Amsterdam

This past Monday through Wednesday I spent in Amsterdam. Of course for me to get there, I took the "backpackers budget" route to get there (by bus). It was a mere 11 hours each way!! I must say it was a better trip than to Edinburgh because the heaters worked and the seats reclined, but by no means was it painless. On they way there, we crossed the channel on a ferry. We actually got to get off the bus and go upstairs where there were couches to lay down on. On the way home, we were in this creepy cargo-like box on a train under the Channel.
Monday we checked into our dingy, to say the least, hostel and cleaned up a bit before we went to the Heineken brewery tour. Then we went out to dinner and called it an early night.
Tuesday we got up and walked to the Anne Frank house tour. The house is just a bunch of empty rooms. I wish that I had read the Diary before going so I could appreciate the situation more. Needless to say, it is now on my "to-read" list. After Anne Frank we went on a canal boat tour around Amsterdam. It was a wonderful way to see the city and learn a little bit about the city. After the boat cruise we did lots and lots of walking around. We walked through the infamous Red Light District as well as some popular sqaures and shopping streets. For dinner we ate at a terrible tapas restaurant next to our hostel. Everyone was really disappointed. After our tapas we headed to a nearby square that was Christmas themed for a drink at the pub and then dessert at one of the many pastry stands.
Wednesday we were on a mission to find the " I AMsterdam" sign. It actually lead us right to the Van Gogh Museum as well. It cost 14 euro to get in (almost $20) so we opted out and decided to just walk around the city more. The only problem with this was that it was extremely cold out! We were nearly numb by the time we got back to our hostel to catch the train to the bus station.
Our hostel was probably the worst ones i've been to. Not only did everyone just light up a cig whenever they want but the rooms were ridiculously small. The bathroom was down the hall and the shower was basically in the check in room. There was no shower curtain or separation between a shower stall and toilet.
Everything aside, I did have a great time in Amsterdam. It is a beautiful city. I don't think it is on the top of my returning list but I am glad that I went and experienced it!

Done-Zo

YAH! I am finished with my coursework! I printed off my papers this morning and am officially carefree!! Not to mention the fact that it took me 50 minutes to print the darn things off but i suppose that is to be expected at City. Nothing is efficient. haha
Anyway, so yesterday I went to the Victoria & Albert museum. I walked through most of it. It holds worldwide sculptures, tapestries, ironworks, jewlery, etc. By the end I discovered that I am kinda museumed-out. I am getting to the point where I am not appreciating things nearly as much as I should be! I know it's terrible but that's just how it goes I guess.
Today I went to Greenwich with my friend Christina to stand on the Prime Meridian. I have officially been at two places in one time. It is located at the Royal Observatory which was cool because I have always loved astronomy. We had to climb this really big hill to get to the top but the views were amazing once we got there.
Tonight I am going out to dinner with the whole Wisconsin crew. It will probably be our last time all hanging out since we are leaving to go on trips and going home at different times. I am not sure where we are going yet but I will be sure to take and post some pictures!
It's so crazy to think I will be home in 8 days!

Finals Week!

These past two weeks have really been devoted to getting my school work in order. I had two group presentations and projects to hand in last week and this week I had 3 exams and 2 2000+ word essays to write! But I am happy to say that I am DONE! I plan to go to school tomorrow to print off my papers and submit them to the course office!
I cannot believe how quickly my time is flying by! In about a week I will be back home! I have one last trip planned to Amsterdam. I am leaving on Sunday night by bus and arriving in Netherlands Monday morning. It will be an interesting 11 hours. I bought myself a fleece throw after the freezing experience I had in Scotland. But overall I am really excited for the trip!

EATALY

Hope everyone back home had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. I wish that I could have been there but I really can't complain because I spent my weekend in Rome with my friend from high school Morgan!
I arrived in Rome on Friday afternoon. It seemed that one thing after another was going wrong for me. My debit card wouldn't work at the ATM, I stood in line for almost an hour and half waiting to get onto a bus into the city center, and I didn't really know what i was going to do with myself since morgan had class and wasn't flying in until later that night. But I got to the hostel safely, checked in, and claimed by bed.
I did a lot of walking around that evening. I went to the Spanish Steps, Piazza Popolo, Piazza Navona (sp), Trevi,  and crossed the bridge to see the massive court house. Once it started getting a little darker out, I decided to head back home since I was all by myself. I went back and met some really cool kids in my hostel room. We just hung out, talked, and drank a bit. They were mostly from Indiana, and Colorado State. I was SO happy when Morgan finally made it into town! There was a bar underneath our hostel that we went and got a drink and mapped our day for Saturday!
Boy, did we pack A LOT into that day! We mapped it all out on Sunday and we walked 8 miles just on Saturday and then another 5 on Sunday.  Anyway, we did all the hotspots! The colosseum, ancient ruins, the forum, palantino, shopping on National Ave, the Castle, the Museum of Rome, Spanish Steps (again), Trevi, plaza after plaza! We just kept on moving! Of course we made plenty of time for Italian pasta, PIZZA, and gelato.

one coin to return to Rome and another to one day get married

Sunday we woke ourselves up early to go stand in line for the Vatican Museum.  It is free on the last sunday of every month so we had perfect timing but we knew we had to beat the crowds. We actually only ended up waiting for an hour and half. Not too bad!

Famous Adam & Eve inside the Sistine Chapel

I also saw the Pope! He gives a prayer every Sunday at noon in St. Peter's Square. After the prayer we went inside the basilica and climbed the 321 steps to the top of the coupe! It was raining out but I still got some awesome views of Rome.

After the Vatican City, we did a lot more walking around Rome, stopping at some plaza's and eating amazing pizza! 

Monday morning I had to wake up at 630 to get back on a bus to the airport. It was hard getting off the plane to snow after spending a weekend in chilly but sunny Italy. I think that we went at the perfect time of year. It wasn't nearly as busy as in the summer months. The weather really was perfect (minus some rain on Sunday).

week of Nov 15

I had just arrived back from a wonderful trip to Madrid but I was looking forward to spending the next week and weekend in London.
Monday and Tuesday were my typical busy school days.
Wednesday I had my historical london class at the Tower of London! It was very very cold out but I did get a very though tour.  I have interesting stories about the Ravens and their personalities if anyone cares to hear. The crown jewels are also found in the Tower and are so impressive! They look fake. It's hard for me to believe that I looked at a diamond that size!!
Wednesday night Sally and I went to the England v France football game! It was very exciting. I am not a huge soccer fan but I still had a great time at the game. It was at Wembley Stadium, which is the largest football stadium in Europe. There were 85,500 people at the game!

England did end up losing 1-2 but it was a friendly match so it only hurt their pride not their rankings.

Friday was my last Performing Arts course performance. We went and saw Hamlet at the National Theatre. The play was not terrible. They had the scenery in modern dress and spun the play to a modern theme BUT it was FOUR hours longgggg. I just cannot be entertained by Shakespeare for that length of time. 

Friday night we all needed to let loose after Hamlet so we headed to a club called Fabric. Things get pretty crazy there. It is supposed to be one of the most famous clubs in Europe where a lot of DJ's come and play. I didn't know any of the music or dj's because I am not into techno much but it still was a lot of fun!

Saturday afternoon Christina and I went to Stamford Bridge to tour the Chelsea Stadium. I know it seems like a lot of football in one week but that's just the way things worked out.  The stadium was very nice and newly renovated. It was nothing in size compared to Wembley. I think it was about half the size. 

Sunday was devoted to homework and preparing for a presentation that I had the next day. (It went very well by the way).

Monday and Tuesday were my busy school days but I did take a little weight off my shoulders by presenting a presentation, handing in one group assignment, and 2 final exam papers.

I now only have 2 final exam papers and 3 exams (I did my other group presentation today 11/30) before I am home free.

Wednesday the 24th my historic london course met at the British Museum. We saw some of the highlights including the Rosetta Stone but only got in a small portion of the museum. I think that you would have to devote an entire day (maybe two) in order to see everything that the BM has to offer!

After my class I had a finance midterm that I think went pretty well. I spent the rest of the day preparing for my trip to ROME!

Thursday I woke up and went to Petticoat Market. It's a market about 3 tube stops away that offers mostly clothing. I didn't find much that I wanted but it was interesting to see a variety of fabrics and discount clothing.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and it was sad to be away from home. I did get the chance to talk to everyone at home, which was very nice! It sounds like everyone was doing well and they were excited to feast together. It just made me that much more excited for Christmas and the wonderful dinner that I have to look forward to!

My next blog I will talk about my awesome trip to ROME!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite sister Erin and best friend Becky!! Miss you two!!

Madrid!!

So I am a little behind with my posts, but school has finally started to catch up to me, so I have been spending a lot of time, writing a LOT of papers.
Backtracking to Nov 11, I left for Madrid in the late morning and got to Morgan (my close friend from high school)'s flat around 3. She is an English tutor and some lessons that evening so I went and did some exploring myself. I went to a nearby park, walked by the palace and palace gardens, then walked along Gran Via (the main drag). I headed back to Morgan's to meet up with her to go out to dinner.
Before I talk anymore, Spainards have a completely different schedule than ours. They wake up around noon, open stores for about 2 hours then at 2 they have 'siesta' until about 5. all the resturants, cafes, and some stores shut down at this time. Then dinner is served around 10 pm. And it is normal to stay out partying until 5 or 6 in the morning. Trust me, it's a whole different lifestyle!
So morgan and i went to dinner early (around 9). We went to a local place she knows about in Puerta del Sol that served 6 euro paella! it sure was good too!! Once we got back to morgan's we shared some 50 cent wine (yes 50 cents for a liter of wine) and talked with her roommates. Morgan has a diverse set of roommates she has a guy from Estonia, a guy from Italy, a girl from Peru, and two girls from Singapore. They were all nice enough to talk english around me so I could understand what was going on.
Friday I woke up and headed to the Prado. It is a very famous art museum in Madrid that houses works of El Greco, Velazques, Goya, and Raphael.  Right next to the Prado is The Retiro Park. I got to see a lot there too. They had this cute little pond with rentable row boats and a rose garden. The nicest part was that it was a beautiful day outside! I appreciated having the sun out (even if it wasn't necessarily warm).

Prado

Retiro Park

Friday afternoon I met up with Morgan and one of her friends Marit (from MN but goes to Marquette). We walked around Madrid some more and made homemade tapis for dinner! They were SO good and cheap ;)

Saturday night we got ready and went out to a jazz bar to meet up with some friends and have a drink. Then we went to a plaza and boutillion (sp?). It basically is like pregaming but out in public and there are like 100 other kids around you just drinking before heading out to the discotecia.  Well drinking in public is technically illegal in spain too, everyone does it. Apparently, you're pretty safe if your American because the police don't want to have to go through the extra paperwork, or if that doesn't work it's pretty easy to sweet talk yourself out or even offer for them to join and you should be fine! The police did come to our boutillion but there were so many of us that we all had time to scurry away! Once we were clear of the police we walked around the nightlife area of town and stopped into some bars. Nothing too excited and were home "early" by 5!

Saturday Morgan and I went to a fashion museum on the outskirts of Madrid. It was free and showcases a lot of clothing from all different time periods. It was all "high fashion" so it was really interesting.  We then went back into the city to stop a Museo de Jamon and do some shopping. That evening we went to a Flamenco dancing dinner show! it was SO fun. the dancers especially the guy were really good and the food was delicious. We actually didn't know what kind of tapas we were ordering and when Morgan looked them up when we got back it was actually baby eels and another was duck liver! haha 

I also got to try some delicious Spanish sangria at dinner! it was so good!! We got back to Morgan's around 1 and her roommates were just starting to get ready to go out for the night! I had to wake up at 6 to catch my flight back so we went to bed right away.

Overall my trip to Madrid was wonderful! I LOVE the city and really wish that I could speak some sort of Spanish. I had a great time with Morgan and all of her friends. I can't wait until I can go back one day!

Performance of the Arts #4

The week before I left for Madrid was pretty standard. I caught up on school work and had some group meetings.  On Wednesday the 10, we went to our fourth performing arts performance. It was a comedy titled, "When we were Married".  It was pretty bad.  I just don't think that it was in appropriate context for the class. If you looked around the theater there were only grey or bald heads.  It was geared to a much older audience and the humor was British humor so no one was really able to catch on.  The accents were very thick. At the beginning of the play, I don't think I caught half of what they were saying but by the end I was starting to get an ear for it.
After the play we decided that we had earned ourselves a drink. We headed to the nearest bar called Zoo Club. Upstairs were TVs and music but a more relaxed atmosphere and downstairs was a dance club.  It's still a toss up if it was a gay club or not, but I leaning towards no.  There was a wide age range present though. I didn't stay out too late though because I had to wake up early to catch my flight to Madrid!

Here are some more Stockholm pics that wouldn't work earlier:

Stockholm

I didn't mention earlier how much of a party town Berlin is! When Christina and I were getting on the local metro to the airport at 530 am there were still young people out partying in the streets. We could hear the music from a club across the block still blaring. They sure know how to party in Berlin!
As soon as we stepped out of the plane in Stockholm (they do not have the extending arms for Ryanair flights, yah! low fare flights) there was ice on the ground! It has apparently snowed in the city already but luckily it did not while we were there!
It was around 3 pm by the time we got to our hostel and both Christina and I were ready for a nap! We decided to take a rest then clean up and head out to dinner. We walked along the "main drag" and found a nice Italian Restaurant with decent portions for a good price. EVERYTHING in Sweden is expensive!! We usually order a bottle of wine with dinner but the cheapest on the menu converted to over 50 US dollars! It was ridiculous. After dinner we decided to go for a stroll to see some of the city and sights that we planned for the next day. Our stroll turned into a walk and we were a tad lost but eventually we found our hostel.
The next morning we woke up and headed to the Vasa Museum. It is of an old shipwreck that happened right on the shores of Stockholm in the 1600's the ship was raised from water in 1960's and put into an exhibit. It was very interesting! The exterior of the building is also designed to look like a ship.

After the museum we went to an aquarium. I know it doesn't seem usual to go to an aquarium but they are Christina's favorite so we had to visit.

Afterwards we went on a boat cruise around some of the city highlights. We got to see the Absolut Vodka Bar Distillery, Stockholms neighborhoods and parks, some museums and the Opera house.  Stockholm is an archipelago so it is comprised of over 3,000 islands. On our two hour boat cruise we crossed under over 15 different bridges.

After dinner we headed to a local ice rink that we had stumbled on the night before. It was only 3 US dollars to rent skates for an hour. I am by no means a figure-skater and to go ice skating in sweden was pretty embarrassing. There were like 5 year olds lapping me!

After skating we went down to the Old Town part of Stockholm. There was the Royal Palace, Nobel Prize Museum, and lots of quaint little shops.

Dinner cost me exactly the 70 kronor that I had remaining in my pocket. 

I then had another sleepless night to look forward to at the Stockholm airport, before flying out Monday morning.

It was a whirlwind trip but a great adventure! It is hard for me to pick which city I like better because they're so different. Berlin was historic and fun while Stockholm was picturesque and unique.

I do have more Stockholm pictures to post but the uploader is being fussy again, so I will try again next time!

catching up to do

It has been forever since I have been able to write a post! I still need to update about my Berlin/Stockholm weekend, week last week and my trip to Madrid!
My Grandma passed away last week.  It has been hard to be away from home at a time like this but I am so lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive family. I know that my Grandma is resting peacefully and happily reunited with my Grandpa. I love her very much and keep all her memories close to my heart.
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Even though I found out this news while I was on a weekend trip, I still tried to make the most of my time. I know that's what my grandma would have wanted.
I flew out of London Stansted to Berlin, Germany early on Thursday morning with my friend Christina. We had to actually get to the airport on Wednesday night because we wouldn't have had enough time to catch a tube otherwise (the tube closes from midnight- ~5 am).
We stayed at a hostel called Industriepalast. It was clean and spacious, but a hostel non the less. After dropping our bags off we headed right to the East Side Gallery, which is the largest remaining portion of the Berlin Wall.

Then we made our way to the Jewish History Museum. It was very interesting to learn about a religion/culture that I really had no background knowledge.  After the museum it was time where we could check into our hostel so we went back and showered and planned out the rest of the evening.

We decided to head to The Story of Berlin, which is a museum about the city of Berlin itself. It was also very interesting. Most of the interactive parts of the museum were in German but all the writing was in both languages. After we toured through the museum, we went down to the old bunkers that were made in case of an atomic bomb attack. They were really creepy. There were 4 beds stacked floor to ceiling and fitted to house up to 3600 people. I just can't imagine what the living conditions what have been like if they were put to use!

After the museum we were in search of an authentic German dinner. I had pork with mushrooms and potatoes

YUMMM

After dinner we were in search of a beer hall, but it was pouring out and we got a little lost, so that didn't work out as we hoped. We did get some German beer with dinner so at least I can say I tried!

The next morning we woke up early to head to Sacsanhausen. It is a WWII labor concentration camp about 40 min outside of Berlin.  We went with a tour guide who knew a lot about the topic.  It is hard to describe the feeling of being there. The pain and torture these people went through is absolutely sickening.

Entrance read "Work Leads to Freedom"
in most cases "freedom" was death

We spent most of our day at the camp. By the time we got back it was around 5 and most of the museums had closed for the day. We did a little walking around to see the ReichStag (where Hitler had his rise to power speach) but again it was pouring out so we just decided to seek out dinner.  We headed to a place called Albert's because we had coupons for 2 for 1 cocktails. The menu was completely in German so we had to be a little adventurous and just pick something. It turned out to be a wonderful meal though!

After our cocktails we just headed back to get some rest because we had to wake up at 5 am to catch our next flight to Stockholm.

I'll try and be on again soon to update with that adventure :)

Rigoletto

Here are some pictures from Kew Gardens:

View from the Treetops

Pretty flowers still in bloom!

Christina and Me (self timer picture so it's a little awkward)

Last night I went to see my first opera, Rigeletto with my Performing Arts class. To my pleasant surprise, I didn't hate it. I was entertained for the the most part. It helped that there were English subtitles, since the play was sung in Italian. I don't think that I am going to become an opera-buff, but I wouldn't oppose the thought of going to another. It was definitely better than the ballet!

Dressed up for the opera

This afternoon is my first exam! AH in finance. Hopefully it wont be too bad! Then at midnight tonight I am heading off to Berlin and Stockholm for the weekend! 

Weekend in Londontown

It was a nice and relaxing change of pace to stay in London for the weekend.
Friday I went to Kew Gardens aka the Garden of Life. It is a little further out in London but the tube still takes us there in about 45 minutes.  It was very pretty. There were conservatories from the 1800's that still housed temperate climate plants year round. There where little gardens everywhere, some Chinese, Japanese, the Queen's Garden, Orange garden, you name it. My favorite part was the treetop walkway. I climbed up maybe 2 or 3 stories and got to walk along the treetops. It was an absolutely beautiful time of year to go because all the leaves were changing colors!
Saturday was dedicated to homework. I did venture out of the house at one point to go to a famous shopping store in London called Primark. It is similar to a Forever 21 but cheaper and the crowds of people is just overwhelming. I spoiled myself and got 2 sweaters, 2 scarves, and a pair of black flats all for only 30 pounds.
I learned when I woke up Sunday morning that not only does Europe do daylight savings, they do it a week before America. I was very confused at first but once I found out the real time I was alright.
Sunday evening (Halloween) I went to one of the scariest haunted houses I have every been to in my life. It was called the London Bridge and Tombs Experience. It was put on by professionals and some of the creepiest people I have ever seen. For part of the tour we were only allowed to walk single file so I didn't have Christina's hand to cling on to. I am just glad I made it out alive.
Tonight I am going to a full length opera. We are going to see Rigoletta with my Performing Arts class. I am a little nervous about not being able to follow the story line but hopefully I will have some sense of what is going on, none the less it will be an experience.
Then early, early Thursday morning I am leaving with Christina for our weekend trip to Berlin (Thurs & Fri) then Stockholm (Sat & Sun).
I have a feeling these next few weeks will go by very fast! I counted on my calendar today and I only have 46 days until I am back home! I can't believe how fast time flys by!

Westminster Abbey and Tribes

Yesterday (Wednesday) I have my Historic London class (walking tour of London). We went to Westminster Abbey. Last week we walked around the outside but this week we got to tour the inside. It was very interesting and probably my favorite class yet. Not only was it out of the cold, but very interesting. It's hard to believe that over 3000 people are buried in the church. They are mostly royalty and dignitaries. Their tombs vary from a slab of cement to lavish structures with statues and detailed carvings. The most interesting person buried in the church is Charles Darwin. He was hardly a believer, but apparently he came from a wealthy family and the Dean of the Westminster school was very interested in his studies at the time.
After my tour of the Abbey, I got to go home shortly only to head back in the same direction for a play later that with with Performing Arts class. We went and saw "Tribes" in a small maybe 150 person theater called the Royal Court. The performance was good. It was sad and I am not exactly sure what the underlining message was but it still was able to entertain me throughout (unlike the ballet).

Glencoe

Loch Ness and Castle

Hammish the famous Scottish Cattle

View from our walking adventure

SCOTLAND

My weekend was fantastic! Yes, there was rain, wind, and the bitter cold but all in all it was worth every dose of bad weather/lack of sleep.
We (Patrick, Christina, and me) headed out to the Victoria bus station at about 10 pm on Thursday night. Our bus left around 11 pm from London and was set to arrive in Edinburgh at 8 am Friday morning.
Now I am sure that a 9 hour bus ride sounds like torture enough, mind you that the flight over to London was only 8 hours, but it got worse. The guys sitting in front, to the side, and behind us were part of a group heading to Edinburgh for their bachelor party and saw the bus ride as a pregame ride. Needless to say they were loud and obnoxious. I gave them until 4 am until I was going to say something (probably similar to the time I yelled at the neighbor about their boat, but that's another story). Luckily, they stopped making too much noise around 2:30 but it was still in and out sleep the entire time.
Finally we were in Edinburgh and to our pleasant surprise it was down pouring! We tried to trek to our hostel, but it was all uphill so we caved and hailed a cab for the rest of the way. We checked into our 8 bedroom dorm, which was surprisingly spacious! Then headed back out to the rainy streets for breakfast. We settled for good ole McD's on our first morning.
We headed out to the Royal Mile also known as High Street. There we booked out tickets for a bus tour the next day (i know, i know MORE bus time). We toured through St. Giles Cathedral (which is really not a cathedral but a church but they haven't changed the name for years). We decided in the afternoon that we would do an "Underground City Tour". There is supposedly really creepy and haunted things that go on in Edinburgh. We walked in underground vaults where hundreds of people died in the Edinburgh fire. I am scared easily so that kind of stuff freaks me out, but it was interesting to hear about some of the city's history. After the tour, we decided to head back to the hostel and clean up a bit then head out for dinner. We ate at a place called Garfunkle's. Patrick and Christina had traditional Scottish meals like Cottage Pie and Black pudding, but I stuck with the veggie burger. After we had some drinks but called it a pretty early night because our bus tour started at 8 am the next morning!
Sleeping in the hostel wasn't too bad. The bed was more comfortable than the spring board I have in London, but people were coming in and out all night so I was being woken up a lot.
7:20 am came quick! We all woke up got ready and headed to the Scotline Tours office to catch our bus to the Glencoe, Loch Ness, and Highlands day tour! This was my favorite part of the the trip because the sights were just breath-taking. I have never seen so much natural beauty! The monroes we so tall some of them were snow-capped. They had forests along them and the leaves were changing colors and then in the rocky terrain you could spot waterfalls jutting out of the side. Loch Ness was also very pretty. I didn't spot "Nessie" but I did see many many replicas.
Sunday morning we woke up early to beat the crowds at the Edinburgh castle. It was a wonderful sight to see. They changed most of the Castle itself into a museum like atmosphere rather than original room settings. Attached to the the Castle was the Scotland War Museum. After the castle we grabbed some tea to warm up then decided to head to the Scotland National Gallery. I cannot say that I am much of a Scottish art fan, but it was interesting none the less. Our morning went by quickly but we had the remaining afternoon and evening to kill before our bus left at 10:30 pm. So we walked and walked and walked. We ended up walking up a mini-monroe and getting some wonderful scenic views of the city! We decided on getting an early dinner and hanging out before we headed to the bus station. Dinner also turned into a few glasses of wine, which I can't decide helped or hurt my sleep on the bus ride home. Although we didn't have the bachelors on the way home, the heater wasn't working on the bus so it was very very cold! I did sleep in and out but i think I was more uncomfortable than on the way there! I got back into London around 7:30 am Monday and crawled into my bed by 8 just to wake up again at 10 for my 11 class.
Now with it being Wednesday, I have caught up on my sleep. I am staying in London this weekend and hope to do some sights around town. As always, I will keep you updated!

PS I forgot to mention, I did try Haggis! I am very proud of myself. It wasn't that bad! I would compare it to a salty stuffing.

Week 5

I can't believe that I have been gone for almost 5 weeks now! Time is really going by fast. I think a lot of that has to do with all the traveling I have been able to do. I am leaving today for Edinburgh, Scotland. Our bus leaves at 11 pm tonight and I should arrive around 8 am tomorrow. Our hostel is located right across the street from the castle, so it is supposed to have really beautiful views.  We also talked about doing a day trip bus tour around Scotland, including a stop a Loch Ness. So if I see the monster, I will be sure to let you all know :)
I will be back from Edinburgh early Monday morning to fill you all in with my stories!
Hope everyone is doing well back home. I miss you very much.

Special thoughts for my Grandma: I love you very much! Stay strong. I think about you all the time. I wish I could be there right now for you but you are constantly in my thoughts and prayers. Love C

Belgium Pictures

Christina and me in front of Grand Place

Belgium Waffle

Canal in Bruges

Brussels weekend

My weekend in Brussels was interesting to say the least. I am glad that I experienced and 100x more glad that I decided not to study there. It's not that Christina, Sam, and I didn't have fun, because we certainly made the most of our situation, but Brussels was just nothing to brag about.

Christina and I arrived on Thursday around dinner time. We had some confusion finding the right tram to the hostel but we figured it all out and got there just fine. We actually had to check in at a different hostel then walk about 10 back downtown to the actual place we were staying. We only got one key and there was only someone at the desk from 4-11pm, so if we lost our key we were basically SOL. The hostel company didn't seem very well organized to say the least. 

Our room was a private double, which was not two twin beds but rather one queen size bed. Christina and I didn't mind sharing because the mattress was wayyy better than what we were used to at home.

After we unpacked we went down to this street called Rue Des Bouchers. The hosts literally stand outside and seduce you into the restaurants. Within that 2 block walked I got kissed twice, asked to go out dancing, and approached countless times. The famous meal in Brussels is mussels and frites (fries). I didn't have them together for one meal but I can say that I tried them both. After dinner Christina and I went to Celticia. It was a pub/club that had everything from sports to live music to a club dance floor. They also had happy hour until midnight with 2 euro pints. After a drink or two we decided to head to the hostel to look for Sam. We were a little worried when he was almost an hour late but everything worked out. He had train delays and couldn't figure out the tram so decided to get a taxi instead. The three of us went back to Celticia then home to our comfy bed!

Friday we woke up and meet downstairs and decided to head out to the Atomium. It is a huge structure in the shape of an atom that you can go up to the top and get great views of the city. Apparently it was built in a time when Belgium thought the world was going to be run by nuclear energy. After we got the views we went on the walking tour from hell!

We got these maps from the hostel that were supposed to give interesting spot for young travellers to visit. Instead it took us a self guided walking tour through the poorest neighbors, prositute filled streets, oh and let's not forget the red light district. It was terrible. Not to mention, Brussels is a very dirty city. In comparison to London and Dublin, it was extremely dingy. The walk did take us to a botanical park, war memorial, and St. Micheal's Cathedral.  Once we got back from walking we decided to find a place to eat (not on the road with the hosts). We ate a moderately priced Italian place before heading out for the night. We went to Delirium Cafe which is a three story bar that in total has over 2000 different types of beer and over 60 on tap. It was really impressive. The atmosphere was really cool, the only downside was that they still allow smoking in bars so the air was just a thick haze of smoke. Between Christina, Sam, and me we tried all these flavors of beer:

apple, passion, delirium tremors which is a 9% alc beer, cactus, cherry, honey, chocolate, lager, wheat, peach, kriek, lamis

they were all very good! some extremely sweet but all very good.

Saturday we woke up and decided we had to have a belgium waffle. We did some more wandering around Brussels before walking through the sketchiest part of town to get to the ONLY brewery offering tours that we could find. It was a really neat place that has been in operation for over 100 years and still uses the same old fashion brewing equipment and techniques. They specialized in traditional lambic beers. After our brewery tour we walked to EU, parliament, and archway. The wind was blistering cold by the end so we decided to take the tram home rather than walk. We had dinner at Chez Leon. It is the oldest restaurant in Brussels and by far the best meal I had there. After dinner we caught the Chelsea and ManU games at Celticia before heading back to Delirium.

By Sunday we felt we had done enough wandering around Brussels and decided to take a day trip out to Bruges. It is only about an hour and half away. It was a very quaint tourist town. It's known for being the "Venice of the North" because it has many canals throughout the city. They offer boat tours but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to get to take one on our visit. (I don't think that I could type out this story as funny as it would be in person, so if any of you readers get curious when I get back be sure to ask me about the Indian family in my tour group.) After seeing the sights of Bruges we headed back to Brussels. The countryside was really lovely and there must have been at least 15 hot air balloons along the way. I have always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon! I can't imagine how beautiful the views must have been! Dinner was not as successful Sunday as it had been previous nights but you win some and lose some I suppose. We went to bed pretty early on Sunday because we had to wake up at 7 to catch our train.

Our train that turned into a non-existent train btw. Apparently, the Belgium train workers decided to go on strike Sunday and Monday so there were no trains leaving or entering the country... wonderful.

So we had to sit and wait for a bus to take us to Lille, France where we boarded a train to London. This set us about 4 hours behind schedule and I had to miss class this afternoon. I have spent the rest of the day washing the smoke out of my clothing, setting up plans for Edinburgh next weekend, and finishing up some homework.

Brussels was overall an experience, but I don't think you will catch me back there any time soon!

Brussels today!

Yesterday was an eventful Wednesday. I woke up and got a nice workout in then got ready for my historic london class (the walking tour of london). We met at Tower Hill, the tube stop for the Tower of London, but to my surprise and dismay, we talked very little about the tower it's self and didn't even get to see the bridge. We did get to walk through the origin of the London fire, Lloyd's building, and the area where Diagon Alley (spelling?) from Harry Potter was filmed.  By the end of the two hours I was pretty tired. It felt like we were moving the whole time! After class me and some of the guys stopped for dinner at the place called Tortilla. It is the closest thing to Chipotle they have here but not quite as good. After dinner, Patrick and I were on the search for some dessert and we discovered Ben's Cookies. They are pretty big around here but this was my first experience. They were to die for! I wish that I could ship everyone home their warm, gooiness. We then took the tube back home and I had a little down time (where I could up on Desperate Housewives) before heading to the ballet.  I went to see Romeo and Juliet for my Performing Arts class. The ballet was beautiful and the dancers were all very talented and full of expression. But it was 3 hours longggg. There were scenes that just seemed to dragggg. I know it's probably because I have very little appreciation for dance and have never taken a dance class in my life but still I think they could have done it within a two hour time frame.
Today I am off to Brussels!! Our train departs at 2:30 and we will arrive in Belgium at 5:30. I am very excited! I will take lots of pictures and share all my stories! 
Just to let you all (mainly my mother) know, I will not be taking my laptop because I don't want to risk it getting stolen in the hostel. SO i will most likely on be updating for the next few days (at least until Monday night). I will try to get online if there is a computer in the lobby, but don't think the worst if you don't hear from me :)
Love C

on to my next adventure

Monday was a pretty typical school day. I went to classes. Caught up on some work from the weekend. Nothing really exciting happened.
I did feel bad though because the boys that came over to Dublin with me were supposed to be back Monday night but their flight got delayed and didn't get back until 4 am today! They had a long weekend at the airport!!
Today was exciting, not only because I am one day closer to leaving for Brussels, but also because I booked my trip to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend after! The group going as of now will be me, Christina, Patrick, and Parker. We all decided to go the cheap route and take an over night but to and from. It cut our cost in about half but also just about doubled our time getting there. I think that after that weekend I will be glad that England is an island and I will have to fly to other destinations because the bus ride will be about 9 hours long!!
Tomorrow is my first performance for my Performing Arts class. We are going to see the ballet Romeo and Juliet. It should be pretty good. I am nervous about it being close to 3 hours long though.
I'll be sure to blog and let you all know.

tube station on my birthday

Gravity Bar in Dublin

<3

Weekend in Dublin

Well I have a lot of catching up to do!
We'll start of with my birthday: Overall I would say was a success! I drank for my first time ;) . We went to City which is usually pretty busy on Tuesday's because it is students night. I can't say that I remember every detail but I do know it was fun and I am now proud to be 21!!
Wednesday was a whirlwind of a day. Waking up for class was not the easiest thing I have ever done and on top of that, the class that I had was my walking tour class so I had the pleasure of waking up and walking around for 2 hours the morning after my 21. lucky me.
I survived though and right after class I started my voyage out to the airport. I first took the tube to the train station then the train to the airport then hopped on a plane to Dublin then finally a taxi to the hotel! The last thing on my mind was being tired though because I was SO EXCITED to see my mom and dad!! My taxi driver, Michael,  was very nice. He asked a lot about me as well as the highlights of Dublin. He even walked in me into the hotel lounge! As soon as I opened the door, I saw my mom in the hallway. I squealed to Michael, "That's my Mommy!!" It was hard not to tear up a bit when I got to hug her!
It was close to 7 pm by the time I got to the hotel so we were all ready for a meal! We went to the Bank Bar and had a decent meal. The food didn't matter so much because I was just so happy to be there! We've all come to the agreement, English and Irish food SUCK! The selection is never that vast nor appetizing. It almost made me tempted for the McD's around the corner. (and I am rarely if ever tempted by McD's) The atmosphere at Bank was very nice. It was a beautiful wooden bar with a variety of age groups. They also house the replica of the Book of Kells, so if my Dad comes up to you and shows you his picture of the Book of Kells, don't be fooled! It's not the original from Trinity College, it's the replica from the bar down the street ;) After the bar we went to Hard Rock Cafe for a drink but decided to head in early since we had to wake up to catch our train Thursday.
My mom got down most of the highlights of Thursday when we travelled to the Cliffs of Moher. It was nice traveling the countryside but also gave the three of us some time all together! Thursday night we hung out in the bar of our hotel because they have free live music and Irish dancing every night.
Friday the boys came (two of my friends Ryan and Mike who are also studying in London and go to UW). We split off from my parents that day because we wanted to see some of the Dublin sights that my parents had done earlier in the week. There was a "hop on, hop off" bus that circled the city and stopped at all the hotspots. We visited Trinity College, Christ Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the best by far was the Guinness tour! but also on our way home we stopped at Ryan's Victorian Pub (a favorite stop of Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts).  Guinness was awesome! I have so many fun-filled facts that I will be able to tell you all back home. At the end of the tour you get to go up to the "Gravity Bar" which is a circular glass room that gives you a panoramic view of the entire city, while sipping on a complementary Guinness of course. Friday night we met up with the parents for dinner at a very good Italian place then our for a few drinks!
Saturday the boys slept in (they had been awake for at least 48 hours before) and my parents and I did some shopping on Grafton Street before heading to the Leprechaun Museum. I wouldn't recommend the museum to anyone over the age of 7 btw...
After that experience I met up with the boys to get in some last stops on the "hop on, hop off". We only had enough time to tour through the jail before we planned to meet up with my parents again. Oh and let's not forget that the bus broke down on us so we had to walk at least a mile back to our hotel haha. One we were finally back we went to a bar called Citi, which Ryan Mike and I had all stopped at for a drink the night before. We had a wonderful meal of sharing tapas. They ordered everything from steak to pheasant to duck to crab cakes. It was so delicious. Another neat thing about this place was that right at the table there was a tapper for Guinness and Carlsberg. It kept track of how much you pour during your meal then charges you at the end. It was a really neat idea that I think would really catch on in the states. Saturday night the guys and I went out again to some local places including Temple Bar.
Sunday (today) i had to wake up at 5:20 to get to the airport in time to catch my 7:45 flight to London. I finally got back to my flat at about 11 and am pretty tired.
Overall it was a spectacular weekend!! I don't think it could have been any better! I love and appreciate my parents so much! They are so generous and caring. I am a so lucky (it must be the Irish in me)!
I have a lot of school work to catch up on tonight. Then class tomorrow.

Reddy's in Ireland

Cheers from Dublin...it's Colleen's mom reporting!

One of the happiest days of my life occurred on Wednesday, when Colleen walked into our hotel in Dublin!  I was so happy/relieved/excited to see her again...and to anticipate having a few days together to explore this marvelous land.

We got an early start yesterday (0545 am), hopped on a tram to get to the train station by 0640 hrs for a day-long trip to Limerick (you can't go to Ireland without going to Limerick),  Bunratty, lunch in Doolin, and the Cliffs of Moher.  Ended up in Galway, where we boarded a train back to the city. It was a great way to see the countryside...glorious!  The greens of the pastures are unbelievable, and yet the terrain is surprisingly rocky and barren.

I had better turn things over to the REAL author of this blog...just wanted to say hi to my peeps stateside, and to reassure you that Colleen is doing really well...Europe suits her (but only until December 18...I've told her, NO meeting some Brit and falling in love!)

Ellen.

Lunch at the pub

Cliffs of Moher

Brussels here I come!!

Sunday was a relaxing day. I did go down to Stamford Bridge which is the stadium for the Chelsea football  club. There was a game verus Arsenal, which would be comparable to a Packer v Viking game, so Sally and I went down. I went more to see the crowd and walk around but Sally was interested in a ticket. She ended up buying one for 150 pounds ( ~$250)!  Which was wayyy too much for me but she is a lot bigger of a soccer fan than I am. The crowd was pretty disappointing! We are much much more rowdy for Badger games. There were only a few pubs and yeah they were packed with people but still not necessarily a sight to see. What also really surprised me was that only about half of the people were wearing team apparel or even colors! Where's the team spirit?!?
Sally did say that when she was leaving the game she saw Kobe Bryant and all his bodyguards excorting him out!
Today was a pretty typical Monday. I had class at 11 and met up with a group of other students to plan a group project that we have due for the semester. Then at 1 met with Christina to book our Brussels trip!!! I am SOOO excited! We are leaving on Thurs Oct 14 and returning early Mon 18 so I can be back in class on time. (flights are much cheaper if you don't fly fri through sat). We booked a hostel as well so I am very excited!!
I am looking into booking my flight to Madrid as well because I want to go visit Morgan, but I don't have any definite plans yet!
Tomorrow is my 21!! Not that big of a deal out here, but still very exciting for when I go back home!!
I can't wait to see my parents in two days! I just wish that Erin could be there too.

Sightseeing Saturday!

Today was a great day! I woke up in the morning and got a good workout out in. (although I still get lost every time I try to get to Saddlers) Then came home and got ready in preparation to do some sightseeing (probably by myself) BUT I got a skype message from Christina, a friend that I met on the freshers week. (She is in the fireman's hat with me at an early post). We met up at the school because she lives in the dorms and set off on a day of sightseeing. It was beautiful and clear this morning but by the time we got to the Eye and waited in queue, it was raining. Of course!! It was still really awesome. I got some good pictures minus the raindrops on the glass. The interesting part of the Eye is that it never stops! You get on and off as the domes are still moving along the walkway. It felt like getting off an escalator, when one part of your body is moving and the other isn't.
We got discount tickets so that we could do the Eye and go to the Aquarium next door (saving a whole 5%). On our walk to the aquarium there were a bunch of street performers. There were men like statues that started singing when you gave them money, mimes, and this crazy group of dancing men. They did all these flips, folded their bodies up, and spun big saucers at the same time. It was pretty impressive!
The aquarium was really awesome too! It was large but not too big where things got repetitive. They had this Shark Walk where there was glass below you and a whole bunch of sharks. It was really cool! It was probably the best aquarium I have ever been to!
After this we were both really hungry and stopped at this Italian place near the tube stop. I am really excited too because Christina is interested in traveling with me!! We are going to make plans to go to Brussels in two weekends! It's hard to describe how excited I am!!
One of the Wisconsin boys has a friend in town for the weekend so I think that we are going to this big club in London called the Ministry of Sound. Should be a good time!

Harrods

Sorry I know I have been slow about posting again. I guess I got nicknamed Pokey for a reason.

Wednesday night Sally and I went to a Korean place right by out flat. It was my first try at Korean food and I was surprised that I really liked it! It's pretty similar to Chinese food, which I don't care much for (sorry Sally), but Korean seemed less fried/ covered in sauces.

 Thursday was the beginning of my weekend. I woke up and got a quick workout in before heading out to do some shopping. As I was walking to the tube to go to Harrods, I walked by a side street market. There was a little bit of everything: food, clothes, jewelry, bags! Everything was really cheap!! I didn't have much cash on me but I did find a sweater for just 5 pounds. Then I walked to the tube station and made a few transfers before ending up at Harrods! It is so large!! Seven floors total, I didn't stay too long because most of the stores options include Gucci, Versace, etc. so just a tad out of my price range. I walked around other stores on the same block and found a cute dress that I am going to wear on Tuesday for my birthday!

Today was not quite as productive as I hoped it to be. I woke up early to go to Saddlers and stop by school to pick up some course packets I need. They told me that the printers would not be ready until after lunch so to come back around 230. The rest of the afternoon I did some research on some trips I am going to take in the next week. I am looking into Brussels at the moment! At 230 Parker and me went to go get our cell phones exchanged because we discovered that we paid 20 pounds extra for a service that our phone wasn't doing! We went to the 3 store which is the name of the service provider. Waited in "queue" for about 30 min then realized that we had forgotten our chargers for the old phones that we were returning! Not to mention the fact that we had to make it back to school before 4 to get our course packets. So we powered walked from 3 to school, which is at least 20 min apart only to find out that the course packets STILL weren't ready! Then back to our flats to get the chargers then back to 3 to get our new phones! Here it is almost 6 and I am just sitting down for what feels like the first time all day!

Hopefully tomorrow I will get in some sightseeing like I had planned for today. It is mostly weather dependent on my activity. If it's nice out maybe Kew Gardens or the Eye but if it's rain and crappy (like today) then a museum maybe the Tate. Either way I will keep ya'll posted!

Harrods from the left

From the right

Pictures from Sunday at Hyde Park

Here's the pics that didn't work earlier this week!

Crowd at Speakers Corner

Italian Fountains

Peter Pan Statue

River Serpentine 

starting school...

Sorry I haven't posted in the past few days. The internet at our apartment wasn't working. It was a very disheartening experience!!
So to back track a little bit, Monday: The first official day of classes. I started my morning at 9 with class. The lectures are different here because they meet for 2 straight hours but only once a week. It is hard to stay focused and sit still for that long of a time (especially when classes are back to back) but it is convenient for scheduling. (my Monday through Wednesday classes). The classwork isn't too overwhelming, although two of my classes will have big group projects which can sometimes turn into a hassle when you have to meet outside of class and I want to be traveling on the weekends. The study abroad students aren't given much direction either. Orientation might have the right idea but the group size was just too big and no ones questions really got answered. I am now feeling much better about the everything than I was on Monday!
After class, I went to Saddlers which is the workout facilities that are near campus. It is going to cost me 22 pounds a month ugh, but what can you do?! The building is fairly small. There is a cardio room that overlooks a weight room and a basketball gym. When I asked for a map while I was signing up the man laughed and said turn around and I will point haha! He then told me the the ladies locker room was upstairs. I went up the stairs and was just about to turn the handle when luckily another man walked out and told me that was the gents! I was very embarrassed. Now I know to go allll the way upstairs for the locker room.
Then Monday nigh I came home to an internet-less home and just read my book the rest of the night.
Tuesday: I have FULL day on Tuesdays. I start at 9 and my last class finishes at 6. I do have a 2 hour and 1 hour break in the middle. So I got to go to Saddlers on my break (and yes I used the ladies locker room). After class I had to go pick up some packets and hand in some paperwork. Tuesday night we decided to go to the American sports bar called City Bar. It turns into a dance club on Monday and Tuesday night and they don't charge a cover for students.  It was another fun and late night! My feet were killing me from the heels. I don't think I will ever get used to that feeling!
Wednesday (today): I slept in until about 11. I had class at 2. I stopped by the boys place to figure out some weekend trips and stuff. It's really hard to organize with everyone having such different schedules. Not much was decided on but hopefully by next week we will all know when we are done with classes/have exams/projects due and be able to book some flights. Tonight I am doing some laundry and reading for school.
I don't have any classes tomorrow or for the rest of the weekend :)! I am planning to go to Harrods! It is a world famous department store. I guess it is just unimaginably huge!! I'll post pics, no worries!
That's all for now! Hopefully our internet will be continuously working so I can post soon!

Sunday Stroll

Last night Sally and I went with the boys to some of the more local pubs within a few blocks of our place. Nothing too crazy, just went out for a pint. The pubs atmosphere is nice because it's so laid back and just about relaxing and conversing with friends.
This morning I woke up and ventured to Hyde Park for Speakers Corner. There is some great history about the origin of Speakers Corners, but I won't bore you with it. Feel free to google to find out more. Basically, a bunch of radical political and religious people gather and yell to declare their views and they are the best over others. I saw a fully covered Islamic woman toe to toe with a extreme American Christian (from the South, with cowboy hat to prove it). Another man came right in the center of crowd and screamed, "I will be louder than any of you!" I liked his message at first, but then his radical nature came to surface when he was questioned by and older man. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
I walked around most of Hyde Park/Kensington Garden. It was very beautiful! Lots and lots of green space to sit and read a book on a warmer day. But it was a pretty cold day and my feet began to hurt. I just got home and took a little nap and look forward to a skype date with my parents in a few minutes!
The pictures aren't uploading for some reason but I'll post as soon as it works again.