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.!