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!