that this was a priority for me. To get to the Moulin Rouge, we had to walk through the Red Light District, which I thought was only in Amsterdam. But no, Paris has its own little sex town right in the heart of it's beautiful architecture and culture. We passed stores declaring "SEX HERE" & "WET PUSSYS" and resisted the temptation to enter the "Museum of Erotica." It was all very romantic. One we found the Moulin Rouge, we took some fun pictures and decided to go home and eat.
We stopped at a supermarket by Vanessa's flat and her friend Danny made us dinner. Then, Vanessa made plans for us to go out. Unfortunately, I was still sick and wanted to save my energy for my last day in Paris, so I decided to stay in. I know everyone thinks I'm lame, but I can drink anywhere. I'm only in Paris once (so far, that I know of) and I don't want to miss anything because I'm hungover or even just overtired. So I watched some TV on Vanessa's computer and went to sleep early. So responsible!
The next morning we planned on spending most of the day attacking the world's largest museum: the Louvre. We stopped at a breakfast place and ate the most delicious crepes, and then got on the metro. Have I mentioned that people in Paris smell REALLY bad? Because this fact is exentuated (sp?) on the metro. I almost up-ed my crepe. They don't believe in deoderant, apparently.
The Louve was an adventure and a half. First of all, it is the most beautiful building I've ever seen, and it is HUGE. There is a giant garden with a lake and the famous glass pyramid in the courtyard, and people everywhere. Thankfully, due to Vanessa's awesome french/bull shitting skills, we not only cut the line and snuck in the back, but we got our tickets for free even though Kate forgot her student ID. (Word to the wise: if you ever find yourself traveling in Europe and you're in the posession of a student ID, use it. I cannot tell you how much money I've saved.)
On the way through security, I made a speech about how much I loved my friends and enjoyed my weekend and Katie started crying. So we were off to a great start. We then got lost in the museum for about an hour looking for the Venus de Milo, which I was convinced for a while didn't exist because no one would tell us where it was. (Finally we found it. Bitch has no arms.) We also saw the Mona Lisa, which was not as small as everyone made it seem, but also not that entertaining. Here's my thing about art: Modern art can suck it. I go into the MOMA or the Tate Modern and it's like, okay, I could paint that, you could paint that, my dog could paint that. The paintings/sculptures in the Louvre were amazing, I appreciated the fact that I could not paint anything in the whole museum. Respect. But what I don't understand is why certain pieces are considered so prestigious and famous, while others just as good go unrecognized. Case in point: the Mona Lisa. It's amazing, sure. But it was on a wall opposite this piece that was bigger than my flat, and painted with such intense detail I just couldn't fathom why no one was crowding around it. At the end of the day, The Mona Lisa is just some ugly bitch that no one really knew anything about. HOLY SHIT SHE'S STONEHENGE. (If you're a loyal follower of my blogs you already know my issue with stonehenge.)
After the Louve, we walked through the gardens, took the metro to the Luxomburg gardens, and sat to eat lunch. It was kind of rushed because Kate and I had trains to catch, so we made our way back to Vanessa's to pack and say our goodbyes. Vanessa and I took Kate to the train station, where she cried again, (sorry Kate, I love you too I'm just dead inside!) and then Vanessa and I got Mcdonalds while we waited for my train home.
I cannot possibly write anymore about Paris. I'm tired and I'm waiting for my laundry to be done. Some bitch stole my dryer while I was writing this post. Hope it was worth it!
Cheers!
If you learn the basic phrases, everyone will believe you're French
Apologies for the delay in this blog post, I know the anticipation levels were HIGH. Especially considering I just found out there's someone in Russia whose been following my blog. (Consider this your shout out, whoever you are. God I love the internet.)
So last weekend, I visited the fabulous city of Paris with my best friend Katie, where we met up with our other best friend Vanessa. (Yes I'm very popular...my other best friend Alyssa is in New York.) I got to Paris around 8pm Friday night, when I pulled up to Paris Gare de Nord (sp?) in my fancy Eurostar train. I then followed Vanessa's AMAZING directions (seriously, no sarcasm) to her apartment. I took a metro 20 stops, a tram, and then walked. And I made it without getting lost. I am AWESOME at Paris.
I sat outside her building puffing on my inhaler since I still had bronchitus, but when I saw Kate and Vanessa walking towards me I got real excited and started running. After fabulous hugs and hellos, we made our way into Vanessa's flat. (Although I don't think that's what they're called there, whatever I'm in London and it's all rubbing off on me.) We then spent the night catching up and trying to find a fun place to get drinks, which did not go as planned. We walked in circles for miles looking for this one bar, and on the way we saw one thousand roller bladers. No exaggeration. We finally ended up at Auto-Passion, this race car inspired pub, where the waiter tried to tell me they were out of hot water until Vanessa explained to him in French that my throat hurt and I needed tea.
The next morning, we woke up super early so that we could see all of Paris in two days. Vanessa's roommate had made us a handy dandy list of sights, so we grabbed a pastry on the run and made our way to the Eiffel tower. It was 70 degrees and sunny! When we got to the tower though, the line to get in was hours long. Plus, it had been evacuated twice the weekend before due to terrorist threats, so I didn't want to waste time AND risk getting to the front only to get kicked out. So we decided to just take a bunch of pictures in front of it instead...Katie and I were shocked to learn that it's brown. Are we the only ones that thought it was black?
From the Eiffel tower, we walked along the river (there is no way I'm going to remember the name of everything, and if I do, the spelling will be horribly embarrassing. Just warning you now) and took some pictures on a beautiful bridge. We walked to the Arc de Triumph, and on the way ended up on Champs Elysees (pronounced Ehleezay, I think)...which is pretty much the Rodeo Drive of Paris: really expensive shopping leading up to the Arc. We held our breaths and managed to pass by the temptation, making our way into the Arc via an underground tunnel. Once we were in it, Katie and I decided it was our favorite thing of Paris. (I realize we had seen very little at that point, but we're very easily entertained.) It was so beautiful, and the weather was so nice, I just wanted to live in the middle of it. But I think they frown on that.
After the arc, we went to lunch at a cafe where I experienced first hand that French people like to take 3 hours to eat lunch and 5 hours to bring you the check. After our million hour lunch, we went to H&M. Now, I now you must be thinking 1 or 2 or both of the following: first of all Genna, you said you were able to surpass temptation to shop, you clearly lied. Second of all, why H&M? You're in PARIS! Go somewhere European so we can all be jealous of your fashionista wardrobe instead of heckling you for wearing T-shirts all the time! Well, concerned citizen, first of all, I was not able to walk by all those stores without going into at least one. I am only human. Second of all, it was because of the shiny bags. As a marketing major, you'd think I'd be aware of and therefore immune to psychological advertising tricks, but unfortunately, my brain is not that developed and certainly not that focused when it encounters something shiny. (And as it turns out, same goes for Katie and Vanessa.) The H&M store had opened the day before, and was kicking off its move to the Champs Elysees by putting purchases in stiff white bags with shiny letters on them. I wish I was kidding. I wanted that bag so bad.
After buying a cute little sweater and NOT getting the bag (I almost filed a complaint but I don't speak French), we met up with a couple of Vanessa's friends and went to get Haagan Dazs. It was the most expensive two scoops of ice cream I've ever eaten, at 5 euros. When we were done eating Haagan Dazs, Vanessa and her friends decided to trick me into going to a wine festival at the top of a mountain. Now, obviously this sounds like a fabulous idea: lots of fun on a beautiful Saturday, sitting at the top of a scenic mountain on the steps of an amazing church overlooking all of Paris, sipping wine. But no one warned me that in order to get to the top of this mountain, I had to climb 243 thousand stairs (rough estimate). Also, I found out later that there is actually a train that takes you to the top that no one felt the need to tell me about.
At the top of the mountain, (Montmarte, yes I looked it up), there were thousands of people sitting on the steps of the Sacre Coeur (sp?). Sacre Coeur is a huge, gorgeously ornate basilica, for those of you who are not cultured enough to be familiar with all my fancy french references. (I have a wikipedia tab open right now.) We stopped at a tent and got a bottle of wine and escargo, which I did not drink or eat, respectively. (I don't like wine, and the second thing is snails. So, no thanks. I don't care how much I've grown up, I'm not eating snails.) We sat on the steps and enjoyed the view, which was absolutely incredible. You can see the entire city from the top of Montmarte, and it was so amazing to look at while I basked in the pride of having climbed all those steps. We met up with some more of Vanessa's friends (she's very popular as well), walked through the basilica (which was also incredible), and then made our way back down to the streets.
Enough for one post, I'm gonna break this up like the Berlin one so you guys have some time to digest. Plus I get really nervous that I'm gonna write a ton of shit and then my computer is gonna crash. In which case I would die.
Cheers!
So last weekend, I visited the fabulous city of Paris with my best friend Katie, where we met up with our other best friend Vanessa. (Yes I'm very popular...my other best friend Alyssa is in New York.) I got to Paris around 8pm Friday night, when I pulled up to Paris Gare de Nord (sp?) in my fancy Eurostar train. I then followed Vanessa's AMAZING directions (seriously, no sarcasm) to her apartment. I took a metro 20 stops, a tram, and then walked. And I made it without getting lost. I am AWESOME at Paris.
I sat outside her building puffing on my inhaler since I still had bronchitus, but when I saw Kate and Vanessa walking towards me I got real excited and started running. After fabulous hugs and hellos, we made our way into Vanessa's flat. (Although I don't think that's what they're called there, whatever I'm in London and it's all rubbing off on me.) We then spent the night catching up and trying to find a fun place to get drinks, which did not go as planned. We walked in circles for miles looking for this one bar, and on the way we saw one thousand roller bladers. No exaggeration. We finally ended up at Auto-Passion, this race car inspired pub, where the waiter tried to tell me they were out of hot water until Vanessa explained to him in French that my throat hurt and I needed tea.
The next morning, we woke up super early so that we could see all of Paris in two days. Vanessa's roommate had made us a handy dandy list of sights, so we grabbed a pastry on the run and made our way to the Eiffel tower. It was 70 degrees and sunny! When we got to the tower though, the line to get in was hours long. Plus, it had been evacuated twice the weekend before due to terrorist threats, so I didn't want to waste time AND risk getting to the front only to get kicked out. So we decided to just take a bunch of pictures in front of it instead...Katie and I were shocked to learn that it's brown. Are we the only ones that thought it was black?
From the Eiffel tower, we walked along the river (there is no way I'm going to remember the name of everything, and if I do, the spelling will be horribly embarrassing. Just warning you now) and took some pictures on a beautiful bridge. We walked to the Arc de Triumph, and on the way ended up on Champs Elysees (pronounced Ehleezay, I think)...which is pretty much the Rodeo Drive of Paris: really expensive shopping leading up to the Arc. We held our breaths and managed to pass by the temptation, making our way into the Arc via an underground tunnel. Once we were in it, Katie and I decided it was our favorite thing of Paris. (I realize we had seen very little at that point, but we're very easily entertained.) It was so beautiful, and the weather was so nice, I just wanted to live in the middle of it. But I think they frown on that.
After the arc, we went to lunch at a cafe where I experienced first hand that French people like to take 3 hours to eat lunch and 5 hours to bring you the check. After our million hour lunch, we went to H&M. Now, I now you must be thinking 1 or 2 or both of the following: first of all Genna, you said you were able to surpass temptation to shop, you clearly lied. Second of all, why H&M? You're in PARIS! Go somewhere European so we can all be jealous of your fashionista wardrobe instead of heckling you for wearing T-shirts all the time! Well, concerned citizen, first of all, I was not able to walk by all those stores without going into at least one. I am only human. Second of all, it was because of the shiny bags. As a marketing major, you'd think I'd be aware of and therefore immune to psychological advertising tricks, but unfortunately, my brain is not that developed and certainly not that focused when it encounters something shiny. (And as it turns out, same goes for Katie and Vanessa.) The H&M store had opened the day before, and was kicking off its move to the Champs Elysees by putting purchases in stiff white bags with shiny letters on them. I wish I was kidding. I wanted that bag so bad.
After buying a cute little sweater and NOT getting the bag (I almost filed a complaint but I don't speak French), we met up with a couple of Vanessa's friends and went to get Haagan Dazs. It was the most expensive two scoops of ice cream I've ever eaten, at 5 euros. When we were done eating Haagan Dazs, Vanessa and her friends decided to trick me into going to a wine festival at the top of a mountain. Now, obviously this sounds like a fabulous idea: lots of fun on a beautiful Saturday, sitting at the top of a scenic mountain on the steps of an amazing church overlooking all of Paris, sipping wine. But no one warned me that in order to get to the top of this mountain, I had to climb 243 thousand stairs (rough estimate). Also, I found out later that there is actually a train that takes you to the top that no one felt the need to tell me about.
At the top of the mountain, (Montmarte, yes I looked it up), there were thousands of people sitting on the steps of the Sacre Coeur (sp?). Sacre Coeur is a huge, gorgeously ornate basilica, for those of you who are not cultured enough to be familiar with all my fancy french references. (I have a wikipedia tab open right now.) We stopped at a tent and got a bottle of wine and escargo, which I did not drink or eat, respectively. (I don't like wine, and the second thing is snails. So, no thanks. I don't care how much I've grown up, I'm not eating snails.) We sat on the steps and enjoyed the view, which was absolutely incredible. You can see the entire city from the top of Montmarte, and it was so amazing to look at while I basked in the pride of having climbed all those steps. We met up with some more of Vanessa's friends (she's very popular as well), walked through the basilica (which was also incredible), and then made our way back down to the streets.
Enough for one post, I'm gonna break this up like the Berlin one so you guys have some time to digest. Plus I get really nervous that I'm gonna write a ton of shit and then my computer is gonna crash. In which case I would die.
Cheers!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
They're having a grand old two for one time!
This is an appendix to the below post so get yourself caught up before you read any further. Because my posts are like Harry Potter and if you read the second one before the first one it's like...well, you'll still understand it I guess but you'll miss half the fun.
So anyways, we finally made it to the Berlin Wall, where there was an exhibit with tons of information on the war and Hitler's rise to power. It was all very interesting, and weird to see pictures of Nazi troops standing in the exact spot where we just ate a waffle...(See, I'm referencing the below post so you feel like you're missing out if you haven't read it. HA!)
After the wall, we went back to the Hostel to clean up and go to dinner. We went to eat at this amazing little Southern Restaurant called the Louisiana Kid, which amused me because since we had been in Germany all day we had only consumed generic Italian and American food (we had Pizza for lunch earlier). The dinner was delicious and afterwards, we were drawn into a bar called Susan's because the girl outside (who turned out to be Susan herself! although we affectionately called her Suzie) advertised a two-for-one drink special. We ordered two Sex on the Beach's, courtest of our new Bartender friend Dave, and some of us (and by some of us, I mean me) got completely drunk after a second round of what I can only describe as a gallon of alcohol with a splash of juice. We got hit on by some British guys (haha) in town for a bachelor party who bought us shots and called Camille a "cheeky Bastard", and then went home for the night. When we got back to the Hostel, we drank a bit more with the other people staying there (they were playing Kings in the common room, how could we resist?) and then went to sleep.
We woke up the next morning with plans to walk the city again and see what interested us, stopping at a few shops along the way to get some souvenirs. Eventually, we made our way to the "Jew Museum", which was something that I had planned on us doing while in Berlin. The museum was very interesting, and we spent a good two or three hours looking around. I thought it was only going to be about the Holocaust and the history of WWII, but it was actually about extensive Jewish History. The museum was also very interactive, which made it more fun. There was a section with big foam Hebrew letters that asked you to spell out words, and when I completed it successfully, Camille was shocked to learn that I do, in fact, read Hebrew. You learn something new everyday, Camille...this Jew is FULL of surprises.
After the Jewish Museum, we searched high and low for the Holocaust Memorial which turned out to be a huge bust. It was literally like 200 concrete cubes of all different heights, with no inscriptions on them or symbolic meaning. It cost 27 million euros to make and when the architect was asked what it meant he actually said that he didn't want to "give it away" because he wanted people to "draw there own meaning from it." Bull shit. He didn't know, so he wanted to see if we could figure something out to make him look good. The thing was a piece of crap. You killed all those people, and then spent all their money to honor them with something that reminds me a shocking amount of Stonehenge (God, what another piece of shit no one should waste their time seeing...)
Anyways, after the anger over the memorial wore off, we ventured on to have dinner at McDonalds, (which is like a legit restaurant in Europe) and then walked back to Susan's for drinks. We were both exhausted since we had walked about 15 miles in two days and also, someone in our room at the hostel snored and farted in their sleep while wearing questionably small tighty wighties. After drinks, we said our goodbyes to our new friends at Susan's and headed home to sleep. Since we were waking up at different times to leave Berlin, Camille and I said our goodbyes before we went to bed. They would have been filled with sadness if I didn't know I was seeing her in TWO WEEKS in London! WOO HOO!
More exciting posts to come for sure despite the fact that I am currently sick with bronchitus as a result of a long and strenuous weekend. Paris on Friday with Katie and Vanessa, which obviously means my next entry will be just as long because I am continuing the game (another reference from previous post, HA!). I realize I forgot to end the last post with my usual sign off so,
Cheers!
So anyways, we finally made it to the Berlin Wall, where there was an exhibit with tons of information on the war and Hitler's rise to power. It was all very interesting, and weird to see pictures of Nazi troops standing in the exact spot where we just ate a waffle...(See, I'm referencing the below post so you feel like you're missing out if you haven't read it. HA!)
After the wall, we went back to the Hostel to clean up and go to dinner. We went to eat at this amazing little Southern Restaurant called the Louisiana Kid, which amused me because since we had been in Germany all day we had only consumed generic Italian and American food (we had Pizza for lunch earlier). The dinner was delicious and afterwards, we were drawn into a bar called Susan's because the girl outside (who turned out to be Susan herself! although we affectionately called her Suzie) advertised a two-for-one drink special. We ordered two Sex on the Beach's, courtest of our new Bartender friend Dave, and some of us (and by some of us, I mean me) got completely drunk after a second round of what I can only describe as a gallon of alcohol with a splash of juice. We got hit on by some British guys (haha) in town for a bachelor party who bought us shots and called Camille a "cheeky Bastard", and then went home for the night. When we got back to the Hostel, we drank a bit more with the other people staying there (they were playing Kings in the common room, how could we resist?) and then went to sleep.
 |
| Drink and a fruit salad! |
After the Jewish Museum, we searched high and low for the Holocaust Memorial which turned out to be a huge bust. It was literally like 200 concrete cubes of all different heights, with no inscriptions on them or symbolic meaning. It cost 27 million euros to make and when the architect was asked what it meant he actually said that he didn't want to "give it away" because he wanted people to "draw there own meaning from it." Bull shit. He didn't know, so he wanted to see if we could figure something out to make him look good. The thing was a piece of crap. You killed all those people, and then spent all their money to honor them with something that reminds me a shocking amount of Stonehenge (God, what another piece of shit no one should waste their time seeing...)
Anyways, after the anger over the memorial wore off, we ventured on to have dinner at McDonalds, (which is like a legit restaurant in Europe) and then walked back to Susan's for drinks. We were both exhausted since we had walked about 15 miles in two days and also, someone in our room at the hostel snored and farted in their sleep while wearing questionably small tighty wighties. After drinks, we said our goodbyes to our new friends at Susan's and headed home to sleep. Since we were waking up at different times to leave Berlin, Camille and I said our goodbyes before we went to bed. They would have been filled with sadness if I didn't know I was seeing her in TWO WEEKS in London! WOO HOO!
More exciting posts to come for sure despite the fact that I am currently sick with bronchitus as a result of a long and strenuous weekend. Paris on Friday with Katie and Vanessa, which obviously means my next entry will be just as long because I am continuing the game (another reference from previous post, HA!). I realize I forgot to end the last post with my usual sign off so,
Cheers!
I dew, Honey: Berlin 2010
Brace yourselves, it's going to be a lengthy post. In fact, I will probably break it up into two posts because you will definitely lose interest midway. Mostly because I have officially started to play my new favorite game that I like to call "Stamp the shit out of my passport."
So, Thursday night, when I should have been packing for Berlin, I went to see Chicago at the theater with Alyssia and Emily, and then out for drinks. It was a lot of fun but due to my procrastination, I didn't get to bed until 3am. I woke up to leave for the airport at 6am, thus beginning the longest, most sleep-deprived weekend of 2010.
The weekend started out exciting enough, with me making it to Gate 5A for the 9:20am flight to Berlin, Germany at 9:18. I wish I was kidding, but due to a small clerical error (and by clerical error, I mean me reading the wrong email and thinking I was flying a completely different airline) I took the subway to the wrong terminal in Heathrow Airport. I've never been so freaked out in my life and in the future, will be leaving for the airport 93 hours prior to my flights to avoid any confusion.
I then boarded what turned out to be the bumpiest flight of my life and eventually found myself in the Berlin TXL airport. The airport was so tiny there was a man practically greeting me at the door to the plane to stamp my passport (!!) and then I was on my way to find a cab. Now, normally this is a very simple task for a New Yorker but alas, Germans speak German and Genna does not. Sad day.
After finally finding a driver who understood enough English to comprehend "Here is the address," I was on my way to the hostel. Along the way, not only did this driver try to kill me via insane driving methods certainly not legal in the United States, he also taught me a few key German phrases I would need to know for my trip. Unfortunately, he spoke very fast so the only one that stuck was "Danke" (thank you), which i repeated multiple times throughout my trip after lengthy English sentences in order to sound like a daft tourist. When I asked my driver where he learned to speak English so well ("so well" being a stretch but his English was better than my German) he responded, "I wake up Monday and walk to English School." Well, more than I can say for myself I suppose.
When the cab pulled up to the address 20 minutes later, I see this tiny Arab girl running towards me jumping up and down, shrieking. First though, crazy person. Second though, obviously this is Camille. While the cab was still moving, she threw open the door and hopped in the back seat, attacking me with love. I cannot even begin to express how much I missed this tiny little person. And with that, the lovefest commenced.
Now, for those of you who know me, (and I hope if you're reading this, you do) you understand that staying in a hostel scares the crap out of me because I am afraid of people and dirty-ness. You also know that I am allergic to exercise. So, our hostel was up about 6 flights of stairs in the shadiest, grimiest building I've ever seen in my life. And then, when you open the door, it's full of people. Although colorful and adorable, I had a minor freakout session before Camille made me throw down my shit and get ready to explore.
Over the next 10 hours, Camille and I walked basically the entire city of Berlin. We saw the tents of Oktoberfest and stopped every hundred feet for delicious meals and treats, including a waffle so large I actually agreed to share it. We rode a Ferris Wheel (at the top of which I FREAKED out, and then at the bottom of which I told Camille I never wanted to get off) and walked through a park heading to the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately for my legs, Camille led us about 3 miles in the wrong direction because she held the map upside down. And of course, the whole time, neither one of us even took a breath we were talking so much. Not seeing each other since June had clearly not slowed us down one bit.
Finishing up in another post so you have time to rest after reading this one!
So, Thursday night, when I should have been packing for Berlin, I went to see Chicago at the theater with Alyssia and Emily, and then out for drinks. It was a lot of fun but due to my procrastination, I didn't get to bed until 3am. I woke up to leave for the airport at 6am, thus beginning the longest, most sleep-deprived weekend of 2010.
The weekend started out exciting enough, with me making it to Gate 5A for the 9:20am flight to Berlin, Germany at 9:18. I wish I was kidding, but due to a small clerical error (and by clerical error, I mean me reading the wrong email and thinking I was flying a completely different airline) I took the subway to the wrong terminal in Heathrow Airport. I've never been so freaked out in my life and in the future, will be leaving for the airport 93 hours prior to my flights to avoid any confusion.
I then boarded what turned out to be the bumpiest flight of my life and eventually found myself in the Berlin TXL airport. The airport was so tiny there was a man practically greeting me at the door to the plane to stamp my passport (!!) and then I was on my way to find a cab. Now, normally this is a very simple task for a New Yorker but alas, Germans speak German and Genna does not. Sad day.
After finally finding a driver who understood enough English to comprehend "Here is the address," I was on my way to the hostel. Along the way, not only did this driver try to kill me via insane driving methods certainly not legal in the United States, he also taught me a few key German phrases I would need to know for my trip. Unfortunately, he spoke very fast so the only one that stuck was "Danke" (thank you), which i repeated multiple times throughout my trip after lengthy English sentences in order to sound like a daft tourist. When I asked my driver where he learned to speak English so well ("so well" being a stretch but his English was better than my German) he responded, "I wake up Monday and walk to English School." Well, more than I can say for myself I suppose.
When the cab pulled up to the address 20 minutes later, I see this tiny Arab girl running towards me jumping up and down, shrieking. First though, crazy person. Second though, obviously this is Camille. While the cab was still moving, she threw open the door and hopped in the back seat, attacking me with love. I cannot even begin to express how much I missed this tiny little person. And with that, the lovefest commenced.
Now, for those of you who know me, (and I hope if you're reading this, you do) you understand that staying in a hostel scares the crap out of me because I am afraid of people and dirty-ness. You also know that I am allergic to exercise. So, our hostel was up about 6 flights of stairs in the shadiest, grimiest building I've ever seen in my life. And then, when you open the door, it's full of people. Although colorful and adorable, I had a minor freakout session before Camille made me throw down my shit and get ready to explore.
 |
| The door to our Hostel |
 |
| Oktoberfest Tents- View from Ferris Wheel |
Finishing up in another post so you have time to rest after reading this one!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
And then he started singing God Bless America
So sorry for the sporadic updates, but I must admit, not a lot has been happening in London besides...Rain. Alas, lots of exciting things are quickly approaching so I will soon be back to my bi-weekly posts!
So, as I mentioned, it's raining. In fact, it's hard to remember the last time it wasn't raining. I miss the sun and I miss sobriety. My drinking habit has increased ten-fold since arrival in the great city of London, where I consume alcohol more frequently than water and go out partying more consistently than I ever attended class at AU. My flatmates and I have had some great nights this past week (O'Neill's bar on Thursday, On Anon club on Saturday, and Sports Bar last night). Sports bar was definitely the best, as the shots are 4 for 4 pounds...so naturally I had 7. I also really appreciate when we get drunk in Picadilly Circus and take the bus home, and my flatmate Paul decides he's homesick so he needs to sing God Bless America the whole way back to South Ken.
I'm also coming to greatly enjoy the weekly family dinners that occur in my flat. Every Sunday or Monday night, a couple of people cook dinner for the whole flat and all 12 of us eat together and it's adorable. Probably the thing I'll miss the most now that everyone has started traveling.
Today, Alyssia and her flatmate Emily came over to see my amazing house, (they were very jealous) and we went out for my first real chinese food meal since I left NY...it was DELISH...and made exciting plans for tomorrow to see Wicked! I've already seen it but how much more fun would a Broadway show be in British accents?! I will keep you posted...
Now, I'm excitedly awaiting October. Whereas September was filled with classes and napping and drinking every night, October is going to justify my trip abroad entirely. During this next month, I will be riding on the London Eye, taking a "Horror Walk" through the city, seeing a comedy show and, of course, traveling until I've spent every last cent. This weekend, Berlin. Next, Paris. Two weeks after that, 10 days in Rome, Florence, Mykonos and Athens. And, in between, ELSHA AND CAMILLE WILL BE IN LONDON WOO HOOOOOO. So look forward to a ton of great stories in the weeks to come.
Cheers!
So, as I mentioned, it's raining. In fact, it's hard to remember the last time it wasn't raining. I miss the sun and I miss sobriety. My drinking habit has increased ten-fold since arrival in the great city of London, where I consume alcohol more frequently than water and go out partying more consistently than I ever attended class at AU. My flatmates and I have had some great nights this past week (O'Neill's bar on Thursday, On Anon club on Saturday, and Sports Bar last night). Sports bar was definitely the best, as the shots are 4 for 4 pounds...so naturally I had 7. I also really appreciate when we get drunk in Picadilly Circus and take the bus home, and my flatmate Paul decides he's homesick so he needs to sing God Bless America the whole way back to South Ken.
I'm also coming to greatly enjoy the weekly family dinners that occur in my flat. Every Sunday or Monday night, a couple of people cook dinner for the whole flat and all 12 of us eat together and it's adorable. Probably the thing I'll miss the most now that everyone has started traveling.
Today, Alyssia and her flatmate Emily came over to see my amazing house, (they were very jealous) and we went out for my first real chinese food meal since I left NY...it was DELISH...and made exciting plans for tomorrow to see Wicked! I've already seen it but how much more fun would a Broadway show be in British accents?! I will keep you posted...
Now, I'm excitedly awaiting October. Whereas September was filled with classes and napping and drinking every night, October is going to justify my trip abroad entirely. During this next month, I will be riding on the London Eye, taking a "Horror Walk" through the city, seeing a comedy show and, of course, traveling until I've spent every last cent. This weekend, Berlin. Next, Paris. Two weeks after that, 10 days in Rome, Florence, Mykonos and Athens. And, in between, ELSHA AND CAMILLE WILL BE IN LONDON WOO HOOOOOO. So look forward to a ton of great stories in the weeks to come.
Cheers!
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