So get on a train and go somewhere

So I have this secret (sometimes not so secret) obsession with trains. I sort of love them. So when I found out there was a transportation museum in London, I’ve wanted to go for the last…oh 5 and ½ weeks or so. And today, I went.

It was the coolest museum, possibly ever. First you start off in a lift aka elevator aka time machine! We got in and above the doors was the year and then as we went up to the second floor, the years rolled back to 1800 and when the doors opened, we could hear the clip-clop of horses and there were stage coaches (as I type that, I realize that’s probably the American version, but that’s what they looked like – the British called them “horse omnibuses.” But they were complete with horses and fake people riding and driving them. And this continued – with the Victorian trains and the tube from the 1970’s complete with passengers in bellbottoms and ads for platform shoes. It went all the way up to the current tube that we take almost every day. And there weren’t just trains, but double-decker buses too!

And another reason I wanted to go was for the amazing “tube art” or train posters. In one room was the coolest art display ever. It was a slideshow on a projector, but it started on the floor and raced up to the screen and was filled with art, photos and even typeface. I think I stood there for a solid 20 minutes. Brilliant!

Heaven is the 4th floor of New Look Department Store

After work today, I came home to meet Chrissy and we ventured to Oxford Circus for some intense shopping. Oxford Circus is the Michigan Avenue of London, except better because there are so many more stores where I would actually buy things. Plus the British department stores are huge. They all have like 4 levels and sometimes a place to eat. New Look had a Starbucks in it and Topshop had an EAT. How Brilliant! Also, New Look may be the smartest store of all time. The entire 4th floor was shoes and purses. (I was in love) And there were giant high heel shaped chairs to sit in to try the shoes on.

Naturally, I bought a pair of shoes. I’m actually surprised I’ve gone this long without buying shoes. Plus….they’re only size 8 thanks to UK sizes.

Later, floor 5 and Stephen went for dinner with Lesa and Allen. We went to a Japanese Restaurant at St. Katherine’s Docks by the Tower of London. It was so good and so much food! My favorite was this duck mango and rice roll (it had a real name but I have no idea what that is) and the dessert – banana and chocolate rolls with blueberry ice cream. Kamilla and Caitlin order this “flowering” tea. It was literally a flower bud that when hot water was poured on it, it opened up and the water turned to tea.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Oh, and Tuesday too…

Saturday was Leeds Castle and Canterbury. We got to the castle before it opened and took our time walking through the grounds up to the castle. There were birds everywhere. There were beautiful peacocks including a beautiful albino one. It was beautiful, but it kept shaking because it was angry at the pigeons nearby. (Another reason I loved it, we both hate pigeons). Inside the castle were the rooms of the royals who lived there and upstairs was decorated how it was in the 1950s when a different woman lived there. Then it was off to Canterbury. The town is known for its cathedral and the pilgrims who came there. Now, it’s lots of little shops. We ate lunch at a little pub and then Steph, Danielle and I went to the animated Canterbury Tales. It was cheesy with the people that popped up out of nowhere, but the tales were fun and it was Canterbury.

Afterward, we went back to London and watched the USA v. England Football game at a Pub. When we first walked in, all the tables were booked, but we managed to snag the couches right in front of the screen. So although it wasn’t super rowdy, we had a great view of the game. We went back to the flat and hung out, then we decided to go to Lesa and sing to her in her flat.

On Sunday, we slept in and then I decided I wanted to go to the grocery store because I was almost out of food. So Maggie and I walked to the big Sainsbury’s Grocery store, only to find out it doesn’t open until 11a.m. But we did find the Chapel street market and bought strawberries and nectarines instead. And on the way home, we bought meringue.

Then we went Spitalfields market, which might be my favorite market so far. There were so many aisles of clothes, jewelry and food. It was wonderful. We walked through most of the market and then decided to take a break and go to Brick Lane, which is known for its curry. Two of the best curry places were right next to each other and they fought to give us a good deal. We ended up getting drinks, a starter and curry with rice for £6.95. We were the only ones in the restaurant, but it was so good. Afterward, we went back to the market, finished it and made our purchases.

Later, we decided to go to mass at Westminster Cathedral. It was literally between office buildings and was brick. It kind of reminded me of a train station. But the mass was quick and we were able to look around a bit before we left.

On Monday, we had our visit to the Telegraph. I. AM. IN. LOVE. The newsroom was beautiful and arranged so perfectly. And once again the speaker was great and encouraging. Then we went to Westminster Abbey. It was one of the most beautiful places ever. I saw the tombs of kings and queens, Handel, Isaac Newton, and Jane Austen. So a-mazing. Plus we saw the coronation chair where kings and queens have been crowned since the 1000s.

Next was dinner at a Portuguese place for Steph’s birthday, followed by Les Mis. It was beautiful, but very sad and depressing. I do want to read the book now. And finally, today was work again and after work, Chrissy and I went shopping to all the different secondhand and antique bookstores. And later, a few of us met Alex Farris who has been in Spain for the last semester for drinks at a pub on Fleet Street. The street is known for journalism, so we thought it was appropriate.

Ok, so I’m finally caught up now.

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!