Jersey Girl in London

Moving on...

2007-06-12T21:49:00.000Z

Considering I've been back for over a month, it's high time I started a new blog. So I did.

Check it out!

Enjoy!

Adventures in Socialized Medicine: The Saga Continues

2007-05-19T00:25:00.000Z

Just to keep you all posted from back here in America-land. I went to the foot doctor the other day to have a regular checkup (so I'm an old person) and he took a look at my foot. After much prodding and tuning fork hitting and x-raying, he decided that I had a stress fracture in my foot. Correction. I have 3 stress fractures in my right foot. This would be the same right foot from February that I was told was a "sprain".

Now I know socialized medicine is a great equalizer and allows the same access to medicine for all classes. But if that practice leads to a reduction in necessary tests performed, is it worth it? Or is it just another system that's broken and needs fixing? Just a thought.

Anyway, I get to wear a fun shoe thing that keeps my foot immobilized for the next few weeks. If it doesn't heal, I get to wear a cast in the middle of summer.

But, it is great to be back in Ammmurica and eating quality food again!

Only 95% left!

2007-05-13T21:27:00.001Z

I miss being a hop, skip, and a jump away from... everything different.

I can make a comic book!

2007-05-06T17:21:00.000Z

To sum up one of our favorite moments in Malta, I have made a comic book (with the help of a token geek or two)! Enjoy!

Mmmmmm.. Malta!

2007-05-04T16:29:00.000Z

So I have been incredibly busy with finals, and also very unmotivated to write an entry about Malta. It was an absolutely amazing trip that I would love to tell you all about in person because I am SO done with typing and paper writing. Therefore, I will direct you all to my travel buddy Meg's awesome entry:

Read on!

For my part, I did put 3 albums worth of photos online, all with great captions describing the wonders of Malta, Mmmdina, the blue Mediterranean, the more blue Blue Grotto, and sketchy men.

C'mon. There are always sketchy men.

Mmmdina and my first time swimming in the (cold!) Mediterranean

Blue Grotto and the Fishermen's Market

Fireworks!

3 days until home!

Soaking up some culture

2007-04-25T23:43:00.000Z

I guess I'll have to soak up culture here in London because we don't really see the sun much. Oh well, I'll leave tanning for Malta this weekend!

Tonight I went and saw the London version of Wicked (which I saw in NYC in a few years ago). I didn't take any of the drama classes at ICLC, so I've been on my own as far as seeing shows has gone. I've seen Richard III (in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and it only reaffirmed my boredom with Shakespeare), History Boys, Cabaret, and now Wicked. London's got a slew of half-priced ticket booths that make it infinitely more affordable to go to the theatre. Plus on weekday night shows it's very easy to move to better seats.

Wicked is my favorite show by far, and I have to say that I think I loved it more here than I did in New York. The actress who played Elphaba had a voice that gave me chills and Glinda was hysterical. However, some inadvertently funny parts occured when British accents came into play (dahhncing through life and all), which sort of messed with the rhyming and rhythm. But I loved every moment anyway, especially when we hung out by the stage door and watched the actors come out:

That's me looking like a dork with leading man Fiyero.

And that's me and my new love Kerry Ellis, who played Elphaba. She got ungreen reallllly fast.

On a side note, my internship ended today, and I already miss it. It was such an amazing experience with a great group of people. I totally lucked out.

Spring has sprung and all that jazz

2007-04-18T21:58:00.000Z

Spring is definitely here in London - people are out en masse on my street (And only my street. Seriously. It's the most crowded place in the world). Some of them eventually make it to Hyde Park, where they undress and hang out in their bathing suits or (not kidding) underwear. I go there and attempt to write my final papers. I don't get much work done, and can you blame me?

But London is in bloom and it is absolutely gorgeous. I live right next to Hyde Park and, on my way to work, I cut through the Victoria Embankment Gardens, where I eat lunch every Monday and Wednesday. There are strategically placed flowers everywhere in grids of red, white, yellow, and pink. The sun is actually shining (Ithaca kids, are you jealous yet?) and I really can't complain.

Oh. Except for the fact that it has become all too apparent that I am allergic to said pretty flowers. Which was helped today by my boss putting 24 lilies (my favorite!) in a vase directly in front of my desk.

But I'll take the sore throat and runny nose any day just because those flowers are so pretty.

Anyway, life in London is pretty good. I feel really removed from the States though and want to just say now that all of us over here are thinking of everyone at Virginia Tech and their friends and families. No matter how far away we get, we still feel the pain of tragedies from home and think of everyone all the time.

I've entered the teen countdown of heading home (18 days now, I think). I leave for Barcelona tomorrow and next weekend I'll be in Malta, so I don't have much time to say goodbye to London. I'm going to miss a lot of things, my internship in particular, but it will definitely be good to get home (and have a decent bagel!).

Again, I miss you all and I'm thinking of you constantly. Cheers!

The Land Skee Ball Forgot

2007-04-16T19:58:00.000Z

Now I grew up in a beach town, but I wouldn't say my standards are unnecessarily high. However, I do have to say that a beach town is not a beach town unless its arcades have skee ball. Is that asking too much? I think not!

Also, caramel apples and fresh squeezed lemonade? C'mon people!

But those problems aside, Brighton is a really cool place. It's on the southern tip of the UK, so it has a "beach" and you can swim in the English Channel (if you're a polar bear). In order to illustrate why I am calling it a "beach", I provide exhibit A:

Ignore the dorky girl in the sunglasses. Yes, ladies and gents, those are some gigantic rocks. Apparently no one has explained to the British that sand, while being made of rocks, is actually a lot finer. When you tried to lay on the beach, you first had to check to make sure Stonehenge wasn't underneath your towel (but I heard that the rocks make for a spa-like experience in the heat of summer).

Brighton also has Brighton Pier (almost as creative as Scotland!), which has rides and candy floss (cotton candy) and slot machines. It also has Regent's Palace, which is either the ugliest or most attractive building in the world (you can decide for yourselves):

Brighton is very cool at night - that is, unless the person you're day tripping with has decided to wear shorts and therefore you can't get into any bars after 7. We had dinner at a fun American restaurant and attempted to find margaritas, but couldn't because of a). Tim wearing shorts and b). they apparently don't make margaritas in Brighton.

So, in conclusion: Brighton does not have skee ball, caramel apples, lemonade, or margaritas.

They also, however, do not have Bennys. And that made my day.

The rest of the Brighton pictures are here

I'm wicket good at cricket

2007-04-08T19:12:00.000Z

I am so witty.

Anyways! Before telling you all about my amazing cricket skills, a quick summary of the rest of the week with Mom. We went out to dinner, found an amazing gelato (!) place, saw Cabaret, and went to a wine bar.

Then, on Friday, I figured that we hadn't really gotten our fill of British sport, so I took my mom to Hyde Park where a bunch of ICLC-ers (plus Bill) had gathered to learn to play cricket.

(Note: I am not going to explain cricket to you here. That would take more time than I have energy to type)

BUT it appears as though I have an underlying talent for cricket, particularly for bowling (which makes sense, considering I did bowling in high school - they aren't related except by name, but we'll just assume that's true). Bowling, by the way, is a synonym for pitching here in the UK (I have no idea). I could also hit decently well, but where my talent really became apparent was in making sick plays to catch line drives. I did this once, but, given more time, I'm sure I could have made thousands more. (Outs in cricket, to explain the name of this post, are called wickets.)

And, 3 days later, I still ache. I am such an old person.

Mommy went home on Saturday, so it's probably time to get to work!

Edinburgh - the small, the rowdy, and the bachelor parties

2007-04-03T21:36:00.000Z

Before I provide you all with a riveting recap of my mom's and my trip to Edinburgh, I must provide you with this image:

That's my mom after winning the Queensway Cup at 2 Pound Tuesdays Bowling. There is, in fact, SoCo in that cup. She's my hero.

Anyway, my mom came in on Thursday night and on Friday morning we took off for the wilds of Scotland, which involved a 4 hour ride through the wilds of... Scotland. And some England. And they hate each other. Here's one of the amazing views from the train:

We sat next to this very friendly couple from a suburb north of London. They were very nice and, if they stood on top of each other, I think they were my height. Thus began my experiences being the tallest person in sight. If anyone over 6' went to Scotland, he or she would be their ruler.

We arrived around 3 and took a taxi (my first since getting over here!) to our bed and breakfast, which can be described as "quaint" (so was the owner, who could not have been taller than 4'10"). We took the bus into the central part of the city and checked out its one major street, which is called the Royal Mile, and I'm thinking it's because it's got a palace and castle on it and it's, well, a mile long. (The Scots also named a hill Castle Hill. Guess why).

We took a very nice arm shot:

And pictures of pubs with funny names:

We went to a great pub and got Guiness (our first drink out together!) and clam chowder and steak. mmmmm. After that, we were pretty tired, so we went back to the hotel and fell asleep early.

The next day we had a great English breakfast and set out for the aptly named "Castle". We took tons of pictures because it cost 11 pounds ($22) to enter, and, gosh darnit, we were getting our money's worth. We saw every inch of that castle, from the moat to Scotland's crown jewels and "stone of destiny" to the Mons Meg. It was great fun, until Mom got stuck:

I somehow freed her and we set off for some 21st century fun in the form of a huge department store, which I took a picture of just to make my sister jealous:

That night we went to the Witchery, which is an amazing (and vaguely fancy) restaurant. The food was so good, the wine was better, and we got amazing service because one of the waiters thought I was cute. Afterwards we went on a Murder and Mystery Ghost Tour, which, contrary to its name, was not very scary (although it was windy, a joke my loyal readers should get and grimace at). It was actually very funny and we got to see a lot of Edinburgh and hear great stories about how, per capita, Scotland burned the most witches of all of Europe. When that was over I was frozen solid and craving nachos (obviously), so we went to an American themed pub and watched all of the bachelor and bachelorette parties. There were a ton of them in Scotland, complete with hot pink limos (for the girls (I hope)).

The next day we set out for the palace and Parliament, where they have awesome bike racks:

And my mother posing in front of the Palace gates:

We did some shopping and ate at the Golf Tavern and then headed back to London.

As this entry comes to a close, I leave you with this image, and, beneath it, my thoughts about it:

This is how the song "Il Poisson" in the movie "Little Mermaid" really ends.

Tap on wood!

2007-03-28T20:05:00.000Z

Today I learned a new fun British phrase (add that to "pear-shaped" and "ring me on my mobile"). "Tap on wood" is the British equivalent to the American "knock on wood", because everything they do here is a lot quieter and more polite. When I answer the phone at my internship, my boss cringes because I apparently yell. Then again, this is compared to her calm, demure British whisper. Sigh.

I've been trying to think of a theme for this entry, but it's basically just a generic update. I leave in a little over a month and I am very very sad, especially because I've suddenly fallen completely in love with my internship and it's hit me that I just can't jetset off for a weekend in the states.

I did do a day trip to Canterbury last weekend, but it didn't merit its own entry because I was cold and wet the whole time. Oh, and because Canterbury is basically a big mall with a cathedral (which was, admittedly, gorgeous). We did stop at a pub before heading home and got pints to warm up and then the most amazing beef stew I have ever had (sorry Mom and Grandma).

My mom comes to visit tomorrow and we're headed off to Edinburgh for the weekend! We're going to see castles and green places and people in kilts. Oh, and our first mother-daughter pub experience. That should be memorable!

That's it for now... more after a few rounds of golf and Guiness this weekend!

Finding places close to home

2007-03-23T11:36:00.000Z

I know that I've seemed like quite the jet-setter recently, what with my 3 countries in a week spring break (Vatican City counts. Ask any geography teacher) and my upcoming visits to Barcelona and Malta. However, recently I've been taking it sort of easy and checking out new places in London and the ever-so-quaint villages around southern England. I mean, I live in such an amazing area - it's time to take advantage of it!

Stop 1 was Winchester, which is an overly cute hamlet about an hour's train ride southwest of London. Many of you at this point will be singing a song entitled "Winchester Cathedral", but, if you're in a public place, take my advice and stop. We've heard it sung before, and it's not a pretty song. Plus I'd never heard it until AFTER I saw the cathedral, so I can't annoy locals with my singing.

Anyway!

Winchester did indeed have a cathedral, making it the 24th I've seen on the trip so far (that's an estimation and Il Duomo still has them all beat). Here's a view from inside because my camera is only capable of taking epic pictures:

The hamlet also had adorable shopping areas, featuring an open-air market and a mall with a penguin statue (we have lots of penguins here in the UK). For lunch and severall snacks we feasted upon pasties, which are pastries with fun things inside like cheese and onions, as well as caramel shortcake and, of course, tea. We tried to stay there until dinner, but everything closes at 5 and there are about 2 pubs on the outskirts of town that stayed open. So, after wandering from one end of the town to another (which took a total of 20 minutes), we headed home to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in central London.

However, some nights must be spent away from the safety of central London, so last night, in a nostalgic quest for American food, we went to north London. Travel Planner told me that it would take us about 51 minutes to get there, taking 2 different tube lines, a bus, and a 10 minute walk. Off we went to the unexplored wilds of Finsbury Park. Amazingly, we found where we were going without any major problems, aside from some incredibly annoying British teenagers who cursed like... people from New Jersey. We had a great dinner at a place called "...Pick More Daisies" (burgers with avocado!) and, adventurous kids that we are, took a bus to another part of north London to take the tube home.

North London actually looks a lot like Collegetown (in that it's hilly and has houses). It's a lot quieter than central London, a LOT less expensive, and just has a very different atmosphere. Aside from the time required to get to and from there, it's a very cool part of the city.

Tomorrow I'll be going to Stop 3: Canterbury! Details on my hanging out with the Archbishop and Chaucer (I see dead people) coming soon!

Roaming around Rome

2007-03-18T11:24:00.000Z

I figured I should probably finish my epic 3 part series about spring break (distractions arose, but it's worth the wait!)

We arrived in Rome around 7 pm after paying more money so we could take the train that we had tickets for. We found our hostel which was aptly named the "Hotel Alessandro Palace". It was amazing - really nice rooms, actual fast internet, a bar with free sangria for girls after midnight. The only downside was that we were in an 8-person room, which we had booked to save money, but, as we found on the trip, is really not worth it.

Travel note: book 4 person room hostels if that's the size of your group. Part with the extra bucks because the added four people will go to sleep at 10, wake up at 6, snore while they're asleep, and stage whisper while they're awake.

Anyway, we were starving, so, relying on my handy Rome Lonely Planet Guidebook, we set off in the general direction of a bunch of allegedly amazing pizza places. We stopped in the first one they had and I immediately said a thank you to the Lonely Planet Gods (or writers). It was a pizza place stuffed with locals and, from what I saw near me, thin crust pizza. New Jerseyans will understand when I say it was just a more Italian version of Pete and Eldas. Mmmmm. Meg, Tim and I shared 2 pizzas and decided to trust in the book to find us a gelato place. We got gelato (it was good, but better was to come later) and went and looked at the Trevi Fountain. Rumor has it that, if you throw money in the fountain, you will definitely come back to Rome. Here's hoping!

After that, we were pretty tired, so we saw Meg off on a bus back to her home near Vatican City (hmmm) and went back to the hostel and went to sleep.

The next day was the only day I had to see Rome, so Tim thought that it would be a good idea to take a bus that was headed toward the Vatican but get off before it got there and walk. We ended up a half hour away circling a Roman hospital, so I found our way back and he had to carry the water bottle around all day.

With my leadership skills, we found the Vatican (add another country to my list!), which, after Greece and Florence seemed sort of anticlimactic:

We went in the Basilica, but not before being instructed by some very helpful signs:

We touristed around there for awhile - the building is much cooler and some of the statues inside are breathtaking (more photos if you click the link at the end of this post).

We moved on to try to find a gelato place recommended by Meg. Unfortunately, Vatican City is a pretty big place, so we couldn't find it. We were standing on a street corner and I said, "I really want to find gelato!" Suddenly we hear a voice from behind us, saying the blessed words, "are you looking for Old Bridge gelato?"

We were!

American accents in foreign countries are like beacons of hope to other American tourists. This man had heard our call for help and, through either insightfulness or psychic powers, figured out where we wanted to go. We found our way there, and began the battle to be known as Alyssa vs. the Gelato.

At Old Bridge, you can get 3 major scoops of ice cream in a cone with whipped cream for 2 Euros (about $3.50). By major, I mean this:

And I think that photo was taken while it was halfway done (Tim has the good pictures, I'll hunt him down).

The gelato was big, but my craving for Ice Cream 2.0 was much bigger, and I walked away victorious:

With the score Alyssa 1, Gelato 0, we went and looked at a few piazzas (Rome has about 10,000). Then we decided to check out the Colosseum which was wayyyy on the other side of town from where we were, so we decided to hop on the Rome Metro.

Travel note: Rome Metro bad. Walking an extra 2 miles good.

The Rome Metro only has 2 lines and construction on a 3rd has been delayed because they have uncovered another "major archaeological find" (ho hum). Apparently they have had this same problem in Athens but they're working harder over there. Anyway, so the Rome Metro system is sort of useless except for getting from one tourist destination to another. And it smells. And it is crowded. Did I mention that it smells?

We eventually escaped from the Metro and walked out and were confronted by the sight of the Colosseum. We headed to the Palatine, which is another "major archaeological find" of ruins nearby. Tim bought his ticket for both places and I went to pay and the woman handed me my ticket and all of my money back. March 9 in Rome is apparently "Women's Day", which is their version of Mother's Day but for all women (I like it better that way), so we girls got in everywhere for free. We wandered around the Palatine and Colosseum for awhile:

We headed back to the hostel for a siesta and then wandered Rome searching for a salad place (this is harder than it sounds). We finally found a restaurant specializing in salads (I had a craving!) and had a late dinner. We found the Pantheon, as well as a street named in honor of my Grandpa (that's my theory):

That was pretty much the end of spring break. The next morning I caught a flight home to Luton Airport, which is London's itty-bitty baby airport and got a bus home which only took me a half hour out of my way because they packed my luggage wrong. But I made it home safe and sound and entirely exhausted. Trips to come: Edinburgh, Brighton, Barcelona, and Malta!

For Rome pictures, go here

Fixing the Baroque things in Firenze

2007-03-13T19:53:00.000Z

In our continuing spring break saga... we arrived in Italy in the authentic (read: scary) town of Ancona, where the train station is located a convenient 2 kilometers (8,342.6 miles) from the docks. And we walked. And it was hot. BUT we made it to the train station where I was told that the $200 Italy rail pass I had purchased online before the trip was not valid for travel across Italy. Silly me.

Serious side note: don't ever buy the Eurorail Pass online. It's such a scam. Just buy your tickets individually before or even when you get there

Anyway, we did get on a train that we figured would get us somewhere near where we wanted to go. Trains in Italy go from major city to major city, as most trains do, but there is no indication of intermediate stops, so you have to guess based on your knowledge of Italian geography. Our first train to Bologna was headed to Turin and our train to Firenze terminated at Rome. Sure. Also, there are no signs at the Firenze station telling you that you are in fact in Firenze (oh, and for all you American types out there... Firenze = Florence), so Tim had to run around trying to figure out where we were.

But we did somehow make it there (we assume) and went to our hostel, which was in a great location and had a great atmosphere.

More fun travel tips: buy a Lonely Planet guidebook. They rock.

We got gelato (dessert before dinner is a great policy) and found an Italian restaurant where I got awesome red wine and got called "Jersey" all night by the waiter once he found out where I was from. This included yelling from across the restaurant "Jersey, want some more bread?" and inviting us out to a club. Which we didn't go to. We walked around instead and I decided that, as cool as Florence was, Siena would be cooler (call me random). It also seemed like a cool Tuscan city located close to Florence.

Lies.

We took the train to Siena the next morning, which turns out takes longer than trains to Rome. This is partly because Siena is farther from Florence than I thought, but mostly because the train we were on was built by the same people who built the Circle Line here in London (refer to my previous rants).

But we did make it, and it was filled with wonderful things like pizza and gelato and piazzas:

As well as a pretty awesome cathedral:

We left Siena with plenty of time to get back to Florence to have an awkward amount of time to kill before actual Italian dinner (which is around 9). We decided to play checkers, but we tied (who ties in checkers?) so we played dominoes. We went up to a hill overlooking the city and checked out a real osteria - an Italian restaurant so real my guidebook couldn't even help translate the menu. Unfortunately, because of translation issues, we ended up with some pasta with egg sauce which wasn't good, and this was devestating.

The next day we met up with Meg and company and first attempted to find breakfast foods. Breakfast foods are hard to come by when all you want is an egg and cheese sandwich, so we settled for panini. We also saw a statue of David, which was cool, until I found out that it was a clever fake. Way to go, people of Florence. The gang then waited on line for 2 hours for the Uffizi Gallery, which is the oldest gallery in the universe (read: filled with more medieval art than you have ever seen. Ever.)

After our fill of the Annunciation and Immaculate Conception (not to mention a bunch of saints being killed), we went to church. Seemed like the right thing to do. The Duomo in Florence is probably my favorite building in the world. It's just so gorgeous:

It's got a Baroque dome (quick! somebody fix it!), which you can climb to the top of - it's only 463 stairs - nothing for us Ithaca College students. Unfortunately, we were not prepared for barred passages:

And steep stairways of doom:

But, in the end, we got to the top and we were very happy (although breathless):

And there was feasting, and celebrating, and hanging out with Japanese tourists.

We sledded back to the bottom (no lie) and went off on a quest for wine. After that we paid the small fortune required to catch a train to Rome (which is an hour long so therefore must cost the same as a plane ride) and lived another day in another blog entry that will be coming eventually.

Firenze Pictures

Athens has gone to the dogs

2007-03-11T19:45:00.000Z

To begin part 1 of 3 of my epic spring break series of posts, I'll start with stop one: Athens, Greece: Where the Dogs Rule and the Alphabet's Insane.

To begin, I will quote my guidebook: "The Greek attitude to animals depends on whether the animal is a cat or not. It's definitley cool to be a cat."

I beg to differ, guidebook. I believe that Athens has truly gone to the dogs. During our 2 day stay in Athens we befriended four stray dogs, my favorite being Romeo, because he was very cuddly and floppy:

On our first day we checked into our hostel (at 10 euros a night, it couldn't be beat) and checked out the balcony off our room. Then we headed to Syntagma Square, which is in the center of Athens and has many examples of wonderful stray dogs who guard fountains and historical places as well as signs that are translated into English for your convenience. No one warned me before we left that not only do Greeks not speak English, but their R's look like P's. After finding some fanastic ruins and some orange trees, we took a siesta and went out to dinner.

A note here about Greek food: do not expect to walk or even move for a few hours after eating. Even chicken and pitas are mysteriously heavy and make you very very sleepy. However, there were stray dogs to be seen and cappucinos and sangria to be had:

But early to bed and early to rise for vacationers. We got breakfast at the hostel (well, everyone else did. Mine was conveniently stolen by some other tourists and had to be remade. Jeez. Americans.) It was off to find the Acropolis, which would have been difficult, if not for these helpful signs:

We got to see the Theatre of Dionysus and the Parthenon (aka the Colosseum if you ask Andrew), which had an incredible view out over Athens, and many touristy pictures were taken:

That's the gang, courtesy of Andrew's long arm. From left to right: Tim, me, Greg, and Andrew. The jet-setters, if you will.

Many more pictures can be found if you click the link at the end of this entry. If I posted all of them, the Internets would crash.

Anyway! After playing with the stray dog protectors of the Acropolis, we went to the Temple of Zeus, which was interesting in that it looked like a giant bowling alley:

All touristing and no breaks makes we jet-setters a hungry bunch, and the boys let me lead them to the Gardenia Restaurant, which was both recommended by my guidebook and clearly named after me. It turned out to be in a very... Greek... area of Athens, far far away from the touristy areas we had been visiting. But, it was totally worth it - it was owned by a Greek woman who spoke English and mothered over us and her husband, who did not speak English, seemed very bitter, and spent the whole time we were there yelling at the news. We got more food than we could handle for about as much as a Happy Meal costs in the states.

The boys were being such good sports that they followed me to a sandal store that existed in my 2001 travel book but somehow did not exist in real life. But, en route, we found a street market and I got a pretty bracelet and some other souvenirs. The sandal store, however, was invisible. Tim and I decided that all this shopping required gelato, but we forgot that we were still in Greece (not Italy yet!) and could only find soft ice cream after an hour of searching. But, during that hour I also met Romeo, who is, in fact, the love of my life.

We got a quick dinner that night at "Quick Pita" (yay Greek fast food) and got to bed early, because we had some travelin' to do the next day.

Before leaving Athens we checked out the National Archaeological Museum, which, for a country that's got a lot of... archaeological stuff... was actually sort of anticlimactic. However, we did meet Scruffy, a stray dog who took a liking to us and followed us all the way back to the hostel, crossing intersections only when he had the walk signal.

Alas, it was time to leave Athens and take a train to Patras, where we would catch a ferry to take us to Italy. We got on a train and, after a half hour of traveling, everyone got off. We were under the impression that this train was taking us to Patras, as that was what we had been told, but this turned out to be a Greek practical joke on the Americans, so we switched trains and somehow made it to the port city of Patras. We found our "ferry", mainly because it looked like a cruise ship, complete with pool (not filled), hot tub (also not filled), and bar (okay, that was open). We boarded, and, with our "deck" tickets, had expected to sit on the deck, but were surprised by our own seats that proved to not only be too small, but amazingly uncomfortable. We killed time on the ship by playing cards and watching Miss Congeniality with Greek truck drivers, who thought it was hilarious.

I'll end this entry here (if any of you are still with me) with a to be continued and a link to the rest of my Greece pictures... click here!

Just a quick note...

2007-03-06T17:58:00.000Z

Just letting everyone know that I'm fine... language barriers and all. Big posts to come when I get back about our adventures with Greek stray dogs, our cruise ship ferry ride, and my newfound love of gelato (which I eat before and after meals). So far I've been to Athens, Ancona (Italy), Florence/Firenze, and Siena. I'll be back on Friday!

Making an 18th Century Building Look Old

2007-02-28T23:08:00.000Z

Today was the best day I've had at my internship so far this semester. A film crew came in today to start setting up for a shoot tomorrow for a pretty major movie that will be coming out next winter. One of my bosses took me to the location, which was being set up to look like a 19th century street (granted, the building I work in was built in the 18th century, but we've added lights since then).

It was such an amazing experience. False walls were being put up, barrels of... something... were being carried around, and there was a dead rat in a windowsill (I'm pretty sure it was fake, but there are some live chickens and a dog coming in tomorrow). The propmaster was paying attention to even the smallest detail - they're not even filming on the second story, but it was being redone as well in case of crane shots. I even invited myself to the actual shoot tomorrow, with the potential of meeting some actual stars (I'm sworn to secrecy, but I promise that it is cool that I get to meet them).

Just as an aside - I think what the museum is doing is a great idea for several reasons. First, the studio is paying a ton of money to use the museum as a set, which is so important to non-profits. Second, the museum gets film credit for it, as well as word-of-mouth promoting it as a cultural destination as well as a potential place to film. Unfortunately, with the logistics required for a shoot like this (and my boss was running around all day), it becomes too much of a hassle. I'm hoping they can work that out, though, because it really is incredible to see what the museum can be used for.

More tomorrow after the big filming day (and right before spring break!)

Just your usual spring break...

2007-02-25T21:33:00.000Z

Well, not really. Spring break starts this Friday, and we're off on what I think is a pretty cool trip:

Friday-Sunday
Leave London (Heathrow!) at 7:55 am (that will be a fun trip out to the airport) and land in Athens at 1:35 pm. Make our way over to our Hostel by reading signs that will probably be in Greek. Spend Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday touristing around Athens (where it's in the mid-60s right now. Be jealous!) and attempting to find some kind of Greek food that I'll eat.

Sunday-Monday
Take a bus from Athens to Patras (about 3 hours across southern Greece and the coast) and hop a ferry from Patras to Ancona, Italy. It's a 21 hour ferry ride and we're staying on the "deck", which I'm assuming means we'll literally be sleeping on the deck of a ferry. It's going to be a very... unique... experience!

Monday-Wednesday
Land in Ancona and take a train across Italy to Florence (Firenze). Spend 3 days in Tuscany, meeting up with the plethora of Ithaca people that are going to be there while we are (it seems everyone's spring break trips were similar). Most importantly, meet up with Meg and co. on Wednesday and take a train to Rome Wednesday night.

Wednesday-Friday
Bum around Rome (you know how it is), doing the various touristy things: drinking wine and eating pasta, riding a scooter and saying "Ciao", etc. Then Friday, fly home around noon and catch up on sleep because Colin's coming to visit the next day!

If you want a postcard from any of the places I'm going, let me know!

Chinese Myth Dragons

2007-02-18T14:04:00.000Z

So I'm just sitting in my flat, procrastinating the 2 papers I have to write, when I hear something that sounds like a car dragging a trash can behind it or some really loud construction. Then I begin to tap my foot and realize... hey... this is some pretty rhythmic hammering. I get up to see what all the commotion's about, and, strangely enough, there are Chinese Myth Dragons afoot, complete with a set of 5 drummers. They're dancing about in front of one of the many Chinese restaurants we have, so, of course, we head down to check it out:

After a few minutes of dancing around, the Myth Dragons paraded down the street past our flat:

Just another day in Bayswater, I guess! Happy Year of the Pig!

Adventures in Chinatown (Happy New Year!)

2007-02-18T12:33:00.000Z

I figured I should start this post with the word "adventures" as I'm clearly not creative.

Anyway! Last night was the celebration of the Chinese New Year, so we headed down to Chinatown in Soho:

We went to a few bars, stopped in at a club, and watched Andrew repeatedly try to steal lanterns that were way out of reach. I've put all the photos online here.

Adventures in Socialized Medicine

2007-02-17T18:06:00.000Z

Today I decided it was high time for me to experience socialized medicine. Actually, my foot decided by swelling up hugely last night after walking around Soho. My first interaction with this wonderful innovation of healthcare was calling the National Health Service (NHS) hotline at 1 am. They took down my details and asked me what was injured (foot) and proceeded to ask me some awesome questions like:

1. Are you in a safe place?
2. Have you been hit by a speeding object, like a speeding bullet?
3. Have you fallen from a distance greater than your height?
4. Have you been stabbed with a knife?

I somehow think that if the answer to any of these questions was yes, there would be a very different reaction on the phone instead of a bored girl in pain. But... red tape is red tape. They decided I wasn't in a sketchy alley being shot at by gang members after being stabbed and falling off a building, so they decided they could call me back. An hour later, an actual doctor, nurse, or someone with good fake medical knowledge called me back and decided that, yes, my foot did hurt and, yes, I couldn't walk. So insightful. She found me a hospital online that I could go to a 9 am.

This morning we set off to find the hospital, which was a convenient 20 minute walk away. That's awesome in London terms, but not so much if your foot is 'sploding. The receptionist took my name (Elyssa) and told me to sit. After a short wait (comparatively to the U.S.) I was shown into a curtained area and a nurse (?) examined my foot by basically pushing it and asking if it hurt. She also told me it wasn't swollen (as I had iced it on and off all last night) but that she believed me when I said it was. In the meantime, I overhear this monologue:

Random man: I was here last week, after a car collided with me. I had a broken leg and you sent me to St. Mary's because I had a swollen knee and an abrasion. And they did nothing for the abrasion.... and I'd like crutches please.

(Just an aside... WHY am I at the hospital that can't give a man with a BROKEN LEG crutches?!)

The nurse then tells me that my foot is not broken because I can walk (but by now I have no faith in her) and to... ice it and elevate it. And then she sends me on my merry way. X-ray-less, crutch-less, and, oh, even ace-bandage-less.

To conclude.... ow.

Adventures in Haircutting

2007-02-16T10:11:00.000Z

For all those that have asked me, yes, I did get my hair cut yesterday and, yes, it was definitley an interesting experience. First, I know you're all interested in the results:

The hairdresser was a great guy, except he kept referring to me as the "Jersey woman" (ahem. Jersey girl thank you very much) or the "typical American". And if I asked him to change something he was doing (like cut off more hair.. short does not translate well from American to English) he would get really mad and tell me he was giving me a "fantastic look" (which is true, but I just wanted a shorter fantastic look).

So, all in all, I am pretty happy. The hair place was just around the corner from my flat, next to the GELATO place that just opened. I tried to check that out last night, but it closed before 8. I'm not quite sure why (it's surrounded by places open until midnight, which is when the rest of London closes), but I was very depressed. Alas, today is another day.

The hair cut is mostly in anticipation for spring break, which we finally... finalized... this week. We head out to Greece on March 3rd and spend a few days in Athens before taking a ferry to Ancona, Italy. Not ferry like Staten Island Ferry, but an acutal ferry that takes 24-hours. That's the adventure portion of our trip. Then I'm going to take a train to Florence (Firenze... that was fun to figure out that those are the same... I'm a silly American) and spend a few days there using my 2 words of Italian to find my way around the Tuscany area. After that I take a quick train ride to Rome, spend 2 days there, and fly home! (The short hair is needed because I won't have time to do anything to it that whole trip. And it will be warm. And... I wanted to. So there.)

"Of course I'm French! Why do you think I have this outrageous accent?!" (Part Deux)

2007-02-13T20:05:00.000Z

Saturday (jeez, was it only Saturday? Time passes slowly in France... it ate too many croissants) we attempted to wake up for breakfast, failed, and grabbed a few croissants on our own. We headed to the Musée d'Orsay, which is a museum for Impressionist art. Yay! I also got tortilla chips (nearby, so this clearly belongs in the same paragraph), which are very hard to find here in London, so I was extra happy. There were a lot of Degas exhibits, including pastels, paintings, and sculptures, so I was quite the happy girl.

After a few hours of being a serious art student in the d'Orsay, it was time to go make fun of stuff in the Louvre. The Louvre is awesome because it takes itself so seriously as a tourist destination, and so the average layout of a room would be: Statue/Sign pointing to the Mona Lisa/Statue/Person trying to find Mona Lisa. I did not in fact go to see the Mona Lisa, although I caught a glimpse of her because she's in a central room in the central part of the central building. Surrounded by some art that is also awesome, by the way. And she's really small. And Winged Victory, another all-star has no arms or head, but she does have a hand displayed separately that is totally a man hand (think Seinfeld).

Hammurabi's Code was cool, but the British Museum totally has the Louvre beat in the "awesome mummies with sweet x-rays" department.

After the Louvre I realized that my foot may be broken or sprained (we'll see... I may get it checked out on Thursday and see how good socialized health care really is) so I started moping and dragging, so I took a nap. Then dinner and more sleep. France makes me le tired. BUT! I almost forgot. We also got dessert... andrew got an amazing eclair with chocolate mousse and I got a pie that had caramel and nuts on it. Mmmmmmm.

The next day we slept in past breakfast again and decided to check out a nearby farmers' market, where I got more quiche and more croissant. We took the Metro up to Sacré-Coeur and got to see another amazing view of the city:

Then we wandered for a bit, got food, and headed home.

Or at least tried to.

The comment in the previous entry about how the French will be French applies to our experience at Charles De Gaulle. Now, landing there, we realized that their signs were somewhat misleading. However, we didn't expect to get off the train and be confronted with a complete lack of signs. Except for one for a coffee shop. Apparently the way to escape Paris is to be intuitive enough to know that you need to climb these mythical stairs to get on an imaginary bus that takes you to a fantastical terminal. And, voila! You are not where you need to check in! So you check in and score! You are not where you need to check your bags! You find your way over there and sweet! You have no idea which gate you're at, but if you go through security for the wrong ones, you're in trouble. Then your flight number is wrong and you have to take a bus to the plane.

I, at some point, did consider walking through the Chunnel.

But we made it back and found that, while we were gone, France had conquered London and translated all the Tube signs into French (part of this is made up, part is not), an eerie reminder that when someone tells you that "you don't have to learn a foreign language, everyone speaks English", you should tell them to go to Charles De Gaulle. I mean Hell. Right. Hell.

Anyway, it was an overall awesome weekend and I can't wait to travel again. But I did end up homesick for London and I am incredibly glad to be back home.

"Well, what can you say, they're French" (Part 1)

2007-02-13T12:04:00.000Z

The above quote came from my boss at work. And it is SO true.

We left for our long weekend in Paris at around 4:30 and headed for Heathrow airport. After being detained and x-rayed at security (that was all me.. I'm very threatening) we got to go to our... not gate. Apparenlty in Europe, you don't get assigned a gate until right before you board, so you have to sort of guess and position yourself wisely. We got on the plane, and after a 1 hour delay caused by a threat of maybe some snow at some point, took off for Paris. 2 minutes later we landed (I swear it felt like that).

Something to note about Paris here: they speak French. Which, I may add, is NOT a language I speak. All of the signs are in French, even in the airport, and they have vague arrows pointing everywhere and nowhere at once. So, it took us about 45 minutes to actually find a train that went into Paris, but we figured it out eventually.

The hostel we stayed at was called the "Young and Happy Hostel" and was in a very... French... area with lots of markets and other... French things (like cheese stores):

We attempted to find food, but the exchange rate is evil, so we just went to bed.

The next morning we partook in the free breakfast at our hostel (note: breakfast in French means bread) and attempted to meet up with Greg at Gare de Lyon (literally... Train of Lion. Maybe). We got to go through the Jardin de Plantes (or something.. it means Garden of Plants. They're very original in France.) We found the train station and Greg and Kayleigh and we were off for some non-English speaking fun. I got some quiche which is amazing, but I only got it because I am very good at one thing - making Tim and Kayleigh translate for me. Oh, and I learned how to point very specifically.

We first went to Notre Dame (and there are a TON of pictures, see the link at the bottom of this post), where we played on see-saws:

And went inside and climbed to the top. Up a million and a half stairs. But it was worth it, because the gargoyles were awesome:

After a dizzying flight back down, we wandered over to the Louvre, but more for its bathrooms than the museum (that we saved for later). Then we got on the metro and attempted to find our way to the Eiffel Tower (again, thank god for people knowing French). We eventually stumbled upon it:

And I decided to take the coolest picture of Andrew in the history of the world:

We went to the top... I guess it was okay:

And we explored the two carousels next to the tower. Paris, I've decided, should change its name to the City of Carousels. There is seriously one at every tourist destination.

By the time we'd done all this climbing and picture-taking and queueing, we were famished. We headed back to the area near the hostel for a real French dinner. I got French Onion soup (not any better than it is anywhere else, to my disappointment), chicken covered in mushroom cream sauce (I liked the mushrooms, which scares me) and a pear covered in ice cream and chocolate sauce. And a chocolate caramel candy bar. Mmmmmm French people might not do signs well, but they make nice desserts. After dinner we went to the bar across the street where I got a glass of wine and the bartender told Alice and me that he "loves you baby!"

More pictures here. More stories soon... including: the fabulously unimpressive Mona Lisa, me being a Degas Dork (official title) and adventures at Charles De Gaulle airport.

Where for art thou? Stratford, of course!

2007-02-04T16:13:00.000Z

We left London early Friday morning on a bus trip with, and I'm just estimating here, 8034 other ICLC students. Our first stop was Warwick Castle, which is located either north, west, or south of London. Whever it is, it is the most awesome place on earth because that's where they filmed most of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It also has some other history dating back to 1400, but, honestly, who cares? Run awaayyyyyyyy!

so... castle!

The castle is actually owned by Madame Tussaud's after some bad money-handling by the... Duke? Sure. This is awesome, however, because you get some killer wax statues that you can fight with:

We also climbed Ghost Tower, which is poorly named, as there were no ghosts to be found. There was a lot of wind at the top, so I'm thinking Gust Tower instead (I am so witty. Honestly.):

We went into the town (hamlet/village/small place) of Warwick for lunch and stumbled upon a place called "The Coffee Shop". It was amazing... fantastic tea (I'm an addict) and great sandwiches that were actually affordable. PLUS we got nagged by the owner, who was this adorable lady who teased me for not finishing my salad. So cute.

After that we headed up to Stratford, where the 8000+ (okay it was more like 90, but it felt that big) of us were spread out across a bunch of Bed and Breakfasts. Alice and I got to room together, and, because we're girls, we got the pink room, as modeled by Alice:

We got some pub food for dinner and went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's performance of Richard III. Andrew and I sat next to each other in row J while almost everyone else at Ithaca College was in rows A and B. I think I might give off an "I'm not too impressed by Shakespeare" vibe. The play was okay - the performaces were good and the battle scenes were awesome - but some of the scenes dragged on and on and the play was over 3 hours and I was sleepy. Actually, this sounds like why I don't like Les Misérables. But I digress.

The next day we got free time to wander around Stratford. I attempted to see Shakespeare's tomb but it was a). boring and b). crowded by 8000 ICLC students. We left there and walked along the river Avon (hence Stratford-upon-Avon) and found an amazing farmers' market. I got soup and bread and cheeeeese and pears and it was wonderful.

That afternoon we left Stratford and went to Oxford, where we just wandered aimlessly for a few hours and took pretty pictures. We also found an amazingly educational sign:

Go figure. We left Oxford and got back here around 7. I don't think I'll do any of the group trips again. There are just too many people on an itinerary in a small area, and it really kills the experience. But, hey, live and learn.

Last night we found this amazing Thai restaurant (on Keighl's recommendation) called Tuk Tuk and went to a cute pub near the flat. Tonight is the Super Bowl Party (yay?) and a busy week ahead, but PARIS on Thursday!

By the way... more pictures here

Quick random update

2007-01-30T20:34:00.000Z

Classes are going well. Internship is going great. Next week they're taking me to a conference... here (this is mostly for Kim's benefit, but, hey, everyone else might be interested too).

This weekend is the Stratford-upon-Avon trip and I'm very excited because we get to stay in bed and breakfasts. This is not as exciting to my counterparts from quaint New York and Massachusetts towns, but, in New Jersey, where we've only got big scary hotels or sketchy small motels, it's a nice change of pace. We got the gang (as I've decided to henceforth refer to it) staying in one with 3 rooms, so that will be awesome. We leave Friday morning and get back Saturday night.

Then... Sunday night... it's off the Super Bowl Party, which is apparently a big deal, but would be way cooler if kickoff wasn't at something like 11:30. You know what, time difference? Bite me. Hopefully we get the U.S. satellite feed and I get to see the commercials. I can be such an IMC geek.

Turning 21 and playing with swans and mummies

2007-01-28T21:28:00.000Z

Yesterday I turned 21 :-) Good times. To start off the day, we went to Hyde Park and got tea at this place called the Orangery. It was absolutely adorable:

We got tea and croissants (or scones, for Greg and Tim, who weren't allowed to have actual breakfast menus) and it was so wonderful. Then we went to play with swans in the park because they are huge and somewhat scary:

Then we hung around for awhile, and I discovered that the USPS is evil and does not want me to get any birthday presents. Le sigh. We went out to dinner at a really authentic Italian restaurant in central London and then went to a club near our flat. Alice and I looked awesome (as usual) and the club/bar was really nice. By nice I mean classy. Oh, and by classy I mean $13 (6 pounds, 50 pence) per drink.

Today I finally got to check out the British Museum, once we found it, because London's streets shuffle much like the staircases in Harry Potter. It was amazing - we got to see the Rosetta Stone and mummies and x-rays of mummies. And I got to stare down a totem pole bird, which totally blinked first.

Then we went on a quest for Trafalgar Square, which I was promised was near the British Museum, but is, in fact, more than a mile away. Eventually, we found it, as well as the Thames, both of which look awesome at night.

Tomorrow it's back to actually doing work... internship, classes, internship, class, then it's Friday and off to Straford-upon-Avon!

For more 21st birthday pictures... visit here.

The quirks of London

2007-01-25T20:51:00.000Z

As promised, here is a quite incomplete lists of the quirks of London:

Hot and Cold Water
We have one faucet for both hot and cold water in our kitchen and our bathroom. However, you have two choices - hot or cold water. You can't get warm water, because the cold water comes out of the front half of the faucet and the hot comes out of the back. You sort of have to mix the water together in your hands to make a half hot/half cold combination in order not to scald or freeze yourself. Why? I have no idea.

Russian Mob
In Bayswater (where I live), the Russian mob owns everything. Our renting agency, the Internet cafe, the liquor store, the supermarket, and we're sure there's more. It turns out that this makes our area one of the safest in London because, seriously, who's going to mess with the Russian mob? It does make for a scary Internet cafe experience when a big Russian guy is staring you down, demanding a pound an hour for insanely slow Internet access (which we no longer have to put up with! Score!)

The Damn @ Key
Which I now cannot find on American keyboards OR British ones, so my typing speed has slowed to the point where you can actually see my fingers while I'm typing. British keyboards have the @ key where the double apostrophe key is and the double apostrophe key over the 2. I'll now allow you all 5 seconds to look at your keyboards and see what I'm talking about.

Ready? Good. So I was doing data entry on my first day at my internship, and this consisted mainly of inputing e-mail addresses, which became infinitley frustrating when I couldn't find the @ key. Now I'm sort of used to both methods, which is just making me sad, so moving on...

The Circle Line
I'm sure I've moaned (British term they use instead of complained/ranted... see? You're learning!) about this before, but the Circle Line is SO slow. Someone sneezes, and they have to shut the Circle Line down for emergency antibacterial repairs. Unfortunately, this is how we get everywhere, but it lets us take a lot of adventurous side trips around - like today, when we took 3 lines to get home. Fortunately, they are shutting the Circle Line down this weekend for repairs, which I'm hoping is code for update to the 20th century (I'm not even wishing for the 21st). I found out today that the first underground train ride in London was in 1863, and that was on the Circle Line as it exists today (the second half, not so true).

The Obsession with the Left
Everyone drives and walks on the left. This is just wrong, and we'll leave it at that.

Too Many Cash Denominations
We have: 1 pence, 2 p, 5 p, 10 p, 20 p, 50 p, 1 pound, 2 pounds...

And those are just the coins. Then we have bills for 5, 10, 20... and I'm sure more but I've never had that much money to my name.

Basically, our wallets/trousers (don't say pants here... that's just underwear and you'll sound silly) weigh a ton and we spend 4 hours everytime we check out somewhere trying to figure out what's what.

I think that's it unless I have any input from my fellow Londoners! Let me know!

Let the Internet era begin

2007-01-25T15:13:00.000Z

For a so-called civilized (civilised?) country, it sure is hard to get Internet here. Allow me to avail you with the tale of attempting to get Internet at 21 Queens Court. Let me take you back to a time, a time 10 days ago...

We're sitting in our rental agent's office, attempting to turn on our phone line. Our phone line, like everything else in Britain, is owned by BT, who is like God, only slower. It probably would have taken BT about 4 billion years to make Earth, instead of the week or so it took God. While on the phone with the friendly BT person (I say friendly because he had a British accent, which clearly makes anyone friendly), he alerts me that, because I am American, my credit card is worthless to BT. Something about the Revolution and the War of 1812 and Capital One. I think.

Luckily, our jolly landlord, who is in love with me (we're pretty sure) was there and he ever so graciously allowed us to use his debit card to pay the initial fee for the phone line. That got turned on in a day (speed like this has never been seen by BT), and we began the second stage of our quest - actually getting Internet.

The basic Internet here is provided by BT (of course). However, you have to sign a 12 month contract and they charge you some insane amount to turn it on. Somehow Greg found an actual alternative to BT - this service called Be which lets you cancel your account provided you give them 3 months notice. We attempted to sign up for that once our phone line got turned on and got told (dramatic music plays) that BT has not told them our phone line is on yet. Not to mention that I am calling them from my BT phone! Zzzzz...

2 days later, we finally get them to start the Internet turning on process. 7 days later? Actual Internet! Life is good.

Feeling very oriented

2007-01-24T20:42:00.000Z

Today I had orientation at my internship. Actually, they called it being inducted, but, to me, that sounds like being inducted into an honors society or something. Anyway, it was an awesome day. I got to meet a bunch of other people that work at the galleries and for the foundation and do teambuilding and other stuff with them. We did tours of the galleries, a scavenger hunt, and got to go up on the roof of the museum. From the roof you can see the Thames, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and St. Paul's Cathedral. It was absolutely gorgeous. And! One of the galleries features Impressionist art - Degas, Monet, Matisse - I was in paradise!

I had fun being the only American in a group of 15. The buiding was built in 1775 and features a statue of King George III, so I had several witty comments concerning that. I also got teased for my American accent and spelling, but in a friendly way. Everyone there is so nice and I'm having an absolute blast. It's making me think a lot more seriously about graduate school for public history.

Fun story from today: one of the galleries features a collection donated by an American - some real estate mongul. One of the women that was in the orientation group asked me if I knew him, and when I said no, she seemed surprised. Apparently all Americans know each other, or so it would seem.

I've been sort of sick lately, but I'm hoping to get over that by Saturday (the big 2-1!), so it's off to bed for me!

Working for a living

2007-01-22T20:56:00.000Z

Well, not really, seeing as I don't get paid at my internship. But, hey, it's pretty much my dream job. Just add a salary.

I'm working for a foundation that runs three galleries here in London in their marketing department. After some stress about whether or not I would actually have this internship, I started today and I am sooo happy. It's almost making me forget that I can't breathe out my nose. Almost.

(Side note: Europe + lots of smokers + me with a cold = sadness)

Anyway! I get to the office this morning in central London and take the lift up to the marketing department's office. There my advisor shows me to my own personal (!) desk next to a window that overlooks the Thames. If the door across the hall is open, which it usually is, I also have a clear view out over the courtyard to the other half of the building. It's absolutely gorgeous.

I love my internship coordinators who I share the office with. I think I might end up being their resident tech guru (how unusual!), but for today I stuck with data entry and website archiving. Wednesday I get to go on a huge orientation for anyone hired at the foundation in the last 2 months. It's pretty intense - 9-5 with a few breaks for lunch and tea (of course) to learn all about the history of the foundation, the galleries, etc. I can't wait! I also get a security pass that not only gets me into the galleries and up to my office, but it gives me free access into every museum and gallery in London!

The foundation also covers my lunch when I'm working as well as my tube costs to get to and from central London, which is awesome. Plus I love what I'm doing - and it was just the first day!

I was going to do a long post about the idiocyncracies of London, but I am currently too mad at the Internet. My wireless modem is somewhere in the British Isles. I think. Also pictures from clubbing this weekend to come - I caved to the whole leggings/miniskirt craze (I think Europe is having an effect on me). Previews of idiosyncracies to be described at a later date: hot/cold water, the Russian mob, the Circle line, and that damn @ key.

Tomorrow I've got 2 classes - and one's at the National Portrait Gallery! I'm definitley going to get back to IC in August and suffer culture shock from actually having to sit in a classroom.

I think that's all for now. In closing, I would like to point out that Danielle is in Singapore and Laurel is in India and the one that can't get on the internet is in London. That is all.

Now I see where that tornado came from...

2007-01-18T20:03:00.000Z

In case any of you missed it, a few weeks before I arrived here there was a tornado in London. Now I thought that was silly, because who ever heard of a tornado in Great Britain?

Today, I found out I was wrong.

According to news reports, there were wind gusts in excess of 99 MPH in and around London. These were winds that, like Ithaca winds, always seem to be blowing in your face. I wasn't too concerned until I attempted to leave the ICLC today to take the tube home. Unfortunately, I have to take the Circle line home, which, for you non-Londoners, is a tube line that actually started running in 1775. Or something like that. So of course, with the wind, it wasn't running. Not to worry, because it's only a half hour walk from the ICLC to my flat. So I head up the road to Hyde Park, my cut through to get home.

Wrong again!

Little did I know that London closes its parks in case of wind...I'm the kid that was on the beach during hurricanes when I was little, so this seemed a little extreme to me. Anyway. I have no idea how to get around this massive park to get home, but I figure, hey, it's a straight line home, I can do it.

Not so. London, as we have discovered, does not have straight lines. I walked straight in the direction that should have led to my flat, instead, I ended up much father west of it looking at a street sign that said my area was a mile back in the other direction. Thank goodness Andrew was in the flat with our multitude of maps and was able to get me back home.

I did see some cool shopping and pubs in the area I was wandering around in. I should be able to find it again if I try to get home without using the tube or Hyde Park.

Fortunately, I was only carrying my big black bag of doom, which weighs easily 100 pounds (4,245 kg or something), so now my back hurts.

Only one way to fix this... off to the pub!

Internship

2007-01-18T14:29:00.000Z

Everything's pretty much falling into place now. I got my internship at a foundation that runs 3 galleries, working in their marketing department on a rebranding project. For those of you that know what it is, pretty cool, huh?

My last class, Victorian Art and Society, seems very cool. Every class is held at a gallery or a museum, which is exactly what I wanted in an art history class over here in London.

Tonight we're hitting up a pub with live music. Tomorrow I think we're going to the British Museum and then a walk of the International Students' House at night (free beer, or so I'm told). Saturday is a walk around some other touristy parts of London I missed (more photos!) and Sunday there is apparently a walk around London's East End Markets. And next weekend, a very anticlimactic 21st birthday! (The drinking age here is 18 - sort of a letdown after 21 years of buildup in the states!)

Cheers!

First day of classes

2007-01-16T20:01:00.000Z

Today was my first day of classes (Monday will usually be an internship day... I hope!) I had 2... each for almost 3 hours - Sport Marketing and Modern British History.

Sport Marketing
This class is team taught by a sports lawyer and a guy that works for MLB. We met one of our profs today (the sports lawyer) and proceeded to be completely confused by the syllabus, which was written up by the guy that works for MLB. There are overlapping projects, random papers, and some sort of group project that I really really hope we get to pick our groups for. The MLB prof is also trying to get us tickets to the London Super Bowl party, which, if he is successful, will be mandatory, with a critque and case study due afterwards. This means I will have to go to a Sunday night game starting at 11 or 12 my time, getting home around 4 am, and going to work at 9 the next morning. I'll keep you all posted on that little adventure.

I did, however, get to match wits with some boys about sports trivia, which was fun. That class seems like it could be really cool, just because sport marketing is so different from any other type of marketing. Plus half of my classes are taught at MLB with a bunch of guest lecturers. Sweet.

Modern British History
This class features some people I've had class with who I really like and some people I've encountered that I really... don't like. Unfortunately, the latter may drive me insane. However, the professor is really cool and very smart - a great lecturer. Plus, every three weeks or so we meet for class at a museum. Awesome? I think so. It seems sort of work intensive as well, so much for a slacker semester abroad! (Not that I was counting on one - but it's nice to dream)

I also signed up for a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon for Feburary 2nd and 3rd. The 4th will be spent sleeping in preparation for the Super Bowl. Busy busy!

That's all for now... attempt number 1,835 to get Internet commences tomorrow morning!

They have some huge swans in London

2007-01-15T13:44:00.000Z

Greg and I walked to the ICLC through Hyde Park today (about a half hour walk) and discovered an interesting fact, well, 2 actually:
1. They have some massive swans here
2. Everything (EVERYTHING) is dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales. We are not kidding. We include the swans in this assumption.

This morning I had my internship interview. I had been told that you were virtually guaranteed to get your internship and that the interview was merely a formality. However, that's just not so, at least in my case. My interview is for a highly competitive internship (or so I was told), and I will be getting a call later in the week.

Unfortunately, this leaves me in a precarious position, as my internship is the main reason I'm here and a good portion of my credits for this semester. I'll keep you posted, but wish me luck!

On the way back I got to play with a British baby. That was fun :-) I was sitting on the Tube and he was next to me in a stroller, separated from me by a thick piece of clear glass (because London said so). I would put my hand up against the glass and he would put his on mine... it was quite possibly one of the cutest things in the world.

Attempting to get Internet for the flat today, but it requres a phantom land line phone number that we don't have. We're headed over to the realtor soon to see if they can help us out.

Touristing!

2007-01-14T14:45:00.000Z

Hey everyone! Some photos from Friday because Facebook is being mean to me... hopefully getting the Internet thing sorted out by next week some time. Until then, here's some lovely pictures:

Me and my pal Big Ben:

Me and a statue and the House of Parliament:

Andrew presenting a statue to me:

Alice and me and the ladies of WWII:

The boys (from left: Greg, Keighl, Andrew, and Tim)

Steps away from royalty:

We locked ourselves out again!

Lots of fotos... but more to come later!

No wireless!

2007-01-13T19:20:00.000Z

Hey everyone... I've got some bad news. Appears as though we won't be getting wireless in the flat and it's impossible to mooch it off our neighbors, who have all figured out the wonders of password protection. So, I'll be online as much as possible at the ICLC, which closes at 5:30 most of your times. Right now I'm online from the internet cafe next to my flat.

Yesterday we did all the touristy stuff in London - pictures to come Monday!

Home sweet home

2007-01-11T13:35:00.000Z

Warning: I'm going to be very photo-happy in this post... I'm sorry for any long load times!

We signed the lease on our new flat today and, as I've said before, it's amazing. Plenty of room, a great neighborhood, everything we could want. However, we were very unaware of the number of things left behind by previous tenants, such as:

The clock with only the number four:

The unicorn pillows (wonderfully modeled by Keighl and Greg):

Items in the front hallway, including an exercise bike, hutch (aka bar, I would think), big mirror, and ugly green couch; a hair dryer (score!), books, random furniture, and more! Complete photos here.

Tonight is orientation and tomorrow many more photos after we hit up all the touristy areas! (Come on, we have to try to catch a glimpse of the Queen!)

Day One/Two

2007-01-10T17:44:00.000Z

Okay.. so I already wrote this post once and Blogger was mean to me, so I’m going to do it again. If I leave anything out, forgive me, because this is the second time through.

Yesterday was probably the most stressful and tiring day I’ll spend in London this semester, but it was completely worth it. The way the Ithaca College London Program works is they give you 3 days when you first arrive to find a flat. They give you contact numbers, some listed properties, and a few maps… oh, and a good luck wish. It turns out that this is the best possible thing they could do – there is no way I could have acclimated to this country to the point I am now. We rode on the Tube, got lost, fixed it, and moved on. We called estate agents and arranged tours of flats and figured out how to get there (that was very impressive – I asked for directions twice and didn’t feel too embarrassed).

We checked out a total of 6 flats (I think – 30 hours of being awake plus jet lag does not equal a good memory). The first one was in Hammersmith, within walking distance of the Ithaca College London Center (ICLC). It was 2 stories, with a kitchen, bathroom, and common room on the first floor and a bedroom on the 3rd floor. I did take a few pictures of the really nice area it was in – here are my roommates:

Keighl and Andrew

Greg

So with the four of us, one bedroom was really not going to work. We got back on the Tube and made our way through this strange loop the Tube makes to get to Bayswater. Bayswater is a really diverse, sort of touristy area north of Hyde Park, near a lot of colleges. It’s in Zone 1, which is still Central London, a very safe area with tons of pubs, nightlife, and shopping. We went to an estate agency first – the college recommended several. They showed us 2 flats next door to each other that each had one bedroom. However, each bedroom had only one bed - not exactly the situation we were looking for! It was also very out of our price range (400 pounds a week total). We called several more agencies and went to see another flat. This one had 2 bedrooms, but the rent was 475, so we would have had to find a 5th person. The flat was not in the best shape, but it still remained a prospect.

By this point, we’re (I should elaborate – Andrew, Keighl, Greg, and me) all really tired, but I find the listing of an agent that’s on our way back to the Tube. We decided to stop by and continue the search the next day. The agent told us he has 2 flats available and sends us to go see them with his assistant. She took us into a building on the main road in town (Queensway) that has marble flooring and an actual working lift! The first flat had 2 double bedrooms, an enormous living room, and a nice kitchen. Then she took us to the second flat, and that’s when fate stepped in. It was next door to London’s only bowling alley, which, if you know me, is a sign of destiny. It’s on the 5th floor (but has a lift) and has a kitchen with actual wood cabinets, single bedroom (for me!) and a huge 2nd bedroom that will easily fit all 3 boys and has an amazing view. The common room is absolutely huge – it has a dining table and leather seating and 2 TVs. I can get Internet set up for an extra fee, but that’s totally worth it so I can keep you all informed! We decided to take the flat for exactly what we had laid out in our budget and we sign the lease tomorrow!

Last night we went to a pub to celebrate. I got fish and chips (I know! Me eating fish!) and a Newcastle (which was absolutely huge). After that, I pretty much came back and fell asleep immediately. This morning we had a big English breakfast, complete with really good bacon, tasty cereal, and oranges soaked in the most sour fizzy... syrup… on earth. They had eggs, too, but after Colin cooked for me all semester, they didn’t seem that good.

Today, Andrew, Greg and I went to the Museum of Natural History right down the street from our hotel. It was really big:

And I got into a fight with a bear:

So, overall, it was a very productive few days!

First day

2007-01-09T12:25:00.000Z

Don't have much time to post right now... three hours of restless sleep on an airplane plus the dire need to find a flat is weighing on my mind. But... I have made it to London safe and sound. I've already been over to the London Center, our hotel is gorgeous (Alice and I have the honeymoon suite), and we're spending this afternoon trying to find a flat. Wish me luck!

Tomorrow's the big day!

2007-01-08T01:42:00.000Z

Just a quick post before i take off for the wilds (well.. not really) of London. My flight leaves at 6:30 tomorrow night, and it's a 7 hour flight, so that gets me into London at about 6:30 London time. I have a few hours at our hotel and then orientation in from 9 to noon. After that... it's a mad rat race to find a flat... we have the rest of the day on Tuesday, most of Wednesday, and almost all of Thursday except for an ice cream social and pizza (!).

I have to say, I love how the orientation at the London Center isn't taking up all our time and letting us explore the city on our own. Tuesday night, one of my friends from IC, a London native, is going to show me the ropes of the London nightlife. Anyway, we have to find a flat in those few days, which is very intimidating, as we only have a hotel stay through Friday. I'm hoping we can find something in the first few days to reduce the pressure.

I'll post as soon as I can... from LONDON!

2 weeks?!

2006-12-26T03:02:00.000Z

I can't believe that there are only 2 weeks left until my flight to London. Christmas today (and yesterday) with both sides of my family was great... the theme definitely was preparing me for studying abroad and interning. Lots of amazing professional clothes, travel books (Lonely Planet - London, Rome, and Athens), a big urbanite bag, a new watch - all new things for the new city girl.

I also took some time to do some flat hunting last night online and e-mailed about two flats. One's probably too good to be true so I'm not jinxing it by talking about it now (but if it does work out, I'll let you know!) and the other is an open room in a flat with 3 Ph.D. students. While I do want to live with Ithaca kids, maybe living with some students at other schools who are maybe more acclimated to London will be a good experience. We will see what happens - I'm not putting down any deposits until we get there.

So the next few days I'll be running errands (traveler's checks, getting organized, etc.) then up to Groton for a few days, and back on January 3rd to pack like crazy!

I have classes!

2006-12-13T22:59:00.000Z

Today I finally got to register (finally!). My schedule worked out pretty well, even though I had to switch one art history course for another. Here's how it's looking:

Monday: Work Placement (aka internship, but, hey, when in London... speak as the Brits speak?)
Tuesday: Sport Marketing 9:30-12:15; British History 1914-Present 1:45-4:30
Wednesday: Work Placement
Thursday: Victorian Art and Society 10:30-1:15
Friday: Nothing! (aka travel... lots and lots of travel!)

I LOVE my schedule because it leaves so much time to travel and explore London. So, yay! Classes!

40 days!

2006-12-04T00:53:00.000Z

As of Friday, it was officially 40 days until I land in London, hopelessly lost, pretty much homeless, confused, jetlagged... and so very excited. In the first week, we'll be finding a flat, finding our way around a new city, and finding out what British food is really like.

In addition to classes, I start an internship at a museum in late January, working in their marketing department.

A new country, new job, new culture? I can't wait!