The End of March!

So my final blog in the month of March…I don’t know where this time is going, but we only have about 5 weeks left in the program. I’m so glad my parents (and Liz) are coming at the end, so I get to extend my time here in London.

I also can’t believe that one week ago we were getting back from Dublin, but it’s time to blog about this week back in London. It was a very British week in my opinion:

Sunday, March 25^th:

Okay Sunday wasn’t particularly British. Mass, homework, unpacking, reorganizing…that basically took up the whole day, especially since we were all reuniting and talking about our breaks. However Sunday was also the beginning of some gorgeous weather! Sunny, warm, say goodbye to the jacket (if only for a week).

Monday, March 26^th:

Okay the exciting week hasn’t started yet…I spent Monday at my school, St. Marylebone, observing English class after English class. Even though these days are very long, it’s a good experience (not to mention resume booster).

Tuesday, March 27^th:

Today began pretty low key with my GST class, but then for my theater class we went to the Imperial War Museum to study WWI in preparation for seeing War Horse next week. This museum is really impressive! It’s huge, and we were quickly worn out. After looking at trenches and propaganda for class, I spent some time in the Holocaust exhibition. The IWM has a really impressive Holocaust area that’s heart wrenching and educational all at once. I only spent 45-50 minutes in there, but it’d be easy to spend over an hour there. The IWM covers everything from the 1^st and 2^nd World War, the Cold War, Conflict since 1945, and everything else too. My favorite part of the museum was probably “The Secret War.” This exhibition was all about M16, M15 aka spy warfare. It was something really unique to look at in a museum. The rest of the day was just spent working back in the flat.

Wednesday, March 28^th:

Today was a very very British day. We had a picnic lunch, because it was almost 70 degrees!, in Green Park. This park is gorgeous, green, and near Buckingham Palace. We had lunch there before we headed to meet Lisa for our Art class. For our class today we toured West End Galleries!! This was so cool because I would never feel educated or sophisticated enough to just wander into a gallery. The 7 (or maybe 8) we went were all in Mayfair, which if you remember from an earlier blog, is a very posh area of town. So we went into these galleries to look at more art, some that we studied, some local, and start generating ideas for our “Fantasy Gallery” which is our final project. We start street art, paintings made with blow torches, glass art, and other contemporary art.

We ended our class in Selfridges (the #1 or #2 largest department stores, it’s up there with Harrods) where we ate Pinkberry! Pinkberry is a froyo place that actually originated in the states (I have yet to try Snog-the UK froyo). 

Thursday, March 29^th:

Today GST was dedicated to a museum independent visit project, so my roommates and I headed to the Science Museum. This museum is not exactly user friendly because the stairs and lifts are in weird corners and don’t access every floor. There’s also so much to see that it’s a bit overwhelming to a non-science person like myself. But I spent a good amount of time studying the story of steam, for my GST assignment.

After the museum, we stopped by the V&A (Victoria & Albert) museum that apparently has some really great stuff in it (sorry Mom, I say stuff because I’m not sure what exactly there is, I know there’s a lot of artwork, but that may not be it). However, it was a bit too overwhelming to do right after another museum, so we’ll come back to it.

Then on the way home we stopped by High Street Kensington, that’s known for its shopping. I didn’t buy anything, but I’ve now been in a T.K. Maxx! And yes that’s exactly what it sounds like-T.J. Maxx, but the UK version. I’m not sure what the K, or the J, stands for though…

Friday, March 30^th:

Today the weather was gorgeous!! So I spent a sold 3 ½ hours with a few other girls out in Hyde Park! We brought our lunch, picnicked, and then just basked in the sun! I wasn’t wearing a jacket, tights, or boots! Crazy right? Sadly, Friday was the last of the warm weather. We took advantage of it though and got in our Vitamin D. Hyde Park is huge!! Lots of green space and really gorgeous flowers too! Friday night we just spent in the flat, watching TV, since the sun took it out of us :)

 Saturday, March 31^st:

Despite the 50 degree weather, a few of us girls went out to watch Tim and his rugby team. Sadly, they lost, however we still made it a fun outing. We cheered for the Serpents and just got to spend time watching Rugby outside. After the game, Tim and his friend Ollie convinced us to stop by the pub if only briefly to hang out with the team. So eventually we gave in. How often do you get to hang out with a rugby team in a pub in London? Not very often, so that was another very British day. The rest of this four day weekend however is going to have to be productive on school work…things are beginning to pick up!

Sláinte!

SPRING BREAK PART 2: Dublin, Ireland

Bright and early on March 21^st, KJ, Connor, & I flew to DUBLIN!! After we found our apartments, we got lunch, and basically just crashed after an early morning. However our 1 touristy thing of the day was the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. Now I have never had straight whiskey before (I had only had whiskey at all when I tried a mixed drink of in Scotland), but this was fascinating! I learned more about whiskey then I ever knew! Tried a few sips of Connor’s straight and then enjoyed my Jameson Ginger ale drink. It’s surprising I’m old enough for this…  

March 22^nd:

Dublin clearly likes to showcase its alcohol, because today we did the Guinness Storehouse tour! Once again, I had never had Guinness before, but I was really impressed by everything I learned here too. Now I won’t be as ignorant back in the states. After touring the whole building, we enjoyed our free pint up in the Galaxy Bar with a 360 degree aerial view of Dublin. Very cool and very Irish. 

Afterwards we ate at Arthur’s pub where we made friends with 2 other American students. They are studying abroad in Rome and were also on “holiday.” It’s really fun to travel places, make friends in a restaurant or pub, and then go your own ways after just nice friendly conversations! I think I’m going to miss that atmosphere back home and definitely back in the “Elon bubble.”

That night we went to Whelan’s which is known for their up and coming artists, and we got to sit and listen to a country/rock musician. That was a pretty American feel for being in Ireland.

March 23^rd:

Today it was gorgeous out, and we managed to walk around Dublin even more.

First stop: Trinity College- This uni is fenced off but placed right in the city. When you’re behind the walls though it feels like you’re in a whole different world, not in the middle of a big city! 

We also went into the Old Library and saw the Book of Kells! Not only was the book cool to see, but the display did an excellent job of explaining it all.

After that we walked around Grafton Street, Dublin’s shopping street, and just took in the tourist, shopping, populated atmosphere. I really enjoyed just being out and about in Ireland! For some reason, I find it hardest to grasp that I was in Ireland! Scotland, I accepted, Paris, I accepted, but Ireland just blows my mind…Strange, I know.

In Dublin my mission was to buy myself a new cross, and that I did. It’s not overly Celtic because I want to wear it every day, but it’s still very pretty in my mind.

After shopping, we walked through St. Stephen’s Greens Park which is a gorgeous park with green grass and flowers. It finally looked, and smelt, like spring! Especially with the sun out…We saw newlyweds too! They lucked out with the weather, that's for sure.

That’s basically everything for Dublin! We spent quite a few hours on March 24^th in the airport so that we didn’t have to deal with making the right bus, not cutting it close, etc etc. So we just got to the airport early and killed time there.

Cool Dublin tidbits:

-horses (like for carriage rides) everywhere

-travelers (or gypsies) have these cool 1 person carriage horses

-lots of advertisements for First Communion suits

-Guinness advertisements everywhere…

-colorful doors & cool bridges! 

Now I’m back “home” in London and getting back in the swing of things! Some people already have count downs to the end of the program; I have a feeling this second half is going to fly by!

Why aren't you in Mexico?

Spring Break Post #1! All About Edinburgh!!

So we flew to Scotland on ST. PATRICK’S DAY…just kind of ended up that way, but that was pretty sweet. Some guys were cracking open beers during our 8:40 plane ride but hey…each to your own? I’m already getting ahead of myself though…the morning was a bit rocky.

Step #1: Take Easybus to London Luton Airport. Well there was construction around the bus stop, so we couldn’t see the stop, so we missed our bus, had to take the next one, and was cutting things close…

Step #2: Security. Well Connor found out that his carry on was too big, had to check it, but Katie (KJ) & I went ahead. As we’re boarding the plane, we learned that at the check in desk Connor was told he and his bag wouldn’t make the flight. So Connor was on his own to make it to Scotland…

Anyways, KJ and I were on our own for most of the day. So we wandered around Edinburgh, made friends with a local uni student and his friend, were in an international YouTube video for Mum’s Day (mother’s day for the rest of the world), and really just explored. We saw the Castle, weaving mill, the university, and of course found an Irish Pub for St. Patrick’s Day. Later on that night, I repped my new green jeans for St. Patty’s day! However the only documentation that night was from our midnight fries. Oh well.

When we were making friends that night while doing some serious people watching, once people realized we were American they didn’t understand why we weren’t “going crazy for spring break!” or spending our week in Mexico. Interesting stereotypes…

I won’t give you a complete day by day for every single day…just the highlights! Feel free to ask if you want more information, :) probably also won’t post too many pictures here, because I’ve uploaded soo soo many on Facebook.

So March 18^th: Started off the day with our free hotel continental breakfast! We were actually all very impressed by our little hotel. Then Sunday we spent at St. Andrews! It was absolutely gorgeous!! 

We really just walked around the town for 5 or so hours until we kind of exhausted the place, and then we headed back to Edinburgh. There we saw:

            -the castle

            -university (Prince William & Kate went here!)

            -museum of St. Andrews

            -harbor

            -cathedral

            -the golf course of course!! Documented a photo on the famous bridge

It was a little chilly and windy at times, but St. Andrews is an absolutely beautiful place! Especially with the sun out.

March 19^th: Neenz & her boyfriend Derek joined us in Edinburgh today! So the five of us explored the Royal Mile, toured the Castle with our guide Ewan, and walked around! We spent the evening in the Grassmarket where apparently the nightlife is great. However on a Monday night we just enjoyed some low key local Scottish music. 

March 20^th: Tuesday morning greeted us with the surprise that our hotel booking was only for 3 nights, because our hotel was closing for renovations. Sweet. Thankfully, Bellantrae Hotel had other sister hotels, and they quickly helped us reserve a room at their other location. This second hotel actually ended up having awesome location and HUGE rooms. Seriously, HUGE. So, after that was settled, Neenz, Derek, KJ & I (Connor was elsewhere) checked out the National Museum. Even though we never made it to the Scottish history, this museum had a lot of really cool things to offer, and we had fun acting like little kids with all of the interactive items. After that we had lunch at the Filling Station, an American restaurant,

 and then Derek and Connor were on the hunt for Scotch Whiskey to bring home. The three of us girls bought rugby shirts for our souvenirs.

 And that is the quick and dirty run down of my time in Scotland! The country side is gorgeous, we had great weather, so there are no valid complaints on my end!

Catch up blog

Even though I’m here sitting in a hotel room in Edinburgh..I need to do some catch up blogging before I can talk about Spring break!

So I left off with studying for my art midterm…

March 16: Art midterm! It wasn’t that bad, exactly what we had studied for.  During the exam however we took a quick break to watch a police escorted student protest! In case you didn’t know, which I didn’t, universities in London used to be free (or 1,000 pounds a year, maybe even less). However recently, I’m not sure exactly, that’s been upped to around 5,000 or something like that. I don’t know the numbers precisely, I just know that know there is a tuition, and university students don’t like it. So we got to watch part of the protest. Pretty cool.

Afterwards, we did a little bit of shopping around London, so I could finally buy my green skinny jeans! What I think is cool from that shopping, is that places like Forever 21 and definitely H&M are kind of higher end over here. Especially H&M, it’s very trendy here, and not really associated with cheap or poor quality, though the prices are still pretty reasonable. So there’s some London fashion education for you.

March 15: Since class was cancelled, Katie (KJ) and I had a relaxing morning, and then spent the rest of the day in the Covent Garden area of London. We started with the markets. That was fun, it was a gorgeous day out, but the weekly market is not nearly as cool as the weekend market with arts and crafts. So in other words, I still need to go back again. We did however make friends with some New Zealanders, living in Berlin, on holiday in London. So that’s cool. Then we met up with Julia for dinner at Benito’s Hat, which in other words is a London Moe’s (but with quite a few less chips). Still delicious.

We ended the night with Singin’ In the Rain. Now I’ve never seen the classic movie, but this musical stage production was so great!! The dancing and choreography blew me away! I’m really craving the music now too, so I can listen to it all again! The rain during the title song was so impressive; people in the first few rows were even splashed from the dancing ha.

 

March 16: Nothing to say. I know even a boring day in London is still great because I’m in London…but I really didn’t do anything. It was pretty gross out, and we had to get ready to fly to Edinburgh the next day! So with that, I’ll leave you in suspense, and blog about part one of spring break later :)