Oh chocolate gelato day...you make my world.

Well, I have a new favorite museum type place in London: the National Portrait Gallery. It's really not as boring as it sounds. The museum, the building which is art itself, contains painted portraits from queens and kings from hundreds of years ago to photographs of today's royalty...both real and celebrity. The oil portraits are cool because so many spectacular artists do a fantastic job of really making the oil paintings look real. I love the photographs because good photographers can really capture the essence of a person and reproduce them on a sheet of paper. I didn't get through the whole museum, but that just means I get to go back. Plus, there is a new Andy Warhol exhibit that is going to open next week that I want to see. (You're not supposed to take pictures in the gallery, but I got this one before they yelled at me. I like it b/c you can see Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and me all in one shot. Who knew that would ever happen!?)

The museum was yesterday, and today was a day trip with the Tulsa program to Oxford and Blenheim Palace. We stopped at Oxford first and toured one of the 36 (I think) colleges: Christ's Church. I've visited Oxford before, and ironically enough, Christ's Church. The last time I was there, it was before the Harry Potter movies came out, but after I had read the first couple of books. The way the dining hall was set up made me imagine that if Hogwarts was a real place, that's what it would look like. Come to find out, the sorting hat scenes from the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone movie were actually filled in that room. :) After walking briefly through the college, we had some time for lunch. I have a minor obsession with C.S. Lewis and while he was a professor at oxford, he and J.R.R. Tolkien and several others met at a pub called "The Eagle and Child" to philosophize and discuss things. Because of this minor obsession, we had to go there. :) It ended up being cheap enough and quiet enough where we got to eat there as well. It was lots of fun.

Our last stop of the day was to Blenheim Palace. This is the only palace that doesn't/ didn't originally belong to a Queen or King of England (no one other than the royal family is allowed to have palaces, but they made an exception for this one). It was given to the Duke of Marlborough (formerly John Churchill) in the early 1700s and has been in his family ever since. Today we learned that Winston Churchill's uncle and cousin were Dukes in this line. Princess Diana is also a member of the Churchill line. (Someone Churchill somewhere married a Spencer from which Diana came). I've seen quite a few palaces since I"ve been here, so I wasn't all that excited about going to this one, but I was proven wrong. It is a spectacular palace with even more spectacular gardens....a great end to a great day. (P.S. that's my new coat!!)

I just really don't like when Clark wears that maroon jacket!

Yesterday we got to tour Parliament. Apparently it was originally a palace, so its decorated ornately in accordance with that. They took us through all the different houses where the laws of the UK are made and told us all about the idiosyncrasies of the Parliament. For instance, the way they count their votes. Rather than standing up and voicing "yea" or "nay," each member of the House of Commons (the house made up of elected officials similar to our House of Representatives) must go into a chamber and physically be counted. They only have 8 minutes to get to the chamber, and the time begins when a bell starts ringing. If they aren't there at the time the bell stops, the are locked out and their vote doesn't count. They also have some crazy traditions in their interactions with the House of Lords (the appointed by the queen and of more financially affluent) and their "disgust" for the other side. All in all, the tour was okay..not that informative or interesting (even with me being a nerdy law student). The saddest part...we weren't allowed to take pictures at the really beautiful parts. I did get some at the beginning and the end, so that's what you see here.

Other than that, not a whole lot exciting. Tried Chinese food for the first time here last night. Pretty good. However, in the process of walking to and from the restaurant, I decided I absoltuely needed to get a coat. It is just too cold...and it's going to get colder...so my worn-out dirty North Face fleece won't do anymore. (Side note...I have a nice coat at home that I was planning on bringing. I even wrote myself notes so I would remember it. but of course, I forgot it anyway.) So, today I went coat shopping. After literally about 3 hours and trying on about 50 different coats, I stopped in one last store and of course, I finally find a coat there. It's blue with a pretty English collar. I'm sure you'll see it in pictures here soon, but I'm very excited
to have it and feel very good about what I paid and the coat I got for my dollar. The end. :)


UPDATE: I found a picture of my coat online. And pay no attention to the price...I got a discount! WOO HOO!! Here you go! Emily's sweet new coat.

What are they doing? A spoof on a spoof?

The past couple of days have been pretty lax. I finished another part of the STM tour. This time I went to the area of town where he was born, went to school, and studied law (on the left). It was kind of a bust...the plaque commemorating the approximate spot of where his house was was hidden under construction, the church he went to was closed, and you couldn't see the school he went to couldn't be seen from the street. I also thought it was a lot closer than it was, so I got an unexpected tour of another side of London as well. Shoot. I was able to help my roommates find a bar they were going to because I had just been on the street....that one element saves the walk from being a total bust.

My friend Andrew also showed up in London last night. When I say showed up, I don't mean unexpectedly. He's also studying here this semester, and because he's studying at one of the British Universities, he hasn't started yet. Last night was his first night here, and it was again great to have someone around that I know well. We went for a drink and caught up on his travels around Greece and Italy, and my happenings here in London. Hopefully I'll get to see him a fair amount this semester as I don't often get to back in the states.

Today was lax...class...run...job search. Anyone want to write cover letters for me? PLEASE? I left the cover letter writing session to enjoy a Spanish Tapas restaurant. It was very yummy albeit a little expensive. Still..lamb in honey sauce type stuff = awesome.

This small is larger than the medium I got on Friday.

Today was a really fun day. I met Kristen, like I said, for Mass at the Brompton Oratory. It was the weirdest mass I've ever been to. During the Eucharistic prayer, the priest didn't go behind the altar...eh said all the prayers in front of it, often with his back to the rest of the congregation. Then for communion, rather than going up in a single file line like every other Catholic mass I've been to, we went up to the edge of the altar and knelt down and waited for the priest to come distribute the Eucharist to us. This is not to mention that the communion process, in ALL of Europe is crazy...there is no way of filling up to altar in an orderly fashion...it's every man for himself. That's not to say any of these things are bad...they are just much MUCH different than I've ever experienced at home.

Then we went on our St. Thomas More journey. As I mentioned yesterday, Sir/St. Thomas More (STM) is the patron saint of lawyers. He was a lawyer (obviously), a statesman, and a loyal adviser to King Henry VIII. But when Henry wanted to separate from the Catholic church and make himself the head of his new church (now the Church of England), STM said now. His famous words were "I am the king's good servant, but God's first." Because of my impending cold (which has dissipated a bit today, fortunately) and Kristen being tired of walking, we really only did one of the four areas around London. Because the Brompton Oratory is in Chelsea, we decided to do the sites there. We first went to find the old library. After first thinking we missed it, we found it was right under our noses. The library is supposed to hold a couple of famous pieces of art work of More and his family, but since it was Sunday and an antique show was going on, we didn't get to see them. The road which the library is on is also supposed to be the northern border of what was More's estate.

The next stop was to find Old Church, the parish More attended during his adult life. Odd enough, the church he went to, which still has a statute of him in front of it, is where his first wife is buried (and I think his daughter, too), and apparently often does things to commemorate More, is part of the Church of England. (I understand that the Anglican church has saints an is very similar to the Catholic church in many aspects, it seems odd to me they would recognize a man who is canonized in the Catholic church in large part because of his fidelity to it. But that's neither here nor there....) There was a communion service going on inside the church, so we didn't get to go inside, but the outside is just beautiful.

The final stop for the day was the Tybrom Convent. Many of the people who died defending the Catholic church during the reign of Henry VIII were hung from the Tybrom Tree not far from this convent. The convent was supposed to have a tour which they give every week. Every week except for this one (of course!). I'll probably try to go back, especially because I think (although I need to find out for sure) that many of the trials of those accused of treason were also held here.

Tybrom is at the opposite end of the Kensington/Chelsea Borough, so we had to walk through Hyde Park to get there. On our way there I realized that today is Sunday, which means Speaker's Corner. Speaker's Corner is something that I've wanted to see since my Grandma Friedman told me about it before my first trip to London in 2000. Basically it's an opportunity for anyone who wants to to stand up on anything they can find and talk about anything (and everything) they want. Most of them, of course, are about highly contentious political subjects. Discussion of salvation is a close second. It seemed the speaker getting the moat attention today was the man who we heard say, "I'm not anti-semitic just because I support Hezbola." (He didn't get a lot of applause for that one.) I'd like to go back again to hear what other topics are brought up and to listen a little more.

It was great to have Kristen all day and to do these things with her. We made it back to my flat (after a slight detour for some amazing gelato) and she stuck around for dinner. I'll probably get to see her again in about a month when she comes back to London to hang out with another friend of ours that is visiting at that time. It's just nice to know that someone I know and enjoy is really so close. :) After she left, I spent the evening re-learning how to play euchre with some people from my program. Overall, it was a great day. Hopefully tomorrow will bring equally as fun but different adventures.

Here is a link to some of my newest pictures (some are already posted here, but there are more if you follow the link.)

I tabbed my map book, and it's beautiful.

Remember how I asked you to pray that I wouldn't get sick? Well, pray harder! I'm pretty sure that I'm coming down with whatever my roommates had. This morning I got up at 7:30 to go to a market (which I'll talk about below), and when I got home at noon, I was exhausted and had to take a 2 hour nap. (Background information: I NEVER take naps..and I often get up that early to do stuff. I'm one of the odd balls that really likes mornings. I think I get it from my mom...) After my nap got up, went running, was only able to run 1.9 miles, and had to come home. Now it's 9:11 p.m. on a Saturday night and I'm exhausted, despite the fact I got 8 hours of sleep last night and had a 2 hour nap this afternoon. Now, I'm no doctor, but I think that means I'm fighting something. Grrrrr....

Okay, now about that market. Val and I went to the Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill. Its the same market you see a couple times in the movie Notting Hill. And just like the movie, it's incredibly charming. When you first get there, it starts as an antique market where you can find almost anything you want. I'm not much of an antique person, but it was still fun to look and see all the fun old stuff. There was also a lot of jewelry for sale and it reminded me of digging through my Grandma's Jewelry box when I was little to see what fun things I could find to dress up in. After you get through the antique part, it turns into a food market. And this food is fresh and delicious and cheap. I got a lot of really yummy food..some of which I haven't had since I came to London because they are just so expensive (grapes). I also found POPCORN which I will be popping within the next couple days. After the food market, it turns into a market like the one I went to last Sunday, so Val and I didn't spend a whole lot of time there. I didn't get anything other than the food, but Val found a couple of cool glass pieces. I have a couple of pictures of Portobello Road, but I haven't uploaded them yet, and since there will be picture taking tomorrow, I'll upload them later.

I'm gonna head to bed. My friend Kristen is still in town and I"m meeting her tomorrow (the last time for a while) for mass at a church that is supposed to be really cool. Then we're going to be nerdy catholics/ I'm going to be a nerdy law student and find a bunch of the sites where St. Thomas More (the man for all seasons) lived and worked around London. Hopefully I won't get too exhausted before we get most of them in. I'll fill you in on more about STM tomorrow when I have pictures to go along with it. :)

Excuse me professor, but for the 100th time, THAT INFORMATION IS ABSOLTUELY NOT IN THE BOOK!

Such sad news...English Diet Cherry Coke tastes NOTHING like diet cherry coke from home. :(

Again, not a lot exciting going on. Yesterday was ANOTHER birthday which meant ANOTHER birthday party. However, because everyone celebrated with me, I feel like it's only right that I celebrate with him. Plus the guy whose birthday it was just lost his best friend in a car accident, so it was necessary that we be there for him. :)

Tonight my friend Val and I went to one of the casinos in town. AWESOME. Apparently she really loves slot machines, and well, I went as moral support. I came home as moral support and £4 poorer. It was pretty swanky, but not outrageously priced. Plus, the amazing thing is that because there is no smoking in any public place in London, there is no smoking in any casino in London.

Sorry these recent updates haven't been all that exciting...I'm in a 'taking it easy' stage. They'll be more later. Oh...also...all 4 of my flatmates are sick. Pray that I don't get it, too.

You can move mountains...you just need a bigger spade.

Warning: this entry epitomizes me as a musical theater nerd.

I just got back from Mary Poppins, the Musical, and it was fantastic. To be truthful, I was a little skeptical after the first act. At the end of it, Mary Poppins leaves the Banks home. What, you say? Yes, it sounds uncharacteristic of her...and it is. (A little history for you-- P.L. Travers-- author of the Mary Poppins book-- was very concerned about letting Walt Disney produce the book into a movie Walt had to approach her for a good number of years before she allowed him to make it into the movie. There had to be the right actors, right songs, right everything.... I wonder if she would approve that deviation in the story line.) Quite frankly, I wasn't happy with her leaving, but it all eventually resolved itself. Right before that, there is a scary scene where the toys in the nursery come alive and talk about spoiled children. And it's not come alive like they do in the movie to go back to their places in the nursery...it's come alive and freak us out. But the second act redeemed the whole thing and now I'm again on a little musical cloud number nine.

There were some deviations in the plot from what we're all used to in the movie: they didn't develop the character of Bert as much, there was more of a love interest between Mary and Bert (although not enough to really make you angry. I guess a deep mutual admiration is the best way to say it), Mrs. Banks is more disgruntled with her life situation, and they develop why Mr. Banks is as cross and unhappy he is (a bad nanny when he was a kid). That nanny actually comes back into the plot line to take over for Mary just after she leaves and before she comes back. There were some things, odd enough, that were more true to the book: The name of the lady that walks outside the house, and the name of her dog; there being a male and female housekeeper (rather than two females). Okay, so not TOO many things...or at least that I can remember right now.

The new songs weren't all that great. I mean, they are fun, but nothing that will be caught in my head for the next week. The staging was cool, but nothing spectacular. Of course Mary flies, and some other characters do some pretty cool and unexpected stuff (I won't tell you so that you will be as delighted as I was), but the nature of the story itself is just so wonderful that it succeeds with mediocre songs and atmosphere. But oh..supercalifragilisticxpalidocious was awesome. Just awesome. Step-in-time was great, too.

I'm particularly disappointed in the lack of development of Bert because of who was playing him tonight: Gavin Creel. I'm familiar with Gavin b/c of his role in the revival of Thoroughly Modern Millie...he played the lead male "Jimmy" there, and the summer after my freshman year of college, my friends and I memorized the soundtrack. (I remember listening to the CD while at work at Baskin Robbins one time. I told Mindy, the cake decorator, that his voice was positively my favorite male vocal voice...ever. That was about 4 years ago, and I still hold true to that today.) Needless to say I was excited to see him, regardless of the role. While the role didn't showcase his vocal ability as much as it could have, the role of Bert was as jovial and lovable as ever.

There were some kids behind us that chomped on chips (theater here is much more relaxed...you eat and drink [alcohol eve] in the theater and it's no big deal. the theaters, in fact, sell the refreshments just like a movie) and talked the whole show that got my group pretty frustrated. But, they were quiet during most of the important parts and became kind of endearing when they sang along to certain songs. Kind of.

The weather outside -- cool, and somewhat rainy, the wet pavement reflecting the lights -- combined with going to the theater and being 100% enchanted by it made this my quintessential London night. And it was a good one. :)

I still feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be, but don't forget to remember me.

I don't really have anything to report except that life is normal and fairly static right now. Monday I slept in, went running, and didn't really do a whole lot. I did, however, venture to a store at the end of Oxford Street (the main shopping street in London) called "Primark" that apparently has really cheap clothes. That rumor turned out to be true. Primark HUGE department like store that has cheap CHEAP stuff; I got a plain long sleeve t-shirt for £2 ($4)...something that would cost me $16.50 at Gap. And cheap doesn't necessarily mean cheap quality...I got a couple of t-shirts that are pretty good quality. Because clothes were so cheap, EVERYONE knew about this place...seriously...I would equate it to the atmosphere you find day after Thanksgiving at US malls. People weren't nice about what they did with the stuff they looked at and didn't want; they just threw stuff back on the tables and continued on. Then, once you found something you liked, you waited in cue (line) for at least 10 minutes despite the fact they have multiple cues of at least 12 registers each. I did end up getting a couple t-shirts because I'm still afraid I don't have enough warm clothes, and I'll probably end up going back in a week or two...they way they move through clothes, everything on the shelves will be new. :)

As I was leaving Primark, I noticed I had 10 missed phone calls: Kristen was at my flat. I thought she was coming again on Tuesday, but apparently I was wrong. So I spent Monday night hanging out with her. When I thought she was coming on Tuesday, we were going to spend the afternoon wandering around London looking for Harry Potter sites, but since she came a day early, my list of Harry Potter sites wasn't ready and I was tired from running previously that day and walked to Primark (probably a 3 mile round-trip). Oops. Kristen is still in London, and hopefully we'll get to see each other on Sunday, and maybe do the Harry Potter tour then. :)

I'll hold you upside down by your ankles so you can do your duty over the side of the bridge. That's not akward at all!

Today was a really fun, but really exhausting day. This morning I went to this amazing and super huge market in a borough north of where I live called Camden Town. Although it's open all weekend, Sunday is the big day for this market. You can find almost anything you wan there...from clothes to shoes to food to antiques to random things you never thought you could find anywhere else. I saw t-shirts there with some fairly inappropriate sayings that would never have even come to my mind had I not read them. It also brings a diverse group of people; I've never seen so many pink colored mohawks, black leather coats, and platform shoes as I did today. It was certainly an educational experience. I spent about 3 1/2 hours there (there really is that much to look at...and I didn't even go in every stall nor spend lots of time in most of them). For being there that length of time, I feel pretty good in saying I only spent £9: £3 on me, £3 on a present, and £3 for a delicious banana and nutella crepe whose remnants are still lingering on my taste buds. (A short aside here for those of you who don't know what nutella is. Basically, it's chocolate with a hint of hazelnut that is in a spreadable form like peanut butter. Europeans eat it like we eat peanut butter, although there is absolutely no nutritional value to it at all. They do make and sell it in the states, but there the hazelnut flavor is much more pronounced....but still delicious. If you want to know the heaven I'm talking about, go out and get yourself a jar of nutella-- it's usually stocked near the peanut butters. Although its different, the jar won't stay on your shelf for long...it's that good.)

This weekend was also the Thames River Festival. I'm still not quite sure what they were celebrating, but Londoners like to celebrate for any reason, or no reason at all, and for that, we get some fun festivals. This one was aimed more for families and kids than the Notting Hill Carnival, but was still very fun. By the name of it, I hope you can tell it was situated along the Thames River. It was standard carnival fare...little booths selling brick-a-brac and other souvineers. And oh yeah..the food. YUM. We went down there for the dinner hour, and some of us stayed to watch the lighted parade and fireworks over the Thames. It was a really cool thing to do, and although it was also cool temperature wise (okay, it was downright cold because of a nasty wind that was blowing), it was a lot of fun. I took some pictures, but haven't had a chance to upload them yet. (Sorry!)

I feel like there was one more thing I was going to write about, but I can't quite remember at this point. Because of that, I will bid you adieu until we meet again!

You forgot to take the little man off your drink before you took a sip!

Yesterday was my birthday, and celebrating it far away from everyone I love was pretty difficult. We went out on Thursday night to a bar in Soho that wanted to charge me £3.50 for a bottle of beer...£7.00 for a mixed drink. That depressing news, and just the stress of being away from home really saddened me. But, despite that slow start, it turned out to be a lot of fun. After I got through the 6 hours of class I had, a group of us went to the Orangery at Kensington Palace for High Tea. High Tea is basically people sitting around, talking and enjoying delicious tea, finger sandwiches, scones, and cakes. I had some amazing cinnamon tea and pomegranate fizz to drink, and had a little cucumber sandwich, scone, and small piece of cake to eat. Honestly, it was the most delicious food I've had in a long time. After the Orangery, the group of us walked around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens for a bit, and then headed home. The celebration continued later on and we went back to the bowling alley where we sang karoke, and had some fun there. It turned out to be a better day than I though it was going to be. While I still wish I could have enjoyed the things that I did with people who I know better, the people that were there did a great job in making me feel special, and I really appreciate that.

The Bobby Hat (police officer's hat for those of you who don't know what a bobby is) you see in some of the the pictures (see the London photo album --->) was my birthday party hat. Blake, the guy who got it for me, didn't think a princess crown or something along those lines was quiet appropriative for celebrating a birthday in London. Please know, these are the souvenirs I got my brothers the last time I came to London. At that point and time, they were 2 and 6...ages when that hat would actually fit their heads. It was a little small for me (go ahead...insert the "big head" jokes here), but I'm sure it fit nicely into the plan of making me look funny. (My friend in this picture is Nick..the other guy from KU on the program with me.)

Today was very casual. I woke up around noonish, walked around the British Museum a bit more, went to mass, got some dinner, and met up with people at a place that shows FOOTBALL!!! I didn't get to see any of the Iowa/ Iowa State game, but at least got to watch some pigskin. The place we went to also serves Diet Coke, gives free refills, and has crushed ice. Needless to say, I think I'll be back there before too long.

P.S. London photo album updated!

When I die, I want to be burried in a place where kitties play.

I traditionally wear a lot of color in my wardrobe, and after being here a month, I'm only now realizing that most of the people around here wear more basic colors. While we were in Ireland, one of the Irish guys we met asked me if it's normal to wear a pink sweater with a green shirt underneath, to which I replied "yes." Then Kristen's cousin (see prior post) asked me if I feel awkward about wearing such bright colors around town while everyone else, well, doesn't. I've never noticed extra attention because of the clothing I'm wearing (with the exception of my "Kiss me I'm a Jayhawk" shirt which I will no longer wear around greater London) but I'm going to pay attention now to see if my colors make a difference.

On a completely different note, British commercials. I've mentioned how awful the TV is before, but the commercials can be hit or miss. There is a series of commercials for something called "Sheila's Wheels" that has a series of 10 second spots that drive us all crazy. A lot of them resemble the commercials from home. Then there are some really good and creative ones. Here is a link to the best commercial I've seen. Seriously...it's 100% worth the minute and a half it takes to watch this because it is just so funny.

Sainsbury's Sparkling Water is my new discovery and obsession.

It's amazing that going somewhere and being anxious and excited to come "home" to London will do for your homesickness. In saying that, I mean it helped. It helped me to solidify that London is home for the next 3 months (yes, it's almost already been a month). But, with Friday being my birthday, I'm not sure the feeling will last for long.

Another thing that is helping is having my friend Kristen around. She and her cousin have been traveling around Spain the past two weeks before their study abroad programs started. Both she and he stayed with me last night, and Kristen is here tonight before she leaves for Ireland tomorrow (more so in about 4 hours at 2:30 a.m.). She'll be back again next week, and then her program finally starts next week. Last night the three of us just wandered around London and observed a lot of things. We just sat along a building in Piccadilly Circus for a while and observed things, and then sat in the breast of one of the giant lions in Trafalgar Square with Big Ben in the background. It was spectacular and I really wish I had my camera with me.

I had class (literally) for 8 hours today, so Kristen and I didn't get to do a whole lot, but tonight we finally just got a chance to hang out and talk. It's so nice to have her here (I know I already said that). I really enjoy the people that are in my program, but it's just nice to be with someone you already have a history with and know that you have more in common with than being law students in London.

Here is a link to my pictures from Ireland. I don't have enough storage via my picassa account to post a whole lot more there, so I'm going to hvae to find an alternative. (I think this is it.) It will ask you to log in when you click on the link, but you don't have to. Look toward the top to the button that says "play slideshow" and you can avoid that whole mess. (BUT...if you find any of my pictures absolutely beautiful [yeah...] and you want a copy for yourself, if you create an account, you can log in and print it.) Enjoy! Ireland Pictures

The reason George Bush isn't doing well as a world leader is because he doesn't know how to play soccer.

Ireland was AMAZING. Our time was spent in the Cork area....mostly. I qualify that statement because about 20 minutes before we were supposed to land, the pilot came on over the loudspeaker and nonchalantly told us that we were going to be landing in Shannon instead. WHAT? The stewardess had no idea what was going on and even told the lady in front of me that we would indeed be landing in Cork. She was only proven wrong when the captain again came over the loudspeaker and said "Welcome to Shannon." Oh man. Ryan air was then responsible for getting us to Cork and told us buses would be there in about 20 minutes. Well, the Irish concept of time is much like the South African concept of time in that "see you at 3" really means "see you anytime between 3 and 4:30." Needless to say that it was a little longer than 20 minutes before we saw those buses.

The Irishman I was sitting next to on the way into Shannon told me that the distance to Cork from Shannon is supposed to take 2 hours by car. However, we were blessed with the most inept bus driver ever known to man. While the speed limit was 100 km/hr, there is no way he went more than 60. The bus also leaked gas fumes into the back where we sat. When we got into Cork, he circled through the city centre (NOT the way to get to the airport), and when we got to the airport, he circled through it once before actually stopping to let us off. The 3 1/2 hour ride could have been awful, but we fortunately developed a good comradely with the other people on the bus and had a great time. By the time we finally got to Cork and got to walk around there, we had been traveling for 10 hours: left home 2:30 a.m. to get to the bus which left at 3:30 to get to the airplane that left at 6:30 that was supposed to arrive at 8:10 but we didn't make our appearance in Cork until noon-ish. WOAH.

That day we mostly wandered around Cork and experienced it. A friend of mine from KU is studying there this semester, so I called him and he met up with us in one of the pubs. And of course, we enjoyed some Guinness. Since we had been traveling so long and in the past 48 hours I had about 1 1/2 hours of sleep, I called it an early night.

The next day we went to Blarney to kiss the infamous Blarney stone and be endowed with the gift of gab. Reaching the Blarney stone is quite the feat. You have to travel to the top of a giant fortress atop a hill. When you finally get to the all in which the stone rests, you have to lay on your back, hold two bars attached to the while and bend over backwards while someone holds your feet so you don't fall. Yes, it is actually as scary as it sounds. So technically, I'm now supposed to have the gift of gab. I'm not sure exactly how long it takes for one to be endowed with the gift, but I'm not sure that I have attained it yet.

After kissing the stone, we got to wander around the grounds of the Blarney Castle for a bit. It is at this point that I fell in love with Ireland. The country is amazing. The scenery is fantastic and plush and green and just wonderful. Words cannot adequately describe how beautiful the country is, so I'm not even going to try. Pictures don't really do it justice either. (see...no gab yet.)

That night we came back into Cork and found a traditional Irish pub with some traditional music. Apparently traditional music includes some guy playing the spoons. There were some Irish guys there celebrating a part of a stag (bachelor) party who were very nice and spoke with Irish accents that brought the whole traditional Irish eve to a head. They invited us to go to another pub with them after the one that we were at where they sang traditional Irish songs and such. After my prior expereince with British boys and feeling a little uncomfortable about what was going on for a variety of reasons, I decided to meet up with my friend again. My roommates went however, and said it was an expereince I shouldn't have missed. I still think it was the right decision for me not to go, but hearing their experiences made me glad they got to go.

Yesterday, we visited Kinsale, a little town on the coast. Although I haven't been to a small east coast port town, Kinsale resembled what I think a small east coast port town would look like. Oh yeah, except that it's in the Irish countryside and has the same type of scenery as Blarney. We just walked around and saw the scenery and explored the town, but it was great. We finally got back into London last night at about 1, but it was an absolutely fantastic trip and well worth the sleep deprivation.

I've figured out how to make easy slide shows (including music!) with my computer, so I put one together of my Ireland pictures. I hope you enjoy.

We have mice in our apartment...and I don't want to know what happened to the one we caught.

Last night the birthday party turned out to be really fun. We just sat around and talked for a while, but then moved out to a bowling alley. Bowling alleys here, at least the ones around us, are really a lot more like clubs. At this particular spot, there were only 8 lanes. There were also karoke rooms and a bar and probably a dance floor somewhere (the music was loud enough.) We got there when there was only about 1/2 an hour before close, but we still got to do karoke and have a lot of fun. And yes, we will be going back to karoke.

I forgot to mention that one of our professors gave us the first Harry Potter book to read for class. We're going to dissect it from an intellectual property standpoint later on in the class. And its such a part of the culture here that you HAVE to know at least a little bit about the books.

I'm off to Cork, Ireland for the weekend. I'm not taking my computer, so I probably won't update until Tuesday...we don't get back until about midnight Monday night. Since we are leaving at 2:30 a.m., I'm gonna be a little tired and PROBABLY won't update until later. :)

Dawson's creek is 100% consuming the 7-8 p.m. time slot every night. That's sooo sad.

Last night, for the first time, I felt "comfortable" with the group of people I am here with. We have been with each other long enough at this point that we know what each other's personalities are like and can respect each other for that. Apparently I've established myself as "the little engine that could." Seriously, its the nickname they've given me. Apparently its because I seem to be everywhere, doing everything; I hop from group to group and organize collective outings, so I suppose it's appropriate. And, there are definitely worse things I could be called, so I'll take it. But, long story short, it's good to have that feeling...no matter how slight it is.

Today was a beautiful day so I decided to go and study in the park. It was amazing. I was sitting in this cute little square (same one I run in) with the sun shining, the flowers blooming, the trees waving, and the fountain flowing. After I finished my homework, I started writing some postcards (that you all probably won't receive until I get home) when some German guy came up to me and and asked me if he could buy one of my postcards from me. He wanted to send one home. So, he gave me a pound to pay for the postcard and the stamp that I"m going to buy to send it off. It was just funny and kind of enchanting because he spoke with the stereotypical German accent and was very jovial and very excited to be in London.

It's one of the guys in my program's birthday on Saturday, so we're apparently having a party for him tonight. I'm not really sure what that means...with this group it could mean a whole lot of things. But, it IS wings night, so hopefully we'll make it there.

Mum! The ocean came RIGHT up to me!

THIS is how I spent my Labor Day...



Yesterday a group of 8 of us went to the seaside town of Brighton. We found a cheap bus fare (£7 round trip) and heard good things about it, so we went! One of the major attractions in Brighton is the Imperial Royal Palace that King George IV built (mostly before he was king, but re-decorated it to be even more ornate once he was king to reflect his "kingly" status.) The palace is so interesting because it is decorated in the oriental style. Actually its what they thought was oriental...no one who designed the building ever visited the Orient to see for themselves. It was a very interesting palace....very much unlike the other palaces we've seen (which is good...I'm kind of the sentiment if you've seen one, you've seen them all.)

After that we found a good lunch in a small little pub in town. Keep in mind this is the first time I've used the adjective "good" before describing English food. (Remember the mushy peas w/ mint incident?) I had a lamb burger on a cibatta roll and, although beef is still my red meat of choice, I'm glad I got to try it. Plus, I best beer and friends I've had here so far. All in all a good experience.

The 8 of us then made our way down to the beach. Brighton sits on the English Channel, so it was fun to once again dip my feet in a new body of water. The water was much clearer than I thought. It resembled the colors I've seen on the Gulf of Mexico at Clearwater Beach in Florida. Anyway, we first walked along the boardwalk. It was really fcool...it had an amusement type area and all the little games that rip you off along the way. There was a HUGE arcade and it was a little bit reassuring to know that Americans aren't the only ones obsessed with games where you pay $2 in hopes up picking up a not so soft stuffed animal worth about a quarter. :) That being said, it was a really fun atmosphere and the only thing that could have made it better was if I had gotten some cotton candy.

The beach was really nice. You can see in some of the pictures that I had to wear my fleece, but by the afternoon it was nice enough that we could relax on the beach, in the sun and just listen to the waves. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture above, but the beach was actually made up of rocks, not sand. This was nice for laying on it because we didn't get dirty and the rocks were actually pretty comfortable. BUT, I tried to walk down to the waterfront in bare feet which was NOT a good idea. We also got to watch a group of teenagers interact while we were there, and suffice it to say that I'm glad I'm no longer 15. (Granted, I'm still awkward, but almost 24 and awkward is a MILLION times better than 15 and awkward.)

There is currently a strike on most lines of the tube which made getting home interesting, but we made it. The strike will also make getting around this week interesting, but it shouldn't be TOO terrible. Fortunately we're close to almost anything, so I can walk there.

As for Harrod's, I guess there really isn't a LOT to say except that it's amazing. I literally got lost in there. For those of you who don't know, Harrod's lives by the phrase that they have everything, and what they don't have they can get for you. This includes even the most random of things. Of course it will cost you, but still, they can get it. You really can't understand that when they say EVERYTHING, they mean it. There are oriental rugs, book stores, a restaurant of all chocolate items, a grocery store, clothing, perfume, a pet shop, and so much more. My particular favorite "shop" was the Christmas room. (surprise, surprise, huh?) In there, it's Christmas 365 days a year. I'm in love. I know I didn't get to see everything, so I definitely have to go back, but I will gladly do so.

P.S. Pictures and map updated!

Being stalkers...kinda

I've updated my pictures from yesterday's travels and today's experiences. I also figured out how to use the "map" function, so play with it and you can see where everything is in relation to each other. It will especially be cool when I start to travel Europe more (like next weekend!)

Divorce, behead, die, divorce, behead, survive

Hmm..I'm sensing a pattern here...weekends= longer entries. :)

My roommate Jenn received an e-mail this week from one of her friends that lived here a couple years ago and knew where to get cheap drinks. Because we had a day trip with our program on Saturday, we decided to go and find one of those places and just sit and chill. We had a general idea of where the pub was at (not far from our house and what street it was located on), and the name of it. We started to walk that direction and couldn't find it, so we asked bobbies where to go. (I'm not sure if they still call policemen that, but I wanted to use the term). They were the nicest policemen we've ever met...if I was a London police officer, and probably had tourists asking me all the time where to go, I probably wouldn't be Freddy Friendly to them. They pointed us in the right direction...or what they thought was right, but was actually wrong. :) Eventually we found the spot, but the only thing that was there was a construction scaffold saying that whatever used to be there definitely was not anymore. Shoot. We ended up going to another pub. I decided along the way all I wanted was a diet coke with grenadine...essentially a cherry coke. (I'm very beer-ed out. We go out so often that, even though I probably just have one or two an evening, I really just don't want any for a while.) You can probably figure out what happened by now: they didn't have any grenadine and gave me regular coke instead of diet. I'm not sure if that story is really blog-worthy, but it's just another example of the line of small incidents of things that just don't go right.


Yesterday we took a trip to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. They were BEAUTIFUL places. Windsor Castle is still the place that the royal family uses as a weekend get away. It's about 25 minutes outside of London in this beautiful tiny town that definitely is an escape. Add the fact that it's nearly 1000 years old and has some of the most beautiful decor of any room anywhere makes it quite the getaway. Windsor was initially a castle and still has many of the intricacies that made it "battle worthy," including arrow slits and the traditional castle top (that I don't know the name of, but where you could shoot arrows and then hide behind so they didn't get shot.) Of course, many of those have been transformed for modern day uses, but they are still cool.

Hampton Court Palace that Henry VIII essentially stole from his best friend, Cardinal Wooley (who he eventually beheaded in the Tower of London.) When William and Mary reigned (around the town of Christopher Columbus), they decided to tear down much of what existed when the castle belonged to Henry. Not only did they tear it down, but the structures they put up in place of the old buildings were a completely different style. (Think putting something sort of similar to the White House next to a building like an old country schoolhouse. While those structures aren't exactly what the castle was like, but you get the contrast.) At the back of the palace is an immense garden with trees groomed much like I remember from the movie "Alice in Wonderland." The trees actually looked like large Hershey Kisses instead of suits from a deck of cards, but were still cool. The last thing we did was a maze of shrubs. (This also reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, but in this picture, I'm pretending to be Harry Potter in book number 4 where he reaches the trophy/port-key at the end of the tri-wizard tournament and is zapped to go and face Lord Voldemort.)

I'm dealing with my first little bit of homesickness, so in order to perk myself up, I decided to head to THE Catholic cathedral for the country of England for a grand Catholic mass, with a fantastic choir, in an building steeped with tradition. I'm not saying "beautiful" at this point because the outside is in the Byzantine style, and I'm not particularly fond of it. However, the inside was beautiful (and possibly/probably also in the Byzantine style) and will throw in that adjective only when talking about the inside. There isn't a tube station that takes me directly there, so my plan was to get off at the station on my line and walk to the church from there. I have long legs and like to walk, and on the map it didn't seem so far. Wrong. I ended up being late, VERY late to mass because I had to walk all the way through the borough of Chelsea to the church...it took me about 35 minutes (maybe a bit more). Mass was good and as uplifting as I hoped, but I will have to go back and catch the whole thing this time. Here is a link to the cathedral's website if you want to know more about it.


I did some wandering around Harrods after mass, but I'm going to stop now to allow you to catch your breath and do something else with your day. :) Don't worry...I'll write about it later (there is MUCH to tell.)