Bath - Day Four

Today was slightly overcast and cloudy..... but didn't rain, so it was okay. We got up VERY early this morning (took a shower last night to get a bit of extra sleep this morning) and left IES around 8am. We made our way to the South Kensington Tube station and took the Circle Line to the Waterloo Line and finally to Paddington Station. There, we met Prof. and Mrs. After getting waters and coffees, we jumped on the train that took us to Bath. The train ride was about 1.5 hours. Jess and I spent about half of that sleeping (we were both tired) and the rest taking pictures, exchanging cell phone numbers and, basically just chatting away. We got to bath a bit early (around 11am) - the tour wasn't to start until 11:30am, so Prof gave us 25 minutes to walk around a bit and get acquainted with parts of the town.

**i just typed a WHOLE LONG POST..... and deleted it by accident! GAH!!!!*

we met back at the train station around 11:30am for our tour. Our tour guide (named Caroline.... of course) took us basically all over Bath. The buildings there are gorgeous - all the same color - all made of limestone. The tour took ust to, basically, every major landmark in Bath (the Abbey, the baths, the Royal crescent, the sun, the Jane Austen Museum, Sally Lunn Shoppe, etc. etc. etc.) It was a beautiful day - slightly overcast but no rain and breezy temp. The tour ended aroung 1:30 - we all were STARVING so we went back to the Sally Lunn store. Jess and I both got sweet rolls with strawberry jam and butter - soooo deliciously amazing. After eating, the group of us went downstairs to the mini-museum they have. It was basically showing the original bakery and some other little tid-bit kind of things.
After Sally Lunn, we decided to hit up the baths. While it was kind of expensive to get inside, it was mostly worth it. There are three Roman baths that sit above this ginormous hot spring (you could even see the bubbles in one of them) and it's all surrounded by these elaborate buildings and columns and statues - pretty amazing. We wandered around there for a bit and, at the end, got to taste the water - the people used to drink and bathe in the water for its minerals (43!!!)... apparently it was the best way to solve any ailments/problems. I, personally, thought it was disgusting (warm mineral water... eww.)
Once finished with the baths, we headed out into the main square and decided to tour the abbey (cheap - only L2). It was absolutely gorgeous inside - stained glass windows, wood work, lots and lots of beautiful-ness. After seeing both St. Paul's and this abbey, I now know why these people were so religious... it was so inspiring!
With the abbey behind us, we headed out to walk along the Avon River (runs through Bath) when Lee called. Jess and I went to meet her in the square while the others continued to walk around. It was soooo good to see Lee (another friendly familiar gettysburg face! YAY!) and I think she was really grateful to see us. She loves it in Bath, and I definitely can't blame her. We sat in the square and had fish and chips for dinner... just chatting away and enjoying the scenery (now much less busy since apparently things start to close down around 6ish). By about 6:45 we started to walk towards Lee's flat (she had a reception with her tutors that night). The flat is fantastic!!! It's above a greek restraunt, is huuuuge and overlooks a river.... basically, phenomenal.
After dropping her off, we met back up with the group and headed for the train station. Outside the station, we stopped to buy goodies for the ride home. I got the most delicious triple chocolate chip shortbread in the world for only 99p!!!! The train ride home was rough.... we didn't have reservations so we had to just take available seats which meant sitting next to strange man.... awkward when you'd like to try to sleep. He left after about 3 stops though and I read the paper he left behind.
We got back home around 9:30ish and decided to do a quick change/pee stop and then head out again. (It's amazing what a new shirt, some lip gloss and earrings will do for a girl! haha) We, the gang, hit up Cadogen's for about an hour (all of us got pints of cider) and, at 11 (because they close then) we decided to head down to the next block and the other hang out that people from our group have been to. We still aren't sure what it's called (something foreign with a B, so we named it 'Babushka's' for reference sake).... ANYWAY this place is fantastic!!!! - kind of night clubby but without a cover charge (woot!). We danced for a while and some got drinks.... About an hour and a half later we were all super hot (it was reeeeally crowded inside) and so we decided to head out. It was such a nice night out (and only 12:30am at this point) so we ran back to IES for quick pee time and then back out for a walk to the bridge.... it's kind of our new favorite place for pretty nights out. We left the bridge (after a bit) and came back..... basically to just hang out and chat about our day and whatev. Went to bed around 3am (wow late night...) It was definitely a good.... but EXHAUSTING day!

wow... day three already! how did that happen?
today, we started class..... which, on one hand was eh as we had to be ther by 8:30.... on the other hand, though, it was good to actually... think... again! haha so yes, got up around 7:30ish, took a shower and headed downstairs. Prof. handed out the syllabi and then some other document-y kind of papers. then we watched Remains of the Day.... while the book was decently okay, the movie was LOOONG. Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Christopher Reeve and Hugh Grant.... one would think it would have been MUCH better than it was. we chatted about the movie afterward for about an hour ("is this an English film?" "why or why not is it english" etc. etc.) it was a decently good discussion.
we had the afternoon off, so a couple of us went to the grocery store again. i needed drinks (apple juice and tea!) and toilet paper (yeeeeah.... glad amanda mentioned that we have to buy it ourselves, or we would have been stranded! haha) i discovered a whole aisle of tea (not surprising as this IS london! haha) and i decided that i need to learn to drink it! then we checked out a school supply store (note: be sure to bring all school supply kind of things to london - don't buy here...... L3.99 for a notebook! Aaah!) anyway, so.... we did that, then came back here and basically bummed around the room for a while. jess and i made sandwiches (well, i actually just had lots of jelly bread.... but that's good too!) We started to look up prices for plane tickets for our week off.... that's going to be interesting. hopefully we can plan it all out by this weekend.
We left for our Theaterland tour around 4:15ish - and thank goodnes as it took us nearly 50 minutes to get to Trafalgar Square from here. Prof decided to do the tour himself (he said he couldn't find any that he really liked, so he just did it). It was absolutely amazing! Theaterland was basically a much more NYC-like kind of portion of the city. It felt very Time's Square at points but it still had the gorgeous English architecture and 'oldness' to it. So we walked around.... saw a whole bunch of theaters (the place where The Messiah was first performed, the theater where the Sound of music debuted... soooo much!) Then we went to Picadilly Square ( I was so thrilled to actually be in Picadilly!) We walked around there for a while.... it was definitely a NYC kind of place.... but much much MUCH more clean. After that, Prof gave us a free hour to grab food or anything of that sort.... Amanda and I were DYING for Starbucks so she and I went in there while the others wandered other places and got food. We headed back to the designated spot around 7:30ish - and Prof. gave us our tickets to see SPAMALOT!!!!! AAAAH! I was so thrilled! - seeing Spamalot in LONDON! - how much more priceless can you get?!
The show was amazing... the leads and other actors were phenomenal.... and the theater was GORGEOUS! Afterwards, Jess, Katie and I went back to the lobby and bought programs (they don't give any kind of playbill here.... you have to buy it. L3.50) So we bought those and made our way behind the theater to see if anyone came out for autographs. I think we took a bit too long - the only autograph we got was Lancelot... but he was fantastic, so it was all good! Then the three of us made our way back home via the Tube (which included about 15 minutes of us trying to find the nearest station, a 10 minute ride and about 10 minutes of trying to find our way home.... we've never done the walk from South Kensington to IES in the dark! haha... but we made it) I talked to mom for a bit when we got home, then took a shower..... didn't want to loose more sleep time in the morning! We're all meeting downstairs tomorrow morning at 8am to head to Paddington Station for 9am and then TO BATH!!!!! I'm very excited - camera batteries are charging as we speak! hehehe
I think that's all for now..... expect MASSIVE post after tomorrow! yay bath! woot!


Journal stuff for today: Starbucks - comparisons/contrasts between America vs. England, Spamalot - some of the changes and similarities from NYC to here, movie theaters playing mostly American movies

We walked down to the River tonight (instead of drinking.... it was too late anyway). It was basically the most perfect night, temperature and scenery-wise. Jess, Steve, Dave, Amanda, Leo and I pretty much just walked up and down the river, over the bridge that's all lit up and then home...... let me tell you, it's probably one of the most romantic spots I've ever been to and would love love LOVE for someone (who has yet to be found.. but we're still lookin') to take me there.
For now...... it's to bed.

Day Two of AMAZINGNESS!!!!

Day Two was even more amazing than day one (if that's possible!). This morning, I got up around 7:30.... which, after going to bed at 12:30 last night was mildly difficult, but I did it, and with a warm shower - things were okay. We made our way downstairs and (after repeated trips on the elevator for forgotten items) headed out for the Tube. (Prof. gave us our Oyster cards ahead of time so that we could Tube easily) Once there, though, we found that the train we needed (headed to the Tower of London - London Hill stop) was having problems ("Communication interruption issues") so we ended up crowding with about a million other people onto the Picadilly Square line and then the Circle line (only two changes, not bad). When we got there, we ended up walking for about 20ish minutes to get to the tower of London. We were looking around the general Tower of London area when all of a sudden, this man grabs Prof and asks whether we're the tour. It all seemed REALLY sketch at first, but we were on the right tour - Simon was our tourguide and hilarious, as I later found out. From there we took a boat down the Thames to have a river tour. It was BEAUTIFUL! We got to see soooo much from the river - London Tower Bridge, the globe, the Eye, Big Ben, etc. etc. etc. Basically, today was one big day of tourism.
After the boat tour, we landed at Big Ben where Simon told us massive amounts of history and stories. We walked around Parliment Square and saw that there was a HUGE unveiling happening today (Nelson Mandella statue).... Nelson was there AND the new PM. We continued around and stood in front of West Minster Abbey for a while - more stories and history - which were actually both very good and not boring (surprisingly). I took about a bagillion pictures all day so see pics/videos for more. ANYWAY... we then walked around the 'political' section of town for a bit. Simon told us lots - favorite was "Queen Anne was 4' 10' and 290lbs.... which basically means she was one enormous fatty. When she was buried, they put her in a cubic coffin." (All in a British accent mind you.... HILARIOUS!) From there, we moved on to St. James park and Buckingham Palace. We didn't get close to the palace, but you could see it from the bridge in the park. It was all breathtaking, of course. After that, we wandered over to Horseguard Square and then to Trafalgar Square (after taking pictures of the guards and petting horses). Trafalgar Square is where Simon left us so we hit up one of the pubs for lunch. I was kind of unsure of it at first but I'm so glad we went in there as I had the most perfect sandwich ever - Cheddar Cheese and Apple Chutley. It was delcious and exactly something I would eat - I was thrilled.
After the pub, we all met up again and started out on the bus tour. Prof bought us our tickets and then he and his wife left (they were with us all morning). We got on the bus and decided to mostly ride until we got to St. Paul's Cathedral. Once inside the Cathedral (8.50pounds) we saw a sign for no photography (although, I'd already snapped one picture) so I have basically nothing from inside. It was breathtaking. We did the free introductory tour - basically the woman gave us just some simple history and random facts about the Cathedral (Christopher Wren built, he didn't use much color hence the white stone walls and earth toned dome paintings, the color came when Q. Victoria was bored with the cathedral and decided to put mosaics around, beautiful paintings of Christ - kind of gothic looking rather than romantic, the crypt - Christopher Wren's inscription gave me goosebumps, the book and the woman who randomly was there the day the page she needed was open..... history lesson over). After that, we went all the way up in the cathedral.... first, to the whispering quarter (about half-way up the dome - there's a place where you can whisper on one side and hear on the other)... then to the stone quarter (outside about 2/3 of the way up the dome) and then finally to the massively high golden quarter (about 3/4 of the way up on the dome outside)..... the view was gorgeous! but the 433 step climb was intense. My legs are going to hurt tomorrow, that's for sure.
After St. Paul's (we spent over 2 hours in there), we got back on the double decker bus (top floor again, of course!) and basically drove around the entire city. Most of the things we had seen earlier in the day, so we thought we'd enjoy the ride more than walking. It was the perfect weather - slightly chilly (around 65) with a nice breeze and sun (with just a few clouds). We got back to South Kensington underground around 6ish and took the Tube from there to Sloane Square... then we walked back Kings Rd. to the cell phone stores (did some pricing) and then bought phones. If for nothing else, I'll probably use it to find where people are and what they're doing (just something cheap - 10 pounds for the phone and 10 for 100ish minutes). Then we came back to IES and Jess and I have basically been bumming ever since. We did leftovers (from the dinner yesterday) for supper and are not waiting to see what people have planned for tonight..... possibly the pub again? We'll see. Class starts tomorrow and then we're going to the THEATER! Prof. won't tell us what show we're going to - he's keeping it a big secret so I'm thinking it will be fantastic. Can't Wait!!!! I'm in love with London. I only hope the homesickness doesn't set in until loooooong after I'm home (aka never) because.... i'd hate to miss out on anything here. It's just gorgeous.

DAY ONE! AAAAH

So, today has probably been the longest day of my life.... but the most AMAZING one at the same time. Technically, it has been two days, but with only sleeping for 2.5 hours, it's felt more like one long one.
Yesterday, we got up early, loaded the cars, ran to the bank and then to Sheetz (mmm bagel and cream cheese for breakfast with Mom and Dad). Then, we picked up Uncle Ken and headed for the airport. It was about 10am when we left and we ended up getting to the airport around 1pm. (Not at ALL the massive amount of time that Ron thought it might take us - which was good, but left us with 3 hours to sit and wait until check-in). I was worried that Mom was going to have major problems, but Uncle Ken and people watching kept all three of us laughing and occupied. ("Tom Tom knows!"... elf costumes and cards that have my name and other messages on them for when I get off the plane in Dec.)
Finally, at about 4pm I called Jess (just before that, though, I got a call from Peter letting me know he got to Detroit safe and sound). Jess and her parents were stuck in traffic, so I said that I'd get in line awhile at baggage. We waited and waited.... finally when we were literally checking in, Jess and her mom found us and then later her dad as well. We checked baggage (both of mine were under the 50lbs so no extra charges! woot!) and then started the goodbye-ing. Mom and I both cried - I think Dad was a little choked up too, but after lots and lots of hugs and 'I love you's', Jess and I made our way through to security. I had no idea what I was doing! Thank heavens for Jess, that's all I can say. We had to take off our shoes, pull out our laptops from our carry ons, I took off my belt and on top of all that we had to put it on the conveyer belt AND hand passports/bording passes to people. It was crazy, but we made it through. At first I was a little disappointed because I couldn't see Mom and Dad (they were going to stay in case I had to leave anything with them), but then Jess and I saw both of our parents off to one side, making a big scene (but a wonderful scene) saying goodbye and waving. We made our way up the escalators and to Gate 4. Before that, we stopped to grab a bite to eat at the Terminal food court - I got one last McDonald's milkshake - sooo good!
At the gate, we met up with Jenna and Leo (at the time, we didn't know either) and then later everyone else arrived. We boarded, took our seats (two seats in the middle aisle in the middle of the last section of the plane) and got settled in. Jess and I did get to sit next to each other and squeeled the whole time (or at least take off and landing). We watched Shrek 3 on the video set in front of us and had some... eh.... chicken for dinner. I fell asleep, but the man next to me (a gentleman from Ireland as I later found out) kept pushing the buttons on my arm rest by accident and turning up my volume and light and causing all sorts of problems. I got a little bit of rest before we finally landed - on time - at 7am London time (we left at 7pm U.S. time).
We got to the airport and made our way to buggage claims - no problems there! (thank goodness) Then we were off to passport control - after a little bit of confusion, we finally got in line and made our way through - again, no problems. After going through customs, we met Prof. Udden at the Arrivals gate and he directed us to the bus outside. We didn't think all of our luggage was going to fit! - he kept trying to squeeze it into the back of the bus. Finally, he opened another portion of the bus and everything was fine. We made our way to IES (filled out some forms on the way and such). - Got to experience our first other side of the road driving, double decker bus and much more! Finally, at the IES Res hall, we unpacked and made our way inside. As it turned out, though, our rooms weren't scheduled to be ready until 2pm (and it was about 10am) so Prof. Udden gave us a bit more paper work and then told us we could go walk around for a while. Jess, Amanda and I decided to make our way around Chelsea so we walked straight down King's Rd. for about 25 minutes and then turned around to go back (just enough to get a real sense of how gorgeous, fantastic and ritzy this area is! - apparently one of the most expensive portions of the most expensive city in the world) Once we got back, our room was ready so we took our luggage upstairs then headed back o the common room for lunch (sandwiches with nasty grainy bread... but still good to have, nonetheless). After lunch, Prof. Udden introduced us to his wife (who's name I can't remember at the moment... but she seems very nice) and the one girl (Katie) who didn't fly with us finally got here (she flew out of BWI instead of JFK). After our short meeting there, Prof. Udden took us on the longest walk of all time to show us a bit more of the city.... Now, while this wasn't actually the longest walk of all time, it certainly felt like it - we were all sooo exhausted and hitting that rough slump of exhaustion where you basically don't think you can take another step. But.... we did. We got to see Harold's (the biggest department store in the world!) and Southern Kensington Station. I absolutely, at this point, cannot tell you how to get to either (even though we walked to both) because I completely lost track of time and where I was - more worrid about the tiredness of my feet and the weird, almost dizzy/achey feeling from flying. After forever, we got back to IES. I called Mom to let her know we got here okay (this was the first chance I could get - like 3pm....) She seemed okay - cried a little at the end, but she was happy to hear from me. Then, we got to unpack and shower! It was SOOOO nice to take a shower - helped wake me up just a little. Our room is absolutely the tiniest thing ever, but surprisingly there's a decent amount of rom for clothing and everything seems to be working out well.
After our about 2 hours off, we made our way to the Henry J. Bean restaurant to have dinner as a group with Prof. Dinner was excellent (although, none of us were sure if we could order drinks, since the college was paying for our bill... after seeing Prof. Udden order a beer and some of the other people order drinks, we finally did though) I had a Strawberry O'Hara (did scarlet proud, right?) - it was basically strawberry stuff in champagne with a splash of vodka - pretty good! and I had a chicken schnitzel (not dried apples!) sandwich (it was breaded chicken with mozzerella on top) also good - but HUGE (took half home) I sat with Leo and Katie and Steve and Jess and Dave - I'm really thinking this is going to be 'my' group of people. They're very fun and very much like me in that they're basically here to have the most amazing time possible without being stupid. (Include Amanda in on this group - even though she didn't sit with us at dinnner). After dinner, we meandered to the phone store to see if we could get prices on cell phones. I did buy a calling card at the IES desk, but I thought getting prices couldn't hurt. The stores were closed, though, so we're planning on going sometime tomorrow. Then we hit up the drugstore to buy hair dryers (I didn't need one - thanks Aunt Sharon) and straighteners (this... I needed. desperately). Finally, we went in to Waitros (the grocery store down the street from IES) to get some food for this week - Jess and I went in together since we like many of the same things and thought we'd save a bit of money by cooking together. We spent about 17 pounds (almost 34 dollars) which is not bad considering we got about a week's worth of food and should be good now for a while. Chelsea is SO expensive - movies are almost $22 and the cheapest olive oil we could find was just over $4 (just some examples). But, it's high class and I'm loving every minute - so it's worth it as long as I watch my money. We get 10 pounds a day for food while we're here so I think I'm on an okay track. After the grocery store, we headed back to IES where John (who Jess sat next to on the plane) and Tim (from our freshman floor) wanted to play beirut. We all chipped in and they bought some beer (drinking age is 18 - it's not illegal!). Before I went downstairs to join all of them, I got to video chat with PETER in JAPAN!!!! YAY!!!! I was so thrilled to see him. It was 4am there, but he was wide awake.... so we 'silent video'ed while typing messages. It was very very good to see him and see that he made it okay. We played beirut for a little while (they tried to teach me - I didn't do too horrible, but didn't drink). They set it up in one of the kitchens. While the kitchens our nice.... they're nice for about 2-3/4ish people..... not 10-12 playing drinking game. It got old. fast. (and, i've decided i don't like beer at all - it's gross. - will not be chipping in money again for beer) One of the girls, Jenna, met some of the other girls and guys that are staying here (they're on an internship program until next Saturday). They invited Jenna to go along with them to the pub down around the corner (not sure on the name... will look into that). Jenna, in turn, invited Jess and I to go. Normally, I would have said no - I had a long day, blah blah.... but, I've decided - I'm only going to live in London once (likely) I HAVE to make the most of it and not allow myself to just sit in the room. So.... we all went to the pub (it's a block down the road on King Rd.) - don't have to cross any streets (a plus here, that's for sure! it's so weird crossing roads when you have to look opposite ways!) We were standing outside the pub (jenna smokes, so we were waiting while she finished her cigarette) when three english boys walked by and asked for a light. Jenna gave it to them and we ended up chatting outside for about 20 minutes (they're all on holiday this week but are going back to school next weekend - names: Andy, Jack and Roupert - yes, i met a Roupert already!) We ended up going inside and playing a game of pool (I got to show off my pool skills - the guys were actualy decently impressed!). Jenna suggested that since i don't like the taste of beer that I try hard cider (it's called strongbough (spelling?) here... i think that's the brand). It's MUCH better tasting than beer. Still carbonated and kind of strange tasting.... but much more tasteful (and cheaper! 1 pinte = 2.40 pounds) We had a GREAT time and basically just relaxed around the pub for an hour/ish. After we'd finished our ciders, we headed back to IES to FINALLY get into bed...... it's been a LONG two days. I'm EXHAUSTED but thoroughly and ABSOLUTELY content. I couldn't be happier!

One Week to go

Here I am.... one week from being on a plane, flying towards one of my largest dreams..... and I find myself stuck somewhere between thrilled and anxious, nervous and confident, hopeful and fearful. It's such an odd place to be right on the brink of fulfilling something you've dreamed about for years... but not quite there yet.
This week si probably going to be the hardest. Mom's already cried five thousand times (or so it seems) and I honestly don't know how she's going to make it through the next few days. I think she'll be fine once I leave.... like me, I think it's the anxious 'almost there but not quite' that's getting to both of us.
Tomorrow's my 'unofficial' birthday party. I'm so excited to see everyone all together and will definitely be taking lots of pictures! I'm so grateful to mom and dad for all that they've done and I know I'll never be able to say thank you enough before I leave. I'm hoping I can do some little things for them before I leave. I'm going to miss them, but I'm certain not half as much as they're going to miss me.
I do miss everyone from school.... but I'm realizing more and more that I definitely was not ready to go back yet. School brings some drama and a side of me that I haven't learned to control and keep from popping up when I'm in that situation. I'm hoping that England is going to change some things about that..... I mean, I'm not expecting anything in particular.... but I'm fully aware and open to how I might change in the 3.5 months I'm there. I hope enough stays the same that I still have some sort of foundation into the past (home, mom and dad, family... things like that) but the rest..... well, I honestly can say that I definitely would not mind some sort of life changing happenings.
I'm scared. I'll admit that. I don't know if I'll know how to get around an airport.... I don't know if I'll have the guts to go out to pubs late at night... to meet people and make honest, spill your heart and laugh hysterically friends. I hope I will. I'm trying to prep myself for that. I don't know how other people do it.... but.... that's my system. Think about it ahead of time and, somehow, when the time comes things go a bit smoother.
This is my dream. This is what I've wanted to do for years. I can't say that about much of anything at all... there's nothing like the kind of inspiration that fulfilling something like that brings.
Don't forget to breathe.... and things will be fine.