Many apologies....

Sorry I've been so slack on the blog. It's been a busy couple of weeks since Paris. This blog is probably going to be a little less "and on this day I went here and saw this and here is a picture." We've been trying to pace ourselves on sightseeing and actually focus a little more on schoolwork.

My friend Katherine and I were walking around Notting Hill on Saturday, and we both came to the realization that we've started to feel like we live in London, rather than merely being tourists or visitors. It was a really exciting and affirming realization.
The best way to see the city is just to walk. The weather has gotten a lot nicer, and if where we are going is only one or two Tube stops away, we will just set out in that direction on foot instead of having to pay a subway fare. People have even stopped to ask us directions. This is kind of daunting, but it is also very rewarding when you can respond, "Actually, yes! In fact, I do know the way to the Gloucester Road Tube station." I had always hoped that I would be able to find a regular pub, must-go-to student night, and interesting new people that I interact with like I've known them my whole life during this semester...but I really didn't really think that those expectations would be this quickly fufilled and in such great supply. I've already gotten so much out of this experience, and I'm not even halfway done yet. (Thank God!!!)

But, I do miss some things about the United States. I've actually started watching the NBC show Friday Night Lights just for the fact that it does give me a (shockingly) accurate potrayal of the life back home. Great show; you should be watching if you aren't!
I miss Zaxby's and Barberritos A LOT. Mexican food is not very popular over here, and that is one of my favorite types of food. I miss having my Blackberry on hand at all times so that I can Google something. I miss flip flops, shorts, and T-shirts. I miss birthday celebrations that I could be having with my friends from home. (here's looking at you, Ace, MH, and Caro) I desperately miss Waffle House.

There are also some great things that I've discovered that make me so happy over here: falafel sandwiches, Strongbow, dancing into the early hours of the morning, Pret a Manger, Dorothy Perkins, H&M, Topshop, the pub atmosphere, a new appreciation of Lady Gaga, and then just about everything that London has to offer.

Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life for there is in London al that life can afford."
--Samuel Johnson

Weekend in Paris

I was in Paris for the past weekend, and it was quite a trip!

We left for St. Pancras station on Friday morning, and then boarded our Eurostar train to Paris. The train trip was nice...I ended up sitting next to a girl in my program who I hadn't met before. It was neat to make a new friend on the train. The Eurostar was very comfortable, and I like riding on a train better than flying. Since there were delays due to maintenance on the tunnel, the trip took about three hours, making our trip about a half hour longer than was expected. We got to the French station, and boarded tour buses to the hotel.

We stayed in a couple of Holiday Inns (our group was so large that we had to book two hotels because of the size of our group). In the United States, Holiday Inns aren't bad places to stay but they are not top of the line hotels, either. In Paris, they are almost luxury hotels. We had the most comfortable beds and pillows, a flat screen T.V., and an amazing shower. The chocolate croissants at breakfast were also amazing! The hotel itself was a definite perk of the trip.

After taking a few minutes to get settled, we left the hotel for our night tour of the Seine. From the Seine, we were able to see all of the main monuments of Paris. We had a great view of the Eiffel Tower. When we started the tour and then when we concluded it, we were able to see the Effel Tower sparkling. Since the night was nice (about 50 degrees F), we were able to bundle up and sit out on in the open air.

Once we finished the boat tour, a couple of us went to a restaurant...we were starving and settled for the first place we saw. Luckily, the place that we stopped at was great. We were able to have some great pasta and sample some famous French wine.

The next morning, we had to wake up by 8:45 for a bus tour of the city. The tour was a great way to see all of the important areas of the city in one morning. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, the Paris Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame Cathedral (amongst other landmarks).

Picture: Me in front of Notre Dame Cathedral

I really enjoyed the bus tour...it lasted for about three hours, and I was able to take a lot of pictures.

We finished the tour at the Eiffel Tower. The sky had been looking grey all day, and it had been drizzling off and on for hours. However, right when we arrived at the Tower, it began to snow. Not pretty snow, horribly cold and wet and hard snow. We had tickets to go up in the Tower, and no one was willing to skip out on the experience. So, in spite of the inclement weather, we rode the three elevators to the top of the tower. Since the weather was so bad, we were unable to actually see the view from the top. I was very glad that I had been to Paris before and that this experience wasn't the only one I had of the Tower.

We didn't spend to much time at the Tower because, well, we all looked and felt like drowned rats and were ready to get somewhat dry and warm. We decided to grab a cab and head over to the Louvre.
Since the Louvre is so massive, we went into the museum knowing that we wanted to see a few key pieces of art. The two most exciting were the "Venus de Milo" and "The Mona Lisa".
Sculpture: "Venus de Milo" and Painting: "The Mona Lisa"

While it was humbling and awesome to be in the presence of "The Mona Lisa," I feel bad for all of the other works of art in the Louvre. There was an amazing, huge mural of a wedding feast right across the hall from "The Mona Lisa," but almost no one paid it any attention in their rush to get to (probably) the most famous painting in the world.

After the Louvre, it was time for some window shopping and crepe eating. I had an amazing Nutella crepe from a street vendor. Nutella is God's greatest invention! It goes well with everything: crepes, waffles, fresh fruit, marshmallows, bread, graham crackers, even on its own as a pig out food. By the time we filled up our tummys, we were really hit by that early 8:45 meeting time, so it was back to the hotel for a nap before it was time to get ready to go out in Paris. We went in a large group, and it was difficult for Americans to get into the French clubs. Therefore, we ended up splintering into smaller groups and getting wine and appetizers at restaurants. It was very odd because in London, everyone you meet on the street, at a store, or at a pub is super friendly. In France, this was not the case. The stereotype was true in this case and on this trip.

The next morning, it was time to say 'au revoir' to France. My roommate and I grabbed one last crepe, and boarded the bus to take us to the train station. By 5:00 p.m., we were back home in London. And even though I had a very nice weekend in Paris, I was super glad to be back in my favorite city in the world!

SNOW!!!

It's snowing here in London! It is the greatest snowfall since 1991! Above is a picture of my friend Katherine and me playing in the snow out in front of our dorm.

Classes were canceled today, so we went to the local park, Kensington Gardens, to act like 8 year olds. We built a snowman...

We met a little British girl who thought our snowman was so amazing that she wanted a picture with it. She then showed us her snowman, and we got a picture of it.

After making our snowman, making snow angels, throwing a few snowballs, and taking lots of pictures, we decided to head to the Gloucester Arms (our favorite and regular pub) for some lunch and to warm up.

We don't know if classes are going to be canceled tomorrow...they are going to reassess the situation at 16.00. If we're lucky, we'll have two snow days in a row!

But it's not all snow days and snowmen here in London. This weekend were the Chinese New Year festivities, celebrating the year of the Ox. We went down to Leicester Square last night to check out the booths and stores in Chinatown and to see the fireworks. We thought that the fireworks were going to be an awesome spectacle...but they were...not so much. ;O) It was still lots of fun, and we got to get a taste of Chinatown.

I'm very excited because this weekend we are taking a trip to Paris!! Hopefully there will be some great things to tell and great pictures to show!

Comment on my blog! I'd love to hear from y'all. Thanks Jules, Aunt Julia, and Parents for commenting... :)