Spanish dancing in London

I knew the minute I didn't blog everyday (aka when I went to Rome because I didn't have internet) I would have a hard time blogging everyday again. And as my posts show...I was right. So here's a recap of the last few days.
Thursday - Work and then more work. Since our projects were due for class on Friday. Our flat (along with every other flat it seemed)stayed in and worked. We worked until we went crazy singing Disney songs, eating oreos and drinking wine.
Friday - after all the presentations and the exhaustion we have put our feet through in the last 6 weeks, not to mention just in Rome alone, Danielle and I decided we would get pedicures because your feet deserved it. So after class, we set out on a trek to find the London Beauty College and its 13 pound pedicures. And we did - only about 45 minutes after it closed. So we went back to the flats on our poor feet.
But Friday night - we were ready to celebrate Caitlin's birthday. So after getting ready in the flats in true girly style - hair straighteners, heels, borrowing clothes and purses, music blasting - flats 9 & 10 (plus Megan and Steph) were ready. We started at the Salisbury, were Caitlin's "husband" was. And when we left, she was on cloud 9 because he had spoke to her. And then as we wandered around we found this great Spanish place with dancing and no cover. We had so much fun dancing, but sadly had to leave before lots of people got there. But last stop was Tinsletown for milkshakes. I got snickers and it was wonderous. We even ran into Flat 5 who was also there.

“I get by with a little help from my friends”

It was an exhausting weekend. We didn’t get back from Rome until after 1 a.m. and work was the next day at 9 a.m. So needless to say, I didn’t have much time to upload all my pictures and blog. And if Tuesday would have been my day to catch up, but yesterday was not just any Tuesday.

It was Brian & Caitlin’s birthday.

So how does EPS celebrate? By dressing up and going out to an Italian dinner followed by £2 Tiramisu, £1 Chocolate cake, fudge, champagne and wine while singing everything from the Beatles and Cher to the Backstreet Boys, of course. We all crammed into flat 9 (including Lesa) and spent the night singing our hearts out and catching up with everyone from the weekend apart. (And maybe we were putting off our group projects too)
But of course, that didn’t help how tired I was. So today, after work I took a nap before heading to Farringdon grill to pick up dinner and updating my blog and working on that project.

How can I put this city into words? More importantly…without writing a novel-length post.

3:30 a.m. Saturday. I wake up to Amanda asking when I was going to get up. Thank god I had packed & showered before bed because I had slept through my alarm and had just enough time to get ready and run out the door as Danielle was waiting anxiously because the taxi had called her to say it was here already…twice.

So after a successful taxi ride to the airport and flight to Rome, we got to tourist information, who told us to take a bus to the city. But it left before we got to it so we took a taxi. A taxi that:

1) Drove on the right side of the road and I didn’t notice until like 10 minutes into the ride.
2) The windows were down all the way – the whole time – at like 90 miles an hour
3) And the driver, oh yeah, he talked on his headset phone in Italian the whole time.

But we got to the city and after some mass confusion found the hostel and Lindsey, who had taken the train from Florence to meet us and may have gotten off at the wrong station. But we found her and went to the hostel. It had the biggest doors I’ve ever seen and the woman was so excited to hear Lindsey spoke Italian…and then sad to hear she was only there for the day.

Then it was on the metro train to the Vatican museum. Inside was filled with statue after statue of muses and roman gods and the most beautiful ceilings I had ever seen. And then, at the end, was the Sistine Chapel. We couldn’t take pictures so I bought a few postcards. It was so beautiful and intricate and I just wanted to stand and stare forever.

Next, was Old Bridge gelato, which is some of the best gelato in Rome according to Lindsey’s friends. Not only did we order in Italian, but it’s common to get 2 flavors in one cone…brilliant right? So I ordered chocolate chip and mint (and when we went again on Sunday, I got chocolate and rum cream yum!)

Then it was the Trevi Fountain, which may be the prettiest place in the entire world. I threw in two coins, which means I will return to Rome and find a new romance so I threw one with a British coin and one American coin to diversify my options. I also made sure we say this everyday we were there.

We took Lindsey to the Colosseum so she could see it before she left and it is literally right outside the train station. That’s how the whole city is. We were just walking along and it was “hello Roman ruins” or “Hello giant monument.” We ate dinner across the street on a 2nd floor terrace that overlooked the Colosseum. Not a big deal.
We were exhausted, so we ended the night with cannoli and 44 cent liters of water. (Such a good idea – why don’t we have that in the States?) And went back to our summer camp hostel with the tiniest showers ever.

Day 2 – Sunday and St. Peter’s Basilica. Mass in the Basilica in Italian. Tombs of the popes including John Paul II and St. Peter. And over 300 steps to the top of the copula. And they weren’t just steps. It was spiral staircases and slanted staircases with slanted hallways that if they were any more slanted I wouldn’t of fit. But the view was all of Rome.

Dinner was in a piazza with a beautiful fountain and delicious food. At the restaurant, they gave us lemon liquor that is an after dinner drink. It was like drinking pure lemon sugar water. Then, we went exploring and found a bar to have drinks where the bartenders were crazy and danced all around us.

Day 3 – The Colosseum was amazing and all around it was the Roman ruins including several temples, arches and the Roman Forum. It was crazy to walk through all of the ancient ruins. So we went shopping and then took the train the airport. The train had little glass rooms a la Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express.

Three days was really the perfect amount to see everything we wanted to see and not be rushed. And I still can’t believe I was really in Rome.

British Treasures

Fridays mean class. But today, our teacher Keith wasn't there so we had a guest speaker and watched a movie.
The speaker was Tom Felton who is the cutest old man journalist ever. He was a foreign correspondent for almost 50 years and has been everywhere from the Middle East to France to Russia.He was really cool to hear from and made me wish I could have been a part of the old-school journalism days.
Then it was off to the British Museum. How overwhelming! It was filled with artifacts from all throughout history including mummies from Egypt and the Rosetta Stone. But my favorite part was actually outside the museum. It was a garden that was filled South African plants. Super Pretty!
Then it was off to Covent Gardens to buy last minute things for our trip to Rome! Which I leave for in about, oh four hours. Which also means that I can't blog until Monday.
So I'm off to Rome - land of the Romans & the Vatican!

Some days you're famous

So today, I went home to my flat and was sitting online reading my e-mail, when a message from Danielle pops up: Your face is in a newspaper in our flat. Yep, that's right. Turns our Biz is a journalism superstar and she ended up writing the story and paper also used her photos about curry fest. Including the one of me being a cheese ball. Lovely. Speaking of lovely, we had dinner with Lesa tonight and it was wonderous.

I only worked half a day at work today. So I spent the afternoon in the courtyard of St. Paul's reading and eating my lunch, watching the tourists go by. Then I became a tourist and went on a tour about the blitz. Although it was really long, it was pretty interesting, especially the churches that were bombed and now the foundations are gardens. That was my favorite. Also a sign I found, "12 disciples wanted to start congregation" What?

And speaking of...Rome in less than 48 hours!

Walks through London

I love the randomness of the city. The way I seem to just become swept up in it. The sun was so bright and shinning so after dinner I couldn't help it and we decided to go for a walk, which turned into a walk, then a trip to the grocery store followed by singing.
What I love about London is how the old is mixed with the new. The buildings can be brand new or from the 1800s and right next to each other. So cool.

After work today, I was walking home and was stopped by a man who was leaving the tube station and he asked if I knew where St. Bart's Hospital was. I didn't and I told him sorry but no. (Imagine his surprise when he heard my American accent!) But the best part was just the fact that I was stopped on the street because looked like a true Londoner. It's a sign that I do fit in.

The Rain in London

Today was a rainy day in London. It was the kind of day that I was expecting in London. But it was perfect because it only rained when I was inside and not when I was walking to or from work. But once I got back, it started raining harder. So I put in Love Actually and ate some biscuits (aka cookies) as the rain came down outside.

Later, we booked our tickets for the Vatican Museum so that we don’t have to wait in the long lines before seeing the museum and the Sistine Chapel. But, sad day – The Pope will be in Cyprus when we are in Rome. But that won’t stop me from going to mass at the Vatican!