Monday, July 26th
Took it easy today. Finally able to get the laundry done. Cleaned up the room some. It’s getting close to leaving time.
We really did almost nothing worthy of talking about today. Spent a few brief moments with friends. Spent most of our day alone. It was nice.
Started reading George Orwell’s 1984 tonight – only made it 19 pages in. We’ll see how this goes. Leo has been after me to read it since we met… three years ago. I guess I’ll give it a shot.
Tuesday, July 27th
Woke up early today and went to town. Had some last minute errands to run and wanted to get them done before we were really pressed for time. Since we were there, we also got delicious iced coffees – probably our last of the trip. Whoa. That’s sad. In less than a week we’ll be Stateside again. Who is excited? This girl.
Finished 1984 today. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. Good read. Thanks for the suggestion.
What I just realized today: Wallets are called purses. Purses are called bags.
Things I will miss about the UK:
1. The ability to walk everywhere – easily and safely.
2. The tube.
3. Delicious cheese in a tube.
4. Teacakes.
5. How late the sun sets.
6. The amazing shopping.
7. Seeing Ryan, Colleen and Tommy daily.
Wednesday, July 28th
Last day for babysitting Tommy – and she took the longest nap known to toddlers! I was actually bummed that I wasn’t able to spend more time with her while she was conscious ☺
I have made very good progress on my next book, The Lost Symbol. I love it. So good. I am actually excited to finish this book because I want to find out what happens. Usually, I get sad when I finish books if I really like them. I need to finish this one to have the answers!
Spent the evening drinking wine (and some blueberry cider, yum!), telling scary stories/dreams, watching scary videos… with Leo, Colleen and Ryan. I love this life. They are the best friends and I am so thankful that I’ve been able to share all of this with them. Love those three so much!
Did I mention we lit a sky lantern and watched the fireball soar through the sky? Uh, yeah. Best way to end our time in Worcester. ☺
Thursday, July 29th
We’ve spent the morning doing last-minute things for leaving. Printing boarding passes, packing, etc…
Tonight we’re going to the Indian restaurant with all of the students (and Ryan/Colleen) for a farewell dinner. That should be fun – looking forward to it!
Then - We are headed to Amsterdam for the weekend! I can’t wait to be there – it looks beautiful. Looking forward to renting bikes and riding around. We plan to relax. Then – we’ll be home!!! ☺
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday-Saturday-Sunday
Friday, July 23rd
Didn’t do anything overly exciting today. I’ve realized as we get closer to flying home, the excitement and activity is dying down a little. And I’m okay with that – Leo and I have done and experienced a lot of exciting, amazing things the past five weeks.
I’m actually feeling anxious to get home. I want to be back in my routine. I want to see family, friends. I want to see Henry. ☺ I feel so lucky to have the life that I have – traveling has reinforced that for me. I’m one lucky gal.
We still have one exciting trip left – Amsterdam our last weekend here! I’ve heard amazing things about it and am really looking forward to it!
Leo and I went to dinner with some of the students at a Mexican restaurant – it was pretty good. It’s funny how different Mexican tastes! And the margaritas. They were pink and fizzy – weird!
Saturday, July 24th
We went to Cardiff today. We had heard that it was a really cool coastal town – it was okay. Nothing to write home about. It was pretty much identical to Worcester, but then it had a bay. The bay was okay – found a fun carousel that Tommy loved. It smelled like lots of dead fish.
It was a fun day – nice to get out of Worcester and do something different.
Sunday, July 25th
Happy birthday to my big bro, Kel! ☺ See you soon! Slept in today. It was wonderful!
We were going to do laundry so that we could start the packing process but the laundry room was randomly locked… What? That threw a wrench into our plans. We were able to get a bunch of packing done and will finish by Wednesday. Since we will be gone Thursday night-Sunday night we have to have virtually all of our packing done before we go.
I can’t believe that everything is ending. It’s weird to think that in a week we won’t be in this placed we’ve called home for the past five weeks. I will miss it. I will. But I am looking forward to being home. Have I said that already?
Didn’t do anything overly exciting today. I’ve realized as we get closer to flying home, the excitement and activity is dying down a little. And I’m okay with that – Leo and I have done and experienced a lot of exciting, amazing things the past five weeks.
I’m actually feeling anxious to get home. I want to be back in my routine. I want to see family, friends. I want to see Henry. ☺ I feel so lucky to have the life that I have – traveling has reinforced that for me. I’m one lucky gal.
We still have one exciting trip left – Amsterdam our last weekend here! I’ve heard amazing things about it and am really looking forward to it!
Leo and I went to dinner with some of the students at a Mexican restaurant – it was pretty good. It’s funny how different Mexican tastes! And the margaritas. They were pink and fizzy – weird!
Saturday, July 24th
We went to Cardiff today. We had heard that it was a really cool coastal town – it was okay. Nothing to write home about. It was pretty much identical to Worcester, but then it had a bay. The bay was okay – found a fun carousel that Tommy loved. It smelled like lots of dead fish.
It was a fun day – nice to get out of Worcester and do something different.
Sunday, July 25th
Happy birthday to my big bro, Kel! ☺ See you soon! Slept in today. It was wonderful!
We were going to do laundry so that we could start the packing process but the laundry room was randomly locked… What? That threw a wrench into our plans. We were able to get a bunch of packing done and will finish by Wednesday. Since we will be gone Thursday night-Sunday night we have to have virtually all of our packing done before we go.
I can’t believe that everything is ending. It’s weird to think that in a week we won’t be in this placed we’ve called home for the past five weeks. I will miss it. I will. But I am looking forward to being home. Have I said that already?
Friday, July 23, 2010
More London photos -
A few more photos from my camera - London weekend.
Waiting for the Coach Friday morning.
Outside the theatre for Legally Blonde!
Beer in the theatre while watching Legally Blonde!
Leo and Buckingham Palace.
Us with Big Ben. (Who is actually kinda little.)
This is Tower Bridge, frequently mistaken for London Bridge.
Leo and I with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.
Parliament.
Leo and I in Hyde Park.
In the London Eye.
Waiting for the Coach Friday morning.
Outside the theatre for Legally Blonde!
Beer in the theatre while watching Legally Blonde!
Leo and Buckingham Palace.
Us with Big Ben. (Who is actually kinda little.)
This is Tower Bridge, frequently mistaken for London Bridge.
Leo and I with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.
Parliament.
Leo and I in Hyde Park.
In the London Eye.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Mon.Tues.Wed.Thursday (19th-22nd)
Monday. July 19th
Today was uneventful. This is the last week of my summer classes and I have left two 15 page papers to write. I’m smart. ☺ But, this isn’t the first time I’ve procrastinated – and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Lucky for me I work well on a deadline… like, getting As on these papers well.
I spent the morning working on my EdFon paper – knocked it out relatively painlessly. And I’m proud of it! High five for me! To celebrate, Leo and I went with some BSU kiddies to see Inception – the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie. It blew my mind! I think I watched the whole movie with my mouth hanging open. It was good. End of story.
Leo and I went to get a beer with Season after the movie – I like her. ☺
Tuesday. July 20th
Another uneventful day! I was able to finish my second final – EdHi 611. Officially DONE with summer classes now! Hooray for me! Papers have been submitted, final evals done – I am free. Leo was in Birmingham most of the day for a class thing so I spent it relaxing. Reading books, hanging out, kind of cleaning and organizing.
To celebrate being done we ordered Domino’s for dinner. It was fabulous! Watched some tv. Oh – we were watching a show about teenage pregnancies. Guess what? You know those high-tech 3D sonograms we have in the U.S. for thousands of dollars? They only have to pay 35 pounds for them here. Roughly, 52 bucks. Word.
Did some late-night grocery shopping and am just going to relax for the night. This is the life! ☺
Just had a wonderful chat with my bestest Amber on facebook. I love you! I miss my friends. As soon as we’re back… we’re all hanging out. And I mean ALL of us. No excuses.
Wednesday. July 21st
Woke up late. Felt great. Read in bed. Ate lunch. (That’s how late – 1130am late!)
I’m going to town while Leo is doing is class duties. Plan on doing some excellent window-shopping and meeting Leo for one of those fabulous iced coffees I told you about.
Update: window-shopping turned into actual shopping. Oops! At least I only bought things that were on super-sale! ☺ That’s got to count for something, right?
Thursday, July 22nd
Another easy day. Leo was off on a day trip – I babysat Tommy. Had dinner with Leo, Colleen, Ryan and Tommy when they got back. An all-around good day. End of story.
Today was uneventful. This is the last week of my summer classes and I have left two 15 page papers to write. I’m smart. ☺ But, this isn’t the first time I’ve procrastinated – and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Lucky for me I work well on a deadline… like, getting As on these papers well.
I spent the morning working on my EdFon paper – knocked it out relatively painlessly. And I’m proud of it! High five for me! To celebrate, Leo and I went with some BSU kiddies to see Inception – the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie. It blew my mind! I think I watched the whole movie with my mouth hanging open. It was good. End of story.
Leo and I went to get a beer with Season after the movie – I like her. ☺
Tuesday. July 20th
Another uneventful day! I was able to finish my second final – EdHi 611. Officially DONE with summer classes now! Hooray for me! Papers have been submitted, final evals done – I am free. Leo was in Birmingham most of the day for a class thing so I spent it relaxing. Reading books, hanging out, kind of cleaning and organizing.
To celebrate being done we ordered Domino’s for dinner. It was fabulous! Watched some tv. Oh – we were watching a show about teenage pregnancies. Guess what? You know those high-tech 3D sonograms we have in the U.S. for thousands of dollars? They only have to pay 35 pounds for them here. Roughly, 52 bucks. Word.
Did some late-night grocery shopping and am just going to relax for the night. This is the life! ☺
Just had a wonderful chat with my bestest Amber on facebook. I love you! I miss my friends. As soon as we’re back… we’re all hanging out. And I mean ALL of us. No excuses.
Wednesday. July 21st
Woke up late. Felt great. Read in bed. Ate lunch. (That’s how late – 1130am late!)
I’m going to town while Leo is doing is class duties. Plan on doing some excellent window-shopping and meeting Leo for one of those fabulous iced coffees I told you about.
Update: window-shopping turned into actual shopping. Oops! At least I only bought things that were on super-sale! ☺ That’s got to count for something, right?
Thursday, July 22nd
Another easy day. Leo was off on a day trip – I babysat Tommy. Had dinner with Leo, Colleen, Ryan and Tommy when they got back. An all-around good day. End of story.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Some London Photos
Just a few photos from our time in London... I'll post more once I get my photos off of my camera! :) Most of these are from the same day - I guess a lot of the photos from the other days are on my camera.
The London Eye. And some trees.
Me at Piccadilly Circus
Mom and Dad, this one's for you - it's Leo the Lion!
While Leo was in there he notice a small black box with wires sticking out of it - that was beeping. This was him making a quick exit.
Leo loved the Ice Bar
Waiting for Legally Blonde - feeling lucky I have a boy who will suggest seeing it with me! Love him.
In the London Eye
Phone booth
In the ice bar wearing our Eskimo parkas!
Candid: Leo and I looking so "posh" in London. :)
The London Eye. And some trees.
Me at Piccadilly Circus
Mom and Dad, this one's for you - it's Leo the Lion!
While Leo was in there he notice a small black box with wires sticking out of it - that was beeping. This was him making a quick exit.
Leo loved the Ice Bar
Waiting for Legally Blonde - feeling lucky I have a boy who will suggest seeing it with me! Love him.
In the London Eye
Phone booth
In the ice bar wearing our Eskimo parkas!
Candid: Leo and I looking so "posh" in London. :)
London, baby!
London Weekend!
Almost a week since my last post… I apologize for my absence. Thursday was uneventful – I babysat and packed for London. Not much to report there.
Would you like to hear all about London? I thought so.
In the words of Joey Tribianni “London, Baby!” (Friends reference… if you didn’t know that, we are no longer friends)
Friday, July 16th. LONDON! LONDON! LONDON!
London broke my shoe after only walking around for an hour. It was a flat. And the uneven ground caught the heel and ripped it right off. Of course, the only other pair of shoes I brought were heels. ☺
Things I know already:
1. I love London.
2. It is absolutely beautiful here.
3. I want to move here.
4. The underground is so convenient.
5. I love the woman who says, “Please, Mind the Gap!”
Anyway, let's start at the beginning. I was able to get on the bus that the students were taking (as this was a group trip for the BSU kiddies) so that was wonderful! The ride felt super long – I think the bus driver was traveling very slowly. I was instantly in love with London when we arrived. It is beautiful and busy. At times it felt a little too busy for my liking, but I enjoyed it overall.
The first thing Leo and I did was spend two hours walking – had to pick up our London passes (including our travel passes) on the opposite side of the city from where we were staying. It was a fun experience – we got to see a lot of London right away.
*Side not on the London pass – so NOT worth it. We got our money’s worth out of the travel passes, but the London pass was so stupid.
After our walk we were hungry so we had dinner at a cute little diner not far from our hostel. It was good. We were more excited for the ICE BAR! Yes, an ice bar. A bar completely made of ice. We had to book tickets online ahead of time because they have limited space and it fills up fast. So, after dinner we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to find the Ice Bar. We have lots of pictures – it was so cool. Ha! We were given big ponchos with hoods and gloves to wear… and our glasses were made of ice!
After the ice bar we took the tube to Trafalgar Square – walked around, saw the sights. Then… it was time to go to the theatre. We saw a true classic while in London – Legally Blonde the Musical! Seriously. That is what we saw. And it was fabulous! ☺
The theatre was really cool – it was big and beautiful! And you can drink bear in the actual theatre while you watch the performances! And then at intermission they serve you little ice cream cups! Legally Blond, Beer and Ice Cream – just the “Welcome to London!” that I was looking for! ☺ Even Leo enjoyed the show… though he has trouble admitting it.
By the time the show was over we were pooped. We briefly took in the nightlife as we walked to the underground and then it was off to dreamland! It was a wonderful first day in London. So far, London is my favorite place that we’ve been! So much to do and to see. So easy to get around. Love it.
Saturday, July 17th.
London day 2 – woke up nice and early so that we could eat breakfast in our hostel. It wasn’t that bad… the English like baked beans with their breakfast. And now I like it too! This morning was the only thing that the BSU group had to do together (the whole weekend was on their own terms) when they did the London Eye – the giant ferris wheel on the Thames River.
I went with because I was going to buy my own ticket – hell no! They were 30 pounds! (Roughly 45 dollars! For a ferris wheel!) However, London was smiling on me. Ryan had an extra ticket and I was able to ride the London Eye without paying a dime! ☺
The view was amazing and we were able to get some good photos – I will hopefully be borrowing Ryan’s card reader again and uploading more photos this weekend. Get excited!
Next up: we took a river cruise on the Thames. So cool! We saw all of the fabulous bridges, including London Bridge – which actually has fallen down… three times! – and we got off the boat by the Tower of London.
The Tower of London is a historic castle located on the Thames – it was originally a grand palace that served as a residence, but then became used as a place of imprisonment and death. Henry VIII tortured prisoners there and it is also where he beheaded his wives. Cool, huh? The Tower of London also houses the Crown Jewels. We weren’t able to see the jewels because the line was hours long – we plan to come back to London so we’ll see them at some point.
After the tower we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to do some shopping. Here, we saw the busiest Starbucks I’ve ever laid eyes on. There were three registers and nine people working. And there was a constant line out the door! Insane. Piccadilly Circus is an insane place in itself. I think that everyone in London was there.
We spent a few hours shopping – it was a helluva experience. I swear, everyone in England spends the majority of their time shopping. ☺ I had the most terrifying shipping experience of my life this afternoon. We went into a store called Primark. The shoppers were literally crazed and furious and rude and loud and pushy and ohmygod scary. On the upside, Leo and I both found some crazy-good deals! (One of my good deals was a new bag… I guess this means I have to donate another to goodwill!)
So, after shopping we went to Hyde Park and looked at the Marble Arch. Fun stuff. Hyde Park is big. Then I found a store that was selling 15 postcards for 95 pence… another deal! ☺ The rest of the night was pretty chill. We went back by the hostel, met up with Natalie and drank delicious cappuccino. Here’s where it got interesting. Dinner.
We invited Natalie along and she planned to order dessert. She had already eaten so it was a logical thing to do. We get the restaurant and order drinks (I had some delicious champagne drink) and then it’s time to order food. Leo and I order and then Natalie orders her tiramisu… the waitress gets all weird and tells her that if she’s going to order a cocktail then she has to order a main meal. WTF? So, Natalie decides to order one of the pizzas. Bad news – pizzas only come in one size and it is LARGE! Natalie ended up with a gigantic pizza that she didn’t even want and couldn’t eat any tiramisu.
It gets better. This restaurant offered a deal where you get 50% off of your bill when you use your London pass. When it comes time to ask for our bill we tell the waitress that we also have our London passes – mind you, we haven’t gotten a bill yet nor has she printed one. She gets really angry and rude and says, “You should have told me that before because I have to tell someone, sorry!” Then storms off. Um, why does it matter if we tell you beforehand? Who does she have to tell? The cooks so they give us ½ as much? The people that bring the food so they spit in it? She was all in a tizzy. She came back to the table and I was not going to let her get away with this… I said (very nicely, I might add) “So, we’re still going to get our discount tonight, right? Because we have the London pass and nowhere on your restaurant’s description does it say you have to notify in advance.” She replied with “Oh, yes. I’ll give it to you just this once.” As if she was doing us a big favor by freaking out and making a scene. Ugh. What a night.
After that we needed to have fun. Leo and I went out with some of the students to get drinks – fun. Went back to the hostel to go to bed. Where we were woken up multiple times by people screaming insanely outside and by little kids across the way from us shining their desk lamps into our room in Morse code. Leo went and stood at the window and stared at them like a scary bodyguard and they eventually stopped. ☺
Sunday, July18th.
Our last day in London. Sad. One weekend is not an adequate amount of time to soak up all of the amazingness that is London. We started the day early with breakfast and checked out of our rooms. Leo and I got coffee asap and booked it to the Tate Modern (art museum) for some early gallery perusing. There was some really cool stuff there – Leo bought a neat book!
After the museum we walked the Millennium Bridge across the Thames (also called the “wobbly bridge”) to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was beautiful. We took photos. After St. Paul’s we took the tube across the city to see Buckingham Palace. SO BEAUTIFUL! The queen’s got a pretty nice crib. The bummer was that we had just missed the changing of the guard. It was still a sight to see! They have police right inside the gates to the palace who are armed and there are also police along the building – carrying the biggest guns I’ve seen in person. It would be stressful to protect the queen.
After Buckingham Palace we walked over to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben/Parliament. They were pretty impressive as well! There were some war people camping out on the green by Westminster protesting – all calling for the end of the war in Iraq.
Next – we took the tube to Trafalgar Square again for lunch. Another event in and of itself. We ended the afternoon with some souvenir shopping and then it was time to meet the bus to come back to Worcester. I had one last delicious cappuccino before climbing onto that large bus for the long drive home.
Almost a week since my last post… I apologize for my absence. Thursday was uneventful – I babysat and packed for London. Not much to report there.
Would you like to hear all about London? I thought so.
In the words of Joey Tribianni “London, Baby!” (Friends reference… if you didn’t know that, we are no longer friends)
Friday, July 16th. LONDON! LONDON! LONDON!
London broke my shoe after only walking around for an hour. It was a flat. And the uneven ground caught the heel and ripped it right off. Of course, the only other pair of shoes I brought were heels. ☺
Things I know already:
1. I love London.
2. It is absolutely beautiful here.
3. I want to move here.
4. The underground is so convenient.
5. I love the woman who says, “Please, Mind the Gap!”
Anyway, let's start at the beginning. I was able to get on the bus that the students were taking (as this was a group trip for the BSU kiddies) so that was wonderful! The ride felt super long – I think the bus driver was traveling very slowly. I was instantly in love with London when we arrived. It is beautiful and busy. At times it felt a little too busy for my liking, but I enjoyed it overall.
The first thing Leo and I did was spend two hours walking – had to pick up our London passes (including our travel passes) on the opposite side of the city from where we were staying. It was a fun experience – we got to see a lot of London right away.
*Side not on the London pass – so NOT worth it. We got our money’s worth out of the travel passes, but the London pass was so stupid.
After our walk we were hungry so we had dinner at a cute little diner not far from our hostel. It was good. We were more excited for the ICE BAR! Yes, an ice bar. A bar completely made of ice. We had to book tickets online ahead of time because they have limited space and it fills up fast. So, after dinner we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to find the Ice Bar. We have lots of pictures – it was so cool. Ha! We were given big ponchos with hoods and gloves to wear… and our glasses were made of ice!
After the ice bar we took the tube to Trafalgar Square – walked around, saw the sights. Then… it was time to go to the theatre. We saw a true classic while in London – Legally Blonde the Musical! Seriously. That is what we saw. And it was fabulous! ☺
The theatre was really cool – it was big and beautiful! And you can drink bear in the actual theatre while you watch the performances! And then at intermission they serve you little ice cream cups! Legally Blond, Beer and Ice Cream – just the “Welcome to London!” that I was looking for! ☺ Even Leo enjoyed the show… though he has trouble admitting it.
By the time the show was over we were pooped. We briefly took in the nightlife as we walked to the underground and then it was off to dreamland! It was a wonderful first day in London. So far, London is my favorite place that we’ve been! So much to do and to see. So easy to get around. Love it.
Saturday, July 17th.
London day 2 – woke up nice and early so that we could eat breakfast in our hostel. It wasn’t that bad… the English like baked beans with their breakfast. And now I like it too! This morning was the only thing that the BSU group had to do together (the whole weekend was on their own terms) when they did the London Eye – the giant ferris wheel on the Thames River.
I went with because I was going to buy my own ticket – hell no! They were 30 pounds! (Roughly 45 dollars! For a ferris wheel!) However, London was smiling on me. Ryan had an extra ticket and I was able to ride the London Eye without paying a dime! ☺
The view was amazing and we were able to get some good photos – I will hopefully be borrowing Ryan’s card reader again and uploading more photos this weekend. Get excited!
Next up: we took a river cruise on the Thames. So cool! We saw all of the fabulous bridges, including London Bridge – which actually has fallen down… three times! – and we got off the boat by the Tower of London.
The Tower of London is a historic castle located on the Thames – it was originally a grand palace that served as a residence, but then became used as a place of imprisonment and death. Henry VIII tortured prisoners there and it is also where he beheaded his wives. Cool, huh? The Tower of London also houses the Crown Jewels. We weren’t able to see the jewels because the line was hours long – we plan to come back to London so we’ll see them at some point.
After the tower we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to do some shopping. Here, we saw the busiest Starbucks I’ve ever laid eyes on. There were three registers and nine people working. And there was a constant line out the door! Insane. Piccadilly Circus is an insane place in itself. I think that everyone in London was there.
We spent a few hours shopping – it was a helluva experience. I swear, everyone in England spends the majority of their time shopping. ☺ I had the most terrifying shipping experience of my life this afternoon. We went into a store called Primark. The shoppers were literally crazed and furious and rude and loud and pushy and ohmygod scary. On the upside, Leo and I both found some crazy-good deals! (One of my good deals was a new bag… I guess this means I have to donate another to goodwill!)
So, after shopping we went to Hyde Park and looked at the Marble Arch. Fun stuff. Hyde Park is big. Then I found a store that was selling 15 postcards for 95 pence… another deal! ☺ The rest of the night was pretty chill. We went back by the hostel, met up with Natalie and drank delicious cappuccino. Here’s where it got interesting. Dinner.
We invited Natalie along and she planned to order dessert. She had already eaten so it was a logical thing to do. We get the restaurant and order drinks (I had some delicious champagne drink) and then it’s time to order food. Leo and I order and then Natalie orders her tiramisu… the waitress gets all weird and tells her that if she’s going to order a cocktail then she has to order a main meal. WTF? So, Natalie decides to order one of the pizzas. Bad news – pizzas only come in one size and it is LARGE! Natalie ended up with a gigantic pizza that she didn’t even want and couldn’t eat any tiramisu.
It gets better. This restaurant offered a deal where you get 50% off of your bill when you use your London pass. When it comes time to ask for our bill we tell the waitress that we also have our London passes – mind you, we haven’t gotten a bill yet nor has she printed one. She gets really angry and rude and says, “You should have told me that before because I have to tell someone, sorry!” Then storms off. Um, why does it matter if we tell you beforehand? Who does she have to tell? The cooks so they give us ½ as much? The people that bring the food so they spit in it? She was all in a tizzy. She came back to the table and I was not going to let her get away with this… I said (very nicely, I might add) “So, we’re still going to get our discount tonight, right? Because we have the London pass and nowhere on your restaurant’s description does it say you have to notify in advance.” She replied with “Oh, yes. I’ll give it to you just this once.” As if she was doing us a big favor by freaking out and making a scene. Ugh. What a night.
After that we needed to have fun. Leo and I went out with some of the students to get drinks – fun. Went back to the hostel to go to bed. Where we were woken up multiple times by people screaming insanely outside and by little kids across the way from us shining their desk lamps into our room in Morse code. Leo went and stood at the window and stared at them like a scary bodyguard and they eventually stopped. ☺
Sunday, July18th.
Our last day in London. Sad. One weekend is not an adequate amount of time to soak up all of the amazingness that is London. We started the day early with breakfast and checked out of our rooms. Leo and I got coffee asap and booked it to the Tate Modern (art museum) for some early gallery perusing. There was some really cool stuff there – Leo bought a neat book!
After the museum we walked the Millennium Bridge across the Thames (also called the “wobbly bridge”) to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was beautiful. We took photos. After St. Paul’s we took the tube across the city to see Buckingham Palace. SO BEAUTIFUL! The queen’s got a pretty nice crib. The bummer was that we had just missed the changing of the guard. It was still a sight to see! They have police right inside the gates to the palace who are armed and there are also police along the building – carrying the biggest guns I’ve seen in person. It would be stressful to protect the queen.
After Buckingham Palace we walked over to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben/Parliament. They were pretty impressive as well! There were some war people camping out on the green by Westminster protesting – all calling for the end of the war in Iraq.
Next – we took the tube to Trafalgar Square again for lunch. Another event in and of itself. We ended the afternoon with some souvenir shopping and then it was time to meet the bus to come back to Worcester. I had one last delicious cappuccino before climbing onto that large bus for the long drive home.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tuesday (13th) and Wednesday (14th)
Tuesday. July 13th
First, a few things that I forgot to mention about Sunday/Monday: When we were at Lloyd’s the garbage can outside caught fire. The bartender put it out and then the fire department showed up. It was all very dramatic for a tiny smoking garbage can. After the bartender put the fire out a woman still called the fire dept… Um, why? They were helmets that look like baseball helmets. It was cute.
Last night Leo and I made a delicious pesto pasta dinner and drank wine. It was fun and nice and romantic. In the dorm room. Ha. Then we watched Remember Me – it was so good and not what I expected at all. I cried like a baby.
Anyway. I’ve read all of the books I brought with me, plus one that I bought while here. I just had to get another one that I will start shortly. Looking forward to it. Summer classes are almost over. Only a week and a half left! Hooray. I’ll have a month of freedom before the fall semester starts. Can’t believe that grad school is already almost over for me. When did that happen? This has been a fabulous summer – I’m looking forward to more amazingness when we get back to the States!
You know what I miss? Driving. I drove almost everyday… and I miss it. I think this is the longest I’ll go without driving since my freshman year of college – no car on campus. I cannot wait to drive when we get home. Leo is itching to drive also.
We went to town today. Leo had to go to the post office and I wanted to get off campus. Guess what?! Today is our first rainy day! It is fabulous. I love it. It has been cloudy and chilly and rainy all day. I’m in England! Speaking of downtown, Leo and I went to a little café to get coffee… the iced coffee was so delicious. It was just plain old iced coffee but I actually said the words “Move over, Starbucks!” I know. It’s serious business. I don’t know if I’ll be able to leave after having tasted such wonderful iced coffee.
We spent the evening with Colleen and Ryan. Drinking wine and laughing. It was so fun. The four of us have decided that we need to set up a regular schedule when we get home – we’ve been seeing them so much here! We’re family now.
This weekend we're going to London. The students are all going as one of the trips planned by their program – one of the Worcester people is going to let me ride on their coach bus. Yay! That means I will save a lot of money on a rail ticket.
I need to work on my thesis. I’ve been communicating with my chair since I’ve been here so I have been productive – I just need to really focus on it tomorrow. That’s my plan. I also have two 15-page papers to write for my online classes before next Thursday – then I'll be done with them! Maybe I can get one of them done before the weekend is over. Let’s make that my goal. I’ll let you know what happens. ☺
Well, Mom and Dad – you were right. Belfast is still pretty violent. Apparently, kids are even getting involved in the rioting and we were told that didn’t even happen in the worst of The Troubles.
Check out this link:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3051955/Belfast-march-violence-flares.html
Wednesday. July 14th
Spent the morning doing thesis stuff. Had to submit my project to the IRB – hopefully they’ll get back to me soon and things will be approved! Mom and Dad – we have to talk about my thesis! I don’t think we have…
Today was uneventful, really. Leo and I got a lot of things done, which was important. I spent some of the afternoon with Colleen and T and then we all went to dinner with Catherine (I always spell it with a C due to my sister, I suppose she could spell it with a K… Just met her today) and her husband. Indian food – my first experience. Loved it! ☺
And here we are. Just got off the phone with my parents – miss you! I miss my friends, too. I think that everyone should come to England in a week. It will be like we brought home to England. Who’s with me?
It’s late. I’m getting up early. Sleep tight!
First, a few things that I forgot to mention about Sunday/Monday: When we were at Lloyd’s the garbage can outside caught fire. The bartender put it out and then the fire department showed up. It was all very dramatic for a tiny smoking garbage can. After the bartender put the fire out a woman still called the fire dept… Um, why? They were helmets that look like baseball helmets. It was cute.
Last night Leo and I made a delicious pesto pasta dinner and drank wine. It was fun and nice and romantic. In the dorm room. Ha. Then we watched Remember Me – it was so good and not what I expected at all. I cried like a baby.
Anyway. I’ve read all of the books I brought with me, plus one that I bought while here. I just had to get another one that I will start shortly. Looking forward to it. Summer classes are almost over. Only a week and a half left! Hooray. I’ll have a month of freedom before the fall semester starts. Can’t believe that grad school is already almost over for me. When did that happen? This has been a fabulous summer – I’m looking forward to more amazingness when we get back to the States!
You know what I miss? Driving. I drove almost everyday… and I miss it. I think this is the longest I’ll go without driving since my freshman year of college – no car on campus. I cannot wait to drive when we get home. Leo is itching to drive also.
We went to town today. Leo had to go to the post office and I wanted to get off campus. Guess what?! Today is our first rainy day! It is fabulous. I love it. It has been cloudy and chilly and rainy all day. I’m in England! Speaking of downtown, Leo and I went to a little café to get coffee… the iced coffee was so delicious. It was just plain old iced coffee but I actually said the words “Move over, Starbucks!” I know. It’s serious business. I don’t know if I’ll be able to leave after having tasted such wonderful iced coffee.
We spent the evening with Colleen and Ryan. Drinking wine and laughing. It was so fun. The four of us have decided that we need to set up a regular schedule when we get home – we’ve been seeing them so much here! We’re family now.
This weekend we're going to London. The students are all going as one of the trips planned by their program – one of the Worcester people is going to let me ride on their coach bus. Yay! That means I will save a lot of money on a rail ticket.
I need to work on my thesis. I’ve been communicating with my chair since I’ve been here so I have been productive – I just need to really focus on it tomorrow. That’s my plan. I also have two 15-page papers to write for my online classes before next Thursday – then I'll be done with them! Maybe I can get one of them done before the weekend is over. Let’s make that my goal. I’ll let you know what happens. ☺
Well, Mom and Dad – you were right. Belfast is still pretty violent. Apparently, kids are even getting involved in the rioting and we were told that didn’t even happen in the worst of The Troubles.
Check out this link:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3051955/Belfast-march-violence-flares.html
Wednesday. July 14th
Spent the morning doing thesis stuff. Had to submit my project to the IRB – hopefully they’ll get back to me soon and things will be approved! Mom and Dad – we have to talk about my thesis! I don’t think we have…
Today was uneventful, really. Leo and I got a lot of things done, which was important. I spent some of the afternoon with Colleen and T and then we all went to dinner with Catherine (I always spell it with a C due to my sister, I suppose she could spell it with a K… Just met her today) and her husband. Indian food – my first experience. Loved it! ☺
And here we are. Just got off the phone with my parents – miss you! I miss my friends, too. I think that everyone should come to England in a week. It will be like we brought home to England. Who’s with me?
It’s late. I’m getting up early. Sleep tight!
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