Birthday/Isle of Wight

When I learned that I was going to be abroad on my 21ts birthday, the only thing I could think of that would make up for missing my 21st in the US was to go to Oktoberfest. Sadly, that didn't happen... it simply cost too much.
I don't have classes on Thursdays, and since it was my birthday I was not just going to sit around all day. I slept in of course but then I went to the Sherlock Holmes museum with two other girls while most everyone was at their internships.

(Me at 221b Baker Street, someone thought that the hat was a good idea, they lied! haha!)

Once we got back to Vandon, we got all dressed up and headed out for dinner! We went to a Mexican food restaurant called Wahaca near Covent Garden. It was very busy, but the food was good. Afterwards, we were on our way downtown! I really missed not being able to have my friends and family around on such a special birthday, but these girls were great and we made the best of it! (sorry for not having pics, I didn't have my camera so I am waiting to get them from the other girls with me)
Instead of going to Oktoberfest, Britanny, Lauren and I went to the Isle of Wight for an overnight trip. I love living in London, but it was so nice getting way from all of the hustle and bustle of a big city. We took a coach down to South Hampton and then a ferry to the island. The island was amazingly beautiful and I could not have asked for more perfect weather! We had a tour around the island, stopped at a few of the small towns there, and were on the beaches as much as possible! I even got a little sun! I guess I could say that this makes up for not being able to go to the beach at all this summer since I was at "nerd camp" at Penn State.

We had Saturday afternoon and evening to do what ever we wanted on the island. So the three of us went to the beach! It was probably about 5:00 and we were walking down the shore towards these beautiful white cliffs (first picture below). The beach looked like a family beach so we were just enjoying ourselves, but as we were getting nearer to the end of the beach we saw what looked to be like a girl wearing a skimpy bikini. We thought nothing of it and kept on walking, well a little while later we realized that we were wrong. It was a naked man! We were shocked at first, but then we quickly ran the other directly while laughing hysterically. It was just one of those silly little moments that I am sure I will always remember.

PS- Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who sent their kind birthday wishes to me! You guys are so great!

Greenwich

Watching the sun set at Hyde Park

Things are finally slowing down a little bit since most classes have now begun. My class at LMU (London Metropolitan University) hasn't started yet, so I had nothing to do last Thursday. Most people have their internships on Thursdays, meaning there isn't much to do around Vandon, so I decided that I was going to go to the Tower of London by myself. On my way out, I discovered that two of the guys here had made plans for the Tower as well. The three of us joined up and headed out. We had a fun time, I got to make new friends and I got to see a castle. :)

I don't think I would have survived living in those days!

On Friday we had a day trip scheduled to see Greenwich, a smaller town in London. Central paid for all of us to ride a river boat down the Thames river on our way to Greenwich. It was cold and windy but well worth sticking it out for all of the beautiful views.

The Tower Bridge during our river trip down the Thames

The Prime Meridian is located in Greenwich so we all had to climb our way up to the top of this huge hill to get the the observatory. We took our pictures and then headed back to town to check out the market.

Me at the Prime Meridian

While walking around I discovered a Tex-Mex restaurant! Needless to say, we ate there for lunch. The food was amazing, almost like being at home! I did however catch a few laughs for being so excited about the place.... I even took a picture!

Cafe Sol- the Tex-Mex restaurant where we ate lunch in Greenwich!

Today I had my Art in London Class, we went to the British Museum. It was kind of like having my own tour guide at the museum. We got to see parts of the Rosetta Stone and remains of the Parthenon in Athens.

Tropic Thunder

Last night was the Tropic Thunder movie premier in London. Mark, my program director, had sent out an email with what was going on in London this week and at the very bottom was on small little note saying "oh yes, perhaps you might be interested in the Tropic Thunder premier in Leicester Square Tuesday".

After class on Tuesday Rochelle and I grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to Leicester Square. When we got there the square was already filled with other fans waiting to see the stars arrive. The two of us found a spot close to the entrance of the theatre and a little while later the stars began showing up. We got to see Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downy Jr. They were so close we could touch them!There was a singer there named Sam Sparro, the people around me knew him pretty well but he was new to me. There were a lot of other people that would arrive and the cameras would flash, but I had no idea who they all were.




It is also fashion week in London right now. Once I got back to Vandon House, one of my friends who is a fashion student at the London College of Fashion invited me to an after fashion week party. We got all dressed up and headed out.
When we got there, people were dressed anywhere from jeans and a jacket to formal dresses. It looked like one woman there was wearing a wedding dress! My drink even came in a real pinapple! We did lots of people watching and were quite entertained. We also realized that British guys dance like big goofs!

My weekend with Shakespeare

This weekend my entire London program went to Stratford-Upon-Avon and stayed in a Bed and Breakfast. When I walked into my room for the weekend, I was quickly reminded of our weekend in Canton one year at Rose and Henry's. The walls, curtains, and bed sheets were all green and covered with flowers.

A coach picked us up outside Vandon House early friday morning for our journey to begin.

On our way to Stratford, we stopped by Warwick Castle for a few hours. We toured in and around the castle grounds while it rained off and on.

Once we made it to Stratford we took a walking tour around town to see where Shakespeare lived and was burried. As usual, it was raining the entire time. We went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company put on their version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. One of the main characters in the play was in the Mummy Returns, so that was a neat expereince.

Saturday we went to the Cotswolds (where The Holiday was filmed). We got to see how beautiful the English countryside really is. We spent lunch in Bourton-on-the-Water, another small town in the Cotswolds, and did a little bit of shopping.

Sunday while on our way back to London, we stopped by Oxford. We got to walk around the various colleges in Oxford and see where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed.

Classes start tomorrow, that means I have to get up early! I am not looking forward to this!

I have mastered the Tube!

I have gotten the Tube system down! I hear that most Londoners use the tube instead of buses and other kinds of transportation. Yesterday was my first time to use the tube alone. And I made it to the Museum of London all by myself! I find the tube to be an interesting place. There are so many people there but no one talks, no one smiles, they just sit looking very depressed while reading the free newspaper they just picked up on their way in.

On Sunday, a few of us girls went to the Regents Street Festival. We did a little shopping, shocking huh? But we got to see this hip-hop/rap group perform while we were there, they were called Lazy Habits, they sounded good but I had no idea what they were saying! It was so much fun getting to experience a British festival. There were food vendors and rides everywhere in the middle of this street in London. I guess they just do it a little different here. Above are a few of the pictures from the festival.

As part of our orientation, we got tickets to a musical! We saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on Tuesday night. My ticket was in the stalls, so I was really close to all the action. I loved it! I think I am going to have to go some of the other musicals around here too.

Mark, the director of my program, told me yesterday that the class I signed up for at LMU was cancelled. Needless to say I was really dissappointed. I did find a math class to take though. It is an upper level class, but I think I will be working with other students on various project throughout the semester so this might be better after all.

This weekend we are all going to Stratford-Upon-Avon. We leave early Friday morning and return on Sunday. This is going to be a fun weekend, we are even going to see A Midsummer Night's Dream!

I HATE CONSTRUCTION!

This morning I woke up to huge crashing noices outside my bedroom window! I was not too happy about this... I think they are demolishing a building behind right outside my window. sometimes I think they have got the wrong building and are actually trying to tear down this one; my bed is literally shaking right now. And no, I am not living in a shady part of London.

Vandon House is the name of the building I am living in. I am staying in room 3/9 which usually means the third floor, but its really the fourth. Everywhere here there is the ground floor (our first floor) and then the first floor right above it. This means I have the pleasure of hiking up 3 flights of stairs everytime I go to my room. I have two roomates: Lynn, and Brittany. The 3 of us having been getting along pretty well so far. We have our own bathroom, it is a good size, but we have the smallest glass shower I have ever seen! Our room isnt very big and there is definitely not enough room for all of our clothes. All my things have been shoved in a drawer or just left in my suitcase. Sometimes you jsut have to look at all of this craziness going on and just laugh!

Buckingham Palace is just around the corner from Vandon House, and Westminster Abby is only a few minute walk from here. Other than this construction, I couldn't have imagined a better location to live in.

Going to the Globe Theatre was an amazing experience. The show goes on rain or shine. It was definitly raining! My new friend Lauren and I both bought waterproofs (aka poncho) while we were there. We looked like goofballs but we still had a great time!

Buroughs Market

Today we had another walking tour through London. I think we have have 3 so far, and I am sure there are still more to come. I really enjoy these tours, we get to go to so many more places that I would have never found on m own and hear all of the stories behind the different building in London.
Our tour today ended at Buroughs Market. Me and four other girls stuck around to explore and see what was around this busy market. It was so neat being able to see everyone going through their day to day activities at the market. There were so many different kinds of people and cultures at the market. I saw a German sausage stand (my choice for lunch) next to an Indian food booth across from a local fruit and vegetable place. Everything smelled so good, I wanted to try a little bit of everything.
As a part of our orientation to London we all got tickets to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre tonight. We will be seeing The Merry Wives of Windsor, a comedy. I am really excited to get to see this show tonight, but we got the standing tickets and it is supposed to rain tonight. So this is going to be interesting!
London has just cold and rainy so far, I am hoping for some sunny weather soon, but I an not holding my breath!

And so it begins

My mom and I arrived here in London two days ago after spending four days in Paris. Our trip began with a bumpy start. We were supposed to fly through Altanta on our way to Paris. But, Hurricane Fay had other plans for us! Fay had caused some really bad weather in Atlanta so we were re-routed last minute to Cincinatti. We made it Paris the same day, but our luggage did not! After wearing the same clothes for three days, and many phone calls to Delta (thanks Carla), we had never been so happy to see our luggage! So, after 4 long days in Paris seeing just about everything we could, we took the train to London.
The other students will begin arriving tomorrow, and I will be meeting my two roomates! The weather has been much cooler here than Texas, it is "fresh" as they say. It seems like I need a dictionary to figure out everything around here. But I am sure I will learn it all soon enough!
I got a cell phone today, my number is 07932039524, I think :)