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.