Call me!

So, I just set up this new fun thing where you can call a phone number and leave me a voice mail that I can listen to from my computer. I would love to hear all of your shining voices. The number is 651-780-7850. Woot.

Today was a catch up day from being gone for the weekend, and then studying again. Wow..exciting.

All of my Malta pictures are now posted. You again have two options-- pick whatever suits your fancy for the day! :)

They are prostitutes whose boats have holes in them, and don't have life jackets!

Okay…Malta! Val and I flew into Malta and finally arrived at our hotel at around 11 p.m. that night. It was late and we hadn’t eaten yet, so we immediately went to found food. The nearest place we could find was an American Sports Bar and Grill. We ate, drank, and had a jolly old time, and that should be the end of the story. However, at this restaurant, we noticed the beginning of something that consistently happened throughout the trip: people were looking at us funny. We were obviously not Maltese- neither of us have the beautiful olive skin and although our hair is brown, it’s not nearly the color that the Maltese women have. But we at least look European, and although Americans don’t visit Malta all that often, there were loads of Europeans there. We never quite figured out why they all looked at us a little funny (and yes, we checked out all the usual suspects: something in the teeth, smelling bad, dressing funny, etc. and none of those were the culprits), but the extreme double take the man serving us at the restaurant did that night was reminiscent of those only seen in the movies.

Before Val and I left, we met up with a friend of my friend from KU who is Maltese. She filled us in on things to do and places to make sure we see, which was so wonderful. Saturday we pretty much followed her advice to a tee. We started in Valletta, the Maltese capital. There we visited the church of the Knights of St. John the Baptist, toured Casa Rocca Piccola (the house of a noble Maltese family that is about 400 years old), walked through the grandmaster’s palace, and saw the Malta Experience. The Malta Experience was an hour long documentary about the history of Malta. Since neither Val or I really knew anything about the country before we visited (except that it was the only place in Europe you’re able to visit and still sit on the beach in November), this was a great thing. To sum it up, up Malta has been occupied by everyone from the Romans, the Turks, the Arabs, the French, and the English. The really cool thing is that nearly all of these occupations are reflected in the Maltese language, housing, and the rest of the culture. They only gained their independence from Britain in 1964 (I think). This was beneficial for us because while they have a language, most everyone is at least bi-lingual and speaks English. :)

After Valletta (but later that same day), we made our way to Mdina. Mdina used to the capital of Malta, but I’m not quite sure when that changed. Mdina is also the highest point on the island of Malta (the country of Malta actually consists of four islands), so it provided some pretty great views. In Mdina, and it’s neighboring city Rabat, we visited some catacombs, went through an exhibit about the Mdina Dungeons, and enjoyed a slice of delicious cake at a tea garden. Malta is a country that is at least 90% Catholic, and contains 365 Catholic churches, so there really is no excuse for me missing mass. So, I again asked one of my non-catholic friends to sit through a mass that ended up being in a language they didn’t understand (Andrew in Belgium and Val here). We were exhausted from that incredibly busy day, and had another one planned for Sunday, so after we got back to our hotel (and finding pizza to fulfill a craving we had both had for about 48 hours), we crashed.

The plan for Sunday was to get up and go and visit another Maltese island: Gozo. However, when we got to the place we were told we could take the ferry there, we found out we actually missed the ferry. In the alternative (after being practically manhandled by competing companies that aggressively approached you for their business) we took a tour of all the harbors around Malta and got to see the country from the sea. Malta is tiny, so we could get to most any of the cities on the main island by bus and within an hour. Because of that, we made our way to the town of Marsascala that afternoon. There really wasn’t a whole lot to do in Marsacala, but we found a cool little spot where we could wander kind by the ocean and take pictures.

Since Gozo didn’t happy Sunday, we made it happen yesterday. After a bumpy start, we met our tour guide who took us up to the ferry and we made our way across a very bumpy sea. I don’t know the names of a lot of the places we visited, but suffice it to say that it was beautiful…I recommend you look at my pictures (after I upload them later on). There was, however, one place I want to point out….since the Maltese are so devoutly Catholic, they have statutes and references to the bible and Jesus and Mary everywhere (literally, everywhere). One of our stops today we just outside of a site with life-size marble figures of the stations of the cross. The path led up a hill and ends on top of a huge plateau. I only had time to get a shot of the first station but I can only imagine what it’s like at Easter time. Since the waves were so rough, it created for some awesome rock crashing pictures. The sea was an incredible color blue and the temperature was just about perfect. There was quite a heinous wind, and my hair in all the pictures reflects that, but for the most part, I’m not going to complain. That Gozo tour took all day, and since our flight left at 9:25, we had to quickly make our way to the airport.

Malta was a great place and I recommend it to anyone who wants to go. Be ready for public transportation out of the 1960s and to receive some funny looks, but all and all, it was great. It wasn’t NEARLY as warm as we hoped…in fact I wore a fleece, jacket and scarf most of the time, but it was certainly better than London this time of year.

Checking in!

Hello from Malta. It's awesome. That is all. More when I return home on Tuesday. :)

P.S. ROCK CHALK!!!! 10-0!

Time flies when you're having fun

Yesterday marked the one month mark until I come home. Who knew this semester would go so fast? I'm looking forward to coming home for a lot of reasons, but I will also be very sad to leave the UK.

I'm going to Malta for the weekend. Should be fun. :)

Chestnuts that have been roasted on an open fire aren't really that good.

Rock, Chalk, and some lights

Okay! So...Bath and Stonehenge. Truth be told, it wasn't all that exciting, but I'm glad I went. Stonehenge was our first stop and basically you get out and walk in a path around the stones and that's it. The stones are cool and it's interesting to think how pre-historic people put them together in the formations that they are and marvel at how they actually did so, but other than that, there's not a whole lot goin' on there. I was surprised, however, at the size of the stones. For some reason, had it in my mind that they were only waist high. (I think that idea came from this game I used to play as a kid called "World Wizard." One of the challenges was to match the world's most famous sites with their proper names. Stonehenge was on there, and the picture was really small-- as of course it had to be-- but somehow from that I got that Stonehenge itself was small.) Anyway, whoope-dee-doo. Rocks in formation....at least marching bands change formation. :)

Then it was on to Bath. We really didn't have a whole lot of time there and the majority of it was spent exploring the Roman Baths. Those were also interesting to see and marvel at how they were used. Some of the methods they used are still in place today in modern plumbing and many of the springs they used to fill their baths still flow; one spring in particular gives something like 6 million gallons of water a day! Like I said we didn't have a lot of time in the town of Bath itself; after touring the Baths we ate lunch and it was basically time to go. I would like to go back...it's an incredibly charming and beautiful city...but time is running out. Maybe someday.

The most interesting thing since then was tonight: the lighting of the Christmas lights on Oxford Street. I think it's probably akin to the lighting of the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center...they bring out famous people who dance and sing and perform...and then in dramatic fashion count down and turn on the lights. Truth the told, it was nice, but the lights weren't as pretty as I was expecting (this could be because there were a lot of "other" lights that really took away from the Christmas lights themselves.) And there were SO many people there that the pushiness of the people around us really dampened the spirit. But honestly, that's okay with me. It's not time for Christmas yet...it's much too early. I love Christmas almost more than anyone, but it takes away from the magical feeling it really can have when you commercialize it too much (which is what this event was all about....getting people to buy. In case you don't know, Oxford Street is one of the biggest shopping streets in the world.) I'm glad we went--- it was certainly something "Londony" to do---but I don't think I'll be venturing back to London next year JUST for the lights. :)

Just some small town girls (and sometimes a boy, too), tearing up a lonely world...

Holy cow...what a couple of days. I'm exhausted, but I've got to write now or forever hold my peace. :) (You can see all the pictures via the "Jayhawks Invade London" link under the photos heading.)

Thursday: I had class until 2, but after class Rhonda and I hit the town. We first got sausages from the vendor outside of the British Museum. Then we walked along Oxford street for a bit, and made our way down to the National Portrait Gallery. There was a painting there that I really wanted to show Rhonda, and an exhibit on Pop Art is now open. The exhibit, although kind of small and pricey, was spectacular. I love pop art b/c it really is art (compared to modern art where there is just a line of paint on a canvas that is called "art"); the artists combine their skills with modern clippings and happenings to really say a lot. An entire section of the exhibit centered on Marilyn Monroe and how she lost her personal identity when she became famous. Who know pop art had so much to say!? After that we went to Westminster Abbey for the evening service. We wanted to go and see the boys choir, but again, they weren't singing (that was my third attempt to see them). Regardless, the choir that was there was fantastic and it was cool to go to yet another service at Westminster. After that, we headed to the sports cafe for £3 wings. We went earlier than I had been before, so the service and the wings were much better this time. (Sports Cafe, you are my friend again.) Then we explored Leicester Square a bit, played some air hockey, and stood outside the Odeon Theater where a new movie was premiering...and saw Adrian Brody leaving the red carpet! Woo hoo! We ended Thursday by meeting up with Andrew for a couple of drinks.

Friday: Phew! Busy day. I had class until noon, so soon after we made our way to "Neal's Sandwich Shop" for the highly recommended (per Daniel Stover) cranberry, bacon, and brie sandwiches. I'd actually had them before, but they were just as good the second time around. Then we explored Covent Garden a bit, got some delicious gelato from Scoop, and made our way to St. Paul's. Rhonda has been here before, but St. Paul's was apparently completely hidden by scaffolding, so we went to check it out (really just the outside...it costs $16 to get in, and because its an Anglican church, the draw to explore isn't as great as some other churches.) Then we made our way over to a cute little market called the Borough Market. This market was only food, and if you want an idea of what it looks like, think of the scenes in the Harry Potter movies where they try and enter the Leaky Cauldron....they shot those scenes right near the market. We picked up some food for dinner, and came back and made some AWESOME mushroom, garlic, white wine chicken.

The big event of the day, however, was finally getting to see WICKED. It was absolutely fantastic. For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, it's the story of how the Wicked Witch of the West (from the Wizard of Oz). The music is incredible, the actors were incredible, and everything about it was just incredible. It was also incredible how they tied all the little elements of the Wizard of Oz together, filling in pieces of the story that you never thought about before. You leave seeing the characters in the story in a completely different light than before; nothing is as it seems. For those of you who aren't musical theater people, my testament to you is this: several of the people who went with us were skeptical of musical theater for one reason or another. All of them came out with huge smiles on their faces and really enjoying it. In other words, if you ever have the opportunity, you should go see Wicked.

Saturday: Since Rhonda and Kristen had both been to London before, we were able to do a lot of little random things that you don't necessarily do on your first trip to London. We started the day at the Portobello Road in Notting Hill. We saw "The Travel Bookshop" from "Notting Hill" and grabbed some lunch there, but didn't stay too long b/c it was REALLY busy. So then it was time for Abbey Road (yes, THE Abbey Road.) Of course we attempted to re-create the album cover (Andrew even took his shoes off to imitate Paul), but a lot of photoshop work needs to be done before it will look anything like the album. (Expect that around Christmas.) Kristen wanted to get some Christmas ornaments (and I wanted to visit), so we made our way to Harrod's. Before leaving Abbey Road, we thought it would be a good idea to make our way there via a walk through the park to see all the colors. Because of all the colors (and we're all picture freaks), we took a bunch and had fun doing so; We took a picture where we were jumping in mid-air when the shutter clicked. The picture turned out awesome, but Andrew's pants took a beating, ripping in the crotch. That whole situation was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. :)

We eventually made it to Harrod's, explored a bit, got a few gifts for people, and then made our way to Greenwich (with a detour for the loo and cookies in Covent Garden). The Prime Meridian (the line where longitude begins and separates the Eastern Hemisphere from the Western Hemisphere) is in Greenwich, and of course, we straddled to technically be in two hemispheres at one time. :) Then it was time for church and after that, fireworks in Victoria Park. Monday is Guy Fawkes day, and to celebrate the man who unsuccessfully tried to burn down Parliament, the whole country puts on some pretty amazing fireworks displays. This one used more than $2,000,000 worth. We were exhausted at this point, but we still had a few more things to accomplish: Kristen and I tried to to a Harry Potter tour around London every time she was here and always ended up pushing it off. Because of that, we knew we couldn't push it off again (and because of the fact she won't be back here), we had to do it. But we decided to truncate the tour; we already visited many of the spots, but just didn't ID them as HP spots at the time. The main thing we needed to do was get to platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross Station, and after fireworks, we finally made it there.

And just when we thought we couldn't do anymore, I took them to a place where we could eat American food (BBQ in particular) and watch football. When we arrived, we found out KU had stomped all over Nebraska with a 76-39 win. It was a great ending to a great weekend with great friends. (Kristen and Rhonda left this morning, and I headed to Stonehenge and Bath with my program. I'll write about that later.)

BOO!

Yeah! Rhonda is here! She got in late last night (okay, well, about 8:30) and we went straight to the University of Tulsa London Program Halloween Party! The way I wrote that makes it sound like that it was a sanctioned by the school itself...the definitely wasn't the case. :) The party was a lot of fun. The people in Flat A of my building really went all out. They decorated the house amazingly, and EVERYONE came dressed up, and people made lots of food and snacks and we just had a really good time. Here are some of the pictures...