Amsterdam was much different than I expected in many ways. I am still deciding on my feelings for it. It is very pretty and unlike any other city I have ever visited. The houses are all tall and narrow much like SanFran but its somewhat dark out all day every day. And there are canals!! Kind of like Venice but wider canals and less of them.
Brianne and I arrived in Amsterdam at 8:30am and were so incredibly exhausted because we had been traveling since 2am!! Amsterdam is so hard to navigate...probably the most difficult city I have been to yet. It is shaped like a spiderweb and none of the streets really line up with each other. Luckily, all hostels are in the poorer part of town...so we just had to find the Red Light District to find our hostel... which happens to be in the very core of the spiderweb. As it was 8:30 in the morning I assumed that I wouldn't see any ladies in the windows until night...WRONG. At first I saw a leg in a window...as we passed by I realized it was a man. I saw this one lady in a leather bikini standing in one of the windows and I thought it was a manikan...wrong again...she jetted her head toward us and gave us this flirty look. Seriously I did not think I was going to get phased by the Red Light District here. But my stomache did like a 360... It was really hard for me to see these real life women in the windows trying to sell themselves especially when the girls looked really young like 18 years old. Say what you will about the culture and ethics whatnot...the first time was just rough for me.
Our hostel was pretty cool though it was right on the edge of the District. Each of the rooms were decorated as a theme to a movie. We were in the Godfather and next door was American Beauty. Bri and I took a quick nap before our free walking tour. Erin arrived just before we left for the tour and it was soooo great to see her! Every time I see a friend here I just feel so rejuvenated.
The free walking tour was great and I learned so much about Amsterdam...it really is a strange place with very quirky people. It was snowing very hard however so we only made it half way through. One weird thing about Amsterdam is there is men's urinals all over the city. I guess back in the day this made the women very upset because just like any other place in Europe you have to pay about a euro to use a public restroom. So they decided they were all going to wear long skirts and go to a bridge and pee all over it. Each day they would do the same thing on a different bridge until the government would let them have free bathrooms as well. They did win and got free bathrooms but this was banned a little while ago.
Another crazy thing about Amsterdam was the last names. When the French were trying to take over Holland, Louis decided that they all had to have last names. So as the Dutch like to joke around with people they told the french people that their names were like Mr. BrownButt, Misses ILikePoo and etc. They thought this was hilarious until it was official that that really was their last name. And today there are still Dutch people with crazy last names like that thanks to their ancestors.
On the walking tour we saw parts of the Red Light District, the old churches, anne franks house, rembrandts house and much more. We did learn a lot about the drug policies in Amsterdam as well. I found it interesting that Marijuana is actually illegal in Amsterdam. I always thought that it was legal...but its just that one will not get in trouble for it. The Dutch are known for finding loopholes and having their government turn a blind eye. So there are smoke shops, but they aren't called smoke shops they are called Coffee Shops. SO if you are looking to buy some Coffee in the morning don't go to a coffee shop they won't have any coffee... you need to go to a cafe. Magic Mushrooms was another drug that they had these kinds of shops for as well but they are called Smart Shops. This last December 1st they made it illegal and it is something one can get in trouble for having. The EU is really cracking down on Amsterdam and trying to get them to clean up their image aka the banning of shrooms.
The second day we started with going to Anne Frank's House. This also had a huge impact on me. I have grown up with learning all about Anne Frank, seen plays, read her diary, etc. I probably know more about her than the average person. It was just crazy to be in her house and look out the window seeing Amsterdam as she probably saw it only about 60 years ago. The Holocaust really didn't happen that long ago. We saw the bookcase door just like it was yesterday. After climbing through the bookcase you had to climb up these really steep stairs to get to the hiding place. The rooms were so small like half the size of a small bedroom. I recognized Anne's room as soon as I stepped in. She had written about pasting photos all over her room to make it look less gloomy and there it was. One of the rooms just shocked me. It said that it was a couples room along with the living room, kitchen and storeroom... it was no bigger than my room back at home (which is SMALL). Downstairs in the museum was a bunch of interviews going on. One with Miep, who was one of the people who helped hide them. They still don't know today who ratted them out. I bet one of the people told a friend who ratted them out since it could have been one of the people hiding them since they would get in trouble too. One of the interviews was hard to listen too (well all of them were), but it was about the last time someone saw Anne. She had a friend across an electric wire fence in the concentration camp and this friend had recieved a Red Cross care package with little scraps of food. She decided to give it to Anne and tossed it over the fence for her. Anne screamed because some lady had taken it and ran off. The friend said not to worry because she would get her the next package. They were supposed to meet the next night...but Anne had given up and died. This friend spoke of how this 16 year old girl had given up all hope since her sister and mom had died and she had no idea where her dad was. If Anne had only known that her dad was going to come get her after the war was over in about a month...maybe she would have held out longer.
After Anne Frank we visited the Van Gogh Museum which was great. I didn't like it as much as the Picasso Museum just because it was so interesting to watch Picasso's work progress over the years. But Van Gogh's work really is unique and beautiful. The two most famous pieces, Starry Night and The Cafe, are on tour right now and do not arrive back until February :(
That evening we went on a Red Light District Tour and learned all about the history of it... it was very...um... educational. It did make me sad however that the District was formed by Human Trafficking originally. Men would go to really poor countries and tell women that they could make a great living back in Amsterdam. So they would bring them to Amsterdam and leave them in these windows basically as prisioners to bring in money. Anyways we learned all about the District and its history.
The last day in Amsterdam Brianne and I went to the Heineken Museum. This was fun to see how they brewed it and all about the history of the making. The Guiness was definitely more impressive because of the shape and the Bar at the top but Heineken was still fun.
That night we took a train to Brussels, Belgium.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Missing Towel Part II
Lately, there has been a big shortage on toliet paper. So I went to the other dorm to see if their girl's bathroom had any and there was this turquoise towel hanging there. I was like that's weird it kind of looks like mine? Sure enough it was the american brand towel and sure enough it had the same bleech stains that I had put on it. So I wasn't going crazy someone did steal my towel out of the dryer...and I didn't loose it. I thought about taking it back but it was so gross...
I only have 19 more days here. I have like super mixed feelings about leaving. Like I miss home, my friends, Aaron and such but at the same time I love travelling. I don't know if there will ever be another opportunity where I can come to Europe/the UK and travel as much as I like. If I wanted to go to Paris I could...even for as little as 2 pounds if I booked it far enough in advanced! It is getting really really cold here...much colder than I am used to so thats another plus to leaving now.
Home will be cool for like the first couple weeks to see everyone... and then its going to be like ... so what are we doing this weekend? Wait what we aren't going to a foreign country this weekend? booorrrriiiinnnng.
I have already started to look at exploration seminars and internships abroad. I doubt it will work out because of money but maybe an exploration seminar. These are like 4 week trips where you get 5 credits and you travel one country with a UW professor and like 30 UW students. I would love to go to Greece or like Germany since I didn't get a chance to go there yet.
Anywho, I leave for Amsterdam at 3am on Thursday. We will be there for 3 days then go to Brussels for one day. It should be great but realllly cold! I haven't decided what I am going to do my last weekend. For awhile I was thinking of going to Malaga, Spain then Africa with a group... but I only want to go if they are going to go to Africa for half of it. But part of me thinks I may need that weekend to finish up my last essay and pack... we will see
Natalie
I only have 19 more days here. I have like super mixed feelings about leaving. Like I miss home, my friends, Aaron and such but at the same time I love travelling. I don't know if there will ever be another opportunity where I can come to Europe/the UK and travel as much as I like. If I wanted to go to Paris I could...even for as little as 2 pounds if I booked it far enough in advanced! It is getting really really cold here...much colder than I am used to so thats another plus to leaving now.
Home will be cool for like the first couple weeks to see everyone... and then its going to be like ... so what are we doing this weekend? Wait what we aren't going to a foreign country this weekend? booorrrriiiinnnng.
I have already started to look at exploration seminars and internships abroad. I doubt it will work out because of money but maybe an exploration seminar. These are like 4 week trips where you get 5 credits and you travel one country with a UW professor and like 30 UW students. I would love to go to Greece or like Germany since I didn't get a chance to go there yet.
Anywho, I leave for Amsterdam at 3am on Thursday. We will be there for 3 days then go to Brussels for one day. It should be great but realllly cold! I haven't decided what I am going to do my last weekend. For awhile I was thinking of going to Malaga, Spain then Africa with a group... but I only want to go if they are going to go to Africa for half of it. But part of me thinks I may need that weekend to finish up my last essay and pack... we will see
Natalie
I am a Little Annoyed
I truly have been trying my hardest to not take all those stupid American jokes seriously and let it role off. And at first my International Marketing class was my favorite despite the jokes. But in seminars (the international class meeting once every other week with about 15 other students) I tend to get kind of pissed. I constantly feel targeting by foreign students that like to bash on America. First the case study was on Starbucks... and some french girl was talking directly at me 'why do you guys always have to send all your companies into other ppls countries...starbucks is so unhealthy.. you have to have so much cream and chocolate... its like a desert.' Excuse me if France doesn't like starbucks then why is it doing so well there??? MAYBE BECAUSE YOU GUYS DRINK IT!!!!
Today I was placed in a group with one french girl and one english. Today it was the english. It was like every time I gave an example she would have to say something bad about America. 'Well I think this reading is referring to America and how they don't care about being green and they just want to get the cheapest deal out there.' BLAH England is just as bad when it comes to being 'green' in some aspects way worse. Like I said earlier no one here as a concept of throwing garbage in a garbage can? Or recycling I have never seen so much garbage collecting on the sidewalks before.
Ugh... I don't know I know I shouldn't be taking all these comments seriously but it just bugs me when people talk crap and I'm like 'oh have you been to the states?' No? Then maybe you should go take a look before you open your mouth.
Today I was placed in a group with one french girl and one english. Today it was the english. It was like every time I gave an example she would have to say something bad about America. 'Well I think this reading is referring to America and how they don't care about being green and they just want to get the cheapest deal out there.' BLAH England is just as bad when it comes to being 'green' in some aspects way worse. Like I said earlier no one here as a concept of throwing garbage in a garbage can? Or recycling I have never seen so much garbage collecting on the sidewalks before.
Ugh... I don't know I know I shouldn't be taking all these comments seriously but it just bugs me when people talk crap and I'm like 'oh have you been to the states?' No? Then maybe you should go take a look before you open your mouth.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Good Old Manchester
So this was my first weekend in Manchester since the first week I was here. I was kind of looking forward to it because I thought I could get a lot done and be productive.... but for the most part I have been sleeping soooo much! It is almost like there hasn't been time to be stressed because its always 'go go go' and then when I get a minute to breathe I'm like 'wow this is really tiring' and my body just collapses! I have been pretty productive though I finished my third research paper and have one more to go.
Friday night I went out with Brianne, two Brittish girls and my neighbor Morgan. We went to the Footage again which is a bar/club that plays really cheesy music like BackStreet Boys and NSync and of course The Fresh Prince of BelAire (I know so weird they are like obsessed with that song!). But the drinks are like 1 to 2 pounds each which is so nice. It was a lot of fun and I got through a whole night without someone being inappropriate!! now thats a first...
Saturday I did a lot of sleeping and a lot of work on my paper. In the evening I was like hmmm I think I am going to go get my ears pierced now. So I took the bus to downtown and I was so so so nervous! Everyone always told me the second ones hurt really bad... but it didn't hurt at all. It was kind of burning and hot afterwards but thats just like last time. I really really like my second hole and I am so proud of myself for finally getting the nerve up to do it!
Tomorrow I will be spending doing a little more xmas shopping then meeting with my Management group to finish up our second presentation. I have gotten used to the disorganized-ness in England when it comes to business projects. Last time the guy that was supposed to print the poster did it the morning of...promised he would do it earlier in the week... and nope he overslept so again I will be calculating how the heck I am going to be able to drop this class and not hurt my GPA until the poster arrives at like 10:01am...hopefully BAHHHHH so ANNOYING!
On Thursday at 3am I will be leaving for Amsterdam with Brianne and will be meeting my old roommie Erin and I am so excited to see her!!! We will be spending 3 days in Amsterdam visiting the Van Gogh, Anne Frank, the tulips, the windmills, some famous churches and museums and of course the red light district. Then we will be taking a two hour train to Brussels, Belgium. There we are going to see the sights, eat lots of Belgium chocolate cake, eat Belgium waffles and visit a very famous bar (I forget the name of course!) that serves over 2000 flavors of beer! WOW!
I have found a cheap round trip flight to Prague, Czech Republic for my last weekend here which I would absolutely love to go to... but I need to find someone to go with!!! So I am going to put the word out and see... if it doesn't work out I may just catch a bus to London and spend the weekend seeing more of the sights and spend time reflecting on what an absolutely amazing experience this has been!!!
I miss you all... mixed feelings of course because I love it here but I can't wait to see you all again!
xoxo,
Nata-weeeeeeee
Friday night I went out with Brianne, two Brittish girls and my neighbor Morgan. We went to the Footage again which is a bar/club that plays really cheesy music like BackStreet Boys and NSync and of course The Fresh Prince of BelAire (I know so weird they are like obsessed with that song!). But the drinks are like 1 to 2 pounds each which is so nice. It was a lot of fun and I got through a whole night without someone being inappropriate!! now thats a first...
Saturday I did a lot of sleeping and a lot of work on my paper. In the evening I was like hmmm I think I am going to go get my ears pierced now. So I took the bus to downtown and I was so so so nervous! Everyone always told me the second ones hurt really bad... but it didn't hurt at all. It was kind of burning and hot afterwards but thats just like last time. I really really like my second hole and I am so proud of myself for finally getting the nerve up to do it!
Tomorrow I will be spending doing a little more xmas shopping then meeting with my Management group to finish up our second presentation. I have gotten used to the disorganized-ness in England when it comes to business projects. Last time the guy that was supposed to print the poster did it the morning of...promised he would do it earlier in the week... and nope he overslept so again I will be calculating how the heck I am going to be able to drop this class and not hurt my GPA until the poster arrives at like 10:01am...hopefully BAHHHHH so ANNOYING!
On Thursday at 3am I will be leaving for Amsterdam with Brianne and will be meeting my old roommie Erin and I am so excited to see her!!! We will be spending 3 days in Amsterdam visiting the Van Gogh, Anne Frank, the tulips, the windmills, some famous churches and museums and of course the red light district. Then we will be taking a two hour train to Brussels, Belgium. There we are going to see the sights, eat lots of Belgium chocolate cake, eat Belgium waffles and visit a very famous bar (I forget the name of course!) that serves over 2000 flavors of beer! WOW!
I have found a cheap round trip flight to Prague, Czech Republic for my last weekend here which I would absolutely love to go to... but I need to find someone to go with!!! So I am going to put the word out and see... if it doesn't work out I may just catch a bus to London and spend the weekend seeing more of the sights and spend time reflecting on what an absolutely amazing experience this has been!!!
I miss you all... mixed feelings of course because I love it here but I can't wait to see you all again!
xoxo,
Nata-weeeeeeee
Monday, November 24, 2008
J'Adore Paris
Bonjour!
This past weekend I spent in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! Ahhhh Paris. I travelled with three girls from my program and one girl I met from Italy came along as well. I was able to stay with a friend from Paris so we skipped out on the hostel fees which was awesome!
Day 1:
Montemartre: Here we went and climbed the the highest point in Paris and at the top of the hill sits the Saceur Cour Chruch. The Church is much different from most and has a very "pretty" and "elegant" feel to it. The domes almost look like they are made of flower petals. All white and sitting at the top of the grassy hill and a carosel at the bottom...it was a beautiful way to see Paris from above.
Moulin Rouge: We then walked down Montemartre and visited the Moulin Rouge. I didn't realize that this was in the Red Light District and now looking back that was pretty stupid of me! Moulin Rouge was cool to see but it was not as big as I thought!
Night Life:
We were able to meet up with my friend from back home, Rita, who took us out in the town. Nightlife is incredible in Paris but much like Barcelona where the clubs don't really get good until like 2am and they stay out until like 7am!!! Of course we were unable to do that since we had sites to see so we just went bar hoping and there was dancing there. I really like the nightlife in Paris because they play music I am used to unlike England where its all techno and you feel like your at a rave. Alcohol is very very expensive in Paris in terms of liquor and beer...BUT champagne and wine is dirt cheap! Also their really cheap champagne (2-3 euro) taste like our really really nice champagne! So that was quite nice...
The Boys:
Of course you cannot go to a country in Europe and expect not to have some interesting or inappropriate story to tell afterwards. The boys in Paris are much more preferred then those in Spain or Italy... they are forward but in a flirty way and not a vulgar way. They would say things like you are so beautiful, I love you and your country, then ten minutes later they say they want to take you to Italy with them for a week... wow uhhhh nooooo. One of the bars we went to you had to check your coat. Each of the girls (including the locals) would have to give a peck to the cheek of the coat guy. I always felt kind of uncomfortable with this but people in England do it too. So seeing that all the other girls were fine I handed my coat to the coat checker and placed a peck on his check and he swung his head around and tried to kiss me!!!! Luckily he got maybe one cm of the corner of my lip but I was like WHAT?!!! The whole night he kept coming up to me pointing to his cheek... I was like heck no!
Food:
That day we had the most amazing bagette for like 3 euro that had fresh crab in it! Also I tried the chocolate crossiant which I decided Italy's is by far the best. But my favorite food in Paris is the crepes. Je vodre un crepe avec nutella. merci. That is me ordering one crepe with nutella. This is like heaven in your mouth... doughy, warm crepe filled with goey melting nutellla... words cannot describe how amazing they are. I had four the first two days.... yes four. But then I stopped because I swear my butt started the jiggle as I walked...or maybe thats me imagining things IDK.
Day 2:
Notre Dame: We walked through Notre Dame which was very beautiful but not as awesome as St Peters. Then we climbed to the top of the bell towers and got to see the gargoyles at the top. This was really cool because the sky was greyish-navy and you could take pictures of the gargoyles over looking the Paris city with this very gothic feel.
Le Louvre: My friend that I was staying with has studied a lot of art history and had a year free pass to the Louvre. So she offered to give us a tour! That night there was a promotion that was if you were under 26 you got into free...nice little savings. Julia was very knowledgable about a lot of the art and was able to give us history about it. It is amazing how you can look at art and be like 'oh thats cool... thats pretty' but not realllllly understand it or think about it unless you have some background with it. The Mona Lisa was fun as usual and they had moved it to a bigger room so I wasn't shoved against a wall this time. There are rumors that it is a painting of Divinci drag, a painting done at two different times since the sides look different to her face...and much more all in all the painting is just very odd. My favorite part of the Louvre was the sculpture called "The Kiss" this was of Eros and Physche and I just thought it was so beautiful...not really sure why I was so drawn to it but I bought a poster of it and am going to frame it when I get home.
Food:
Julia took us to a hole in the wall creperie place that was so delicious. I tried to order in French but the lady thought that I was going to slow I guess and cut me off saying 'HAM AND CHEESE OK?' Ooops...this was definitely our first exposure to the French snootiness which I didn't experience as much as I thought I would... but it is present for sure.
Day 3:
Grand Palais- When we went we saw this huge beautiful gold building and naturally thought it was the Grand Palais... it turned out to be the Hotel for the Disabled... ya figured that one out. Nevertheless it was pretty!
Trocadero- Basically just a really pretty place to take photos of the Eiffel Tower while getting bombared with people trying to sell you ugly Eiffel Tower stuff.
The Louvre- Went to see the pyramids and the gardens a bit. The Louvre used to be the Palace and then they moved it to Versailles so the gardens are beautiful.
Angelina's- The best hot chocolate you will have in your life. It is called African Hot Chocolate and its in this beautiful, small cafe near the louvre. They charge like 7 euro for the drink but if you get it to go its 3 euro so we did that... all the pastries looked so so pretty!
What we thought was the Opera House- Again messed up the buildings the Opera House was right behind the pretty building we though it was.
Eiffel Tower- Went up the Eiffel Tower right at sunset. We first stopped at the 2nd floor and I was like oh my gosh I don't want to go any higher!!! I was shaking sooo hard because it was freezing and windy. I kept trying to take pictures for my friends and they turned out so blurry because I couldn't hold my hands still. It was so worth it though absolutely gorgeous. I was really scared going to the top of the Tower like it takes so long and it feels like it never ends. But once you get up there its so beautiful. It was cool because they showed where you could look out to see Washington, NY, Miami etc and how many miles it is. So I took a photo outside of Seattle. Just a side note the weather was like 3 degrees C with windchills of who knows what... I have never EVER been more cold in my life.
Dinner- We had made reservations for this famous fondue place in Montmartre where for 17 euro you get fondue, salad, desert and wine in baby bottles... and then if you want to refill your baby bottle its 1 euro each time. Unfortuneatly, only the group that didn't make the reservation got in because we went up the eiffel tower and it took longer than we thought :( But we went to a different fondue place just down the hill and it was delicious.
NightLife- Went to a club near the Champs Elysee which is pretty chic. It was odd to me because there was like some grandpas and like older men there. I later asked my friend why that was and she said that clubbing in Paris is not like in the States where its all younger people. If the old men are rich or well known they will let them in because they know they will buy tables or buy a lot of drinks for girls... I find that a little creepy but ok. We just had so much fun that night there were three rooms a techno room, an american music room and like an oldies room. We stayed in the oldies room and sang to songs like "I Love you Baby" "Girls Just want to have fun" and loads of Michael Jackson... it was a good time.
Day 4:
Versailles- Made the trek out to Versailles which was gorgeous. The rooms were very ornate and had a lot of history. It was so odd though because it was an exhibition of this guys art in Versailles...his name was Jeff Koon. He did modern art and I just find modern art absolutely hilarious like I don't get it at all! Here we are in Versailles see beautiful, priceless artwork and people are taking photos of a blow up floating lobster hanging from a ceiling... ok? Unfortueatly, that day it decided to snow really really hard so we didn't walk to Marie Antoinette's Estates since it was a thirty minute walk and we didn't get to see the gardens which is like huge at Versailles. Like I took my camera and ran as fast as I could out to the garden took a photo of some trees and ran back in.... that was the extent of us viewing the gardens.
Deathcab for Cutie: That night Brianne and I had tickets to a concert. Deathcab originated from Seattle, WA so it was way cool to see them in Paris. We wrote on a pillow case "Seattle Girls Love DeathCab" and had a big spaceneedle on it... one of the guitarists noticed it but not the lead singer... the french were not happy with us raising our sign and so we didn't have a whole lot of opportunities :(
Overall the trip was incredible Rome is still number one, but Paris is close behind it. I absolutely have to go back sometime in the spring when the weather doesn't literally hurt my body and we are not sleeping on hardwood floors. Maybe when I am a millionaire I can stay at the tres chic hotels and go to the tres chic clubs and live the fabulous life in Paris. HA
This weekend will be my first in Manchester... I plan on doing a lot of sleeping, working on research papers, and maybe hit up some free art museums. The original Light of the World painting which hangs in my parents living room is in Manchester so that could be cool to see...
Natalie
This past weekend I spent in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! Ahhhh Paris. I travelled with three girls from my program and one girl I met from Italy came along as well. I was able to stay with a friend from Paris so we skipped out on the hostel fees which was awesome!
Day 1:
Montemartre: Here we went and climbed the the highest point in Paris and at the top of the hill sits the Saceur Cour Chruch. The Church is much different from most and has a very "pretty" and "elegant" feel to it. The domes almost look like they are made of flower petals. All white and sitting at the top of the grassy hill and a carosel at the bottom...it was a beautiful way to see Paris from above.
Moulin Rouge: We then walked down Montemartre and visited the Moulin Rouge. I didn't realize that this was in the Red Light District and now looking back that was pretty stupid of me! Moulin Rouge was cool to see but it was not as big as I thought!
Night Life:
We were able to meet up with my friend from back home, Rita, who took us out in the town. Nightlife is incredible in Paris but much like Barcelona where the clubs don't really get good until like 2am and they stay out until like 7am!!! Of course we were unable to do that since we had sites to see so we just went bar hoping and there was dancing there. I really like the nightlife in Paris because they play music I am used to unlike England where its all techno and you feel like your at a rave. Alcohol is very very expensive in Paris in terms of liquor and beer...BUT champagne and wine is dirt cheap! Also their really cheap champagne (2-3 euro) taste like our really really nice champagne! So that was quite nice...
The Boys:
Of course you cannot go to a country in Europe and expect not to have some interesting or inappropriate story to tell afterwards. The boys in Paris are much more preferred then those in Spain or Italy... they are forward but in a flirty way and not a vulgar way. They would say things like you are so beautiful, I love you and your country, then ten minutes later they say they want to take you to Italy with them for a week... wow uhhhh nooooo. One of the bars we went to you had to check your coat. Each of the girls (including the locals) would have to give a peck to the cheek of the coat guy. I always felt kind of uncomfortable with this but people in England do it too. So seeing that all the other girls were fine I handed my coat to the coat checker and placed a peck on his check and he swung his head around and tried to kiss me!!!! Luckily he got maybe one cm of the corner of my lip but I was like WHAT?!!! The whole night he kept coming up to me pointing to his cheek... I was like heck no!
Food:
That day we had the most amazing bagette for like 3 euro that had fresh crab in it! Also I tried the chocolate crossiant which I decided Italy's is by far the best. But my favorite food in Paris is the crepes. Je vodre un crepe avec nutella. merci. That is me ordering one crepe with nutella. This is like heaven in your mouth... doughy, warm crepe filled with goey melting nutellla... words cannot describe how amazing they are. I had four the first two days.... yes four. But then I stopped because I swear my butt started the jiggle as I walked...or maybe thats me imagining things IDK.
Day 2:
Notre Dame: We walked through Notre Dame which was very beautiful but not as awesome as St Peters. Then we climbed to the top of the bell towers and got to see the gargoyles at the top. This was really cool because the sky was greyish-navy and you could take pictures of the gargoyles over looking the Paris city with this very gothic feel.
Le Louvre: My friend that I was staying with has studied a lot of art history and had a year free pass to the Louvre. So she offered to give us a tour! That night there was a promotion that was if you were under 26 you got into free...nice little savings. Julia was very knowledgable about a lot of the art and was able to give us history about it. It is amazing how you can look at art and be like 'oh thats cool... thats pretty' but not realllllly understand it or think about it unless you have some background with it. The Mona Lisa was fun as usual and they had moved it to a bigger room so I wasn't shoved against a wall this time. There are rumors that it is a painting of Divinci drag, a painting done at two different times since the sides look different to her face...and much more all in all the painting is just very odd. My favorite part of the Louvre was the sculpture called "The Kiss" this was of Eros and Physche and I just thought it was so beautiful...not really sure why I was so drawn to it but I bought a poster of it and am going to frame it when I get home.
Food:
Julia took us to a hole in the wall creperie place that was so delicious. I tried to order in French but the lady thought that I was going to slow I guess and cut me off saying 'HAM AND CHEESE OK?' Ooops...this was definitely our first exposure to the French snootiness which I didn't experience as much as I thought I would... but it is present for sure.
Day 3:
Grand Palais- When we went we saw this huge beautiful gold building and naturally thought it was the Grand Palais... it turned out to be the Hotel for the Disabled... ya figured that one out. Nevertheless it was pretty!
Trocadero- Basically just a really pretty place to take photos of the Eiffel Tower while getting bombared with people trying to sell you ugly Eiffel Tower stuff.
The Louvre- Went to see the pyramids and the gardens a bit. The Louvre used to be the Palace and then they moved it to Versailles so the gardens are beautiful.
Angelina's- The best hot chocolate you will have in your life. It is called African Hot Chocolate and its in this beautiful, small cafe near the louvre. They charge like 7 euro for the drink but if you get it to go its 3 euro so we did that... all the pastries looked so so pretty!
What we thought was the Opera House- Again messed up the buildings the Opera House was right behind the pretty building we though it was.
Eiffel Tower- Went up the Eiffel Tower right at sunset. We first stopped at the 2nd floor and I was like oh my gosh I don't want to go any higher!!! I was shaking sooo hard because it was freezing and windy. I kept trying to take pictures for my friends and they turned out so blurry because I couldn't hold my hands still. It was so worth it though absolutely gorgeous. I was really scared going to the top of the Tower like it takes so long and it feels like it never ends. But once you get up there its so beautiful. It was cool because they showed where you could look out to see Washington, NY, Miami etc and how many miles it is. So I took a photo outside of Seattle. Just a side note the weather was like 3 degrees C with windchills of who knows what... I have never EVER been more cold in my life.
Dinner- We had made reservations for this famous fondue place in Montmartre where for 17 euro you get fondue, salad, desert and wine in baby bottles... and then if you want to refill your baby bottle its 1 euro each time. Unfortuneatly, only the group that didn't make the reservation got in because we went up the eiffel tower and it took longer than we thought :( But we went to a different fondue place just down the hill and it was delicious.
NightLife- Went to a club near the Champs Elysee which is pretty chic. It was odd to me because there was like some grandpas and like older men there. I later asked my friend why that was and she said that clubbing in Paris is not like in the States where its all younger people. If the old men are rich or well known they will let them in because they know they will buy tables or buy a lot of drinks for girls... I find that a little creepy but ok. We just had so much fun that night there were three rooms a techno room, an american music room and like an oldies room. We stayed in the oldies room and sang to songs like "I Love you Baby" "Girls Just want to have fun" and loads of Michael Jackson... it was a good time.
Day 4:
Versailles- Made the trek out to Versailles which was gorgeous. The rooms were very ornate and had a lot of history. It was so odd though because it was an exhibition of this guys art in Versailles...his name was Jeff Koon. He did modern art and I just find modern art absolutely hilarious like I don't get it at all! Here we are in Versailles see beautiful, priceless artwork and people are taking photos of a blow up floating lobster hanging from a ceiling... ok? Unfortueatly, that day it decided to snow really really hard so we didn't walk to Marie Antoinette's Estates since it was a thirty minute walk and we didn't get to see the gardens which is like huge at Versailles. Like I took my camera and ran as fast as I could out to the garden took a photo of some trees and ran back in.... that was the extent of us viewing the gardens.
Deathcab for Cutie: That night Brianne and I had tickets to a concert. Deathcab originated from Seattle, WA so it was way cool to see them in Paris. We wrote on a pillow case "Seattle Girls Love DeathCab" and had a big spaceneedle on it... one of the guitarists noticed it but not the lead singer... the french were not happy with us raising our sign and so we didn't have a whole lot of opportunities :(
Overall the trip was incredible Rome is still number one, but Paris is close behind it. I absolutely have to go back sometime in the spring when the weather doesn't literally hurt my body and we are not sleeping on hardwood floors. Maybe when I am a millionaire I can stay at the tres chic hotels and go to the tres chic clubs and live the fabulous life in Paris. HA
This weekend will be my first in Manchester... I plan on doing a lot of sleeping, working on research papers, and maybe hit up some free art museums. The original Light of the World painting which hangs in my parents living room is in Manchester so that could be cool to see...
Natalie
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Barcelona, Spain
I went to Barcelona, Spain with my friends Helen from NYU and Traci from Miami. I got to meet up with Flan and was supposed to see my old roommate Erin but we got the dates mixed up.
We arrived in Barcelona at 11:50pm and had to take the subway to our Hostel. I thought since we were going to Spain they would speak Spanish and communicating wouldn't be that bad. I was very wrong...they spoke Catalonian and actually get offended when one speaks Spanish to them. The tickets were somewhat hard to figure out because I couldn't read it. And this old lady was lingering around very quietly obviously trying to find where our money was kept so she could pick pocket. Luckily we are such smart travellers and had already pulled out the exact amount beforehand. It was amazing how this lady had been standing right next to me the whole time and I hadn't noticed until I was done buying the ticket and waiting for Traci...it was like she was invisible! I tried to get through the gate with my ticket but each time failed later to notice that we had bought train tickets not subway!
Once we bought the SUBWAY tickets and arrived at our stop we were greeted by probably 10-15 prostitutes that stand on the street "Las Ramblas" all night. Making clicks whenever a man walks by...the area was extremely sketchy or as a Brit would say "dodgy."
The first day we went to La Sangrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo, La Pedrera and the Picasso Museum. A lot of Barcelona is designed by a man named Gaudi who was inspired by nature and that shows in his architecture. La Sangrada Familia was built by him and is still under construction today. I found the architecture interesting because you could see his inspiration everywhere. The coloms like trees, windows like palm trees, etc. But I don't think that the architecture is beautiful just different and very funky.
Parc Guell was a lot of fun- designed also by Gaudi. Lots of sculptures and crazy areas to explore. At the top of the park a bunch of people laid out black market stuff to sell. One man had earrings placed on top of an umbrella. All of the sudden the man freaks out and said he would be back in fourteen minutes. I turned around and the entire market was gone....a total ghost town. I was like 'ooookay where are the police at?' Sure enough the police had come so everyone had to run. This is so impressive but not as hilarious as when it happened in Rome because they had to run over this huge hill to get away- now that was a sight!
I really enojoyed the Picasso Museum and liked to see how his art progressed over time. He went from being a very detailed artist to a crazy one. Some say he really did go crazy. I'm not sure I think maybe his friend Sarbetes inspired him since once he met him the art changed drastically.
For dinner we tried the Tapas- a Spanish meal. These are small, appetizer like meals and you order three to four for dinner. They are very tasty and some better than Italian food. But they didn't fill me up that much because I could only afford two at a time (usually running from 4-6 euros each). As the trip went on sometimes I had a hard time with the looks of the food. For example if you ordered paella (rice stirfry with seafood) then entire eels and crawfish would be in the dish. Or if you ordered a fried seafood tapa the eyes would still be entact...so awful. At one restuarant there was rows and rows of meat hanging from the ceiling...the hooves were still there!!!!
The next day we went up Montjuic, walked Port Vell, saw a Cathedral under construction and met up with my friend Flannery.
Saturday we spent walking Barcelona street markets and went to a Flamenco Show. I was not expecting this dance to be like this. Generally men sing while the spotlight is on a woman or man doing the dance...it is a tap dance. I loved how they would fire eachother up and cheer them on. The women would get so into it and get these crazy aggressive faces on. We were served a glass of Sangria during the show. Generally I really don't like wine but Sangria is tasty! It was served with ice and oranges inside...very sweet.
The last morning we spent at the Chocolate Museum. Spain invented chocolate back in the XVI Century. I learned a lot about the productions and uses of chocolate. There was multiple chocolate sculptures which were incredible. Once man was painting Audrey Hepburn in chocolate.
Each day we treated ourselves to a Spanish sweet. Its like I eat the food of the country when I am there and starve myself in Manchester otherwise I would look like a sumo wrestler! My favorite was churros and chocolata...its the spanish hot chocolate and is very thick and sweet and then churros (without the sugar all over it). You dip the churros into the hot chocolate and it is like heaven. One day I tried Spanish Gelatto which is not as good as Italian...after my fifth lick the entire scoop fell the to ground...I think it was God's way of telling me I've had enough Gelatto this semester....I just love it so much!
The Spanish men were a little bit of an issue but I must say that I prefer being harassed by Spanish men then Italian. The Spanish mens way of telling you they think your pretty is by hissing, barking or moaning sexually at you. Vs the Italian that would just say incredibly vulgar things. Oh the joys of being blonde in Europe.
Overall Spain was a blast...it didn't steal my heart like Italy but thats ok. And I didn't get fooled by any of the crazy shows and skeems I read about that happen on Las Ramblas to steal your money....but I did see others falling for them!
Three days until Paris!
We arrived in Barcelona at 11:50pm and had to take the subway to our Hostel. I thought since we were going to Spain they would speak Spanish and communicating wouldn't be that bad. I was very wrong...they spoke Catalonian and actually get offended when one speaks Spanish to them. The tickets were somewhat hard to figure out because I couldn't read it. And this old lady was lingering around very quietly obviously trying to find where our money was kept so she could pick pocket. Luckily we are such smart travellers and had already pulled out the exact amount beforehand. It was amazing how this lady had been standing right next to me the whole time and I hadn't noticed until I was done buying the ticket and waiting for Traci...it was like she was invisible! I tried to get through the gate with my ticket but each time failed later to notice that we had bought train tickets not subway!
Once we bought the SUBWAY tickets and arrived at our stop we were greeted by probably 10-15 prostitutes that stand on the street "Las Ramblas" all night. Making clicks whenever a man walks by...the area was extremely sketchy or as a Brit would say "dodgy."
The first day we went to La Sangrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo, La Pedrera and the Picasso Museum. A lot of Barcelona is designed by a man named Gaudi who was inspired by nature and that shows in his architecture. La Sangrada Familia was built by him and is still under construction today. I found the architecture interesting because you could see his inspiration everywhere. The coloms like trees, windows like palm trees, etc. But I don't think that the architecture is beautiful just different and very funky.
Parc Guell was a lot of fun- designed also by Gaudi. Lots of sculptures and crazy areas to explore. At the top of the park a bunch of people laid out black market stuff to sell. One man had earrings placed on top of an umbrella. All of the sudden the man freaks out and said he would be back in fourteen minutes. I turned around and the entire market was gone....a total ghost town. I was like 'ooookay where are the police at?' Sure enough the police had come so everyone had to run. This is so impressive but not as hilarious as when it happened in Rome because they had to run over this huge hill to get away- now that was a sight!
I really enojoyed the Picasso Museum and liked to see how his art progressed over time. He went from being a very detailed artist to a crazy one. Some say he really did go crazy. I'm not sure I think maybe his friend Sarbetes inspired him since once he met him the art changed drastically.
For dinner we tried the Tapas- a Spanish meal. These are small, appetizer like meals and you order three to four for dinner. They are very tasty and some better than Italian food. But they didn't fill me up that much because I could only afford two at a time (usually running from 4-6 euros each). As the trip went on sometimes I had a hard time with the looks of the food. For example if you ordered paella (rice stirfry with seafood) then entire eels and crawfish would be in the dish. Or if you ordered a fried seafood tapa the eyes would still be entact...so awful. At one restuarant there was rows and rows of meat hanging from the ceiling...the hooves were still there!!!!
The next day we went up Montjuic, walked Port Vell, saw a Cathedral under construction and met up with my friend Flannery.
Saturday we spent walking Barcelona street markets and went to a Flamenco Show. I was not expecting this dance to be like this. Generally men sing while the spotlight is on a woman or man doing the dance...it is a tap dance. I loved how they would fire eachother up and cheer them on. The women would get so into it and get these crazy aggressive faces on. We were served a glass of Sangria during the show. Generally I really don't like wine but Sangria is tasty! It was served with ice and oranges inside...very sweet.
The last morning we spent at the Chocolate Museum. Spain invented chocolate back in the XVI Century. I learned a lot about the productions and uses of chocolate. There was multiple chocolate sculptures which were incredible. Once man was painting Audrey Hepburn in chocolate.
Each day we treated ourselves to a Spanish sweet. Its like I eat the food of the country when I am there and starve myself in Manchester otherwise I would look like a sumo wrestler! My favorite was churros and chocolata...its the spanish hot chocolate and is very thick and sweet and then churros (without the sugar all over it). You dip the churros into the hot chocolate and it is like heaven. One day I tried Spanish Gelatto which is not as good as Italian...after my fifth lick the entire scoop fell the to ground...I think it was God's way of telling me I've had enough Gelatto this semester....I just love it so much!
The Spanish men were a little bit of an issue but I must say that I prefer being harassed by Spanish men then Italian. The Spanish mens way of telling you they think your pretty is by hissing, barking or moaning sexually at you. Vs the Italian that would just say incredibly vulgar things. Oh the joys of being blonde in Europe.
Overall Spain was a blast...it didn't steal my heart like Italy but thats ok. And I didn't get fooled by any of the crazy shows and skeems I read about that happen on Las Ramblas to steal your money....but I did see others falling for them!
Three days until Paris!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Bath and Stonehenge
Right after Italy I had one day to sleep and then went off to Bath, England with the International Society. Bath was just okay. Its not that big of a city so having two days there was kind of boring. The first day we went to the Roman Baths where people came for healings. This was pretty cool because it was like a little piece of Italy in England. We had dinner at the oldest place in Bath called Sally Lunns Bunns. Since we had dinner at 5 we got a good deal of having soup, main dish and wine for 10 pounds. I had the steak with beranise sauce over a Sally Lunn Bunn and it was very tasty...everything is home made there.
The next morning we went to Stonehenge. I actually found Stonehenge much more interesting than I thought I would. I was a little disappointed when I left because I felt that it was still a big mystery and I was more confused than I was when I first arrived. I guess now they think that it was built as a calendar, temple where sacrifices would happen. Maybe it was originally made as a calendar and then they added on to make it a temple...not quite sure. It was strange because stonehenge is located right off a local freeway so people drive by everyday and see it! I always imagined it as on this big hill...but its actually on a very flat area that winds hit it crazy amounts...soooo cold!
I got a flyer on Stonehenge and it really surprised me that they are planning on moving it in the next ten years. They want to put it in a museum-like situation where more tourists can easily access it. Excuse me but how stupid would that be??? The whole point of seeing Stonehenge is that is has been there for thousands and thousands of years...duhhh.
That afternoon I visited the Jane Austen Center. Jane Austen lived in Bath for five years of her life but she didn't like it very much and enjoyed the country side more because she felt inspired there. Northanger Abbey was written right after she left Bath and she made multiple references to it. That is the one story that I have not seen (I don't read the books only watch the movies).
So that was my quick weekend trip...Wednesday night I leave for Barcelona, Spain.
The next morning we went to Stonehenge. I actually found Stonehenge much more interesting than I thought I would. I was a little disappointed when I left because I felt that it was still a big mystery and I was more confused than I was when I first arrived. I guess now they think that it was built as a calendar, temple where sacrifices would happen. Maybe it was originally made as a calendar and then they added on to make it a temple...not quite sure. It was strange because stonehenge is located right off a local freeway so people drive by everyday and see it! I always imagined it as on this big hill...but its actually on a very flat area that winds hit it crazy amounts...soooo cold!
I got a flyer on Stonehenge and it really surprised me that they are planning on moving it in the next ten years. They want to put it in a museum-like situation where more tourists can easily access it. Excuse me but how stupid would that be??? The whole point of seeing Stonehenge is that is has been there for thousands and thousands of years...duhhh.
That afternoon I visited the Jane Austen Center. Jane Austen lived in Bath for five years of her life but she didn't like it very much and enjoyed the country side more because she felt inspired there. Northanger Abbey was written right after she left Bath and she made multiple references to it. That is the one story that I have not seen (I don't read the books only watch the movies).
So that was my quick weekend trip...Wednesday night I leave for Barcelona, Spain.
Venice
After having absolutely horrible weather in Cinque Terre we were pretty sure the weather was going to be equally as bad in Venice. We woke up and went outside to see not a cloud in the sky...it was absolutely incredible. Venice is very surreal everything obviously is sinking and sometimes parts are worse than others during high tide. We had to take a water taxi to our hostel and you could see that most of the doors were blocked off because of the water level rising.
It was very hard to follow maps in Venice its like a maze. Every street is like an alley way that goes about 4 stories high so there is no way to look up and see tall buildings to tell you where you are. Basically you just follow little signs to famous Bridges and find your way around.
We had a tour of St. Marks Square and little areas around Venice. We had a quick break for lunch then a boat tour. The boat tour was my favorite part because we got to go around Venice and through little residential canals. It was amazing how those canals are only three feet deep!! We saw many gondala riders and they are so good at steering those long boats...that would be so difficult! Luckily, since it was fall the water didn't smell but I can see how during those hot summer days the water could get pretty stinky.
In the evening we went shopping and got lots of little gifts for friends of Venetian Glass. I tried on like one million rings and many times they would get stuck on my finger! I would panick buy luckily my friend Helen had purell and so I could get it off that way. I don't know how many rings in Venice are smoothered in purell from me ...oops.
I know that I have to come back to Venice because there was not enough time to do a gondola ride...you can't experience Venice fully without one!
It was very hard to follow maps in Venice its like a maze. Every street is like an alley way that goes about 4 stories high so there is no way to look up and see tall buildings to tell you where you are. Basically you just follow little signs to famous Bridges and find your way around.
We had a tour of St. Marks Square and little areas around Venice. We had a quick break for lunch then a boat tour. The boat tour was my favorite part because we got to go around Venice and through little residential canals. It was amazing how those canals are only three feet deep!! We saw many gondala riders and they are so good at steering those long boats...that would be so difficult! Luckily, since it was fall the water didn't smell but I can see how during those hot summer days the water could get pretty stinky.
In the evening we went shopping and got lots of little gifts for friends of Venetian Glass. I tried on like one million rings and many times they would get stuck on my finger! I would panick buy luckily my friend Helen had purell and so I could get it off that way. I don't know how many rings in Venice are smoothered in purell from me ...oops.
I know that I have to come back to Venice because there was not enough time to do a gondola ride...you can't experience Venice fully without one!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Cinque Terre: The Land of 5
Cinque Terre consists of five small towns along the cliffs of the Mediteranean Sea. The towns have rainbow colored bulidings and looks beautiful against the turquoise sea. Unfortuneatly, I was told that the weather was to be "temporale"...which means rain and thunder storms.
The tour goes even if there is bad weather so we had to go. It was pouring so bad and the wind was crazy. Despite the horrible weather we still got to see how beautiful this place really was. I was a little concerned about using English in these areas because it is not super touristy so most only speak Italian. When we first arrived I really had to go to the bathroom and this local started to have a full on conversation with me I had no idea what he was talking about! He pointed to the bathroom and I had a pleasant surprise. Inside the bathroom was this tray like contraption that had a hole in the ground. I got to squat over the tray and attempt to aim for the hole...lets just say the first time was not so successful...it made for a good laugh.
We had clam spaghetti for lunch which tasted soooo good. Cinque Terre is known for its fabulous seafood!
So Cinque Tere was not really my favorite part of the trip since the weather was not good. There is nothing to see there it is just to go and enjoy the weather and see the beauty. O well...
O and I forgot to mention the crazy Italian driving. It was supposed to take over 2 hours to get there by train but with an Italian car driver it took under an hour and a half!! I don't even want to know how fast he was going on the freeway with absolutely no turning signals just weaving through traffic. As we zoomed up the cliffs to get to Cinque Terre I got a little queezy and car sick because he was taking the turns so fast... I knew we were going to go over the edge any second!
The tour goes even if there is bad weather so we had to go. It was pouring so bad and the wind was crazy. Despite the horrible weather we still got to see how beautiful this place really was. I was a little concerned about using English in these areas because it is not super touristy so most only speak Italian. When we first arrived I really had to go to the bathroom and this local started to have a full on conversation with me I had no idea what he was talking about! He pointed to the bathroom and I had a pleasant surprise. Inside the bathroom was this tray like contraption that had a hole in the ground. I got to squat over the tray and attempt to aim for the hole...lets just say the first time was not so successful...it made for a good laugh.
We had clam spaghetti for lunch which tasted soooo good. Cinque Terre is known for its fabulous seafood!
So Cinque Tere was not really my favorite part of the trip since the weather was not good. There is nothing to see there it is just to go and enjoy the weather and see the beauty. O well...
O and I forgot to mention the crazy Italian driving. It was supposed to take over 2 hours to get there by train but with an Italian car driver it took under an hour and a half!! I don't even want to know how fast he was going on the freeway with absolutely no turning signals just weaving through traffic. As we zoomed up the cliffs to get to Cinque Terre I got a little queezy and car sick because he was taking the turns so fast... I knew we were going to go over the edge any second!
Florence: The Floating City
We only had one day in Florence and had to get everything done. When we arrived at our hostel we were told that since it was Monday all of the museums would be closed and probably most markets. BUMMER!! The whole point of going to Florence is to see the David!
So in the morning we went to see the Duomo. The outside was awesome it was pastel green, pink and white ( I have to wonder if it used to be the italian flag colors and it has faded over time). Very Beautiful. We then saw the typical Florence sites such as Ponte Vecchio, Ponte Vecho, some more churchs and a lot of piazzas. In one of the piazzas my friend Jenny and I imitated the statues. We decided to get really creative and have four people imitate a big statue. We used an umbrella as a sword and it looked awesome! So many tourists thought it was cool and they were jealous of our coolness so they took pictures of us. I felt famous hahaha.
We hiked to the top of Michealangelo's Piazzle and saw the view from the top of Florence. It had been raining on and off again and there was a full rainbow over Florence...the city had the effect of looking like it was floating on clouds....so pretty.
NOTE: The next day we went to Cinque Terre and got back early so we were able to go into the Academy Gallery and see the David after all on Tuesday.
So in the morning we went to see the Duomo. The outside was awesome it was pastel green, pink and white ( I have to wonder if it used to be the italian flag colors and it has faded over time). Very Beautiful. We then saw the typical Florence sites such as Ponte Vecchio, Ponte Vecho, some more churchs and a lot of piazzas. In one of the piazzas my friend Jenny and I imitated the statues. We decided to get really creative and have four people imitate a big statue. We used an umbrella as a sword and it looked awesome! So many tourists thought it was cool and they were jealous of our coolness so they took pictures of us. I felt famous hahaha.
We hiked to the top of Michealangelo's Piazzle and saw the view from the top of Florence. It had been raining on and off again and there was a full rainbow over Florence...the city had the effect of looking like it was floating on clouds....so pretty.
NOTE: The next day we went to Cinque Terre and got back early so we were able to go into the Academy Gallery and see the David after all on Tuesday.
Pompeii & Naples
In between our two days in Rome we had a day tour to Naples and Pompeii. Naples was so beautiful, located in the south of Italy right on the western coast. The rocks were white, water turquoise and palm trees everywhere. After taking a stop in Naples we stopped at the Cameo Factory. Cameos is a type of jewelry made of either onyx or seashell and they carve out a sillhoette or a womens face on it. I bought a ring and a necklace for a friend there.
Next we stopped at Pompeii. Pompeii started 700BC and was first devestated by a huge earthquake and then by an erruption of Mount Vesuvius. So we had a tour through the ruins of this city this was so interesting because it was like the place was frozen in time. There was still places to tie up the horse, wine shops, houses with frescos on the walls and ...brothels. I don't mean to sound like a perv but this was my favorite part of Pompeii. He showed us these engravings on the ground of large mens private parts that were made into arrows pointing to the brothels. In Pompeii there are 25 brothels which is ridiculous because its not that big! It makes me think that every woman had a job on the side!!! Inside the brothels the rooms had beds that still had the mattresses, blankets and pillow there (of course hardened by the ash). The frescos had paintings of different positions that they could choose from....creative.
Next we stopped at Pompeii. Pompeii started 700BC and was first devestated by a huge earthquake and then by an erruption of Mount Vesuvius. So we had a tour through the ruins of this city this was so interesting because it was like the place was frozen in time. There was still places to tie up the horse, wine shops, houses with frescos on the walls and ...brothels. I don't mean to sound like a perv but this was my favorite part of Pompeii. He showed us these engravings on the ground of large mens private parts that were made into arrows pointing to the brothels. In Pompeii there are 25 brothels which is ridiculous because its not that big! It makes me think that every woman had a job on the side!!! Inside the brothels the rooms had beds that still had the mattresses, blankets and pillow there (of course hardened by the ash). The frescos had paintings of different positions that they could choose from....creative.
Rome where you want to.... Rome 'round the world.
So Rome is my favorite city in the entire WORLD! It definitely goes on my short list of places to go back to in my lifetime.
So us four girls from Manchester met up with Jenny and Danielle in Milan at 11pm. Because there wasn't any transportation in Milan between midnight at 5:30am we had to camp out in the airport. Bergamo Airport is really small aka there was no carpet or chairs to sit in. We had tile floors, phosphorescent lighting, and really loud tvs going on all night. I did not get any sleep at all...not a drop. This was my first complete all nighter and I was up for over 40 hours. WOW!
While my unsuccessful sleeping was going on I used my phrase book to learn some Italian. I didn't want to be the typical tourist that relied solely on English to get around. So I learned phrases like well Do you speak English, I don't speak Italian, thank you, excuse me, I would like..., sorry, please, let me through, He stole my bag (hahah), how much is this...and some others I don't really remember. Although while using these phrases I really was surprised at how I could somewhat understand the Italians because it was so much like Spanish. And usually they always spoke English anyways but they would smile and it seemed like they were pleased that I at least attempted to embrace Italian language.
We arrived in Rome at 7:30am and went straight to drop off our stuff at the Yellow Hostel. The 4 Manchester girls went to Villa Borghese to explore. Then we went to our tour in Vatican City. I did no know that Vatican City was not a part of Rome and it had its own Pope. I always thought it just consisted of the museum and St Peters but people actually live there. The Vatican Museums were absolutely incredible we only got to touch on what was there because it is a HUUUUGE museum. We saw the Sistine Chapel and it was so much different then a expected. Much smaller, and dark because of the paintings. The ceiling done by Michealangelo was incredible so vibrant. I found it interesting that one of the disciples (?) that was next to Jesus on one of the paintings in the chapel was holding an entire bodies worth of skin. This was supposed to represent how he was skinned because of his faith. But it also was supposed to represent Michealangelo himself basically feeling skinned by doing the Sistine Chapel. Michealangelo didn't want to paint the chapel, he saw himself more has a sculpturer and has currently working on four pieces. Since the Pope insisted he do the ceiling he had to stop his sculptures and paint. The chapel took a total of six years and he was in his fifties. He had to be raised on scaffolds to get to the top and paint by candlelight. When he died he died nearly blind because of the strain he had to put on his eyes in that chapel.
Next we went to St. Peter's Basicilica the most beautiful place I've been to in my life. It is hard to describe how pretty this church is all I can say was the minute I went inside my body was covered in goosebumps from head to toe, tears came to my eyes....and I knew that St. Pauls was nothing compared to this church. We had arrived in the evening and the choir was singing, it would echo all throughout the domes of the church. We did not have enough time to go the top of the dome and see where St Peters bones might have been buried but I am okay with that because it just means I HAVE to come back :)
That night we saw the Trevi Fountian, another incredible sight in Rome. Although it was very crowded and you had to be extremely mean to all the people trying to sell you flowers you didn't want. It was so ridiculous I could see them coming to me and I would be like 'No Grazie' they come closer, 'NO' they are shoving a rose in my face NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Until finally Danielle comes along (who speaks fluent Italian) and yells at him to get lost. This is pretty typical I don't know why people target me I try so hard to look mean!!!
The second day we had in Rome we started with the Collesseum. We had gotten pretty good at using the underground railway but were not sure if we were going to have to stop to ask for directions to find the Colleseum itself. Coming up from the stairs we saw it immediately this huge massive structure. The sun was so warm I felt like it was summer, not a cloud in the sky. We were ooing and ahhhing and the locals kind of laughed at us. But hey it was the COLLESEUM!!!! hellllooooo. Being there was really surreal seeing the underground where the lions were kept and the prisioners, seeing writing still on the walls and the stands were people stood or sat according to class...amazing.
Outside the Colleseum we had some classic Italian abuse. I've basically heard it all but this was the worst probably insulted sexually about 10 times from going from the Colleseum to Constatine's Arc (note: its one minute away). We ended the day by seeing Trevi Fountain once again, the Pantheon and the Temple. And were on our way to Florence.
Some Random Things I noticed while in Rome/Italy in general:
-There is no such thing as a line. It was so funny to me how even when you are supposed to be lining up to check into RyanAir they all just push and shove to get to the front. When I was getting on the Shuttle there was a lady behind me trying to shove her bag in between my legs!!! It's not really considered rude to push your way to the front in Italy.
-The caffeine drinks are really small. I ordered a hot cocoa and it was the smallest thing I have ever seen!
-The men are rude to the foreigners. I got followed around by five men singing about my chest, I had men offering me lollypops but hinting at something else. I had dads look up up and down five times right in front of their wife and baby girl...you get the point. My favorites were sexy princess and Barbie...I don't mind those.
-Gelatto is so amazing. We had gelatto every single day. My favorite flavor was Tiramisu.
-If they think you can't afford their products in a store they will straight up tell you to leave.
-They tend to be very helpful with tourists. Multiple times when we were looking at a map locals would stop to help :)
-They don't serve tap water. You have to pay for the water in the glass bottle.
Overall Rome is tight.
So us four girls from Manchester met up with Jenny and Danielle in Milan at 11pm. Because there wasn't any transportation in Milan between midnight at 5:30am we had to camp out in the airport. Bergamo Airport is really small aka there was no carpet or chairs to sit in. We had tile floors, phosphorescent lighting, and really loud tvs going on all night. I did not get any sleep at all...not a drop. This was my first complete all nighter and I was up for over 40 hours. WOW!
While my unsuccessful sleeping was going on I used my phrase book to learn some Italian. I didn't want to be the typical tourist that relied solely on English to get around. So I learned phrases like well Do you speak English, I don't speak Italian, thank you, excuse me, I would like..., sorry, please, let me through, He stole my bag (hahah), how much is this...and some others I don't really remember. Although while using these phrases I really was surprised at how I could somewhat understand the Italians because it was so much like Spanish. And usually they always spoke English anyways but they would smile and it seemed like they were pleased that I at least attempted to embrace Italian language.
We arrived in Rome at 7:30am and went straight to drop off our stuff at the Yellow Hostel. The 4 Manchester girls went to Villa Borghese to explore. Then we went to our tour in Vatican City. I did no know that Vatican City was not a part of Rome and it had its own Pope. I always thought it just consisted of the museum and St Peters but people actually live there. The Vatican Museums were absolutely incredible we only got to touch on what was there because it is a HUUUUGE museum. We saw the Sistine Chapel and it was so much different then a expected. Much smaller, and dark because of the paintings. The ceiling done by Michealangelo was incredible so vibrant. I found it interesting that one of the disciples (?) that was next to Jesus on one of the paintings in the chapel was holding an entire bodies worth of skin. This was supposed to represent how he was skinned because of his faith. But it also was supposed to represent Michealangelo himself basically feeling skinned by doing the Sistine Chapel. Michealangelo didn't want to paint the chapel, he saw himself more has a sculpturer and has currently working on four pieces. Since the Pope insisted he do the ceiling he had to stop his sculptures and paint. The chapel took a total of six years and he was in his fifties. He had to be raised on scaffolds to get to the top and paint by candlelight. When he died he died nearly blind because of the strain he had to put on his eyes in that chapel.
Next we went to St. Peter's Basicilica the most beautiful place I've been to in my life. It is hard to describe how pretty this church is all I can say was the minute I went inside my body was covered in goosebumps from head to toe, tears came to my eyes....and I knew that St. Pauls was nothing compared to this church. We had arrived in the evening and the choir was singing, it would echo all throughout the domes of the church. We did not have enough time to go the top of the dome and see where St Peters bones might have been buried but I am okay with that because it just means I HAVE to come back :)
That night we saw the Trevi Fountian, another incredible sight in Rome. Although it was very crowded and you had to be extremely mean to all the people trying to sell you flowers you didn't want. It was so ridiculous I could see them coming to me and I would be like 'No Grazie' they come closer, 'NO' they are shoving a rose in my face NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Until finally Danielle comes along (who speaks fluent Italian) and yells at him to get lost. This is pretty typical I don't know why people target me I try so hard to look mean!!!
The second day we had in Rome we started with the Collesseum. We had gotten pretty good at using the underground railway but were not sure if we were going to have to stop to ask for directions to find the Colleseum itself. Coming up from the stairs we saw it immediately this huge massive structure. The sun was so warm I felt like it was summer, not a cloud in the sky. We were ooing and ahhhing and the locals kind of laughed at us. But hey it was the COLLESEUM!!!! hellllooooo. Being there was really surreal seeing the underground where the lions were kept and the prisioners, seeing writing still on the walls and the stands were people stood or sat according to class...amazing.
Outside the Colleseum we had some classic Italian abuse. I've basically heard it all but this was the worst probably insulted sexually about 10 times from going from the Colleseum to Constatine's Arc (note: its one minute away). We ended the day by seeing Trevi Fountain once again, the Pantheon and the Temple. And were on our way to Florence.
Some Random Things I noticed while in Rome/Italy in general:
-There is no such thing as a line. It was so funny to me how even when you are supposed to be lining up to check into RyanAir they all just push and shove to get to the front. When I was getting on the Shuttle there was a lady behind me trying to shove her bag in between my legs!!! It's not really considered rude to push your way to the front in Italy.
-The caffeine drinks are really small. I ordered a hot cocoa and it was the smallest thing I have ever seen!
-The men are rude to the foreigners. I got followed around by five men singing about my chest, I had men offering me lollypops but hinting at something else. I had dads look up up and down five times right in front of their wife and baby girl...you get the point. My favorites were sexy princess and Barbie...I don't mind those.
-Gelatto is so amazing. We had gelatto every single day. My favorite flavor was Tiramisu.
-If they think you can't afford their products in a store they will straight up tell you to leave.
-They tend to be very helpful with tourists. Multiple times when we were looking at a map locals would stop to help :)
-They don't serve tap water. You have to pay for the water in the glass bottle.
Overall Rome is tight.
Italy Trip
Click here to see more pictures from Italy. On the sets named Rome, Pompeii and Napoli, Florence, Venice, Milan, Cinque Terre
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Bored.
Today is a gloomy day in Manchester. Its so cold I can see my breath still and that is 3pm in the evening. I guess it is snowing in some areas a little more north than us. I had International Marketing class today and it was soooo hard to get up! My bed was warm and I reset my alarm like fifty times until I got up. I went to class only to find out that he decided not to show up for class that day and didn't tell faculty...quality. This class has been a little frustrating there has been five weeks and only two lectures because this professor has no idea what he is doing!
Anyways I have been working on my paper all day and I thought I would take a break and let you know whats going on this next week in Italy!
Thursday October 30th: Leaving for Milan at 7:30pm and meeting up with Jenny and Danielle. There is absolutely no transport between midnight and 5:30am so we have to sleep in the airport. Jenny was like "Don't worry I found a good place to sleep... it has carpet!"
Friday October 31st: We arrive in Rome at 7:30am. Drop off our stuff at The Yellow Hostel and explore Rome! Our appointment to see the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel is at 2:30pm. In the evening we will go see Trivi Fountain. That night is Halloween so we will probably go out to a bar or something all dressed up. I am going to be a football player and Brianne is going to be a mouse...I don't know about the others.
Saturday November 1st: Wake up at 6am and meet our tour guides in central Rome for our Pompeii and Naples Day Excursion.
Sunday November 2nd: Visit the Colosseum, Pantheon and other classic Roman sites. We leave for Florence this evening by train.
Monday November 3rd: Explore Florence with the girls. See The David in the evening.
Tuesday November 4th: Wake up at 6am to meet our tour guides in central Florence. Get on a bus to go to the Cinque de Terre. This is the 5 Lands and is about 2 hours away from Florence. It is a national park and consists of beach towns right on the cliffs over the water. I am so excited to see it because I heard its incredible! That evening the tour brings us back to Florence and then we head off to Venice by train.
Wednesday November 5th: Explore Venice! We have a four hour walking tour as well...Half by foot and half by boat.
Thursday November 6th: Leave for Milan early in the morning and meet up with Jenny once again. Eat lots of Gelatto and Pizza and go up to the top of the Duomo. We leave at 5pm that evening.
Friday November 7th: Sleep all day maybe some homework.
Saturday November 8th: Leave at 8am for Stonehenge and Bath trip with the International Society.
WOW this is going to be exhausting but awesome!!!
Natalie
Anyways I have been working on my paper all day and I thought I would take a break and let you know whats going on this next week in Italy!
Thursday October 30th: Leaving for Milan at 7:30pm and meeting up with Jenny and Danielle. There is absolutely no transport between midnight and 5:30am so we have to sleep in the airport. Jenny was like "Don't worry I found a good place to sleep... it has carpet!"
Friday October 31st: We arrive in Rome at 7:30am. Drop off our stuff at The Yellow Hostel and explore Rome! Our appointment to see the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel is at 2:30pm. In the evening we will go see Trivi Fountain. That night is Halloween so we will probably go out to a bar or something all dressed up. I am going to be a football player and Brianne is going to be a mouse...I don't know about the others.
Saturday November 1st: Wake up at 6am and meet our tour guides in central Rome for our Pompeii and Naples Day Excursion.
Sunday November 2nd: Visit the Colosseum, Pantheon and other classic Roman sites. We leave for Florence this evening by train.
Monday November 3rd: Explore Florence with the girls. See The David in the evening.
Tuesday November 4th: Wake up at 6am to meet our tour guides in central Florence. Get on a bus to go to the Cinque de Terre. This is the 5 Lands and is about 2 hours away from Florence. It is a national park and consists of beach towns right on the cliffs over the water. I am so excited to see it because I heard its incredible! That evening the tour brings us back to Florence and then we head off to Venice by train.
Wednesday November 5th: Explore Venice! We have a four hour walking tour as well...Half by foot and half by boat.
Thursday November 6th: Leave for Milan early in the morning and meet up with Jenny once again. Eat lots of Gelatto and Pizza and go up to the top of the Duomo. We leave at 5pm that evening.
Friday November 7th: Sleep all day maybe some homework.
Saturday November 8th: Leave at 8am for Stonehenge and Bath trip with the International Society.
WOW this is going to be exhausting but awesome!!!
Natalie
Monday, October 27, 2008
London Photos
Click on the photo to see more from my London trip. The photos are on the right hand side listed under "London."
London and The 20 Black Balloons
I just got back from London at midnight and it was amazing. I definitely have a greater appreciation for London now that I am older. Being there brought back a lot of memories of when I went back in the 8th grade. It truly is an amazing city.
We left our dorms at 5am on Friday to catch the megabus. The megabus took four and half hours to get there and unfortuneatly only one of us got any sleep. I started to laugh when I saw how far back the seats tilted back... a whole quarter inch!!!! wow! The good news is that megabus is only 18 pounds round trip to London whereas the train is about 50! The only reason it is so expensive is because it is London...thats it.
Took us awhile to figure out how to use the Tube...but we purchased an Oyster card for 13 pounds that works as a prepaid card for the rails. They can only charge you a maximum of five pounds per day so it ends up being good if you are travelling around a lot. The tube system really is great it is so easy to understand. If you look at the map as a big picture it looks terrifying but if you look at it as stop to stop its very easy. We were staying in South Kensington, Gloucester Road. We found the street our hostel was on but couldn't find the building. We walked back and forward back and forward and finally walked into a small Italian Restuarant to ask. The man laughed and pointed to the door directly next to us. Above the door was a small sign that said Astor Kensington Hostel upstairs. It was literally soooo small! This really was our first REAL hostel experience since the International Society hooked us up with the Edinburgh one, it was really clean. The boys that ran the hostel were 'stoner' like and really chill/whatever. The lights in a lot of the rooms flickered a lot but at least the beds were clean. Well my sheet had blood stains but I just took it off. The room consisted of 10 beds...7 smelly boys and us three girls. (I forgot to mention I travelled with the UW girls, Stephanie and Brianne.
After settling in we headed to the London Eye. This was really fun but just something I wanted to do once in my life. It takes thirty minutes to go around and you get to see all of London on it. Supposedly on a really really clear day you can see all the way to Windsor Castle! We really lucked out on weather it was clear skies both Friday and Saturday and rained Sunday. Right next to the London Eye are a lot of people that paint themselves up and look like statues...kind of creepy. There is also this random House of Terror and people are hired to run around and scare people. There was a girl in a cage just screaming and then a man running around. I didn't see anyone near me and suddenly this bloody man cornered me by the fence and kept asking for the time. I'm so weird I just like stod there laughing because he really freaked me out!!!!
That evening we went to the Mexicana Loca for dinner because it was near our show and it was decently cheap. The men there were crazy and immediately gave us all sombreros to wear. I ordered the nachos that were made out of Dorito Cooler Ranch chips... weird. We then went to the show Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. The show was absolutely amazing I would easily pay 50 pounds again to see it over again. The girl who played Alphabe, the wicked witch, had an incredibly voice! I definitely recommend the show!
The next morning we had our All Day London Experience. Our tour guide was this really cute grandpa/brittish guy. He had a floor length trench coat, a cute Santa belly, a bow tie and an adorable accent. Our first stop was the St. Paul's cathedral. I saw the Light of the World painting that hangs in our living room at home. I love that cathedral I think it is so incredibly beautiful. We didn't have time to go to the Whispering Dome this time because they had to get ready for a wedding. Princess Diana got married in this cathedral. And the steps of the cathedral is where that old lady from Mary Poppins sang that song to the Pidgeons.
Next stop was Buckingham Palace. Again we couldn't see the changing of the guards for some reason. But we were able to harass some guards and Brianne pretending to grab one's butt...poor guy. I really do feel bad for them... but I took my picture anyways! The Palace was gorgeous, so many tourists it was insane!!! I would have loved to tour the inside but it is only open in the spring time along with Parliament. This palace is where Prince Charles and Camilla live. Supposedly no one really likes Camilla?
Lunch, Gringots Bank from Harry Potter, Trafalgar Square, then our boat tour. We got to tour the river and see the sights from that on the way to the London Tower. In the London Tower we saw the execution sight where many famous people were killed like some of King Henry the Eigths wives and others. We saw the place that the Boleyn Girl was held before she was killed. I cannot remember which girl it was where they had to chop at her head like 40 times before it came off... they were ask her to move her head left to right until it finally came off ... HORRIBLE! We also saw the ravens. The Brittish have this thing that there has to be six ravens held here at all times or else the London Tower and Bridge will fall. The raven caretaker has to be in the Brittish army for 25 years before taking care of the ravens. Once he does take care of the ravens he can go see the Queen at any time with just a snap of the fingers. We also saw the crown of jewels. I found my favorite ring there.
While visiting London I definitely realized that it is a 'city experience.' We had many crazy encounters. When walking to our early morning tour a man in a bagel shop ordered an egg bagel and the man who worked there pulled out a 8 inch long butcher knife, jumped over the counter and held it to his heart yelling "YOU WANT EGG!!!?" I don't know what this was all about apparently you should never order egg bagels in London. Also while at the Westminster Abbey Station an emo girl dressed in all black and hot pink had twenty black balloons. Obviously tripped out on some insane drug shown by the crazy smile on her face. She would run run run as fast as she could with the balloons flaling behind her and then do crazy twists and turns with her arms and legs like a modern dance. People were laughing and video camering her. I thought it was hilarious until I got on the escalator and she stod right behind me with her balloons. It was then that I became terrified! Lastly, we went shopping on Oxford Street for awhile and someone that morning and shattered all the windows to the Rolex store and stolen pretty much everything eeee.
Sunday we went to Abbey Road, ate lunch at a pub by the London Bridge with my friend Jenny. Then we all went to Harrods. I was so glad we went since I had not seen it last time and it is incredible. Each room has its own theme and its decked out. A chocolate room, tea room, christmas room, ice cream room, Versace Room, Chanel Room...etc etc. Jenny, Brianne and I split the Sundae for 10 pounds and it was huge and gorgeous!! not to mention delicious.
Overall my trip was incredible. I feel rejuvenated from seeing my friend Jenny (she is studying in Milan and will be my roommate when I come back). I leave for my week long trip to Italy on Thursday night and I am so excited!!
Natalie
We left our dorms at 5am on Friday to catch the megabus. The megabus took four and half hours to get there and unfortuneatly only one of us got any sleep. I started to laugh when I saw how far back the seats tilted back... a whole quarter inch!!!! wow! The good news is that megabus is only 18 pounds round trip to London whereas the train is about 50! The only reason it is so expensive is because it is London...thats it.
Took us awhile to figure out how to use the Tube...but we purchased an Oyster card for 13 pounds that works as a prepaid card for the rails. They can only charge you a maximum of five pounds per day so it ends up being good if you are travelling around a lot. The tube system really is great it is so easy to understand. If you look at the map as a big picture it looks terrifying but if you look at it as stop to stop its very easy. We were staying in South Kensington, Gloucester Road. We found the street our hostel was on but couldn't find the building. We walked back and forward back and forward and finally walked into a small Italian Restuarant to ask. The man laughed and pointed to the door directly next to us. Above the door was a small sign that said Astor Kensington Hostel upstairs. It was literally soooo small! This really was our first REAL hostel experience since the International Society hooked us up with the Edinburgh one, it was really clean. The boys that ran the hostel were 'stoner' like and really chill/whatever. The lights in a lot of the rooms flickered a lot but at least the beds were clean. Well my sheet had blood stains but I just took it off. The room consisted of 10 beds...7 smelly boys and us three girls. (I forgot to mention I travelled with the UW girls, Stephanie and Brianne.
After settling in we headed to the London Eye. This was really fun but just something I wanted to do once in my life. It takes thirty minutes to go around and you get to see all of London on it. Supposedly on a really really clear day you can see all the way to Windsor Castle! We really lucked out on weather it was clear skies both Friday and Saturday and rained Sunday. Right next to the London Eye are a lot of people that paint themselves up and look like statues...kind of creepy. There is also this random House of Terror and people are hired to run around and scare people. There was a girl in a cage just screaming and then a man running around. I didn't see anyone near me and suddenly this bloody man cornered me by the fence and kept asking for the time. I'm so weird I just like stod there laughing because he really freaked me out!!!!
That evening we went to the Mexicana Loca for dinner because it was near our show and it was decently cheap. The men there were crazy and immediately gave us all sombreros to wear. I ordered the nachos that were made out of Dorito Cooler Ranch chips... weird. We then went to the show Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. The show was absolutely amazing I would easily pay 50 pounds again to see it over again. The girl who played Alphabe, the wicked witch, had an incredibly voice! I definitely recommend the show!
The next morning we had our All Day London Experience. Our tour guide was this really cute grandpa/brittish guy. He had a floor length trench coat, a cute Santa belly, a bow tie and an adorable accent. Our first stop was the St. Paul's cathedral. I saw the Light of the World painting that hangs in our living room at home. I love that cathedral I think it is so incredibly beautiful. We didn't have time to go to the Whispering Dome this time because they had to get ready for a wedding. Princess Diana got married in this cathedral. And the steps of the cathedral is where that old lady from Mary Poppins sang that song to the Pidgeons.
Next stop was Buckingham Palace. Again we couldn't see the changing of the guards for some reason. But we were able to harass some guards and Brianne pretending to grab one's butt...poor guy. I really do feel bad for them... but I took my picture anyways! The Palace was gorgeous, so many tourists it was insane!!! I would have loved to tour the inside but it is only open in the spring time along with Parliament. This palace is where Prince Charles and Camilla live. Supposedly no one really likes Camilla?
Lunch, Gringots Bank from Harry Potter, Trafalgar Square, then our boat tour. We got to tour the river and see the sights from that on the way to the London Tower. In the London Tower we saw the execution sight where many famous people were killed like some of King Henry the Eigths wives and others. We saw the place that the Boleyn Girl was held before she was killed. I cannot remember which girl it was where they had to chop at her head like 40 times before it came off... they were ask her to move her head left to right until it finally came off ... HORRIBLE! We also saw the ravens. The Brittish have this thing that there has to be six ravens held here at all times or else the London Tower and Bridge will fall. The raven caretaker has to be in the Brittish army for 25 years before taking care of the ravens. Once he does take care of the ravens he can go see the Queen at any time with just a snap of the fingers. We also saw the crown of jewels. I found my favorite ring there.
While visiting London I definitely realized that it is a 'city experience.' We had many crazy encounters. When walking to our early morning tour a man in a bagel shop ordered an egg bagel and the man who worked there pulled out a 8 inch long butcher knife, jumped over the counter and held it to his heart yelling "YOU WANT EGG!!!?" I don't know what this was all about apparently you should never order egg bagels in London. Also while at the Westminster Abbey Station an emo girl dressed in all black and hot pink had twenty black balloons. Obviously tripped out on some insane drug shown by the crazy smile on her face. She would run run run as fast as she could with the balloons flaling behind her and then do crazy twists and turns with her arms and legs like a modern dance. People were laughing and video camering her. I thought it was hilarious until I got on the escalator and she stod right behind me with her balloons. It was then that I became terrified! Lastly, we went shopping on Oxford Street for awhile and someone that morning and shattered all the windows to the Rolex store and stolen pretty much everything eeee.
Sunday we went to Abbey Road, ate lunch at a pub by the London Bridge with my friend Jenny. Then we all went to Harrods. I was so glad we went since I had not seen it last time and it is incredible. Each room has its own theme and its decked out. A chocolate room, tea room, christmas room, ice cream room, Versace Room, Chanel Room...etc etc. Jenny, Brianne and I split the Sundae for 10 pounds and it was huge and gorgeous!! not to mention delicious.
Overall my trip was incredible. I feel rejuvenated from seeing my friend Jenny (she is studying in Milan and will be my roommate when I come back). I leave for my week long trip to Italy on Thursday night and I am so excited!!
Natalie
Monday, October 20, 2008
Be Proud... I Tried Haggis
I really did! The first night we ate at the Elephant House (the place that JK Rowling wrote all the Harry Potter books) and Stephanie ordered the Haggis. I was like great thats just going to ruin my meal having it sit there next to me. We all tried the Haggis and I thought it was absolutely horrible. Everyone else thought it had a nice flavor. I ate the bite then threw in some nacho chips in my mouth as fast as possible. For those of you who don't have the pleasure of knowing what this meal is it is all the organs of a sheep, including stomache, heart, liver, etc. blended together for one big lump of grey nastiness.
Despite the Haggis Scotland was absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed the trip even though it was far too short. I like Scotland a whole lot better than Ireland which really surprised me! I traveled with the International Society by coach to get to Edinburgh and it was a five hour ride buuuuH!. That was pretty rush considering my legs barely fit in the seats. We arrived in Ediburgh at 3pm on Saturday and had the day to do whatever we wanted. Helen, Brianne, Stephanie and I headed to Holyrood Palace first. I was so proud of myself because I led the way with a map from our Hostel to the Palace with no troubles at all... and it wasn't anywhere close. I don't really understand why all of the sudden I am able to read a map... I am just so clutch!!
Holyrood Palace was my favorite part of the whole trip. This is the equivalent of Buckingham Palace only the place for the Queen in Scotland. It is definitely nothing like Buckingham in looks but it is still beautiful. The palace sits right underneath King Arthurs Seat which is a large hill/mountain. We got the audio tours and I wish I got audio tours for more things in the past because you get so much more appreciation for what your looking at when you knooooow what you are looking at. I learned all about Mary Queen of Scots and her very tragic life. The history was fascinating so much that it inspired me to read more about her story later. After going through the inside of the palace we went out to the Abbey. This abbey was ruined by some rebels that hated the Catholics and it was burned down. Only the ruins are left in the yard of the palace. The ruins are very pretty and you can only imagine how massive this abbey must have been. Then we went through the gardens and learned about the Parties the Queen throws once a year. Supposedly no one likes these parties because every time it happens it brings the worst weather of the year!
After the Palace we walked up the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is a mile and a half and at one end is Holyrood Palace and at the other end is Ediburgh Castle. The street is all cobblestone and we kept having to wonder how this must be so damaging to the cars tires despite how pretty it may look. Edinburgh is so pleasant because everything matches. All of the buildings are of the same style. The oldest buildings have gotten pretty black because they used to be heated with coal and the people have either not gotten around to or cannot afford to power wash some of it off. Even with the coal darken buildings it is still beautiful. The Royal Mile is filled with little kilt shops, celtic jewelry shops, touristy stuff, and Scottish food. We ate at the Elephant House for dinner and I was so stoked. It was great because the cafe really did stay true to its roots and haven't jacked up the prices or made it touristy after JK Rowling. It was good food, I got out with a nine pound dinner and dessert and a bite of Haggis. I now see how JK Rowling came up with some of her Hogwarts ideas because the cafe looks over the Ediburgh Castle up on the volcano...soooo gorgeous.
That night we went on a Ghost Tour. Scotland is full of haunted stories and history. I really wanted to go down into Mary Kings Close but unfortuneatly they were sold out. So we went on a different tour that went throughout Edinburgh and then up to the Carlton Hill where there is a cemetary. I really enjoyed this tour because it wasn't stupid ghost stories they were actually real historic events that had happened and some of the artifacts from the stories were in the Scottish National Museum that we could see. At the beginning of the tour we were all give mini flash lights...which in Scotland they call torches. By the time we reached the cemetery I was like are we reallllly going up there??? There was a iron gate and really steep stairs that led up to the graves. The moon was almost full and it was so dark....very surreal. When we went up it was not so scary because the tour was so big. We learned so much!
The term 'saved by the bell' comes from this. In the 1800s Edinburgh had a lot of issues with disease especially leopardsy. People would just fall over in the middle of the street and no one would be able to tell if they were dead or alive. So they would lay them down for three days and attach a piece of string to their finger. If by chance they were to wake up they could ring the bell and someone would come get them. If they didn't wake up then they would bury them.
Grave digging was a big issue in Edinburgh because they didn't have enough body donations to the medical research centers. So people would go dig up someone to get their bodies not so much interested in their jewelries. At one point a lady was buried not all the way and her hand stuck out of the ground. Some grave diggers came along and tried to cut off her hand to make some money. As they did that her arm started to moved around and she was screaming from underground. The men dug up the grave and found that she was still alive. The good point is that they saved her life where the bad point is they were caught for grave digging and had a life sentence in jail. Burying people alive was common mistake because of the coma states these people went into.
That night we went back to our Hostel. Which was very clean and I was very impressed. I hope that some of our other hostels are like this as well...probably shouldn't count on it.
The next morning we went to Edinburgh Castle. The view was awesome from the top. I still can't believe this was built on top of a volcano! We saw the crown of jewels, the royal apartments, the church and some other places. These castle grounds were massive and there was so much to see but the history just was not as interesting as Holyrood.
So that is my trip in a nutshell. I've got to get to dinner so maybe I will blog more about my trip later. I have three days until I leave for London for three days!
Natalie
Despite the Haggis Scotland was absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed the trip even though it was far too short. I like Scotland a whole lot better than Ireland which really surprised me! I traveled with the International Society by coach to get to Edinburgh and it was a five hour ride buuuuH!. That was pretty rush considering my legs barely fit in the seats. We arrived in Ediburgh at 3pm on Saturday and had the day to do whatever we wanted. Helen, Brianne, Stephanie and I headed to Holyrood Palace first. I was so proud of myself because I led the way with a map from our Hostel to the Palace with no troubles at all... and it wasn't anywhere close. I don't really understand why all of the sudden I am able to read a map... I am just so clutch!!
Holyrood Palace was my favorite part of the whole trip. This is the equivalent of Buckingham Palace only the place for the Queen in Scotland. It is definitely nothing like Buckingham in looks but it is still beautiful. The palace sits right underneath King Arthurs Seat which is a large hill/mountain. We got the audio tours and I wish I got audio tours for more things in the past because you get so much more appreciation for what your looking at when you knooooow what you are looking at. I learned all about Mary Queen of Scots and her very tragic life. The history was fascinating so much that it inspired me to read more about her story later. After going through the inside of the palace we went out to the Abbey. This abbey was ruined by some rebels that hated the Catholics and it was burned down. Only the ruins are left in the yard of the palace. The ruins are very pretty and you can only imagine how massive this abbey must have been. Then we went through the gardens and learned about the Parties the Queen throws once a year. Supposedly no one likes these parties because every time it happens it brings the worst weather of the year!
After the Palace we walked up the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is a mile and a half and at one end is Holyrood Palace and at the other end is Ediburgh Castle. The street is all cobblestone and we kept having to wonder how this must be so damaging to the cars tires despite how pretty it may look. Edinburgh is so pleasant because everything matches. All of the buildings are of the same style. The oldest buildings have gotten pretty black because they used to be heated with coal and the people have either not gotten around to or cannot afford to power wash some of it off. Even with the coal darken buildings it is still beautiful. The Royal Mile is filled with little kilt shops, celtic jewelry shops, touristy stuff, and Scottish food. We ate at the Elephant House for dinner and I was so stoked. It was great because the cafe really did stay true to its roots and haven't jacked up the prices or made it touristy after JK Rowling. It was good food, I got out with a nine pound dinner and dessert and a bite of Haggis. I now see how JK Rowling came up with some of her Hogwarts ideas because the cafe looks over the Ediburgh Castle up on the volcano...soooo gorgeous.
That night we went on a Ghost Tour. Scotland is full of haunted stories and history. I really wanted to go down into Mary Kings Close but unfortuneatly they were sold out. So we went on a different tour that went throughout Edinburgh and then up to the Carlton Hill where there is a cemetary. I really enjoyed this tour because it wasn't stupid ghost stories they were actually real historic events that had happened and some of the artifacts from the stories were in the Scottish National Museum that we could see. At the beginning of the tour we were all give mini flash lights...which in Scotland they call torches. By the time we reached the cemetery I was like are we reallllly going up there??? There was a iron gate and really steep stairs that led up to the graves. The moon was almost full and it was so dark....very surreal. When we went up it was not so scary because the tour was so big. We learned so much!
The term 'saved by the bell' comes from this. In the 1800s Edinburgh had a lot of issues with disease especially leopardsy. People would just fall over in the middle of the street and no one would be able to tell if they were dead or alive. So they would lay them down for three days and attach a piece of string to their finger. If by chance they were to wake up they could ring the bell and someone would come get them. If they didn't wake up then they would bury them.
Grave digging was a big issue in Edinburgh because they didn't have enough body donations to the medical research centers. So people would go dig up someone to get their bodies not so much interested in their jewelries. At one point a lady was buried not all the way and her hand stuck out of the ground. Some grave diggers came along and tried to cut off her hand to make some money. As they did that her arm started to moved around and she was screaming from underground. The men dug up the grave and found that she was still alive. The good point is that they saved her life where the bad point is they were caught for grave digging and had a life sentence in jail. Burying people alive was common mistake because of the coma states these people went into.
That night we went back to our Hostel. Which was very clean and I was very impressed. I hope that some of our other hostels are like this as well...probably shouldn't count on it.
The next morning we went to Edinburgh Castle. The view was awesome from the top. I still can't believe this was built on top of a volcano! We saw the crown of jewels, the royal apartments, the church and some other places. These castle grounds were massive and there was so much to see but the history just was not as interesting as Holyrood.
So that is my trip in a nutshell. I've got to get to dinner so maybe I will blog more about my trip later. I have three days until I leave for London for three days!
Natalie
Friday, October 17, 2008
WalkAbout Austrailian Bar
Last night I went out with some girlfriends to WalkAbout Bar in Deansgate. The bar was supposed to be Australian themed but my Australian friend, Penny says that there is definitely nothing authentic about it (kind of like our Outback steak house). Nevertheless it was a good time.
The point of going to this place was they were going to try and break the record of jaegerbombs taken. I'm not sure if they did... All the music was techno but I have warmed up to some of the techno tunes. Every once and awhile an American song will come on and then they have to turn it into techno...noooooo. One boy came up to me that night and probably gave me the most original line that I have heard yet... He said that I was the most attractive six feet he had ever seen in his life. You got to give him credit... not bad haha.
I woke up early today to talk to Aaron on skype and then grab some breakfast. I really like English breakfast now. It consists of baked beans, fried eggs, hash browns, tomatoes, and chocolate crossiants. Of course I don't have all of that on my plate at one time but I do always get the beans. When I come back to the states I think I am going to continue having baked beans and hash browns for breakfast at least on the weekends ..mmmmm
Today I am meeting up with my Operations Management team to work on our project. This will not be very fun but afterwards I am meeting with my Paris group to plan Paris... this on the other hand will be good. Brianne and I have already booked our concert tickets for the last night in Paris for Deathcab for Cutie... an alternative band that is very popular back home (I am pretty excited to see them in Paris!) I still have not decided if I want to splurge on going to a show at Moulin Rouge. Supposedly the show playing now is very good but its 100 euro!!!!!! I'm thinking I am probably just going to go take a picture outside of it instead of spending that much.
Tomorrow I leave for Scotland...can't wait to see another country! Supposedly the Edinburgh accent is really crazy.
Natalie
The point of going to this place was they were going to try and break the record of jaegerbombs taken. I'm not sure if they did... All the music was techno but I have warmed up to some of the techno tunes. Every once and awhile an American song will come on and then they have to turn it into techno...noooooo. One boy came up to me that night and probably gave me the most original line that I have heard yet... He said that I was the most attractive six feet he had ever seen in his life. You got to give him credit... not bad haha.
I woke up early today to talk to Aaron on skype and then grab some breakfast. I really like English breakfast now. It consists of baked beans, fried eggs, hash browns, tomatoes, and chocolate crossiants. Of course I don't have all of that on my plate at one time but I do always get the beans. When I come back to the states I think I am going to continue having baked beans and hash browns for breakfast at least on the weekends ..mmmmm
Today I am meeting up with my Operations Management team to work on our project. This will not be very fun but afterwards I am meeting with my Paris group to plan Paris... this on the other hand will be good. Brianne and I have already booked our concert tickets for the last night in Paris for Deathcab for Cutie... an alternative band that is very popular back home (I am pretty excited to see them in Paris!) I still have not decided if I want to splurge on going to a show at Moulin Rouge. Supposedly the show playing now is very good but its 100 euro!!!!!! I'm thinking I am probably just going to go take a picture outside of it instead of spending that much.
Tomorrow I leave for Scotland...can't wait to see another country! Supposedly the Edinburgh accent is really crazy.
Natalie
Thursday, October 16, 2008
I Miss American Phad Thai
Today for lunch I went to this noodle bar called Umani. It is on Oxford Road a little past main campus and is quite popular with a lot of students. Its a little hard to find because it is down in the basement of the building but once you get there its nice. Its set up like picnic tables so you could end up sitting at a table with a bunch of random people. I ordered the Phad Thai and it was really good. This is the second time I've had Phad Thai in England now and it just isn't the same as back home...it is a completely different tasting noodle. Phad Thai here is very sweet and mixed with a lot of different veggies esp. onions. Still tasty... but in a different way.
My course load as picked up a little bit and I have been doing a lot of reading lately. My favorite classes are International Marketing and Language: The Individual and Society. I enjoy the Marketing class because it talks about so many cultural differences that I am learning first hand over here. One thing I noticed in England is that the people talk much closer to your face than back in the states. When I first met my mentor we were talking and I kept moving back a little because he was so close to my face...it just was kind of weird. By the end of the hour we had moved across the entire room because I kept moving back a little and he kept moving forward HA! In my Marketing class there was a chapter that talked about this exact phenomenon and how Americans tend to stay further away and Europeans closer! How amazing!! I have been enjoying my Language class because it has so many psychology aspects in it. Today the lecture was on child language acquisition. We learned about feral children, like kids raised by wolves or isolated and under what circumstances were they able to produce speech later in life. This depends on two things: 1. How early were they exposed to language? 2. Were they in a loving environment? In Helen Kellers case she was exposed to language up until she got her illness at 10 months. Even though she became blind and deaf she was soon able to produce and comprehend language even though she couldn't hear herself! amazing!!
Tonight I am considering going out with some girlfriends to Deansgate. Its raining out (as usual during the night time) and I'm not really in the mood but I may force myself because I haven't gone out in Manchester for like 2 weeks...maybe more. It's time to do a little socializing.
Lately, I have been getting used to Manchester food and haven't been noticing the nastiness as much. This week for desserts we had cheesecake, rhubarb pie and chocolate ice cream all which had either the milk pitcher or custard bowl next to it in order to submerge the dessert properly...I prefer my desserts as is.
Saturday morning I leave for Edinburgh, Scotland with the International Society. Edinburgh is pronounced "Ed-in-brah" here. Supposedly the city is supposed to be awesome!
Natalie
My course load as picked up a little bit and I have been doing a lot of reading lately. My favorite classes are International Marketing and Language: The Individual and Society. I enjoy the Marketing class because it talks about so many cultural differences that I am learning first hand over here. One thing I noticed in England is that the people talk much closer to your face than back in the states. When I first met my mentor we were talking and I kept moving back a little because he was so close to my face...it just was kind of weird. By the end of the hour we had moved across the entire room because I kept moving back a little and he kept moving forward HA! In my Marketing class there was a chapter that talked about this exact phenomenon and how Americans tend to stay further away and Europeans closer! How amazing!! I have been enjoying my Language class because it has so many psychology aspects in it. Today the lecture was on child language acquisition. We learned about feral children, like kids raised by wolves or isolated and under what circumstances were they able to produce speech later in life. This depends on two things: 1. How early were they exposed to language? 2. Were they in a loving environment? In Helen Kellers case she was exposed to language up until she got her illness at 10 months. Even though she became blind and deaf she was soon able to produce and comprehend language even though she couldn't hear herself! amazing!!
Tonight I am considering going out with some girlfriends to Deansgate. Its raining out (as usual during the night time) and I'm not really in the mood but I may force myself because I haven't gone out in Manchester for like 2 weeks...maybe more. It's time to do a little socializing.
Lately, I have been getting used to Manchester food and haven't been noticing the nastiness as much. This week for desserts we had cheesecake, rhubarb pie and chocolate ice cream all which had either the milk pitcher or custard bowl next to it in order to submerge the dessert properly...I prefer my desserts as is.
Saturday morning I leave for Edinburgh, Scotland with the International Society. Edinburgh is pronounced "Ed-in-brah" here. Supposedly the city is supposed to be awesome!
Natalie
Monday, October 13, 2008
School: A Way to Pass the Time Until I Can Travel Again
More Observations from Dublin:
-The noise to cross the street sounds like a laser and then a bomb ticking unlike Manchester which just sounds like a heart monitor is failing
-The Irish are much more friendly and helpful
-The lamp street lights are all clover designed and silver
-The mailboxes look the same as Manchesters only Green
-EVERYTHING IS GREEN... more people wear green, green signs, really green grass... just anything you can think of is green
-There are no four leaf clovers in Ireland... only three
-Cost of living for Dublin is higher than Manchester
-There are a lot of homeless people... even children
-The streets are very clean and put together with greenery (trees and hanging flower pots) not at all like Manchester
-They are really friendly to tourists!
Their bus system is not nearly as great as Manchester
-Guinness is HUGE more huge than you can imagine in Dublin
So some updates on whats going on. I have booked many many trips and do not have a free weekend until end of November (thats how I like it). And I would still like to book my trip to Amsterdam I am just waiting to see how my finances are doing. The main thing I would like to see in Amsterdam is The Anne Frank House (her hiding house) and also the Van Gough Museum, Amsterdam Info Center, Red Light District and much more. Locals here say that is amazing and nothing like any other city in Europe. We will see....
Here is my Schedule this far:
-This weekend: Edinbrough, Scotland : Hollyrood Palace and Edinbrough Castle
-Next: London: London Eye, Wicked, Whole Day London Tour, Market Places
-Reading Week: Italy: Rome, Florence, Cinque de Terre, Venice and Milan (NOTE: I am so incredibly excited I found a tour to Cinque de Terre it is so beautiful ... google image it!) Then Bath and Stonehenge for a weekend.
-November 11th: Manchester United Game
-Barcelona, Spain
-Paris, France: Opera House, Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomphe, Le Louvre, up to the top of Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Versailles... and much more
And that is it for now!!
I have already started a map of all the places in Europe I have gone to/ will go to and all the places I want to go to when I come back. When I get back to Seattle I want to buy a larger map of the world and pin these places according to a color key. Places I want to visit in the future are Prague, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Galway, Belfast, Brussels, Munich, all over Greece, Portugal and Ibiza.
I have decided that school is just a way to pass my time until I can travel again. I do some homework, go to class, work out, rest up and do it all over again... it is a pretty sweet life.
I miss you all!
Natalie
-The noise to cross the street sounds like a laser and then a bomb ticking unlike Manchester which just sounds like a heart monitor is failing
-The Irish are much more friendly and helpful
-The lamp street lights are all clover designed and silver
-The mailboxes look the same as Manchesters only Green
-EVERYTHING IS GREEN... more people wear green, green signs, really green grass... just anything you can think of is green
-There are no four leaf clovers in Ireland... only three
-Cost of living for Dublin is higher than Manchester
-There are a lot of homeless people... even children
-The streets are very clean and put together with greenery (trees and hanging flower pots) not at all like Manchester
-They are really friendly to tourists!
Their bus system is not nearly as great as Manchester
-Guinness is HUGE more huge than you can imagine in Dublin
So some updates on whats going on. I have booked many many trips and do not have a free weekend until end of November (thats how I like it). And I would still like to book my trip to Amsterdam I am just waiting to see how my finances are doing. The main thing I would like to see in Amsterdam is The Anne Frank House (her hiding house) and also the Van Gough Museum, Amsterdam Info Center, Red Light District and much more. Locals here say that is amazing and nothing like any other city in Europe. We will see....
Here is my Schedule this far:
-This weekend: Edinbrough, Scotland : Hollyrood Palace and Edinbrough Castle
-Next: London: London Eye, Wicked, Whole Day London Tour, Market Places
-Reading Week: Italy: Rome, Florence, Cinque de Terre, Venice and Milan (NOTE: I am so incredibly excited I found a tour to Cinque de Terre it is so beautiful ... google image it!) Then Bath and Stonehenge for a weekend.
-November 11th: Manchester United Game
-Barcelona, Spain
-Paris, France: Opera House, Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomphe, Le Louvre, up to the top of Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Versailles... and much more
And that is it for now!!
I have already started a map of all the places in Europe I have gone to/ will go to and all the places I want to go to when I come back. When I get back to Seattle I want to buy a larger map of the world and pin these places according to a color key. Places I want to visit in the future are Prague, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Galway, Belfast, Brussels, Munich, all over Greece, Portugal and Ibiza.
I have decided that school is just a way to pass my time until I can travel again. I do some homework, go to class, work out, rest up and do it all over again... it is a pretty sweet life.
I miss you all!
Natalie
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Doors of Dublin
I just returned last night from three nights and three days in Dublin, Ireland and it was a lot of fun! The best part about Dublin is all the house's doors. Back during one of their many revolutions the government told the people that they had to paint their doors black. The Irish being very rebellious people refused and instead shoved it in their face by painting their doors colors of red, green, blue and bright yellow. All of the houses in Dublin are like Townhouses so they are just blocks and blocks of three story brick buildings...which extremely bright doors. I thought it was awesome...when I grow up I want to have a Dublin Door.
Night One:
We had plans to arrive early to the airport just to be safe...be unfortuneatly made it very late. The bus and the train took far too long and before we knew it we were running down Terminals of Manchester Airport. People here complain about American Airports...well I complain about airports in the UK and EU because they are sooooo spread out. It took forever to get from gate to gate! Luckily we made it on! The flight was only a half hour which was great. When we arrived at 10:30pm we all decided to go out. We were staying at Lauren's friends house who was studying abroad in Dublin...which was a HUGE savings. We went to the largest club in Dublin and saw Coolio. Coolio was a famous rap artist from when I was in junior high. I am lucky to be in Manchester because even though they use Euros everything is much more expensive in Dublin. A got one cider at it was 5 euro!!!
Day One:
This day we went to the Guinness Storehouse Factory. I was pretty excited to see it because it is considered the most popular tourist site in Ireland...everyone just raves about it. When we arrived I couldn't believe how awesome it was...probably one of the best museums I've been to in my life. The storehouse was 8 stories high and was shaped like a pint glass. Each floor was so informative one floor was about ingredients, tasting lab, advertising, etc. I had no idea that Guinness was such a huge part of Ireland. They do so much harvesting at 2/3 of their barely that they crop goes straight to Ireland Guinness. Arthur Guinness was the first to bring beer to Ireland.
The very top of the museum is called the Gravity Bar. It is a 360 view of Dublin, the highest point in Dublin. There you get a complimentary pint of Guinness. I had tried Guinness before and didn't like it from the can... its so dark. But when trying it fresh from the Storehouse it was pretty good. The top is so creamy that it feels like you need to grab a spoon and eat it as a dessert. We sat at the Gravity Bar and looked at the scenery for about and hour then headed out.
That evening we ate at a place called the Cellar Bar. It was way down low in the ground and only had four things on the menu (two being different kinds of burgers). We all had the cheeseburgers which were absolutely amazing. They use Chiabatta bread, Spinach, Mozerella cheese, mayo and really really deep cooked meat....mmmmm. I did notice that in all restuarants whether they be bars or sit down places...the menus are very limited compared to back home or in Manchester.
Day Two:
We went on the Malahide Castle and Dublin Bay tour. Malahide was a gorgeous castle in the middle of a huge field. As we approached the castle we noticed that there was a full on rainbow right above it (you can faintly see it in one of my photos). The castle was not as pretty as the Wale's one (that one being so intricate with amazing waterfront views) but still pretty. This castle was haunted by a ghost named Puck who has his own small door in the dining room. He is only four feet tall and comes out whenever something is being done to the castle that he doesn't like. His last appearance was in 1975 when original pieces of the Castle were being auctioned off.
Next we went by Dublin Bay which was so beautiful. If I ever get a chance to go back to Dublin I would love to take a boat out to Ireland Eye. This is a island that has a cathedral and lighthouse that you can see faintly out in the distance...it looks beautiful. The weather was rainy and windy but us Manchester people are pretty used to it by now.
After the tours we at a classic Irish Pub. I had the BLT which was amazing.
Day Three:
Our Hop On Hop Off Tour. This tour takes you to 18 famous spots in Dublin... you can choose to get off at any of them it just continues on the route for 24 hours. We stopped at Dublin Castle, Church of Christ Cathedral, Dublina, St Patricks Cathedral, and Dublin Jail. We paid to tour St Pattys Cathedral and the Dublin Jail. St Patricks was extremely beautiful but a little smaller than Westminster Abbey. The Dublin Jail was very interesting to learn about the different revolutions that have gone on in Ireland. The Irish always point out their flag and the meanings of the four colors. Its a little humorous because they always point out the white which is for peace between "Ireland and Northern Ireland...who have decided to stay with the UK ... but they should be with us...but there is peace between us." hahaha right.
So that is my trip in a nutshell. If I could change anything I would have like to done some more planning as far as how to get places and fit more things into each day. But this is my first big trip and I was a guest so now I know how to prepare myself for the next ones. If I go back I really want to go to Galway and Belfast. When I come back to the US I am planning on getting a large map of the world for my wall...I want to mark each place I have visited and each place I need to still see (there is so much to see!!)
PS- I have decided that the Irish are far more friendly than the English. The bus drivers were so helpful and people we constantly stop to help me when they saw I had a map out... without even asking! The humor here is much easier to understand since the English humor is much more dry and sarcastic. I love the Irish!!!
I have 6 days in Manchester for school and then I leave for Edinburgh, Scotland. I plan on seeing Edinburgh Castle and Hollyrood Palace.
Words US to UK:
-vaccum -hoover
-bathroom -a place to take a bath
Natalie
Night One:
We had plans to arrive early to the airport just to be safe...be unfortuneatly made it very late. The bus and the train took far too long and before we knew it we were running down Terminals of Manchester Airport. People here complain about American Airports...well I complain about airports in the UK and EU because they are sooooo spread out. It took forever to get from gate to gate! Luckily we made it on! The flight was only a half hour which was great. When we arrived at 10:30pm we all decided to go out. We were staying at Lauren's friends house who was studying abroad in Dublin...which was a HUGE savings. We went to the largest club in Dublin and saw Coolio. Coolio was a famous rap artist from when I was in junior high. I am lucky to be in Manchester because even though they use Euros everything is much more expensive in Dublin. A got one cider at it was 5 euro!!!
Day One:
This day we went to the Guinness Storehouse Factory. I was pretty excited to see it because it is considered the most popular tourist site in Ireland...everyone just raves about it. When we arrived I couldn't believe how awesome it was...probably one of the best museums I've been to in my life. The storehouse was 8 stories high and was shaped like a pint glass. Each floor was so informative one floor was about ingredients, tasting lab, advertising, etc. I had no idea that Guinness was such a huge part of Ireland. They do so much harvesting at 2/3 of their barely that they crop goes straight to Ireland Guinness. Arthur Guinness was the first to bring beer to Ireland.
The very top of the museum is called the Gravity Bar. It is a 360 view of Dublin, the highest point in Dublin. There you get a complimentary pint of Guinness. I had tried Guinness before and didn't like it from the can... its so dark. But when trying it fresh from the Storehouse it was pretty good. The top is so creamy that it feels like you need to grab a spoon and eat it as a dessert. We sat at the Gravity Bar and looked at the scenery for about and hour then headed out.
That evening we ate at a place called the Cellar Bar. It was way down low in the ground and only had four things on the menu (two being different kinds of burgers). We all had the cheeseburgers which were absolutely amazing. They use Chiabatta bread, Spinach, Mozerella cheese, mayo and really really deep cooked meat....mmmmm. I did notice that in all restuarants whether they be bars or sit down places...the menus are very limited compared to back home or in Manchester.
Day Two:
We went on the Malahide Castle and Dublin Bay tour. Malahide was a gorgeous castle in the middle of a huge field. As we approached the castle we noticed that there was a full on rainbow right above it (you can faintly see it in one of my photos). The castle was not as pretty as the Wale's one (that one being so intricate with amazing waterfront views) but still pretty. This castle was haunted by a ghost named Puck who has his own small door in the dining room. He is only four feet tall and comes out whenever something is being done to the castle that he doesn't like. His last appearance was in 1975 when original pieces of the Castle were being auctioned off.
Next we went by Dublin Bay which was so beautiful. If I ever get a chance to go back to Dublin I would love to take a boat out to Ireland Eye. This is a island that has a cathedral and lighthouse that you can see faintly out in the distance...it looks beautiful. The weather was rainy and windy but us Manchester people are pretty used to it by now.
After the tours we at a classic Irish Pub. I had the BLT which was amazing.
Day Three:
Our Hop On Hop Off Tour. This tour takes you to 18 famous spots in Dublin... you can choose to get off at any of them it just continues on the route for 24 hours. We stopped at Dublin Castle, Church of Christ Cathedral, Dublina, St Patricks Cathedral, and Dublin Jail. We paid to tour St Pattys Cathedral and the Dublin Jail. St Patricks was extremely beautiful but a little smaller than Westminster Abbey. The Dublin Jail was very interesting to learn about the different revolutions that have gone on in Ireland. The Irish always point out their flag and the meanings of the four colors. Its a little humorous because they always point out the white which is for peace between "Ireland and Northern Ireland...who have decided to stay with the UK ... but they should be with us...but there is peace between us." hahaha right.
So that is my trip in a nutshell. If I could change anything I would have like to done some more planning as far as how to get places and fit more things into each day. But this is my first big trip and I was a guest so now I know how to prepare myself for the next ones. If I go back I really want to go to Galway and Belfast. When I come back to the US I am planning on getting a large map of the world for my wall...I want to mark each place I have visited and each place I need to still see (there is so much to see!!)
PS- I have decided that the Irish are far more friendly than the English. The bus drivers were so helpful and people we constantly stop to help me when they saw I had a map out... without even asking! The humor here is much easier to understand since the English humor is much more dry and sarcastic. I love the Irish!!!
I have 6 days in Manchester for school and then I leave for Edinburgh, Scotland. I plan on seeing Edinburgh Castle and Hollyrood Palace.
Words US to UK:
-vaccum -hoover
-bathroom -a place to take a bath
Natalie
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Just an Update
General Observations of Manchester:
-No one wears flares... its all about the skinny jeans
-Girls Fad: Black Tights not to be confused with Black Leggings
-They have a big problem with littering
-There is always a line of 5-6 people for use of an ATM
-They don't make travel sized anything
-Not taking the exchange rate into consideration things are generally cheaper for locals
-Chocolate Crossiants are amazing
-Generally only boys weight lift... Girls do cardio
-Many think Americans are all very overweight... fat american jokes are very popular
-They are so punctual when it comes to time!
-Yet so disorganzied when it comes to everything else!
-The Bus system is so much better than ours
-Curry is the #1 food in the UK because of all the Middle Eastern people here
-They out-drink Americans times a million
-Even professors act surprised when I say that 'no I am not going to go out tonight'
-They like to make fun of Wales and their obsession with sheep
-Boys are into messy hair and faux hawks with v-neck tees
-Cider is way better than beer (in my opinion)
-You don't see homeless people
-Shops/Restuarants are closed or closed early on Sundays
On Sunday I went to the ManCity vs. Liverpool game and it was pretty fun. I was under the impression that people in the UK were CRAAAZY about football but they definitely were much more tame than American fans. Not may people dressed in the ManCity colors but Harry Potter type scarves are very popular. They are navy and light blue thick striped and very warm...with the ManCity crest on the bottom. Their mascot is named Moochester and Kaite asked what animal it was. They were very confused and we found out that mascots aren't really animals here they are just 'mascots.' Moochester looked like a cross between a cow and and an alien...not so cute.
People sit at the game and only cheer when a point is made. Liverpool fans chant the whole time. The first half ManCity was killing Liverpool 2-0 the other half Liverpool beat us 3-2. O well. The traffic was horrible getting back it took about an hour to get back whereas it should have been about 10 minutes. We weren't sure how to walk back because there are a lot of turns to get back to Piccadilly.
Yesterday was my Operations Management class and it was just okay...like any other boring class. My work load as far as reading has gotten heavier so my free time is spent reading, working out or planning trips. I leave for Dublin, Ireland on Wednesday night and I am very excited!!! We are going to do a college bar hop, tour the Guiness Factory and go on a day long scenic tour. I would love to see some Castles but I am not the one planning this trip for once and it is a nice break.
Words US to UK:
-boy -chap
-elevators -lifts
-levels -decks
-bucks -quid (Can I borrow five bucks? would be 'Can I borrow five quid?'
Natalie
-No one wears flares... its all about the skinny jeans
-Girls Fad: Black Tights not to be confused with Black Leggings
-They have a big problem with littering
-There is always a line of 5-6 people for use of an ATM
-They don't make travel sized anything
-Not taking the exchange rate into consideration things are generally cheaper for locals
-Chocolate Crossiants are amazing
-Generally only boys weight lift... Girls do cardio
-Many think Americans are all very overweight... fat american jokes are very popular
-They are so punctual when it comes to time!
-Yet so disorganzied when it comes to everything else!
-The Bus system is so much better than ours
-Curry is the #1 food in the UK because of all the Middle Eastern people here
-They out-drink Americans times a million
-Even professors act surprised when I say that 'no I am not going to go out tonight'
-They like to make fun of Wales and their obsession with sheep
-Boys are into messy hair and faux hawks with v-neck tees
-Cider is way better than beer (in my opinion)
-You don't see homeless people
-Shops/Restuarants are closed or closed early on Sundays
On Sunday I went to the ManCity vs. Liverpool game and it was pretty fun. I was under the impression that people in the UK were CRAAAZY about football but they definitely were much more tame than American fans. Not may people dressed in the ManCity colors but Harry Potter type scarves are very popular. They are navy and light blue thick striped and very warm...with the ManCity crest on the bottom. Their mascot is named Moochester and Kaite asked what animal it was. They were very confused and we found out that mascots aren't really animals here they are just 'mascots.' Moochester looked like a cross between a cow and and an alien...not so cute.
People sit at the game and only cheer when a point is made. Liverpool fans chant the whole time. The first half ManCity was killing Liverpool 2-0 the other half Liverpool beat us 3-2. O well. The traffic was horrible getting back it took about an hour to get back whereas it should have been about 10 minutes. We weren't sure how to walk back because there are a lot of turns to get back to Piccadilly.
Yesterday was my Operations Management class and it was just okay...like any other boring class. My work load as far as reading has gotten heavier so my free time is spent reading, working out or planning trips. I leave for Dublin, Ireland on Wednesday night and I am very excited!!! We are going to do a college bar hop, tour the Guiness Factory and go on a day long scenic tour. I would love to see some Castles but I am not the one planning this trip for once and it is a nice break.
Words US to UK:
-boy -chap
-elevators -lifts
-levels -decks
-bucks -quid (Can I borrow five bucks? would be 'Can I borrow five quid?'
Natalie
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Today I Explored Two Castles
Today was the day of Wales and it was so incredibly beautiful. I had no idea that this country differed so much from England. I was really tired from waking up so early so the minute I got on the bus I fell asleep. I woke up two hours later and found myself on coast of Wales. There was little Welsh homes lining the water and lots of sheep! I guess Wales gets a lot of crap for caring so much about there sheep. It just had such a good vibe though...it was like Cape Cod with a little different feel. I suddenly felt so excited about the UK and my travels when seeing such beautiful scenery.
The bus first dropped us off at Caernarfon to see the castle. The weather was absolutely horrible...extremely windy and rainy and it was impossible to use an umbrella. It Wales they call umbrellas "umbrellies". The castle is pronouned Care-na-vin Castle...which we would never have found out on our own because it certainly is not spelled like that. It was overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the best view was from the watch towers. There were so many floors that you would explore one by one that by the time it was time to walk down you got a little scared because you didn't realize you had climbed so far. The stairs curl around and around and are very narrow. In one bedroom there were bats. I did not go in there because I could hear them screeching my name...it was gross he was sitting up in the rafters looking down at me.
After exploring that castle we went to have lunch at a cafe called Caffi Celi. There they had pretty decently priced meals like 4-5 pounds and they were real food. I had the scampi and chips. I think I need to take a serious break from fried food because its so awful for you. I also found out that English food rots so fast! My friend Traci was telling me about how when she opens a pack of ham it must be eaten in three days and milk only lasts four to five days there! We just have so much preservatives in everything!
The bus then took us to a second castle about half an hour away. This castle was named Penrhyn Castle. It was more than just a stone castle with nothing in it. This castle had all furnishings and it was so elaborate. The Celts are known for their designs that look like there is no beginning and end. Well every ceiling had a pattern like this. Every doorway had three to five archways...so pretty. The view from this castle was so pretty its hard to put into words. Even though the weather was horrible you could still see the hills, trees and view of the ocean. What was amazing to me was to think that they didn't have electricity then. Walking down a lot of the hallways it was a bit dark and I can only imagine what it was like in the winter with just a view candles....and how cold it would have been!!!
We got back on the bus at 5pm and were extremely cold and wet. I passed out the minute I sat in my chair and I think I embarrassed myself pretty bad. I heard some girls laughing and I kind of fifty percent woke up and I think I might have been leaning in a little to far by the girl next to me....oops. I said I was sorry and turned away but I barely remember this. I was too tired to be embarrassed but looking back I'm like wow.
Two Blonde Moments of the Day:
-I did not know there was a language in Wales called Welsh.
-I have been having a really hard time figuring out the 24 hour days on the clocks. Every time I try and calculate it I go 13 is 1, 14 is 2, 15 is 3 etc. My friend Katie informed me that all you have to do is subtract 12... oops.
US words to UK:
-pancakes -flapjacks
-french fries -chips
-chips -crisps
-cool -proper
Tomorrow is the ManCity Game I really hope it isn't raining...but I am excited either way. I leave for Ireland in 3 days!!!
Natalie
The bus first dropped us off at Caernarfon to see the castle. The weather was absolutely horrible...extremely windy and rainy and it was impossible to use an umbrella. It Wales they call umbrellas "umbrellies". The castle is pronouned Care-na-vin Castle...which we would never have found out on our own because it certainly is not spelled like that. It was overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the best view was from the watch towers. There were so many floors that you would explore one by one that by the time it was time to walk down you got a little scared because you didn't realize you had climbed so far. The stairs curl around and around and are very narrow. In one bedroom there were bats. I did not go in there because I could hear them screeching my name...it was gross he was sitting up in the rafters looking down at me.
After exploring that castle we went to have lunch at a cafe called Caffi Celi. There they had pretty decently priced meals like 4-5 pounds and they were real food. I had the scampi and chips. I think I need to take a serious break from fried food because its so awful for you. I also found out that English food rots so fast! My friend Traci was telling me about how when she opens a pack of ham it must be eaten in three days and milk only lasts four to five days there! We just have so much preservatives in everything!
The bus then took us to a second castle about half an hour away. This castle was named Penrhyn Castle. It was more than just a stone castle with nothing in it. This castle had all furnishings and it was so elaborate. The Celts are known for their designs that look like there is no beginning and end. Well every ceiling had a pattern like this. Every doorway had three to five archways...so pretty. The view from this castle was so pretty its hard to put into words. Even though the weather was horrible you could still see the hills, trees and view of the ocean. What was amazing to me was to think that they didn't have electricity then. Walking down a lot of the hallways it was a bit dark and I can only imagine what it was like in the winter with just a view candles....and how cold it would have been!!!
We got back on the bus at 5pm and were extremely cold and wet. I passed out the minute I sat in my chair and I think I embarrassed myself pretty bad. I heard some girls laughing and I kind of fifty percent woke up and I think I might have been leaning in a little to far by the girl next to me....oops. I said I was sorry and turned away but I barely remember this. I was too tired to be embarrassed but looking back I'm like wow.
Two Blonde Moments of the Day:
-I did not know there was a language in Wales called Welsh.
-I have been having a really hard time figuring out the 24 hour days on the clocks. Every time I try and calculate it I go 13 is 1, 14 is 2, 15 is 3 etc. My friend Katie informed me that all you have to do is subtract 12... oops.
US words to UK:
-pancakes -flapjacks
-french fries -chips
-chips -crisps
-cool -proper
Tomorrow is the ManCity Game I really hope it isn't raining...but I am excited either way. I leave for Ireland in 3 days!!!
Natalie
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Crazed Lady
Remember how I told you about that crazy Indian lady that yelled at us on the bus about some kind of political stuff? Ya well I found out today that she is actually a regular. We stopped at the same stop today and she came right up to the bus driver and gave him her speigl. It was exactly the same as last time something like... "Whats happening in Gettysberg...You cannot deny it... your daughters and sons are making not the best choice but the worst choice"...thats all I could pick up but it definitely is a speech she repeats. She always look so angry!
I was so excited because I made it to the City Centre John Rylands Library today downtown all by myself. Found the chapter I needed to read for psycholinguistics all by myself. Got back on the bus and went from there to Piccadilly Gardens to go shopping all by myself and managed to make it back home all by myself. I WAS REALLY EXCITED!!! Seriously using those maps can be scary. At the library the same lady was there yelling at the check out guy... its beginning to get a little funny but sad at the same time.
I have now booked my Paris flight that came to a big whooping 10 pounds which is awesome! I have been doing a lot of finance work on my trips and its just so scary! Like I always end up okay but its like you are estimating so many costs that it could be totally off!
I leave for Wales tomorrow at like 7:30am and hopefully will get some reading done on the way there. I have been terribly bad at doing work here because I get distracted with looking up flights, train tickets, tours and just basically not focusing on school. I am definitely not behind because I feel like none of the locals ever really study or read anyways...so its all good.
Words US to UK:
- the letter 'z' -"zed" (I needed a code to get into the bathroom at the bookstore the other day and he said it was "6789 zed" so I typed 6-7-8-9-z-e-d over and over again and it wouldn't work. A british girl came over and typed it for me...I then learned z is said as zed here...I am an idiot)
natalie
Natalie
I was so excited because I made it to the City Centre John Rylands Library today downtown all by myself. Found the chapter I needed to read for psycholinguistics all by myself. Got back on the bus and went from there to Piccadilly Gardens to go shopping all by myself and managed to make it back home all by myself. I WAS REALLY EXCITED!!! Seriously using those maps can be scary. At the library the same lady was there yelling at the check out guy... its beginning to get a little funny but sad at the same time.
I have now booked my Paris flight that came to a big whooping 10 pounds which is awesome! I have been doing a lot of finance work on my trips and its just so scary! Like I always end up okay but its like you are estimating so many costs that it could be totally off!
I leave for Wales tomorrow at like 7:30am and hopefully will get some reading done on the way there. I have been terribly bad at doing work here because I get distracted with looking up flights, train tickets, tours and just basically not focusing on school. I am definitely not behind because I feel like none of the locals ever really study or read anyways...so its all good.
Words US to UK:
- the letter 'z' -"zed" (I needed a code to get into the bathroom at the bookstore the other day and he said it was "6789 zed" so I typed 6-7-8-9-z-e-d over and over again and it wouldn't work. A british girl came over and typed it for me...I then learned z is said as zed here...I am an idiot)
natalie
Natalie
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The Submerging of Desserts
I have decided that the British really are obsessed with submerging their desserts. I first noticed this with the custard. Sitting next to every dessert there is always a big bowl of custard and they all drown their cake, spotted dick, pretty much anything with custard. I tried the custard with the spotted dick and it was no good... I don't like either of them. Yesterday, there was cherry pie for dessert...the pie was not bad. Obviously it was cafeteria cherry pie so the cherry goo looked like it came from a can but I liked the crust. One of my NY friends leaned over and said...'You know whats funny is they like pour the milk on top of their cherry pie.' I was like NO WAY...like they SUBMERGE their cherry pie in MILK??? I saw the milk next to the pie but I assumed it was for drinking. But noooo it then occured to me that all the British had poured milk over their cherry pie... no just a little milk but the cherry pie was barely visible. How weird! I tried so hard not to laugh but every time someone walked by with a submerged pie I had to laugh.
Last night was my friend, Catie's, 21st birthday. It wasn't as big deal as you would think because 1. We are in England and anyone can drink here and 2. She's Canadian so she was able to go to bars since she was 19. But a bunch of exchange students went to Trof's Bar (really hippie/alternative bar) and then to Brara Bar. It was definitely a good time and I got to know a lot more exchange students...particularly a few from Sweden. It is just such a different atmosphere in clubs here because the music is generally techno. So girls don't dance with boys and everyone is just kind of jumping around and 'raving' in a way. I feel like an idiot trying to dance like them...but at least I'm with a whole group of Americans/Canadians that look like idiots too!
Today I had my last class of the week which is Language: The Individual and Society. It is my only non Business class I am taking and I really like it this far. Today the lecture was about Animal Communication. We learned about a bunch of studies with chimps being raised with children and trying to get them to speak like us. It really amazed me that some chimps can say some words but they cannot use them creatively to make new words like us.
Tomorrow I am doing some reading, meeting with an adviser and doing some more planning. Planning for trips really is pretty stressful and hard work!
I know I learned some more words but I always forget them when I come online BUH!
Love,
Natalie
Last night was my friend, Catie's, 21st birthday. It wasn't as big deal as you would think because 1. We are in England and anyone can drink here and 2. She's Canadian so she was able to go to bars since she was 19. But a bunch of exchange students went to Trof's Bar (really hippie/alternative bar) and then to Brara Bar. It was definitely a good time and I got to know a lot more exchange students...particularly a few from Sweden. It is just such a different atmosphere in clubs here because the music is generally techno. So girls don't dance with boys and everyone is just kind of jumping around and 'raving' in a way. I feel like an idiot trying to dance like them...but at least I'm with a whole group of Americans/Canadians that look like idiots too!
Today I had my last class of the week which is Language: The Individual and Society. It is my only non Business class I am taking and I really like it this far. Today the lecture was about Animal Communication. We learned about a bunch of studies with chimps being raised with children and trying to get them to speak like us. It really amazed me that some chimps can say some words but they cannot use them creatively to make new words like us.
Tomorrow I am doing some reading, meeting with an adviser and doing some more planning. Planning for trips really is pretty stressful and hard work!
I know I learned some more words but I always forget them when I come online BUH!
Love,
Natalie
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Look Left Before Right
I am getting quite good at riding the bus I have only missed my stop once this week. Although I still am having trouble crossing the street on a daily basis. Everything is opposite so when crossing you need to look left before right...many times I look both ways and think I am okay but then nearly get run over!!! Lately I have been waiting until locals cross and cross like within one foot behind them because I figure they know better than I. Don't worry if I get run over it won't happen on weekends because its right before left all throughout Europe...the UK just likes to be different.
I had my Retail Marketing class today and its my only class that I am really worried about. It seems extremely easy just like all the others but the Professor was so rude to be I couldn't believe it. I don't know if its the whole American thing or the whole international student thing but its really getting old. I asked about the final assessment since it was the only class that wasn't posted for us and listed as TBA. She said she didn't know and didn't know when she would know either.. I said o ok and said I had one more question and she rolled her eyes and turned her back on me!!! What??? She was the one that said she would be happy to answer questions after class?! Whatever...
Today I met up with some random British Grad Student who was selling his old books I got my 50 pound Finance book for only 10 pounds which I was so excited about. So far I have three out of five of my books and it has cost 80 pounds...not to shabby considering I usually spend over 200 dollars a quarter on used books.
Right now I am busy booking my London Tours. We are all booking them at the same time with the same pick up spot but with different payments so I'm really hoping that we are all on the same tour? I'm not sure so I will try calling in an hour but none of us can afford to book everyones ticket and get paid back next month...especially since we would have like 1000 pounds to carry around and no where to put it.
Here is what we are doing on our London Trip in October:
-Friday: Arrive at 11:30am Get some Lunch, Go on the London Eye, Dinner, Wicked
-Saturday: 8:45am get picked up for all day London experience...see where the Bond Movie was filmed, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalga Square, Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower of London, Crown of Jewels and a bunch more places that I cannot remember. The tour was on a special for 9 hours its 60 dollars which isn't bad at all.
-Sunday: We are going to spend wandering and going to Roe Market and leave at 5:30pm
So it is a real quick trip but we want to go again in early December for the Christmas Markets and maybe see Hampton Court ( I really really want to go there it was where King Henry the VIII lived) and Kensington Palace.
Yesterday I got a really good work out in and I was the ONLY GIRL working out in the weights area. I don't know if thats how it is normally but the guys kept giving me odd looks! HA! Sure I hear new fat American jokes everyday (in fact I heard one today in Retail Marketing) but hey at least we know how to work it off!
Words US to UK:
-volleyball -net ball
Natalie
I had my Retail Marketing class today and its my only class that I am really worried about. It seems extremely easy just like all the others but the Professor was so rude to be I couldn't believe it. I don't know if its the whole American thing or the whole international student thing but its really getting old. I asked about the final assessment since it was the only class that wasn't posted for us and listed as TBA. She said she didn't know and didn't know when she would know either.. I said o ok and said I had one more question and she rolled her eyes and turned her back on me!!! What??? She was the one that said she would be happy to answer questions after class?! Whatever...
Today I met up with some random British Grad Student who was selling his old books I got my 50 pound Finance book for only 10 pounds which I was so excited about. So far I have three out of five of my books and it has cost 80 pounds...not to shabby considering I usually spend over 200 dollars a quarter on used books.
Right now I am busy booking my London Tours. We are all booking them at the same time with the same pick up spot but with different payments so I'm really hoping that we are all on the same tour? I'm not sure so I will try calling in an hour but none of us can afford to book everyones ticket and get paid back next month...especially since we would have like 1000 pounds to carry around and no where to put it.
Here is what we are doing on our London Trip in October:
-Friday: Arrive at 11:30am Get some Lunch, Go on the London Eye, Dinner, Wicked
-Saturday: 8:45am get picked up for all day London experience...see where the Bond Movie was filmed, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalga Square, Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower of London, Crown of Jewels and a bunch more places that I cannot remember. The tour was on a special for 9 hours its 60 dollars which isn't bad at all.
-Sunday: We are going to spend wandering and going to Roe Market and leave at 5:30pm
So it is a real quick trip but we want to go again in early December for the Christmas Markets and maybe see Hampton Court ( I really really want to go there it was where King Henry the VIII lived) and Kensington Palace.
Yesterday I got a really good work out in and I was the ONLY GIRL working out in the weights area. I don't know if thats how it is normally but the guys kept giving me odd looks! HA! Sure I hear new fat American jokes everyday (in fact I heard one today in Retail Marketing) but hey at least we know how to work it off!
Words US to UK:
-volleyball -net ball
Natalie
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Do You Love or Hate Americans?
Today I had two more of my classes, both International Marketing and Financial Markets and Institutions. In the beginning of my International Marketing class the Professor was talking all about different cultures and how they differ. I did like how he told many stores and had a lot of photos. He is Chinese and definetly had nothing bad to say about the Chinese. I would say the first twenty minutes was a lecture on how amazing China is..'Chinese are more creative, they think outside of the box, they are friendly and want to network, etc.' Then came the bashing of the Americans. Many photos came up making fun of various American stuff like Bush, obese people, and some others I cannot remember. He told us a quote after, "What do you call someone who speaks three languages...trilingual...what do you call someone who speaks two languages...bilingual...what do you call someone who speaks one language...American. The British thought this was quite hilarious.
I am still trying to figure out what exactly the UK thinks about America. So many things they look up to and try to model. They use a TON of our companies products...and yet they hate us at the same time. I really don't know. I know that after being in the UK for only two weeks I am very proud to be American and have noticed that I definetly take a lot for granted. I really have enjoyed my time here but there are a lot of things that are missing such as freedom of speech, right to self defense, good service and I do miss the loud and friendly American. Overall the British are very nice to me but they do tend to be more reserved and timid to joke around with me.
I tried the raisin cake with custard tonight and really really didn't like it....I don't think custard is my thing. But for dinner I had salad and turkey with gravy and surprisingly the meat was tasty!
The weather has been bad since yesterday today being a little worse. It's raining right now and its just cold, damp and windy. I do use my umbrella but sometimes there is no point because the rain comes in all directions. My windbreaker has come in handy.
So far all my exams are going to be essays which is really awesome! The essays are to be like 2000-2500 words which isn't too long and they are to be submitted mid to end of January. I am not so sure how I feel about that because I don't want to be writing essays during the Caribbean or during school...I may start in December and try and finish them beforehand.
Thats all for now. I am going to head to the gym, do some reading, plan for some trips and tomorrow is Retail Marketing.
Natalie
I am still trying to figure out what exactly the UK thinks about America. So many things they look up to and try to model. They use a TON of our companies products...and yet they hate us at the same time. I really don't know. I know that after being in the UK for only two weeks I am very proud to be American and have noticed that I definetly take a lot for granted. I really have enjoyed my time here but there are a lot of things that are missing such as freedom of speech, right to self defense, good service and I do miss the loud and friendly American. Overall the British are very nice to me but they do tend to be more reserved and timid to joke around with me.
I tried the raisin cake with custard tonight and really really didn't like it....I don't think custard is my thing. But for dinner I had salad and turkey with gravy and surprisingly the meat was tasty!
The weather has been bad since yesterday today being a little worse. It's raining right now and its just cold, damp and windy. I do use my umbrella but sometimes there is no point because the rain comes in all directions. My windbreaker has come in handy.
So far all my exams are going to be essays which is really awesome! The essays are to be like 2000-2500 words which isn't too long and they are to be submitted mid to end of January. I am not so sure how I feel about that because I don't want to be writing essays during the Caribbean or during school...I may start in December and try and finish them beforehand.
Thats all for now. I am going to head to the gym, do some reading, plan for some trips and tomorrow is Retail Marketing.
Natalie
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