I said I would update more often, but I lied. It's been another couple weeks since my last update, and it's been a couple weeks since I got back from Spain, but here goes nothin'.
My adventure in Spain started in Malaga, a fairly good sized city on the Costa del Sol, in southern Spain. I stayed outside the city at a place called Benalmadena. While the beaches and accommodations were great, Benalmadena was FILLED with older Brits on holiday. Not exactly what I expected. When we went into the city, and went to the beach there (the beach was not NEARLY as nice in the city) we found many more people our age. It would have been nice to see people closer to my age, but I was on holiday, and was relaxed as person could possibly be. I got a little tan (you know, bro, a nice base for the summer), watched some food network, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
After a week on the beach, my adventure continued in Granada. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, a couple hours north of the coast. From the city, you could see houses built up onto the sides of mountains and snow capped peaks in the distance. The city has been around for quite awhile, so there is some great history and it's most notable example of this is Alhambra. Alhambra was built in the 14th century, and it is essentially a castle. It's also much harder to get tickets to than we anticipated. It's a huge fortress, how do tickets sell out?! Anyway, we got a workout hiking up and down hills and exploring. There were some excellent views over the city and into the mountain range. It made me miss the mountains and Denver. Since I was travelling the week before Easter, there were the very strange parades that followed us from city to city to city. I say they are strange because I don't understand them and they are a HUGE deal to the spanish people. Streets are completely blocked off on weeknights, sometimes multiple nights in a row, and the people in the parade seriously look like they are members of the KKK. They wore hoods very similar to those worn by members of the KKK, which would be strange to any american. A quick google delivered me a short explanation of the rituals. They obviously were in no way affiliated with the crazy racist cult, but it was weird to see nonetheless.
While football (soccer) isn't big in the US, it's almost a religion in Spain. The two biggest teams in Spain (Barcelona and Real Madrid) were playing in the Spanish Cup Final while I was in Granada. The game was on EVERYWHERE, and everywhere people were watching it. It ended up going into extra time, but while we were walking back from watching the Arsenal game (hehe, I found a bar in Spain, on the night of the Copa del Rey final, that was playing Arsenal on one of their tvs. win.), we were walking through a square and the was an explosion of cheers and shouts. SOMEONE SCORED! I couldn't see the tv, but I KNEW someone had scored. Real Madrid went on to win, but as the final whistle blew, I stick my head out of the window of my hotel room and could hear loud, synchronized cheers across the city. It was something I won't forget. And to think if the game had been the next day, we would have been IN Madrid. THAT would have been something to remember. The streets in Madrid were lined with people cheering as the players rode through the city on a double decker bus after the win (I saw videos). It was a huge deal, especially to come against Barcelona.
From Granada, a 5 hour coach ride brought us to Madrid, the final stop on my 'Spring break' if you will. The weather in Madrid sucked. It was cloudy and chilly most of the time with intermittent showers. Highlights from the capital of Spain include:
1. Parque Retiro- a huge park, very enjoyable.
2. Tapas
3. Black paella against my will, it was still good though.
4. Sangria, lots of it
5. Not being able to choose where to eat.
6. Long lines and Museo Prado (an art museum)
Madrid was nice, but I think the weather kind of ruined my impression of it and it wasn't as good as it could have been. Granada was my favorite city of the trip, and one of my favorite cities that I have been to thus far. I didn't know what to expect, but it didn't let me down.
I'm happy to be back in London. I feel comfortable and safe here. It is honestly the only city I have been to that I can actually see myself living in. This may have something to do with language barriers, but maybe it doesn't. May is finals month, and I have four finals, the first one in a week. So if you will please excuse me, I have some revision to do.
ADIOS!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
A tourist in the city I live in and Southwest England
England and london
The length of time between this post and the last one is in no way respective of the actual length of time between the trips and events that are depicted in the following. In actuality, the events in this post begin IMMEDIATELY following the end of the last post.
fade in.
The scene opens on a train from London to Salisbury, a small town a couple hours outside of London. Two people, a male and a female are sitting next to each other as the train blazes past a train traveling in the opposite direction.
Tessa: Did you just eat that entire baguette?
Andrew: Yep.
end scene.
Salisbury was smallish, about the size of my hometown, but more interesting and had fewer suburban homes and walmarts. On this part of our adventure we stayed in Bed and Breakfasts (4 in 4 nights), and our first was in Salisbury. We were in Salisbury about 18 hours before heading to Cornwall. While in Salisbury we…
1. Celebrated Britain's Mother's day. (Free bottle of wine? Yes please.)
2. Saw an original copy of the Magna Carta (Published in 1215, only 4 copies still exist today.
3. WELSH CAKES
4. Streamed the St. Louis Blues game live. (They won.)
and 5. Rented a Vauxhall Astra.
Our adventure continued to Stonehenge, a quick 15 minutes north of Salisbury. Stonehendge is old, and it ROCKS!!!!!! (get it?) Stonehendge is now known to be a landing platform for aliens from distant worlds whom originally contracted humans to build it for them. The humans were paid in sheep, that is why there are so many sheep in Great Britain.
Somewhere in Cornwall was our destination. We ended at another bed and breakfast, walked to the sea, ate at a pub, walked back in complete darkness, chatted with our hosts (call me anytime, Alice), went to bed, woke up, ate full english breakfast (delicious and somewhat nutritious) then squeezed all our luggage back into the tiny vauxhall and made our way.
We stopped off at Land's End (the most westerly point in England), I found where the Top Gear episode that started at Lands End was filmed, then headed for B&B number three (that just rhymed). My least favorite B&B, it smelled kind of like a nursing home.
Tintagel Castle is supposedly one of the birthplaces of King Arthur. It was built centuries ago built high on a cliff overlooking the sea. I like cliffs, and I like exploring so this was probably one of my favorite stops of the trip, and afterward we got ICE CREAM! Oh, history lesson, King Arthur wasn't PHYSICALLY born there and that is because he is not real (c'mon guys, he hung out with a WIZARD, and everyone knows magic isn't real.).
Our final B&B was more like an Inn, but tomatoes toMAHtos. My parents got a sea view while Tessa and I overlooked some ugly courtyard with empty kegs and dirt everywhere. We hustled back to Salisbury, caught the train for London, and our Whirlwind adventure of "Thomas Hardy Country" as my Mom would say, but Normal people would call it southwest England, ended.
Tessa was in London for 2 nights, but my parents stayed for 5. I won't go into detail about each and every thing we did (happy?) but I'll give you the main points.
While Tessa was there:
While Tessa was there:
1.Billy Eliiot: The first of 3 shows I saw in the west end while my parents were in town. A fun musical based on the movie. The actor playing Billy was brilliant.
2. In a forest, Dark and Deep: 2 person play starring the one and only Dr. Jack Shepard from Lost. I had to constantly repress the urge to scream "WE HAVE TO GO BACK!!!"
3. London Eye: for those of you that don't know, it's the huge ferris wheel thing.
4. Walks through Westminster.
5. Brindisa's chorizo roll: one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.
6. Tower Bridge and Tower of London
After Tessa left:
1. Les Miserables: This was the first time I had ever seen this, even though my mom has probably seen it some 15 times. Brilliant. The story, the music, the actors, the set. I could have done without the lady next to me singing along, but it didn't ruin the experience.
2. Byron: An american style burger place that I have been dying to go to since I got to London (but didn't want to foot the bill myself). Delicious. I miss good burgers.
3. Hyde park, a little shopping, Arsenal finally winning a game, and a lengthy bus tour capped off the trip. While they were here I was as much a tourist in London as they were even though I (currently) live there.
They day after they left (less than 24 hours later) I was in Spain for my last long (more than 4 days) adventure of my semester abroad. Currently, I'm making my way towards Madrid (via a 5 hr coach ride), having already been to Granada and Malaga. And in less than 2 months I will be making my way back to the U S of A. Where has this semester gone?
Monday, April 11, 2011
Paris
PARIS
My last post ended as I was chunneling towards Paris, France with my Mom, my Dad and Tessa. Since then I have returned from Paris and continued my adventures in England, but this post is not about England. This post is about Paris.
We arrived in Paris around 7pm, and after an interesting train station experience we made it to our living arrangements for the next three nights. The apartment was on Montmartre in northern Paris, but far enough away from Sacre Couer and the busy square at the top to still be quiet. But boy, was it cozy. Too small for 4 people if I do say so myself. Perfect for 2, too small for 4. Herve, the man we were renting from, took us on a walk to show us the area. He was very helpful and his english was just good enough! He had some good stories too. Apparently, Picasso and Pissaro, while living in Paris, had lived on the top floor of the building in which we were renting an apartment. When they went out, and got too hammered to climb up the stairs of the building to the top floor (there was no lift), they would rent the apartment that we were renting. Prettfy effin' cool.
After the walk, which was incredibly helpful, we had a little snack, settled down, and went to sleep. The next morning started early with the most awkward shower I have ever taken. This is because the shower was tiny, and the shower head was handlheld. You had to half sit half stand to bathe, it was a process, and whenever someone used water elsewhere in the apartment, even if it wasn't hot water, the shower water would turn to ice in a fraction of a second. That really kept me on my toes. Afterwards we headed up Montmatre for breakfast and coffee, then our day and adventures in Paris began!
We took the metro to the Tuileries and walked through them towards the Louvre. Although it was early in the spring, there were still flowers in the Tulleries, but i'm sure if you were to see them in full bloom it would be spectacular and beautiful. The weather could have been better too. Cloudy and 50 is not my optimum sightseeing temperature. We reached the Louvre, took photos (required outside the Louvre), and went in to get our tickets. Being a student at UCL, I got in free! We started wandering through the halls of the huge museum, admiring and appreciating the priceless paintings and sculptures. Now I like art, but I don't know enough about artists and their styles, influences etc. to feel like I came away with something REAL from that experience. I had a great time and liked a lot of the art and collections (maybe a few too many religious pieces), but I just felt like I wasn't educated enough to TRULY appreciate what I was seeing. There were a couple more famous paintings I recognized, and of course Mona is chillin' in her own little room and large group of phototakers around her (I think I took a picture with 15 people taking photos. a new personal best.). From the Louvre, which also houses multiple Starbucks and an Apple star, we went to lunch and then to Notre Dame. Notre Dame (Know-trah Dahm) was crowded, but magnificent. Much more stunning from the outside than inside, but that is just my personal opinion. The inside was PACKED with people. One thing that gets me sore (I'm currently reading Catcher in the Rye, hence the use of 'sore' in this context.), is the exploitation of historical and even religious buildings for monetary gain. I'm not religious, but placing vending machines, where you can buy souvenir coins, at every corner in the cathedral seems wrong to me. I know places like that cost money to upkeep, but there has to be a classier way of making money than that. We left Notre Dame, walked around a little, got our bearings, then headed to the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go up, but we did get to see all the people selling trinkets run away when the police came up, so that was a treat. We took the required photos, admired it's greatness (it really is cool and to see it in real life, close up, it really was something), then headed back to Montmartre before dinner. I will say one thing about the food we had in France and then not mention it again. They food was amazing, and that might be an understatement. Most of places we went were recommended by this book we had, but even the ones that weren't recommend were out of control good. ALL THE FOOD WAS TOO GOOD. They know how to cook, and eat,
The next day started at the catacombs (after breakfast of course). This is a kind of tomb for people that died.
I have never seen so many human bones in my life. It was eerie, creepy and interesting at the same time. This was one of my favorite places in Paris. There weren't tons and tons of tourists, like the other places we went, which was a breath of fresh air, and I took some cool photos. After the catacombs, we had lunch, I almost had an anxiety attack and found our way to Mussee d'Orsay. This museum houses much more impressionistic art (more my style than all those religious paintings). I was more familiar with a lot of the artists here: Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, etc. I actually recognized some of the paintings here. I also recognized the high powered automatic rifles that the French soldiers were holding outside the museum (Thanks CS 1.6. B-4-1, if you are interested in what gun it was, and if you aren't using binds, noob.). Our last full day ended by marching up steps to Sacre Couer on the top of Montmartre, dodging all the bracelet makers. There were TONS of people there watching the sun set over Paris. My trip to Paris was capped off with a delicious crepe and a view over a beautifully lit-up city. We left the next morning after breakfast (2 free baguettes!), and channeled back to London before we caught another train, 3 hours later to Salisbury, England. That began the next chapter of this 12 day adventure, but that elicits another blog post.
I bought a kindle recently, and have been reading books I have always meant to read. So I will leave you with an excerpt from one of the books I have recently finished.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to always tell the difference." - Serenity Prayer (I read it in Slaughterhouse Five, hehe)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Amsterdam and Bruxelles
First of all I would like to apologize for the HUGE delay in between this post and my previous one. March became pretty busy with classes ending, coursework being due and friends visiting. Since Wales, I spent most of my time in London, going to class, writing papers, finishing lab reports, getting sick, etc. The past 5 days, however, were spent abroad. On Saturday the 26th, I ventured from London, through the chunnel, to Brussels, Belgium. I traveled with 5 friends I met here in London, 3 of whom also go to UCL.
I woke up prior to the crack of dawn (5am) to shower, finish packing, and catch a bus to St. Pancras train station. I arrived with time to spare, but some of us didn't. After some security fast-tracking by the kind Eurostar security staff, we all made the train in time. OFF TO BRUSSELS! The train was uneventful, but I did get to go UNDER the English channel in the "Chunnel Tunnel" as the train manager called it.
Our train was a little late to arrive, but when we did arrive we began our adventure in Belgium. A long walk from the train station took us to Grand Place which is a major attraction in Brussels. It is a huge open square surrounded by old, majestic buildings, and filled with tables for restaurants and people selling flowers. We found our hostel nearby, but needed to check in at an alternate location. We ventured fourth, eventually finding this location, dropped our bags off and went to go find waffles. Belgian waffles in Belgium did not dissapoint. I went for a waffle with bananas and nutella (a boat load of nutella. She loaded that stuff on, but I wasn't complaining.). They supplied you with a little miniature plastic fork which didn't make things easy and I eventually took a more hands on approach as I felt like I could not eat this treat fast enough. After waffles, we took a seat at a nearby cafe to enjoy a coffee and figure out our plans for the evening. The hostel supplied us with a map with white font and a neon orange background. As you can imagine it was pretty difficult to read, but it worked out in the end. We decided to try and find this creative street with some stuff that sounded pretty cool (a robot chicken comes to mind, but I can't remember exactly. Maybe an electric waterfall?), but we ended up only finding closed shops (it was a saturday), a little square, and prostitutes (WOO!). We kept walking. We found the main shopping drag, which seems to go on forever and a supermarket IN a mall before checking into the hostel and figuring out dinner plans. CHEZ (shay) LEON was apparently the place to go for Mussels in Brussels, which we decided was the thing to do, and we couldn't have been more right. Mussels, cheese, snail butter (sounds gross, but let me assure you it is NOT, and a little garlic comprised my dish. My trip was quickly becoming a tour of food, but once again I was not complaining (but my waistline might be). Post-'Mussels in Brussels' we headed to Celtica, a bar with 1 euro bottles and 2 euro pints. YES PLEASE. After being used to the outrageous prices of pints in London, to get a pint for 2 euro felt like Christmas. We waited around for my boy Stuart Innes's live acoustic stylings, but he sucked, so after plenty of dollar beers we headed back to the hostel, but not before an order of famous fries. It is customary to put mayonnaise on your fries in Belgium and Holland, but I opted out of that (I tried it later and was actually really good. Their mayonnaise is completely different than mayo in the states.) and went for a garlic sauce. The fries hit the spot and I went right to sleep.
The next morning started EARLY once again. It was daylight savings time in Europe, so we needed to be extra careful and make sure we woke up at the right time in order to catch our train to Amsterdam (which had to be no more than 24 hours after our arrival in Brussels, because of how our train tickets worked.). There was a little mix up initially, we thought it was 7am when it was really 6am so instead of being late we turned out to be extra ambitious and we ended up catching the first train to Amsterdam for Leg 2 of this adventure. Our walk to the train station took us through Grand Place again, but it was much different this time around. Since it was barely 7am on the day of daylight savings, there were about 10 people (including us) in the huge open square. It is probably one of the coolest things I have seen on this trip. The sun was rising and it was just so cool seeing two completely different settings: the bustling, busy mid-day and the desolate early morning. We continued to the train station, through a market being set up, and onto the train. Onward to the Netherlands!
We arrived in Amsterdam around 11. This train was much slower and made many, many more stops, but the Belgian and Dutch countrysides were beautiful. After arriving we decided to walk to our hostel again, even though our directions told us to take a tram. This gave us an understanding for the city and allowed me to form the following first impressions.
1. Let's start with what everyone knows: Marijuana is legal to sell, distribute, and use (not in public, but in "coffee shops").
2. The people of Amsterdam really, REALLY love their bikes. There are way more bikes on the road than cars. They don't have parking garages for cars, but they do have parking garages for bikes. I'm not kidding.
3. Amsterdam is gorgeous. The city is similar to Venice, but in a much more organized fashion. There are many canals filled with tour boats and canal buses. Ok so it isn't that much like Venice, but it has a lot of canals.
We found our hostel after much walking and map consulting and set our bags down. The stairs were super narrow and steep, and the hostel was just what I expected for 14 euro a night. We ventured fourth, hungry (believe it or not), and continued our food tour-- I mean adventure. Pannenkoeken, or dutch pancakes, are a speciality of The Netherlands, so that's what we went seeking. After a helpful local pointed us in the right direction, we happened upon "Pancakes!" for our first taste of food in Amsterdam. "Pancakes!" set the bar pretty high, too high in actuality. For those of you that aren't too familiar with pannenkoeken, it is a huge plate sized pancake (similar to a crepe, but thicker) and can be sweet or savory. I went for savory as it was lunchtime: cheese, tomato and bacon. This, to date, is the best pancake I have ever had. It was perfectly crispy on the outside, the bacon was one with the pancake, but crispy at the same time and the tomatoes were juicy and delicious. Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel to check in, ended up napping and we met our bunk roommates, a lovely couple from Melbourne who were traveling the world (literally) for, get this, AN ENTIRE YEAR. They were so nice and very cool. Bridget and Olmo were their names. From the hostel we met back up with the rest of our group, and formulated evening plans. We wandered around Amsterdam, enjoying the scenery and each other's company before deciding on dinner. After dinner, Greg and I went to find a place to watch the Kentucky v. UNC game (Greg goes to UK) while the others turned in for the night. After a very exciting game (I never though I would be able to watch march madness, live, in Amsterdam.) we headed back to the hostel for some shut-eye.
The next stay started pretty late in the morning, but started with a nice pancake from 'Sara's Pancake House.' Sara was actually the one to make our pancakes, and while they were good, I didn't like it was much as my previous one. From there, we went to the Anne Frank house. This is the house that she kid in for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. It is also where she wrote all? of her journal. This was really amazing, and really well done. They had descriptions in each of the rooms with videos from people that knew or worked in the house with the family. The original, movable bookshelf was there along with the original wallpaper in Anne and Margot's room. The original red-checkered, diary was also on display. It is such a tragic story and to see the house was really breathtaking and thought-provoking. After this depressing shock to our system, we did some more exploring before dinner. That night we why wanted to find a place to watch a little live music. Across from the hostel was a little bar that promised live music every night. PERFECT. We watched the B-Funk jam session for a few hours before walking across the street to the hostel from some shut eye.
My last full day started with a pancake (believe it or not), and after that we went to THE HEINEKEN EXPERIENCE, which is located at the brewery which was formerly used to brew the world famous Heineken beer. This was pretty cool. We learned the history, went through a simulation where we got 'brewed' into beer, and, of course, received some 'free' samples at the end. A couple people even gave us their tokens, so instead of only getting two samples we each got three! We kept of this afternoon buzz b heading to another bar before heading to a little italian place for dinner (delicious but expensive). My last night ended with traditional dutch fries (Vlammse fries), with ketchup and mayo (i'm serious, it was good.)
My last day felt too rushed and I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. My flight flew out of Amsterdam-Schipol at 240pm, but I didn't know what train to take to the train station or what train to take to the airport, but I still wanted to see the Van Gogh museum. No pancake this morning, which is upsetting, but I feel like 3 was sufficient. The Van Gogh museum was very cool. They have the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world, and it was interesting to see his style grow and develop. They did a good job explaining his techniques and influences in a lot of different pieces. I would have liked to spend more time there, but I needed to make it to the airport in time. It ended up being really easy, and I got to the airport about 20 minutes earlier than anticipated. Too easy. I had an amazing time in both Brussels and Amsterdam. I could not have asked for better food, adventures and company.
At this very moment, I am on my way to Paris, going backwards at 120 mph and typing a blog post like a champ. My family is around me and I couldn't be more excited to continue my adventures. Sorry that this post is so.damn.long. I won't be mad if you didn't read all of it, or if it took you a couple tries. Thanks for reading!! I promise my next post will be sooner and not so lengthy.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Wales
This past weekend I traveled to the western coast of Wales, north of Haverfordwest, and spent the weekend at an adventure lodge called 'Preseli Venture.' I departed from London midday on Friday and arrived in Wales late Friday evening. We were served dinner when we arrived (the trip was all inclusive, except alcohol of course), and everyone started to get to know each other. I only knew one other person on the trip, but all the students were Arcadia study abroad students in some way shape or form. The first night was pretty laid back a group of us played jenga (some pretty heated games of jenga as well). Eventually, however, some people thought it would be cool to walk to the beach from the lodge, about a mile, IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT. It was so dark. While the walk ended in a failure after we trudged a half mile on muddy terrain, there was one thing that I enjoyed. STARS. I had forgotten how awesome it was to see millions of stars in the night sky. In London, I don't even notice them, they don't exist, but in the middle-of-nowhere, Wales they do exist and it was breathtaking. It reminded me of lying on the dock at Lake Placid just looking at the stars. Good memories.
The next morning after breakfast I was scheduled to go hiking. Since I didn't really plan on doing much hiking in London, I wasn't exactly prepared for this. I ended up hiking in jeans and indoor soccer shoes, but it wasn't a too strenuous or tough hike. It was beautiful though. The sun was shining bright, and the path followed the right along the coastline where Wales meets the Irish sea. To one side was the blue/green ocean and to the other side were infinite rolling hills of green. This reminded me of Ireland. We walked along the cliffs that just seem to explode out of the clear water, past pebbly beaches and eventually back to the lodge where we relaxed before lunch. I passed the time by reading a book about kayaking (an event I would be partaking in tomorrow).
After lunch, it was time for a little coasteering! It's kind of a mix of hiking and climbing on the coastline, where the water meets the land. We prepared by suiting up in cold water wetsuits, wetsuit vests and shorts, cold water socks, life vests (buoyancy aids, as the brits call them), and helmets. Eventually I looked something like this...
The next morning after breakfast I was scheduled to go hiking. Since I didn't really plan on doing much hiking in London, I wasn't exactly prepared for this. I ended up hiking in jeans and indoor soccer shoes, but it wasn't a too strenuous or tough hike. It was beautiful though. The sun was shining bright, and the path followed the right along the coastline where Wales meets the Irish sea. To one side was the blue/green ocean and to the other side were infinite rolling hills of green. This reminded me of Ireland. We walked along the cliffs that just seem to explode out of the clear water, past pebbly beaches and eventually back to the lodge where we relaxed before lunch. I passed the time by reading a book about kayaking (an event I would be partaking in tomorrow).
After lunch, it was time for a little coasteering! It's kind of a mix of hiking and climbing on the coastline, where the water meets the land. We prepared by suiting up in cold water wetsuits, wetsuit vests and shorts, cold water socks, life vests (buoyancy aids, as the brits call them), and helmets. Eventually I looked something like this...
Coasteering was brilliant. A once in a lifetime oppurtunity. We swam into caves, climbed along rocks, jumped off cliffs and got really cold. The water was freezing, but it was a great time. Our guides were fantastic as well. Steve was a quirky, fun adventure nut who kept having us eat the local plants and sea creatures and enjoyed power lunging.
(Steve lunging, i'm in the white helmet)
After coasteering, we warmed up, drove back to the lodge, showered, ate dinner, some people got HAMMERED (not me), and went to bed. Next morning, my last day, was sea kayaking. We wore a smaller wetsuit for this, and a cool windbreaker that looked like it was from the 80s. REAL HIP! Kayaking was cold, but not nearly as cold as coasteering, because you didn't need to get wet if you didn't really want to. We went over the basics in a lagoon before we went out venturing fourth. We kayaked along the coast, went in some caves, saw a gigantic seal, had a hot chocolate break and battled the wind and waves on our adventure. This was another thing I never thought I would be able to do in my lifetime, and I am grateful I was given the chance to do things like this.
After returning to the lodge, we packed up, said our goodbyes to the staff (they were great, each one of them, so much fun) and made our way to the train station. We had to take a bus to Swansea because the train union was on strike, but made it back to London around 930. With plenty of time to write my paper that was due monday night, hehe.
link for the pictures posted by the lodge:
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
My tour of Italia (Milan and Venice)
Once again sorry for the delay. This past week has been busy with Arsenal games, biology labs (they call them PRACTICALS here), and social outings.
Here is, as promised, a continuation of my last post, documenting my adventure through Italy.
After leaving Rome and arriving in Milano, the next few days were fairly laid back. First of all, it rained for probably 36 hours straight after I arrived. I think it was making up for all the fantastic weather I had in Rome. Rachel had class during the day, so I hung out, did homework, ate food, and just relaxed, because I was on holiday. When Rachel wasn't in class she showed me around Milano. We went to Duomo, strolled through the fashion district, and ate panzerotta. Panzerotti is a stuffed pastry, similar to a calzone but smaller and more delicious. I could have eaten 3 or 4, but I managed with only one. We 'saved' some money by cooking dinner every night. Saved is in quotes because we would end up buying WAY WAY WAY too much food and probably ended up costing the same amount, but there were some good leftovers too. On that note, trying to prepare rice when all the directions are in Italian and not knowing any italian is pretty tough. That is one thing I am glad I don't have to deal with most of the time: LANGUAGE BARRIERS. Sometimes in Italy it would be so hard to do simple things like order food or drinks, which is frustrating. Towards the end of the trip I was glad to be going back to an english speaking nation, and I no longer take that fact for granted.
After Milan we headed to my final destination: VENEZIA. The train there was uneventful, although it was 20 minutes late and we sat on the platform for another 30. Upon arrival in Venice, I was first struck with it's unbelievable location. It's similar to an island in the way that it is about half a mile from the mainland, but isLANDs have LAND, and Venice is just buildings built in the water. It is an amazing sight. Our group (Some of Rachel's friends, her flatmate Brittany, Rachel and I) decided that it couldn't be THAT hard to navigate through the city to our hostel, which google maps said was only a 15 minute walk away. We were wrong. The walkways are randomly placed, their names change or they aren't marked well, and there are so many of them. After quite the adventure, we arrived and we were greeted by the owners. The place we stayed was awesome and the owners were very nice and accommodating. Two of them owned a nearby restaurant and gave our entire group 20% off our dinner and even made a reservation for us.
The next day was our only full day in Venice, and once again the weather was perfect, mid 50s and sunny. We saw the sights: Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco, the fashion district (armani, prada, burberry any high end store you can think of and they are all in the same area.) and just enjoyed the beauty of the city. There are no cars in Venice because there are no roads, and if you stay away from the Grand Canal and main tourist attractions, in the maze that is Venice, it is very peaceful and quiet. A polar opposite of Rome. We ended the day with a dinner at a restaurant recommended to me by my good friend Anthony Bourdain. You might know him from the Travel Channel or appearances on Top Chef. The venetians are some of the nicest people I have ever met and experienced in my travels. Claudio and Giorgio from the hostel and restaurant were so generous and the owner or host was the same way at this restaurant, Al Mascaron. We sample some of Venice's famous seafood and closed the restaurant down. They even brought us more wine on the house. The next day was somewhat stressful in that I didn't know where to catch my bus to Treviso (the airport I flew back to London out of) and Venice was still confusing. After getting lost a couple times I figured it out and made it to the airport to fly back to London, which feels like home.
My trip to Italy was simply amazing, but it is only the beginning of my adventures abroad. I am so thankful for this opportunity and especially thankful for those people that made it possible (that's you Mom and Dad). This weekend I go to Wales and only have 3 full weeks of classes until I have all of April off and until my family gets here! Yesterday I met with some friends and planned my next adventure, after wales and before my family arrives, to Brussels and Amsterdam.
Here is, as promised, a continuation of my last post, documenting my adventure through Italy.
After leaving Rome and arriving in Milano, the next few days were fairly laid back. First of all, it rained for probably 36 hours straight after I arrived. I think it was making up for all the fantastic weather I had in Rome. Rachel had class during the day, so I hung out, did homework, ate food, and just relaxed, because I was on holiday. When Rachel wasn't in class she showed me around Milano. We went to Duomo, strolled through the fashion district, and ate panzerotta. Panzerotti is a stuffed pastry, similar to a calzone but smaller and more delicious. I could have eaten 3 or 4, but I managed with only one. We 'saved' some money by cooking dinner every night. Saved is in quotes because we would end up buying WAY WAY WAY too much food and probably ended up costing the same amount, but there were some good leftovers too. On that note, trying to prepare rice when all the directions are in Italian and not knowing any italian is pretty tough. That is one thing I am glad I don't have to deal with most of the time: LANGUAGE BARRIERS. Sometimes in Italy it would be so hard to do simple things like order food or drinks, which is frustrating. Towards the end of the trip I was glad to be going back to an english speaking nation, and I no longer take that fact for granted.
After Milan we headed to my final destination: VENEZIA. The train there was uneventful, although it was 20 minutes late and we sat on the platform for another 30. Upon arrival in Venice, I was first struck with it's unbelievable location. It's similar to an island in the way that it is about half a mile from the mainland, but isLANDs have LAND, and Venice is just buildings built in the water. It is an amazing sight. Our group (Some of Rachel's friends, her flatmate Brittany, Rachel and I) decided that it couldn't be THAT hard to navigate through the city to our hostel, which google maps said was only a 15 minute walk away. We were wrong. The walkways are randomly placed, their names change or they aren't marked well, and there are so many of them. After quite the adventure, we arrived and we were greeted by the owners. The place we stayed was awesome and the owners were very nice and accommodating. Two of them owned a nearby restaurant and gave our entire group 20% off our dinner and even made a reservation for us.
The next day was our only full day in Venice, and once again the weather was perfect, mid 50s and sunny. We saw the sights: Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco, the fashion district (armani, prada, burberry any high end store you can think of and they are all in the same area.) and just enjoyed the beauty of the city. There are no cars in Venice because there are no roads, and if you stay away from the Grand Canal and main tourist attractions, in the maze that is Venice, it is very peaceful and quiet. A polar opposite of Rome. We ended the day with a dinner at a restaurant recommended to me by my good friend Anthony Bourdain. You might know him from the Travel Channel or appearances on Top Chef. The venetians are some of the nicest people I have ever met and experienced in my travels. Claudio and Giorgio from the hostel and restaurant were so generous and the owner or host was the same way at this restaurant, Al Mascaron. We sample some of Venice's famous seafood and closed the restaurant down. They even brought us more wine on the house. The next day was somewhat stressful in that I didn't know where to catch my bus to Treviso (the airport I flew back to London out of) and Venice was still confusing. After getting lost a couple times I figured it out and made it to the airport to fly back to London, which feels like home.
My trip to Italy was simply amazing, but it is only the beginning of my adventures abroad. I am so thankful for this opportunity and especially thankful for those people that made it possible (that's you Mom and Dad). This weekend I go to Wales and only have 3 full weeks of classes until I have all of April off and until my family gets here! Yesterday I met with some friends and planned my next adventure, after wales and before my family arrives, to Brussels and Amsterdam.
Friday, February 25, 2011
My tour of Italia (Rome)
So as I previously mentioned, I spent my 'Reading week' (UCL's very early spring break) traveling around Italy. This post could be epically long, so bear with me.
After class Friday (Feb 11), and after taking a bus an hour outside of London to Stansted airport, I flew into Milano to meet my friend Rachel. I don't mind flying so the flight was fantastic until we got over the alps and I realized something. I forgot something, and it was probably the worst thing I could have forgotten (besides my passport.) When in Italy, it had been decided the cheapest way to get around would be to take trains and instead of buying individual tickets I ordered a Eurail pass to save about $100. I forgot this pass in London. I felt so stupid. I tried not to let it bother me, but it wasn't the ideal way to start my trip. Life is full of lessons, and this just happened to be one of my more expensive lessons. When I arrived at Milano Centrale (the train station), I purchased a new rail pass so I could get to Roma the next morning. After a proper Italian dinner (GNOCCHI and some salmon), I retired for the night. In the morning we headed back to Centrale to board our train to Roma. The bullet train got us there in 3 hours. Those trains are amazing. They cruise along between 120 and 130 miles per hour, but decelerate well too (I'm a nerd). When we got to Rome, thankfully someone wrote down directions to the hotel from the train station, and finding it was a breeze. The hotel was nice and cheap with free breakfast (with cofffeeeeeee) and the people who ran it were very nice and accommodating. After unpacking and getting settled, we took a little walk around northern Roma before finding a metro station and heading to the Colosseum. As soon as you exit the metro station the Colosseum is BAM! right in front of you. It was amazing. To see something that has been standing since the Roman empire, especially something so big and unique, was really spectacular. We strolled around it, took pictures, and took everything in before heading next door to the Roman Forum.
The Roman Forum was mostly ruins, that had been excavated due to Rome's many years of flooding. The ground that Caesar walked on is now 15-20 feet (or more) underneath present day Rome. I continuously tried to imagine what this would have looked during the golden years of the Roman Empire, but I was unsucessful. Oh, what as sight that would be. It will probably be one of the first places I visit after time travel is invented and made affordable (that will be in my lifetime, right?). The sun was setting in Rome and this made the Forum quite a sight to see.
After class Friday (Feb 11), and after taking a bus an hour outside of London to Stansted airport, I flew into Milano to meet my friend Rachel. I don't mind flying so the flight was fantastic until we got over the alps and I realized something. I forgot something, and it was probably the worst thing I could have forgotten (besides my passport.) When in Italy, it had been decided the cheapest way to get around would be to take trains and instead of buying individual tickets I ordered a Eurail pass to save about $100. I forgot this pass in London. I felt so stupid. I tried not to let it bother me, but it wasn't the ideal way to start my trip. Life is full of lessons, and this just happened to be one of my more expensive lessons. When I arrived at Milano Centrale (the train station), I purchased a new rail pass so I could get to Roma the next morning. After a proper Italian dinner (GNOCCHI and some salmon), I retired for the night. In the morning we headed back to Centrale to board our train to Roma. The bullet train got us there in 3 hours. Those trains are amazing. They cruise along between 120 and 130 miles per hour, but decelerate well too (I'm a nerd). When we got to Rome, thankfully someone wrote down directions to the hotel from the train station, and finding it was a breeze. The hotel was nice and cheap with free breakfast (with cofffeeeeeee) and the people who ran it were very nice and accommodating. After unpacking and getting settled, we took a little walk around northern Roma before finding a metro station and heading to the Colosseum. As soon as you exit the metro station the Colosseum is BAM! right in front of you. It was amazing. To see something that has been standing since the Roman empire, especially something so big and unique, was really spectacular. We strolled around it, took pictures, and took everything in before heading next door to the Roman Forum.
The Roman Forum was mostly ruins, that had been excavated due to Rome's many years of flooding. The ground that Caesar walked on is now 15-20 feet (or more) underneath present day Rome. I continuously tried to imagine what this would have looked during the golden years of the Roman Empire, but I was unsucessful. Oh, what as sight that would be. It will probably be one of the first places I visit after time travel is invented and made affordable (that will be in my lifetime, right?). The sun was setting in Rome and this made the Forum quite a sight to see.
The next day we started at Piazza del Popolo, where there was some kind of women's movement thing going on. They were doing skits, but they were in Italian so I had no idea what was going on. The weather was fantastic. Sunny with no need for a coat. We walked around, sat in piazzas, and I took pictures of people taking pictures.
(how many people taking pictures?)
We also saw Fontana de Trevi, a huge, magnificent fountain into which (it is estimated) 3000 euros are thrown every day. We continued to walk around Rome, explorin'. We saw the Pantheon, not to be confused with The Parthenon. Built in 126 AD, The Pantheon is old, and that makes it all the more incredible. The architecture of some of these older buildings is truly amazing There is so much history in Rome. I kept thinking "this place has been around thousands of years before the US was even discovered." Aside from the history, there are lots of pizzerias, gelaterias, cafes, tourists, and people on the street trying to sell you weird stuff (like miniature tripods and crawling army men). It's a busy city. I can't even come to imagine it in the summer with MORE tourists.
The following day was dedicated to Vatican City, and turned out to be one of my favorite days of studying abroad thus far. We got an early start on the day, excited for what it would hold. Turns out it was lines. There were epically long lines for both St. Peter's and Musei Vaticani and the Sistine Chapel. We actually took a tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, which I was skeptical about at first, and felt very touristy. I understand that I am a tourist, but going all out tourist is not really my thing. I like trying to fit in more than stick out, but in the end I was glad we went on the tour. Our guide was british so I felt at home! I learned a LOT more about the history of Rome, the Vatican, Michelangelo, a lot of the artwork, and much more due to the tour and we got to skip all the lines. The Vatican's collection of artwork seems limitless. There are many priceless pieces, including The Sistine Chapel which, of course, was breathtaking. After the tour, we took some time to relax before heading into St. Peter's Basilica. Fortunately, the weather was once again gorgeous. We sat on the steps around the piazza for a little more than an hour, watching people, avoiding killer pigeons, and enjoying the sun.
After grabbing some vitamin D, we headed into St. Peter's. This is easily the most spectacular church I have ever seen. The Vatican knows how to do things up, that is certain. Once again, the architecture and just the sheer size make it one of a kind. It's hard to explain so here are a couple pictures.
That was our last full day in Roma. The next day we checked out and killed some time walking around (unfortunately we had to carry our backpacks.) before taking the train back to Milano. I felt like I saw what I needed to see and had a really wonderful time, but my italian adventure was only beginning. Next up was Milano and Venezia, but that post is for another day. Thanks for reading. I appreciate each and every person that reads my long rambling posts and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. Sorry this one is so long!!
Currently listening to ANYTHING BREAKBOT.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Italia
So I recently returned from a tour of Italy. A post summarizing these days will follow, but I figured I would throw something together real quick before an in depth post.
Since my last post I have:
1) Taken a bullet train (130 mph cruising speed say whhaaatttt?)
2) Walked in Caesar's footsteps (and russel crowe's) (not literally)
3) Seen Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel
4) Eaten Pizza, Pasta, and Risotto in Rome and Venice
5) Indulged in Italian coffee (over and over again)
6) PASTRIES (seriously there are pastry shops on every corner in italy)
7) Strolled through the alleys and walkways of Venice (It's a ridiculous maze). walked along the canals, through the famous Rialto Fish Market (of which I later sampled at a restaurant Anthony Bourdain went to.)
8) Seen many masks and outfits worn by people for Venice's world famous CARNIVALE.
9) WINE, LIMONCELLO, WINE, FREE WINE
Since my last post I have:
1) Taken a bullet train (130 mph cruising speed say whhaaatttt?)
2) Walked in Caesar's footsteps (and russel crowe's) (not literally)
3) Seen Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel
4) Eaten Pizza, Pasta, and Risotto in Rome and Venice
5) Indulged in Italian coffee (over and over again)
6) PASTRIES (seriously there are pastry shops on every corner in italy)
7) Strolled through the alleys and walkways of Venice (It's a ridiculous maze). walked along the canals, through the famous Rialto Fish Market (of which I later sampled at a restaurant Anthony Bourdain went to.)
8) Seen many masks and outfits worn by people for Venice's world famous CARNIVALE.
9) WINE, LIMONCELLO, WINE, FREE WINE
Monday, February 7, 2011
NERO and the Super Bowl
Friday night a friend and I went to a club in Shoreditch, the East Village Club (www.eastvillageclub.co.uk), to see DJ/Producer duo NERO. A big up-and-comer in the dubstep/drum and bass/EDM scene. The bar/club was actually really cool, the coolest one I have been to thus far, but also the most expensive. Their set was out of control. Bangers from beginning to end. They opened with their remix of Justice's "Stress" and didn't slow down from there. They started with a massive dubstep section that included, but was not limited to, Dr. P's "Big Boss", Flux Pavilion's "Cracks" remix, a few remixes of their own and some HUGE tracks I had never heard. From there, they moved into a hard hitting electro house section that started with Steve Aoki and the Bloody Beetroots "Warp 1.9" (one of the biggest electro house tunes of the past 2 years) and MSTRKRFT's remix of "D.A.N.C.E". I finally heard a Wolfgang Gartner track the way they are meant to be heard (LOUD) when they played "Undertaker". For the end, they went back into a dubstep section and ended with their recent single "Me & You." Overall, I was quite pleased with the set, and very happy I went.
On Saturday, Arsenal became the first time in Premier League history (since 1992) to lose a 4-0 lead. They tied newcastle 4-4 after going up 4-0 in the first 30 minutes. Saturday was not a good day.
On Saturday, Arsenal became the first time in Premier League history (since 1992) to lose a 4-0 lead. They tied newcastle 4-4 after going up 4-0 in the first 30 minutes. Saturday was not a good day.
Sunday night I met up with some friends where they live (not that close to me) to get ready for the superbowl. We were heading to a bar in Covent Garden (http://www.roadhouse.co.uk/) to watch in a few hours and needed some time to prepare. Thus beginning a very long night. We introduced some locals to beer pong, and played a few games before the 20 minute walk to CG. The bar was already packed (mostly with americans) and drinks were still kind of expensive, but the game did not dissapoint. Former U of I running back Rashard Mendenhall was having a great game (until he fumbled...) and he was really the only person I was "cheering" for. I just wanted to see a good game, and I did. Aaron Rodgers was unbelievable and fully deserved the MVP. As you know, in the States, the Super Bowl kicks off at 530 CST. In the UK, that's 1130. the game didn't end til 315, and I was still in Covent Garden, with no idea what bus to take. Long story short, buses in the early early morning hours come REALLY infrequently, and I got home at 415. HOLLERRRRRRRR.
longest.night.ever.
On Friday, I go to Italia and on Saturday I go to Roma. I'm very excited. I speak ZERO italian.
kbye
These are the notes I made after the show on the songs I remembered (for those who might be more interested):
warp 1.9, undertaker, cracks (flux), the streets blinded by the lights nero remix, me and you, crush on you, stress remix, dr p. big boss, innocence, mstrkrft d.a.n.c.e., hypnotize you
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wandering through London
Today I saw:
London Bridge!
and (Tower of London)
and a G-Wiz (tiny, hideous electric car)
and a FIRE! (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12328015)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
SOHO and Shoreditch. My first taste of proper London nightlife.
My room smells. Does that mean I smell? Ok, probably not the best way to start a post, but that is what I was thinking about as I started typing. MOVING ON. This was a pretty eventful weekend. Well, it was and it wasn't. Extremely eventful at times (these usually being the nights) and extremely uneventful (these are the times between waking up and the night, soooo the day?) Thursday night I headed to "The Arc" with Conner for some live music. We met up with some other arcadia americans there and it was a good time. They played everything from Bob Marley, to Estelle, and a few of the americans even did a couple songs. It was very laid back and fun and I got to meet plenty of new people. The Arc is in the Angel area of Islington and we decided to peace out from there and head to another bar. Long story short we heard it was lame and decided to head to Shoreditch. The Shoreditch/Hoxton area is supposed to have the second best nightlife in the city. This is of course second to the legendary SOHO area. So we headed to this bar called Mother. It was...interesting. It was packed with people, they played 80s and early 90s hits (that was pretty cool, but I feel like so many places play 80s hits here), and it was weird. I don't know what made it weird. It could have been the weird pictures on the wall, the vast range of ages, or the hot and smelly dance floor, but if I never go to Mother again I won't be disappointed.
Friday was laid back. I woke up early after getting home late (I won't say when because I don't need my mom worrying.) Let's say it was 12:30am (it wasn't). I still had class Friday, starting at 9am. Let it be known I was not late to these classes and I took notes like a champ even with sleep deprivation. I got back to thoresby from class at 1130am, ate some food and took a 3 hour nap. It was awesome. I woke up, did some work, thought about going out again, was told it wasn't worth it, ate more food, went back to sleep.
Saturday- I don't remember what I did Saturday day, so it isn't important. I do remember eating an entire pizza, watching football, then falling asleep at 730pm. I woke up an hour later to a text from my buddy Greg. He mentioned they were heading out to Soho tonight and were meeting up at a UCL residence hall in an hour to prepare for the night out, "pregame" if you will. PERFECT. I got dressed and headed to Bloomsbury. Fellow big ten university student Ryan was there with his girlfriend Amy (they both go to Northwestern) along with some new friends i'm sure to see again soon, some americans and some locals. We prepared for our night out in the dorm's kitchen (that's where they hang out) and I was surprised at how many brits know all the words to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". The bar/club/cantina we went to in Soho was called "Barrio Central" (say it with a spanish accent. roll those r's!). There was a little queue which we waited patiently in. We passed the time by talking to some fellow americans in front of us, and then chatted with the doorman, Lorenzo, before we got inside. It was packed. We headed downstairs, got some drinks, and did a little dancing. The music was once again an eclectic mix of everything you could imagine, and that is not an exaggeration. For example, within 1 hour we heard Nirvana's "Smell's like Teen Spirit", The White Stripes' "Fell in love with a Girl", Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". Yeah. Crazy. But it was a lot of fun. My night ended with some late night McDonalds by King's Cross Station where we ran into Ryan in hilarious fashion (We lost track of Ryan and Amy in the crowd at Barrio central). I hopped on the bus back to Islington chatted with some friends in the US who were just preparing for their night out (still not used to that. it's so weird.) before falling asleep.
I woke up a perfect 15 minutes before the Arsenal game started today, watched that, (they won 2-1 and progress to the quarterfinals of the FA cup.), ate, went to the gym (which was surprisingly busy for 330 on a sunday), ate, ate, ate, worked, ate, fell asleep, ate and blogged. I'm so lazy.
Tomorrow marks the 3rd Monday in a row that I do not have class, but my day will not be wasted. My alarm is set and my camera is charged. I just have to figure out what my gameplan will be. I hope it's sunny and not so cold, because tomorrow I am a tourist.
Cheers!
Currently listening to Nero's BBC Radio1 essential mix (I hope to see Nero on Friday in the East village)
Friday was laid back. I woke up early after getting home late (I won't say when because I don't need my mom worrying.) Let's say it was 12:30am (it wasn't). I still had class Friday, starting at 9am. Let it be known I was not late to these classes and I took notes like a champ even with sleep deprivation. I got back to thoresby from class at 1130am, ate some food and took a 3 hour nap. It was awesome. I woke up, did some work, thought about going out again, was told it wasn't worth it, ate more food, went back to sleep.
Saturday- I don't remember what I did Saturday day, so it isn't important. I do remember eating an entire pizza, watching football, then falling asleep at 730pm. I woke up an hour later to a text from my buddy Greg. He mentioned they were heading out to Soho tonight and were meeting up at a UCL residence hall in an hour to prepare for the night out, "pregame" if you will. PERFECT. I got dressed and headed to Bloomsbury. Fellow big ten university student Ryan was there with his girlfriend Amy (they both go to Northwestern) along with some new friends i'm sure to see again soon, some americans and some locals. We prepared for our night out in the dorm's kitchen (that's where they hang out) and I was surprised at how many brits know all the words to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". The bar/club/cantina we went to in Soho was called "Barrio Central" (say it with a spanish accent. roll those r's!). There was a little queue which we waited patiently in. We passed the time by talking to some fellow americans in front of us, and then chatted with the doorman, Lorenzo, before we got inside. It was packed. We headed downstairs, got some drinks, and did a little dancing. The music was once again an eclectic mix of everything you could imagine, and that is not an exaggeration. For example, within 1 hour we heard Nirvana's "Smell's like Teen Spirit", The White Stripes' "Fell in love with a Girl", Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". Yeah. Crazy. But it was a lot of fun. My night ended with some late night McDonalds by King's Cross Station where we ran into Ryan in hilarious fashion (We lost track of Ryan and Amy in the crowd at Barrio central). I hopped on the bus back to Islington chatted with some friends in the US who were just preparing for their night out (still not used to that. it's so weird.) before falling asleep.
I woke up a perfect 15 minutes before the Arsenal game started today, watched that, (they won 2-1 and progress to the quarterfinals of the FA cup.), ate, went to the gym (which was surprisingly busy for 330 on a sunday), ate, ate, ate, worked, ate, fell asleep, ate and blogged. I'm so lazy.
Tomorrow marks the 3rd Monday in a row that I do not have class, but my day will not be wasted. My alarm is set and my camera is charged. I just have to figure out what my gameplan will be. I hope it's sunny and not so cold, because tomorrow I am a tourist.
Cheers!
Currently listening to Nero's BBC Radio1 essential mix (I hope to see Nero on Friday in the East village)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Best school day ever?
Today was cold. My coldest day in London thus far I think. I feel much more susceptible to the cold here. In Urbana, I would walk to class in a hoodie when it was 15 degrees out with 20 mph winds and not be phased. Today I went outside, it was above freezing, I was wearing a coat, and I was shivering. I think it's time to start training in the cold again. NO MORE COATS.
So I woke up (without hitting the snooze button once. objective completed.) to an email from my "Science in the Mass Media" professor stating he was still out sick and class for today would have to be cancelled. EXCELLENT NEWS! I usually have 4 hours of class on Thursday, and this email sliced that time in half. I took the bus to school today. On my walk to the Old Street tube station from Thoresby, I walk right past the bus stop the bus to school stops at, so if I see the bus approaching I will take it. I usually take the tube home though. The bus is nice and convenient it just stops SO MANY TIMES. Cell bio was my only class today, and it was cut short when the tutorial instructor didn't show up for the second half of the lecture. The 2 hours was supposed to be 1 hour of lecture and 1 hour of review, with different lecturers, so when the second lecturer was MIA....everyone left. 1/4 of my usual Thursday down, and it was already time to head home.
With my extra time, I decided to walk to a coffee shop nearby. Not just any coffee shop, but a London renowned coffee shop, Dose Espresso. Owned and run by the barista that makes your espresso, this tiny (and I mean tiny. The seating/ordering area is smaller than my room.) serves some of the best espresso in London. Businessmen from the surrounding area came in on their lunch breaks while I enjoyed my macchiato (I know what you're thinking. Milk in espresso after 10am? So amateur.) in the corner. The cups were colorful and the menu was made on a chalkboard using multi colored magnetic letters. The espresso was fantastic and I will be returning to sample more from the menu. Compared to Pret or Starbucks or Costa (I passed 10 of those total on my walk to Dose) this place was LEGIT. :)
This weekend was my first chance to see Arsenal play live, but I hesitated on buying tickets and my chance passed. I will probably go take pictures of the madness that is match day, and watch the game at a nearby establishment. Let's go Gunners.
Tonight I am heading out to watch some Arcadia students (like me) play music at a nearby bar? I don't really know what to expect, but it should be a good time and I can meet some more people.
Goals for the next 4 days:
1. Take more pictures (Arsenal, St. Paul's at night, nights out?)
2. Read more articles
3. Eat more vegetables
4. Describe coffee shops as something other than "legit" (even if they are)
5. Keep up the good work with the snooze button. ONCE IS ENOUGH.
Currently listening to Tinie Tempah's debut album Disc-Overy.
So I woke up (without hitting the snooze button once. objective completed.) to an email from my "Science in the Mass Media" professor stating he was still out sick and class for today would have to be cancelled. EXCELLENT NEWS! I usually have 4 hours of class on Thursday, and this email sliced that time in half. I took the bus to school today. On my walk to the Old Street tube station from Thoresby, I walk right past the bus stop the bus to school stops at, so if I see the bus approaching I will take it. I usually take the tube home though. The bus is nice and convenient it just stops SO MANY TIMES. Cell bio was my only class today, and it was cut short when the tutorial instructor didn't show up for the second half of the lecture. The 2 hours was supposed to be 1 hour of lecture and 1 hour of review, with different lecturers, so when the second lecturer was MIA....everyone left. 1/4 of my usual Thursday down, and it was already time to head home.
With my extra time, I decided to walk to a coffee shop nearby. Not just any coffee shop, but a London renowned coffee shop, Dose Espresso. Owned and run by the barista that makes your espresso, this tiny (and I mean tiny. The seating/ordering area is smaller than my room.) serves some of the best espresso in London. Businessmen from the surrounding area came in on their lunch breaks while I enjoyed my macchiato (I know what you're thinking. Milk in espresso after 10am? So amateur.) in the corner. The cups were colorful and the menu was made on a chalkboard using multi colored magnetic letters. The espresso was fantastic and I will be returning to sample more from the menu. Compared to Pret or Starbucks or Costa (I passed 10 of those total on my walk to Dose) this place was LEGIT. :)
This weekend was my first chance to see Arsenal play live, but I hesitated on buying tickets and my chance passed. I will probably go take pictures of the madness that is match day, and watch the game at a nearby establishment. Let's go Gunners.
Tonight I am heading out to watch some Arcadia students (like me) play music at a nearby bar? I don't really know what to expect, but it should be a good time and I can meet some more people.
Goals for the next 4 days:
1. Take more pictures (Arsenal, St. Paul's at night, nights out?)
2. Read more articles
3. Eat more vegetables
4. Describe coffee shops as something other than "legit" (even if they are)
5. Keep up the good work with the snooze button. ONCE IS ENOUGH.
Currently listening to Tinie Tempah's debut album Disc-Overy.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Living a dream.
It was a busy weekend. It was filled with trip planning, organelle naming, pint pounding, american football watching and Arsenal winning.
Friday: After my last class thursday I hit up the gym, came back to 1 Thoresby then fell asleep but woke up just in time for friday night shenanigans. The UCL contingent at Thoresby headed to Camden to meet up with some other internationals and some natives at UCL housing. Coed bathrooms (like, boys and girls go into the same bathroom and shower in the same bathroom) small kitchens and many people on each floor make me glad i'm staying in Thoresby. It also didn't smell very good, but that is beside the point. We socialized there for awhile before heading out. The nightlife in Camden is pretty good. There were a lot young people out and walking around. We went to a bar, got in free for filling out a card (sorry in advance Polta) and got some drinks. There were 3 bars and 3 djs. One played pure 80s tunes, another more popular current hits, and the third was playing tunes for the dance floor. We stayed there until 2? before hitting up KING OF FALAFEL for a late night snack. On the bus back it was more packed than rush hour.
Saturday: My favourite (english spelling) day of the weekend. I slept in but I woke up excited and ready for the day. Earlier in the week, Greg and I had talked about heading to the Holloway Road/Highbury Field area to watch the Arsenal game at a pub. I got some pregame kebab (the best I have had yet) and headed to the tube. The tube was PACKED. They even closed down some of the tube stops for football traffic. I got off at the "Arsenal" tube stop and met up my mates. We followed the crowd through the streets, rounded a corner, and we saw Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal FC. I was grinning like a child all the way down Drayton Park (the road that borders the stadium). The stadium is huge and quite a site to see as so many arsenal fans were flooding into the stadium. I can't wait until I'm marching through those gates with my red and white scarf on to see the Gunners play. We found the pub we were looking for, "Phibbers" (chock full of Arsenal fans), found some seats upstairs and waited for the game to start. The game and the environment were great. The pub erupted with cheers when RVP netted an Alex Song pass 22 minutes in. Van Persie scored 2 more as Arsenal shutout Wigan 3-0. After the game ended, the pub was filled with chants and joyous fans. We then headed back to our respective housing, and I did laundry, hehe.
Sunday: No class today (monday) so I met some friends at the "Sports Cafe"(which isn't a cafe at all, but a bar/restaurant in Piccadilly Circus) to watch the Bears v. Packers playoff game. You know, like real americans should, and this place was PACKED with americans. We drank beer and cheered our respective teams on. I didn't really care who won and just wanted to see a good game, but I went with huge fans of both teams which created some friendly rivalries and bickering. The third quarter comeback mounted by 3rd string QB Caleb Hanie made for a very interesting second half. After the Packers held off the Bears last offensive surge and the game ended, we ended for the tube and headed back. I missed the last northern line train (damn sunday schedule) by 30 seconds, but I'm getting a handle on the buses, so got back to Thoresby seamlessly.
I don't have an applicable quote for this post, but I did hear a quote I liked today.
"In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." - Carl Sagan
TOODLES
Friday: After my last class thursday I hit up the gym, came back to 1 Thoresby then fell asleep but woke up just in time for friday night shenanigans. The UCL contingent at Thoresby headed to Camden to meet up with some other internationals and some natives at UCL housing. Coed bathrooms (like, boys and girls go into the same bathroom and shower in the same bathroom) small kitchens and many people on each floor make me glad i'm staying in Thoresby. It also didn't smell very good, but that is beside the point. We socialized there for awhile before heading out. The nightlife in Camden is pretty good. There were a lot young people out and walking around. We went to a bar, got in free for filling out a card (sorry in advance Polta) and got some drinks. There were 3 bars and 3 djs. One played pure 80s tunes, another more popular current hits, and the third was playing tunes for the dance floor. We stayed there until 2? before hitting up KING OF FALAFEL for a late night snack. On the bus back it was more packed than rush hour.
Saturday: My favourite (english spelling) day of the weekend. I slept in but I woke up excited and ready for the day. Earlier in the week, Greg and I had talked about heading to the Holloway Road/Highbury Field area to watch the Arsenal game at a pub. I got some pregame kebab (the best I have had yet) and headed to the tube. The tube was PACKED. They even closed down some of the tube stops for football traffic. I got off at the "Arsenal" tube stop and met up my mates. We followed the crowd through the streets, rounded a corner, and we saw Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal FC. I was grinning like a child all the way down Drayton Park (the road that borders the stadium). The stadium is huge and quite a site to see as so many arsenal fans were flooding into the stadium. I can't wait until I'm marching through those gates with my red and white scarf on to see the Gunners play. We found the pub we were looking for, "Phibbers" (chock full of Arsenal fans), found some seats upstairs and waited for the game to start. The game and the environment were great. The pub erupted with cheers when RVP netted an Alex Song pass 22 minutes in. Van Persie scored 2 more as Arsenal shutout Wigan 3-0. After the game ended, the pub was filled with chants and joyous fans. We then headed back to our respective housing, and I did laundry, hehe.
Sunday: No class today (monday) so I met some friends at the "Sports Cafe"(which isn't a cafe at all, but a bar/restaurant in Piccadilly Circus) to watch the Bears v. Packers playoff game. You know, like real americans should, and this place was PACKED with americans. We drank beer and cheered our respective teams on. I didn't really care who won and just wanted to see a good game, but I went with huge fans of both teams which created some friendly rivalries and bickering. The third quarter comeback mounted by 3rd string QB Caleb Hanie made for a very interesting second half. After the Packers held off the Bears last offensive surge and the game ended, we ended for the tube and headed back. I missed the last northern line train (damn sunday schedule) by 30 seconds, but I'm getting a handle on the buses, so got back to Thoresby seamlessly.
I don't have an applicable quote for this post, but I did hear a quote I liked today.
"In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." - Carl Sagan
TOODLES
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Liverpool, Southport and Soccernomics
First off, I appreciate everyone that takes the time to read this. I'm sorry that I don't post more often, and I'll try and put a little more effort into updating more often.
Since the last post I have been busy with traveling, schooling, eating yogurt and granola, spending (too much) money, walking and riding the tube. Not in that order. This past weekend, fellow UCL/Arcadia study abroaders and I traveled up the M6 to Southport, England to spend a weekend with a proper English family. We didn't really know what to expect. We were given a brief overview of our family and their interests, but aside from that we let our imaginations take over. I lucked out with my family. Chris (fitness instructor and mother of 3) and Mike (electrical engineer) were more than happy to open up their home to Matthew and I and make us feel at home. The coach trip was long, but manageable. The crazy coach driver we had was BLAZING through the winding roads leading to southport, and even I manage to feel a little queasy. That went away quickly when we arrived at our homestay house to tea, homemade brownies, and full cable television. We chatted before heading to bed. The next morning we made our way to the Southport train station and boarded a train for Liverpool. We (Matthew and I) met some fellow students (Dan, Greg, Ryan, Sam) outside Central Station in Liverpool and began walking around the city. They have an enormous outdoor mall that spans so many blocks. You could probably walk around it for hours if it wasn't filled with annoying 14 year old brits looking for something to do on their saturday afternoon. Pretty similar to good ole St. Clair Square, but who am I to judge? After all, I was 14 once. We checked out the Cavern Club, where the Beatles played some 200 times throughout their music career and where they were first discovered. It smelled of incense and had an ambience that I can't do justice in words. It was very cool. From there we went to abbott pier. Liverpool was and still is a major shipping port. It was windy. We hit a pub for a pint of Guinness (it was a lovely day for a Guinness) and lunch before walking around some more. We walked to no place in particular, we essentially got lost, then found our way back.
We came back to Southport to a homemade traditional british meal: Shepard's pie, cauliflower cheese, and baked carrots. It was amazing. The meal was topped off chocolate cake and a cup of tea. We followed the meal with a 4+ hour conversation about EVERYTHING. They also had 2 high school students staying with them. One was from France and the other from Germany, so we had lots of opinions and viewpoints about everything. It led to quite the stimulating after dinner conversation. The following morning we headed to Formby. The family has 3 dogs, two irish setters, and a smaller dog, but I can't remember what it is. They take them to the beach often and the dogs absolutely LOVE IT. They are very well trained so they run free from their leads and explore as they fancy, but never leave eyesight. The beach, although cold and a little rainy, was a nice experience. It was fun watching the dogs run and play and climb the sand dunes. Afterwards we headed back to Southport, scarfed down some homemade thai soup (spicy and delicious!) and headed for the coach back to London. Overall, the homestay weekend was fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better family.
Classes continue at UCL and are starting to pick up speed. I became a member of the gym for a little fee, and have been working out on a regular basis to keep lean and mean. I have planned my first trip abroad during READING WEEK. UCL didn't think 5 weeks off was enough, so we have a full week in February off. I have started thinking about other weekend trips as well. Dublin and Amsterdam have both been thrown around and are looking likely in the future.
SEACREST OUT.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
I walk a lot.
School
Classes started Monday and I have almost completed my first week, one more day. I have now been to all of my classes at least once, and I as far as first impressions go, the positive outweighed the negatives. I enjoy listening to my british lecturers talk, and I know people in each one of my classes now. I'm excited for my one non life science course, "Science in the Mass Media". I have been doing nothing but physical and life science classes for a couple years now, so this will be a nice change of pace. I honestly don't think i have been in a gen-ed/elective since freshman year. Immunology will probably be my toughest class. With that and cell bio, I will be spending some hours in the library. My schedule is pretty good. One and sometimes (like this coming week) zero hours of class on monday, two hours on Tues./Wed./Fri., and four on Thursday. Cell bio is easily the most boring. A two hour block of time with the most boring lecturers.
Life in London
This past Sunday was the nicest london weather I have witnessed thus far. 45-50 and sunny. I grabbed my camera and strolled through residential Islington, the commercial "Angel" area, and southwest Hackney. Residential Islington was great. There is a canal with a walking path next to it that connects Islington and Hackney. The doors to all the flats were different colors and the people were friendly. Angel was super busy on the weekend. I have never seen so many people in Sainsbury's (the grocery store). I left sainsbury's and was almost run over by a furious AMERICAN bike rider. He shouted some profanity at me as I walked in front of him. Hey guy, maybe don't wear all dark gear at dusk and not have any lights on your bike. I still have SO much more exploring in london to do, and I'm still learning the city. Slowly but surely. I know my area pretty well, but not anything else! A friend and I went to a pub to watch arsenal lose to ipswich town in the carling cup last night. It was awful.
Upcoming
Tomorrow, I leave for my homestay weekend in Southport. Southport is northwest of London, close to Manchester. I'm staying with Chris (the fitness instructor and mother) and Mike (the electrical engineer and father), their three kids, and two dogs. It's a 4.5 hour coach ride to the west coast of England, but it will be cool to see a little bit of the english countryside on the way. OH WAIT IT WILL BE DARK. That's going to be a boring ride. Yawn. Hopefully it's not too awkward and they just make me food and stuff. I won't be the only person in the program living with them, that will help. 3 kids and 2 dogs? I wonder how big their house is if they can still have room for 2 more people...
Eat your hearts out, America.
I found these at a REASONABLE price (half the america price, for double the cookies). I had forgotten how good they were.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
UCL and O2 academy islington
LAZY POST TIME. since wednesday I have:
1. Registered for classes.
2. explored bloomsbury.
3. enjoyed classic fish and chips over a pint.
4. finished the inbetweeners.
5. gone to my first bar/club. heard music I have longed to hear in the US when I go out. Katy b, dizzee rascal, nero, chase and status, duck sauce, dj fresh, etc.
6. learned I have a week off in february and started planning an adventure in europe. :)
7. eaten a cornetto.
8. eaten the london version of chipotle... and it was rubbish.
9. fallen in love with 24 hour off licenses a block from thoresby, and kronenberg 1664.
10. watched arsenal almost lose to leeds in the FA cup. theo walcott is class.
and
11. managed to collect 15 quid in just coins.
1. Registered for classes.
2. explored bloomsbury.
3. enjoyed classic fish and chips over a pint.
4. finished the inbetweeners.
5. gone to my first bar/club. heard music I have longed to hear in the US when I go out. Katy b, dizzee rascal, nero, chase and status, duck sauce, dj fresh, etc.
6. learned I have a week off in february and started planning an adventure in europe. :)
7. eaten a cornetto.
8. eaten the london version of chipotle... and it was rubbish.
9. fallen in love with 24 hour off licenses a block from thoresby, and kronenberg 1664.
10. watched arsenal almost lose to leeds in the FA cup. theo walcott is class.
and
11. managed to collect 15 quid in just coins.
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