Sunday we went took a tour to visit Stonehenge and the Roman baths. For as cool as rock formations can get Stonehenge was the tits. It was a beautiful sunday morning in Salisbury and it was entirely farmland. Cows, sheeps, pigs....Farmville heaven. Stonehenge was incredible. You really can't believe that the rocks are still intact after all those years and of course i acted like a complete American tourist taking crazy pics by it.






With then proceeding to Bath, England. That baths we saw there were beautiful and we found they were once all used for public bathing even though they looked like lavish hotel pools. A hot spring ran into the biggest pool and the water really felt like bath water. We also drank a cup of the spring water because supposedly it has natural healing powers. It tasted terrible though!


Also in Bath was saw crazy street performers such as magicians, musicians, and a crazy tightrope walking balancing volinist. We also saw part of a France vs. Bath rugby game! Of course Zee French had fabulous pink uniforms.






We ended our day in Bath at these awesome gardens. Very pretty flowers and wicked cool topiaries.





On Wednesday we had a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. We got to stand where the gremlings stood...very cool. We also saw the play Cymbaline that night. It was totally a jerry springer of shakespeares time.




Now time for my 4 day weekend :)

Cheers!

salmon and tobacco

Last week was fantasic!! we went to Platform 9 3/4 (big fun) Also, we visited Abbey Road!!! It was wonderful. we all dressed up and took about 100 shots till it was perfect.



We also stopped by the American sports bar to catch the sad Bosox game.

This week we saw two plays; An Inspector Calls and Miss Julie. Strangely both plays are about suicide....oh the depressing brits. However the plays were really different than US plays so it was interesting.

Along with my dislike for how unorganized the UK is....the tube caught on fire Thursday in the most popular platform, King's Cross. Well of course this meant that the world was over and the platform was pure chaos so I opted to just take the bus...

Also Thursday and Friday our school went on strike! yay unions! well, we were told there was going to be crazy picketing and to not show up to school because if we did we would get stuff thrown at us (classy)....clearly i was gonna head to school to get in on the action. well when i got to school...no riots, no pickets, no fun......the brits can't even do a strike right!!!! Well anyways I went to class but my teacher didn't show up woohoo!

This weekend we discovered the most amazing store called Primark. Forever 21 on crack. It was the most amazing this ever. Discounts, cute clothes, sequins!! Lisa and i seriously spent 3+ hours in there.

Oh yea also this weekend we were a little 'too" loud and there were many noise complaints about our room. So as a punishment administration locked up our windows. Even better, my room smells like tobacco and salmon. Now I'm trapt in a salmony tabacco filled sweatshop staring out of a window that once was opened and once allowed a nice soft breeze that came off of the Dirrrrrrrrty Thames river. I swear i'll never be loud again, pause not.

Cheers!

back to schoooool

I can't believe that my summer has lasted this long! Tuesday was my first class called Art in London. It's going to be really cool as the teacher takes us to all the art galleries around London.

Today I had Art, Design and Media in Context which I thought was looking at artwork and commercials and analyzing how its portrayed to the media. WELL it turned out to be a 45 min discussion on Burberry and the rest of the time comparing jewelry. My entire class is fashion/textile/jewelry maker majors. ah

After that I had theater in London which is also going to be awesome since our teacher will take us to all the great London plays including Shakespeare Globe theater.

The wonderful, weird and wacky:
1. I got 12 kiwis for 1 pound!
2. Couples in London look alike
3. People walk up the left side of the stairs and down the right side.
4. My school gives away shots and pitchers of beer as prizes for BINGO
4. There are no trash cans because the Irish used to put bombs in them so London decided to just screw it and take the cans away.
5. I swear the Gieco caveman is in my jewelry/design class

Cheers!

Brussels and Amsterdam

Well these past few days have been a blur....starting with Wednesdays night at 8:00pm we decide to walk to the train station just for fun. Once at the station, we were offered an incredible deal to go to Amsterdam; however, we'd have to be back at the station at 4:45 am. Obviously we all booked it!! And at 4:45am we were back at the train station all packed in one backpack....how rugged

In order to catch the train to Amsterdam we had to take a train to Brussels; Belgium. It was fantastic. We spent the entire day walking around Brussels which included eating actual Belgium waffles and chocolate for breakfast and seeing the Manneken-Pis statue which is known as the "Pissing Boy" because he actually pees water. There was also lots of great grafitti in Brussels.

Best of all....I found my beloved Paprika Pringles which isn't sold in America or the UK so I was veryyyy excited.

After a long day in Brussels we head to Amsterdam. The train ride was everything I dreamed of....windmills and cows, windmills and more cows. (But oh how beautiful those windmills and cows make Holland!)

Once we arrived in Amsterdam we walked around looking for a decent hostel to sleep in. All the cool ones were book so we were feeling discouraged until we wlaked into "Bob's Hostel" (sound sketchy?????) Well it was!!!! creepy, smelly men were just sitting at tables staring at us as we walked thru soo we ran away and stayed the night in a hotel!

Friday and Saturday we did alot of sigthseeing and shopping. Of course wooden shoes/ clogs were in all the gifts shops. We also went to the Sex museum, Van Gogh museum, Anne Frank's House, and some coffeshops. We also found a wonderful hostel that fit all 9 of us in one room. Leopard sheets and all!!!

OH and of course the RED LIGHT DISTRICT!! Possible one of the most entertaining nights. We just camped out and watched as prostitutes tried to coerce men into their cubby. Quite gross and quite sad, although very entertaining. One girl tried to call us in after all the men left and she had no business, that's when we decided to probably head back home. The streets actually glow red from the lights and the alleys were lined with prostitutes. It was crazy.

Saturday night we went back to Brussels and spent the night in the train station. I've never been so cold in my life but how awesome is it that i can wake up in a train station in Brussels!! woo

Now i'm in my bed...all clean...and finally warm...time for a fat nap :-)

Cheers

Monday we went to the Prime Meridian. Surprisingly once we were in Greenwich, many people had no idea what the PM was!!! I was shocked. As usual, I can always count on my middle aged women to get me where I want to go so we eventually got some good directions.

As expected the PM was very anti-climatic; however, you had to climb a huge hill to get to the marking so the view of the London skyline made up for it.

(skyline)


(The long awaited PM)


I also saw my first natural chestnuts along the way up the hill.


On our way home we stopped at this amazing sushi place and all the sushi was on conveyor belts. yummy yummy



Tuesday we started orientation. It was soooooooooo boring but we met alot of cool people. I bet two girls from Norway, Ingred and Francheska and also a woman from Isreal named Rina. We also met lots of Americans, specifically from SanFran, Penn, and Wisconsin. After all the abroad students went to the student pub and some of us crashed an industry party in the school courtyard....yes we all scored lots of free food!!!!! wooo

Camden Market!

This weekend we went to the Camden Market which were absolutely AMMMMMMAZINGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!! It was a USA flea market X 1000!!! great food, clothes, crapolaaaa.....it was a shopper's heaven!!!

Spotted Dick

Thursday was a lot of fun. After class sessions we ate lunch in Bowling green park. It's called that because people actually bowl on the lawn theyt have. (Game is similar to bocce) The park was filled with businessman also eating lunch and it was very beautiful.



After that we went to Tower Bridge and then Tower of London. If was so coooooll! Inside the Tower of London I saw Beefeaters, a holding cell of thieves under water, where beheading took place, armour, medieval weapons, and the ROYAL family jewels!!! The jewels were incredible and consisted of rings, crowns, staffs and sooo much crazy cool stuff. I also saw the biggest diamond in the world.



For dinner we went to this pub. I got fried eggs, bacon, chips, and peas, which were soooo good. They almost looked fake. Our table also ordered our first pitchers of delicious fruit mixed drinks!! One was called Tutti Frutti.



After we went on the “Jack the Ripper Walk.” We followed the trail of the serial killer and saw pictures of the victims. It was very creepy and gruesome. HOWEVER, on our walk we also saw a church where the zombie movie 28 days was filmed AND where Diagon Alley and Olivander’s from Harry Potter were!! Wooo



On our way home we were all walking and some random guy comes out of nowhere and just busts a move and starts dancing with cigarette in hand next to Lisa. It was wicked funny.

Yesterday was also lotssss of fun!!!! We went to Canary Wharf, a large business and shopping development in East London. There we went to a Docking Museum....it was a bit boring, but we learned that houses were once constructed actually on London bridge, pretty cool. And we heard lots about Britain's involvement with the triangle trade and slaves.

After that we went to a beautiful church where some of the Divinci Code was filmed.



Then we went to this old pub called Ye Old Chesire Cheese. People such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Voltaire, some popes, and all the past kings and queens since 15something!! The pub was great I got mushroom stroganoff for dinner and of course....Spotted dick for dessert!! wooo Spotted dick was pretty good. It was like bread pudding with raisins over a bed of custard.



AT night time we decided to go to a club called Funky Buddah!!! dnhaudheu ahhh SOOO expensive! We missed getting in for free cover charge so we had to pay 20 pounds!!! But it was a good experience. The music was great and the london going out outfits were awesome to see!! On the way home we kept missing like all 14 buses that drove by us and we ended up walking home 2.1 miles! my feet are definitely feeling the repercussions of it today. But i was a lot of fun and every needs a good wlak now and then. Oh yeah i did the walk barefoot too!

CHEERS!!

SCUUUUZEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Today we saw where the great London fire started in 1666 and we got to see some futuristic buildings next to the old colonial flats. The village is all mixed together which is pretty cool.

We ate lunch in the square that has the FANTASTIC store i shopped at the other day...Not going back in was torture!!!! But i got a fantastic gourmet panini. Londoners know how to do their sandwiches up!


At the end of our day walk a man with a GIANT trash bin was walking on the sidewalk. AS he passes us he yell SCUZEEEEE' and jammed the bin into my friend. She just stood there being 'like what the hell' as she was stuck in bags of trash. I've haven't laughed that hard since the scooter incident (see below). After their tango with the trash ended, he just went along his merry way.



Tonight we went to the theatre and saw BILLY ELLIOT. This was one of the most amazing play everrrrrrrr filled with singing, dancing, flips, and a cute little 5-yr old boy. Also British people LOVE their snacks. Everyone was snacking during the show just like in a move theatre; however, this caused us some problems.... at intermission my friend Brian informed me that the lady (OLD COOT i should say) in front of us was giving Lisa and I the stink eye because of our crackling packages. WELLLLL when the woman returned back to her seat from the loo, I gave her a smile and she just shook her head at me and said SOME MANNERS! well poo pooo to u woman!!! At least I send positive vibes too the world rather than giving old nasty woman a more nasty name!


Well the play ended awesomely!! CHEERS!

Out and About

Last night we were all awoken by some man rapping on our chamber doors. i can't see through the peephole so i ask who it was and he said Its Kevin!! (like i know who Kevin is) He then says I work for Acorn (our flat office) and i live below you.....this all means nothing to me. so i said what's up Kevin??? and hes like can you let me in i think you have a leak.
OKAY I may not always have commonsense, but i know never to open the door to a strange man. So i told kevin no i dont think we have a leak. He persisted on being let in so Lisa and I called upon our other flatmate to tell him to go away. When she came out he started to list facts that proved he knew us and our professor and canisius. He seemed legit, but you can't be too sure. So i ran to kitchen to hide and grab soem kitchen knives and then we let him in...He checked out bathroom and left. We immediately locked all windows and doors

Today we find out that....
yes his name was Kevin.
yes he worked for Acorn.
yes he lived in Flat no. 1 right below us and
yes it was dripping into his room....on his head in his bedroom. (HAHA!)


Today we visited parliament which was cool since thats what one of my fav movies, V for Vendetta, blew up. We stood in the great hall where the queen gives her speeches and where the queen mum was (put on display???) when she passed.




We saw some secret doors in the walls and one of the queen's thrones. We also saw the magna carta.

We also saw some guards dressed up in napoleon costumes. There were't like Buckingham guards, but they also could not move or have a reaction.




After that we went to Trafalgar Square, which is the heart of London.



Cheers!

cage shoes, black jeans, bomber jacket= <3

Today we did a big walking tour of the financial district...We then had some tea and biscuits with some public affairs guy of London! I actually was given sugar cubes for my tea...awesomeeeee!

Then we got a tour of the bank of england. I got to lift a 28 lb brick of gold worth over $240,000!! woo wooo

After that we made a lovely excursion to New Look.....the forever 21 of London. 3 floors.......a section dedicated to shoes....heaven.

3 hours later....and a wallet much lighter but bags muchhh muchhh fulllerrr :-), we head for some sushi and then home!!

Great Day...cheers!!

First day

Today I didn't think my day could get any better but then I found out that my subway stop is at King's Cross......yes the King's Cross from HP with platform 9 3/4!!!! so cool.

We took a stroll downtown and I saw where Braveheart was slaughtered and had his innards pulled out. neat! We also saw many churches that got bombed....(i forget by whom and I forget the name)....Then we walked across Millennium Bridge which also is a HP reference, and I got to see the London Bridge in the distance. London bridge was not all it's cracked up to be. Honestly Tower Bridge kicked London Bridge's ass. no wonder everyone wanted it to fall down.

After we got across we were bombarded by so many crazy street performers like in Central Park. My fav guy played the rocky theme some when a jogger would run by. How inspiring.

We also saw the London Eye which is a giant ferris wheel that over looks London. then we went onward towards BIG BENNNN! wooo

Later on we went to Buckingham Palace. It was so cool seeing the guards. It was not cool not getting to see harry or prince willy.

WARNING THIS IS POLITICALLY INCORRECT, BUT QUITE AMUSING!!!!.................................................. So we decide to sit on the curb for a little bit of rest. All through the buckingham walk i saw this woman zipping by me in her "elderly" scooter. Now as i'm sitting on the stoop she goes zipping by again going the other way....within 10 min she's coming back for another joyride.....luck would have it the scooter starts going beep beep beep beep beep beep beep and halts and jolts the woman. the scooter just ran out of batteries.........she had to be pushed to the tube.

After all that jazz we decided to go shopping at the renowned HARRODS!!!!! On the way there I saw two men squeeze into the classic red telephone booth. I laughed and as i wlaked by decided the AWESOME thing to do was knock on it............not so awesome. About 1/4 mile down the road i forget what i had down and GUESS WHO is in the next telephone booth.....CREEPY. They started to heckle me a bit and then started to follow BUT wouldn't you that he was a fellow Pole. How could one polish person be upset with another! He barely spoke english but he still yelled at me for my pronunciation of Pierogi.

We then explored Harrods for awhile. I saw how amazing it truly was. 5 floors of shopping....food...clothes... and shoes...God Bless the Queen

The fine art of packing light....