Lauren Goes to London

One big Wrap Up Post!

2012-08-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Instead of detailing out how stressful and difficult my packing process has been and sparing the details of saying bye to the people I've spent everyday for the past six weeks are, I thought I would do a "wrap up" post- my thoughts about the trip as a whole, or something of the sort.

Honestly, if you asked me six weeks ago what I thought of London I would have scowled and grumbled about all the ways London wasn't America, wasn't where I belonged. Asking myself that same question now, the response is completely different.
I once thought coming to London would change my life, and it did- but in ways that I'm not sure I can still process. It made me vulnerable, tired, sick and cold, but it also made me self aware, responsible, fit (I WALK EVERYWHERE!), resourceful, outgoing, independent.
I thought I would be able to see myself living here, but in reality- I don't think that's the case... and I've come to terms with that. At first, I was disappointed at the fact that I didn't fall in love from the second I stepped on to the tarmac at Heathrow, but now I realize I didn't need to be infatuated with the city to still have an amazing and unforgettable experience here. So, I won't live here. That's perfectly fine with me. I can always come back and visit- and hopefully get to do some of the things I skipped during this trip (I still want to go on a tour of Westminster Abbey! I'm disappointed I never got around to that, but I did attend a service there so I'm happy with that). I'd also like to continue to travel once I've saved up enough money to support myself- I'd love to travel more into central Europe, go to Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands...see more of Paris (without getting my phone stolen this time...)
Overall, this trip was like nothing I've ever experienced in my life. It gave me so many new perspectives on life and even taught me how to deal with un-ideal and adverse situations. It brought me a pair of green jeans and other new accessories I can't wait to rock on the streets of East Lansing. It brought me 17 new friends and a new appreciation for literature- especially that of British writers. There's so many things I've experienced here that my blog doesn't even touch on, so many things that I'll remember for the rest of my life.
I'm leaving with a smile on my face and a promise to return soon.
Cheers, London!

Winding Down Wednesday

2012-08-10T05:17:00.001-07:00

Wednesday 8/8/12
Still feeling the rush of productivity, I darted from class and headed down to Abbey Road, the location of the recording studio made famous by The Beatles.
I think it might be my near-indifference to the Beatles, but I didn't feel the sense of "Pilgrimage" that so many people feel going there.
It was cool to walk around and it was a decently nice day, so I didn't mind.
After Abbey Road, I came back to the flats and worked on some school stuff and began to think about all of the packing I had to do...
Our professor scheduled a going-away lunch for all of us in Hyde Park right on the Serpentine. It was good food-- I had a flatbread pizza! (and it was subsidized by the Study Abroad program! yay!) It was nice sitting outside in the fresh air and just bonding with everyone from our trip during our last few days/hours together.
After lunch a few of us decided to go to the Tate Museum of Modern Art.
I'm still not truly sure I understand the point of Modern Art so the entire time I was a little bit lost, not to mention that it was closing soon, so a lot of the exhibits were closing and we didn't have a lot of time to look around. I did see some Picasso and some Jackson Pollack though which was cool, I was just exhausted from the entire weeks worth of activities I had jam packed into 3 days...
I came back from the museum and nearly collapsed into my bed and went to bed early, I was desperate for a good night of sleep!!

Museums, Museums and more Museums!

2012-08-10T04:58:00.002-07:00

Tuesday 8/7/12
Keeping with my "productive" mindset from the day before, I decided to knock out three, yes THREE more sightseeing opportunities on Tuesday after class.
My classes for the day were finished around 10am and from school I jet off to the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square.
It was really cool, I'm actually really happy that I went. It was really interesting to see some of the portraits of the Tudors and even some more modern portraits of people like Paul McCartney! They also had an exhibit on portraits of the TEAM GB Olympic Athletes which was really interesting as well!
From the NPG, I hopped on a bus toward the British Museum to meet up with my roommate. After getting a little bit turned around walking there, I finally made it and even got some hot chocolate from a street vendor while waiting, yum!
We went inside and didn't spend too much time in there, but we did see The Rosetta Stone, Cleopatra's Mummy and pieces of the original Parthenon in Greece! So Cool!
From the British Museum, we hopped on the tube and went to the British Library which was probably one of my most favorite things I did (my English nerd is coming out...) We bought tickets for this exhibit called "Writing Britain" which featured original handwritten manuscripts of a lot of famous works by British writers. Some included: Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, John Lennon's "In My Life" handwritten lyrics, and many many more! There was even a sketch of the original 100 acre woods from Winnie The Pooh!
After that, we were so exhausted we could barely walk, so we just hung out in the flat for the night and did homework (of course!)

outside the NPG

outside the British Museumm

Inside the British Museum Lobby

The Rosetta Stone

Parthenon

Mummy!

More Mummies

Outside the British Library

For lack of a better title... Monday 8/6/12

2012-08-10T02:24:00.003-07:00

Still reeling from my superbly unproductive weekend, I was determined to do at least one touristy/sightseeing thing everyday during my last week.
My roommate had mentioned in passing that she was interested in seeing Kensington Palace and I took that as my opportunity to get out of my flat for awhile and be touristy.
After school, we stopped for lunch at my most favorite restaurant ever: Nando's. It's portuguese food and it is AMAZING but super filling- walking home was quite the struggle.
We got to Kensington Palace around 2:30 and the sun was shining, we walked for a little bit in the park (mostly because we were lost...) but then we decided to go inside the Palace.
The palace was split into four different exhibits: one on Queen Victoria, one where you could walk through the King's apartments, one where you could walk through the Queen's apartments and an exhibit on Princess Diana.
Overall, it was really interesting being able to walk through the exhibits and learn a bit more about the royals that lived there. The palace was beautiful on the outside and I learned that Will and Kate are working to make Kensington Palace their new home which is pretty exciting!
I had hoped that the Princess Di exhibit would have been more extensive, but it was still really interesting to see her dresses and some snippets of her life at the Palace.
After the palace, I ran to St. Pancras international rail station to go to the Olympic store and pick up a TEAM GB shirt for myself because it just simply had to be done!
And of course, like most of my nights here, it ended with homework until my eyes nearly fell out of my head!

Kensington Palace

Palace Gates

Kensington Gardens view from the Palace

tinted window view of the gardens

the toliet signs had crowns!

Wallpaper in the Diana Exhibit

one of Diana's famous dresses

Picture of Diana in the dress!

Lauren and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Day/Weekend

2012-08-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

Don't let the title concern you too much, of course- not every day can be a good day and as my trip is winding down and I'm slowly but surely longing to come home, get a good night's sleep, feel clean after a shower, see my dog, see my family, see my friends, move back up to East Lansing...etc.

Friday 8/3/12
After a long week full of late nights and early mornings and more papers than I can count on both hands, the last thing I wanted to do was wake up early on my day off and do something with my group. Unfortunately, that's exactly what I had to do. We went to Kew Gardens, which was really pretty, I just wish I wasn't so exhausted. We only spent about 2 hours there, we walked around a bit and stopped to get some breakfast at a cafe there. On top of all of this- I was really cold because, as I should have learned by now, London weather is really unpredictable, so I got caught in the cloudy cool day with just a tanktop on...not a very ideal situation. After the gardens, I came back to the flats and ending up sleeping until almost 7pm...I think exhaustion would be an understatement. I woke up, made food (I've been living off of heat-up meals from Waitrose for the past few days, so good and so easy to make!) After that, I ended up just having a quiet night in with the people from my program-it was nice to just relax, but I still couldn't shake the feeling of homesickness that I thought my nap would waive. I ended up watching a movie on my computer and falling asleep.

Saturday 8/4/12
I woke up with a plan to knock out some serious sightseeing during my last weekend in London. I lazily awoke and felt no motivation to go anywhere outside the confines of my flat. I spent most of the day watching the Olympics with my friends/flatmates. Nothing too exciting event wise, some track and field events that I mindlessly stared at and cheered for the red white and blue (Both Team GB and Team USA!) We then decided everyone for our group should go out to a bar to celebrate our last Saturday night in London. To spare everyone the excruciating details, it turned out to be a terrible night. The club we went to reminded me of a bad bar mitzvah party- for godsakes, they were playing "We Are Family" and everyone was frustrated and tired to the point that I left for the bar at 11:30 and was back in bed at 1:30... it was not my ideal way to spend the last weekend in London.

Sunday 8/5/12
Determined to turn my weekend around, I woke up early, made myself some breakfast and left for Oxford Street to do some shopping. My first stop was primark and I got a new bag, a scarf, a headband and a candle. Next, I ventured down to Selfridges, which was like no store I've ever gone into... I was expecting an average department store, but instead it was like a small city in there- each section split up into different little stores. I ended up buying a present for myself--some Marc by Marc Jacobs earrings! I'm too nervous to even wear them because they're so pretty! I then went to topshop and got some sale jewelry there! Overall, it was a very successful shopping day! After, I came home and just hung out at the flats and worked on a bit of homework. Even just the few hours I had to myself to shop changed my mood completely, it was amazing! Also, that candle I bought from Primark helped a lot as well. Everytime i'm in my room I light it and it makes me feel instantly better- it also reminds me a lot of home because my apartment at school has candles always lit!

Sorry this took forever to post, and I realize how complainy it sounds... I'm sorry! I'm off to catch up on the rest of my time, which I promise will be more cheery and optimistic!
xoxox

Eye Two.

2012-08-02T03:53:00.001-07:00

Wednesday 8/1/2012
I cannot believe it's already August and my trip is coming to an end.
Yesterday, during class a few people decided that they were going to go on the eye to watch the sun set. Seeing as I already had ridden it a few weeks ago, I didn't jump at the opportunity to go again, but then as I realized that I was basically the only one not going, I decided to give in to peer pressure and go again. IT. WAS. AMAZING.
It was 100x better than the first time I went.
First of all, the sky was stunning as the sun set over the city and we even got to see some of the olympic stadiums, the higher that we got-- we saw the beach volleyball arena really clearly, it was so cool!
This post is mostly to show you my pictures and not talk about the experience, so enjoy....

beach volleyball arena in the middle of the city!

Handel, Hendrix and Homework!

2012-07-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7/31:
With such little sleep from the night before, waking up this morning was not an easy task! Fortunately, I was able to make it to class on time-- which was mostly pointless for me today because my creative non-fiction class didn't meet and we had a grad student come speak about Virginia Woolf for my Women's authors class. I was zoned out the entire time the woman was speaking because my mind was on my laundry that I had left back at the flat and the fact that no one told me it was a bad idea to wash all of my pants at the same time... anyway, after class my friend and I fully intended on going back to the flats and napping but instead we went to our favorite Bagel place and as always, it was delicious! We ended up sitting in the small restaurant and talking for almost 2 hours! I think above and beyond all of the amazing-ness that London has to offer, my favorite part of this trip has been making the friends I have and just getting to bond with people I probably wouldn't have met otherwise. After lunch we went back to the flats and quickly got ready to go meet up with the rest of our class at the Handel House (the house that the famous composer spent most of his life). After getting lost and walking in the wrong direction for a few blocks, we finally made it there! It was really interesting to see the kind of environment he typically composed in...very dark and solitary... We were also surprised to find that Jimi Hendrix lived in a flat connected to the main house for a year or so! They had some pictures of him living there displayed- so cool! After the tour was over, we were treated to a short concert of some of Handel's famous works played on a harpsichord modeled after the one he used to play. It was lovely! After the concert and a lesson in the biology of the instrument, we walked down to SoHo and Oxford circus for dinner and ended up at this small little bar/club place- it was really cute and delicious, and since everyone loves to know what I'm eating- I ordered a chicken and avocado club sandwich YUM! I feel very fortunate that I haven't eaten bad once since I've been here!!
After those afternoon festivities, I returned to my flat and hung my laundry up to air-dry (let's hope that I'll have a dry pair of pants for tomorrow!) to work on some homework for the rest of the night.
I hope my last few days haven't been boring you to tears!
xoxo

Literally "A Long Day's Journey into Night"

2012-07-31T14:49:00.001-07:00

Monday 7/30:
As my trip is nearing an end, all of the rain, late nights, cold flats, missed meals, long walks and polluted air are finally catching up with me. Yesterday after class, I came back to my flat and took a GLORIOUS two hour nap and woke up feeling so refreshed and ready for whatever the rest of the day had in store in for me. My friend came over and did my hair (she curled it for me!) and we got all dressed up to go to the play that our professor booked us tickets for. We went to see "A Long Day's Journey into Night". It was a lot different than every other play we've seen so far. It was set in one day in one house in America in 1912 (1918 maybe?) and it was essentially about a dysfunctional family and the issues they had like an alcoholic father, a morphine addicted mother, and a son who was diagnosed with consumption. It was really interesting and thought provoking, though I couldn't help but get ancy during the long stretches of dialogue... After the play, a few of us went to a bar called "O'Neill's" in Leicester Square, it was within walking distance of the theater, and oddly enough- I'd been there before for dinner (my first week on this program!) It was a lot of fun, it was a lot of tourists, and we ended up meeting some guys from The Netherlands who were in London for the Olympics, they were so funny to talk to with their broken English! There ended up being a live band there, so it was really fun and the bar was full of tourists so we even met some more american girls from Pennsylvania- they were super nice and fun!

Once again, sorry for the lack of pictures, I'm more concerned with keeping you guys updated!
xoxox

Catching up! Friday 7/27-Sunday 7/29

2012-07-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

Friday 7/27:
I could have slept forever, but my better senses told me to wake up around 10am and my friends and I decided to head over to Notting Hill/Portobello Market for some shopping and fresh-air. When we got there, we just walked around for a bit. Honestly, it wasn't anything special and I didn't have any cash on me so buying things was out of the question. We went to this place called "Mike's Cafe" for lunch and I had a cheese, tomato and wild mushroom quiche. It was SO good! After lunch we took the tube back toward home and went to this popular bookstore in the area. I ended up picking up a book called "Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America" I bought it for my Creative Nonfiction class but it's actually turning out to be a good read! After the bookstore we went back to the flats and got ready for the night. OPENING CEREMONIES FOR THE OLYMPICS! We went to this pub near our college called "The Globe" and it was so much fun. We got a table and had a perfect view of the TV and were having so much fun watching all of the performances! When all of the countries came on, we anxiously awaited for USA to come around and when it did, we cheered louder than ever! We even met some people from Wisconsin who were really nice and cheered with us and even started a "USA" chant. It was so awesome when Paul McCartney played "Hey Jude" and everyone in the bar sang along. We got home sometime around 2Am and it was so funny to log on facebook and see people's statuses from home where the recording of the ceremonies had only just started... it did make me feel pretty cool!

Saturday 7/28:
Coming off the "high" of the opening ceremonies, my roommate and I decided to have a more relaxed day and go hang out at Camden Market. It was my most successful shopping trip to date. I bought all of my souvenirs and even a few things for myself, and it wasn't expensive at all! I spent around 30GBP and got so much stuff I can't even believe it! I was very very proud of myself for finally doing the souvenir shopping I needed to do. (I'm still in search of some authentic olympic apparel because there's only a few authorized sellers of it near me! I will find it though!) After the market, I was exhausted. There was talk of going to a bar to watch some of the olympic events but instead I went to go see the new batman movie: The Dark Knight Rises. IT WAS AWESOME! The last 30 minutes of the movie made it completely worth it! It was so so good! After I got home, I ended up just falling asleep-- my last week of activity was finally catching up with me-- the trip as a whole is really catching up with me!

Sunday 7/29:
Only for the sake of making this a full "weekend post"...I went to Regent's College to use the free wi-fi and got some homework done and skyped my parents. I went home and just hung out at the flats with my friends and ate ben & jerry's ice cream while watching the swimming events for the Olympics!

Sorry there aren't any pictures with this post!
xoxox

Catching up! Thursday 7/26

2012-07-31T12:51:00.001-07:00

Sorry for skipping wednesday, nothing too significant to note happened...I went to school, came home to my flat, got dinner with people on my trip and met up with a friend from home for drinks...

I woke up Thursday morning with a terrible migraine. I choked down a muffin and a large coffee from Cafe Nero (my FAVORITE coffee place right around the corner from my flat) and went to Marylebone station to meet up with my class. Instead of the typical classroom setting, we went to the birthplace of Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon. Our train left around 9am and even though I fully planned on sleeping on the train, I ended up sitting with my friends and enjoying the views of the English countryside as we moved toward our destination. When we got to Stratford-Upon-Avon we went right to the birthplace of Shakespeare. It was a decently sized house, the most notable thing about it was that the floors that we walked on were the original floors that were in the house while Shakespeare's family was living there. We got to walk around the few rooms that were available for touring. I think my favorite part was the guestbook room because so many famous people including: John Adams & Thomas Jefferson, Princess Diana, The Obamas, and Queen Elizabeth had visited the house since it became available to the public. (I was most mesmerized by the first two...two future presidents traveling to London together to go visit the place I just got to tour as well?? Unreal!) After the house tour, we went outside in the garden where some people in costume were acting out scenes from Romeo and Juliet as well as some of Shakespeare's other plays. We then had some time to explore the giftshop ( I may or may not have picked up a few nerdy Shakespeare goodies for my house at school next year...) and walk around the small touristy town.
Shortly after we headed to the Royal Shakespeare Company's theater to see "Twelfth Night" another play of mistaken identities which had the same actors as "A Comedy of Errors" which we saw earlier in the summer. Our seats for the play were so odd, they were up off the ground and we were looking down at the stage so we could only see the tops of the actors' heads!!
After the play we were given money and found a "tea-room" to eat dinner at! It was actually pretty good, I had chicken and chips which was essentially chicken nuggets, yum.
After dinner, we headed back to the train station and went home- another 2 hour train ride back!

Back of Shakespeare's house!

my name in the guestbook at Shakespeare's house!

Catching Up! Tuesday 7/24

2012-07-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7/24:
From now on (because I sound stupid saying it every time) just assume that every weekday morning starts with class from 9-1:30.
After class, we all quickly scurried to get ready because at 5PM we were touring the sets where Harry Potter was filmed!
It was quite troublesome to get there, but it was worth it. We had to take a tube to a train to a shuttle (and repeated that on the way back).
When we got there, we picked up our tickets and went into the "queue" to wait in line for our tour to start.
First, they brought us into this room where they showed a bunch of the Harry Potter movie posters in all different languages and gave us a little background on the famous movie series. After that we were escorted into another room where we watched a short film about the backlot and the set that we were about to tour. The video ended with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint (Harry, Hermoine and Ron) standing in front of the doors of Hogwarts (the school) and then the screen lifted up and the door was right there. It was so amazing!
We entered Hogwarts through the Great Hall and got to see from of the famous costumes worn by the characters as far back as 2001, when the first film came out! We then got to walk around the studio/sets and see a bunch of sets and actual props from the movie (i'll spare the details because there was so much there I couldn't even hit everything if I tried!)
We then did this "broom ride" simulator thing where you get to "ride a broom" on a greenscreen and then they put you with a background and it's actually pretty cool because you get to wear a robe and everything! We ended up doing it and buying our pictures because in a group they were only 5GBP each.
It took us about 4 hours to get through the entire set (it was self-guided for a majority of it) I was so overwhelmed with everything that was there, it was amazing how much detail Warner Brothers put into each and every prop and character, they even had someone hand paint portraits to hang in the background of some of the sets.
We finally got home around 11PM and as usual, I fell asleep immediately-- this trip is truly wearing me down!

Harry Potter poster in Hebrew!

Hogwarts doors that were behind the screen

Wands!

some of the costumes/set!

Potions classroom!

some handmade props

me in front of the Ministry of Magic!

Butterbeer! (it's basically cream soda and caramel with icecream on top!)

Me in Diagon Alley!

Scale Model of Hogwarts!

More Hogwarts

Me with the model!

Catching up! Sunday Night- Monday (7/23)

2012-07-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday Night 7/22:
After returning from Paris, I decided to go on a walk and enjoy the weather not knowing how long the sunshine and warmth would last. I ate dinner outside at a little restaurant called Nando's (a recommendation from a friend) and it was so delicious! I got a mango-lime chicken wrap, yum! After dinner, a friend and I went to Hyde Park and walked around the serpentine and then after that we walked to knightsbridge and saw Harrod's all lit up at night and it was lovely. We took the bus home and all at once my exhaustion from Paris caught up with me and I fell asleep.

Monday 7/23:
A usual day that started with school from 9-1:30 (our professor extended our class time so each class would get the attention that it deserves) it was a little annoying because we had a full group meeting at 9am but then my classes didn't meet until 12:30... after class I went shopping and got my london phone...and all I have to say about that is "meh." it's certainly not an iPhone but it will have to do for the next two-ish weeks. After that, my class went to see Billy Elliot at the Victoria theater. It was so lovely, I had no idea what the musical was actually about but it was so well put together with all of the choreography and music, I absolutely loved it! I even teared up a few times during it. While walking through the theater district down there we saw a lot of advertisements (or adverts as the Brits call them!) for Wicked, so we're going to try to get cheap tickets to see it while we're still here--it's one of my favorite musicals, so I really hope it all works out!

This is the first of 4 "catching up!" posts so stay tuned!
xoxo
-Lauren

"We'll Always Have Paris"

2012-07-23T04:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday 7/19/12
My train to Paris left London at 5:30PM, I ended up having an entire row to myself and got to enjoy the "countryside" in a nice, quiet tranquility. The chunnel was really intense, my ears popped the whole way because of the pressure surrounding the tunnel in the water. Only about 30ish minutes of the entire two hour trip were spent under the English Channel. I was dozing in and out of sleep for most of the ride but it still seemed to fly by in no time at all. When we got to Paris, we tried to find a bathroom and you ended up having to pay 70 euro cents to use it, I was really desperate so I didn't mind dishing out the money. The weird/cool thing about the bathrooms was that the flush was on the floor so you just tap it with your foot to flush the toliet. We arrived at the hostel a bit later (we took cabs and they drive on the right side of the road/car in France!!) and decided to venture out into the area that we were staying in- Belleville. We found a cool outdoor bar with a lot of young people and stopped there. When we got back to the Hostel, we were sitting in the courtyard patio area just casually talking when a guy introduced himself after hearing our accents. He was from Canada and he was actually really cool- he's backpacking through Europe with friends as a post graduation gift from his parents. We ended up staying up fairly late and talking to him and even made plans to hang out the next night.

Friday 7/20/12
We got a bright and early start to the day and ate breakfast at our hostel. We got croissants and coffee for free, it was simple but delicious. We then got on the metro toward the louvre. I've taken a lot of public transportation in my life, but the metro was by far the dirtiest most disgusting thing I have ever stepped into (I haven't been to New York though, so I really have no point of reference). When we came up from our stop we ended up being right on the Seine and had a really pretty early morning view that absolutely took my breath away. We then walked along the river toward the Louvre. We took a bunch of pictures outside of the Louvre by the pyramids and fountains and just enjoyed the warmth (It was 70 and sunny while London's been about 60 and rainy since we've gotten there). We went inside the Louvre and headed straight for the Mona Lisa. I was surprised at how not underwhelming it actually was...sorry double negative...but I was preparing for a small 8x11 sheet of paper, and it was probably more the size of a wall poster. There were so many people surrounding it and taking pictures so I only got a few. Some other things we saw at the louvre were: The Winged Victory, Venus Di Milo, Ramses statue, The Coronation of Napoleon, Cupid and Psyche and so many more random things. We wandered around the entire museum for almost 6 hours, it was TIRING! After the museum we hopped back on the metro and went to the Eiffel Tower. We ended up right underneath it and the sun was officially out and at full force. We got ice-cream from this small stand and laid in the grass beneath the tower. It was so beautiful and quiet (compared to the busy London atmosphere) we laid there for probably 2 hours just staring up at the large monument. After that we found this small cafe near the metro and enjoyed a glass of wine-country champagne and some pizza (yes, I ate Italian food in Paris...). From there we went back to the hostel and met up with Jay (the guy from Canada) and just hung out on the patio again, then got wine and walked around the streets of Belleville. We walked up the hill that our hostel was on and could see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night, it was so beautiful and breathtaking.

at the Louvre!

The Louvre!

Mona Lisa

laying under the Eiffel Tower!

Ice Cream by the Tower!

Champagne at Dinner

Saturday 7/21/12
Up early again for a day packed full of sight-seeing and other fun things. We got breakfast and got on the metro toward Notre Dame. When we were crossing the Seine to get to the famous Church, a bunch of crazy people trying to get me to sign a petition to help disabled people started crowded around me. Since I had just snapped a picture of the river on my phone, it was in my front pocket. The people started pushing me and swarming me and crowding around me and not letting up. We walked as few blocks when I reached for my phone to take another picture and it wasn't there. I slowly put together the pieces to realize those "petitioners" were actually gypsies and I was just pickpocketed. I didn't know what to do, I started freaking out. If it weren't for the help of my amazing friends I think I would have jumped into the river...my friends let me borrow their phones to call home and then made sure I was okay all day, constantly trying to make me smile and make sure I was still having fun despite the circumstances. So after that minor meltdown (mostly at my own stupidity) we went to Notre Dame and it was stunning inside. After doing a lap around and admiring the stained glass windows, we got lunch at a small cafe a few streets over. I decided I was going to order something "french" so I decided on a Croque Madame which is essentially a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top, it was DELICIOUS, I want to make it at home sometime (though I can't imagine mine turning out very good) after lunch, we went to Pére Lachaise, the famous cemetery where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried. It was huge, but we got to visit both Jim and Oscar (yes, we're on a first name basis) and it was really cool to see all of the stuff that people had left at the gravesites of both. They were very vandalized, however, but it was interesting to see all of the different languages- there were even some messages written in hebrew! After the cemetery, we went to Trocadero square to see the eiffel tower from a distance and get some pictures there. It was breathtaking (as most things this trip have been!) and we got some really good pictures. We just sat on the steps for awhile and just looked at it, basking in its beauty. After that we went to the "Lover's Lock" bridge where a couple writes their names on a lock, secures it to the wired fence of the bridge and throws the key into the river. Though I didn't secure a lock to the bridge, it was really pretty to sit there for awhile and write in my journal as we watched the sun set. After that, we went back to the hostel to freshen up and then headed back to the Eiffel Tower and eat dinner and watch the sparkling light show in person. Dinner was delicious, I got Ravioli (Yes, more Italian food...) and we had a nice view of the tower. We got to watch it sparkle at midnight... Midnight in Paris :)! After that I collapsed in my hostel bed, it was so glorious to finally be able to sleep!

laying by the eiffel tower, i'm in the orange!

Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

close up of the windows

Notre Dame

Lunch- Croque Madame

Oscar Wilde's grave

Jim Morrison's grave

Arc De Triomphe

In front of the Eiffel Tower!

Love Lock bridge!

Sun starting to set over the Seine

Eiffel Tower sparkling at night!

We left sunday morning on an early afternoon train and got back to London! Now, to get back into the swing of things, and get myself a cruddy 'pay-as-you-go" phone... :( Overall, I LOVED Paris. I definitely want to go back there and climb the Eiffel tower and go to Versailles and do some other things I missed out on- hopefully I'll be able to in the future!

sidenote: sorry this isn't as picture filled as I would like, most of the pictures from friday were on my phone...I stole a few from my friend Gabbi who took them of me!

Having an EYE on the World.

2012-07-22T09:57:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't updated at all about my life since Sunday, but to be honest- nothing really exciting has happened to me since then and I think I'm finally starting to settle in a routine here which is uninteresting and hardly worth blogging about so only expect long-winded picture filled updates when I actually do something fun and exciting.

EDIT: this was written but never published on 7/19/12

Wednesday 7/18/12:
Unlike most other weekdays, I didn't have to go to class in the morning. Instead, I got to sleep in for an extra hour (Rather, I was supposed to sleep in for an extra hour but our cleaning service woke me up by busting in my room). I met up with my class around 11am at Samuel Johnson's house. For those of you who don't know who he is (don't feel bad I didn't know who he was either until 11am yesterday) he wrote one of the first standardized English dictionaries-- it was used in the writing of our Constitution! Anyway, his house was actually pretty interesting- our tour guide had tons of fun little anecdotes about Johnson's life. After the tour, our group went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese for lunch which is this little pub that many writers (such as Charles Dickens) spent time at. I got Macaroni and Cheese which was really good except I think it expanded in my stomach because I was disgustingly full afterwards. From lunch, my friend and I walked along the Thames toward the eye and decided that we were finally going to ride the famous London attraction. The London Eye experience started with a 4D movie where they simulate what it would be like to be a bird flying past the eye and they spray with a little bit of water and fill the room with scented air as you travel around the south bank of the river. Afterwards we "queued" to get on the eye and got into a pod almost instantly. We were with about 10 other people in our pod, a lot of little kids which was slightly annoying but I got over it once we found a spot to sit with an excellent view. The Eye never actually stops moving unless someone requires assistance getting on, so when we had to get into the pod, we had to run into it while it was still moving, it was a little scary but still awesome. As we began to ascend into the sky, the view was magnificent! They also had these little computer screens that you could click on and see what everything you were looking at was and important historical events that happened there. After the eye, we called it a day, both of us were feeling a little under the weather but it was still a lot of fun and I'm glad I can say that I did it.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Maura and I on the Eye!

One side of my view!

the other side!

it started raining...
Westminster Abbey/ Big Ben!

Me!

view from the top!

!!!

2012-07-19T09:28:00.001-07:00

I apologize for being so terrible about updating this past week, I promise to fill you all in on Monday! For now, I'm off to Paris for the weekend! Au revoir!

Making up for Lost Time (Sunday)

2012-07-16T03:36:00.001-07:00

Sunday 7/15/12
I set my alarm for 9:30, and actually woke up on time with my alarm. After lazily browsing the internet, I got dressed and headed out for the day, and guess where we went, THE TOWER OF LONDON! We finally made it out to that part of town and it was absolutely stunning (as almost every part of this city is) it was amazing how the tower is literally right there as you come up from the underground. It was so beautiful. The first thing we did after buying our tickets was go to the Crown Jewels exhibit, it was amazing and sparkly and I wish I could take pictures to show you all, but it wouldn't even begin to encompass the beauty of all of the crowns and scepters on display. It's unreal how old some of the things there are, and how they're still in mint condition. We ventured around the other exhibits and saw the old tower torture devices and the prisoner's cells. I learned so much about the Royal History and I absolutely loved it-- I don't think I can say that enough.

When we exited the tower, we got a perfect view of the Tower Bridge with the Olympic rings on it! It was amazing how big it actually was (The only other time I've seen it was from the top of St. Paul's)

Walking into the tower!

Guard!

outside of the Crown Jewels exhibit

Tower of London!

Tower Bridge!

torture device

miniature model of the tower!

I am here!

I found another artist Phonebooth outside the Tower!

another view of the Bridge!

One of the oldest (original) walls at the tower

After the tower, we decided to go back to Picadilly circus to do some shopping, because my friend Molly (that I spent the whole day with) hadn't really spent time there yet... When we got off to transfer tube lines we realized we were at King Cross station, and there was something that we needed to do... We walked upstairs in the station toward the National Rail service to the small spot between Platform 9 and Platform 10. For anyone that's seen Harry Potter, you know that Platform 9 3/4 is the only way to get on the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts!

Just going to School...:)

We then went to Picadilly Circus and walked around there for a bit, we went into stores like Cool Britannia (which I'll definitely return to for souvenirs) and then we went to M&M world, which was so much fun, and I might have even picked up something for someone special who I know is probably reading this...!

Just walking with the M&M's down Abbey Road!

After shopping, we went to dinner in Chinatown which was so delicious and then headed back to the flats to finish up some school work and go to bed.

I had such a productive day! :)

Lazy Saturday

2012-07-16T03:05:00.003-07:00

Saturday 7/14/12

As much fun as Friday night was, I was certainly paying the consequences for it on Saturday morning... not to mention all the time spent out in the cold rain on Thursday and every other day of this trip, my body was finally reaping the consequences. I woke up around 9AM feeling like death and ended up falling back asleep at noon and sleeping until 4. Majority of day was spent in my flat which I wasn't happy about, but I think my body needed the rest. I finally ate for the first time at nearly 6pm and I got McDonald's *barf* but it served its purpose. I wasn't the only one feeling poopy, so we congregated in a friend's flat and decided what to do to get ourselves outside and actually do something with our lives. We decided to go see the Spiderman movie, and I loved it! I especially love Andrew Garfield (and he's Jewish!) You may know him from The Social Network--he played Eduardo Saverin! (look him up!). The movie theater here was so strange- it was basically a bar and we had assigned seats in the theater. The theater itself had these big cushy chairs and a really small screen, but it was still a relatively enjoyable experience. After that, we came back and went to bed, even after a day in bed- it is in fact possible to still be tired!

Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down on Friday!

2012-07-16T02:53:00.002-07:00

Friday 7/13/12
We woke up early and headed to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of The Guard ceremony which was much more crowded than anticipated! We could hardly see, but I finally got a daytime- view of the Queen's home! It turns out, contrary to what I thought previously, she's actually not living there right now, there is a different flag that is raised when she is home. After the ceremony was over, the sun came out and we went and sat by the fountain out front and soaked up a little vitamin D. As the afternoon begun to approach we headed to Picadilly Ln for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. While waiting for our table, we went to the downstairs bar for some drinks to celebrate the beautiful weather. I got a Pina Colada, it was delicious (even at 1PM!) we got seated and I got a really good cheeseburger and some "chips" ;) After lunch we went back to Oxford St. on pursuit of more good clothing deals. I ended up at a store called "New Look" and bought a blazer, a tank top, and two pairs of high-heels. So normally, I avoid heeled shoes at all costs on account of my pure clumsiness, but that night we were scheduled to go to a "dress" club which means all girls need to wear dresses and heels to get in. I got a pair of electric blue heels and a pair of tan ones unsure of which ones I would wear later. I got back to my flat and ate some dinner and started to get ready for the night. In the end, I chose to wear the blue heels- they were, as expected, awfully uncomfortable. We went to a night club to celebrate a girl on my trip's birthday and I had an amazing time dancing and hanging out with all of my friends from the trip.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace again!

Sunny day at Buckingham Palace!

very limited view of Changing of the Guard!

Drinks at the Hard Rock!

Before Going out on Friday!

School, Shopping and Shakespeare, oh my!

2012-07-14T03:07:00.004-07:00

Thursday 7/12/12:
After class, my friends and I went home with no real plan for how we wanted to spend our afternoon...after a 20 minute group nap on the floor of my friend's flat we decided to do something with our lives and head over toward Oxford Street to do some shopping. It had been the buzz among our group about this really cheap and trendy store called Primark, so we decided to check it out ourselves! We were surprised to find how close it was to where we lived, we could walk there in under 15 minutes. When we walked in, I became so overwhelmed- I couldn't even explain this store to someone if I tried... it was a mix between forever 21 and H&M but with Wal-Mart prices. I didn't know where to start, but eventually after an hour or so I ended up in the ridiculously long checkout "queue" with two sweaters, a striped 3/4 sleeve blouse, a headband, and some nail polish all totaling £32! After we were done there, we retreated back to the flats to get ourselves ready for the scheduled activity for that night. We were seeing Henry V at the Globe Theater. The Globe Theater (for those of you who don't know) is where Shakespeare's plays were brought to life in the 16th and 17th century! The "new globe" theater has been replicated to mirror the exact set up of the original one which means, it is partially open air... and the show goes on rain or shine. Well, on Thursday- it happened to rain..as it does most days here in London (Sidenote: I heard that this weather is quite unseasonal for London, meaning it's raining more here now than it has any other summer...). The theater is not easily accessible by any one tube stop, so we got off at "London Bridge" and attempted to walk there....in the pouring pouring rain. We were given bad directions at first, which caused us to cross the River twice when we weren't required to cross it at all and we were almost late for the show. While our seats were covered, we still felt every small gust of wind that rolled by, and since we were sopping wet from our walk, it was not a very enjoyable experience. Not to mention, it was hard to understand what was going on in the play because I've never studied it before and it is a part of Shakespeare's historical series (imagine watching the second movie of a trilogy without ever seeing the first one). After the play, we went back to the apartments, changed into warm clothes and hung out in a friend's flat!

Maura and I at Henry V!

The inside of The Globe Theater!

Life's a Climb, but the View is Great.

2012-07-11T12:23:00.002-07:00

Today (Wednesday 7/11/12) started off like every weekday does, going to Regent's for class from 9-12:30. Class is going really well, we're reading Pride and Prejudice and in my creative non-fiction class, we're writing essays on a pivotal moment in our lives pre-high school (I can't think of any at the moment, so this assignment is proving to be quite hard for me!) I'd been looking forward to our afternoon plans all week, with reason of course, we were scheduled to go on a private tour of St. Paul's Cathedral. We arrived there around 2PM and our tour started immediately with a little history of the building and design and then they told us about "the climb" which would conclude our tour (I'll get to that later...). We walked around the main floor of the Cathedral and it was absolutely beautiful! We got to see where the Queen sits when she visits and what pieces of the building were destroyed in WWII and several different memorials for people like Duke of Wellington and Winston Churchill. We walked downstairs to the Crypt where tons of notable people have been laid to rest. Then came the part of the tour that I had been worried about, "The Climb". For those who don't know, There is a dome in the middle of St. Paul's that is hollow in the middle and it's called the "Whispering Gallery" where the design allows whispers to travel along the walls to be heard on the other side of the room. Up past that is the Stone Gallery which is outside and has a great view of London from behind a stone gate. The top level of the dome is called The Golden Gallery which is a small balcony on the tip tip top of the dome. Did I mention that you have to walk up 538 stairs to get there? Yes, you heard me right... Five Hundred and Thirty Eight steps, but I did it and it was AMAZING. Yes, my legs hate me, but I got unforgettable and breathtaking views of the city! Now I'm resting my legs and working on my Pride and Prejudice response paper and planning out my weekend with my friends!

The Stone Gallery!

The Golden Gallery view!

Outside the Cathedral

Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures inside the cathedral besides the spiral staircase in the clock/ bell tower (only because our tour guide was really nice) that has been used in tons of movies and is part of the original architecture:

So pretty!

I'm officially now caught up on my trip to this point! Hope you guys haven't been dying without my daily updates! I promise to take a lot more pictures (with me in them!) this weekend! :)

-Lauren

Rain, Rain Go Away....

2012-07-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7/10/12:

As usual, another morning at Regent's. After class, my friends and I immediately headed to the Victoria & Albert Museum. Let me preface the rest of this post by saying that the V&A is single-handedly the most random and interesting and awesome museum I have ever been to. We walked into the sculpture exhibit which was awesome, and made our way through toward the fashion exhibits which displayed different styles from all of the different decades. There was also an architecture section as well as a life performance section. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend as much time as we'd like to at V&A because a few of us needed to go see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Regent's Park as we had missed going with our class the night before (we went to go see Fun. instead). We do plan on going back to V&A to explore more and hopefully get the chance to see the entire museum! On our way back toward Regent's from the tube station it started pouring out of nowhere, we all quickly ran into Regent's and made the decision to attend the play another night because the theatre is outdoor and we were not adequately prepared for the rain! We stayed at Regent's for a few hours getting some homework done and taking advantage of the free wi-fi. After Regent's we walked down Baker St. to find a place for dinner and decided on some place called "Gourmet Burger Kitchen" It was a bit pricey, but delicious none the less! After dinner, we all met up in the flats to do homework and enjoy eachother's company, it was a nice end to an overall very relaxed day! :)

Stuff at The Victoria & Albert Museum!

Dinner at Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Having "Fun."

2012-07-10T13:53:00.001-07:00

Monday 7/9/12:
Waking up after my 2am adventures was certainly not easy, my legs practically failed the instant I arose from bed. I hobbled my way around my apartment, trying to painlessly prepare for class. Class was short and sweet and I immediately found myself back in my bed for a lovely two hour nap. When I woke up, I began to get ready for the night ahead of me. A few months ago, I (along with some other girls from my group) bought tickets to see the band Fun. live at a small club in London. They're most known for their song "We Are Young". I finally straightened my hair for my first time here and it felt so good! We all went to the concert, and it was AMAZING. They are such a fantastic band live and I loved dancing around and singing to all of their songs.

After the concert, we all walked along the south bank so our friends could see Big Ben and the Eye for the first time in person. It was amazing seeing their excitement as we crossed over the waterloo bridge.

Sorry this was a mostly boring update!

-Lauren

A Tale of Two Dinners (a recap of my weekend)

2012-07-10T09:05:00.002-07:00

I apologize for how delayed this is being posted!

Friday 7/6/12:
My first day being here that I didn't have to wake up early and run to class, so I took full advantage of that and slept in until 11am. Waking up without the sound of my annoying alarm in my ear was quite the treat. I got a slow start to the day, as I had no plans for the day whatsoever. When I finally got out of bed, showered and surfed the internet for an ungodly amount of time, I decided to go to Regent's College and work on some homework there. After that, we stopped for food on the way home from Chipotle and when we were full to our brim with mexican food, we headed home to go figure out what we were going to do with the rest of our night. We decided to head to Trafalgar square (again) and explore around there. It was getting dark when we went down toward the Thames and walked around there for a few minutes. I thought that area was stunning during the day, until I saw everything illuminated at night... Big Ben, The Eye, Westminster Abbey, The Aquarium all lit up- absolutely breathtaking. We found a small pub tucked underneath the Waterloo bridge and all sat around a small table for drinks and laughs. It was finally in that moment that I realized, I "live" here now. I can come down to the clock tower and read by the river if I want or go for walks there with my headphones in just to catch a breath from my school work. This part of London makes me really, truly, happy. We walked along the bank of the river and enjoyed the various street performers and even came across a man who was playing piano for 24 straight hours! After that, we caught the last tube back toward our flats and called it a night!

Our view from the Pub!

He was playing piano for 24 straight hours!

Saturday 7/7/12:

We started this day early by wandering around our small neighborhood looking for a place for breakfast. We stumbled upon a small little place outside on a side street and let our sense of smell guide us in. It ended up being an "American Style" bagel cafe, and it was DELICIOUS! It was comparable to an Einstein's or a Bruegger's bagel place where they had tons of bagels with different toppings and a variety of coffee drinks. We munched on our breakfast and planned out the rest of the day, including going to the gay pride parade! We finished, headed back to the flats and prepared to head back to Trafalgar Square (for my third day in a row...) and went to "Worldpride" which includes LGBT representatives from all different countries. It only happens once a year and I got to be a part of it, so crazy! There were tons of really interesting people there, I had so much fun simply people-watching. Then, I was surprised with an impromptu Boy George concert. It was so fun dancing around as the sun began to come out from behind the dismally grey clouds. After Pride, we ended up at an italian restaurant for dinner where we all got different kinds of flatbread. Mine had goat cheese and roasted vegetables on it, yum! After dinner we all went back to the flats and called it an early night- we attempted to watch "Midnight in Paris" but instead we all just talked and enjoyed eachothers company.

Breakfast!

Worldpride!

Just a small portion of the crowd at Pride!

Boy George!!

Sunday 7/8/12

We started the morning decently early (around noon...) and headed over to Camden market. Nothing too much to comment on there, it was similar to China Town- a lot of vendors heckling you to buy their items. I'll definitely go back there before I leave to go souvenir shopping! We then went back to the flats and I got ready to see my friends from home. First, I met up at this Middle Eastern restaurant in Green Park with my friend Steven and we ate hummus and I got some chicken kabob thing, it was delicious. After dinner, we walked around Green Park and Picadilly St. and looked at the shopping arcades (everything was closed because it was Sunday night...) but it was still neat to see! We then looped around the park and ended up right in front of Buckingham Palace, it was gorgeous! Also, the flag was up meaning the queen was in the house, that's pretty exciting if I say so myself. After dinner, I hopped back on the tube and met up with another friend from home, Ashley at the Marble Arch. She had just been at an all day outdoor concert and was covered in mud but it didn't stop me from practically jumping in her arms. She told me we were going to go meet up with her family, and then the longest most grueling walk of my life began... nearly 3 miles later we arrived in China Town in Piccadilly Circus for my second dinner of the night! I hardly ate anything, but Ashley's family was nice enough to let me have all of the leftovers, so my dinner is taken care for the next three nights. By the time I finally got home it was nearly 2:00am, so I fell into my bed and let the lower half of my body finally have a rest!

Buckingham Palace!

Once again, I apologize this is so delayed and probably not my most exciting post to date, but I thought I would fill all of you in.

I promise to be better about updating!

-Lauren

hello!

2012-07-08T02:49:00.002-07:00

I'm making this post to assure everyone that I'm alive and well, this weekend has been filled to the brim with activities that I'll write in depth about on Monday when I have a break in-between classes!
I'm sorry I'm not up to date with this blog, I just haven't found a second to breathe yet!
With that, I'm off to Camden Market for the open air market and then later I'm meeting up with some friends from home!
-Lauren

This City, So Pretty

2012-07-06T10:07:00.002-07:00

Yesterday (7/5/12) started off like every day here has so far. Class 9:00AM-12:30PM at Regent's College, except this time we were treated to the fact that we had the afternoon and the weekend all to ourselves.

My friend and I decided to take full advantage of this fact and the second our professor dismissed us, we hopped on the next tube toward Trafalgar Square.

As soon as I walked up the steps and looked out upon the city, my breath was taken away, it was amazing- it was the London I had seen in so many photographs and I was quite eager to start exploring.

First we got lunch at this small cafe, and then ventured over toward the square for a small psuedo-picnic on the steps in front of the National Gallery. I had a delicious chicken and avocado sandwich and some lemonade!

my lunch!

my view!

When I was just about done and ready to head into the National Gallery I looked up one last time and turned to my friend, pointed out into the distance, and asked: "I don't want to sound stupid, but is that Big Ben?"

It was, in fact, Big Ben!

We headed into the National Gallery and looked around, they had some DaVinci there (which I've never seen in person before), some Michaelangelo and a lot of the Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Rembrandt etc. It was beautiful, and I was excited to see some of the original pieces I've only ever seen prints of!

After the National Gallery, we walked down the street toward Big Ben, my excitement building with every step. My friend (who was just in this area the day before) instructed me to look up, and there right before my eyes was Big Ben!

I know, I look silly and touristy in the second picture!!

After we had soaked in all of the "awesomeness" of the clock tower, we began to walk along the Thames and just look across the water (we didn't end up walking over to the South Bank because we figured we would save that for another day, we are here for another 5 weeks....)

Looking across the River!

After that small excursion, we walked back toward the main city area and headed toward Westminster Abbey to attend the Evensong service because unfortunately, the tours of the church/grounds stop at 3PM and at this point, it was already closer to 5....

The service was beautiful, as was the inside of Westminster Abbey, there's tons of people laid to rest there like Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, and Laurence Olivier and there are memorials for people like William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Winston Churchill and so many more!

After the service was over, we opted to take the bus back instead of the tube so we could see things while we were riding (as opposed to being underground) and not to mention it was my first time in a double decker bus! We sat on the second floor, obviously.

When we got back, I practically collapsed into my bed and slept almost 11 hours! It felt good to finally finally work to get past my jet-lagged state.

Today, I went back to Regent's (we don't have class on Fridays) to work on some homework and take advantage of the unlimited free wi-fi they provide for us!

I hope to explore more this weekend, but I also would like to take some advantage of this free time I have to sleep and to get ahead on my assignments.

I'll keep you updated!

-Lauren

P.S. look what I found more of yesterday!!...

the artist designed telephone booths! There was one that looked like Big Ben!