last tuesday & wednesday in london :(

Early tuesday morning I hadta find my way outta Mira's gated in dorm and then to the tube, change incredibly crowded trains about 4 times, and had just enough time to run back to the flat, change clothes, grab my paper and go to Media & Society. I randomly ran into the UNC girl that I'd met on my way back from Barcelona, so that was neat. Mo's class was so sad..we all went around and said what our London experience has meant to us..then he took us all to the British Museum cafe and bought us drinks. Then Sara, Hannah & I went to get one last hummus bros for lunch..it was sad because I was one punch away from a free hummus and my favorite worker was less than amused at us begging..but I did end up getting a free hummus..watched a bunch of the inbetweeners..then went to my last class. Turned in my clockwork orange paper and we watched the movie Adaptations in class. I don't usually care much for Nicholas Cage but I did like it a lot. Hannah & I went to Westminster Abbey after class for the 5 PM Evensong. One of those things we'd talked about doing all semester but hadn't. It was a neat experience..a beautiful setting and great acoustics..didn't feel anything spiritual but I'm glad we went. After that Sara & I went to see the play that my film professor wrote, "Maddening Rain". I really liked it a lot- the entire play was just one man talking to the audience and the set was just a bunch of blinds hanging up behind him and lights..so it was an extremely talented actor to pull that off and make it work, but it really did..very thought provoking and interesting. Then Sara got thai food and I got egg fried rice, then we went to O'Neills for a last night of free music. The abbreviated version of events: creepy Canadian guy with a bleeding eyebrow piercing wouldn't leave me alone, creepy married man wouldn't leave me alone and tried to start fights, creepy dancing guy wouldn't leave me alone, spanish guy saved me, talked to 3 lithuanians who were convinced that America's much better than any part of Europe, carolers tried to pickpocket me, Sara & I hung out with an actor and his girlfriend and friend who buys chinese food when he gets upset (the actor said his name was John Lowe..not sure of his real name..trying to figure out..)...and that's basically it. Wednesday, our entire group met in the graffiti tunnel to take our group picture and spray paint.! :D Afterwards I took Sara to Food for Thought (my london version of the little grill!!) and it was so amazing.! again :) We browsed around a neat bookstore for awhile, then I tried to pack a bit (O_o), we had our group meeting, then everyone went to Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park and we all went iceskating.! :D It was so much fun and beautiful with all of the lights and Christmas decorations up.! After that, Sara, Hannah & I went on this awesome ride that spun you around crazily in the air flipping and circling super fast.! We walked around for a long time after just enjoying everything.

PAUL MCCARTNEY....!!!!! :D

Amsterdam..what an experience. It really was an artsy, lovely city architecturally. I enjoyed the Van gogh museum a lot, and it was beautiful just walking around with all the Christmas lights and graffiti and decorated buildings and makeshift Christmas villages. It was rainy and cold the entire weekend though and I'm sad I didn't get to experience all of the tulips since I went there in december...Sara & I had fun trying all the free samples of homemade cheese and chocolate too.! Then as soon as we got back on Sunday I had to spend the rest of the night finishing up two papers. Monday morning was Tancred's politics final that I didn't study for at all..I don't feel too bad about it but I feel like no one learned anything in that class..I worked more on my papers, and then at 4 had a theater final that I also didn't study for at all..I don't really know how you could though, because she just took quotes from reviews of different shows we've been to and asked us to discuss our thoughts on the quote in depth and whether we agree or disagree with the statement and why..so it wasn't too bad..I finished early though and didn't want to be the first to turn in my papers but was so anxious and excited for PAUL MCCARTNEY.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so I turned in my final and rushed to Pret, grabbed a takeaway falafel sandwich and salt & vinegar chips, and hurried onto the tube to the O2 arena.! It's a pretty long ride but I made it to the arena before the doors were even opened. I bought a tshirt, a poster & a tour guide book.! :D OHMYGOSH. I found my seat, then Renee texted me and I sat by her and we talked and chilled until right before the show started. I went back to my seat and was prepared to be AMAZED. and AMAZED I was, OH MY BROTHERs.! I still can't believe it was real and that it happened and even as it was happening..OHMYGOSH.! Paul rushed out on stage singing Hello Goodbye.! his family was app in the audience. There were flashing lights, strobe lights, fireworks..! Paul played Here Today dedicated to John Lennon, and then later on ukulele dedicated Something to George Harrison.! He played paperback writer, drive my car, back in the USSR, band on the run, live and let die, jet, daytripper, the long and winding road, i've got a feeling, helter skelter, blackbird, a day in the life, in my life, I've just seen a face, hey jude, let it be and MORE! it was the quickest 3 hours of my life. He came back on stage for two encores, the first of which he was joined on stage with Ron Wood from the Rolling Stones to play Get Back :) the show finally ended with golden slumbers and an outpour of confetti rained from the ceiling..and it was SO GREAT.! It just felt so surreal dancing the entire time and knowing that I was witnessing a beatle, a musician great, sir paul mccartney, literally a piece of history..and at the same time, he's just a guy..who's still doing what he loves at his age and loving it- dancing and all..and good for him.! It was such an AMAZING unforgettable show :D afterwards I met up with Mira and her friend from Denmark, Julie. We had to queue for forever to get on the tube leaving the O2, and a creepy man followed us for a bit O_o. We eventually had to run to get away from him, and then just headed to their dorms and watched some of the George Harrison documentary "Living in the Material World".!

last week..

On Monday morning, I had a Media & Politics presentation with Hannah on the Leveson Inquiry, dealing with phone tapping and other unethical, intrusive methods of the press to gain information. Fun times. That night our theater class went to see War Horse. It was AMAZING..they've spent two years intensely studying horses' movements and mannerisms and even though you could clearly see the people handling the vaguely horse shaped bamboo structures, you believed in the portrayal and the story itself. It was incredibly moving and wonderful. On Tuesday in class we watched a Black Adder film, then in film class we saw We Need to talk about Kevin..it was incredibly twisted and dark and strange and I'm still not sure how I feel about it..I don't know if it's right to say that I enjoyed it but I'm glad that I saw it..the cinema itself was really interesting too- there were pictures from the film and the walls were decorated like one of the scenes. Wednesday morning Sara and I went to the Stephen Wiltshire gallery that Hannah had told us about. It was so INCREDIBLE..he's an amazing artist..he's autistic, but so gifted and can look at a cityscape for 20 minutes and completely recreate it. For art class we tried to go to different galleries that were closed because of the protesting going on, but got to see more of the National Portrait Gallery. I'm glad we got to go back because we saw a lot more than what Sara and I saw the week before. Then Rachel took the whole class to the cafe for tea and scones :) Thursday I finally made it to Food for Thought..the vegetarian restaurant that I've wanted to go to all semester..and I wish I'd gone sooner..it was SOOOOO GOOD.!! I got a portabella bake and a salad mix that the worker suggested and sat outside enjoying it watching people put up Christmas lights around Neal's Yard. :) Then Sara & I were on our way to Heathrow airport for a weekend in Amsterdam.

Barcelona with devonteon.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

I know this is outta order and as always, way abbreviated but LAST WEEKEND.! It's always always an adventure with me..never a dull moment.! First off, I headed off into the night in a taxi at 3:45 AM Friday morning after a restful hour and a half of sleep. After paying the taxi I realized he'd dropped me off at Victoria..which is not where I asked to be dropped off at. Completely lost with barely any money and only 20 minutes to find out how to catch my bus and running around everywhere following random people's conflicting instructions...anyways. A nice busdriver told me if I caught a taxi I might still be able to make it there so he hailed me one and ended up where I needed to be with an entire minute to spare.! The view from the plane window was so gorgeous- flying over snow capped mountains to beautifully sunny Barcelona! A short wait in the airport and was then reunited con mi Devonito for a weekend jaunt! no big deal you know, just country hopping. We checked into our fancy adorable bed and breakfast that most assuredly thought we were a prude confused couple, and that's when it happened. When I fell in love...with...Francisco! Of course that's his name..it had to be. *Sigh. What an incredibly sexy charming man. Actually he just worked there..but my Spanish true love..oh Pacoito..*sigh. EVERYONE was so gorgeous it was insane. Devon and I headed out in search of tapas, walked down las ramblas, and checked out the mercat de la boqueria, which was AWESOME. Full of fresh fruit, vegetables, chocolate, cuts of meat, and seafood that upon closer inspection was still twitching in the ice O_o. We got a chirimoya to share later- so good.! & insanely good gelato..! We walked around a lot enjoying the weather, sights, and sounds (foster the people & creepy annoying vendors with distortedly squeaky mouth whistles) of Spain- saw the Christopher Columbus statue (where he supposedly reported his trip to the Americas to Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand), the port vell, the Arc de Triomf and more.! We almost saw a spanish concert in Santa Maria del Mar- turns our they were rehearsing 3 hours early.? Saw breakdancers, walked by the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, then met up with Devon's friend from W&M Amanda, and walked around a lot more before ending up at a delicious tapas place projecting freakeh images on the walls with delicious food (patatas bravas.!) and a unique server to say the least. Then we ended up at an Australian themed bar with angry bartenders and a tiny pitcher of sangria and then an accidental free glass of sangria that kept spilling on the table. Saturday, after a lovely free breakfast complete with Magdalenas, we met up with Amanda and had an AMAZING time looking at so much of Gaudi's architecture- all of it was so fantastically beautiful and different and I loved it.! reminded me a bit of hundertwasser in Austria. We saw Casa Batllo, La Pedrera, and La Sagrada Familia. At La Sagrada Familia, we realized that we had been looking at the wrong side of the building trying to find the images talked about in Devon's guide to Barcelona book, but we were then able to fully appreciate the architecture and symbolism of the structure once we walked around the building. Park Guell was SO beautiful too once we hiked and escalatored all the way up there- such a view, and mosaics and designs everywhere in the curved benches of the outlook. And we were serenaded by beautiful dancing dredlocked hippie spainards playing bongos, guitar, bass, and a digeridoo.! We stopped for a late lunch and I got a delicious queso manchego bocadillo, then we kept exploring and walked on the beach right at sunset. I splashed in the cold Mediterranean Sea & Devon and Amanda did not. A creepy fat completely naked man walked by..yes. Late november on the beach. O_o. We took awhile finding 'the magic fountain' in Montjuic but when we found it it was SO worth it.! (http://www.dotting.me/en/photo-8291.html) There were SO many gorgeous fountains everywhere with an amazing light show and oddly enough obscure 80's American music..then opera..then slightly spanish sounding ballads..It was so wonderful though and incredibly beautiful, sitting on the steps enjoying the colorful streams of water with friends in Spain..*sigh. I keep thinking about the weekend and what was my favorite part and so much of it was..Then we went to get a late dinner- another highlight, AMAZING fresh seafood Paella right by the coast itself (it was so much seafood but I had to, and it was well worth it, I wish I could have swam in the deliciousness of it all. Devon named his shrimp with head still intact Francisco) and sangria and then we split a crema catalona- typical catalon dessert. Then we walked around for FOREVER trying to find the fabled crazy nightlife of Barcelona. Everywhere we found was full of creepy old people or extremely expensive..Devon & I ended up going into a literal garage and what we think quite possibly may have been an Anti-American party. There was music, people dancing, red white and blue lights and it was the sketchiest of settings but I enjoyed that a lot..random half closed garage door hole in the wall. Sunday we walked around the markets more, and spent most of the day in the Parc de la ciutadella- which was gorgeous, like the rest of Barcelona.! The park had lots of interesting buildings, including the parliament de catallunya. As we walked further in, there was a gigantic pond surrounded by palm trees where you could rent boats out to paddle around in. There was an adorable girl yelling "Hola pato! hola pato! hola patito!" at the ducks swimming by. Then we discovered the cascada- yet another gorgeous fountain hidden away in the park, featuring a statue of Venus and a golden horse drawn chariot on top. We spent a lot of time watching little kids freak out about the gigantic bubbles people were making, which was adorable :) There was a pavilion full of people salsa-ing nearby, and then later, we were entertained by a man doing the most intensely thorough pre-stretching I've ever seen. I don't think he ever did any kind of exercise..he made a show out of it all and there's no way he wasn't aware of his captive audience as he squatted, hopped, and boxed his way around. There was also an adorable dog who kept fetching out of water nearby that was 54x's more active than that athlete could ever hope to be. Amanda & I got gofres amb xocolata amb gelat for lunch (insanely delicious waffles topped with chocolate and icecream-I got tiramisu gelat) what a messily wonderful experience.! All too soon..barcelona was over..but it was an amazing time :) I feel so inadequate compared to so many different people I've met that are fluent in several different languages, and to Devon and Sara who are at least nearly fluent in other languages despite their protests that they aren't quite. Well I was super impressed with Devon even though Barcelona speaks Castilian rather than Spanish.

Check this out.! -> (http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/maps/barcelona-map.html)

Paris.!

We made it to Paris at 11PM thursday evening after a long train ride full of paper writing and an episode of the inbetweeners.! We were staying in a nice albeit slightly out of the way international hostel..they had left us all dinner but Lindsay grabbed the only vegetarian one..so I ate a lot of bread. Hannah Sara and I shared a room, and I got a top bunk, so that was exciting.! Friday morning we had a lovely breakfast of croissants, nutella, rolls, jam, and cereal, then headed off to Sainte Chapelle.! Walking over there, our group ran into the JMU Salamanca group- so I got to see Olivia for a few minutes :) Sainte Chapelle was an absolutely gorgeous church- it has the most extensive collection of 13th century stained glass in the world. Definitely yet another example where pictures can't even begin to do justice. Then there was a break for lunch and Hannah, Sara & I found a cute cafe to get delicious fresh sandwiches at. Then it was off to the Musee D'Orsay where we spent a long time looking around- at interesting intricate ball rooms, statues, (my favorite being a speared man fending off a crocodile with a baby wielding woman standing nearby), and an impressionist gallery including Monet, Vangough, and soo much more.! I really enjoyed it a lot. After awhile we headed to the Louvre! The pyramid building itself is gorgeous and it was unreal seeing a quick tour of so many famous artworks- the Mona Lisa (.!!!), Michelangelo's the slave statue, venus de milo, cupid and psyche...! Hannah, Sara & I ended up at a nice french restaurant after following conflicting directions from 3 different frenchmen..Sara kept calling the waiter Dominique "mon ami!" and I think they really got a kick out of her french- we got a picture with Dominique too, and Hannah & I got nutella crepes.! :D Hannah's french soulmate sat by her on the metro (he had glasses, a nerdy look to him, and even a book in his right hand so he fit her qualifications to a tee) and she kept frantically asking me how to say things in french..she butchered the delivery so he was confused and then she said in English he was cute right when she was getting off the metro..it was cute. :) Sara & I went out that night down a street that college students had suggested to us. I pulled a Simon from the Inbetweeners because they definitely wouldn't let me into a club because I had chucks on. It was fun walking in and out of places and around though. On Saturday after a croissant, nutella, and hot chocolate breakfast of french champions, we toured Notre Dame which was really interesting. Really more because of all we've heard of it than anything else, but it was neat. We walked up to the Eiffel Tower which was a beautiful view, and also a surreal object to be viewing in real life. It's as if you weren't really seeing it, it's been hyped up so much in your mind and then there it is. Then we explored the Musee du Quai Branly which was incredible and a very different kind of museum..really awesome..We got tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower, and the view up there was incredible and beautiful and the sun was just setting, and the lights turned on while we were still up there..and then right before we were ready to head down I realized that all my IDs were missing..so that was a huge mess..Sara talked to everyone in french, who were all apathetic and told us over 10 ppl a day get their wallet stolen and told us to go to other ppl who told us to go to other ppl.. O_o then we missed our free dinner because of all that ordeal so we snuck bread, cheese & wine into our room..then my computer kept bluescreening when I tried to turn it on..so I just decided not to really mentally deal with any of that. Then Sara and Hannah fell asleep at 10..and I sat there for forever..Sunday Hannah, Sara & I walked around a lot, down Champs-Elysees- one of the most famous streets in Paris, Hannah and Sara bought french fries in France, went to the Palais de Tokyo which was an amazing art exhibit, and the Musee d'Art Moderne too, right beside it. We went back to the Eiffel Tower and they sent us to a ridiculously far away police station in the sketchiest of garages where policemen were playing tag with each other but wouldn't file a report for my missing wallet because I'd have to come back tomorrow to do that...we were near a gorgeous green park though, Les Invalides, and just that view made the trip more than worth it. People were playing soccer, and it was near sunset and so green and amazingly beautiful..We walked down by the Seine and reveled in the beauty of it all- definitely very easy to see how so many artists were inspired by it's sight. It really was an artistically gorgeous trip.!

week before Barcelona.!

So this is wayyy abbreviated and out of order like normal..but this was from the week before last week..before Barcelona.! Monday we went to the Imperial War Museum with class and then that night we saw the play One Man, Two Guvnors. It was SO funny- the actors were all excellent caricatures and there were lots of physical comedy and improv. They brought out a woman from the audience who was so incredibly convincing as a reluctant nervous participant- the actors sprayed her with a fire extinguisher..turns out she was an actress herself but we didn't know til the end. Tuesday we went to the Saatchi Gallery which I really enjoyed a lot- esp. Dirk Bell's work. Lots of more modern work. For film class we saw One Day with Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway. I LOVE jim sturgess but not so much anne hathaway..at all..and she had about 7 different accents throughout the film. I did enjoy it though, and it was neat recognizing different places we've recently been in Europe- like Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.!
Wednesday Sara and I went to the National Portrait Gallery. We looked around and had a good time and enjoyed browsing through the bookstore too- looked through Paul's daughter Mary McCartney's photography book. Then Sara and I went to O'Neills for a delicious butternut squash and pumpkin risotto lunch. We went to the Tate Modern for art class- enjoyed looking at the Gerhard Richter exhibit...so incredible. After our weekly meeting, Sara and I rushed off to the Roundhouse to see La Soiree. It was HILARIOUS and well worth the money. Everyone in the show was so incredibly talented, circus-like and since it's a small venue we were really close to everything. Thursday morning Hannah and I went to Primark and went on a crazy shopping spree..it's gigantic and cheap and amazing london clothes everywhere.! Then I bought some food for our flat's lovely Thanksgiving dinner and peeled 2 gigantic bags of potatoes and made a VAT of homemade mashed potatoes, brown sugar glazed carrots, and corn. I skyped with my family- the first 10 minutes of which Mom, Uncle Henry, Kathy & Chris were perplexedly staring at the screen with no sound..hah. There ended up being about 15 of us- Karlyn brought a tiny turkey, Lexi and her friend brought salad and bread, June brought chocolate cake and different vegetables, Briton brought cookies, Mira & Carolina came too and brought wine, Hannah brought chicken, Sara's friend Ahmina made apple crisp, Seana made stuffing, Kat brought wine too..and I put out the decorations, plates and napkins that Rhonda sent me- it was a fun time.! :) Then after a lovely full hour and a half of sleep it was into a taxi and onto Barcelona.!!!

lots of strangeosities...

Wednesday morning I GOT MY PAUL MCCARTNEY TICKET IN THE MAIL.!!!!!!! :D what a wonderful way to start the day- I CAN'T WAIT.!!!! :) then I wandered around Harrod's a bit more and found way more rooms than last time- found an entire other room full of crazy expensive art and sculptures. There was an awesome chess set held up by a giant hand with hands making different gestures for each piece. And apparently Bob Dylan painted. Which I did not know. I saw a few of his paintings..bought a cute little Christmas ornament, had fun getting lost in the enormosity of everything..bought another amazing yet cheap lunch- mediterranean flatbread & pesto penne pasta with sundried tomatoes & kalamata olives.! For Art history it was back to the Tate Britain. We saw some Francis Bacon paintings, which were super creepy and strange and twistedly great & then visited the Barry Flanagan exhibit. I appreciated it on a level because he's attempting to examine and push the boundary between 2 and 3 dimensions, and play with the effect of light and perception and what it is that you're actually seeing...however at the same time..some of it..was little more than a pile of rocks on the floor to me. Modern Art is not my absolute favorite..we saw another piece that was just lines of different colors that were supposed to create optical illusions. I just kept comparing it to the guilded shield I saw in Austria, and there's really no comparison at all. A few painted lines are nowhere near the same level..I don't know. Anyways. After our weekly meeting, Hannah, Sara & I went to a mexican restaurant that was pretty good but made us wait for forever & had less than mediocre tortilla crisps to offer..but then we went to Proud in Camden for some free live music- app it wasn't free to get in, just free to listen to the music but we played the innocent American tourist card and got in for free anyways.! It was a really neat venue, used to be horse stables. The first band, Tiny Dragons, was super danceable and great & I bought a CD (ultra rare, signed edition, #1 copy.!) and we talked with them for awhile, and they were really nice and fun. The next band however, was so appallingly awful that we left. The drummer was the most exciting to watch, and he had a total baby face and was making the most atrocious faces with his mouth hanging open and flailing around shirtless..I don't even know what to say about that one..Sara said "he probably thinks he's never looked so sexy" hahaha..oh my. Then Sara & I went to St. Pauls and danced for a bit and hung out with Mira (my italian friend I met the other day) and her friend so that was fun :) Today Hannah & I went to Portobello Market but unfortunately it's not near as crowded on thursdays apparently. We walked around a few shops but what made it all worth it was this AMAZING vegetarian restaurant we found where you bought a box of food for 4 pounds and got to try all these different things and we could only eat about half of one they were so filling and delicious and wonderfully vegetableful.! So we basically just came back to the flat and I napped for awhile cause I haven't been feeling too great. My roommate Kat is deathly sick right now so..yeah. O_o. I went to the Wellcome Collection with Renee's class..I'm not even sure what to think about it. I guess it was just a really rich guy who collected lots of strange things.? A lot of it was really interesting and disturbing and weird.? He had a gigantic collection of different amulets used throughout history even though he didn't believe in their magical healing/protection powers..he had Charles Darwin's walking sticks, Napoleon's toothbrushes, shrunken heads, a huge collection of forceps, bowsaws, strings of human teeth, a birthing chair, a torture chair, some of the first photographs taken, a mummified peruvian, lots of strange ancient artifacts..and now we're training off to Paris for the weekend.!!! :D

Kubrickkkkkkk.!

Nothing of significance happened on Monday. I woke up sick and felt awful all day- saw the play Death and the Maiden that night for theater. I did enjoy that a lot- it was really well done and thought provoking as to the meaning of justice.. but didn't particularly enjoy going out in the freezing weather to see it. O_o This morning Mo's friend gave us an awesome walking tour of Notting Hill. We saw the storefront of Hugh Grant's bookshop in the film Notting Hill (it's actually a shoestore though), an original Banksy, and the Tabernacle- which has become a community rehearsal/performance area through the years for Pink Floyd, the Clash, and Florence and the Machine among others.! Also saw where Jimi Hendrix died, where parts of Spice World were filmed (not that I was ever too into the Spice Girls or have even seen that movie O_o), and a bit of Portobello Market. We hadn't had film class in a long time because our professor had to cancel the last two classes, and we also had fall break. Needless to say, Pierpan had to cover both versions of Pride & Prejudice and then switch gears and talk about & show clips of A Clockwork Orange in only an hour and a half. Thoughts: I NEEDTA see the original crazy long version of Pride & Prejudice- I've always heard how amazing it is, think Colin Firth is incredible and super attractive, and have always hated Keira Knightley. Seems like a solid conclusion. I was so excited to talk about A Clockwork Orange- I actually read it this January when Hannah's film class studied it, and loved it in a sick and twisted way. Hadn't seen the movie though until sunday night. SOOooo genius and GREAT!- Lindsay and I were talking about what it means that we love it so much when everyone else in our class just seemed to be put off by the ultra violence and razdrez. It is awful..but there's so much there. THEN we went to the Stanley Kubrick Archive which was AWESOME & I wanna go back and see more- we saw the newspapers used in the film announcing Alex's release and suicide attempt, original screenplay by Burgess that Kubrick wrote notes on and rejected, Kubrick's screenplay, advertising graphics, original photos..! Then for the shining, we saw Jack's stack of a manuscript "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" & the coat that Danny wore that still had fake snow stuck in the pocket zippers, and notes on King's book. It was super neat & we had a nice knowledgeable guy telling us about everything.!

Portobello Market, Music, St. Paul's, Parades, Fireworks & Remembrance Day.!

Thursday night Hannah was off to Oxford & Sara to Frankfurt. I hung out downstairs some and we went to the End of the World, then I went to another pub with Lindsay, Alyse & Danielle and we danced to some live music. Friday morning I went to Portobello Market & walked around Notting Hill. It was Sooo awesome.! Such a gigantic market with just about everything.! Antiques, jewelry, produce, books, food..! Too bad I don't have any money- but I had a great time walking around looking at stuff, trying on dresses & hats.. I saw the hummingbird bakery which I've heard good things about and seen the cookbook for, so I hadta check that out :P. Got a red velvet cupcake for later :) it was a cute place. I also bought an insanely delicious falafel for only 3 pounds, totally worth the wait for it..I'm going to hafta make it back there and get something other than food sometime..! I hadta rush back to make it to the flat in time to skype with Dad & Rhonda- that was nice to talk, and I was impressed they figured it all out.! That evening I went to the British Music Experience that Hannah had told me about. IT WAS SO AWESOME.!!! (http://www.britishmusicexperience.com/about-us/) first there's the a Gibson exhibition- Gibson through the Lens- of different rockers through the ages with their gibson :) Then, there's a gigantic room where you can play all these different instruments- I spent awhile there trying out different guitars, basses, pianos and glittery drums.! that alone was awesome, but then there were different sections from the 1940's to the present day with facts and memorabilia representing that time. So much stuff.!! The Beatles, the who, the clash, jimi hendrix, pink floyd, the smiths, the sex pistols, the rolling stones, def leppard, madness & so much more.! AHh.! all the way to Coldplay and Oasis. Ringo's jacket, a Jimi Hendrix outfit, several of David Bowie's outfits, 5 pairs of Elton John's glasses, half smashed guitars..! I bought myself a Beatles cookie tray. because it was cheap, I liked it, and I'm strange. That night I hung out w everyone still here this weekend downstairs for awhile, then ended up going to a pub with Karlyn, Dan & Dan's friends. It was a really cool place, but full of very strange people. Saturday was the Lord Mayor's Show, so I got up that morning and watched an awesome parade- strange to just watch one rather than be in one, but I enjoyed it. Walked around for a bit and browsed through some stores, then around Occupy London. Got interviewed by a random German lady. Went back out near the Thames for a huge firework show (to mark the end of the Mayoral year) with Karlyn, Lexi & Seana. I love fireworks.!!! SOoo much!! :) I had some pumpkin soup for dinner & watched the Inbetweeners waiting for Hannah to get back from her few days in Oxford. Hannah & I wore our retro 80's outfits out (crazy spandex leggings) that we bought at the thrift store the other day & Hannah mohawked her hair..and what a night of ridiculousity we did have.! We kept walking around trying to find people from our group but then decided not to, were slightly helpful with directions, found the collective guitarplaying love of our lives, and ended up back at Occupy London for a bit. Found Marvin & talked a lot with this awesome girl Mira from Napoli. :) It was a lot of random fun just sitting and talking, but got pretty cold & Hannah was ready to go to bed, so we found a bus back and WHO SHOULD BE at the busstop but Davey.. O_o he somehow didn't see our incredibly conspicuous selves even though we had to pass right by where he was sitting. Then, at the stop we had to get off at, he stood RIGHT in front of us for the longest red light of my life and we were both bent over cracking up & he never saw us..We ninja rolled off the bus so he wouldn't see us, but he somehow disappeared into thin air..strange. O_o This morning, Sunday, was Remembrance Day. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/how/poppy.shtml) Hannah & I got up early to see the Queen lay a wreath on the Cenotaph- suffice it to say we were supposedly only hundreds of yards away from her majesty herself but even getting there early did nothing to help us through the massive crowds. We had to go through metal detectors and got stuck next to this obnoxious woman who kept telling EVERYONE around her "I've lost me husband! I've lost me husband & he's already yelled at me once today for getting lost! I can't budge through, I feel rude..and on top of that, it's me birthday today! I've lost me husband! I should just go home." on a continuous loop O_o..I almost pushed her through the crowd. Anyways, we got away from that to a slightly better place across the street. I saw the top of the royal cars driving away just barely, and then we clapped for LITERALLY 45 minutes straight for all of the Veterans that paraded past- that was really neat.! and crazy to think about how many people have served... Then Hannah & I went to hear an organ recital at St. Paul's this evening. The organist was amazing, not that I have much to compare it to, but he was only 23- Simon Hogan. The cathedral itself is really ornate and gorgeous inside too of course.

most of last week.!

Since I haven't written all week- here's an abbreviated version of my life in the past week. On monday, Tancred took us to Old Bailey- where criminal court cases are held in London. We reminded him that he told us we'd go to Occupy London and he kept saying that we misunderstood him. And he said that vegetarians were naturally suspicious. And he overheard me talking to Renee about Liverpool & he interrupted with "I'm just curious- what does one DO in Liverpool.? No really. what did you DO there?" all pretentiously sweaty-like. O_o We only got to stay in the courtroom about 15 minutes but it was really interesting, confusing & sad. Everyone still wears legit old english wigs, it was confusing because we knew nothing about the facts of the case so it was hard to get the whole story in such a short amount of time, and sad because it was a child murder case. Sara & I hung out w Marvin for a bit at Occupy London, met some guy named Louis who tried to get us to give his organization money and showed off his valley girl.? accent..then went to Playboy of the Western World for theater that night. Everyone was freaking out because Robert Sheehan from Misfits was in it & Ruth Negga (also in Misfits). havent seen it *shrugs. Getting off the tube I saw Louis again randomly hah. I skyped with Smink that night for her birthday.! then stayed up writing a 5 pg paper on The Dead for film class & a thesis and outline for Media & Society O_o. Tuesday as our "outing" we watched the movie Notting Hill :) then Mo told us about the underlying aristocracy and ironic subtle superiority of Hugh Grant's character that an American audience wouldn't pick up on..interesting. Film class was cancelled, so Hannah, Casey, June & her mother and I went to the Reagant St. Christmas lighting ceremony. Kelly Clarkson sang, and no one gave her the memo to sing Christmas songs. Maybe 10 years ago she would've been an exciting choice..but it IS London, so you'd think they could get someone better :p. Everyone went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- I think I'd enjoy it more if I wasn't so tired and if I'd read it before or knew anything about it, it was hard to follow when not in the right mindset. This movie theater made you sit in your assigned seat, and Dan was beside me snoring before the opening credits were even through. He fell asleep at least 3 times and that was probably my favorite part of it all hah that was fun to watch. Wednesday we went to the Courtauld Institute of Art and saw some Monet, Manet, Renoir, Picasso, etc. No big deal. yah know. Had our weekly meeting and got psyched for the upcoming Paris trip.! Hannah, Sara & I went to O'Neills for some free live music and fun that night & ran into a bunch of people from our place too that had gone out separately. Got propositioned by a sexy yet incredibly crass italian. yeahH O_o. For some reason it was italian night or something in that pub but it ended up being a fun time. Thursday morning Hannah & I went to Harrod's. OHMYGOSH.! It was INSANITY.! SOOOoo gigantic and full of just about EVERYTHING..mindblowingly awesome yet ridiculously overthetop and expensive and unnecessary. There was a Christmas floor, a Harry Potter floor, a section with signed original pictures of stars and such, I can't even begin to explain it all..I bought lunch there though because somehow their food is normal prices..and it was SOOoo good.! A roasted vegetable and goat cheese sandwich on rosemary focaccia & a fancy chocolate mint cupcake for dessert.! :D which I enjoyed outside in the park by our flat.

Liverpool.!!!! :D

In stark contrast to Austria, Liverpool made up one crazy fun awesome fantastical beatlesful party of a weekend.! Oh wow. I felt as though I'd died and gone to Beatles heaven.! or at least Mecca :P After a 5 hr loooong busride during which I only listened to the Beatles on shuffle, I finally made it to Liverpool! Debi's mom was there to pick me up- although she asked two girls before me if they were Amy. One was foreign and didn't understand, and the other WAS named Amy, but from Liverpool..haha. App. she had a sign ready to hold up with Mom's name on it when she picked her up earlier at the John Lennon airport- & Mom was the only one there..! Mom had just woken up when we made it back to their house. We hung out with Debi's family until she got back from work- everyone was really sweet. Debi's Mom made a gigantic platter of ham sandwiches and kept telling me to eat & I didn't want to be offensive so when she'd leave the room I'd give Mom the ham hah. We took Mom in a Tesco and she set off the alarm with a huge tin of chocolates, and the cashier asked where she's from and Mom went "I am from the United States." "yeah, well I know that..." ahahha. So good. We went to the local "chippy" so Mom could get some fish & chips and I got veg curry..app a lot of traditional english places also serve Chinese food. I saw a few signs on restaurants that boasted "traditional english breakfast..business chinese lunch"..interesting. Quick sad story- Mom said she had made a reservation at "one of the Beatle's childhood homes" but then cancelled it because I hadn't responded to the link she sent me..?. I was super busy and thought it was just a normal hotel- obviously if I had seen it I would've been super excitedly freaking out. So YEAhhh. could've stayed at Stuart Sutcliffe's home, which is now a B&B. O_o. Friday morning, Mom & I headed into town on the bus with Debi's son Jonathan. He gave us a quick tour walking around- we saw the building where it was announced that the Titanic sank.! ThennnNn we saw the Hidden Gallery- pictures that Paul Berriff had photographed that were recently rediscovered. (http://www.the-beatles-hidden-gallery.com/) Then we walked around Albert Dock, and through the Beatles story museum- good thing I already knew a lot of info about them, because I still could've spent forever in there.! Each room had atmospheric replicas, like you walked through a giant yellow submarine, listened to audio on beatlemania sitting in airplane seats, etc..and saw instruments, different suits, boots, john lennon's glasses, lots of memorabilia..At the end of the exhibit, there were four separate sections, one dedicated to each Beatle and their life individually after the Beatles. Even the starbucks had Astrid's black & white Hamburg photos of the band hanging on the walls.! We had lunch at a restaurant that had a strange bathroom- women had stalls to the left and men had stalls to the right of the same room with the same sink..thenNn went on THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOURbus.!!! It was SO AWESOME! a colorful bus playing nearly constant beatles music and sharing random facts- I was geeking out SOOO much the entire time..that entire day actually. *sigh =) We saw the house that Ringo was actually born in, as well as the house George Harrison was born in, the pub on the cover of one of Ringo's albums, John Lennon's Aunt Mimi's house, Paul McCartney's house, their schools/art university that John failed all his exams at, Penny Lane (including the barbershop, the bank at the corner, and the shelter in the middle of the roundabout.!), Strawberry Fields, the churchyard where John and Paul first met, the church where Paul didn't make the cut to be a choirboy (although he was a choirboy and a boyscout at some point), and the music university that Paul McCartney started, and still gives diplomas to graduates at every year.! At the end of the tour, we checked out the Hard Day's Night Hotel, restaurant, and nearby Beatles shops. When I left the shop, Mom was standing there holding a CD and said that boys in a band had given it to her..so of course I hadta go talk to them and approached them w the great line "So..you gave my Mom a CD.?.." hah but they were app playing around later that night & told me to check them out..which I never ended up doing..but oh well. I got Mom to take my picture by a statue of John Lennon leaning against the wall- She said she didn't want a picture with it when I asked her..she thought it was a random man & somehow didn't realize it was John Lennon.? We were right by the Cavern Club & on Matthew St. at that point so of course we went in.! There was a John Lennon impersonator & a Paul McCartney (who looked as though he'd eaten another Paul McCartney) but they were really good and played 3 50min sets in a row w 10 min breaks. Mom sat with an older couple- the man looked like a less debonair, older version of Robert DeNiro. They were really nice & it was the woman's birthday so I told John Lennon to say Happy Birthday to her :) Robert DeNiro was chatting up this group of young cute guys nearby and when I came back to the table after having been watching the music, Robert DeNiro went up to them and said they should make acquaintance with me. just like that. hah. They were really nice & one of the guys actually goes to school right near where I do in London. Debi & her friend Liz finally made it- by this time a good 4 hours had gone by, so we went out to dinner and on an unsuccessful hunt for Eleanor Rigby (the statue, which app looks like a random gnarly old women sitting on a bench, but we never did find her that saucy bird) and then back to the Cavern Club. Mom was unhappy because it was obviously even more crowded & loud & full of people and music- I LOVED it.! Debi & her went upstairs to get cellphone reception & Liz was sitting on the only free seat in the entire place by the door. I stood there awkwardly thinking Mom & Debi'd come down any second. There was a really cute blonde guy sitting behind Liz by himself- he was with an older man and younger guy but they'd gone somewhere..so after awkwardly standing for quite awhile I decided to go up to him and ask where he was from. We ended up talking for a long time & he was the sweetest guy ever.! A soccer player from Denmark, & him and his younger brother took their (blind) Grandpa to Liverpool for the weekend because he'd always wanted to go & was a huge Beatles fan & wanted to experience everything. Also Danish love of my life said he wanted to teach kids because he had a passion to positively impact their lives and motivate them. *sigh :) We hadta leave much earlier than I'd've liked..but it was a wonderful beatlesful day.! Saturday, Jonathan fixed us a delicious traditional English breakfast & then Debi, Mom, Liz & I set off to Wales.! We drove to Conwy Castle, saw the smallest house in Britain & drove to Llandudno & walked around the oldest/longest(?) pier..It was a really beautiful, nice day. Driving back to Liverpool we saw fireworks everywhere for Guy Fawkes day & saw GIGANTIC bonfires everywhere, massive PILES of boxes, wood, furniture, everything..it was awesome.! That night I went out on the town with Jonathan and his friend Paul..it was lots of fun.! We went to lots of different pubs in search of the elusive good-sounding live band..saw a creepy lady playing the accordion wearing a tophat O_o..Talked with a guy wearing a "snazzy red Christmas jumper," & also met the Liverpool love of my life Danny. Sunday, Debi, Jonathan, Mom & I drove back into town & had the MOST DELICIOUS food of my life- at this converted pub called The Monro..but really..Mmm..a roasted red pepper & goat cheese tart for my starter & then butternut squash risotto with rocket & goat cheese on top..sOOooo GOOD.! We went in this really creative awesome chocolatier place (I got dark rose chili chocolate for later) & then walked around near Albert Dock & Cavern Walks for awhile..all too soon I hadta get back on the bus to London.

last tuesday & wednesday

Last tuesday, we went to the Jewish Museum in Camden for our media & society class outing. Walking back to the tube station a few of us found a Whole Foods- they had a table full of DELICIOUS vegan cupcake samples too.! We rushed through in order to get to film class in time only to find out that it had been cancelled. That evening, EVERYONE was thrilled to get to go on an extra outing for the week with everyone's favorite professor Tancred. We were supposed to see Parliament in action. However, instead, as a special treat, we all stood outside of Parliament for 20 minutes after taking the trouble to get there and then were told it was too busy and we couldn't get in. Everyone left right away, but Hannah, Sara & I stayed behind to ask Tancred how to get to St. Paul's. Tancred kept repeating over and over that we were going to Occupy London as our outing next monday and so we didn't have to go there that night. I backsassed him and said "Oh, we're going to Occupy London like we just visited Parliament right.?." Hannah and Sara swore he took a step towards me and looked like he wanted to throttle me. Renee's husband Steve heard it and MINUTES later was still like "Oh wow.! That was so great!!.." :P Anyways, we ended up checking out Occupy for awhile and chilling with this German guy Marvin that Sara had met over break. It was really neat, what's going on and talking to a bunch of different people. Wednesday morning, Sara and I went to the Tate Modern and looked through an amazing photography exhibit. We rushed back, stopping to get a coffee at starbucks right before Art History only to find out that it had been pushed back a half an hour. So then we went back to starbucks and Sara got something. Then as a class we went to the Tate Britain, so it was almost a reverse dejavu of sorts :P At the Tate Britain we saw an AWESOME Apocalypse themed exhibit by John Martin.! I was geeking out and loved it- gigantic, dramatic, fantastical, eerie sci-fi-esque works. After our group meeting, Hannah, Sara & I went to see the Ryan Gosling movie Drive. I'm not sure what to say about it but that when it wasn't fast paced car chases and graphic violence, it was extremely awkward slow paced dialogue between Ryan Gosling and his "supposed love interest"..my favorite part of it was the trancey 80's synth soundtrack :) Sara & I planned for our last trip in my room and the cheapest flight we could get was to Amsterdam, so Amsterdam it shall be. It turned midnight, so Hannah, Davey & Lexi burst in and sang Happy Birthday to Sara. I went to bed at 3:30 and woke up at 6:30 Liverpool-bound.! :D

Monnnnday

O_o It was especially painful to sit through Tancred's class at 9AM on monday after such an amazing time in Austria. (In case anyone wants to see my Petronell pictures, here they are: http://www5.snapfish.co.uk/snapfishuk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5153599025/a=3717374025_3717374025/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/). plus it was Halloween. Charlotte surprised our flat with a bunch of halloween doughnuts, which was really sweet of her. For our outing we went to the Science Museum basically just to watch these screens that searched the web and repeated out loud random bits of livestream blogs, chat, and emails..which was pretty cool but freaky. Hannah, Sara & I went to hummus bros for a delicious lunch that we ate outside..when we got back to the flat, Lindsay had her David Bowie costume on & I really wanted to use her facepaint so Hannah was an 80's pastel version of Spaceman from Kiss and I was Starchild. :) I thought that I was late for Theater class (she splits the class into two different sections and no one was waiting outside the door, so really I was early) so I awkwardly burst into the classroom with my neon orange and green painted face, bright red lipstick and blazer. As I was saying how sorry I was for being late, everyone stared at me and Sheila said "Oh. I didn't think you were in this section." Which is when I realized that I'm not. So I went down to the bathroom, and then when I came back there was still no one outside the classroom and I didn't want to interrupt again to see, but I thought maybe everyone else was in there now too..So finally I just knocked..and turns out everyone was in the room..so I was late and awkward again. Sheila's great though, she was just like "Lindsay & Amy look great..everyone else..not so much" hahah. That night we had to go see the play "Saved". It's the first production we've been to that I really did not care for at all. It was really innovative theater-wise because it broke through censorship restrictions..and it's not supposed to be enjoyable (think a scene where people stone a baby to death, and just all around awful people)..and all of the actors played their roles well..but I didn't want to be there watching it at all..and on top of that it was Halloween.

Petronell for the rest of the week.!

So Sunday evening, the 23rd, the McGirr family picked me up from Wien and we drove to their home in Petronell, where I spent the rest of my fall break- so a week. I don't even know where to begin and could write SOOoo much, so this'll be VERRRrry much a shortened version..the entire family is just so incredibly sweet and wonderful and I had an amazing time.! Randy and Kim are missionaries and shared a lot of interesting information with me and really emphasized the importance of truth seeking and going way beyond surface level in everything..which is something I desperately both need and want to do. I slept at a nearby B&B every night but spent all day and evening with the McGirr's. Every morning Kim had an amazing, delicious spread of fresh bread, butter, jams, cheese, cucumbers and eggs. She really spoiled me with so much fantastic food. I mentioned it before, but Austrian's really aren't vegetarians..despite that, I was still able to enjoy a variety of fresh meatfree meals. The first few days I was around were grey and drizzly- kinda miserable weather. I didn't mind so much but everyone kept telling me how last week was incredibly sunny warm and beautiful, and a lot of the sights they wanted me to see were outside. Randy's super intelligent about Austrian history and archaeology, as well as lots of other things, so it was like having a personal tour guide. We went to Hainburg, Bad Deutsch Altenburg, the archaeological park in Petronell-carnuntum, and saw the Heidentor, an uncovered Roman Bathhouse, the site of a gladiator school, the amphitheater, church graves covered with personal gardens, the street where the Turks invaded and slaughtered Austrians trying to escape, and a LOT of soccer.! as well as other things too. The entire family is very involved with club soccer- between practices and games it really seems to bring their community together, and is a fun way for the family to be together and be in other people's lives as well. They all play on teams, and in addition, Keltey coaches a group of 15 young beginners with help from Coren, and Randy coaches teams as well. I really enjoyed getting to know several of their friends and teammates over the week, they were all really sweet. I felt simultaneously impressed and inadequate myself that a vast majority of the people i met were at least passably fluent in both German and English, and most were very fluent in English. Kim told Randy's boys to practice their English with me, but they just giggled and were shy about it..except for Marcos who kept shouting "I am the best English speaker!" :P On top of that, just in the McGirr family- even the youngest at 7, Benen, changes easily between German and English, Coren and Keltey are both studying Latin and French in school as well, and Randy also knows Greek and Hebrew on top of everything else. Wednesday we all went on a 9km walk as a fundraiser for ASV Petronell. Christof was shocking everyone eating sugar beets out of the fields, corn was flying through the air, and as we neared the end of the walk it started pouring freezing rain. I think it's funny that people were so concerned with me not wearing enough layers of clothing, won't drink cold beverages, think everything will negatively affect their kidneys, and won't use air conditioning..but are fine with their children running around to play soccer in t-shirts and shorts in cold weather. I was impressed with all of the windmills everywhere..and the fact that they only get their trash picked up once every 8 weeks.! That in itself forces them to recycle and try not to waste, and even their recyclables are split into 4 different types of trash- it was awesome.! Hanging around the house, we all played a lot of different board games, I beaded with Keltey and quilled, played instruments with Benen, watched the boys on the trampoline and helped them rake up a pile of leaves to jump in. On friday, Kim & I went to the gymnasium to pick up Keltey and Coren. Christof was standing there too and had his hair in an impressive mohawk, so naturally I took a picture. Later that night at the soccer game, his Mom Sabina sat by me and goes "So...Christof tells me you make picture of him. I tell him, people go to Africa and take pictures of the bushmen in the jungle..and you come to Austria and make picture of him." haahahha.! That night we went to Christina & Christof's (a different & an un-mohawked Christof) house, and got to see their little precious adorable baby Ella. :) They're both sweet people and we had a wonderful evening. Kim & I made some delicious pumpkin bread to share with them..despite the fact that it was almost disastrous because we didn't realize we were unknowingly cooking it at an extremely low temperature because the oven had blown a fuse..although in retrospect it was pretty obvious. Saturday morning was soccer training, and then a game for the women's team in the afternoon. Keltey and Kim were both excellent, and even though up against an intimidating, rough team, we won.! Go Petronell! :) Daren was cracking me up because most of the time we were watching the game, he was more intently watching the food being prepared at a table behind our seats. Everyone kept buying these huge delicious smelling fried bread circles called Langos..unfortunately none of us had any money..so everytime someone else would buy one Daren would practically swoon. That night the McGirr's took me to an amazing dinner at the Heurigen- where wine-growers serve the year's most recent wine and AWESOME food too.! Peter, Sabina, Christof and Ines met all of us there too :) Sabina told me that Ines and Benen were fighting over who'd get to sit next to me at dinner and that Ines dressed up with barettes, a bunch of bracelets, and glittery lipstick (she's 5 and ADORABLE) ! I played Uno with Christof and Coren for a long time- Christof and I SCHOOLED Coren though..we let him win one pity game..but that was it. Then we played paper football, me against them..and somehow I was schooling them both at that too..really badly. hah. We had a really fun time :) On Sunday, after a delicious pancake breakfast, we hiked out by the Danube and chilled and saw where everyone goes ice skating when it gets cold enough. We stopped by the soccer field one last time for a quick 'tschuss' to everyone and then it was back to the airport and then london all too soon.

Vienna.! what a randomly amazing weekend =)

Just got back to London..and can't believe I was in Austria for so long..and can't believe it went by so incredibly fast. Not ready to come back at all O_o. Also, I could go on and on and on about Wien (Vienna), and then my week in Petronell..so I'll hafta cut both down by quite a bit. First off, I'm impressed that I found the restaurant that Billy told me to meet him at with no trouble at all. We had tested our cell phones beforehand, and for whatever reason my london phone doesn't like Austria so I couldn't call or text anyone. I just got on a train to central Vienna, hopped on the autobahn accidentally not paying, and happened upon the restaurant in Burgasse. I walked around a grocery store for awhile to waste time and explore..found some interesting things..Finally I couldn't wait anymore, and just went back to Kai's to wait for Billy to get there. I'm sure the waitresses thought I got stood up because I sat there for forever pretending to study the Asian in German menu and checking the window over and over. Finally I looked up & there he was.! He jingled in, dredlocked & wearing lederhosen and a tyrolean hat :) We emphatically hugged at least three times. I'd missed him SOOoo much and was just so incredibly happy all weekend. It was such an unbelievably amazing, random, fun time of adventuring and we both kept saying it didn't seem real. We had to verbalize that we were IN AUSTRIA.!! We tried to find a Goya dance place that I swear didn't exist..We ended up going to a trance club. Apparently that's the in thing to do..I can't say that it was either of our "scenes"..but it was an experience..hah. Billy's friend Magdalena let us stay at her place, which was super awesome of her. It was a really cool place too, in the Arsenal, which used to be part of a military complex during the war. Saturday we walked around the palace gardens and explored a bit. We went to the World War Fountain & the way that the light was hitting it, you could constantly see a rainbow..so as you walked around, it followed you. We went to Karlskirche, which is a big beautiful church. There were people hanging out outside and two guys playing the accordion on opposite sides of the area- we said they were dueling. I was telling Billy how I didn't want to get desensitized from seeing all these amazing, beautiful sights, but I wanted to take everything in and appreciate it all fully. Billy stopped me, and put his stuff down & we waltzed to the accordion with the most beautiful view of the church spinning by- it was a wonderful, spontaneous, lovely moment in time :) We looked around Museum's Quartier..one of the buildings is made up of gray blocks that each sound a different note when you hit them- so that was fun.! We went to a free art exhibit and I got to see one of the gold shields that a man near Billy's village in Wietra guilds. It was truly one of the most amazing things that I've ever seen. The way it's built promotes optical illusions and appears to be constantly moving and swirling and 3D even though it's completely flat. Pictures really don't do it any justice. We bought a huge loaf of bread and an indian sandwich to share and ate outside by Parliament. I learned to whistle a little bit. We walked through the Prater carnival for a long time- went on this awesome roller coaster where you climb up a ladder and grab metal handles, you're shut in and tip forward so you're lying horizontally with your arms outstretched. Didn't feel safe but it was so much fun!! It spiraled up with wheels not attached to the track and was twirling and twisting upside down and so great.! Billy's favorite ride is the swings, and Prater just so happens to have the highest swings in the world, so of course we had to ride those too! We were 117 m up, and as we rose the star wars song started playing..we kept going up and up and up and stayed at the top for a long time. It was so high up and windy and chilly and a gorgeous view of everything-soo great.!! Billy was worried about losing his shoes the entire time hah. Going back down, the swings went into hyper spin speed. So worth the money. Pictures are never as amazingly beautifully wonderful intricate as nature or really anything perceived..We walked around the carnival some more and then got dinner at a traditional Austrian restaurant. I got a vegetable strudel with potatoes and Billy got Mohnmudeln and we shared and had some "wintertime" tea too. Fun fact- Austrians aren't vegetarians. They basically eat a lot of meat..and lots of cheese and bread too. I can't complain too much because I loved everything I did have to eat..but if I hadn't already been a vegetarian for 15 months..I'd've definitely tried some different dishes..We bought a bottle of wine for under 3 euros, and then (FINALLY.!!!) watched the movie The Room together. It was even more ridiculous and awesome and awful than I thought possibly- I almost couldn't handle it. "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART!!!!" Soo many great lines, so awkward, I don't even know. Sunday morning we had fresh bread, butter, cheese & Magdalena's homemade pesto (basil-less but with mushrooms) for breakfast. Soooo good! We walked around the Belvedere and went to the Hundertwasser house & Museum. It's beautiful, amazing, bright, colorful architecture that literally has trees growing out the windows- fantastical looking and unbelievable. Taking pictures of it I felt like I wanted the trees out of the way, but that's the whole point and why it's so innovative and great. They're apartment buildings with different colored pillars and tiles used in a funky, artsy way. "Straight lines are Godless" I loved it. Sadly, fall as we know it doesn't exist in Austria. Rather than turning gorgeous deep, rich colors, the trees are mainly solid green- the ones that aren't just have dead leaves. There's no beautiful in-between stage. Instead, lots of houses have vines on them that turn dark red..which is nice too. For lunch, Billy and I shared a loaf of nut bread and an Austrian apple strudel outside the hundertwasser house watching guys skating, showing off and doing tricks off of the fountain in front of us. We started walking back and jumped on a train on a whim ready to go wherever it wanted to take us. At the very next stop, everyone got off besides us..we sat there a few minutes before we realized it was the end of the line. Weiner Prater is a gigantic, beautiful, neverending park..we walked and walked and walked through it and it just kept going and going and going..all in the middle of Wien. Billy climbed a tree to dislodge a tennis ball for a lady's dog. She gave him his business card- turns out she gives barefoot people shoes.? (He ended up visiting her at work and walked out in free new shoes) I didn't mind Billy talking to everyone in German- it was pretty helpful and impressive. I felt kind of rude not being able to talk with people too though. After happening across a deserted condo/shopping center type place that looked like a scene for a zombie takeover- spooky and empty- we finally made it to an autobahn station. We saw St. Stephan's Church, the Rathaus, and walked around Stephansplatz a bit more. Chilled at Magdalena's for a bit, and then she came back so I got to meet her really quickly. She was super sweet & hugged me right away, just so friendly & adorable. 15 minutes later or so I had to leave because the McGirr's were picking me up for the rest of the week. Billy walked me out and we said bye.

Tea at the Ritz, the icebar & official semester break..see ya lata london

Also- Murphy's Kids emailed out their new songs since I ordered the CD..so that was exciting.! lovin it.! This morning I went with another class to a legal graffiti wall. It was so amazing- just an entire tunnel completely covered with graffiti.! We discussed how the fact that it is legal affects the artwork on different levels, and if some authenticity is consequently lost..I watched some more of the inbetweeners, hung out with Sara some and packed..then Hannah & I went to get 'afternoon' tea at the Ritz.! SooooOooo amazingly delicious and fancy! It was like being on a cruise- so much great food and everything better than the last, live music..I got jasmine tea, we had assorted tiny sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, vanilla cake with strawberries, a lemon curd and raspberry parfait, and shared little assorted desserts..soooooo much food...! THEN we went to the icebar & Sara met us there. You buy a 40 min time slot in the UK's 'coolest bar' :P it's -5 degrees, and you get a nifty parka to wear inside & a cocktail in an ice glass :) twas lots of fun- all this neat stuff etched into the glass, designs and quotes..the bartender was super nice. He was from Sweden and his name was Axel..fun fact. Afterwards we went to a couple different free bars but none were too exciting- one had a lit up dance floor and was playing funk music, so that was pretty fun..but yeah other than that nothing insane or anything. On to Vienna in the morning.!!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE BILLY GRASMEDER!!!!! :D

art and more art.!

So let's see.! Monday.! Everyone was falling asleep in Tancred's class..that's nothing new, but more pronouncedly than usual because the entire class had stayed awake ridiculously late to finish their politics papers in time O_o.. our outing was amazing though- we went to the Imperial War Museum to check out Don McCullin's exhibit: Shaped by War. His photography was absolutely incredible(!!!!), and SOOo moving..most of it was upsetting because a lot of his focus was showing oppression and the atrocities of wars and famine..I could've spent all day in that exhibit- everything was so insanely well composed and amazing. I bought a book that he wrote on his experiences in warfare and such with some of his photographs, and I also (HADta) buy his book of Beatle's photography :) After that, I went to theater- turned in my paper, and gave my 15 minute presentation on Jerusalem. The more I read up on the backstory, the history of aspects of the play, and reviews the more I really appreciated and fell in love with the play..I'm really glad I got to present on it. Mark Rylance was just incredible- it was an amazing performance all together. It's a hilarious play, but really turns extremely dark, pathetic, and tragic. A lot of us in the film class tried to watch The Dead but I'm not even sure why we bother- we have films to view on our own every week but they've all been classics that I can understand WHY they're so amazing with different camera techniques and subtleties, but at the same time..just soooo long to sit through..and pay attention to.. O_o Tuesday, my professor's friend, Helena Appio, talked to our Media & Society class. She switched careers completely in her 30's and just began making documentaries and directing films. She showed us some of her stuff- really interesting..she has a passion for sharing the stories of people that normally aren't. She talked to us about future plans and following your dreams and being passionate and spending your time doing something you care about. It was really motivational and great, but just made me think that I'm really not sure what I'd like to end up doing..feel a little unfocused. Our class walked around the University of London campus for a bit..then Sara and I went to hummus bros and ate outside in the park- soo good.! Went to film and toured the Cinema Museum- it was super interesting and full of awesome stuff..learned a lot of cool facts about projection, the history of theaters and everything involved, and classic movie stars.! Hannah & I rushed to Forbidden Planet after class, and made it to the store in time to meet Warwick Davis.! He was such a nice man- we got pictures with him and bought his book to get signed- he's been in soo many different things.! Also, for some reason we noticed that Tuesday night is attractive man night in London..not sure why. but hey. they were everywhere. I talked with Devon and Mike for awhile and got to skype with Billy.!! so great- and I'll get to see him friday!! so excited! :D taking Vienna by storm. ohhh yeah.! CAN'T WAIT! Sara & I decided to go out for awhile..nothing was super exciting because it was a tuesday night, but we had a fun time anyways. We got lost on the wrong bus and met a nice bloke named Charles who helped us out.! So Wednesday, I accidentally locked myself outta the flat because I had grabbed Sara's keys instead of mine. Got keys from Charlotte, and we talked for half an hour..about Jerusalem and traveling..lots of stuff. She gave me a brochure on working in Australia or New Zealand..seriously gonna look into it..Sara & I went to this art exhibit called Mr. Brainwash- very pop culture mashups with interesting twists..I thought it was really cool..they had a portrait of the Beatles made of broken up records..!and everything else was super neat too. During art class, we went to the Royal Academy of Arts to check out the Degas: Picturing Movement exhibit. I really enjoyed that a lot too. Degas was extremely talented, and I think it's awesome you can tell how his styles markedly changed throughout his career, yet maintain his signature artistic elements used to expand the story beyond the frame. Our professor actually curated the exhibit, so that was neat too. Didn't really do anything too eventful or exciting tonight- just hung out. Sara FINALLY let me have the inbetweeners DVD so I watched a few episodes of that.! Also skyped with Katherine for awhile, so that was great too :)

Edinburgh: kilts, beautiful mountains, and happy ukulele playing frenchmen :)

The train rides to and from Scotland were the only parts of Scotland that weren't amazingly wonderful. Friday morning, our 4 hr long early morning train ride to Edinburgh was tainted by a flock of obnoxiously loud cackling middle aged women who got on the wrong train and were constantly laughing like banshees for no reason while we were all trying to sleep. I had a fun project over the weekend where i decided I would photograph everyone i found in a kilt. Unfortunately, for some reason, most of the people walking around wearing kilts happen to be creepy old men or little boys..just in case you ever wondered. Lindsay, Hannah, Sara & I got the best room by far in the B&B- we had our own big comfortable beds, the room was huge and fancily decorated, and had a fireplace, new flatscreen tv, and a beautiful piano.! It was crazily out of tune though so everything I played sounded super sinister and great. :) 10 of us went to get lunch at a pub- it was short staffed so we were rushed, but I got some delicious soup and bread. We had to hurry to make our double decker bus tour of edinburgh..I'm kind of over those bustours and droning audioguides..It was nice to ride around in the open air, but got chilly near the end of the tour. After a powernap, a bunch of us went and got some DELICIOUS thai food.! A lot of us were crowded around the table in the corner, right in fronta the kitchen door so it was awkward..Sara didn't buy any food and one of the waiters caught her awkwardly eating someone's garnish..and it was hilarious. Hannah, Sara & I walked around for a long time that night, checking out different places. We made friends with two local teenagers chillin on a bench- Ryan & Ryan. They were funny, so we got pictures with them. We went to a place called Vodka Revolution that girls from the hostel in Ireland told us to go to- I got a chocolate toffee shot- soooo good.! We considered going to a jazz club but it was expensive to get in, and we just kept walking around places..We met some people from Manchester and talked for awhile- one of them was about to get married, and for some reason Sara started talking to his fiancee on his phone. The creepy guy in the group wouldn't leave Hannah alone, so we walked to another bar. I laughed at some guy dancing all goofily and so we started talking, and turns out he was from Australia, so we talked a lot about Australia..another creepy guy, this time in a snowflaked sweater, made a beeline for Hannah..so we left..Sara kept stopping to talk to people and we lost her O_o. Saturday morning, we all toured Edinburgh Castle, which was pretty neat. Then, Hannah, Sara & I went to the Elephant House- an elephant themed cafe where J.K. Rowling allegedly wrote some of Harry Potter. I decided, seeing that lovely picturesque view of the castle right out the window, and everything in London that we've seen- she's really not very creative. overrated. hah. I drew a picture of an elephant wearing a scottish hat on a napkin and added it to a board with a bunch of drawings. Then we went to hike up Arthur's seat- so intense but beautiful and so GREEN and huge beautiful rolling hills, mountains, cliffs.! We were sitting at the edge of a cliff when Hannah noticed some bird poop, so she promptly stuck her hand in it- it was so funny I almost fell off the mountain laughing and trying to lean back and take pictures of her freaking out. I had to put her hat & coat on her because she didn't want to touch things with her poo hand. After an hour or so we found the trail to the peak and realized that we could've done a lot less climbing to get to that point. Oh well, it was pretty and we were in no rush. It was really intense hiking up hundreds of stone steps and then basically low-grade rock climbing up to the very top- I got way ahead of Hannah & Sara because I powered up the steps and didn't stop at all. There was a bunch of drunk obnoxious Scotsmen chilling up there- I haven't the faintest idea how they got all that beer up there or how they made it back down the mountain without killing themselves. Sara was talking to two of the more obnoxious ones, and when I walked over they were yelling at me like "Quick! Who does he look like?!" Sara was saying he looked like Willem Dafoe in spiderman- but without the mask, so even scarier. He got mad at that but he really did look just like him..we were waiting for him to hop on his goblin rocket off of the mountain. We told a Canadian guy that story and he said "No wonder he's mad, that's not a very nice thing to say" we said "but doesn't he look just like him?" and he said "I didn't say I disagreed" haha.! We also met a nice french guy there that had a ukulele and kept singing "The Bear Necessities" in french and dancing around. :) After we made it down the mountain, we stopped and got some pizza and took a 20 minute "nap" because we were super exhausted but that's all we had time for. Then, Lindsay, Alex, Kat, Hannah, Sara & I went on a walking ghost tour called City of the Dead. Our tour guide was excellent- she mainly told us historical torture stories and ghost stories too whilst walking around the greyfriar graveyard- about the supposed Mackenzie poltergeist "the best documented supernatural case in history". The tour guide got all of us to stand in the Black Mausoleum, where all this paranormal activity supposedly happens, in the complete dark as she told us about it. At the very end a guy jumped out at us and everyone else was being all jumpy, but I guess we didn't pay enough money for the tour to experience a real poltergeist. The real history of the place is pretty freaky though- standing in a spot where 1200 prisoners of war were locked facedown and starved for 5 months during the Scottish winter; only 100 survived that ordeal, and then they were mercilessly massacred anyways. O_o After the tour, Hannah, Sara & I went back to vodka revolution, then spent a long time trying to find a certain club with a light up dance floor..finally found it and we decided the steep cover charge wasn't worth it. Hannah went back to the B&B and Sara and I went to a "legendary pub" called Sneaky Pete's..it was no kind of good so we left right after and then ran into these goth guys who told us somewhere else to go. That place was okay, we met interesting people from Italy, Germany, Spain, Morocco & Edinburgh and had a fun time hanging out. After we checked out of the B&B sunday, we had brunch back at the elephant house- got a delicious gingerbread latte.! Then Sara and I browsed around some touristy shops then briefly went to the National Museum of Scotland. It was interesting, but we weren't really in museum-mode, and only had a few hours left to spend in Scotland, so we left pretty quickly. Walking down the sidewalk, we randomly ran into the ukulele playing french guy from the day before- that we met at the top of Arthur's seat! His name's Etienne! He said he was actually headed to the museum but since it was such a nice day he said he'd take us to this place called the Meadow. It was such a beautiful, spacious, green park and such a wonderful, amazing, fun afternoon & shared moment in time. We just hung out in the park for a long time, and he played the ukulele and sang in french and english and had a great time. It was all just so perfect and real and definitely my favorite experience in Europe. At one point, Sara took his ukulele and walked over to the walking path to sing for money- Etienne told me she sounded like someone being tortured with a hook and their intestines being pulled out hahahaa. I think she was scaring people- then Etienne yelled "Sara! Sara! it's time to take you back to the hospital!" :) All too soon, we had to get back on the train to return to London..fun ride with obnoxiously drunk screaming frat guys O_o. We got back to london at 11 PM last night..I had to write an 1800 word essay on UK politics and media that I'd only written 300 words for..due at 9 am..then for my theater class I had an essay that I'd luckily done before this weekend, but I had to give a 15 minute analytical presentation on a different play too. Good thing I'm naturally an insomniac.

Backbeat.!

Talked to Billy & Devon for awhile- impending travel plans to places I have no clue about are kinda stressful..but exciting.! and obviously a welcome distraction to all the work due on monday that I HAVE to make myself do before we go away to Scotland tomorrow. Just bummed around this morning working on papers. Sara and I went with the psych class to the Art by Offenders exhibit, by secure patients and detainees. There was some seriously powerful art- paintings, drawings, stories, music..it was really intense. THENNnnnnn.!!! tonIGHTttt Lindsay, Kat & I saw Backbeat.!!! the story of the beginning of the beatles.! :D OHmgGOSH SO GOOD.!!! AHHhhh! LOVE IT! twas a bit graphic and cigarette filled but musically wonderfully GReAT! at the end they played several songs and told the audience to stand up and dance- as we were in the balcony, Lindsay, Kat & I were the only ones nearby dancing, amidst a sea of resolutely sitting old people..reminded me of seeing Rain w Jeff last summer..ahaha.! Sooo fun though.! Now onto Scotland! AWAY.!

play, movie, opera, museum, and impending concert.!

Monday night, we saw the play Jerusalem which was AWESOME.! so english and so great!!! Check out the trailer -> (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up3M7WOPsg4&feature=related) Comments on change and the inability to recapture the idyllic england of the past. Mackenzie Crook was in it too- google him, the lanky awkward pirate that loses an eye in Pirates of the Caribbean- so that was pretty sweet.! Tuesday was such a busy day. We visited the London Greek Radio Station, which was pretty awesome. The DJs talk in a combination of Greek and English- they gave us a shout out, dedicated a Greek song to us, and let some of us talk on air :) I had to rush back to the flat and finish a paper for my film class, then as an outing for the film class we all went to see the Inbetweeners movie. It was super funny but pretty raunchy..a lot more graphic than the U.S. would allow even for that lax of a rating. THEN right after that, we all hadta dress up to go to the Royal Opera House to see La Traviata. As my first official opera, I have to say that it was extremely beautiful- the set and all the italian..but I don't think any of us were properly mentally prepared for the 3.5 hour performance..it was a LONNnnnng day full of activities and we were all exhausted..plus two of the intermissions were half an hour long O_o..I did buy delicious ginger icecream during one of the intermissions though, so that was exciting. Today, I slept in a bit but nothing too exciting..went to class, and we visited the Wallace Collection- a national museum of Rococo art in an old house. That was interesting..Sara, Lindsay and I ended up on a misadventure trying to find thai food..Sara & I finally found some..it was slightly disappointing and not spicy but decently good. Worked on homework and hung out tonight..not terribly eventful. DID just buy a ticket to see Paul McCartney on December 5th though!!!! It's finals week so it's just not the best idea, and expensive, but I'm so excited.!!! :D

Ireland.! to Dublin and beyond.!

My overall thoughts of Dublin: constantly drizzly, chilly, running to get EVERYWHERE, distinct lack of sleep, and constantly ravenous. First off, Hannah & I arrived at the tube station bright eyed and eager at 5 AM friday morning. Alas- the tube station remained resolutely closed until 5:30. Realizing that our international flight left at 7:30 and the tube ride was AT LEAST an hour, we were quite panicked and rushing. We ran down to the Piccadilly line and impatiently awaited our train, due to arrive in 1 minute. We heard it roaring up the tunnel towards us and got poised for action- it never stopped. It roared right past us, carrying rocks- we considered hopping on. 5 agonizing minutes later, we were on our way. That train stopped a few times too, which was particularly worrisome O_o. I'm not sure how, but we somehow made it on time, with 7 minutes to spare at the boarding gate. We were literally running with our luggage all over the airport. At the security gate I got stuck behind this woman laden with an overabundance of jewelry and the security guard told her to take off all of her jewelry, and she was taking her SWEET TIME doing it O_o..they saw me all anxious behind her and let me go ahead through. We just barely made it to the gate- all sweaty and gross from running so far with out heavy luggage- the flight itself was pretty uneventful and short- just tried to half sleep. When we made it outside, the first thing Hannie & I's bespeckled eyes did behold in Dublin, Ireland was a magnificent beautiful rainbow!! I wanted to follow it, naturally. Surely a sign of things to come..hopefully good things..We got on our bus, then Hannah was ravenous/ravishing..so we opened the door to a pub & 20 men all over the age of 40 stared back at us blankly. Hannah said "Oh! there's only men here" & closed the door. We tried somewhere else and they didn't take cards, so then we went to another pub and I got a vegetarian irish breakfast.! When we walked in the waiter told us he wouldn't bother us with his 'tales of woe so sad they'd bring a tear ta yer eye'..Oh what adventures had already transpired..& how many more to come.! After browsing around shops, we met Sara at the hostel and then RAN to city hall to be in time for the free walking tour of dublin. Our guide was really knowledgeable, and we got to see a lot, including Dublin Castle, Viking remains, Christ Church Cathedral, Trinity College, the National Library, where lived, Temple Bar, a bar and restaurant that Bono owns, and more.! It was a nice way to see and learn more about the city, but we were all pretty tired by the end. Took a nap in our hostel, and met nice girls studying in Scotland who told us all the stuff there that we needta check out when we go this weekend. Then we hung out at a well known pub called O'Neills for awhile, and danced at Bono's club unknowingly, and went a few other places as well. Had to wake up EARLY saturday morning to RUN across the city to make it to our tour bus by 6:50 O_o..it was beautiful GREEN countryside as we drove to the west coast of ireland, towards the cliffs of moher. We passed by where parts of braveheart and ps i love you were filmed, and saw fields full of hundreds of fluffy sheep and cows. As we approached the cliffs of moher, however, fog intensified until it seemed like we were driving through a crystal ball. You couldn't see ANYTHING..we spent two hours at the cliffs that we couldn't even see..there was a nice old man outside playing irish music to lead us through the fog..so that was the highlight for me. 'twas a bit disappointing to pay that much money and travel that far to see where beautiful cliffs are supposed to supposedly be. It wasn't a complete bust because we did get to stop in Limerick, Doolin village, other cliffs (that we could actually see), and Dunguaire castle..however, it was a VERY long day..we got back to dublin even later than we were supposed to, and everyone was absolutely exhausted. Enjoyed gigantic delicious plates of chinese food when we got back around 9 PM. Then a bunch of us went back out a few different places around the city- got back at an ungodly hour..5:30 AM actually..and had to take a freezing awful shower with no towel, and climb into my damp-smelling hostel bed for a restful hour and a half of sleep..Had to get up early sunday morning to RUN to make another tour bus with Hannah- to Kilkenny, Glendalough, and Wicklow. The first place we stopped at, Hannah & I were STARVING so we tried to buy food but apparently the hotel didn't sell food until later unless you were a guest there, so we innocently snatched up a meager piece of bread each. It was a beautiful time walking around, but as you can imagine, by this point we were absolutely exhausted. We stopped at an awesome cafe for lunch that the driver recommended- Nostalgia. Great food, and decorated with interesting antiques. We got back to Dublin around 5:30 PM, did some last minute shopping, then went ahead to the airport to wait for our 9PM flight. Of course, when we got to the airport, all of the places selling food were closed except for one ridiculously expensive place and burger king..so I ended up with a "vegetarian wrap" that tasted like mushy fake lukewarm chicken in a tortilla. Delicious. Then our flight was delayed an hour. Then we were nervous that the tube wouldn't be running anymore by the time we landed..and we didn't have a backup plan to make it back to central london..Amazingly enough though, as soon as we entered the tube station there was an announcement that the last train of the night would arrive in 2 minutes..so we just barely made it.!

Ralph Fiennes is much less pastey, hairless & noseless in real life..

This morning (this is from last thursday that I'm just now posting), Hannah and I walked around Camden markets & burned through all the cash we just got last night..I bought two dresses, and the most delicious falafel filled pita of my life.! All the dress selling vendors are so incredibly ridiculous and relentless..they could sense that I did want to buy a dress..so then they wouldn't leave me alone & were literally zipping me into dresses O_o. Later Sara & I tagged along on an outing to the Chelsea Physic Garden- London's oldest botanic garden that apothecaries founded to study the medicinal properties of plants from all over the world. That night, Hannah and I had tickets to see the Tempest- with Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort) as Prospero.! Hannah realized right before the show- at 7:30- that she had mistakenly bought tickets for the 2PM showing..they ended up giving her a ticket anyways, but she couldn't see the whole left side of the stage from her seat.. O_o I enjoyed it. I don't know too much about the Tempest though, as I've never read, studied or seen it before, so some parts were confusing but it was well done. Afterwards, I skyped with Katherine until 1AM..not having packed yet for Ireland..and having to wake up at 4:45AM in order to get to the airport in time..yessss..

George Harrison :)

Today was a fun, chill day..got to sleep in a bit. Sara shared some of her delicious peppermint chai with me (that she paid 20 pounds for btw..!) and we had hummus bros for lunch. Sara, June and I walked around Soho looking in random shops. Went to the national portrait gallery again for art history. Tonight though, Lindsay and I took the tube to Brixton to see the Martin Scorsese documentary about George Harrison, Living in the Material World, at the Ritzy Picturehouse.!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGMMXK-661M) <- check out the trailer.! OHmyGOSH Lindsay and I were LOVING it.! first off, that cinema is super nice and mice free, with ridiculously comfortable reclining plush red chairs. More importantly though, the documentary itself had all these interesting interviews, home videos and pictures..full of wonderful songs of course.! We were especially geeking out over their earlier performances, they're all SO young. Anyways, it was super awesome..then it came to an apparent yet abrupt end..I'm thinking okay..I could watch a few more hours..Lindsay's like hmm..that's an odd place to end it..then it says END of PART 1..so that was kinda funny..there was a kind of intermission- sadly enough no one would serve us popcorn. Also, we had to leave before the very end because the tube stops running pretty early..and it was getting really late. O_o so we were upset we didn't get to stay..but it was a lotta fun :)

A day full of Luke Pasqualino.! & theater mice..

Also- last thursday, Hannah & I spent the morning walking around Hyde Park and visited the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It's a really sweet fountain that looks like a lazy river kind of deal, that everyone walks around barefoot in. It's been SO hot and sunny here, it's ridiculous. Not that I'm complaining- just think it's ironic that at home it's apparently already winter.? Monday we visited the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum, which was pretty interesting. That night we went to the Tricycle in Kilburn to see the play The Absence of Women. Our theater teacher gave us confusing directions, and it was in a sheisty area anyways, so a bunch of us were 4 minutes late- so we hadta wait 15 minutes before they would let us in O_o...other than that though I LOVED it.! It was so great- about two ex-alcoholics who sit and reminisce drinking tea, interjected with past memories that have really influenced them..past regrets and hiding behind facades..it was upsetting but wonderfully pulled off. Today, we walked around Soho by McCartney's recording studio again, and visited all these awesome record stores. We also went into the Hare Krishna temple to look around, then our professor took us to the cafe Maison Bertaux & bought us all coffee- London's "oldest & best patisserie"- I got a delicious croissant tart thing filled with fresh fruit and cream.! Sara, Hannah & I talked to this nice guy who told us about how he goes to that cafe every tuesday for beginning French lessons with beginners. Walking back to the house, Hannah & I met up with Lexi and stopped to say hi. She started freaking out looking at these two guys standing outside a building across the street- said it was a guy from Skins. I've heard of that show but have no idea about anything about it. Lexi wouldn't tell me which one was from the show and I told her we should go talk to him but everytime I took a step she freaked out hardcore at me and said she'd just try and take a creeper picture. Personally, I feel like making friends is less creepy than staring at someone and trying to sneak pictures. It would've been more exciting if I had any idea about who he was..but apparently it was Luke Pasqualino. I did walk over, but they went inside before I got there, and it was some restaurant and hotel, and if I followed it would've been pretty creepy at that point. Just got back from seeing Jane Eyre- don't know that I really can say I enjoyed the movie itself a lot, because her life was upsetting and full of abuse and being taken advantage of and jerks..however, the experience was pretty enjoyable. Two british girls near us kept freaking out, then we realized there was a cute little mouse zipping around the theater..then we realized there were quite a few cute little mice eating popcorn off the floor and zipping around our feet- I thought it was hilarious watching all the girls go hysterical about it.

Stratford upon Avon, Oxford & Bath= 1 crazy busy fun party of a weekend

What an eventful weekend.! WHERE to start.. here's an abbreviated version: went to Stratford upon Avon (I'm such a Shakespeare geek..it was pretty awesome.!) thursday afternoon, and saw an AMAZING colorful, eerie, trippy rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Shakespeare Theater. The actor who played Lysander, Nathaniel Martello-White, came back to our bed & breakfast (which had crazy garish wallpaper and gradmotherly pink furniture in every room- so great.!) after the show and my theater class had a Q&A time with him, so that was really awesome. He's had some movie roles, including a small part in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.! haha I kinda want to just find the 7 seconds of it that he's probably in..The next morning, we toured Anne Hathaway (Shakespeare's wife)'s cottage, saw what COULD have been their courting chair, toured what COULD have been Shakespeare's actual cottage..Shakespeare just seems like an elusive fellow..all the details were a bit ambiguous. We also went to Holy Trinity Church- the church where Shakespeare is buried, and was baptized. We went to a market and I bought this neat handcrafted blue metal rose- a nice old man was selling them, and he said he's been making them for over 30 years. Then we bussed over to Oxford for a few hours- toured around a few of the more prestigious colleges (made up of 39 in all), including ones used in scenes for the library and infirmary in Harry Potter, and then we went to the pub The Eagle & Child- where C.S. Lewis & Tolkien regularly met. Sara heard about some deer park at one of the campuses where you could go right up to the deer, so the two of us went on a wild..deer..chase. to try and find said deerpark..Of course it ended up being really far away, but after some misadventures, a lot of speedwalking, and meeting a very nice, helpful Maths major named Chris, and begging the guy at the gate to let us in for free really quickly, we did just barely make it there. THEN we drove up to Bath for the night- went to a fun club called Mole's, and hung out. Saturday, we all toured the Roman Baths- of course Hannah, Sara & I almost got left behind because no one told us we had to be on a bus tour of the city and there was no cell reception where we were. Toured the city by bus, had delicious pad thai for lunch, went to a market, walked around, a bunch of us went to a pub but it wasn't that fun because there was a lot of group drama and everyone else at that place was pretty old..so Sara & I walked back to Mole's, but it was more expensive, so we ended up talking to people outside, then went to a different pub and hung out with nice british blokes for awhile. :) Sunday, we stopped for awhile at the Wilton House & then also stopped at Stonehenge- really interesting stuff.!

irish eyes are smiling :)

Hannah & I just booked walking tours for our weekend in Ireland October 7-9.!! So excited.!! We're staying in Dublin in a hostel yet to be determined..going on an all day tour to the Cliffs of Moher, Galway Bay & Limerick, a tour of Kilkenny, Glendalough & Wicklow Mountains, and a walking tour of Dublin too. I'm just excited to find some random fun irish music. I also hafta find Jen a leprechaun..or pot of gold. :) TOMORROW we're leaving for Stratford upon Avon- where we'll see A Midsummer Night's Dream, then go to Oxford, Bath, and Stonehenge.! Gonna be awesome weekend after awesome weekend.!!! Today was SO hot and sunny out- I read in the park for awhile before art class. Then we went to the National Gallery again, and got to see unfinished Michelangelo paintings among others, like the Allegory of Venus and Cupid..kind of disturbing and full of symbolism. There was a guy from Spain outside of the gallery playing the guitar who had piercing blue eyes, short curly brown hair in the front and an impressively long dredlocked ponytail..so a dredlock mullet kinda..think he maybe shoulda picked one or the other. There was also all these people making incredible chalk and charcoal drawings on the pavement- one of Bob Marley, Ghandi, Elvis, Jim Morrison..pretty sweet.

tickets.!

SO.! future events and happenings coming up are all AMAZING.! excepttt..just saw that Pelicanesis is going to break up (..?!???) AHhhh! O_o guess I'm doomed since they never saved me from the apocalypse even though I've trieddd. *sigh. well enough of that. in other news..Lindsay and I bought tickets to see the Martin Scorsese George Harrison documentary in the cinemas.! So I'm excited about that- and tickets to the play Backbeat, the beginning of the Beatles.! AND Hannah and I bought tickets to see the play The Tempest with Ray Fiennes- the actor who plays Voldemort.! So all of that is coming up soon! :) Yesterday, walking back from class, a random older man walked towards me and said "You're from America, aren't you?" and started telling me about how he studied in L.A. for 3 months. That was a really nice, random interaction; a reminder that not everyone in the city is super self absorbed and always in a hurry. I walked around for awhile because it was a nice day out. It's been really warm here lately. Went to theater class- our teacher picks a student to focus on and drill with questions for 15 minutes each time, and this class she picked Tom. He shaved his head over the weekend so she told him in this country you wouldn't know what you were going to get looking at him & that he either looked like a hipster or a Nazi. Last night, our flat had a progressive dinner. Each floor made a dish and we started in the basement with appetizers, then worked our way up the building. Soooo much food with so many people all crowded together and so many stairs.! A few of us had to watch the film Fallen Idol for class- I understand stylistically why so many people enjoy it..theoretically..but it was the most boring, lonnng movie...I couldn't pay attention at all and nobody made it all the way through it. O_o In Media & Society class today, a journalist came in to talk to us about differences between different London papers as well as compared to U.S. papers. We all went around Fleet Street, saw St. Bride's Church- one of the oldest in London. For our film tonight, we had to be at the BFI but Lindsay, Kat, Hannah & I took a wrong turn and just barely made it. Someone was sitting in my seat though and it's a small room, so I had to sit on the floor. I really enjoyed the movie a lot though- Days of Heaven with Richard Gere. It was very well written, and had really beautiful nature scenes. The main point of conflict is a bit of a stretch, but I bought in to all the reasoning behind different characters' perspectives.